Chapter Eleven

The dark still surrounded me but I felt better once I had sung. I was surprised when the music started playing around me, but I passed it off as another of the Labyrinth's quirks. I just hoped someone would have heard me or something. I wasn't forgetting things anymore – hopefully – but that could change quickly and without me recognizing it.

What would happen if no one came to rescue me though? The thought passed the front of my head and taunted me and my schemes. Would Jareth leave me here to rot away until I died? Or would I be sent home after the thirteen hours were up and be forced to see my sibling become goblins? For the first time since planning to wish away Case and Jenny I doubted myself. How could I stand to live with myself if I failed my siblings? What if I didn't make it in time? I had never included that into my calculations but now it was a much higher possibility. How could I have not thought of it before? Why had I thought of this as just a merry romp through magic? My siblings' lives (and my own, I was starting to believe) were practically at stake. How could I have not thought of such an important detail?

A light cracked through from above, effectively disrupting this train of thought. I shielded my eyes at the brightness as I heard the Sphinx's voice call down, "Are you done with your caterwauling yet? Humans…"

"I was singing! Not caterwauling!" I called back impertinently. Then I remembered that currently the riddling wolf was my only chance out of this oubliette. "But I'm done. Why'd I end up down here? I thought I got the riddle right…and don't Sphinxes commit suicide or go berserk once their riddle has been solved?"

My eyes were starting to return to normal and if I squinted I could see a blurred gray face what looked like five stories above me. I heard shuffling before the wolf answered, "According to The International Code of the Magnificent Sphinx I have two options. I can commit a very painful prolonged suicide or I can become your personal companion."

"WHAT?"

"I said-"

"No," I interrupted. "I heard that part. What do you mean personal companion?"

Shuffling. "It means I must help you complete your quest or remain by your side until you release me from your service."

I puzzled that out for a moment. "Does that make you my servant or what?"

"Personal companion," he stressed. "I have only to accompany you and assist you occasionally so that you complete your test – or die I suppose -- in order to follow the Code."

"Do you have to follow it?" I asked curiously, forgetting again that I was trapped in an oubliette.

I didn't know wolves could gasp. I was wrong. "How can you say such a thing? I have never heard anything so disrespectful – it's an outrage – it's…" For a second I thought he would have a heart attack.

"Sorry!" I apologized. "I'm from Aboveground, remember? I had no idea - I'm sorry – please don't take offense."

The wolf calmed down and sighed. "Just never, ever insult the Code, do you understand, Human?'

"I understand," I promised. "Look, if you're my personal companion can you help me with a couple of things?"

"I suppose," he said edgily.

"Okay," I said. "First, I have to get to the Castle at the center of the Labyrinth. Do you know the way?"

"No."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, do you know how to get out of this oubliette then? I'm not getting anywhere just standing here."

He barked, and I realized he was laughing at me. "What's so funny?" I scowled.

"It's a riddle – that's the second part of this corridor. You must solve the riddle of the sphinx and then the riddle of the oubliette."

"Oh," I said blankly. "What's the riddle then?"

"Just look around, human!" I was starting to dislike how he kept using my species as an insult, but did as he said.

When I had been given the chance to see again I hadn't looked around at my surroundings but instead had focused on the Sphinx. Now I could see that I was in an average sized area – no bigger than my bedroom at home -- that had glittery walls and only two items in the room. These were a floor-length mirror and a short wooden table.

Was I supposed to walk through the mirror like Alice in Wonderland? I walked over to it and tried to do so but hit my hand. "Ouch," I groaned. I stamped my foot and yelled, "What's the riddle then? There's nothing written or anything!"

The wolf sighed. "Of course it's not written, human. That would make it too simple. Just think it out. You're stuck in a room with no doors or outlets – this hole I'm speaking through does not count. The only thing in the room is a table and a mirror. How do you get out?"

"I don't know!" I exclaimed. "Why don't you just tell me if you're my personal companion?"

"Jareth's rules," the wolf said. "And honestly, he has nothing against us citizens of the Labyrinth assisting, as long as we don't tell answers exactly. Hints are fine and I've already given you too much. I'd rather go with the self-inflicted punishment than Jareth's. One sniff of the Bog and I'd be a goner!"

"So you're scared of him then?" I hoped that would anger him enough to slip out information.

