CHAPTER TWELVE

Worst Places

"You and I, Sam, are still stuck

in the worst places of the story,

and it is all too likely

that someone will say at this point:

'Shut the book now, dad;

We don't want to read anymore.'"

-Frodo from J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"

It would seem that the cave from which Sarah had only just escaped was actually someone's home. Well, make that several someones, several very large, and at that moment, startled and irritated someones.

Cave trolls.

Sarah stood dumbstruck for several seconds, blinking in the late-afternoon twilight, her mind sluggishly catching up to her present situation.

Sarah then did what she had come to think of fondly as her "labyrinthine tactic of defense." She ran like hell.

The trolls, just as stunned as Sarah at her sudden arrival as she was at the presence of they, followed quickly after her, their stomachs suddenly craving the flesh of a human rather than the deer that they had been cooking on the spit.

There was one small ray of sunshine in Sarah's escape from the caves, and that was since she had lost quite a bit of the contents of her pack, it was substantially lighter, thus Sarah could run just a bit faster, tired and bruised though she was.

Sarah managed, though some sheer amount of insane divine luck, to keep ahead of the cave trolls, who huffed and grunted behind her, occasionally reaching out a great, knobbly hand to try and catch her. She darted quickly through the twisting bends and pathways of the Labyrinth, trying to focus on staying ahead of the trolls while at the same time trying to formulate a plan to either evade or defeat them. She could not go on running like this for forever, and Sarah was certain that the trolls' endurance in this chase would unfortunately last longer than her own.

If there was one time in Sarah's life that a sudden appearance from the Goblin King would not go amiss, this was certainly it. Instead, he had chosen to appear minutes earlier with the childish intent of pissing her off and to make vague threatening hints that she should give up on her quest for freedom. It was just not fair.

As Sarah turned a sharp corner, she saw something that made her skid to a stop. A dead end. It had been only a matter of time before she would run into such an obstacle. Her luck had finally run out.

Sarah turned to the advancing trolls and threw thoughts about wildly, trying to figure out how she could fend them off. Surely they would not be affected by her amulet? It had worked on both the Goblin King and the pixies, it was true, but Sarah was not so sure that it would be a sure-fire defense for all of the beings in the Labyrinth. The Minotaur had not seemed to be perturbed by it. Perhaps it only worked on things that annoyed Sarah, prime among those things resided the Goblin King.

Unfortunately for Sarah, the amulet did not work on the trolls, nor did any of her empty threats of disembowelment or beheadings. No sooner than Sarah had thought of trying to run once again, one of the trolls caught hold of her backpack and laughed at her indignant protestations and flailing limbs as she tried to disentangle herself from her pack. The trolls, their supper now caught, proceeded to walk back through the Labyrinth, dragging a disgruntled and furiously plotting Sarah along behind them.

The troll that had been dragging Sarah along finally stopped, and tossed her bodily into a dark cavern, where she landed on a pile of something hard with a crash. It then rolled a large rock over the entrance to the cavern, effectively trapping Sarah inside. She groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing her head and trying to ignore her protesting muscles. She had certainly acquired new bruises, and new scrapes as well. She supposed that the trolls wanted to tenderize their meat a bit before serving it up.

Sarah searched around with her hands, unable to see anything in the inky blackness of the cavern. She picked up one of the things that she had landed on and ran her hands over it, trying to figure out what it was.

It was a candlestick.

Sarah almost laughed. What was something so mundane as a candlestick doing in a troll's cave? It was heavy and seemed to be ornately carved. It must have been made from some precious material, otherwise why would the trolls keep it?

Sarah picked up more objects, running her fingers lightly over each object to try to divine its nature; a large, heavy battle helm; a small, strangely-proportioned statuette; an unwieldy goblet that felt as though it was encrusted with gemstones.

Heavy coins slipped through her fingers, tinkling to the stone floor below with a melodious cacophony of sound.

She had landed in the troll's treasure horde! How strange to think that creatures so brutish and dim-witted as trolls could or would amass such a collection of precious goods. It did not seem to fit Sarah's new worldview very well, not unlike most of the things that she had encountered thus far in the Labyrinth.

Perhaps there was something here that could help her! Maybe there were weapons or something that would enable her to escape her seemingly inevitable fate of being the trolls' dinner.

Sarah stumbled around in the darkness, trying to feel the ground with her feet before she took each step, attempting to avoid falling any more than was necessary. Her hands groped blindly in the darkness before her, occasionally brushing against some bit of troll treasure or slab or stone.

