Thank you to MyLittleElphie for reviewing. I'm glad you liked Robiere and happy you liked how I went with it.
Thank you to heatqueen for reviewing. I'm glad you liked my middle approach. And I see your hatred for Wynne has not abated. I'm happy I wrote well enough to invoke such emotion. And all my characters tend to be meddlesome. You tell me whether it isn't too terrible.
Thank you to nursejoy7 for reviewing. Here you go.
This chapter may be a bit rough. I literally sat down a noon this morning and hammered it out.
As always, read, enjoy, review. Comments and critiques welcome.
4/7/14
The Adept waited huddled under her cloak. It was early; so early that sun had not yet begun to peek through the trees and buildings. Her eyes remained glued to the Wittican Opera House. The informant had said a covered carriage was leaving this morning with two occupants. She had surmised this would be her prey.
She shook the dew that accumulated during the night off her cloak. The Madame brooked no failure so she had stayed up the entire night to make sure that she did not miss them. The days had not yet begun to wane, but winter came earlier in the north than in the rest of Oz. She did not mind the cold but the thought of her love not a few miles away in a warm bed taunted her. She turned her thoughts to her love in general, and they kept her warm and alert.
She need have not worried on missing the move. Early morning a woman came by with the carriage. In the lamplight the Adept recognized her as mercenary that worked in the area. Rumors were that she was quite good. The Adept wondered if she had been the escort that had taken down the White Skulls. She dismissed it. She would have known if she was that good.
The Adept heard approaching bootfalls. She worked herself into the alley's shadows, silently casting a concealing spell in case it was a constable patrol. Instead she saw the mercenaries she had hired. They looked around confused, and jumped when she seemingly appeared out of the shadows.
"Punctual. I like that." The Adept said, her voice like steel.
"You're paying us good money." The leader said. "We haven't missed it?"
"No, otherwise I wouldn't be here and you wouldn't be getting paid."
"Anything we should know?"
"It seems they have an associate of yours on retainer. Redheaded female, early twenties. Ear length hair, pale."
"Wynne. Damn. She's expensive."
"That an issue?"
"No. It just means we'll have to be more careful in our approach."
"How so?"
"Previously we were going go for a stop and detain; appear out of the alleys, block progress, let you handle the rest. Now that isn't going to work. She'll be on the lookout for suspicious movement or people hanging around."
"So what's the new plan?"
"New plan is smash and grab. Hit them hard right of the bat, disorientate them, move in and snatch the target. Her support can either be detained or dealt with in the confusion."
"I see. What does the smash part entail?"
"That cart over there can be thrown into their path as they cross it. It's a bit risky, since we'll have to time it right, but we'll go early to be on the safe side. If we miss then we give a barrage of gunfire and approach the carriage."
"Too risky. The target may get killed. Orders are to take the target alive."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Yes. Let me handle the smash."
"Fine. It's your show. What about the companions?"
"At your discretion. They may be of some use to me alive but my primary objective is to detain the target. Everything else is supplementary."
"Understood."
"Now, prepare yourself. This may be loud."
Elphaba saw a flash and the world began to spin, and all she could hear was Glinda's screaming. There was a crashing and the sound of wood splintering, then everything stilled. Elphaba opened her eyes to see Glinda sprawled against one of the carriage windows, eyes closed.
"Glinda." She breathed and pushed herself off the window. Her chest hurt and she thought she may have broken a rib. She eased the blonde over and was relieved to hear her groan.
"Elphie. My head hurts."
"I know, Glinda. But we need to get out of here."
"What happened? An accident?"
"Maybe. But I always distrust accidents. Grab your wand."
Elphaba stood on the remains of the carriage windows, her boots digging into the gravel and splinters of wood. She helped Glinda stand and both witches drew their wands out of their carry bags. Luckily neither had been damaged. Elphaba popped her head out of the opposite carriage door (that now pointed skyward) and saw a group of men approaching. She quickly crouched back down.
"I was right. It's an ambush. We need to go."
"Where's Wynne?"
"I don't know. But we can't wait."
There was a crash and the former roof of the carriage caved in. Glinda started to scream but Elphaba covered her mouth and pointed her wand. Another crash and there was a large opening in the roof.
