Chapter 40 : No Power Over...

The shuffling sound of her leaden feet scraping against the rough tiles, echoed through the low barrel vaulted corridor, as Sarah slowly picked her way through the scattered remains of what might once have been a cleaner, but which were now reduced to a pile of rusted gears, blades and plates.

And bones.

Bones littered the ground everywhere, and she didn't even register them anymore as she limped slowly and painfully towards the intersection where Jareth had been waiting for them, disguised as a blind beggar. The loose footing made for slow laborious going, but it was thank the goddess not as hard as it had been to climb down the rusted shaft to get here. That had been something else entirely. And at least these corridors were lit by a soft flickering fairy light, that made every surface not covered in dry gore or crumbling bones shimmer and glitter.

Leaning back against the scraped and blood smeared wall Sarah sighed as she readjusted the makeshift bandage covering the gory crater where her left eye had once been. The pain had strangely died down, from the unbearable stabbing of red-hot pokers through her entire body, to a more manageable dull throbbing. And the dressing that she had fashioned out of half of her sleeve had staunched the blood before she had bled to death. Okay maybe not to death, but the blood loss had left her lightheaded and dizzy enough that she was now leaning on a long straight femur which she was using as a staff.

Pushing back out from the wall, Sarah groaned as she forced her exhausted body to move once more. Close, she was so close, just a few more yards and she would reach the corridors of the false alarms.

Turning the final corner, Sarah paused to look in sad relief at the empty corner, where Jareth had sat waiting for them. In a way she was happy that the corner was empty, but deep down in the place where she hid all her selfish wishes and desires, Sarah had hoped to find a broken form waiting for her. Sighing softly she cast a last wistful glance at the corner, and turned down the first corridor of false alarms.

"Run ": The massive granite face cried: "Run... Time is short...Go on you are on the right path. "

" Yes": Cried the next: "Keep on course for the path you follow will bring you to him."

Their voices cut into her head like dull knives through her temple, fueling her sense of urgency and making her pick up the pace. Time was slipping and the urgency in the rough voices, spurred her on. Face after face chimed in as Sarah pushed herself further than she had ever pushed herself before.

"Make haste my queen, time grows short, and our kings needs are deep. Make haste..."

That was it, rounding on the latest of the false warnings, Sarah screamed: "I get it okay, He needs me, and I have to hurry. Seriously is that all you can tell me! How about a hint or two about where he is, or maybe you know a shortcut! Now see that would be useful advice."

The huge marble heads expression became a crestfallen mask of misery as it rumbled: "But how would we know that? We are only heads of stone."

"Heads of stone ... Heads of stone ..."

The words echoed down the corridor as more and more heads took up the call .

Heads of stone.. The words caused laughter to bubble from Sarah's lips as she realized just how stupid she had been of course they wouldn't know, they were stone heads, she might as well ask them what the meaning of life was .

Shaking her head as she wiped stray tears away, Sarah grinned: Right I totally forgot that, look guys can you show me to the door with the card hounds without going through the oubliette?

"Yes": Came the tentative reply : "We know that way. But none may leave who cannot answer their riddle."

Nodding Sarah rested a reassuring hand on the cheek of the huge worried face: "Just get me there and let me worry about that okay. I have already passed them once, so I don't think that it will be too much of a challenge.

"No": The face rumbled: "But that was Then and This is Now. ..."

"Yeah": Sarah agreed as she faced away from the sombre face: "I know that."

. .. .

If anyone ever said anything about the stone heads the let it be that their word was carved in stone.

The false alarms had lead her straight to the door guarded by the card dogs, using a straight path with no oubliettes!

And now she stood facing two crumbling doors unto which four equally crumbling creatures hung nailed. Thick black ichor pooled below the lifeless faces of the lower card dogs, dripping slowly from their gaping open maws lined with rows of broken yellow teeth. The upper card dogs had been nailed through their foreheads with a pure white piece of bone. Their heads held up in a cruel parody of life as maggots fell from their blind eyes like obscene tears for the life they had been robbed of.

