A/N: We are finishing up our whirlwind tour back through the Labyrinth...
Sarah waved to Marren's tribe as she galloped away with Hoggle at her back and Didymus by her side. They soon reached the river bordering the Ghost Marshes and crossed the bridge into the Hedges.
"Hoggle, how do we get back to the woods from here?" asked Sarah as they cantered through the beautiful gardens in the dim light of early morning.
"Well, we gots to get to the entrance, aye? Ain't got to go back through the woods fer that. Come to think of it, we coulda jest made it out here from one of the secret ways in the castle, sure woulda been faster."
Sarah shook her head. "Retracing our steps is significant. I don't want to miss anything important."
"As ye say, yer Majesty. Well, gettin' to the woods from here is easier, no need to keep the rabble out, ye ken?" he pointed to a dark line of mist at the edge of the gardens ahead. "Jest head out into the trees and you'll be there."
"Sounds easy enough. Wait, is that a campfire?"
They came up to a small tent before a glowing fire that Sarah recognized immediately. She swung down from her horse and stood before the fire and Madame Ssithra, whose scarlet coils glittered in the firelight.
"Dark queen, you come. But is it to be queen at last, or pawn?
"I don't know myself," sighed Sarah, running a hand through her hair. "I have to balance what I want and what's actually good for this world… What happens if the Labyrinth is unraveled? Is it really better for everyone if it is conquered?" This is impossible, how can I choose? She dropped to sit before the campfire in exhausted frustration. "I just don't know."
"My queen, these are questions you must decide for yourself; the burden is not given to one such as I. But know that I, and many others, see fit to put ourselves into your hands. The threads of fate have woven about you in a strong tapestry, which is a power great enough to overcome that of the Labyrinth if you will wield it."
"If you please, My Lady," said Didymus gently, "there will be many that benefit from the Labyrinth's dissolution, as there will be those that suffer. But thy touch upon this land is a healing one, mark my words. Your heart is truly a regal one, and it will not lead thee astray."
Sarah looked down at her hands, now dirty, bruised, and trembling. Healing? These hands have blood on them. How can they make anything right anymore?
"Little lady, I see what ye think," said Hoggle, his gentle, sad tone surprising her out of her morbid reverie. "It ain't no easy path, whatever ye take, I know better'n most. But it ain't no mistake that you're here now, and that He loves ye. I knew it before, when you was jest a girl, and I was afraid for ye. But now I see there ain't no question that yer a match, and that the two of ye together can take on whatever comes. You listen to ol' Hoggle on this one."
She smiled. "Thanks guys… it means a lot." She took a deep breath, and turned back to the fortune teller. "Can you give us any further direction?"
The marilith produced a fiery crystal which floated out over the gardens, cutting through the mist to reveal the beginnings of a path into the woods. "If you continue to follow this thread and find your way out of the Labyrinth, you will meet one of your own blood who can guide you in this, for she too has walked this road."
"What? You mean, like a relative? A great grandmother or something?"
"Many greats removed, I should think. She is one who has walked the shadowed path as you do, although perhaps you will not take the same road out of the Labyrinth as she."
The fortune teller held up a hand in warning as the three friends turned their faces to the dark forest.
"From this moment, do not slow until you reach the beginning. The Labyrinth has been restrained but is not entirely within the king's power. It knows what he has done. Do not stray from your path or you will be lost, with all those loyal to you. Go. Go now."
The forest was dark and close, much as it had been on their previous journey, but the trees were teeming with wraiths and restless spirits. The horse pounded down the narrow forest track, foaming and rolling its eyes. A great tree crashed just before them and the horse reared, throwing Sarah and Hoggle off its back. Didymus wolf caught them just before they rolled off the path into the mists of the wood.
"Hoggle, you ride on Didymus, and tell him how to get into the Outer Maze," said Sarah, "I'll fly. We have to keep moving!"
Didymus bounded over the fallen tree, out of the grasp of the shadows that had already begun to gather. Trees seemed to move, threatening to overwhelm the forest path altogether.
Hoggle held tightly to Didymus' fur, and by dint of shouting very loudly into his ear directed the werewolf through the forest and into the rolling hills of Greenvale. The fields were barren, covered only in the sharp stubble of the wheat harvest.
They reached the wall of the Outer maze, but there was no door in sight.
Sarah shifted, cursing. "We don't have time for this. Where is a door when you...wait…" I still have one or two tricks in my bag. She sifted through her pack, and triumphantly held up a doorknob. She put it to the wall, turned, and immediately opened up a path into the maze.
"That's my girl!" cackled Hoggle.
Their enthusiasm waned as they ran through the Long Halls; the vegetation was more carnivorous than ever, and the turnings and doors were few.
It's just like the first time I was here, thought Sarah, panic beginning to rise in her throat. But there's no little friend to help me find the path. Use your own brain, Sarah. You've gotten the feel for this place.
"This must be the right way," grunted Didymus, slicing through a plant that had tried to eat his boot. "It's too blasted hard to wade through all this deviltry."
It IS too hard… but maybe it doesn't have to be. Sarah placed her hand on the wall, sending out a thick coat of dark blue frost. The plants shrank from its touch, becoming an eerie crystalline decoration instead of a threat. They proceeded through the maze much faster, but the light of day grew stronger over their heads every moment.
"Damn it," said Hoggle. "I wish that ol' door would heed me call, jest one more time."
As they turned a corner, they abruptly stopped before a dead end… that housed a large gothic door with a golden doorknob.
"Hoggle, I believe you might have more magic than you think," laughed Sarah.
They opened the door, and were confronted by a huge cloud of will o' the wisp. They shimmered in a way that sent chills down Sarah's spine in remembrance.
"Just...how many faeries did you kill when you were a gardener, Hoggle?"
"Mebbe a couple hunnerd… thousand?"
Sarah raised a globe of ice about them just as the cloud attacked. They pelted against the ice with small plinking noises, until tiny cracks began to show in the shield. She concentrated the terror roiling in her chest and hugged her two friends close, "Hold on!"
The shield exploded in a wave of green light. When Sarah opened her eyes, she saw a great blast radius around them and nary a wisp in sight. She spotted the familiar dusty hilltop, complete with a floating clock and a lone figure looking down at them. The beginning.
A/N: Well well well... who exactly is waiting for Sarah on that hilltop?