She pulled back quickly but Jareth had already struck her in the face with his foot. She staggered back, feeling warm blood trickle from a cut above her left eye. Jareth spat blood from his mouth and gave a malevolent glare. "Ouch," she winced.
"Why must you make this difficult?" he asked, moving his tongue over his teeth and spitting blood out once more.
"Because you have no reason to come here!" she snapped "I have done nothing to you. And its not as if you NEED more goblins. The only reason you come is to see others hurt." Before he could give a response Idony turned back and hit him over the head with the end of her staff once more. Jareth staggered back slightly almost dazed and then came on headstrong. He grabbed her by both wrists, causing her to drop her staff. He kept charging though, finally thrashing her into the trunk of a tree.
A nail, protruding from the, began digging its way through her back and she screamed. The whole forest shook, and creatures all stopped breathing, just for a moment in awe. No one had ever caused their protector to cry before, but then, this was the evil Goblin King they'd heard so much about. He was her archenemy, her complete opposite. "Stop!" she screamed again and Jareth pulled her from the trunk, carefully unhooking her skin from the nail.
He let her hands go and she dropped to the ground in tears. The pain overwhelmed her body to the point that she almost blacked out. He helped her to her feet and gave an evil smile that caused her blood to curdle.
"You made a valiant effort," he said looking at how badly he had wounded her. She spat in his face and he gave an annoyed look. He wiped the spit off his face in disgust and gave an angry glare. He turned around and walked back to were she had dropped her staff. He picked it up and held it out to her. "If you insist on more fighting go right ahead," he said angrily. She took the staff from him and leaned up against it, breathing heavily. "Pack what you need," he said "you won't be coming back."
A loud wail came from every creature in the area. It kept on and Jareth covered his ears it was so loud and shrill. Idony held her hands up in silence and only a few whimpers were heard.
"What makes you think I will go?" she asked breathlessly.
"What makes you think that you won't?" he asked back. Idony knew it was no good to fight the Goblin King. He was much stronger than her; she would die long before she could finish him off.
"I need nothing," she said and with that Jareth nodded.
"Come then," he said "we have a two days walk ahead of us."
"Walk?" she asked in confusion "why walk?"
"Because I don't have enough power to transport myself back to the castle," he said sternly "let alone the both of us." Idony stopped for a moment and laid her staff on the ground.
"Wait," she said and dashed back to the thicket. There Puck was waiting for her.
"You can't be serious," he said "your leaving us? Willingly?"
"I can't fight him," Idony said breathlessly "he's too strong."
"I'm going with you," Puck said firmly.
"Puck," Idony sighed but he gave her a firm look.
"I'm going," he said "and that's that."
"You're a good friend Puck," Idony smiled and he blushed.
"Alright," he grumbled "enough with the semimetals. What did you come in here for anyways?" Idony didn't answer she just grabbed her book and shoved it in a hide skin bag. She raced back outside and went to the pond.
"I'm not a patient man," Jareth called to her.
"I don't care," she called back "I suggest you learn." She grabbed hops, honeysuckle, cedar, buckeye, and allspice from the waters edge, put them in a wooden bowl and crushed them until they were practically nothing. She added water to the mix and made a thick paste and brought it back to where Jareth stood.
She placed some of the mixture onto the cut above her right eye. It burnt but she was glad, it meant it was working. Puck followed behind her and gave a short bow before the king. Brave as he was, he wasn't stupid.
"Here," Idony said handing the bowl to Jareth.
"My wound happens to be in my mouth," Jareth grumbled.
"Then put it in your mouth," she sighed "is it really that hard to figure out?"
"How can I trust that you didn't poison it?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and scooped some out of her finger and put it in her mouth, she swallowed. His expression softened a bit and he did that same. He winced "it burns."
"Kills infection," she said not looking at him as she walked. For the next hour or so neither of them said a word. Though Idony and Puck kept speaking in various languages, Jareth found it amusing that they both understood the animals of the Labyrinth.
"Mebop vummp vummp who who?" Puck asked.
"Your owl is off," Idony said and Puck sighed.
"I can never get owls right," he muttered.
"Because you don't enunciate it right," Idony said trying to show him as they walked. "You say who like a human, when you should make it sound more like a noise and not a word."
"Hoo?" he tried.
"Better," Idony smiled.