AN: Yes, The Egg... The Egg is revealed in this chapter... not explained
but revealed. Explanations are for chapter twelve. =) Yes, I'm evil.
I know this is short but, dunno... seemed like a good definitive place to
end when I was writing it.
Thanks again, and again, and again to everyone who has been so supportive
and review like! You guys are so awesome! ;) Also, a really stupid
random question but... what is a listian? Maybe I should know but I
really don't. I've heard the term in relation to Laby fanfiction but
haven't found a definition. Just curious...
Disclaimer: and ever and ever and ever and... are we getting the picture
yet?... and ever and ever... =)
*******************Sacrifices: Chapter Eleven***********************
Sarah watched, mute, frozen, as the myriad of cracks widened and split
the egg in pieces. As claws pushed their way through and were
followed by a golden snout that gleamed in light spilling in from
small, high windows. A golden reptilian snout with vivid, startling,
emerald eyes.
The eyes blinked once as the creature stood unsteadily, all four feet
of it, and shook once, wet leather like wings rattling as bits of
shell flew off it. Then it focused on Sarah. They stared at each
other for a long moment, the silent immortal human and the newly
hatched Dragon Queen. And then magic flared beyond the circle of
their eyes and Jareth stepped through a portal, Drevlyn a breath
behind him.
The two females whirled together to face the Goblin King and Dragon
Prince. Drevlyn's human face registered naked shock along with
something else... a mixture of pride, longing, fear, and utter relief.
Jareth's features held only one emotion, naked rage.
Sarah stepped back in the face of his fury, unconsciously putting the
creature, which could only be described as a Dragon, in between her
and the wrathful Goblin King. Jareth took one single stride forward
that carried him to the edge of the 'moat'.
"Sarah," he growled, eyes on her alone. The Dragon hissed in reply
and stepped forward, drawing its newborn self up to its full four feet
height, back arched like a cat as its tail snaked back and wrapped
itself around one of Sarah's ankles. Its front talons touched the
edge of the other side of the moat. For some reason the feel of the
tail, the presence of the scaled appendage inspired calm in Sarah, not
fear.
Drevlyn bowed in the face of the little beast's wrath. Jareth
glared.
The little Dragon cast its sparking emerald glare first to Drevlyn,
who it studied fiercely for a second before speaking with a backwards
glance at Sarah. 'Mine.' All three of them jumped when the voice,
feminine, clear, authoritive, spoke in their minds. Drevlyn was
startled enough to raise his downcast head, his dark spikes
straightening in surprise. The Dragon spoke again as she stepped back
so that she and Sarah stood side by side, a show of solidarity that
Sarah didn't quite know what to make of.
'Hers.' The tail wrapped around Sarah's ankle tightened with that
word and left little doubt to its meaning. Jareth raised wintry brows
and glanced at his almost brother.
"What is going on Drevlyn?" Drevlyn smiled as he rose and it was a
bright, jagged thing.
"You are meeting the new Queen of the Dragons Jareth. Be polite."
The newborn Dragon smiled as well, her little snout curled back to
reveal two rows of wicked teeth. It hissed warningly and completed
her first speech as she stared pointedly at Jareth.
'Bad.'
Jareth was, for one of the first times in his life, not amused.
"Drevlyn, what in all hells name is going on here?" The Dragon Queen
snorted and smoke curled from curved nostrils. The smoke was silver.
'I am Queen. Speak to me.' Jareth whirled on the small Dragon before
spitting a reply.
"Fine Your Majesty," and the Dragon's title was a snarl, "what is
going on here? I demand answers and I demand that you release my
subject!" Sarah swallowed and attempted to back up another step, not
frightened but terribly unsure, confused. She may be a part of this
world but she knew so little about it in truth. Only what Hellin and
Drevlyn had told her... Only what Jareth had let slip. She knew
nothing of Dragons and Dragon Queens. Of being part of 'Mine' or
'Hers'.
The Dragon Queen's tail held her fast. A piercing emerald gaze, too
astute for a newborn, too astute to be easily met, met hers for
another soul gazing moment and Sarah could practically feel the magic
in the air. She wasn't the only one.
"Dragon Queen release her!" Jareth moved to cross the moat, hands
still clenched, and Sarah realized that, even if she wasn't truly
afraid, that Jareth, King of the Goblins was. Afraid of being usurped
in his own castle, afraid of loosing something to this newly hatched
Dragon, something precious, something that was his, as fiercely his as
his Labyrinth, people, and kingdom, her.