"Come on!" Wynne's voice called. Elphaba pushed Glinda through the hole and then followed after. Wynne looked terrible. She was bleeding from small cuts and scrapes down the entire right side of her face and body. Both her sword and her pistol were in her hands.
"Wynne, are you ok?" Glinda asked.
"Yeah. I'm just angry they trashed my clothes. This was my nicest pair!" she complained. Both witches knew she was trying to ease their minds but it didn't help.
"Any idea of who these guys are?" Elphaba asked.
"Yeah. Hired muscle from around Wittica."
"They're you colleagues?"
"More like peers."
"Fantastic."
"We need to get back into the Opera House. We can hold off in there until they constables come."
"What if they've been paid off?"
"Then we'll have a defensible point. Can you make a distraction?"
"I can." Glinda said and pulled out her wan. She flicked it a few times and a blob shot over the carriage. Elphaba recognized it as her fireworks spell. The three got up to run and as they did they heard chanting. Elphaba turned back to see the firework spell disappear.
"Oh, that's not good." She said. She heard more chanting and a large ball of fire flew over their heads and hit the doors to the Wittican Opera House, setting them ablaze.
"That's very not good!" Wynne yelled.
The three stopped and turned to get back towards the carriage; however, the men had rounded it. One aimed directly at Elphaba. He fired and Elphaba hit the ground with a grunt, pain in her shoulder. There was a crash and the man dropped to the ground. Glinda screamed and waved her wand. The mens' pistols flew out of their hands and over the rooftops.
"Elphaba, are you injured?" Wynne's ragged voice came. Elphaba realized the pain in her shoulder was not from being shot but hitting the ground. She looked up to see Wynne bleeding from the shoulder. Elphaba struggled to her feet.
"No, but you are."
"Eh, I had worse." She breathed. The swordswoman dropped her pistol and switched her sword to her left hand. She then drew a dagger slowly from her belt. "At least they don't have any more pistols. Thanks, Glinda."
"Wynne, what are we going to do?" Glinda asked fearfully as the men advanced. The trio gave ground.
"End game." Wynne replied darkly.
"What's that?" Elphaba asked.
"That's where I rush them and you make a break for it." Wynne answered quietly.
"What? You can't hope to beat all of them!" Glinda cried.
"No, but I can buy you a good head start."
"Not with that sorceress." Elphaba countered grimly. They were running out of room to move back.
"So what? Give you up?" Wynne growled.
"No. We need to right the carriage. Glinda, can you do it?"
"Yes, but it will take a bit."
"I'll keep the sorceress busy, and Wynne can do the same for the muscle."
"Can you give me a bit of a distraction, either of you? I'll need some space to work." Wynne asked.
"She'll counter spell it before it gets to them." Elphaba replied.
"Then put it right on top of us."
Glinda began to wave her wand and the sorceress began to counter spell. Elphaba chanted a spell and a large wind picked up. The sorceress was surprised when a burst of wind hit her. Glinda's firework spell went off and exploded in the alley in front of them, dazzling them all with their lights. Swordswoman and witch went on the offensive.
Wynne drove towards one of the mercenaries. He was recovering quickly but she blocked his weak thrust with her dagger and cut him across the hamstring. The man went down, alive but out of the fight. Wynne circled back behind the man and kicked him, causing the other mercenary who had looked to stab her in the back to have to dance around him. Wynne parried his lunge and deflected another rapier with her dagger. She was running hot on adrenaline but knew she would quickly start to flag.
Elphaba launched a column of air at the other sorceress hoping to push her back. However, she deflected it with a swipe of her wand and launched another fireball at Elphaba. Elphaba dove and rolled out of the way. As she came up she saw Wynne go down, a woman having kicked her leg out from behind, and launched the same air spell as before. The woman, who had her sword ready to stab Wynne, folded in half from the blow. Wynne rolled back to her feet, and spun, throwing her dagger. It barely missed Elphaba, who did not turn at the wet sound behind her, already knowing what happened. She scrambled to her feet and backed up.