Suddenly, Sarah thought she glimpsed a thread of light that wove through the darkness before her. Perhaps it was her imagination, trying to give her what she so desperately wanted and needed at that moment, or perhaps it was Sarah's luck, returning to her at last.

In her haste, Sarah accidentally knocked over a pile of the trolls' hoard, and it clashed and clanged noisily to the ground, making Sarah trip many times in her careless hurry to discern what was emitting the faint light before her.

Sarah walked forward until her fingers grazed something soft. She took a few steps closer and realized that it was a heavy bit of fabric, through which a shard of light could clearly be seen. It seemed to be covering something large and bulky. Sarah took in a deep breath, hesitating for a brief moment, and then pulled on the heavy drapery. It slid smoothly from the cage, crumpling to the floor with a soft sigh.

Sarah was blinded by the sudden light and threw her hands up in front of her face, shielding it from the brilliant light. She blinked rapidly, trying to make her eyes grow accustomed to the dazzling glow.

It was several minutes before Sarah was able to raise her head to look at the thing that she had uncovered, the thing whose light was quite similar in brightness to the sun at midday. It was at once unnerving and fascinating.

Sarah could not believe her eyes. She rubbed them, and then stared once more at the luminescent thing.

It was a bird. It was similar in size and appearance to that of a peacock, but instead of a plumage of blue and green, this bird's coloring was gold and red and orange, and it was emitting the brilliant light that had blinded Sarah. It was also on fire, the flickering feathers of flame casting strange shadows on the cavern walls. It was in a gilded cage, which was wrought from spindles of twisting gold and set with moonstones.

The firebird quirked its head when it saw that Sarah was staring at it, and it emitted a soft, sad chirp.

Time and time again Sarah was told that the Labyrinth possessed things that were worlds apart from those that she was used to in her mundane world, and time and time again, Sarah was constantly startled and awed at the differentness of the Labyrinth's beings. Sarah could not comprehend this. It was a bird that was on fire and yet somehow still alive. Magic…

Sarah spared a glance to survey her surroundings. She had been correct that she had been thrown into the Troll's treasure hoard. It stretched out in all directions, filling every nook and cranny of the cavern, twinkling in the light cast by the firebird.

"I don't suppose that you know of a way out of here?" Sarah asked the firebird glumly, surveying her surroundings once more with a sigh of despair.

She walked around the caged bird, finding the latch to the cage and opening it. Sarah took a quick step back as the bird joyfully flew from the cage, alighting on a pile of golden relics, stretching its wings for the first time in who knows how long.

Why exactly would the trolls keep a firebird in their hoard? Despite its rarity and beautiful appearance, it emitted a light that was essentially the same to that which was emitted by the sun, their mortal enemy? Why keep something that could essentially kill you? (Or, in the case of the trolls, turn you into grey, unyielding stone.)

Sarah suddenly realized that she was now in possession of her way out. She had a bird that shined with the light of the sun. Now she only had to get out of the caves. Sarah looked around for something to help her now that she had some light. Her eyes fell upon a sword glinting among the rubble of treasure, and she dug it out, marveling at its beauty. Hopefully it would be as deadly as it was beautiful.

It was much easier to make her way to the mouth of the cave now that she had the light of the firebird, which had perched itself imperiously on her arm, looking at her with a cool indifference now that it had been released from its prison. Once they had reached the mouth of the cave, Sarah tried to push as hard as she could to move the rock that was blocking the entrance, but it would not budge. She tried using a sword to pry open the door as well, but to no avail. Suddenly the firebird took off from Sarah's shoulder, buffeting her with its wings. Sarah spun quickly, watching as the firebird flew back into the cave and down another path. Sarah quickly tried to follow the bird, stumbling and knocking over piles of troll treasure as she did so. The bird lead her to a path that wormed upward and but ultimately lead to a dead end in a low tunnel which forced Sarah to stoop down as the end was so low. Sarah sighed and moved to turn around to go back to the cavern's entrance, but stopped when the firebird chirped at her, flapping its wings to get her attention.

Sarah looked to where the firebird was perched, close to the low ceiling. It pulled at a root that protruded down from the ceiling, which was not stone, but actually dirt. Sarah lifted a hand to touch it, and felt the damp earth beneath her fingertips. The firebird had lead her to a way out. Sarah unsheathed her sword and jabbed it upwards though the earthen ceiling of the tunnel. Chunks of dirt and roots fell on Sarah's head, but she did not stop her assault on the ceiling. After a few more thrusts, the a great pile of dirt above her head fell and revealed the night sky above through an opening big enough for Sarah to clamber out of.

