Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 29
By Aiijuin
*Disclaimer: I don't own anything Jim Henson or Labyrinth. Gröeg was originally designed by Brian Froud and catalogued by Terry Jones in Brian Froud's "The Goblins of the Labyrinth". This fanfiction is rated M for some harsh language and adult situations. Gavin King is Jareth, the Goblin King, for those who have jumped into the middle of the story. The names: Torok, the Troll King and Eunice St. Clair are characters borrowed from the 1986 movie Troll, but are not used in context with the movie inside my fanfiction in any way.
We had a terrible storm this week, where I live, which knocked out power and I was not able to complete any pages of "Sarah's Grand Re-Entry" comic on DeviantArt. However, I was able to get to a public library to type several more chapters of "Sky's Eclipse". I hope you enjoy them!
Chapter 29: Nothing is as It Seems.
The sky was moonless, and there were no stars to light Grimm's Wood. Sarah wasn't sure which way was which anymore. She knew there couldn't have been much time left. She was hoping to find someone or something to give her some direction. Her feet were about spent at this point, and she wasn't sure Hansel could walk anymore. His knees were cracking fiercely and he was groaning continuously. Gavin had offered to carry Gretel, but much to Sarah's surprise, the boy refused Mr. King's help and continued to carry her without complaint.
Raquel followed from a far distance, and several times Sarah had to turn around just to be sure she was still there. Sarah scolded the pregnant young woman, "Raquel, it's extremely dark here, and you might want to stay close. I can walk slower if you need me to."
Raquel shook her head, and responded, "Don't worry about me. I can manage. I just like to stay farther away to give you… give you… um…"
After several seconds, Raquel found the excuse she was looking for, "…give you some room to breathe and such!"
Sarah raised her eyebrows in amusement, "Okay. Just don't get lost."
Raquel wanted to get away. She looked at Sarah regretfully, knowing the odds were stacked against her, and there was nothing Raquel could do or say to help. She almost wished that she had remained in her tower.
The Wood was beginning to slope down sharply. Sarah and the others had to grab the tree trunks to keep themselves from falling. Sarah was sure she had less than two hours left, but couldn't tell, since her clothing had been changed when she was taken into the land of the Troll King. A fancy jeweled bracelet had replaced her watch. She turned to Gavin and asked him the time. He answered, "Well, I'm not certain that the time here is the same as in the mortal realm, but my cellphone displays: 6:42 PM."
Sarah sighed. At least she knew that she wasn't late getting back to the car at O'Connell's Captivating Carnival. However, this didn't quite tell her how much time she had left to escape from the Troll King's Wood.
Hansel's knees finally gave out, and he toppled forward which caused him to slide down to the bottom of the steep hill. Gretel fell from her brother's shoulders and rolled swiftly behind him, like a ragdoll. Raquel and Sarah gasped in unison. Sarah chased after the siblings, hoping to help Hansel and his sister back up. Gavin, of course, chased after Sarah. Raquel couldn't run as fast downhill, so she staggered from tree to tree, trying to keep hold so she wouldn't loose her footing as well.
When Hansel had finally stopped rolling, he sat up and cleared off the dead leaves and dirt. He thought he heard something stirring right in front of him. He squinted and saw a pair of bright yellow eyes glowing back at him.
A troll! Hansel panicked and cried, "Miss Sarah! Help!"
Sure enough, it was a troll!
The hideous creature had several rows of jagged teeth that protruded from its lower jaw. It prodded Hansel's oversized torso with its thin, bony fingers. It began to speak in a crackled, and high-pitched voice, "A fat boy, you are! Any flesh eater would be able to feed on you for months or a family full of wombats would keep a fledge of little ones satiated for weeks."
"Sarah! A troll! Please hurry!"
Sarah couldn't see the troll, because the dark night had prevented her from seeing that distance. She slid down the rest of the hill, in order to expedite reaching Hansel before the troll could harm him. Sarah had never encountered any trolls before, so she was a bit unsure of what they were absolutely capable of. She didn't want to chance it.
