*Sarin* she cried, reaching out. But then she was falling. The
world around her slipped away as she flew past clouds and stars.
She tumbled through a raincloud, drenching her long white hair
and the black dress they had given her for the trial. Ground was
rushing up to meet her, and she couldn't stop the fall. She
closed her eyes against her doom.
She never felt her contact with the ground. She simply landed, as
if she'd dropped as lightly as a feather on the wind...the wind
that was no longer hers. Opening her eyes, she saw she had landed
in a forest. Far away stood a tall, imposing castle, bright in
the silver dark-light of the moon. She raised herself up with the
last of her strength, and looked into the night, into the round
full moon that hung low and grim in the sky. "Ahzira,"
she pleaded. "Please..." Then the darkness swept over
her, taking her with it.
*****
The party of goblins were hunting after the bunyip, a native
creature of the Bog of Eternal Stench. It was an shy, elusive
animal, and its trail was difficult to follow even for a very
intelligent hunter, and the goblins were having predictable
problems. The persevered, however, Jareth's warnings still fresh
in their minds.
"Find the bunyip, but see it itsn't harmed. Simply return it
to the BOES. I remind you that this is one of the last of they
bunyips, and if those Fierys get to it first they'll tear it to
bits. See that that doesn't happen. If I find that it does, there
will be consequences. Dire ones."
They knew very well that Jareth was not in the least concerned
with the plight of the endangered beast. He did, however, have an
understanding of an ecosystem, and knew that the Bog was a
delicate balance, putrid and simplistic as it seemed at first
glance. Jareth prided himself on keeping his Labyrinth running
like a well-oiled machine, and returning the bunyip to its home
was a necessary part of the upkeep.
Now the trail ahead of them faded, then disappeared altogether.
"Curse it," growled the leader. "What now?"
"Look!" cried one of the younger goblins. He was
pointing into a nearby clearing, and the others turned, thinking
that he had found the creature they sought. Instead, laying on
the ground was a tall, slim human woman, long white hair spread
around her and a plain black dress covering her form. The goblin
who had spotted her wondered at her.
"What is she?" he breathed.
The leader sighed. "It's a human."
"What do we do with it?"
"Kill it," suggested one.
The leader shook his head. "Better not. Jareth might want to
know what it's doing here. There's no one playing the game right
now. Come on, help me."
They hoisted her up on their shoulders and carried her to the
castle, their mission to seek the bunyip taking a backseat to
their new discovery.
*****
She awoke in a strange bed, in a strange room. Morning
sunlight poured into the room through the windows, leaving long,
golden patters on the red carpet and glittering against the
mirror and silver brush set on the dressing table. She was
dressed in a clean white nightgown, wrapped in satin sheets.
The door opened. A handsome man stood there. His hair was pale
blonde, and cut in a spiky long and short style that fell past
his shoulders. His eyes were mistmatched, and his eyebrows arched
high above them, giving him a permanent expression of sarcasm.
His face was hard, but he managed a smile. "Hello.
Awake?"
She nodded, sitting up slowly.
"Good. Could you tell me please, who you are?"
She opened her mouth to reply, paused, then finally said
"Neeva," with an incredible amount of uncertainty.
"Are you or aren't you?"
She frowned. "I'm not sure. I think that's it."
The man's eyes began to fill with unpleasant realization.
"And do you know how you got here?"
She searched her memories, and found it a surprisingly short
task. It seemed she had no memories. She knew she did, she felt
it, but it was as if someone had sealed them away from her and
not bothered to give her the key. "I don't remember,"
she finally answered, stunned.
He sighed. "I was afraid of that. Well, you said Neeva
first, so I will call you that. I am Jareth, the Goblin King. You
are welcome in my castle until you regain your memory, or until
you become a nuisance, whichever comes first, understand?"
"Yes," she said, feeling the panic rising in her chest
begin to calm with his no-nonesense approach to the situation.
"Good. I'll send a servant in for you. If you wish to
contact me, she should be able to help you, but I suggest you
make sure it's absolutely necessary. I dislike
interruptions." Jareth turned and exited without further
ado.
Neeva sat in the satin sheets, gazing around the room. She hugged
her knees to her chest. Suddenly, something inside her did her
thinking for her, and when she spoke aloud, the words made only
half-sense. "I thought it was the end," she whispered
to herself. "It's only the beginning."