Nothing Is What It Seems

Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The scene below him was horrible. His army was doing its best to keep the invaders out, but a few were getting past. One of them could be Tynan, but he doubted it. None seemed that concerned with getting to the Castle.

Jareth perched on a damaged roof. Where was he? Tynan was somewhere in the City. Soldiers were the only beings he saw thru the smoke.

Suddenly a great horned owl came barreling towards him. Jareth flapped his wings rising above the demolished house, but the other owl was still coming. Jareth began to fly around the City, hoping to loose the creature, but it remained right behind him. Jareth had even barrel rolled, dived, and anything else he could think of, but not even those worked.

Looking for somewhere to land, he knew that the owl had to be Tynan. Finally seeing a rather large cleared area, Jareth began to decline.

Landing gracefully, he transformed back into himself. Slowly he turned to face the other owl as it landed behind him. It too transformed into a man. A man that looked so much like his mother, except where she was light he was dark. Very dark.

"So you're my sweet little sister's brat." His voice dripped with hatred. Tynan actually scrunched his nose as if he had smelt something foul. "I'm surprised she didn't stay. I was so hoping she would be here."

If he hadn't already decided on Tynan's future, Jareth would have chosen it then. This man was disgusting.

"Do you actually think you will succeed?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Tynan gave a creepy smile. "I don't know or care, but I will have the Kingdom that was stolen from me." He raised a hand causing a crystal to form, "shall we see who is the true Goblin King, little boy?"

Jareth conjured one of his own crystals, "you won't win."

"We'll see, boy. You shouldn't doubt the strength of someone you just met." Tynan sneered as he threw his crystal at Jareth.

Jareth tossed his into air, protecting himself from the attack. Tynan's spell was strong, but his mother had been very thorough when it had come to his training for magical battles, and now he knew why.

Tynan created another crystal and tossed it at him laughing. "Oh, my little sister taught you her tricks, I see. Well, guess who taught her."

Jareth created another crystal just as Tynan's crystal reached him, but he wasn't fast enough to disperse the spell. Tynan's spell reached him, hitting him hard, but Jareth remained on his feet.

Tynan laughed as he created yet another crystal. "What are you going to do? I know all of your tricks."

Jareth smiled slightly, thru the pain. Suddenly behind Tynan, two mounds began to form from the stone paved road. They began to transform into massive hands. "Did you truly think the Labyrinth had forgotten?"

"What?" Tynan frowned mid laugh holding his crystal. The hands then moved swiftly to capture him, causing the crystal in his hand to fall. The magic held within disappearing. "Let me go! I am your king!"

Holding a hand to his shoulder, Jareth took an unsteady step towards him. "For now, I leave you in the Labyrinth's hands. I have no doubt it is not finished with you yet." Slowly, Jareth walked away from the struggling man. What exactly had that spell been? As fast as he could, which wasn't fast at all, Jareth began his way back to the Castle. Something wasn't right, and he needed to see Sarah.

What if it hadn't been poison that had killed his grandfather, but a spell? Jareth shook his head. There wasn't time to think of it. Willing his strength he continued on. He had to get to the Castle. They would need to defeat Tynan that was clearer now. Taking a deep breath, Jareth transformed. Flying high into the sky, he could see the battle below, but his attention was on the Castle.

XOXOXOX

The battle was getting closer and closer to the Castle. Sarah stood watching it from the window in the throne room. Already the Castle doors were locked and barricaded on the inside. Anything she thought could be used as a weapon or a trap had quickly been gathered.

The servants hid as best they could. Some were armed while the others only wanted to hide in fear. The Cook had even brought up pots of, Sarah didn't want to know, and helped to get them placed above the Main Doors.

The defenses in place weren't grand, but why would at least inflict some pain. After all, Sarah was using some rather lovely traps from a certain Christmas movie.

"M'lady, the guards are in place."

"Thank you, Didymus. Has Ludo called the rocks?" She turned to face the old knight.

Nodding, he stood at attention. "Yes, M'lady. They are standing guard outside the Castle."

Moving away from the window, she nodded. "Tell everyone to be ready. They are getting closer."

The fox bowed, "of course, M'lady." He then quickly walked away.

Something wasn't right. She didn't know what, but there was a feeling of dread overcoming her. What did it mean? Walking over to Jareth's throne, Sarah frowned. Then the ground began to rumble, completely different from when the Gate had fallen. What had caused that?

Hearing a sound near the window, Sarah turned quickly to see Jareth fly in, except something was wrong, seriously wrong. He didn't land gracefully. He crashed into the floor.

Fear began to creep up his spine as she slowly walked towards him. He slowly transformed laying face down on the stone floor.

Jareth tried to pull himself, but he couldn't.

Sarah knelt down beside him, "what happened?" She tried to help him up.

"It seems I underestimated him. Sarah, the person behind this damn war is..." Slowly Jareth was able to stand up, but Sarah had to support him slightly.

"Don't finish it. It doesn't matter." Sarah shook her head, "where's the strongest place within the Labyrinth?"

"The room of stairs, but why are you asking?" He looked down at her.

"I have an idea."