"This is just crazy," Brenda said as she bent over the map of the world she had spread on the messy kitchen table of Ashley's house. "I've never seen anything like it."
The coven had successfully relocated, and even though everyone was exhausted and ready for bed, they managed to stay up a little longer. No one wanted to sleep until they at least had a notion of where Sarah was, especially if she was getting close to finding them.
Ashley had raided her cupboards, and had a chocolate chip cookie lodged in her mouth. She was walking in the background, totally ignoring Brenda and adressing Marlena across the cluttered dining room. Her words came out muffled over the cookie. "Maybe she won't find us now that we've separated. She's probably just looking for Jareth and Toby, anyway."
"And that's so much better, Ashley!" Ling remarked incredulously.
Ashley shrugged and swallowed. "I'm just sayin'."
"Can you two keep it down?" Marlena said, putting her hand to her weary head. "Brenda is onto something."
Gail bent close over the map with Brenda to examine it. "I'd say she is."
Marlena got up from where she had been sitting on a short book shelf and got a look herself. Two dots glowed on the map, both of which seemed not to be sitting very still.
"I've done the spell several times now," Brenda said, shaking her head. "I'm getting two readings. And one of them is jumping all over the continental United States. The other one," she exclaimed, jabbing her finger into the map, "is in Australia."
"There's got to be something wrong," Ling remarked as she watched the dots. For the time being, they were both sitting relatively still.
"Maybe magic doesn't work the same, now," Ashley offered.
"Who knows," Brenda said, shrugging.
Gail's brow furrowed in thought. "The first one... Where has it been?"
"New York, Wyoming, Northern California, and, for a few moments, Washington D.C.." She pointed to Los Angeles on the map. "Not only that, but there's some weird little black spot right here that keeps phasing in and out. I'm telling you, it's absolutely nuts."
"Maybe Jareth would know something about it," Marlena offered.
"Hey, that gives me an idea," Gail blurted. "Do the spell again to see where Jareth is at."
"We know where he's at," Ashley said.
"Just humor me." Gail turned her gaze expectantly to Brenda.
The blonde woman's makeup was starting to show the strain of time and lack of sleep. She sighed and closed her eyes, chanting a few lines in Latin from memory. Or so it seemed. Her eyes shot open. "Oh fuck it, I never can remember the whole thing." She looked at the map in frustration as if it were a person she had grown weary of from being in close proximity for too long. "Where's Jareth?" she asked it.
The first two dots disappeared, and two new ones emerged. A bright spot in New York, and a dark spot that seemed to be flying away from Australia, over the Atlantic Ocean.
Gail and Brenda's eyes met. "There's something to this," Gail said with certainty. "What was it Jareth said about Kaleb?"
Marlena bent low to the map and watched the black dot move in amazement. "He said that Kaleb was his shadow. That's gotta be him."
"I thought he was with Sarah," Ashley said, her brow crinkled in complete confusion.
"That doesn't make sense," Ling continued. "Sarah isn't in Australia, she's in the U.S. Mostly New York, right? Which means Kaleb would be with her."
"This is a positive mind-fuck," Ashley said, shaking her head.
"Does Sarah have a shadow?" Gail asked.
"Hmm. Maybe," Marlena mused. "That would explain the black dots. Maybe Sarah's shadow is in... L.A.?"
"So, then, what's this other dot in Australia?" Brenda asked, pointing to the dot in question. She had changed the map to reflect all the appropriate dots/people in the conversation.
Marlena collapsed into a chair at the dining table. She stared at the map so intensely she thought the dots might burn into her retinas permanently. Then she had a brainstorm.
"Jareth had a dream before the change," Marlena declared suddenly. She looked up at them, their faces intent and curious, beautiful women carved out of darkness through soft lamp glow.
Marlena continued. "There were two Sarah's in his dream... A white Sarah and a dark Sarah, and they each stood over a world, presumable Underground and Aboveground. Then, in the dream, the two worlds merged."
"Couldn't the other Sarah be her shadow?" Ashley asked, intrigued.
"I don't think so," Marlena answered, shaking her head. "The shadow is it's own person." Marlena stood back over the map and examined Sarah's dots more closely. "See? Neither one of them is as bright as Jareth's light. They aren't whole. One of them is trapped in Australia."
"That's just crazy," Ashley declared with wide eyes as she stuffed another cookie in her mouth. Ling grabbed the bag and consumed one, too.
"I don't know, I could be wrong..." Marlena said with a shrug of her shoulders.
Gail folded up the map. "No, I think you're right."
"Should we call Jareth?" Brenda asked. "It might make sense to him."
Marlena shook her head. "I don't know if that's best, not right this moment. I really hope he's getting some rest right now. Besides, if Kaleb isn't with Sarah, it means that she's doing this all on her own. That might upset him more than not knowing. At least for tonight." She bent over to blow out one of the candles. "And we should all get some rest, too. Morning is already sneaking up on us, and we have to be ready to make our move by tomorrow night, hopefully sooner."
Sarah stared at the crackling fire from just inside the cave, only looking away from time to time to examine the sleeping faces of her companions. She had been wrestling with the implications that somehow both worlds had combined for a couple of hours. She felt helpless, tossed aside, unable to make heads or tails of what was going on deep in the Mists. Eberon had revealed to the group during their journey that there was another side of Sarah at work, a darker half that had left Kaleb's castle a night ago with all of the pieces of the Amethyst in her possession.
Which meant that her darker half had complete control of the situation, and probably knew exactly where she was, willfully keeping her lighter half trapped in the Mist of Dreams. There was nothing quite like being tossed aside by your first true love, then being tossed aside by your own self.
But she didn't pity herself long, because she knew that a solution would come about, and everything would be right again. Besides, it was fruitless trying to blame Jareth for leaving in order to get himself straightened out. She felt weak and powerless at the moment, but something had to happen to turn the tables. She would hope beyond hope that the faery sisters hadn't thrown her into this affair willy-nilly, without even considering a possibility for success. Would they?
Sarah drew her knees to her chest and continued her watchful gaze over the camp site. Everyone seemed to be sleeping so deeply, but their faces occasionally fell into contorted faces of discomfort, as if they were having nightmares. She wondered if everyone looked so pained and worrisome in their sleep. The only person she had ever truly watched sleeping for any length of time was Toby, when he was a baby.
She looked up at the moonless, misty sky and pictured his face. It had been a long time since she had seen her little half-brother, and she missed him greatly. She wondered where he was in all of this, if he was safe. A pang of regret ached in her chest, as she thought about how long it had been since he had visited the world Underground, and how he had completely forgotten about the adventure. She wished she had felt as if she could tell him, could explain why she let Leah replace her as the dutiful sister. She never had the courage, because she always thought he would have felt abandoned. Maybe when he was older. When he became an adolescent, she could explain his hidden past, her shadow, Leah, and his emerging powers.
