Finding a path out of the meadow they had wandered into was easier said
than done. The sky overhead sparkled with stars and a there was a gentle
breeze in the air that carried the scent of wildflowers. As they walked
further away from the maze of stone, the darkness started to fill with
sounds of crickets and night birds.
"This is actually kind of nice," Sarah remarked. A few feet away from her, the grass trembled for a moment, then a rabbit poked it's head up, ears twitching around. It spotted the two companions and ducked back down before scampering off.
"I am sure it only seems that way. There is probably something waiting for us, we just haven't found it yet." He slowed his steps to walk next to her. She was lovely in the moonlight. She was simply dressed in a pair of well fitting jeans and a dark green t-shirt which seemed to bring out the color in her eyes, but she was still beautiful to look at. He shook his head of these thoughts. He had always been fascinated by her, and he was not going to let her distract him this time.
The first time that she had been in his labyrinth, he had enjoyed taunting her, teasing her, even simply watching her. He had gotten so distracted by watching her, that he hadn't paid attention to the surroundings around her, and she had reached the goblin city without him fully realizing it. It had taken one of the sentries to alert him to the fact that she was almost at his front door. By that point, he hadn't really cared weather or not he had kept the child she had wished away, but he had wanted to keep her there. He had thought that if she failed, perhaps he could offer her a settlement, he'd send back the baby if she would stay in his place.
But she hadn't wanted him. She had rejected him and had broken free of his spells. As the clock had started to chime the thirteenth hour, she had defeated him. All because she had distracted him. He would not let that happen this time. He would use her to get him through the labyrinth and this time, he would be the victor.
"We should probably try to find a way down."
Jareth realized that she had been talking to him. He couldn't remember what she had been saying as he was distracted by the sight of her. "Why would we do that?"
She gave him a worried look. "I just went over that. Are you sure you're alright? Maybe that cut was worse than I thought. Perhaps we should rest for a little bit."
"We will not be stopping. I am fine. The pain is all but gone, and I can move perfectly well. Now what were you talking about?" He realized that he was snapping at her. He was angry with himself for doing exactly what he was telling himself not to do, getting distracted by her.
"What I was saying, was that the labyrinth can't be completely different. It's in the same place, and while some things can change, some things should also have to stay the same. Before, the easiest way to get closer to the castle was to travel in the underground passages. So maybe we should be looking for a way down into those passages."
"That would make sense, which is the exact reason why it wouldn't work."
She stopped and looked at him. "Huh?"
He stopped a few paces past her and turned to look back at her. "The labyrinth was made not to make sense. If it starts to make sense, then it changes. That is why when you started marking your way through the mazes, the paths kept changing."
"I thought it did that because you told it to."
"Partially, but the labyrinth is like a living creature. It doesn't want to be solved. It knows that when people fail to solve it, the labyrinth will benefit, so therefore it will do it's best to confuse and deter those who challenge it."
"So you're saying, not only are we going against Mr. Asshole who's waiting at the castle for us, but we're also going against the labyrinth itself?"
He smirked at her description of his challenger. "Correct."
She started walking again. It seemed that every time she started thought she understood something here, new evidence would prove her completely wrong. "I don't know how much help I'm going to be to you." She said softly.
"Neither do I." He continued walking as well looking for the entrance to the next part of the maze.
She stopped again. "If you don't know what help I'll be, why did you bother asking me here?"
"It wasn't my idea." His voice was near a growl. Did this mortal have to question everything. "It was the dwarf who said that if I wanted to have any chance of getting through this maze, that I would have to take you with me. Not that you've been any help so far."
She walked up to face him. "No help? You'd still be standing back there in a stupor of pain if I hadn't been here to fix you up. And who's fault is it we ran into that...that...thing? I tried to tell you to go in the other direction, but you had to go that way." There it was, the I told you so that she had avoided earlier.
"Oh, and you are so much better at this? I have not noticed you having any better luck finding a way out of this field. Since you seem to be so much more adapt at this game, why don't you find the way out of here?" His voice had risen until he was nearly yelling.