"No," he said easily. "I'm scared of the Bog like any sane creature is." He paused. "I think you're over-thinking this one, human. It's not that difficult."

"So says the master of riddles," I scoffed. "Alright. I'm in a room with no windows, no doors, and only a table and a mirror. There is no other way out. How do I get out?"

I suddenly remembered one of those horrible jokes that the stupid jock boys liked. It was exactly the same. "You've got to be kidding me," I said in disbelief. "That doesn't even make sense – it's the stupidest riddle of all time!"

"You're in the Labyrinth – things often make little sense."

I shrugged. I supposed that was lesson two. I turned back to the mirror.

"Okay," I said facing it. "I'm seeing what I saw." My reflection suddenly had a wood saw in her hand. Being careful not to cut myself, I reached towards the mirror and then I found myself with an identical saw in my hand. "I did it!"

I ignored the wolf's grumbles and kneeled next to the table. "And I'm sawing it apart." Or rather I tried. Gosh, they made it look easy in the movies! "Hey, personal companion – do you think I could just saw the edge off or something."

Pause. "It should be enough."

"Excellent," I said in my best Bill and Ted imitation, letting myself be a little silly. I worked on the corner of the table until I had an inch taken off and in my hand. "Okay, now I have two parts," I put down the saw and shoved it away. "And when I put it together I get a hole!"

As I pressed together the two pieces the table disappeared and a black circle in the ground showed up. It looked like the Acme kind from Looney Toons.

"Do I jump in this now?" I yelled to the wolf.

"Do all humans ask as many questions you?"

I shook my head in exasperation and headed towards the edge. It was so dark that it seemed to absorb the light of the room. Creepy.

Have I mentioned I'm a little afraid of the dark, or rather what is in the dark? I didn't want to go in that hole but then I remembered my siblings. Was I going to not rescue them because I was a little scared?

I jumped and remembered too late that I didn't know where this hole lead to and I could break bones – which was another reason to be afraid of the hole, but too late now.

"AHH!!"

I landed sooner than I expected and crumpled to my knees towards the hard stony ground. Groaning I opened my wincing eyes and found myself to be crouched next to the sphinx, back in the corridor I had started in.

I pushed myself to my feet and said, "I'm not even going to try and comprehend how jumping into a hole under the ground put me above it."

"Clever," the sphinx said. I was going to take that as a compliment until he added, "for a human."

"Ugh, what is with you and being so prejudiced against humans?" I snapped. "I have a name."

"As do I."

I resisted the tempting urge to slam my head repeatedly against the stone walls. "Look," I said in as patient a voice as I could muster. "Thanks for helping me in the oubliette. Now I have to get going – I've wasted too much time."

I turned to storm off but the wolf interrupted. "I have to come along as well."

"Zeus Almighty!" I exclaimed, turning again. "Haven't we already gone through this already? I have to go now – you've helped me, thanks, but you can go do what you normally do."

"Unfortunately," said the wolf glaring. "I have to accompany you until you finish your quest or until you release me from being your personal companion."

I thought for a moment. "Alright, I release you then."

Snort. "You can only release me after the quest – or should you fail…"

"Fail?" I asked. "I'm not going to fail. I'm going to get to the castle beyond the Goblin City. You can come with me or you can stay here, but I'm going now. I have no time for this foolishness."

I turned and stormed off, this time down the corridor barely noticing that the stone walls had suddenly turned to hedges. I did notice the padding of paws and grumbles of 'human' that followed me soon after.

Ducking under an arch that had just come over the path I was on, I said. "You know, I have a name."

"Do you?" grumbled the wolf. "I'm pretty sure we've been over this, human."

"I'm Elisa," I said ignoring his last comment. "And I'd prefer it if you call me that. Some people call me 'Lisa, but I don't like it that much. Do you have a name besides the sphinx/wolf?"

"You may call me Lester," he said. "Lester Wolf."

You do understand why I snorted right? And why I could barely control the laughter that had infected my body?

"What's so funny?" Lester scoffed at my giggling self.

Covering my mouth I was able to stop my laughter. "There's an infamous wolf back Aboveground named Lester Wolf. He's notorious for loving pancakes."

"Pan – cakes?" He asked as if unsure of the word. "What's that?"

