The two men's rest was thankfully uneventful. When Jareth woke William, the older man couldn't help but notice the boy's nerves. He worried about the effect such a terrifying experience would have on him, but soon reminded himself that the boy would have to survive the experience first.
When they set off again, they chose a random direction, but it wasn't long before they saw something that made them both stop walking. Amidst the tall walls of glass, in this world of new sights and sounds, was something they recognized: a human.
It looked like an incredibly thin woman, slumped on the ground where she had collapsed. Long, thin, scraggly hair covered her face, but one arm was visible. Skin like paper stretched over bone, with no muscle or fat in between. Her clothes hung on her like curtains, rich purples and blues of a wealthy person still vibrant. The effect was striking. Although she was once a person of great importance, she now sat on her heels with no strength, left in a world that didn't seem to notice her.
William placed a hand on Jareth's shoulder and whispered, "Stay here." In the back of his mind, he wondered if she was some other critter they had not encountered, one that, for some reason, looked human. Walking slowly, he approached the woman, straining to see under her hair. When he reached her, he said softly, "Hello?"
She did not respond, and a terrible feeling crept through him. He reached out and nudged her shoulder.
Immediately, her body fell backwards against the glass, her hair falling away from her face. William caught a glimpse of sunken eye sockets without eyes, cheekbones with no cheeks, and lips withdrawn from teeth that were far longer than they should have been, before her head hit the ground and completely collapsed into a shapeless mound as her skull fell to dust under the skin. Jareth yelled in disgust and William clapped a hand over his mouth, wiping the hand he'd touched the corpse with against his pants repeatedly.
The two stood in silence for several moments, staring at what was left of the woman. She must have been a noblewoman or knight, and a very wealthy one. And yet, she lay here, with no funeral or sign of family.
Other humans have been here, the two realized. How, why, and where they were, or if any were alive, was beyond them both, but they were not the only ones.
Eventually, William noticed something else. Several feet away was a short, thick spear. A heavy pointed head crowned the spear above a thick crossbar wider than the widest part of the head. William walked over to the spear and picked it up, surprised by its weight. The point was still sharp.
Jareth saw it and joined him. "Boar spear," he said. "She must have been hunting."
William gave him a questioning look.
"You plant the end of the spear in the ground and when the boar charges you, it impales itself. The crossbar keeps it from goring you while dying."
William weighed the boar spear in his hand. "Maybe this will make facing those monsters easier."
YOU ARE READING
Elaine of Antwerd
FantasyIt's been two years since the plague that took out her parents, and now, there's something she must learn... Thirteen-year-old Elaine swore off magic after losing her mother, but as she heals and grows under the guidance of her kind uncles, she deci...
