Chapter Eleven: See the Little Goblins

Oh, come on, I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by to call a chapter "See the Little Goblins", could I?

Grrrr, I knew saying that the chapter would be up soon would jinx it. My computer died for just over a week, putting a slight halt to the process- my apologies for the delay.

In other exciting news, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is now out! Miranda Richardson is, naturally, fantastic, and the bouncing ferret scene was classic! (Sorry to people who haven't seen the film or read the book, you won't know what I'm talking about, but believe me when I say, it's funny!). Also, is everyone getting excited about Merlin's Apprentice yet? I must know release dates! I am ridiculously, insanely excited about it. But then, I am ridiculous and insane anyway!

Now for the reviewer responses…

Queen-Chick: Thanks- I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I'm glad people understood what I meant about Mab's fears about losing, etc. To be under Jareth's control would be an unpleasant fate indeed…

HawthorneThistledown: I'm glad you liked the chapter. I have every intention of seeing this story through to the end, don't worry (or worry, depending on your outlook)- which, as you've probably guessed if you've watched Labyrinth, isn't too far off.

Jadanni: Thanks once more! Ah, I'm glad people liked the whole fear-of-Jareth's-control-rather-than-Jareth. I thought it was fairly unlikely that Mab would fear Jareth himself, but that the idea of being under someone else's control- especially someone like Jareth- would be more scary to her.

Incapability- Thanks for reviewing- I love Mab too (though you already know that since we have emailed each other since I posted the last part!) I also love your Merlin fics! Merlin fics give me warm, happy feelings on the inside. Especially ones as good as yours.

Now, onto Chapter 11, complete with goblins!

The tension between the three was almost palpable as they approached the gates to the Goblin City. Part of it was to do with the sudden proximity to the culmination of their challenge- however it turned out- but mostly it was because of Frik's unusual and all too true outburst earlier.

Frik shuffled guiltily along behind Merlin and Mab- having finally realised that, after what he had done, discretion was almost certainly the better part of valour. He didn't dare speak to either of them, partly because, after Mab's sudden violent outburst earlier, he feared for his life, and partly because, if they didn't kill him or shout at him, he knew the feeling of guilt would be almost unbearable.

He glanced between Merlin and Mab, both of whom were doing an excellent job of not looking at each other, regarding them curiously. He could see that his earlier angry outburst- fuelled by anger, resentment, guilt, and perhaps a touch too much illusionary wine- had affected them both. Even Mab seemed strangely subdued, which, as Frik knew, was an exceedingly unusual, almost noteworthy occurrence. He thought back over what he had said earlier- that they could never be friends, that as soon as they were back in the Realms of Men (that is, of course, providing they managed to get back to the Realms of Men, which was by no means a certainty), they would be at war again, because what they each represented was too incompatible to exist alongside the other. It was true, all of it, and it was surprising to Frik that neither Mab nor Merlin had realised it before- though not half as surprising as there being a reason for them to realise it.

His anger towards Merlin for forgiving Mab had deflated somewhat- the boy had the right to forgive her if that was what he chose, and he shouldn't have to carry the vengeance for all the people Mab had wronged down through the years on his shoulders, Frik admitted that now, albeit reluctantly- and it had been replaced by curiosity at what must have happened for the wizard to even contemplate something like friendship with his old adversary.

Frik generally didn't consider himself an expert on humans and their emotions (though it was possibly one of the few areas in which his knowledge outclassed Mab's- not that that was saying very much), but Merlin, he had thought he had, at least partially, figured out. The young wizard (Frik still thought of Merlin as young, despite the fact that he would soon be pushing the boundaries of middle age) had always been inextricably linked to the Old Ways, from the moment of his magical conception, which Mab had counted on to ensure his loyalty to her, believing that her blood in his veins would make him obey her unquestioningly, but she had set far too much store by the magical half of his heritage- he had still been part human, and had been brought up in the human world- when he had come to the Land of Magic for the first time, his humanity was all that he had known, and the human values and morals that Ambrosia had brought him up with were so deeply ingrained within him, that he couldn't accept the darker, and often crueller world of magic. Despite the fact that Mab had created him, that he was half hers, he didn't understand how she could set so little store by people, and so much on ideology- how she saw restoring the Old Ways as more important than the many lives that would be lost in the process. Frik had always thought that after seeing Mab for what she was, Merlin had turned his back on that part of his heritage, using his magic sparingly, and rebelling against Mab's every expectation of him.

