A fine, clear morning!
And all is well!
Ahoy there! Look up!
Fetch me a bow.
Look.
Captain!
Captain Sinbad!
Up there in the sky!
It's holding something.
Abdullah.
Shines like gold.
Too strange to be an albatross.
A jackdaw. They steal bright things.
No, no. Too big for a jackdaw.
Omar!
You fool! You have brought bad luck on us all.
Captain.
Cast it over the side.
It is evil.
I feel it.
Captain!
For the love of Allah...
...cast it overboard.
I think I keep it.
Sinbad!
Captain!
Can't hold her. She's running before the wind.
Look!
We are being driven onto the rocks.
Lash that sail!
Cut it adrift if you have to.
Allah, give me strength.
Sinbad!
Marabia.
It must be Marabia.
We are way off-course.
The dream I had, Rachid. This is part of it somehow.
We've been brought here by some mysterious force.
Is it not written...
...that the wise man will try to realize his dream to follow it?
Some say that it is through dreams that Allah speaks to mortal man.
- To forsake the dream... - Is to forsake him!
Captain...
...he who walks on fire will burn his feet.
Captain?
I'm going ashore.
Aye, there's a good anchorage beyond.
That's where we'll meet.
Do as he says! We make for the anchorage.
You are Captain Sinbad?
I am.
You are also a thief.
And a thief is a king until he is caught.
The bauble that hangs at your throat is mine.
Hand it to me...
...or you will have no throat.
You will be dead if you don't.
You stole it from my courier.
Very well.
Koura, the Black Prince! Prince Koura!
We have waited for you a long time.
He escaped, Achmed.
He rode into the city and escaped me. The guards were there to help him.
But you're all right.
I brought the city gates down upon their foolish faces.
Master, your hand.
We must hurry, Achmed.
He who searches for pearls should not sleep.
Sinbad is even now with the vizier...
...and I must hear what passes between them.
Walls have mice...
...and mice have ears.
And I have my spy.
He's failed me once, but never twice.
You tell a strange tale, captain.
Nevertheless, one fact makes me believe your story.
The amulet around your neck.
It makes us allies against the same enemy...
...who covets it as much as I.
Fate, destiny have brought us together.
I would like to think so.
Why?
Our country is being choked alive by a great evil...
...visited upon us by Prince Koura.
Koura.
The one who attacked me.
A man versed in every black art...
...and dedicated to bringing this domain under his power.
Please.
I have an equally strange tale to tell.
When our sultan died without a son...
...he made me his grand vizier, heir to two things...
...the two being part of one great, mighty secret.
What are these two things you speak of?
You shall see.
Here is the first.
These pictures tell the story of a legend...
...as yet unrealized.
Little remains, for even as our sultan breathed his last breath...
...and I hastened here to read the secrets...
...a great ball of fire engulfed this room.
A fire which took away my face...
...and left these few scorched patches that now you see.
A ball of fire?
It was Koura's work.
You spoke of two things bequeathed to you.
Here is the second.
Something the fire could not destroy.
A token...
...a sign...
...a riddle.
And it is said that the riddle will be unraveled...
...when this and the one about your neck...
...are placed before a great eminence...
...who dwells in a temple of many faces.
And yet still incomplete.
A perfect match.
You see, I was right, captain.
Only destiny could have brought you here.
But it is still a riddle.
These, this...
The key to a great and mighty secret.
What secret?
What is to be revealed?
Power.
Absolute power.
Power to rid this land forever of Koura's black and ugly ambitions.
And if this power fell into Koura's hands...
That thought constantly torments me.
But if Koura were to obtain absolute power in this land...
...freedom would be lost forever.
Absolute power?
I pray to Allah that he does not hear me.
Then we must see to it that we solve this mystery before Koura.
If Allah be willing.
Part of it must be here.
I see a ship.
A voyage.
- And an island? - And these foreboding symbols...
...can only mean danger of death.
Or great riches perhaps.
A lost treasure.
Or it could mean nothing at all.
The more I study it...
...the greater the puzzle becomes.
The golden tablets then, what of these?
There is a third part still to be found.
It must be found, or our land will be plagued forever.
But how to get the third?
Don't you see it?
The meridian?
And there are shoals and the island.
It's a chart!
A nautical chart.
And you are a sea captain.
Allah be praised.
You. You can go home.
- Is this a ship or a monastery? - We sail with the tide.
She's only removed two veils!
If the winds are with us, we'll reach this area before the rise of Venus.
And then we follow Orion into waters I've never sailed before.
Why do you stare at me?
You have the belief of destiny.
For that is what has brought us together.
Possibly.
And with the help of Allah, we will surely triumph.
There is an old proverb I choose to believe:
"Trust in Allah...
