Into the Labyrinth

4

Author's Note:
Thank you for taking the time to read my novel, I hope you take the time to vote and comment.

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  "You're him, aren't you? You're the Goblin King!" 

-Sarah, Labyrinth (1986)

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She fainted. 

The world darkened around her, the clock of the Labyrinth continuing to tick in the background. 

-

Pressure pushed at her brain from all sides, sending sharp jolts of pain through her entire head. Grogginess kept Cassandra's eyes shut. Her eyelids felt heavy and unable to open. The remembrance of what happened before lingered in her mind. 

She had entered the Labyrinth. 

A gasp escaped her. The thought was enough to have her sitting up, eyes wide open in leftover fear. The fuzz of sleep blurred her vision, her surroundings sharpening as she fully awoke. Stone walls surrounded her, their pale white color stained in some places with dirt and grime. Cassandra breathed in heavily, the scent of dirt filling her nostrils. 

The smooth feeling under her hands proved to her that she was indeed on a bed, worn in blankets covering her from the waist down. The last memory she had was of collapsing at the entrance of the Labyrinth, cut off from her home and the people who had protected her her entire life. The silence of the room hit her full force. 

She was alone. 

For the first time in her life she was alone. No guards would be rushing into the room if she were to yell for help. Cassandra was trapped inside the Labyrinth, and she had no idea how to leave. 

"Missus is awake!" 

Cassandra screamed jumping up to stand on the bed. On the side of the bed stood a short creature, barely tall enough for the top of it's head to be level with the top of the bed. It's green skin shimmered with a slimy appearance, and it smiled at her with a mouth full of broken teeth. Cassandra stared at it in disgust. It's hands ended in long black nails more similar to that of a claw than the fingernails she had. 

If the creature was scared of her reaction, it didn't show it. It continued to grin at her, pale eyes alight with excitement. She didn't know what to do. The little- she assumed goblin- stared her, the blankets strewn on the bed clutched in it's small hands. 

"Missus is so full of energy! What fun!"

It's voice was thick, muffled by the faults of it's own teeth. Cassandra pressed her back against the wall behind her bed. She felt ready to faint and needed the support to keep her from collapsing back onto the bed because of her shaking knees. 

"What-what are you?" She managed to get out. Her voice shook with a vigor that could only be compared to the quakes of her legs. 

"I is Morland, Missus! I in charge of welcoming you," Morland told her, pride evident in his voice. He pulled on the little brown shorts he wore, fixing his appearance. 

"Where am I?" Cassandra asked. Her back was still against the wall, but she felt herself sliding down it. Her original fear of Morland replaced by the fear of the unknown. Her tailbone hit the ornate wooden headboard and she ignored the spark of pain that shocked her. Eventually she was sitting on the bed again, knees against her chest.