Chapter 6: The Seven Whistlers
By the break of dawn, the squire's were fully prepared to depart from the caravan's campsite. Jessie had stayed awake through the night and appeared to be back to her normal self.
Jareth came out from the makeshift tent and watched his crew. Two squires were packing up food and water, which had been purchased from the people of the caravan. The others were getting ready for the long travel ahead of them by stretching and practicing their fencing.
Jareth walked to his horse and took his canteen, drinking cold water.
"A storm is coming in" Jessie said a top of her horse. Jareth mentally hit himself for not hearing her approach. He turned and watched as she raised her nose, smelling the air. "I can smell it."
"You look ready to go" Jareth said putting his water away.
"I've been ready" Jessie said. "Are you ready to leave?"
"Yes" Jareth said double checking his saddle bags. He mounted his horse and watched as Jessie turned towards the squires.
She whistled and all the squires stopped what they were doing.
"You have five minutes" Jessie ordered. "We need to leave."
The squires never protested. They followed her orders, quickly packing up the last few things and mounting their horses.
"We're heading to Cross Junction" Jareth said. "Move out."
Three hours later, further down K'Ord'Ort Road, the troupe found themselves in the middle of a down pour. The sky had become black and the only illumination came from travel lanterns and lightning. The horses traveled slowly, unsure of the dark and the sudden sound of thunder and lightning.
Jessie, riding point, said nothing to the others. Jareth rode up so he was next to her.
"We should be coming up to the old Blackburn Mill in a half hour" Jareth said. "I want to stop there. We need to get out of the rain."
"Cross Junction is only three more hours after the mill" London said sharply. "We should just keep moving. Who knows when this storm will let up."
"Look behind you" Jareth said. He pulled his soggy cape closer around his shoulders. Jessie risked a glance behind her, seeing her troops shivering and soaked to the bone. "We're all completely drenched. We'll catch our deaths out here."
"Fine" Jessie said. "We'll stop."
As the very large Blackburn Mill came into sight, the squires seemed to relax. Jessie dismounted and knocked on the front door.
"I believe the mill was abandoned a while ago" Jareth called to her. Jessie pulled a small dagger from her belt and slowly opened the door, checking out the mill.
A few minutes later, Jessie mounted her horse.
"No one is there" Jessie said. She turned to her squires. "Put your horses into the stable and take your things into the mill. Just keep a sharp eye." The squire's nodded and started walking their horses to the old, run down stable. Jareth stayed still on his horse. "Is there something wrong, your highness?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing" Jareth replied. He adjusted himself on his saddle and wiped at the rain that slid down his face. "You act as though you weren't just recently poisoned."
Jessie gestured towards the stables and they started to guide their horses towards the long stable.
"I've had worse problems then receiving flesh wounds with poison" Jessie said. She neglected to tell him that her shoulder wasn't entirely healed and that it was still very painful, but the less he knew the better.
"Like what, pray tell, could be worse?" Jareth asked. They dismounted and led their horses into the stable.
"I was once run through by an Ereshigal" Jessie said. The stables were completely silent for a second, then someone coughed and noise picked up.
"When were you ever run through by an Ereshigal?" Jareth asked. Ereshigals were horrid sea creatures with a human body, a goat head with long horns, and a fish tail. They were rare, but had been seen at Starfish Harbor, which was at the most southern part of the Labyrinth.
"You were away on business" Jessie replied. She took off the horse's saddle and started to brush the horse.
"Why was I never told?" Jareth asked doing the same to his horse.
"I told them not to tell you" Jessie said. "I figured that it would only upset you. Besides, it's my job to protect people. That's what I was doing."
"What the hell were you doing at Starfish Harbor?" Jareth asked.
"They needed some help" Jessie said. "I showed up. They had an Ereshigal killing people on the docks."
"Did you kill it?" Jareth asked.
"Kill it? Jessie said. "I made a hunter's horn out of one of its horns, though it was destroyed a while ago."
"Who has the other horn?" Jareth asked.
"Aulus" Jessie said putting some food into the feeding trough. "Renaud had us work toget—"
"Renaud?" Jareth asked with disbelief. "You mean this happened six years ago?"
"I'm fine now, I was fine then" Jessie said moving to fill an empty bucket with water. "I'm fine, Jar—" She looked around and saw two squires still unpacking their horses. "Your majesty."
"I'm not angry" Jareth said in a pissed-off tone. "Finish up, let's go inside."