Glinda was chanting and the carriage was slowly righting itself. It teetered for a moment and then landed with a thud upright. She was happy to see the wheels were fine. Glinda wanted to go help Elphaba but she saw that the reins were twisted. She dodged around the fighting and began to straighten them out. She hoped no one paid her any attention.
Elphaba's attention was on the sorceress as she came at her, throwing fireballs. Elphaba deflected them but was tiring. The pain in her chest was making it hard to breathe. She threw another blast of air but it barely ruffled the sorceress' robes. Elphaba back pedaled and the sorceress chanted. A large fireball appeared, bigger than any before, and she flung it at Elphaba. Elphaba threw all her might behind an air spell, hoping to deflect it.
The air spell did not deflect the fireball but instead caused it to explode, pushing everyone back. Elphaba felt heat on her veils and quickly tore them off. They landed with a thud on the streets, and it was the only noise. The entire fight stopped. The mercenaries and sorceress were staring at Elphaba. She had done her eye makeup in Vinkun style this morning, with barbed swirls around her eyes and claws descending towards her jaw. The flicker of fire light enhanced her demonic visage.
"Wicked Witch…" one of the men said in disbelief.
"Elphaba." Hissed the sorceress.
Elphaba heard and searched her for a recognizable feature but could find none. Elphaba moved back again, this time towards the now righted carriage. The sorceress saw and began to chant. Elphaba began to shift, to dodge the incoming attack, but froze when she saw the sorceress' aim. It was the carriage. She obviously did not see Glinda on it, straightening the reins. The fireball launched and Elphaba felt a spell come into her brain.
"Aetur!"she yelled, and torrent of air bellowed from her. It easily knocked the fireball away, which exploded against the wall of a building, setting it on fire. Elphaba felt blood start to stream down her face. The sorceress turned to her and raised her wand. Elphaba waved her arm. "Aetur!"
The same torrent tore across the ground, sending rocks and pebbles tearing past the sorceress. She brought her hands up to defend her face but a piece of a cobblestone tore free and hit her in the chest. She fell to the ground and began to struggle to get up. Elphaba fell to her knees. She could feel blood coming from the corner of her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Wynne staggered to her, and Elphaba could see the redhead starting to become woozy. Glinda saw all of this, and knew she had to do something.
"Elphie, close your eyes!" she yelled and began to chant quickly. Elphaba looked up at the men advancing on them, and the sorceress starting to stand. Elphaba (and Wynne) did as Glinda commanded. A second later she saw a bright light that hurt her eyes even behind her eyelids and heard a large bang.
It dimmed and Elphaba opened her eyes. She saw spots but was in better shape than their enemies. They were stumbling about, clutching their eyes and ears. Wynne was on her hands and knees, sword still in her hand. Elphaba quickly staggered over to her and put her arm around her shoulder. Lifting her up, she half dragged her over to the carriage and tossed her in. Wynne grunted in pain but scooted inward. Elphaba saw Glinda near the driver seat.
"What the hell was that?" Elphaba yelled and climbed up.
"An overloaded light ball. A witch blinded half my seminar one time." Glinda yelled back. They obviously were both hard of hearing.
"Get in the back and help Wynne."
"Why?"
"Can you drive a carriage?"
"Fine!" Glinda yelled and jumped in the back.
"I hope the horses aren't blind." Elphaba grumbled and snapped the reins. The horses took off a run towards Frottica, seemingly no worse for wear. Elphaba thought she may have heard a squeal come from the back.
The Adept stumbled away from the scene. She knew the authorities were going to be there soon and could not be caught. She was exhausted; the fight with Elphaba taking it out of her. Although there was no way she could have known, she had miscalculated badly. Elphaba was a powerful sorceress, even back in their Shiz days. Trying to go toe to toe with her was a poor idea on her part. She was just lucky Glinda was doing whatever she had been during the fight.
The Adept leaned against a wall as a troop of constables rushed by. Her hired muscle were most likely going to be rounded up and put in jail. That was fine. None of them would be able to identify her, and she had only paid half up front. Almost worth it considering she now knew Elphaba was back.
