A Tainted Land
A/N: Thanks Labyrinth Addict for following! Here is chapter two, by the way, any of the clips in the beginning of each chapter in italics are going to either be poems or songs. I forgot to add the song name and band for the last chapter. It was Memphis May Fire: Careful What You Wish For. Haha. So there is that one. Please review, follow, and enjoy!
Chapter 2: There is No Darker Place
The Dark- Simon Curtis
Can somebody show me?
I can't see in the Dark
Can somebody take me?
I can't stay in the Dark.
Will you illuminate me on out of the Dark?
Turning pages, turning corners, turning into another,
Turning into a song that's just like every other,
They say to get there you already have to be there to start
How do you get there when you know it's what you need in your heart?
Her eyes glared defiantly at King Davyn's shiny tipped boots. She did not want to meet his gaze, nor to see the fury she knew would await her in those backwards eyes. Slowly he walked into the office, shutting the door behind him as he went. "Human…you do not seem as surprised as I would expect from one of your kind…" Davyn drawled, stopping a foot or two from Sarah's spot on the chair. "Why are you not more frightened?"
Sarah frowned, "I need to get home to my brother…He's alone!" She looked up at him and instantly regretted it. Sure enough, his eyes were narrowed into slits that made his gaze even more terrifying. "Please?" She added with a hopeful smile.
"Why. Are. You. Unafraid?" he questioned her again. Sarah wondered what she should tell him. The truth was that she was not easily frightened, at least when none of her loved ones were involved. But then again, her mother was involved.
"Where is my mother!?" Sarah demanded, shooting up from the chair. Davyn didn't like her constant questions. He stepped forward and grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her close to his face.
"Answer me, mortal!" he growled, his breath warm and oddly sweet as it rolled across her face. Sarah struggled for words, and ended up just blurting out the truth.
"I've been here before! Well not here, here…I ran the Labyrinth and beat the Goblin King!" She was gasping by the time she finished, and looking at Davyn with wide eyes. He seemed suddenly interested in her and he released her shirt to let her stumble back into her chair. "Now…now where is my mother…" she asked again.
Davyn rolled his eyes and flipped a careless hand in her direction, "She is fine, enjoying her dinner as we speak…Though it took some coaxing to get her to calm down…" His voice held a tense, irritation that Sarah assumed was her own fault. "You are the Sarah? Sarah, the Champion, whispers about you ran across the Underground many years ago…" He chuckled quietly. "I believed them to be false…for no human has ever bested the Labyrinth before…" He looked at Sarah with a careful eye, each inch of her body being scanned as he stepped towards her again.
"Let me go home, please? I won't bother you anymore…I didn't mean to call you…" she explained. Davyn held up a hand to stop her from speaking anymore, but she ignored it, "I just really need to get home to my brother, and help him get to bed before my parents get home…He's only a young boy…He needs me…"
"Quiet you fool!" Davyn snapped, throwing his arms up as if Sarah was a hopeless mess. "You cannot go home…"he laughed. "You will never be going home…"
"You can't do that! You monster! Send me home, right now!" Sarah screamed.
"Silence!"
"NO! It's not fair! I didn't do this on purpose…Just send me home and you won't have to worry about me!" Sarah pleaded.
"I am not worried about you as it is…Why would I worry about a mere mortal girl?" Davyn murmured, his muscles tense with anger. "You will stop being a pain or I will throw you into the darkness…" He warned.
"There is no darker place than this!" Sarah cried, standing up and pushing Davyn. It did no good because he didn't move an inch from where he stood, but it got her point across. A point she really should have kept to herself. Sarah didn't see the hand that came flying towards her face until the impact tossed her to the floor of the office. Waves of nausea flooded her system and small black dots danced across her vision as she held herself up on her elbows. "Send me home…" she mumbled, her words barely audible. Davyn grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet, pushing her up roughly against one of the bookshelves lining the room. He pinned her against it with his lower body and held her face in between his hands.
"We will simply have to put your fate to a vote, my sweet. Then perhaps you will realize the folly of your words…" he mused. Sarah's head was a haze of pain as he dragged her across the room, much like he had earlier down the hall. She stumbled and cursed softy as she tripped against him. He seemed to get irritated by her inability to walk and grabbed her by the waist, throwing her over his shoulder. Sarah didn't have the energy to fight him as he fluidly walked down the hall, her weight not a problem for him at all. Her gaze fell on the floor that passed beneath them with each step. A long runner covered the entire expanse of the hall, intricate Celtic knots bordering the edges, a mixture of black and red covering the fabric. Her admiration for the design was short lived when she heard a door open and she suddenly found herself sprawled across the floor of the throne room again. "Subjects! We have a fate to decide!" He laughed, and Sarah found it to be a beautiful sound. Too beautiful for someone so wicked.
