(Author's note: Immense apologies for the lateness of this chapter. Stupid college and laziness gets in the way! Hope you enjoy this one. It gets a bit more light-humoured. Thanks again for the reviews! - DFQ xx)
Chapter XIV
The beast, the dragon and the water child had waited until the morning light had reached the glade before waking Sarah gently. She got to her feet without a sound, aware that every eye was upon her, and then she crossed to the river to see her reflection. The mark on her left cheek was the shape of a three-pointed star, red and sparkling - the blood of a Goblin King. Dipping her hand in the water, she splashed it on her face and rubbed away at the stain. However, it did not fade, not even a smudge.
As though nothing had happened, she turned to her companions and motioned to the path they had discussed before they had retired to sleep.
"Next stop, the Goblin City," she said wearily.
Once the group had begun moving again, Lynden dropped back to walk alongside the rock dragon travelling at his own pace behind the orange-furred monster and the human.
"Something troubles you also, young one?"
Lynden inclined her head then whispered, "I wondered what the symbol means. It's like his pendant. Why would he put that on Sarah?"
"It is difficult ascertain the reason," Pterelas replied. "The sign is his family crest, but I am in doubt as to which motif he has for making such a mark on our mortal friend."
Lynden looked at him a little blanker than was possible with her pupil-lacking eyes. The rock dragon chuckled kindly.
"My apologies. Being treated as a pile of rocks for so long causes me to be as open as one. Tell me, young one, why would you place your family crest on something?"
The girl of water thought for a moment then answered, "To prove that I owned it." Her mouth dropped open at her own words.
Pterelas nodded.
"Or," he added. "If you wanted to mark an unfinished task. After all, it was drawn with his own blood and Jareth, to my knowledge, has never allowed anyone to see him so weak. I fear that sign may be a promise of death." He hesitated at the horror-stricken face of the water child. "But do not worry yourself, Lynden. Whatever the King's plan, we will be here to protect Sarah. She will not be a victim."
Lynden clenched her liquid jaw in determination, recalling her own ill fate.
"No, Pterelas, she won't."
Further ahead, Sarah had taken Ludo's paw again as she pushed along the jungle path. He was unusually quiet even for the monosyllabic talker that he was, not making so much as a grunt when stray branches swatted him on the nose.
"Ludo, are you okay?" she asked.
He did not answer, just squeezed her palm a little.
"Don't be scared," she soothed. "We can call the rocks to help us. Like last time."
At this, Ludo stopped in his tracks and caused Sarah to stumble. Lynden and Pterelas caught up.
"What's up with Ludo?" wondered the water girl, to the agreement of everyone else.
The beast put a paw to his throat and rubbed it as though it were sore.
"Something wrong with your voice?"
He nodded at Sarah then started opening and closing his mouth, expelling air but no vocal sound.
"He can't talk!" Sarah exclaimed. "We can't call for the rocks without Ludo!"
"Then we will have to make do with *me*," said Pterelas.
"And me!" Lynden joined in. "Goblin weapons are no match for the likes of living water!"
Ludo smiled despite his predicament and began walking again, pulling Sarah down the overgrown path, the others following. It was not long until the vegetation broke out into a dusty patch of land in front of an enormous, stone wall. The friends peeped through the bushes at a towering gateway, guarded by two armoured sentinels, four feet tall - if they stood on each other's heads.
Sarah wondered why goblins needed such an excessively large entrance. Were they compensating? Maybe it wasn't for the goblins. Maybe it was in case a really tall person had to run the Labyrinth. She considered the height of it, rejecting the thought as ridiculous. Of course! How could the measurement be anything less than thirteen feet?
"What do you propose, Sarah?" asked a low voice.
"Hmm?"
"What should we do?" Pterelas repeated, his syntax adjusting from its usual etiquette that was eerily akin to the Goblin King's.
"I have an idea," Lynden chirped. "I'm going to give them the fright of their lives!"
Sarah was about to advise against whatever her friend was planning, but Lynden had already emerged from her hiding place. She sank onto the earth, retracting her human form into a pool of water and slithered towards the guards.
The left-hand guard yawned at his post and glanced over at his companion. He lifted his visor and regarded the goblin with disgust. The right-hand guard's helmet squeaked around to return his gaze.
"Wot?" the indignant creature said, his minute voice echoing.
The left goblin tapped his foot and pointed to the spreading puddle of liquid between the right goblin's legs. The accused looked aghast.
"I ain't done nuffink!"
Too busy squabbling, the guards did not notice the puddle creep behind them and rise up, melding into the shape of a girl. Lynden casually reached over and tapped them on their shoulders. Both goblins turned and silenced. A muffled noise came from the right-hand one's helmet, sounding for all the world like 'I told you so'. Then they screamed, collided with a metallic clang and fell in a stunned heap.