But whatever his feelings towards the Old Ways, Merlin had been part of them, and they had been part of him- nothing would change that. Frik wondered if, perhaps, now that Merlin had lost everyone else that had ever loved him, now that his human side was almost empty, he was finally beginning to regret the loss of the rest of himself. Perhaps he was trying to reconcile himself with his magical half to give him some peace of mind.

All of that, Frik could comprehend- perhaps even understand. What he also knew, however, was how stubborn Merlin was – a trait that he appeared to have gained from Mab- and Frik couldn't imagine Merlin giving up his grudge against Mab without something drastic happening to make him do so.

Even more puzzling, however, was Mab's sudden change of heart. Flicking his glance towards his former employer, Frik remembered Mab's ruthlessness towards her enemies- it didn't matter who they were, whether or not Mab had known them, or even if she had been close to them, if they turned against the Old Ways, then Mab would turn on them, dealing with former friends and lovers as mercilessly as she had dealt with strangers and old enemies. The Old Ways and, by extension, her subjects, were her first loyalty. In that, Frik admitted, she had been a good Queen of the Old Ways. She may have created Merlin, but once he had turned against her, and it became obvious that he wasn't coming back, Frik had written Merlin off as someone who was bound to become a victim to Mab's fury sooner or later. He had defeated her, thus escaping her wrath, but Frik would have thought that that alone would be enough to bring all the fury and anger of the defeated Queen of the Old Ways down on him should their paths ever cross again. From what Frik had seen of her temper, she certainly hadn't suddenly become averse to aggression- defeat may have hurt Mab, Frik didn't know, but whatever else it had done, it hadn't made her soft- and yet, here she was, not only agreeing to a truce with Merlin, but seemingly having formed some kind of friendship with him- which was more of a bond than Mab had had with anyone for hundreds of years.

Frik remembered the hours they had spent alone after falling into the Oubliette, and how both of them had been reluctant to talk about what had happened. He suspected that something had happened to them during those hours, and Frik was exceedingly curious as to what it was. Not that he planned to ask them- not whilst Mab was still likely to kill him as soon as look at him, and not whilst even Merlin looked angry every time he caught Frik's eye. No, unless either of them volunteered the information (which, let's face it, wasn't likely), Frik would just have to ponder and guess what had happened between the Oubliette and the Bog of Eternal Stench to bring about this sudden change of heart in two people he thought he had known.

---

As they neared the city gates, the air began to subtly change, as it had before in the witches' forest- except now, instead of the magic of the Labyrinth growing weaker, it was growing stronger and stronger, increasing in its power at a fearsome rate. This was the centre of the Labyrinth, Jareth's home, where his followers were the loyalist, his weapons, the fiercest, and his magic the strongest. Everything bad about the magic of the Underground radiated out from this point, as though it were the epicentre of some kind of earthquake. Each of the three companions could feel it, but no-one felt it more strongly than Mab.

As she drew nearer to the home of her old enemy, and the end of her challenge, one way or another, the former Queen of Air and Darkness felt a deep sense of foreboding growing within her. Up until that point, any worries she might have had were exclusively to do with what would happen if she lost the challenge, what Jareth might do to her then. Apart from the brief combat with the griffins, which had been an unrivalled disaster, Mab had remained convinced that the significant amount of power at her command was enough to protect her from any enemies she encountered in this challenge. Now, however, everything could be about to change. This was nearing the final stages of the challenge- whatever happened now could decide their fates, and if she knew that, then so would Jareth. This was his city. This was where he would keep most of his weapons and warriors- his main arsenal. He may have stopped shy of harming them before, but Mab knew that that courteousy would not be extended any more. If Jareth tried to hold back here, then he might have his prizes unharmed and unspoilt, but he also ran the risk of not winning them at all- Mab knew that if preventing them from getting away meant them being harmed, even fatally, then Jareth might be slightly irritated, but he wouldn't care that much, as long as his pride remained intact.

