Chapter 8- Preparing for Betrayal
Author's Note: Greetings once more. I have returned, with next part. The first bit of this chapter was going to go in Chapter 7, but I didn't want to make that chapter vastly longer than the other chapters so I put it in here.
Jadanni, once more, thank you for your comments. I agree with your idea about the ending. I might go back and rewrite that part when I've finished the fic. I also agree that more angst might have been good, but I find angst and tears- particularly from Mab and Merlin- really hard to write well. Also really hard to imagine Mab in tears, not sure I want to either, it's a scary picture. BTW, that reminds me, have you been on the Merlin's Apprentice imdb page? Noticed any changes to the cast/characters list? Jumps up and down and looks deliriously excited> If you don't know what I'm talking about, my apologies. Check out the page, then check next to Miranda Richardson's name…
Tortoise Bird- Hi! Thanks for the compliments. I also agree that Mab is misunderstood. Not misunderstood as in "all I need is a cuddle and I'll be good again" misunderstood, though. That would be scary. But Merlin is a hypocrite. I hate him. Sorry, I'm ranting and babbling madly again. Just ignore it when I do that. Anyway, what is it with all these Mab/Merlin shippers suddenly appearing? As previously stated, I never really saw them as a couple, but I sort of see your point now. Write fic about it please! Sorry, this is me trying to get more Merlin fanfics on the site, shamelessly begging people to write them. I ask everyone. Sadly there are so few on here… But still, we all know that Merlin is brilliant, and that's what counts, yes? But it would be cool if someone did write a Mab/Merlin fic, because I'd have honestly no idea where to begin (Not so subtle hint to anyone who might be reading this)
Sorry, my reviewer responses have gone a bit mental and haywire this time, but my brain has gone into meltdown due to long summer holidays, and thus my moods fluctuate between hyper and comatose, and I write and speak like a sloth half the time, and like a penguin on caffeine the rest of the time.
Anyhow, my weirdness aside, here goes…
The path continued on through the forest. Despite Merlin and Mab having been walking for at least fifteen minutes, the trees were still densely packed together on every side of them, and the forest showed no signs of ending. Mab wondered if the witches had tricked them, if the path had remained never ending, but she doubted it somehow. Perhaps it was because there was a brutal frankness to the witches that didn't seem to exist anywhere else in this land of illusions and tricks that made Mab trust them, or perhaps she just couldn't bear to think that she had undergone that trial for nothing.
Mab's hand went to her chest automatically, even though the physical pain was no longer there. It had been there before, repeated jolts of absolute agony racking through her body, and it was only a lack of blood that convinced her that she wasn't being stabbed, or killed in a similar way. Although, she had been distracted from the pain during the trial by Merlin's thoughts and feelings invading her own mind and entwining themselves with her own thoughts until she didn't know what feelings were hers, and which were Merlin's, didn't know whether this was her own memory or one of Merlin's thoughts, and she had hated it. She didn't want to know what Merlin thought of her- she already had a pretty good idea- and she didn't want to be made to feel as though she had done something wrong. She had been fighting for the survival of her entire people, had nearly died trying to create a champion for them, given him magical gifts, and he'd thrown them back in her face. He'd been selfish, petty, and hypocritical, just like all humans. None of them seemed to grasp that their own lives were not the most important life in the world, that if one or two of them died in a fight to preserve an entire race, it didn't matter. Mab shouldn't have cared what she had done to Merlin, or any other human for that matter.
But who would have thought that humans could feel so much pain?
Mab glanced forward at Merlin. Neither of them had uttered a word to each other since before the trial. They had moved away from the cottage and continued down the path in total silence, a silence which was growing more tense and awkward by the minute, and though Mab knew that eventually they would have to speak to each other, she was glad that Merlin seemed to be just as keen to talk as she was, for whatever reason. She didn't want to speak to Merlin, because for the first time, she was sorry for the pain she had caused him. Regret was not part of her nature, and to suddenly feel it was a foreign sensation, and for Merlin, no less… it gave her a headache just thinking about it. But still, Merlin had hurt her just as much, even without a spell to highlight the fact, and she still resented his presence, was still his enemy, still angry at what he had done to her, and if she felt even the tiniest amount of regret for her actions then she would not give him the satisfaction of hearing it in her voice.
