so i thought i'd post ch 17 a little earlier than normal, hope you enjoy it!
Sarah's P.O.V
Sarah ran through many corridors and up and down several flights of stairs until she was completely lost. Out of breath she stopped and threw herself down onto the top step of a stair case she could have sworn she'd already been down twice.
Angry tears trailed down her cheeks, crossly she wiped them away.
"Damn you Jareth!" she muttered to herself, "You won't get away with this!"
She had no idea how she could help her friends, she just knew that she wasn't going to give in without a fight. Sarah hoped that despite what Hoggle had said about no one wanting to rescue them from the Outlands that Allana would be willing to do so. If Sarah could she would go herself, but she didn't think that would help. Even if she could escape from the Labyrinth and its King, she wouldn't have been much help to them. Sarah didn't know where the mountain Allana had spoken of was, and if she couldn't get her friends there, they would still be in danger from Jareth. If she left to rescue them Jareth would see it as her breaking their contract and then he'd be able to harm her friends and she'd still be trapped. If Allana couldn't rescue her friends then she was at an utter loss.
A patter of feet caused her to look up. There, struggling up the steps towards towards her was Meep.
"Lady… runs…fast" the Goblin panted as he reached the top.
"You were following me?" Sarah asked picking up the tired creature and sitting him on her lap. Meep nodded.
"Lady remember what Meep tolds her today?" He asked.
"No…Oh wait." Sarah said remembering what Meep had told that morning about the Goblins being ordered to follow her. It seemed Jareth trusted her just as much as she trusted him. She'd never be able to rescue her friends with his spies watching her every move.
"Is it just you?" she asked softly. Meep shook his head, his saucepan hat swinging from side to side.
"Meep sorry about lady's friends." The Little Goblin whispered patting her hand.
She smiled weakly at him and sighed, she reached out and straightened Meep's hat. She needed to change the subject; she didn't feel like discussing her friend's fate right now.
"What is it with you Goblins and wearing kitchen utensils? I've seen a Goblin wearing a colander, another with a small oven pan strapped across his chest. And strangest of all a Goblin with a belt made of spoons."
Meep smiled up at her showing his crooked teeth.
"That's Mags. Meep like Mags." The little Goblin said happily. Sarah smiled down at him
"And Mags fondness for spoons?" she asked.
Meep shrugged.
"Spoons shiny." He replied simply.
Sarah nodded.
"Is that why you like Kitchen appliances? Because their shiny?" She asked.
Meep stroked he steel hat lovingly.
"Mostly, they also make good armour and we hurts less when King kicks us into wall stead of out window.
Meep seeing Sarah's shock tried to reassure her.
"Oh don't worry lady, we likes it. We makes bets ta see how highs we can gets." Meep told her excitedly, "one time King kicks Meep so high Meep hit the roof!"
Sarah frowned disapprovingly; Meep looked too small to be treated that way. She didn't care if it annoyed Jareth she was going to tell him to stop Kick the Goblins even if they did like it.
"Ooh Pretty. Meep whispered.
Sarah glanced down at the Goblin who was staring fixedly at her chest and red glint glittering in his eyes. Sarah looked to see that the red stone in the centre of her pendant was glowing. Sarah briefly thought back to what Allana had said to her.
"When I get as close to the castle as I can without arousing the Goblin King's suspicion the Pendant will lead you to me."
She had told Sarah that she would arrive late morning. She glanced out of a nearby window, the sun was making its accent into the sky but it was not overhead yet.
She looked back at the Goblin on her lap who was still staring intently at her necklace. She bent lower to whisper in his ear, praying that none of the other Goblins would overhear.
"Meep I need you to do me a really big favour." She whispered. The little Goblin blinked up at her. "I need to speak to someone urgently and I don't want Jareth to find out. Can you stop the Goblin's from following me?" She asked him in hushed tones.
Meep looked worried and started to tremble.
"Please Meep," Sarah whispered urgently, "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."
"What if King asks if Meep knows somthin?"
"Make something up; tell him what he wants to hear." Sarah suggested.
Meep gulped and tried to steady his trembling form.
"Meep do it!" He said courageously, the goblin leaned in close and whispered to her, "Meep cause chaos, then Lady sneak aways!"
And with that Meep quickly vanished. Sarah didn't know what Meep meant by 'chaos' but she didn't have to wait long to find out.
Only a few minutes Later a loud bang and clatter came from one of the rooms down the corridor behind her. She turned in time to see one of the doors halfway down the passage burst open with a crash and out flew pots and pans, suits of armour and dozens of black chickens. Sarah watched as everything clattered to the floor. Moments later fours Goblins all appeared from where they had been hiding, two from the rafters in the roof, another from behind a large statue and the fourth from under one of the flagstones in the floor.
"I thought I tolds ya ta hind thems where they couldn'ts escapes!" One cried.
"If King find chickens in castle again he'll Bog us all!" Another wailed.