"Fine, maybe I just will!" she yelled back. Then she hitched her bag on her shoulder, and strode off, cursing him under her breath. She continued to walk in a straight line, determined to find some sort of path out of there. After twenty minutes though, no path was apparent and she was becoming increasingly aware of time slipping by. There was no longer anything within view except for endless fields of grass.
"I see that you are doing an even better job of getting through this than I am." Jareth glided along behind her. He had his thumbs hooked over the belt of the sword and wore an expression of boredom.
Sarah stopped. She wouldn't walk any further she decided. With a scream of frustration she stomped her foot. "I hate this place!"
Jareth stopped next to her and blinked. "Really, a temper tantrum is not going to help. Now come on. Let's go."
"No, I'm not going any further, this field just goes on and on, there is no path that is going to lead us out of here." She took off the backpack and let it drop to the ground. "I hate this place, I wish we could just be done with it and on to the next level of the damn maze."
She moved to drop down next to the backpack, intending on sitting right there on the grass until she could figure a way out of there. As she dropped down though, the ground was suddenly gone. There was nothing but a deep black pit where the ground had been and she was falling.
This time there were no helping hands to slow the decent, she landed on the bottom of the pit with jarring impact. She heard something moving to her right and guessed that Jareth had ended up in the hole as well. "Jareth?"
There was no answer to her call. She thought that maybe he had injured himself landing. Maybe he was unconscious and couldn't answer her. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself to her hands and knees. Crawling in the direction of the sound, she gingerly felt her way forward. "Jareth, can you hear me? Jareth?"
Her fingers brushed against something. It felt furry and slightly oiled. Her hand recoiled from the sensation and a chittering squeak filled her ears. First one, then another answered it, and another until the small area was filled with the annoying high pitched noise. She could sense things moving in the darkness now. Without being able to see them, her mind filled the space with it's own terrors, all of them getting ready to strike at her.
A light appeared from high above her. It dimly lit the circular cavern she was in, and made the thousands of tiny eyes peering at her seem to glow. The walls were covered with rats and they were closing in around her. She screamed.
The light that had been above her came quickly towards her, and the rodents seemed to flinch back away from that light. Then Jareth was next to her, he had her bag in one hand and a flashlight in the other. "Well, you did mange to find a way out of that field."
"I think I preferred the field. I hate rats." Her voice shook slightly and she moved closer to the beam of light that was keeping them at bay. She was certain that it was the nearness of the light that made her suddenly feel more secure and had nothing to do with the fact that Jareth was a mere arms length away from her.
"This appears to be an oubliette. If so, there should be a way out." Jareth swung the flashlight around the small cavern. Everywhere the light touched, the rats covered the walls. He drew his sword and carefully tried to move one of the rats off the wall. This seemed to send the other rats into a frenzy. They swarmed over and under each other, the walls writhing with hundreds of bodies.
Between flashed of teeth and eye and tail, he spotted what appeared to be an exit. He sheathed his sword and stepped forward towards the exit. He raised his hand and extended it out to touch the door. The rats seemed to watch him, but they made no move to stop him. Rather than the feel of wood beneath his hand, as he pushed forward past the layers of rats, his hand emerged into empty space beyond. He continued moving forward, pushing his way through the mass bodies. He could feel them against his skin as he moved through them, small claws trying to scratch him, teeth trying to bite. He pushed forward until he could look behind the wall of rodents and see the open tunnel way behind them. He did not venture further, instead he pulled him self back into the small room. "There is an open way beyond there, that should lead us onward."
Sarah shook her head. "No. Uh-uh, I am not walking through a wall of rats."
He fixed her with a stern look. "Sarah, you must if you want to continue."
"There's got to be some way to move them away." She shuddered at the thought of passing through that wall.
"There's not, they are the door. There's no reason for you to worry, they aren't on the other side of the opening. Just in here. Think of this, if you want to get away from them, you have to go through them."
