Snippet #1114333

In spite of his injury Jareth's pace was quick and purposeful as he began to lead them through the various twists and turns of the great maze. Where most people, even those who called the maze their home, had to stop now and again to check there bearings; Jareth seemed to maneuver the maze with an almost instinctual ease which occasionally put a fair amount of distance between them at times. It was clear Jareth was not accustomed to people tailing him and every now and then he would come to an abrupt stop and wait for Eva to catch up with him or back track to ensure she hadn't gotten lost. All of this, he did in abject silence with the exception of an occasional grunt.

Yet Jareth couldn't ignore the fact that he was injured and after an hour or so his focus did start to break down and his pace began to slow. Not alot, but enough to notice.

"Well have to stop if only for a little while." Jareth finally remarked as they approached a part of the maze that was less stone and more hedge. "Were about to enter a more dangerous part of the Labyrinth and I don't dare take you through it unless I'm better rested. We’re in a good place though. Another few hours and we should be able to cut around the long way to the part of the maze that boarder the enchanted forest. There’s a shorter way but it requires us to walk through a part of the Arid Flats and THAT is certainly somewhere we’d do best so completely avoid. Damn this shoulder! I should have known better than to turn my back before that harpy witch fully left my sight. And now I have no idea what’s going on in my own kingdom or who might be lurking at our heels. It’s bloody infuriating.”

Jareth sighed and tried to mentally center himself. It did little good to moan about his errors in judgment now and he knew it did absolutely nothing to better their situation. “You might as well come and sit in the shade of the wall for now. Once the double suns rise fully there won’t be any shadows to speak of. It’ll be important to enter the enchanted forest before dark. With any luck the white huntress will be alerted to our presence before we can get up to too much trouble in her domain.”

Taking his own advice Jareth neared the final stone wall that separated them from the hedge maze and gingerly slid down it so that he could sit in a curled position with his back supported.