She glanced at Merlin, who avoided her gaze and looked away, towards the side of the path. Mab wondered who Merlin had seen in the trial. He obviously wasn't keen to talk about it, though Mab was aware she probably wouldn't be the first person he told even if he had been. Whoever it had been, it had obviously unnerved Merlin as much as her trial had unnerved her.
"Perhaps the realisation that he's not perfect was too much for him," Mab thought spitefully, then felt guilty for having thought it, and then felt angry with herself for feeling guilty. She and Merlin were still enemies, she reminded herself, even if they were cooperating with each other for the moment. If the centuries of war had taught Mab one thing, it was to never try to sympathise with your enemy. It left you vulnerable. It was bad enough that Merlin was her son, bad enough that there was that bond between them, bad enough that they had been forced to cooperate…
"Bad enough that you still love him?" inquired the irritating little voice in Mab's mind that she succeeded in quashing most of the time, but that still had a nasty habit of popping up on occasion. Mab pushed the thought away, trying to ignore it. Love, in all its shapes and forms, was for humans, and other foolish mortal creatures, not for the immortal unyielding Queen of Air and Darkness. Love gave you nothing except pain, of which her feelings for Merlin were only one of a multitude of examples that she could think of off the top of her head. Look at Merlin, Nimue, Frik, Morgan, Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere… Love was pointless, love was nasty and love, in most cases, was dangerous. Like sympathy, it left you open to weakness. If she hadn't loved Merlin and wanted so badly to bring him back to join her, she could have had him killed before he even started to cause trouble by bringing Arthur and Uther to the throne, and then she might never have faded away.
Trying to push away these thoughts, Mab concentrated on her surroundings. The forest's magic seemed to be getting weaker, which could mean that they were nearing the edge of the forest. Alternatively, it might just be growing weaker as they travelled further away from the witches' house, but at least it meant they weren't travelling in circles.
The forest was so utterly different from anything else in the Underground, and Jareth seemed to have much less influence here than he did elsewhere. Mab wondered how he had ever allowed such a place to exist in a world where he was so keen to control anything and everyone, or if he really was content to let the place exist as long as it kept challengers occupied for long enough. Then again, perhaps he kept it there to give him a change of scenery from the desert-like wasteland that made up most of the Underground. Or perhaps his hold was simply weaker here, and that was how the forest had been allowed to spring up, and the witches allowed to live relatively freely. It would certainly explain the lack of crystal balls, traps and illusions that Jareth so loved.
A sudden noise from the trees to her left interrupted Mab's musings, and she turned her head sharply towards its source. She couldn't see anything there, but she knew that didn't mean nothing was there. Merlin was still walking slightly ahead of her, and showed no sign of having heard anything. Mab briefly considered telling him there was something there, but decided it was ultimately pointless- neither of them wanted to talk, and she didn't particularly want to resume communications over something that could turn out to be a pigeon. However, as she listened, she realised that she could hear other sounds coming from the surrounding bushes and trees- the rustling of something moving through the leaves, the creaking of a branch under pressure, the shuffling of a creature walking along the ground, the flap of wings. Mab glanced around warily, looking out for some sign of whatever it was (or whatever they were) making the noises. Skeksi's comment about getting torn apart by nasty creatures kept drifting near the forefront of her thoughts. Jareth had thus far only set traps for them, but avoided doing anything that might result in the deaths of his precious prizes, but if his influence really was weaker here, then they couldn't count on him for protection.
"Stop it," she told herself firmly. "The same sounds have probably been there ever since you entered the forest, you just didn't notice them." If being privy to the thoughts and feelings of a mortal (or half-mortal) served to make you fanciful and paranoid, Mab wanted no part of it, whatsoever. In fact, she didn't want any part of it anyway, not after this, not after seeing Merlin's memories of her and only feeling hatred and revulsion for herself through his feelings. No affection, no concern, not even the kind of love that you resented feeling, the kind that you hid and pretended not to feel, even to yourself, which was what Mab had felt for Merlin most of the time. Just bitterness, anger and cold hatred.
