Chapter Nine: Roughing It

Glitch sat on one of the rocks at their camp with a bar of some kind of oat like food in his hand. He examined it and looked back at DG who chewed on hers with delight. She called the little bar a 'granola' or something like that. It was an old recipe that she had remembered from the other side and had made a few bars with the cooks long before their trip. She had told him it was healthy for him, but from the look on Azkadellia's face when she bit into one didn't help his decision on taking his first bite.

"It's not going to kill you, Glitch," DG called from the fire. She scratched at her head as if her wig was still on. She had taken it off hours before once out of range of Finaqua and well on their way. Cain chuckled from his seat beside her and poked at the fire in front of him. She couldn't figure out if he was laughing more at her for scratching or for Glitch from his confusion over the bar of condensed food.

Glitch took a hesitant first bite and then chewed it in his mouth for a bit before swallowing.

DG looked at him, "Well?"

"It's not Colvenslah," a voice DG more related as Ambrose spoke up referring to a declassee of the palace. His face then changed to a smile, "But it's not bad."

"I told you," she smiled, "I used to eat it in the morning if I was running late on the other side. A small meal on the go."

"I don't know how you could eat it at all," Azkadellia frowned from her side of the fire, "I would rather starve."

"You're just too used to the palace dining," DG smirked at her sister. She felt her hand with the granola bar pulled from her and Cain took a bite out of hers. She frowned and pulled away from him, "I thought you didn't want any."

"I didn't," he started and swallowed what was left, "And still don't."

"Ha!" Azkadellia smiled with a personal victory, "Even Cain disagrees with the taste."

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side," DG pouted at Cain.

"I have my own tastes," he shrugged and threw the stick in his hand into the fire.

"Hey Cain, you should look at this," Glitch pointed off the rock he was sitting on.

They had traveled far enough North to reach the other side of the mountains that separated much of the southern realm from the rest of the world. They camped toward the middle of the mountain and had a wonderful view of the world they still had to cross. Glitch had pointed out at a line of moving lights that was coming closer to the mountain side. Cain studied it closely, keeping DG and Azkadellia back. DG looked over his shoulder anyway and saw the lights herself.

"Those aren't Longcoats," she whispered to Cain.

"How would you know?" Glitch asked also in a whisper.

"Because I've seen them in action during the night and in a dark tower," DG kept her eyes glued to the lights, "They moved differently than whatever these are."

"DG's right," Cain nodded and sat back, "It's a line of merchants. They're heading for Central City from the looks of it."

"Why are we still whispering?" Azkadellia asked from her seat.

"No reason," DG shook her head, "What's the best way to the Northern forests from here?"

"A straight line," Cain answered and leaned back against a flat rock, "We go down to pass through the central forests, through the Fields of the Papay and into the region of the munchkins."

"Great," DG muttered and sat close to Cain, "The last thing I needed. Another field trip into a very bad Thanksgiving special."

Everyone looked at her again and the groaned, "I really need to make a book to explain everything I talk about."

"It would help," Glitch nodded with his finger pointed.

"I believe it's time for bed," Azkadellia looked up at the sky. It was getting dark and she knew that it would be another early morning before they set off again, "Where is my bed to be?"

"You're sitting on it," Cain looked pointedly at the blanket that she was sitting on.

"You must be joking," she said slowly.

"And you're going to be on the ground," DG added with a smile, "Come on, it's the great out doors! Experience roughing it for once, Az."

Azkadellia was going to try her hand at arguing, but thought better of it. She sighed loudly and stood up with the blanket in her hand. She turned it over and tried to search for a soft spot on the ground nearby. She was tired enough from all the walking that she knew she had to get some sleep and if that meant the ground, she would have to take it.

Glitch stood up and took her blanket from her hands gently. He threw it over his shoulder, grabbed what leaves he could find and place them over some soft soil and pieces from a plush bush. He laid the blanket over the makeshift mattress and then motioned for her to lie down. She smiled at his help and settled onto the surprisingly soft bed. He made one up for himself as well near by and waved over to DG and Cain before he laid his head down to sleep.

DG waved back and looked at Cain, "How long until we reach the Northern Forests?"

