5. Back into the Underground
"So...the trinity - fox, dwarf and the beast - found the Aboveground maiden and even more so, broke the Goblin King's enchantment." Lucan hissed, glaring at his ragged earmins that had failed to successfully accomplish their mission. "But of course, woe to me, why did I ever thought you could be useful? Got scared from that big yeti who can't even put two words together!"
"But..." One of earmins tried to object, but heavy boot made firm contact with his body, and next thing he saw was the opposite wall that approached in rapid speed. He squeezed his eyes shut just before the impact and slumped on ground, dizzy and disorientated, unable to even remember what day was today.
"Silence!" Lucan had no tolerance to anymore questions. "Such naivety from my part to try to use you for anything more than...than... than big nothing! That's right, you're useful to absolutely nothing!" He raged and abandoned the throne, starting to pace around the room.
Earmins panicked and squeezed against the walls to not get caught beneath Lucan's boots, all except one who did not moved from his spot at the base of throne. Salmon was one of oldest earmins, and he knew his king's moods very well. Right now Lucan was furious, but not murderously furious, and that made a big difference.
"You!" The king came to halt and grabbed the earlier kicked earmin by collar, lifting him up in the air to have his snout in same level with his own eyes, despite the fact that the poor creature was still unable to focus his gaze. "You saw the girl, I believe? Or were you too busy saving your own skin from Jareth's minions?"
"Saw... who...your m-majesty?" The earmin hiccuped, trying to decide on which king he should look at, seeing two of them in front of his face right now.
"The girl, you idiot! The girl you were supposed to bring here!" Lucan shook the earmin vigorously. "Did you got a good look at her?"
"Oh...the girly..." A dumb grin spread on creature's face, but it quickly vanished because both Lucan faces contorted in grimace that promised another kiss from the wall, this time on the other side of room. "She's very pretty, tall... with pretty dark hair..."
"She could be small, warty bog witch with bald head, for all I care!" Lucan roared. "She must not, I repeat, must NOT get to the Goblin King's castle! Send the grawes to Labyrinth entrance! Tell them how the girl looks like! They must get her and deliver to me! But not a single hair must fall from her head. Her friends...that's another thing. They can deal with Jareth's subjects as they wish! Move now!" He dropped the earmin and gave extra motivational nudge to him with his boot.
Earmin fell on ground, swaying on his feet, and tried to make his way to the door, but failed in first two attempts, bumping into wall next to it instead. Seeing that the king was about to spit fire, Salmon finally moved from his spot and rushed over to dizzy fellow, grabbing him and steering in right way. Lucan had no tolerance to any kind of delay, so the sooner they would deliver the order, the better.
Sarah prepared to return to the Underground with her friends. She had went outside and collected Ambrosius - Hoggle wisely had found a small cloth, securely wrapped one of crystals in it and tied at dog's collar while Sarah was busy with locking the door and one last time making sure the windows were all closed, before joining them in living room. She didn't noticed the new addition to Merlin's collar due to his long, messy fur, and even though she didn't wanted to admit it, she was feeling nervous about going back to Labyrinth.
As she finally stood beside Ludo, she watched incredulously how Hoggle fished in his jewel bag, retrieving four crystals, passing each to them, but Sarah was hesitant to take hers. "Why do you need these for?" She nodded at the way too familiar object. "Don't tell me we're back to damn crystal therapy. I had enough of it in previous time. Whenever I saw one of these, nothing good came out of it."
"This time it will be different." Hoggle insisted. "Take it! It will allow you to cross the realms and protect against the fog."
Sarah had yet another question itching on her tongue about what fog they were talking about, but her friends solemnly swore to explain everything later, so she decided to let it rest for when that time comes. Hesitantly, she reached out and closed fingers around the crystal. To her surprise, it was warm, almost soothing to touch. She had always imagined these things are icy cold. Involuntarily she remembered the last time when she had seen one of these in Jareth's hand, when the last seconds passed on the clock.