"A breakfast item," I said dismissively. "I'm sorry - it was rather immature. I just couldn't help but imagine Rooty Jr. and Spring Chicken when you said that." I stopped and turned towards him. "Let's start over. I think we started off on the wrong foot, um, paw."

I shook my hair back and smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Elisa."

He blinked but growled out, "Likewise. I'm Lester."

I nodded and started off again rather pleased with myself for fixing an uncomfortable social situation. If only it was that easy to make acquaintances Aboveground.

Keeping walking, I shoved that minor longing out of my mind. Due to the fact that my family moved around so much, I didn't really make friends well. After transferring two months into my freshman year I'd basically given up. I never knew when I'd come home to learn we'd be moving yet again. Keeping relations up took too much work on both ends of the 'friendship'. And typically I was the only one willing to make the effort – after years of this it was simply easier to put up with bullies.

Lester and I walked on through the next section of the Labyrinth. The stone walls had dwindled away and green hedges had risen in its place. The ground which had been cracked and dirty before had evolved to trim cobblestone paths. These paths didn't just stay between corridors of hedges though – some criss-crossed across larger open areas that might have passed as miniature meadows. Topiaries in the shapes of goblins graced corners and basically anywhere. There didn't seem to be any rhyme, reason, or pattern to these creatures – they were in an assortment of positions that ranged from crude to seemingly innocent.

After examining a set of topiaries that involved goblins mooning one another, I asked, "What is this place?"

Lester grunted and padded past me on the path where I had halted, "A garden I suppose. They're littered through the Labyrinth. They tend to be near the Castle."

I jogged to catch up to him. "I thought you didn't know the way to the Castle."

"I don't," said he. "No one does except Jareth. The Labyrinth changes too often to keep track of entirely. However, there are always absolutes that don't change no matter what."

"Interesting," I mused. I turned to the right at an intersection and cheered. "Hey! There's the Castle! We're heading in the right direction then, Lester." I turned back to him.

He nodded his shaggy head. "So it seems."

I grinned, feeling better that we were on the right track. The hedges had become shorter – about the height of the top of my head allowing me to see above them if I craned my neck. This path I was on now continued onwards for several hundred feet before splitting into a 'T'-shaped corridor.

Lester and I made our way to the end and I then turned left. A few feet after this turn off though, there was a niche that was about four-feet deep but then ended in a dead end. But in this niche on a pedestal – there must have been holes running through it or something – was a masterful topiary, the most detailed one I had ever seen. It was completely meticulous to its model, down to the very last detail.

It was of Jareth.

Some part of me wanted to snort and guffaw – another part though wanted to examine the topiary closer. I stepped forward, giving in to the latter part of myself. It was amazingly well groomed for a topiary – even the ones in Disney I had seen hadn't been as amazing as this. I could even see the indentations of where the Goblin King's eyes would have been. Not to mention a certain bulge…

"Amazing," I murmured while tilting my head to the side in deeper contemplation. Was it done with magic? Moss sprung from the top of the plant giving the illusion of the Goblin King's mullet. Before I could help myself I reached out to touch one of the buttons on the topiary's button before Lester pounced on me knocking me to the side.

I slammed into the side of the corridor and cringed at the feel of thorns and twigs digging in to my face and arm. Lester seemed to have just brushed me but with only so small an action had succeeded in knocking me over.

"Augh!" I yelled. "What in Tartarus did you do that for?" I disentangled myself from the hedge and turned to him, hands on hips.

"Look for yourself," He snarled. I was too annoyed to be frightened but turned to see that the topiary had disappeared and a large gaping hole was in its place.

"An oubliette?"

"You would have fallen right into it. The only way out of that one leads to the beginning of the Labyrinth."

I rubbed my head now embarrassed. "Thanks," I muttered. "I shouldn't have yelled."

He huffed and turned into the direction we had previously come from. Luckily the Labyrinth hadn't changed that path and we were able to head straight forward through the gardens again.

Lester turned towards me as we took a left turn that had us going towards the castle again. "Your head is bleeding."

"Huh?" I touched my forehead and looked at my finger. I had a smidgeon of blood on it. "I think I'll live." I said. Lester still stared at me.