"In a few days. Maybe a week," he nodded, "I'll try to find some lodging for us tomorrow."

"You don't have to, Wyatt," she laid next to him and put her head on his chest, "We all can rough it for the time being. Besides we don't want to gather any more attention than what we have."

"It will do all of us some good," he went on and smiled a little from her use of his first name. He stroked her hair with his left hand, "Besides, being inside could stop this mountain breeze from creeping up on us."

"There's a mountain breeze?" she asked now half awake. His heart beat beneath her ear gave off that irresistible lullaby and his warmth was felt through his shirt and pants. He chuckled and she heard the rumbling of it in his chest.

"Go to sleep, DG," he kissed the top of her head and she vaguely felt pressure of his cheek on her hairline, "I'll take first watch and wake up Glitch in a few hours."

"Sounds good," she nodded and wrapped her arm around his midsection, "I'll be right here."

He settled back against the rock as she pushed against him for the last time. He found himself combing his fingers through her hair and he watched the landscape around him. Throughout his watch he felt himself check on the sleeping girl in his arms every few minutes.

The morning light was colder than expected and DG wished she was still next to the fire with Cain. The group had packed up and was now stumbling through the forests of the central region just after the first sun rise. Cain was right about not having much sleep the first few days because it had felt like she had only an hour before she was up again. Cain kept a watchful eye around the forests and looked at the possible roads they could follow to the next stop.

Glitch began to point things out to Azkadellia as they walked. She nodded enthusiastically at the sights. She was truly sheltered while trapped in her own body. The witch never let her see what she was doing to the land, to her own home. New trees and wildlife was starting to pop up everywhere and Azkadellia was amazed how the O.Z. was slowly healing itself.

Cain led the mix matched group to the old road and stopped for a brief moment. DG stood next to him, her hands on the straps of her pack. Glitch brought Azkadellia carefully through the bushes and stopped right behind them

"Well?" he asked as he peeked around DG.

"I think we can take part of the old road though the forest," Cain explained as he thought it out in his mind, "It cuts through most of the central region and then heads North toward Milltown. We'll have to leave off there to head through the Fields of the Papay."

"Milltown?" DG's ears pricked up and turned to Cain, "Are we passing through or are we not even going to be close?"

"We'll see when we get there, kid," he rubbed the top of her head.

"I know what that means," DG crossed her arms over her chest, "That's usually a no."

"I means we'll see when we get there," he repeated, "Besides not many people use the old road anymore. I think it should give us some good cover."

DG stood for a moment and thought back to her nurture units that raised her since she was six years old. They were her mother and father during the time that her memories were lost and she was only a waitress living in Kansas and dreaming of big adventures. She missed them and asked them to come live in the palace with her after the downfall of the witch. They and her real mother had agreed, but had to make sure that Milltown was back to its good old self before they made their move permanent. Last she heard the restoration of their home was going smoothly and it would be a matter of weeks before they would see her again.

She shook her head a little and looked up to see Cain moving away. His jacket lifted a little as he walked and DG could see the accent of his backside through her favorite pair of pants of his. She bit her lip at a thought going through her mind and knew that she would have to clean her head out again by the time the day was through.

"We're going to lose Mister Cain if we don't get a move on, Deeg," Azkadellia said from behind her which made her jump a little.

"Yeah, sorry," she smiled and began to jog after Cain, "Cain, wait up. You go-"

Before she finished her sentence Cain grabbed her by the shoulders and flung her into the forest shrubbery at the side of the road. Glitch followed suit with Azkadellia a few feet away. Cain landed on top of her, his body nearly covering hers. His eyes were trained on the road to the side of them through a small hole in the shrubs. She looked up at him from her position under him to gain some kind of explanation. When he didn't look down she strained to see the road from her position. Glitch and Azkadellia drug themselves over and laid on their stomachs next to them. Azkadellia's view was blocked a bit by Glitch, but knowing they were hiding from something, she didn't want to see the road.

"So why exactly did we tackle the princesses onto the forest floor?" Glitch asked from his position just to the side of DG and Cain and then looked back at Azkadellia, "Not that tackling princesses is a down side to my position."

