Disclaimer: I own squat. As in nada, zero, zip of Labyrinth. Such a pity...
Well howdy! I know this update came super quick (even by my standards) but what can I say? When inspiration hits, it hits hard. ;)
Mucho shoutouts to my lovely reviewers: Kami74, A Gumshoe, Kypriothe, shm429, Georgina, XxXdawnXxX, fare-thee-well, and Joesette! You guys rock my socks and just for that, I baked not one, but TWO baskets of brownies for each of you! Eat and enjoy my friends ;D
Uber shoutouts to my two new followers: Amyloo12 and dark-angel-159753! For the pair of you I hath whipped up fresh delectable brownies for your eating pleasure ;D
And last but not least, to all those who took time out of their busy day to read my fic, I have provided each of you with a packet of my signature brownie mix, just add eggs. ;)
Chapter 11: The Den of Enduring Despair
Warm. Sarah snuggled deeper into the sheets. Toby would be up soon, and today was their weekly ice cream run. Groaning as she stretched, Sarah hissed in pain at the soreness of her muscles. Meaning to flip the covers off, Sarah ran her hand across the silky sheets.
Silk? Soreness? What the-?
Cracking open her eyes, Sarah gasped. Jolting up Sarah found that she was in the back end of a large room, in the middle of a large bed.
Midnight blue silk enveloped her and rubbed across her skin deliciously as she turned to view her strange surroundings. To her left was a gaping window that showed the vast expanse of the Labyrinth. Squawking of chickens and the high pitched laughing of goblins could be heard from inside the room. Swiveling to the right, a large rug could be seen gracing the floor. Squinting her eyes, Sarah focused on the rug. Was it..changing?
Similar to an enlarged crystal, the images it showed moved and twisted of their own accord. Hmmm. Weird. Blinking and shaking her head she turned further to see the rest of the room.
A small high-backed chair was positioned next to the bed and on it was a flower that had an excess of petals, each placed around the center so that they resembled a perfect star. Curious, Sarah picked it up and brought it to her nose. Inhaling deeply, the smells she remembered from her time in the Labyrinth overwhelmed her. Thankfully it kept to the more pleasant ones, such as the faint aroma of peaches and the musky smell that reminded her of Jareth, instead of other less desirable ones like the Bog.
Pulling it away from her nose, Sarah smiled and looked again at the chair. The only other object that was situated on it was a large white and gold feather.
Jareth must be flying around here somewhere, she thought absentmindedly to herself. Amazed at the lack of a splitting headache, Sarah reasoned that he couldn't be too far...no he wouldn't leave her for very long, she reassured herself.
Pushing the heavy blue comforter off of her body, she swung her legs so that they hung off the side of the bed. Frigid cold air from outside hit her feet and wound its way up to the middle of her calves.
Remembering that she had left her shoes on the orchard grass, Sarah groaned. Glancing down at the stone floor she saw two items that caused an ungraceful snort to escape her lips.
"He really does think of everything doesn't he?" She mumbled under her breath.
Near her feet, two slippers sat. One was shaped like a goblin and the other like a chicken. Chuckling to herself, Sarah slipped them on and walked towards the wide window. Looking out at the sprawling dark landscape, she was surprised at how serene everything seemed to be at this time of night.
A crystal moon illuminated the tops of the goblin houses, and she could see strange parts of the Labyrinth that weren't visible from ground level. To the right was the junkyard and the great forest, while straight ahead, was the Bog of Eternal Stench and the hedge section. Staring at an unfamiliar object in the center of the hedges, it slowly came into view.
It was huge! Big and circular, it looked to be a well.
Duh Sarah, where else are the goblins supposed to get their water, the pond out front? Her inner voice patronized.
Shrugging it off, Sarah continued to view the panorama. To the left, Sarah could see the towering peach trees from Jareth's orchard, but further down, an area that she didn't recognize became visible in the pale moonlight.
Dead trees spotted the ground, and what long ago might have been luscious green grass, was now dry and barren.
Hunkering animals clambered across that part of land, and as her vision adjusted to the unnatural darkness, she could see the glowing orbs of their eyes as they wandered aimlessly.
From where she was the top of the castle, they seemed tiny, but Sarah knew too well that in the Underground, nothing is as it seems.
A giant cave positioned in the center of the wasteland was riddled with jagged rocks. A lone creature had scaled to the top and appeared to be searching for something. Its' head swiveled from left to right slowly as if the object it was looking for was close and it didn't want to overlook anything.
As if it could feel her eyes on him, its' head snapped up, and a pair of glowing orange eyes penetrated the space between them. Unable to look away from the chilling stare, Sarah stood fixated on the abnormal animal. Watching as it threw back it's head, goosebumps erupted over her body as the distant wail was carried back to her on the breeze.
Hearing a faint click behind her, Sarah let out a small scream as she turned towards the door.
Breathing heavily in the doorway stood a small goblin...with what looked like a toilet plunger on its' head. Laughing at herself for being so jumpy, Sarah smiled at it.
Glancing down at the flower in her hand, she thought of Jareth. The goblin was probably here to let her know that he was back. Sighing in relief, Sarah knew that now that they were both safe, they could start the search for the wild fierys and her friends. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long before they sorted this mess with the forest out. And maybe when everything was taken care of...well, she'd just have to see how things pan out, she thought with a small smile.
Turning her attention back to the out-of-breath goblin, Sarah giggled because his small hands were on his knees and he was wheezing while attempting to speak.
"What is it?" She asked politely, fighting the urge to laugh in his face.
"M-my l-lady..." he managed to get out, gulping for air. "W-we tried, b-but we couldn't s-stop them...w-we even launched the c-chickens..."
Scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion, Sarah stared at the goblin. "I'm sorry, what's going on?"
Suddenly, the goblin's eyes shot open wide and it pointed a gnarled finger at the window. "Lady, behind you!"
That high pitched squeal was the last thing Sarah heard before two gangly red arms seized hold of her waist and forcefully flung her out of the window. Plummeting fast down the side of the high castle and towards the unforgiving ground, the only thing she could hear was the sound of her screams echoing in her ears.
Somewhere high above the Labyrinth, a pale gold owl dropped out of the sky.
Wow. The only thing I can possibly say is, trust me on this one. As always, please please please PLEASE review and let me know what you think! I would say penny for your thoughts, but luckily for you, reviewing is free :)