She knew that, out of herself, Merlin and Frik, her powers were the most formidable, and she was confident that she could defend herself from most enemies that Jareth put in her way, but as for Jareth himself… Although Mab knew that Jareth was still not as powerful as she had once been, she also knew that her own power had weakened- not to mention the fact that she was out of practice with using magic after her long stint in the void, a disadvantage that Jareth did not have. As well as this, here in the Underground her own magic was less potent, and Jareth held ultimate sway over this entire world. Much as it hurt her pride to admit it, if she and Jareth were forced into a battle of magic here, Mab knew she almost certainly couldn't win. All this knowledge, combined with the rapidly increasing and hostile power she could feel emanating from Jareth's castle, was enough to raise dread in even her mind.

Even so, she steeled herself for whatever they might end up facing. Mordred was in there, she reminded herself, and if she could reach him in time, she could have him back. That had been the deal, the one factor that had forced her into agreeing to take on Jareth's Labyrinth when nothing else could, the one thing that she'd risked absolutely everything for. She told herself that if she could just keep going, just reach him, then everything would be alright. She needed to get Mordred back, before she lost her senses completely.

Frik was right, Mab knew that. She and Merlin could never be friends, could never be anything but enemies. Yes, Merlin might be kind to her now, say the right things, try and see things from her point of view, admit he might have been wrong, saved her life… She shook her head in irritation to stop the annoying voice in her mind from rattling off a list of Merlin's good points and get back to her original train of thought. Yes, Merlin may have his good points, he may have changed slightly on the surface, but fundamentally there was no more difference between them than there had ever been. Merlin still saw Arthur and the other Christian lords of Britain as his first priority, even though he knew that Mab could not exist in the same world as they did. Whatever his own personal feelings for her, he was still, for all intents and purposes, turning his back on her and betraying her yet again. If they found Arthur and Mordred, and if Arthur managed to kill Mordred, Merlin wouldn't care that Mordred was dead, wouldn't care what his death would do to Mab, wouldn't care what happened to her afterwards, he would just be happy that Arthur had won. Mab had been an idiot to believe that she could ever trust him. Mordred was the only person she could trust, the only person who would truly be loyal to her. Once she had him back, she wouldn't need anybody else, especially not Merlin.

It was while she was thinking this that they arrived at the large iron gates. They paused beside them without speaking and glanced at each other, not saying anything. Eventually Merlin broke the silence.

"Should we just walk in?" he asked.

"You'd rather scale the walls?" Mab asked snappily. Merlin looked surprised at her tone, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he pushed the gate open, and the three of them stepped forward, steeling themselves for an attack.

None came. The gate, rather than leading directly into the city, instead led to a small courtyard, which then led onto the city via another, even taller gate, with what looked like a strange metal warrior engraved into the iron. As they stepped forward, the gates they had just entered through slammed shut behind them. Mab stared at them, the sense of foreboding growing stronger. Frik let out a whimper from behind her.

"It's only a gate shutting, Frik." Merlin said in exasperation. "Half the doors and entrances we've gone through have shut behind us. Pull yourself together, please!" Frik shook his head, and let out another stifled squeak as he pointed towards the other gates, from which an ominous creaking sound was coming. Merlin and Mab both turned to face it, just in time to see the large metal creature step out of the gate, and start towards them. It was huge, at least three times Merlin's height, and, despite being large and hulking, covered quite a lot of ground fairly quickly. Somehow, Mab didn't think it was coming over to make friends.

Mab sent two fireballs hurtling at the creature in quick succession. They exploded harmlessly about three inches away from the creature, who didn't seem to even register that it had been attacked.

"It's resistant to magic. Like the griffins," Merlin remarked on seeing this. He looked more than a little worried- presumably, he was remembering the fun he and Mab had had trying to get rid of the griffins. Mab shook her head in disagreement.

"No," she told him, "That creature isn't naturally resistant to magic. Someone's placed a shield around it." She stared at the creature, thinking for a moment, "Try and distract it for a minute." Merlin nodded- normally, Mab would have been surprised, and perhaps more than a little pleased, if Merlin had followed instructions she had given without question, but now was not the time, and besides, Mab was in no mood to think well of either Merlin or Frik at that moment. Not that Frik gave her any reason to.

