A.N. - I apologize to all the readers of this story for the delayed update; this chapter was giving me a bit of trouble at first. I hope everyone enjoys!

Infiltration

Dusk had settled in, the terrain had steadily risen, until Sarah realized that she was in the mountains. How different this all was compared to the last time she was in the Underground, and frankly she was a little nervous. She'd followed the Dark Fae for hours now and she could see their goal in sight. A towering building which looked as if it had been carved straight out of the mountains. The Ebony Fortress. True to its name, the walls were black. Torches lit up the massive metal doors. She began to inspect the outskirts of the fortress, looking for ways in. It was ironic to her how she finally found her entrance, for she knew that if she were herself again, she never would have smelled the rodents leaving through the grate that was obviously meant for drainage purposes. The odors emanating from the hole were unpleasant, but she'd smelled the Bog of Eternal Stench so she figured she could handle a bit of sewage stink. She squeezed her furry body through the grate bars and began her trek.

At one point, there was a fork in the tunnel with three outlets. She didn't want to waste time going down the wrong path, especially since she didn't know how much time she had to find the Princess. "Which way do I go?" She wondered out loud, not expecting an answer.

"Depends on where you want to get to," a small voice answered, startling her.

"Oh!" She gasped, upon finding a rather large rat peering up at her. "Hello, I wasn't expecting, well, a rat. How did you understand me?"

"First of all, my name is Simon. I don't understand your question though. All animals can understand each other in this realm, so you must have been stuck in a cave your whole life."

"Actually, I'm a human who's been turned into a fox."

"Hah! That's ironic."

"Why do you say that?"

"Nevermind that for now. So where is it that you wanted to go? Personally, I would leave this place if I were you, especially given that you're really human."

"I can't. I have to find the Princess they've captured."

"Which one? They have two."

"Two? How many Fae royalty have they captured?"

"No, there's only one Fae. The other one's the troll Princess."

"Why would the Dark Ones mess around with trolls?"

"The trolls took residence in this fortress after the Dark Ones got beaten the last time. So naturally they wanted their old hunting grounds back and to do that, they had to contend with the trolls. Most of the trolls were able to retreat to the woods of Shadeglen, but the Princess was captured and taken here."

"I'm surprised that the Dark Ones take prisoners at all. They kill any humans they've come into contact with."

"That's because they see themselves as superior to the mortal race. Here, in the Underground, they need hostages to negotiate with."

"Alright so where do I find the Princesses?"

"Take the middle path. That'll lead you right to the dungeon."

"Thanks, I appreciate your help."

"Good luck, you'll need it. By the way, you never introduced yourself and I'd like to know what human is crazy enough to take on the Dark Ones."

"I'm Sarah."

Simon let out a squeak, which made Sarah jump a little. "Are you Lady Sarah, Champion of the Labyrinth?!"

"Geez, word really does spread around here, doesn't it?"

"Everyone who is under the Goblin King's rule knows about you, rats being no exception."

"I didn't realize His Majesty was in charge of the rats."

"You must be careful, Lady Sarah. If you get into a bind in there, just remember your right words."

"I'm not going to make the mistake of wishing my brother away again," she frowned.

Simon shook his head, replying, "There is more than one way to call for His Majesty. Remember." And with that last advice, he left.

"Oh boy, I'm really getting into the thick of it now, aren't I?" Sarah murmured to herself.

As Simon had told her, she took the middle tunnel, which began to lead upward. She knew she was getting closer when she began to hear the murmur of voices. Finally, she reached the opening which was another set of bars set into the rock wall. The voices were clear now, though they were using a soft tone, and Sarah glanced into the room. She was immediately met by the shock of what, or who, was in the cage nearest to her. For there, obviously dead, was the body of a man with the head of a pig. Guess Dan didn't make it very far. Sarah gulped but didn't feel any guilt. Dan had made his choice and she wasn't responsible for his actions. She turned to get a look at the other prisoners. She was immediately taken by the young Fae woman who must be the Princess that Felruun had mentioned. The Princess appeared to be sixteen years old, but Sarah knew that Fae aged differently. The woman had long, curly platinum tresses and her build was slender. But it was her eyes which gave Sarah pause, for one was the blue of the ocean while the other was a golden brown. Sarah knew that this Princess was related to Jareth in some way. She tore her gaze from the Fae to take in the next prisoner. This one was also a woman, though she had skin the color of moss, her chestnut hair was bound into braid threaded through bones, and two of her bottom teeth protruded into small tusks at the corners of her mouth. This one must be the troll Princess, Sarah surmised, and she thought the creature quite prettier than she had imagined. There was a third prisoner, an older looking male who was perhaps around Karo's age, assuming he was human. This man was lean but fit, and he had mid-length auburn hair and a goatee to match. Sarah had no clue why the Dark Ones would bother with a man who was obviously not a royal Fae, but perhaps he was a nobleman. There was an air of familiarity about him, though. But the two Princesses where conversing and Sarah's ears perked up.

"I don't see why we can't work together to try and get out of here," the Fae Princess was saying.

"Look, I have no problem teaming up with you to get our asses out of this shit-hole. But the problem remains that we first have to get ourselves out of these cages and that's not going to happen anytime soon. Your magic isn't strong enough to break the magic cast on these bars and I don't use magic so we're between a rock and a hard place."

"You don't have to use such language, you know," the Fae grumbled, pouting.

"I'm a troll. Deal with it, sweet-cakes."

Sarah slid through the grate, revealing herself to the prisoners. "Hey, well what do you know," the troll woman called out, her tone mischievous, "looks like we're getting our rescue after all."

"Actually, that's exactly what I was planning to do," Sarah retorted, causing the troll to take measure of her.

"Nice come-back, foxy, but how do you plan on doing that? You may be able to talk like a person, but that doesn't make you magical."

"Thankfully, I do have a bit of magic. The only problem is that I'm not sure whether I can use it in this form. I only recently acquired my magic so I don't know what my limitations are."

The troll began laughing, saying, "Oh this is rich! Seriously, where did you come from?!"

"Princess Katiana, if you would kindly refrain from insulting our would-be rescuer, I'm certain we can all put our minds together and figure something out." It was the first time that the male prisoner had spoken, but Sarah was dumbfounded.

"Sir Didymus?!"