Sarah smiled and tried to brush as much dirt out of her hair and clothes as she could before sheathing her sword and hoisting herself through the hole.

Just as Sarah was celebrating her success, a large hand grabbed at her, and she tripped, trying to roll away from her attacker.

Of course, her wonderfully escapable tunnel would lead her right into the middle of the troll's camp, who had regained their senses after being startled at seeing their dinner pop up from a hole in the ground.

Sarah tried to draw her sword as the trolls drew near again, but was unable to from her position sprawled on the earthen ground.

Suddenly, the firebird emerged from the hole, and the trolls looked over at the sudden appearance of so much light and howled.

Then, all was silence.

Sarah lifted her head up and stared up at the troll above her, trying to see what it was that silenced it.

It was made of stone.

Sarah straightened up hesitantly, holding her sword valiantly out before her, trying to discern if the trolls really were stone.

The firebird landed on one of the petrified trolls and quirked its head at Sarah. After a few moments, Sarah lowered her blade and crept forward, peering at the stone beings.

She gathered her courage and rapped on one stone troll with the flat of her blade, which made a sort of pinging noise as it hit the stone.

Solid rock. Sarah let out a little sigh of relief and proceeded to rap on the rest of the trolls, just to make absolutely sure that they were now immobile and inanimate. Sarah had to admit that if it were not for the sheer dumb luck that had insisted on sticking to her periodically throughout her journey through the Labyrinth, she would certainly have not made it this far through the Labyrinth, and she would most certainly not be alive to tell the tale hence. Perhaps fate was beginning to take pity on her after all the cruel twists it had thrown at her as of late.

The firebird watched her curiously, cocking its head at her and cooing softly, beating its wings once to grab Sarah's attention. Once it did, the bird flew from the circle of stone trolls and alighted on a tree branch a dozen or so feet into the tree line. It cooed at Sarah once more in what Sarah thought was a sign for her to follow it. Even though they had been comrades in their escape from the trolls, Sarah was hesitant to follow the firebird. This was the Labyrinth, after all, and things were not always what they seemed in this place. Something could be your friend one minute and then turn around and lead you to certain doom the next. Trying to understand the twists of logic and deceptive subtleties of the Labyrinth was like trying to build a foundation on ever-shifting sands. It could not be done, no matter how hard you try, you will always fail.

So, would Sarah take a chance and trust a voiceless creature that had allied itself to her in their escape, or would she take the more practical path and run the hell away, distrusting everything and everyone associated with the Labyrinth from now on and solve it using her own wits and logic?

The bird cooed once more, confused as to why Sarah was taking such a long time in following it.

Sarah stared at the firebird, trying to discern its motives and allegiance. Was it good or was it evil? Did it want to truly help her or did it want to lead her around and around in circles until her time was all but spent and all hope of claiming her freedom was gone?

Perhaps the bird owed Sarah for freeing it. It had been trapped and presumably unable to extricate itself from the troll's horde until Sarah had stumbled in and opened the door to its cage. Perhaps it wanted to return the favor. Sarah had done the firebird a good deed and now it wanted to help Sarah out in thanks.

With a sigh, Sarah belted her pilfered sword to her side and, resigning herself to the worst, traipsed after the bird into the wood, treading once more down the familiar leafy paths of the Labyrinth.

Sarah followed the bird, who flew to another branch and inclined its head at her, clearly indicating that she should follow where it lead her. Sarah followed without any reservations or sense of hesitation. She felt as though she could trust her aviary companion, so Sarah followed the firebird. It lead her through the twisting paths of the Labyrinth, not hesitating at any point as if it knew where it was leading her.

For a while Sarah walked after the bird, trying to ignore her aching muscles and her rumbling stomach. She had lost everything when the trolls had cornered her. Sarah took stock of her possessions: cloak, sword, iron amulet, bird made of fire. Clearly Sarah had everything she needed to solve an unsolvable Labyrinth with just over one day left. No food, no water, no other means of survival. At least she had a light source: her trusty firebird friend, who was currently leading her somewhere unknown in the dead of night in a vengeful and implacable Labyrinth.

Suddenly, Sarah tripped, almost falling flat on her face on the forest floor. She had hit something with the toe of her boot while she had been deep in thought not paying attention to the path ahead.

Sarah swore and jerked her head around to see what it was that had tripped her. It was a brick, half-embedded in the ground, poking up an inch or so up out of the dirt and the leaves. Why on earth would there be a brick there?

