Chapter 14
Elphaba and Fiyero surveyed the scene below them. The capital city was on fire and there would be no stopping it without some serious magic. Both noticed that they didn't see any people running around, which was disconcerting to say the least. There was hope that they had fled into the nearby woods.
"I'm not sure I can put this out on my own," Elphaba swallowed, realizing that more than half the city was burning.
"If it spreads to the forest, there'll be no stopping it," Bonescraper frowned.
"What about the well? Could you make a water spout?" Fiyero asked.
"That won't be enough but… Get us as close as you can Bonescraper. I have an idea," Elphaba smiled. The dragon nodded and flew into the center of the city. With the well just off to the left, the green woman cast a spell and the water began to climb out of its holding fountain. The water swirled and began to create a vortex. Once it was clear of the fountain, Elphaba changed the spell and the vortex dissipated the water molecules headed up into the clouds. Suddenly the air grew damp and the Prince shivered before realizing that he could smell the rain coming.
Elphaba chanted and coaxed the water to fall from the sky. Soon as the rain came down and the flames began to diminish, Bonescraper moved through the city. There were bodies scattered about but not enough to indicate that the entire population had suffered the same fate.
"I didn't think you could do weather magic," Fiyero said.
"Well technically I didn't. Morrible was able to create something from nothing. I overloaded the clouds and they just spilled what they were waiting to spill. We were lucky that the well water was enough to do what we needed," she explained.
"I don't care how you did it. I'm just glad it worked. Now where do you suppose the rest of the people went?" Bonescraper wondered.
"I'd like to look at the bodies. Make sure the fire got them, you know what I mean?" Fiyero suggested.
"Of course, your Highness," the dragon helped him down to the ground and Fiyero covered his nose by pulling his shirt up over his nose. Elphaba was right behind him and she created a light ball, so they could see what they were looking at. Burnt flesh was not a pleasant smell and both struggled to keep their stomachs in check. Fiyero looked at the first body he came to but it was too badly burnt so he moved to the next one.
"Something very bad happened here," he said.
"That's kind of an understatement," Bonescraper pointed out.
"Yes but Fiyero is right. Something very bad happened here," Elphaba swallowed.
"That person didn't die in the fire, did they?" The dragon asked.
"Not unless the fire learned how to fire a gun," Fiyero frowned.
"Yeah, I don't think so. Might explain where the others went," Bonescraper said.
"Captured for some use I would imagine," Elphaba swallowed.
"War has come to the Gillikin. I would suggest that we retreat until we know what we're dealing with. The last thing we need is to start something that someone else intends to finish," Fiyero told them.
"I would concur. My guess is that the Uplands can share more info about what has been going on here," the dragon scooped up his human riders and headed for the Vinkus as fast as he could.
To Be Continued…