Chapter 18

Elphaba gasped in terror when she realized who he was. Fiyero was right all along. She had to get away from there. She was about to do so, too, only he grabbed her before she had a chance move any further. "Not so fast, Witch," he whispered icily.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, hoping that someone was close enough to hear her. They struggled, but he was much stronger, way too strong, even for her.

"Elphaba!" She could hear Fiyero's voice. He ran in her direction as fast as he could. She felt Luke tense.

"I should have known he wouldn't let you come here alone," he said, his grip around her tightening, as he turned to the other man. "Get him," he ordered. The man already hurried in Fiyero's direction.

"No!" yelled Elphaba as she tried to release herself from Luke's grip. "No, don't hurt him! Fiyero!"

A gunshot pierced the silence in the alley.

Elphaba screamed. She couldn't believe it was her own voice. No. They couldn't. They didn't. Not Fiyero. Not again. She fell to the pavement, defeated. She didn't care anymore. If it was her they wanted, than she'd let them get what they came for. Fiyero was no longer, so what difference did it make?

"That's better," said Luke as he forced her to her feet again. "Now you'll come with me and don't even think of using magic against me or you'll regret that for the rest of your life. Not that you have much of it left though."

She couldn't even listen to him. The gunshot still echoed mercilessly in her ears. She let Luke lead her to a nearby coach and didn't look back as they drove away.

Glinda was nervous. She was pacing back and forth in front of the door, glancing at the clock from time to time. "Why is it taking so long?" she asked Lalley, who was there with her.

The servant shook her head. "I'm sure they'll be home soon."

"Will you go up to check on Dyre?"

"Of course, Madam."

"Thank you, Lalley." Dyre was the only one in the castle who was sleeping at the moment. For the other residents, sleeping looked like a far away dream.

Glinda heard noises from outside. She tensed. They were back, at last! She wasn't ready at all to what she has seen when they entered the castle. Boq was the first in line, looking tired and sad, and right behind him there were two guards carrying someone. Glinda gasped as she realized who he was.

"Fiyero!" she exclaimed and hurried to his side. Boq held her to support her. Fiyero was bleeding and unconscious. He didn't answer her, he didn't even look back. She turned to face Boq, who looked horror-stricken himself. "Boq, what in Oz happened there?" she looked behind his shoulder as if looking for something… someone… "And where is Dawn? And Elphie?" she added in a terrified whisper. She realized what happened even before Boq has said it. "Oh, sweet Oz, please tell me they didn't-" she fell to the floor, crying.

He hurried to kneel there beside her, and wrapped her in his arms as she sobbed uncontrollably. "It was a trap. It was Elphaba they wanted all along. Dawn wasn't there but they took Elphaba, and when Fiyero tried to help her they…" he couldn't go on, but Glinda understood anyway. She felt so helpless… and then she realized she had to do something. She had to be practical; this was what Elphie would have done.

She got up. It was time to get practical. "Did you call for a doctor?"

"Yes, we did, and someone took care of him there."

"Well, get him upstairs, to their room. I'll tell Lalley to bring water and towels. We won't lose him too." She was determined to follow her statement.

Boq nodded and hurried to give her orders to the guards.

Glinda didn't realize that she fell asleep until she heard the doorbell. She frowned and glanced at the clock. It was nearly six in the morning. Upstairs, two doctors did everything they could to save Fiyero's life. She got up and slowly walked towards the door. Garth was already there, and he carried something in his strong arms.

"Garth, who was that?" she asked as she approached him. He didn't answer and just turned to face her. She gasped, and her eyes were filled with tears. Dawn was sleeping soundly in his arms, wrapped in many old blankets.

"Oh, thank goodness," she whispered. Garth nodded. "Deanne? Sweetie?"

The girl opened her eyes slowly. "No sleepy, Linney…" she murmured and closed her eyes again.

Glinda sighed with relief. Oh, thank Oz! "Take her to her room upstairs," she told Garth.

"Yes, Miss Glinda."

"Who brought her here?" she asked him as they put the girl in her bed.

"It was a man. I couldn't quite see his face, he wore a hooded cloak. He said nothing, gave her to me and left before I could say anything else."

"At least she is all right," said Glinda and looked at Dawn. She looked so much like Elphaba; it brought fresh tears to her eyes. All Glinda could do was pray for the safety of her best friend, wherever she was.