Disclaimer: I disclaim.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sarah sat against a wall outside a small town waiting for Hawk to return. The large bag beside her held her mother's body. Sarah kept her eyes focused straight ahead, visibly ignoring the body beside her.

Hawk walked through the gate, leading three horses.

"Where'd you get those?" Sarah asked warily.

"'Borrowed 'em" Hawk answered lazily, a grin on his face.

Sarah grumbled as Hawk helped her mount the gray mare. "You mean stole them."

"Take your pick. I don't mind." He packed what little provisions he had 'acquired' earlier onto the chestnut gelding, and gently lifted Lynda's body onto the horse, also.

"Come on. Let's go." He mounted the black colt and turned to grab the chestnut's lead line from Sarah. As the line passed into his hand the young horse balked, and Hawk reined it in while catching his balance.

"Here. You hold it." Hawk handed the line back to Sarah. "Follow me."

And he nudged the black into a trot and took off down the dusty road.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Sarah called.

"To the Woodland Realm." Hawk answered.

"Why?"

Hawk didn't answer.

"How long is the ride."

"Not far from here. We cleared the Labyrinth two hours ago-"

"Yeah I remember." Sarah shuddered as she felt her 'chains' tighten. As they left the Labyrinth the magic had pulled taunt so that it seemed that every step she took was like walking against the wind in a hurricane.

Hawk glared good-naturedly at her. "-So we should be at the border within the hour."

They rode on in silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sarah decided that the Underground was indeed a strange place as they rode up on the border of the Woodland Realm. Jareth's lands were dusty and dark, but at the very border of where they turned into the woods it was light and the air was happy.

"When the Underground was created, the Gods equally distributed the lands." Hawk rode up beside her. "The Faes were given the lands that Jareth has. They created the Labyrinth and all that was built up in it. Elves were given these lands in which they created woods and ponds. The pure-blooded Elves died out long ago, but there are still half-elves and Elf-Fae hybrids living here. To the north is a fire-land which was gifted to Dragons and their bonded humans."

"Where do your people come from?"

"Huh?" Hawk stared at Sarah.

"The shape-shifters."

Hawk was quiet for a while. "The shifters aren't exactly a 'people'. There were a long time ago-they came from the south- but they weren't necessarily welcomed so they learned to hide their powers. They married Faes and Elves and the Dragon's Brood, so the ability to shift is rare now."

"Why weren't they welcomed?"

Hawk sighed. "The south is like your human Hell. People weren't very happy to have so-called demons running about their lands."

"Oh."

Hawk nodded. "Come." He dismounted and began to lead the colt into the forest. At his first step into the Woodland Realm, and young man armed with a bow and arrow leapt down and landed a foot away from Hawk, his bow bent.

As his eyes settled on Hawk, he laughed. He relaxed the bow and placed the arrow back into the silver quiver on his back. "Well, if it isn't the little songbird.", he laughed.

Hawk rolled his eyes. "It's nice to see you too, Nathaniel."

"So you have decided to grace us with your presence once more, Christo?" Nathaniel grinned.

Sarah stared. The man was obviously one of the Elf-Fae hybrids Hawk had told him about, for the wild Fae magic vibrated around him. His long, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his emerald eyes danced almost as wildly as Hawk's own.

"Who is this beautiful young lady?" Nathaniel grinned and lifted Sarah's hand to his lips.

Hawk grinned slyly. "That is Sarah Williams."

Nathaniel's eyes widened slightly. He lowered himself to his knees. "Sorry, milady."

"Huh?"

Nathaniel stole a glance at Hawk. "Christo sent word earlier after your mother's death, Your Majesty-"

"Huh?" Sarah gaped stupidly at the man in front of her.

"Your mother died, Sarah." Hawk's eyes were dancing. "You are the queen."

Sarah's mouth hung open. "What?"

Hawk and Nathaniel nodded.

"I'm eighteen!" she protested. "I was barely passing High School! I FAILED my Government class!"

Nathaniel looked at Hawk, who shrugged.

"You can't have someone be queen who didn't understand the Bill of Rights or the U.S Constitution-"

"Alright, you're confusing us. Stop it." Hawk put a hand on her shoulder. "You're the queen by birthright, Sarah. All involved in monarchies know that is not always a good thing, but they accept it."

"But I don't WANT to be a queen!"

"Milady-"

"Don't you MILADY me, Nathaniel!"

The half-elf grinned. "Sarah. The fact that you were Heir to the Woodland Realm is what had gotten you in trouble earlier on in your life. You might as well seize the advantage and take a stand against him."

"WHAT?"

Hawk rolled his eyes. "What the elf-boy is hinting at- you've got to learn to speak plainly Nathaniel- is the fact that Jareth wanted you because you were heir to the throne."

There was silence as Sarah gaped at Hawk. "What?" she whispered.

For so long she had believed at first he- but no.

"That little bastard." Sarah spat. "I'm going to- Where the hell is that damned sword?"

Hawk nodded to the packhorse. Sarah rushed up to it to grab the sword, but stopped at the sight of the body-bag.

Nathaniel watched. "Is that-?" he trailed off.

"Yes."

"I will take you to the Great Halls." He said. "We will bury her in the Tomb there." He grabbed the reigns of the gray and the chestnut's lead line.

"Come, Sarah." He passed the chestnut's line to the hand that held the reigns, and pulled Sarah away from the body.

"It's a couple days walk to the halls." Nathaniel said to Hawk.

"I know. But we need to get as far away from the border as possible."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Oh, the first chapter. The beginning of the end. The apocalypse of the creation. The Alpha and the Omega. No, if you'll excuse my rantings, I'm gonna go watch The Ring.