Chapter 10

They carefully moved the King into the study and laid him down on the sofa. He hadn't regained consciousness but then again there was no way to tell how much blood he'd lost. Once inside Boq and Besim explained what had happened. Elphaba shook her head. She didn't like this one bit and should İzmir not make it there would be a lot of explaining to do. It could be a repeat of Oz all over again. Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she focused on the task at hand. Grabbing the Grimmerie, she quickly flipped through it looking for the spell that would lead them to Iffix.

Besim quickly fetched Liir and brought him to the study. The poor baby had managed to be left alone for most of the night and he knew that Elphaba wouldn't be happy about it. He could do nothing for Fiyero but leave him there.

"Any luck?" Boq asked after about ten minutes of the Witch flipping through the pages.

"Yes. I just have to be careful when I cast this spell. It could backfire," she told him.

"Backfire?" Besim wondered. That didn't sound good.

"Yes. It could give away our location as well if he is able to figure out what I'm doing. I'll need absolute silence. Now Lin do you have a crystal ball?" Elphaba wanted to know.

"No. But you can use the mirror," Glinda pointed to one on the wall but she did not move from her place next to İzmir.

"That'll work," her friend smiled and began chanting the magical words she needed. A picture appeared but she didn't recognize where it was.

"Lin a little help," Elphaba whispered. Glinda looked up and immediately recognized what portion of the castle it was. She gave Elphaba the kill signal and quickly the spell was ended to avoid a back trace.

"Where was he?" she asked.

"In the wine cellar. It is a very clever place to hide as no one goes down there often," Glinda frowned.

"All right. You and I are going after Iffix. Boq and Besim you stay here. We don't need any more casualties," Elphaba told them. Glinda nodded and pulled her wand from beneath the folds of her sleeve. Her friends could tell she was upset and now was not the time to get in her way. Quickly the two made their way out into the hall and headed for the nearest staircase.

"So they think they can come after me. Well they are sorely mistaken. Seems I need to remind them of my power," Iffix smirked. He had felt the spell that Elphaba had cast. She was either not focusing on what she needed to or getting a little rusty. No matter they would be most upset when he surprised them.

He stood in the middle of the massive underground cavern and stretched his muscles. Which animal should he turn into? The bear had been fun but he knew that the Wicked Witch would use something more powerful. While he paced and thought about it, another thought occurred to him. Why not show them the real him? No one had seen the real him since he was little. His mother had made sure of it.

Chanting a reversal spell very similar to the one that Elphaba had used on Boq and Fiyero, Iffix changed back into his normal self. He smiled. He'd always enjoyed the color of his skin and he was sure that Elphaba would find it most interesting as well.

"Don't move Iffix!" Came a shout from behind him. He smirked and turned around. The flames from the torches lighting the area still shrouded him in mystery.

"I've been waiting ladies. You know Mother never really did give you enough credit Glinda. She however warned me of you Miss Elphaba. Perhaps she was afraid we were too much alike," Iffix then moved into the light and Elphaba's face went pale.

"You're green!" She shouted.

To Be Continued…