You should just tell him and get it over with, she scolded herself. He's only going to get into more trouble if he doesn't understand his powers. Kinda like the trouble you are in now.
Her mind was so busy, but it wasn't busy thoughts that kept her awake. She was just awake. Not one part of her mind was asleep, and the sensation was overwhelming. She longed for distraction, but there was nowhere for her to go, or anything for her mind to do but mull. How was it that everyone else needed the deepest sleep, and she did not?
Her gaze returned to the fire, to the deep glowing embers. As she stared, the world faded, she became one with the glowing ash. And it morphed into lava, into the primordial elements that breathed life into the world. Then it was the night sky, full of orange stars, full of big, glowing spheres of planets, spinning around suns and stars of all colors and sizes. The universe expanded, an infinate embrace into the womb of nothingness, welcoming just for her. Part of her realized her mind had gone somewhere else, but that part was so quiet, so subdued in the face of this non-self that she had become in that instant she had focused on the embers of the fire. A brief flare inside told her that this was an out of body experience, that she had triggered some unlocked part of her mind.
As the universe opened, she saw a gateway. There was a silhouette of a figure standing in front of the gate, neither male nor female. She could sense that they had met before, met many times before. The Gatekeeper smiled at her without smiling, a comforting and terrifying figure that saw all and understood all. It touched her hand and relayed the sense of everything, of the oneness of the universe. But, in her current form, she could not comprehend what she was seeing, only that all the pieces fit.
All of her earthly troubles had been shucked off like a dried corn husk, and she felt full and at peace. The Gatekeeper stood in front of the opening, which was like a white tear in the fabric of the universe, the door between Underground and Aboveground. But it was slowly closing, so slowly that the naked eye would never be able to discern it, but just fast enough to be alarming.
The black void of the Gatekeeper seemed to be frowning, for the pieces were starting to fall out of place. With one empty hand, the timeless being drew the shape of Dark Sarah in the stars, her green eyes twinkling in fire into the depth of Light Sarah's blue eyes. There was a longing in Sarah's heart, a strong tie to that other self that went beyond conscious longing. A longing to be whole again, to be in full possession of her faculties. A longing like one she had felt before while sitting alone in her room on her most grim days, wishing that God would speak to her. Since then, Sarah had learned to open her perception of the guiding forces of the universe, to not try so hard to define those things which she could not understand, to look deeper in herself for answers. The split she felt was in that deep darkness. The split was there to tell her something, but it could not stay severed for long. She must put all the pieces back in place.
You are the strong one, the Gatekeeper's voice echoed from no discernible location. You come from the fabric of the universe, as does she. The universe must stay in balance. Neutrality is different than mortals perceive, Sarah. Neutrality, from a mortal perspective, is completely neutral. But, to the higher spirits, it is positive in force. Until the universe winks out of existence, it will always be positive. The universe is light in darkness. The light is the meaning. She has no meaning without you.
Sarah felt something tugging at her, a sensation of solidity that was distracting her back into her real self. Don't I need her for meaning, too? she asked the void as she felt herself slipping out of the vision.
The Gatekeeper smiled at her as she drifted elsewhere. It did not give her an answer. You are more than the sum of your parts, Sarah. You are not yourself. You are so much more. We will see you again. Don't get lost in the darkness.
The further away she drifted, the light from the gateway twisted and writhed, swimming before her eyes, growing longer and curling into the shape of a coiled snake.
"Where is it?"
Sarah's eyes shot open with a start. She was laying on the dirt ground of the cave, rock shapes imprinted in her cheek. Instantly she jumped up, and ran out to see what the ruckus was. A very dim bit of light filtered through the mist, but it felt more like twilight than day.
Hoggle was stomping and huffing about furiously, rattling through his baubles and pockets with a fury. Everyone seemed as if they had been awake for a bit, but their eyes were heavy and tired as they ran to the dwarf's side.
"What is it, Hoggle?" Benedick asked.
"The feather and the trinket my father gave me, they're gone! Who took'em?" He shot an accusing glare at the Aborgine men.
"Look, brother, we don't have anywhere to hide anything," Albert said stoically. He pulled his pockets inside out. "See?"
"That's not good," Sarah said as she rubbed her sleep-encrusted eyes. "I wonder where they could have gone to?"
Sage put his hand on Sarah's arm, examining her with a troubled gaze. "How are you feeling? Well rested?"
"Well, I guess, but I really didn't sleep much, I don't think. I was wide awake for most of the night, then I just suddenly conked out. I don't remember when I fell asleep."
Everyone turned away from Hoggle, and looked intently at Sarah.
"Lass, I'm afraid that just isn't true," Granen said.
Sarah felt like she had an extra arm growing out of her chest. "Excuse me?" she said with confusion, closing with an uncomfortable chuckle.
"You fell asleep before any of us," Sage corrected gently. "You seemed to be in the midst of terrible nightmares."
Isabelle held her other arm tenderly. "You were... screaming all night, Sarah."
Their implications filled Sarah with horror. "I hate to be so adamant, but I know I was awake... I went into some sort of trance, and... well, even if I was asleep, I didn't have nightmares by any stretch of the imagination." She blinked away oncoming tears. "I... I had beautiful dreams."
Granen wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. His strong grasp was soothing. Sarah looked into the bearded man's green eyes and saw a deep tiredness mirrored there. She had never seen him so weary and bedraggled. "It will be okay, Sarah, we'll figure it out."
Hoggle seemed to have mostly forgotten the loss of Kaleb's feather, completely overwhelmed with concern over his friend.
"What time is it?" Sarah asked.
"It's only been a few hours since we set up camp," Sage answered.
Sarah looked around, and guessed that his statement explained the continued darkness of the camp. "Have any of you slept?"
They all shook their heads.
"Why not?" Her stomache ached with dread over the response.
Benedick and Sage looked at each other, as did Isabelle and Vindar.
"Bad dreams," Isabelle said.
Eepwot managed to look a little tired too, and added, "Boy, were they ever." Ludo seconded his statement with a slow nod of his shaggy head.
Sarah shook her head in frustration. "What is going on? How are we going to continue on if no one can sleep?" She looked around at the group, and knew instantly that they were too tired to move. "You all look like hell warmed over."
Vindar took the chance to make an exploration of the area. Isabelle gave him a questioning look, and he gave her a tired, soothing smile before he left to reassure her.
Mandelbrot stepped forward. "We could try a warding spell," he offered. "I agree, we won't be worth much if we don't get any sleep. Sarah's condition makes me suspect that there's something more at work here."
