Elspeth stood in the sandy desert before the labyrinth walls. From this vantage point she could see an overview of the intricate maze. When Jerrin had disappeared she had immediately started her stopwatch. Thirteen hours? Why not a hundred? There was no way she was going to solve the labyrinth except by pure chance, it was far too complicated.

"But mum did it." She whispered to herself. She looked toward the castle in the distance. Her mother was in there, he had said so, but what state was she in? Would she survive the thirteen hours? "I guess there's only one way to find out."

Elspeth approached the walls of the labyrinth carefully. Her mother had told her that it was at the gates of the labyrinth that she met Hoggle, her first friend in the labyrinth.

Elspeth surveyed the area. There was a small fountain with a little stone man with his arms outstretched balancing on one leg on a pedestal in the centre. Small, sick-looking bushes lined the wall; she could see what appeared to be tiny insects flitting through the sparse foliage. Upon closer inspection she realised that they must be fairies, fairies that bite. "Unbelievable!" Elspeth whispered.

She looked around her but she could see no one. "Hello?" She shouted. "Is there a Hoggle around here?" She waited a moment, looking around but hearing no reply. "Of course not, I couldn't be that lucky." She sighed. All of a sudden something hit her in the back of the head. "Ouch!" She looked down to see that it was a small pebble that had hit her. She picked it up and looked around her, but still saw no one. She frowned and turned back to the wall. A couple of minutes later another pebble hit her. "Who is that?" She shouted. She turned and circled around the fountain looking all about, but still saw no one. She tilted her head, looking at the fountain, was it her imagination or had the stone man been standing on his other leg when she first arrived?

Slowly she walked back to where she had been standing and turned so that she could just see the little man's shadow in the corner of her eye. She waited for a while, and it seemed like she must have been mistaken when she saw the shadow slowly lower its leg and draw back its arm preparing to throw something.

"Aha!" Elspeth spun around and threw the pebble she had picked up and hit the statue square in the forehead.

The statue's mouth formed an 'O' of surprise and he stumbled back. He flailed his arms comically as he tipped over the edge of the pedestal and fell into the fountain with a splash. He sat up sputtering and Elspeth saw that he was not in fact a statue, as the stone colour had washed off, and he was in fact a dwarf. "What'd you do that for?" He abused her.

"You did it first!" She countered, hands on hips. "In any case, who are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He sneered and, jumping out of the fountain, started running away from her.

"Hey, wait!" She ran after him and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him up short.

"No fair! You've got longer legs, I should get a handicap!" He complained.

"Who are you?" She demanded. "Are you Hoggle?"

"Me? Hoggle?" He sputtered angrily. "That clumsy wretch? That wart on a goblin's toe? That-"

Elspeth raised an eyebrow. "Are you two related?"

"No! Well, technically… distant cousins on my mother's father's uncle's side. I tried having him disowned but the legal proceedings are too complicated. I'm Biggle," he said proudly, pointing at himself with his thumb. "Not that you matter."

"Right, Biggle. Well anyway, can you show me the door to the labyrinth?"

"What do I look like? A tour guide? Find it yourself! I ain't getting mixed up with no human girl. That's what got Hoggle into trouble!"

"What do you mean? Where is Hoggle?"

Biggle waved his hand dismissively. "Why should I care? He's probably off moaning with the Brotherhood about their long-lost Sarah. Such a dismal group, them, that's why it's much better being alone."

"Where can I find them?"

"I just said-!"

"Look!" Elspeth frowned. "I only have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth. And you are going to help whether you like it or not otherwise I'll – I'll dump you back in that fountain!"

"Humph! Fine! The Brotherhood live outside the gates of the Goblin city beyond the labyrinth, not that you'll get that far." He gestured at the wall to the labyrinth and two doors, previously unseen, swung open. "Good riddance!" With that the dwarf stomped off.

"Thank you!" Elspeth called after him.

She heard him sneer in response.

Grimacing, she walked through the doors to the labyrinth. Immediately, they slammed shut behind her. "Well…" She sighed. "I guess that's one problem solved." Like her mother had done twenty years before, Elspeth stared both ways down the labyrinth. "Would you go left or right?" She whispered to herself.