"Distract it?" Frik moaned piteously, "How exactly am I supposed to distract that? It'll squash me flat within two seconds!"

"Believe me, that will be an infinitely preferable death to the one I'll inflict on you if you don't do as I say now!" Mab snarled. Frik sighed in resignation and unwillingly followed Merlin towards the large metal creature. Mab turned her attention back to the creature itself, closing her eyes, and using her magical senses instead. If she was right, and the creature was surrounded by a shield, then there had to be a weak point in it- a join, where the shield was at its weakest. If she could find that, then she could destroy the creature with magic, but she had to concentrate hard. The join would be small, and difficult to sense. If that creature attacked her it would break her concentration- and probably her neck as well- which was why she needed Merlin and Frik to keep it away from her.

Concentrating, she began to carefully scan for any weaknesses she could find. She could sense occasional bursts of magic coming from Merlin's direction- evidently, he was trying to lure the creature with magic. Mab couldn't sense what exactly Frik was doing, but by the sounds of it, it was along the usual lines of screaming and running away.

Suddenly, the creature swiped out with its massive arm, knocking Merlin several feet backwards. He came to rest several feet away, and didn't get up again. Mab forced herself to resist the urge to open her eyes and look. If she didn't keep working at finding a chink in the creature's armour, they would all be dead. Besides, she told herself, she didn't care what happened to Merlin anymore.

The creature, having dealt with Merlin, began to head towards Mab. She should have known that she couldn't rely on Frik to provide any kind of support that might end in his injury. She kept her eyes shut, still scanning to try and find the join. She had to be close now, if she could just find it…

The creature was standing right in front of her. Frantically she continued to try and find it, knowing that if she didn't locate it in about five seconds then the creature would crush her.

The creature raised its arm above its head, ready to dispatch her. Several metres away, she sensed Merlin sit up again.

"Look out!" he cried when he saw what was happening.

Mab forced herself to keep searching "Jareth will not defeat me…", and, just as the monster swung its arm back towards her, she finally sensed it, a tiny area where the shield was at its weakest, and sent absolutely every last fibre of magical energy she could muster flying at it.

It worked. The blast penetrated the shield and hit the creature, which shuddered for a moment, then exploded in a mighty blast of magic and shrapnel, which flew out in all directions.

---

Merlin was the only one of the three who succeeded in casting an effective shield spell. Frik, of course, couldn't use magic, and was sent skidding backwards across the ground to land in a rather undignified heap against the opposite wall. Mab had been standing too close to the creature to have had time to cast one, and even if she could have done, she didn't have enough energy left to maintain one, and the sheer force of the magic blast would have disintegrated it. Merlin saw her crash painfully into the wall behind her, but the light from the explosion grew too bright, momentarily blocking his vision, and he lost sight of her.

When the smoke had cleared, he scrambled upright and glanced around.

"Ouch…" Frik moaned piteously, pulling himself upright. Merlin gave him only the merest glance, if Frik was well enough to complain, then he would most probably live. Merlin crossed to where Mab was lying on the floor. The blast had been powerful, powerful enough to kill any human, and whilst Mab was far more than human, her powers had been drained too much to protect herself…

Merlin was startled by the sheer force of his worry, and tried to block out the idea that his worry for Mab was anything more than generic concern for someone he'd just seen injured. Like Mab, he had seen some truth in Frik's words, and was also trying to force any feelings he might have towards her other than animosity or a truce of necessity out of his mind.

Kneeling down next to her, he shook her arm gently, and felt her stir. Breathing a small sigh of relief, he shook her arm again, harder, until she opened her eyes and sat up, clutching her head.

"Are you alright?" Merlin asked worriedly. Mab glanced towards him and blinked a couple of times, went to speak, and started laughing. Merlin stared blankly at her for a few seconds. He saw nothing funny about this situation whatsoever. Besides, when was the last time he'd seen Mab laugh about anything at all?

"Mab?" he tried again, wondering if it was just momentary shock, and if she would snap out of it if he tried talking to her again. She didn't. Frik walked gingerly over to the two of them and stared at Mab, who was still sitting on the ground laughing helplessly.

"Ah." He said tentatively after a moment, "This could prove problematic."

