Chapter 9
As soon as he was sure that the attention of the other fae was no longer on him, Jareth grinned, his savage teeth gleaming. This was what he had hoped the other fae would do. Now that Sarah was no longer with him, he was free to unlock the last fetter that bound him away from access the ancient magic that only the bonded King of the Labyrinth could use. As soon as Sarah had read what was written in the ancient tome, he knew that it would come to this. With the champion taken and the Heart stolen, his need was dire, and there was but one recourse left.
Jareth dug his claws into his chest and ripped out the eternity pendant that had melded with his flesh during his transformation. He crushed it in his hands, unleashing a cascade of blue sparks that flowed up his arms and suffused his entire body in their glow. Their effect was almost instantaneous.
Everywhere the ancient magic touched, his flesh turned to stone. When the transformation was complete, Jareth looked down at himself, checking himself over as he steeled his heart for what he must do next. His body had been transformed into a living gargoyle, covered in glowing runes. He spread the wings that had sprouted from his back and launched himself into the air. Heading for the center of the Labyrinth, where he could feel his enemy waiting.
The ancient runes that covered his body glowed brightly as he traveled, filling his senses. The longer their timeless magic coursed through him, the more attuned he became to the Labyrinth. By the time he landed in front of the statue that once held the heart of the Labyrinth, very little of Jareth himself remained.
Sarah tried to scream as she was pulled through the earth, but every time she did, dirt filled her mouth and choked her cries. Eventually, the nightmarish journey ended and she she felt the earth give way to fresh air once again.
She was forced violently from the earth and thrown to the ground in the clearing at the center of the Labyrinth. As she coughed and sputtered, trying to fill her lungs with air and expel the dirt from her airway, the dark fae that had hunted her approached. He stood over her. Watching her struggle for a moment before nudging her with his foot.
Sarah glared up at him before another coughing fit overtook her. He chuckled and crouched down in front of her, cocking his head to one side as he regarded her with interest. He ignored the enraged glare she shot toward him and touched the crown of her head gently.
"Such a fuss for a little thing like you," he murmured thoughtfully. He raised his voice and addressed her directly. "I'm sad to say, I'm a little disappointed in you, Sarah. You've weakened the Labyrinth, it's King, and thus our realms. I can't abide weakness, you see. Come, come. Let's end this."
He grasped her hair and dragged her up to face him. Sarah clenched her jaw and refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out. Her anger ignited as she stood before him and he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. She narrowed her eyes as he stroked her cheek softly with his free hand, the anger inside her growing into a burning rage at the memory of what he had done to the Labyrinth, her friends, and Jareth himself. When he smirked, the tenuous control she had over her anger snapped.
She spit in his face.
He simply smiled, then backhanded her, making her sway in his grip. He removed his hand from her cheek and reached into the folds of his long coat. Despite the pain of the blow, Sarah gasped as he drew the Heart of the Labyrinth out of an inner pocket.
Holding the Heart in one hand and taking a firm grip on her upper arm with the other, the dark fae turned toward the statue at the center of the Labyrinth. He yanked her forward, only to stop abruptly, his attention riveted on the massive gargoyle that was circling above them.
As Sarah stared in awe, wondering where the creature had come from. Her captor brought the Heart to his lips. Once again, he whispered dark, ancient spells into its depths. Sarah stiffened at the menacing tone of the the magic, the mere sound of his words nauseating her.
In response to his spell, every creature in the Labyrinth immediately stood at attention, their eyes glowing red, and threw themselves at the gargoyle that was now landing in front of the ruined statue.
"One thing I can give that King of yours credit for," the fae whispered threateningly into her ear. "He certainly possesses a creative spirit. At least this last little show of his will be fun to watch."
Sarah jerked in surprise and looked closely at the gargoyle, her heart contracting as she took in what Jareth had done to himself. The fae holding her chuckled. "Yes, that's your Goblin King. Don't worry, he can't possibly win. We'll watch him die together before I eat your pretty little heart out. Only then can I undo the awful weakness that you two have been allowed to foster unchecked."
