I'm going to delve a bit further into the scenery of the Underground and Jareth' youth. Please keep the reviews coming. It keeps me going in my writing.


Chapter 24

Secrets of the Southern Forest

Jareth and Sarah had sat by the bluff for a very long time before Jareth decided he wanted to show her one more place in his beloved Southern forest. He gently took her hand and teleported her to a beautiful little pond surrounded by slender aspen trees. A small brook entered into the pond with a soft gurgle and provided some smooth rock ledges for sitting and dangling feet into the water.

"It's the Pond of Illumination. It's another little secret gem of mine", Jareth whispered. "You'll see."

He took off his clothes and waded into the pond inviting Sarah to follow suit. Sarah was a bit timid to go into an unknown pool of water in the dim light, but she trusted Jareth. She followed him in, albeit somewhat reluctantly. It was surprisingly refreshing. She had expected stagnant pool water, but it was clear and cool.

She held on tight to Jareth as long as they could stand, but as he lead her further out, she had to start swimming to keep up with him. He was after all a foot taller than her. He laughed at her for being so short and Sarah splashed water into his face in protest.

"That's cute. Come here, babe, let me hold you", he put his arm around her and held her tight again. "Now be really still and they will come", he whispered to her as he looked into the water.

"Who will come?" Sarah asked with a hint of nervousness. This was after all the Underground, where you needed to expect anything.

"The light nymphs", Jareth replied and smiled at her.

They didn't have to wait long. As soon as the water had settled around them, the bottom of the small lake started to glow with a dim yellow light. It grew brighter and larger and changed its glow from yellow to red to blue before it settled on a deep lavender color.

Sarah stared at it in complete wonderment. She held on closer to Jareth, who definitely didn't mind her pressing her unclad body against his. He looked at her with soft eyes and a tender smile.

"They are coming", he breathed barely audible.

Sarah peered into the water and saw faint shadowy figures emerging from the deep. Instinctively she held on even tighter to Jareth and he shushed her quietly.

"It's ok, precious. Relax."

He gently stroked her hair as the first shadowy figure emerged and circled around them. It itself was the source of the light, as it shone in a bright lavender color with pulsating blue streaks running down its elongated serpent like body.

The head looked almost human with pointed ears and big eyes, but no hair. It had two arms with three fingers and a long undulating serpentine body and tail. It looked straight at Sarah, held her gaze for a second and smiled before it dived again and continued circling.

More and more were coming out of the deep, until the entire pond was filled with circling serpents.

"They look like mermaids. What did you call them?" Sarah moved her head trying to keep her eyes on them, but they were too quick.

"Light nymphs. They only live in these parts of the wood in a few isolated ponds that connect via small streams with each other. Jareth replied.

"Jareth...Sarah", the light nymphs started whispering as they surfaced every so often looking right at Sarah and Jareth.

"They talk?" Sarah asked astonished. "How do they know our names?"

"They are wise and all knowing", Jareth smiled as they kept circling around. "Sometimes they tell you the future, and sometimes they fool you about the past."

None of that made any sense to Sarah as she held the gaze of one that had come close to her and looked at her with her upper body out of the water. The light nymph put its hands on Sarah's stomach and then her heart. Sarah twitched for just an instance, and then held still at the urging of Jareth.

"Rani", the light nymph said quietly in a voice that sounded like the fleet passing of a breeze. "Rani, the singing queen. You are Rani, she is Rani. Blessed future."

As soon as they had appeared they were gone. The pool was once again dark and only the moonlight provided some illumination as it reflected of the now still again surface.

Jareth and Sarah swam back to the shore, and Sarah puzzled over what she had been told as she sat cross-legged on a flat stone. Jareth sat next to her, dangling his feet in the water and smiling. After a few minutes he looked at her with his famous little smirk and tilted head.

"I guess we had the baby's name chosen for us. Rani, I like it very much. It is a powerful name."

