Chapter 14
Jareth looked around wildly, still not able to see the staff here at Ankou's castle. "Who? Who's attacking?"
"The Shadow People!"
Jareth tensed, glancing around sharply as Brigid screamed and pointed. Sarah looked over her shoulder and felt the first flicker of real fear spark to life inside her as the mirrors of the small ballroom rippled and darkened, a piercing wail reverberating against the walls.
Clapping her hand over her ears, Sarah screamed just as a few mirrors shattered around them. Jareth yelled something she couldn't make out, dropping to his knees and roughly shoving her underneath the piano just as the chandelier that hovered above their heads crashed to the floor.
"Get Ankou!" Sarah screamed at the maid, cutting her hands on a few flying shards of glass as she and Jareth tried to shield themselves from the debris.
The room darkened and Sarah willed herself to be strong, risking a glance around the room from the minimal safety under the piano.
What she saw made her moan in fear, a low, gut wrenching sound that tore its way from deep in her chest. Shadow People billowed out of the fractured mirrors, funneling into a frothing dark mass in the center of the ballroom. She opened her mouth to scream when she felt it turn and see her, Jareth jerking her back just in time, the beings slamming against the top of the piano, sending a loud discordant noise through the room.
"Stay here!" he barked, rolling out from underneath the piano and grappling with a long shard of glass. She watched as he cut his hands in an effort to hold the makeshift weapon, swinging it futilely at the angry mass of Shadow People.
Suddenly, time stilled. She watched Jareth fight, feeling tears flood her eyes, knowing what she had to do. "I'm sorry, Jareth," she whispered, knowing he wouldn't hear. "Forgive me. I love you."
Slipping out from underneath the piano, she backed up slowly, ignoring the stabbing pain that shot through her feet as she cut her heels on the shards of glass scattered across the floor, hoping the scent of her blood would grab their attention.
It did.
Just as they were about to overwhelm Jareth, they stopped and turned. Jareth noticed and turned as well, seeing her. Panic flooded his face as he tensed, raising a pleading hand to her. "Sarah, don't!"
"I love you," she whispered with a sad smile. He let out a harsh exhale on hearing her words.
She didn't wait to see his response. Turning and calling on all the energy she had, Sarah bolted down the hall, the Shadow People on her heels.
Jareth tried to follow her. But he found himself held fast by a few of the Shadow People who had given up the pursuit in order to restrain him. Thick, icy cold limbs wrapped tightly around him. He struggled against them in vain.
Not like this, he thought. Not when we've finally found each other.
He began to give in to the despair the washed over him, even as he struggled to follow her. The Shadow People, sensing his failing spirits, screamed in triumph, stripping the powerless life from him.
Jareth closed his eyes, sending up a silent prayer to Danu - Please not like this.
In the next moment both he and the Shadows were blown against the wall. Jareth was still intact when he landed. The Shadow People were not. The next sensation he felt was the curious and rapturous pain of all his cells waking up at once. Shaking with the pain and pleasure of all of his considerable power being shoved back into him at once, he cried out wordlessly, falling to his hands and knees as he rode out the sensations. When the feeling passed, he raised his eyes from the ground and tried to rally his senses.
Before him stood Ankou, King of the Reapers. No longer the amiable host, but a sallow and vicious thing - claws out, teeth bared, and eyes glowing with fury.
"Get. Up," he hissed at Jareth.
"They're after Sarah! We're under attack!" Jareth had regained his voice. His chest heaved from the shock of his powers being returned.
"Go after her." Ankou growled his orders to Jareth. "Fight them as best you can. I'll head them off from a different direction! Hurry!"
Jareth sprang into action and started running in the direction that Sarah had gone. Hoping he wasn't too late.
As soon as Jareth left the room, Shadows chasing him as he went, Ankou also disappeared. He had told Jareth to find Sarah, but the King of the Dead already knew exactly where she was.
Ankou materialized in a darkened stairwell not terribly far from the music room. The steps curved down away from him, plunging into the darkness below. Sarah had gone down there. Before he started his own descent, Ankou paused for a moment, listening for any hint that Jareth was nearby.
He was in luck. It appeared that Jareth had gone the other way. The hallway above him was silent. From below, the low rasping sound of chanting voices could be heard. The sound spurred him into action once again.
Moving silently, he darted down the stairs, still in the guise of the King of the Dead. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, his heart began to pound.
Sarah was sprawled on the cold stone floor not far from the foot of the stairs. Her cheek was pressed against the smooth stones and her eyes were closed. She looked as though she had been running when she hit the floor, but her position could also have been the result of a fall down the stairs. Ankou was unable to tell which had befallen her.
Either way, it didn't matter. Because when he stretched out his senses, looking for her life force, he couldn't find it. His heart stopped. He was too late!
Just as he was about to give in to despair he sensed it. The tiniest flicker of life from Sarah. She moaned softly, her eyelids fluttering. She was still fighting them!
