Disclaimer: See previous chapters
Last Time:
"Sarah! Are you all right?" She nodded wearily. His eyes flickered behind her, then back to her before he stiffened and looked up sharply. "What… what happened to the portal?"
"Destroyed… it…m'sorry…"
"Sarah? Sarah!" Her eyes fluttered closed and her head flopped against his chest. He picked her up and touched the wall again, appearing in front of the nurse's quarters, shouting for help.
As she was pulled out of his arms, he collapsed into his chair, running a hand over his face. Ryuu raced in with Evie a few seconds later, the bleeding girl handed off quickly. He fell into the seat next to Jareth, frowning deeply.
"Is Sarah alright?"
"She will be…" The 'I hope' went unsaid but still heard.
"Jareth… I don't wish to sound heartless but… you should be outside."
"I know," he breathed, running a hand through his hair. "Stay here. Unless you hear a loud explosion and people screaming. Let me know immediately if something happens." Ryuu nodded, squeezed his shoulder, then leaned back in his chair.
Jareth stood, took a deep breath then plastered his Goblin King face on and leapt out the window, flying towards the field for some answers.
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Chapter 26 (May 1st)
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"If I die can I haunt you afterwards." Sarah grunted as she swung, sword taking out an enemy soldier. "What a stupid thing to say-grunt -when you're about to go into battle." The one running towards her was shish-ka-bobbed. She kicked him off the end of the sword and turned on her heel, racing towards another group of soldiers.
They were getting their butts handed to them. There was a never ending stream of enemy soldiers flooding the field. Carmen and Regius were standing guard at the front of the barn, the rest of the horses tucked safely inside. Cleo and Elena were side to side, battling fiercely, Anor and Meathor destroying anything that came near.
She carefully made her way towards Cleo. "Cleo!" she shouted, the centaur spinning round to look at her. "We need help! Is there any way to contact your herd from here?"
She looked pained and shook her head. "No. We must physically retrieve them-"
"What about that bird thing you do?" Elena asked, leaping to her left and rising to kick at a pair in front of her, wounded arm against her chest. "That green bird that turns into a note."
Sarah's eyes lit up. "Elena! You're a genius! Cover me!"
The centaurs instantly wrapped around her, keeping her in the middle of them. She held up her hand, focusing intently on it. A bird appeared, fluttering in her palm. "King Ambitio," she spoke to the bird which focused on her every word. "Goblin Castle is under attack. We are in need of aid. Please hurry." She ran a finger over the bird's head then threw it into the air, the emerald ball of magic feathers shooting towards the trees like a dart.
Swallowing, Sarah prayed it reached them and that helped reached her in time. Steeling herself, she ran towards Cleo's back, vaulting over it and landed on the head of a soldier who crumpled.
"Sarah!" Cleo whinnied in surprise then laughed. "Very nice."
"Thanks!" She grinned cheekily. "I know I'm amazing." Turning, she darted off towards an incoming group and began the now familiar spin-slice-spin-slice-kick-kabob-slice. She frowned when she turned to examine the trees. Soldiers were still flooding in but in groups at a time, not all at once. Why aren't they just overrunning us? she thought in confusion. There's no sense to this battle plan… unless they're trying to tire us out… but they would save more soldiers by just flooding us all at once. She spun on her toes, left heel colliding with the temples of the man on her left.
Heh. I feel like Chuck Norris. She turned and let out a roar, startling the running soldier and allowing for her to shish-ka-bob him. Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer! Too bad he doesn't cry!
"Good lord, Sarah!" Aidan cried as he landed near her, blood on his hands and around his mouth. "Where did you get this energy from?"
"Er… if I tell you, you'll just think I'm weird."
He gave her a dull look. "I already think you're weird."
She laughed nervously. "Chuck Norris jokes?"
An eyebrow lifted. "Who the hell is Chuck Norris?"
"FOR SHAME!" she shouted with a gasp, lunging forward, sword aiming for his neck. He stiffened but didn't have time to move, the soldier behind him choking as she pulled her sword out of his neck. She winked. "Stay focused, Aidan sweetie."
Snorting, he transformed and tore off towards another small group of soldiers, colliding with them and snarling. Sarah shook her head and turned in the opposite direction, finding herself nearing the trees closest to Goblin Castle.
There were more soldiers here and less allies but… if they got into the castle… She swallowed and lifted her sword to defend her home only to see a shadow joining hers. She spun around quickly and gasped, freezing as the sword swung towards her.
Hands grabbed her around the waist and tugged sharply, a whinny nearly defending her. She clung to the centaur's upper half as his sword clashed with the enemies and his hooves collided with the soldier's face. There was a bone shaking jolt as he fell back onto his front hooves.
