A/N: A shout out to James Birdsong! Glad you liked the last chapter. :)
Chapter 25
"So, what do we have?" Elphaba asked as she and Fiyero approached their daughter and Kelebek.
"Chistery and the other Flying Monkeys are in position along with the rest of the Griffins. One of the dragons is moving and we aren't sure what is going on. At first, we thought just moving to get comfortable, but it would seem more like circling the group," Kelebek explained. Her amazing eyesight allowed her to see more than what could be seen by the human eye and the torches that lined the Palace walls.
"Could it be Bonescraper? How is it that the circling dragon hasn't noticed, we've noticed what they are up to?" Elphaba raised an eyebrow.
"Hope? I have no idea. Their eyesight is better than mine. I'm pretty sure it isn't Bonescraper," the young Griffin commented.
"Oi," Elphaba groaned.
"We make no moves until the dragon does. For all we know they could be sleepwalking," Fiyero said.
"How many of us were sleeping?" Zara gave him a look to which he only nodded.
"I could wake everyone up, would that suffice?" The elder green woman asked.
"They'll only listen to you anyway," Kelebek admitted.
"Have the Lieutenants been awakened?" Fiyero wanted to know.
"Private Malik ran off to wake them. They should be here soon," Iskender spoke up.
"Wait until they get here. Put the night watch on high alert," Fiyero said. They all moved closer to the edge of the wall and peered into the darkness. They could hear the heavy footsteps of the dragon and Elphaba looked at Kelebek. The young Griffin was staring, trying to focus her sharper vision. She was half tempted to ask her friend to fly over but thought better of it.
"Another long night huh?" Lieutenant Bahram wondered. Former Lieutenant Ash was right behind him.
"I imagine this will become a thing," Elphaba half-smiled at him.
"I'll get the boys and girls on standby," Ash spoke up.
"Iskender took care that for us. I think the last thing we want to do is start something we can't finish. On the other hand, we can't let this go either. Something weird is afoot," Fiyero told them.
"I have an idea – probably not a good one – but it's an idea," Elphaba said.
"Princess?" Bahram raised an eyebrow.
"Hang onto your britches," the witch told them. She quickly chanted a spell and a ball of light shot out of her hands. It illuminated the plains in front of them and all of the dragons sleeping below the walls. The dragon circling the group was Ping, but she didn't look up at the light. The others shook awake but that didn't seem to faze her at all, and she continued to circle what used to be the group.
"What the hell?" Zara was confused. Elphaba looked at Bonescraper and he tried to shake Ping from her task by putting his shoulder into her. It bumped her but she did not stop what she was doing.
"He did this," Wei said.
"Your father?" Bonescraper gave her a look.
"Yes," Wei looked mad.
"It's a distraction! He's got to be nearby! Troops! Armor up!" Elphaba bellowed. The sound of armor clinking and guns cocking filled the air. If the dragon thought he could sneak up on them, he'd be mistaken.
"What if he isn't going after us?" Kelebek asked.
"Glinda…" the Princess whispered. Bonescraper heard her – as Dragon Lord and as the alpha, his senses were heightened.
"Feilong! Bao! To the sky!" Bonescraper barked. Quickly the two headed up into the night sky and the alpha dragon followed. They could not see anything on fire but that didn't bring them any comfort.
"Wouldn't Zhou still have to listen to you since you are the Dragon Lord?" Kelebek asked.
"He's been disowned, I'm not sure," Elphaba said.
"I didn't disown him," Zara spoke up. That's when they heard a roar, it was unmistakable – dragon. Zhou tried to douse the Palace walls with fire as he flew by but Bonescraper hit him in the midsection and they tumbled to the ground. Bonescraper may have just stopped Glinda and the Emerald City from being attacked. The two started going at it once again but it would not last long. Elphaba shouted at the two dragons to cease but Zhou did not listen, and he kept charging at Bonescraper and trying to fight him. However, everyone stopped in their tracks as Zara shouted out repeating her mother's words in the language of the dragon,
"Cease! Zhou! You were ordered to not return! For this you will pay dearly!"
To Be Continued…