Those Cruel Eyes Edition 1

Chapter 19

"Oh no, Master isn't going to like this," Guam muttered to a nearby goblin while staring out the enormous window in the throne room. The magical window showed the goblins Jareth and Emmeline's whereabouts, and the sphinx had just lost. Fortunately, the pair had come across a dangerous problem: they were stranded on a cliff, and their path continued on another cliff... across a gorge.

"How are we going to get across? We're on the top of a cliff!" Emmeline said desperately.
"I don't know," Jareth said, peering down the side of the cliff where the sphinx had jumped.
"Is there a bridge or something?" Emmeline came and stood next to Jareth, peering down the face of the cliff.
Her head swirled and she felt as if she were losing her balance; the gorge seeming to spin and the sharp rocks at the bottom getting farther away. She took a wobbly step back, tripping on her shoes. She panicked and grabbed Jareth's sleeve, Yanking them both onto the rough sand as she fell backwards.
Jareth landed with a small oomph! next to her.
Suddenly, as if by magic, dozens of flat rocks from the lower ground rose up, creating a bridge across the gorge.
"Well, that was easy," Emmeline said, standing and brushing sand off her jeans. She put one foot carefully on a rock and moved her weight to it. The rock tipped dangerously in her direction, almost flipping over completely. Emmeline would've fallen with it, but Jareth, who had just hauled himself off the ground, threw out his hand and caught her just below the underarm. He pulled her back onto the cliff ledge.
"Thanks," Emmeline said breathlessly, adrenaline pumping through her veins.
"Don't mention it." Jareth studied these seemingly stable stones, just floating aimlessly in midair.
"How do we get across?" Emmeline asked uncertainly. She stared at the rock she placed her foot on, recalling how it flipped over on her and almost threw her to the sharp rocks below. She slowly backed away from the ledge.
Jareth looked over his shoulder at her, for she had crept behind him. To test the center of the bridge's durability, he picked a heavy rock up from the ground and threw it at the center of the bridge. Nothing happened.
"Let's press our luck and sprint across," Jareth said, looking at the stones.
"Cool with me," Emmeline said, her confidence coming back. "I was in track last year."
Jareth nodded as though he understood and motioned for Emmeline to follow his lead. He squatted down on the supple sand, positioning one foot under his shoulder and the other stretched out behind him; mimicking Emmeline's stance. They looked over to each other and Emmeline nodded slightly.
Like a cork from a champagne bottle, Jareth and Emmeline jumped and landed hard on the first rock, sprinting with all their might. The rocks behind them fell at an alarming speed down to the gorge.
"Run!" Emmeline screamed. She and Jareth picked up the pace slightly, running almost in unison.
As they were running, Emmeline lost her footing and slipped on the stone Jareth tossed on the bridge, crashing onto the rock arms first. The big rock started to sway dangerously and flipped over, with Emmeline still clinging on to it with her hands.
"Emmeline!" Jareth screamed with real terror, stopping his feet. He slid on the rock he was on and started to run back to her.
Her fearful eyes screamed for help.
As Jareth reached for her, Emmeline's fingers slipped off the rock and she plunged down the gorge, screaming the whole way down.