Naturally we don't own Jareth, the Labyrinth, the Goblin city, or the
storyline and components of the Labyrinth movie. . . but hey, we can still
dream. All hunters, elves, an evil king who happens to be Jareth's brother, and
dream qualities of the story are Dreamspinner's while Justarus and other
actions made solely for the annoyance of Jareth are Delilah's. Thanks for
reading this boring announcement and now on with . . .

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Crystalline Dreams
Chapter 10
by: Dreamspinner and Delilah

   

    Bane held his hand up over the prone form of the unconscious woman below him. A swirling of black mist appeared and tangled about the hand. The dark lord closed his eyes to keep from being mesmerized by the swirling mass. The mist flared with anger when it learned that it could not control him. It began to settle, however, as Bane began to explain why he had called it. Justarus entertained the idea of killing the king while he his attention was turned to other things, but he pushed the
feelings back. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed the Unseelie King if he ever wanted to regain his holdings in the forest. He hated this forced alliance and planned to annul it as soon as the king had given him the forest. Bane would gain both the woman of dreams and access to the Dream World. This would inevitably lead to the downfall of Gwydion in which the other hunters would be dragged down as well. Now, how to get rid of Bane and still keep the hunters captive? Apparently
Bane and the mist had come to an acceptable agreement for the mist left Bane's hand and floated above the woman. It hovered for a moment then slowly seeped downwards into the still body. The woman arched and Justarus could barely make out the groan and hiss of air as she tried to scream but found she could not. There was a flash of energy and Justarus was suddenly overtaken by an urge to hunt. The woman's eyes were tightly closed against the pain and he felt the urge heighten. Bane also seemed to be preoccupied by his own feelings for he stared off into
the air completely oblivious to his surroundings. Sure that he would not be missed Justarus turned and padded out of the chamber and took to the trees.

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    Jareth landed upon the balcony barely able to transform before falling into a chair. He had been unsuccessful in finding the absent Delilah which lead him to the conclusion that she was no longer in the Labyrinth. That thought angered him. How dare she seek to leave his castle without his permission? Was she completely unaware of the dangers that would face her once she passed through his gates? He was sorely tempted to leave her out there and allow her to fend for herself, but he
was bound by the same oath that held him responsible for Dreamspinner's safety. He had brought her here, she had not really come of her own free will. Therefore he had to find her and bring her back safely. He could think of all sorts of trouble she could be getting into and that bothered him. She seemed to have a knack for causing it and she seemed equally drawn to it. He heard the door open but was too weary to open his eyes and see who it was. A soft hand upon his shoulder caused him to sigh. The delicate scent of lavender seemed to curl comfortingly about him as he took Dreamspinner's hand into his own and pressed it against his lips.
"I take it you have not found her?" Dreamspinner asked.
He shook his head. "She in no longer here in my Labyrinth. Right now I don't have the energy to travel beyond the gates to look for her, so she'll just have to fend for herself for a couple more hours." He didn't need to look up at her face to know she was frowning.
"What if one of the hunters went to look for her?" Dreamspinner said mildly, causing Jareth to open his eyes in surprise. That thought hadn't occurred to him.
"If any wish to they may. It would speed things up considerably," the weary goblin king replied.
Dreamspinner nodded sagely before taking her leave and hurrying down the hallway. She hoped that one of them found Delilah soon, she did not like the idea of the blonde wandering about the strange land on her own.

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    Gawain and Gareth jumped up when Dreamspinner entered the antechamber where they were playing a game of chess. Their Lady moved silently to stand before them, a gentle smile playing about her lips.
"Am I interrupting anything?" she asked softly.
"No, Milady, of course not! How are you feeling?" Gawain said as he and Gareth each reached out to take one of her hands within their own in valid concern. She smiled reassuringly at them both.
"I am well, fear not. Nothing remains of the foul poison. It seems that the wolf-thing has returned," Dreamspinner sighed. "I have a request, my friends. Delilah has gone missing, and I fear for her safety, especially after what happened in the forest." The huntsmen nodded grimly in unison, wordlessly assuring her that all possible measures would be taken to find her friend. She briefly touched minds with them, and felt Gwydion come up behind her to add his own request to hers. The huntsmen
chuckled darkly at their Lord's instructions, and assured him that all would be as he asked. They would do no less. They bowed quickly to their Lord and Lady, then left with their eyes sparkling in perverse amusement as they planned their revenge on a certain wolf-thing.

