This one is a GIRTHY chapter coming in at just over 6,000 words! In fact, I think most of the chapters from here on out are going to be 5k or more... Enjoy!
Remy Dupont, the artist, was Queen Celeste's favorite artist in Avalon. He was talented in many mediums including oils, water colors, chalks, and ink. His preferred subjects were average people caught in off-guard moments. However he was quite skilled at formal portraits as well. This was how he and Queen Celeste had met. He had been commissioned by the royals to do a portrait for their one hundredth wedding anniversary. Celeste had enjoyed his work and commissioned him for several other works since then. However his summons to the palace on this day was for a very different reason.
"Can you do it?" King Jareth asked once all had been explained about the situation.
"But of course!" Remy assured. While he hadn't ever done anything quite like this, he had drawn so many different people and creatures over his career, he was confident that he could capture a likeness of what Princess Inara had seen in her mind. "Let us begin with the face," he said as he pulled out a folio with parchment and a pencil. "What shape was it? Round? Pointed? Long?"
Inara thought for a moment before answering. "She had a bit of a pointed chin, and high cheekbones."
"Excellent," Remy encouraged as he began to sketch a basic foundation.
They continued on this way with Remy asking specific questions about the shape of the eyes, nose, mouth, and other identifying features on the individual until they were done and there was a person looking back out of Remy's parchment. He added a few details and used his little finger to shade in some areas before turning it around for them to see. "Is this who you saw?" he asked.
Inara studied the sketch for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes, that's very close to what I saw. You do remarkable work, sir," she complemented.
"Thank you kindly, Princess," Remy bowed his head towards her.
Jareth took the parchment with the likeness of the woman on it, studying it intensely. "Well?" Celeste said after a minute. "Do you recognize her?"
He slowly shook his head. "No. Though there are some resemblances to members of my family. The eyes in particular."
"That could easily be coincidence," Celeste said as she took the parchment to see for herself.
"Do you recognize her?" he parroted back at her.
"No, I do not. However I can see what you mean about certain family resemblances." She put the parchment back down on the table. "Like I said before though, that could simply be coincidence."
"It could," he acknowledged. "We need Tuathal to look at this as well."
Celeste nodded. "He'll be in his meeting with the minister of agriculture just now, so we'll have to wait a little bit. Until then, we could go find out what Sarah and Tobias have found in the library."
Jareth sighed and nodded. He turned to Remy who was watching the proceedings with curiosity. "Thank you again for coming on such short notice," he said. "I trust that this will be enough to be worth your time and effort." He pulled a small pouch of gold out of his tunic and handed it to the artist.
Remy bowed his head deeply. "I thank you, King Jareth. I always make time for Queen Celeste. She has been a great patron of mine." The artist stood and bowed once more before leaving with a servant.
"To the library then?" Celeste asked.
"To the library," Jareth confirmed as he rolled up the sketch and put it in his tunic for safe keeping.
Celeste led the way to the large two story library. When they finally found the brother and sister, they were in an alcove with a large table and several chairs. Sarah was seated and holding a magnifying glass to a book with thin scripted writing, while Toby sat next to her with a quill and ink carefully copying notes his sister dictated to him. "How goes the search, Williams siblings?" Celeste asked.
Brother and sister looked up from their work. Toby set his quill in the inkpot and Sarah set down her magnifying glass. "Slow and tedious," Sarah answered. "We're not finding anything particularly useful, just interesting and slightly disturbing."
"Disturbing?"
"Yes," she looked at Jareth. "It seems this ancestor of yours had a predilection for turning people into statues and placing them in the maze if they crossed him."
Jareth's eyes widened. "Ah, yes. That would be King Aodh III. Never met the man myself as I was born after he died, but I remember when my father passed an act to clean out the statues he'd made. I was quite young at the time and only remember thinking that Grandpa Aodh really liked realistic sculptures."
Everyone was quiet for a moment, staring at Jareth. "Right, anyway," Celeste finally broke the quite. "How much longer will you two be working in here?"
"Another couple of hours, I think," Sarah answered looking at how much of the book they had left to go. "I'm mostly skimming and picking out anything that might help us later. However it's still time consuming."
Celeste nodded. "Then I insist you stay for dinner, and that you break for lunch now."
Sarah smiled. "Yes, your Majesty," she agreed.
"Oh thank you!" Toby groaned. "My hand was starting to cramp up!"