"Are you all right, young lady?" She lifted her head and found a kind but older face staring back at her. She frowned, recognizing the eyes but not recalling from where. "Young lady-hold on!" He spun, sword slashing. She shrieked and clung to him once again. Once the movement stopped, he slid her to his back. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "I'm fine. Just startled." She looked behind her and saw centaurs flooding the area, fighting against the soldiers. "Thank you."
"You're quite welcome. If you're not armed, I suggest you find somewhere to hide. It's a warzone here and you shouldn't be caught up in it."
"I thank you for the-" Her eyes widened and she grabbed his arm. "Run that way!"
"What?"
"See that blue panther?"
"Ye-"
"GO!"
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Valdis, meanwhile, was battling her hardest. She slashed at the man in front of her, watching as he fell to the ground. A back against her own made her turn quickly. Haimon smirked, spinning the sword in his grasp.
He spotted her bloody claws and smirked further. "Claws, Valdis dear? How primeval."
She scowled. "At least I'm acting like a panther instead of a fae."
He snorted. "Touché. Touché." He leapt forward, slashing at another enemy while she darted forward, her next target already meeting her claws. As that one fell, she smirked and turned spotting Haimon still battling.
"Still going Haimon? I'm already done! Looks like primeval works better."
He turned with an annoyed expression and his eyes widened. "Valdis!" The panther raised an eyebrow, not seeing the shadow behind her. Haimon's breath caught and he turned to hurry towards her. "Valdis!"
She turned and her eyes widened, ears flattening against her head in horror at the sword above her head. Something collided with her as the sword was brought down, sending her tumbling head over paws. She sat up, shaking her head to find a brunette nearby, wincing as she sat up, a deep gash across her back.
Sarah hurried over, clutching the top of her shoulder where the gash started. "You all right?"
Valdis just stared at her.
The centaur that had saved previous Sarah whinnied. "Young lady? Are you all right?"
"That's what I'm trying to ask her!"
"I'm talking about you!" He turned quickly as someone tried to stab his side.
At the same time, the man who'd tried to skewer Valdis stepped in front of the two girls, sword rising. Sarah stiffened, the panther's eyes widening as the man appeared again. Sarah turned, not ready to be able to move fast enough. With a snarl, Valdis leapt at him, transforming into a panther as she did so. Her fangs enclosed around his neck, claws scratching every piece she could get to, the man falling backwards and hitting the ground hard. All the panther could see was bloodlust.
"Valdis!" Her sight faded back to normal and she blinked, realizing there was metallic taste in her mouth. Blinking, she leapt away, spitting viciously. A hand touched her shoulder and she looked up finding Haimon looking concerned. "You all right?"
She transformed back into her human self and nodded. "Fine. Sarah?"
She turned and found the brunette holding her injured shoulders. Sarah smiled faintly. "I think you killed him," she remarked in amusement. Valdis shot her a look.
"Sarah!" They turned towards the castle where they saw Alan trying to fend for his family, Kira at his side, the girls behind them, Katrina holding Edmund. "If you've got time to converse come help us!" Kira shouted.
"MAMA!" All eyes turned as a soldier grabbed Bellezza, the brown haired little girl crying and reaching for her mother.
"Stop!" he shouted, holding a sword up to the girl's throat. Sarah's hands fisted and trembled, Valdis' growling vibrating against her bones.
"Let her go!" Kira shouted and made to run towards her when another soldier attempted to kill Emily. Forced to defend her other three, she made eye contact with Sarah who nodded.
Glancing at the stone beneath the soldier's feet, Sarah followed it quickly towards the Labyrinth, realizing it all linked. Labyrinth! she screamed mentally, praying that it was listening. Please! Help Bellezza! A furious aura hit her and she winced at the onslaught, looking up at the soldier whose feet were suddenly on uneven ground. The arm holding the sword swung out to try to balance him. Sarah and Valdis shot towards the pair.
Sarah didn't know where her speed came from but she overtook Valdis, who'd also started running when she saw him stumble, and reached the pair before the panther, grabbing Bellezza and rolling out of the way as Valdis leapt onto the back of the man. The soldier flailed about, the others looking confused before a red panther joined the battle. Valdis wrapped her mouth around his neck and turned to look at Sarah who shook her head and sent a tendril of magic towards him, his arms and legs bound. Valdis and Haimon transformed back into their humanoid selves.
Sarah clutched Bellezza to her tightly with one hand and slid her other into the grass. Thank you Labyrinth. Now warn Jareth. Tell him of the battle. There was a squeeze before it vanished completely.
