"I don't know how you can be so calm."

The question came out of nowhere, disrupting the comfortable silence that Sarah and Ezra had been walking in for the past few minutes.

Sarah turned to face her companion- her newfound ally- and raised her eyebrows in questioning.

"Calm about what?" she asked, even though part of her already knew what he was going to say,

"This-this whole thing. Some magical Goblin King has stolen away your little brother, for the second time, I might add, and also, from what you've told me, said Goblin King wants to own your mind, body and soul. Yet you have been swanning down this damn never-ending corridor, looking as though you aren't bothered by any of it." He said, gesturing wildly to the stone walls around them, as if to illustrate his point.

Sarah eyed him closely and thought she could detect just a hint of admiration in his voice, as if he reckoned she was coping much better with the Labyrinth than he was.

She didn't agree with this at all, and was about to remind him of the shrieking wreck she had been when they had first bumped into each other, but then thought better of it.

It gave her a tiny bit of pleasure to know that someone as seemingly brave and perfect as Ezra saw her as some sort of warrior princess.

"I've been here before, so I'm a bit more used to the surroundings than you are. Also, mine and my brother's futures are both at stake: I want to keep a clear head, so I can try to solve the Labyrinth as quickly as possible." Sarah said, liking the wise tone that her voice had taken on.

"I guess..." Ezra's voice trailed off, and he locked eyes with Sarah once more before he spoke again. "But I sure as hell never believed this place would be real. When I wished Lizzie away- I was pissed off, y'know? I was trying to do my homework and she wanted me to play with her. She just wouldn't leave me alone. So, I snapped. I wished her away, not really believing in what I was saying. Let's be honest, nobody our age would believe in something like that, not really. But my words were real. And so is...he. It's crazy how my stupid anger could cost my sister her life in our world." He said, looking so lost in that moment, that Sarah could barely fight the urge to put her arms around him in comfort.

"I did." Sarah said softly, continuing when a puzzled look graced Ezra's face. "I believed in...him before I came here. But I never thought he, or the Labyrinth, would be like this. So cruel and unfeeling."

It was true. Before she met the King, she had never imagined him like he really was- inhumane and evil.

Instead, she had almost imagined him as one of the good guys.

A mysterious, terrifyingly handsome stranger who had come to relieve Sarah of her babysitting duties for a couple of hours.

She knew now how stupid she had been.

"Someone who steals babies and little kids away for a living was never going to be nice, Sarah." Ezra said plainly.

"Yeah, I know that now." Sarah said, looking away from him and glancing down the long corridor before them.

Only when she did so, she noticed something that had not been there before.

"Look!" she said excitedly, grabbing Ezra's arm and pointing ahead.

When Ezra saw what she was looking at, he smiled in relief: the corridor had ended. Instead of just walking forward, they now had the option of going left or right.

"Which way do you want to go?" Ezra asked, seemingly okay with either way.

"Let's try left." Sarah said, without taking the time to think it over. She couldn't explain why, it was just her gut instinct. It was as if something was pulling her towards it. Something unknown.

Upon turning left, they came up across a door in the wall.

Sarah reached to open it, but was held back by Ezra's hand on her upper arm.

"I think I should go in first." He said, by way of explaining.

Sarah shook herself free of his hold.

"What-in case I get eaten up by the big bad wolf?" she asked cynically.

Although Sarah secretly would have much preferred it if Ezra went through the door first, she didn't want him to start treating her like a pathetic little girl.

Even if she acted like one at times...

"I think we both know it's a bit late for that." He said, matching her tone perfectly. Nonetheless, he moved away from the door and bowed low at the waist in a joking gesture, seemingly trying to ease the tension.

"After you then, milady." He smiled.

"Why thank you, sir." Sarah laughed, stepping forward to turn the handle and step through the doorway.

However, what Sarah didn't know is that would regret her decision to walk through that doorway first for perhaps the rest of her entire life.

For when she saw what-or, technically who- was on the other side of the door, she screamed.

She screamed true and loud, for what felt like the thousandth time that night, but must have only been the third.

Her attempt at bravado in front of her new found male friend was long forgotten, for the sight that lay before her chilled her to the bone.

"Oh my God." Ezra said from behind her, obviously having entered through the doorway as well. "Sarah...who is that?"

But Sarah couldn't reply, for every time she opened her mouth in an attempt to answer his question, another guttural scream forced its way up through her throat.

The sight before her was so horrific.

She just couldn't stop screeching.

A pair of warm arms wrapped around Sarah from behind, trying to shield her from her pain.

It was no use.

For all the soft embraces in the world could not change what had happened.

They wouldn't stop the burning feeling coursing through her veins.

Nothing could bring back the brave, dead man in front of her, lying bloodied and beaten on the floor, glassy eyes staring blankly up into the sky.

So when Sarah finally regained her voice, she had only the strength to whisper two words that made her heart ache.

"Oh Hoggle."


So yeah: Hoggle's dead. I have no regrets- this is a horror, after all. It'll be living up to it's rating and genre from now on, methinks.

Why? How? You'll see next chapter...

Reviews=quicker updates.

Thanks for all the reviews. I read and appreaciate each one of them so much :)

mysticrox123

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