Azkadellia smiled and looked away a little.

"Shh!" Cain hushed him and clamped a hand over Glitch's mouth.

Before long the sound of a few hooves hitting bricks were heard. Cain stared steadily through the small hole and increasingly held DG closer to himself. Soon horses were almost right on top of them and then two stopped in front of their positions. A couple of men hopped off of their horses and stood within Cain's sight. DG shifted her head a little and caught the end of their coats.

'Longcoats! What are they doing along the old road?' she screamed in her own head. She felt Cain's hand move toward his pistol at his side and suddenly felt a lot safer. Cain was a good shot and if they had to take these two longcoats down, he could do it faster than they could dismount their horses.

"How much longer until we hit the mark?" one asked the other.

"The message said three clicks South and it rests at the Hags head," the other replied. DG's eyebrows furrowed. It must be where Zero and the witch were gathering the longcoats. These two must have only got the message a few days prior to join them.

She looked at Glitch's face which was pretty close to one of her hands and mouthed, 'Hag's head?'

He thought to himself and quickly drew a mountain in the dirt in front of him. It was the one that they had just passed through the day before. She remembered from one of Tutor's lessons that it was one of the oldest mountains in the O.Z. and reportedly where the evil witch was born. She nodded and turned back to the conversation. Fittingly enough, the witch and Zero must have set up base within the mountain side. DG had heard the expression of clicks from television on the other side during army movies, but she doubted that it was the same amount of measure in the O.Z. Besides, she had no idea what the witch's base was three clicks South of.

"Not much further," the first one huffed and jumped onto his horse again, "The message, it said that we would be working for the sorceress again, right?"

"I think so," the other thought, "But I think it used the title witch."

"Witch, sorceress, it's all the same," DG looked at Azkadellia and only saw the top of her head over Glitch's shoulder. It looked like she was focused on the ground probably in her own thoughts and far away from here. She looked again toward the legs of the horses, "That means that the little bitch is going to be taken care of. Captured and paying for her mistake of trying to stop the true ruler of the O.Z. I just hope that we get a little fun with her before she's thrown out. You know, teach her some lessons of our own."

The other one laughed, "She didn't look all that bad from the pictures that I saw of her. I wouldn't mind playing a game or two."

Cain pulled the hammer back on his pistol, ready to charge at them for talking about DG in that manner.

"Did you hear something?" the second longcoat looked out into the forest's depths.

DG quickly put a hand over Cain's to stop him from killing the two men. By that time she too wanted to kill the creeps, but they needed to stay low and get going. They couldn't deal with longcoats before they needed to. And more than likely Zero would suspect something was wrong if two of his men would suddenly not show when he knew that they were still alive. Cain looked down into DG's eyes and saw her shaking her head at him. He breathed deeply through his nose and she felt his hand go relaxed.

"It's probably a little squirrel or something," he turned his horse around to head South, "Come on, we got to get there soon. The take over is coming up and I don't want to be late for the party."

"You're right," the other kicked against the horse's sides and they were both off.

Glitch slowly took a deep breath and stood up from the bushes. He held a hand down for Azkadellia which she took without hesitation.

"And here I thought all we had to worry about was lions and tigers and bears," Azkadellia looked down at the position that her sister and her bodyguard were in, "Oh my."

"Don't start, Az," DG rolled her eyes and looked up at Cain, "You going to let me up, or are you going to show me how happy you are to see me?"

He groaned and pushed off of her and on to his own feet. He helped her up and patted the both of them off.

"So, no one hardly uses the old road anymore, huh?" Glitch asked and picked off some leaves that were hanging from his coat.

"Hardly," Cain agreed and grabbed DG's hand as they continued on.

"What was that about a take over?" DG asked and saw Glitch and Azkadellia right behind her.

"They'll probably will try to ambush the palace," Cain explained, "If they think that you two are still in there along with me then they'll hit it with all they got. Hopefully that will take down quite a few of them and not of the guards."

"We got to warn the palace then," Azkadellia spoke up.