"Quick! Hide thems somewhere else before King finds them!" the third one shouted.
All four rushed to catch the loose chickens, who were causing a loud commotion as more things fell out of the door.
Sarah seized her chance and ran down the stairs. She didn't stop running until the noise of the Chickens and the Goblins was faint in the distance. She glanced around to check no one was watching then darted into an alcove. She took the pendant from around her neck and held it in her hand. The stone was still glowing a blood red.
"Well then," she whispered, "show me where to go."
The stone dimmed and for a moment Sarah thought something was wrong, and then the stone shone so brightly Sarah had to shut her eyes against the red glare. When she opened her eyes again the stone was no longer glowing, in fact all the colour was gone leaving the stone clear, but their fluttering above the pendant was the most beautiful butterfly Sarah had ever seen.
Its wings were a ruby red, the same colour that the stone had been, and glowed. Sarah raised her hand and watched as the butterfly settled on her finger. It fluttered its wings a few times as Sarah brought it up to her face to examine it more closely. She could see that its head, thorax and veins were a slightly darker red than the scales. And the red glow that surrounded it was only coming from the scales and not its body.
Its wings beat faster and it lifted off her finger. Sarah watched as the insect fluttered away. Sarah quickly looked around again then hurried after it. She was led down many passages and flights of stairs to a part of the Castle she hadn't seen before. Sarah thought it might be the area of wear the servants lived and worked, she'd had to duck behind things as Goblins rushed past.
The butterfly stopped in front of a shut door and hovered in the air. Glancing over her shoulder, Sarah checked to make sure no one was coming before reaching out to unbolt the door. The bolt was stiff as if it wasn't used often; with difficulty she pushed the bolt back. The wooden door swung open, beyond was a passage that led to another big door. Sarah followed as the Butterfly flew down the Passage. She survived the second door, this one didn't have a bolt, and it didn't have anything else for that matter either, no keyhole not even a door knob. Sarah pushed at the door but it didn't budge. She turned to the flapping Butterfly.
"What now?" She asked desperately, the butterfly just hovered next to her waiting expectantly. Sarah pushed at the door again but still nothing.
"What is with this place?" Sarah snapped angrily, ramming her shoulder against the door. "Every time you really need to get through a door there's always some trick or challenge!"
She glared at the still unmovable door. Then a memory flashed through her mind. Two doors with Door knockers, one with a ring in its mouth, the other a ring through its ears.
"Wait a second," Sarah muttered what had the one with the ring in its mouth told her?
"Knock and the door will open."
Sarah reached out a tentative hand and knocked on the door. To her delight it immediately swung open and she stepped through. Before the door could shut the Butterfly flittered through.
"Well hello there!" the cheery voice from behind her made her jump. She whirled round to see a door knocker similar to the ones she had met before only this one had a ring through his nose.
"Oh hello" Sarah said politely. The door knocker beamed down at her.
"It's so lovely to see someone who isn't a Goblin." The knocker told her seriously, "You wouldn't believe how rude Goblin can be, never a hello or goodbye, just bang on my door and ignore me. I get very sad sometimes."
"I'm sorry, is there anything I can do to help?" Sarah asked.
The Knocker smiled kindly down at her.
"You actually speaking to me my dear is help enough. It's a really nice change; the most I usually get is a single word. My name is Reginald by the way."
"It's nice to meet you Reginald, I'm Sarah."
"The Sarah? The Sarah who took back the child who was stolen? The Sarah who bested the Goblin King?" Reginald asked surprised.
"Err… Yes that's me." Sarah answered awkwardly.
"Well how wonderful to meet you Lady Sarah! Absolutely marvellous! I overheard two Goblin maids gossiping about your heroic advantage only the other day! Did you really do all that by yourself?" Reginald asked excitedly.
"Well actually my friends helped me." Sarah told him.
"Friends!" Reginald cried, "I wish I had friends, maybe then I wouldn't get so lonely." Reginald said sadly.
Sarah sighed and stepped up to the door and patted Reginald on the head.
"You know when you get lonely you could always try singing to yourself." Sarah suggested to him.
At that Reginald's eyes brightened.
"Your right!" He said, "That's a brilliant idea, I don't know why I didn't think of it before!"
The Butterfly flitted frantically in front of Sarah's face, desperately trying to gain her attention. Sarah remembered that she was meant to be following it.
"Erm sorry Reginald," Sarah said as she began to follow the butterfly again. "I've got to run but it was nice meeting you."
"Of cause Lady Sarah, do not let me detain you any longer. Please feel free to come back anytime you like." He called after her. Sarah waved back and carried on.
"Such a nice girl," Reginald murmured, "now what song should I sing, there's that one about creaky doors I like or how about that song I heard from the Castle a few weeks back. Something about dancing and magic I think it was?"
Jareth's P.O.V
The wind blew hard and whipped his cloak around him, the air was dry and hot same as it always out here.