Stepping up to the left door, Sarah laid a gentle hand on the shriveled corpse speaking quietly : "Please wake up and allow me to pass for I have much to do and little time to do it in... Please.."

Dry skin creaked and screamed like old leather, as all four heads moved to look at her with their dead stares. And their voices bore no resemblance to the happy voices that she remembered.

"Chose wisely my Queen for only one of us leads to safety. The other leads to certain doom."

Nodding impatiently Sarah said: "Right, right and one of you always tells the truth and the other always lies. "

"No" : Came the harsh reply: "We have been stripped of all such childish notions. Now we have only truth."

Confusion creased her brow as she asked: "Okay so what? How does this work?"

"Answer our riddle and a door will open. If the answer is true then the door will lead to safety, but if not ..."

Eight eyes, watched her with ill concealed hunger as she wrestled with the implications of their words.

"So I wont know whether I got it right or not...,"

"No" : The card dogs said: "That is the way of it .."

"Okay well let's do this then."

"Very well, listen well! What is the beginning that has no end, but is the ending of all that begins?"

A thousand answers rushed through her mind. What was it that began but had no end and was the end of all that began? Time? No time has no ending. Space? No as far as Sarah knew then space had neither beginning nor end. Then what? A circle perhaps? No again no end nor beginning.

The circle of life perhaps... And that was when realization reared up to smack her in the face again... A feeling that she was rapidly growing sick of.

Perhaps it was death, all life began and once begun it would inevitably end in death, and death did not end... or did it ?

Rubbing her face and instantly regretting the movement as pain flared from her missing eye. Sarah wished herself back to simpler days when death was final and magic nothing but fantasies to entertain Toby. Well she had to answer something and as far as Sarah could figure out Death was the answer.

"Fine" : Sarah said: "My answer is... Death. Okay yeah that is my answer."

The upper heads smiled in eerie unison : "Very well, what is said is said, now face the consequence."

The left door clicked as the lock released, and allowed the rotting door to open.

Trepidation made her mouth dry as her feet remained nailed to the ground : "And where will this lead me?"

"We know not" : Came the whispered reply: "Only you know the truth of that, now go and live with your answer."

Licking her cracked lips Sarah swallowed once, before forcing her feet to carry her out through the door and into the dull but blinding sunlight.

Stone walls stretched out before her just as they had seven years ago. And from this elevated vantage point Sarah could see pale sandstone and that creamy white stone that she couldn't put a name to, flow out into a vast ocean of interlacing corridors and pathways, that seemed not to follow any kind of pattern or direction.

This was the last leg of her journey the last obstacle between her and Jareth. It should have filled her with elated joy to see it, and yet the sight of it filled her with dread. It was vast, far bigger than she membered and this time she didn't have a clear destination. No this time all she had was a vague direction, and no idea of how to find him. Gripping both pendants in a trembling hand Sarah turned back to ask the card dogs what to do and where to go. Only the doors were gone, replaced by pristine wall.

Shaking her head at her own naiveté Sarah sighed and squared her shoulders as she ruthlessly pushed the almost overwhelming sensation of hopelessness down with a soft defeated laugh. She couldn't give up, not now, not this close to her goal.

This close to Jareth.

NO, No she couldn't do that.

Nope not that, never that.

Turning her back to the blank wall Sarah sighed with relief as she searched for that familiar pull of Jareth calling her, and found it there ready to guide her. Yes the pull was weak, but it was there and it was pulling her towards the dull glare of the slowly rising sun. Only stopping dead in her tracks Sarah gaped at the fiery orb that slowly but surely rose above the distant sandstone walls. It was not a sun it was an eye.

An enormous glaring eye made from pure flame.

Holding her hand up to shield her eyes from the harsh glare Sarah murmured softly to herself: "Are you kidding me, a great eye... What is this lord of the rings? ... And what would that make me? A fucking fat hobbit?"

"No ": Came a soft and familiar whisper: "It makes you a queen, my queen."

Spinning fast enough to make herself dizzy, Sarah's heart swelled as she found herself gazing into bruised and mismatched eyes, that contained nothing but longing and love in their depths.