With an angry roar, the King of the Dead charged the Shadow People, scattering them up the hallway. He stood over Sarah's still form like a vengeful guardian angel, shredding every Shadow he could get his claws on.
The killing seemed endless, but still they came- wave after wave of them, all intent on snuffing out the fragile life that flickered dangerously low beneath him. As he fought, his anger at his own stupid mistake roiled within him, and the thought of what it had almost cost him spurred him on. If he hadn't taken Jareth's magic, then the Goblin King would have been better equipped to fight the Shadow People and Sarah might not be lying nearly dead at his feet. As it was, he still wasn't sure that he would be able to clear the area of Shadows in time.
The very thought that he could still fail sent him into a blind rage. He whirled from side to side, mechanically hunting out every Shadow he could find and crushing it into nothing.
Eventually, Ankou reached out to destroy the next Shadow, only to find that there were none left. They had all either been destroyed or fled from the wrath of the Reaper King.
I took him a moment to realize that there were no more enemies to fight. Ankou stood still, blinking in the dim light of the hallway before he rushed back to Sarah, heedless of his appearance. His features slipped back to the more familiar ones of the Fae as he knelt down beside mortal woman.
With a shaking hand, he reached out to check her pulse at the neck.
Boom...boom...
It was slow and it was weak, but it was still there. Ankou sighed, he couldn't take any more chances. More Shadows could come at any moment. He had to make sure the release of power wouldn't wind up in their hands. He wrapped his hand firmly around the jaw of the helpless woman on the floor...
...and snapped her neck.
Sarah opened her eyes to find herself in a bright white landscape. It was utterly silent. Some distance away a thin wall of strange, grey energy rippling lazily across into infinity. A hand on her should startled her and she whirled around in alarm.
Ankou was standing before her, but not as she knew him. He still looked tired, but now he seemed much more like that young man in the crystal than the Reaper King. She quirked a questioning eyebrow at him, indicating his appearance.
"This is what my soul looks like. As there are three castles, there are three kings: The Reaper, the Lord, and the Man."
Sarah appraised her own body. She felt strong, stable, and very relaxed. "Am I dead?" she queried.
He nodded solemnly, watching her closely. Not everyone took the news of their death well.
"Did we win? Is Jareth alright?"
He took a deep breath. He should have known that she would ask about him before worrying about herself. "Almost," he replied.
"What do you mean, 'almost'," she asked sharply.
"There is one opportunity to save him," Ankou told her. "It would also allow you to be together."
"What?! How?! Why didn't you say anything before?" Sarah wailed.
His voice remained even, almost rehearsed as he explained. He had only one chance to get this right. "Suffice to say, it was not possible before now. Even I cannot defeat them all at once."
He picked up her left hand, indicating the ring. "But, as Goblin Queen AND Queen of the Dead, you could do so easily." He looked her in the eye. "You must accept my mantle. I will take your place in the afterlife."
He watched for some reaction but saw nothing. Sarah's attention was riveted on him, but nothing in her expression told him what she was thinking or feeling. He swallowed hard and continued, "This may seem like a great boon I am granting you. But truthfully, I yearn to rest. Be warned, if you accept this burden, it must be with an open heart. If not, everything will be lost."
Ankou paused for a beat, then he spoke again, a pleading note creeping into his voice despite his best efforts to banish it. "Please, Sarah, release me from my servitude."
He watched her face, waiting for her reaction. She was clearly trying to process everything he told her. Then, slowly, understanding dawn on her face and her eyes focused on him once more. Rather than the acceptance he had hoped to see, her gaze was full of anger and betrayal.
"This was your plan! You arranged all of this to happen so that you could be free!" Her voice grew higher and louder with outrage. "Did you sic the Shadow People on me too? How deep does your treachery run? How could you?!" At the last she started beating him with her fists in a blind flurry, he caught her arms.
"I did not set those things on you. Your death, and the consequences thereof, could not be avoided. But some good could be brought from it and yes, I brought it about in such a manner that it enabled you to take my place."
He looked into Sarah's bright eyes, allowing his own great sadness and hope to shine in his own, willing her to see it.
"Please. Save him. Save me."
After several tense minutes, Ankou saw the anger drain out of her body. She had made her decision. He could only pray that she had made the one he had hoped she would make in this moment.
"What must I do?"
Quicker than lightning Ankou pulled out a shard of obsidian. He made a shallow cut in his palm, then reached out to do the same to hers. There was no pain. He grasped her bleeding hand in his.
"Repeat after me: I, Sarah, accept the mantle of the Servant of Death. Until the reaping of the stars, I yield my fidelity."
Sarah said the words, but Ankou was plagued with doubts. Was it enough? Was she ready? Was she really certain enough to give herself over to this path, fully and unconditionally?
"When will we know if it works?"
"Soon." He said with a tight voice.
Taking a short breath, Ankou stepped forward. A great power began to stir the air around them, whipping their clothing around them. Sliding his hand around her head to cup the back of her neck, he brought his lips down over hers, kissing her forcefully.