"Go!" Valdis snarled, eyeing the remaining soldiers, fingering the daggers at her belt.
"We'll take care of this," Haimon announced, pulling out two kodachi.
Sarah smiled. "Thank you."
Valdis glanced back at her and nodded. "Go."
Sarah stood, still clutching Bellezza. Kira grabbed Emily and Alan picked up both Katrina and Edmund. She heard Alan's gasp. "Goddess Sarah. You need a healer!"
"No time!" Sarah cried. She shoved Kira down the hall. "Go!" Sarah shouted. Grabbing Kira's hand, she tore down the hallway, Alan running behind them. They turned a corner and froze seeing a group of enemy soldiers there. Sarah swallowed as they spotted them.
"Get 'em! Hurry!" She spun on her heel, an idea smashing into her brain.
"Come on!" she cried. "I've got an idea!"
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"Come on Evie!" Samra shouted as she climbed the stairs, Evie panting behind her. She paused for only a half a second at the top, waiting for the librarian before tearing off down the hallway. Never before had she wished so hard that she could be a fae and apparate herself wherever she needed to go. She nearly ran past Jareth's den, having to skid to a stop and backtrack a few feet, nearly crashing into Evie, who leaned against the doorframe, breathing heavily.
Running into the room, she looked around, trying to locate the crystal. She spotted a glimmer of silver underneath a jacket and threw the jacket off a gleaming crystal and silver decoration standing there. Twisting the statue around, she found the gem in the center and pressed it.
"JARETH!" she shouted into it, praying they were sitting near one.
"Samra?" She felt her heart clench hearing her husband's voice. "Samra! What are you doing on the communications?"
Tears came unbidden to her eyes. "Toroku! Oh goddess! Toroku! There are troops everywhere! They hit Elena and they're coming out of the trees! Hurry!" A noise tugging on her ears and she turned to look over her shoulder, spotting a guard sneaking up on Evie, who was standing a few feet into the room, clutching her side as she tried to recover from the run. "Oh goddess! Evie!" Evie spun around and gasped. "Evie look out!"
Evie screamed as the sword raced for her, Samra feeling a scream tug at her throat as she raced for the librarian. The sword connected, biting into Evie's side. Samra reached her before the girl could be split in half, shoving her out of the way as the guard finished his swing.
Dropping to the floor, she swung her foot out, sending the guard to the floor as another came racing in. Grabbing his sword, she jabbed upwards making quick work of him before stabbing the sword into the winded guard at her feet.
Evie let out a moan of pain, tears falling down her cheeks, blood gushing down her leg. Samra quickly dropped down next to her, trying to heal it shut.
"I can't do it alone!" she cried. "I have to get you to the nurse!" Evie swallowed and nodded, letting the girl pull her to her feet, crying in pain. Samra wrapped the arm on the opposite side around her neck, clutching her sword in her other hand as she led the girl slowly from the room and towards the stairs. She paled as she saw even more soldiers heading up the stairs.
She quickly set Evie down, leaning her against the wall and taking a defensive stance in front of her, arms trembling. Toroku…
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Skidding into a room, Sarah pointed to the portal. "How to we shut that thing off?"
Alan was staring down the hallway at the growing noise. "I… we're all out…" he whispered. "Kira and I have no magic reserves left, no weapons to fight…"
"Alan!" He jolted and turned to Sarah who'd smacked him. She pointed to the portal. "How do we turn it off?"
"You… sum up a massive amount of energy to blow it to bits but…" He shook his head. "Why?"
"If it's destroyed, nothing can get through right?"
"Right. It'll just be a wall." He blinked then grinned. "We can get Kira and the kids through it! Kira come on honey." He handed her Edmund, the woman setting Emily down. "Take the girls home!" She nodded and ushered her kids through the blackness, disappearing.
"How long do you have to wait to destroy it?" Sarah asked, stepping behind Alan.
"Half a heartbeat. It's an instant transporta…" He frowned and turned to Sarah. "Why are you-"
She smiled warmly. "Bye Alan."
His eyes widened in horror and he raised a hand but she shoved with all her might, watching him disappear. Taking a deep breath she summed up everything she had and blew it at the portal. It was like a mirror shattering then nothingness. It was a simple stone wall.
On the other side Alan hit the ground hard, seeing Kira look at him in worry. He leapt to his feet, racing back for the portal when he collided with a stone wall. "Sarah? SARAH!"
