Trial By Fire
Chapter II
By Sailor Northstar
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth or its characters. The characters of Galadrea and Indros and the archmages are mine. Labyrinth is owned by Henson and co. This story idea is mine, though. This story has been created to keep me sane while finals are going on. Suing me will do no good, as I am a poor college student on the verge of going nuts. HAve a nice day, and enjoy my story!
If there had been anyone around, they would have heard various yelps followed by slight groaning. Muttering several orcish swear words under her breath, Galadrea slowly stood up from where she had fallen. Looking over her shoulder, she winced and rubbed her left arm. That had NOT been a comfortable trip down the hill. I wouldn't be surprised if his Royal Pain-in-the-Ass had deliberately made the footing treacherous. Just another thing to pay the bastard back for, she thought, dusting herself off as she approached the huge walls of Jareth's labyrinth.
"Hello? Anyone here?" Galadrea called out, searching for a sign of life. Her own melodic voice answered her as it rebounded from the forbidding walls and leapt across the desert-like landscape. Out of the corner of her eye, a flicker of motion attracted her attention. Peering closely, Galadrea was astonished to see a tiny fairy-like creature emerge from the blooming flower. "Um, excuse me?"
The little creature looked up in shock. "Are you talking to me?" she asked in a tiny voice that resembled windchimes.
"Yes I am," Galadrea answered. "I am on a mission to save my brother, who is trapped in the Goblin King's castle at the center of the Labyrinth. Can you offer me any aid in my quest?" If this fairy was anything like the ones on Toril, then she was a creature of goodness, and not adverse to helping those of good elvish blood.
Appearing to concentrate, the little fairy frowned, then her eyes lit up. These abovegrounders are always good for a laugh. This should be fun! "I do know some things about this huge place. I'd be happy to help you!" Grinning at the big person's astonishment, Gria fluttered up and over to a section of the wall. "This way, miss!"
Examining the section of the wall Gria was gesturing at, Galadrea was able to make out a dim outline of what could possibly be a huge gateway. Pushing against the door, Galadrea found that she could not open it. "I can't open it! Is it locked, good fairy?"
Gria answered with tiny peals of laughter. Waiting patiently, Galadrea let the litte creature calm down. "Oh my! Locked is it? Ooops! Guess I forgot about that! Of course, size and strength are the only things that matter to you big folk! You'll never get in!" As Galadrea's face turned red, Gria exploded into even more furious peals of laughter and fluttered off.
"Thanks for nothing, orc-bait!" Galadrea shouted at the dwindling fairy. Turning once again to face the gateway, Galadrea thought about using a spell. Calming herself, taking deep breathes, she began summoning the energies of a spell of opening. As she concentrated, the words flowed out of her mouth, and her hands moved in the direction of the gateway, as if shoving something open. Slowly, the gates creaked open as blue tendrils of energy wove themselves between the cracks. The walls of the labyrinth groaned as the gates were forced open.
Gasping from the exertion, Galadrea stumbled through the opening and collapsed against the far wall. Instead of leaning against solid stone, she found herself falling backwards. As she lay on the floor of the labyrinth, she gasped for breath and took in her surroundings. "By Mystra, it appears that I found a secret opening. I think that this once, I'm glad a spell exhausted me. I don't think I would have found the opening otherwise!"
Using the stone wall for support, Galadrea managed to stand up, though she groaned as she felt the muscle she had stretched in her graceful tumble down the hill protest the treatment she was giving it. After a few minutes of exhaustion, Galadrea found herself able to move again, and she closely examined her surroundings. The walls were quite tall, and smooth so that climbing over them was out of the question. Down each side of the corridor were various exits and turns, and as she looked up, she was able to catch a glimpse of a castle far removed from her position. "That's got to be the castle!" she exclaimed, a surge of adrenalin pumping through her veins, dispersing the last of the spell-induced exhaustion. With a grin, she strode purposefully down the corridor, taking the first left she came to...
And found herself back exactly where she had first collapsed. "What the hell..?" she began to say, until she realized that swearing would do her no good. But at least it makes me feel better! Well, lets try the other way. As she took off in the opposite direction, she took the second right corridor, and once again found herself at her former position. "Damn!" she muttered. Obviously the labyrinth had a confusion spell placed on it that disrupted the normal dimensions. Groaning at the realization, she sank down a opened her satchel, taking out her precious spell book. Rifling through it, she looked feverishly for a spell to help her out of the loop she had gotten stuck in.