Lynden gestured for the others to come out from the hedges. The human, beast, and dragon passed the dazed guards and pushed open the gate. As Sarah had suspected, it was not going to be any easier entering the city from the back or the front and she swallowed as a secondary metal gate slammed together before them. Just like the first time, an iron monstrosity came alive; eyes gleaming; advancing slowly with the fearsome boom of "WHO GOES?"
Pterelas roared and reared up on his hind legs, almost the same size as the lumbering robot. He gnashed his granite teeth and gripped onto the handle of the axe that was swung by mechanical hands, grounding his weight in an effort to push the thing back.
"Sarah...you and the others...get going," he growled from his stalemate position.
"But Pterelas-."
"Go!" he snarled in his frenzy, his voice mingling with the robot's monotonous demand of identification.
Sarah made for the gate with Ludo but stopped.
"Where's Lynden?"
* * * *
The pilot of the robot guard was pressing buttons as if he were playing an organ symphony, twiddling various knobs and dials and jerking multiple levers. Lights and buzzers blinked on and off around his head and a peculiar trumpet device served as a megaphone to transform his rodent utterances into the outward boom.
In the midst of his fervent cackling, the primary control panel fizzed suddenly. He yelped and sucked his finger, flinching at a cluster of sparks that whizzed past his ears. He could not have been more surprised when the watery head of a girl popped up through the interface.
"Hello!" Lynden beamed at the startled goblin. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that the main circuit I messed up?"
The pilot stammered unintelligibly. Lynden's arm swept inside the entrails of the robot, resulting in several mild explosions. The majority of the lights faded out.
"Oops, I'll bet that was important," the water girl cringed. "Ooh!" She had spied a bright red button poking out from the panel of controls. "I wonder what that one does!"
The goblin struck up a terrified jabbering, managing to invent a single word by streaming the one frantic 'No!' fifteen times and at an astonishing rate. Lynden traced her liquid finger a millimetre from the circuit that connected to the button marked EJECT.
"Who goes?" she asked, grinning malevolently.
The miserable creature swallowed.
"M-me?"
Lynden sparked the mechanism. A shrieking goblin and his seat shot through the roof of the metal monster and hurtled over the city wall. Now meeting no resistance from his opponent, Pterelas called for clearance and bulled the towering robot forwards, buckling the metal gate from its hinges. The four friends found themselves inside the Goblin City, and they were expected. Two-dozen goblins mounted on lizards barred the way to the castle, pointing the tips of their lances at the intruders.
The awkward silence was broken only by the mindless babbling of a solitary chicken that strayed between the two parties, stealing the attention. It was only Sarah who looked elsewhere. Her eyes settled upon the imposing structure of Jareth's castle, remembering the dream, and it filled her with sickness.
Chapter XIV
The beast, the dragon and the water child had waited until the morning light had reached the glade before waking Sarah gently. She got to her feet without a sound, aware that every eye was upon her, and then she crossed to the river to see her reflection. The mark on her left cheek was the shape of a three-pointed star, red and sparkling - the blood of a Goblin King. Dipping her hand in the water, she splashed it on her face and rubbed away at the stain. However, it did not fade, not even a smudge.
As though nothing had happened, she turned to her companions and motioned to the path they had discussed before they had retired to sleep.
"Next stop, the Goblin City," she said wearily.
Once the group had begun moving again, Lynden dropped back to walk alongside the rock dragon travelling at his own pace behind the orange-furred monster and the human.
"Something troubles you also, young one?"
Lynden inclined her head then whispered, "I wondered what the symbol means. It's like his pendant. Why would he put that on Sarah?"
"It is difficult ascertain the reason," Pterelas replied. "The sign is his family crest, but I am in doubt as to which motif he has for making such a mark on our mortal friend."
Lynden looked at him a little blanker than was possible with her pupil-lacking eyes. The rock dragon chuckled kindly.
"My apologies. Being treated as a pile of rocks for so long causes me to be as open as one. Tell me, young one, why would you place your family crest on something?"
The girl of water thought for a moment then answered, "To prove that I owned it." Her mouth dropped open at her own words.
Pterelas nodded.
"Or," he added. "If you wanted to mark an unfinished task. After all, it was drawn with his own blood and Jareth, to my knowledge, has never allowed anyone to see him so weak. I fear that sign may be a promise of death." He hesitated at the horror-stricken face of the water child. "But do not worry yourself, Lynden. Whatever the King's plan, we will be here to protect Sarah. She will not be a victim."
Lynden clenched her liquid jaw in determination, recalling her own ill fate.
"No, Pterelas, she won't."
Further ahead, Sarah had taken Ludo's paw again as she pushed along the jungle path. He was unusually quiet even for the monosyllabic talker that he was, not making so much as a grunt when stray branches swatted him on the nose.
"Ludo, are you okay?" she asked.
He did not answer, just squeezed her palm a little.
"Don't be scared," she soothed. "We can call the rocks to help us. Like last time."
At this, Ludo stopped in his tracks and caused Sarah to stumble. Lynden and Pterelas caught up.
"What's up with Ludo?" wondered the water girl, to the agreement of everyone else.