"Jareth! But I thought..."

His raw calloused hand cupped her face gently, as he turned her face slightly to inspect the damage done to her with a look of tortured sorrow: "This sacrifice.. it gave me just enough strength to come here, but I do not have long. I came to give you a gift, but once you have it you must move with great speed. "

"A gift": She sighed as she leaned into the safe heat of his touch, and was rewarded with a light caress and an arm to wrap around her in a gentle hug. This was him, the true Jareth, and that knowledge made her heart sing with joy, and her body fill with strength. Leaning her head into the ruffles of his shirt Sarah allowed herself to breathe in the spicy earth and crisp fresh yet blood tainted scent that was so uniquely Jareth. And as she did the nightmare of the last many hours bled away. Goddess above, but she had missed this. The heated silk of his skin as he pressed against her. His hands as they skimmed up her back to dig into her hair. But most of all she had missed the feeling of his lips as they captured hers.

Letting herself melt into the kiss, Sarah wanted nothing as much as she wanted to just stay locked in this sweet embrace. But the crystal held almost forgotten in her hanging hand throbbed and pulsed with the need to give back the strength it held within. Stepping back she gazed deeply into his eyes, a feat made infinitely more difficult by the loss of her own eye. Raising the crystal up between them, Sarah said: "A gift... I have a gift for you too, but it is not a gift for an ordinary man. .."

"Oh": He replied cocking his head and raising an eyebrow inquisitively: "Then who is worthy of this gift? Hmm?"

"A King": Sarah said holding the crystal up, prompting him to take it: My king... our king... but not any king, it is a gift for a king who fights... a king who dares to not die for his people, but live..."

"Live ": Jareth whispered as he stared at the pitted crystal with both fear and desire: "I want to live... But.."

Terror darkened his eyes as he meet her questioning gaze: "I don't think I know how. ... It has been so long since I felt true life ..."

"We will show you, I will show you ... You won't be alone, never again Jareth I will always be by your side..."

The words fell easily from her lips easily full of earnest conviction as her eyes glowed with fervour. Yes she would help, they all would. If only he had the courage to take the crystal, and reclaim the power over himself.

Biting her lower lip in frustration, Sarah watched as Jareth wrestled the dark shadows in his mind for dominion.

His eyes grew dim and distant as he remained poised between taking the crystal and bolting. And in those dark eyes Sarah watched as dark shapes moved through the thin veil of sanity like hungry sharks ready to devour what fragile hope that might emerge. And then as Sarah began to lose hope, she saw it. Jareth's eyes narrowed and his lips thinned as steely determination chased the shadows back into the depths. His hand moved, and the movement caused droplets of scarlet blood to drip from the wounds where his claws should have been, staining the light coloured stone beneath.

Holding her breath for fear that she might somehow break the spell of the moment and cause him to vanish into thin air, Sarah stayed utterly still.

It seemed to take forever for his long wounded fingers to finally close around the crackled orb hiding it from view. But finally they closed around it, engulfing it. Then light flared golden as a shudder passed through him from head to toe, making him close his eyes while a harrowed look of ecstasy settled on his battered features.

Awe filled her as the golden light of dawn washed over the reborn Goblin king before her. Yes, he was battered and bruised and covered in dirt and blood. But still he stood proud before her filled with a life and light that even the injuries couldn't diminish .

Holding out his hand Jareth gave her a look of indecipherable emotions as the crystal resting on his bloody palm grew more and more transparent like a shadow at dawn.

"What a bitter sweet gift... Love ... Still I suppose that it is only fair considering the parting gift I gave you..."

"No ": Sarah said as sadness and joy churned together in her heart, yet the bitter sweetness of his presence pulled her closer until she rested her cold aching, blood slicked cheek against the tattered ruffles framing his slender chest. His arms were warm as they slipped around her offering strength and warmth as he murmured into her hair.

"I love you Sarah... and I wish that we could just stay like this forever.."

"Only forever ": Sarah scuffed softly: "But that's not long at all .. I thought that you loved me."