Celeste and Jareth smiled at the young people before them and then the High Queen of the Fae led the group towards a small dining room that she and Tuathal used for less formal meals.
An hour and a half after dinner, Sarah had just finished sorting through the notes they'd taken on the book about King Aodh III. Much of it was just dates and facts, but there were a few things such as additions to the castle and protections added to the Labyrinth that Sarah found interesting. However perhaps the most interesting thing was a mark in the back of the book that could only be seen with the magical magnifying glass that Tuathal had enchanted for her. To the naked eye, it was only a blank page, but with the glass, she could see a symbol of three wavy lines running parallel to each other and horizontally across the page. Below the lines was a glyph that kind of looked like a Chinese character, but no matter what she and Jareth tried, it wouldn't translate.
Eventually they took the book to Tuathal and Celeste to see if they knew anything of it. "Hmm, the symbol does look familiar," Tuathal murmured.
"Yes," Celeste agreed. "But I can't quite place where I've seen it before. Perhaps the archivist will know?"
"The archivist?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, she's a small lunar fairy named Evie who keeps track of the archives and the knowledge stored within. She does most of her sorting and cataloguing at night as she's naturally nocturnal."
"That would be why we didn't see her when we were working," Toby mentioned from his spot in a chair by the fireplace.
Celeste nodded. "I shall call on her to see what she knows." She created a small crystal ball and filled it with swirling glittery magic before sending it rolling out the door and down the hall.
"You know," Toby said thoughtfully. "If we had just asked Evie earlier, I probably wouldn't have had to write down all of those notes."
Sarah chuckled. "Yeah, but what fun would that have been?"
Toby squinted his eyes and frowned at his sister. "I hope you're not being serious," he murmured.
Before Sarah could answer, a small luminous blue fairy zipped into the room. She was larger than the garden fairies that hung around the main gates to the Labyrinth, perhaps a foot high with a wingspan of two feet. She had luminous blue skin, silver hair, and wore a dark blue outfit with loose pants that were fitted at the waist and ankles and a long vest-like shirt that had silver trim. "Your majesties summoned me?" she asked in a high pitched voice as she came to a fluttering stop a few feet away from the table.
"Yes, we're wondering if you know what this symbol means?" Celeste gestured the fairy forward and pointed towards the glyph visible through the magnifying glass.
Evie fluttered forward and studied the glyph, turning her head left and right as she thought. "Can you move the glass around the rest of the page?" she asked.
Sarah did as requested and slowly moved the magnifying glass up and down the page. Sure enough there was a small compass rose in the bottom right corner. The directions of north, south, east, and west were inscribed with embellishment, but south, in particular, was larger than the others. "Just as I thought," Evie grinned. She looked back up at the others watching her intently. "This glyph was used several millennia ago and used to be part of the Aos Si writing system. It is the symbol for the name of a city that is far south of here and has been lost to time."
"And what city would that be?" Jareth asked.
She turned to face him. "Cathair na Solais," she said quietly.
The fae in the room reacted with small gasps and widened eyes. However Sarah and Toby furrowed their brow in confusion. "What are we missing here?" Sarah asked.
"Cathair na Solais translates to City of Light, in Gaeilge," Jareth answered. "It is a city that transcends history into mythology."
"How so? Was it a real city?" Sarah asked.
"It was a real city," Tuathal picked up the story. "It is only ruins now. However it is not the city so much as the people that are the true mystery. It used to be as large and busy as Avalon. However one day, a royal convoy from the Sylvan Forest traveled there to hold trade negotiations and found the city deserted."
"What? What happened to them all?" Toby asked, leaning forward in interest.
"No one knows, Toby," Jareth continued. "Rumor has it that everything was as though all the people and animals had suddenly just walked away. Food was left in pots on the stove. Laundry was still in the wash tubs. Cups of tea were left cold on the table. There were no signs of a struggle or battle of any kind. The people simply vanished."
"Were there any clues left behind?" Sarah asked. "There has been similar occurrences in the Aboveground too. Though never with a city so large. Usually it was smaller villages."
"Like Roanoke?" Toby perked up. He'd always been good at history in school.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah." She turned back to explain to the fae. "Roanoke was a settlement in America back in the 1500s. One of the explorers to found it took a crew back to England to get more supplies, and when they returned the settlement was deserted with no hints as to what might've happened. The only thing they found was the word Croatan carved into a post."
"How interesting!" Celeste remarked. "I did hear that there was writing found that some think may have something to do with the disappearance."
