The godawful stench lingered strong inside of Alf's tree. It was so nauseating, that even the troll himself, one of the smelliest creatures known to the Labyrinth, had to depart his own home.

"Sorry dwarf, but I gots to get me some air!" He dashed over to the opening of the bark and emerged into the sunlight, sprinting as fast as he could to get away from the pong.

Poor Hoggle was left to feel utterly dejected. His heart pounded so rapidly, that he found it hard to breathe. After a moments thought, he, himself, ran fled from the tree in an attempt to escape the odour, but wherever he went, the stench came after him, like a heavy cloud of toxic gas. It was humiliating. How could he face anyone ever again? How could he face Sarah?

Before he even had time answer that question, the girl under discussion came into his view, for while Sarah and Sir Didymus made their way to Alf's abode, they were stunned to be almost knocked over by Hoggle's speedy pace.

"Hoggle!" cried Sarah, as she clutched the dwarf's arms so he couldn't escape. "Where are you off to in such a….?" But before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly she got a whiff of the most excruciating odour. "Urrgh! What's that awful smell?" she complained, covering her nose with her sleeve. "It's disgusting!"

"Smell? Why, I smell nothing but a fragrant breeze!" declared Didymus, who stuck his snout into the air and inhaled with pride. But the fox's words did not matter to Hoggle, who bowed his head in embarrassment as Sarah tried hard not to breathe in.

"Has the Bog flooded or something?" she asked, bowing her head in an attempt not to vomit. When Hoggle failed to reply to her, she looked at him. 'Funny' she thought. Why was he wearing a small, old crown on the tip of his hat? And why did he look so distraught? The gruesome breeze swept through her nostrils once more, and that was when she realised who the possessor of the terrible stench was - Hoggle! Feeling bad that she had just insulted her best friend, she removed her sleeve from her face, trying not to show how difficult it was to do.

"Don't come anywhere near me, Sarah," Hoggle implored, as he backed away from the twosome.

"What…But wait, Hoggle? What's happened?" She waited for him to answer, but when he didn't, she formed her own realisation. "Jareth!" she frowned, clenching her fists when she spoke his name. She was already disgusted with the King for last night's exploits, but now he had started messing with her friends, she felt furious.

"Jareth!" tutted the fox. "Why, who does that scoundrel think he is? I say we challenge the Master, and fight him to the death! Come, let us proceed to the castle, and defend brother's honour!" he avowed, propelling his staff into the air.

"I think you're right, Sir Didymus. We have to confront him!" Sarah agreed. Seeing Jareth was the last thing she wanted to do after waking up in his bed with no memory of what happened, but this was no longer about her. "But no fighting!" she warned, taking the staff away from the fox's hand and placing it back into his holster. Sir Didymus sighed and muttered pitiful words under his breath. But just as they were about to storm off to the castle, Hoggle grabbed onto Sarah's legs in an attempt to stop her.

"No! Don't! I beg ya!" he cried, clutching desperately onto her calves. But when got too close, she began to recoil at his stench, and almost vomit. She tried hard to regain composure, but the odour was just too overbearing. Seeing her sickened expression was more than Hoggle could bare, so he let go of her legs and immediately fled from her sight, running as fast as he could out of the forest.

They tried to call after him.

"Brother? Don't leave!" called the fox.

"Hoggle! Wait! I'm sorry!" Sarah yelled, feeling extremely upset that she had just flinched at her friend's closeness. It was the first time she had ever seen Hoggle truly sad, and it was all her fault. No. It was all his fault! That foul, pompous King! Oh, she would confront him! But first she needed to make sure Hoggle was safe. "Didymus, I have a mission for you!" she said suddenly.

"A mission? Why I'd be honoured to serve you, my Lady. Whatever it is, I shall do it!"

"Go and find Alfred. See if you can get him to admit to why Jareth has been casting spells over us. Then, go and fetch Ludo. We're going to need all the help we can get if we want to stop Jareth from doing anymore damage."

"I shall go right away! Ambrosius! Ambrosius!" he called. A few seconds later, the cowardly dog surfaced from some nearby shrubbery, and trudged up to his master. Didymus climbed onto the mount, and gave him a clout on his side. "Tally ho!" he yelled, as they raced off through the forest, on route to complete their mission.

Now, Sarah was left to find Hoggle. She knew it would be better if she went alone, for Hoggle was a sensitive soul and seemed more vulnerable than ever right now.

"Hoggle! Hoggle!" she shouted, as she ran through the grassy twists and turns of the complicated forest. The sky was dark so it was hard to see where she was going. Once or twice she had tripped over a trig or branch, and strained her ankle. She was beginning to feel tired and hungry, but she knew she couldn't stop until she found him. Maybe he'd gone back to the hut? He was too scared of the forest to go roaming about in the dark. 'Yes' she thought. She'd go back to the hut and check if he was there.

However, before she turned around to head back she noticed a small glowing light in the distance, between the leaves. Was it Hoggle with his lantern?

"Hoggle?" she shouted as she ran up to the light. "Stay there, I'm coming over to you."

She sprinted toward the lantern, feeling relieved that she had finally located him. But to her amazement, it wasn't a dwarf that she encountered. When she reached the source of light, she screamed as something small, alive and fast collided into her face.

"Ouch!" screeched a high-pitched voice. "Watch where you're going, you stupid girl!"