"What did you expect?" she asked herself angrily, furious at herself for caring what Merlin felt for her, "He's your enemy. You died because of him. He walked away from you and when you tried to stop him, when you tried to tell him that you loved him, he didn't even look back. What exactly did you expect to see in that crystal?" Before she could think on the matter any further, she heard more scuffling and rustlings from the undergrowth around her, very definitely louder and more frequent than she had heard before. She stopped still, and stared around herself. This time, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, some kind of four-legged creature darting quickly across the ground. Looking around again, she saw more movements- whatever the creatures were, they were quite large, they were numerous, and they appeared to be closing in on Mab and Merlin, surrounding them, and creeping gradually closer in a predatorial manner. Which, Mab supposed, made the two of them the prey.
"Merlin!" she called out urgently. Merlin hadn't noticed Mab stop still, and had continued walking, so he was now several metres ahead of her. Turning to face her, but still avoiding looking her in the eye, he waited questioningly for her to continue. Behind him, Mab saw one of the creatures perched on a tree branch, about to spring. Her eyes widened. "Look out!" she called as it leapt from its hiding place, straight for Merlin. Before she could do anything else, another creature leapt at her from the side, digging sharp claws into her arm and knocking her over, pushing the air from her lungs. Momentarily too surprised to summon magic, she kicked out at it, and it sprung backwards. Mab pulled herself upright, clutching her injured arm, thankful that it would heal quickly, and backed away from the creature, summoning a fireball and loosing it at it. The fireball hit the creature, and rolled off it harmlessly. It snarled loudly, and got ready to pounce again. Mab got her first good look at the creature, and realised in horror why her attack hadn't worked. The creatures were griffins. They were magical creatures, but were unaffected by magic. They were vicious creatures, useful for killing people without having to lay a finger on them yourself, and would stalk their prey in large groups. Mab herself had summoned enough griffins in the past to know about them, and she knew that she had no hope of controlling these ones as she had the ones in the realms of men- only Jareth would be able to control griffins here, though he obviously wasn't.
Another griffin joined its fellow, and they both sprung at once, claws extended. Mab waited until the last moment, then dived sideways, avoiding the full force of their attack, though one of them caught her with a claw across her shoulder. They landed and turned back towards Mab, ready to attack again. Mab knew she couldn't keep dodging them, her arms were getting lacerated as it was, and she looked around desperately for something to use against them. Her eyes lighted on a large, thick, heavy looking log, and she reached out with her magic, lifting it, and sending it flying at the griffins in midair. It knocked one away, and crushed the other one against the ground. Mab looked over to where Merlin was trying to defend himself with a branch. He was managing to hold the griffins back, but it wasn't incapacitating them, and she knew it wouldn't work for long. She went to go towards him, but her path was blocked by at least five more griffins jumping out from the trees, and beginning to circle her.
---
Merlin knocked another griffin away from him as it lunged for his throat. More griffins were beginning to pour out from the undergrowth, more than Merlin had ever seen at once. He knew that it was only a matter of time before one got past his guard and dealt him a fatal wound. He already had several scratches on his legs and chest. He could see Mab ahead of him, faring equally badly against the griffins that were standing around her, and leaping at her. She was dodging most of them, and sending various branches and stones flying at the others, but Merlin could see that she was running out of missiles, and the griffins were slowly closing in on her. He knew that without weapons they were as good as defenceless against the bloodthirsty griffins, and it was only a matter of time before they were both killed.
Lashing out with the branch again, he tried to force the griffins backwards, to prevent them from backing him into a corner. He managed to make some headway, but a lot of the griffins that he knocked out of the way were circling behind him, surrounding him on all sides. Desperately pushing forwards to prevent himself from becoming completely surrounded, Merlin managed to escape the circling griffins. He helpfully knocked two of the griffins away from Mab before they could pounce, and Mab quickly moved away from the rest.
Despite the two of them having escaped from the griffins that had been circling them separately, they weren't out of danger. All the griffins now moved together, stalking towards their prey, and Mab and Merlin had nowhere to run.
"We need to get away from them," Mab hissed from beside Merlin, "There's too many to fight." Merlin glanced towards her. She looked even paler than usual, and her arms and torso were covered in gashes. She didn't look anywhere near as confident as she normally did- the Queen of Magic finally had an enemy that she didn't know how to fight.
