Chapter 4
"What's happening?" She sobbed, staring as Jareth opened his mouth to answer her but finally transformed fully into an owl. He lay there, his wings outstretched, staring hard at her and hooting a warning that Sarah struggled to understand.
She heard a rumble of thunder in the distance and her head snapped up. Lightning flashed in across the sky, revealing a dark figure stalking toward her. Fear filled her and the blood turned to ice in her veins at the sight. Snatching Jareth and shoving him inside her shirt so he wouldn't fall loose, she took off running, not daring to look back.
"You can't hide from me forever, Champion! And neither can your pet King!"
The voice behind her blended into the thunder. A surge of fear lent her speed and she darted back quickly the way she came, trying her best to keep quiet. She sank into a darkened corridor that she had passed by on her way to the Heart of the Labyrinth. She needed to get her bearings and make her way to the castle. Once there, she might be able to bring Jareth back to his humanoid form and get answers- without having to confront the menacing figure outright just yet. She could tell she was currently no match for him - whatever he was - not yet.
Now in full owl form, Jareth hissed angrily and ruffled up his feathers in Sarah's shirt. Sarah glanced down at him. He looked more like a ball of feathers than a proper bird of prey. The sound of her rapidly pounding heart had echoed in his ear as she ran with him pressed against her body. He closed his eyes and listened to the comforting sound.
Just her mere presence was comforting. The magic of the Champion of the Labyrinth flowed out of her, washing over him in waves and making him feel stronger than he had in ages. However, just as he could feel the magic that radiated from her, so could the fae hunting them down. Worse, that fae also held the Heart of the Labyrinth.
The Heart was incredibly powerful. Jareth had spent years pouring magic into it, building it up until it was a bright beacon of power residing in the very center of his realm. The Labyrinth itself was a towering mass of magic, built upon the foundation of the magically enhanced corridors they were now running through. He had carved each rune, each design, himself. He had planted the vines with his own hands, infusing them with magic and nurturing them with his own blood and power, encouraging them to grow and spread, to become one with the magic in the runes and stones.
Despite all of his exhaustive work, the Labyrinth had begun to fail the minute Sarah left. Once she became the Champion, the Labyrinth could no longer survive without her. As soon as the veil had fallen closed behind her, cutting her off from the magic in his realm, the Labyrinth had begun to crumble and fade. Jareth could do nothing but watch and work to slow the decay, hoping that Sarah would return before it was too late.
Jareth had nearly despaired as he watched his kingdom wilt without the Champion. Now she was here, but he worried that it may already be too late. Once again, he cursed the ancient magic that had bound her to the kingdom as surely as he was bound. He had known that this would happen. If ever a runner succeeded in beating the Labyrinth to become it's champion. It was the reason he had fought each and every runner to a standstill, never letting them gain the upper hand. Sarah, however, was special. Her imagination and dreams held the purest of human hope and belief. A fact which had him distracted before she had ever wished away her baby brother.
Looking back on her run. Jareth was willing to admit that her absolute belief in him, so incredibly rare as to be almost unheard of, may have distracted, and attracted, him more than it should have. In his defense, he had not counted on her being so stubborn, or on her making friends of the denizens of the Labyrinth. What was even more surprising was her loyalty to those friends, and theirs to her. She valued those friendships. Even as she fought against their ruler, recruiting them to her cause in the process. Her loyalty and belief, as well as her strength of will, were all qualities he respected, even as they vexed him to no end. Regardless of how special Sarah was, however, his loss at her hands still rankled in spite of his admiration for her.
Jareth was jarred out of his thoughts as Sarah nearly tripped. He made a noise that was halfway between a hoot and a screech as she steadied herself and looked back and forth between the various paths that she might take, trying to figure out which way to go. He would have to pay more attention to where she was taking him.
When she started down the wrong pathway, he hissed loudly. Sarah paused and looked down at him, still nested in her shirt. "What? Is he getting closer?" She looked back over her shoulder fearfully.
Jareth hissed again and ruffled his feathers to get her attention. She took a few more steps down the wrong path. She was so focused on their pursuer that she completely missed his attempts to communicate. Jareth hissed again, attempting to beat his wings. Sarah stopped short and looked down at him again.
"What!?"
He hissed and looked pointedly at the path he wanted her to she took a few steps in that direction, he trilled happily.
"You- you want me to go that way?"
Once again he trilled and Sarah headed off, this time in the right direction.
He now made a point of paying close attention to where they were headed. Whenever she seemed to start down the wrong path, he hissed loudly. When she went in the direction he wanted, he trilled to let her know. It wasn't the best form of communication. But he didn't have the strength to shift back to his humanoid form. As he did so, he held as still as possible, letting her alien and yet somehow familiar magic seep into him as they traveled.
Sarah edged along an unfamiliar part of the Labyrinth, Jareth still tucked safely in her shirt. The top of his owlish head poked out from the rim of her neckline as he kept watch on where they were going.
"Why is everything so dark?" she whispered, tiptoeing past what appeared to be sleeping golems made of roughly hewn rock and etched runes. She shuddered at seeing their faces. The gaping mass of their mouths was tinged red. Letting her know they'd recently harmed or killed whatever they'd opposed.
As she slipped past them, the magic invisibly wafting off her woke one, it's runes beginning to pulse a soft, glowing red. Neither Sarah nor Jareth noticed.
Jareth's head swiveled back and forth, watching everything around them as well as he could. The Labyrinth, like all other things in the Underground, was not tame and could be very dangerous. Especially as you got closer to the center. The deeper one went into the ancient caverns, the more and more things would awaken to guard from outsiders. Those who were not supposed to be wandering around rarely survived.
Jareth wished fervently that he could turn back and guide Sarah properly. But until he had absorbed enough of the Champion's magic to do so he would have to do the best he could in owl form. He watched their surroundings nervously. Once woken, the stone golems would take no prisoners and hear no pleas. They were powered by pure magic and imbued with a single purpose, to protect the the Labyrinth. They knew nothing and felt nothing. Except the drive to eliminate any threat they detected.
Jareth briefly wondered if awakening a golem might not be a good idea. If he could get one to recognize him as the Goblin King he might be able to command it. He discarded the idea with a mental snort. The amount of magic he would have to expend just to get the attention of one of the thick headed guardians was beyond his abilities at this moment. I can't even change back from my avian form, he thought in disgust. How am I supposed to command one of the ancient guardians?
All he could do for now was continue to guide Sarah to the safe place he knew was ahead. He trilled and hissed as necessary, praying that the ancient golems would remain quiescent.