Sage nodded. His sharp features looked more pointed in his tired state. "We might as well find a solution now, I don't see it letting up anytime soon."
"What about the feather?" Eberon asked, having stayed silent in the shadows most of the time, seeming horribly out of place in the group of friends. "Kaleb is too dangerous to let wander."
Sage crossed his arms and muttered to himself, "Something you'd know all about." Only Sarah really heard the elf's comment, but Eberon quickly became quiet when he saw the other man's lips move. It was obvious that the elf king Eberon felt very ashamed of his treachery.
"I think someone took the feather," Vindar offered as he approached from behind the cave. "I found large bird tracks behind the cave."
"How could they have taken it while everyone was awake?" Sarah questioned.
Sage turned to Hoggle. "Have you left camp anytime?"
"Well, sure, I, uh..." He stuttered a moment before finding his tongue. "I hadda take a wiz, you know. And I sorta tripped." Before anyone could say anything else, he blurted, "But I didn't drop nothin'! Hoggle takes good care of his stuff!"
Sarah found his indignance somewhat charming. "Hoggle, I'm sure you took fine care of it."
"You know, though," the dwarf mused, forgetting his embarrassment and raising a finger to his chin, "I now think I might'a been tripped."
"What do you think it was?" Sage asked his son.
"Spangore," Vindar replied witout hesitation. "Looked just like a Spangore's tracks."
"What would a Spangore be doing out here?" Eepwot asked.
Eberon stepped forward with a sullen look. "Claw. It has to be Kaleb's consort Claw."
"How did he know where we were?" Sarah asked the elf king as she stepped resolutely toward him. He cringed a little, obviously not completely over the mentally trying experience he had with her darker half.
"I-I..." he stuttered a moment, trying hard to gain composure. "I think he is... working with your darker half."
Sarah felt a headache coming on like an avalanche. "I don't understand. What could she want with Kaleb?"
Isabelle shook her head softly. "We found Kaleb trapped in his castle, where Sarah had left him." Isabelle turned pink when she realized what she had said. "I-I mean the other Sarah." She looked at her benefactor sheepishly. "Sorry, Sarah."
Sarah smiled wanly. "Don't worry about it, Isabelle. She's me. The less than spectacular parts I try to keep under wraps, at least." A heavy yawn escaped her lips. She realized that she'd better sit down, because her legs were buckling under a deep-seated exhaustion. Everyone watched in confusion as she lazily drifted over to the fire and sat down, not acknowledging her actions in the slightest. Sage and Benedick looked at each other with somber expressions.
Now I remember, Sarah thought as she dropped into her previous position in the cave. I did fall asleep. But maybe it won't hurt if I sleep. I can sleep through this all, until it all blows over. I don't need to be awake.
She closed her heavy eyelids. The last thing she saw was her friends surrounding her with worried looks, and Sage mumbling with remourse, "Oh, Sarah. What are we going to do?"
Jareth's eyes had long since blurred over as he opened the many books one by one. His movements had become rote. He would have given up a long time ago if it weren't for the fact that each book was a different shade of gibberish. Some actually had some real words in them, which made him think that perhaps the transformation of their knowledge wasn't thorough. Part of his brain shouted that he needed to stop, to find a new way to pass the time, to do something more useful than open and close books.
He felt stuck in a nightmare-induced loop, his brain running over and over the situation like a broken record. He wanted to scream.
"That's how you know it is a dream," a voice said from the corner of the room. It was Jeremiah standing still as wood, his long grey beard heavy and gnarled. He wasn't moving, just staring at Jareth with penetrating eyes.
Jareth put the book down, and the room became dark. "What-what do you mean, Master Jeremiah?"
"That's how you know it is a dream," Jeremiah said with a soothing voice. "When the words are all gibberish."
Jareth stared at the old man in cold fear as the lights dimmed more. All that were left was Jeremiah's glowing eyes. Large teeth grew from his mouth and a twisting grin took over the remaining darkness where he had stood. A dark laugh echoed coolly in the darkness.
Jareth dropped the book. He stumbled for a light and tripped over the dropped book, falling sharply and landing on his elbows. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead. He wiped it away, and each sparkling drop was filled with light.
"A dream," he mumbled uncertainly in the warm glow of his own sweat.
He managed to get up, but it was difficult. He felt the darkness under his feet pulling at him menacingly. While he knew there was a dark dream magic at work, his slumbering mind couldn't get a good enough grasp on the situation to bring about resolution. So he continued to stumble along the walls, looking for a doorway, or a light switch.
Soon the walls fell away, and he felt dirt crunch under his feet. To his left a snake made of light slithered across the ground. As his eyes adjusted, he realized it was just a thin river, whose waters were sparkling through some non-existent light. Everything else remained a dark void. Everything except for the glistening river.
He shuffled close to the river and looked into its waters. His reflection stared back at him, his light blonde hair glowing in its depths. He looked regal in the reflection, like a noble king of light. His eyes were deep and pure and full of insight. He touched the water and wondered if he would ever be saved. If he would ever live up to that image. The handsome man that stared back had a pure gaze free of guilt. It was a gaze that he could never have.
He remained mesmerized by the image, transfixed. From the other side of the river, another face emerged. The light was so bright he almost had to shield his eyes. It took a moment for the face to come into focus, but when it did, he was looking at Sarah's soft face, her light brown hair blowing in a slight breeze, a gentle smile on her lips.
He started, and looked up to be greeted only by darkness. When he returned to the image of the river, there were no reflections waiting. He touched the water once more in longing, and it slithered away from him, a white snake disappearing in the distance.
Young boy, young
man
Young soul in the man
I see you
I see you
Don't run, if you can
It's cold in the
nighttime
It's hot in the day
I feel you
I feel you
Please come out and play
A woman's voice hummed in the distance, soft and alluring. He was drawn to it like a frozen man drawn to the warmth of a fire. He jogged toward it, then ran, forgetting that he could not see the ground or any impediment that might cross his
We're growing so
fast
Between dreams and decay
I'll dream you
I'll dream you
I'll dream you away
Young boy in the
man
Young man, shine away
I'll meet you
I'll meet you
In your young years of
May
He ran so long, he had forgotten why he was here, or why he was running. Then he ran into an invisible tree and a great pain shot through his body. He fell to its base and wept with complete desperation. As the tears flowed, the land emerged from darkness, and he was sitting in the middle of a valley of snow and withering trees. A rabbit bound across the icy wasteland. His wet eyes followed the animal somberly.
"Don't cry," a voice coaxed from nowhere and everywhere. "Don't cry. I never wanted you to cry."