"All nonsense," Jareth dismissed.
"No, cousin, I've seen it!" Tuathal interjected. "There were Aos Si glyphs etched into the inside of one of the government buildings. I saw them during my tenure in the military. One of our company happened to be a linguist with the Royal Academy here in Avalon. He was able to roughly translate the glyphs to Darkness fills the sky. The hunt has begun. They're coming."
"Well that's rather ominous," Celeste said, her eyes wide and one hand resting on her heart.
"I still say it's nonsense," Jareth shrugged. "We don't know who wrote that or when it was written. Could've been someone playing a prank. Besides, it mentioned a hunt and there was never any evidence of a battle found in the city. Or at least not to my knowledge."
Tuathal shook his head. "No, you're right. There's no evidence of fighting."
"Like I said, all superstitious nonsense," Jareth dismissed the idea.
"Well either way, we still don't know what the mark of the city is doing on the back page of this book," Sarah said.
"My lady, if I may?" Evie asked. Sarah gestured for her to proceed. "The mark of the city in combination with the wavy lines above and the compass rose below, indicate that the reader should go to the city to find what they seek. My guess is you are searching for the lost histories of the Labyrinth?"
Sarah nodded. "Yes, but how do you know that it's telling us to go there?"
"The compass rose indicates a direction, south. Cathair na Solais was the furthest south one could go and still be on the continent. It boarders an expansive sea." The lunar fairy was fully in her element as she explained this to them. "Additionally, the wavy lines above the glyph are actually Aos Si slang, for lack of a better term. They were originally used to indicate a voyage across the sea or some body of water, but eventually grew to mean a voyage anywhere."
"So the book is literally telling us to take a voyage to Cathair na Solais in order to find more histories of the Labyrinth?" Sarah summed up.
"Yes, my lady," Evie nodded in agreement.
"I guess we know what our next stop will be," Inara pipped in for the first time.
Toby looked over at her with a raised brow. "We?" he asked. "You're coming with too?"
"Why wouldn't I? I may be able to assist with my power, and I am the only one who has actually seen the person who ordered your house burned down and probably killed your parents."
"She's got a point, Tobes," Sarah said.
"Yes, yes, Inara will join us," Jareth acquiesced. "I think we had best leave sooner than later though. We don't know when the person behind these attacks will strike again."
"Will Palath come too?" Toby asked in a pleading voice.
"We'll ask him, Toby," Sarah replied. "But we won't force him to abandon his regiment again. He did leave them for quite a while when he was watching over you, you know."
Toby slumped. "Yeah, okay."
"Excellent, shall we have a night cap before heading off to bed then?" Tuathal smiled.
Sarah, Jareth, and Inara agreed to the night cap. Sarah tried to tell Toby he was too young, but after Tuathal poured a small finger of the amber liquid in a glass and gave her a pleading look, she consented. Toby was excited to try his first bit of hard alcohol. His dad had let him try beer before, but he hadn't liked it much. Taking a sniff, he grimaced. "That smells like what I would put on a cut."
"It is alcohol," Sarah pointed out, watching the young teen closely to see his reaction.
Toby frowned and eyed his sister as he knocked back the glass. However a moment later he was coughing and spluttering. "Holy crap! How do you guys drink that stuff?!"
Jareth and Tuathal let out loud laughs. Celeste chuckled and Sarah rolled her eyes. "First of all, you don't shoot it," she explained. "You sip it."
"Well how was I supposed to know?!" he wiped his eyes from the tears that had formed during his coughing fit.
"You'll learn, young Tobias," Tuathal chuckled.
Toby gave him a skeptical look and settled back into his spot near the fire as the adults sipped at their drinks and talked about gossip in the kingdom.
When the next morning dawned, Jareth, Sarah, Toby, and Inara were already awake and getting ready for their journey. Their plan was to create a portal to Rhihart's capital city of Lathe first. From there, they would talk to both Rhihart and Palath before borrowing horses and continuing on their journey southward. While Jareth could easily create a portal to the southern edge of Rhihart's domain, after that the land was a mystery to him and so he could not create a portal without first knowing where he was going.
"Are you sure you don't want a small regiment of guards to go with you?" Tuathal asked as Sarah straightened Jareth's traveling cloak.
"No, it will only make us easier to spot. We want to move quickly and silently."
"I do have soldiers trained in stealth," he insisted.
