Part Three
"Just because the water is calm does not mean there are no crocodiles."
She was sitting on the doorstep when it happened, playing a game with Rilum in the afternoon sun. The little goblin boy was much better at this than she was (probably because he was the only one who knew the constantly changing rules) but she was enjoying herself. And her mind was only half on the game anyway. Any second now Jareth would realize she was gone and would come swooping down to take her back. And then would come the fight. Well, he asked for it.
"Queen Sarah?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, Rilum?"
"What's that?" The child pointed behind her, toward the sky. Sarah turned, squinting into the sun-
-and felt her guts turn instantly to ice.
"What the-?"
Huge, ugly flying monsters were swooping through the air, headed straight for the castle. The air seemed to tear in front of them as they screeched and bellowed in a frequency that Sarah knew she shouldn't have been able to hear. The sky darkened as the mass approached, like an ominous, roiling thundercloud.
Only these monsters, she knew deep in her bones, were capable of much more than mere thunderclaps. These were satan-spawn from hell.
"Wyrms!" Hetta screeched suddenly, running outside and reaching for her son. "Run!"
Goblins in the street were now pointing at the sky screaming in fear as the monsters came nearer. A few beasts landed on the rooftops of the city and began ripping everything into splinters. The rest flew on, and before Sarah could so much as scream, they began attacking the castle itself.
Sarah stood frozen in horror for a moment, then her hand flew to the pendant she wore around her neck. "I wish those things were dead! All of them!"
In her mind's eye, she saw the wyrms consumed by a sudden wild fire, and then fall dead to the ground in ashy piles. Her physical eyes, however, were not so lucky. The largest wyrm shuddered, and twisted its foul head in her direction-she gulped, waiting for it to fall dead from the sky-but it didn't. It...it...*grew*...
What?
But there was no mistake. The thing had grown. But how? She'd just wished it dead! She gripped the pendant and screamed it again, but all that happened was the ugly creature got even bigger. One of its companions veered away from the castle, headed for her.
Hetta's scream echoed in her ears. "RUN!"
Sarah obeyed this time, and careened down the streets, away from the monster that followed closer and closer behind. She stumbled blindly, and a rough hand appeared from nowhere to grab her hard around the waist.
She was wrenched out of the daylight into a dark hole.
"This way!" A voice hissed, and she recognized it as Hoggle. He pulled her down into the darkness, and she could hear the thing bellow a frustrated screech above. Her eyes adjusted to the shadows, and she realized she was underground somewhere, and judging by the sloping floor, getting further and further down. Something bumped hard against her leg, and she automatically reached down to steady the little goblin. It squealed and disappeared into the crowd of terrified goblins shuffling down into the dark. Sarah felt numb, cold deep down in her body. Her heart was sick...what was going on? What were those...wyrms? Where was everyone going? Where was Jareth?
"Sarah," Hoggle's gruff voice brought her hard back into the dark tunnel. Sarah blinked and realized that he had led her to a large underground cave. There were several more creatures pouring in from openings all around, creatures from all over the labyrinth: brownies and fireys and even the biting fairies flitted through the gloom. The cave was lit by flickering torches, but the atmosphere was far from warm or cheery. Faintly, Sarah could hear crashes and bellows as the monsters rampaged throughout the land.
"My lady?"
"Sarah."
A huge furry hand landed on Sarah's shoulder, and she turned to see Ludo and Sir Didymus behind her. Without a word, she launched herself into Ludo's arms and cried into the shaggy fur.
"I tried to wish it away, but it just got bigger, Hoggle! What is going on? What are wyrms and why did they attack us anyway? Why didn't Jareth stop them?"
"Sarah, stop that." Hetta scolded her gently. "You're just workin' yourself into hysterics. Calm down, miss."
"I dunno about yer pendant," Hoggle scratched at his patchwork cap. "Magic ain't my kettle o' fish. But as far as Jareth goes...well, the wyrms shouldn'ta been able to hurt the like o' him. So they musta had something else to deal with him-or someone else, maybe."
"Wyrms are foul creatures from far to the south," Didymus spoke up as Sarah struggled to swallow her tears. "They've never come up here in my lifetime. And they've never traveled in packs before. Ugly monsters. But it matters not why they came! The beasts have perched themselves on the very castle walls! We should charge them now and rid ourselves of their depravity!" He brandished his staff menacingly, but the effect was rather diminished when his steed crouched to the ground whimpering. "Ambrosius! Get up! This is no time to-You're embarrassing me! Ambrosius!"
