Sarah dodged the licking flames and found herself rolling into the underbrush of a bush, clinging to her searing arm and fighting back tears of shock. Jareth had thrown her out of the way when flames had surged forward from the writhing bodies of the Fierys, their melting flesh dripped free from their bodies and the ground sizzled where it landed. The goblin King conjured as many crystals as he could withstand magically and they sailed through the air towards the beasts of flame. When the glittering orbs crashed into the fires they burst into floods of shining waters, dousing the flames which battled them.

Crystals crashed and exploded into thousands of streams of water, sending steam, black as night up into the air. The creatures screamed as their fires were extinguished and the bodies blackened, turning from elegant earth-stars into spikey charred bones, dancing wildly. With a hiss they finally stilled and there was complete calm. The charred naked bodies were now statues of blackened flesh, hard and shining in places where white bone had been freed. The Goblin King breathed deeply and coughed, the scent of their deadness stank like poison in his nose and burned his lungs. From under the bush Jareth could hear Sarah's frantic breathing and then a soft whine of pain.

"Sarah," Jareth kneeled and reached into the bush to help her out. He had not anticipated how severe the burn on her arm truly was, but the glinting tears on her cheeks and pinkness of her face showed her strain.

She crawled from the bush with Jareth's help and he hoisted her onto her feet. Once standing Sarah was finally able to pull her hand free from the hard grip it had on her arm. Beneath was her burnt flesh, moist and sparkling in the glow which Jareth was producing from a crystal. Air was hissing through her teeth as she breathed hard, the white pain making it difficult to think. Around them the trees had new companions: the Fiery bodies were like new trees themselves now, standing with their arms up in despair, agonizing branches turned up to the sky.

In spite of herself Sarah began to cry for them, as terrifying as their wildness had been upon attack, she could see now on the black faces the expressions of strange quasi-joy, quasi-hysteria that had made the Fierys who they were. For a moment even Jareth was silent, a grim look on his face as he observed her injury while she mourned.

Then Jareth grasped Sarah's wrist and winced, his own skin aching for her. With his spare hand he delicately touched the pained flesh and tried to lift away the injury. Piece by piece the magic he passed into her body peeled away from her skin the essence of burn, healing deeply and searching for hurt to repair. When finally she exhaled hard in relief the flesh was clean of wound and the Goblin King relaxed.

"Well, little brother, you do care for your pets, after all."

Both turned and jumped in surprise. In the tree above them, among the black and angled leaves, Jarah stood, folding the doll hanging in his mossy hair. Sarah tried to avoid his eyes, but there was no place on his face that she could keep her stare. In her tension she found her hand searching for Jareth's arm, which she griped upon finding. As her eyes finally met Jarah's she could feel pain flare up her newly healed arm as though the burn had returned. Her heel and cheek tingled with remembrance of their healing as well and the onslaught of sensations running across her body made Sarah shudder. The white pupils in Jarah's eyes shrunk and grew wildly as he observed her trembling.

"How much time do I have left?" Sarah shocked both brothers when she spoke.

Jarah smiled. "You have plenty of time Sarah, but I think your conviction is waning." He eyed her hand, which was clutching Jareth's arm tightly.

She dropped her grip and clasped her hands together. "Why are you here?"

"Well," He stepped off of the branch on which he had stood and floated slowly to the ground. "I thought it polite to check on you since you have encountered such treacheries since last we met."

"She does not deserve your games Jarah." Jareth said. Now that Sarah was no longer touching him, he himself reached and touched her shoulder. "Come Sarah, we can finish this."

Jarah tutted quietly and rustled his feathers. The doll in his hair blinked and Sarah flinched.

"I do believe, my dear Jareth, that my deal with Sarah was for her to solve my labyrinth on her own." He said his voice low and gentle.

"She will die here."

"She can make her own way just fine. And unlike you I am quite a good caretaker for my guests." The dark haired nightmare-man took a generous step towards Sarah, close enough to reach a long nailed finger to her hair, which he combed back from her face softly. "Before your interruption I was about to help my runner out of the little bog mess she had slipped into."

He moved to the side and grasped one of Sarah's sweaty hands. "And now, to prove my kindness to Sarah-sweet, I would like to treat her to something. A taste of my realm at its finest."

Jareth had no time to stop his brother when he swept Sarah away in a foggy cloud, he grasped at the air where she had once been standing before hollering wildly into the air.

The air was sweet. A low rumble, like a drum echoed around her, the sound almost tangible and she could feel it radiating up her feet. Her skin was warm, and she was weighed down by a lovely heaviness over her body, like a blanket suspended all around her. Yet it moved. It ran in warm currents all across her body, swimming over her stomach, reaching between her breasts and spiraling smoothly down her arms. Other currents of the cloth-river ran up from her ankles to her knees and then her hips, following the curves of her young body and tracing the movements of her limbs. It danced on her, a comfort she had never known she had needed and a touch she had never felt. Her eyes opened and coming toward her in the darkness was a figure.

It flew towards her, growing in detail until she could see it was no stranger at all; it was a looking glass, in which was reflected the image of herself. But it was not entirely the Sarah that she knew. The skin was so pale that she looked like a blank page of paper, upon which only her lips, peach colored, and her marble green eyes were drawn on. Her hair was so long it touched the black ground she stood on. And her body, which seemed much more womanly than seventeen year old Sarah was used to, was covered in the same swirling black material that Jarah wore, and riddled with thin pockets and in a constant state of movement.

She twisted and turned, trying to observe her reflection in as many angles as she could. She needed no light to see in this mirror, and nothing else but her own lovely image reflected in its glass.

"You look lovely."

She could not see Jarah, but his voice behind her was close to her left ear, a hot cloud of air made the flesh there burn a little.

"What have you done to me?" She twisted and watched the gauzy fabric sink and slither around her back. She ran her hands through her hair, but it was far too long to reach the ends of.

"Nothing, I have merely shown you what you can become in your entirety if you choose to stay in my lands."

"Why would I ever do that?"

His warm chest pressed up against her back and his arms moved to embrace her. He rested his sharp chin on her shoulder and nuzzled her cheek with his sharp nose.

"Because I can be so much more than my brother ever could be." He whispered. "He moves the stars… I'll move time and send you back. I will let you live your human life as you should have. And when you have lived your mortal days I will take you back to me." His lips brushed the curve of her neck and he gripped her stomach in one of his hands. His free one came up to turn her face to his.

His frosty eyes shimmered in his white face. His lips curved into a smile and his sharp teeth glinted a little.

Sarah felt her breath slipping away from her as the more luxurious sensations overcame her. His sharp tipped fingers ran over her skin lightly as he turned her back to the mirror. Her gown had changed and was solid now. It had a high collar which reached to her jawline, but no sleeves after the curve of her shoulders. From there down it hung tightly to her body, accentuating features she was not sure she truly possessed. At the place where her legs split a bright purple jewel was hanging off the end of a v-shaped belt, and it glinted brightly.

"Why be a queen in Jareth's fantasy, when you can be a goddess in my reality?" Jarah asked and his hand came down to grasp her hand. He drew it up to her face and then brought it to his own, so she could feel the cool skin of his face. He kissed her fingers gently and the mirror began to drift away, taking the lovely image of Sarah with it.

It was replaced with the crescendo of the beating drum and the room began to come to light, revealing a chamber of unmeasurable size that was filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of applauding, masked people. They were gorgeously gowned or elegantly suited, and wore bright masks over their faces and gloves on their hands. At her side Jarah held out a gloved hand of his own.

With no hesitation Sarah took it.