"We'll have to fight our way through them," Merlin noted, "There's no other way out." Mab arched an eyebrow.
"Fight them with what?" she asked, "That branch isn't going to last long." Merlin knew she was right.
"We need a weapon," he muttered, "They'll tear us apart if we can't defend ourselves, and magic's no good." Mab opened her mouth to say something, then closed it abruptly, as though she had just thought of something.
"It's no good for using on the griffins," she muttered, partly to herself, "But that doesn't mean we can't use it." She stared intently at the branch in Merlin's hands, concentrating intensely, magic building up around her. Merlin felt the branch change shape, becoming long and pointed, and changing from wood to metal in his grasp. He realised then what Mab was doing. When she finished, instead of a tree branch, he was holding a long sword. Seeing this, a number of the griffins moved backwards, out of sword range. Merlin turned back to Mab, who looked weaker and more tired than she had a moment ago. Whilst she was the strongest magical being he knew of, she was out of practice, and she was injured. The spell had taken a lot of energy, and for a moment Merlin was surprised that she'd used a lot of her energy reserves on a weapon for him, however, he knew this was not the time to try and contemplate it. He held his sword up, knowing the griffins wouldn't let their prey go without a fight.
"Stay behind me," he told Mab. Mab looked indignant, and her pride and anger got the better of her.
"I don't need your protection!" she snapped. Tired and injured as he was, Merlin had no energy to try and argue with her, and he was nearing the end of his tether.
"Fine!" he snapped, "Be killed!" And with that, he walked forward, slashing and hacking through the griffins, blocking and attacking, and knocking away the creatures that leapt for him. He managed to reach the edge of the pack, and noted with surprise that only a couple of the griffins were pursuing him. As he looked back, he realised that was because the rest of them had all gone after Mab. Whether she had tried to follow him, Merlin didn't know, though he suspected Mab's stubborn nature meant that she probably hadn't, but her escape was now completely cut off, and she was surrounded. She tried to dodge the attacking griffins, but she didn't have anywhere to move to. One of them slashed out at her, and left a deep gash across her chest. She stumbled and fell, and then the griffins attacked. Merlin watched in horror. He knew he could run now, while the griffins were distracted, and he could get away, get to the Goblin Castle, but he also knew that Mab would be dead within minutes if he did.
"Another wrong to add to the list, Merlin?" his own annoying inner voice chirped in, "Will you stand back and let her die again?" Merlin didn't even have to think about it. Mab had used her energy on creating a weapon for him; he couldn't stand by while she was killed, not after seeing the pain he'd already caused her. Staring around, his eyes alighted on a large wasps' nest, and he silently thanked every being he could think of that could conceivably have contributed to the creation of wasps. Reaching out towards the wasps' nest, he gestured and sent the whole swarm of wasps flying at the griffins. Forgetting their prey for a moment, the griffins snarled and yelped as the angry wasps swarmed around them, stinging them. They shook their heads desperately, and eventually ran off into the trees trying to rid themselves of the stinging pests. Heaving a sigh of relief, Merlin turned towards Mab, who was trying to pull herself upright again. She was covered in claw marks and gashes- even her accelerated healing system couldn't cope with so many injuries at once. He reached out a hand to her.
"Can you stand?" he asked her. She nodded, and allowed Merlin to help her up- which in itself was an indication of how badly hurt she was, she would never have accepted help from him any other time- and attempted to step forward. She stumbled and winced as she collapsed against Merlin. Glancing back to ensure that the griffins weren't coming back; he lifted Mab quickly and turned to continue along the path.
"Put me down!" Mab said indignantly, "I can stand up on my own."
"But you can't walk," pointed out Merlin, "Would you rather stay here and be eaten by the griffins?"
"Why would you care if I did?" Mab snapped, sounding more bitter and angry than Merlin would have expected her to feel at his comment. He didn't answer her question. What could he have said? "Because I saw you in the crystal? Because you helped me? Because I felt guilty?" All of those would have led to a long and awkward conversation with Mab, and now was not the time for long and awkward conversations. Quickening his pace down the path, he remained silent.