Jareth and Jessie locked up the stable and went to see what the squires were doing in the old mill. They pushed the doors open to find a fire going in the large fireplace. The stone oven also had a fire going and two squires were busy getting food cooked.
"Wonderful" Jareth said. He set his travel bags down and surveyed the mill. "Looks like the second floor might have bedrooms."
It was expected that Jessie traveled the stairs first, which she did. Since Jareth did not have an heir to his throne, he couldn't risk being killed. The stairs creaked under Jessie's feet. As she reached to top of the stairs, she pulled out a dagger. The second floor was built like a giant 'O', so anyone could look over the railing and see the first floor.
"I'm sure it's alright" Jareth said from the stairs.
"Are you sure there isn't some creature hiding in any of these rooms waiting to jump us?" Jessie asked. Jareth's look was all she needed before proceeding to open all the doors and check all the nooks and crannies.
When she was finished, Jareth looked bored. She sheathed her knife and picked up her bags.
"The fifth room to the right has a broken window" Jessie said.
"I told you that we'd be safe" Jareth replied. Jessie sighed and made her way into the room next to the one Jareth decided to take.
The squires kept the fire raging and strung up everyone's wet clothes to dry. Everyone was in loose pants and loose thermal shirts, making it look like a strange pajama party. Once everyone was dressed in dry clothing, hearty soup and heavy bread was passed out.
Jessie found a seat that allowed her to view the entire downstairs area and allowed her to remain in the shadows. She watched as the squires laughed and talked with Jareth. One of the squires had found a bottle of whiskey in the kitchen and they were all helping themselves to it.
Overhead, Jessie heard the sound of light footsteps. She pulled herself further into the shadows and carefully watched as the bottom side of the floorboards, to the second floor, trembled slightly and allowed tiny bits of dust to dislodge.
Jessie risked a glance at the giddy bunch across the room. None of them had any idea that something was upstairs. Jessie watched as the footsteps started to descend the stairs. The creature picked up speed until Jessie's ears told her that he was on the main floor. She saw nothing.
Her eyes searched for some sign of movement, her ears strained. Finally, she saw a small stone lift off of the ground near Jareth. She didn't think, only acted. Her right hand held her soup bowl, which she hurled towards the stone.
She quickly hurried over to Jareth, unsheathing her sword. The soup had left pieces of vegetables, meat and broth covering the invisible intruder.
"Show yourself!" Jessie growled. The squires were all pulling out their weapons while trying to get their startled expressions off of their faces.
"I can't believe you did that!" The invisible foe said. "Ugh. Geez, that's frickin' hot. What was that? Soup? Is this a potato?"
As the figure came out of his transparency, Jessie's sword fell, as did her expression.
"Robin" Jessie said. "What are you doing here?"
The man before them had curly burnt sienna colored hair and bright green eyes. Robin Goodfellow had been one of the few members of the Fae court who still came to the Labyrinth.
Jessie looked at the squires and waved her hand at them. "Put down your weapons, this is Robin Goodfellow."
"Hey, how are you doing, Jareth?" Robin said with a smile.
"That is King Jareth" Jareth said with a glint of humor. "And, you ruined our meal."
"Oh, not a problem" Robin said with a bow. "When one ruins a meal, it can always be made up" He pulled a bottle from his sack. "With a drink."
Robin smiled broadly at Jessie and handed the bottle over to one of the squires. He clapped his hands and his clothes were clean.
"Showing off?" Jessie asked.
"Only for your benefit, my knightly beauty" Robin said kissing her hand. Jessie rolled her eyes. Ever since she had been in the Labyrinth she had known Robin, not well but they were more then mere acquaintances.
"Excuse me" Jareth said moving Jessie away from Robin. "Robin, why don't you come sit with us?" Robin glanced at Jessie.
"Only if she will sit beside me" Robin said quickly taking Jessie's hand and pulling her to a seat. The squires followed their move and took to their seats again. "Jareth, why haven't you scooped up this tasty little morsel yet?" Robin slung his arm across the back of Jessie's chair.
"Perhaps I have and you don't know it yet" Jareth said with a small grin. Robin laughed as though it was the best joke he had ever heard.
"So why are you here, Robin?" Jessie asked. She was the only one who still had her weapons still attached to her. The others had their weapons sheathed on the floor or on the tables.
"I heard through the grapevine that you were missing" Robin said with a shrug. He gave her a small squeeze that crushed her Ce Sith wound. "I'm glad to see that you have been found." A little blood seeped into her off white shirt. "What's this? Are you hurt?"
"What?" Jessie asked. She looked at her shoulder and covered it with her hand. "It's nothing. I'm fine. Excuse me."