Jareth knew the voice, yet did not. His mind had lost all grasp on events. The only thing that was real, that was warm, was the steady flow of tears from his eyes. He felt like he had been weeping for many ages. Like all the pain, the suffering, the remorse came running from his being through the river on his face.
A woman edged from behind the tree and slowly crept before him. Her motions were wild, like the rabbit that had crossed the snowy plain only moments ago. Her white eyelids drifted open and closed like heavy cream falling from a pitcher. Her face was smooth like coconut milk, and the only color that was to be found in her face spread like pink roses across her cheeks.
He tried to remember who she was, the creeping soul who knelt before him, whose eyes darted everywhere in uncertainty.
"Sarah," he breathed. He wanted to touch her, but he was afraid she would run away.
Her voice flowed like icy water. "Shh. We must be quiet."
He didn't know why silence was so necessary, nor why he couldn't stop trembling in heavy tears.
Her light brown hair hid behind a fur hood, which was trimmed in the same ghostly white that her face glowed. She acted like she knew him, but only from a long forgotten past. She laid her small fingertips on his eyelids, and the tears froze in their place.
His sobbing stopped cold in his chest. He felt broken and scattered, and the only person who could save him, had saved him. A tender smile spread on her pale lips.
"This is one of our meeting places," she whispered. "Until I can get out. Until I can do something."
He couldn't understand her, but he seemed to know the words. "How did you find me?"
She shook her head fitfully and grabbed his hands. Their icy cold were brisk and stirring. He thought about how only moments ago he had been a cold man running to warmth, and now he was being brought to life by cool hands.
"How do you look for that which is you?" she asked him rhetorically. "How do you search for all the missing parts of yourself? How do you ever lose the parts of you that you love more than anything?"
"You love me?" he asked, trembling.
"Haven't I told you before? How can you not know this?" she asked, touching his cheek.
Yes, Jareth did know. But he also knew this all wasn't real. "We're just dreaming again," Jareth blurted passionately. He felt like a young man in the painful throws of a love too long unrequited. He wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. He looked at his hands, and understood immediately why these feelings had come to him; he was a young man again. He was the man who had once darted in and out of the darkness of the snowy forest, hunting rabbits and dreaming of new lands. He was in love with the white face of the ghost of a woman far in his future, or perhaps, far in the past of another life. He was again that young man who wanted nothing more than a heart-stirring adventure, something to try his wits, to make him a man. It was an empty dream, just like it was all an empty dream. Every broken moment of his pained life.
"We're always just dreaming!" he shouted, the voice that came out of his throat young and bitter. He threw Sarah off in his rage as he rose up. His anger was not directed at her, but directed to his nameless tormentor. He threw his head back and screamed at the sky. "It's always just a dream! I'm tired of playing these games! So goddamned tired!" His blonde hair was almost white, and it fell softly against the youthful contours of his face as his lithe body collapsed broken and vanquished to the ground.
The white Sarah crawled to him and stroked his soft hair. "Shh," she whispered softly. "Don't cry, my love. Don't be sad. I am here. I was always here. Just as you were always with me."
He looked up at her, vulnerable, needing the saving grace of her green eyes. He had seen those eyes many times in her life; they had always been a soft brown, beautiful brown eyes. Why were they green, now? "Sarah, I want you. I need you. More than anything I've ever needed in my life. Where are you? Why can't I be with you?"
Her expression was distracted, and she looked off into the distance. "She's coming."
Jareth grabbed her face and turned it toward him, the youthful fire in his bones taking even him by surprise. She looked amazed by his behavior, but not frightened. "Answer me, Sarah! What has happened to you?"
"I'm in the Mists, my love. And I am also somewhere else. But the other me will be here soon." Jareth noted the fear in her eyes, and could sense that something was amiss. He knew it was more than a dream, that he was supposed to do something here, that he had a duty to perform.
"I think she's trapped me," Sarah answered softly, seeming to break out of the deep, animalistic trance that had controlled her only moments ago. Warm gold tones ebbed and flowed into her form, bringing a slow-growing color into her icy form. "I've trapped myself. I'm broken too, Jareth. We're both broken. We have to put each other back together."
She held his hands and together they rose from the ground, snow crunching under their feet. She smiled at him gently. "You were beautiful when you were younger," she remarked, her icy breath coiling smoke in the air. "I wanted to see what you looked like when you were just a boy."
"You did this?" he asked, sensing impending doom, but not caring in the slightest. Her soft gaze destroyed all fear.
"You did it," she said, glowing. "You did it by loving me." She paused a moment to gaze softly into his eyes and brushed the long bangs out of his eyes. The last crows feet disappeared from the corners of his lids. "Let's promise now to be young together, for ever. Let's never be old. Let's find the fountain of youth, and spend eternity as children."
A smile spread across his own smooth, thin lips. His eyes were bright and hopeful, empty of all age. "Okay."
A slight frown tugged at the corners of her mouth as a hurricane of darkness began to whip around them, a howling, deafening abyss. "Jareth, it's time now."
He felt like he needed to be strong for the young woman in his arms, but he didn't know what was expected of him. "What am I supposed to do."
"You know."
His heart was pounding earlier, but it quieted in his chest as sureness swept over him. "That's right, now I remember."
He bent forward in a gentle motion that defied the anger of the howling wind that ripped the dream snow from the ground all around them. He touched his lips to hers and knew instantly that this was the beginning of his life's journey. Sarah always was his, and would always be his. Perhaps he would forget this testament in wakefulness, but, in the meantime, the truth was real and pure, and Sarah was in his arms.
Dreams were the meeting place. Hadn't they always been?
Jareth woke to the sensation of someone pushing his arm. The first thing his sleepy eyes focused on was the puddle of drool he had left on the gibberish-encasing book he had been looking at before he fell asleep. He looked up then down, and there was Didymus prodding him with a gloved hand. "Your Majesty, er, I mean, Jareth," Sir Didymus spoke nervously.
Jareth rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What's the matter, Didymus?" the man asked, still shaken by his uneasy sleep. He examined the drool in his more wakeful state, and wondered if Gail would be angry. He looked around the study for Jeremiah, but the older man was nowhere to be found.
"Toby seems to be having terrible nightmares, Sir," Didymus explained. "I can't wake him. He's having an awful time of it, I'm very afraid for him."
Jareth shot out of the chair and rushed into the main bedroom. Sure enough, there was Toby, having tossed the covers from him entirely in his tossing and turning. He was clawing at his pillow weakly.
Jareth ran to the boy's side and tried to shake him awake, but nothing was working. "No... no..." Toby kept moaning sleepily. "My sister... get... no... not you, stop it..."
