The A-team to the Rescue in the Labyrinth!
Chapter Seven – The Rescue
Meanwhile B.A., Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Ambrosius arrived in the Werewolf Kingdom. The Werewolf City surrounding the castle had no walls or gate. The kingdom had no fear of enemies in the Underground due to its terrifying reputation; no walls were necessary. Werewolves are not very industrious builders anyway; they napped during the day, each keeping one eye open and sleeping in shifts to watch. They roamed, prowled, battled, hunted, and howled at night.
Sarah's rescuers discovered everyone in the city was busy getting ready to attend the royal banquet and masquerade ball. They learned everyone in the kingdom was invited, even strangers from other kingdoms with an invitation.
Sarah was very lonely and depressed while waiting for the banquet and ball to begin. She stood up in one of the castle towers looking down on the city and said to herself, "Here I go again, another masquerade ball in the Underground, only this time it's in a castle instead of a bubble. I wonder how I can get free this time!"
Then she looked down and saw three creatures she recognized, her friends. Ludo looked up and said, "Sarah!" All four of them looked up, happy to find her so quickly! Sarah saw B.A., pointed at him and asked her friends, "Who is that?" The balcony was very high so she had to use hand signals and her friends read her lips. "B.A., friend!" Ludo replied!
Everyone around was too busy getting ready to notice their camaraderie. Sarah said, "Wait a minute, I'll be right back!" She came back with four invitations to the ball. "You need these!" She tied them up with ribbon and her heart locket to add weight then dropped them from the balcony for her friends to pick up.
The heart locket had been given to her by a secret admirer in the Aboveground and she hoped to get it back after the ball. It was actually given to her by Jareth and if she ever said his name while looking into it she could have seen him, though she hadn't done that so far! Sarah put her parent's pictures in the locket, a picture of her Father, Step-mother, and Toby on one side and her Mother and Step-father on the other side.
B.A., Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Ambrosius went to the local tailor shop to purchase costumes for the ball (not that they ever need costumes!). B.A. traded three of his golden chains and a ring in exchange for the outfits, a sacrifice for a worthy cause. He dressed up as a pirate with an eye patch. Ludo dressed up as a dragon. It was the only costume left big enough for him. They were fresh out of elephant costumes which Ludo would have preferred. Ludo was at first frightened of his own costume, but got used to it. He couldn't see it after he put it on anyway. Sir Didymus dressed as a knight in shining armor with a sword by his side, ready to storm the castle (not surprising at all). Ambrosius, Sir Didymus' loyal steed, a sheep dog actually, dressed up as a horse.
The four rescuers were welcomed at the royal ball with no problem at all with the invitations. The banquet and ball room were decorated exquisitely with silver candle holders, burgundy candles, long-stemmed red roses everywhere, gray and white silk table cloths, and many elaborate crystal chandeliers.
Sarah came out; she looked so beautiful. She was dressed as a fairy with delicate white wings that sparkled, though it wasn't her choice of a costume especially after her recent interactions with fairies. She thought she could be a nice fairy, though, as fairies should be, in her opinion, yet not towards her captors, so maybe it was appropriate after all. She wished she was a real fairy so she could escape easily or, better yet, not have to be there at all! Her gown was burgundy, light gray, and white. It had intricate patterns on it and was made of velvet, silk, and lace.
Sir James Prowl-foot was introduced to Sarah by the Queen for the couple's first dance. "And hopefully our last!" Sarah thought. He was tall with muscular arms and legs. He had thick dark brown hair, wild pale green eyes, and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard. Sarah noticed his beard had some gray hairs in it and wondered if it was werewolf fur, age, or both. The aspiring Werewolf King kissed Sarah's hand charmingly. His facial hair tickled her hand though.
James wore a suit of black, burgundy and gray, obviously to match Sarah's gown. He had absolutely nothing sparkly or shiny on his personage at all, in stark contrast to Jareth (no glitter, lip gloss, or eye make-up!). The only exception was his buttons which were made of rubies encased in gold.
Sir Prowl-foot at first wore an elaborate mask that was half a human's face and half a wolf's face with a sun in the lower corner near the human face and a moon near the upper corner of the wolf's face, supposedly for Sarah to get used to the idea. He removed the mask when greeting and dancing with her, though, enabling a more inter-personal interaction.
He had a bit of a limp due to injuries acquired from battles, hunting, raiding, scavenging, etc. during his nights of prowling as a wolf that took its toll over many years. He didn't dance nearly as well as Jareth because of this. He had a few scars on his face as well. However, James was just as, if not more, sympathetically polite, charming, and even as handsome as Jareth was at the bubble masquerade (due to that hallucinogenic peach). This suitor was much more dangerous of course.
Sarah vividly remembered Jareth in the bubble. She said to herself, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but if I had to choose between the two of them, I would take Jareth over Sir Prowl-wolf any day!" (Jareth would probably have the better smelling breath of the two also).
After the dance and meal (the meat was much too rare), Sarah was allowed to interact with other guests. Her four friends secretly snuck her out of the ballroom without being noticed. It helped that Ludo and B.A. were much bigger than Sarah and she could easily hide behind them to sneak out. It didn't take long for Queen Lileth to notice Sarah was missing, however.
Sarah said, "Wait, we have to rescue Hoggle!" and she led them to the dungeon. The lone, skinny guard left to guard the dungeon that evening fainted when Ludo approached, when he growled at him and breathed on him. Ludo bent the bars to set Hoggle free.
Hoggle was very relieved and thankful to see his friends. He hadn't met B.A. yet and his eyes immediately lit up when he saw all the jewelry B.A. wore, though there was no time for introductions just then.
The six of them could already hear the footsteps of the guards and knew guards would check the dungeon first. It was already close to dusk and they all knew what that meant in the Werewolf Kingdom. It was going to be a full moon that night as well.
The six friends knew they would have to fight their way out and immediately prepared. B.A. stood ready to fight with his fists. Sir Didymus drew out his new knight's sword; and Ludo took a deep breath to begin to call rocks. Ambrosius hid since he wasn't nearly as brave as Sir Didymus claimed. Hoggle crossed his fingers and hoped not to die. Sarah stood behind her friends ready to pick up falling rocks to throw and use her feet to run!
Ludo began to summon the stones of the castle with his deep wailing voice. They cooperated well since the castle was old and crumbly. Soon they began to fall apart and roll. Sarah said, "Be careful, Ludo, we don't want them to fall on us!" The werewolf guards were distracted by falling rocks and a large group of guards were already blocked off from the entrance to the dungeon by them. Stones on the outer walls of the castle then came loose and fell away, creating a passage for the six friends to escape.
They ran as fast as they could. As they reached the edge of the Werewolf Kingdom, darkness fell and the full moon came out. They heard loud howling behind them and crept deep into the woods to hide, moving quickly and as quietly as they could.