Sarah took a step back, frowning and expecting more. As soon as that thought crossed her mine, the floor rumbled like there was an earthquake. She yelped, stumbling abound and trying to keep her balance. As soon as it had began it stopped and an aching 'just-ran-a-mile' feeling began.
She took a step back, legs quivering. That took more out than I thought it would… She stumbled forward, hitting the wall and sliding to the ground, feeling the stone rake against her injured back, breath hardly coming into her lungs as she gasped for air. Oh man… that took out a lot… Footsteps were getting closer and she sighed heavily then smiled faintly. "Least… they're safe…"
The group of soldiers stepped into the room. She scowled, shakily getting to her feet. A few grinned wickedly and took a step forward. Letting out a cry she flew into the first one, pushing him back onto his fellow's sword and stealing his dagger in the process. He let out a howl and the others snarled, hurrying towards her.
A hand went around her neck and lifted her. "Where did they go?" the man yelled angrily.
She summed up enough energy to spit in his face. "Go to hell." She raised the hand with the dagger.
He snarled and grabbed her arm. CRACK! Her eyes widened a scream tearing through her throat and echoing down the hallways, the dagger falling to the ground, broken arm swinging.
"Now what will you do if you can't use your right arm?" the soldier grinned, dropping her onto the ground.
She inhaled sharply through the pain and swung with her left. "I'll use my left!" A soldier behind her grabbed her and twisted that arm behind her.
"And if I break your left?"
"I'll use my legs."
He kicked at her knees. "And if I break your legs?" The man in front of her grinned, crouching down.
"I'll use my head." She swung her head back, ready to head butt him but the soldier behind her grabbed her hair.
"And if I break your head?"
"Well, I'd be dead then now wouldn't I?" she replied with a smirk.
Her smirked and drew his sword. "I suppose you would."
She shut her eyes, waiting for the sword to bit into her. Metal against metal sounded, grating through her ears. When her arms and head were released suddenly, she looked up sharply to find blond hair in her vision. Jareth spun, killing each quickly until all of the soldiers on the ground were dead. She slowly crawled up the wall and felt her knees buckling. He turned to her and grabbed her before she could fall.
"Sarah! Are you all right?" She nodded wearily. His eyes flickered behind her, then back to her before he stiffened and looked up sharply. "What… what happened to the portal?"
"Destroyed… it…m'sorry…"
"Sarah? Sarah!" Her eyes fluttered closed and her head flopped against his chest before she knew no more.
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Valdis let out a hiss of fury as yet another soldier charged at her.
Snarling, she spun around, knives digging deep into her enemy's flesh. Her blue hair whipped around, just missing her eyes as she charged forward into yet another enemy and quickly took them out as well. Smirking, she leapt backwards, avoiding being raked across the face by a pair of nasty looking claws. The owner of the claws quickly lost his paw then his life.
As she turned, her eyes widened, landing on one of her teammates. The candy-caned panther's eyes were dull, pupil less and glassed over. "Beck? You-" She froze, her dream slamming into her full force. She barely had enough time to swing to the side as Rebecca's sword jerked up and only sliced air.
"Beck!" she shouted furiously. "Stop it! What's wrong with you?" The panther didn't pause in her attacks, arms swinging wildly. "Beck! Don't make me hurt you!" she roared. When the panther nearly took off her head, Valdis fisted her hand and swung, hitting her hard enough to knock her out. Nothing happened. She only stumbled back a few feet then straightened, dull, glazed over eyes staring at her as she move back towards Valdis, claws aiming for her neck. Valdis pushed aside her heavy heart and tackled the girl. They both rolled a few feet from each other but Valdis was quicker, pinning her to the ground and reaching for her neck to feel for a pulse. There was none.
When Rebecca leapt up, jaws snapping at her throat, Valdis quickly transformed, wrapping powerful jaws around the other's throat, cutting off her windpipe. The candy-cane panther's right arm was pinning beneath her, but her left scratched at Valdis' shoulder and back. Valdis shut her eyes tight and put more pressure on her neck. The hands stopped scratching and fell to the ground, unmoving.
She stepped back, eyes watering before she turned tail and tore off towards a fresh wave of soldiers. Fury filled her veins and she destroyed the first soldier in front of her. Spinning, she tackled another and was going for her third when a foot connected with her ribcage.
Screaming in pain, she flew a few yards away, panting as she slowly crawled to her paws, head throbbing in pain, only to collapse when she was kicked again, head smashing against the ground. The soldier sneered and lifted his sword. She snarled in defiance but knew she couldn't move. A wild cat scream sounded and the soldier was taking out by a blond panther who quickly moved towards Valdis, standing over her protectively.
"Raniero?" she asked dizzily. "What are you doing here?"
