Sorry about the lack of updates people!
Disclaimer: Labyrinth is not mine. But I would like my own Ludo one day!
13
Jareth flew up out of the Chamber of Stairs through corridors and up yet more stairs, ducking and weaving and startling the Goblin guards on duty on his way to the Armoury. He shifted back into his human form outside the door and the two Goblins guarding it bowed as he passed.
The room was mostly full of Goblin sized armour and weapons. Short swords, axes, hammers, baseball bats (Jareth always wondered where they came from) and maces for the most part. He walked straight to the back of the long room to where his own armour stood of its own accord.
Jareth had been trained in combat by the Goblns and had taught himself some basic martial arts out of books in the library and had even attained a supposed black belt from some sort of shonky Karate by Korrespondence course he had come across Above during the Karate Kid fad in the 80's. He practiced against the goblins and even some nasty enchanted suits of armour but had never actually been in a battle before.
He stood and gazed at the armour he hadn't worn since it had been fitted for him who knew how long ago.
"Guards!" he called. The two Goblins from outside scurried in.
"Yes Majesty?" one asked nervously.
"Assist me. Get me into this contraption." He waved his hand at one of the suits. This one was mostly chain mail with a black breastplate and a replica of his insignia done in silver on the chest. After some bustling about on the part of the Goblins and poking and prodding into areas the Goblin King found most uncomfortable he was dressed in his armour. Jareth glanced at the helmet. Black metal with a half-visor and decorated with white feathers. He liked the look of it, although it was going to mess up his hair something shocking.
He grabbed his weapon of choice from its rack, a black-hilted double-edged sword. There were guns available but he had designed these himself from books in the library and available technology, and the things were quite unstable. They were really only used by Goblins for New Years Eve celebrations when they ran out of fireworks.
He looked around, mentally reminding himself to install a mirror in the armoury for the next epic battle. He turned to the Goblins.
"How do I look?" he asked.
"Most fearsome Your Majesty." One said.
"Pure awesomeness!" said the other. Clearly Jay-isms were entering the Underground vocabulary. Jareth gathered up some backup weaponry and left the room. He wondered what Sarah would think of his clinking outfit. He felt rather dashing...
She would laugh. Out loud. Her sense of style was not one of her strong points.
He made his way through the city shouting orders mostly consisting of "Don't light that fuse yet!" and "Don't hold it by the pointy end, you fool!" at his Goblin army. Morale was still high. The Goblins loved their king and were happy for attention from him, even if he was shouting at them. Jareth would have liked to be viewing the opposing army from above in owl form but he couldn't shift while carrying all that armour. Instead he spun a crystal and held it in his hand. Show me my enemy, he commanded it.
The crystal blurred and then showed him the massing army. It wasn't as big as he had feared, but with it was a machine of enormous proportions. He had never seen such machines outside of books, but it looked like a cross between a steam engine and a tank made of copper and bronze. It had huge tracks instead of wheels, heavy armour on the front and a chimney belching steam out the top of its cab. It puffed steam and sat, ready to go. Jareth wondered what use it would be to the army. The entire labyrinth stood between the army and the city.
Then the crystal blurred again and Jareth saw the Emperor. He was standing on top of one of the towers of Jareth's castle. Jareth frowned. What would he possibly be doing up there? Then he saw his Goblin Mage and teacher and his heart froze. The two faced each other. They seemed to be speaking, and then the Emperor struck the mage, picked up the small, frail Goblin, and threw him from the tower.
"No!" Jareth shouted, but it was too late. The Mage was gone.
And so was the enchantment protecting the city. The air shimmered around him. No one saw it but him and the Emperor.
The crystal showed the Emperor pace backwards and forwards on the tower. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. The powder! Jareth cursed his stupidity in letting the Emperor leave the Chamber of Stairs alive. The powder ignited and sent up a jet of thick, black smoke that exploded above the castle like a firework.
"All Goblins man your stations!" Jareth shouted. They scuttled off to where they were meant to be. Jareth wasn't sure what would happen next. The army as still on the other side of the Labyrinth encircling the city.
He scried out Ludo's location with a crystal and teleported directly to him. Ludo was knocking two Goblins' heads together and hurling them on the ground.
"No time for lunch! Get to work!" he howled. Jareth approached the hairy beast.
"Ludo!" he barked. It turned and faced him, scowling.
"Where Sawah?" it demanded.
"She's in the castle at the very bottom of the Chamber of Stairs. She said for you to meet her there." Jareth said. "Now it's your turn to take care of her for me." Ludo's eyes lost some of their hostility.
"I go now! King Jareth go inside, this Goblin work now." he shouted as he loped away, still ordering Goblins into position as he went. Jareth mentally reminded himself to promote the creature later. He was a very useful Goblin-wrangler. As for Jareth waiting inside...that wasn't going to happen.
Suddenly a cry went up amongst the Goblin and the sounds of metal striking metal echoed through the city. Jareth could smell the acrid burning travelling powder the enemy had used to bypass the Labyrinth.