He took her hand in his.

"Well, she is your birthday present Jareth", Sarah answered softly. "The Einhorn told me that she had been conceived only a day earlier, and that would make it yesterday, your birthday."

She shook her head lightly as in disbelief.

"Seems like the creatures in this Underground World know more about me and my body than I do. Sort of scary."

Sarah sounded downhearted.

Jareth shook his head. "No, it means you are deeply connected to all that lives in this world. Another thing that makes you so special. We'll find out why. Kelan will find the answers. We must go now."

He stood up and held out his hand for Sarah. They quickly got dressed and teleported back to the castle.


Jareth was overwhelmed and giddy with the news of Sarah's pregnancy and he couldn't wait to share it with Faron and Chayrone and the rest of his close family friends. Marjorie was contemplating about a clothing line called Rani and Mark thought of a new beer in her honor, but Sarah put her foot down. No commercializing her baby daughter. She wanted to get through this pregnancy with now issues and problems first.

Jareth promised he would not be overly protective again like he had been during her first pregnancy with Jay and Jeremy. And to proof he was sincere, he surprised her with a vacation plan, a camping trip through his beloved Southern forest.

He had originally planned the trip for next year, but since there was going to be the arrival of the little princess, he wanted Sarah to have a beautiful memorable one week vacation while she was still able to do things, before her activities would be restricted. Marjorie had volunteered, no insisted, on keeping Jay and Jeremy with her and Mark for that week.

Jareth had packed for the trip in similar fashion he had done for the solstice hunts. He had packed their summer hunting clothes, their weapons, and a small tent with primitive supplies.

"We'll be roughing it for a week, babe. No magic, no luxury. I hope you don't mind." He gave her a boyish grin.

"Not at all. My dad used to take me camping quite a lot. I'm used to roughing it", Sarah replied with a chuckle and kept on packing her two part hunting outfit that looked more like a bikini.

"What's this?" she asked him and held the skimpy outfit in front of his eyes.

"Eh, those are your hunting clothes", he replied as innocently as possible and averted his eyes.

Sarah squinted her eyes and put them in her bag. "Looks more like a 'me Tarzan you Jane' themed vacation."

Jareth only grinned, but still avoided her gaze.

"Where's the fun in living if you can't have fun, babe?" he finally replied with a smirk, grabbed his bow off the wall and his bag and marched out of the room.

Jareth had teleported them beneath Outlook Bluff, close to the major river that flowed through the Southern forest. Jareth told Sarah it was the South Fae River, and that the North Fae River runs through the Northern forest. Made all total sense to her. Considering it was the Underground, it was quite an achievement.

Ceres and Mara followed them in shadow form through the ferns and then along the river bank. They would stay in shadow form for most of the trip unless they relaxed by the camp at night. Faewolves could stir and spook a lot of creatures, and Jareth didn't want to risk driving away creatures he wanted to show Sarah.

They tracked along the bank for several hours stopping every so often for a short rest. Both traveled light with only their bows, quivers, and a small bag, while Mara and Ceres carried the tent and supplies.

Jareth thought Sarah looked especially hot in her 'Jane' outfit as she had called it, and she was quite smitten by his 'Tarzan' loincloth and leather boots.

"Not a bad idea actually", she mumbled to herself as she walked behind him. "Not a bad idea at all." She smiled and giggled drawing his look on a few occasions.

Once they had entered the old growth forest, the temperatures became a bit more comfortable as the sun didn't beat down on them any longer. Sarah looked around in wonderment. The enormous trees truly did reflect that she was in another world. She had never seen tress like these in her world, not even in the Redwood forest in California when her dad had taken her on a summer camping trip.

"Look at this", Jareth whispered and motioned to her as he took cover behind a large fern stand. Sarah crouched down beside him and peeked through the fronds of the fern. A family of goblin pigs was rooting around in a small mud puddle. Sarah had never seen any up close despite her hunt last year. The thick brush in the Northern forest had prevented any clear view of them.

