Chapter 14

Jareth flew steadily, as fast as he could, and wished that the magic required to instantly transport himself to Fafnir’s castle was not so draining. He could have been there long ago, but he feared he had already used up too much by travelling with Sarah. As it was, he would be physically exhausted from flying so far, but at least he would have all of his magic reserves ready. He was not sure which was worse, only that he needed to get there soon. Night was falling, he had traveled but half the distance, and he needed to stop and rest.

Below him, he recognized a spot where there was a cave and freshwater stream. He landed and released the magic that kept him in the owl shape. He looked sourly at the cave. It had been a long time since he had been camping and he was not looking forward to roughing it. But he needed to sleep for a few hours at least, and there were plenty of edible plants growing around the cave’s entrance, so it would do.

He awoke a few hours later, having slept fitfully. His rest had been fraught by vivid nightmares – this promised to be no easy task. He feared they were premonitions, certainly it would not be the first time, but what he had dreamed was not the least bit pleasant.

He picked and ate some green berries from a nearby bush. They were known to restore energy and were a favorite of travelers. They were extremely potent, only requiring a few to make whoever consumed them feel as good as new. He transformed himself into the owl in the fading moonlight and flew on towards the Lord of the Dark Elves. He forced the image of Edana, badly hurt – possibly even dead – in his arms, out of his mind. The other image made no sense to him. It was of a battle between two dragons, one bluish-purple, and one so dark red as to be easily mistaken for black. He attempted to ignore that one as well. It only became more persistent.

* * * * * * *

Edana awoke, sitting partway up, and immediately wished she had not done so. Every part of her seemed to be sending shooting pain messages to her brain at once. She slipped back down with a soft cry, and only then realized that she was in a large bed. She could not open her eyes, the light was razor-tipped spears being hurled into them even while they were closed. A silken voice at her side made her jump.

"Going to join us today, then?" Fafnir chuckled.

It was an intimidating sound, and Edana shrank away from it. She had the fleeting idea that something was going on that she ought to know about, but she could not pin it down. "Have I been unconscious?" Fafnir said nothing, but gave her a secretive smile. She took this as an affirmative answer. "For how long?"

"This is the third day since you came here," he said, not really giving her an answer.

She remembered dinner, but nothing since. He had admitted to poisoning her. "What was that poison you put in my drink?" she asked. "I feel like a herd of horses ran over me."

Fafnir laughed again, enjoying himself immensely. "That’s not all from the poison, love."

A gnome entered the room, she could tell from the high-pitched voice, but did not bother going to the effort of listening to what it was saying. She felt Fafnir’s heavy hand on her aching shoulder. "We have a guest!" he said excitedly. "Get up," he ordered as he left the room.

Edana sat up slowly. The pain had mostly dissipated into general soreness now. She was still in the powder blue dress she had been wearing when Fafnir had abducted her. She wished she had something to change into. A bone handled brush lay on the table in front of a mirror-cut wall of obsidian. This guy likes black a little too much, she decided as she worked on getting the tangles out of her hair. She was starving, but wanted no part of eating any of the food here.

"To the courtyard we go," he said, as soon as she left the room. Fafnir took hold of her arm tightly, his pointed nails digging painfully into her flesh when she tried to pull away. They rushed through halls and staircases, finally stopping with a jolt at the edge of a huge courtyard, opened to the perpetually darkened sky. Edana was overjoyed to see Jareth standing there, attired in pale grey, black boots and gloves, and of course the dramatic black cape embroidered in silver threads. Fafnir gave her a hard shove from behind. "Let’s get on with it," he growled.

She stumbled forward, then recovered herself and stood tall, glaring at Fafnir. The Dark Elf seated himself on the edge of a large urn, which was once intended for flowers, but was now empty, and laughed in response to her anger.

"Now then," he said. "What is the girl worth to you? Make me an offer."

Jareth kept a stony silence. He stood, expecting a surprise attack by his enemy. In the distance, the volcanoes rumbled, but all three of them ignored it.

"So you don’t want her anymore, then?" Fafnir asked. "Good. I like her."

"Don’t play games," Jareth said coldly. "Tell me your deal."

"The King of the Labyrinth requests no more games," Fafnir scoffed with a cackle. "Oh, the irony! All right. You give me your kingdom, I give you the wench… but… banish the two of you to Aboveground. Would you give up your magic for her, I wonder?"

Jareth turned to Edana. "Come here, you can make it," he said in a low voice that she could hear but would not carry to Fafnir. "We’ll return to the castle, but we must be touching for me to take you."

She started towards him, throwing a look of trepidation towards Fafnir, who was watching them cautiously.

"You may take that route if you think it wise," Fafnir said threateningly, "but you may wish to consider that you will live with a constant reminder of me." His voice held an air of indifference. "She is carrying my child."

Jareth’s mismatched eyes narrowed in dangerous fury, but he turned to Edana first. "Is it true?"

Edana gasped at the revelation, staggered, almost fell. Aghast, she raised both hands to her temples. That’s not all from the poison, love echoed cruelly in her mind. "He couldn’t," she whispered hoarsely. Three days, she had no recollection of a huge expanse of time because he had drugged her… Terrified beyond reason, she did not even notice the tears streaming down her face. "I don’t know," she said, her voice as tortured as her soul. Her knees gave out, and she sank to the ground weeping. Hazily, as if in a dream, she heard Jareth’s shouted vow.

"I will have your life for this!"

Fafnir’s mocking laughter bounced around the courtyard sounding like it was reverberating in a chamber. "Come on, then… to the death," he taunted.

Edana knew without lifting her head that he had transformed himself into the fearsome dragon. She pushed herself to her feet. Somehow, her voice came out deadly calm, belying the raging emotional storm within her. "It is I who has lost everything here. My fight. I will not allow anything else."

"Won’t allow it?" Fafnir sneered. "You can’t prevent anything, not even damage to yourself."

She strode towards the dragon, emerald eyes flashing with nothing less that hate. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she would die trying.

Jareth had been gathering his magic to turn himself into an equally terrifying monster, but was distracted by her advance.

The dragon swished his powerful tail, catching her behind the knees, and she fell. "You are nothing," he hissed, taking a deep breath. "And I will not have you meddling!" He released the air in a stream of fire.