The Thorns Which It Bears

Prologue- I Ask For So Little

Notes:

The first 5 chapters originally posted in from Feb 2021-Jan 2022 have been edited/rewritten. Between those chapters, I've added about 5k words. The plot has not changed but the descriptions are more fleshed out. See this post for a comparison https://www.tumblr.com/kellyn1604/726119905018232832/sneak-peek?source=share. Thanks for everyone's patience. I'm excited to continue this story. In the meantime, if you haven't read Anam Cara...go do that. ;)

Sarah's eyes opened. Glittering decayed walls stretched before her. Shades of beige and brown as far as the eye could see. Glancing over her shoulder, she glimpsed ivy-covered corridors with lush falls of greenery descending over the tops of the walls while bushes climbed their tangled tendrils to touch the fresh flowers blooming from the foliage. Gravel and dirt crunched under the soles of her shoes. A smile spread across her face as she deeply inhaled the scent of roses mixed with the rot of timber and lichen.

The Labyrinth. Even if you get to the center, you'll never get out again . Well, she proved that wrong. Hadn't she?

No matter how often she found herself here, she would never get over the magic, the power she felt within these walls. She was powerful here. No mere human girl. There was no one to tell her what she could or couldn't do. No one to measure her and find her wanting.

Looking down, she saw her shadow stretching far in front of her. Her head cocked to the side as she stared at the offending intruder. That's odd. She searched the skies for an answer, finding it with ease. The sun was traveling slowly across the sky, making its way towards the tops of the walls that surrounded her.

In all the years she had been visiting the Labyrinth, never had it been anything but midday. The sun, usually high in the sky, would beam down on her face, like a friend admiring her work, as she walked through the maze.

Stomping her foot, the ground transformed around Sarah to match the path she had laid of cobblestone and grass behind her. Her fingertips grazed the walls, greenery sprang to life, covering all that was old and dying with new life.

She was delighted the first time she came back after solving the Labyrinth, every whim and wish she could think came true. The dull, dusty landscape was hardly the things dreams should be made of. She spent her time cultivating flora through thought and touch. Every corner she traipsed through was now worthy of a painting, picturesque and lovely. But there was still so much to discover. It would take an eternity to walk the entirety of the Labyrinth. But what was forever in a dream?

The further she wandered, the faster the sun seemed to sink over the horizon. The hair on her arms stood. A chill shivered down her limbs. An ominous awareness snaked its way around her stomach, squeezing until it knotted in on itself. Something wasn't right. Nothing ever changed in her brief journeys in the past. The scenery shifted at her bidding but nothing else.

She shook the intrusive thoughts away to watch a peony bloom in her palm. Nothing was wrong. Nothing could get her. But as always, nothing was what it seemed.

Jareth sat on the ledge of a vast open window surveying the sprawling maze on the horizon. His eyes searching and scanning for any hint of movement. He could feel her. He could always feel her when she returned to the Labyrinth. Though unable to reach her, these last few days he could feel the wards slipping. Weakening. Soon very soon.

Transforming into an owl, he spread his tawny wings and took flight over the Goblin City to the Labyrinth's entrance. Passing over the crooked gabled buildings, with their shingles haphazardly layered and chimneys sticking out at all angles, he soared quickly over his subjects as they waddled through their anfractuous avenues.

His black Hessian boots landed in front of the gates, small clouds of dirt billowing from the impact. Ash-blonde hair cut in chopped layers, swayed as it caught on the wind. He felt the barrier that had barred him for two long years, as thin as gossamer.

Even with all the power he possessed, all he could do was wait. Patience never having been a virtue he particularly prided himself on, he stared at the doors, willing the blasted obstruction to vanish. He knew the time was nigh, time ticking down with the very beat of his impatient heart.

The sun's light was extinguished as it set below the edge of the world. Stars dotted the inky black sky above and still, he felt her presence beyond those hallowed walls that dared protect her from him. As though it had the right.

The air around him shifted as the veil lifted. Arms outstretched, his gloved hands splayed on the wooden doors. The ground shook, gravel bouncing until the vibrations halted. Pushing the doors, he set foot in the Labyrinth for the first time since their last encounter.

Moonlight cast the world about her in an eerie blue glow. Her beautiful creations no longer cheerful and bright but painted with shadows. The ground beneath her shuddered. Her stomach clenched, chest constricting with the familiar pull she tried desperately to ignore every time she set eyes on the castle in the center of the Labyrinth. Drawn to it. Drawn to him.

Bile rose in her throat, sweat coated the palms of her hands as her heart's cadence quickened, threatening to break out of its cage. Standing in the dark passage, she tried to settle the panic stirring within her, to remind herself that it was only a dream. Wasn't it? She was safe here. Nothing would truly harm her. Nothing ever had.

But there's always a first time for everything, a little voice in her head nagged. She kept moving, focusing on her roses and ivy. If she just kept going, everything would be fine.

This is a dream. Nothing in dreams can hurt you. Nothing here is real, she knowingly lied. She would wake up soon and all of this would be just another dream. A dream she would forget upon waking like every other nightmare she'd had. But she knew the monsters in those dreams were figments of her imagination, amalgamations of troubles that arose in her waking hours. This felt all too real.

Jareth focused his energy, searching out the connection between them. Attempting to teleport, his eyes narrowed as he remained stubbornly in place. His magic had never failed him. He growled, leather-clad hands tightening into fists at his side. He could no longer transport through the maze however he saw fit. He would have to find her on his own, searching on foot, traversing the twists and turns without the aid of aerial views and magical shortcuts. In other words, like a mortal.

Conjuring a crystal ball, he tried to scry the whereabouts of his quarry. Again, his efforts were thwarted once more as swirling mists of gray filled the orb. He threw it to the ground letting it shatter against a paving stone.

Gone were his fantasies of having her by morning. It would take days, months, perhaps even years to find her through such primitive means. He would have only a few hours to reach her, unfortunately for him, she would not be a static goal like his castle had been for her. No help would come to his aid. The Labyrinth actively conspiring against him. She would continue her explorations, hopefully, none the wiser to his pursuit until it was too late. There wasn't a magic strong enough to stop him forever. He would have to devise new ways, new magic to find her. She would be his.

Sarah stopped and swayed as a new sensation washed over her more tangible than the ache she neglected. A presence. Strong, formidable, angry. She was no longer alone. Something, someone  was coming. Her mind was capable of only one response. Run!

She felt determination stretching across the invisible tether linking her to this new foe. Or was it an old enemy? Sarah refused to find out.

She sprinted through the Labyrinth, barely keeping ahead of the new growth that followed in her wake. The roots that sprang up as she passed seemed to be reaching for her. She tripped more than once, her jeans ripped, knee bleeding. Her long dark hair tangled in the leaves of her own making. Ignoring the pain, she clambered back to her feet. The beat pulsing through her veins urged her to keep moving. Never stop. And so she ran.