Author's Note: I know this chapter took me so long to get out, but I had a
little trouble with writer's block and finding time to write. Thank
goodness for Sundays. Hope you like this chapter.
Chapter 12: Confrontation
After Sarah had gotten rid of her fit of giggles, she and Jareth had managed to make it outside of the Old Kingdom without being followed. Knowing this, they were able to use the stone of ages to transport themselves back to Ishtar's kingdom. The sight that greeted them once they had made it there unscathed had shocked them both so badly that Sarah almost fainted. Luckily, Jareth was standing right beside her and was able to grab her arm before she could hit the ground. "Oh my God," she breathed. No longer were there many crystal buildings winking magnificently in the golden rays of the sun. No longer were there colors reflected here and there, and many colored rainbows being sprinkled from the prism effect of the buildings. Now there were many crystal shards everywhere, littering the ground. They crunched underneath their feet as they walked to where Ishtar's castle was. A broken shell that had once been Ishtar's brilliant castle stood in the horizon. It had lost its shiny luster, and was barely standing. A small gasp escaped Sarah's throat at the damage that had been wrought while they had been away. She grabbed onto a silent Jareth's arm for support. The sky above them was slowly turning gray in some areas, something Sarah had just noticed. She pointed it out for Jareth, and he stood silently watching the colors flee. He sighed and looked over at Sarah who had been watching him, still holding onto his free arm, the other holding onto the stone. "We have to find Ishtar and the others," Sarah stated, locking eyes with Jareth. He nodded. Then he said, "This looks so familiar. This is exactly what happened to the Gnomes and Dwarves' kingdom. Those damn sprites still have the night crystals. Maybe," he said, thinking aloud, "maybe we can use the stone to reverse the effect of the night crystals." Sarah knew Jareth was just thinking to himself, but she couldn't help but agree with the idea. "Sounds like a good plan," she told him. Together they walked towards the castle sitting forlornly in front of them. Inside, rubble and dirty crystals were scattered throughout on the floor. Tapestries were torn and furniture turned over and thrown in corners. Some areas were burned completely black as if someone had started a fire in them. Staircases were now broken, and because of this, they were only able to remain on the first level of the castle. "This is terrible," Sarah whispered sadly. "You're telling me," Jareth whispered back, looking at Ishtar's once grand throne; now dirty and turning gray. Walking out of the castle, Sarah noticed the sky was starting to turn even darker. Jareth had noticed it, too. "They must still be here," he explained, referring to the sprites. The houses, which were once occupied with life and fun, were now sitting uninhabited around the hillsides. The silence in the kingdom was deafening. "Where is everyone," Sarah asked, letting go of Jareth's arm and glancing around. She tried to find someone still in the houses by peering in the windows, but all that was there was emptiness. A thought occurred to Jareth. "Sarah, what if they're all hiding out in my kingdom. The sprites are still probably looking for them here, and Ishtar must have known this and moved his subjects to the labyrinth." Sarah was frozen from fear at the moment, as she had seen a wicked looking creature staring out of the one of the houses to her left. Jareth had seen Sarah stiffen and looked in the direction she had been staring, and saw the front door the house open and five sprites step out. They were blue in color and sickly thin with thorny looking limbs. Their faces were sneering and malicious in nature. Their eyes were deep set and black, almost lifeless. Their noses were long and pointed, practically beak-like. Their mouths, just below their noses and above their very pointed elongated chins, were long and blue with pointed teeth just visible in them. Jareth calmly stepped in front of Sarah, putting himself in between her shaking form and the sprites, who had started to slowly spread out around them. Jareth started to turn in a circle, trying to keep on eye on all of them, but found it impossible. He motioned to Sarah to follow his lead, and she stood back to back with him, and they slowly walked in a circle in order to watch all the sprites around them carefully. About this time, one of the sprites across from Sarah could smell her fear, and he attacked her by jabbing his sickly thorn-like elbow into her side. She cried out in pain and grabbed the wound, which had slowly started to drip blood. Jareth had heard Sarah's scream as she was right behind him. He shot out a ball of fire and it burned the sprite into ashes that fell onto the ground. Sarah had doubled over in pain, leaving Jareth on his own to fight off the four remaining