    Dreamspinner sighed and leaned back into Gwydion's embrace, "Something wicked is afoot, beloved. I think Delilah is in alot of trouble. I hope that Bane has not found her. I hate to think of what he would do to her if he did find her..." Gwydion turned her around and held her firmly by the shoulders.
"Do not think on it, bright-one. Gawain and Gareth will find her," he said more surely than he really felt, and Dreamspinner glanced up sharply to gaze into his eyes.
"So...you feel it too. I though as much. What do we do now?" Dreamspinner asked softly. Gwydion did not have an answer, so he pulled her to him, nearly crushing her in his attempt to hold onto her. He smiled when he realized that she was holding onto him just as tightly.

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    Justarus carefully shadowed his quarry by keeping out of sight in the underbrush of the forest. So far the fleeing woman seemed unaware of his presence and he shook his head. How could such an unobservant race possibly flourish. She was having trouble picking her way through relatively clear forest, no matter which way she turned she kept getting tangled in the low hanging branches. She made enough noise for a herd of deer on the charge and she didn't even have the basic intelligence of keeping quiet. Then again she didn't realize he was following her. He snorted as she tripped over a rock and yelped in surprise. There was a terrific thrashing that followed and when she had finally made it back to her feet Justarus was practically on top of her. He could have reached out and nipped her on the ankle if he had chosen but he decided to prolong the chase just a little bit longer.

    Bane had been quite specific in his orders but the wolf knew how to twist words to suit his needs. Bane had said not to kill or seriously wound her, he never said anything about having a little bit of fun sure to put the wolf in better spirits and frighten the life out of the girl, figuratively of course. He followed her for a few more feet then decided to start. He sighed as he leaned back on his hunches. This was going to be a little cliché but it worked like a charm. After rumbling a little in the back of his throat he tossed his head back and howled. He grinned in satisfaction as the woman leapt into the air and whirled towards him. He reached out a paw and swatted at a few branches making them sway ominously. The woman stood frozen for a moment then turned and slowly began to keep walking. Justarus could smell only a hinting of fear and frowned. How could this woman who couldn't even make her way through the brush know not to show fear before an animal? It was odd. Justarus decided to just ditch his old tricks and go straight for the jugular. He leapt out of the scrub and landed gracefully before the woman.
Then he did something he did very well. He posed. He watched for her reaction and felt a sliver of satisfaction as awe crossed over her face, then came the fear as she realized he had to be the biggest dog, gods he hated that comparison, she had ever seen. Then was a brief moment where time stood still then the woman moved. He barely had enough time to register the thrown object and dodge out of it's way before the sharp rock struck the ground with remarkable accuracy. He snarled as he took a snout full of dirt then turned towards his prey who was making admirable time as she leapt through the forest. He didn't have to go far to imagine a fleeing deer and he felt his instincts rise up. He forced himself to remember Bane's words before he took off in pursuit.

