Chapter Ten: Have Faith In Me

Toby was about ready to tear his hair out. The walls kept moving, doors appeared out of nowhere… Hell, there wasn't even anything in the book to help him anymore. With every new obstacle, he felt as though he was losing more and more. The castle seemed further away than ever as he looked up at it from his spot. Hoggle stopped in front of him and watched sympathetically. The Labyrinth only allowed its denizen's safe passage, and even then you never went the same path.

"This is hopeless! How are we supposed to get to the castle if the walls never stay the same?! THIS ISN'TFAIR!"Toby kicked the wall in an uncontrollable rage. He turned to the other wall and banged his fist against it with a scream ripped straight from his soul.

"Hey! Don't be hittin' the Labyrinth! It has a mind'a its own!" Just as Hoggle finished speaking, the ground beneath Toby opened up and he fell into a dark sleep...

o0o

There was a massive pounding in Toby's head as he awoke, like someone had taken a stick of dynamite and blown his head open. Everything around him was black except for where light shinned through the grate overhead, and even that was dull and dim. He felt a strange moment of panic as he realized that he had no idea how much time had passed as he had laid unconscious. He let out a scream of frustration as he threw his head back onto the ground.

"Damn you, Jareth! Damn it all!" He had fallen into a trap, one that was obviously meant to entrap the runner until the allowed time had passed. Until he failed. Slowly, very slowly, Toby moved into a sitting position. A tear slipped unbidden down his cheek as he thought of Sarah. Never before in his entire life had he ever felt so abandoned, so lost, so alone. Not even when his parents had died...

He stood up and leaned against the wall of the tunnel for support. Almost mindlessly he moved further into the darkness. Toby had read far enough into the book to realize that he was in the oubliette, the underground tunnel system in the Labyrinth. He used his hands to guide him in the darkness, feeling his way past sharp jutting rocks and sink holes in the ground.

His hand brushed over something on the wall and he paused, hope soaring in his chest. He felt more carefully and finally decided he was feeling wood. Then his hand brushed over metal and he almost cried with joy; it was a door! He turned the handle and fell inside. The light inside this new tunnel was almost blinding compared to the previous darkness. He stood back up and glanced around slowly. In the corner of the far end was a hanging ladder. Toby walked over to it and gave it a hard tug. The ladder stayed in place and Toby began to climb up, heading to the light at the top.

He came out the top inside the Labyrinth and jumped out of the vase. All around him the walls were covered in ivy and various flowers. As he spun slowly around, he heard someone crying out. "Toby! Where are ya?" The voice was Hoggle's searching for him. He sounded close, but Toby was beginning to understand that you couldn't take anything for granted in a place like this.

"I'm here Hoggle!" Around the corner came the dwarf, followed closely behind by a small fox-like creature on a shaggy sheep dog (Merlin?).

"My lord, thank goodness you remain unharmed!" The small creature was dressed in what seemed to be a court jester's costume. His voice was high-pitched and almost annoying. As hopped off the dog, he waved a scepter in the air, "I am Sir Didymus, at your service!"

"Sir Didymus? I thought you guard the bridge?" Toby smiled gratefully as Hoggle and Sir Didymus helped him sit down on a stone nearby. He hung his head low as he tried to breath, but his head was hurting too much for him to do much of anything.

"Well, I went an' looked fer him after you's fell into the oubliette. I need help to find yous." Hoggle crossed his arms, as if daring Toby to say anything about this almost imperceptible act of kindness. Instead, Toby just smiled and stood up.

"Then I think we need to get going. We don't have long to find Ludo and save Sarah. And I'm going to need everyone for this." Toby finally understood one thing out of everything else; He didn't need Sarah… He could do this, as long as he had everyone by his side. He was going to find Sarah and save her from the Goblin King or he was going to fail trying. And if he failed, then it didn't mean he hadn't tried hard enough. If he failed, he would call on the Goblin King again and again until he beat the Labyrinth and got his sister back.