"Does something trouble you, friend?" The man asked, gifting Link with an odd expression.

"Er, no, sorry." Link muttered awkwardly, then, in an attempt to change the subject: "Um, so...the exchange of stories?"

"I'd rather enjoy it. You two look as though you've got a few good tales, and I wouldn't mind telling my own." He said, a refined shine in his green eyes.

"Then let's sit. My story is a bit long." Link claimed.

The ranger sat in a wooden chair, and listened to Link's tale.

"I was right. A rather fine tale." He said with a smile.

"And you?" Link asked, gesturing with his hand for the stranger to begin his story. The smile and good humor left his expression, and he looked at the floor for a moment before looking back up at Link.

"My name's Jareth, and I've come here to find my wife. As you may be able to tell by my apparel, I'm more at home in a forest than here in a huge city. We used to live in the dense forests of this land, I'd hunt and defend us from the monsters that roamed through the forest. We were happy as any could be in this land. Then something happened. She claimed that she kept having dreams of a figure, clad in black, beckoning her to come to him. I pushed it off as simple nightmares, yet they persisted. One night, I awoke, and she wasn't there beside me. Some queer burst of initiative took me, and I grabbed my gear and began to track her. Her trail led me here, and through the city and towards one building. There was writing over the entrance, and from what I could make out it read, 'catacombs'. I would have entered straight away, but the entrance was locked. A huge stone stands between my beloved and I, marked by a golden triangle." Jareth said, the emotions of his voice swaying between sadness and grimness.

Link looked towards Ekron, then back to the ranger. "I can open that doorway."

Jareth's head suddenly came up, and his gaze was so intense that Link flinched.

"Then let's go." He said, rising from his chair.

"Of course." Link said, wondering how he could demand the orbis stone. "but...er...about the talisman on your neck..."

"What of it?" Jareth said as he exited the building, Link and Ekron in tow.

"I need it." Link said, blushing. "I hate asking for a payment, but I need it for my own goals."

"So be it." The man said, "You can get my trinket once I get my wife."

The building didn't seem to be all that big, but it reeked of intimidation. High cement walls rose into the air, inlaid with pillars adorned with skulls. Their deep eyesockets glared out at the world with bitter resentment. Over the stone block that Jareth had mentioned earlier, there sat a much larger horned skull. It stared down at the soon to be trespassers in an attempt to send them away.

Instead, Link raised his hand towards the door, which dispersed as it synced with his hand.

"Let's get at it." Jareth said smiling.

The band entered the dark of the catacombs, and were immediately greeted by a repulsive odor. To link it smelled like fruit that had been let ripe for far too long, and he had to force himself to not retch. Link was unsurprised to find it was dark down here, and brandished his gem of fire. Light filled the cavernous tunnels, and he found that almost countless passageways moved this way and that. Despair filled his heart as he realized they could search forever and still not find Jareth's wife.

Then he heard an odd snuffling noise. He looked around cautiously, and saw Jareth was sniffing the air. His head was raised so his graceful nose stuck out into the air, sucking in the scents of this place. He closed his eyes for a moment, drew one final breath, and then started to trot down one corridor. Link was apprehensive about this man's ability to smell anything over the seemingly overriding stench of the catacombs, but figured his guess was as good as any.

He and Ekron ran after him, heading down caves. Lefts, rights, straights all became a blur in the never-ending maze of the halls of the dead. Coffins were set into the walls, and Link tried to steer his thoughts away from the contents. They followed the ranger, maintaining their speed throughout.

After minutes of running through the corpse caves, Jareth turned a left corner and stopped dead. He looked at the new cave with a sort of awed shock, and Link wondered what could have brought such a look. Then he reached the turn, and looked.

The hallway stretched on farther than Link's gem could cast light. Bones littered the floor, far worse than any litter they'd encounter on the run prior to this. Thousands upon thousands of skulls that were dug into the walls. More than Link believed he could count looked emptily from their places in the wall. And most eerie, were the skeletal beings that walked in the corridor.

They clanked around, clutching sharpened bones in their hands link swords. Then one turned and looked at link so suddenly he could hear the bones of the neck pop. It uttered a hiss, similar to a hoarse person attempting to scream. It bolted at them with speed that none of the group could have predicted. Link clumsily attempted to rip his sword from his sheathe, and expected the demon to reach him before he could. Link heard a "Twang!" and it's skull erupted into a thousand shards of bone, falling to the ground. Link looked around, and saw Jareth had armed and fired his bow with precision before Link could even draw his sword.

"Thank any and all God's he on our side..." He thought sheepishly.

The sound of the skeleton's skull shattering had brought the attention of it's fellows. Link held his sword and shield, ready for battle. He noticed Ekron was wielding his battle ax, tossing it from hand to hand with a peculiar ease.

A horde of perhaps one hundred skeletons rushed at them. Link dove into the fray, removing the heads of their foes. Many of their movements were slow and jerky, giving Link a fine edge over them. Ekron was by his side, as he had grown accustomed to over the past few weeks. Jareth hung back, sending arrow after arrow into the crowd, delivering swift doom.

Link found himself caught in the great mob, and swung his sword about without fatigue, almost wincing at the sound of their necks popping and snapping at the introduction of his blade's edge. A group of three skeletons charged him, sharpened bones held like daggers. They came within range, and Link backhanded them with his shield hand, sending them tumbling to the floor.

Link heard a velvet-like "SHINK!" from behind him, and half turned, seeing that Jareth had drawn his own sword. It was three feet long of hard-blue steel, and Link could tell it was of a fine make. Not as fine as his own sword, but fine nonetheless. Jareth dove into the army of undead with a sort of savage tenacity Link hadn't expected from the calm ranger. Monsters fell around him in droves, and Link could hardly see the movements of his sword.

Link returned his attention to the field of battle and saw that a skeletal being had crept up close to him, and saw that it had an actual knife raised over Link's head. Link cursed, and skipped back, hardly dodging the downward swipe that would have ended his life. He kicked out, turning the decrepit bones into a fine powder. The skeleton released that breathy screech as it fell to the earth, before Link crushed it under his boot.

Finally the numbers of the skeletal army dropped to none, and the party was able to advance.

"Jareth, you're inhuman!" Link exclaimed. He could see a shadow of a smile on the face of the ranger.

"You good!" Ekron agreed.

"Lots of practice can get anyone to my level." He said, trying to hide the pride in his voice. "I think I see light up ahead.

Link strained his eyes, and was able to see the faintest traces of light like the leaves of a dying flowers. With time, that flower bloomed, and they came to a small flight of stairs that led into the light. They climbed them.

They were in an odd place. An octogonal area ringed by high walls of dusty gray stone. The sky was visible overhead, but was darker than Link had seen it at this time of day. They color of angry storm clouds. A large alter rose in the center of the garden, rising to a platform. A roof covered this platform, supported by four pillars. Link and his companions began to make the climb, and now saw a woman was seated on one of four benches. Her back was to the advancing party, and Link saw her slender form dressed in a delicate white dress. Blonde hair hung to her waste, and he could see she was playing the harp. Sudden pangs went through his stomach as he thought of Zelda.

"Karina!" Jareth breathed, reaching out a hand toward the woman.

The woman named Karina began to turn.