The troll smiled dangerously and continued to poke Hansel in the gut. Sarah finally reached Hansel and smacked the troll's hand away. The troll quickly spun around to face her in shock. Sarah tried to look as threatening as she could, and she gave the creature chase to drive it away from Hansel. Gavin closed in behind Sarah as she rounded a corner and was met with a hoard of at least thirty or forty hairy and wrinkled trolls.
Gavin grabbed Sarah by the shoulders and pulled her back, while she instinctively jumped back simultaneously. Neither Sarah nor Gavin were willing to turn their backs on the trolls. However, they didn't realize another twenty or so trolls were closing in from behind as well. Raquel made it down to the bottom of the hill at last, and peered around the corner to see the sea of yellow-glowing eyes that encircled Gavin and Sarah. She helped Hansel to his feet as best as she could manage in her condition. He searched the blackened ground frantically for his fallen sister. He could not find her!
Raquel nudged Hansel's arm and nagged, "Forget her. We need to flee quickly! Trolls are very dangerous!"
If Raquel could have seen Hansel's face clearly in the dark, then she would have noted that he was very irate with her selfish suggestion. He pointed his chubby index finger at Raquel and said sternly, "I'm not leaving here without Gretel and I'm not leaving Sarah behind to defend herself! She's come all this way and risked everything just to save us. She didn't have to rescue us from our prisons! She is good and kind, and I will remain by her to whatever end she may meet!"
Raquel shuttered at Hansel's burly voice. She turned her head and replied, "Fine! Do whatever you want, but don't expect me to risk my life to fend off a gathering of trolls!"
Hansel spat at her, "Then go ahead and run! That's what got you trapped in a tower to begin with!"
He trudged over to where Sarah and Gavin had run, leaving Raquel to wallow in guilt and regret. She huffed loudly and shuttered. Raquel mumbled bitterly, "I'm going to catch hell for this."
She tiptoed around the perimeter of the tree where Hansel had just disappeared. She peeked in curiosity and saw the crowd of glowing yellow eyes not far away. Close to Raquel's feet, she heard light moaning.
It was Gretel!
Raquel sat down next to the girl and brushed off the bits of forest floor that accumulated on her skin and clothing. She decided it would be most helpful if she remained with Gretel until her brother returned.
If he returns, thought Raquel. It seemed highly unlikely at this point.
Meanwhile, back inside the circle of trolls, Gavin clung tightly to Sarah. As Jareth, he was hardly afraid of trolls. He didn't want Sarah to suffer anymore misfortunes than she already had. Hansel couldn't break into the perimeter of the creatures. They blocked him with tiny sharp spears. Hansel shouted, "Leave her alone! It's me that you want! See? I'm very fat and could feed all of you for at least a week!"
The circle of trolls turned to face him, but seemed unimpressed. After a moment, they returned their attentions back to Sarah and Gavin. Finally, after a short pause a small, very withered troll began to make its way towards the center of the circle. The trolls dropped their spears and parted to make way for the withered creature. Gavin clung to Sarah tightly, and she had to finagle from his grip in order to speak. Sarah dropped down to the troll's eye level and said calmly, "Oh. Hello! I was just wondering if you happen to know which direction is south?"
The withered troll held out a pointed finger and gestured to the right. Sarah nodded and said, "Thank you! We'll just be leaving, but I appreciate your help."
Gavin blinked. He couldn't believe they were just going to point the way out to her and let her go that easily. As Sarah turned to retrieve Hansel and locate Gretel and Raquel, the wrinkled, old troll asked in a low, gnarled, feminine voice, "Are you going to throw yourself from the precipice like she did?"
Sarah turned back in curiosity. She replied, "I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that."
The troll spoke again and nodded, "Your sister. She threw herself from the high chasm that separates the Goblin Kingdom and the Troll Kingdom long, long ago."
Sarah blinked in surprise, "I – I don't have a sister. I'm terribly sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else."
"Ah," the old troll continued in a slow broken voice, "I know… I know exactly who-you-are! Your sister and you look so much alike,…. except she had luminous hazel eyes."
Gavin tried to prod Sarah to walk away from the troll, but she resisted. It continued to speak, "… She planted the trees in the Wood, but you… you planted the flowers here and around the Labyrinth. Don't you recall the great gardens that once stood in the mist of the walls? It was such a peaceful… happy time then. Our King and the Goblin King extended their boundaries next to each other… this was so you and your sister would never be separated."
