A long scaled snout peeked out of the gate, expelling another puff of smoke before the rest of the creature shuffled into view. It was taller than the wall, angular and spiney, its green armor-like scales interspersed with transparent leafy frills that shimmered with reflections of purple and blue. It stretched and yawned and unfurled its wings before sleepily looking down its elongated snout at Toby and his companions and demanding in a gravelly voice, "You dare disturb my slumber, youngling?"
Toby gaped in awe at the dragon and swallowed, finally managing to mumble a response. "I'm sorry to disturb you sir! Um.." He took a step back, almost tripping on the long tail which had slid out and began to wind and tighten around his legs.
Smoke poured from the dragon's nostrils as he commanded. "Do not shirk, speak your business child!"
Pottsy crept closer and began to tug on the tail to free him but Toby waved her off, worried that it could irritate the dragon further. He looked up at the imposing creature and took a deep breath. "Uh, pardon, Sir, but we need to get through the gate."
"Your companions are citizens of this place and may pass this gate..." it shuffled a little to the side, revealing an open gate and a glimpse of the city beyond.
Hoggle didn't wait to be told twice, he dashed through the exit as fast as his short legs could carry him, leaving a bewildered Ludo looking back and forth between Toby and the gate. At Toby's urging, Ludo swooped Pottsy onto his shoulders and went through as well.
Toby turned and tried to encourage the cat to follow him through but the dragon raised a claw and barred his way. "You, however, must pay a toll."
Toby's eyes widened. "A… toll?
"Correctly answer a riddle of my choosing."
Toby gulped, he wasn't very good at riddles, but he didn't really have much of a choice, cringing inwardly he asked, "Okay, Sir, what is your riddle?"
The dragon cleared his throat and posed dramatically,
"This thing all things devours: birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays kings, ruins towns, and beats high mountains down."
Toby groaned, what the heck was that supposed to mean? What eats everything? Even mountains? That doesn't even make sense! And in this crazy world there could be all sorts of creatures that he'd never even heard of, how is he supposed to know?
Scrubbing his face in frustration Toby looked up towards the castle, Jareth had said he had only a bit more than an hour left, and that was a while ago. He was running out of time!
Wait! Time! That's it! Over time everything eventually disintegrates, even mountains, (he had learned that in geography class.)
Smiling triumphantly Toby turned to face the dragon. "I have the answer to your riddle Sir, and a gift."
The dragon noted the shift in his demeanor and raised a brow archly. "Really child?"
"Time, time devours everything, eventually."
Nodding in approval the dragon asked, "And what is this gift you spoke of?"
With a cheeky grin Toby replied. "I have gifted you my time, which is valuable because I have less than an hour left to save my parents."
The dragon tilted it's head and chuckled, "Clever child." The tail unwound itself from Toby's ankles, leaving him wobbly for a moment, the large cat rubbed up against him, steadying him.
The dragon shuffled out of the way of the gate, letting Toby join his companions on the other side. "I thank you for your time, and wish you well on the rest of your quest."
Toby smiled and waved. "Thank you Sir!"
...
A ringing sound caused everyone in the throneroom to jump. All eyes turned to blink at the cordless phone that had been forgotten on the ledge.
It rang again.
Reluctantly Sarah picked it up and clicked the button. The voice on the other end was more than slightly irritated. "Miss Williams?"
Sarah winced, she really wasn't mentally prepared to deal with the aftermath of what her landlady must have observed earlier, she cleared her throat. "Yes, Mrs Henderson?"
"Is this some kind of prank?
Sarah blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I went to feed your cat as you asked, there was no cat to be found"
"Uh, maybe he's napping in a closet… or something?"
"Perhaps, but the cat food was not in any of the cabinets."
"Oh, uh… ." Another thing the goblins got into apparently. "Oh, I completely forgot that I was out, sorry for making you go to all that trouble for nothing."
"I did find a can of tuna which I set out just in case."
"Oh, thank you, I'm sure Tiger will appreciate it!"
