Chapter Ten

The Lost

Disclaimer thingy: Sorry. I own the movie, and the CD, AND a poster. But I don't really own the Labyrinth... though I wish I did.

Leah woke early that morning, thanks you her new riding wakeup call. Unluckily for Nezwil, Leah wasn't a morning person and got a pillow and three socks thrown at him. Finally, Leah got up and took a shower. She put on her jeans and a white button up shirt with the sleeves so perfectly torn off.

She quickly brushed her hair, put on lip gloss and tossed her hair in a ponytail. She quickly dashed down stairs, and dashed into the kitchen, grabbing a few handfuls of sugar cubes. Then she dashed out of the kitchen and towards the door, directly into Jareth... literally.

"Sorry," she said as he helped her up "I thought I was running a little late."

"You are," Jareth chuckled "so am I."

"Oh good," she laughed and they headed out the door together. The morning was cool, and crisp and Leah really wished she had brought a jacket, though she didn't have one. They reached the stable and Nezwil had two horses with him. One was white with dark brown splotches and the other was pitch black. The white one had lots of little braids in its main and even feathers.

Leah thought it was beautiful and it reminded her of how the Native Americans decorated their horses.

"Good morning Nezwil," Leah said cheerfully and Nezwil gave a short bow. Jareth shot him a glance and Nezwil bowed again, this time a long deep one.

"My lady," Nezwil said handing her the reins to the white splotched horse "this is Azrakesh. Now, I suggest you be very careful with her. She can be wild, hence the name."

"The name?" Leah asked.

"Means fiery storm," Jareth mumbled, tending to the black one.

"His majesty has personally suggested you ride Azrakesh," Nezwil added and Jareth gave an amused smile.

"How surprising," Leah said and Azrakesh nudged her.

"And that," Nezwil said pointing to the black beast "is Abra. She is Azrakesh's mother."

"Thank you Nezwil," Leah said "you've been a huge help."

"Only doing my job," he said going back into the stable. Leah pulled a sugar cube out of her pocket and held it out to Azrakesh. Jareth watched Leah as she tried to gain Azrakesh's trust. The mare nudged Leah's hand and then gladly took the sugar.

"Need help?" Jareth asked as Leah begun to mount the horse.

"No sir," she said, sitting in the saddle and giving a smile "I can do it myself."

"I can see that," Jareth said finally and he mounted Abra quickly. Leah almost laughed seeing that Jareth almost blended right in with the horse. He had been wearing a black shirt with a blackish-blue cape that was long enough to touch Jareth's ankles. But luckily, no tights this time. Leah had been glad for that.

Jareth started off at a slow pace and Leah followed. She rode along side him and he laughed.

"You never told me why you wanted to stay," he mused.

"I don't recall you asking," Leah added, trying to concentrate on Azrakesh's unsteady rhythm.

"Well I'm asking now," Jareth said speeding up.

"Because," she said "my mother told me a lot about the Labyrinth and when you came to our house and I figured who you were, well,-" Leah trailed off.

"Well?" Jareth asked, causing his horse to trot a little slower seeing that Leah couldn't answer and keep Azrakesh under control.

"I thought it'd be exciting," she said finally "I mean, mom told us about Hoggle and Sir. Didymus and Ludo. And all the crap she went through to get to the castle and..." Azrakesh stopped.

"And?" Jareth asked stopping too.

"I don't know," Leah said, tapping Azrakesh's side with her feet, making her go again.

"That's a lie," Jareth teased.

"Just a lot of reasons," Leah said "I mean, my life want the greatest thing you know. And, I couldn't STAND my mother, or my sisters and I had one friend, cruddy grades, no boyfriend-" she bit her lip "you get the idea."

"Indeed," he said giving a slight glance.

"And now I have Hoggle," she said. And me Jareth thought. "And Ludo," and me. "And Sir. Didymus" and me! "And you," she said quietly.

"As friends?" he asked.

"Well I sure as hell can't say you're all my family," Leah said "considering some of us aren't even the same species."

"True," Jareth said wanting to ask about the boyfriend comment. Azrakesh and Abra both stopped dead in their tracks. Both Leah and Jareth looked from one another to the animals. Something was wrong.

Azrakesh reared up and pawed at the ground. Something was spooking the horses. Suddenly, like a gun shot Azrakesh took off for no reason, with Leah holding on for dear life.

"That's just great," Jareth mumbled and kicked Abra, but she wouldn't move. She was too afraid.

..........................................

Leah was beginning to feel sick. Azrakesh hadn't stopped running for a good five minutes and it was making her nauseous. Leah held out a sugar cube and Azrakesh calmed a bit. She slowed gradually and soon stopped in a clearing. Leah dismounted the creature and gave it some sugar cubes, petting it on the muzzle.

"Where have you taken me?" Leah asked. She heard whispering. Leah spun around and heard a loud growl. Azrakesh's ears perked up and her head turned wildly. But she refused to leave her mistress alone to fend for herself. Jareth had talked to Azrakesh the day before, telling her all about this Leah creature he was so fond of.

Azrakesh could see why though. Leah was a kind creature. Even though Azrakesh had run her ragged, Leah hadn't lashed out at her, nor done anything to upset her. She even had the common sense to bring food for her, knowing that Jareth may possibly give her the toughest horses he owned.

But now wasn't the time to think about Leah's good qualities. Azrakesh nudged Leah's shoulder but Leah pushed back.

"Go find Jareth," Leah said, hoping that the creature would understand her desperation. Azrakesh nodded. Leah's mouth dropped, the horse really could understand her.Azrakesh dashed back the way they came and Leah picked up a large stick.

"What are you going to do?" it asked "hit me?"

"Maybe," Leah said looking around wildly "if you get near enough." A large... well, large isn't the right word. A colossal spider (about the size of a coffee table) came into view. Leah stifled a scream and held the stick like a baseball bat.

"Oh," the slimy voce continued "you're not very brave are you? I can smell your fear."

"I'm not running am I?" Leah asked trying to keep the fear from her voice "alright then, then shut up!"

"I like the feisty ones," it said, moving its jaws in a horrific manor "they put up a good fight." With that it jumped and caught Leah's leg, causing her to fall to the ground. She used the stick to flip the spider off her and it flipped onto its back. It struggled to get up, but managed to flip itself over.

Saliva dripped from its mouth. Long pointed fangs, gleamed a bright white. Its legs were hairy and had little hooks on the tips of them. It was the most horrifying creature she had ever seen. With that it jumped, catching Leah in the process. They both tumbled over and over again. It found a good place on her neck and bit into it.

Leah tried to scream. But she couldn't. She felt the paralyzing poison flow into her veins. Oh how it burned! The massive creature leered back and Leah fell unconscious. The last thing she heard was pounding. The loud pounding of.. was it her heart or footsteps?

"You've lost," she heard and fell down into a deep abyss of blackness.

Author's note: The end! Ha-ha, no not really. Did I scare you? Hope not! Like I'd let my little friend Leah die! Well... not Leah anyways. But now I'm getting ahead of myself aren't I? Review!