As the fox struggled with his mount, Hoggle sighed and rubbed his creased eyes. "I don't get it. Why did those monsters come all this way just to rip up a few houses and the sit on the castle walls?"
"Wyrms watching."
"Watching what, Ludo?"
The beast shrugged. "Wyrms watching." He repeated.
"You think they're guarding something? Keeping us out of the castle? Why?"
"I wish I had my crystal," Sarah lamented, and then jumped as it dropped into her lap the next instant.
"Well," Hetta sniffed. "At least we know the pendant ain't entirely broken."
Sarah didn't bother to wonder why it chose now of all times to work. She held up the crystal and stared into it. "Show me Jareth," she whispered, and the crystal shimmered, showing her the Goblin King's unconscious face for a brief instant before the image twisted. A stranger stared out at her, dark eyes glinted maliciously.
"My Lady," the man grated. "Beware."
"Wha...who are you! What have you done to Jareth?!"
"I am Erlar. King Erlar, now. My master has given me these lands as a reward-"
"They aren't his lands to give!" Sarah burst out in rage. "You slimy beast! Get your monsters out of here-"
"My 'monsters', my lady, are here to stay. And so am I. However," the gaze became calculating. "I do not need to be alone in my rule. You are the queen, are you not? If you would prefer we make this a legal change of rule-"
"I would rather die, you pig! No, I'd rather YOU die! I wish you dead!"
He laughed. "Ah, yes, you're wonderful wishes. My master told me of them, but then he gave me the means to avoid it. Your power is based on dreams. MY power is made from nightmares, and nightmares are twisted dreams. "
Sarah dropped the crystal, unable to listen to that sickening hoarse voice. The ball bounced for a moment, then came to rest at her feet, blank as ever.
"Nightmares, eh? Well, that clears up that mystery." Hoggle shook his head. "Every wish you make, he twists into a nightmare. 'S why the wyrms grew when you wished 'em dead and all."
"Queen Sarah! M'Ladyship! You're here! You c'n help us, can'tcha?" A reedy voice rose out of the din, and Sarah recognized one of the goblins from the castle. "You c'n kill the wyrms, can'tcha?"
Several others in the crowd took up the plea, pressing forward toward her. Sarah got shakily to her feet. "Quiet!" It quieted immediately. Even the fairies stopped fluttering agitatedly and hovered nearer to listen.
"I can't wish the wyrms away," a murmur of fear swept through the crowd again, but Sarah held up her hands and it subsided. "But that doesn't mean there's no hope. I will need your help, all of you." She rubbed a hand across her face, and then tugged on Ludo's arm. He helped her climb up on his broad shoulders, so that everyone could see her. "I want guards posted at every entrance, and they will be relieved every two hours. I want the rest of you to set up camp in here, as quietly as you can." She paused, considering. "And I want at least ten of the swiftest, most silent creatures here to act as spies on the castle. We can't do anything unless we know what's going on."
She slid to the ground as the crowd began to break up, fear shunted aside as they found something to distract them. Sarah put Didymus in charge of the volunteers, and Hoggle immediately set up guard rotations at all the cave's entrances. The place had been hewn out of the rock long ago, Sarah learned, when a king before Jareth had waged war with a neighboring dukedom. The creatures of the Labyrinth had no love lost to that king, and rather than fight and die for him they had hidden in this place, waiting for the battles to end. The population had obviously been much smaller then, she decided as she personally oversaw the camp setup. Creatures were jammed in every corner here-and this was only about two thirds of the people! The rest were in the castle when the wyrms had descended-dead or alive, she didn't know. She was too afraid to use the crystal again. Erlar, whoever he was, would know somehow.
Sarah ripped her thoughts away from the castle and its prisoners. She would worry about that one later. Right now, she was more than willing to throw all her concentration into the hectic mess. "You there!" she called over a crowd of goblin housewives. "Put that along the walls of the corridors!" She motioned to an odd black and red creature carrying a huge load of eyeball lichen in its three pairs of arms. The thing nodded (well, it swung its flat, angular head in what looked like a nod) and hop-skipped away towards the corridors on its five mis-matching legs.
She stared at its retreating back, shook herself and turned away. The thing probably thought she was weird, too.
