Labyrinth Fan Fiction ❯ To Defeat the Rotting Labyrinth ❯ Discouraging ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Sarah woke up with a start, and looked down at the map. It was glinting and sparkling in efforts to get her attention. BE QUIET it said. She held her breath as she found her place and saw a bright red dot only a small space away. She looked around for it, and leaned forward out of her nook to look further around. The map glinted too brightly, impairing her vision and preventing her from seeing very far.

She found her backpack nearby, and retrieved her club and the flashlight from her bag. The map still glinted. It said, IT'S A GIANT. HE CAN'T SEE WELL. YOU CAN SNEAK PAST HIM, JUST DO NOT GET CAUGHT BY HIM. She looked at the flashlight, and shone it along the ground, and saw two big, hairy feet maybe twenty feet away. The red line on the map told her to go to her direct right. She wetted her lips, and slowly got her backpack on. She turned off the flashlight. For a moment, she stared at the dark creature that couldn't see her, allowing her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. She rolled the map up and tucked it down her shirt. Slowly, when she could see, she began to crawl towards the area's exit that was marked on the map. Stopping near the archway, she checked the map to be sure it was the right way to go before continuing.

Once she decided that she had gone far enough to be safe, she got to her feet and checked the map. She was on track and rested. She fished out another snack and some water, then took out the flashlight again to watch where she was going. She followed along the map's red trail for what felt like hours. Finally, the damp Underground sun began to rise. She put away the flashlight and hoped that the batteries wouldn't wear out. Diligently, she walked on.

As she passed the opening to another area, she heard a splash and a wet, loud slapping sound. She stopped in her steps and looked down at the map. There was a red dot. “What is it?” she whispered.

A REALLY LARGE FISH. IT'S IN FRESH WATER.

Sarah swallowed, and looked at her almost-empty water bottle. She sighed. “Does it have teeth?” she asked, staring mournfully at her empty water bottle.

NO, BUT IT COULD SWALLOW YOU WHOLE.

She scowled at the map. “Very encouraging,” she murmured. It didn't reply. She went into the area, and dropped her bag and the map near the entrance. She held the water bottle and her club, and crouched near the water. It was silent, just a pit full of water. She plunged the bottle into the water with one hand, the club ready in the other and shifted her feet for balance, watching the water. The bottle was full, and she moved back quickly, replacing the cap. Behind her, the map flashed.

The fish lunged out of the dark water, twice her height and many more times her width. It was a deep red color and it growled at her, shuffling forward fast. Sarah screamed and threw the club and bottle in the bag, grabbing it and the map and running. A crash behind her made her stop and turn around. The creature was stuck in the door, wailing angrily. She stopped, returning the club to her accessible jacket pocket and closed the backpack. She looked at the map. There were an alarming amount of red dots moving towards the fish's wail.

“Show me somewhere to hide!” Sarah pleaded with the map. It showed her a passage directly across from her, with an easy-to-climb-into cubbyhole in a wall. She ran to it, finding the hole not much larger than the size of a kitchen cupboard. She threw her bag into the hole first before she crawled inside. She looked at the map again for help or a tip. It was silent, showing the swarm of creatures near the fish. A number of them were still coming.

Shaking in fear, Sarah watched as several creatures passed right by her hiding place. Each one was dark, with sharp fangs. Some had claws or horns. Some had spikes. Some had wings, hooves, talons, weapons, red eyes, or evil grins. All of them were frightening. And then, Ludo passed by.

“Ludo!” she cried at the familiar face, and clapped her hands over her mouth, as every creature now knew exactly where she was. A hideous black face appeared first, reaching with long, clawed fingers towards her. She clung to her bag and screamed, “Ludo!”

The black thing was tossed away and a large, furry hand extracted her from the cubbyhole. Ludo wrapped one arm around her, carrying her against him. The other creatures protested and advanced, but ran back as he swiped a huge hand at them and roared. “Mine!” he growled. “Ludo got first – mine!”

Deciding that she wasn't worth dying for, the creatures retreated. Ludo carried her away from the red trail on her map, even when she struggled and protested.

“Ludo,” she argued, “this isn't the way I need to go!” He dumped her unceremoniously into a new area after a time. It looked less scary than most of the Labyrinth, homey even. She clutched at her bag and her wrinkled map as he lumbered further into the area. He came back with a stone bowl full of soup that smelled more than decent. She realized how hungry she was and how little she had eaten. She thanked Ludo and he lumbered away again.