"What?" I asked. An idea came to mind. "You're not going to go psycho and all blood lust because of this right? Because I never did get to read more than the first chapter of New Moon so I have no idea what you are supposed to do with raving blood-thirsty creatures…"

"I do not get 'blood lust,' Elisa." The sphinx said. His eyes narrowed. "It just ….looks worse than you are letting on. Humans tend to overreact about such things."

"I tend to as well," I said. I realized we had stopped walking and I started again. "It's just that – well, with my siblings' lives on the line I sort of realize it's not important enough to make a big deal out of. If I was in pain or something maybe I'd react more but I don't think the Labyrinth is the only thing that changes. The Runner changes too."

He nodded and we walked onward in a comfortable silence for sometime. The gardens didn't change all that much and I lost track of the countless topiaries, water fountains, and benches I'd seen. The benches almost looked inviting until I remembered Theseus and Pirithious and then I pushed on even faster.

Lester kept up with my pace and even pushed me onwards when I slowed to look at something or other. We didn't speak but we worked together silently until we heard the clatter of feet. Many feet.

We halted, and I spun around trying to see where the sound had come from but could see nothing. As suddenly as the noise began, it stopped.

"What was that?" I whispered, changing my voice level on instinct.

Lester had crouched into more of a defensive position and growled quietly, "Not sure, but whatever it was it's not good."

On cue, a squeaky voice called out, "Now?"

"Now?"

"Now?"

"Did someone say now?"

"Isn't that when we supposed to go?"

"I didn't say now!"

"Derbish Nob said now!"

"No's I didn't! I didn't say now-"

"He said now!"

"CHARGE!!"

As Lester and I stood in disbelief at this odd conversation, the goblin army stormed the open area we were in, blocking all of the exits.

Now, in the movie I had laughed through the battle scene. Everyone who watched it did. The goblins were pathetic and you couldn't help but think, "This is the best that Jareth's got?" Then, I'm here in the Labyrinth in real life and I realize something - Klutzes carrying sharp pointy objects are equally as dangerous if not more so than a trained professional.

I was torn between laughing at their foolishness or give in to my usual side and scream in terror. Instead I went for the in-between place and froze as a little laugh escaped.

The goblins – there must have been thirty or so -- moved into a circle around Lester and me. This was my first actual experience (minus the one that Jareth threw at my head) with them and I was rather pleased to see that they were as they were in the movie. However those jousting things looked a lot sharper in real life.

"Um, hi?" I offered in scared voice. "Do you mind moving? I'm kind of being timed now and though it's nice to meet you, I've got to go…"

"King's order!" An orange-haired one piped up. "Jareth says we to 'de-tain' you as we see fit!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah's that what he said!"

"King's orders!"

I gripped a strand of my hair and tugged. Bad habit. "Er, um, well that's good but haven't you ever thought of disobeying him?"

"What?"

"What?"

"What she say?"

Muttering some choice words, I turned to Lester. He was in the same defensive position and seemed ready to spring. "Lester," I hissed as the goblins continued to argue. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll take this side and you'll take the other?"

"What?! No way –"

"Or you can have this side and I'll take the other. I'm not too picky about which one's I take out…"

"Lester!" I exclaimed. "I don't know how to fight! Well at least not anything other that SING – and besides we can't hurt them! They're so little!"

The goblin with the orange hair tapped me with his spear-thing then. "Ai!" I yelped and spun. "What?"

"You the girl-who-said-the-words-right?"

That took a moment to process. "Yeah…"

"See! Right girl! Now what?"

Red eyes grew bright- "Bog!"

Suddenly they were all cheering it. "Bog! Bog! Bog!"

"The bog?" I asked in horror.

"The bog!" They cheerfully exclaimed as they started to push and press Lester and I towards the direction they wanted to go.

"Lester!" I cried out in no certain direction as I couldn't see him in the swarm of the army. "What are we going to do?"

"It's a little late for Plan A…"

"Your plan?" I asked in disbelief, trying to shove away the goblins. I had no success though – there were too many of them and they had those spears. "We can't hurt them!"

"Do you want to go to the bog?" A tone of disgust.

"Never mind!" I said. I shoved again and tried elbowing my way out but it was futile. These things seemed unstoppable!