So intent was Galadrea in her studies that she didn't even notice when a shadow cast itself over her. "And now what's this?" said a tremulous voice, and suddenly the book was jerked from her hands.
"Well well! Lookit this! A genuine spellbook! This'll fetch a pretty price in the market!" Suddenly, the creature went down, tackled by a very, very angry Galadrea.
"Give me back my spell book, you thief!" she said, yanking her book out of the surprised creature's hands. Standing up, she took several steps back and observed the creature that had disturbed her. An old man, gnomish looking, picked itself up. As it did, Galadrea was startled to realize that the feathered had she had taken it for was in reality a creature that grew out of the top of the old gnome's head. It was the bird's head that spoke.
"Hey, you didn't have to be so grabby! We just wanted to look at it! You take things way to seriously, and you jump to conclusions! Lighten up, kiddo, or you'll kill youself," said the head in a crackly voice. A groan issued from the gnomish mouth below the bird, and the eyes began to uncross. The bird spoke again."Well, come on! Get it together old man!"
"Will you be quiet?!" the old gnome hissed at the bird. "It wasn't you that got tackled, was it?" Wheezing, the gnome tried to stand up. Feeling a sudden remorse for her actions, Galadrea went over and lent the wizened whatever-it-was her arm and assisted it to stand.
"I'm so sorry, sir. You'll have to excuse me, but I'm on a quest that may be a matter of life or death! That book is my only weapon against the creature that has taken my brother!" she explained, putting the tome back into her leather satchel.
"Oh my. Think nothing of it child!" said the old gnome, while the birdhead made a squawk of protest. "Now, who is it that has taken your brother?"
"What does it matter?! She doesn't deserve any help, the little brat!" Birdhead exclaimed, before letting out another squawk as the old gnome reached up and hit it.
Trying hard not to giggle, Galadrea explained her situation. "Yes, Jareth is a rather arrogant bastard, isn't he?" the old gnome replied, after Gala had finished her story. "Birdbrain and I would dearly love to see the little snot get back some of what he's been dishing out for centuries! Consider us at your service, child. I am Hashwit, and this is rude creature growing from me is Birdbrain." Suddenly the old man winked and leaned towards Gala and whispered. "You'll have to excuse him, but he's a little crabby. Woke up on the wrong side of the brain this morning, eh what?" With that the little man began to laugh wheezingly, and Galadrea's mouth fell open. What have I gotten myself in to? First a rude little pixie, now a senile gnome with a bird growing out of his head that has a pathetic sense of humor. What next? she thought as she wearily followed the old creature deeper into the labyrinth.
Galadrea wasn't the only one having trouble. In the castle of the Goblin King, various shouts rang out, accompanied by several loud crashes. Normally this wouldn't be anything unusual, except for the fact that the crashes were punctuated by rather vicious swearing.
"Get down from there boy, before I seal you in a crystal for eternity, and the rules be damned!" Jareth shouted as he shook his fist at Indros, who was grinning nastily while sitting on the edge of a balcony railing, looking down at the throneroom.
"Oooh, scary! I bet you frighten a lot of goblins with THAT line, you majesty!" the boy taunted, before shoving a small goblin off the balcony rail. A piteous wail followed a solid thunk let Indros know that the little creature had landed hard on the throneroom floor.
Suddenly, a gloved hand wrapped itself around Indros's arm and squeezed, hard. With a vicious jerk, the Goblin King yanked Indros off the rail and back onto the balcony. Rage suffused Jareth's face as he hauled the young man down the stairs. With a snarl, he threw Indros into the throne and tossed a crystal sphere after him. Indros suddenly found himself bound to the throne, unable to twitch even a muscle. Leaning close, the Goblin King spoke. "You are going to sit there and be quiet, or I will stuff a gag in your mouth and throw you into the Escher room and let you starve. You have been nothing but trouble since I brought you here. Not only have you ruined a good many of my possessions in the short time I let you go unbound, but you have managed to cause enough havok for an entire goblin army. Enough is enough!" he fairly shouted, having started off in a soft hiss. Indros merely smirked, which enraged Jareth even more. With a viscious oath, Jareth left the throne room without any other reply.