The firebird flew to Sarah and landed on the ground close to her head, making Sarah jump at the sudden intrusion. Now that the bird was closer, the light it cast revealed similar bricks stacked up neatly between some of the trees. The trees seemed to be spaced quite a bit further apart than she had remembered, now that Sarah thought about it. Before, she could hardly see where one tree ended and the next began and now she could see other paths and trees between the trunks.

Sarah looked at the path ahead and spotted more bricks embedded in the forest floor which seemed to grow in density at the path went on.

Sarah twisted her head to look at the firebird on her shoulder, who looked back at her.

"I have no idea where you are leading me and what your plan is, but you had better stay close so I can see where I am going. If this turns out to be some trick, so help me, I will cheerfully roast your feathery butt."

The bird blinked once and faced forward once more, and Sarah started walking again, careful this time of the bricks that were scattered in the forest floor.

Sarah did not know for how long she had been walking, but she suddenly realized that the brick to dirt ratio had quite reversed, and that she was now walking more so on bricks than on dirt. The tree to brick ratio had also changed, tall walls of brick had erected themselves between the tree trunks, with fewer and fewer trees interrupting the yellow bricks as Sarah walked along. Before long, the dirt was completely covered with bricks, and the trees had vanished, letting Sarah gaze at the starry sky above, the waxy moon casting a shining light down to the bricks below, washing everything in a pale light.

Sarah took this change of scenery as a good sign. She was out of the wilderness and into something that rang of civilization. Surely that meant that she was heading into the right direction and that she was getting closer to the Goblin King's castle.

The firebird suddenly flew from her shoulder, the air displaced by its wings ruffling Sarah's hair. It darted around a corner, its light growing dimmer as it flew further and further from Sarah, who cried out in protest and ran to keep up with the bird, who navigated through the labyrinthine masonry with a keen precision.

Suddenly the bird stopped, and Sarah skidded to a halt, doubling over and gasped for breath. When she had recovered, Sarah straightened to take in her surroundings. The firebird had lead her into a sort of courtyard made of the same yellow brick that surrounded her. It was empty, save for a tall statue that towered over her on a pedestal in the center of the circular courtyard.

Sarah stared at the statue for a few moments before recognizing who it was.

"This is what you wanted me to see?" Sarah asked the bird skeptically, who had perched on Sarah's shoulder once more, its ephemerally fiery feathers flickering against her cheek as though they were no more than wisps of silk. "A statue of the Goblin King? You do realize that this is quite possibly the last thing on earth that I want to see right now, apart from the real thing. I was hoping more for a magical doorway out of here or some kind of aid…"

The firebird suddenly took off from her shoulder and flew away, disappearing from sight over the brick walls of the Labyrinth.

Sarah grumbled and cursed herself for following something blindly without knowing its intentions. Now she did not know where she was (not that she did before) in the middle of the night, with a statue of her foe glaring down at her, almost seeming as though it were gloating in triumph.

Click, click, click.

Suddenly, a steady clicking noise met Sarah's ears, and she felt her heart go into overdrive. Damn! Someone was drawing near. It was him!

Click, click, click.

There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. Sarah was quite literally trapped like a mouse in a maze. She had mere moments to prepare herself and to try to figure out what to do.

In lieu of any better plan, Sarah drew her sword. It was that or try to climb over the towering walls of the Labyrinth, which was quite impossible as the bricks fit tightly together with no gaps or ledges to grasp upon. She steeled herself, holding her sword at the ready, mentally prepping herself for yet another confrontation.

Whatever Sarah had been expecting, this was most certainly not it. It should have been the Goblin King who entered the courtyard, smirking in his signature dastardly smile and gloating flamboyantly.

An elegantly dressed woman stepped forward, the firebird on her arm, and a golden circlet upon her brow. Her cloak was dark, and the gown she wore was a dusky mauve, the fine make of her garments indicating to Sarah this woman's high status. Gossamer wings fluttered on her back, emitting a soft ethereal glow. Sarah felt quite self-conscious of her bedraggled hair and of her torn and soiled clothes. How silly and human she must look in comparison to this regally glamorous woman.

Sarah stood dumbstruck for a few moments before lowering her sword a few inches.

The woman took in Sarah's startled expression and raised her hands gracefully in a placating gesture.

"I mean you no harm, child."

Her voice was soft, and yet it made Sarah's spine tingle. It was an old voice, though the woman looked ageless. She was clearly not human, and clearly, she was to be respected and treated with dignity if Sarah wished to remain unscathed. Magic and those who could use magic were not to be trifled with.

"Who are you?" asked Sarah, her voice containing more bravado than her heart. "What is it you want?"

"I have come to thank you. My beloved pet tells me that you rescued him from his imprisonment in the hoard of some cave trolls." She gestured to the firebird who rested happily on her crooked arm.

