Chapter 3

The Goblin King


Cautiously, Kagome stepped back into the room, swallowing hard at the lack of crying from her younger brother. "Shippo? Why did you stop crying?" She walked towards the crib, saw movement, and began to relax. But something about this just didn't seem right. "Shippo?" She called again as she reached the crib, reaching in to pull the blankets up only to gasp in shock. He wasn't in the crib.

"Shippo?"

A crash behind her made her whirl, lightening struck in the distance and thunder boomed overhead. Her heart raced wildly in her chest as fear shot through her. Her raven black hair tangled behind her as she spun to meet the strange noises in the room. Once she thought she saw some kind of creature scrambling to get under the bed, but the persistent tapping at her parents' balcony doors commanded her full attention.

She saw a flash of white feathers as the owl tapped on the window and then Kagome found herself screaming and throwing her arms up to cover her face as the doors flew open and the owl soared inside. But then the sounds stopped and an eerie quiet fell about the room. Slowly, she lowered her arms and stared at the exotic beauty standing before her. For a moment, she was stunned into silence, but then she began to realize what was going on. "You're him, aren't you? You're the Goblin King!"

He simply smiled, a beautiful sight. "That I am. Lord Sesshoumaru, king of the goblins." Kagome studied his appearance carefully, intrigued, but also a little afraid. His long silver hair reached the small of his back, clean purple streaks marked his pale cheeks and he had the most beautiful golden eyes she'd ever seen.

"I have to have my brother back,"

"What's said is said, Kagome. You wished me to take him away and so I have,"

"But please, majesty, I have to have my brother back."

"I have a present for you, Kagome," He lifted his right and produced a clear crystal ball which he rolled along his hands smoothly, gracefully.

"W-what is it?"

"It's a crystal, nothing more. But," He smiled at her, making her swallow hard again. "If you turn it this way...and then that way...It'll show you your dreams. Take it, Kagome, and forget the baby,"

"I can't. It's not that I don't appreciate what you're doing...but I have to get Shippo back."

"Kagome," He grabbed her hand and shoved the crystal into it, smirking. "Don't defy me,"

Startled, she stared down at the crystal ball and screamed as it transformed into a coiled snake poised to sink his fangs into her flesh. "No!" She dropped it, staring at the goblin that it transformed into as it crashed onto the hardwood floor. "Where is Shippo?"

Annoyed, Sesshoumaru walked around her. "There, in my castle," He pointed through the window and she stared at the sight before her.

"There?" She stepped forward, felt wind bombard her and found herself in a land not her own. Sesshoumaru was still behind her, grinning flatly. "That's the Labyrinth?"

"Yes,"

Forcing a bit of arrogance, Kagome folded her arms over her chest. "It doesn't look very far,"

"It's further than you think, Kagome," He rested his cheek against her ear and stroked her neck with his sharp claws. "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us forever," He motioned towards the thirteen hour clock hanging on a tree branch beside them and came to stand beside it, still smiling. "Such a pity," And then he was gone, vanishing with the wind.

Kagome stared at the spot where Sesshoumaru and the clock had just been and shivered as she turned to watch the sun rise over the labyrinth.