Chapter 29.

Sarah awoke to silence, the stillness filled her ears and she shot out of the bed. She had the feeling of something dreadful happening. Rushing to her balcony, she looked all about. "Meep." She shouted. "Our Nightingale is missing!" She searched every little nook and cranny. "Meep, I can't find her."

Meep, blurry eyed from lack of sleep wandered closer. "What?"

"The Nightingale, it's gone. She's always here." Sarah shouted.

Sarah's voice and the alarm registering in it awakened Quinn. "Sarah," He joined them on the balcony. "What is it? It is not even dawn yet.

Sarah turned to Quinn with tears in her eyes. "The Nightingale…is gone."

Quinn shook himself awake. "Was it here last night?"

"Yes…when I went to bed it began its song, just as it does every night." She turned back to look all over the balcony again.

Quinn grabbed Meep. "Listen." He ordered.

Meep frowned. "I don't hear anything." He said.

"Neither do I…Meep when was the last time you heard dead silence in this kingdom?" Quinn asked thinking back to the only time he had heard this kind of din of quiet.

The Pixie thought back. "I've never heard it this quiet, not here." He looked at the King. "Trouble?"

"Without a doubt." He looked at the girl searching. "Sarah, get dressed. Meep go awaken my other Champions! Tell them to meet us in the war room. When you have done that, go find the Bard and his Lady, have them join us. Thank you Meep." He returned to his chamber and changed.

Half an hour later, Giles, Ryan and Anne were entering the war room. Giles spoke for them all. "There's trouble right?"

"When isn't there?" Quinn said off handedly. "We have never, never heard the kingdom go silent. There has always been some kind of din."

Sarah entered, looking shell-shocked. "It's not just the Nightingale. There's not a single bird out there, not even the crows."

Anne looked at the King. "What can we do?"

Quinn motioned everyone to sit. "I've a feeling it has to do with the Shattered Soul Prophecy."

Cairbre and his wife stood in the doorway, "I'd say that's a fair guess." The Bard looked disturbed. "The Scrying Pools are silenced."

Anne questioned those words. "What? I thought Scrying Pools were beyond tampering?"

"This is more than tampering, Lady Anne." The Bard said carefully. "Sire, we need the Lady Laurel."

"I've sent for her." Quinn assured the Bard, motioning him and his wife to find seats.

A Goblin messenger appeared with a parchment note. He handed to his master and waited. Quinn looked disquieted. Cairbre looked at him read the note. "Let me guess, Laurel refuses to leave her Oracle temple."

"I've never know a Oracle to refuse an summons." Quinn crumpled the paper and tossed it aside. "Looks like it's a road trip."

Cairbre nodded, "I'll see to the coach…"

Quinn grabbed the Bard. "We don't have time, hold on Bard. Sarah, grab Lady Solea's hand, Giles between Ryan and Anne…. And away we go."

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Less than a heartbeat later, they appeared in a wooded grove. The Bard pulled free of The Fae King's grasp. "Don't do that again without my consent." He warned.

Quinn shrugged, "There wasn't time to waste."

Solea hide the giggle behind her hand, not wishing to upset her husband any more than he already was.

Quinn looked around, "So where is this temple?"

Sarah heard movement and turned to look. From the wooded grove came a procession of Dryads and Sylphs dressed in ceremonial robes were coming toward them. "I think we're about to find that out, Quinn." She placed her hand on his sleeve. His fingers covered over hers.

Solea saw, kept quiet, and continued to watch. She knew her husband would need her vision at some point.

Cairbre looked at the procession, "They are the priestesses of the Grove."

The procession of Dryads and Sylphs formed a circle around them. At last, one of the priestesses spoke to them. "What brings you here?"

"The Lady Laurel," Quinn spoke with command. "She refused our invitation to speak with us at our castle."

All the priestesses looked at him, but only the leader spoke. "The Two-made-One!" They bowed toward him. "She has been expecting thee. Follow me." The Dryad turned and a path cleared for them to walk though.

Quinn held his hand out to Sarah; she slid her fingers into his. The rest of the Champions fell in behind the Fae King and his consort. Cairbre held out a hand to his wife and they followed behind the rest.

