Chapter Fifteen

His words angered me and I responded in the calmest way I could, yet my words were full of false bravado. Jareth obviously recognized them as such since he snarled, "As you wish."

I barely saw the crystal before it was tossed up in the air. It took me a second to realize what it was before my surrounding switched – and then the surprise hit my face.

The change in my surroundings I probably wouldn't have noticed – except for that I was hanging in midair suddenly, and nearly walloped across the head by several branches.

Too panicked to scream, I scrambled in the air before falling and landing in something wet, sticky, and heavy. There was a loud squelching sound as I landed in it, and the smell wasn't pleasant – though I highly doubted that it was that bad in comparison to the Bog. I felt like I had belly-flopped into a pool of Jell-O. Ouch.

The sticky goop, was up to right below my chest, though I couldn't feel the ground below my feet. In fact, I couldn't really move them that much – I tried kicking, but I sunk a bit instead of rising, and the consistency was incredibly thick. My arms wouldn't move through it either, when I tried a simple breaststroke pull. I sunk further – up to my collar bone.

The beating of my heart jumped up, and I realized that I was about to have a panic attack. What the Hades was I in? It didn't take me longer than a second to figure it out, and it was all I could do to not yelp when I did. Quicksand…

The wet goopiness of the substance between my fingers made more sense as did the fact I had sunk. I tried to stay still, but arms and legs didn't want to listen to me or behave.

So there I was in a forced, stiff position, yet I was stuck – couldn't move for fear of sinking, couldn't truly stay still for fear of not knowing what was here…A large squelch (definitely not a splash) occurred, behind me, followed by another, albeit smaller one.

Groans could be heard, and my shoulders hunched up, my hands flailed despite myself. I sunk deeper – but instead of staying in the same point of view, I turned back to the direction where the noise was coming from. Doing so, I noticed I was in a pit of some sort, where trees grew up the sides.

I was up to my chin now – the goop was in my clothes now, rubbing awfully – but I have to say I was more relieved than ever at the sight of those who'd landed.

"Lester! Glaw!" I cried. "Did he send you guys here as well?

"No of course not!" said Lester bitingly. "We just wanted a swim in this mess, that's all."

Lester seemed to have realized exactly what he was in, and had frozen in position. His neck was completely above the quicksand, and the top hairs of his back were visible as well. Glaw was another situation though – he was thrashing madly, his lighter body still not enough to stay above, and I watched in horror as he sunk under the top of the quicksand.

"Glaw!" I screamed, already trying to swim towards him. Unfortunately I had already sunk quite a bit and I dipped under, nearly to my nose.

"Hold still!" ordered Lester. I did so, but worried about my friend, it took all of my concentration and will power. Glaw still didn't surface again, though slight air bubbles could be seen. Lester continued to give me orders, "Don't move a muscle! Don't open that mouth of yours! Breathe through your nose only. Calmly Elisa – stay still."

The bubbles had a pause in showing up. My eyes widened, and again, it was all I could do to listen to Lester.

"He's fine!" he said urgently. "Just stay still and don't sink further!" Was it just me, or was he sounding worried and not as sure as before?

I could feel the wet sand against my lips, and against the sphinx's order, I then pushed my head up above the quicksand and gasped for breath, before screaming, "GLAW!!"

The bubbles started up again, thankfully. But I knew that couldn't last long and looked urgently to Lester who was still quite a bit of a ways in front of me. The pit was the size of a small pool, and Lester was a few feet away from Glaw's bubbles.

"Can't you help him?" I asked, desperately.

He seemed about to make another sarcastic comment, before he took a clearer look at my scared face. Lester just sighed, shaking his head, before carefully pushing himself towards the bubbles. I held my breath, as Lester suddenly dove under the sand, and then both of my friends were gone.

Bubbles still came up, and I was thankful for that, but time passed too slowly for comfort, and I started to panic. If only I had kept my mouth shut my friends wouldn't be hurt...but what about Aquina? Oh Zeus I'm such a failure! They're going to become goblins, my friends are all gonna die…

With a slow awful squelch, they surfaced from the quicksand. "Lester, Glaw!" I cried in joy.

