Chapter Fifteen, part 1: Celebration of Hope
The room was lit entirely by candles of every size imaginable. Their scents of berries and smoke drifted throughout the building. A cool orange glow surrounded the single creature who sat in the midst of the burning candles. He was not watching the flames dance nor the smoke waft into the air. He was concentrating on something entirely different. If one should have walked in one would have merely thought that he had been staring at the far wall. That, of course, was not true. He was looking through the wall and past many other buildings. His knowing gaze was directed to their guest who laid sleeping in an extra house that had been fashioned to fit her needs. He watched her in his mind's eye as she slept and dreamed. Her dreams were his as he shared her thoughts. She would never know that he had watched her dreams, for in sleep they never notice.
Leader sat there, staring through the wooden wall and ignoring the smoke that began to make his senses sharpen. Her dreams were confusing and he could tell that she was at a loss about what to do. He could feel a war going on within her. She had been hurt by someone who, despite her better judgment, she very nearly loved in some dark abandoned area of her soul. The dream showed her confusion, but it also revealed something else that even Leader could not explain. There was another woman in the dream who was not a manifestation of Sarah's mind. This woman was real, but she could come to the subconscious minds as they were put to work in sleep. It was strange. This woman was trying to tell his guest something, but Sarah simply didn't understand. Of course, neither did Leader.
His attention was roused by the necklace that Sarah wore about her neck. It seemed to strike a memory from long ago. Perhaps she would allow him to take a look at the strange medallion when they talked later. He would greatly like to see what was written on the one side. Maybe that would be the key to solving her problems.
Leader broke the connection reluctantly. She needed her sleep to regain strength that had been used up in the escape from the beast below. He took a bit of golden powder from his bag that was tied to an old and worn belt. Leader tossed the powder in the dancing flame of a nearby candle and watched as the fire erupted into a mass of colors. They spit into the air and very nearly touched the roof. The fire died back down, but remained in its rainbow colors.
"Take these dreams from her mind," Leader remarked as he stared into the crystal orb.
The orb let out a sickly purple glow and then returned to its normal appearance. He was not sure if the spell had worked. The magic was dying quickly and most of Leader's spells no longer worked. Very soon the disease that was ravaging through the rest of the Underground would reach them as well. Then, they would only be able to watch as their families and homes turned to cold, unfeeling stone. Leader shivered at the thought and blew the mulit-colored flame out.
He extinguished all but two of the candles and then settled his old body back on the ground. Leader closed his eyes and allowed himself to dwell on Sarah's problems a bit longer. The poem that had been sung struck him. The strange riddle would not leave his mind.
"Has she yet to discover the true meaning behind that piece of poetry? If only the ancient books were not locked behind the castle doors," Leader moaned.
The poem began as a sort of history of the Underground. He knew that. He had been taught by one of the great wise elves many years ago. That was when the elves still held the ancient books. That was before the great and mighty Goblin King had decided to prove his dominance and destroy the elves' lives. He hadn't killed them, simply ruined their homes and turned them into wandering nomads for eternity. The ancient books had been given to Jareth by the elves, though somewhat reluctantly. However, they had had no choice.
"Our world sounds as if it is doomed," Leader remarked as he drew himself out of his thoughts.
There was only hope in the woman. Her courage and intelligence where strong. She had beaten the Goblin King six years ago by reaching the castle and bringing her baby brother home. She had confronted Jareth and defied him numerous times. However, he had a way to trap her with his cunning mind. She was older and so she had become more careful about Jareth's craftiness. Nonetheless, the Goblin King had been careful and had taken her friends to ensure her cooperation. It was quite an intelligent, if not cruel, thing to do.
They were matched better than either one of them would admit. Leader wondered if that was the reason they both had the strange emotions. Perhaps, perhaps not. He shrugged and then slowly made his way to his feet. There was still much to do before he spoke to her. He was being lazy by not helping.
"I am too old," Leader complained as his joints popped.
He was not sure of his age. He only knew that the Goblin King had still been a relatively new and young man when Leader began his schooling. He could even remember the sweet woman who had come to the land shortly later. She had filled the Underground with music and happiness. However, the land was not meant to be joyful. The fates had seen to that by bringing an evil king to rule over them when the world had first been created.
The history of the Underground was bathed in mystery. There were very few left who knew the true story. There were stories told by hundreds of different creatures, most of them entirely outrageous. Leader himself only remembered a small amount of the history in the ancient books. He recalled a story about the Overseer and Destroyer, his evil brother, but that was where his memory faded away. As he had mentioned earlier, he was very old and his memory certainly was not what it used to be.
He grabbed his knotted old cane and limped from his house, blowing out the remaining two candles as he left. The sun was low in the sky. He had not realized how time had escaped him that afternoon. Leader had only thought that he had stayed inside for an hour or so, but in reality, he had remained pondering for much longer.
