This is my first fan fic. Title may change.
Please let me know what you think and if I should continue it or not. Sarah won't be in this (at least I'm not planning on it) since I have a hard time writing her.
This is pretty much an alternate universe.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Labyrinth. Only the unrecognized characters and storyline are mine.
Prologue
"There she is!"
"Grab her!"
"She's getting away!"
"Release the dogs!
Rough harsh voices called out as several bodies moved through the darkness of the forest. A flash of pale skin and dark hair streaked between the thick tree trunks and over fallen logs, drawing their attention. Dogs growled and barked as they were released from their ropes and darted after the woman through the underbrush.
"She not be getting away this time." One grizzled man spit out as he watched the dogs vanish into the thick brush. He patted his large stomach and smiled, showing a mouthful of dirty broken teeth. The men surrounding him laughed as they set off to follow the dogs, all of them weary from their chase and covered with what looked to be years of dirt. Their clothes were ragged and stained with both food and blood. They were the Hunters. They traveled the lands, searching for victims. It never mattered to them who the prey was, be it human or animal. All they were in it for was the blood, the thrill of the hunt.
The prey they were after this time was a lone woman who was suspected of being a sorceress. The village elders had contacted the hunters a few weeks ago, alerting them to her presence in the village. Granted, the woman had been raised in this particular village, but she had disappeared many years ago as a child. A month ago, she had reappeared on the edge of the forest.
On her return, the woman had struck fear in the others, people who had watched her grow from a babe to a young woman were now terrified of her. It had been ten years since her disappearance and it was obvious that she was no longer the same as when she had left. She moved with a dancers grace, her steps the silent tread of a ghost. Her emerald eyes held a light that seemed to pierce the night, an ageless knowledge hidden within.
That was enough for the village elders to condemn her to the Hunters.
The Hunters followed the sound of the barking dogs to a lone tree a few yards away from the forest's edge. The leader called out an order to the dogs, who immediately laid down at the base of the tall tree while the others spread out in a circle around the tree. They stood there watching the woman crouched on one of the thick branches halfway up the ancient tree.
"Ya might as well get on down here girl," the man yelled up at her. "We're not leavin without ya."
"What do you want with me?" Her voice was almost musical, yet there was a steely resolve plain to hear in it.
"The Elders of yer village want ya before 'em. Not our business what fer." He looked at the ground long enough to spit and then turned his cold blue eyes back up at her.
"I have no business with the Elders. If they wish me gone then so be it. I will leave in peace; not at the end of your rope." She shifted her weight and looked around, counting ten of the ragged men.
"If'n yer a witch like they say; ye'll be dyin either way."
"I am no witch. If I was, do you think I would be up here in this tree where you and your dogs could not reach me?" She laughed, a light silver sound that held no amusement.
"I don't care what ya are. Now get down here!"
"And if I refuse?" He looked towards one of the men and nodded. Before she could turn around to look she yelped in pain as an arrow went through the flesh of her thigh.
"I won't warn ya again girl. Get down here." Weighing her options, she knew she had little choice. They were prepared to bring her down one way or another, alive or not. Slowly, the woman reached for one of the other branches only to find her vision growing dark. With a slight gasp, she flailed for the branch before falling from the tree.