Just fear me...love me...do as I say, and I will be your slave..., his words from past echoed in her ears, sending slight shiver down her spine at how perfectly she remembered his tone and that desperate look in his eyes.
It had only been much later, when she had thought about what exactly he had meant about it. Some part of her still believed it was nothing but ruse, his attempt to try and stall her from saving Toby, but some other part wondered if he had been genuine and truly had offered what she thought he did. But Sarah was no longer easily impressed teenage girl. He would have something more than handsome face and magic to convince her of truth in his words.
"Sarah? Is everythin' fine?" Hoggle's voice held concern, seeing how strangely she stared into the crystal.
"Of course." Sarah snapped out of trip down the memory lane, and looked at him. "So...what should I do with these? Make a wish? Say the right words or something?"
"The words ain't gonna work anymore. Even if you wish yerself away, no one is allowed to leave the castle or the city. Too dangerous. For king as well." Hoggle explained with somewhat grim expression. "Me thinks it's risky for him to answer to wishers as well, and put anyone runnin' through the Labyrinth would be suicide. Ye see for yerself soon. Now...these things will help ye to get where ye wants. Just...close yer eyes, think of Labyrinth, wish yerself to be there...and for what's sake, keep yer eyes shut."
"Why?" Sarah frowned, but Hoggle only shook his head.
"Better this way, trust me. From me own experience." He grumbled. "Less unpleasant that way."
Sarah suppressed new load of questions, knowing it would only be waste of time. Clutching Merlin's leash in one hand, in other holding crystal, she closed her eyes and with her mind's eye, brought the Labyrinth back into her memories. The crystal in her touch felt warmer as she thought of endless passages, various creatures she met during her journey, even the Bog, which was the least pleasant experience, yet it did brought her a new friend in Sir Didymus persona. And Jareth... the memories of the Goblin King inevitably filled her mind, recalling his mismatched eyes and hypnotic gaze which more than once left her rooted on spot, the slight smirk on his face which left her wondering if he was actually making fun of her or was it simply part of his character to find everything amusing... however Sarah decided to not think of his tight pants. That was not something she wanted to focus on right now...
The ground suddenly vanished beneath her feet, and even with closed eyes, she felt everything spinning around her. Merlin barked, then whimpered beside her, the dog not accustomed to such manner of transport, and no one could tell him to close his eyes. But just when Sarah thought she won't be able to keep her lunch in much longer, the unpleasant sensations were gone just as sudden, and in next moment her body slammed against hard ground, where she remained laying, afraid to look around.
"M'lady," she heard Sir Didymus' voice. "We're here. In the Underground."
Sarah took a deep breath, collecting her courage, opened her eyes and carefully peeked around, then sat up slowly as her head was still dizzy, but she could not believe her eyes as her gaze finally focused enough to take in their surroundings. "Are we somewhere in the Labyrinth?" She asked, but instinctively already knew the answer.
Nothing was like before. The sky no longer blue, now covered with grim, dark clouds, slowly moving above their heads. And instantly Sarah realized what fog they had mentioned before. It enclosed them from all sides like impenetrable wall, allowing to see only few steps around them...thanks to shimmering shield around them that seemed to push the fog away. Sarah assumed it was thanks to whatever magic the crystals held, just like Hoggle had said. Still, the magic could not keep away the moist, chilly air, and she felt thankful for her decision to put on a warm jacket over her shirt, despite the hot summer in Aboveground.
"This way to Labyrinth." Hoggle pointed somewhere behind him. How he could orientate in this fog, Sarah had no clue.
"Where?" She narrowed her eyes, trying to see anything that would give at least some hint about the whereabouts of giant wall that surrounded the maze. "I can't see through this fog."
"Ya ain't gonna see anything." Hoggle grumbled. "Thought we might land somewhere closer to it, but we ain't as close I thought. Better hurry up, and don't lose yer crystal."