I started to yell. Now when I yell, in case you haven't noticed so far – I really, really yell. My mom says you can hear me in Poland when I scream back in the states. It's not that much of an exaggeration due to the fact that I get a lot of practice because I'm scared of most everything under the sun.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! LET ME GO YOU DAMN GOBLINS! LEAVE ME ALONE! HELP! HELP! HELP! AHHH!! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE BOG! HELP! HELP!!..."

The goblins winced at how loud and shrill I was and stepped back away from Lester and me in order to cover their ears.

"Run!" shouted Lester as he took off, pushing through the weakened army. After a split seconds hesitation I ran as well after the sphinx.

Lester had the assistance of four legs and strength and was able to get ahead easily. The sound of the mediocre army recovering and starting to chase spurred me onward though Lester was still far ahead. I followed him, not really focusing on where I was going – only on getting away from the goblins behind me.

We were back in the hedge-y area of the maze. As I practically flew past these twists and turns, I realized in a part of my mind that wasn't in panic that Lester was leading us back the way we came.

"LESTER!" pant, pant, "We're going away from the castle!" pant, pant.

The goblins' clatter was closer. Lester yelled back without losing a single stride, "You can stay and face them!"

I turned, slowing down and saw the army a hundred or so feet back. "Yikes!" I shrieked before picking up the pace.

Suddenly, a winged thing came flying down from the sky and swooped over my head. I ducked, though it was farther ahead, but kept running. Lester had suddenly stopped and was now staring in the direction we had come in. Panting, I turned to see what it was that caused him to halt.

The green winged being was attacking the goblins. Attacking wasn't quite the right term though – the green one dove in from the air pecking at their helmets and hair – circling around and cackling madly. The well, thing, moved extremely quickly and I could barely make out where it was – let alone what it was. Soon the goblins were dashing away from the flying being; who I realized was actually herding them like a sheepdog in the direction he wished them to go.

It would have been funny except for the fact that I had just run for my life. I just panted helplessly as the green flier herded them out of my and Lester's sight. The outraged cries of the goblins continued for another minute or so before elongated screams started suddenly. Then it was amazingly quiet in the Labyrinth except for the cackles of the green being.

The aforementioned practically sailed through the air – performing a couple of loop-de-loops before landing on the wall to the side of Lester and me. As he rested I saw who and what he was.

"You're the dragon from earlier!" I exclaimed.

He tilted his head before nodding and saying, "You're the human who doesn't know how to ask a question."

"I know now!" I said firmly.

"Would you mind explaining this?" asked Lester grumpily.

"Oh!" I said, realizing I had left him out. "Sure. I untied this dragon earlier from the beginning of the Labyrinth. He gave me a little help but not much because I didn't ask the right question."

"Humans," muttered Lester and the dragon. That seemed to connect them for a moment as Lester inclined his head and said, "I be Lester Wolf of the Sphinx."

The dragon inclined his head as well and said, "I be Glaw of the Sage Tribe." The two nodded yet again before they both turned towards me.

"Um, I be Elisa Manning of the Aboveground." I offered tentatively.

The two nodded and I nodded with them. They stared at me for a moment when I realized what needed to be done.

"Lester is my um, personal companion. We're heading to the Castle beyond the Goblin City." I said as an idea came to mind as Glaw stretched his wings. "Wait!"

He halted and I continued quickly. "Thank you for getting rid of the Goblins, Glaw."

Glaw bounced his body for a moment before saying hastily, "It was really no trouble at all. I haven't done any good scaring since I've been tied up there! That's what us Dragons are supposed to do you know – we're to scare, and plunder and hoard and gorge and…"

I believe he would have continued on for the rest of my allotted time if I hadn't interrupted him. "Perhaps you'd like to travel with us then Glaw? Your ability to fly would be incredibly helpful in leading us to the Castle. You'll get to the Goblin City eventually and be able do whatever you Dragons do best."

The dragon tilted his head to the side for a moment before saying, "Payment?"

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"I've been locked up for years – I need to start up my hoard again. Payment will be a good start." Glaw said matter-of-factly.

"Oh," I said softly. Stupid me. I pulled off the bracelet from my wrist and held it out to him. "Is this sufficient?"

The red in his eyes stood out as he examined it from his perch. "What is it made of?" He asked warily.

"Plastic," I said smiling despite myself. I knew where this was going-

"No!" said Glaw.

-or not.

