The Labyrinth Sequel

Chapter 8

My peaceful darkness is interrupted by a scratching sound near my head. I roll to one side and whispers fill my head. When I try to roll to the other side, and blinding light fills my vision. I kick around, trying to get comfortable again, but my body is already waking up, and sinking back into a deep sleep is impossible now.

Angrily, I wrench open my eyes.

"She's awake!" Someone cries.

"Go and get the King! Go and get the King!" Another cries.

"Would you idiots shut up! She's just wakin' up and she doesn't need you yappin' in her ear!" A friendly voice shoos them off.

Slowly I open my eyes, and I see several peoples standing over me, staring down at me with wide eyes. I recognize Ludo, Hoggle, and Sir Didymus among the group, and slowly, my lips pull up into a smile. Oh, how I've missed their faces.

"Hey Kiddo, how ya feelin'?" Hoggle asks, pushing past a few Goblins to come sit at my side.

"I don't know. I'm a bit confused I guess." I say.

"That is understandable, fair Maiden." Sir Didymus amends.

"Sawah..." Ludo says putting a big hand on my head.

I am still lying on my back, and my body feels like I can't do much more than that. So I just turn my head so that I can get a better look at things.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Beats me," Hoggle shrugs, "One minute I am disappearing in the Library, and the next I am standing at the edge of the Labyrinth, everything in one piece again. It took me all day to get here, and I picked up ol' fuzzball and the knight along the way. Seems no one remembers anything after disappearin'."

"How long have a I been here?" The sun is up, so that is a good thing, but who knows how long I have been in the bed asleep.

"Best we can tell, two days." Hoggle says.

"Two days?! No, that can't be right! I couldn't have been asleep that long!" I protest.

"You were very sick from what we here, my Lady. They haven't been able to wake you up this whole time." Sir Didymus informs me softly, removing his hat like a gentleman.

"What about Toby?" I say suddenly remembering that I had lost him in the cave in, "Is he okay? Where is he?"

I try to rip the blankets from myself so that I can go look for him, and everyone leaps forward to hold me down. My hands are completely numb, so I can't push them back as they force my body to lie back down again.

"Not to worry, Sarah," A new voice pipes in, "Young Toby is quite all right."

The King come around the corner of the doorway with Toby in his arms. When he sees me, Toby's eyes light up and he hops down, running to my side.

"Sarah! You're okay!" He says, launching himself into my arms.

"No, you're okay!" I say, hugging him so tightly that he squeaks.

"Yeah," He says pushing me back, "I fell through the floor, and then I woke up in a pretty garden! There were faeries there, Sarah!"

"You didn't touch them did you?" I ask, horrified, remembering what had happened that last time I tried to get close to a faerie in the Labyrinth.

"No, Mr. Goblin said I wasn't allowed to play with them." He sulks.

"That's good, Toby, you listen to Mr. Goblin and stay away from those faeries. They are mean, and they will bite you." I warn him.