"What?" groaned Merlin. How could this challenge possibly get more problematic than it already was?

"Mab appears to have been temporarily incapacitated. This can happen sometimes, if someone uses up most of their powers just before coming into contact with a powerful magic blast. It can produce a certain amount of…giddiness, I suppose is the word, in the individual. It's only temporary," he added hopefully, seeing the look on Merlin's face.

"How temporary, approximately?" asked Merlin, not entirely sure that he wanted to know.

"Oh, several minutes, I should think. About twenty?" Frik guessed. Merlin stared at him for several moments before speaking.

"Please tell me that you're joking?" Frik shook his head without speaking. "Frik, we have less than an hour to get through this city, infested with goblins, get to the castle and find Mordred and Arthur before we end up trapped here for an eternity. The strongest magical fighter we have on our side is now a complete giggling wreck. We don't exactly have twenty minutes to spare." Frik shrugged helplessly, as if to say "What do you expect me to do about it?". Merlin sighed.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

"Perhaps we should go on ahead and try and get to the castle?" Frik suggested. Merlin shook his head.

"We can't leave her here, not in this state," he replied, gesturing towards Mab, who seemed to be simply ignoring them at the moment, just sitting there giggling to herself, "Besides, how far will we get without her?"

"Well then," replied Frik helplessly, "I suppose we'll just have to bring her with us and hope she snaps out of it sooner rather than later." Merlin nodded unenthusiastically. Impractical though the solution might be, there was no way on Earth- and certainly not in the Underground- that they could afford to waste nearly half of their remaining time sitting here and doing nothing. Pulling Mab to her feet, he guided her towards the gates and into the Goblin City.

For a moment, he was struck by how small everything was. Even the tallest houses rose barely two feet above his head. The machinery and other items that he could see were tiny, made to be a suitable size for creatures half the size of a human. But after this he was struck by something slightly more suspicious. The streets were completely deserted. There were no sounds coming from the houses, or even from far off to indicate a gathering somewhere else.

"They're waiting for us," Merlin realised in dismay. The goblins were either waiting to ambush them, or watching them to report on their movements to Jareth. When the goblins found them, Merlin knew that they wouldn't be able to make their way to the castle without a fight. Not that it would be exactly hard for them to find, with Mab giggling at a fairly considerable volume, and Frik crying out every time he saw anything at all that looked suspicious or frightening (this, according to Frik, was practically everything).

"Mab, please hush!" he whispered in desperation. With Mab incapacitated as she was, and their time running dangerously low, they really didn't need a run in with the goblins slowing them down as well. It didn't stop Mab from giggling, but she did manage to mute it slightly. As they continued walking through the streets, a sudden noise from in front of them caused Merlin to stop short. Several feet ahead of them a goblin, dressed in what appeared to be a guards uniform, walked out from a small alley between two buildings, crossing their path to reach another alley on the other side of the road. Merlin stopped perfectly still and silently, hoping it wouldn't look round and notice them if it didn't hear anything. Behind him, Frik did the same.

Mab, however, in her slightly giddy state, didn't notice the sudden silence that had descended upon her two companions, and pointed at the goblin ahead of them.

"Look! A goblin!" she pointed out, still laughing. The goblin jumped and turned quickly towards the source of the noise. Cursing under his breath, Merlin grabbed Mab and Frik and pulled them through several narrower alleyways quickly, eventually tugging them into a small space behind a building, and placing his hand over Mab's mouth to prevent her from making any more noise. He peered out into the alley, unsure if the goblin guard had been following them or not. Mab cried out plaintively from under his hand.

"Mab, will you please be quiet!" he hissed at her, as a horrible certainty suddenly flooded him for no apparent reason, "Jareth knows we're here."

---

Jareth stared into the crystal furiously. How could they have reached the city? Despite every trap, every trick, every illusion, every temptation he had placed in their way, somehow they were here.

The Goblin King was furious. He would not allow himself to be made a fool of in front of his subjects again, particularly not by Mab and her irritatingly persistent creation. He would see them both kneel before him, willingly or not, but he would not see them walk free. He would not let another escape. And if he really couldn't have them- if they really were so much more determined and resourceful than he gave them credit for, he would simply have to crush them before they had a chance to win.