"Just because the water is calm does not mean there are no crocodiles."
She was sitting on the doorstep when it happened, playing a game with Rilum in the afternoon sun. The little goblin boy was much better at this than she was (probably because he was the only one who knew the constantly changing rules) but she was enjoying herself. And her mind was only half on the game anyway. Any second now Jareth would realize she was gone and would come swooping down to take her back. And then would come the fight. Well, he asked for it.
"Queen Sarah?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, Rilum?"
"What's that?" The child pointed behind her, toward the sky. Sarah turned, squinting into the sun-
-and felt her guts turn instantly to ice.
"What the-?"
Huge, ugly flying monsters were swooping through the air, headed straight for the castle. The air seemed to tear in front of them as they screeched and bellowed in a frequency that Sarah knew she shouldn't have been able to hear. The sky darkened as the mass approached, like an ominous, roiling thundercloud.
Only these monsters, she knew deep in her bones, were capable of much more than mere thunderclaps. These were satan-spawn from hell.
"Wyrms!" Hetta screeched suddenly, running outside and reaching for her son. "Run!"
Goblins in the street were now pointing at the sky screaming in fear as the monsters came nearer. A few beasts landed on the rooftops of the city and began ripping everything into splinters. The rest flew on, and before Sarah could so much as scream, they began attacking the castle itself.
Sarah stood frozen in horror for a moment, then her hand flew to the pendant she wore around her neck. "I wish those things were dead! All of them!"
In her mind's eye, she saw the wyrms consumed by a sudden wild fire, and then fall dead to the ground in ashy piles. Her physical eyes, however, were not so lucky. The largest wyrm shuddered, and twisted its foul head in her direction-she gulped, waiting for it to fall dead from the sky-but it didn't. It...it...*grew*...
What?
But there was no mistake. The thing had grown. But how? She'd just wished it dead! She gripped the pendant and screamed it again, but all that happened was the ugly creature got even bigger. One of its companions veered away from the castle, headed for her.
Hetta's scream echoed in her ears. "RUN!"
Sarah obeyed this time, and careened down the streets, away from the monster that followed closer and closer behind. She stumbled blindly, and a rough hand appeared from nowhere to grab her hard around the waist.
She was wrenched out of the daylight into a dark hole.
"This way!" A voice hissed, and she recognized it as Hoggle. He pulled her down into the darkness, and she could hear the thing bellow a frustrated screech above. Her eyes adjusted to the shadows, and she realized she was underground somewhere, and judging by the sloping floor, getting further and further down. Something bumped hard against her leg, and she automatically reached down to steady the little goblin. It squealed and disappeared into the crowd of terrified goblins shuffling down into the dark. Sarah felt numb, cold deep down in her body. Her heart was sick...what was going on? What were those...wyrms? Where was everyone going? Where was Jareth?
"Sarah," Hoggle's gruff voice brought her hard back into the dark tunnel. Sarah blinked and realized that he had led her to a large underground cave. There were several more creatures pouring in from openings all around, creatures from all over the labyrinth: brownies and fireys and even the biting fairies flitted through the gloom. The cave was lit by flickering torches, but the atmosphere was far from warm or cheery. Faintly, Sarah could hear crashes and bellows as the monsters rampaged throughout the land.
"My lady?"
"Sarah."
A huge furry hand landed on Sarah's shoulder, and she turned to see Ludo and Sir Didymus behind her. Without a word, she launched herself into Ludo's arms and cried into the shaggy fur.
"I tried to wish it away, but it just got bigger, Hoggle! What is going on? What are wyrms and why did they attack us anyway? Why didn't Jareth stop them?"
"Sarah, stop that." Hetta scolded her gently. "You're just workin' yourself into hysterics. Calm down, miss."
"I dunno about yer pendant," Hoggle scratched at his patchwork cap. "Magic ain't my kettle o' fish. But as far as Jareth goes...well, the wyrms shouldn'ta been able to hurt the like o' him. So they musta had something else to deal with him-or someone else, maybe."
"Wyrms are foul creatures from far to the south," Didymus spoke up as Sarah struggled to swallow her tears. "They've never come up here in my lifetime. And they've never traveled in packs before. Ugly monsters. But it matters not why they came! The beasts have perched themselves on the very castle walls! We should charge them now and rid ourselves of their depravity!" He brandished his staff menacingly, but the effect was rather diminished when his steed crouched to the ground whimpering. "Ambrosius! Get up! This is no time to-You're embarrassing me! Ambrosius!"