Oh dear. On cue a little bat flapped around Jareth's head several time and then clung to his black cape. Jareth breathed a sigh of relief.
"You did well Mage. Thankyou." He said. "Go and get somewhere safe." The mage-bat let go and flapped away.
Jareth teleported up on top of a wall for a better view. There were a few hundred of the enemy within his walls already scattered and in a heated battle with his troops. Jareth knew the powder was expensive and hard to come by; this was as many as would be transported inside the walls.
This would be easier than he had hoped.
He appeared in a quiet spot where several Goblins stood not currently engaged.
"Escort me." He commanded. He strode through the narrow streets gathering Goblins as he went. He soon had several boar-mounted Goblins, a handful of foot-soldiers and a mechanical suit following him. He walked front and centre cutting down enemies as they went. The escort grew and as their reputation spread the enemy fled before them. The Goblins and the Nameless ones separated and the two armies stood face to face, ready to clash. The Goblins cackled. The Nameless stood silent with masks hiding what Jareth knew would be expressions of hatred and contempt.
The Nameless truly hated their ancestors.
Jareth felt his anger rise at the enemy intent on killing his people.
"Kill the lot of them!" he roared. His Goblins cheered and rushed past him, clashing with the group of bronze-armored soldiers. Jareth hung back despite wanting to be in the thick of it all but had to content himself with the occasional soldier who broke through the ranks of his Goblins.
Another broke through and Jareth raised an eyebrow. This was no ordinary soldier. His mask was bronze rather than leather and his armour far more elaborate than the rest. Jareth grinned and bared his teeth at the commander in front of him.
"You dare challenge me, invader?" The creature said nothing but stood before him with twin curved swords in his hands. It lunged and swiped at Jareth, who motioned his small escort back. "This one is mine!" he said, swinging his double-ended sword around in an impressive arc that almost took the thing's head off. Almost. It ducked and rolled under the blade and swung at Jareth who only just blocked it in time.
He grinned at the challenge.
Their duel had attracted attention. A crowd of Goblins and the enemy formed around them, both seeming to have an unspoken agreement to not interfere. Jareth realised this may not have been the best idea he'd ever had. If he died (a strange concept) the battle was over, the King was dead. If he won, he'd killed a low-ranking commander. Big deal.
No, he said to himself, Sarah was still alive, safe down in the basement of the castle. Either way their side would win. Still he'd much prefer to go home to Sarah and act out that ravishing he'd been planning rather than go home in a box. He fought back against his fast, agile enemy who fought much better than the enchanted suits of armour he'd learned against. Jareth blocked another swipe aimed at his body and kicked the creature in the gut. It gasped, the first sign of pain it had shown so far. Encouraged Jareth swung low at the thing's feet and it just didn't jump high enough. It was knocked flat on its back with the pointy end of a blade held at its throat.
"Surrender." Jareth growled. It laughed. All of a sudden a deafening whistle could be heard echoing through the city. Jareth, with a massive effort, didn't flinch or move even as the creature laughed. All the Nameless were laughing now, and the Goblins were growling. Jareth's eyes narrowed, realising where that whistle was coming from.
The engine. In the heat of the battle they'd all forgotten about the engine.
"Here ends my mission, Goblin King." Hissed the commander. Jareth growled, swung the sword again and took the thing's head off. It flew and rolled over to the feet of one of the Goblins watching. Jareth stood and looked for the plume of steam coming from the engine. It was thick and moving towards them fast, still in the distance but...
There was a thundering crash as it struck the outer wall of the Labyrinth, and a cheer went up in the distance. Jareth's blood ran cold. So that's what the engine is for, he thought to himself. Another crash rang out and the second wall fell. With the Labyrinth in its sorry state the walls gave very little resistance to the huge machine and there was another crash.
The beauty of the Labyrinth was that to navigate it one had to traverse miles upon miles of obstacles, puzzles and, of course, the Bog of Eternal Stench. From outer to inner wall it really wasn't that big. No wonder the thing had grown in recent months. It was trying to defend itself from an attack it knew was coming.
It was no use. The walls were falling and it was only a matter of time until the engine was knocking on Goblin City's front gate, and thousands of the enemy would pour through the broken walls. Jareth spun a crystal in his hand.
"Sarah...we're done here. If you can escape go and get Jay from the Dwarf settlement to the North and take him Above." He paused. "I love you. Live a good life. If my brother is still alive...don't marry him. You can do better." He finished and sent it away. He turned to the Goblins and Nameless present, all of whom were watching the approach of the engine with open mouths.
"Goblins!" Jareth thundered. His voice snapped them all out of their daze. "Don't just stand there! Defeat the Nameless!"
Jareth let the Goblins rush past and charge the Nameless. He watched them cut down their outnumbered enemy, giving no opportunity for surrender or the taking of prisoners. If his city was to be destroyed then he would make sure the Goblins took as many of their enemy with them as they could.