In the heart of the grove was a temple, formed from the old growth of massive oaks. Their branches and trunks, even their roots formed the structure of the Temple. The thick canopy of branches and leaves formed the roof of the structure. It was as nothing the Champions had seen in their own world or in the Labyrinth Kingdom. It was beautiful and fearsome all at once. More priestesses stood guard at the entrance, they stood silent as the assemblage move forward and into the living temple.

Sarah would have expected the interior to be dark, yet it was not. There seemed to be some inner source of light, for there was neither candle nor lantern present. Seated on a throne-like chair sat the Lady of the Temple, Lady Laurel. The priestesses lined up on either sided of the long walls. The Lady's eyes were shut one would have thought she was either deep in thought or asleep. When the last priestess was in place, her eyes opened.

"We have long waited for you, oh Shattered Soul, Two-made-One." Her voice was soft yet authoritative. Her words were clear to hear even at the low tone in which she spoke. Her eyes were as green as the leaves in the canopy above her. Her face was ageless, she looked young and old at the same time. Her smooth skin had a slight greenish ting to it.

Quinn bowed to her. "Lady Laurel, we are sorry to disturb you."

Sarah looked at him, the voice was again in Stereo, and both sides of the soul were speaking. One of the voices strong, the other voice was not nearly as strong.

Sadness filled the green eyes. "So it has begun. The Battle for the Soul of the Two-made-One." She rose from the throne.

"You have a prophecy for us? Something about us?" The Shattered Soul requested.

"I do." Lady Laurel closed her eyes again. "Long before thee was, the words were foretold." Her eyes opened no longer green but black with vision.

"In arrogance of a High King is born, a Shattered Soul.

One fair as the sun, the other of a darker nature.

Side by side, even when not together.

Two roads before them, one to death beyond dying, one to life eternal.

One to live, and one to die.

When the sacrifice of life is given,

That which was separated shall be joined.

Two-made-One."

Quinn nodded, "I've heard that part of the prophecy."

Lady Laurel spoke again.

"The Time of Change will come.

For The Two-made-One.

The man who channels both souls stands alone.

When Earth, Wind, Fire and Water meet.

When Fallen and Righteous join.

Daughter of the Fallen will Battle

Both Healer and Scribe.

In her alone can the Shattered Soul stay alive.

We will know her when we see her, for she will be marked.

She will come from the west, beyond the Vortex of the World, but be of our blood."

Everyone turned to look at Sarah, Quinn nodded, "Father said it was fated that Jareth found Sarah. Now I see why."

The Lady Laurel spoke this time her voice trembled.

"The Shadows now course, and kill.

One did live, and one did die, but both are.

The Time of Change has come.

The man who channels stands alone.

When Healers seeds come to fruit.

When Scribes words tear at the soul.

The great silence will be heard.

The Battle for the Shattered Soul Begins.

Two roads before him, one to death beyond dying, one to life eternal."

Lady Laurel closed her eyes, one of the priestesses moved forward, asked the Labyrithians to step outside the temple. Quinn paced as the others took seats on benches just outside the temple.

"Ok, anyone want to hazard a guess?" Quinn asked.

"Healers seeds..." Anne was already ciphering. "Healers… that's plural."

Giles looked up from his thoughts. "Talbot and Phineas."

Quinn looked at the Archer. "They attended our births."

"What seeds could they have sown?" Ryan asked. "WE know that Phineas does not like mortals, or half breeds, and he really does not like Nephilim or their descendants." Ryan looked at Anne, "What do we know about Talbot?"

Anne shrugged. "He's an Elf…he is good at keeping secrets. He seems to be in favor of the King's alliances with us…and Sarah."

"Talbot has been Healer to the court of the Goblin King since Father placed Jareth on the throne." Quinn said while he paced. "Talbot had been Jareth's person healer since he was born. He's a good man, kind and forgiving."

Anne looked at Quinn, "And Phineas? Did you have much contact with him over the years Quinn?"

Quinn nodded, "While we were boys and living at our father's court…I was attended to by Phineas, he said it was as a favor to my mother's father. He is as different from Talbot as night is to day. He is not kind, warm, or forgiving. He is hard, cold and brutal, and a bit of a sadomasochist. Then so many Fae men are…" He stopped pacing. "I was taken out of his care when Father placed me on Tarsi when Jareth was crowned."

Sarah, who up until this point had remained silent, spoke. "What did Phineas teach Quinn?"

The Fae King looked at her, thought it over and frowned. "Never to trust mortals, never to put faith in others, and never to allow anyone to get close."