Jareth and Robin watched as Jessie found herself a shadow to sit in before they started talking.
"Okay, what happened there?" Robin asked. A squire came by with drinks for them.
"She was bitten by a Ce Sith" Jareth said. "We spent yesterday getting her all fixed up."
"Ce Sith?" Robin mused while sipping his drink. "And, she's still alive. She's a tough girl to kill."
The sounds of cries for help and thumping on stable doors carried into the mill. Jessie was up on her feet and slinging her cloak around her shoulders as the others only started to stand.
"Another joke, Robin?" Jessie asked. Robin and Jareth were both pulling on cloaks, where Robin's cloak came from was unknown.
"Not one of mine" Robin replied. Jessie pulled the door open. The wind had picked up. Rain and leaves blew in through the door. A shrieking whistle came from outside. Robin paled and his eyes widened. Jessie raced outside. "NO!"
The squires were running out the door fully armed.
"What is that? What's out there?" Jareth asked.
"One of the seven whistlers" Robin replied. "I—I thought I'd be safe here."
"A Whistler!" Jareth hissed. There was a scream from outside and a call of retreat. The squires ran into the mill and locked the door. "Where's Jessie!"
"She told us to come inside" Hershey said trying not to tremble. "We're supposed to protect you inside."
"You left her alone?" Jareth asked. His voice was growing in anger and concern.
"I'll go out there" Robin said. A squire handed him a sword and Robin stopped before the heavy, now blocked, front door. "I'll be back with her, you majesty."
The squires started taking the large beam from the front door.
"Goodfellow!" Jareth said. He tossed a small bag to him. "One drop of that, Robin."
Robin nodded and headed out, the door closing with a thud behind him.
The storm outside was ferocious. The wind howled and the rain was coming down in sheets. Robin crept alongside the mill cringing every time he heard the whistling from the Whistler.
"Robin!" Jessie yelled. Robin felt himself being pulled to the ground. A large rock shattered on the stone mill behind him. He glanced over, noticing that Jessie was covered in mud. She stood up, pulling him up as well. "I don't know where it is."
"Stalking us" Robin said. "It hates to be seen."
"Why is it following you?" Jessie asked moving further along the mill.
"I saw it" Robin replied.
"How do we get rid of it?" Jessie asked. Robin pulled her back, pressing her against him, as another rock exploded against the mill.
"I don't know" Robin said. "But if we stay here, we're just moving targets."
The two didn't move for a minute. Ahead of them, more rocks were thrown against the mill. Then, the rocks stopped.
"Look at that" Jessie whispered. "I don't think it can see us if we're still."
"It's only around until the sun comes up" Robin said against Jessie's ear.
"We need to get inside" Jessie said. "How'd you get in before?"
"I went through the broken window" Robin said.
"Can you get us up there?" Jessie asked. Rocks started hitting the mill again.
"Yes" Robin said hurriedly. He slipped his arms around her waist and they were quickly up in the air, heading towards the window. Rocks followed their ascent upwards until a rock hit Robin squarely in the lower back. The two slammed into the side of the mill before falling to the ground.
Jessie lost her breath from the fall. She gasped for air and turned over.
"Robin?" Jessie called breathless. The still form of Robin lay a foot away from her. Blood covered Robin's left hand which was barely holding onto a small pouch.
The Whistler gave off a high pitched whistle, signaling that it was closer.
"Robin!" Jessie cried gripping his shoulder with a small shake. The bag rolled off of his hand, onto the muddy ground. The whistling came from behind Jessie. She froze.
A whistle sounded inches from her ear. Breath that felt too hot for any Fae brushed her cheek.
Underneath her hands, the ground suddenly felt scaly, cold, and reptilian. Jessie allowed her fingers to move, to feel the strange change under her hands. She felt the whole ground move along her entire body before realizing that something else was happening entirely.
The Whistler's breath had stopped falling along her cheek, as if the massive, indecipherable creature had stepped back. Jessie shot her hand out to grip Robin's upper arm. Behind her, a low growl and whistle sounded. From under her and ahead of her came the distinct sound of a reptilian hiss and a rattle.
She risked an upward glance and saw a creature she had only seen pictures of. The large snake that was before her and partially underneath her was raised up to an impressive fifteen feet. Its yellow eyes seemed illuminated by an inner light. Its black scales made it virtually disappear against the heavy rain.
