Chapter 15

Thinking only that he needed to save her, Jareth threw out all the magic he controlled within him to her crouched form. It coalesced into a bluish bubble around her, and the fire was deflected in all directions off of its surface. Jareth slumped to the ground. He had never felt what it was like to be without magic. He had to place a hand to his chest to make certain a void had not opened up there. He felt weak, ancient, nauseous.

Edana felt the borrowed power seep into her as the dragon gathered his breath for another try. It was invigorating, an incredible rush, and she felt there was only one thing that she could do with it. Unsure of how it happened, she knew she must become a dragon as well. No sooner did the thought cross her mind than the transformation began to occur. She was pulled in all directions, not painfully but not an entirely pleasant feeling either.

Fafnir could not believe what he was seeing. How could she have the ability to shape change? Jareth’s transference of magic should have protected her, nothing more. Instead it had allowed her to take on the shape of a creature that evened the stakes of his game. She was an astonishing being, with midnight blue and deep purple scales, making her appear almost iridescent.

Jareth almost smiled, weak as he was, but he was too preoccupied with worry for her. She was as resplendent and unpredictable in non-human form. She had also, he realized soberly, just explained his first nightmare. At any rate, he told himself, I can be certain she’s a sorceress now.

Edana wasted no time. She launched herself into the sky, unsteadily because she had no practice with wings, but driven by fury. She swooped low while Fafnir was still collecting his wits due to her transformation, and sent at burst of flame at him. It hit the red dragon squarely in the back, and he bellowed in pain. He was angry now, he would show no mercy and they both knew it. The dreadful creatures rose again into the air, circling slowly.

Without warning, Fafnir darted in and clutched at Edana’s body. She flapped her wings wildly, clawing back at him with all four feet, and shrieked as he snaked his long neck around and bit into her neck near the shoulder. Six-inch teeth with slicing edges pierced deeply through the armor scales. She loosened his grip with a hard kick to his stomach, feeling some of the scales there give under her claws, and got in a well-aimed burst of flame before he had fully recovered. The scales on his chest blackened even darker as they burned, and he backed away a few feet with a chilling howl. Breathing hard, Edana backed away as well. He took advantage of the pause and hit her at close range on the left flank with his own burst of flame. He noted her roar of pain with satisfaction.

Jareth watched the fight, amazed at Edana’s relentlessness and hating that he could do nothing to assist her, since she was receiving equally brutal blows. The two dragons flew higher still, their ferocity as dizzying as their height. Jareth waited, perturbed, wanting the fight to end but nervous that Edana would be the one killed.

Suddenly there was a scream from above, and the red body came crashing down to the ground at the far end of the courtyard. The body twitched once, then was still. The other dragon followed, slower and with great care. Her head hung nearly to the ground on the long graceful neck, from the exertion and the wound in her shoulder. As soon as her feet touched the ground, the magic that belonged to Jareth slipped away from her like the blood from her many lacerations. Jareth felt it flow back into him as he ran to Edana’s human body, where it had dropped in a heap.

Her dress was in tatters, blood-soaked and burned in places. "She can’t be dead," Jareth pleaded under his breath earnestly as he approached. Scooping her into his arms, he saw with relief that she was breathing shallowly. He transported the two of them back to his throne room, not caring that it sapped what little was remaining of his magic. It would be days before it had all restored itself, but there were more important things on his mind for the moment.

"Broke his wing," Edana mumbled up at Jareth, her eyes unable to focus correctly.

"My God!" Sara exclaimed when she saw them.

"Sarah, I didn’t know you were here," Edana said, her voice whispery and distant as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

Jareth received a fretful look from Sarah as she opened her mouth to speak, but he ignored her for the moment. He hurried upstairs to his own room and opened the door with a kick, placing his precious load gently on the bed. Leaning out into the hallway, he hollered for several of his guards. "Go get the doctor," he ordered tersely. "Find him, wherever he is, I don’t care." The guards nodded and ran, they knew better than to do anything else when Jareth used that no nonsense tone of voice.

Edana was mumbling again, incoherently, with Jareth at her side looking down on her with concern. Sarah entered, impatient to know what had happened. "Did you defeat him?" she asked.

Jareth looked up in surprise, he had forgotten about her in just the few minutes that had passed. "No," he said, beginning to pace. "She did. Where the hell is the doctor?"

"But I thought Fafnir was a wizard," Sarah continued.

"Yes," Jareth agreed. "And somehow, inexplicably, Edana is a Sorceress." He explained to Sarah how he had come to find out that Edana possessed her own magic, and what had happened just hours before at Fafnir’s castle. "The life force of the Underground is in all things here, giving us our magic. I think it may have chosen her when she came through the first time for at least some, if not all, of what has gone on. Perhaps because she wanted to come here. I don’t know."

Sarah was vastly impressed. Just then, the doctor came in, a tall woodsprite, with his collection of magic herbal remedies. He chased them out, despite Jareth’s threats to have him removed to an office in the Bog of Eternal Stench if he did not allow him to stay. Dispirited, he and Sarah went to the throne room where she watched him pace aimlessly for several more hours. He was growing more and more bad-tempered as he asked repeatedly how long it would be. The goblins had long since run for some safer environment. Sarah found herself feeling bad for him, as much as she tried not to. She was just as desperate to know about Edana, but making much less of a scene about it.

The doctor finally emerged, looking tired. "Must you always put people through such ordeals?" he demanded of Jareth.

"I would gladly have taken her place," Jareth said coldly. "How bad is it?"

"Painful, but it will all heal quickly. I will stay here to personally see to her medication. She wishes to see you, both of you." He looked decidedly annoyed. "She won’t take any of more sedative herbs until she does, so make it quick. I’ve never seen a more stubborn person… well, perhaps one," he complained, with a meaningful glance at Jareth.

The Goblin King waved a hand dismissively. "I don’t know what you’re talking about. Coming, Sarah?" he asked as he strode quickly from the room. Without a moment’s hesitation, the young woman accompanied her one-time enemy to his bedroom.

Edana was frightfully pale, her face tightly drawn in the pain that she refused to acknowledge. "Sarah, I never thought I’d see you here," she said, her voice still ragged, but she seemed more aware of her surroundings now.

"I was castle sitting," Sarah explained. "I’ll go home when I know you’re all right."

Edana laughed hollowly. "Never better." She turned to Jareth. "And now?"

"Do you want to stay?" Jareth went to her side hopefully.

"Yes, more than anything… well, almost anything." She looked away.

"I want you to stay."

Edana was sure she had not heard correctly. Could he mean…? "And if what Fafnir said is true?"

Jareth took both of her hands and gave her an intent look. "It will change nothing. It was through no fault of your own. Just worry about healing yourself now. You’ve had your revenge." He paused, as though undecided. "I want a strong and capable queen, so you had better do everything the doctor says and be careful with yourself."

It took a moment for the meaning of his words to sink in past the pain fogging Edana’s mind. "Is that an invitation?" she asked incredulously.

Jareth caught Sarah’s shocked expression out of the corner of his eye and laughed, giving Edana’s hands a squeeze. "It might be," he teased her, his eyes sparkling. "Now, take your medicine."

Edana smiled and closed her eyes. Now that she knew she had a reason to want to get better, she knew she could make a spectacular recovery. "Jareth," she called as he was leaving.

"Yes, Love?"

"The doctor says Fafnir was probably wrong. Just thought I’d let you know, now that you said it didn’t matter either way."

He shook his head at her. Even in her condition, she had managed to keep the upper hand, and he could only admire her tenacity. Life was certainly not going to be boring at the castle any longer, he predicted.