Sarah just stared at the rodents wide eyed, showing no signs of moving toward them.
"Oh for light's sake, we don't have time for this!" He picked up Sarah throwing her over his shoulder and started forward.
She let out a squeal of protest and automatically tried to wriggle away. "Put me down you ogre or else I'll.." Her ultimatum was cut short as they started to move past the wall and the rats tried to tangle themselves in her hair. She felt their teeth nipping at her flesh, their claws on her skin, and then they were past them.
Jareth placed her back on her feet. "There. It's done with."
She stood there covered with dozens of tiny scratches across her face, neck, and arms. He bore no mark from the creatures, although he had felt them as surely as she had.
"Sarah, are you alright." He reached out for her, to try to clam her as she stood trembling before him.
She took the comfort he offered, turning to him and pressing herself against the comfort of his body. "Rats and heights..." she whispered.
He stood there for a moment, one arm curled around her back, his free hand stroking her hair. "What about them?" he asked softly.
"The two things I'm afraid of, rats and heights. I hate them both." She took a few calming breaths, leaning her head against his shoulder and soaking up the comfort of his touch. She'd tell herself how foolish she was being later, right now, she felt safe and comfortable in his arms.
"We're past there now. Hopefully, the labyrinth won't play the same tricks twice." He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled back to look at her. "You look dreadful."
She gave a shaky laugh and shook her head. "Gee thanks, that's something I've always wanted to hear."
He dropped his hands from her shoulders and removed the leather gloves from his hands. "Hold still for a moment."
Gently he placed his hands on her wrists, his touch warm and soft. He begin to glide his hands up her arms, and where his hands passed over, the scratches disappeared leaving only a pleasant warmth where they had been.
Sarah closed her eyes, letting the sensations sooth the tension from her. She pushed thoughts of the room filled with rats out of her mind and concentrated on the feel of his touch. She thought that the feeling of him touching her should make her uncomfortable. She had spent many years avoiding him, he had stolen her brother, she should hate him. Instead she caught herself wanting to stay like this, she didn't want to go on if it meant putting an end to this moment.
His hands continued across her upper arms to her shoulders, they glided over the fabric of her shirt to rest at the base of her neck. Carefully erasing the reddening claw marks from her skin, he continued his healing caresses moving up her neck. She was enjoying this, and he once more he was enjoying watching her. Her breath coming through parted lips, eyes closed and cheeks flushed.
For the moment, he didn't care about why they were there or what he was after. This was what he wanted, and he couldn't think of a reason why he shouldn't have what he desired. He leaned forward to press his lips to hers. He expected her to pull away from him, to curse him and call him a fool. Instead she leaned into him and returned his kiss, moving her hands to rest against his chest.
At her acceptance, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him, deepening the kiss. He massaged her lips with his own, pulling at her lower lip to nip lightly at it before soothing it over with gentle caresses of his tongue.
Sarah felt as if the world had tipped upside down. Her mind was filled with the scent and the taste of him on her lips. The ground no longer seemed solid under her feet and she leaned into him, grasping the soft fabric of his shirt in her hands to anchor herself against him.
His hands dropped to her waist and he broke away from her lips to cover her face with feather soft kisses. She felt as if she could drown in the sensations, she could hear her blood rushing in her veins like a tidal wave.
Slowly he pulled away from her. She opened her eyes to look up at him, boldly meeting his gaze. His breathing was as ragged as hers, and his eyes seemed to be on fire. The rushing in her ears did not seem to fade, rather it continued to grow in intensity.
"Sarah..." His voice was huskier than it had been. That voice alone could have melted her. "Sarah, something's..."
He didn't have to finish. Sarah realized that the rushing she was hearing was not coming from within her as she had first thought. Her eyes grew round as she glanced frantically around the tunnel they had entered. There was a slight tilt to the ground, angling down ward, and the rushing sound was coming from behind her. As she looked down she saw the first rivulets of water racing down the incline.
