A/N: A shout out to James Birdsong. Glad you liked it. Let me know what you think of this one. ;)


Chapter 20

There was a rapping on the glass of the balcony door in the middle of the night. Elphaba groaned and Fiyero slept right through it. The green woman had finally managed to get to sleep, her mind working overdrive, her body nearing the point of past exhaustion. The rapping continued and she climbed out of bed, grabbed her robe off the end of the bed, and headed toward the balcony door.

"Kelebeck, what's going on?" Elphaba asked, cinching her robe tight before stepping out onto the balcony, shutting the door behind her.

"Apologies Princess but Bonescraper has grave concerns. The happy Feilong we met previously is not the dragon we see before us now, as you might have noticed. He worries that somehow Zhou may be controlling him. Despite Bonescraper's best efforts, Feilong refuses to say what is going on with him," the younger Griffin explained.

"So if there is a fight, there is no way to tell which side he will listen to," Elphaba nodded.

"I'm afraid so Princess," Kelebeck frowned. Elphaba hugged her.

"Steel yourself. We may have a fight on our hands and I fear that it may be one we cannot win," the green woman said.

"If I must die then I would rather do it by your side than any other way," Kelebeck told her.

"You are very brave. I certainly hope that it does not come to that. I'd like to be able to celebrate my daughter's wedding. If it must be so, then I would be honored to be at your side as well. We must fight for the entirety of Oz and Ix," Elphaba said.

"Yes Princess, we must. Do you have any orders?" Kelebeck wanted to know.

"Just try to find out what has happened to Feilong. We are running out of moonlight and once the dawn comes, we do not know what it brings," the green woman told her.

"Yes Princess," with a quick nod, Kelebeck left the balcony. Elphaba stepped back inside and locked the balcony door.

"The bad news midnight express?" Fiyero asked, almost making Elphaba jump out of her skin.

"You scared me Yero. Yes indeed. I must head to the library. We may need me to enchant our troops," she said.

"You need to sleep. You not at one hundred percent reduces our chances of winning," he told her. She knew he was right – being only half-awake when dealing with dragons was a deadly proposition. Climbing into bed, Elphaba snuggled under the covers. Fiyero pulled her close, kissed her forehead, and fell back asleep. She swore that he could sleep through anything. Breathing a deep breath, she tried to do as her husband suggested and get some sleep.

Outside Bonescraper frowned after Kelebeck gave him the news. He nodded and she flew off to rejoin her family. He wasn't sure what else he could do to get the dragon to talk. Suddenly a piece of paper dropped out of the sky and the dragon quickly grabbed it. It would seem that the leader of Ix was not sleeping. It was confirmed earlier that Glinda had received the letter and would be complying with the wishes of those in the Vinkus so the message could not be that.

"Zhou must be threating Feilong's family. Hide them and perhaps you'll get the truth," the message read before disappearing. How could he hide them? Someone would notice if he tried something like that. Then Bonescraper got an idea.

Whistling to the Griffins, Bonescraper waited for a response. Bahadir arrived and Bonescraper quickly whispered to him the plan. At first the Griffin thought he was nuts but then he wondered if it would work. Quickly, Bahadir headed back to the other Griffins to explain.

To Be Continued…