The moment his foot left solid ground and went to stretch across the
'moat' the latent magic in the air flared, sparked fiery gold, and
revealed a transparent dome that covered the 'island' of cushions and
egg fragments, neatly sealing Sarah and the Dragon Queen inside.
The little Dragon looked smug and incredibly pleased with herself.
Jareth's brows raised a little higher and he rocked back on his heels,
face a study of sudden mildness.
"So little Dragon Queen, you want to play hardball?" This time Sarah
knew she wasn't imagining the magical build up in the air.
"Jareth no!" Drevlyn called, suddenly frantic, as the Dragon Queen's
jaded eyes widened and she backed up, trying to pull Sarah along with
her.
Jareth was... was terrifying, and magnificent. His magic was all the
colors of the rainbow and some, some that words couldn't describe. It
gathered around him, like a turbulent storm, and was focused in the
single crystal he held in outstretched hands. Hair, always wild,
stood on end, and Sarah realized, with another swallow, that he was
actually about to try to attack the Queen of the Dragons. And that
the Queen of the Dragons was less than sure about the outcome of that
attack. And that Sarah didn't want to be the reason for blood shed or
violence between the two monarchs as Drevlyn's honest words haunted
her...
'The King of the Goblins has friends?' Sarah quipped, bitterness still
very apparent. Drevlyn coughed to cover more quite inappropriate
laughter.
'Truthfully Lady, only among the Dragons, and perhaps his subjects.'
Magic condensed and exploded outward the moment Sarah managed to break
free from the little Dragon's grip. She hit the barrier the exact
second Jareth's angry magical attack crashed into it.
Sarah dimly heard screaming... her own, the squeal of a frantic Dragon
Queen, Drevlyn's hoarse shout for reason, and, as her vision failed
her, as pain laced her wounded body and it crumpled to the floor, saw
the anguished face of the Goblin King fill her world.
A Goblin King who wept at the destructive force of his anger and who
cradled her in arms too tender to belong to Her King. Sarah's scarred
hand reached upwards to touch one wet cheek in confusion.
"Jareth?" she whispered before words failed her. Darkness claimed her
then, in the confusion born of anger and the birth of a stubborn
Dragon Queen, in the warm strong arms of the Goblin King who cried at
his own power.
Confusion bled away as Sarah slept, as she dreamt, of a world
Aboveground, Underground, and of all the sacrifices she had ever made
in her too short life. Of a fiance lost, a child saved, and of a jealous
Goblin King.
but revealed. Explanations are for chapter twelve. =) Yes, I'm evil.
I know this is short but, dunno... seemed like a good definitive place to
end when I was writing it.
Thanks again, and again, and again to everyone who has been so supportive
and review like! You guys are so awesome! ;) Also, a really stupid
random question but... what is a listian? Maybe I should know but I
really don't. I've heard the term in relation to Laby fanfiction but
haven't found a definition. Just curious...
Disclaimer: and ever and ever and ever and... are we getting the picture
yet?... and ever and ever... =)
*******************Sacrifices: Chapter Eleven***********************
Sarah watched, mute, frozen, as the myriad of cracks widened and split
the egg in pieces. As claws pushed their way through and were
followed by a golden snout that gleamed in light spilling in from
small, high windows. A golden reptilian snout with vivid, startling,
emerald eyes.
The eyes blinked once as the creature stood unsteadily, all four feet
of it, and shook once, wet leather like wings rattling as bits of
shell flew off it. Then it focused on Sarah. They stared at each
other for a long moment, the silent immortal human and the newly
hatched Dragon Queen. And then magic flared beyond the circle of
their eyes and Jareth stepped through a portal, Drevlyn a breath
behind him.
The two females whirled together to face the Goblin King and Dragon
Prince. Drevlyn's human face registered naked shock along with
something else... a mixture of pride, longing, fear, and utter relief.
Jareth's features held only one emotion, naked rage.
Sarah stepped back in the face of his fury, unconsciously putting the
creature, which could only be described as a Dragon, in between her
and the wrathful Goblin King. Jareth took one single stride forward
that carried him to the edge of the 'moat'.
"Sarah," he growled, eyes on her alone. The Dragon hissed in reply
and stepped forward, drawing its newborn self up to its full four feet
height, back arched like a cat as its tail snaked back and wrapped
itself around one of Sarah's ankles. Its front talons touched the
edge of the other side of the moat. For some reason the feel of the
tail, the presence of the scaled appendage inspired calm in Sarah, not
fear.
Drevlyn bowed in the face of the little beast's wrath. Jareth
glared.
