Back Into the Labyrinth

[Kaymyth she/her]

So, this thing sorta popped into my head tonight.  I'll warn you, it's dark - definitely several shades darker than the source material.  But hey, it's something to read while I polish up my big work.

Might be there's more story to this, if people want me to write it.  This didn't take terribly long to pop out.

 

 

 

It had been twelve years.

A bit more than that, really; twelve years and five months. Seventeen days, fifteen hours, and thirty-six minutes. She kept meticulous track of the passage of time since her world had ended.

Sarah gazed at her reflection in the mirror, but her eyes didn't take in the image. Her mind drifted back to the girl she had been. She remembered her long hair, doe eyes, a round face flushed with the innocence of youth. But that wasn't her anymore.

It hadn't been her for a long, long time.

The car jerked and spun as Daddy swerved to avoid an animal in the road. Her ears rang with the rending and tearing of metal as they crashed into the tree. A wail from Toby tore at her heart and then was cut short. Blood trickled from her forehead and she turned to blink dumbly out the window.

And that's when she saw him – a snowy owl in the branches just outside. He hooted once, and flew off into the darkness.

And she knew.

Sarah shook herself back to the present, brushing a hand through her short-cropped hair. They'd called it a miracle that she had survived with so little injury. Just a cut on her head and a mild concussion. She was lucky, they had said. The EMTs had been astonished to find anyone alive in the wreckage. Her entire family was dead – father, stepmother, brother – but somehow she was lucky.

For the fourth time, she checked her gear. She'd spent a long time preparing for this. Two tours of duty in the military had honed her strength and skills. Over the years she had gathered supplies from military surplus stores piece by piece. A camping kit, survival kit, camouflage fatigues in various patterns, even navigation gadgetry (for all the good that would do). And weapons, of course: her sidearm, sniper rifle, ammunition aplenty for both, and several knives. There were all sorts of fun places you could hide knives.

She was stocked up on MREs, enough to last her for months. Years, if she was able to scavenge food inside, though she'd have to be careful what she ate. If she got low, she could always duck back for a resupply. She had a way in and out as needed, so long as she was careful not to get caught. She had slipped inside several times in the past decade.

Finally satisfied, Sarah gazed into the mirror again, focusing on a point just over her left shoulder. “Hoggle, I need you.”

The wrinkled little man shimmered into existence in the reflection. He frowned at her appearance, worry creasing his brow. “Sarah?”

“It's time.”

“Are...are you sure about this?”

“He murdered my family, Hoggle. There's nothing I have ever been more sure of.”

“Ya don't know that!” The little man shook a finger at her. “Jareth is a rat, but that...it's extreme, even for him.”

She met his eyes with a fierce glare. “You're talking about the man who sent a giant mobile Cuisinart after us in a narrow tunnel. He's more than capable of it. You said yourself nobody had ever beaten him before me. I saw him, Hoggle. He was there. He's responsible, and I'm going to make sure he pays.”

Still, he hesitated. “If you get caught...”

“I won't. We already know he can't scry me anymore.” Something about the way she had defeated him had rendered her completely immune to his magic, even when she was in the Labyrinth itself. She was protected, even though her family hadn't been. “I'm ready for this.”

Hoggle sighed in defeat. “All right. But don't say I didn't warn ya.”

Triumph curled across Sarah's face. She took the handle of the cart with her gear, straightening herself up. “Bring me through, old friend. It's time to kill the Goblin King.”

 

 

[C. M. Hayden he/him]

Hi there Kaymyth! I haven't read any of your prior work (I'm a newbie around these parts) but I can say I very much liked this bit of flash fiction. The stream-of-consciousness style of writing you have is what sells it, and it's impressive that something produced as quickly as you say reads as polished as this does.

I'd be interested in reading more for sure!

[Kaymyth she/her]

7 minutes ago, CM Hayden said:

Hi there Kaymyth! I haven't read any of your prior work (I'm a newbie around these parts) but I can say I very much liked this bit of flash fiction. The stream-of-consciousness style of writing you have is what sells it, and it's impressive that something produced as quickly as you say reads as polished as this does.

I'd be interested in reading more for sure!

Thank you!  I haven't really written all that much that's been posted yet; my big WIP is a Mistborn Era 2 fanfic that's grown into a planned story arc of multiple novels because I am a crazy person.  I really do need to get something polished up enough to post, but I figure in the meantime, this might whet people's appetites.

I have some ideas for where I could go with this, so I think I can put together a decent short story out of it.

[soyperson]

This is good stuff, Kay! I'm down to read more.

[ShadowLord_Lith he/him]

Inside my mind I am screaming in pleasure and joy. Outside my head, I am mumbling incoherently in happiness. Within this cosmos I am squealing in delight. Outside of of this cosmos, the things I do would give you a fright.

... in short? I absolutely loved it. I would also like a link to any and all other stories you have thus-far posted on this site.

Thank you. Now, back to rocking back and forth with a crazy/happy expression on my face; one that might induce nightmares.

Edited January 3, 2017 by ShadowLord_Lith
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[Kaymyth she/her]

3 hours ago, ShadowLord_Lith said:

Inside my mind I am screaming in pleasure and joy. Outside my head, I am mumbling incoherently in happiness. Within this cosmos I am squealing in delight. Outside of of this cosmos, the things I do would give you a fright.

... in short? I absolutely loved it. I would also like a link to any and all other stories you have thus-far posted on this site.

Thank you. Now, back to rocking back and forth with a crazy/happy expression on my face; one that might induce nightmares.

XD

OK, well, there's the creation myth that's linked in my signature.

And then there's this little gem that I posted in The Herd a while back:

So far, that's it, really.  At least as far as fiction goes.