Looking around, he thought he could see the trees thinning out, and the misty fog beginning to clear. He fervently hoped it wasn't his imagination, and that the forest really was coming to an end- Mab wasn't heavy, but even so, his arms were beginning to tire, his own injuries were beginning to ache, and he was almost sure he could hear the enraged howls of the griffins coming from behind him, as they realised their prey had escaped. Not to mention their time limit. Merlin didn't know how long they still had left, but he was willing to bet that it wasn't very much.
Suddenly, he heard a loud screech from behind him. He knew it was a griffin- it was still a long way behind them, but much closer than the howls had been before. Merlin speeded up, moving as fast as he could go whilst carrying Mab. The trees were definitely beginning to thin- it hadn't been his imagination after all- and, as the fog cleared, he could see a large wall looming up in front of him. Into it was set a sturdy wooden door with a large bolt across it, holding it shut. Merlin headed for it. Then, Mab cried out.
"Merlin!" Looking backwards, Merlin saw what Mab had seen. The griffins were following them, in plain sight, not all that far away. Putting on one last burst of speed, he reached the door, put Mab down, and threw back the bolt. He tugged hard at the door, which was stiff with age and disuse. It came open painfully slowly, as the griffins drew ever nearer. Merlin pulled the door as wide as he could, grabbed Mab, threw both of them through the door, and forced it shut. On the other side, he could hear the faint sounds of the griffins colliding with the other side of the door.
Looking around himself, Merlin could see that he and Mab were sitting on a staircase leading up to a courtyard, which appeared to have several different archways leading off it. The walls were made of dusty stone, and the air was hot and dry. Merlin never thought he'd be glad to be back in the Labyrinth.
---
Jareth watched with interest as an image of Merlin and Mab filled his spying crystal. Whilst they had been in the forest, Jareth had been unable to focus the image properly, due to the forest's strange enchantments, and thus he had been amusing himself by watching Frik's blundering travels through the Labyrinth- including a highly entertaining run in with the Fireys that Jareth had stored for future viewing. Now that Mab and Merlin had returned to the "normal" Labyrinth however, he fully intended to keep a close eye on them. They were the two he wanted, not Frik. They didn't have long to complete the Labyrinth- three hours now- but it was long enough for Jareth to not be able to let his guard down.
Peering closely at the crystal, Jareth saw that both Merlin and Mab were injured. He knew that strange things happened in the forest- several challengers had disappeared in there- but he had expressed a specific interest in keeping these two alive to the three hags that lived in the forest, and had expected them to slow Mab and Merlin down, but not harm them- that would spoil his fun. Still, he reasoned, they weren't fatally wounded. They would heal quickly enough, and it meant more delays for them if they weren't at full health.
"Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick," he muttered, "You're running out of time…"
---
Mab sat up slowly. She was still in pain, though it had lessened somewhat, thanks to her magic having begun to heal the numerous injuries. Merlin looked over at her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, with something in his voice that might even have been classed as worry.
"Concerned, Merlin? For me? I'm flattered," Mab teased, half jokingly, half nastily. Merlin gave a small smile.
"Perish the thought, Mab." Mab started at this. Was it just her, or had Merlin said something that might even be classed as a joke. Now she knew something was wrong. Merlin would never in a million years have even considered saying anything to Mab in good humour. He had always hated her too much for that. Now it was as though he'd suddenly realised that Mab wasn't the route of all evil. How had that suddenly happened? It was even more surprising than Mab feeling guilty for the wrong she had done Merlin…
Then she realised why he was acting so strangely, and why he hadn't spoken to her or looked at her earlier. Why he had stayed to help her instead of escaping from the griffins when he had the chance. Why he wasn't looking at her with loathing and distrust. For the same reasons as her.
"It was me, wasn't it?" she said, stating it rather than asking. Merlin looked confused for a moment.
"What was?"
"In the crystal. You saw me, didn't you?" Merlin stared at her for a moment, then looked away, staring down at his legs, under the pretence of checking them for injuries.
"What makes you think that?" he asked. He didn't deny it.
"Well, for one thing, you're not denying it and telling me that you've never wronged me in your life and that I've deserved everything that's happened to me, which suggests I'm right. And if I was wrong, then why didn't you leave me to get killed by those griffins?"