Before she ate it, she smoothed the map against her thigh. She was far off from her original red path, but she noticed that Ludo was a labeled black dot rather than red. She smiled and picked up the bowl, greedily drinking the broth until she got to the vegetables. She inspected them, and glanced at the map. “I'm not going to wake up in a junkyard again, am I?” she whispered to it.

NO, the map said. NO ONE KNOWS THAT HE'S STILL HERE. HE MIGHT HELP YOU.

Sarah happily ate the vegetables in the soup, wondering where he had gotten them. The Labyrinth didn't look like it was very fertile. She sat quietly and looked around.

The area was a renovated dead end. There was a big stone cottage at one end, a small creek running through a group of dead trees, and dark soil with ankle-high dead grass. It looked like a farm. The area was quiet for a long time, and it made Sarah nervous. “Ludo?” she called, and got to her feet. “Ludo, it's me, it's Sarah!”

Ludo moved out from behind a rock near the creek, a really large one that she hadn't paid much attention to. She stopped and looked at him. He looked at her. “Sarah friend?” he asked, looking concerned.

Sarah nodded. “Yes, Ludo, I'm still your friend,” she assured him, and approached again. He recoiled, and stepped into a patch of the damp sunlight that filtered through the dead trees. She stared at him. He had obviously stayed in the Labyrinth for a long while. He had many scars, and his fur was thinner, his eyes drawn, his jowls droopier. His left ear was missing a large chunk from it, appearing as though it had been chewed off rather than cut because of the jagged edge. He favored one leg over the other, limping slightly from an old, wrongly-healed injury. Her heart sank as she saw his condition. She walked towards him slowly, and he still backed away. She frowned. “Ludo, will you come with me? Help me finish the Labyrinth? I have to get to the castle again.”

The lumbering giant frowned. “Why?”

“Haven't you noticed the Labyrinth's decay, Ludo? I have to get to the middle to make sure that Ja – the King doesn't die. If he dies, you all do, everything in the Underground.” She frowned, and took a step closer. He took a step away. “Please, Ludo, I need help. I can't do this alone,” she pleaded, putting on her best baby face.

He swayed back and forth, grunting and groaning in thought as he tossed his head with his movements. Finally, he nodded his great head and she gave him a dazzling smile. “We've got to keep going, Ludo. It'll be a piece of cake with you around,” she declared.

Turning around, she looked for her things. She picked up her backpack, and reached out a hand for the map. It moved away from her hand. She heard a cackle and stopped, frowning. “Map...” she began, and stared at it.

I DON'T MOVE ON MY OWN, it flashed. BROWNIES.

She stopped. Brownies? Chocolate? It had been awhile since she thought hard about mythical creatures like that. And then she remembered. Brownies, an off-shoot of imps who liked to help their masters in exchange for gifts. Sarah was not this set of brownies' master, as was obvious. They were probably helping someone else against her. “Damn it!” Sarah cursed, and chased after the map. It scuttled away, and she could see two tiny pairs of feet carrying it above their heads. Two voices were laughing like mad, though they seemed far away, or quiet. She ran after it, making a leap towards it, but to no avail. The map and the brownies disappeared into a hole in the trunk of a dead tree. She kicked at the tree, but nothing responded. Frustrated and angry, she yelled out towards the castle, just visible through the dead trees, "Damn you! Damn you, you conceited, self-centered, demanding son of a bitch! You can't just make it easy for me, can you?"

Don't say his name! Hoggle's voice echoed through her head. She deflated, defeated, and had no clue which way she should go. The map was her one lifeline. She really doubted that Ludo would know how to get to the castle. Maybe she could call Hoggle and get another one, or she could find the Bog of Eternal Stench and see Didymus, he would know how to get to the castle. She set one hand on her forehead, feeling an onsetting headache, and closed her eyes. Ludo watched her quietly from his place near the creek.

Upon opening her eyes, he looked at her sadly, and she frowned. "Ludo, do you know how to get to the castle?" she asked. Ludo shook his head. "It figures." She sighed. She hung her head, not in defeat, but in thought. "I don't have the map... I don't have Didymus... I don't have any way to get there easily. I could wish myself there, but then he'd know, but if I'm wishing myself to him in the first place, so it wouldn't matter if he knew - but Hoggle said not to. He'd find some way to twist it... Shit."