A/N: Bombshell about to be dropped, please fasten your helmets. lol
Chapter 28
"Should we knock?" Khalil asked Fiyero as they reached the front door.
"Well it would be the polite thing to do," the former Arjiki Prince shrugged.
"You heard him Lieutenant," Khalil smiled at Ronin who took aim at the lock with his rifle and fired. The shot echoed through the stillness of the now moonlit night.
"You sure you weren't a locksmith before you joined the service?" Khalil smirked, which brought a chuckle to the men as they entered the home making a sweep of the building. Elphaba had taken Sergeant Zetti and some of the men over to the other building, a barn, on the property to make sure the man did not escape.
"No one here sir," Private Roth announced as he returned to the living room where the leaders of the group were standing.
"You think the bugger fled already?" Fiyero wondered.
"Well when it comes to the safety of their children, women will do anything to protect them so they may have gotten to him first," Khalil said.
"That could be true but my guess is that we would have run across blood or some sign of a struggle," Glinda told them matter-of-factly as she examined the bookshelf in the living room. All of them turned and looked at her as if she'd grown a second head.
"What? I have good ideas every once in a while," she defended herself without even turning around.
"All right, let's see what the others have found out in the barn," Khalil suggested. They hadn't even stepped foot outside of the building when a shot rang out through the night.
"My guess is that they found him," Fiyero said rushing ahead of the group, worried that the shot might have been aimed at his beloved. The men charged after him, not wanting him to walk into anything they couldn't pull him out of. Glinda was just behind them when Private Roth grabbed her.
"Stay back Lady Glinda. If something happens to you all of Oz will be in turmoil," he said.
"What if someone needs medical help?" She asked.
"You're first priority. The boys knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed on," he told her. Glinda nodded in defeat and the Private got her back into the house and out of the weather.
"All right Mayor! We have the building surrounded! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!" Khalil shouted from just outside the main barn door.
"I need help in here!" It was the unmistakable voice of the second witch in their group.
"Fae!" Fiyero bust through the doors not caring what would happen to him. The men followed him in since not a shot was fired. There the sight before them made them freeze in their tracks.
The mayor was floating about three feet above the floor encased in a bubble. He was furiously trying to break free with the blood soaked bayonet on his rifle. On the floor, Elphaba held one hand up in the air, maintaining the strength of the bubble so that he could not escape. Her other hand was trying to fix the wound in Sergeant Zetti's stomach. His skin was pale and he was losing a lot of blood.
"Help me!" Elphaba pleaded with them oblivious as to why they were all standing there. Fiyero wished to say something but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't even help the bleeding man as the straw from his body would only absorb the blood flowing from the wound.
"You heard her! Help!" Khalil was the first one to be shaken from his frozen state. Quickly the men surrounded the bubble. She dropped her hand and the bubble collapsed leaving the Mayor to drop to the floor. They subdued the Mayor and Elphaba returned her other hand to Zetti's wound that had been left by the coward's bayonet.
"Don't you dare die on me," she whispered as she used the last of her strength to finish healing the wounded man. Collapsing backward, she gasped for air as her heart pounded in her chest. She didn't even have a moment to catch her breath though as she found the bayonet of one of the soldiers pointed at her nose.
"Don't move witch!" He spat. A confused look crossed her face at the sudden animosity toward her until she saw the look on Fiyero's face. The game was up.
To Be Continued…