As the fox struggled with his mount, Hoggle sighed and rubbed his creased eyes. "I don't get it. Why did those monsters come all this way just to rip up a few houses and the sit on the castle walls?"
"Wyrms watching."
"Watching what, Ludo?"
The beast shrugged. "Wyrms watching." He repeated.
"You think they're guarding something? Keeping us out of the castle? Why?"
"I wish I had my crystal," Sarah lamented, and then jumped as it dropped into her lap the next instant.
"Well," Hetta sniffed. "At least we know the pendant ain't entirely broken."
Sarah didn't bother to wonder why it chose now of all times to work. She held up the crystal and stared into it. "Show me Jareth," she whispered, and the crystal shimmered, showing her the Goblin King's unconscious face for a brief instant before the image twisted. A stranger stared out at her, dark eyes glinted maliciously.
"My Lady," the man grated. "Beware."
"Wha...who are you! What have you done to Jareth?!"
"I am Erlar. King Erlar, now. My master has given me these lands as a reward-"
"They aren't his lands to give!" Sarah burst out in rage. "You slimy beast! Get your monsters out of here-"
"My 'monsters', my lady, are here to stay. And so am I. However," the gaze became calculating. "I do not need to be alone in my rule. You are the queen, are you not? If you would prefer we make this a legal change of rule-"
"I would rather die, you pig! No, I'd rather YOU die! I wish you dead!"
He laughed. "Ah, yes, you're wonderful wishes. My master told me of them, but then he gave me the means to avoid it. Your power is based on dreams. MY power is made from nightmares, and nightmares are twisted dreams. "
Sarah dropped the crystal, unable to listen to that sickening hoarse voice. The ball bounced for a moment, then came to rest at her feet, blank as ever.
"Nightmares, eh? Well, that clears up that mystery." Hoggle shook his head. "Every wish you make, he twists into a nightmare. 'S why the wyrms grew when you wished 'em dead and all."
"Queen Sarah! M'Ladyship! You're here! You c'n help us, can'tcha?" A reedy voice rose out of the din, and Sarah recognized one of the goblins from the castle. "You c'n kill the wyrms, can'tcha?"
Several others in the crowd took up the plea, pressing forward toward her. Sarah got shakily to her feet. "Quiet!" It quieted immediately. Even the fairies stopped fluttering agitatedly and hovered nearer to listen.
"I can't wish the wyrms away," a murmur of fear swept through the crowd again, but Sarah held up her hands and it subsided. "But that doesn't mean there's no hope. I will need your help, all of you." She rubbed a hand across her face, and then tugged on Ludo's arm. He helped her climb up on his broad shoulders, so that everyone could see her. "I want guards posted at every entrance, and they will be relieved every two hours. I want the rest of you to set up camp in here, as quietly as you can." She paused, considering. "And I want at least ten of the swiftest, most silent creatures here to act as spies on the castle. We can't do anything unless we know what's going on."
She slid to the ground as the crowd began to break up, fear shunted aside as they found something to distract them. Sarah put Didymus in charge of the volunteers, and Hoggle immediately set up guard rotations at all the cave's entrances. The place had been hewn out of the rock long ago, Sarah learned, when a king before Jareth had waged war with a neighboring dukedom. The creatures of the Labyrinth had no love lost to that king, and rather than fight and die for him they had hidden in this place, waiting for the battles to end. The population had obviously been much smaller then, she decided as she personally oversaw the camp setup. Creatures were jammed in every corner here-and this was only about two thirds of the people! The rest were in the castle when the wyrms had descended-dead or alive, she didn't know. She was too afraid to use the crystal again. Erlar, whoever he was, would know somehow.
Sarah ripped her thoughts away from the castle and its prisoners. She would worry about that one later. Right now, she was more than willing to throw all her concentration into the hectic mess. "You there!" she called over a crowd of goblin housewives. "Put that along the walls of the corridors!" She motioned to an odd black and red creature carrying a huge load of eyeball lichen in its three pairs of arms. The thing nodded (well, it swung its flat, angular head in what looked like a nod) and hop-skipped away towards the corridors on its five mis-matching legs.
She stared at its retreating back, shook herself and turned away. The thing probably thought she was weird, too.