Chapter 17: Into the Old Labyrinth.

Disclaimer: I'm tellin' ya, officer, it ain't mine. I was just holdin' it for a friend...

By Emer

Mireia soon realized that the diffusion of light did not help her at all. If she looked up she could very vaguely see something that might be the overhead walls of the cave, but down here at Labyrinth level, there was nearly no light. She had no idea what to do, so she just kept walking in a straight line. At least, she thought it was straight. It could be curving very slowly.

The floor underfoot was smooth and barrier-less. She heard nothing. The silence was starting to become oppressive, actually. Nearly as oppressive as her thoughts. How did one find the heart of the Labyrinth? Come to think of it, how did one know when one had found the heart of the Labyrinth? Was there a sign? Great treasure? Another castle? She hoped it was easily recognizable.

Lost in these thoughts, she didn't notice what was in her path until she'd kicked it. With a short and hastily stifled shriek, Mireia jumped back and strained in the darkness to see it. A stick? A white stick.

A bone!

She didn't scream this time. She just scrambled back as fast as possible, sitting down hard a few feet away. After a few seconds spent calming down, she tried to reason with herself. It might be an animal, not a person, she thought. At least it's already dead. She approached again, cautiously and walked carefully around it. Her foot encountered something else. Taking a sharp breath, she felt it with her foot. It felt too regularly shaped to be another bone. Trepidation informing her every move, she squatted and picked it up, feeling along the shape as she went. It seemed to be a large ring box. It must have been knocked free when she tripped on the bone. She opened it and felt inside. Nothing. Well, you never knew when it wouild come in handy. She put in in her pocket, and then faced the general direction of the bones. "Thank you," she said softly, feeling that something need to be said.

"What're you thanking me for?"

Mireia jumped a mile. Maybe two. It took her a moment to register that the question had not come from the skeleton. It had come from further on down, in the dark of the Labyrinth. It was a mid-pitched voice, impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.

"I wasn't thanking you," said Mireia, trying to keep her voice out of the wobbly range. "Who are you?"

"That's not something I'm just going to tell you."

"Why not?"

"I don't know you."

"Yes, but how would you get to know me if neither of us told each other our names?"

"Who said I wanted to know you?"

"No one, I guess. Fine." Mireia paused, wondering first if the person was dangerous, and second if they would help her. "If you even know, will you tell me how to get to the heart of the Labyrinth?"

"I know how. But I can hardly tell you. How would I give directions in the dark?"

"Then could you guide me there?"

There was a long pause. It occurred to Mireia that she was fairly desperate or she wouldn't be asking for help from someone she couldn't see.

"I could," said the voice at last. "Whether I would remains to be seen."

"Would you guide me there, then?"

"I might. Except there is the small matter of my chains."

Mireia took a startled breath. "Chains?" she enquired.

"I can not lead you anywhere while I'm bound. I could, however, if you were to take the chains off of me."

"I think I'd rather know why you're in chains to begin with," said Mireia. Upon reflection, she probably should have been more suspicious of any voice in the vicinity of a skeleton.

"It's such a tedious story." The voice sounded bored.

"I don't think I can free you," said Mireia carefully.

"Then have fun getting to the center without me," the voice chuckled. It was then that Mireia realized she didn't know any other way to go but straight forward, which was where the owner of the voice and presumably the chains existed. The voice had started into another chuckle just before a scream cut across it.

After her heart had gotten back the beat it skipped, it started to beat faster in anticipation. That scream had sounded exactly like the one Michael had produced the time she'd hidden in his closet until dark and pretended to be a monster. Best of all, it was coming from the left, which meant there was more Labyrinth over there, not far away. She put her hand to the wall and felt along it until her hand encountered air.

Without bothering to say good-bye to the chained entity, she stumbled quickly towards where she'd heard the voice. "Michael!" she called. She thought she heard his small voice. Another one answered it. Who was there with Michael? She picked up her pace and caught her shoulder on a wall. Ignoring it, she ran on, hands straight out in front of her. It was quite a shock when she was jolted to a stop by a fuzzy wall.