The miniature dragon was draped across the wolf's back, and he seemed pretty much out of it. Lester's fur was littered with the sticky sand, and he didn't look happy.

"Now what?" he growled.

He had a point. "We get out?" I offered.

"Yes, Elisa, but how?"

I shrugged and sunk a centimeter deeper. "I keep forgetting I'm not supposed to be moving."

Lester glared at me. "Will you think of an escape plan, already? This extra weight will only cause me to sink further!"

"Well, why don't you think of a plan?" I snapped.

"This is a quest," the sphinx said slowly.

"So?"

"You started the quest…" he said, as if it was obvious.

It wasn't. "So?"

"You're the leader," Lester exclaimed, exasperated. "We're companions – we follow, and assist, but you're the one who's supposed to solve all the problems and think up the plans."

Pressure seemed to build upon my shoulders. And it had nothing to do with the quicksand.

What Lester said made sense in the oddest of ways – the person who led the quest or journey in books and movies, was the one relied on in situations such as these. The problem though was that it was as Jareth quite accurately put it – I was the one who got them into this mess, and my conscience wouldn't let me abandon them. It was up to me to get them out of this mess. If only I had held my tongue – but then Aquina would be facing Jareth alone, as well because of my meddling.

I groaned. Jareth had effectively gotten my personality down right on the nail's head – and my actions were obviously just a circle of events trapping me further. How was he able to do that? I wasn't even able to figure it out for myself until he shone the light on it. How was he able to know that much about me when I didn't?

"Any ideas?" growled Lester impatiently. "He's not getting any lighter you know."

The fact that Lester had actually made a joke brought me out of my thinking, and back to the still true fact that we were stuck in a pit of quicksand in Hermes-knew-where.

I was so going to start praying to Laima at the beginning of the rest of my adventures…if I actually made it out of this one in one piece.

Again, I glanced around hoping for an obvious way out of this mess. There was nothing surrounding me – turning my head didn't cause me to sink deeper. There were trees dipping over the edges of the pit of quicksand, but they were too far away for me to get my hands on. Damn, damn, damn.

Lester's yellow eyes were still on me. Exasperated, I looked upwards, wishing for something. I then wanted to whack myself across the head.

Why hadn't I seen the vine above before? It was nearly touching my forehead. Why hadn't even Lester noticed it?

"Eureka," I cried. I gestured with my nose (not an easy task, let me tell you) and Lester seemed to get the picture.

"Can you grab it?" he asked.

I glanced upward again. Definitely – but Lester wouldn't be able to, and what was to happen afterwards? We were very, very slowly rising – but it was practically at the rate rocks wore down! I remembered reading that technically if you were still in quicksand you would rise eventually if you were very still, but they hadn't said it would be at this rate! There were so few options at the moment.

The vine, I noticed, was draped over a high branch, but was in fact attached to a branch farther down, right above the solid shore.

"Can you grab it?" Lester repeated, more impatiently.

I nodded but did nothing else. "What about you and Glaw?"

"Will you be able to finish your quest without us?"

I was taken aback. My face must have shown it for he interjected. "Of course you can. You made it far along before you met me. Get yourself out and then maybe get us out. If not – go."

His tone was harsh. "But-" I tried to object.

"Will you get on with it already?!" growled he.

I nodded again, and looked back up to the vine. My hand trapped down in the murky quicksand felt heavy. That was probably the sand weighing it down but…Case and Jenny, I reminded myself. Case and Jenny.

With a probably unwise move, I gave one almighty kick with my legs pressed tightly together. I pushed my arms inwards, and then up before shooting my body upwards. My torso just made it out of the quicksand, and a sound akin to slurping could be heard. My fingers slipped on the vine and slid downward. I scrabbled, trying to pull myself upward and to find purchase.

At last I stopped sliding, and I clung to the vine. I hadn't made it far up – most of my legs were still in the quicksand, and as was my stomach. The latter was clenched.