"What do you mean no?" I asked in disbelief.

"He means, Elisa, that he doesn't want it," said Lester grouchily again.

"I know that!" I shouted. Lowering my tone, I continued, "I thought plastic was a rare commodity down here?"

"It is!" nodded Glaw, energetically. "I don't collect it though – I'd waste all my time looking for it. It's better to collect things that are common as it'll be easier to stock up my hoard!"

"That's very interesting," I said in thought. "I never thought about it that way before." I slipped the bracelet back on my wrist. "So you want something metal then?"

Glaw nodded and I bit my lip in annoyance. There was obviously only one choice here on what to do but I didn't want to give up my necklace that I had bought with my own money.

A memory then came to me of Jenny staring in awe at what I had bought after I had come out of the store. She had begged to have one just like it too, but I had said no as I wanted to have something I only had for once.

Returning to the here and now, I resolved to buy her an identical necklace the minute we got home and I slipped off the necklace from under my blue top. I held it out to Glaw and asked if it was suitable.

To my surprise he leaned back after I had held it out. Glaw nearly fell off of the top of the hedge maze but soon recovered his balance and barely croaked, "Why didn't you say so?"

"Huh?" I asked intelligently.

"You have the sign of the Goblin King!" said Lester in awe.

That was then I realized something was really wrong. "Oh no," I said. "This thing?" I held it up. It glinted innocently in the light. "I bought this at a store at home. There's about twenty of them there at the very least. And besides – why would he give me a sign when he kidnapped my brother and-"

"It does seem unlike him," said Glaw dubiously.

"Very so," agreed Lester. "He didn't even give anything to the Last Champion and everyone knew about his feelings for her."

I didn't quite understand that but I felt that it was useful to my cause so I said, "See? It's just an ordinary brooch on a chain. Nothing to worry about. It's only lame metal. It's not even real gold or bronze."

This seemed to convince them. "So will you accept it as payment for leading us to the Castle?" I asked hopefully.

Glaw paused before shaking his head. "No-no. King wouldn't be happy 'bout the likes of me having that." I started to protest but he continued. "Doesn't matter if it is his or not – it'll look bad since he caught me those years ago. Bit of an outlaw if y'know what I mean."

My crestfallen face must have shown for he suddenly tipped his head to the side. "But the chain's rather nice. It's just a brooch attached you said…?"

"Yes, yes, it is," I hopefully said. The brooch was removed, and I held out the chain to him. Glaw took one glance at it, and then seemed to exchange glances with Lester. The latter nodded and turned to me.

"Elisa," said Lester. "Maybe it'd be better to have it just in case – you could always give it to Glaw once you've made it to the castle…" The dragon nodded. I didn't quite see their point, but time was a-wasting!

"Alright then," I agreed. "So do we have an accord then?" The dragon nodded.

"Oh, thank you!" I said warmly. Reattaching the chain, and then throwing it back around my neck, I continued. "Can we get started though? I'm afraid we've used up so much of my time already."

Before the words were out of my mouth Glaw started off and Lester and I exchanged glances before following.

As we walked a thought came to mind and I said, "Do you think the goblins will come after us again?"

"I doubt it," said Lester. "They're in an oubliette that leads to outside of the Labyrinth. Jareth won't spare anymore of his goblins on us unless we reach the City I suppose."

"How do you know they're in an oubliette though Lester?" I asked.

"Part of the job I suppose. I know where they all are – where the exits are – and how to set them off."

We kept walking as I pondered this in silence. My companions were now a blood-thirsty wolf who knew where all the oubliettes were in the Labyrinth and a hyper dragon whose greatest enjoyment in life was antagonizing people. Not to mention they seemed to both be prejudiced against my species.

"Good going Elisa," I muttered as I walked onward.

A/N: And Elisa's on her way again!

Thanks to all those who are reviewing, and even those who are lurking behind the fact they've added me alerts. I'm really honored by the attention this fic has received. Now if you'll just press that little button down there and let me know what you think...

As a side note - things have come up, and updates will be up at a more leisurely pace. So enjoy the updates when they come - if you want fast, speedy, updates go check out 'Possibilities' or my completed oneshot 'TwentyFive Signs You're Obsessed With Labyrinth.'

Thanks again everyone!

Posted: 6-13-08