Jareth held the boy close to him and tried to coax him out of his fright.
"Just like Miss Marlena," Didymus mumbled, wringing his hands.
"How long has he been like this, Didymus?" Jareth asked as he pulled the boy's eyelids back to see if anything was out of the ordinary. The boy could almost have been having an epileptic seizure.
"It started out like normal sleep, but he only got this bad in the last hour," Didymus answered, pointing to the clock on the shelf. It was six in the morning.
"How long have I been asleep?" Jareth asked the fox, a horrible understanding of things slowly developing in his mind.
"I don' t know, Sir, I've been watching Master Tobias this whole time."
"You didn't fall asleep, did you?" Jareth asked, realizing too late how accusatory his statement came across.
The fox's brow rose at the potential insult, but it fell again as he seemed to have become accustomed to being seen as failing in his duties. "No, Sir, I have been awake this entire time."
"I'm sorry, Didymus, I didn't mean it that way," the man did his best to coax.
Jeremiah stepped into the doorway. "What's going on here?" the man said, straightening a small pair of spectacles on his nose.
Jareth cradled the child in his arms and shot up from the bed. "Don't you try to act like you don't know what's going on, Master Jeremiah." He got so close to the man's face that his breath fogged up his glasses. "You have such a convenient way of showing up at just the right moment." Jareth stormed out of the room, Didymus trailing after him in confusion. The fox stood against the wall and watched the men keenly. He had never seen Jareth raise his voice since he had returned to Sunset City, and he sensed that there was an important reason that he was getting angry just now.
"What in heavens name are you talking about, Boy?" Jeremiah shot him a baffled look. "I've been in the other room sorting through books all this time." He pointed to a stack of books on the coffee table.
"Don't call me, 'Boy'," Jareth scolded. He put Toby's limp, troubled form down into a loveseat, where the young boy continued his disturbed mumblings in the background. Didymus trotted to the boy's side and gently pet his hand.
"I'm a grown man, now," Jareth yelled. "I'm much, much more than that now, thanks to your meddling in my life. You have a funny way of making things happen that turn people's lives around, like good milk suddenly gone bad. You ruined my life, Old Man, and now is the time you answer to it." Jareth brought an angry fist against the shelf next to him, causing Jeremiah to jump.
But he soon gained his composure. "Now that's enough," he blurted, taking off his glasses and stuffing them into a pouch at his side. "You are such a fool. You know as well as I do that you ruined your own life. Going off pursuing power that you were too unseasoned to harness"
"It was my life to live as I chose!" Jareth bellowed. "Mistakes and all! You had no right to meddle!"
"That's where you are wrong, Jareth!" Jeremiah's face twisted into a picture of bitterness. "You chose to take into your own hands things that would affect the lives of others! It was my responsibility to make you learn from that mistake! My responsibility as your teacher! Just because we are mixed breeds that live longer than humans and have stronger powers, does not give us the right"
"Had!" Jareth corrected. "I had powers. And, thanks to that, I am too helpless to stop this nonsense! You broke my spirit, Jeremiah! How can you be so proud of that?"
Jeremiah let out a bitter laugh. "Too helpless to stop this nonsense? You are the one who started it! Or don't you remember that?"
"I would never have willfully done anything that led to this," Jareth seethed. His eyes cut holes in his old teacher.
"No, let's break this down if we must, your memory is obviously too clouded to get a clear picture," Jeremiah said in a patronizing tone. "Let me remind you how it went. Four hundred years ago... My goodness, it is a long time, so maybe you are getting too old to remember, hmm?" He circled Jareth with glowing eyes. "Four hundred years ago, you were just a boy, and by your mother's begging, I took you in as my apprentice, to teach you the ways of the sorcerer, and all the magical arts that would let you live out the true potential of your birthright."
Jareth simmered while the old man continued his story.
"And then, one day, you got it in your head that you were ready for all the knowledge to open up to you in that one instant, too impatient to learn your skills gradually, too young to use your damned brain," Jeremiah tapped on his head at the last remark, his face twisted in a mocking scowl. "So, you went off on some damned fool quest to find the Crystals of Amnarahk, thinking you would be able to do whatever you liked once you had them in your possession. Now, stop me if I have it wrong so far."
Jareth merely glowered at him, the anger rising to a fiery pitch in his chest.
"Always were listening to too many elfin legends, I always said," the old man continued. "And so you went off on the word of your elf friend—who, might I add, you betrayed by using the knowledge he passed to you to find the crystals. Umm, now let me think, interesting! You've done this more than once. Don't you have a good friend now that you betrayed in a similar manner some decades ago?" A vicious smile spread across his lips. He was thoroughly enjoying the embarrassment Jareth was experiencing at his hands. "Good thing he doesn't remember you, lad, I doubt he'd be such good friends with you now if he knew who you really were."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jareth spat.
Jeremiah laughed at his ignorance. "You must be losing your touch if you don't remember. But, as this is not the point of my story, I will let you try to muddle it through on your own," Jeremiah shot. "You see, you made a mistake while you were on your little fools quest. You went through the Shadow Mountains, and, surprise, surprise, your shadow happened to be the epitome of evil! This adventure just gets more and more interesting by the moment."
"But being cursed as a king of goblins for over three hundred years? What kind of punishment is that!" The depth of it began to hit him. The years all had blurred together until this very moment, where he was in a face-off with the man who had sentenced him to his fate.
"A fitting one for a man who sought to take what was not rightfully his," Jeremiah spat. "You basically took the former city of Remnonturned Goblin City, turned Sunset Cityaway from its citizens! Right from under their noses! How could I let you go without punishment? You had to see the consequences of your actions!"
Jareth had become amazingly quiet, all the anger that he had directed at Jeremiah turning inward. He began to doubt he was so right in accusing the man.
"Ah, but here's the beauty of it, Jareth," his teacher gesticulated excitedly, ignoring Jareth's increasingly crestfallen expression. "I didn't have anything to do with your fate. I let your subconscious mind handle that one. You chose your own fate."
He stopped before Jareth and smirked. "You paid exactly how much and how long you really thought you needed to. Not until this young girl came into your life... Then, aha! You're in love." He said the last two words in syrupy mockery. "Ooo hoo, now you're saved by love. And look what you did to that love... Look at the havoc you have wreaked. Only you would be such a foolish old man to fall in love with a sixteen year old girl, then put all your emotional problems onto her shoulders. But, perhaps age ceases to matter when you've become as old as you are. Maybe the rules don't matter. But, with you, did they ever matter, Jareth? Did you ever think about someone other than yourself for one moment?"
Jareth felt trapped in a corner. He knew something wasn't right, that Jeremiah had skewed the facts somewhere and doctored the story into something more licivious and wretched. But he couldn't put his finger on what exactly was wrong.