Sarah sagged in his grip, her heart sinking as she saw the Labyrinth's denizens charging at their king with murder in their glowing red eyes. Tears poured down her cheeks at the futility of it all.
As he landed right in front of the statue of the Labyrinth, Jareth wasted no time in doing what needed to be done. He looked at the ruined statue, reaching out to place a hand on the open gash in her stone form as he made a single wish. He watched the ancient magic that suffused him streaming into the statue, taking most of his essence with it.
With this finished, he gave himself up fully to the ancient magic that roared through him and began tearing apart everything that attacked him. He was little more than a vessel for the magic to use as necessary now, everything else was fading. Jareth himself was fading away. He must hurry, or there would be nothing left of who he had been.
The magic was literally consuming him from the inside out. That was part of the price that had to be paid for this kind of power. It was the sacrifice he had known he would have to make as soon as he heard Sarah read from the book. In order to defeat his enemy, he would have to lose himself forever.
He knew the price and had accepted it willingly. In spite of this, he was aware that he was not the only one making the ultimate sacrifice for the Labyrinth. What was left of Jareth mourned their loss as he tore through his subjects, enthralled into attacking him through their connection to the Heart. He could no longer protect them. He strode through the masses, lying waste to everything in his path as he went. There was nothing else he could do for them besides set them free. Just as he was a vessel for the ancient magic, his subjects had become mere vessels for the darkness that his enemy imposed on them. So he ended their torment in the only way he could.
Tears streaked his stone cheeks in spite of his knowledge that he was doing the merciful thing. The last vestige of the fae he had been pushed the grief aside as he focused on the fae that had started all of this, and the woman who stood next to him, practically hanging in his grip. The ancient magic glowed all about him, pouring from the open wound in his chest as he moved closer and closer, his eyes locked on Sarah. Again and again he flung those that attacked him aside as easily as one knocks away a bothersome fly, until he was almost upon Sarah and the fae still in possession of the Labyrinths Heart.
Sarah's gaze jerked up as the gargoyle came to a stop in front of her. She met his eyes briefly before studying the thing that Jareth had become with a kind of morbid fascination. As she gazed at him, she felt a tug around her heart and the realization of what the passage in the book meant washed over her. Suddenly, she understood what Jareth had done, and the sacrifice he had made... the sacrifice he was still making.
She stiffened, shocked to her core at what he had done. She stared in horror as he did all within his power to make sure the fae holding her hostage did not succeed. They stood there, just staring at each other for what felt like forever. Finally, the gravity of his choice seemed to wrestle some final thread of determination out of her. When the fae beside her tensed, preparing to attack, she took her chance.
"Jareth, now!"
She turned, twisting in the fae's grasp. She felt the his talons tear into the soft tissue of her upper arm as she wrestled out of his grip and lunged for the Heart in his other hand. The fae roared in anger and turned towards her. He was too late.
Using every ounce of her strength, Sarah slammed into him. She let out a pained cry as the impact left her battered and bruised. Blood flowed down her arm from the gashes left by his talons as the dark fae went flying, slamming into the chest of the stone gargoyle that had been Jareth. The Heart flew from his grasp at the impact and Sarah scrambled to scoop it up.
She recovered the Heart and held it to her chest for a moment, steeling herself for what she had to do now. Taking a deep breath, Sarah ran up to him and shoved the spiked end of the stone Heart as hard as she could through the center of the dark fae's chest, impaling him against Jareth's form.
"That's for my friends, you piece of shit," she snarled.
The gargoyle stood unmoving as the stone of the Heart slid clear through the fae and into his own chest, sliding through the stone of his body like butter.
The fae stared, shocked at the hole in his chest, through which only a glimpse of the heart could be seen. Bubbles of blood lined his mouth as the life in his eyes began to fade.