As he stormed through the halls of his castle, Jareth's boots beat a staccato tempo that sent all goblins in his path into hiding. However, the King of the Goblins paid no attention to any of them, so lost in rage as he was. Nothing is going right. First, the girl challenges me, now the boy has become the fiend from hell. Flinging open the door to his private chambers, Jareth deposited himself into a high-backed, well padded black leather chair. Groaning, he laid his head back and closed his eyes to enjoy the brief quiet. Unfortunately, the peace was shortlived as a goblin guard came rushing in.
"My lord! My lord!" the creature cried, and Jareth stood to face the tiny being, his face cold and void of any emotion.
"Well? Speak!" he snapped commandingly, feeling some satisfaction as the little goblin cowered. Then his satisfaction faded. The only reason he would have been disturbed is if something drastic was happening in the labyrinth. The only outsider in the labyrinth though was...Oh bloody hell! What's has Galadrea done now?!
"Y-y-yer m-m-m-majesty, the gates to the labyrinth...they're...they're..."the little goblin couldn't finish his sentence, and suddenly his king stormed past and disappeared from view. Wiping his little head of sweat, the poor creature was only too glad that it wasn't him that was going to get it for breaking the front gates...
And speaking of the front gates, they were a mess. Jareth stood there, his eyes wide open, and his jaw slightly dropped. Running his hands carefully over the hidden hinges, he felt the slight remnant of foreign magic. "I don't believe it, I just simply don't believe it!" he muttered, knowing that only one person could have managed such a feat. The king's mismatched eyes narrowed as he silently re-evaluated his opinion of the young mage.
"I think it's time I had a word with the temperamental Galadrea..."
What a stroke of luck! Galadrea thought as she realized that even though Hashwit and Birdbrain were very annoying, they were amazingly helpful. In three hours, she had made more progress than she would have thought possible. Unfortunately, she had had to listen to their interminable squabling over every minor turn and junction in their path. Suddenly, Galadrea was brought back to reality as she realized that her guides had stopped talking. Looking back over her shoulder, she kept walking.
"What's wrong, you two? Let's hurry, we don't have much--OOF!" she suddenly exclaimed as she walked smack into another person. Rebounding, she found herself sitting on the ground, and looking up, she suddenly realized exactly who it was she had run in to. "Oh look, its the insufferable bastard himself!" were the first words out of her mouth.
Jareth's cold gaze fastened on Galadrea. "You destroyed the front gates," he stated tonelessly. Galadrea smirked. She had been wondering when Jareth would notice the damage she had inflicted on his precious labyrinth. Unfortunately, smirking was not the best thing for her to have done. Before she could even move, Jareth had knelt down and was staring her directly in the face. "You may think this is funny, young lady, but I am not amused!" he whispered, bringing his head closer to hers.
Gazing into his eyes, Galadrea felt her will weakening and she barely resisted the urge to crawl backwards away from his presence. He is way to close to me! I wonder if he has any idea what this is doing to my mental state? Gala thought, her mind flashing back to her first impressions of his appearance. Though it made her uncomfortable, she couldn't deny that the man was attractive. "Oh really, Jareth? I think it's VERY amusing, and for your information, the labyrinth is pathetically easy to solve," she whispered back. Then, he smiled. Not a genuine smile, but a cold one. Rising, he took a step back from her, the air violently rushing to fill the void he had seemed to leave behind.
"Pathetically easy, is it? Well, maybe I should highten the danger level a bit, and deprive you of your ever-so-helpful guide, hmm?" he said, casting a scornful look over at the old gnome, who stared right back.
To Jareth's consternation, Galadrea smiled. "Do your worst, Jareth," she said, smiling as he winced at her casual use of his name. "I can promise you that the more dangerous you make it, the more damage I will do."
Jareth's grin dropped suddenly. Galadrea irrationally compared it to a torch. On, bright and deadly. Off, cold and deadly. "Let's just test that, shall we?" he replied, and then as he gestured, the stone dropped out from under her.
You kidding? I'm not following her down there!