The Adept stumbled on. Why had she come back? Of course she knew, through the Madame, that Elphaba was not actually allergic to water. She had to have left Oz, or been hiding in the west somewhere. But now, if she had been Glinda's Vinkun attendant for this past year, that would explain some of the more mysterious things going on. But why would Elphaba have come back for Glinda, and put her life at risk?
The Adept reached the edge of town and turned towards a dirt path. The Minkos Manor was a couple of miles up the road. Of course she was not going to walk up the road; that was asking to get caught. She was going to make her way through the familiar footpaths of the woods. She staggered into the woods and fell to her knees.
The thought of her love waiting for her forced her up and onward. In fact, the thought of her love was the only thing that made her do anything. The Madame was very specific back when she made her "offer" at Shiz after Elphaba left; comply or face the consequences. While she could live as an outcast, her love could not. So she complied.
The Adept wove her way through the woods as the sun climbed higher into the day. It had to be at least mid-morning. The Adept leaned against a tree for a moment but found herself on the ground. The shadows had moved, also, as the sun was almost directly over the top of her. She pushed herself up again as the Manor was in sight. As she broke cover she tried to cast a concealing spell but her vision blurred and she stumbled. She managed to make it to the steps before collapsing to her hands and knees.
"Call the Master of the House!" she heard a voice yell.
"Ignore that." The Adept growled. The servants paid her no mind.
The Adept attempted to regain her feet but her vision swam. She steadied herself again. A rapping sound off of stone floors caught her attention. She lifted her head and forced her eyes to focus. A woman with long, wavy brown hair in a large skirt was rushing towards her. Her clothes were the finest made in Gillikin. Regardless, she slid towards the Adept and took her head in her hands.
"Hello, Miss Shenshen." The Adept said woozily and attempted a weak smile. "You're looking beautiful as ever."
Shenshen Minkos nee Arivistus did look beautiful and gave her a sad smile.
"And you look terrible." She replied and lowered the Adept's hood. Dirty blonde hair came free and Shenshen pulled out the bandana holding it back. She undid the fabric that was covering the rest of the Adept's face except for her eyes. The woman exhaled. She was no longer the Adept. "There she is. I was beginning to think I lost you."
"You know you'll never lose me." The woman whispered.
"Not here." Shenshen whispered back. "Come, you need rest. I know magical exhaustion when I see it."
"That's not all."
"Well, I can summon a doctor."
"No doctors. I'll need to be moving."
"You can't even move now. Come." Shenshen replied sternly, and lifted the woman up. Putting her arm over her shoulders, the noblewoman walked the sorceress into the house, much to the disbelief of the staff.
"You ruined your dress." The woman said weakly as she was guided upstairs.
"I have dozens more. I never particularly cared for this dress, anyway." Shenshen replied evenly.
"Good. I hate the way it looks on you. I never told you that."
"I see we have to work on honesty, but you get points for compassion." Shenshen replied and sat the woman onto a bed. She removed her cloak and shoes and laid her down.
"Shouldn't I be in the other room?"
"You'll sleep here tonight; no, I will brook no argument from you or my husband. You need sleep and I'll will stay here with you."
"I need to contact the Mada-"
"The Fish can wait. Whatever she sent you on was far too difficult for you to handle alone."
"She doesn't know. The witch…" the woman said and faded out.
"Nicer term than I would have used." Shenshen grumbled and jumped when the woman grabbed her vice like on her forearm.
"No. The witch…is back." The woman said and passed out.
Shenshen stared at her quizzically. Who could she mean? Surely not Nessarose, for she was squashed by the house; nor could she mean Elphaba as she melted. Maybe Glinda? But she had been missing for over a month now. Not back, by any means, at least not in a manner that would provoke the reaction. Shenshen wracked her brains, though she mused (not for the first time) that she did not have much to wrack. Finally, a comment the woman had made a long time ago drew her to a conclusion. Elphaba. Elphaba was back in Oz.
"Oh no, my dear. If that is true, you need your rest even more than I dare admit. The Wicked Witch is not to be trifled with lightly. Sleep my dear, for you will need it. The Fish will give you no rest, so I will not tell her what you have discovered. Not at least, until you are well." Shenshen said lovingly and went to turn down the lamplight. As the room darkened, she whispered, "Sleep well, Pfannee."