"This child believes there to be no darker place than my castle," the room filled with laughter, but two people did not laugh. Maria, and Sarah. "I have decided she will need to realize the error of her thoughts…Shall we throw her into the Forest of Nightmares?!" The room once again cheered in delight, making Davyn smile brightly. His teeth gleamed against the darkness of his skin. A cry of terror shut everyone up immediately, and Davyn's eyes fell on Maria's pain stricken face. "What is it now, Maria?"
"Please do not send her to the forest! I beg of you…she will not survive…some other punishment…anything else..please!" Maria begged, hot tears streaming down her pale cheeks. Davyn frowned and looked down at Sarah, who remained planted to the floor.
"Hmm…Champion…I will give you two choices…Maria cannot interfere in your fate…She has not been my Queen since she returned to the Kingdom…" he mused, "You can either run the forest of nightmares…if you make it out alive…you can leave and I will not chase you down…But the chances of survival are…slim. Or…you may remain here in my castle and become my new Queen," a round of gasps erupted, "Who better to be Queen than the girl who bested the Labyrinth as a wee child?" The room nodded in agreement and looked at her with awe and wonder. Sarah looked at her mother, who was gaping at Davyn with utter shock written across her delicate features. "Maria…leave…" Davyn ordered. The woman remained rooted in her spot as anger began to fill her face, twisting her lips and furrowing her brow. "LEAVE!" Davyn roared. She jumped, but didn't move until two guards swept in and grabbed her by the arms.
Slowly Sarah stood from her spot on the floor and stepped towards the King. She was getting angry herself. How dare he give her two choices, neither of which had a happy ending. How dare he be so perverse to suggest his ex-Queen's daughter be his new Queen?! She was fuming as her lips parted to speak, "I choose to run the forest, you asshole!" she snapped, swinging her fist around to punch him square in the face. Davyn had not been expected such an act and took the full force of the blow, stumbling for a moment. Sarah felt good afterwards, at least until she saw his anger flare for a single second before she disappeared. Again.
Maria was tossed to her bedroom without a single word from the guards, and in that moment she was fine with it. Immediately the woman rushed to the window and tapped it four times. A small fairy appeared within seconds, it's body no more than six inches long and it's skin almost translucent. Wings sparkled against the small creature's back and a collected of small leaves and flowers dressed it smooth body. "Leila…" Maria whispered. "You must tell him…Tell him that the Champion, his, Champion has returned…Urgency is necessary with this matter my sweet friend…She has been sent into the Forest of Nightmares…I fear for her live…Careful Leila," Maria added swiftly, "The gargoyles will be watching tonight…" The fairy nodded and swiftly flew out into the darkness of the night. Maria was referring to the creatures that protected and guarded the castle from those entering and leaving its walls. The gargoyles had a certain taste for fairies.
"Oh get there in time Leila…please…she must be saved…" Maria whispered, moving to her bed to collapse in her misery.
Darkness, she had never seen so much of it in one place. The forest itself had an evil essence, which danced around her feet and slithered up her skin. Sarah stood amongst trees and roots, seeing nothing but the dark shadows of everything around her. The sounds were nothing like she had ever heard before, with deep croaking, sharp hissing, and shuddering branches creaking around her. Slowly Sarah began to walk through the darkness, gazing around as she noticed new things. There were yellow orbs high in the trees, gazing down at her, and she knew they had to be some horrid creature that watched her. A yelp of fear escaped her lips as something ran by her foot, scratching her jeans as it did. Sarah looked down and saw four little claw marks had ripped through the fabric of her pants and sliced the skin beneath it. "Hey!" She whined. Cackles of laughter erupted from around her as gremlins flooded the forest floor. "You little devils!" Sarah snapped. They stopped at her words and glared at her for a moment before erupting into more laughter and dancing around her. Some dispersed as she continued through the forest, but five remained glued at her heels.
"Champion is gonna die!" mused one with unruly tuffs of hair and bright yellow eyes. He had four little claws that Sarah was pretty sure would fit perfectly to the cuts on her leg.
"Oh yes! Fresh dinner tonight…" croaked another one. Their voices were rough and low, each sound scratching her ears and sending shivers down her spine. She wanted nothing more than to go home and play with Toby. She would even let him forget about his homework, and eat all the candy he wanted. Anything to be away from the little gremlins at her feet.
"Don't worry human…We won't bite till after you die!" promised one that suddenly landed on her shoulder.
"Chomp..Chomp..Chomp!" they all cackled in unison.