So here we are, Jareth and Sarah once again separated from each other, and so are Marjorie and Mark, and Faron and Chayrone. I hope you enjoy this little suspense and action I included in my story.


Chapter 27

Siege of the castle and an escape

Sarah ran as fast as she possibly could, dodging falling debris from explosions and boulder impacts every so often before she finally reached the castle. All seemed fine with their private quarter.

She carefully entered the study which seemed abandoned. Nothing was out of order and it was obvious the goblorks had not been here yet. Sarah rummaged through Jareth' desk and found the gun Mark had used during the blood bank heist with a box of shells. Jareth had been fascinated with the weapon and Mark had given it to him as a gift. She grabbed both and stuffed them into her bag. If magic didn't work then maybe the Surface World device would.

She ran upstairs to her bedroom and changed clothes before she took her sword and tied it to her belt, as well as the rest of her arrows and put them in her quiver. She grabbed the crystal ball from her dad and the box with the pictures and put them into her bag. She walked over to Jareth' nightstand and took the crystal ball laying there; the one she had send him as a joke on his birthday, calling him a hot king. He had saved it and to Sarah it meant a lot.

After she collected her favorite mementos from the bedroom and some more clothes, she ran back downstairs to the study and placed all of Jareth' sheet music in a box, grabbed his Egmond guitar, her ukulele, and the Grafton saxophone, clamped everything under her arm and made her way to the bunker room.

It took her only a short while before she arrived at the door and started banging at it. There was no answer. She pulled out her key and tried to open it, but it was jammed.

"Somebody in there? Open it, it's Sarah", she yelled through the crack. Immediately she heard a commotion and voices, and seconds later she saw the relieved face of Krum staring at her through the slight opening.

"Your highness", he muttered with utter astonishment and removed the blockage from the door. Sarah busted through the door and Krum immediately closed it again with the help from Aviana.

Sarah looked around the room. She saw Aria, Krum, Aviana, and Chayrone, and then she saw her boys. They were sitting on a blanket playing with a couple of Troll dolls, the ones Marjorie had gotten them on their birthday. Sarah ran over and gave both of them a huge hug and kissed them exited on their little faces. Both squealed with joy to see their mommy had come back.

She then looked at everyone else and an emotional group hug ensued.

"What's going on up there?" Krum inquired and everyone had their eyes peeled on her.

"The goblorks have the castle under siege and attacking it by slinging big boulders into our walls. I didn't see a whole lot as I had to run over here. Jareth it out there fighting them right now."

Her voice broke and she started crying at the thought of Jareth being in the middle of such a dangerous battle. Less than three weeks ago they had celebrated his birthday, she had found out she was pregnant with a little girl and they named her Rani, and all the sudden her entire world had come crashing back down on her.

Chayrone put her arm around her shoulder and made her sit down.

"Tell us everything that has happened my dear child."

She gave Sarah a handkerchief and Sarah told them about their little camping trip in the Southern woods, the revelation of her pregnancy, at which everyone broke out briefly in cheers, and the discovery of the goblorks. She told them how they had teleported to the Northern forest by accident and the meeting with the Einhorns. She told them everything, except for the private intimate details of her and Jareth, which she kept deep in her heart like a precious treasure.

When she had finished, everyone stayed silent. Even Jay and Jeremy didn't make a sound but only looked at Sarah with big eyes. Oh how their eyes looked like Jareth'. Sarah couldn't help but to cry again. She knew deep in her heart Jareth wasn't coming back anytime soon this time around.


Jareth had made his way through the garden to the main gate where he met up with Kaden. Kaden was relieved to see Jareth alive and well.

"We got them bogged down outside the gate, they won't be breaking through here anytime soon". Kaden reported and Jareth nodded relieved.

"Good, hold this position. I need two good men to help me get to Elvenwood. I have important information I need to pass on to command. Our survival depends on it."

"I can give you Bethan, he's my best man inside these walls", Kaden suggested, but Jareth shook his head.

"No, I need him here. The queen is locked inside the bunker room, hopefully with the princes. I may need him to go there and defend the castle soon."

Kaden gave a command to one of his guards and he returned with two fae soldiers.

"Aramus and Merion, two of my best upcoming officers". Jareth nodded and agreed to take them.

"You two come with me. We're making our way to Elvenwood", he motioned at the two guards and all three disappeared in the crowd of soldiers. Jareth knew of a few secret little pathways of his own to sneak out of the castle. He had used it before when he was younger to get away from Caleb.

As they left the castle ground and snug through the wall, Jareth glanced back towards the private castle one more time, knowing Sarah was inside those walls. He had to trust Kaden and Bethan to keep her and the boys safe.

Quickly and stealthily they worked themselves through the line of goblorks to the royal stables where they managed to saddle three goblin ponies. They couldn't alter time due to the magic blocking spell, but the horynth were fast and they could be in Elvenwood in minutes.

When they rode out of the stables, the goblorks gave alarm, but not recognizing Jareth, they didn't pursue thinking they only dealt with three deserters. Soon they had disappeared from view.