sprites. By this time, the other demons and sprites in the area must have heard the commotion and decided to get in on the fun and surrounded them. There must have been twenty sprites and demons in total now circling them eagerly. Their gaping mouths were dripping saliva in excitement of the kill. Sarah, seeing the other demons and sprites approaching had tied off her wound with a scrap of material, and tried to stand at her full height. She couldn't stand to her full height, but at least she could stand. Fireballs had started to alight from Jareth's hands as fast as he could conjure them as he flung them at the creatures. The group slowly started to diminish, and just when Jareth and Sarah thought they were winning, a dark figure approached them swiftly. Conway's savage figure stepped into view, and Sarah gasped in surprise. Standing close to Jareth she whispered, "I thought you killed him." Jareth tried to look calm and handed the stone to Sarah in preparation for a fight. She took the stone gravely as she watched Jareth playing with his gloves seemingly unconcerned. She knew it was just a tactic to annoy Conway. It was obviously working as Conway stood glaring down at them with both fists placed on his wide hips and a booted foot tapping impatiently on the ground. Behind him, hordes of sprites and demons were gathering. "As you can see, Jareth, you are quite outnumbered. It would be wise to give up now while you still can." Addressing Sarah he said, "Nice to see you again my dear." Sarah just rolled her eyes skyward. Conway, seeing that his scare tactics weren't working, decided to make his move. He started forward suddenly, and grabbed Sarah by the hair, and pulled her back towards his body, while one arm circled her waist, and the other held a deadly looking knife against her pale exposed throat. Sarah gulped audibly at the turn in events. The arm circling her waist pressing unbearably into the wound she had suffered from earlier. Jareth calmly raised an eyebrow and sighed as if bored. "Do what you want with her Conway, do you think she really has any meaning to me?" Conway sneered at Jareth's attempt to act like Sarah didn't matter to him. "Oh really, so you won't mind if I do this," he whispered cruelly in Sarah's ear, then placed hot open mouthed kisses down Sarah's neck while keeping one eye on Jareth to watch his reaction. Sarah cringed as she felt Conway's mouth on her neck. She struggled trying to get him to stop. "If you don't stop I'm gonna hurl," Sarah said warningly to Conway. In response, Conway just chuckled at the petite brunette pressed to him. Jareth decided that he was tired at Conway's ignorance, and he conjured a crystal in the blink of eye and tossed it at the hordes of sprites and demons watching the scene. Where the crystal landed, the unfortunate creatures that had been standing there shrank and fell into ashes just as the first sprites had. The smell of burnt flesh reached the nostrils shortly after it had happened. "As you can see," Jareth said, "if you don't let Sarah go I can destroy your whole army in the blink of an eye." Conway stood coolly watching Jareth. "Fine," Conway snarled, "only on one condition. You surrender to me. If you don't, I swear Jareth I will slit her throat." Sarah closed her eyes in order to control her emotions. Once she opened them she held Jareth's gaze and shook her head, communicating to him not to do it. Despite her actions Jareth said, "Let her go Conway, and I will surrender." Smiling wickedly, Conway threw Sarah away from him and once he had the hordes of demons and sprites surrounded Jareth and cruelly grabbed onto him. "Jareth, no!" Sarah shouted in despair. By then it was too late, they had started to drag a defeated Jareth to the castle were a dungeon was located beneath it. That left Sarah alone with Conway, who was looking quite satisfied with himself. "Well, my dear, it looks like your lover can't protect you after all," he sneered. Sarah stood up defiantly glaring down at Conway, grasping the stone to her chest. Tears were silently sliding down her cheeks. Rubbing the stone she said passionately, "I wish you would turn into the rat you are." The wind blew the hair around her face, and it stuck to her wet cheeks. Brushing the hair away from her face, she noticed that Conway was nowhere to be seen. A slight squeaking noise caught her attention and she looked down and saw a rat scurrying away from her. Sarah grinned to herself in triumph. "That is so cool," she said aloud to no one. Looking towards the castle where they had taken Jareth, she said, "Hold on, Jareth, I'm coming." And she walked steadily with the stone under her arm to find Jareth.
Thanks for reading. I've noticed that fewer and fewer people have been reviewing with each chapter. It's sort of depressing considering I've been trying my hardest to make every chapter interesting. Please review if you think I should continue. Also, if you have questions, feel free to email me. Take care, and review.