I sighed in relief, trying not to focus on the next problem of getting out of the pit, but then heard a horrible creaking. Horrified, I glanced upward to see the branch the vine was draped across, bend downward under my weight.

Sinking more farther until the sand was up to my chest, I held on fiercely. But now the vine was just above the muck. The vine vibrated for a moment before relaxing. My stomach didn't and I wrapped myself around the vine more tightly.

My eyes fell on Lester and Glaw. I then glanced to the vine I was clutching and then back to them. Lester's eyes met mine. Wordlessly he understood.

"You think you can do it?" I asked, repeating his earlier questions.

He nodded his shaggy, sandy head and I fidgeted with my position again.

I believe I mentioned this already but…I am incredibly unathletic. I was always the girl who couldn't even make it up to the first knot of the rope at gym class. The last to make it around gym in laps. The girl who always got hit in dodge ball.

Actually the latter wasn't true – I loved dodge ball unlike any other loser kids at gym. But that's off topic and entirely different story. The main thing was that I could never climb that damned rope.

But now I was being asked to climb a slippery vine, with no convenient knots while escaping a pit of quicksand. And though I didn't have any taunting girls watching me…well there was the evil Fey King out there waiting to turn my siblings into goblins. Who also had a habit of watching me from his crystals. I really couldn't prove that, but I was willing to bet money…either way, embarrassing. Especially after being having someone like Sarah Williams run the Labyrinth before you. As whiney as Sarah had been – at least she had been able to hold onto the branch while hanging over the Bog.

I struggled on the vine. I tried to slide my hands upward but slid more. I was absolutely terrified of removing a hand, for even a moment, from the vine. I didn't trust myself in a moment like this, sad as it was. Even when so much depended on it.

Giving a pathetic whimper, I tried to hoist my hips enough out of the sand to pull my thighs out of the quicksand and wrap my legs around the vine. No such luck. I just made a fool of myself.

"Let go," said Lester, interrupting my panicked and guilt-ridden thoughts.

"WHAT?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"Let go," he repeated. "Then grab again."

"I'll fall!"

"No you won't," said Lester firmly. "Do it. Now."

"I can't," I wailed. As I said this, I slid a bit more. "See? I'm hopeless, a failure – Case and Jen are going to be goblins-"

"Yes," Lester interjected. "Yes they are."

I could feel my eyes widen. "But-"

"They are," he repeated. His eyes were fixed on mine. "They are if you give up now. They are if you continue to act like this. Is that what you want to do? Your attitude right now will have them as goblins."

"I-"

"No, no," Lester misleadingly growled. "That's fine. If it's what you want to do. If you want to risk everything you've done so far. Brought us all so far – had Aquina lose all her hope – solved riddles no one had ever – save a dragon – help defeat an army-"

"That wasn't me," I said weakly.

"Your evil twin then?"

"No, I mean – I didn't really do anything that great. I didn't even get rid of the goblin army-"

"Fine then," growled Lester. His eyes pierced. My hands slipped a bit more. I pushed myself upward a bit. The eyes lightened but he continued. "If it's nothing great then give up!"

"NO!" I screamed. Gripping the vine more tightly, I said fiercely, "I can't – don't you see that I can't? I've tried my whole life to get here – to anywhere like this. And I put my brother and sister in danger because of it. They hate fantasy and magic – they're not like me. They wouldn't even dream of being here. I tricked them here. And I've done everything to get here." My voice grew tighter. "And I'm doing everything I can to get them out. And I will!"

With that, I heaved with all my nonexistent strength and let go. I reached up and grasped. One hand over the other, I pulled, and pulled. There was a squelch as my body at last left the quicksand. I was lighter and I pulled faster. The vine shot upward a few inches, and bounced for a moment. I stopped, wrapping my mucky legs about the vine, and locking my ankles as well. I panted, and glanced down the five and half feet or so to where the quicksand's surface was.

I couldn't see Lester's expression, but he had maneuvered himself and Glaw carefully over to the vine's end. With a swoop he grabbed on, and bit the vine with his mouth. The vine bounced yet again, but held firm.

