Disclaimer: I neither have nor claim any affiliation with the Jim Henson company or Lucas films. All characters are property to their original creators.

A Game of Kings

Chapter 1

The sand colored stones of the Labyrinth shook as though the earth beneath them had rent. The outer wall of the labyrinth, where the most powerful of the Labyrinth's magic was concentrated to keep out unwanted guests, held fast against the trembling of the earth, but the ground beneath the hedge maze, the innermost part of the Labyrinth itself, split and swallowed up row after row of hedges. Hobgoblins ran out of their burrows in fright. In the catacombs beneath the labyrinth the 'False Alarms' cried out in agony as the earth came down atop them. All across the Labyrinth the inhabitants cried out in terror to their king at the labyrinth's heart.

Jareth, the Goblin King, stood at the top of his castle. His brow was furrowed in concentration even as his mouth twisted into an enraged snarl. His arms were flung out toward the Labyrinth. The average goblin watching him saw nothing, but magic cloaked his lithe and imposing form. It rolled from him in thick waves of power that kept the roomful of goblins standing several paces back from him.

"Is it the rock callers?" one goblin chattered in horror.

"Dey got into deh city?" Another, slower, one asked.

"Shut up, you fools!" their king snapped at them. The power of the Goblin King flowed out over the Labyrinth. It collided with something which had permeated the very air of the Goblin King's domain. The foreign magic coiled around Jareth's own power, consuming his power as it had begun consuming his Labyrinth. The Goblin King's eyes widened in disbelief and he redoubled his efforts against the opposing power. The foreign power reared back and met his head on once again. The collision of magic rent the air with an ear splitting crack. The Goblins cried out in pain, as did all of the Labyrinth's inhabitants below. Jareth winced. He felt his magic drain from him as the foreign power consumed it. The Goblin King broke off his attack and slowly doubled over. Its king defeated, the attacking magic returned to the Labyrinth itself. It spread itself out over the sprawling land. Jareth could feel it covering his kingdom as though it covered his own body, consuming his Labyrinth and himself as a fire would a forest.

"King!" cried the Goblins as they rushed to help Jareth. The Goblin King shook his head as they surrounded him.

"Forgive me," he breathed out harshly. The Goblins looked to one another in surprise at the Goblin King's utterance.

"King?" One ventured.

Jareth looked up and out over the Labyrinth as his kingdom tore itself apart under the influence of the foreign magic. He ground his teeth together slowly then threw his head back and let out a horrible scream of pain and rage. All around him his Goblins rushed forward as the form of the Goblin King diminished, but they were too late. The snowy owl let out a screech and opened its wings to take to the sky, shooting upward like a rocket until he was but a black speck in the distance to those Goblins who knew what they were looking at.

It was an old mirror of unfinished white wood. It was supremely dusty, but its delicate beauty was apparent in spite of that. The frame was carved with delicate vines of ivy which climbed up the sides. Among the leaves and flowers little fairies peeked out. The framework artistry culminated at the top where it rose up into a relief of a much larger Fey creature whom all the smaller fairies seemed to be looking toward. It was a full body mirror, and even though it looked quite old the silver, reflective backing to the glass seemed to be in tact around the edges. Perhaps it had recently been replaced. Sarah touched the surface of the mirror with a hand and smiled. It was perfect.

It was her birthday and her father had promised her a gift. He'd expected her to want something silly like make up or some form of jewelry. Wanting an antique mirror was not entirely unlike her of course, but it was still something of a surprise. Nevertheless, her father paid for the mirror and had it delivered to their house for it was far too large for them to carry home in their small car.

High above the Labyrinth the owl screeched in rage as it circled. It watched the devastation of the Goblin Kingdom, unable to stop the destruction from happening. It clacked its beak in dismay and swooped through the air, rising again on a thermal.

Below the Goblin city was under attack. Goblins ran through the streets, scared out of their wits, carrying chickens in their arms in an effort to save the feathery beasts as the roofs of houses collapsed. The main street cracked straight from the gate of the city to the gate of the castle. The fountain in the town square shattered sending shards of rock, clucking chickens, and screaming goblins through the air.

In the sky the owl shrieked in rage and dove and dipped through but was utterly helpless to save the poor creatures below him.

