Disclaimer: I do not own Jareth, or the Labyrinth.
"So the answer is 25," Magdalene concluded, walking onto the last vertex. She shoved the door open. "Come on," she said.
Dan walked through the door into another room. The floor had a checkerboard pattern on it. The room had another door, which appeared to be locked.
The room was not empty. There were many things-or people-in there. Dan looked closer.
They were large chess pieces.
Dan frowned. What was going on?
A short figure stepped in front of the door, produced a key, and unlocked it. He pulled the door shut again, locked it, walked over to the board, and handed the key to a tall, crowned figure wearing black robes. The piece walked over and stood on a white square. The other pieces moved to the correct configurations for a chess game. But one piece was missing.
The white king.
Dan swallowed. He was the best chess player in the family, he knew that much. He probably had to get the key by capturing the black king. He stepped onto the black square, vacant in the white ranks, and turned to the other white pieces. "Will you obey me?" he asked.
"Yes!" they chorused.
"Well then-King's Pawn to King's fourth!"
The black pieces moved against him. He played carefully, gauging his opponent. After a few moves, he turned to his sisters. "The black pieces are good," he said. "This game is going to take a while. Hours, maybe."
"Take as long as you need," Magdalene said. "Just don't lose."
He turned back to the board. A few minutes later, he glanced back at his sisters. Both Natalie and Susan had fallen asleep with their heads on Magdalene's lap. Natalie's bird sat on Natalie's shoulder, watching him.
He turned back to the board and played.
After a few hours, he reached endgame. He was left with only himself and two knights-against an opponent with two pawns and a bishop. He stared at the board, nervous. He frowned. The black king was against his side of the board, with two escape squares threatened by one knight and Dan threatening two others-but was there a way to check the black king?
Yes. Suddenly he saw it. He made a quick move with his other knight, bringing the black king into checkmate. The black king removed the key from his pocket and handed it to the knight, who carried it to Dan.
Then the pieces all shrank down, to the size of normal chess pieces. Dan was left holding the key. "Wake up!" he yelled, and ran to the door, unlocked it, and flung it open. He stopped. The next room was enormous, with a high domed ceiling. The middle of the room contained a fairly shallow pit, too wide to jump, that ran from wall to wall. The pit seemed to be filled with fire.
Standing on the other side of the room was Jareth.