Sarah found it easier to not argue, instead followed her friends, trudging through the endless growth of bushes and fallen branches as they passed through the woods she did not remembered seeing here the first time. The ground was murky and bent slightly beneath their feet, small puddles of water here and there could be seen, forcing them to walk carefully to avoid them as they were anything but shallow, as Sir Didymus explained.
Not the fan of hiking activities, Sarah could not recall when she last had such long and tiresome walk. The fog was so thick, she barely could see Hoggle and Sir Didymus who walked ahead of her, the crystal magic pushing the fog away only so far. Few times her feet slipped, and if not Ludo who stomped behind her, she would've fallen in murky water for sure, pulling Merlin along, but the beast caught her easily and steadied the girl until she regained control of her feet.
Their walk continued for couple of hours, until they finally reached more firm ground - if one could call sand field that stretched around them as more firm and solid. But this time Sarah felt familiarity with their surroundings. The scant trees and some dry bushes looked familiar, as well as stone slabs peeking from the sand here and there. "We're close." She guessed.
Hoggle nodded and pointed ahead uphill, where through the fog, a faint hint of dark shape could be seen. Sarah quickened her steps and almost run up the hill, coming to halt in shock at the picture revealed before her.
What the hell had happened here?
Miserable and terrifying view stood before her. Labyrinth never looked like freshly made, but now the bushes around it looked dry enough to turn into dust by single touch. Small water pools at which she first met Hoggle, now were dry empty, the vines that used to stretch along the wall, providing home to fairies - with nasty habit to bite everyone - now were dried and dead, most crumbled on ground already lifelessly.
With growing alarm, Sarah could see that the fog had spread into the Labyrinth as well, and despite the shield, she could feel the dreadful cold that emitted from it, and she clutched the crystal tighter, seeking the solace in its warmth. But then her gaze drifted further, something white glowing in distance caught her eye. The Goblin King's castle. Like a beacon, it shone above the Labyrinth and the fog that filled its passages.
"Jareth cast protective spells to shield the city and castle." Hoggle explained, catching up with Sarah and noticing at what she was looking at.
"So...he's really still there." This realization gave her mixed feelings. At one side, she felt some strange relief, knowing that the Goblin King still is there, from other side... well, that was something Sarah decided to worry once the time comes to face the king.
"He's our king, M'lady. Always been...well, almost... and always shall be." Sir Didymus noted, not seeing slight grimace on Hoggle's face.
Sarah nodded absent-mindedly as they approached the wall, but then she realized there were no gates visible, and she looked expectantly at Hoggle. Previously he had opened the gates, when she asked the right question, but now he looked just as puzzled as she did. Sarah already opened her mouth to ask how they're going to get inside, because crawling over the walls was maybe an option to her, but not to her friends, and she could not carry Merlin on her back either, but suddenly Sir Didymus froze, sniffed the air and raised paw in warning.
"Do thee feel that?" He quietly asked, but everyone shook their heads, not feeling anything more than they already did at the moment. "What smelth is 'tis?" The knight sniffed more, squeezing his way past Hoggle.
"Yer no bunch of roses yerself." Hoggle hissed, thinking the remark was aimed at him.
"No time to seek for brawl," Sir Didymus snapped back, then his ears perked up. "Hush! Thou hear?"
They all fell silent and listened carefully. Behind the bushes something rustled and growled, the sounds growing louder and louder, coming from the fog closer, surrounding them. Once again, Sarah felt shiver across her spine. Whatever was approaching, she did not harbored any hope it could have peaceful intentions. She pulled Merlin closer to her, giving quiet order to sit, the dread making her to retreat few more steps backwards to the Labyrinth's wall.
