Labyrinth: Saving the Fallen City

Breaking Out

I watched Sarah fall to the ground with such fear on her face. I cried out to her but flames replaced the sound. Sarah was consumed by flames and her body hit the ground. Without waiting, I ran around the corner and down the so many stair cases. When I reached the bottom I forced the locked door open and ran to where Sarah fell. I looked to the window and followed how she fell. My eyes moved down the burnt wall and landed on the ground where Sarah landed. She was not there. I stumbled to where she would have hit the ground and looked. “Did she make it?” I asked myself. There were no footprints. Goblins ran around the corner of the castle wondering what happened. “Sarah is dead. She was burned up by flames” I said storming back into the castle and down the staircase to the dungeons.

I strode past many cells, some full, and others empty. The hall between the cells was lit by torches, slowly being put out from water dripping from the ceiling. I moved to the very last cell and smiled at the saddened face in front of me. He wore brown, baggy pants and a loose shirt that hung over him like a rag. His skin shined in places from sweat and his hair hung around his face, staring at the ground. Chains from opposite sides of the cell held his arms up and in place and chains from the floor held onto his ankles. I smiled at his discomfort and proceeded to the bars.

“Oh mighty Goblin King” I taunted. “Guess who joined me in my chambers this past night and agreed to be my queen?” I asked running my finger over the bars. The man refused to move of look up at me. I opened the bars and walked into the cell with him. When he didn’t look up at me I forced his head up to see me. His eyes rolled around until they narrowed on my face. “Worry not, she is in good hands. I would invite you to the wedding but you seem a little tied up at the moment” My grief took over and I hit him. Jareth grunted and turned to me again. He spit in my face and I slapped his jaw. “I need to look my best but I’m afraid she’s already seen me at my best to accept the invitation to be my wife” I nodded to him and he looked down.

“Did you love her?” I asked him out of my own curiosity. He failed to reply so I hit him again. “Answer me!” I yelled. “If I loved her, why would I lead her to you?” He asked me. My mind searched to humor him but there was nothing he did to lead her to me. “You speak like a coward” I spat at him. “Maybe, but my words hold no lies like yours” He said. “Oh? And what lies grace my tongue?” I asked him and leaned on the bars. “You say she agreed to marry you, we both know she meant not a word of it. You asked if I loved her. You’re trying to cover your emotions by bring my mine higher than your own. The real question is, Kilton, what is troubling you so much that you come down to me so carelessly that you need my supposed heartbreak to lift your own?” I could hear the smirk in his words but my eyes only saw his slumped body.

I hit him; I hit Jareth so hard blood came to his lips. “Go to your future queen. Return with your vile offspring and I will believe you” He muttered and his head fell as he lost consciousness. I watched him in anger. I walked to the other side of the bar and took up a pale of cold water. I threw the water and the bucket at Jareth, shaking him awake. “I should kill you, you hold no further use for me” I said to him pulling out a knife. “No, I choose who ends my life in your castle; the only two who have the power to take my being are Sarah, and your unborn child with her. I shall reside here untouched until then” He said. I raised the knife in the air before watching him drop something to the floor and before I could stop it, the crystal shattered. The shattered pieces of the crystal swirled around Jareth and then fell. He breathed out a deep breath and rested his head once more.

I put the knife away and slammed the bars shut. He had a crystal? I would kill the goblin who gave Jareth that crystal. I went back upstairs and sat on my throne. The labyrinth was empty and so was my plan. The goblins filed into the room one by one and I made the announcement of the loss of the future queen. “She ran from me and in running from me she paid the price” I said to the room. “Sarah refused my hand and tried to escape. Let this be a warning to any of you who might still be loyal to the previous king. If you dare challenge my voice, I will destroy you. Go against me and you will take Sarah’s fate. Death”