"Hmm, and I'll appreciate if you don't make a habit of leaving your pet unattended. Good day Miss Williams. "
The reciever clicked just as boots rang out against stone, they turned to see Jareth pick up a black feather from his throne, he raised a brow in query.
Sarah jumped up from the bench, a worried expression on her face. "We have a situation."
He raised a brow.
"Mrs. Henderson found the broom closet, she's seen the portal and the goblins."
He frowned, "What was your landlady doing snooping in your apartment?"
Sarah looked away and bit her lip. "I had called her to feed Tiger, she was searching for the cat food." She fiddled with her fingers. "She just called, she didn't mention anthing, but... could you erase her memory?"
He shook his head. "As she is not implicated in the wish I am not authorized to tamper with her memories."
"But..."
He formed a crystal and held it up. Within Sarah saw Mrs. Henderson sitting on her couch staring blankly at the TV, a bewildered expression on her face.
Jareth pinched his lips. "If we are fortunate she will fall asleep in front of the television and imagine that what she saw was just a dream." He vanished the crystal, face pensive.
Sarah looked back towards the throne room and frowned, where did all the goblins go?
"Jareth, did you sic your goblins on my brother?"
…
Once inside the gate Toby found his friends waiting for him, together they advanced cautiously.
The city was strangely silent. Lanterns flickered in doorways, and a chicken flew by, but no sign of any goblins at all.
Arriving in a courtyard the only sound was the tinkle of a fountain. The sound of armored feet, a troop of goblins came into view, blocking the left road. They parted to reveal an odd type of cannon, someone lit a fuse and a cannonball with legs shot over their heads.
Toby and the others tried to run towards the right, but found it was blocked by an incoming troop of goblin cavalry.
Backing away Toby tried to find an escape but the goblins had encircled them, lances in a charging position. One of the mounted goblins poked at them menacingly, Ludo frowned and bellowed. The goblins froze, apparently at least a few of them remembered the destruction the last time that they had messed with Ludo and several backed away, keeping a wide berth.
Another wave of cavalry arrived in the square, this one led by a fox with an eyepatch, riding a sheep dog. The dog cowered as its rider exclaimed. "Ambrosious! Stand your ground!"
The large feline hissed at the sight of the dog and its rider, hackles raising. Toby patted it's shoulder. "Steady."
Ambrosious took one look at the huge cat and began to whimper and back away, totally ignoring its rider, who squealed "Stand your ground I said!"
The fancy dressed fox tilted his head and addressed Ludo. "Brother Ludo, I fear that we are at odds."
Hoggle grumbled. "Didymus, we ain't got time for this! Let us through!"
"As my sworn brother I cannot harm you, but I must fulfill my duty. I cannot permit you to pass."
Ludo shook his head and pointed at Toby. "Sawah broder."
Sir Didimus' good eye widened. "The Lady Sarah?"
Hoggle rolled his eyes. "Of course! And we're running out of time!"
"Has he wished away our fair lady?"
"Look, we really are in a hurry, how 'bout we explain it on the way."
"Of course!" Didimus turned to his troops. "Honor guard!"
...
Karen called out excitedly, "He's inside the gates!"
Sarah and Robert flocked to the window, Sarah pointed. "I see him!"
And it was quite a sight, Toby was astride what could only be described as an orange tabby sabertooth tiger. Sitting in front of him was Pottsy. They were flanked by Hoggle and Ludo, as well as a line of goblin cavalry, Sir Didimus in the lead.
...
"Company Halt!" Sir Didimus began to dismount,
Toby dismounted as well, staring up in awe at the castledoors, they were solid wood, and at least two stories tall.
"What's everyone waitin' for?" Hoggle grabbed a door pull and yanked, the door opened more easily than he expected and he almost fell over.
Toby caught him and helped him regain his balance. He turned to face his new friends. "Thank you for all of your help, but .. I think I need to do this on my own"
Hoggle and Sir Didimus exchanged a look and nodded. Sir Didimus gave a half bow. "Godspeed, good knight."
Ludo and Pottsy gave him a group hug, the tiger leaned in as well, Toby scratched his ruff.
Hoggled waved off an attempt to get him to join the hug. "Get goin' kid."
