15 MYSTERIQUES
Once they reached the lake, Sarah saw it had the same pearlescent sheen to it as the Mysteriques did, but unlike the Mysteriques, it didn't send her into a trance. Instead as she was staring into the water admiring its beauty she suddenly caught a flash of a face that caused such exquisite pain that she almost lost her balance. Stumbling slightly she managed to whisper "Jareth…" only to get a few sideways glances from her companions, but something in their faces told her they knew what she had seen.
Turning from one to another she finally landed on Hoggle but instead of asking stupid questions about Jareth, questions she now realised would only be answered by the Goblin King himself, she simply asked where they were going next.
"Ya see that opening over there?" He asked pointing towards the other side of the lake. She could just about make out a small door sized hole, and nodded in response, but the lake was enormous, it was at least a mile across and she couldn't see how wide it was as the ends extended into darkness. The Mysteriques, which were causing the main illumination were focussed over the centre of the lake, so it was impossible to see its outer rim.
"Well that's where we're going."
"Just how are we supposed to get over there? I'm not that good a swimmer, and I don't feel like having to walk all around this lake."
"Well yer wouldn't be able t' walk round it, it aint a lake, it's a river, a very slow river, but it's a river all right. And don't worry 'bout the swimming, that's what them's there for." He said, pointing up to the Mysteriques.
Not quite understanding his meaning she opened her mouth to ask him to clarify when she saw one of the Mysteriques begin to extend downwards, growing thinner as it did. It was only as it came within a few meters of her head she realised the tip of it was actually a face, well it had eyes anyway, and when it got closer she saw two holes on the very tip which could have been nose holes. Too stunned to speak she simply stared at it for a few seconds. She couldn't believe it wasn't a stalactite. Looking up she saw more of them begin to stretch down and the effect was amazing, suddenly they turned from being inanimate pieces of rock, to being smooth, supple, living creatures.
Looking back at the Mysterique whose face was hanging directly in front of hers she heard a tinkling laugh that seemed to come from nowhere. Glancing around she couldn't find the source of it until she looked back at the Mysterique and saw small wrinkle lines around its eyes, and indeed it did look as though it was smiling, even though it had no mouth. It was only as the laugh came again, followed by a quiet, almost childish voice that she realised the Mysterique was talking to her telepathically.
"Forgive me dear, I fear I may have startled you, and you are right, I am communicating the way you humans refer to as telepathy. As you can see we have no mouths, it is our way of speaking, do not fear it, we are perfectly harmless."
"No you must forgive me." Sarah eventually managed to say. "It was rude of me to stare. I've just never been spoken to like that, it stunned me for a minute."
"As it does to most people who have not encountered it before. However it is not hard to do once you have mastered it, you can in fact communicate with us the same way if you wish."
"Thank you, but I'd prefer to speak if that's okay. It still seems rather strange to me to be hearing someone's voice in my head. Most people would call me crazy." Sarah replied laughing slightly.
"I understand dear. Do not apologise. Now for getting you across this river. Do not feel the need to hold on, I assure you I will have you in a tight grip. Just relax and enjoy the ride."
With that the Mysterique wound herself around Sarah's waist and pulled her gently off the floor. Feeling slightly unsafe to begin with Sarah gripped hold of the Mysterique, only to feel rude for not trusting her so she let go and allowed herself to be carried slowly over the lake. Looking up she saw that the base of the Mysterique was slowly crawling over the roof of the cavern and she saw that Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Devon were being carried the same way by other Mysteriques. However Samael seemed to be in his element swimming through the river below so none of the Mysteriques bothered to try and carry him. Taking one more glance around Sarah settled more comfortably into the curve of the Mysterique and closed her eyes. She was tired suddenly. She had walked a long way, and she still wasn't feeling a hundred percent healthy, there was a slight tingling all over her body and she felt she could do with a few minutes rest. Just a few minutes…