"We will be fine, Tuathal," Jareth countered. "You're putting too much stock into the rumors and myths surrounding the city. For all we know, everyone could have moved away because of some tragic event like a typhoon or a drought."
Tuathal sighed and nodded. "Fine, but I reserve the right to say I told you so should you get into trouble."
"Deal, but you won't get to say it," Jareth grinned at his cousin.
"Boys," Sarah admonished. "If you are done quarreling, then I think we should be on our way."
"Yes, dear," Jareth smirked.
Tuathal, on the other hand, gave a deep bow to Sarah and humbly replied, "Of course, oh Lady of the Labyrinth. Forgive us for submitting to our base instincts."
Sarah quirked an eyebrow upwards and rolled her eyes, while Celeste giggled. "Husband of mine," she said. "You're going to make her not want to come back and visit."
"Oh! Well we wouldn't want that!" Tuathal grinned.
"Right, is everyone ready?" Sarah asked looking around at their group.
Jareth, Toby, Sarah, and Inara were all dressed for travel in plain clothes. They had cloaks to keep them warm or act as shelter if propped up, and each was armed in some way. Jareth carried a curved sabre sheathed at his side. Toby had his bow and a quiver slung across his back. Inara carried a set of daggers imbued with magic that would make the daggers return to her after they were thrown. And Sarah carried a reinforced staff with beautifully etched engravings along its length.
"Let's go," Jareth said before creating the portal to Lathe. It led directly into the central courtyard at Rhihart's palace, and they all stepped through as Tuathal and Celeste waved them off.
"Brother! Good to see you again!" Rhihart greeted them. He was waiting to meet them in the courtyard along with a couple of centaur personal guards. "And dearest Sarah, what a pleasure to see you again as well," he smiled and took her hand to kiss the back of it. Sarah blushed, but let him do it. "Toby! My boy! Good to see you up and about!" He patted the young man on the shoulder in friendly greeting. "And Princess Inara, of course," he bowed before her. "Welcome back to Lathe! Come, I'll help you get on with your journey. I had my stablemaster select four of my best horses and load them with supplies."
"You're too kind, brother," Jareth replied as he followed him out of the courtyard. "Have you informed Palath we'd like to speak with him?"
"Yes, he should be waiting in the stables for you," Rhihart nodded. "I must ask you, brother, what preparations have you made for being in Cathair na Solais?"
"What do you mean? You've provided us with rations and horses, and we have weapons. What more do we need?"
Rhihart cleared his throat. "Well, it's just that they say the place is haunted with the souls of those who disappeared."
"Not you too," Jareth groaned. "I'm telling you that it's all superstitious nonsense!"
Rhihart gave him an unimpressed look. "Brother dear," he deadpanned. "We live in a world of magic. We are the mythology of the Aboveworld. Is it so hard to believe there might be something more than meets the eye at Cathair na Solais?"
Jareth paused for a moment and frowned. "Perhaps," he grumbled before continuing towards the stables.
"That's Jareth speak for You might be right, but I don't want to admit it." Sarah translated.
Rhihart let out a hearty guffaw and patted Sarah on the back. "I do believe you have the measure of him, my dear," he chuckled.
Jareth frowned and walked a little bit faster. Sarah and Rhihart laughed quietly, but didn't tease him any further. When they arrived at the stable, Palath was waiting for them, stamping his hooves as he shifted his weight. "Palath!" Toby rushed forward to greet his friend, giving him a hug.
"Tobias," Palath returned the hug. "It hasn't been so very long since we last parted."
Toby pulled back. "It feels like it. And you'll never believe where we're going next! A haunted city called the City of Light!"
"Cathair na Solais?" Palath asked, his eyes widened in alarm. "That place is forbidden amongst centaurs."
Toby's face fell. "So you won't go with us then?"
Palath sighed. "I would, young Tobias, but I'm afraid I have demands keeping me here for the time being. My unit needs me. I have been away from them for far too long."
Toby nodded, and he tried to make his face neutral. "I understand." He took a step back.
Palath didn't let him retreat though. "Tobias," he said quietly, but firmly, and reached out to place a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Even though Cathair na Solais is forbidden among centaurs, you are on a mission." He looked up at Sarah, Jareth, and Inara. "My guess is that your hunt for information brings you to the forsaken city?"
Sarah nodded. "We have a reliable clue that there may be a book or two, on the history of the Labyrinth and the Goblin Kingdom there."