"You'd like to blame it all on Kaleb. Oh, he was manipulating you into being someone you weren't. Well, I have news for you—it takes your own feet to make a step in the wrong direction. To get to the point where Kaleb even ever had a chance to control you meant that you had to have made many, many poor choices along the way, Jareth. You are to blame. Don't point your finger at me for what your own youthful impudence has bought you. This is your mess to untangle. I am only involved because the fate of our two worlds are at stake. I am certainly not here to apologize to you for something you have done to yourself."
Jareth felt woefully silenced. Just as hope had begun to resurface in his aching soul that maybe their was some sense to it, whether it be Sarah's forgiveness in his dreams, or finally being able to understand the reality behind his teacher's seemingly treacherous actions.
Jeremiah's face softened, and he put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Look, Jareth, I do understand that we all make mistakes. I am here to help, really. You just have to trust me. We have to trust each other. I can help you get out, but you can't make such accusations."
Jareth looked up at his teacher, completely trampled, confounded. He never thought after living so long that he would still be susceptible to such a heavy sensation of failure. He wondered if it was only something that got worse with the years. It took him fifty years to get new wrinkles. But it only took an hour to make him feel like the oldest man who ever lived.
Then the dream came back to him, triggered by his thoughts. "Let's promise now to be young together, for ever."
Jareth looked up at Jeremiah, composed. The remembrance of the dream caused all the weight to fall from his trampled spirit, like discarded shackles. A great calm passed over him, and he became acutely aware that none of what had just passed really mattered.
"Okay," he said with a distanced look, appearing on the surface to have responded to Jeremiah's plea that they drop their differences. But, in his mind, he was addressing Sarah again, fulfilling his promise.
He turned his gaze to Toby, who was still mumbling in his sleep. Didymus hadn't left the boy's side the entire time, and had been quietly watching the two men exchange words. Jareth turned away from his teacher, leaving Jeremiah confused as to what point exactly the fight had fizzled out so thorougly in his former student.
"Is he any better, Didymus?" Jareth asked as he kneeled by the boy's side.
"No, Master Jareth," Didymus replied, shaking his head.
A new life crept into Jareth's bones, and he felt called back to his dream. Suddenly he realized that he had to remember that everything that unfolded henceforth was not really real. The world he was standing in had lost coherence, and couldn't be taken for face value. 'You know this is a dream, because the words are all gibberish,' Jeremiah had said.
So Jareth decided that now was the time to turn to the slumbering dreams that remained for insight, because whatever dreams that were left over were the last dreams to hold any resemblance to the logic that held the core of things together. He didn't know how he knew this. He supposed the knowledge came with a combination of the intuition one develops after having lived so long, and so closely with fae magic. Maybe it was knowledge borne out of love.
He remembered his dream, and he knew the answer. He bent down and kissed the boy on the cheek. He pulled away softly, knowing with all his being that he had chosen the right solution.
Toby's eyes shot open in fright, and he elbowed Jareth in the chin as his body jerked out of his painful slumber. Jareth recoiled and put his hand to his bruised chin in reflex, but quickly forgot the pain in his joy over seeing the boy awakened. "Jareth!" Toby shouted, sincerely afraid. Jareth smiled softly at the boy and wrapped his arms about him.
"It's okay, Toby," Jareth coaxed. "You were just having bad dreams. You're safe with me now."
Jeremiah looked at the scene, scratching his chin in complete awe. "Interesting," he mumbled with a curious smile.
Didymus' tail wagged happily. He put his hand on the boy's arm. "I'm so glad you're awake, Master Toby. We were really worried for you."
As soon as Sarah and Ludo turned up missing from the camp, Hoggle and Eberon became embroiled in a fight over whose fault it was that she was lost. Hoggle still wasn't convinced that Eberon had not stolen the feather. Sage quieted them down and assured them they would soon find her if they followed the distinct footprints Ludo had left behind.
Hoggle hung back in the group, his arms crossed angrily as he thought of the terrible things that might have happened to Sarah. Isabelle was soon at his side. She put a reassuring arm on his shoulder.
"I can't lose anyone else," Hoggle finally blurted out.
Isabelle gave him a wan smile. "We won't lose her, Hoggle. But I know how you feel. It's hard to lose your parents. My mother died too, not long ago, and it's the worst feeling ever."
"There's no solving it." Hoggles eyes were heavy and full of regret. "So many things that could have been diff'rent."
"But soon you realize that everything was just as it should have been," Isabelle answered softly. "And then it's okay." She looked straight ahead thoughtfully and he turned up to look at her young, clear skin. She seemed an angel from his perspective.
"You did everything just right, Hoggle." She smiled and looked down at him, brushing a soft hand against his skullcap. She reminded him so much of Sarah, his heart nearly burst with love and he forgot his sadness.
Sarah's eyes shot open, and the first reflexive motion she made was to reach out for a body, but her groping hands only came up with air. Her sleepy mind grasped for clarity, she wondered where Jareth had gone. Her eyes were still closed, struggling to open, to find out what was going on. She still lingered with the sensation of an icy kiss, and another world on the edge of consciousness. She might have slept forever if it hadn't have been for Jareth.
A sensation of warm fur reached her brain, and she realized that she was being carried by someone. As her eyes finally opened, she looked up to see Ludo's permanent wistful smile looking ahead. She craned her neck and didn't see anyone from the caravan in front of her. Ludo walking across the desert mists under a weak light that could only be classified as early morning.
Ludo noticed she had awoken and his big dumb smile stretched to its limits. "Sarah! Sarah awake!" He held her closer to him, suffocating her in warm, dusty fur before he finally set her down.
Sarah got a good look all around her, looked behind the beast and into the horizon. "Where is everyone, Ludo?"
Ludo shrugged his big shoulders. "Ludo lost," he answered.
"What happened?" Sarah asked, brushing her fingers through her hair as mild panic washed over her.
"Sarah sleep walk," Ludo answered. "Everyone asleep, Ludo follow Sarah."
"So they did find a way to get to sleep," she mused. "I'm sure we're not far from them. How long have you been walking with me, Ludo? Has it been long?"
Ludo shook his head.
"Good, then we can try to look around for them." She didn't like the idea that they could be completely lost from the group, but she knew there was no good fretting over it, so she did her best to pick a direction. A bird flew overhead toward some nameless destination.
"C'mon, lets follow that bird. Maybe it will lead us back to the river."
Ludo ambled behind her a couple of feet while she led the way.
As they walked, her stomach growled in rebellion. "Damn, we haven't eaten in several hours. I don't even remember how long it's been." She remembered being down this road more times than she liked. Hungry on a journey, with no food to be had.