However, Jareth didn't want to have gone to all this trouble simply to have to destroy the prizes to his contest before he had even had a chance to enjoy them. Mordred and Arthur, important as they were by the mortal worlds' reckoning, were nothing to him. He wanted Mab, and Merlin- both of them were powerful enough to claim as trophies, to all those who criticised him, and told him he had lost his touch. Not to mention that he and Mab went back a long, long way. He'd desired her for a long time, once. Not love, of course, the only woman he'd ever felt love for was Sarah (for all the good it had done him)- his attraction to Mab had been purely based on the physical, and the fact that, whatever her faults, Mab was an intriguing and interesting woman. However, Mab had spurned his advances, mocked him, and treated him with disdain. She didn't care for Jareth, and she made that perfectly obvious. She'd also been among those who mocked him for losing his touch with the Labyrinth- not that she had very high opinions of his kingdom in the first place, she'd told him numerous times that it was pointless, cruel, and ultimately self-indulgent (Very much, she'd said, like Jareth himself). It was obvious that she considered him to be beneath her, that he was less powerful, less important, call it what you would. It had made Jareth angry at the time, and bruised his pride considerably, though nothing like what Sarah had done to him, but at the time, he'd never thought of seeking revenge for her treatment of him. Mab was too powerful, and he wouldn't have been the first to be spurned by her. Such was life, accept it, move on, or keep trying. When Sarah had foiled and humiliated him, however, his anger at everyone who'd ever crossed him had grown slowly, as had his desire for revenge, and his self indulgency. After all, if he wanted something, or someone, why shouldn't he have them? Indulge himself, knock back the criticisms that he had lost his touch, and gain more power and influence for his own kingdom, not to mention assuaging his own wounded pride. Mab had been so proud, so haughty, so high-and-mighty… well, she still was. Look at her now, no kingdom, no subjects, no real existence to speak of, and her once formidable powers torn away at, and she still thought she was better than he was? She deserved someone to tear away some of that pride and arrogance, and give her a taste of her own medicine- and more. She'd humiliated and hurt him once, but that would be nothing compared to what he would do to her in return. Jareth wasn't even sure that he was particularly attracted to Mab anymore- granted, she was still beautiful and intriguing, but after Sarah, somehow he just couldn't seem to work up any warmth in his heart towards anyone. When he finally won this challenge, and Mab along with it, he had no interest in trying to win her affections, merely to own her. If he managed to have some fun with her, which he fully intended to, that was merely an added bonus.

Capturing Merlin was, he admitted, self indulgence on his part. The wizard had never crossed him- had never even heard of him before today. Jareth had no reason to take revenge on him particularly- though Merlin was too self righteous for Jareth's taste, Jareth couldn't stand self righteous people- and, added to that, he wasn't really sure he had any real need for a wizard here in the Underground. Merlin –and Frik too, no doubt- would probably end up as servants of no particular use. But then, he reminded himself, he had no need for a bride, either, but that wasn't to say he couldn't have one. It was fun to toy with mortal minds, and immortal ones, too. Merlin could prove amusing if nothing else. He might even find that he had need of a wizard one day.

"Not to mention Merlin's charming new friendship with Mab," Jareth thought to himself. It would be interesting to see how that developed. Jareth had found over the years that his skills as a manipulator were such that he could turn almost anything to his advantage. If Merlin and Mab really had decided to form some sort of bond, then he could use that against both of them.

But all this was just speculating. Before any of this could occur, he had to make sure that he won. A mere technicality, perhaps, but still, he didn't want to run the risk of losing when victory was in his sights. He would make sure that Mordred and Arthur were almost impossible to find, when and if Merlin, Mab and Frik reached the castle. Which was still not a certainty.

---

Merlin wasn't sure how long they stayed crouched in the alley. It couldn't have been that long- Mab still hadn't snapped out of her strange state, and was laughing to herself beneath Merlin's hand. It was beginning to grate on his nerves. He made a mental note to himself, swearing that if they finished this challenge in time, he was never going to let Mab forget this. On the other hand, if they didn't finish the challenge, Merlin was fairly sure they'd have even worse things to look forward to. He knew they had to get out of there as quickly as possible, before they ran out of time, but he didn't want to run the risk of bumping into any more goblin guards. Eventually, the matter was decided for them, when one of Jareth's crystals rolled around the corner to rest at their feet. Merlin saw it and cursed again.