Palath looked back down at Toby. "As your commander, I charge thee, Tobias, with seeking out this valuable information and returning it from the cursed city of Cathair na Solais. Should you succeed, a merit will be granted to you that will bring you one step closer to moving from the rank of Novice to Initiate. Do you accept this challenge?"
Toby now had a determined look in his eyes. He nodded. "I do," he committed.
Palath clapped a hand on Toby's shoulder and gave him a proud look. However Sarah scrunched up her face in confusion. "Novice? Initiate?" she asked. "What is my brother a novice at?"
Palath looked up at her and smiled. "It is simply the centaurs' way of indicating where a youngling is in their education, similar to grade levels in the Aboveground, from what I've heard Toby talk about. Novice is the lowest rank indicating a youngling is still learning the history and traditions of the centaurs. An initiate ranking is granted to those who have completed their basic schooling on centaur history and customs and have made their own bow."
"I've got the bow part down!" Toby grinned, patting the longbow strapped to his back.
"Yes, but at some point when you get back we'll have to start your training of centaur history and customs. That is, if you want to advance through the ranks like a centaur. There have not been many honorary members of the herd, but of the few who have been, an even smaller number have advanced beyond initiate."
"What are the other rankings?" Sarah asked.
"The rankings start with novice then initiate, apprentice, professional, expert, master, and mentor. Each of these things is used with your name and title. For example, I am an expert strategist and soldier in the centaur herd. This means that I have completed my training, and with this last battle I partook in, I have just completed the Proklisi*. The Proklisi literally translates to challenge, and that's precisely what it is. It is a challenge or task set forth by your mentor that requires an individual to use all of the knowledge they've learned in their chosen field to succeed."
"Your mentor tasked you with fighting in battle?" Sarah asked.
"No, he tasked me with using everything I have learned to protect your brother and keep him safe in the challenges and adversities we faced."
"What?! I was your final challenge before becoming an expert?" Toby exclaimed.
"Yes, you were," Palath smiled. "And quite the challenge it was when you kept throwing yourself in front of hellhounds."
Toby blushed a little. "Well how was I supposed to know?"
"Tobes," Sarah scoffed. "I think he means that maybe you should have a better sense of self preservation."
Toby just shrugged. "I'm not gonna leave anyone to die or get hurt if I can help them."
Palath, surprisingly, let out a loud laugh at this. "You would've made a fine centaur."
Toby grinned up at his friend before turning to give Sarah a smug look. Sarah merely rolled her eyes and chose to drop the subject. "Right, well we'd best be moving on," she said.
"Sarah is right," Jareth added. "It's a long way to Cathair na Solais."
At his words, the stable hands led forth four horses loaded down with supplies enough to last them a week. It was their hope that once they had reached the City of Light, they would be able to use a portal to get back home, saving them an even longer journey. Soon all four were mounted and ready to go. "Good luck, brother," Rhihart grasped Jareth's forearm in farewell before turning to Toby. "As for you, please try to avoid cursed arrows, eh, lad?" he grinned.
Toby rolled his eyes. "That was one time!"
Rhihart chuckled before moving to Sarah and Inara. "My ladies, do be careful, and don't let my brother do anything foolish."
Inara nodded, but Sarah smiled. "No promises, Rhihart. Your brother is quite stubborn."
He rolled his eyes. "Don't I know it? Still, do be careful."
"Of course," Sarah nodded.
"Shall we?" Jareth asked. When everyone nodded in agreement, he began to weave the portal spell. "Oscailte domsa, geata,**" he spoke and a circle of bright bluish white light opened to reveal a lightly wooded area that bordered an expansive grassland. They urged their horses through and the portal closed behind them, leaving them alone at the southern boarder of Lemwyn. Ahead of them were wide expanses of open grassland that few creatures had traveled to in the last millennia.
The lightly wooded area they had come out in was filled with the chirping of birds and chattering of squirrels. The soft swishing of tall grass in the wind could be heard nearby. Their horses snorted and stomped their hooves. "Which way?" Inara asked.
"South," Jareth replied confidently and pointed towards the open grassland. He led the way into the rolling hills covered with tall swaying grass.
The hot mid-morning sun blazed down on them. Jareth used a charm to make sure they kept heading south, while Sarah practiced making portals to get them to the next hill top. They covered a lot of ground this way, but it was particularly tiresome to the young Lady of the Labyrinth, so she and Jareth switched jobs after a while.