...but tie up your camel."
It is Koura's spy.
His watchdog.
Quick, quick!
Already it may have betrayed us.
In the name of the Almighty, what was it?
Koura's creation.
A living homunculus.
An extension of his eyes and ears.
And with it, he now knows as much as we.
It's a race then.
A duel!
We seek an island, an ultimate destination.
He will also seek it.
Find me a ship...
...and a captain who can be trusted.
He must make ready to sail with the next tide.
All right!
Splendid! You are even better than they say you are.
It is Sinbad, isn't it? Captain of the ship that lies offshore?
I am Hakim...
...owner of this establishment.
I wish to employ you.
- Sorry, I sail with the tide. - No, it is only a small service.
No longer than it takes to drink a coffee.
No, please just hear me. It will only take a moment.
It is only a small service.
This is my son, Haroun, a waster of food.
Two hundred gold coins if you'll take him with you.
Take him with me?
Why, I couldn't even use him for ballast.
Three hundred gold coins.
You cannot pick up two melons with one hand, and I cannot work miracles.
Hurry.
Come sit down.
The girl.
That girl? A worthless slave.
You like her? You view her with favor?
She's yours.
I give her freely, a gift, along with my son...
...and 400 gold coins.
What's your name?
Margiana.
That mark.
How did you get it?
I don't know. I've had it since I was a child.
- An evil eye. - No, no.
It was tattooed and won't come off.
- Perhaps it is a good omen. - Yes, to ward off evil spirits.
You have nothing else to tell me?
She is curvaceous...
...not deliciously fat as I prefer them, but at night...
...a cottonseed is the same as a pearl.
- She finds favor in my eyes. - Yes?
It's a bargain.
The girl...
...my son and 400 gold coins.
Allah will smile on you.
More likely, he will laugh at me.
Bring them to my ship.
It shall be done.
A very strange trip, this one.
Grand vizier!
Look what's coming aboard.
I've heard of gold going to a man's head...
...but this!
- Cast off. - Trip the gangplank!
Cast off!
Raise the sail up.
Fair wind, captain.
Fair wind and a fine one.
Every voyage has its own flavor.
- You know what is expected of you. - Aye, my lord.
Soon Sinbad's ship will come around that headland...
...heading for the open sea.
Follow him, captain, gently, cunningly...
...keeping him always just within sight.
He who is patient obtains.
You're thinking the same as I, Rachid.
Captain, an island...
...if it exists here...
...then it can only be one place.
Lemuria.
Lemuria?
The mythical island. Mariners have searched for it for centuries.
They say it is all that is left of a continent...
...now sunk beneath the waves.
They say it is a place of untold dangers, of death. They say...
The man who fears the unknown will one day take fright of his own backside.
Well, there you have it.
We seek Lemuria.
We wager our skill...
...against death.
And for rich reward.
Find this island...
...and a handsome prize awaits every man.
Are you with me?
To Lemuria!
And a bounty to boot.
Even if it be into the jaws of hell itself.
We cannot be bought, captain.
Only with money.
Then be warned...
...we can afford no laggards.
Every man must carry his own weight...
...and more.
There's water down there. There's water everywhere!
We're at sea!
This boy's a genius.
I remember my father's shop...
...my father coming out...
Father!
This was his idea, wasn't it?
A quick run round the harbor to sober up.
Clear the cobwebs away.
All right.
The sea breeze is beautiful. Cobwebs are all gone.
Now we can go home.
We're on-course now.
You're with us all the way.
All the way?
Oh, well. I suppose things could be worse.
A couple of days away from home isn't too bad.
A couple of weeks?
A month?
More than a month?
Or two, three years perhaps.
Two or three years?
But I'll be an old man by then. I'll be ancient!
Just show me to my cabin so I can lie down.
No cabin, no lying down. You bunk with the men.
You want to eat...
...you work.
Work?
This is terrible!
Haroun.
You pace the deck like a caged beast.
For the one who enjoys the hashish, you should be more at peace.
- I put you on watch. - On watch?
All you do is sit down and keep a sharp lookout.
Sit down and look?
Fine!
Haroun...
...up there.
That's where you sit.
I forget I have company.
Your pardon.
No, no, no. I am the one who bows.
You are my guest.
- But I am your slave. - Slave?
Up, up.
You own me now.
Own you?
No human being has the right to own another.
You are free now.
You belong to no one but yourself.
On this ship, you are at no one's beck and call.
You understand that?
Right. I go to change.
Fetch me a drink.
Please.
- You will be sleeping in here? - Of course.
Captain Sinbad!
Haroun saw a light on the horizon.
Over there.
A ship.
Following us?
Stay on this course.
If she's still with us at daybreak, we know.
It is Koura.