He stood there surveying the vast empty landscape before him. Except it wasn't empty. Not really. The Outlands was home to the worst nightmares ever dreamt. Every time a Human had a bad dream it was because one of the nightmares that dwelt here and escaped to the above ground and had invaded the unsuspecting mortal dreams, warping them until the human would wake with fright, sometimes screaming. Jareth smiled darkly, nothing could defend against the nightmares, they feared no one, well no one but him.
Jareth controlled dreams and that's all the nightmares really were, dreams that had been so horrific that they had manifested into a living entity that needed to feed on fear to survive. If Jareth wanted he could obliterate the nightmares with just a flick of his wrists just as he could with ordinary dreams. Long ago he had been tempted to do just that, the nightmares had always returned to Underground during the day when there were less people aboveground asleep to pray on. At first they had been content to only attack the minds and dreams of mortals, but soon they had started to terrorise the minds of his citizens and he had no choice but to intervene.
He remembered how the nightmares had shrunk away from is wroth; he had destroyed many of the nightmares to show them he would not tolerate them attacking his people. He had banished the rest to the Outlands with the clear understanding that if they ventured too close to the Labyrinth he would finish what he had started.
It was decades later that Jareth had realised that he could use their banishment to his advantage. His people feared the nightmares and he could use that fear. The threat of being banished to the outlands had kept his more rebellious citizens in check for centuries now. He had very rarely had to act upon that threat, the fear the underground people had of the nightmares was immense. And why wouldn't it be they had no way of fighting the creatures, the images the nightmares created only existed inside the victims head and how could you fight something that was in your mind.
Jareth whirled around to face the small group behind him, five of his best Goblin surrounded the three prisoners block any attempts at escape. Not that there was any chance of escape. Jareth had transported them deep into the Outlands. They had only been here a matter of minutes but Jareth could already sense the nightmares during in. They were invisible being as they had no true form, but anyone with powerful magic could feel their presence. They hovered close by reluctant to come close for fear of what he might do to them. He smirked, he liked it when he was feared, it meant that no one would defy him and today he was going to remind people just why they should fear him.
"Welcome to your new home." He said darkly and he strode forward, "I do hope you find your stay frightful unpleasant." He motioned for the guards to unlock the chains that bound the three.
"And you accuse Sarah of almost breaking ya deal!" Hoggle spat "Seems ta me ya coming dangerously close ta breaking it!"
Jareth only chuckled at him.
"Not really Hogsbreath. You see upon Sarah signing that contract she agreed to marry me, become my queen and obey in return I agreed to release you from my dungeon and find another form of punishment that didn't involve me doing you harm." Jareth produced a crystal from thin and began to roll it across his fingers, "I am only banishing you, if you can't protect yourself from the other creatures I have banished then that's your problem and has nothing to do with me." He crouched down in front of the dwarf still twirling the crystal. "I promised I would not harm you myself. I didn't agree not to put you in harm's way." Jareth crushed the crystal on this last part and rose to his feet.
"My lady will not let you get away with this your majesty," Sir Didymus piped up, "In the end she will best you again!"
"Yeah," Hoggle joined in, "Sarah's our friend, she beat ya before and she'll do it again."
"Sawahhh friend, Sawahhh rescue." Ludo agreed.
Jareth glared down at them.
"Sarah isn't you Lady nor your friend. She belongs to me now." Jareth snarled, "And there's no way I'd ever share her with miserable scabs like you." Jareth pointed a finger at them. He passed away then turned to face them.
"You think Sarah will rescue you do you?" he asked a smirk playing on his lips, "Well trust me, I have plans for Sarah, and once I'm done she'll forget all about you."
"What are ya gunna do to her?" Hoggle asked desperately, sharing a troubled look with his companions.
Jareth just smiled wickedly.
"That's no concern of yours, Sarah's mine now!" Jareth laughed and motioned for his guards to step away from the trio.
"You'll have to excuse us, I'm sure the nightmares are eager to see what fresh prey they have, it has been such a long time since I last banished someone here." Jareth said darkly, and then his eyes flickered towards Hoggle.
"But before we leave," Jareth strode over to the dwarf, grasped his left hand and hoisted it up, tugging at the small plastic bracelet around Hoggle's wrist he wrenched it roughly away.
"Hey," Hoggle cried, "that's mine!" he made a lunge for the bracelet but the Goblin King stepped back, causing the dwarf to fall flat on his face.
"I think you'll find Hogshead, that it's mine, you three really are bad at hold on to things." He flashed his teeth at the in a malevolent way, "But don't worry I'll take good care of this," he said, dangling the bracelet just out of reach, "and of Sarah."
Malicious laughter filled the air as the Goblin King and his guards vanished. The wind whipped glitters around the stop where they had been moments before as the nightmares closed in.
So that's chapter 17, next chapter will be out in October. If you love please review if you hate stop reading :)