And that's when they finally saw them. Dark fur covered creatures, no bigger than Hoggle, slowly began to emerge from the cover of bushes and fog. They had two legs, but instead of one pair of arms, they had two, each hand armed with razor sharp claws that could effortlessly tear up any living being. Their heads, in contrast to the rest of bodies, had no fur at all, which at any other situation would look hilarious, but laughter was last thing on Sarah's mind, staring into their yellow, hungry eyes, unable to miss the double row of teeth, sharp as chainsaw in their mouths.
Sarah took another step behind, stopping only when her back hit the stone wall, her gaze panickingly darting around, looking for something, anything to use as weapon in obviously oncoming battle, but unfortunately she could not see a single stone, piece of wood, not even match or toothpick to defend herself and her friends with. "What...what are those things?" She whispered to the knight who stood the closest.
"Grawes, m'lady." Sir Didymus answered just as quietly, clutching his staff tightly, already assessing whom to attack first. "Watch thee face, 'tis the common place to aim at of these scoundrels."
The black mass of creatures crawled closer to us, and Sarah quickly estimated at least three dozen of them, if not more. They had cut off any retreat path or chance to run away past the wall, trapping them at the wall, and the chances did not looked too good. Suddenly they stopped, forming semi-circle, close enough to see the saliva dripping from their mouths. The largest of them, apparently leader of group, hungrily eyed the friends, then his yellow eyes focused on Sarah.
"Girrrrl comessss with ussss." He hissed, startling Sarah - she could never imagined these things could talk. "Give usss the girrrrl, and we sssshal eat youssss quickly..."
"Never! I shall fight for our fair maiden till death!" Sir Didymus exclaimed, baring teeth and snarling at the enemy. Next to him, Hoggle fished out of depths of his jacket something that looked like large kitchen knife, the sight made Sarah's eyes widen in surprise, when he brandished it like a sword, collecting whatever courage he possessed. But Ludo simply stepped in front of the girl and her dog, assuming the most threatening pose he could muster. Only Sarah was left defenseless, hiding behind her friends. She felt touched they were willing to risk their lives for her, but at same time she couldn't bear the thought anything could happen to them. She checked her pockets... her fingers found the smooth surface of small cylinder. The pepper spray. She had no clue how that could help, but it was better than nothing.
The grawe leader made strange noises as if tuning up his vocal cords, then threw head back and gave a shrill howl - apparently that was signal to attack, and the creatures launched forward, snapping teeth and claws.
Sir Didymus charged forward, stabbing and smacking his staff to left and right, sometimes even hitting the target, but not once he was forced to spin around to save his tail from either being torn or bitten off. At some point one grawe clutched with teeth and claws into knight's tail so tightly, neither poking nor shaking could get him off, and Sir Didymus had no choice but to return the favor, sinking his own teeth in grawe's stinky backside. The others could not come to their comrade's aid only because both opponents were spinning around faster than car wheel.
Finally one of grawes decided the knight had to be finished, and leapt on them with teeth bared...unfortunately he did not estimated the speed of spinning mass, and instead of Sir Didymus, he hit his fellow who released knight's tail, crumpling down, dead, but furious knight finished off the other grawe who had made such fatal mistake.
Meanwhile Hoggle like true Underground musketeer, sliced with his sword rarely, but accurately, but Ludo fought like simple street hooligan, grabbing grawes with his large paws, slamming their heads together, then flung them as far as he could, along the way swiping away few more. Even Sarah tried to put her pepper spray in use once, but instantly was forced to seek refuge behind Ludo's back again, because grawe, sensing the liquid, sprayed in his eyes, grabbed the can out of her hand, threw it in mouth, chewing with almost blissful expression, just as loudly swallowed and let out a deep belch.
The sound of fighting, snarling, growling and hissing was unbearable for Sarah. Merlin was barking like crazy beside her, but she did not allowed the dog to get near these things. He was not young anymore, and she feared this battle would be the last for him...yet it could be very last for each of them. The only thing in her hand was the crystal, but she couldn't release it, nor she could use it to transport herself away from here, even when Sir Didymus shouted at her to do so and save herself. She could not leave her friends here at the mercy of fate. The crystal had grown hot in her hold from clutching it so tightly, and she closed her eyes, pleading for someone to come and help them. I wish someone would save us, she thought desperately, please, please, someone save us!