"They are already aware of the possibility," Cain sighed and tried to keep an ear open for any more hooves or hushed voices, "Jeb's there along with the Captain of the royal guard and at least five generals. They will know what to do, and if need be get your parents out of there."

The two girls looked a little relieved from the knowledge that the palace was not completely unaware. To distract Azkadellia a little more, Glitch began to point out some more colorful fauna along the road. Unfortunately she was not focused on the flowers, but more on what the two longcoats were talking over.

"What were they inferring about playing with DG?" Azkadellia's voice sounded strained. DG saw Cain set his jaw like usual and sighed.

"Don't worry about it, Az," DG shook her head.

"They wanted to use her like a girl on Central City's corners," Cain grunted and involuntarily grabbed DG's hand in his and gave it a squeeze, "They'll hopefully be the first ones in line to be executed after all this is over."

"I'll make sure of it," Glitch announced and frowned, "No one treats DG like that- or even talks about her in such a manner without the proper consequence."

DG smiled and shook her head, "I appreciate the backing I have from you all, but it's not really necessary to kill someone for it."

"I think it is," Cain grunted low, "No one threatens you. Not while I'm around."

DG squeezed his hand that was still holding on to hers.

Before nightfall the group quietly entered a town made of only three main buildings and a few cabin-like homes. The streets were empty and DG couldn't hear anything or anyone. Cain let go of her hand and took out his pistol.

"Stay here," he told the other three and slowly stepped onto the streets of the town. He looked through windows and around corners as the two princesses and Glitch stood back and behind some trees.

"Why's he got to be such a boy scout?" Glitch commented and sighed as Cain entered his second building after looking through the streets.

"It's just who he is, I guess," DG offered.

Cain searched every building and every alley before he walked toward the back of the town where there were no more buildings and the forest came alive once again. After a few moments of walking out of sight, Cain walked back toward them with his pistol in his holster and a tight line across his lips. DG walked out to him and he put a hand on her back.

"The town is deserted," he said calmly and stopped them before they continued on, "I want none of you going to the back part of the town. And I mean none of you."

"What's wrong?" DG asked and held his arm.

He sighed, "It's not a pleasant sight. Longcoats have been through here. It was probably was the two that had passed us by."

"What did they do?" Azkadellia asked.

"Nothing all too pretty, princess," Cain took his hat off only to push his hand through his short hair and replaced it back on his head, "I just don't want any of you back there, okay?"

Azkadellia shook her head as she didn't understand and began walking toward the town. Glitch and DG quickly followed and Cain tried to jog after her. She turned down the main road and lifted her skirt to go to the back. Cain almost had her when she pulled away and turned to the sight.

There were graves, almost thirty of them. All freshly dug and pushed against the tree line. Azkadellia knew what they were instantly. She had been around death and had been the cause of it for so long that she couldn't understand it any better if she tried. Then at the very top of the row of graves she spotted a little body, slumped over a shovel with a large hole to the back of the head. A little boy no more than eight had dug and buried as many as he could. Then was executed just like the rest of them.

She jerked back and put a hand to her mouth. A strangled sob escaped. DG grabbed her sister when she reached her and turned her toward her. She buried Azkadellia's head into her shoulder and away from the scene. DG closed her eyes as well and turned away from the graves.

"It's my fault, DG," Azkadellia slowly breathed into her shoulder, "I wasn't strong enough to stop her… I didn't want to either. And now people have died, even after we stopped her. Why can't they just stop killing?"

"Shh," DG cooed into her sister's hair. She looked back at Cain who looked like he had failed in his duties. She looked deep into his eyes and mouthed, 'Thanks for trying.'

He shifted his eyes and looked at the ground for a moment before hitting Glitch in the shoulder. Glitch was still shocked by the amount of bodies and how young of a boy had to deal with the job of burying them all at possible gun point. He nodded to Cain and followed him.

Cain looked at DG, "Take Az inside. It looks like one of the main buildings is a lodge. We may be able to find something there. We will be in shortly."

DG nodded and cleared her throat to hold back tears of her own, "Come on, Az."

She turned Azkadellia toward the town and helped her into the large building. After the door was closed Cain and Glitch carefully shifted the poor boy's body off the shovel and began to dig.