The beast put a paw to his throat and rubbed it as though it were sore.
"Something wrong with your voice?"
He nodded at Sarah then started opening and closing his mouth, expelling air but no vocal sound.
"He can't talk!" Sarah exclaimed. "We can't call for the rocks without Ludo!"
"Then we will have to make do with *me*," said Pterelas.
"And me!" Lynden joined in. "Goblin weapons are no match for the likes of living water!"
Ludo smiled despite his predicament and began walking again, pulling Sarah down the overgrown path, the others following. It was not long until the vegetation broke out into a dusty patch of land in front of an enormous, stone wall. The friends peeped through the bushes at a towering gateway, guarded by two armoured sentinels, four feet tall - if they stood on each other's heads.
Sarah wondered why goblins needed such an excessively large entrance. Were they compensating? Maybe it wasn't for the goblins. Maybe it was in case a really tall person had to run the Labyrinth. She considered the height of it, rejecting the thought as ridiculous. Of course! How could the measurement be anything less than thirteen feet?
"What do you propose, Sarah?" asked a low voice.
"Hmm?"
"What should we do?" Pterelas repeated, his syntax adjusting from its usual etiquette that was eerily akin to the Goblin King's.
"I have an idea," Lynden chirped. "I'm going to give them the fright of their lives!"
Sarah was about to advise against whatever her friend was planning, but Lynden had already emerged from her hiding place. She sank onto the earth, retracting her human form into a pool of water and slithered towards the guards.
The left-hand guard yawned at his post and glanced over at his companion. He lifted his visor and regarded the goblin with disgust. The right-hand guard's helmet squeaked around to return his gaze.
"Wot?" the indignant creature said, his minute voice echoing.
The left goblin tapped his foot and pointed to the spreading puddle of liquid between the right goblin's legs. The accused looked aghast.
"I ain't done nuffink!"
Too busy squabbling, the guards did not notice the puddle creep behind them and rise up, melding into the shape of a girl. Lynden casually reached over and tapped them on their shoulders. Both goblins turned and silenced. A muffled noise came from the right-hand one's helmet, sounding for all the world like 'I told you so'. Then they screamed, collided with a metallic clang and fell in a stunned heap.
Lynden gestured for the others to come out from the hedges. The human, beast, and dragon passed the dazed guards and pushed open the gate. As Sarah had suspected, it was not going to be any easier entering the city from the back or the front and she swallowed as a secondary metal gate slammed together before them. Just like the first time, an iron monstrosity came alive; eyes gleaming; advancing slowly with the fearsome boom of "WHO GOES?"
Pterelas roared and reared up on his hind legs, almost the same size as the lumbering robot. He gnashed his granite teeth and gripped onto the handle of the axe that was swung by mechanical hands, grounding his weight in an effort to push the thing back.
"Sarah...you and the others...get going," he growled from his stalemate position.
"But Pterelas-."
"Go!" he snarled in his frenzy, his voice mingling with the robot's monotonous demand of identification.
Sarah made for the gate with Ludo but stopped.
"Where's Lynden?"
* * * *
The pilot of the robot guard was pressing buttons as if he were playing an organ symphony, twiddling various knobs and dials and jerking multiple levers. Lights and buzzers blinked on and off around his head and a peculiar trumpet device served as a megaphone to transform his rodent utterances into the outward boom.
In the midst of his fervent cackling, the primary control panel fizzed suddenly. He yelped and sucked his finger, flinching at a cluster of sparks that whizzed past his ears. He could not have been more surprised when the watery head of a girl popped up through the interface.
"Hello!" Lynden beamed at the startled goblin. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that the main circuit I messed up?"
The pilot stammered unintelligibly. Lynden's arm swept inside the entrails of the robot, resulting in several mild explosions. The majority of the lights faded out.
"Oops, I'll bet that was important," the water girl cringed. "Ooh!" She had spied a bright red button poking out from the panel of controls. "I wonder what that one does!"
The goblin struck up a terrified jabbering, managing to invent a single word by streaming the one frantic 'No!' fifteen times and at an astonishing rate. Lynden traced her liquid finger a millimetre from the circuit that connected to the button marked EJECT.
"Who goes?" she asked, grinning malevolently.
The miserable creature swallowed.
"M-me?"
Lynden sparked the mechanism. A shrieking goblin and his seat shot through the roof of the metal monster and hurtled over the city wall. Now meeting no resistance from his opponent, Pterelas called for clearance and bulled the towering robot forwards, buckling the metal gate from its hinges. The four friends found themselves inside the Goblin City, and they were expected. Two-dozen goblins mounted on lizards barred the way to the castle, pointing the tips of their lances at the intruders.
The awkward silence was broken only by the mindless babbling of a solitary chicken that strayed between the two parties, stealing the attention. It was only Sarah who looked elsewhere. Her eyes settled upon the imposing structure of Jareth's castle, remembering the dream, and it filled her with sickness.