"Run!" he told Frik, dragging Mab along as he ran in the opposite direction to the crystal. When they reached the main streets, however, Merlin saw that the crystal had done its work. Dozens of goblins lined the streets, stretching in every direction that he could see. All of them were armed, and he really didn't fancy trying to fight them all.

Ducking into a nearby house, he slammed the door behind him, hoping to hold the goblins off for a short while. Despite it being one of the larger houses, he banged his head against the ceiling at least twice during the course of getting in. Mab sat down on a nearby table still laughing, whilst Frik started quietly- or not so quietly- panicking.

"We're going to die!" Frik moaned in terror. Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Frik, we are not going to die! Why would Jareth kill us now when all he has to do is wait for us to get trapped in here for the rest of our time, and you to worry yourself into an early grave?" But still, Frik continued.

"Now we're relying on the brainless goblins with the big spears to show some self restraint? We'll be dead in two seconds! Jareth won't let us escape!" Frik was close to tears of terror by this point. He really was being pushed to the brink of his sanity by this whole series of events. When Mab let out another laugh at this pronouncement, Frik- pushed to the point of insanity as he was- turned to her and screamed hysterically, "Will you snap out of it?" The word "snap" was punctuated by a loud slap across her face.

"Frik!" Merlin snapped angrily, "Don't ever do that ag…." He wasn't given a chance to finish the sentence, as Mab turned back towards Frik, eyes blazing, and sent him flying backwards at extreme speed. Thankfully for Frik, the wall was not all that far behind him, otherwise the culmination of high speed and collision would probably have caused him to break his spine in many different places. Having delivered this retribution, Mab put a hand to the side of her head- now aching from Frik's slap as well as her earlier brush with the armoured monster.

"What in the name of the Old Ways was that for!" she demanded angrily. Merlin-still trying to hold the door behind him shut- sighed with relief.

"Oh, good. You're back," he said. Mab looked severely confused.

"What do you mean "back"?" she snapped. "I haven't been anywhere!" Then she blinked several times, as though remembering something, and groaned silently to herself. Merlin allowed himself a small laugh at her expense before getting back to the matter at hand.

"We have to go," he pointed out, "Mab, can you get rid of those goblins?" Mab gave him a Look, as if to say, "Of course I can, you idiot, what do you think?" Concentrating, she sent out a blast of magic. Merlin heard several high pitched screams as the goblins were flung away from the other side of the door. Pushing the door open, the three of them ran outside. Mab blasted several more goblins out of the way, but as they headed towards the Goblin Castle, their numbers grew ever greater. Mab couldn't keep using magic up on them, or she would have none left to use when they reached the castle, and the goblins were persistent, if not all that bright. The ones that Mab had blasted away before still followed them, and the three were soon surrounded again.

"Well, this is going just brilliantly!" grumbled Frik to himself. Several of the goblins stepped forward, weapons pointed at them. One that appeared to be in charge stepped forward.

"Capture them and take them to Jareth!" it demanded in a high-pitched nasal whine, "Kill them if they try to fight!" The goblins charged forwards. Frik cowered backwards, whimpering in fear- somehow, Merlin didn't think he was going to be doing any fighting, not if his life was in peril. Merlin clutched Mab's hand without thinking. It looked like there wasn't going to be time for them to become enemies again. Jareth wouldn't have either of them, and if that meant that they had to die, then they could at least take some of the Underground's accursed inhabitants with them. Merlin started when he realised that, for once, he and Mab were probably thinking the exact same thing, but now was not the time for dwelling.

Before the goblins could reach any of them, however, several bolts of lightening seemed to crash down from the sky, hitting and scorching the ground around Mab, Merlin and Frik. There was a nasty smell of charring flesh, and goblins were flung in all directions, clearing a path through to the castle. Merlin flung an arm up to protect his eyes from the bright lightening. After the flashes stopped, he rubbed his eyes, wondering for a moment if some freakishly lucky weather-related coincidence had just occurred, but then he heard a high-pitched cackle from high up in the air.