With growing horror, Sarah saw Hoggle being knocked down, Sir Didymus launched to his aid, but even Ludo could no longer hold against these creatures. She already could see their leader crawling toward her, snapping teeth, his claws reaching for her... wild laughter and clapping suddenly came from the other side of the wall.
The gate appeared out of nowhere, and Sarah lost the support behind her back, stumbling backwards, when dozen or so fireys run out past them, slightly swiping their feet against the ground every here and there, the flames bursting high. Grawes screamed in pure terror, and one by one retreated, fleeing as soon as they were far enough from the fire that soon blazed across most of the field. Sir Didymus and Hoggle did not hesitated to treat the slowest ones with extra motivation poking and stabbing, the arrival of fireys giving them fresh surge of energy.
In less than few minutes, the area was clear from the creatures, and the friends could finally let out a sigh of relief and assess the damage done. Sir Didymus sadly eyed his tail which had suffered for the second time today, very much reminding one certain royalty's hairstyle. Hoggle could not suppress a laugh, earning offended glare from the knight.
"Thou shan't find it funny," he pointed out. "Thee trousers are naught in one piece no longer."
Hoggle dropped the knife and clutched on his backside, startled to find that indeed a piece of fabric was hanging loose. He blushed in shame and covered the damaged spot in hopes no one else had noticed it.
Meanwhile Ashes bounced over to the trio - Sarah had wisely hidden herself inside the Labyrinth, holding Merlin's snout to keep him from barking. The fireys hadn't noticed her in their haste to run out, and she felt grateful for that. In their last encounter, they had tried to take her head off, and she was very fond of its current location, besides in attempt to get away from this crazy gang, she tore their heads off for which they gave her a good chase.
"The kingy sent us to patrol at the gates," Ashes cackled. "Better hurry while the gates are open. And you're in big, big trouble. Kingy has been looking for you all day! And Hoggle - nice hole in your pants!" He wildly laughed, echoed by his fellows.
Hoggle gave truly murderous glare, but Sir Didymus and Ludo steered him toward the gates and inside the Labyrinth, where Sarah already was waiting for them. It was bad enough the knight had rubbed his torn pants in face, but no, Ashes had to make public announcement, and the dwarf had no doubt it will become the newest castle gossip among the goblins, and he trudged behind his friends in sulking silence.
"How they can be out here?" Sarah interrupted silence when the gates slammed shut, leaving fireys outside, their laughing and chattering muffled now. "Isn't the fog...?"
"I don't know...they aren't affected by it. I'd say, they lack the brain to be affected in first place." Hoggle murmured.
"I do not like this one bit." Sir Didymus spoke after finding the first opening and taking the right turn. To Sarah's surprise, he explained this path leads straight to the castle, and then it was his turn to look surprised when Sarah gritted teeth and murmured something about 'cook that damn worm'. "If grawes had been summoned, I fear to imagine what shall come next."
Sarah held her tongue, but her patience was slowly running out as they hurried on, taking shortcuts she never would've even guess about, and when the Goblin City finally came in view, she abruptly stopped. "Alright, that's enough." She firmly stated, forcing the others to stop as well. "You promised to explain everything, and I am not going to go ten feet near the city, until you keep the promise and tell me finally, what is going on here, damnit!"
Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo exchanged looks. Sarah swore rarely, but when she did, it was clear sign she was fuming in anger. Or exhaustion. Or overly upset. Right now it could be either of those things, or all together at once. She stood, arms crossed, Merlin sitting beside her legs, panting with long tongue out, and looked at them expectantly.
Finally Hoggle sighed. "Yer right. We tells ye all we know, and what we only guess. Why don't ye take a seat, it's no short story. So, it actually began long time ago..."