Chapter 12: Confrontation
After Sarah had gotten rid of her fit of giggles, she and Jareth had managed to make it outside of the Old Kingdom without being followed. Knowing this, they were able to use the stone of ages to transport themselves back to Ishtar's kingdom. The sight that greeted them once they had made it there unscathed had shocked them both so badly that Sarah almost fainted. Luckily, Jareth was standing right beside her and was able to grab her arm before she could hit the ground. "Oh my God," she breathed. No longer were there many crystal buildings winking magnificently in the golden rays of the sun. No longer were there colors reflected here and there, and many colored rainbows being sprinkled from the prism effect of the buildings. Now there were many crystal shards everywhere, littering the ground. They crunched underneath their feet as they walked to where Ishtar's castle was. A broken shell that had once been Ishtar's brilliant castle stood in the horizon. It had lost its shiny luster, and was barely standing. A small gasp escaped Sarah's throat at the damage that had been wrought while they had been away. She grabbed onto a silent Jareth's arm for support. The sky above them was slowly turning gray in some areas, something Sarah had just noticed. She pointed it out for Jareth, and he stood silently watching the colors flee. He sighed and looked over at Sarah who had been watching him, still holding onto his free arm, the other holding onto the stone. "We have to find Ishtar and the others," Sarah stated, locking eyes with Jareth. He nodded. Then he said, "This looks so familiar. This is exactly what happened to the Gnomes and Dwarves' kingdom. Those damn sprites still have the night crystals. Maybe," he said, thinking aloud, "maybe we can use the stone to reverse the effect of the night crystals." Sarah knew Jareth was just thinking to himself, but she couldn't help but agree with the idea. "Sounds like a good plan," she told him. Together they walked towards the castle sitting forlornly in front of them. Inside, rubble and dirty crystals were scattered throughout on the floor. Tapestries were torn and furniture turned over and thrown in corners. Some areas were burned completely black as if someone had started a fire in them. Staircases were now broken, and because of this, they were only able to remain on the first level of the castle. "This is terrible," Sarah whispered sadly. "You're telling me," Jareth whispered back, looking at Ishtar's once grand throne; now dirty and turning gray. Walking out of the castle, Sarah noticed the sky was starting to turn even darker. Jareth had noticed it, too. "They must still be here," he explained, referring to the sprites. The houses, which were once occupied with life and fun, were now sitting uninhabited around the hillsides. The silence in the kingdom was deafening. "Where is everyone," Sarah asked, letting go of Jareth's arm and glancing around. She tried to find someone still in the houses by peering in the windows, but all that was there was emptiness. A thought occurred to Jareth. "Sarah, what if they're all hiding out in my kingdom. The sprites are still probably looking for them here, and Ishtar must have known this and moved his subjects to the labyrinth." Sarah was frozen from fear at the moment, as she had seen a wicked looking creature staring out of the one of the houses to her left. Jareth had seen Sarah stiffen and looked in the direction she had been staring, and saw the front door the house open and five sprites step out. They were blue in color and sickly thin with thorny looking limbs. Their faces were sneering and malicious in nature. Their eyes were deep set and black, almost lifeless. Their noses were long and pointed, practically beak-like. Their mouths, just below their noses and above their very pointed elongated chins, were long and blue with pointed teeth just visible in them. Jareth calmly stepped in front of Sarah, putting himself in between her shaking form and the sprites, who had started to slowly spread out around them. Jareth started to turn in a circle, trying to keep on eye on all of them, but found it impossible. He motioned to Sarah to follow his lead, and she stood back to back with him, and they slowly walked in a circle in order to watch all the sprites around them carefully. About this time, one of the sprites across from Sarah could smell her fear, and he attacked her by jabbing his sickly thorn-like elbow into her side. She cried out in pain and grabbed the wound, which had slowly started to drip blood. Jareth had heard Sarah's scream as she was right behind him. He shot out a ball of fire and it burned the sprite into ashes that fell onto the ground. Sarah had doubled over in pain, leaving Jareth on his own to fight off the four remaining sprites. By this time, the other demons and sprites in the area must have heard the commotion