She thought about all the things she missed from her castle Underground. Dinnertime at eight every night, only the best cod and wine, fresh salads and a bouquet of flowers adorning the table on her private veranda. Sitting with Sage as the sun set over the castle garden. Talking politics, talking about life, about the past, about the future. Despite the great effort she had been forced to exert in bringing the kingdom back to its feet, she missed being queen. She had grown to love being responsible for individuals other than herself, and making the world a better place for her citizens to live in. It was a goal she had never before possessed, and though her initial reasons for taking the queenship were less than selfless, she had learned to find great joy in sacrifice.
Sarah had always wanted to live in a world of fantasy, like most teenagers. But she never grew out of it—even as an adult, she never felt completely at home Aboveground. The five years she was away after her first adventure, she would find herself pining away for the kooky world, wishing she had allowed herself to enjoy the experience more. Always having been fairly reserved as a teen and only surfacely involved in the affairs of her friends, she had never considered that she might one day be in the midst of very true friends who would do anything to help her. Or to have a four year friendship with an elf who had lived hundreds of years and traveled many lands. Or to have a fox knight in charge of her round table. Or a big beast to protect her even in her sleep.
She reached out and took hold of Ludo's big hand. He held hers silently as they walked side by side in search of their companions. Sarah had grown to understand Ludo's emotions over time, and though he didn't speak much, there was always a great deal going on under the surface. She could tell that he was anxious over having lost the camp site, and she didn't want him to worry.
"It's okay, Ludo, don't worry about it. We'll find them."
Ludo didn't answer, but did loosen up his shoulders, falling into a deeper, more relaxed slouch. Sarah patted his hand and smiled at him.
She didn't feel rested at all after her slumber, but consistently had to fight the urge to go back to sleep. After her dream, she could only conclude that sleep was her prison while her other half was gallavanting about, draining their mutual power. She had sensed that the dark side of her had been seeking her out, even if only subconsciously, perhaps to wipe her out completely.
There was something more to it that she couldn't pin down, but she knew she'd figure it out. Now she was awake just enough to mull over the things that the Gatekeeper had revealed to her, and all the words that had passed between she and Jareth.
"I saw Jareth in my sleep," she said to Ludo. He didn't have an answer, but she knew he was listening all the same. "He's been trying to find us. I don't think he knew that... my darker side was the one who did all this. He didn't know there were two parts of me acting on their own."
"Jareth save us?" Ludo warbled.
Sarah shook her head. "I don't think he can, Ludo. He doesn't have the power he used to. It's all up to us. For now, at least." She sank into quiet, realizing how comfortable she had become with being lost. She stopped fighting it. She tried not to think about the future, and sank into the quiet of the moment.
Ludo looked down at his mistress with deep, black eyes. "Sarah love Jareth?" he asked simply.
Sarah looked up at the beast and smiled wanly, squeezing his hand as she did so. She turned her gaze back ahead, took a deep breath, and let it out in a heavy sigh. "Yeah. I do."
"Jareth love Sarah?" Ludo asked, as if striking conversation in his own way.
She bit her lip, chewing at a piece of dried skin. "I'm so stupid," she answered, shaking her head vigorously. Ludo seemed confused, but he gave her space to finish. She finally found her tongue. "He does, Ludo. I think he's loved me for a long time, but I don't know why. I don't know what he sees in me."
Ludo smiled with assurance. "Because Sarah pretty. Sarah nice."
Sarah couldn't help but be filled with complete joy at his simple honesty. She lunged at him and hugged him tightly. He returned the gesture.
"You're not so bad yourself." She grabbed his hand again, renewed, a little less weary, and continued on.
Sarah didn't really relish being put off her quest for so long, but she couldn't have wished for a better friend to be stuck with for the time being.
They walked for another twenty minutes, and while the sun did not become brighter than that of an early morning sun, the air did get much hotter. It was a stark contrast to the cool Mist that usually existed Underground. Sarah felt sorry for Ludo, as it was apparent that he was struggling greatly under the sweltering heat.
"Are you okay?" she asked the beast, whose nose was dripping with perspiration. He nodded his shaggy head, but Sarah knew he was just trying not to be a bother. In the distance, she finally caught a glimpse of a crack in the ground that looked like a riverbed. There was no way of telling if it was the same riverbed that the travelers had originally been following under the guidance of Albert and Wonggu, but it was better than nothing.
They stopped at the edge of the riverbed, which was completely devoid of moisture. She began to doubt they were on the right track, as the river they had been following before had been filled with muddy water. However, it had shown signs of drying out the further along they went, so it was possible that it was the same riverbed.
Something caught her eye further down the split, and she jumped at the sight of a white snake, whose shiny skin glittered rainbow colors in the dim light. As she continued to observe it from a distance, she noticed that it was on its side, unmoving. She inched closer until she was certain it was dead. Ludo was not frightened of the animal, as he had never seen a snake before, and had no concept that they could be in any way dangerous. Against her best judgment, Sarah poked the dead animal with her booted toe. It didn't budge.
Ludo looked sad. "Dead?"
"Yeah, I think so," Sarah said as she crouched low to examine it. It was a very large snake, about three inches in diameter and four feet long. From far off it hadn't seemed too menacing, and if Sarah had gotten a full view of its form at the start, she probably wouldn't have been so inclined to approach it.
Nonetheless, she felt a deep remorse for the death of such a beautiful specimen. The mouth of the snake curved up the side of its face in a sort of reptilian smile, its sharp teeth visible in its partially opened mouth.
"What is she?" Ludo asked.
"Some sort of snake. I rarely saw them Underground, they pretty much only exist Aboveground. I don't think I've ever seen a white one, though." Sarah gently lifted the head of the snake, not quite certain why she wasn't feeling more frightened of it. The skin was smooth and hot from lying on the dry mesa. It looked like it hadn't been dead for long, and there were no visible signs for the cause of its death. She turned the head in the light to observe the shimmering patterns on its smooth contours.
There was something much more to the snake than met the eye. Sarah knew it instantly, because, as she looked into its still, black eyes she saw a night sky of stars. The longer she stared, the more she felt the connection to the snake.
Sarah looked up in surprise as Ludo craned his head back and let out a gentle howl. He looked back down at her when he was done, then to the perimeter of their location where a number of fist-sized tan rocks came rolling into view. "We bury," Ludo explained. The snake was almost too large for Sarah to carry, so Ludo bent down and scooped the dead animal up in his arms. He found a deep spot in the riverbed and coiled the snake up in the middle of the indentation. The rocks rolled to his side and waited patiently, while Sarah looked on amazed.