Taking a deep breath Toby stepped through the doors, the entry had high vaulted ceilings, between each support beam was a door.
There were so many hallways! So many rooms! There was no way he could check them all! Many were empty, or sparsely furnished. One room had nothing but a strange chair and a clock.
Toby's heart clenched, the clock showed only seventeen minutes to thirteen o'clock!
Panicking he dashed up the nearest flight of stairs.
Reaching the top landing Toby skidded to a halt, almost teetering over the edge.
Was it another dead end?
No, there was a stairway leading left, but beyond that there were many stairs jutting out at strange angles, defying gravity. Just looking around made him feel dizzy.
He hesitated, should he search the stairs? Or turn around and search other rooms?
As he paused, indecisive, he heard his mother's voice calling him. "Toby?"
The voice bounced and echoed around him, he spun around. "Mom? Where are you?"
The voice called again. "Toby?"
He turned and raced down the nearest flight of stairs, calling. "Mom!"
His own voice echoed back at him, he froze, was he just hearing things?
From another direction he heard his father's voice. "Toby?"
He spun again, "Dad! I'm here!"
On the next landing Toby almost skidded into a mirror. It took him a second to realize that the image within was not of him in his now dingy pajamas. It was an image of himself proudly wearing the Manchester soccer jersey that his mom had refused to buy him last week because it was too expensive and he would outgrow it too fast.
He still wanted that jersey, his hand raised of its own volition, yearning to touch it.
His mother's voice interrupted. "Toby?"
Toby yanked his hand back and shook his head, it was a trap. Turning away from the mirror he ran in the direction that he thought the voice had come from.
Another landing, another mirror. This one showed him holding up his game boy triumphantly, the screen showing that he was the top score for that war game that his parents wouldn't let him play.
He barely gave it a glance.
In another mirror he was playing in the park with a huge dog, he had been begging his mom to get another dog ever since Merlin died but she always said no.
Watching the dog bound around Toby shook his head, he had to find his mom and dad.
He was out of breath from running as he reached another landing. He blinked at the image, it was him, holding a suitcase, the ticket on the bag read TEXAS.
He made a face, he didn't want to go to Texas. He had been before and spent the whole time uncomfortably hot. He backed away from the mirror.
A movement in the mirror caught his eye. Way ahead, waiting at the gates were two silhouettes. They waved at him to join them.
He realized that that was the only reflection where he saw his parents at all. In all of the others he was with strangers or alone.
If he didn't find them in time... that's what would happen. He would go back, but his parents would be trapped here.
He couldn't let that happen.
Immediately he reached out and touched that mirror, a crack appeared at his fingertips, growing and spreading out like a spider's web until it stretched across the entire mirror. The crack touched the edges and it shattered, Toby held up his arms to protect his face.
When he opened his eyes again both the mirrors and the shards were gone.
He was in a stone room, Jareth was lounging on the weird throne. Standing beside him, hand on the armrest was Sarah. They both wore angular outfits of black leather and wine velvet. Their faces betrayed no emotion.
Toby was nervous. Hadn't he won? Where were his parents?
Sarah stepped forward. Toby gulped, was she mad at him? Was he in trouble?
After a brief moment the clock beside them began to chime. Sarah smiled and formed a crystal in her fingertips. "Hey Toby, tell Mom and Dad I'll call them tomorrow."
She tossed the crystal up in the air, it popped.
...
Author's note
Finally finished Toby's run! Seriously that boy has caused a nine chapter detour!
On a similar note, Chapter 30? When did that happen? Seriously I never would have made it this far without all of your support.
(Also, if you're binging this and need to go to sleep or get something else done, here's a good stopping point before the next batch of shenanigans)
Thanks to Guest 2022 and ElauraGrave for the lovely reviews, they really help keep me motivated.
Also a huge thank you to Eyir-AllMight for reminding me of Tolkien's riddle for my dragon, and thanks to everyone who answered my Facebook question asking for riddle suggestions.
As usual Labyrinth and its characters belong to Jim Henson, the riddle belongs to Tolkien, my O.C.'s belong to me.