His arms tightened, possessively around her: "Oh but I do love you Sarah I have for an eternity. I stand in awe of your strength and your courage, and I need you to remain strong for just a little while longer... "

"I know ": She said as she pulled reluctantly from the safe haven of his arms to stand before him feeling suddenly cold and alone: "The last threads must be clipped, and time is running out."

"Yes": He agreed as he leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss onto her parched lips, before continuing : "This is my gift for you, make haste my queen. "

It was like standing in a warm summer rain as the azure glow of his own magic enveloped her in a rush of warmth. Warm power flowed over her seeping into her skin, changing it everywhere it touched. Feathers burst forth, covering her as her silhouette shrunk and became that of a small ebony coloured barn owl with one brilliant emerald eye.

Spreading her wings, she screamed high and piercingly and beat the air in great soundless strokes as she hurtled up towards the brightening sky.

Freedom. Pure and simple filled her breast to bursting and lend her more speed and strength. The thrill of flight drew her higher and higher, until the labyrinth was nothing but swirling bands set in an intricate runic knot, and it was by far the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. From here she could see it all, the forest of doubt, the bog of eternal stench. The plaza where the Wiseman had taken her eye all of it stretched out below her mimicking the shape of the eye above her, with the goblin castle and the ruined city as the blackened pupil. Circling the castle Sarah watched as the walls of the great towers began to crumble and cave in, almost as if to remind her that time was running out, and she was not slow to follow it's meaning and turn towards the edge of the Labyrinth.

Letting the softly buffering wind carry her, Sarah sped gracefully towards the burning eye, and the ever strengthening call of Jareth.

The wind died down as she descended towards the lonely wind burned tree in lazy circles. And yet the dead limbs of the huge tree that crowned the slight rise moved like sluggish serpents as they slowly tightened around their helpless victim. Dry grass whispered softly as their blades brushed against her as her momentum carried her towards him. Swirling azure light encased her as she landed silently and reverted to her natural form and size between two strides. Fear chilled her and drew her to reach out to him even as she was caught in an unseen web just out of reach. The thick branches of the monstrous tree were slowly but surely crushing him and blood already stained his lips as he fought against them for each shallow breath.

"Jareth, I'm here, I made it, I ... I.."

"Yes ": Came the low cold drawl as the perfect creature slid from the shadows of the withering tree: "So you did, well how did you find my Labyrinth hmm?"

Her eye never left the broken Jareth as Sarah pulled herself up and answered haughtily: "It was a piece of cake."

Grinning the perfect creature stalked forward in an eerie mockery of Jareth just before he had set the cleaners loose on her: " Oh really, well then let us see how you handle this final slice."

His hands moved in a hypnotic blur as he conjured two pitted and scarred crystals. One dark blue, and one silvery white. The orbs swirled and spun around his black gloved hands as he held them up before her. She didn't want to, but the movement was impossible to ignore, and her gaze was drawn towards it like a moth to an open flame.

The creatures voice was smooth as silk and dark as sin as it whispered seductively into her ear: "All victories have a price, only those prepared to pay it will ever truly win. And now the question stands will you pay the price? Is this pathetic broken thing worth it? If you are willing then you must earn your price..."

Sarah hated just how dreamy her voice sounded, but she had no control over it as she breathed: "And how do I do that?"

Smiling wickedly, the perfect creature flung out his hands sending the spinning crystals hurtling towards the trapped Jareth with an evil howl like the one made by fire.

The crystals swirled through the air to slam violently into the broken Jareth's already bleeding chest, exploding in a blazing conflagration of magnificent gold, marine, emerald and silver. Flames as high as the massive tree, leapt towards the empty sky as they engulfed the screeching figure and bone coloured tree.

"No ! No! stop it, stop it, let him go you heinous monster!": Fighting against her invisible bonds like a mad woman, Sarah screamed and cried, but gained nothing as the perfect creature merely watched her with a bored expression on it's flawless features. It's gloved hands moved again, creating swirling lines of bright emerald and bright silver as two new crystals solidified in it's hands.