and decided to get in on the fun and surrounded them. There must have been twenty sprites and demons in total now circling them eagerly. Their gaping mouths were dripping saliva in excitement of the kill. Sarah, seeing the other demons and sprites approaching had tied off her wound with a scrap of material, and tried to stand at her full height. She couldn't stand to her full height, but at least she could stand. Fireballs had started to alight from Jareth's hands as fast as he could conjure them as he flung them at the creatures. The group slowly started to diminish, and just when Jareth and Sarah thought they were winning, a dark figure approached them swiftly. Conway's savage figure stepped into view, and Sarah gasped in surprise. Standing close to Jareth she whispered, "I thought you killed him." Jareth tried to look calm and handed the stone to Sarah in preparation for a fight. She took the stone gravely as she watched Jareth playing with his gloves seemingly unconcerned. She knew it was just a tactic to annoy Conway. It was obviously working as Conway stood glaring down at them with both fists placed on his wide hips and a booted foot tapping impatiently on the ground. Behind him, hordes of sprites and demons were gathering. "As you can see, Jareth, you are quite outnumbered. It would be wise to give up now while you still can." Addressing Sarah he said, "Nice to see you again my dear." Sarah just rolled her eyes skyward. Conway, seeing that his scare tactics weren't working, decided to make his move. He started forward suddenly, and grabbed Sarah by the hair, and pulled her back towards his body, while one arm circled her waist, and the other held a deadly looking knife against her pale exposed throat. Sarah gulped audibly at the turn in events. The arm circling her waist pressing unbearably into the wound she had suffered from earlier. Jareth calmly raised an eyebrow and sighed as if bored. "Do what you want with her Conway, do you think she really has any meaning to me?" Conway sneered at Jareth's attempt to act like Sarah didn't matter to him. "Oh really, so you won't mind if I do this," he whispered cruelly in Sarah's ear, then placed hot open mouthed kisses down Sarah's neck while keeping one eye on Jareth to watch his reaction. Sarah cringed as she felt Conway's mouth on her neck. She struggled trying to get him to stop. "If you don't stop I'm gonna hurl," Sarah said warningly to Conway. In response, Conway just chuckled at the petite brunette pressed to him. Jareth decided that he was tired at Conway's ignorance, and he conjured a crystal in the blink of eye and tossed it at the hordes of sprites and demons watching the scene. Where the crystal landed, the unfortunate creatures that had been standing there shrank and fell into ashes just as the first sprites had. The smell of burnt flesh reached the nostrils shortly after it had happened. "As you can see," Jareth said, "if you don't let Sarah go I can destroy your whole army in the blink of an eye." Conway stood coolly watching Jareth. "Fine," Conway snarled, "only on one condition. You surrender to me. If you don't, I swear Jareth I will slit her throat." Sarah closed her eyes in order to control her emotions. Once she opened them she held Jareth's gaze and shook her head, communicating to him not to do it. Despite her actions Jareth said, "Let her go Conway, and I will surrender." Smiling wickedly, Conway threw Sarah away from him and once he had the hordes of demons and sprites surrounded Jareth and cruelly grabbed onto him. "Jareth, no!" Sarah shouted in despair. By then it was too late, they had started to drag a defeated Jareth to the castle were a dungeon was located beneath it. That left Sarah alone with Conway, who was looking quite satisfied with himself. "Well, my dear, it looks like your lover can't protect you after all," he sneered. Sarah stood up defiantly glaring down at Conway, grasping the stone to her chest. Tears were silently sliding down her cheeks. Rubbing the stone she said passionately, "I wish you would turn into the rat you are." The wind blew the hair around her face, and it stuck to her wet cheeks. Brushing the hair away from her face, she noticed that Conway was nowhere to be seen. A slight squeaking noise caught her attention and she looked down and saw a rat scurrying away from her. Sarah grinned to herself in triumph. "That is so cool," she said aloud to no one. Looking towards the castle where they had taken Jareth, she said, "Hold on, Jareth, I'm coming." And she walked steadily with the stone under her arm to find Jareth.
Thanks for reading. I've noticed that fewer and fewer people have been reviewing with each chapter. It's sort of depressing considering I've been trying my hardest to make every chapter interesting. Please review if you think I should continue. Also, if you have questions, feel free to email me. Take care, and review.