IV

"Happy is the child whose father goes to the devil."

--Sixteenth-century proverb



With an extremely loud thud, Duncan was dropped on his butt in front of the Labyrinth's main entrance. He blinked in surprise, opening his mouth for a puzzled question. It was interrupted by his harp case landing softly on his head.

Duncan stood up in pain. "Damn it!!" he roared, rubbing his head. The sound of Jade's laughter surrounded him and he glared darkly. "When I get a hold of her......" was his dark promise. Still rubbing his head, Duncan walked up to the gates, frowning thoughtfully. How the hell do I get in? he thought to himself. There's no opening, no doors, no nothing. Just wall.....and two doors. But no handle to open the doors.

Shrugging and figuring he had nothing to lose, Duncan walked up to the doors. Glaring intimidatingly, he commanded, "Open these doors and allow me entrance to the Labyrinth."

Nothing happened. His scowl slowly becoming darker, Duncan tried again. "Open up!!" Still, nothing happened. The doors wiggled at him, as if silently mocking him. Duncan growled in annoyance and kicked a door in a fit of anger.

A giggle brought his attention to his right. A girl stood there. She looked like any other girl, she had bright blue eyes, long golden hair, and was wearing a silken dress. Only....there was something about her that separated her from other, normal girls. Her ears were delicately pointed, more so than Duncan's own, and she had glittering wings.

Duncan blinked, thinking that the wings were part of his imagination, or maybe that his vision was going bad in his not-very-old age. "What.....what are you?" he finally gathered up the courage to ask. The girl's grin seemed to brighten. Tossing a strand of gold hair over her shoulder, she gave him an assessing look.

"Do you mean to tell me that even though you share the Elven blood......you've forgotten all of the ancient memories?" she asked, not without a bit of scorn. Mutely, Duncan nodded his head yes. The girl-Fae shook her head in disgust. "Then it's no wonder you can't get through the door, you silly fool! Especially since you don't know what I am; and I being the Keeper of the Gate."

Trying a guess, Duncan asked, "Are you one of the Fae? One of the Tuatha de Danaan?"

The girl snorted her amusement. "Not likely," she replied.

"A shapeshifter?" Duncan hazarded a guess.

The girl sighed. "No, you fool. All of the Fae, and the other Clans, can shapeshift. Try again. What am I? And this time, before you open that great, gaping hole you call a mouth, look with your Self, not with your eyes."

Duncan sighed and closed his eyes. Inwardly, he started listing all of the magical creatures he knew. Unicorns, dragons, selkies, angels, brownies, sprites, faeries, sphinxes, centaurs, gremlins, campchurches, hippocampuses, phoenixes, leprechauns, elves, goblins, gremlins, griffins, mermaids, spirits.... At the last creature, Duncan's gem bright green eyes sprung open. "You're a spirit?" he asked softly, wary of being rebuked.

The girl clapped her hands together. "Finally! But we'd rather much prefer to be called Elementals. And I, Branwen, was charged with guarding the Labyrinth's gate by the first Goblin King. And I shall continue doing so; forever." She shot a mischievous grin at Duncan. "Good luck, Duncan of the Elf Clan. You're going to need it." She bowed at him, and then was gone.

Duncan stared at the spot where Branwen had stood just seconds before. "This place is so strange," he muttered. "And I haven't even gone through the Labyrinth's gates!" Reminded by his last sentence, Duncan turned around and stared at the huge doors. They were still closed tightly. Duncan sighed and said, "Well......I guess not all magical creatures can be trusted."

Something hit Duncan on the back of his head. "Fool!" he heard an invisible voice hiss. "I never said I would open the gates for you!! That's your job to figure out! All I asked was if you knew what I was!!" A snort of disgust came from the air to his right. "At this rate, you'll never make it to the castle." Duncan scowled at the invisible Elemental and she laughed mockingly. "Think, Duncan of the Elf Clan. What magical Gift was given to you? The answer to my question is the Key to the Labyrinth." And, with that, she was gone.

Duncan sighed, realizing that this adventure wasn't going to be a very pleasant one. What did she mean......the magical Gift given to me....? And then, it hit him: The story that he had been telling Malcolm! The music, that was his Gift.......and that was probably why Jade had given him his harp. It was the musical instrument that he had always played; had played since he was three years old. Grinning to himself, Duncan got out his harp and began strumming it, humming along with the music. Once he had picked a favorite Scottish song, he began to sing with the music.

Slowly, as if reluctant, the Labyrinth's doors slowly swung open. Duncan's grin broadened and he stepped into the maze. Once he was completely inside the entrance, he stopped playing. When that happened, the doors slammed shut with a resounding 'BANG'. And for some reason, Duncan had the feeling that they wouldn't open again.......even if he played his music.

He sighed and started down the path to his right. "Here I go.....into the belly of the beast."

~*~

Jade grinned, staring into the crystal ball. Giggling, she turned her attention to the goblins surrounding the throne. In the middle of the large group, Malcolm sat wide-eyed. Whenever a goblin would scuttle closer, Malcolm would whimper in fear and edge backwards, towards Jade and her throne.

Seeing this, Jade tilted her head to the side and grinned maliciously. She was about to say something when a large dark form glided into the throne room, headed straight for Jade. Seeing this, Jade's grin softened with affection.

"How is mother and father, Heart'sAflame?" Jade asked curiously, leaning forward in her anxiousness for news. The fully grown (and much larger) dragon grinned up at the Princess.

"Exceedingly well.....though King Jareth still can't convince your mother to turn that Fae back into his normal self."

At this, Jade snickered. "I'm not surprised," she answered. "You know mother....she can be extremely stubborn when she wants to be. How else could she have convinced father that she wanted to stay Underground?"

The dragon laughed, a deep rumbling echoing throughout the room. It was then when she noticed the small boy huddled in the group of goblins and the crystal ball that Jade was twining between her fingers. "What have I missed, little one?" the dragon asked curiously.

Jade smiled evilly. "There's a mortal in the Labyrinth."