Here, they were only a few feet away, completely oblivious to their presence. Jareth put his finger on his lips as he unhinged his bow and notched an arrow. He drew and the arrow flew silently into a smaller pig on the outskirt of the group. It fell silently to the ground without raising the alarm for the others.

Jareth and Sarah remained hidden behind the fern. Within a few minutes the group made its exit and meandered back into the woods. Sarah had been super impressed by Jareth' hunting skills and the quickness and silence in which he had brought down the game. She gave him a look of admiration as he winked at her.

"Dinner, babe", he jumped out from behind the fern and proceeded to his kill. He pulled the arrow back out which was still intact and put it back in his quiver.

"That's how you do it, stealthily, never letting the rest know. Always shoot the outsider first."

After his short lesson, he started to skin the pig and they decided to make camp close by. Sarah was thoroughly impressed. She saw a Jareth she hadn't seen before, a Jareth who had, until now been hidden from her. He finally let her into his private world from his past, and she was beyond happy.

She couldn't keep her eyes off of him throughout the entire evening as she felt immensely drawn to him. She liked this Jareth. This strong, self-confident, and non-faltering hunter who was completely comfortable with his surroundings.

"Babe, you've been staring at me for the past three hours." Jareth smirked at her as he held out a piece of cooked pork for her. Sarah shook herself over and took the meat and smiled with a slight blush.

"You look so different. I'm seeing a Jareth I had not seen before, and I like him. I like him a lot." She blushed again.

Jareth sat down next to her with some meat for himself and gave her a soft look.

"I'm glad you do. This is part of me, part of the entire Jareth. It would really sadden me if you would have a problem with this me." He looked at her with solemn eyes. Sarah gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"I love all Jareths. Every one of them." She gently smiled and they continued eating their dinner as Mara and Ceres chomped down on some pig bones.

"Maybe you can show me in a little while how much you love this Jareth", Jareth cooed and gave her a sultry look with hungry eyes. Sarah nearly choked on her pork from laughing.

"And here he is, the Jareth that trumps them all, horny dog Jareth. Deep down you are all the same."

Jareth grinned cheekily. "And you love it, babe. Don't deny it."

They took off early the next day as Jareth wanted to get deeper into the forest. He wanted to see if they could track down some elusive cave bears. Sarah was worried at the mention of cave bears, but when Jareth promised they were no bigger than Mara she felt a bit better. Looked like the odds were evened out again.

They did find one cave bear, but could not get very close to it and Sarah was disappointed. Jareth told her it was very rare to see one, even from far away, and she should feel lucky about it. She still pouted about the distance and he laughed at her, which made her pout even more.

Over the next few days they hunted, tracked, and camped out while Jareth showed Sarah his old stomping ground. Of course, Jareth would not have been Jareth, without finding a secluded little swimming hole every evening for their private little 'audiences' with the king. Sarah was looking forward to every single one of them.

They had tracked deep down into the old forest and had reached the halfway point where they needed to turn back. As with the Northern forest, no magic was allowed within the borders of the Southern Forest, but Mara and Ceres were able to assume shadow form. Sarah figured it as a loophole in the regulations and made a mental note of it.

"Why is it not allowed to use magic in any of your forests Jareth?" Sarah asked during one of their dinners.

"The forests were here before the Labyrinth and everything else before magic was here. They are to remain pristine. It was the founders who decided to make all four major forests magic free. The Western and Eastern forests included. They surround the kingdom."

Sarah deemed that explanation sufficient and continued with her dinner.

They had reached their halfway point and Jareth had plotted out the return path so he could show her more of the forest instead of tracking back the path they had come. They decided to make camp on the banks of a small creek that invited plenty of game. Jareth wanted Sarah to make the kill for dinner and took her into the ferns.

