Her sensitive ears first picked up the higher strummed notes of the guitar as she soared over the fog-covered city. The notes were sweet and sad and touched a place in her heart that hadn't been moved in years, perhaps decades. Curious, she spiraled downward to find the source of the music. As she did, new tones accompanied the guitar, a deeper, richer baritone melody.

The raven swooped down gracefully and perched on the window sill of a large brick building. She peered inside the open window where the bittersweet music was streaming through in pulsing waves. Inside, a man sat on a sagging mattress, a worn guitar held lovingly in his grasp. His face was sad, but his eyes were bright and alive, sparkling with emotion as he played the instrument and sang softly.

In her many years as a sorceress, Sarah had seen multitudes of humans. She was acquainted with their funny ways, their fleeting lives and their physical forms. Most humans were of no special interest to her. They were clumsy creatures, lacking the grace and beauty of those of her race. This human however, was intriguing. He had a delicate beauty about him. His features were fine, angular; he had a long elegant nose, high well-defined cheekbones and pale pink lips. His eyes though, were his most unusual and (she thought) most attractive features. They were both crystal blue, but one pupil was over-dilated, making one eye appear darker than the other.

Sarah watched from her perch on the window sill as the man closed his strange eyes and sang as his hands moved over the strings of the instrument. His voice was haunting and Sarah found herself moved to sing with him. She opened her beak to blend her harmony with his melody, but an ugly, croaking caw came out instead. The man stopped playing and opened his eyes and looked up at her. He frowned when he saw the large raven sitting on the window sill. Laying aside the guitar, he stood and approached the open window.

"Get out of here, ugly bird," he said, shooing her out of the window. Sarah flapped her ebony wings at him and cawed hoarsely again. "Go on," the man coaxed. "Fly off back to the Tower."

Surprised and incensed, Sarah flew off the window sill and hovered beyond the building, just out of the man's reach. He frowned at her again and moved to pull down the window, but Sarah dove under his arm and back into the room.

"Hey!" the man cried. "Get out of here!" He grabbed a broom that was leaned in a corner and swept it in circles over his head in an attempt to shoo the raven out of the room. Sarah flapped wildly back and forth, dodging the movements of the broom. Agitated, the man hurled the broom upward and it caught her on the side of one of her wings, sending her plummeting down to the floor. She fell with a graceless thud onto the frayed rug and lay in a pile of dark crumpled feathers.

Throwing the broom aside, the man fell to his knees. "Oh! I'm sorry!" he cried. "I didn't mean to hurt you! I only wanted to get you out." He bent over her inky form with a look of concern and guilt and moved a hand toward her. Before he could touch her however, her feathers began to shimmer and shift. He drew back as her whole body began to radiate light. His mismatched eyes grew wide with wonder and fear as the bird on the floor stretched and grew and glowed and changed until it was no longer a bird, but a beautiful woman standing before him. Her hair was as dark as the raven's feathers, her eyes the color of a cold northern sea. She wore a black cloak trimmed in gold that billowed at the sleeves and trailed out behind her. She looked down at where the man knelt before her and her eyes flashed fury.

"How dare you, insolent mortal!" she hissed. The man made no response. He simply trembled and lowered his eyes from her furious gaze.

"You offer no explanation for this assault?" she asked angrily. "First, you insult me, then you shoo me away, and then you attempt to kill me?"

The man snapped his head up and looked at Sarah. "I wasn't trying to kill you," he gushed. "I was simply trying to get you out."

Sarah glared hard at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why?" she demanded to know. "Why did you want me gone? I was merely listening. I heard you playing and singing and wanted to have a closer look. Why would you send me away? Are you so selfish that you would keep your sweet music all to yourself?"

"No...I...I didn't know. I'm sorry," the man muttered miserably.

Sarah scowled at him. "This indignity shall not go unpunished," she said coldly. As the man stared at her in horror, she wove a spell around him, binding his hands tightly together at the wrists and his feet together at the ankles. He tried to move, to break free, but to no avail. Sarah laughed at his feeble attempts to free himself.

"You belong to me now, mortal. The only way to free yourself is to complete the tasks I will set before you. If you succeed, I shall release you. If you fail, you shall belong to me forever to do with as I please. Do you understand?"

The man nodded sadly and Sarah smiled. It had been a long time since she had had a human plaything and she was looking forward to amusing herself at his expense.

"Don't be so sad, little mortal," she purred. "Do as I say and no harm will come to you. Defy me and you will discover the full meaning of eternal suffering."

She tugged on the invisible magic cords binding the man and pulled him after her. "Now," she began, "Do you have a name?"

"J—Jareth" the man answered.

Next: The Task is Set

A/N:

I'd like to give a shout-out to Ellen Weaver for this awesome prompt. What do you think of Sarah as the Babe with the power?

Please deposit all thoughts or comments or suggestions in the box below.