Chapter Fourteen
((This is fourteen, right?))
Tara woke up in a dark, wet cell. The air was thick in her lungs, nearly suffocating her, but it seemed to be enough to sustain her life. She groaned, moving her fingertips to her head, at the site of a dull pounding, only to find that the wound had healed already.
She frowned, and attempted to push herself up off of the hay covered floor, but stopped quickly, finding that it sent a sharp pain spreading out of her head, through her entire body.
"I want my lawyer." She groaned quietly, curling up on the floor.
"No lawyers here." She heard the voice of Crys, and she opened her eyes again, rotating until she could see the source. The girl sat calmly in the corner of the cell, red hair dirty and messed up, but eyes lacking none of their spirit. Xanthe lay curled up, with her head on her lap.
"Just elves."
"Where are we?" Tara sighed, looking around as best she could without giving herself a headache.
"The middle ground." Crys muttered darkly. "-Gods- I hate this place..." She rubbed her temples, and glared out the bars at something Tara didn't care to turn around and see.
"What's in... the middle ground?" She asked quietly, forcing herself to sit up despite the fullness in her skull. "Other than us, and probably elves."
"Imagine something, and it's probably here."
"Goblins?" She asked, suddenly perking with hope. If there were goblins, they would doubtlessly help them get to the goblin -king-.
"No, but a portal to them." Cry sighed, "Which we will be finding as soon as we make our escape from this abominable cell..."
"And how are we going to escape?" Tara asked, but the question went unanswered. Xanthe groaned lowly as she began to wake. All human eyes fell to the girl as she sat up away from Crys, and stretched her arms out lazily. She looked around, seeming perplexed by their location before she saw Tara, and threw herself at her.
"TARA!" She cried out in glee. "Tara! You're okay!"
Tara blinked with surprise, but accepted the affection willingly. "Yeah. I'm okay." She glanced in Crys's general direction, and then back out the bars to ensure that no elves were listening.
"If we can find a mirror, we can get out of here." She stated lowly.
"A mirror!" Crys retorted, "Do you know how rare a mirror -is- here!" She took Tara's blank (and frankly offended) gaze as a no, and sighed. "I doubt we'll find a mirror. We're better off setting out for the portal."
Tara sighed in irritation. That meant that all of her hard work meant nothing.
"But," Crys went on, "This also means that the Goblin King can get here and rescue fair damsel in distress."
Said damsel in distress glared hard as Xanthe parted herself from her, and started wandering about the cell in boredom. "What's that supposed to mean!" Tara demanded, only glaring harder as the woman laughed at her. "Okay. Yeah. Whatever. I'm just -dying- for him to save me and bring me back to my life of slavery."
Crys could have responded, but found laughing more enjoyable at the moment.
"What!" Tara demanded hotly, crossing her arms over her chest and rising (albeit wobbly) to her feet. Crys's neglection to answer just enraged her more, and soon she was shrieking at the girl in a full blown rant.
That's when Crys found it wise to speak up.
"Shut up for a minute." She ordered, holding up a hand. Instinctively Tara obeyed, and then glared daggers at her for the fact. She opened her mouth to start screaming again, but Crys pointed in Xanthe's direction.
There in the the corner, Xanthe was playing with a cat that'd appeared out of no where. She stroked her small hand down it's silky fur, even as she was watched. The cat; Orange, brown, and black striped; leaned against her easily, purring with contentment.
"They don't have cats here." Crys murmured under her breath, glancing toward Tara. "She must have summoned it here some how."
"That's ridiculous." Tara responded just as quietly, but all conviction was dead from her voice.
Xanthe looked over as Tara fell back to sitting on the floor, and watched her stare at her in apparent awe. "What?" She asked curiously, pulling the cat so it was more completely on her lap.
"Where did the cat come from, love?" Tara spoke up, tilting her head at the child in wonder.
"Oh." Xanthe murmured, looking down at the cat. "I just called her, and she came."
Tara and Crys exchanged meaningful glances. An entire conversation passed with just one look, and then they looked forward again. Xanthe's newfound summoning ability could come in handy.
"Can you call something else?" Crys questioned delicately as she ran her fingernail along the rough surface of the floor she sat on. "Say... a crow?" She glanced outside at the empty room, or more pointedly the keys left unattended on the table. A parot would have been more smart, and thus fitting to rescue the keys, but it wouldn't have fit between the bars.
"I have to know where the animal is." Xanthe pouted.
Her elders formed an 'oh', but no sound came from their lips.
Tara frowned, and turned to stare at the keys. They had to get out -some how-! This cell was driving her insane!
"Anamaria can get them though." Xanthe stated, motioning toward the keys. "She's a very smart kitty. Would you like her to try?"
Tara doubted very much that a cat could squeeze through the bars, grab the keys, and come back but it was worth a chance. She nodded her approval, as did Crys, and Xanthe kissed the top of the full grown cats head before setting it loose. The cat was the most agile cat Tara had ever seen. It ducked through the bars with what appeared to be ease, and looked left and right before leaping onto the old, worn table. She took up the keys with her teeth, and repeated the process in reverse to go back.
She dropped the keys off at Xanthe's feet, and was rewarded with a thorough petting.
Tara stared at the feline race with a whole new appreciation.
Crys, on the other hand, didn't take more than two minutes to snatch up the keys and run to the cell door. With a quiet click it was open, and she was urging the other two to stand so they could leave.
