Nothing Is What It Seems

Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Looking where Tynan had once stood, relief quickly flooded Sarah. It was finally over. He was gone, and they could finally begin to rebuild.

Thump. Slowly, she began to turn towards the sound. Suddenly it seemed to go silent around her. The old trope of hearing a pin drop made a lot of sense. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. As Jareth slowly came into view, her heart almost stopped. He was on the stone floor on his side.

The Labyrinth knelt down beside him and gently turned him on his back.

Sarah almost screamed but pulled back as she noticed Jareth's pained expression as she knelt beside the Labyrinth. "What's wrong? I thought he was okay."

Whoosh! Sarah looked over her shoulder to see what had been the cause of the sudden wind behind her.

"What do we need to do?" High Queen Evera walked slowly towards her son concern written on her face.

The Labyrinth looked down at the Goblin King. "It's up to him."

"What do you mean by that?" Frowning, Queen Evera knelt on the ground opposite of the Labyrinth and Sarah.

The ancient being sighed. "Jareth hasn't broken Tynan's spell. He was very close, but he let his guard down once Tynan had been dealt with."

"So we just sit here and wait for him to either break it or ..." Fighting back tears, Sarah refused to finish the sentence.

"He's still fighting, which is good."

Sarah glared at the Labyrinth. "You said that earlier. You also said he was getting weaker." Sarah took hold of Jareth's hand, which felt cold and clammy in hers.

The Labyrinth sighed again. "He is, but that boy knows how to pull strength from me just right so it won't hurt me, too much."

"Should we be worried about that?" Evera looked at the ancient being.

"Not at the moment. I'm more worried about him not figuring out the spell sooner."

Evera whispered as she wiped sweat off Jareth's forehead. "We never taught him anything about this type of magic."

"We should've, but that is the past." High King Diedrick appeared close to his wife.

Glancing at Sarah, the Labyrinth slowly stood. "We need to take him somewhere comfortable. He still has a long fight ahead of him."

The High King nodded as his wife slowly stood up. "I'll transport us to his rooms."

Shaking her head, the Labyrinth placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "He will have a better chance, if I take him to the Center, but only Sarah and I may accompany him."

Diedrick looked as if he was about to disagree, but Evera held her hand up and spoke.

"We will do as you ask, Great One. Just please bring my baby back to me."

The spirit nodded. "I will do my best." She then looked down at Sarah. "Are you read, Child?"

Nodding, Sarah looked at Jareth. "I'm ready."

As she, Sarah, and Jareth slowly disappeared, the Labyrinth looked back at the High King and Queen.

XOXOXOXOXOX

His limbs felt heavy. What had happened? Oh, yes. He had not actually dealt with Tynan's spell. He had only weakened it to allow him to stand. It had been nice not to be in so much pain, but now was a different story. The pain had multiplied. He didn't care by how much. His entire body felt weighted down now. Jareth couldn't even open his eyes now.

Voices drifted to him in the darkness. Apparently, the Labyrinth was going to take him to the center. The Center of Labyrinth. A place he had only ever been to once when his mother had passed down the title of the Goblin Monarchy. Few were allowed there. Sarah had no idea how much of an honor it was to be taken there.

Trying to take a deep breath, Jareth would have cringed at the pain, but his body wasn't listening to him. Damn, even breathing was beginning to cause him pain. He had to fight through the pain. The spell could be broken. Time was what he needed, but Jareth knew he was losing it fast.

Jareth knew he had to hurry to discover the counter-spell. Fae did not last long with a fever. There had to be something he was missing, but what?

What could he be missing? He was beyond wishing his parents had taught him about such magic.

"Fight it, Jareth. You have to come back."

He had to let Sarah know he was still alive, but how?

His skin began to tingle as someone, more than likely the Labyrinth, began casting a transporting spell.

"Help me lay him here."

Jareth could feel his body being moved, but of course, he had no idea where. Cool water was applied to his forehead again.

Everything was beyond hurting. The darkness before his closed eyes seemed to become even darker. Something was coming. Something he could only imagine what the being was.

"Hello, Jareth." A face came out of the darkness. A face he recognized and knew very well.