Eventually, it began to get dark. All they could see around them were hills of tall grass as far as the eye could see, so they decided that making camp until the morning would be the best option. Toby and Sarah took charge setting up the tents they'd brought with them (one for the girls and one for the boys), and directed Jareth and Inara to clear a small area of tall grass and use magic to dig a hole in the ground big enough to hold a fire and deep enough that they wouldn't have to worry about sparks flying out and catching the field ablaze.
The work was done within a half hour and they soon had a cheery blaze going in their new fire pit. Once again, brother and sister took charge of cooking dinner over the fire while Jareth and Inara watched their efficiency with awe. "How do you know how to do such things?" Inara asked as Sara banked the fire on one end leaving glowing coals to cook over on the other.
Sarah answered as she kept working. "I was in my country's military for many years and learned survival skills such as this during my training. It's all pretty second nature now."
"And I was in the Boy Scouts!" Toby proclaimed. "Got my Eagle Rank earlier this year!"
Inara stared at him for a moment before saying, "I have no idea what any of that means."
Sarah chuckled as Toby frowned and opened his mouth to argue. However his sister beat him to the punch. "The Boy Scouts is a program in the Aboveworld where young boys and men do tasks to prove their abilities in leadership, honor, and determination among other things. As they progress, they are awarded ranks. The Eagle ranking is the highest ranking one can get in the program. To Toby's point though, some of the skills boy scouts learn in their journey include life skills and survival skills necessary for living outdoors."
"Oh, I see," Inara nodded. "Then congratulations are due to you, Tobias," she smiled.
Toby was mollified by this and blushed a little as he prepared a stir-fry with mushrooms, peas, onions, peppers, rice, and dried herbs and spices. The meal didn't take long to cook and soon they were all giving praise to Toby's cooking skills.
"We'd best post a guard for the night," Jareth mentioned once dinner was cleaned up.
"We'll take it in turns," Sarah suggested. "I can go first, if you like?"
Jareth nodded. "Very well. I shall keep watch until dawn after you."
"What about me?" Toby complained. "I can help keep watch. I mean, all you have to do is just listen and look around right?"
Sarah sighed. "You really want to give up some of your sleep?"
Toby frowned as he considered, but then nodded. "Yeah, if I keep first watch, I think I'd be okay. I'm used to staying up later."
"Fine," Sarah consented. "You wake me up in three hours though, okay?"
Toby nodded while Jareth rose to his feet and stretched. "Come, I'll show you the best place to keep watch and what to look out for."
Toby grinned and jumped to his feet to follow. Sarah rolled her eyes and sighed. "My Lady," Inara addressed her. "Why do you protest your brother helping so much? He is a young man capable of such things."
"You're right," Sarah nodded. "But in my world, Toby isn't legally an adult and should still be in school. He's only sixteen years old."
"And that is young, by your standards?" she asked. "It is extremely young by our standards, but I know humans age differently than us."
Sarah nodded in confirmation. "Yes, it is young, and I know he wants to help and feel useful, but I worry for him."
Inara was quiet for a moment before saying, "If you'll pardon my saying so, but I don't believe you have a lot to worry about. Tobias fought in the War of the Labyrinth and received commendation for doing so, he was in the Boy Scout program you described, which sounds like a good way to prepare for what life might throw at you, and he has a network of friends and family to support him."
Sarah sighed. "You're right," she admitted. "But that doesn't lessen the feeling of worry I feel for him. I'm his big sister, but I'm also his guardian now with dad and Karen gone."
"Understandable," Inara nodded. "And though I do not have children of my own, I would offer the advice of letting him try new things in a safe environment such as this. King Jareth is most likely setting up perimeter spells as we speak, so the real need for a look out is minimal." She gave a small smile.
"Yeah, well, I suppose we should try and get some sleep."
Inara agreed and the two women moved towards their tent. Jareth returned a short while later and stopped by the front of the tent. "I put up several spells to alert us of danger. Toby is on a large rock about ten meters to the west of camp. I gave him a sphere spelled to be a timer and instructed him to come wake you once it is done."
"Thank you, Jareth," Sarah smiled.
"Of course, my dear. Good night," Jareth smiled as well and left to go to his own tent.
"Sarah," a soft voice whispered. "Sarah!" it whispered more urgently.
Sarah jerked awake and reached for the staff laying by her side before realizing it was just Toby. She let out a sigh. "What's up Toby? Time for me to take over?"
"Well, yeah, but also I heard something weird." He opened the tent door a bit wider for his sister to climb out.