Listening the story, Sarah remained silent, not once interrupting Hoggle. She remained silent also he was finished, and Sir Didymus insisted them to continue to walk. There was a lot to think about.
So, Jareth hadn't been the Goblin King initially. Of course, Sarah had some vague knowledge that Underground consisted on many kingdoms and beings, not just one Labyrinth, but she never knew how he came to be the king here. And this other king... Lucan... according to Hoggle, Jareth was real prince Charming in comparison with King of Yorgs - she hadn't asked what those were, the horrified look on even Sir Didymus face at mention of them was enough to know they were bad news.
However, Sarah had a feeling her friends did not told her everything for some reason, like, how exactly she could help? Sir Didymus only briefly let it slip that since she was the only one who ever beat the Labyrinth, she's officially its Champion, and Lucan could try to use her for his gain, should he attempt to breach the Labyrinth defenses and find the path through it. The fox was adamant that since Jareth became the king, the Labyrinth changed as well, and even the former king could find it difficult to seek the right path to the castle. Whether or not that's true, Sarah didn't know.
The creaking of gates startled her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Ludo pushing the city gate open to let them in. Sarah walked through, another wave of memories resurfacing in her mind, seeing the streets that were just as empty as previous time, only moment before entire Goblin army marched out to delay us from reaching the castle, and she could not help but look around cautiously as if expecting armed goblins to jump out of somewhere at any moment, despite Hoggle mentioning years ago, when they spoke on the subject that the army they met was not actually the real size army Jareth had.
And yet...while nothing visually seemed to change, except some new roofs and patches on houses - direct result of renovation after her first visit, when Ludo's summoned rocks destroyed good part of city - something felt different, making Sarah suppress the shiver as they walked toward the castle. It hadn't been metropolis of any kind five years ago either, but now the silence brought her the vibes of Tales of the Crypt. "I don't recall this city to be so...abandoned..." She quietly spoke.
"It's like it for very long time now." Hoggle grimly sighed.
They crossed the main square and came up to the stairs, leading to the entrance into the Goblin king's castle. Sarah looked up and noticed many lights flickering in windows, the only sign of life she had seen so far in the entire Labyrinth, aside of fireys. All of a sudden she had irrational urge to see Jareth as soon as possible. The silence and chilly air set some fear in her that she couldn't even explain. Hoggle had mentioned that Jareth might not be happy to see her, but it was last thing on her mind right now. Maybe things won't be so bad?
"M'lady?" Sir Didymus' concerned voice broke through her reverie. "Are thou feeling well?"
"Anyone asks me this question one more time, something indeed won't be well." Sarah murmured, tugging the jacket closer around herself. "Let's go inside, I'm freezing. Come, Merlin." She tugged the leash, urging the dog to follow, and determinedly walked up the steps, Ludo pushing the door open, giving her another deja vu feeling.
Stepping inside, Sarah was greeted with unimaginable sight - goblins, fireys and many, many other creatures she never met before, filled the castle in every nook and corner. As she stood there, gaping in surprise, Hoggle pried Merlin's leash from her hand and murmured something about settling the dog with Ambrosius, but Sarah barely even noticed. Only now she realized why there was such silence and emptiness wherever they went. Seeking shelter from the dangerous fog, every living being had found safety in here, in the castle.
It took a moment before the Labyrinth citizens noticed the girl standing in doorway, and stunned silence fell upon the place as she slowly began to make her way forward, followed by Ludo, Sir Didymus and Hoggle who had returned as quickly as he could. An anxious murmuring began behind them, and slowly everyone began to follow her like large escort on her way to the throne hall, curious to find out how did this mortal human found her way to the castle, what does she want, and, most importantly, what their king is going to say about this.
With each step, the unexplainable urge to meet Jareth only grew, and Sarah began to run up the stairs to finally meet him. Come what may, she had to see him.