Sarah gazed in front of her, and saw that there was a tiny fairy sitting on the edge of her shoulder, brushing her pixie-clothes down before flying into the air with her delicate through wings. Sarah thought the sprite was very pretty. She had an orange dress made from autumn leaves, and short red fiery hair. Her tiny face boasted beautiful long eyelashes, which concealed her striking blue eyes, and her lips conveyed a rosy, yet arrogant, pout. The shining light she had seen before, turned out to be the fairy's own natural glow.

"Why are you smiling at me!" the imp questioned. She was so dainty for such an angry fairy.

"You're just so beautiful," Sarah declared.

"Well, that's nice and all, but I'm still waiting for you to tell my you almost killed me?"

"Oh, I'm very sorry. I thought you were someone else. You see, I'm looking for my friend, Hoggle. He's a dwarf. You haven't seen him, have you?" Sarah asked.

"That ugly oaf? No I haven't."

"You know him?" asked Sarah.

"Of course I do. He's been living in the same forest as me for as long as I've been alive. He tried to spray me a couple of times in the past but that was back when he was mean. Ever since some girl came told him not to spray us a few years ago, he decided to give up spraying fairies for good. I don't know who she was though, which is strange because I know nearly all the creatures living in this Labyrinth, and all of the stories that go with them! And since I don't know you, I'm not going to trust you!" The fairy childishly stuck out her tongue, then turned her back and proceeded to fly away.

"But wait! That girl was me!" Sarah professed, causing the fairy to turn back around.

"You?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Yes, I came here years ago to rescue my brother from the Goblin King, and when I saw Hoggle spraying the fairies, I told him it was a horrible thing to do! Then I got bitten by one." Sarah stroked her finger, as if it were only yesterday.

"Yes, we do tend to bite sometimes. What can I say? Flesh tastes good. But, since you stopped the oaf from spraying us, I'll let you off! He must've really thought a lot of you to give it up! My name's Elva, by the way."

Elva stuck out her hand for Sarah to shake. Hesitantly, she entrusted her smallest finger into Elva's palm. Luckily, she didn't bite it, and Sarah relaxed.

"And mine's Sarah," she smiled, glad to meet a new friend.

"Funny name!" Elva laughed, then flittered back and forth in front of Sarah to show off her dazzling wings some more. "You know, Hoggle never usually comes out into these parts of the forest at this time of night. What's got him down this time?"

"Well, I'm afraid he's very upset at the moment. Jareth has cast some kind of spell on him that makes him smell exactly like the Bog. He became so humiliated that he ran away! I'm very worried he'll do something terrible!"

"Nah, I doubt it. He sulks for a while but, he always goes back to his repulsive, smelly, scabby self eventually. Besides, he's been through worse things!"

"Really? Like what?" asked Sarah, intrigued. Then the fairy gave Sarah a concentrated look.

"Don't you know about Helga, the love of Hoggle's life?" asked Elva, to which Sarah gazed in amazement. Hoggle was in love? Why would have kept something so big from her? "Yeah, Helga. She was a dwarf too! The only other dwarf who lived in the Labyrinth. This was years ago, mind you. Back then, Hoggle was much less crabby. He would do anything for her; make her favourite meals, tend to her when she was ill. He was head over heels in love with her! King Jareth used to laugh at them and make a few snide remarks, but generally he left them alone. All the other creatures were extremely jealous of their love - except me, of course! I'm the independent sort. But, anyway, one day, the Labyrinth was struck by a horrible storm that lasted for days and days. It was so bad that no one would even come out of their homes, and then…"

"Then what? What happened Elva?" asked Sarah who was now intrigued by the tale.

"Hoggle told her to leave it but she just wouldn't…" she continued, her voice getting more animated. "You see, Hoggle had given Helga gold necklace for one of their anniversaries. It was the finest gift he had ever given her, and if you know Hoggle, you know how nutso he is about his jewels. Anyway, she cherished the necklace dearly, but when the storm was at its peak the pendant blew out of the window. Helga ran outside to try and fetch it, even though Hoggle begged for her to come back. She finally got hold of it, but by then it was too late…the hundreds of tornados that were spinning in the air swept her away. A few days later the storm cleared, and out came the beaming sunshine. But the beautiful sky couldn't erase the sadness on Hoggle's face when he found Helga's body. We didn't know whether to cheer for the disappearance of the storm, or weep for the loss of Hoggle's only true love. She didn't even manage to keep hold of the necklace."

"That's heartbreaking!" said Sarah, wiping the tears which now streamed from her face. She had no idea Hoggle had such a deep and troubled past. Now she knew why he liked to keep himself to himself.

"Hmmm, and by the looks of things, it's starting to happen again," Elva gazed up at the sky and saw the dark raincloud that had been looming over the Labyrinth for the past week.

Sarah felt a mixture of feelings; sadness, guilt, anger. How could Hoggle not have told her about this? Everytime she had teased him about being incapable of affection in the past, he must have been aching inside, being reminded of all of the love he had lost. The last thing she wanted was to hurt him but she couldn't have a relationship with a dwarf just to save his feelings. Could she?

The atmosphere was still, and the night was at its blackest. Fatigued, Sarah dawdled back into the cold, empty hut that Hoggle called 'home'. She had hoped he would have gained the courage to return by now, but the dwarf was nowhere in sight. In an ideal world, she would have searched for him until the crack of dawn, but her eyelids told her otherwise as they covered her pupils, succumbing her to the darkness.