"What the--!" She exclaimed.

"Mireia?" came Michael's voice from the other side of the wall.

"Michael!" she yelled. "Stay right there! I'm going to try and climb over this wall!"

"Wait Mireia! It's not a wall!"

"What?" she asked, jumping away from the fur. "What is it then?"

"It's Mooreland. The sand elk."

"A sand elk?" repeated Mireia, at a loss.

"Yes," rumbled Mooreland.

"You two...uh...know each other?"

"We saved each other from minotaurs," said Michael cheerfully, edging around Mooreland. He located Mireia by touch, but she'd heard him coming and didn't flinch. "Hold on, I'll light my candle."

"You have a candle?" said Mireia. "If I could see you, I might kiss you."

"Just as well." A match flared and Mireia could suddenly see Michael's familiar face. She suddenly felt ten times better. Mireia threw her arms around her little brother. He hugged her back.

"I was really worried about you, you know," said Mireia.

"So was I about you," Michael returned. "At least now we're together and we don't have to do this thing alone."

"Yes!" Mireia agreed with feeling. "Er...nice to meet you Mooreland."

"Pleasure is all mine," he replied. They were all rather at a loss after that. Finally, Mooreland broke the silence. "Do you have any idea how to get out of here?" asked Mooreland.

"No," Mireia admitted reluctantly. "I can't leave anyway. I have to get to the heart of the Labyrinth, first."

"Why?" asked Michael. He looked curious, but not adverse.

"Well, because Jareth is asleep and I can't just leave him like that, and this voice said I could find something in the middle of the Labyrinth that would wake him up and we can't get out of the underground without him anyway." Mireia ran out of breath.

"There was a voice?" asked Michael suspiciously.

"Two, actually. One sounded like disembodied gravel and the other is back the way I came. That one is chained up."

Michael peered back the way she'd come. "I think that's the only way to go," he said. "And I'm going to have to blow out the candle so we can save it for when we really need it."

"Yeah," Mireia agreed reluctantly. He snuffed it and they were all three silent for a moment, contemplating the large, dark, dangerousness that surrounded them.

"I think when we get back to the thing that's chained, we'd better light the candle again. You and I might be able to edge passed it, but Mooreland probably can't in the dark."

"Okay. How far is it?"

"Well, I ran all the way over here in half a minute. So, very close I'd say." They all heard the rasp of chain on stone. "And getting closer."

Mireia felt a faint clench of her stomach. Chained things coming out of the dark towards her were a little too close to her nightmares for comfort. She groped for Michael's hand and braced herself for an attack, or at least the sight of something very scary. Michael let go of her hand to re-light the candle, and then grabbed it again. His smaller palm was sweaty and shaky in hers and she suddenly felt a whole lot braver. It was easy to be brave when there was someone else to pretend for. "It's okay, Michael," she heard herself say. "The chains must be for something." And Mooreland was a large and comforting presence at their back.

"Maybe you two should get behind me. Or under me," he suggested. He didn't have to say it twice. Mireia and Michael crouched down, between Mooreland's hooves. And then they simply waited as the sound of dragging chains got closer. The noise stopped just beyond the curve of wall, beyond the small light the candle provided.

"Who are you?" demanded Michael. "And what do you want?"

"Well now," said the same voice Mireia had debated with earlier. "I already answered the first question once. As for the second, I want out of these chains."

"You didn't answer the first question," protested Mireia. "You refused to answer it. And how can we let you out of your chains if we don't know who you are?"

"I don't have a name. At least, not one that was worth remembering."

"Then what are you?" asked Mooreland, sounding slightly impatient.

"There is no name for that, either," said the thing. And it stepped into the light.

Queen's Own Fool: This was a bit longer, eh? And hopefully as intriguing :)