Back to our Labyrinth runners…
- Chapter 9 -
Entering the Junkyard
"Aguamenti!" A stream of water sprayed from Harry's wand and diminished the bright fire in the middle of the gang.
"Aww…" The Fire Gang cried together. Harry had just put out their fire and they had stopped chasing them in their head hunt.
"Listen, we don't want our heads taken off! They don't come off like yours do." said Harry in his most Hermione-scolding tone he could muster. The four creatures that were covered in bright colors of warms reds and oranges bowed their heads. "Now listen, we sort of got lost in this…er…place. I'll give you back your bonfire if you show us the way to the castle."
The gangly creatures huddled together whispering fervently and shoved each other when they got angry.
Toby, Sir Didymus and Ludo moved over to stand next to Harry who was still pointing his wand at their overly carefree attackers just in case. The ten year old boy looked around their surroundings fearfully. It was dark and there was only blackness past the vines and leaves that hung around the tree trunks in the area. Sir Didymus was growling at the fire dancing gang and Ludo stopped whimpering.
"C'mon, man, we were havin' a bit o' fun!" one of them said as their huddle broke up.
Harry frowned in response.
"Alright! Alright! Listen up, y'all, you see dat? Datsa notta a tree. There's gotta door that will lead yah to da hills. Make it past da hills and yah will be at dah forest dat goes around the hedge maze and dah Bog o' Stench! Den yous and your pals will be at dah front gate to dah city, man!"
Toby turned to Sir Didymus. "Do you know your way around those hills and that forest they mentioned?"
"Ruff! Certainly, Sir Tobias! Sir Harold I commend your valor in battle! Most powerful you are with your magic!"
"Thanks, Sir Didymus. Do you think we can trust their directions though? That tree doesn't look like a door to me."
Ludo was already inspecting the tree, a finger to his lip. He poked the bark of the trunk and it collapsed inward and then sprung back. Inside revealed light that was obviously not coming through to their atmosphere and the distant shapes of rolling hills.
"Thanks. Sorry I had to extinguish your fire." Harry apologized. "Incendio!" A stream of sparks flew from the tip of Harry's wand and the area of hearth the Gang of Fire had been scurrying around was now lit up brightly with flames.
The four travelers stepped through trunk into the light as they heard the cheering and singing of the gang as they closed the "tree door".
The quartet continued to approach the edge of the landing they were on and the hills came into better perspective. Toby and Harry had both thought of grass or dirt hills when the Fire Gang had spoken of them. Both were very surprised to see the hills which were really loads of toys, clothes and other knickknacks. They began their passage through the junkyard, hoping to thread their way in between the hills.
Something told Harry that he shouldn't touch anything on these hills and told his friends to do the same. Again, his wand was held tightly at his side, eyes scanning for things that might be hiding inside or over the piles of rubbish.
It was strange seeing certain items in each load and he could see that Toby was eyeing a choice few as well.
Suddenly they came to a wall of mostly toys, dolls, and game boards.
'Childhood,' thought Harry solemnly. 'But I didn't really have a childhood, anyway.'
"Should we go over it?" asked Toby. The blue eyes of the ten year old were scanning the long pile, fearful of touching any of it even if his eyes were telling him otherwise.
"Do we have any other choice? We just need to stay focused." Harry nodded at the other three, Sir Didymus nodding back enthusiastically and Ludo nudging Toby forward gently.
"We'll be alright, Toby." Harry reassured him. Toby gave him a firm nod and smiled. "Those shadows over the hill should be the tree tops of the forest. Soon, we'll be at the Goblin City!"
With this in mind, Toby took another determined step forward and the four began to climb the somewhat steep hill.
"Temptation is laced within the rest of your path, boys…"
In the castle, Sarah looked up from the crystal Jareth had provided her with and stared into the Goblin King's serious gaze. The shadows that were swirling in those handsome eyes made Sarah worried for her brother and friends. 'What does he mean temptation?' thought Sarah. 'He's certainly not going to tempt those boys with a waltz around a ballroom…with a poisoned peach…he had threatened Hoggle to give it to me…' Currently, the dwarf was fetching his king and Sarah something to eat from the kitchens.