"I wouldn't have left you to die anyway," Merlin protested.
"You already have once, why not do it again?" Mab challenged. Merlin nodded his head in acknowledgement of a point scored, and got up, walking a few paces away and turning his back on Mab.
"I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty," Mab informed him, though inside, she was glad that Merlin felt guilt for what he'd done, glad that he finally saw that she'd suffered, too. Glad that he was showing some kind of emotion that meant that he cared about her, however begrudgingly. "I'm sorry if that's how you took it." Merlin turned around, amazed anger lining his face.
"Sorry? When have you ever been sorry for anything you've ever done to me?" he snapped, "You don't care how I feel." Mab looked him in the eye.
"Oh, I do, and it's done me no favours, believe me." There, she'd said it. Let him make of that what he would. Merlin stared at her for several moments without speaking, as though waiting for her to continue.
"What do you mean?" he asked eventually. Mab sighed and rolled her eyes again. Did he really need her to spell it out for him?
"I created you. I pinned all my hopes on you- you were my greatest hope for the future, for the Old Ways, for Britain. You were a great disappointment, you know, when you didn't accept your heritage, your magical powers. When you first vowed never to help me. I could have had you killed, just like that," she snapped her fingers to emphasise the point, "I could have eliminated you as a threat. Has it occurred to you that if I'd done that, I might never have faded away? No, I don't suppose it has. I didn't eliminate you, because I wanted you to come back to me so badly that I fooled myself into thinking that it was a possibility. And then, when I came to my senses and realised that you would never serve me, I still couldn't kill you. I let you go…"
"You trapped Nimue in a cave. How was that letting me go?" Merlin raged.
"I gave you happiness!" Mab snapped back, "I gave you and your beloved Nimue a place where you could live happily together, didn't I?"
"At the expense of the mortal realm!" snapped Merlin.
"Oh, you never change, do you?" Mab snapped in exasperation, "You will never admit that anything I ever did was right. Even when it's been shown to you in front of your own eyes that what you did to me hurt! Even when you've seen for yourself that it wasn't me and the Old Ways poisoning Britain in the first place, it was the fallibility and the weakness of mortal men- Constant, Vortigern, Uther, but no, of course, I forgot, Merlin will never admit that he's wrong, he will never stop seeing himself as the victim, and never stop seeing me as the villain." Mab paused for breath at this point, glaring ferociously at Merlin.
"Oh, I do take after you in some ways then?" he retaliated. Mab glared at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.
"When have you ever admitted that anything you ever did was wrong? It doesn't matter how evil and twisted you grow; you'll never see that what you're doing is wrong!"
"Who do you think I saw in my trial, Merlin?" Mab replied, not bothering to shout anymore. Merlin stared at her for a moment, and then comprehension dawned.
"Oh," he said. Then "Oh" again, as he couldn't think of anything else to say.
"You saw me, I saw you. What an unpleasant coincidence," Mab sighed. "And yet, we're still going over the same tired old argument." Merlin nodded slowly.
"I thought one of the witches- Gelfling, was it? - said that the trial was supposed to make you a better and wiser person," he said ruefully.
"Why would it? All that you'll ever feel after that trial is guilt and pity. If you feel that for an enemy, you feel angry with yourself and everyone else that you're made to feel responsible for your actions. If it's someone you love, then you'll be eaten up by your guilt. Where's the benefit in that?"
"Perhaps there is some benefit, after you get past the feelings of guilt?" Merlin suggested. "Perhaps it does allow you to have a clearer view on things, have a better life, not feel so bitter?"
"Perhaps," Mab shrugged, "I wouldn't know. I'm no expert on human feelings."
"I doubt that they're all that different from yours," Merlin replied tentatively. Mab realised that he was speaking from his experience in the trial, and was embarrassed for a moment that he'd seen her inner thoughts and feelings, but then shrugged it off, realising that in his comment, Merlin had acknowledged that she wasn't an evil force out to destroy the world, but someone who had thoughts and feelings and emotions. Who wasn't as different from him as perhaps he might have liked to believe.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted," she replied, with a small smile.
