Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Wings: A Labyrinth Fic ❯ Chapter 7

Part 7

Sarah frowned as they walked through the forest. Apparently Arin hadn't chosen a way to destroy it yet, since it was still mostly intact. True, the absence of birds singing and leaves rustling made the silence absolutely eerie, but at least nothing had been reduced to flaming cinders. Still, Jareth seemed to think it had. His eyes were half closed, his pace had slowed, and his breathing had become more labored. As much as Sarah wanted to think he was merely tired of walking, he seemed too listless to only be out of breath.

"Jareth, are you all right?" she asked, coming up beside him.

"I'm fine," he answered tersely.

"No, you're not," she insisted. She lay her hands on his shoulders, intending to make him stop and look at her, but she pulled back when he winced and shied away. A strange wetness coated her fingers, and when she looked down, her fingers were coated in blood. "Jareth?"

"It's only where that little monster scratched me," he said. "It's nothing serious."

Not paying any attention, she pulled the torn bits of cloth aside to reveal a deep cut and angry red marks spreading outward in all directions. While no longer bleeding, the cut had also not healed. He jerked out of her hold as soon as she'd seen the wound.

"Sarah--"

"No!" she yelled, stamping her foot. "No more 'Sarah, stop asking questions'! No more bullshit, Jareth! That isn't some kind of little paper cut, that looks infected!"

He mumbled something.

"What?"

"It's poison," he sighed in defeat, turning his head away. "Arin's sprites are made out of blood and poison from her own hands."

"Poison?" Sarah whispered. "Will...will it...?"

"It won't kill me," he reassured her. Though I may wish it had. "I'll just be very tired for awhile. Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"You'd better not be lying to me," she warned. A tiny smirk forced its way onto her lips. "I'd hate to have to take you over my knee and belt you."

His eyes widened, and his jaw snapped shut. "You...no one ever dared even try to discipline me or my siblings!"

"It's high time someone did, then," she casually remarked, stepping ahead of him. "Explains a lot, though."

Rendered speechless, if only for a moment, he hastened to catch up to her. "What do you mean, 'explains a lot'? I'm am no spoiled brat!"

She turned on him, bringing him up short. "No? You toy with people, Jareth. Me, Toby, you even admitted you were playing games with Arin before you found out she was serious. How many other people have you used for your own enjoyment?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about," he all but growled. "I never hurt you."

"Not for lack of trying!" she snapped. "You set the cleaner after me, nearly dumped me in the bog, called up your entire army to kill me and my friends!"

"Damn it, Sarah, I was bored! It was only a game!"

"It was our lives!"

"You wouldn't have stayed otherwise!"

She blinked and stared for several minutes, and he realized he'd said more than he'd meant to. He turned away and kept walking down the path.

"You're lonely," she said softly.

"I am not," he bit back. "I have goblins and fierys and...and everyone else in this Labyrinth."

"And they're such wonderful conversationalists," she rolled her eyes.

He didn't reply.

"Jareth..." she whispered, wondering if she'd gone too far and knowing she was about to step farther. "Do you want to leave the labyrinth?"

He paused, but didn't face her. A few seconds passed. "No," he answered. "I can't live anywhere else but here."

"Why not?" She reached one arm out to touch his shoulder but held herself back.

"The magick," he admitted. "I need it. It's like an addiction, it keeps my heart going...and it needs me. My labyrinth will die without me. I...have to tend to it, heal it if some part breaks, take care of...everyone..."

"Keeps your heart going?" she asked. "For how long?"

"As long as it wants. I can leave occasionally, survive a few weeks in your world, or the second kingdom."

She raised one hand to her mouth, pressing the knuckles to her lips. "Then...you're trapped here."

Jareth faced her with a small smile. "It sounds worse than it really is." With a sigh he looked up at the cloudless blue sky between the tree branches. "We'd better hurry. With any luck we might reach the sphinx before sunset."

"You're changing the subject again," she whispered, but not loud enough for him to hear. Sarah fell into step beside him, glancing at his injury every so often. Finally she couldn't help herself. "Would you at least let me bandage that so nothing else gets in it?"

He looked aside at her without breaking stride. "Bandage it with what?"

Sarah remembered then that she hadn't brought anything with except a few cheap bits of jewelry, but while she thought, her hand brushed against the long hem of her shirt. She looked down and smiled. Still a tad damp from the watery part of the maze, it was still long enough to suit her purposes and better than nothing.

"Hang on," she muttered, taking a firm hold of her hem and tugging. The fabric ripped along the edge until she had a thick strip of cloth while leaving her shirt serviceable. "Okay, come here."

He stared quietly while she tied the strip over his torn shirt around the gash, fortunately with enough material to wrap it twice before tying snugly. "Ow."

"Sorry," she murmured. Checking to make sure it wouldn't fall off, she nodded with a smile. "There. All done."

Seemingly unimpressed, he still favored her with a rare sincere smile that faded as a twinge of pain shot up his arm. "Let's keep going, then. Several more hours to walk."

She pulled her shirt down an inch or so and continued at his side.

Several hours later, he collapsed.