In moments they were at the door of what appeared to be a dining room, the kitten purring in Xanthe's arms as Tara stared ahead in wait for an opportunity to cut across, and Crys stared back to make sure they weren't caught.
The dining room was packed, and Tara was beginning to doubt the elves, and what appeared to be trolls, would ever finish eating.
The sight was gruesome. The elves ate with some composure, but the trolls scattered amongst them did not. They were huge, hulking beings with little need for grace. They slammed their snouted mouth onto the plate to eat their meat while the elves cut theirs into neat little squares. There were no cups for the trolls, but bowls twice the size of a doggie bowl, filled with water. And their skin was the most disgusting thing Tara had ever seen-- diharrea(sp) green, scaled, with patches of flesh hanging off.
Under normal circomstances it would have worried Tara that the cat was purring as they were trying to sneak out of what appeared to be a jail house, but the trolls were so loud that -she- couldn't hear the cat-- nevermind them. Besides: She couldn't see any ears on them.
The elves were another story: Known for their wonderful hearing. But that didn't cross her mind at the moment. She just wanted out.
"C'mon..." She growled under her breath, "Stop scarfing down your food already!"
"Shut up." Crys growled quietly, "Unless you want them to hear you."
"Can you not hear them? They're louder than hell!"
"And Elves have super hearing, so shut up."
Tara could have argued, but she decided not to. Instead, she ducked out of the way as the dining room suddenly began to empty (as did the others). They watched as the elves and trolls filed past them without a glance, and then made a run for the door in the middle of the dining room wall.
The world outside was-- in a word-- unreal. Tara was surprised that the trees weren't actually made of cotton candy (they looked as if they might have been) and that the streets weren't paved with gingerbread. It was completed otherwise with various other candies decorating the road.
Just the aura of the place made her shudder. It was bright-- a little too bright for her tastes and with an underlying darkness. A venom that comes sweetly.
"Tara, look!" Xanthe cried out, pointing to a spot behind the hard candy bushes. Her aunt blinked, and turned in the direction the child had pointed, and a wave of relief came over her as she spotted Jareth among the pink and green.
"No!" Crys protested, grasping ahold of Tara's arm before she could so much as think of running off after him. "Look closer! Something's wrong! Something's missing!"
Althought irritated, Tara did as she was told, examining the awaiting king from a distance. He was just as tall as ever, and his white blonde hair was wild. He was dressed more practically than usual, but Tara could understand that, given their surroundings. His cream colored trousers were tucked into neat black boots, and his forest green tunic was cut in a long triangle down the front to reveal the paralyzing pale chest beneath.
Indeed, however, something was missing: For the pendant that served as his crest no longer rested on that chest, and Tara knew the goblin king would never in his life surrender that pendant, or take it off for any other reason.
"It's an illusion!" She cried out rather suddenly as she yanked her arm away from the girl who held it and pushed Xanthe away from him a few more paces. She looked around wildly for a weapon as right before Crysandras eyes he morphed into a simple elf, long in hair and long in ear.
With a shriek the cat lept out of Xanthes arms at the elf, fur bristling and claws out.
Streaks of red marred the elf's perfect pale skin as it latched onto his face with said claws, and began stripping away skin and flesh. Tara shot forward as he cried out in pain and horror at the chaos being wraught upon his appearance. With a quick movement, Tara tore off a piece of her crimson skirt and gagged him with the fabric, terrified that he may alert the other elves to their disappearance.
She sent a meaningful glance at Crys, who took it and whirled around to stare at the door. She narrowed her eyes, and paled as she heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming their way.
"C'mon!" She cried out, breaking the strained silence. She took Xanthe's hand and took off like a shot, trusting Tara to be old enough to follow on her own-- and follow she did.
Footstep after footstep they ran for their lives, not trusting themselves to take a breath, not trusting the elves stampeding behind them to wait.
"NO!" Tara gasped as she tripped on a root of licorice that hadn't been there before, and fell headfirst to the ground. She felt the world spin around her for a minute before the sound of the coming trolls ripped her to her feet.
"TARA!" Xanthe shrieked, writhing against her caretaker to go back to her aunt, but it was no use. Crys had no intentions to let the child run back into harms way, and she made such farely obvious as she picked the little girl up, and continued to run.
"THERE SHE IS!" The damsel in question heard an outraged elf roar. "THE OTHERS CAN'T BE FAR OFF! ON, MEN!"
"TARA!" Xanthe cried out again, but was powerless as she slipped in something gooey.
With a yelp she fell into it, and was powerless to get up as tendrils of what would be chewed bubble gum wrapped around her limbs, trapping her.
"XANTHE!" She screamed as the elves merely lept over her. "XANTHE, GO! GO!"
"WE'LL COME BACK!" Crysandra pledged, and darted out of sight.
Authors Notes: Hello all! I have finally escaped my problems with the whole 'not being able to write' thing, and HERE IS WHAT I'VE CRANKED UP FOR YOU!
Hope it's good enough. ;; I know it's short...
But... Review anyway?
Please?
THANKS IN ADVANCE!
((Oh yeah. And the Labyrinth doesn't belong to me. Unfortunately. But everything in this chappy does... well, accept for the doppleganger. That's an old concept. But-- ANYWAYS...))