I should come about, stand off and sink him.
If he doesn't sink us first.
Sinbad has sent more pirates to the bottom of the sea than I can count.
There is much at stake.
We have the lead. We must maintain it.
But with a ship like that, we can't outrun him forever.
But if you can outwit him...
The cabin looks very neat.
You have all a woman's gifts.
Yes, all of them...
...save one.
What is that?
Curiosity.
You never ask why I brought you along on this voyage.
I've only just become a free woman, remember?
Slaves do not ask questions.
Besides, I'm happy you brought me along.
We are being hunted, pursued...
...like prey, and I must lose the hunter.
Who pursues us?
A man.
A great black bat of a man.
He is one of the reasons you are here.
He and that mark on your hand.
But why?
Why?
I wish I knew myself.
Hold steady.
We lead him into this area of dense mist here.
There's enough rocks and shoals to snare a prow or rip open a keel.
But if you lead him there, you run the same risk yourself.
Not quite the same.
I've navigated these waters before. Eh, Rachid?
Once before.
We'll abandon the chains!
How can he see to steer the ship?
It's terrible!
How can he see anything?
Captain won't need to see.
He'll feel his way through.
Drop anchor!
Not yet.
Pursue that ship!
If we continue into this, we will be wrecked.
Captain Sinbad navigates these waters.
Then he must have a chart to follow.
Three points east.
Aye, captain.
As Allah wills.
It's alive! It is moving!
It's alive! It's alive!
Love of Allah, the chart.
- It's taking the chart! - Never mind the chart!
Fight it with fire!
Return.
She's sunk straight to the bottom.
Impossible. Wood floats.
The harpoon was made of iron.
It took the chart.
But I still carry the course.
Here.
Return.
Return now.
Return!
Master.
Your face.
It's aged.
Master, you are ill.
You saw everything.
I came when I heard your cry.
Then you know.
- Enough, master. - Yes.
Yes.
You will die if you go on this way.
To summon the demons of darkness...
...there is a price.
And each time I call upon them...
...it consumes part of me.
Come, Achmed.
We have no time to lose.
Easy.
Your sword.
Bring us back on-course, captain.
- You like the lute, captain? - Very much.
You must play me a tune on it sometime.
But I was playing a tune.
Land!
Lemuria...
...where we are destined to find our answer.
We go ashore at daybreak!
And may good fortune accompany us too.
The captain reports we are well on-course.
But there is no hope of overtaking Sinbad?
No matter, Achmed.
I expected such a possibility.
I am prepared for it.
Mandrake root and a few chemicals is all that is needed.
Don't throw stones in the well you drink from.
Do you dare defy the demons of darkness?
I've watched them drain your strength.
Look.
See what they have done to you already.
If you continue...
...you'll perish before this journey is over.
Have you no faith in my powers?
We are soon to triumph, Achmed.
My life, my blood shall bring life.
Don't fear it, Achmed. It is our friend.
Come on.
You will find Sinbad, my little friend.
Seek him out. Seek him out.
Magic purges the soul, Achmed...
...the night with its ears...
...and the day with its eyes.
Come ashore!
There's someone moving.
Beckoning.
I didn't expect you to volunteer.
Land, any land, is good for these legs.
Even dangerous land?
Dangerous?
You never told me it would be dangerous.
You didn't ask me.
To land on these shores is cause for celebration.
Have them return and see that every man gets wine.
Aye, master.
I know you proposed we go alone into this place...
...but just the two of us?
We shall not lack for protection, Achmed.
We shall not lack for that.
Stop!
Sinbad, look!
Your courage has deserted you.
Me? No!
My heart is full of bravery.
But I have very cowardly legs.
As it was written, a temple with many faces.
It is the temple of the Oracle of All Knowledge...
...but I never thought to stand here.
The great eminence, we must seek him out.
- Is it the oracle? - No, a guardian.
The keeper to whom we shall present ourselves.
I bring you a token...
...a sign from the sultans of Marabia.
We come humbly seeking the Oracle of All Knowledge.
Two golden tablets that fit as one.
Two tablets brought forth to the light...
...yet a third remains from sight?
A third?
A final place must still be found...
...a place that lies deep below the ground.
He talks in riddles.
No race is lost until, in fact, it's won.
And close behind you comes the black and evil son...
...spawned by the devil, suckled upon black milk...
...in human form...
...clad in robes of silk.
Destiny! Destiny!
Destiny is invisible yet visible.
And men may try to hide.
Yet its waters mark you clearly...
...like a rainbow in the sky.
Destiny is a place...
...where both good and evil wait...
...and yet their very equality negates their power.
For it is the very deeds of weak and mortal men...
...that may tip the scales one way or the other.
And then the world shall know, and you shall know...