The little Dragon cast its sparking emerald glare first to Drevlyn,
who it studied fiercely for a second before speaking with a backwards
glance at Sarah. 'Mine.' All three of them jumped when the voice,
feminine, clear, authoritive, spoke in their minds. Drevlyn was
startled enough to raise his downcast head, his dark spikes
straightening in surprise. The Dragon spoke again as she stepped back
so that she and Sarah stood side by side, a show of solidarity that
Sarah didn't quite know what to make of.
'Hers.' The tail wrapped around Sarah's ankle tightened with that
word and left little doubt to its meaning. Jareth raised wintry brows
and glanced at his almost brother.
"What is going on Drevlyn?" Drevlyn smiled as he rose and it was a
bright, jagged thing.
"You are meeting the new Queen of the Dragons Jareth. Be polite."
The newborn Dragon smiled as well, her little snout curled back to
reveal two rows of wicked teeth. It hissed warningly and completed
her first speech as she stared pointedly at Jareth.
'Bad.'
Jareth was, for one of the first times in his life, not amused.
"Drevlyn, what in all hells name is going on here?" The Dragon Queen
snorted and smoke curled from curved nostrils. The smoke was silver.
'I am Queen. Speak to me.' Jareth whirled on the small Dragon before
spitting a reply.
"Fine Your Majesty," and the Dragon's title was a snarl, "what is
going on here? I demand answers and I demand that you release my
subject!" Sarah swallowed and attempted to back up another step, not
frightened but terribly unsure, confused. She may be a part of this
world but she knew so little about it in truth. Only what Hellin and
Drevlyn had told her... Only what Jareth had let slip. She knew
nothing of Dragons and Dragon Queens. Of being part of 'Mine' or
'Hers'.
The Dragon Queen's tail held her fast. A piercing emerald gaze, too
astute for a newborn, too astute to be easily met, met hers for
another soul gazing moment and Sarah could practically feel the magic
in the air. She wasn't the only one.
"Dragon Queen release her!" Jareth moved to cross the moat, hands
still clenched, and Sarah realized that, even if she wasn't truly
afraid, that Jareth, King of the Goblins was. Afraid of being usurped
in his own castle, afraid of loosing something to this newly hatched
Dragon, something precious, something that was his, as fiercely his as
his Labyrinth, people, and kingdom, her.
The moment his foot left solid ground and went to stretch across the
'moat' the latent magic in the air flared, sparked fiery gold, and
revealed a transparent dome that covered the 'island' of cushions and
egg fragments, neatly sealing Sarah and the Dragon Queen inside.
The little Dragon looked smug and incredibly pleased with herself.
Jareth's brows raised a little higher and he rocked back on his heels,
face a study of sudden mildness.
"So little Dragon Queen, you want to play hardball?" This time Sarah
knew she wasn't imagining the magical build up in the air.
"Jareth no!" Drevlyn called, suddenly frantic, as the Dragon Queen's
jaded eyes widened and she backed up, trying to pull Sarah along with
her.
Jareth was... was terrifying, and magnificent. His magic was all the
colors of the rainbow and some, some that words couldn't describe. It
gathered around him, like a turbulent storm, and was focused in the
single crystal he held in outstretched hands. Hair, always wild,
stood on end, and Sarah realized, with another swallow, that he was
actually about to try to attack the Queen of the Dragons. And that
the Queen of the Dragons was less than sure about the outcome of that
attack. And that Sarah didn't want to be the reason for blood shed or
violence between the two monarchs as Drevlyn's honest words haunted
her...
'The King of the Goblins has friends?' Sarah quipped, bitterness still
very apparent. Drevlyn coughed to cover more quite inappropriate
laughter.
'Truthfully Lady, only among the Dragons, and perhaps his subjects.'
Magic condensed and exploded outward the moment Sarah managed to break
free from the little Dragon's grip. She hit the barrier the exact
second Jareth's angry magical attack crashed into it.
Sarah dimly heard screaming... her own, the squeal of a frantic Dragon
Queen, Drevlyn's hoarse shout for reason, and, as her vision failed
her, as pain laced her wounded body and it crumpled to the floor, saw
the anguished face of the Goblin King fill her world.
A Goblin King who wept at the destructive force of his anger and who
cradled her in arms too tender to belong to Her King. Sarah's scarred
hand reached upwards to touch one wet cheek in confusion.
"Jareth?" she whispered before words failed her. Darkness claimed her
then, in the confusion born of anger and the birth of a stubborn
Dragon Queen, in the warm strong arms of the Goblin King who cried at
his own power.
Confusion bled away as Sarah slept, as she dreamt, of a world
Aboveground, Underground, and of all the sacrifices she had ever made
in her too short life. Of a fiance lost, a child saved, and of a jealous
Goblin King.