The carriage tore along the road. Elphaba had no idea how far this Fatemaker's Inn was, but she hoped it would be easy to see. She knew at the pace she was going she would exhaust the horses in under an hour, but her first concern was to get as far away from Wittica as quickly as possible.
Glinda was in the back, applying pressure to Wynne's shoulder. They had sat her up, reasoning that it would keep her from bleeding out better. The blonde was in the middle of a pain killing spell. As she finished, Wynne unclenched her jaw.
"Well, that was helpful. Now it's only a dull ache." She managed to say.
"How far until we get to the inn? Do you have people there that can help you?"
"At this pace, probably another half an hour. It's at a junction of the road. Yes, there are some Resistance members there that can help. I just have to make it."
"Don't say that! You'll be fine." Glinda replied and watched Wynne start to close her eyes. "Wynne!"
Wynne's eyes snapped open. "You are noisy. Is Miss Elphaba aware?"
"Now's not the time for that. You have to stay awake."
"I'll take that as a yes…" she said and began to drift off again. Glinda shook her and her eyes came back open.
"Wynne, I've been meaning to ask you; what does it say on your scabbard? I always wondered." Glinda asked, trying to get Wynne to engage her.
"Oh, that? It's a favorite saying of Duran's. In some dead language it says cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."
"Strange. I've never heard of it."
"Me either. I've searched for it but no one has ever heard of it before. Maybe he picked it up on his travels somewhere." She muttered and began to slip off again.
"Stop that this instance, Miss Wynne! I demand it!" Glinda yelled. Wynne opened her eyes but they were unfocused.
"Are you an angel?" she asked dreamily.
"No. I'm Glinda."
"No woman can be as pretty as you. You must be an angel here to escort me to the afterlife." She muttered. Glinda slapped her.
"Snap out of it!" she yelled. Wynne's eyes focused.
"I do not usually play that way, Miss Glinda."
"Then stop muttering about me a being an angel."
"Crap, that was out loud? Let's put that to blood loss, and not talk about it."
"As long as you stay with me, that's fine."
"Why would I want to be anywhere else? Angels surely aren't going to be as pretty."
"Wynne…"
"What? I'm bleeding out over here, can't I have some fun?"
"You'll have plenty of fun times during recovery."
"Will you visit?"
"Miss Wynne!"
Twenty minutes later, the Fatemaker's came into view. Elphaba pulled the carriage to stop before the doors and jumped down. The owner, having heard the carriage on the road, came out to greet them. He recoiled at Elphaba's demonic appearance. The blood had dried on her face in addition to her paint and skin.
"By the Unnamed God!" he cried and made a motion to ward off evil.
"We have a wounded woman here. If you don't help, your God won't save you." Elphaba hissed. The man made no motion to move until he saw Wynne slide out of the carriage with Glinda's help. Elphaba caught her and eased her down to ground, helping her stand. The man was at her side then, putting Wynne's arm around his shoulders and lifting her.
"Eleman! Wynne's wounded!" the man yelled.
"Can you keep it down, Rogiero? I don't need to go deaf too." Wynne grumbled. The two women followed the man in as he set Wynne down on a table. A man came flying down the stairs, a feat for his age, with a doctor's bag in hand. Elphaba blinked and when the man saw her, he did too.
"Miss Thropp? I thought I'd never see you again." He said as he started taking things out of his bag.
"Well, Eleman, I was hoping to never have to use your services again." Elphaba replied kindly. The man nodded and motion Wynne to lay back.
"What happened here?" Eleman asked.
"Pistol ball." Elphaba replied and moved up next to Wynne. The man, Rogiero, moved to intercept her but a fierce look from Elphaba halted him.
"Ah. You are well acquainted with those, aren't you?" he said grimly.
"Unfortunately." She replied and grabbed a pouch he had laid out. She pulled something out of it and began to grind it in his mort and pestle.
"You two obviously know each other." Wynne said.
"Yes. I'm the only human doctor that would attend to Miss Elphaba here. We got rather well acquainted." He answered distractedly. He was looking in the wound. "It seems it is still in there. Well, that won't do. Miss Elphaba?"