"Leader!" a small voice called from behind him.
Leader turned around and noticed Kyper rushing to greet him. He was proud of the young furrygatherer. The child had brought Sarah to their home. He had protected Sarah from the beast and probably helped her escape. Kyper deserved an award, but Leader knew that he had already received one. Kyper knew that everyone was proud of him, and that was all the recognition he needed.
"Kyper. Our little hero has come to grace me with his presence," Leader spoke with a broad smile.
Kyper snickered a little. He was positively beaming with excitement about the ceremonies that would be held at dinner. Kyper was lucky that he was being allowed to stay up for the celebration. Most of the time he went to bed shortly after dinner. After all, it was a special occasion. Everyone would be up and watching Sarah with anticipation. Leader smiled again.
"I'm on my way to waken Sarah. She's really excited to speak to you, Leader," Kyper remarked as he headed down the street.
"Hurry along then. She wouldn't want to be late for dinner. Oh, and Kyper, invite her to wear the clothes I provided for her. They should fit," Leader called to the young child.
Kyper turned and nodded in response. He rushed the rest of the way down the wooden path. Leader watched as he halted outside of Sarah's building and carefully made his way inside. Leader chuckled at the rambunctious Kyper. He had so much energy and so much life ahead of him. A twinge of sadness struck Leader. Kyper would have had a long life if the crystals survived. At the rate the magic was dying the whole world would be dead in the matter of weeks.
Sarah would fix it. A kind of certainty came to Leader. He would just have to believe that she could do it. Too much worry was not good for him. After all, he had trusted in himself when he had dreamt that she would come, and she was most certainly here.
"To be young," Leader remarked as he made his way down the path.
Sarah awakened to a cold hoof pushing into her arm. She blinked open her eyes and gazed over to Kyper. There was no sense of worry over the strange building. The moment she awakened she remembered the furrygetherers had invited her to stay and she had fallen asleep in one of the homes. Kyper stood beside her watching her carefully.
"Hi Kyper," Sarah replied, beaming.
Kyper returned the smile. He was glad that she had had a good rest. Sarah had looked really sick after the whole experience with the beast and the net. She had needed the sleep in a comfortable bed. She would probably also enjoy the dinner that was to be served shortly. Kyper licked his chops at the idea of all the wonderful food.
"I came to get you for dinner," Kyper responded.
Sarah was shocked. She had slept through the whole afternoon. She supposed that her body had needed it. Sarah stretched and was relieved that her aches and pains had vanished in her sleep. Even her injury felt better, almost as if it had miraculously healed in a few hours. It was absurd, but that was the way it felt.
Sarah looked at her leg and realized that her first thought had been right. The wound was healed and only a slight scar was left running down the side of her calf. Sarah stood up and stretched one more time. She felt renewed and rejuvenated. She was glad that she had decided to stay with the furrygatherers for one night.
"Leader wanted you to wear some of the clothes he made for you. He said that they should fit. Personally, I think that your pants need to be thrown away," Kyper remarked in a whisper.
Sarah giggled at his blunt statement and looked at her clothes. They had faced a lot the past few days. Her pants were stained with blood and sliced open at the calf. They had been covered in mud and dirt as well. Her once white shirt was now a dingy tan color with splotches of dark brown.
"I guess I could use a change of clothes after all," Sarah stated.
She looked down at Kyper. He only looked back at her with an innocent expression. Sarah motioned for him to leave, and Kyper hurriedly rushed from the room. He swung a curtain of leaves in front of the door to allow Sarah some privacy. She smiled at the young creature. He was just so sweet.
Sarah lifted the clothes from the ground and unfolded them. She was left with a lovely woolen shirt that had been lovingly crafted from some peculiar Underground animal that bore the likeness to a sheep. Sarah held the soft material to her face. She was glad to have something so warm. It would come in handy on the strangely cold nights.
Leader had also provided her with a simple gray dress. She looked it over and then glanced at her own dirty clothes. Traveling in a dress wouldn't be easy, but it would be much better than wearing her horribly tattered pants and blouse.
Sarah changed quickly, deciding to leave the sweater in the room for the night. It had grown warm again and Sarah's spirits were lifted. The night felt pleasant and didn't have the strange sadness that she had felt in the forest.
The dress was loose fitting, but it was clean and the material felt nice against her skin. The long sleeves flared slightly at the cuff, but other than that it was mostly plain. She tied a piece of twin about the waist and then ducked out the door to find Kyper.
"Nice?" Kyper asked from behind her.
Sarah turned and noticed the furrygatherer sitting on the wooden walkway. He had several golden balls, that almost looked like marbles, around him. He must have been playing a game when she had been changing. Kyper clumsily scooped up the balls into a bag, considering he had to do it with hooves. He looked at Sarah with a sigh.
