Disclaimer: All references to the characters Jareth & Sarah and the film Labyrinth belong to Jim Henson Studios and other pertinent parties. I do not claim ownership to the characters and / or the original source material.
King, Queen, Rook, Maze: Chapter 9. Encountering Certain Death (11 hours 30 minutes left)
The force of her body hitting the other side of the spiked pit sent the air out of her. Sarah clawed at the bricks to stop her from slipping into the pit. Her legs scraped up against the tips of the spikes, but Sarah didn't have time to grimace. She was falling.
Yet, at the last minute, her hand found a tree or vine root and stopped her descent. Breathing hard, she pulled and pushed her way up. She threw her leg up and pulled the rest of her body out of the pit. Looking back, she saw Certain Death ponder its current situation from the opposite side of the pit. Sarah smiled in spite of the fear and adrenaline coursing through her veins. He can't get across! He's too big! HA! I made it!
Sarah sat up and rose. Still grinning, she gave him a mock salute and turned to walk down the passageway. "So much for Certain Death…" she muttered under her breath.
Something heavy chinked and fell behind her. Sarah turned as a whistling noise punctuated the air. The massive axe barely missed her as it went spinning past her. The blade sank into the ground with a "ka-CHUNK." A low chuckle came from the monster. It had removed its helm. An ugly, battered and scarred a troll with no right eye or nose. It showed off its few remaining teeth in what Sarah guessed was a smile.
Certain Death began to strip off more of its armor. "Better run. I like a warm meal." Sarah watched in horror as the heavy metal gauntlets, chest plate, and vambraces fell to the ground. She cursed her luck silently. She did not look back until she reached the next passage. Looking back again, she noticed Certain Death climbing the stone brick wall. Somehow his size did not stop him from finding footholds; actually his height allowed him to simply pull himself up the wall. He reached the top and gave her another grisly smile.
"This will be fun," it rumbled as it started to run across the top of the wall toward her. Panic gripped Sarah as her blood ran cold. Fear made her feet fly once again.
When Certain Death dropped down from the top of the wall, she felt the ground shake underneath her feet. She had been blinding turning down one passageway and the next just to stay ahead of the creature. It kept getting closer, almost within reach. It was easily three heads taller and heavier by three times; yet it kept coming. She skittered to a stop when she came upon a courtyard. The stone walls had been replaced by black and brown hedges overgrown with weeds. Gray statuary covered in dead moss dotted the corners. She noted two passageways plus the one she came from. A pile of rusty weapons up against what looked to be a statue of a limbless nymph turning into a tree rested in one corner. Another statue of a headless female rested in the other corner by the second passageway. Beside her a statue of a fat satyr sitting atop turtle rested on the largest plinth.
"Girlie…" called out Certain Death. Sarah didn't have a moment to lose. She ran for the corner with the limbless nymph and climbed on top of the statue's square base. The stench hit her before she even looked around to see if Certain Death had entered the courtyard. "Girlie? Where are you? Come out and play."
His voice grated against her nerves, and she tensed hearing the voice coming closer. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of his foot. She heard the rusty weapons clatter to the ground. Now or never! Heave ho! With a grunt, she pushed against the statue and sent it tumbling down from its pedestal. Certain Death howled in pain as the statue hit him. Standing on top of the pedestal, Sarah noted quickly that she had merely hit the creature's right arm with the statue. Jumping down she pushed over the pedestal in order to force the creature further away from her. She turned to run through the nearest passage, but to her astonishment, it had sealed itself off.
Quickly, Sarah turned back around and dove for the tattered sword hilt. Certain Death staggered forward and chuckled as Sarah got to her feet. She kept the broken statuary and pedestal between herself and Certain Death. She pointed the sword at him for good measure.
"Smart girlie…" it grunted. Sarah looked again at Certain Death. With its green and grey motley skin, it wore a blackened hauberk and leggings. Where the statue had hit it, a white bone in its fore arm stuck out from the skin. Certain Death didn't seem to register the fact its black blood flowed freely from the wound. With its left hand, it pushed the broken statuary away like kindling. Its black left eye winked at her. It lunged forward at the same time as Sarah.