She looked behind her as the first frothy waters splashed against the wall as the incoming flood rounded the corner and Jareth's hold on her tightened. "Oh shit...."
"This is actually kind of nice," Sarah remarked. A few feet away from her, the grass trembled for a moment, then a rabbit poked it's head up, ears twitching around. It spotted the two companions and ducked back down before scampering off.
"I am sure it only seems that way. There is probably something waiting for us, we just haven't found it yet." He slowed his steps to walk next to her. She was lovely in the moonlight. She was simply dressed in a pair of well fitting jeans and a dark green t-shirt which seemed to bring out the color in her eyes, but she was still beautiful to look at. He shook his head of these thoughts. He had always been fascinated by her, and he was not going to let her distract him this time.
The first time that she had been in his labyrinth, he had enjoyed taunting her, teasing her, even simply watching her. He had gotten so distracted by watching her, that he hadn't paid attention to the surroundings around her, and she had reached the goblin city without him fully realizing it. It had taken one of the sentries to alert him to the fact that she was almost at his front door. By that point, he hadn't really cared weather or not he had kept the child she had wished away, but he had wanted to keep her there. He had thought that if she failed, perhaps he could offer her a settlement, he'd send back the baby if she would stay in his place.
But she hadn't wanted him. She had rejected him and had broken free of his spells. As the clock had started to chime the thirteenth hour, she had defeated him. All because she had distracted him. He would not let that happen this time. He would use her to get him through the labyrinth and this time, he would be the victor.
"We should probably try to find a way down."
Jareth realized that she had been talking to him. He couldn't remember what she had been saying as he was distracted by the sight of her. "Why would we do that?"
She gave him a worried look. "I just went over that. Are you sure you're alright? Maybe that cut was worse than I thought. Perhaps we should rest for a little bit."
"We will not be stopping. I am fine. The pain is all but gone, and I can move perfectly well. Now what were you talking about?" He realized that he was snapping at her. He was angry with himself for doing exactly what he was telling himself not to do, getting distracted by her.
"What I was saying, was that the labyrinth can't be completely different. It's in the same place, and while some things can change, some things should also have to stay the same. Before, the easiest way to get closer to the castle was to travel in the underground passages. So maybe we should be looking for a way down into those passages."
"That would make sense, which is the exact reason why it wouldn't work."
She stopped and looked at him. "Huh?"
He stopped a few paces past her and turned to look back at her. "The labyrinth was made not to make sense. If it starts to make sense, then it changes. That is why when you started marking your way through the mazes, the paths kept changing."
"I thought it did that because you told it to."
"Partially, but the labyrinth is like a living creature. It doesn't want to be solved. It knows that when people fail to solve it, the labyrinth will benefit, so therefore it will do it's best to confuse and deter those who challenge it."
"So you're saying, not only are we going against Mr. Asshole who's waiting at the castle for us, but we're also going against the labyrinth itself?"
He smirked at her description of his challenger. "Correct."
She started walking again. It seemed that every time she started thought she understood something here, new evidence would prove her completely wrong. "I don't know how much help I'm going to be to you." She said softly.
"Neither do I." He continued walking as well looking for the entrance to the next part of the maze.
She stopped again. "If you don't know what help I'll be, why did you bother asking me here?"
"It wasn't my idea." His voice was near a growl. Did this mortal have to question everything. "It was the dwarf who said that if I wanted to have any chance of getting through this maze, that I would have to take you with me. Not that you've been any help so far."
She walked up to face him. "No help? You'd still be standing back there in a stupor of pain if I hadn't been here to fix you up. And who's fault is it we ran into that...that...thing? I tried to tell you to go in the other direction, but you had to go that way." There it was, the I told you so that she had avoided earlier.
"Oh, and you are so much better at this? I have not noticed you having any better luck finding a way out of this field. Since you seem to be so much more adapt at this game, why don't you find the way out of here?" His voice had risen until he was nearly yelling.