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    Gareth stopped and held his hand up for a moment. The other person in his two man team froze and they sat there in silence. No birds were singing and no animal could be heard in the area. That signaled one thing. There was something wrong. They slowly started forward alert for any danger and straining to catch the faintest sound that would give the intruder away. They didn't have to listen very hard for they were suddenly surrounded by sounds of snarls and screams. Both hunters spurred their horses forward trying to make out where the sounds were coming from. The various trees were reflecting the sounds creating a slight echo effect that distorted the purity of the various cries. They could tell that one sound was being made by a dog-like creature. A wolf.
The other was harder to make out since all creatures cried the same when in danger but both were willing to bet that it was being made by a human. They stumbled across the scene far earlier then they thought they would have and both hurriedly pulled weapons.
    Justarus heard the hunters approach although he was having trouble hearing with this woman's incessant screams ringing in his sensitive ears and decided to finish what he had started. He nipped at a hand that came too close to his face and used his paw to roughly knock at the flailing hair. He pranced about the woman's face and hands snarling and yipping taking snaps as close to her flesh as he could without actually breaking it. He saw the hunters out of the corner of his eye and cursed as one aimed an arrow at him. He leapt up and landed on the woman's chest hearing a satisfying crack and the shrieks stopped as he knocked the air out of her body. Using the woman as a spring board he bounded off into the brush with one of those hunters in pursuit.
    Bane had wanted the woman unhurt, but this was quarry and he had no orders against harming. An arrow struck a near by log and he hissed. He had forgotten how well the hunters could aim and he picked up the pace. He did not want to be on the receiving end of one of those feathered shafts. His leg still hurt from where he had had to remove that damned elf's arrow. He had no wish to repeat that scene. He noticed a large deposit of rocks and grinned. High ground was always the best ground. He slowed a little waiting for the hunter to gain some ground on his before he bounded up the rocks. When he got to a certain height he whirled and leapt down at the surprised hunter.
    Gareth's eyes widened as the gray form launched itself at him. He felt the violent impact and was torn from his horse's back and onto the ground. Justarus hit the ground heavily and rolled away a few feet. He snarled and slowly began to back up as the larger man rose and drew a sword. The black horse pranced up to him and reared and he had to quickly dodge the wicked hooves that threatened to trounce his body into pulp. He spared a bit with the hunter, neither giving nor taking any
hits, before he decided he had had enough. To hell with Bane and his grand plan, his life was in danger here and he was tiring. Time to fall back and regroup. With a final snap of spite he turned and disappeared into the forest easily eluding the hunter who was anxious to return to his comrade and the fallen woman. Now he had to return to Bane before the ruler decided to enact the next step of his `master plan' without the wolf's acknowledgment or agreement. Bane had been treating him as more of a loyal dog then as a thinking creature. Justarus intended to change that before it became a habit of the king's. He was no simple Unseelie content with licking his master's boots. He was Justarus! And no one treated him like an animal.
No man, no animal, no king.

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    Bane smiled with grim amusement as the scene unfolded before him in the depths of the dark scrying crystal he had summoned the moment Justarus had left his domain. So...the wolf had his own agenda now...well it was only about time, and definitely part of that creature's nature. All things would fall into place this time. He was sure of it. And as for the 'threat' Justarus thought he could pose...heh...the Unseelie King shook his head in disgust. In his long reign, he had seen this sort of thing many, many times. Even though his title was granted by birthright, Bane knew he had earned it many times over at this point in his long life. Bane chuckled darkly. Well, if his newest acquisition was feeling a bit antsy, the King could surely find a
few distractions to amuse him. He smiled.

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    Gawain cursed silently under his breath as he regarded the poor nearly- unconscious woman lying in his arms. He observed a familiar tang in her scent...and this worried him. He gently pulled Delilah into his protective embrace, allowing her to rest her head upon his shoulder.
"Dreamspinner sent you to find me?" she gasped. Her hands clutched at her poor bruised ribs and she fought to regain the air that had been so forcefully knocked from her lungs. That beast had seemed to just want to taunt her. She knew it could have killed her, but for some unknown reason, wanted to play fiercely with her. She wished she had brought a dagger or something with her when she found herself in the woods earlier, but she realized that she must have sleepwalked there or something. What the hell was going on? Wasn't Jareth supposed to be keeping his 'guests' safely? Really! He must be a total flake not to have noticed a lone woman walking out of his labyrinth.
    Gawain watched the blonde woman closely. Her hair was so beautiful...like the golden hues of the sunlight sparkling upon the sea. He smiled reassuringly at her, his handsome face portraying compassion.
He gently whispered, "My Lady sent us to find you, childling. Be at ease now. All is well. We will reach the palace in but a blink of time. Then you can get some rest." Delilah allowed herself to be soothed by the gentle musical quality of the elf-lord's voice. It was so very comforting.

***on to Chapter 11