Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Wings: A Labyrinth Fic ❯ Chapter 4

Part Four

Sarah stepped off the last rung in the ladder, standing just a few inches from the space she could hear Jareth breathing in. She glanced around, but the gloom was too thick to see anything besides the faint glow coming from the faerie. Sarah held the lantern up and stared in surprise as the glow brightened around the huddled figure inside. Her little wings were wrapped around her body as she shivered, and her eyes were shut tight.

"Poor thing, why's she shaking?" Sarah asked.

"Faeries are afraid of darkness," Jareth answered. "She'll calm down, don't worry. The light merely makes her a target to frogs and other things that would eat her, but when she realizes she's safe in that lantern, she'll stop shaking and start cursing again."

He put his good hand in Sarah's free hand and led her down the twisted cavernous passages. Somewhere in the distance they could hear an underground stream rushing by, but the caves themselves were actually quite damp. Puddles covered the ground, she could tell by how often she splashed through them, and water from an unseen source continually dripped into them, echoing oddly through the darkness.

"Does anything live down here?" she wondered, whispering in a tiny voice.

"Nothing dangerous," he smiled reassuringly. "Maybe a few night butterflies, but nothing else. Unless other creatures have come down here for shelter."

"What's a dark butterfly?" Sarah asked.

Jareth was about to sigh in exasperation at the amount of questions she was asking, but when he looked over at her face, he held himself back. Unused to this sort of subterranean environment, Sarah was desperately grasping at anything that might take her mind off of her eerie surroundings.

"Well..." he started slowly, not sure how to describe them.

Suddenly the faerie let out a hideous scream that startled both of them, nearly causing Sarah to drop the lantern. When the lantern didn't break open, the faerie started another barrage of furious curses.

"Damn it!" Sarah growled, shaking the lantern angrily so that the faerie lost her footing and fell on her rear. "You get us caught and you're gonna get killed, too!"

"You can't reason with them," Jareth told her. "Faeries are notoriously bad tempered. They're like the bees on your world. She'll stay angry for hours and bite anyone who comes near."

"Bratty little thing," Sarah muttered. "Now everything down here knows where we are."

Jareth didn't answer, and she wondered if he was just as worried as she was. They continued down the path, and after a little while Sarah noticed something bright in the distance.

"Jareth, something's burning down there," she said softly.

"I know, I can see it," he answered just as quietly. "It looks like firelight. If there are any survivors from this part of my labyrinth, they'll be here. Unless they kept moving down these caves."

"Then why are the fires still burning?"

"Sarah, this may be a surprise to you, but I do not know all the answers, even in my own kingdom."

Sarah smirked, it was fun exasperating him. "Well, if someone is still down here, I'm sure whoever it is won't try to kill us." There was no reply. "Right?"

"Let's hope so."

They both fell silent and kept holding each other's hand, while Sarah occasionally jostled the lantern to hush the faerie. I'm gonna have to be far away from this little pest when we let her out, she smiled to herself. Otherwise we're both gonna get bitten.

As they came toward the light, they both stopped. Neither of them stepped forward. Jareth squeezed her hand once and let go, then went on ahead, cautiously creeping along the rocky wall. When he reached the opening, he peered around the corner. He suddenly laughed in relief and motioned for her to follow.

"What is it?" Sarah asked, running forward, unafraid. She came up beside him and a smile spread over her face.

Torches had been scattered around a large cave, sending just enough light around to maintain a dull orange glow. The flames reflected beautifully off of the mirror lake in the center of the cave, and a sizable boulder was set in the center with a thick layer of moss covering it. Stepping stones made of diamonds and rubies sparkled up at them. A narrow staircase had been chiseled into the side of the wall, leading up to a small plateau that broke off into a smaller tunnel, obviously handmade.

"It's so gorgeous," she whispered, walking in. Her footsteps echoed eerily through the cave, and there was a loud fluttering to her right. She turned and gasped in surprise as hundreds of black butterflies shot off of the wall and circled around her. Their dark wings reflected the light in rainbows, surrounding her with miniature prisms. After a minute, they calmed down and floated back against the cave wall.

She stood there in delighted amazement until Jareth came closer. "Those are dark butterflies," he whispered.

"They're so pretty," she replied, moving closer to examine them. Their wings were feathery and wet, as if they'd been dripped on. They shimmered like a cascading waterfall. "I wish they'd fly out into the sunlight."

"Then they'd burn up," he said, turning his back. After all, he was used to the strange things in his labyrinth. He glanced across the lake to the boulder. "I think we could spend the night here. I'm sure we'll be safe, and if not, we'd still be able to hear anyone coming."

"Yeah," she nodded vaguely. "Still...who kept those torches going?"

Before she had even finished her sentence, she heard shuffling scrapes on the plateau overlooking their lake. She looked up and saw a gigantic shadow dancing within the firelight, whatever was back there was coming closer. She pressed against Jareth, who also turned and raised one hand, preparing a crystal sphere. As it came closer, though, the shadow diminished to a reasonable size and the figure came close enough to be seen from their level.

"Sarah!"

Sarah yelled in joy and took off, running up the staircase with wild abandon. She raced towards her friend and threw her arms around him, hugging the shaggy pelt.

"Ludo, you're all right!"