"Need some help?" she asked.
Kyper nodded reluctantly. He hated not being able to handle simple things, but his hooves certainly didn't provide much help. He had always wondered what it would be like to have hands like the elves and like Sarah. They would prove very useful in the long run. Most of the adults learned to simply use their hooves as hands. Kyper doubted if he ever would.
Sarah picked the bag up and dropped it into a deep pocket stitched into her dress. The balls shifted around and clanged together in a musical tone. Sarah listened to the ringing note from the balls. Perhaps, it wasn't a game. Maybe it was an instrument. They did make a very clear and eerily beautifully sound.
Kyper rose from his feet and looked disgustingly at his hooves. He then placed them behind his back and walked to Sarah's side. He would just have to live with his shortcomings. After all, there was nothing that he could do to change the way he had been born.
"So where is this dinner being held, Kyper?" Sarah asked.
Kyper pointed down to the forest floor. Sarah cringed a little at the thought of traveling back to where the beast had nearly killed her, but she would have to return there in the morning anyway. She had to continue with her quest eventually. Besides, the beast would probably be gone by then.
Kyper stopped at a strange box contraption that was hung from a large limb. It had a system of levies and pulleys attached. Sarah looked it over and decided that this was probably the normal way to come into the furrygatherer community. She and Kyper had just accidentally stumbled across a trap.
"Come on, everyone is waiting and excited to meet you. I've told everyone about what happened!" he exclaimed as he hopped into the box.
Sarah stepped in and winced at the sound of the rope rubbing against the bark of the limb. Once again she wondered if her weight would cause everything to fall down. After all, she was heavier than any of the furrygatherers. Sarah gasped as the box lurched downward and then evened out.
"Sorry. I'm just learning to operate this darn thing," Kyper said with a sheepish smile.
Sarah placed her hand over her heart and silently prayed that Kyper had had enough lessons to bring her safely to the ground. The box lurched again and Kyper struggled against one of the ropes. He tugged it violently and eased their decent. He leveled the box once again and then slowly allowed the rope to slip through his hooves.
Sarah turned away from him. He was frightening her too much with his struggles. She would just watch the leaves pass before them as they made their way to the ground. Sarah looked through the thick canopy and noticed the moon had just started to rise over the horizon. It gave her a sense of inner peace and she managed to calm herself down, despite the bumpy ride.
"Toby is probably watching the moon right now. How I wish that I could just see him to be sure that he's all right. Jareth had better take good care of him," Sarah thought.
There was no way to see Toby. She had tried to use the crystal, but it hadn't listened to her pleas. Sarah shook her head. She had been foolish if she had thought that the crystal would actually listen to her. She didn't have the magic that Jareth controlled. He used the crystals not her. Of course it wouldn't listen to her. Sarah scolded herself for tossing the gift away. She hadn't even remembered to retrieve it before she left with Kyper.
"Hold on," Kyper warned.
Sarah looked down and noticed that the ground was only a few feet away from them. However, it was rushing up at a surprising speed. Sarah glanced towards Kyper and noticed that he had pretty much lost control. She lunged for the rope and stopped the box a few inches from the forest floor. Sarah let out a long breath and blew a straggling piece of her hair away from her eyes.
"You should have asked for help," Sarah scolded.
Kyper turned his gaze to the ground and scraped his hoof against the wooden floor of the box. Sarah lowered them the rest of the way and then joyfully stepped on to the solid ground. She suppressed an urge to kiss the dirt, but decided that she would only look foolish in front of her friend.
Sarah glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Kyper had remained in the box. She heard a slight snuffling and realized that he was crying. She had been too abrupt with him. Sarah had to remind herself that Kyper was only a child. Children sometimes mess up. She peered into the box and tapped Kyper on the back.
"Hey buddy, I'm sorry if I sounded mad. I was just scared. I'm not used to staying at the top of trees and being around heights. Do you understand? I'm not mad at you, Kyper," Sarah explained in a gentle voice.
Kyper raised his head and looked at Sarah with teary eyes. His fur had been matted down with wetness around his cheeks. Kyper sniffled a few more times and then managed a smile.
"Y-you aren't mad?" he asked carefully.
Sarah shook her head and helped Kyper from the box. She hugged him tightly and gave him a kiss on one of his wet cheeks. Kyper turned his face away from her in embarrassment. He had never been kissed before.
"I could never stay mad at you. You're my friend, Kyper," Sarah explained.
Kyper smiled shyly. He then looked around the forest for signs of the dinner. There was a warm orange glow in the clearing. They had already started the fire. Soon dinner would be served and then the real party would begin. There would be singing and dancing and stories. Kyper giggled excitedly and quickened his pace.