It had taken only fifteen minutes to get to Elvenwood and Jareth arrived with a breathless horynth at the gates of the Elvenwood base. Faron immediately greeted him and gave him a big hug.

"Oh my god Jareth, we thought you were lost out there somewhere. Where is Sarah?"

He quickly took him into his office.

"Sarah is in the bunker room, and hopefully so are the boys. The castle is under attack and I'm afraid under siege soon. Kaden and Bethan are doing a fantastic job. I am happy you managed to get three thousand soldiers in there before the blocking spell."

Jareth sat down and took off his gloves. Faron offered him some tea and Jareth gladly took it. His thoughts lingered on Sarah and the boys and his face was deep in thoughts. Faron shook him back into reality.

"Kelan can't find the scrolls with the pathways", Faron sighed and sat down as well.

"There are none", Jareth replied with a hint of a smirk which completely took Faron by surprise. "They are all right here", Jareth tapped his finger against his head and then proceeded to tell Faron about the meeting with Paradox and the secret pathways into all the other dimensions and places.

Faron sat there motionless and stunned. After Jareth' had finished he rubbed his chin.

"What does the king and keeper of the secret pathways suggest?" He looked at Jareth with steely eyes.

"Let's get some men, and use those pathways to sneak behind enemy lines and defeat this goblork scum. We close the ones to the other dimensions and cut off their route of escape. They will be sorry they ever entered this realm."

Jareth stood back up and put his gloves on.

"Ready old man?" He looked at Faron with a renewed determination and both left to put their plan in motion.


Marjorie had made it all the way to the castle's outer walls without incident. She only had to hide a couple of times, but overall her hike went without interruptions.

She hid in the tall grass outside the castle contemplating on how to get in when she saw three figures emerge from a small hole in the wall she hadn't noticed. She cowered close to the ground and remained completely still. The three figures moved away as she gave them a glance through the grass. She thought one of them looked a lot like Jareth but wasn't certain.

As soon as they were out of sight, she quickly moved towards the spot she had seen them emerge from. As she moved the brush to the side a small hole was revealed, barely big enough for a grown person to squeeze through. Marjorie made it without any issues.

She stood in an isolated corner of the castle grounds. She saw a few elves and fae running in the distance and heard the sound of explosions and voices shouting commands. After Marjorie had oriented herself to where she was, she trotted down the gravel path towards the private castle to where she hoped to find the boys and maybe even Sarah.

It didn't take her long to reach the castle as no one seemed to be close by. She wasn't exactly sure where this bunker room was, but she remembered Sarah telling her about it in case there was an emergency. She quickly located a set of narrow stairs leading down into the basement and followed them.

It was dark and Marjorie had wished she would've brought a light of some sort. None of the crystals were working and she more or less felt her way down the tunnel until she reached a solid iron door on which she banged.

"Anyone in there?" She yelled as loud as she could and continued her banging. Within second the door sprung open and she saw Sarah's face.

"Girlie, oh my god, you are safe", Marjorie leaped at Sarah's neck and gave her a bear hug that probably violated every royal rule in the scrolls. Sarah was beyond happy to see Marjorie and looked around for Mark.

"He's still in the brewery, or so I hope. The goblorks won't find it for a while. They are too concentrated on the castle", Marjorie replied and ran over to her nephews who were greeted with the same bear hug.

"Where is Jareth?" Marjorie inquired.

"He's out there somewhere", Sarah replied with more tears welling up in her eyes.

"I am not one hundred percent sure, but I think I saw him sneaking out of the castle with two fae guards. I bet that was him; it sure looked like him", Marjorie told Sarah and put her arm around her as Sarah was eager to hear about it.

"He's alive and well, and looks like they were heading to Elvenwood to mobilize the troops. Your shining king in armor will come back to you sweetie, believe in that", Marjorie tried to sound as confident as possible and she pulled it off quite nicely.

Sarah nodded and felt somewhat better. She sat down with the boys, and Marjorie followed suit as she quietly started playing Troll dolls with them.


Keroon was not happy with the progress of his invasion. He had hoped to have the castle stormed by now and taken the royal family prisoner. He didn't know about the Southern forest or that Jareth was in Elvenwood hedging a plan with Faron.

"I guess I have to extend this blocking spell indefinitely", he growled angrily as he stretched out his big bulgy arms and casted the spell. No magic help would be forthcoming now unless he personally broke the spell or was killed. It seemed like a sure bet to him in order to win his war on the kingdom.

He had established his headquarter at the council building after he had driven out the council members except for Kelan. He kept him as a hostage. One never knew when such things would come in handy, and he knew how much the kingdom prized its eldest elder.


For two weeks now the siege around the castle held and the fighting around Goblin City was at a stalemate. Unbeknownst to Keroon, Jareth and Faron had closed the pathways to other dimensions including the goblork one. The pathways within the kingdom were still open as Jareth needed them to move his troops around.

It was a tedious and slow process without the magic of teleportation, which could take weeks or even months, but Jareth hoped it would be the key to victory in the end.

Every day Jareth would lead a group of elven guards and goblin workers into one pathway and have them seal the entrance by building six foot deep solid rock walls that could not be easily destroyed. He also instructed in setting several booby traps just in case. After a pathway had been sealed and booby trapped a dozen goblin soldiers were left to guard it.