Together they took the rocks one by one and stacked them over the snake in a sort of pyramid. Something about the ritual seemed right and necessary. Perhaps there had been a reason that they became lost.
They stood back and looked on their handiwork. "That was a good idea, Ludo," Sarah said as she looked up at the tall beast. His lip trembled in uncertainty, and she knew that he was very uncomfortable with the death of any creature. He would have shed tears if that had been his way.
She started to take his hand to leave, but something moved at the corner of her eye. She looked back to the rock pyramid, and it had transformed into a solid rock face, upon which was painted the symbol of the spiraling snake in white clay.
Sarah dropped Ludo's hand and approached the totem. "More than you seem, aren't you?" Sarah said, brushing her hands across the stone. She remembered the story Albert told her by the cave about the Raindbow Snake and the Dreaming. As she ran her fingers across the white paint of the snake, the image shimmered.
The painted head swiftly morphed out of the rock face into a live snake's head, fangs bared.
Sarah was too shocked to move quickly enough. The snake bit her before she could react.
A great light spilled from Sarah's eyes and, as suddenly as the snake came back to life, everything had disappeared.
First she heard a sound. The sound of a drum. Thumping hollow rhythms in the darkness. And then she realized it was her heart beating. Or the stars vibrating.
She had lived many lives before this. She had been many other people, as there were many pieces of many other selves embedded in her soul. She could call them all by name.
"I birthed the world, I made the rivers that made the places this and that, here and there," the voice of the white snake vibrated. "The Id and the Ego are mine, my creation. All the separations, for contrast, to allow deeper understanding of existence."
The view filled with sparkling white, where rainbows erupted from a million blinding stars. "I took the world out of the Dreaming, and the Dreaming out of the world. I separated them so that they could thrive and learn their names. They are still learning, but now they can remember where each came from."
Sarah looked into the great expanse of white, and the longer she looked, the more she was filled with awe. "It's so big. Is this the Dreaming?"
"No, it is all of existence that you see. It is the realm over which the Gatekeeper watches."
Sarah watched the white void writhe and move, and realized that she was looking upon the moving figure of the large, white snake. The scales were like prisms that separated light into their different colors. There were colors within her scales that Sarah had never seen before.
"We've met before," Sarah whispered.
"We have. Everyone has met me before. But you have seen me more times than most, that is, during the time that time has existed."
"You created the barriers, the walls."
"Not walls like cages, but the membranes through which things flow to find their rightful home."
"Avalon," Sarah said with a gasp. "I remember now."
Sarah sensed the great snake was smiling. One eye peered from between the increasingly defined folds of her body writhing in and out of itself. "That is only a small piece of you, Sarah. Morgana was one of your many names. You still hold those gifts, but your gifts are your own, not those of a past self. This is the body you live in now. Like me, it has fallen on you to help make the definitions. To give form with the power of your speech, of your great journey across the land, to give form with your sharp bite. For a time, it was separate, as I made it to be. It is together now, and understanding can be reaped, but only if it is separated once more."
"I am no one special," Sarah breathed into the void, where she only existed as a voice. "I am just a girl from Forest Grove."
"No one chooses the great path," the snake hissed softly. "The journey is yours because it is yours. Your journey is the journey of the entire world, now. The consequences are dire if you do not find your true name."
"My true name?" Sarah felt awash with confusion.
"Both sides will learn their place, and then you can be whole again. Id and Ego will see the color of their blood, and in you the Dreams and the Reality will co-exist."
"I don't understand."
"You can only see the foreground, but there are many players who shift and move to your rear. Use your blood, Sarah, to see the larger view."
"I'm so tired."
"I know you are. But you will only be more tired if you rest. Do you understand?"
"I think so." The snake was fulling formed before Sarah, her scaly face propped atop her large, coiled body. Her jaws creeped into a smile as she faced her. The only darkness was found in the night sky trapped in her great eyes.
"It is hard to understand the fullness of things in a mortal form, do not fret over it," the snake soothed. "Take with you the gifts of I and the Gatekeeper, and use them well. It is no small task to be in charge of the spiritual enlightenment of an entire world, my child. The powers of the universe watch over you with great care and interest. Always remember this."
The snake looked into the distance as if observing something Sarah could not see. "Your other half is struggling in the mire of the dark ways, and neither of you must be lost in great joy or great sorrow. Focus on the earthly realm, dear one. Whenever you feel lost in your separate names, you must think about the pain in your arm, where I bit you. It is up to you to bring the darkness home, where it can be tempered."
"I don't know if I can," Sarah said weakly. "She's too powerful, too in control. I'm lost."
Her statement elicited a riotous laughter from the large snake. "Now I understand your hesitancy. Yes, I suspected as much." The snake slithered forward, and Sarah realized that she herself had found form, her body floating in the midst of the great void where the snake had brought her. The large body coiled round and round her slim figure. The mother snake had grown to the gigantic proportions of a fearsome monster. She finished twisting and fixed her hypnotic eyes upon Sarah's.
"It is you who is more powerful, Sarah the White. You were always the one in control. Sleep fools you into thinking otherwise, perhaps."
Sarah was lost in the eyes of the Rainbow Snake, and couldn't pull out. Each hissed word bore deep into her soul, the pressing of her reptile body forcing the blood to pump in her ears. "Do not be lulled by the warm, sinewy song of your other half, dear Sarah. You are white ice, pure and unshattered..."
Her voice echoed in Sarah's ears slow and deliberate with each syllable. "You are full of the power of life."
Her eyes shot open and a smile spread across her face. No time had passed since she entered her trance, and Ludo was still reeling in shock at the bite she had received from the snake. Barely did he get a chance to step forward when she threw her arm forward instinctively, cutting a hole into the very air before the now lifeless totem. She pulled Ludo's big hand and jerked him forward with her, into the light.
When they came out on the other side, they were face to face with the caravan they had been seeking for the last half hour.
Everyone stared at her with boggling eyes, completely unprepared for her appearance. Her teeth showed confidently from between her lips as she looked at them with full satisfaction.
"Sarah! Ludo!" Isabelle shouted.
Albert and Wonggu were shocked the most by the appearance, as it was the first explosive display of magic they had observed since they ran into the group.
Sarah turned to Albert. "I met the Rainbow Snake, Albert."
His eyes were large, and his teeth protruded from a widening smile. "You know, I wouldn't believe you, but after that trick, I will believe anything."
No one had yet registered what happened, even Ludo, who was still gazing at the drops of blood on Sarah's arm.
She turned to the group, not giving anyone a chance to react in her rushed excitement. "I think I know what to do now."
"Well, thank goodness someone does!" Hoggle shouted. "My damned feet are killing me!"