"We came as soon as we heard of the attack," he replied quickly and she lifted her head just enough to see panthers of all colors rushing out of the trees. She let out a sigh of relief and allowed herself a brief moment of rest as he moved to stand beside her. "Are you alright?"
"Mm…" A sudden wave of magic spread over the grounds, in the distance, a wall of magic reaching up towards the sky. "What was that?" she asked in fear, unconsciously moving closer to him.
"It looks like a defense shield. I think the panthers have that as well when a large surge of magic other than the lord's is used."
Valdis felt her chest tighten. "Sarah…"
Raniero glanced at her. "She's fine Valdis. I know it." She swallowed and nodded.
All fighting stopped as a bird's cry echoed hauntingly across the field, all eyes turning towards the castle as a huge firebird shot from it, streaking towards the forest then arcing around the field, surrounding it in a fiery blaze. Enemies that had been running towards the trees to escape were caught in the flames and quickly disintegrated. Those that had stopped in time were killed by the centaurs and panthers chasing behind them.
"Valdis!" She turned and found Jason running towards her, cutting down a few people in his way. He panted as he reached her. "What happened to Kara and Kira?"
She transformed into her humanoid form, Raniero following quickly. "Sarah took Kira, Alan and the kids into the castle awhile ago. I haven't seen them since. And as far as I know, Kara hasn't been here all day. I think Sarah said something about her having a book reading in Crystal Lake."
The look of relief was immense. "Good. Kira and Alan are back at their lands but I haven't been able to contact Kara." He turned to Raniero. "I'm Jason, by the way."
"General Raniero of the Southern Tribe." Jason's eyes lit up and Raniero sighed. "Sarah told you?"
"Yup!" he chirped happily.
Valdis' eyes narrowed, ears flattening against her skull. "What did she tell you?"
"That he was the General," Jason replied innocently. "Now, what say you to killing off the rest of these guys so I can go check on my lovely Kara?"
Valdis bared her teeth in a vicious grin. "Let's."
Jason made a face. "You know… I'm glad you're Sarah's friend because you sometimes scare the hell out of me."
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To all Heal Me, Hurt Me Readers and Reviewers,
Uhhhh… weird.
One of my housemates (keep in mind it's like really early in the morning) just sneezed but they went "CHUUUUUUUU!" in this really deep voice. And all of my housemates are girls…
Uh. Yeah. Weird.
So yeah. I just realized, upon re-reading the last chapter, that I interchanged Meathor's name and didn't really give him a proper introduction.
Name: Maethor – (elvish) warrior (what he's supposed to be called in a non-centaur's presence)
Centaur Name: Hathel – (elvish) broadsword
He's very prince-like. He has that "regal" personality that's aloof yet confident, until he meets Sarah, however, and she reacts in the very best way she knows how in order to throw him out of his shell. Cleo is his arranged fiancée though neither of them seemed too pleased about it.
Maethor was going to play a bigger part but I introduced Raniero sooner than I was going to so his part has lessened. I still wanted to include him though :) Be sure that behind scenes, Sarah will corrupt him just as she has with Anor and Cleopatra.
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Okay, so this chapter and the last one were really confusing, even for me, so here's a kind of timeline of sorts to hopefully help you with some added story:
Beck is attacked in the morning, brought to Goblin Castle, Jareth calls for a council meeting, enemies move in
Elena gets hit with an arrow by a scout, Samra and Evie are sent to call Jareth, Alan/Kira/kids head for castle to find safe place
LOTS OF FIGHTING
Sarah sends an s.o.s. to Ambitio which is received almost instantly. He sends the centaurs that have arrived between the time Cleo and the others left and when he received the call for help, then sends a message to a group of panthers who were on their way to Goblin Castle to hurry their pace.
Eden gets a bad feeling at the council suddenly at the same time Sarah is nearly sawed in half.
Alan, Kira and the kids are chased back outside by soldiers who had gotten inside.
The Labyrinth saves Bellezza then at Sarah's command (and its own wishing) warns Jareth of the impending doom. Sarah leads the Crystal Lake family towards the portal. Moments later, Samra and Evie get in contact with the council. Samra cuts off the connection when Evie is almost killed.
Valdis kills Beck and is saved by Nero around the time Jareth/Jason/Honou/Toroku/Ryuu arrive at Goblin Castle.
Sarah blows up the portal moments after their arrival and the defense shield goes up not allowing anyone in or out. Jareth rescues her only a minute or two later and she passes out.
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Wow this has been a really long author's note… okay! TIME FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER RAWR!
Kadasa Mori
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