"Fine, maybe I just will!" she yelled back. Then she hitched her bag on her shoulder, and strode off, cursing him under her breath. She continued to walk in a straight line, determined to find some sort of path out of there. After twenty minutes though, no path was apparent and she was becoming increasingly aware of time slipping by. There was no longer anything within view except for endless fields of grass.
"I see that you are doing an even better job of getting through this than I am." Jareth glided along behind her. He had his thumbs hooked over the belt of the sword and wore an expression of boredom.
Sarah stopped. She wouldn't walk any further she decided. With a scream of frustration she stomped her foot. "I hate this place!"
Jareth stopped next to her and blinked. "Really, a temper tantrum is not going to help. Now come on. Let's go."
"No, I'm not going any further, this field just goes on and on, there is no path that is going to lead us out of here." She took off the backpack and let it drop to the ground. "I hate this place, I wish we could just be done with it and on to the next level of the damn maze."
She moved to drop down next to the backpack, intending on sitting right there on the grass until she could figure a way out of there. As she dropped down though, the ground was suddenly gone. There was nothing but a deep black pit where the ground had been and she was falling.
This time there were no helping hands to slow the decent, she landed on the bottom of the pit with jarring impact. She heard something moving to her right and guessed that Jareth had ended up in the hole as well. "Jareth?"
There was no answer to her call. She thought that maybe he had injured himself landing. Maybe he was unconscious and couldn't answer her. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself to her hands and knees. Crawling in the direction of the sound, she gingerly felt her way forward. "Jareth, can you hear me? Jareth?"
Her fingers brushed against something. It felt furry and slightly oiled. Her hand recoiled from the sensation and a chittering squeak filled her ears. First one, then another answered it, and another until the small area was filled with the annoying high pitched noise. She could sense things moving in the darkness now. Without being able to see them, her mind filled the space with it's own terrors, all of them getting ready to strike at her.
A light appeared from high above her. It dimly lit the circular cavern she was in, and made the thousands of tiny eyes peering at her seem to glow. The walls were covered with rats and they were closing in around her. She screamed.
The light that had been above her came quickly towards her, and the rodents seemed to flinch back away from that light. Then Jareth was next to her, he had her bag in one hand and a flashlight in the other. "Well, you did mange to find a way out of that field."
"I think I preferred the field. I hate rats." Her voice shook slightly and she moved closer to the beam of light that was keeping them at bay. She was certain that it was the nearness of the light that made her suddenly feel more secure and had nothing to do with the fact that Jareth was a mere arms length away from her.
"This appears to be an oubliette. If so, there should be a way out." Jareth swung the flashlight around the small cavern. Everywhere the light touched, the rats covered the walls. He drew his sword and carefully tried to move one of the rats off the wall. This seemed to send the other rats into a frenzy. They swarmed over and under each other, the walls writhing with hundreds of bodies.
Between flashed of teeth and eye and tail, he spotted what appeared to be an exit. He sheathed his sword and stepped forward towards the exit. He raised his hand and extended it out to touch the door. The rats seemed to watch him, but they made no move to stop him. Rather than the feel of wood beneath his hand, as he pushed forward past the layers of rats, his hand emerged into empty space beyond. He continued moving forward, pushing his way through the mass bodies. He could feel them against his skin as he moved through them, small claws trying to scratch him, teeth trying to bite. He pushed forward until he could look behind the wall of rodents and see the open tunnel way behind them. He did not venture further, instead he pulled him self back into the small room. "There is an open way beyond there, that should lead us onward."
Sarah shook her head. "No. Uh-uh, I am not walking through a wall of rats."
He fixed her with a stern look. "Sarah, you must if you want to continue."
"There's got to be some way to move them away." She shuddered at the thought of passing through that wall.
"There's not, they are the door. There's no reason for you to worry, they aren't on the other side of the opening. Just in here. Think of this, if you want to get away from them, you have to go through them."
Sarah just stared at the rodents wide eyed, showing no signs of moving toward them.
