"Don't go that way!" the fuzzy blue worm yelled at Sarah as she headed left through the opening.
"What was that?" she asked, turning back, hoping for more advice.
Impatiently the worm replied, "I said 'Don't go that way!' Never go that way."
"Oh," Sarah said, mostly to herself. "Thanks." With a smile on her lips and a spring in her step she turned around and headed to the right instead. But this didn't feel right. Indeed the labyrinth had invaded her thoughts with how disturbing it was, but going this way... No, something was definitely not right with going this way. Turning around, her eyes followed the other possible path.
That way, Sarah, a voice sounded in her head, barely a whisper. Go that way. It urged her on, almost begging her to follow the leftwards path. You know I'm right, it whispered again. She couldn't quite tell if the voice was male or female for its low volume, but somehow she trusted it completely. Making up her mind, Sarah raced back to where she had found the worm, glaring at it defiantly. "And why shouldn't I go that way?" she asked demandingly as the worm began to wriggle back into its home.
Pulling itself out of the hole, the worm glared back at her. "Because it goes to somewhere you don't want to go," it argued back.
"And where would that be?" Sarah didn't have time for these games, she had to find her younger brother Toby, and fast. Every second she spent arguing with this incompetent creature lost another vital second to her quest.
"To that castle of course!" the worm cried out exasperatedly. "That Goblin King hides away in there and you don't want to anger him by getting there so quick now do you?" The worm gasped as it realised what it had told the girl standing in front of him, covering its mouth with two of its blue hands. "If you go that way, I didn't tell you!" it squeaked out, darting back into its hole, most likely to have a cup of tea with its missus.
Smiling to herself, Sarah turned on her heel and began to follow the leftwards path, knowing she had lost precious time. That's right, a voice whispered in her head, now you're going the right way. With a sigh, the voice seemingly faded from her mind. Putting away all thoughts of the genderless voice, Sarah continued down the path she had chosen. Unlike the outer ring of the labyrinth, this path did have twists and turns, however it continued on in a single direction, never another path to follow.
Rounding a corner, almost an hour after she had first entered this despicable labyrinth, the path seemed to come to a sudden end. Sighing loudly, Sarah started to turn around. "It's not fair," she cried, "I know I didn't come across any other paths..." She almost felt like giving up and collapsed to the ground, leaning against one of the walls.
Except there wasn't a wall there.
She fell backwards, landing on the ground with a hard thump. What had seemed to be a wall was merely an illusion she realised. "Another trick." Spreading her arms out wide, Sarah lay on the dusty ground, staring up at the bright sky above her. Clouds rolled past her, almost mocking her in their wake. "Just how do I get out of this place?"
As soon as she'd said the words, Sarah wished she hadn't. Behind her head, in the very floor of the labyrinth itself, the stone parted and Sarah fell backwards into a hole. Screaming, she tried to calm herself as she felt hands grasping at her clothes and limbs. Down, down, down they carried her, passing her on from one pair to another. "Stop!" she screamed, dreading what would happen. Abruptly she found herself hanging in midair, her head facing downwards. She could see the hands now as her eyes grew adjusted to the dim lighting within the tunnel.
"So which way?"
Sarah jumped at the voice and tried to back away, her arms flailing as she tried to pull free. "What do you mean which way?"
"Simple as is said," a voice replied, "which way? Up or down?" The terrified fifteen year old could see a face made from hands. In fact, she could see many faces now. A lot of them were smiling or smirking at her and it made her feel more conscious of herself than ever; some of those places the hands were holding onto her, disgusting!
"Where do up and down lead to?" As much as she hated talking to these... things... she had to find out where they would take her.
"Well," another hand-face spoke to her, "if you choose up we'll take you back to where you were before."
"But if you choose down," yet another interjected, "you'll go straight into an oubliette, and who knows where that will lead you?" They were smirking at her now, unnerving her to the very core.
"I thought this way was supposed to lead straight to the Castle," Sarah cried out.
"It does," spoke the first pair of hands, "You just have to ask the way forwards."
Looking at the jeering face, Sarah quickly made up her mind. "Fine, take me the way that leads straight to the Castle beyond the Goblin City." The next moment, Sarah regretted choosing that path as she was flung downwards head first. It felt like she was freefalling down the hole, the wind rushing past her face, making her eyes water.
All too soon she came to a stop in a large lake beneath the ground. Surfacing, Sarah dragged in a long lungful of air, taking another one in almost immediately afterwards. Paddling, she managed to stay adrift in the calm water and took the time to survey her surroundings. The pool seemed deeper than any ocean she had ever heard of, the bottom invisible from the glassy surface. Even though she pushed her arms through the water again and again, the glass like surface remained as flat as the mirror that adorned her vanity at home. Oh how she missed her home and bedroom, the many dresses that hung in her wardrobe and the masses of tiaras and crowns she had fashioned for herself. Mostly she missed her stuffed toys that adorned the shelves above her bed, Lancelot the yellow teddy bear being the first to come to mind.
Something brushing against her leg brought Sarah out of her daydream. Looking down, she saw bright fish amassing around her floating body, glowing from some unknown source of luminescence. Entranced by them, she timidly let her arm reach out to one of the strange fish. It danced against her hand, curiously warm and playful. It almost seemed as if it were smiling to her. Smiling back, she was shocked when the shoal started pushing her along in the water. It was tiring enough just staying afloat without having to fight off the fish as well. "Hey!" Sarah started but one of the fish leapt up and kissed her on the cheek, effectively silencing her. Glowing fish were odd enough, but when they started kissing you? Maybe it was the Goblin King's abnormal take on The Frog Prince. Sarah wouldn't put it past him to warp something as beautiful as a fairy tale.
For almost five minutes the fish playfully dragged Sarah along with them, warming her with their bodies to stave off the cold of the pool. Even so, Sarah was still getting tired from the constant paddling she had to do. In the end she couldn't take the exhaustion anymore and sank beneath the water, letting its cool glassiness cover her face and hair. Down she sank, slowly, calmly, until her feet reached the bottom of the pool. Fighting for air, Sarah looked above her and realised how close to the surface she was still. Maybe if she swam for a few more minutes she might reach the edge of the pool...
Struggling, Sarah began to push her way through the water once more, fighting to reach the surface and vital air. Breaking through the plane of the water, she gasped in air, shivering with the cold. Twice now she had been dunked underwater and the cold was sapping what little strength she had left quickly. Thankfully the fish somehow knew of her predicament and swarmed around her again, fighting off the cold once more. Like a guiding hand, they pulled her though the water until she reached the shore of the lake. Collapsing, she brushed her fingers through damp sand, lying on her front and happy to be once more on dry land.
Sarah was exhausted from her dip in the lake and before she knew it her eyes had closed and she fell victim to the bringer of sleep. As her vision faded she heard again that sexless voice calling out to her. Sleep sweet Sarah, there is plenty of time left to rescue your dear brother...