Levelling a smug gaze at Sarah, the creature juggled the crystals in a hypnotic pattern that Sarah couldn't ignore no matter how hard she tried to focus on the horror of the flames and their withering victim who's cries were drowning in their deafening almost animal roar.

The smug expressions grew wider, but Sarah didn't care, all she saw was the spinning swirling orbs, and all she heard were the creatures seductive voice as it purred: "I have a gift. ... All you have to do is to chose ... "

Accept it... It all sounded so easy, so right, only it wasn't. Fighting to keep from reaching out, Sarah whispered: "And what is it? "

"It is all that you could ever wish for": Holding out the two swirling crystals the creature pressed on: "But it is not a gift for a woman who takes care of a snivelling cripple. "

"Cripple", the softly sneered word sent chills down Sarah's spine as they conjured up images of a broken shattered husk of a man seated on the goblin throne as she catered to his foul moods and bowed to his hateful barbs. Shaking her head Sarah tried to shut her eyes to the painful images, but that helped very little as the creature pressed on: "See Sarah what I am offering you! "

The images shimmered and changed, and to her horror she stood staring at herself as queen, surrounded by her family as she laughed and greeted her cheering subjects from the centre of the great plaza.

"See": The creature prompted softly: "See this gift I am freely offering, all your dreams come true, and you family to enjoy it with you. How could you possibly refuse? .."

Yes how indeed. Drinking in the sight of her parents as they beamed proudly at her, and Toby gripped her flowing skirts tightly as he hid behind her peaking out at the milling sea of Labyrinthian citizens with huge shinning eyes, Sarah choked back a tortured sob. Because goddess above she wanted nothing more than to reach out and grab a hold of the crystal with its alluring fantasy. She wanted her family back, their loving arms open and waiting to hold her once more. But they were gone, and the enticing crystal nothing but a cruel lie, meant to capture her inside its beautiful dream forever. Sarah knew this, she understood the vicious nature of the creature, and yet all she wanted to do was wrap herself in the dream and let the nightmare that was her life fend for itself.

And she would have if it hadn't meant leaving Jareth to die slowly trapped in his own mind.

"No" : Sarah sighed as she raised her head to lock eyes with the creature to see fear and uncertainty glaring out at her from it's mismatched eyes: "No... I ... "

The words she had been about to speak, died abruptly on her lips as old nearly forgotten words spilled easily forth: "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to take back that which you have stolen ... For my will is as strong as yours, and My kingdom as great ..."

Her face became cold and dark, as she ripped the magic that it had stolen from her, from the creature's fraying grip. And smiling as the familiar strength filled her once more, she used it to shatter the unseen force holding her like brittle glass. Shaking off the final shards she nailed the creature to the spot with a look of utter contempt as she moved past the stunned creature towards the flaming inferno engulfing Jareth.

The flames screamed at her like a living beast as she walked boldly up to it. And raising her arms, she silently forced it to part for her. Holding her head high she cast a quick glance up at the creature, before returning her gaze to Jareth and walking slowly into the conflagration. Her gaze never left Jareth as she ignoring the pain of the flames as they lashed out and licked up her exposed legs to char her shirt. The stench of burnt flesh and hair filled the air as she finally reached him, and wrapped herself around him shielding him from the heat as the flames shrank back like chastised pets.

Cupping his face gently with her left hand she laid her right on the withering wood, without words bidding it to release it's captive.

His weight almost caused her to stumble as the lack of support made Jareth fall into her with a soft grunt of pain. But pulling on her very last reserves, Sarah smiled softly as she supported, Jareth and turned them both to face the perfect creature over the quickly dying flames: "THIS is My choice... OUR choice, even death cannot part us and..."

"NO...stop look what I am offering, you! It is your family, just let me rule you and you can have everything you want": It's wide open eyes were deep pools of utter terror, as it thrust the crystals out at Sarah: "Please... Sarah no... don't..."

A cruel smile darkened her face, as she watched the desperate creature standing there with it's feeble dreams held out in supplication, and defeat plain in it's perfect visage. It was over, and all that was left was to utter the final words.

"You have no power over us ..."