They crept silently through the thick fern brush and listened attentively for any noise. It was the clanking of metal and loud voices that caught their attention and made them crouch down low to the ground. Mara gave an inaudible rumble and Ceres bared his teeth but remained silent and still.

Jareth carefully peeked through the fern and quickly retreated and sat back down again.

"What is it?" Sarah inquired impatiently.

"Goblorks", Jareth breathed and Sarah took a big gasp.

"How did goblorks get into the Southern forest? They always have to make it through the Labyrinth first. Did you have a security breach at the base?"

Sarah was horrified.

Jareth shook his head and turned his head to watch the goblorks through the brush.

"No, nothing. Everything had been especially quiet since Oda's drowning. We figured they had given up, or biting their time."

Jareth signaled Ceres to come closer and whispered into his ears since he could not use the telepathy. Ceres nodded and took off in shadow form, silent as a ghost. Sarah gave Jareth a questioning look but he only gave her a couple of his hand signals. Those she did understand: "Ceres, camp, reconnaissance."

It took over an hour and Sarah began to feel quite anxious before Ceres reappeared. Jareth gave the signal to fall back and they left as silently as they had come.

"What did you find out?" Jareth asked after they had returned to camp.

"They are planning a two prong attack soon, within days via the Labyrinth, as well as the Southern forest. The attack from the Labyrinth will be a decoy, the real attack will come from these woods here. There are thousands of them."

Jareth face turned white. They were at least three days away from being able to teleport out and warn the kingdom. Sarah's face told him what she was thinking, the boys, Jay and Jeremy. He was silent for a few seconds with a stoic face.

"How did they get into these woods?" Jareth wanted to know and Ceres growled.

"There are hidden secret pathways from another dimension. They found one that led them here."

Jareth gasped.

"Ceres, Mara, you must run like the wind and warn the kingdom. You can make it back in less than two days. It will take Sarah and me three. You must go now." Before anyone could argue back, Jareth attached two crystal balls with the messages to Ceres' and Mara's collars.

"Take these to Faron and Arman and then go back to the castle and warn the others. This is an order from your king."

Ceres laid back his ears and lowered his head. He had to leave, it was Jareth direct order. Within seconds, both faewolves ran as fast as they could towards the outskirts of the Southern forest.

As Jareth watched them disappear he grabbed Sarah's hand and squeezed it tight.

"Damn they had us fooled, they had all of us fooled." He whispered in agony. Sarah took his head into her arms and pulled him close to her chest as his arms wrapped around her body.

"So, let's fool them. Luckily we were here and now we have a chance to win this". She tried to sound confident and held Jareth's head tight in her arms.

"Let's break camp and get going", Jareth replied gently withdrawing from her embrace. "Damn, and to think I had found a perfect little swimming hole behind this bend. We'll be back", he said in a low voice and began to break camp.

Sarah knew Jareth tried to sound upbeat to put her mind at ease, but the despair in his voice made it clear, he was horrified.

They hadn't dare to leave any of their supplies and gear behind in case the goblorks would stumble across it, but it did slow them down on their way back. Luckily Jareth knew these woods like the back of his hand and always found hidden shortcuts to shorten their trip.

At night they camped only long enough to rest for a while, never made a fire and went on their way again. Sarah began to tire out on the last day. They only had another couple of hours left to get to the closest outskirts and she pushed on as much as she could.

Jareth could tell she had problems and took most of the gear from her as he looked at her with worried eyes. She knew he was worried about her and the baby; her miscarriage still fresh on his mind.

"I'll be fine", she assured him and gave him a gentle kiss. Jareth nodded and they continued on their track.

They finally reached the outskirts before nightfall. Sarah was at the end of her strength and stumbled onto the clearance and laid in the grass. Jareth helped her back up and gently stroked her hair as he kissed the top of her head.

"Ready?" he asked her looking deep into her tired eyes. She nodded and laid her head against his chest. Jareth wrapped his arms around her and instantly teleported back to the Labyrinth Kingdom.