Sarah didn't speak. She knew time was ticking away, but she something about the troll's voice made it impossible for her to move. The withered creature continued, "That…was before the Great War. After the War, everything shattered. The Troll King forgot his bride and Queen. Your sister wandered lost in the Wood, unable to find her way home to the Glass Palace."
Sarah swallowed hard. She said, "So, she killed herself by jumping off a ravine?"
The troll pawed Sarah lightly on the wrist and pointed again to the right, "Immortals cannot die, but they can be cursed."
Then, the troll pointed her scraggly finger at Sarah's face and continued, "This curse is spreading ……. but you… I know you have returned to heal the lands and bring your sister back to us."
Hansel crept forward and made his way through the circle of trolls. He tapped Sarah on the shoulder, letting her know he was behind her. She nodded at him, then turned back to the withered, old, troll. She said, "I'm very sorry, Madame Troll, but I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else. I'm Sarah Williams…"
Madame Troll interrupted, "Of course you are! I know… I know the girl from the Labyrinth."
Sarah nodded in relief. But the troll had not finished, "It is no great feat to solve a puzzle that you helped to create."
Sarah blinked and contorted her face, "But I didn't…."
"Of course, you did. You and the Goblin King built the Labyrinth together. Don't you remember?"
"No," Sarah shook her head, utterly confused, while Gavin raised his eyebrows at the troll.
Sarah hadn't been herself lately, that's for certain, but she knew she wouldn't have forgotten something like that. "No, I'm sorry. I've never done such a thing. I was born in the seventies…in New York State. I have a degree in theater, not construction management or masonry. I'm pretty sure I've never built or designed any labyrinths in my lifetime, but I used to help my dad build sandcastles when we vacationed at the beach and I liked to play with Tinker Toys when I was five years-old. That's the extent of my building skills, really."
Gavin smirked at Sarah's dry humor and knelt down by her side. Madame Troll pulled Sarah's chin to her face. The creature's putrid breath nearly made Sarah swoon. It spoke sternly, "I found what you were looking for, by the way."
The old troll held out its claw-like hand and placed a shiny metallic object in hers. It was an amulet that looked almost identical to Jareth's, except it was made of silver and not gold. It was a bit smaller, and more delicate looking. The old troll finished, "We repaired the chain. It fell from your neck over there where you planted the Ambrosia. Your sister asked me to find it for you. I finally did after searching for…many, many centuries. It wouldn't have taken so long, but the Great War hit us not long after, and the ground shifted and quaked. There was so…so…so much confusion then. I doubted we would ever find it again."
Sarah stood up with the amulet clasped tightly in her palm. She began to walk away toward the direction the withered, old troll had revealed was the south. Hansel reminded Sarah, "Wait! We have to get my sister and that other girl, first!"
Sarah nodded and turned around to walk through the circle of trolls, and back to where she had run from earlier. Raquel was sitting wide-eyed next to Gretel. She shouted, "I cannot believe they didn't try to attack you and eat you."
Sarah shrugged and said, "Well, actually, I learned from the goblins a while back that the small, hairy trolls are herbivores, and don't like the taste of blood or flesh in any way."
Raquel stammered, "Goblins? Goblins told you that? And you believed them?"
Sarah made a face and replied, "Yes. Why wouldn't I believe them?"
Raquel huffed, "Because goblins are raving idiots!"
Sarah smirked, "Well they couldn't be bigger 'idiots' than a girl who climbs a tower and deliberately stays to remain 'man bait'. Now, could they?"
Hansel couldn't help it. A loud giggle escaped from his wide mouth, while he picked up his sister and placed her on to his back again. Raquel placed her hands on her hips and tightened her jaw in humiliation. She was furious at Sarah's backhanded remark, but it was enough to finally silence Raquel at last!
Sarah walked back around the tree, expecting to find the trolls had gone, but they still remained. They all joined in unison, touching their fingers together at the center of the ring and created a magical torch to help guide Sarah in the darkness.
The old troll, who had spoken with Sarah, handed the torch to her. Sarah thanked them and they bowed respectively. As she and the others walked towards the right, Sarah glanced behind her to watch the yellow, glowing eyes vanish one by one.