Sarah and her party were getting anxious and restless in their bunker room. Sarah had taken Krum with her on a few excursions and also to gather some more clothes as the nights were getting a bit chilly in the stony cellar. Sarah showed Krum the entrance to the pathway her and Jareth had used to enter the castle on one of those excursions.

"If we could get all the civilians through there we could evacuate the castle grounds without the goblorks knowing about it. But it would have to be done very carefully and decisive. One mistake and it could cost all of our lives."

Sarah had a plan to get everyone out. She knew they were safer in the Northern forest than here in the castle. She went back through the pathway to the Northern forest with Krum only two days ago and had a talk with the Einhorns. They had agreed they would take the survivors to the Shifting Rock Cave and keep them safe there. And so they hatched a plan to evacuate the castle grounds.

Krum was to deliver a message to Kaden under the cover of night and dressed up like a goblork whom they had found lying dead in the bushes one day. It had worked. Krum delivered his message and Kaden nodded approvingly. He would do everything he could to redirect the goblorks attention away from the evacuation.

The civilian population was also brought up to speed about it, and one by one was taken by Krum and led down into the pathway with precise instructions. It was not one huge evacuation, but rather a tiny continuous trickle that didn't garner any attention. With Kaden and Bethan keeping the attention of the goblorks on them, nobody paid any attention to the civilians.

Having to evacuate thousands of civilians was a near impossible feat and had to be done over a long time. Sarah knew it could take months, but she was willing to keep it up until the last innocent person was safe in the Northern forests with the Einhorns.

The last ones to be send through the pathway, after the other civilians had been safely evacuated for months, were Marjorie and the boys along with Aria, Aviana and Chayrone. Marjorie protested and wanted to stay to help Sarah and so did Chayrone but Sarah insisted and finally had to pull rank on them.

"I'll throw all of you into an oubliette if you don't follow my queenly orders." She had tried to sound tough but nobody bought it.

"We're practically already in an oubliette for the past five months." Marjorie grumbled, but finally they gave in and followed Sarah's wishes.

Marjorie promised she would take utmost care of the boys, and they had Deimos and Phobos with them as well for protection. When Sarah kissed them good bye, she had tears in her eyes. Was she going to see them again? At this point nobody knew.

The small group left under the guise of the dark at night. One by one crossed the garden and carefully entered the oak as Deimos and Phobos remained in their natural shadow form.

Krum and Sarah stood watch, and on more than one occasion she had to halt everyone to shoot a goblork with an arrow. She had learned from Jareth in the Southern forest and had applied all of his techniques successfully. None of the other goblorks ever realized one of their own had been killed.

Sarah heaved a big sigh of relief after the last person disappeared inside the oak. Her and Krum stayed by the ruins for a long time to make sure no goblorks would try and enter the oak, but none of them did.

"I think we pulled it off Krum. Now it is only us, you and me", She looked at him half relieved and half scared. Relieved her boys and friends were gone and safe with the Einhorns, scared of what was to come. She was now alone, with only Krum for company. They somehow had to make it.

"Come on Krum, let's get back to the bunker room and decide what our next course of action will be." Sarah led the way back just before the sun rose above the castle grounds.

They were sitting in the bunker room, quiet for some time. Without the rest of the family being there and hearing other voices it felt cold and desolate. Sarah pulled something out of her bag.

"Here Krum, I always wanted to give you that." She reached over to him and dropped something in his lap. Krum's eyes widened when he saw what it was and picked it up with amazed eyes.

"A Troll doll? For me?" He exclaimed with bright happy eyes that filled with tears of joy. Sarah smiled with a solemn look in her eyes.

"If anyone deserves one it is you Krum. You've been with me for the past five, nearly six month, steadfast and solid. I can always depend on you. It's the least I can give you as my token of appreciation."

Krum didn't reply as nothing more needed to be said and once again they sat in silence as Krum played with the little doll smiling happily.

After a quick breakfast of goblin rations, which weren't very appetizing, Sarah and Krum debated for some time on what to do next. Krum wanted to fight the goblorks head on, but Sarah thought that was not a good idea. As of now the fighting was at a stalemate. What was needed was a breakthrough, something that would turn the tables on the goblorks and give the Underworld troops the upper hand.

"Let's go and talk to Mark at the brewery", Sarah suggested and Krum looked at her in utter surprise. "Marjorie told me where the hole in the wall is Jareth had used to sneak out of here."

"Are we going to fight them with kegs of beer?" Krum replied stunned with unintended sarcasm.

"Not a bad idea actually", Sarah replied as she pulled Mark's gun out of her bag. "But it's more of this sort what I had in mind."

She aimed and pulled the trigger of the unloaded gun. Krum shivered.

"Deadly surface weapon that nearly killed Jareth. If magic won't work, this here may just do the trick and Mark knows where to get more."

She put the gun back in her bag, grabbed her bow, quiver, and her sword and led the way out of the bunker room, up the stairs, and out into the garden where already a thin layer of snow had accumulated.