"This is going to be the most fun you've ever had!" Kyper exclaimed.
They walked into the clearing and the sounds of happy voices instantly stopped. Everyone turned to face Sarah and Kyper. From the center of the group walked an old furrygatherer. He used a cane to support himself, but Sarah was fairly sure that he was nowhere near the end of his life. The elderly creature stepped towards Sarah and looked up into her eyes. She could see his intelligence flash in his black eyes. This was definitely Leader.
"Sarah, you have finally arrived," he stated.
Sarah curtsied before him. It felt wrong not to show some sort of respect towards Leader. He was all Kyper had talked about for the most part of their travels. She felt as if she already knew the old furrygatherer. Sarah raised herself back up and was shocked to see Leader bowing before her. Sarah blushed slightly at this wise old animal genuflecting before her.
"I am very happy that you all welcomed me into your lives. And I am glad to finally meet you, Leader," Sarah said with a smile.
Leader raised himself back to his feet with aid from his cane. He then looked to Sarah with a knowing gleam in his eyes. Sarah wondered what he knew about her. After all, it was Leader who had taught the rest of the furrygatherers to read minds. She tried to stop her endlessly running mind, but to no avail.
"Don't worry, Sarah. We have all granted you a favor by not reading your thoughts. Kyper told us about your privacy," he spoke gently so that she would only hear.
"Thank you," Sarah replied in the same quiet tone.
"Let the celebration begin!" Leader called as he raised one hand over his head.
A unified exclamation of joy arose from the crowd of animals. Their savior had arrived and she would now share their dinner. It was truly a night of happiness and ceremony. None of them would think about the failing magic, not until Leader would speak to Sarah. However, that was later and now all they had was joy in the hope that Sarah was finally back.
The meal consisted of every food imaginable. Course upon course of food was served to the awaiting animals and Sarah. There was a cool juice that tasted different than anything Sarah had ever drank before. It was sweet and strangely icy, even though there really was no way to keep things that cool in the forest.
There were fantastic fruits that Sarah had never seen before, covering the center of the table in an elaborate display. A dozen delicate birds that had been grilled to perfection and adorned with garnish sat around the pyramid of fruits, waiting for someone to finish the succulent meat. Hundreds of pies and other desserts were passed about. Sarah managed to eat some, even though she felt as if she would burst from another bite. The food flowed like water and there seemed to be an endless supply. Even when dessert had been finished, breads were passed about. They were warm and coated in a butter-like substance that was a bit to tangy to be margarine. Sarah couldn't manage to take another bite and still the furrygetherers talked and ate, laughed and ate, joked and ate. They seemed to have a bottomless pit for a stomach. Even Kyper, who was so much smaller than Sarah, continued eating long after she had given up and pushed her plate, (still heaped with food), away from herself. It was obvious, the furrygatherers loved food! Perhaps they loved it a bit too much. She wondered what would happen after this dinner. Would they still have enough food left?
Leader glanced over at Sarah. He offered her a smile and then continued to chew on the bird leg that was clutched between his two chipped hooves. Sarah watched them with slight disgust. She had eaten far too much and was beginning to feel a little sick from the sight of all the food. The furrgatherers paid no attention to her, they simply focused on the food.
It seemed like hours had passed before the last creature scooted away from his plate and patted his round stomach. Sarah had started to feel a little more comfortable because some of her food had begun to digest. She was able to sit easier and gaze into the dancing flames of the fire that rose high into the dark sky.
A single furrygatherer made his way to his feet and walked before the fire. He took a small bag from his belt and threw a fine powder into the flames. It burst into a brilliant array of colors and rainbow sparks flew through the air. Several of them landed only inches from Sarah. She backed up, but found Leader at her side holding her in her spot. Sarah looked nervously to the fire and the sparks that were still billowing forth. They could very easily burn her or even cause a fire.
"There is nothing to fear. Our magic is not intended to harm. The sparks will not reach you nor the trees lining this clearing. Watch closely, Sarah. This is our storyteller," Leader stated.
Sarah turned her attention back to the furrygatherer at the front of the group. He refastened the bag to his belt and gazed into each of the crowds faces. He remained looking at Sarah for a long time. His eyes danced with the colors from the flame. He then turned from her and closed his eyes, as if he were contemplating something.
"I have a story to tell you about a gift given to our king and his evil nature. This is a story filled with ignored love and unending sadness that will cause tears to be shed for all time. I bring this tale to you tonight as it was told to me by my father, who learned it from his father and so on... This tale was originally found in the ancient book, bound in gold..." he paused dramatically.
"We can only guess at how the Underground was created, for that book was lost to us. However, we know that the great Overseer created this land out of magic and placed thirteen crystals about the land. He gave us an cruel king and then attempted to send someone to rid the evil from the king's heart...a companion..."