"Whichever you prefer," Merlin replied, "Do you think you can walk yet?" Mab nodded. Her robes were still bloodstained and torn- she fixed that with a thought- but most of her injuries were now healed.
"We should go," she stated. "We haven't come this far to give up now."
"My thoughts exactly," Merlin replied, getting to his feet. Mab stood upright, and the two of them began to climb the staircase, aware that some sort of truce had just been established, though neither of them had any idea how it had been reached.
---
Jareth frowned as he watched the two of them in the crystal. He noted that they were walking slightly closer together, and that the animosity that had previously been evident between them was, if not completely gone, then certainly lessened.
Mab and Merlin suddenly making friends again had most definitely not been part of his plan. They might even stop being stubborn and take each others advice. They might cooperate and reach the castle in time, thus humiliating Jareth once again, and robbing him of yet another prize that he hoped to attain. No, that couldn't be allowed to happen. That certainly couldn't be allowed to happen.
Jareth's gaze flicked back to another crystal showing Frik's continued laborious progress, noting that the gnome still had the bottle Jareth had given him tucked away in his pocket. It was time to arrange a little meeting.
Jareth brought out another crystal ball, and threw it into the air between the other two.
---
Mab felt the whirl of Jareth's magic in the air a split second before the stairs beneath her and Merlin gave way, and they fell through into a steep sloping tunnel. As they tumbled down the slope, Mab gritted her teeth.
"I hate this realm!"
---
Frik screamed- again- as he fell through a large hole that had suddenly appeared in the ground. Wasn't it just his luck to have avoided falling through the trap with Merlin and Mab, only to end up falling through this one. Life was unfair.
When he reached the end of the tunnel, he saw that he was perched on a narrow ledge above a huge expanse of swampland. Gripping the edge of the tunnel to prevent himself from falling off the ledge, he pulled himself upright, and looked around some more. Unfortunately, it was the smell that hit him first. The scent reminded him somewhat of decomposing bodies and sulphur fumes, only about one hundred times worse. The whole place reeked of it. It was enough to make Frik feel sick.
"Brilliant," he grumbled inwardly, "The Bog of Eternal Stench. The vilest place anywhere in all the known realms, and I had to end up here. And to think I used to be a gnome of good standing…" His inner lament was interrupted at that point by the distant sound of screams as someone else fell through the tunnel. Before Frik could move out of the way, two figures crashed into him from behind, sending him stumbling forward until he teetered on the brink of the ledge. Waving his arms wildly around in a vague attempt to save himself, all that Frik could think was, "Please, don't let me drown in the Bog of Eternal Stench. I wanted to live a long happy life, get very rich, and pass away in my sleep…" What came out was more along the lines of "Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Thankfully, one of the people behind him grabbed the back of his coat and pulled him backwards. Tripping over, Frik landed on top of the two behind him.
"Oww!" hissed a familiar voice from beneath him. Frik turned and finally saw who his two companions were.
"Hello, Frik," smiled Merlin. Frik smiled back at him.
"Master Merlin," he greeted with a sigh of relief, "I wondered whether you were alright." This wasn't exactly the truth- Jareth had told him they were both alright, but somehow he thought telling them that would have led to many awkward questions. Flicking his gaze towards Mab, who pushed him off her and glared at him by way of a greeting, he was suddenly reminded sharply of the bottle of liquid in his pocket, and what he had agreed to do, by Jareth's voice suddenly ringing in his ear.
"Remember, Frith, all she needs to do is drink some…"
"What's wrong with you?" Mab snapped. Frik realised he must have been staring at her without meaning to.
"Nothing, nothing…" Frik said hurriedly and nervously, looking away and getting to his feet, terrified that Mab would see something in his face and put two and two together in her own unique way to get "Frik is a traitor".
"Should we go?" he continued. The other two nodded and stood. Merlin began to move off along the ledge first, Frik following close behind him, and trying desperately to look neither him nor Mab in the eye.
Author's Note: And here endeth Chapter 8. The frequency of the updates between chapters are probably about to decrease, as college term starts on Monday, and the requirements of this fic will have to wrestle with the requirements of homework and the college day, and that means that no matter how high a priority fic writing is (My priorities are strange things), time will be pushed. But fear not, more instalments will come.