"What kind of weird?" she asked once the tent door was closed again.
Toby gestured for her to follow him. He led her away from the tents and to the west of camp. Once he was at the large rock that Jareth had told him to keep watch from he stopped. "Listen," he whispered.
Sarah paused and looked around her. She could hear the tall grass swishing and the soft chirping of crickets nearby. However there was something else... A low hum. It was almost inaudible, but there was a vibration in her chest that confirmed something wasn't normal. "Do you hear it?" he breathed.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, I can feel it too."
"Right? It's like when there's a heavy bass and you can feel the vibrations in your chest."
"That's exactly it," she agreed. Looking around, there didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary. However the indistinct humming grew louder and the two siblings could suddenly hear men shouting. It was faint, as though it was far away, but they were definitely shouting and trumpeting horns. There was also a thundering sound of hooves as though many horses were galloping together.
Sarah and Toby turned to look at each other, their eyes wide and mouths agape. "Come on," Sarah urged her brother back to camp and towards Jareth's tent. "Jareth! Wake up! Inara!" she called out.
Toby climbed into his and Jareth's tent to help wake the monarch and grab his bow. Sarah surged into her tent to wake up Inara. "Whaat?" the elf princess asked groggily. "What's going on? Is it morning already?"
"No, there are a bunch of men on horses and they're galloping this way," Sarah explained as she grabbed her staff. "Quick, arm yourself and meet us outside the tent."
Inara nodded and grabbed the outer clothing she had shed earlier. Sarah exited the tent to find Jareth stretching and nodding as Toby told him what they'd heard. "From which direction were they coming?" he asked.
Toby pointed back towards the rock where he had been standing guard. "It's hard to tell, but it sounded like it was that way."
"And did you see anything? Lanterns? Horses?"
"No, just heard them."
Jareth buckled his saber sheath around his hips and pulled on a pair of black kid gloves. He flexed his fingers and listened for any noise out on the plain. The sounds of galloping horses, men shouting, and horns had grown louder, and now they could also hear the baying of hunting dogs. "It sounds like a hunting party," he remarked. "But what are they doing out here at night?"
"Have you sighted them yet?" Inara asked after climbing out of her tent.
"No, but we can certainly hear them," Sarah answered.
"Cariad," Jareth moved closer to Sarah. "I'm going to transform into my secondary form and fly out to see where they are and where they're going. Can you handle things down here?"
"We'll be fine. Just hurry back," she nodded.
He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before closing his eyes and concentrating. A moment later, his form wavered and blurred. He shrunk down and seconds later, a large white and tan barn owl stood where the Goblin King once had. He gave a low hoot and ruffled his feathers before pushing off from the ground and beating his wings to gain altitude.
Sarah watched him leave, his ghostly form wheeling and gliding through the still night air. She let out a long sigh and gripped her staff tighter. They had nothing to do now, but wait… wait and listen.
The sounds of the men, the horns, and the dogs grew louder until Sarah, Toby, and Inara thought they should be right on top of them. However then the sounds faded away and slowly disappeared. Shortly after, Jareth landed and transformed back into his usual form. "Did you see them?" Sarah asked.
He shook his head. "No, I never saw a soul. My night vision in that form is second to none, and yet I did not see anyone."
Everyone was quiet for a long moment as this sunk in, and they pondered just where the sounds been coming from. Eventually, Toby began banking the still glowing remains of their fire. "Tobes?" Sarah asked.
"Well, I don't think any of us are getting back to sleep after that, so I figure some hot water for tea and oatmeal for breakfast would be good. We can't go anywhere till light anyway, can we?"
Sarah shook her head. "No, we can't. And that's a good idea. Let me help."
She used her magical energy and a murmured word, dóiteán**, (provided by Jareth) the fire began to crackle and pop again. Jareth stayed standing for a long while, looking out across the grassland even though no more strange sounds emerged from it. Eventually, he settled down to have tea with the others, each of them cupping the tin mugs closely and trying not to think too hard about the ghostly sounds of a hunt moving through the grassland.
Translations:
*Próklisi = challenge. (Greek - πρόκληση)
**Oscailte domsa, geata = Open for me, gateway. (Irish)
**dóiteán = fire burn (Irish)
Also, just a side note, I'm using Irish for the fae and Greek for the centaurs as that is where their mythology originates. And every bit of it is translated by Google Translate, so take the translations with a large grain of salt.