I said nothing, and carefully slid down a bit. My squelching sneakers barely missed Lester's head. I slid myself down more so that my legs were in the quicksand again – but this time they were more horizontal.

Again, Lester and I said nothing to each other, but kicked, slowly but surely towards the shore. Glaw was still out of it and our moving was slow. Since I had no watc, I couldn't have told you if it took us an hour or ten minutes to cross the sticky, heavy, nasty pit.

But finally, finally! We made it close enough to grasp solid land. I let go of the vine with one hand and threw my body onto the bank. I had never been so happy to get the wind knocked out of me. Lester was still behind me, and I lugged myself up and onto the land. Instead of rejoicing and possibly kissing the ground, I turned and hauled on the vine. The wolf and dragon were then in a good position for me to lie on my stomach on the bank and reach them. I grasped at the joint between Lester's shoulder and forelegs and pulled with all my might. He was incredibly heavy yet with him kicking, and my pulling, he eventually made it up and onto the ground next to me.

The force of the pull pushed me down to my back, and I just panted again. Had I really been able to do all that? To me it was like…winning the Olympics. Or rather making it to them – I hadn't gotten my prize yet, but I had completed something athletic. I had saved myself and Lester and Glaw from the mess I had gotten us into…

My breathing slowed at last, and I glanced to the sphinx beside me. He was spread-eagled on his stomach; Glaw had rolled off and was making odd noises on the other side of him. That was an all right sign, I thought. He seemed to have recovered from his venture under the nasty depths…

I looked back to the pit of quicksand, and pushed backwards. The sand up my pajama bottoms rubbed against my bottom. I winced. That was going to leave a horrible rash I knew it.

Before I could contemplate that and the wreckage of my favorite PJs further, a cough interrupted my thoughts. I looked to Lester, who was now staring at me.

I felt uncomfortable and pulled a strand of my hair. Wet, sticky sand came off into my hand. Squirming my face up in distaste, I tried to shake it off. No such luck. And Lester was still staring.

Several tense, queer moments passed. I then spoke up. "I guess I could do it. I just needed that bit of an adrenaline rush to give me enough strength. Like the old woman who lifted the car off that guy who got hit." I gulped. "Thanks – I wouldn't have been able to do that without you."

The sphinx snorted. "You were able to do it all along, Elisa. You were scared of what might have happened. But it was fine." He pushed himself upwards, and shook himself, not much of the sand flying. Stopping he continued, "Humans. You're so odd. You don't see what's in front of you. Nor do you realize the potential you have – and so you underestimate yourself."

Lester moved, nudging my shoulder, and I rose shakily. The wet muck shifted in my pants, and I could feel it in the worst possible place – my underwear.

"You're not so bad though," Lester growled, surprising me in two ways. I had thought he had been done – and had he just complimented me?

"Not so bad?" I asked in disbelief.

"No," Lester said simply. "You're predictable enough for us to help you open your eyes – and once you're pointed in the right direction you embrace what's presented to you."

It took me a while to wrap that around my mind. Long enough for Glaw to regain complete consciousness and begin fussing over the state of his wings.

"Thank you, I think," I said to Lester, carefully. "You're not so bad for a sphinx – you've got a sense of humor, and that's always good in my books. Plus, you're not only about the intelligence riddles – you know about the riddles of the world and mind too."

He bared his teeth – a smile I knew. "Correct."

It would have been a wonderfully tender moment of friendship between two recently reluctant allies. Instead it was interrupted by poor Glaw.

"Augh! Elisa! Lester! Help me with this! It's all over my wings – between the folds as well. My beautiful wings! I have no idea how I'll be able to fly! Oh Spirits…"

A/N: Sorry this chapter came so late folks...time spent in fixing it up, rewriting bits, and a suddenly extended vacation all got in the way here. I hope it's up to your expectations!

Many thanks to the irreplacable Sennethe who simply rocks at being a beta - and of course thanks to all readers, those from the start and have just gotten on board.

Please take the time to leave a review telling whether you enjoyed this chapter or not!

Posted: 9-10-08