"See the little goblins, hear their little screams. See them flying through the air, Aren't the poor goblins sweet…" the cackling voice sang. Recognising it, Merlin peered upwards, at the cackling girl sat on what appeared to be a broom, of all things, perched high up in the air. She peered down at them and gave them a wave.

"Hello, challengers!" Skeksi called in her shrieking voice, laughing all the while, "Have you missed me?"

"Friend of yours?" Frik asked, staring up cautiously at the madly cackling, black-robed and sharp-taloned witch. Merlin nodded, smiling to himself. After he and Mab had parted company with the witches previously, he'd never thought that he'd be glad to see any of them again, but somehow he thought that had changed.

"What are you doing?" he called up to Skeksi. It was one thing for the witches to not bend to Jareth's will, but surely this direct an attack would qualify as far worse than that. Skeksi called back down to him.

"Helping the challengers to defeat the Goblin King!" she called, "Jareth sets the thirteen hour time limit, but now his time runs out!" She swooped down to their level, still hovering several feet above the ground.

"Do you like my broom?" she asked, preening slightly, "Takes complex magic to make objects fly, but Skeksi has managed it! We can't fly by ourselves; brooms are surprisingly comfortable, as long as you don't sit on the brush." She noticed that Merlin was still clutching Mab's hand, and grinned slyly, "Ah, I see the two of you have indeed recovered from your challenge." Merlin dropped Mab's hand quickly and glared at the witch. Skeksi just laughed.

"Jareth will punish you for this," Mab pointed out, ignoring Skeksi. Skeksi waved a hand dismissively.

"Ha! I would like to see him try! By the time he can afford to take on even one of the witches of Leftwood, his kingdom will be collapsing, all falling down around him. His power will be smashed into oblivion, and if Skeksi can bring it to bear faster, then forever the better!" she spat out. Merlin was taken aback by the venom in her voice.

"Why do you care so much?" Mab asked, "Jareth doesn't bother you." Skeksi turned to Mab.

"Oh, the Goblin King bothers me greatly, Queen Mab. He doesn't deserve a kingdom, he doesn't deserve ultimate power, and he certainly won't have it over us! We witches will not bow to a creature like him. War between us has always been inevitable; Skeksi knows it, and so do Aughra and Gelfling."

"But why now?" Merlin asked, curiously. Skeksi rolled her eyes.

"Questions, questions, questions. Nothing but questions from you. Anyone else would be thankful to still be living! Besides, that question is exceptionally stupid, even from you," Skeksi replied impatiently. She turned to Mab and answered the question to her instead, "We are witches, and you are Queen of Magic. Whom do you think our first loyalty is to, hmmm? Not Jareth, I think." Mab stared at her for a moment.

"Me?" Skeksi grinned and nodded. Mab gave her a small smile, "Well, I'm glad to see that some people still know what loyalty is." Skeksi inclined her head slightly.

"Indeed. But now you must hurry! A failure for you condemns us all now!" The three started, as they realised how short their time had truly run. "Go!" Skeksi urged again. "Skeksi will hold back the Goblins for you!"

"Thank you," Merlin called to Skeksi as the three of them ran for the castle. Skeksi shrugged.

"Skeksi has not had so much fun in many a year!" she replied, turning with a cackle back to face the rush of Goblins.

---

The castle was completely deserted. No goblins, no Arthur or Mordred, and no Jareth. Glancing around cautiously, the three of them made their way to a large staircase.

"Jareth must be up there," Merlin stated.

"I suppose that means we have to go up it," said Frik unhappily.

"Yes," Merlin and Mab replied simultaneously.

"You heard Skeksi, Frik," Merlin said, "More is at stake than just Mordred and Arthur's freedom." Frik nodded.

"I hate being on the side of good," he grumbled, "We always seem to be hopelessly outmatched."

"Appearances are deceptive," snapped Mab, "Are you coming or not?" Without speaking, Frik moved towards the staircase, as did Mab and Merlin.

There was even more tension in the air now. All of them could feel it. Jareth was at the other end of this staircase, and so was their final challenge.

So, another part ends. Please review! I have to go and pray that my computer doesn't break again, though, knowing my luck it probably will…