"Oh for light's sake, we don't have time for this!" He picked up Sarah throwing her over his shoulder and started forward.
She let out a squeal of protest and automatically tried to wriggle away. "Put me down you ogre or else I'll.." Her ultimatum was cut short as they started to move past the wall and the rats tried to tangle themselves in her hair. She felt their teeth nipping at her flesh, their claws on her skin, and then they were past them.
Jareth placed her back on her feet. "There. It's done with."
She stood there covered with dozens of tiny scratches across her face, neck, and arms. He bore no mark from the creatures, although he had felt them as surely as she had.
"Sarah, are you alright." He reached out for her, to try to clam her as she stood trembling before him.
She took the comfort he offered, turning to him and pressing herself against the comfort of his body. "Rats and heights..." she whispered.
He stood there for a moment, one arm curled around her back, his free hand stroking her hair. "What about them?" he asked softly.
"The two things I'm afraid of, rats and heights. I hate them both." She took a few calming breaths, leaning her head against his shoulder and soaking up the comfort of his touch. She'd tell herself how foolish she was being later, right now, she felt safe and comfortable in his arms.
"We're past there now. Hopefully, the labyrinth won't play the same tricks twice." He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled back to look at her. "You look dreadful."
She gave a shaky laugh and shook her head. "Gee thanks, that's something I've always wanted to hear."
He dropped his hands from her shoulders and removed the leather gloves from his hands. "Hold still for a moment."
Gently he placed his hands on her wrists, his touch warm and soft. He begin to glide his hands up her arms, and where his hands passed over, the scratches disappeared leaving only a pleasant warmth where they had been.
Sarah closed her eyes, letting the sensations sooth the tension from her. She pushed thoughts of the room filled with rats out of her mind and concentrated on the feel of his touch. She thought that the feeling of him touching her should make her uncomfortable. She had spent many years avoiding him, he had stolen her brother, she should hate him. Instead she caught herself wanting to stay like this, she didn't want to go on if it meant putting an end to this moment.
His hands continued across her upper arms to her shoulders, they glided over the fabric of her shirt to rest at the base of her neck. Carefully erasing the reddening claw marks from her skin, he continued his healing caresses moving up her neck. She was enjoying this, and he once more he was enjoying watching her. Her breath coming through parted lips, eyes closed and cheeks flushed.
For the moment, he didn't care about why they were there or what he was after. This was what he wanted, and he couldn't think of a reason why he shouldn't have what he desired. He leaned forward to press his lips to hers. He expected her to pull away from him, to curse him and call him a fool. Instead she leaned into him and returned his kiss, moving her hands to rest against his chest.
At her acceptance, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him, deepening the kiss. He massaged her lips with his own, pulling at her lower lip to nip lightly at it before soothing it over with gentle caresses of his tongue.
Sarah felt as if the world had tipped upside down. Her mind was filled with the scent and the taste of him on her lips. The ground no longer seemed solid under her feet and she leaned into him, grasping the soft fabric of his shirt in her hands to anchor herself against him.
His hands dropped to her waist and he broke away from her lips to cover her face with feather soft kisses. She felt as if she could drown in the sensations, she could hear her blood rushing in her veins like a tidal wave.
Slowly he pulled away from her. She opened her eyes to look up at him, boldly meeting his gaze. His breathing was as ragged as hers, and his eyes seemed to be on fire. The rushing in her ears did not seem to fade, rather it continued to grow in intensity.
"Sarah..." His voice was huskier than it had been. That voice alone could have melted her. "Sarah, something's..."
He didn't have to finish. Sarah realized that the rushing she was hearing was not coming from within her as she had first thought. Her eyes grew round as she glanced frantically around the tunnel they had entered. There was a slight tilt to the ground, angling down ward, and the rushing sound was coming from behind her. As she looked down she saw the first rivulets of water racing down the incline.
She looked behind her as the first frothy waters splashed against the wall as the incoming flood rounded the corner and Jareth's hold on her tightened. "Oh shit...."