"But you did allow one to get close." Sarah said from her distant point. "Long before you began to desire me, you let Jareth get close."

"Jareth was already there." Quinn corrected.

"Did Phineas know that?" Anne asked, knowing where Sarah's mind was.

Quinn shook his head, "We never told him."

"And Talbot, what did he teach?" Sarah asked.

Quinn closed his eyes, inclined his head, his eyes made rapid movements behind the lids, as if he were reading something. "Talbot taught Jareth to be kind to the unwanted, to take time to be gentle with them. He gave him the tools to be wise and generous." Quinn opened his eyes.

"And you said it wasn't a simple matter of good verses evil." Sarah said with a shudder.

Anne held up a hand to silence them. "Lady Laurel said a Scribes words would tear at the soul…which scribe? Me, Cairbre, who? Which Scribe!"

Before the Bard could object, Quinn groaned. "It's Elthric, the Scholar."

Giles moved toward his King. "Sire, was he not punished along with Elise?"

"He went underground….so to speak. No one has heard a peep out of him since the merge." Quinn sighed. "We've been so busy in the last two years I never gave it a thought."

"Or were programmed not to give it a thought." Anne suggested. "You remember asking me to look in to the Scholar and the Archer back when the Tourney happened?" Sarah looked at Anne, and nodded. "Well I did. Seems the Scholar went to Tarsi after having served at the courts of Gilgamesh."

Quinn's hands dropped to his side. "My Grandfather? Elthric served at my Grandfather's court?"

Sarah looked at him, not surprised at all. "You didn't know this?"

"No, as far as I knew he was a Scholar from the Kingdom of Elba." Quinn said tersely. "I'm beginning to wonder what else I didn't know."

"You never bothered to look into his past." Anne said quietly. "Now why does that not surprise me. You see when he was at Gilgamesh's court, his most constant companion was that of none other than Phineas."

Quinn looked green, as if he had eaten something vile. "How did you learn all this?"

Anne looked up at Quinn in amazement. "The library of our very own castle. It has the diary of Lilith, Quinn's mother as well as the diary of Alba of Scotia. It also has the letters from the Gilgamesh Court Scribe, Tannous, to the Goblin King's scribe Voit. That was the last scribe before I became scribe. When Jareth took over from the last King, he didn't put a scribe in place because he was too busy having fun." She looked over at Cairbre. "However the High King had the sense to keep the Bard on the case of Jareth. And very busy you were kept too!" Anne teased the Bard.

Cairbre bowed. "All of my records have copies. Some in your library some in your father's."

"My library…" Quinn sighed. "You mean Jareth's."

"He means the Goblin King's library." Sarah stated. "Anne, is there any mention anywhere who gave the …drought to Lilith?"

Ann shook her head, "But it could not have been Gilgamesh. He didn't have a working knowledge of the herbs used."

Sarah and Quinn looked at each other and said together. "Phineas."

Cairbre looked at the pair. "That makes sense. He was the court physician to your grandfather, Quinn. He was your mother's physician and over saw your birth…" Cairbre stood up. "He engineered the conception."

"So Quinn, son of Lilith, grandson of Gilgamesh, was never suppose to have been even conceived." The Fae King whispered.

Lady Laurel stood in the entry of the temple. "Did you not hear my words?"

Everyone turned to look at the woman. "Of course you were to be conceived, as was Jareth. The shattering of the soul was foretold. It was written! Understand that Quinn, Lord of Tarsi…now Goblin King…IT WAS WRITTEN. What is written is what is."

Quinn shook his head, "What they did drove my mother mad."

"She was weak," Laurel stated, her voice devoid now of emotion. "And to be pitied."

"Sarah is the daughter of the Fallen." Quinn said. "But my marking her did nothing to cement the merge…. The merge fails Lady of the Oracle. It fails, and we are losing my brother to the hidden places."

Laurel looked at the Bard. "Did none of you hear my words?" She held out a scroll to the bard. "Here, take this. Leave my grove. Your battle will not be here."

Cairbre looked at the scroll. "The prophecy." He looked up to speak to the Lady of the Oracle, but she had already turned and returned to her temple. "Sire, we'd best get back to your Kingdom. We can go over this better in your war-room, then here."

Quinn transported them all back to the Castle beyond the Goblin City.