She held the sword in both hands and felt it bite deep into the creature's belly. A noxious smelled filled the already sickening smell in the air. Black blood began to pour out of Certain Death's belly. Sarah turned her gaze from the mortal wound to the creature's face. It hadn't grimaced; it had pulled its lips back to reveal ghastly gums covered in black blood. As if time had slowed, Sarah watched in horror as Certain Death began to move forward up the sword. She felt the sword slide deeper and deeper as Certain Death inched forward. She couldn't move. She couldn't let go of the sword. Absolute terror froze her.
"The prettier they are, the better they taste…" it said in a dark voice. Black blood fell out of its mouth. The sound of the creature's voice broke through her fear. Sarah let go of the sword but not before Certain Death grabbed her tattered shirt sleeve on her right arm with its left hand. "The King won't mind if I have a bite."
Sarah spun and lunged forward to grab the broken shaft of the halberd from off the ground with her left hand. Certain Death pulled and her shirt ripped at the shoulder's seam. She adjusted her grip, spun back around, and swung hard as hard as she could.
The blade at the end of the shaft found its mark. Embedded into the creature's skull, the halberd blade had bitten at least five inches deep. Where Certain Death's right eye should have been, there was the halberd and the broken shaft. Certain Death's good left eye blinked once and it staggered back. It pulled down her, refusing to let go, as Certain Death fell to its right side. The body twitched once and remained still. Sarah pulled herself free and staggered back a few steps.
"Well done, precious," came the Goblin King's voice in a tone of admiration from behind her. Frantically she looked around the courtyard seeing nothing. Then he emerged from behind a statue of the fat satyr riding a turtle. A fitted, brown leather jacket with a high collar was accented by the soft ruffles of his white shirt. He wore black gloves, pants, and mid-calf boots, all made from the same soft leather. "I didn't think you had it in you to take a life…"
Sarah felt herself shaking from the adrenaline coursing through her body. She gritted her teeth. She wanted to scream at the Goblin King. She wanted to throttle him.
"Enough of the games, Gobiln King. This isn't fair," Sarah commanded in a dark tone. She inched herself closer to the weapons. She tried to relax her clenched fist.
"Life's unfair, my dear," he replied with another cold, arrogant smile. "I warned you…"
Before she could grab another rusty weapon and turn to throw it at him, the Goblin King had disappeared from the courtyard. A hand brushed away the damp hair from the back of her neck, and something cold blew against her. Caught off guard, Sarah turned to punch him with her clenched fist. Her hand went straight through him. He's not actually here… she realized as she staggered forward. She caught herself and turned to see the Goblin King give a devilish smirk. He appeared transparent.
"You bastard!" she shouted angrily in frustration.
"Tsk, tsk. Such language is unbecoming of a young lady," his voice whispered before a chorus of goblins joined in his laughter. His false image faded away into nothing. She stood there fuming – shaking ever so slightly, fearful and angry. Several minutes passed before Sarah found any calm.
Warily, she walked through the courtyard to find a means out. All of the passageway entries had re-opened. Figures. The Goblin King must've blocked them in order to force me to fight Certain Death. She took the first path to her right. After two more turns to the right, she found herself back in the courtyard. She took the second path. After a right turn, she found a dead end. In going back, she couldn't go to the left. Sarah refused to go back the way she had come (and she refused to look at the puddle of black blood forming underneath the creature known as Certain Death). So, she tried the first path again, but instead of turning right, she went to the left. Without anywhere else to go, she turned right then left then right again.
As she found herself going straight for a ways, she found her mind wandering back to what just happened. She started to analyze the situation when she heard a faint click underfoot. Her foot had depressed a brick into the ground. She heard a soft whirring of gears in motion and then brick moving against brick. The walls around her were slowly moving in by sections.
[A/N: Poor Sarah. No luck at all. Attempts on her life: 2]