"You're not going to make this easy for them, are you?"
Sarah's voice broke Jareth's concentration of his own crystal. "I must, Sarah, I did not make it easy for you. I do not make it easy for anyone that challenges by labyrinth. Even if I were to try, my dear, I'm afraid the labyrinth will not permit a straight and safe path for any of its opponents."
Sarah shook her head in confusion. "Why must the labyrinth see them as opponents? Toby and Harry are challenging you."
Jareth waved his hand over the crystal in his other hand and it disappeared. He already knew what was going to happen in the hill…he wasn't sure if he'd forgive himself if he watched it happen.
"Your friend, my bridge guard, Sir Didymus, has told Harry that Fae magic was very powerful." Jareth stated calmly, eyes mixed with a deep sense deadly turmoil. They flared with clashing light and shadows whenever he did this. "I am invoking the power of the Labyrinth. As powerful as I am without the magic that was born into my domain, I can not use Fae tricks for my challengers."
"It wasn't you that set the cleaners on me then?" asked Sarah.
Jareth was silent for a moment while the other waited patiently. "No…I allow the Labyrinth what tricks it might want on the individual. She always has her reasons, Sarah. I'm afraid that the peach induced hallucination was my doing…with the help of a friend…"
"How do the challenges depend on the individual?"
Jareth straightened his posture on his throne. He was in lecture mode.
"My Labyrinth knows each of its challengers, more than even the challenger does. When you accepted the quest to reclaim your brother, Sarah, you opened yourself to my Labyrinth, opened to her all your desires, secrets and fears. I must bide my time watching the runners and studying them to figure them out. Some runners take more time to figure out than others." His eyes flashed at Sarah. "I'm still trying to figure most of you out, love. In any case, my Labyrinth can sense the good and bad in one's heart as well. She knows whether you deserve to win or not and then it must be the runner to find it in themselves to finish their quest. But my Labyrinth is picky…if she did not like Harry's attack against the Fieries, feeling his intentions to be ill, she would have instilled great power into the Fieries and they might have succeeded in beheading the young wizard."
Sarah paled at his words. "So Harry is of good heart, then?" 'He has to be,' thought Sarah. 'I've heard things about what he's done…about that sadistic Dark Lord that is terrorizing the wizard world in Europe…'
"Why are you going to teach in Hogwarts if you know of the danger this Voldemort presents, Sarah?"
Sarah looked up. She saw concern in his eyes…
"I've wanted to teach for so long… After being taught so many lessons…here…Salem… I want to teach others what I know. Hogwarts has something special for me, I can feel it."
"Special somethings don't come easily, Sarah."
It hurt to look at him for much longer. "Don't look at me that way, Goblin King," she muttered harshly.
Jareth leaned back on his throne, eyes closed. "My Labyrinth belongs to me, Sarah, and I to her. She told me when I first laid eyes on you not to…you were not ready. You were certainly ready for her lessons as well as mine but—" He sighed heavily. "You were not ready for me. Right now, she can sense Toby and Harry's fear increasing. Will they ever get to you in time? Toby doesn't want to loose you. Harry does not wish to disappoint. Both are afraid of failure along with…other things. Do you know why my Labyrinth wants these challengers to come?"
Sarah looked puzzled at his question. "Why?" she asked.
The crystal showing the two figures of the boys glowed softly…suddenly only one was left in the image.
"She wants to make them better. Whether they loose the prize in the end, they usually keep her lessons even after their memories have been erased. My labyrinth wanted to do that for you, Sarah. She wasn't going to give up on you…Harry has his enemies to be faced."
"Harry! Harry's disappeared! Where did he go…where…no…" Sarah panicked as she turned back to the crystal in her hand. "Y-You wouldn't! You wouldn't make him face that Dark wizard there…not now!"
"No, not that Modlymort chap, Sarah. Harry…must face what he has been suppressing…"
"Please, Jareth, please don't hurt the boy." she pleaded, eyes wide.
Jareth's eyes turned dark. It made Sarah shiver without her notice. "He must face his guilt, Sarah."
A/N: Remember that I would love to hear what you think! Leave a review please!