In a move that even confused her self, Jessie pulled Robin off of the giant snake and up against the side of the mill. Jessie watched as the giant snake bobbed, following the seemingly invisible Whistler. Jessie pulled Robin's arm around her neck and wrapped her arm around his waist. His unconsciousness was very untimely.
She hurried over to the heavy mill door and started to beat on it just as a bloodcurdling half scream, half howl, came from one of the dark creatures.
"OPEN THE DOOR!" Jessie screamed. She could hear the rustle of water and mud, meaning that something was coming back to them. Jessie only beat harder on the door until she found herself falling to the ground and being pulled into the mill.
"Are you okay?" Hershey asked kneeling beside the frightened knight. Two of the squires were placing the beam of wood back across the door, when it burst into a flurry of splinters.
One of the squires, who had some knowledge of the creature, screamed "Kiai!"
Jessie picked herself up and drew out her rapier. Her fear was replaced with a rush of adrenaline. She ran towards the giant snake, the Kiai. The snake pulled itself into the mill with great speed and hissed at the rushing knight. With a flick of its scaly tail, the Kiai sent Jessie flying into the chairs near the fireplace.
A slew of indistinguishable words came from Jareth, who was slowly walking down the stairs. When he reached the floor, he had several crystal balls orbiting him. Everyone, except for the few who were unconscious, stopped to look at him.
"Reditus te Alcyoneus" Jareth growled at the snake. It hissed, as if offended. "Ego vetare tua praesente."
The large snake hissed again and started to collapse in on itself. Everyone watched as the snake slowly took the form of a naked woman. The woman had the same eyes and tongue, but the skin had smoothed from black scales to black skin.
"I know your language" The Kiai said. She moved forward until she was standing a foot from the spinning crystals. "Your magic won't work on me."
"If Alcyoneus has sent you, then you're bound by our agreement" Jareth said. The Kiai's forked tongue flicked out. The two figures glared at each other, daring each other to make the first move.
The mill was quiet, except for the sounds of the storm and the crackling of the fire place. The squires had formed a semi-circle around the Kiai and Jareth. The silence continued to grow into uneasiness.
There was a quick sound of a blade entering hard flesh and the Kiai screamed. Taking the cry and sudden movement as the 'first move', Jareth allowed his crystals to start a procession of stoning. He took a step back as the Kiai fell to the floor face first. The small throwing dagger that protruded from her back made its presence known.
Jareth removed his own long dagger and in a swift movement, decapitated the Kiai's head. He removed the throwing dagger and tossed it away from the body.
"Take this" Jareth said handing the bloody head to the nearest squire. "Outside. If you see any mistletoe, place it there." He pointed to two other squires. "You two, take this carcass and dispose of it."
The squires quickly took out the dead Kiai. Two other squires started cleaning up the mess without being asked. The other squires were checking on the few who had fallen during the attack.
Jareth watched as the two squires, Robin, and Jessie were pulled from the mess of wood and furniture.
"I want them upstairs" Jareth said. The squires moved aside as Jareth formed four new crystals, each one consuming one of the unconscious people on the floor. The crystals floated upwards towards the second floor, two squires hurried after them so first aid could be applied. Jareth turned to the squires who were cleaning up. "I want at least one person guarding this floor at all times and another on the second floor. I'll be upstairs."
Jareth checked on the two injured squires, who were simply unconscious, covered in bruises, and one had two shards of wood sticking out of his right arm. Jareth left and went to check on Robin and Jessie. He knocked on the door before entering.
"How are they doing?" Jareth asked closing the door after himself. The attending squire was cleaning the two since they were both covered in dried mud.
"They're simply unconscious, your majesty" The squire replied.
"Let's get them changed" Jareth replied. "I'll be right back." Jareth left and quickly came back with a handful of clothing. He set the clothing down beside Robin. "He can wear those for now."
"Yes, your majesty" The young squire said. The squire, the only girl in the troupe of squires, flipped her hair over her shoulder and started to undo Robin's shirt.
"Would you feel better with Sir Jessie?" Jareth asked. The girl quickly shook her head 'no'.
"She scares me, a little" The young squire replied.
"What was your name again? Wanda?" Jareth asked.
"Rhonda" The young squire answered. Jareth nodded and started undoing the buttons of Jessie's shirt. The two quickly changed and cleaned the two unconscious figures. They made two makeshift beds from blankets and covered the two.
"I'll stay here with them. Go see if the others need any help, Rhonda" Jareth said. She nodded and quickly left. Jareth retrieved his things from the room next door and set up his own bed in between Jessie's and Robin's.
He stared up at the ceiling and hoped for descent weather.