Sarah sat on her bed laughing at her fairy bound mirror. The room she sat in was small and cheaply, but nicely furnished. The mirror was by far the nicest, and most expensive, thing in the room, for it was the only thing she had brought to college with her from home aside from clothes of course. She had never expected college to suck up so much time, energy and, most of all, money. Still she always made time for her friends from the Labyrinth.

"Was he very mad?" Sarah laughed her question and Hoggle on the other side of the mirror smiled at her mirth.

"Well he wasn't happy about it," Hoggle responded. "We had to cut all the sap out of his fur and now he's got bald patches all over."

Sarah was weak with laughter. She felt bad laughing at the misfortune of one of her friends, in this case poor Sir Didymus, but it was just too funny picturing the little dog creature in such a state as Hoggle described.

"Oh please don't tell him I laughed," Sarah begged as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Don't you worry none, Little Lady. He won't hear it from me," Hoggle responded. "I better go before you know who finds out I'm not doing my job."

Sarah nodded her head and waved at the mirror, "Good bye, Hoggle."

Hoggle disappeared from her mirror, leaving only her own reflection gazing back at herself. Sarah stood and closed a set of heavy curtains over the mirror. The curtains were draped over the mirror for modesty's sake. Sarah loved that she could speak with her friends whenever she wanted, but they had a way of sometimes popping in unsummoned and she was a lady after all.

Jareth had an idea. His owl form dove and rose and swooped nervously high above the Labyrinth. He gathered what was left of his power after its collide with the foreign magic and his form changed once again from that of the owl to that of the Fey. The wind so high up caused his tattered white cloak to billow about his lithe form. His wild blond hair whipped about his face, but he did not seem to notice it as his sharp eyes continued to watch the destruction unfolding beneath him.

He couldn't be certain that the attacking magic would not consume the power of his spell, but he had to try. He knew this was the only way to save his kingdom. A perfect crystal sphere appeared between his palms.

Now that he had left his avian form the foreign magic honed in on him. It shot upward, its roiling, amorphous shape invisible to all but him. He saw it reach up toward him, determined to swallow him whole. Jareth flung the crystal down into the maw of the beastly power. It cut through the power like light through the darkness and shot down toward the Labyrinth. There was a flash of light, so bright the Goblin King lifted an arm to shield his eyes.

When the Goblin King opened his eyes again there was nothing beneath him. Wind whistled past his ears and he knew suddenly that he was falling.

"Sawah!" Roared the voice of Ludo from her bedroom. "Sawah!"

Sarah threw her jacket over the back of a couch and tossed her keys into a bowl near the door. She tripped over a chair in her haste to make it to her room, tearing her stockings at the same time, not that she noticed in her haste. She scrambled to her feet again and hurried into her room where she threw aside the curtains covering the mirror, "Ludo?" The shaggy red beast and Hoggle both stood before her. There was a horrible noise coming from all around them and Sarah covered her ears. "What's going on?"

"We don't know, Sarah," Hoggle cried. Hoggle was something of a coward, which he was not ashamed to admit, Sarah knew, she had witnessed it firsthand. However, no cowardice or fear she had ever seen in him even came close to the terror she heard in his voice now. "The Labyrinth is rippin itself apart, Sarah! Jareth's flown off! The Goblins are screamin their arses off, you gotta help us, Sarah!"

"Well," Sarah thought quickly, "get everyone you can and come through the mirror, quick!"

"Alright," Hoggle nodded quickly. "We'll-"

Hoggle and Ludo disappeared. Sarah started and stared at the mirror, "Hoggle? Hoggle? Ludo!" She stepped forward. Her image had not retuned, but her friends were gone. She laid a hand upon the surface of the mirror, meaning to call out again, but the attempt ended only in a surprised scream as her hand did not meet a resistant surface but went straight through the mirror.

"Hoggle!" she called out. "Hoggle can you hear-" Her words were cut off in another scream as something grabbed her and pulled. Not having expected it, she tumbled forward and through the mirror. She shut her eyes tight, half expecting to crash into her mirror and shatter it into a hundred pieces, but she did not. Wind whipped past her ears and she opened her eyes again to see that she was falling into nothing.

Note to the reader: Action chickens make everything better. Also, please review. I would like that.

If it's a bit confusing, don't worry. It's only the first chapter. Explanations will be forthcoming.