Jareth turned to find Deziktra walking towards them, the gates to the goblin city at her back.
"Your time is up, Jareth," she lilted. "Any final words before the change?"
Sarah's brow furrowed. "What change?"
"It's not your concern," Jareth snapped.
Deziktra laughed. "I just love how you play by the rules! Down to the very last second."
Out of the corner of his eye, Jareth saw Xaiden draw his sword and run at Deziktra.
"Well, destroying you is so much easier to do before the end of the contract and I fear I will need every last second to succeed," he said, trying to keep her distracted.
"Aren't you just adorable," Deziktra laughed, her fingers going to her temples as her eyes closed.
Jareth's body tensed as he saw Xaiden lower his sword and went to stand by Deziktra's side, his movements almost mechanical.
"Oh, dear. It appears your brother's chosen to side with me. That's alright, though. You still have three to my one. Though, I suppose one is a human."
"He was a last minute addition," Jareth informed her. "We can manage just fine without him."
A Deziktra's laughter illustrated all of the evil that plagued her. "You're terrible at bluffing, Jareth. Why don't you just make it easy on yourself. There is no hope for you. You have mere minutes remaining and we both know I'm far more powerful than you could ever hope to become."
"For the sake of my people, I won't go down without a fight."
Deziktra's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Oh, so you've managed to add a sliver of selflessness to your character in their eyes."
He words weren't heard by him, though. His eyes were already rolled back in his head as he channeled all of the power the land in his kingdom had to offer.
Deziktra rolled her eyes. "What takes him minutes I can do in the blink of an eye."
Sarah watched as winds swirled around the witch and her eyes went vacant, projecting a blue glow. She looked up at the sky as things began to grow dark, finding a foreboding collection of black storm clouds stretching across the sky as far as she could see.
She drew her dagger only to be stopped by Mannonda.
"You will get yourself killed if you attack her when she's in this state. As much as it pains me to say this, all we can do is wait and hope for the best."
"You mean he's not armed?" Sarah asked in shock.
"No armor can withstand this, I'm afraid."
Sarah watched in horror as a bolt of lightning came down from the sky, striking Jareth. She was surprised at how long he withstood it, fighting his body's urge to collapse in on itself. Rocks shot up out of the ground, creating a barricade in front of that stretched out to shield Mannonda and herself as well. Through the gaps between the rocks, she could see the witch effortlessly deflect the boulders that flew at her. She jumped back as one hit the rock wall in front of her.
"Where's Xaiden," she heard Lenna ask from behind her.
"The witch has taken over his mind again. He's on the other side with her."
She saw Lenna's determination in her eyes and watched as she ran past her and began to scale the barricade.
"Lenna, don't! It's too dangerous over there!"
"I have my shield," she called back, holding up the pendant.
Mannonda stepped forward and grabbed Lenna's wrist. "It is not strong enough to protect you from this. Please, stay here with us."
Sarah watched as Lenna looked Mannonda defiantly in the eye and pulled her wrist away. "I didn't come here to watch a kingdom fall," she said and continued making her way up to the top of the barricade.
"Why don't you let the living live and come play with the dead!" she heard Lenna shout, followed by the sound of a body dropping to her left. She looked over to find Jareth laying on the ground. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding in her head. She jumped when she felt a hand lay itself gently on her arm. She turned her head to find Mannonda standing there. Their eyes locked.
"Go attend to him," Mannonda said.
Sarah nodded and ran towards Jareth.