"I did," said Sarah cautiously, trying to get a feel for what was going on. Just when she thought that the Labyrinth could throw no more strange things at her, it decided to prove her wrong just as suddenly.

"I thank you for that. I have missed my friend greatly since his disappearance, and I have long searched for him." The woman took a few more steps towards Sarah, who in return slowly dropped her arm so that the point of her sword touched the bricks at her feet.

"I am Mab, Queen of the faeries. I have come to help you in return for the deed that you have done for me, however unknowingly it was performed. And who are you?"

"I am Sarah Guillemin, majesty," Sarah dropped into a curtsey, half-impressed with herself at the grace with which she performed this. "I am running the Labyrinth to win back my freedom from the Goblin King, and to win the freedom of my future kin from his curse which he placed on my family hundreds of years ago."

"Ah yes," said Queen Mab softly, placing a slim finger under Sarah's chin to gently lift it to the light cast by the firebird and the full moon. "I can see your resemblance to her. I know of your family quite well, Sarah Guillemin. Very few in these lands do not know of the tale, and fewer still do not know of you. The future Queen of the Goblins."

"I will not be Queen of the Goblins," replied Sarah, a hint of venom in her voice. "I shall win my freedom and return home. I will not fail to beat the Goblin King."

"You suit one another, the Goblin King and you," said Queen Mab, with a hint of a smile. "Both so headstrong and stubborn. I would not be so sure of your success, Sarah. Do not presume that the Goblin King is doing all this out of malice. There are subtleties and undercurrents of emotion here that you are as of yet not aware of. Jareth is quite determined to prevail, and he has just as much riding on this deal as you, if not more."

Sarah was quiet for a few moments before something that Queen Mab had said permeated her haze of thoughts, striking her as odd.

"Jareth?" she queried, looking at the fairy queen, "The Goblin King?"

"Jareth, King of the Goblins, defender of the Labyrinth, Lord of the Dark Wood, et cetera, et cetera, and et cetera," said Queen Mab dismissively, waving a graceful hand. "He has many names and titles, and Jareth is one of them."

"Oh," replied Sarah, glancing behind her at the statue that the firebird had lead her to, "I suppose he would."

"Indeed," said Queen Mab, leveling her imperious stare on Sarah. "You know so little of this world, and yet, here you are in the thick of it, opposing yourself against one of this world's most powerful beings. You must be either very brave or very stupid."

"I know of this world," said Sarah hotly, her cheeks flaming at Queen Mab's jab, "I have lived my whole life hearing stories and…"

Queen Mab cut her off.

"Yes, you have heard stories. Unfortunately, it seems that rather often stories are quite different from the truth. I meant you no offence. I merely wanted to illustrate the difference between knowing something through stories and knowing through the truth," said Queen Mab, not unkindly.

Suddenly, Queen Mab's firebird uttered a few chirps and flapped its wings once or twice. The Queen looked curiously at the bird for a few moments before reaching up and plucking one of the brilliant feathers from the firebird's plumage.

"My firebird wishes you to have this as a token of our gratitude," said Queen Mab, handing Sarah the fiery feather. It glowed with the same bright light that the firebird emanated. "It will always light your way. It will never dim, nor can it ever go out."

"Thank you," replied Sarah, taking the feather reverently, holding it carefully by her fingertips. Though she was new to the ways of the Labyrinth, she was quite sure that this was a rare and kingly gift, and that she should be quite honored and was incredibly lucky to have received such a gift, "I shall treasure it. Thank you."

"And now in show of my gratitude Sarah, Runner of the Labyrinth, I give you this compass. It is, of course, no ordinary compass. This compass shall help you on your journey through the Labyrinth. Though you have come far, you have far yet to go. This compass shall help you to keep on track, though it will not be able to keep you from danger's way. Danger will lie in the path you must take, and you must bear it the best you can. I wish you luck. Godspeed."

Queen Mab nodded once at Sarah and turned, walking gracefully out of the courtyard, her firebird perched regally on her arm, disappearing into the darkness just as suddenly as she had appeared.

AN: Little bit of a longer chapter this Friday! Sorry about not responding to reviews yet, I have been a little busy lately, but I should get to them soon! I love getting reviews! I must say, dear readers, I cannot wait until Tuesday's chapter! It was one of my favorites to write, as it was a bit different from what I have written before (as you will all see on Tuesday!)

Disclaimer: Labyrinth and its characters do not belong to me. Quotes from the movie belong to Henson, Froud, and Lucas. Quotes from the book belong to A.C.H. Smith.