...which way the fates have chosen, you shall go.
Go!
Go now.
Go north.
North to barren lands...
...of pagan places and pagan bands...
...before a goddess...
...cast with many limbs.
And death...
...to all intruders is their whim.
In that sacred place, hid from the eyes of man...
...is the third gold tablet...
...that completes the plan.
Go now.
Go north.
Back! Back! Go back!
Below! Below! Down here!
Inside!
Captain!
The entrance is blocked!
Farewell, Sinbad.
Perhaps this is our destiny, to be buried alive.
A man's destiny lies in his own hands.
A live dog is better than a dead lion.
Rachid, your bow.
All of you, your turbans and sashes. Make a strong rope.
You'll go mad down here, eventually.
An arrow. A straight, sure arrow.
A strong rope!
Come on, men. Trust in Allah.
But tie up your camel.
Come, do as he says. Your turbans and sashes!
Hurry! Hurry!
Tie strong.
Strong.
Good, good.
Rachid!
You've done it!
I'm the lightest.
But I'm the most foolhardy.
- Easy, captain. - He's going too fast.
Up you go!
Go on, captain.
Sinbad, look out!
What is it, master?
All of you, up you come. Margiana first. Hurry!
Moving north.
It is as the oracle said.
All right, there's a steep climb ahead.
What is it, master?
They mean to sacrifice us to their living god.
Oh, mighty Kali, mightier than thou am I.
Make obeisance to me.
Dance!
Dance for me.
Stop!
- Achmed. - Master.
I shall remain and commune with their deity.
Go.
Go now.
In that sacred place, hid from the eyes of man...
...is the third gold tablet.
The third golden tablet is here somewhere...
...and I shall find it.
I shall find it!
I won't be denied!
I won't be denied.
Koura!
We meet again.
To the death.
To the death, Kali. Death to our enemy.
Wait! Don't!
Stay back!
Stand clear!
The third golden tablet.
Here it is written that the Fountain of Destiny...
...lies within easy march.
Yes. Where the gods smile upon mortal men.
But I shall not enter that hallowed place empty-handed...
...for it is also written...
...that he who places each of these tablets...
...into the waters of the fountain...
...shall receive in turn:
Youth...
...a shield of darkness...
...and best of all, a crown of untold riches.
All this is my destiny.
But I fear...
...your destiny lies before you.
For have you not destroyed their most precious shrine?
May Allah receive you.
I bid you farewell.
Their journey is over, and mine, almost.
Return to the ship, Achmed.
To hear is to obey, master.
Have the crew make ready for our return to Marabia.
Sire.
They think she is one of their own.
A goddess.
We are saved.
No. She is the chosen one of their God of the Single Eye.
Vizier, take off your mask!
Uncover your face.
Into the tunnel. This way.
Rachid, over there.
Vizier, in there. We must find Margiana.
Let them sustain me.
Margiana?
The Fountain of Destiny, the final place.
Come.
You followed me instead of Koura.
Then he has won this race.
- The race perhaps. - And the prize?
Not the prize.
A crown of untold riches.
I regret nothing.
Frighten you, huh? Margiana?
The final place.
The energy of youth is mine again.
You are too late, Sinbad.
The shield of darkness...
...a crown of many riches, I'll deny you these!
Oh, gods and demons of darkness!
Rid me forever of this enemy who stands between me and my destiny!
I plead!
They don't hear you, Koura.
I implore!
Kill him!
Destroy Sinbad!
It is as the oracle foretold.
The forces of good and evil battling eternally.
It also foretold that it's the deeds of weak and mortal men.
They tip the scales one way or the other.
And now, Sinbad...
...a shield of darkness shall be mine.
I see no shield.
You will.
Look carefully, Sinbad.
What you cannot see, you cannot kill.
I congratulate you, captain.
Your sword arm is excellent...
...but your eyes betray you...
...for now you cannot see me at all.
For all your strength, you are helpless.
As helpless as a child.
I can kill you anytime, captain. Anytime.
Am I here...
...or right beside you?
You cannot kill me, but I can destroy you.
All of you!
A crown of untold riches.
Your Majesty...
...are you not the true and worthy successor to the throne of Marabia?
And has not Allah delivered this...
...into my hands from the wondrous waters of the Fountain of Destiny itself...
...to rest upon your head?
Praise be to Allah, the All-merciful.
I can't understand.
Sinbad, why did you do it?
Give away a whole kingdom, priceless treasure. Why?
I value freedom.
A king is never truly free.
Why, he's even told who he must marry.
Captain! Captain!
Will you take me on as a fully fledged seaman now?
And make yourself fast with that rope.
Don't worry, I always trust in Allah.
But tie up your camel!
Done by (C) dCd / Junho 2004