A Prophecy Speaks

a/n: I do not own labyrinth.

Chapter 39 - Sorrow

Sarah saw the hawk fly straight for her, and ducked as it tried to bury its talons in her face. The hawk settled on the floor of the battlements and flowed back into the fuming form of Queen Xandra. She looked like the cat that got the canary. She licked her lips and stared Sarah down as if she were her prey. Sarah guessed that, in a way, she was. Then Xandra spoke.

"Ah, the mortal turned Fae. I have waited for this moment for many months. I have been patient and I have been kind. But even now your Labyrinth is being run ragged by my creatures," Xandra stated. Toby's face got determined and he ran at her from the side, trying to knock the Queen of the Trees down. Xandra used magic to throw him to the side, where he hit his head on a wall. Sarah gasped as he slid to the ground.

"You are going to lose everything you love. Your city, your kingdom, your husband,your life, and the lives of those abominations in your womb!", Xandra said as she threw a spell directly at Sarah. Sarah would not survive a blast like that. She disappeared to one side in a flash, but there was one person who did not know that.

Hoggle was close. Hoggle knew what was coming. Hoggle jumped as high as he could in front of Sarah as she moved. Hoggle took the spell full in the chest, and flew against the stone wall of the castle. He lay there, limp and bleeding from a gash on his head.

"Hoggle! No!", Sarah screamed.

Xandra laughed an evil laugh and took the time to wipe her eyes. Sarah realized then that Xandra was evil. Xandra had broken. Somewhere along the way, this once beautiful woman had become a monster. Sarah felt a moment of grief for the beautiful Queen.

The tears came unbidden to Sarah's eyes as she saw Hoggle laying against the wall. She knew he was dead. Knew she had lost a piece of herself. And poor Toby was alive, but unconscious, as far as she could tell. The anger rose in her until it was a tidal wave. Xandra smiled triumphantly as she thought she saw the resolve of the Goblin Queen flicker. It was not fear that flickered in Sarah's eyes, but sadness.

Sarah spiraled down into herself.Xandra was obviously willing to kill her. Kill all that she had. Kill all hope and all that was good about her life. The grief sent her down. The pain, and anger sent her down. Deep within herself she saw a glow, a glimmer really, but then she recognized the voices in her mind.

"Mother, the fire. It is you, the flame deep within you. Grasp the power, wield it. Make her pay. Mother, make her pay", the triplets told her. Sarah dove and grabbed the glimmering light, and shot back up to the surface. She changed. Her hair stood up high and became dancing flames. Her eyes changed from green to glowing orbs of light. A Lady of the Flame, whose tale would be told throughout history. Xandra was about to find out why she could have never won this war. The power filled her to bursting, made her more than a Fae, but part of an elemental power that could draw upon the very rocks she stood on.

Xandra had started to shrink back only to realize she had no place to go. She was all of a sudden afraid of where she might be headed. She threw spell after spell at Sarah, but Sarah only laughed as they were burnt to a crisp in the fire that was her.

"Who are you?" Xandra asked in a scared whisper.

"I am Sarah. I am the Goblin Queen. I am the Mistress of the Labyrinth. I am everything you already knew. But my dear, you made one mistake. You assumed that I was only gifted with a limited amount of magic. You assumed that I was less than you. You assumed you knew better. You assumed I had the heart of a coward and the brain of a simpleton. My dear, you were wrong," Sarah told her, and Xandra tried to throw more spells at the creature. Sarah did not say a word as she advanced on Xandra.

"You will pay!" Xandra screamed.

"No, your subjects will pay," Sarah said calmly. No need to betray the pain she felt having to do this. She gathered her power, and sent it out over the Labyrinth and the city.

Screams echoed across the land as every dryad, nymph and sprite became ash. Sarah smiled grimly and directed her attention back to Xandra. She pointed a flaming finger at the Queen and spoke with a voice full of anger, grief, and power.

"I am Fae. I am fire. I am vengeance. And you just made the biggest mistake of your very long life," Sarah stated," For all the sins and crimes you have committed, for the lies you have told, for the hearts you have broken, for the deaths you have caused, for the pain we all feel and for the good of the Underground I bind you in crystal, and seal you with fire. You are dead to us you bitch!", Sarah intoned. Xandra shrunk until she was no bigger than a fairy. A crystal sphere enveloped her, and fire sealed the sphere with a thick shield. Sarah then concentrated on Xandra's soul. She did not know if this had ever been done before. She did not know if she was even doing it right, but she looked into Xandra's soul and found the magic within her. The magic resembled a web of threads, connecting body and soul. Sarah used her inner fire to burn the web from Xandra. Xandra screamed as her magic was burned out of her. She was broken now, and would never escape the prison made for her. Sarah contemplated the sphere.

"You have not lost your life, Xandra. It will still be long, and still be immortal. You will spend the rest of your days in this sphere, contemplating your misspent life. When your spirit finally finds the darkness, we will bury the body. I can only hope the Lord and Lady have some mercy for you. You will need it," Sarah explained as the former queen of the Tree kingdom sat, crying into her hands. Sarah vanished the crystal to the back corner of her wardrobe. She would decide what to do with it later.

Queen Carla came up on the battlements when she felt the amount of power being released on the battlements. She looked at Sarah in awe and reverence. Sarah was shocked to see the Ice Queen curtsy to Sarah, and watched Princesses Cara do the same.

"Carla, I am still Sarah, and still your friend. You must never bow to me", Sarah smiled. She felt the fire start to recede. Her hair returned to brown, and her eyes to green. Her triplets were inside of her, squirming.

Sarah created a bier for her dear friend, and floated Hoggle onto it. She covered him with a white sheet she brought out of the air. She sprinkled white rose petals over his body. She walked over to Toby and laid a hand on his forehead. He would have a nasty headache when he woke up.

"Carla, can you help Toby to his room and into bed? And fetch a healer?" Sarah asked. The Ice Queen nodded.

Sarah floated the bier alongside her until she reached the audience room. There, she covered the walls in black linens and white flowers. She floated the bier to the middle and conjured a stand for it. Her dear friend would lie in state until she could bear it no longer. He had sacrificed his life for his kingdom of exile, the Labyrinth, and its Queen. He was her oldest friend, and would be treated like royalty, no matter what Jareth said when he returned.

The cost had been too high. And now, she wondered if her King was alive. She cast her eyes South and pleaded with the Lord and the Lady to please see him through this war and bring him back to her and their children.