"Here." Elphaba said, and grabbed a glass. She chanted and water filled it, and then put the powdery substance she had been grinding in. She handed it to him, and he helped Wynne sit up.
"Drink this, Miss Wynne. You'll need it."
She drank it down. "What is it?"
"Refined milkflower leaves. Great pain reliever. You may feel a bit out of it soon."
"Considering I'm starting to feel like I'm on a cloud, you may be right." She replied and lay back down. The doctor clenched his jaw.
"Let's get to work. Gentlemen; my lady; please wait over by the bar unless I need you."
Glinda moved over to the bar with the other men. She watched as the doctor and Elphaba move over Wynne. Elphaba assisted him naturally, anticipating his needs. A few minutes later there was a clunk and the ball was out. The doctor and Elphaba continued working. After an hour both looked exhausted, but were done. Glinda magicked water into two cups and brought it to both of them.
"How is she?" she asked.
"She'll live." The doctor replied. "She might not have if not for Miss Elphaba. The spell you had to clean away the blood is new."
"A cleaning spell Miss Glinda taught me. I thought I could use it for other purposes." Elphaba replied tiredly and smiled at Glinda. She smiled back.
"Ah yes, Your Goodness. I'm happy to see you've been kidnapped by such wonderful people." He said jovially.
"Well, it could be worse." She replied in the same manner. She saw Elphaba turning to grind some more ingredients and then put them the cup Glinda gave her. She set it down and did the same thing with different ingredients in Eleman's cup. "I don't know what Elphie was doing, but you might not want to drink from your cup.
"Ah, Miss Elphaba, you already have the sleeping draught ready?" he asked knowingly. Elphaba chanted and his cup glowed, then returned to normal color.
"And the vitality draught."
"Good. Miss Wynne can take that at her leisure."
"If it's anything like what you gave me before, I'll happily do so." Wynne slurred from the table. Eleman smiled down at her.
"Unfortunately, no, Miss Wynne, it is not. Too many addictions come from that. Before it wears off, however, perhaps we should get you to your room. You also need to a clean change of clothes." He said, wrinkling his nose.
"I have that." Glinda replied, and waved her wand. Wynne' clothes repaired and cleaned themselves.
"So nice to have sorceresses in the house. Gentlemen." Eleman said and the men gently lifted Wynne up, and took her upstairs. Glinda waved her wand again and the mess disappeared from the dining hall. Eleman smiled. "Now only if you could magic me up something stronger than water."
Glinda smiled and got a cup of wine for him. He sipped it and sighed.
"That was rough work. What happened? Both of you have been out of sight for a while now."
"Precisely what I want to know." Rogiero said as he came down the stairs.
"We got ambushed coming out of the Opera House. Some sorceress and her hired muscle. Wynne took a bullet for me, and then we had it out with them. Set half the block on fire." Elphaba answered.
"Was Robiere caught in it?" Rogiero asked harshly. Elphaba gave him a quizzical look.
"No, he was in the Opera House when it happened. As far as I know he's fine." She said.
Rogiero nodded but threw on his cloak and left. Elphaba stared after him.
"His brother." Eleman answered. "They don't see eye to eye, especially over his lifestyle, but woe be to anyone who insults him in Rogiero's presence."
"Ah." Elphaba answered. She paused. "We need to get to Frottica as soon as possible."
"You can take my carriage. It's small but it will do what you need. Though a broom might serve you better."
"I'd like for everyone not to know I'm back, thank you."
"Then you might want to cover up."
"I know."
Glinda and Elphaba walked out to the stables where Eleman had his carriage. They transferred their belongings from their carriage (which had somehow not fallen off) to his. It was an open top but they would deal with it. Finally, they were done. Eleman helped Glinda up, and then watched as Elphaba climbed into the driver's seat. She tied a bandana through her hair and covered her face with a cloth, and then pulled her hood up.
"It was nice to meet you, Miss Glinda. It's nice to see she has a true friend." Eleman said.
"Thank you." Glinda replied.
"Ozspeed, Elphaba. Hopefully I will get to see you sometime when someone isn't bleeding."
"Highly unlikely, Doctor."
"Take care."
"You too."
With that Elphaba snapped the reins and they were off to Frottica.
