Damaran hadn't been killed.

After seeing the procession ahead of them the day before, Damaran and Fiyero looked at each other, wide-eyed in surprise, and grins grew on both their faces. Fiyero looked to the right and left, and saw where the grass grew tall on their right, taller than waist high. "We'll go there," he told Damaran, whispering, as if the guards and Elphaba could hear them at the distance away that they were. The two of them sprinted over to the grass and ducked down.

"So what's our plan?" Damaran asked, speaking softly.

Fiyero gazed into the distance in thought. "I don't know," he admitted. "We can't very well waltz up to them and ask them to please unhand Elphaba."

"We could try and fight them," Damaran suggested.

Fiyero rolled his eyes., then stopped. "That might actually not be too bad," he said thoughtfully. As he spoke, his eyes became brighter with excitement. "We could catch them off guard…we wouldn't beat them, of course, but surprise them just enough that one of us could go and get Elphaba, maybe…"

Damaran narrowed his eyes at Fiyero. "That sounds a bit risky, don't you think?"

"Yes."

Damaran couldn't say anything to that, and he realized however flawed Fiyero's plan was, they'd have to use it. He nodded. Fiyero smiled at him, and the two, who had been sitting in the tall grass, stood up, hunched over, and started to run in the direction they knew the guards were taking Elphaba.

They paused in their running ten minutes later, both tired and cramped, and Fiyero, motioning for Damaran to stay down, peeked over the grass. They were ahead of the guards and Elphaba, but not by much. He could tell that Elphaba was walking…but he couldn't see her facial expression. He ducked back down.

"Well?" Damaran asked, excitedly.

"We're ahead of them," Fiyero told him, taking the bow off of his back and putting an arrow into it. Damaran took his cue and did the same. "We'll need the spear, too, possibly," he told Damaran. Damaran nodded and set it within reaching grasp. "Damaran, you're better at shooting than I am, so you'll go first."

Damaran raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"When you see them come near, I want you to stand up, aim for an easy target, and hit them with your arrow. You don't necessarily have to kill them, but you have to hit them."

Damaran nodded. "I can do that," he said confidently.

Fiyero smiled at him tensely. "Good," he said. "Now, when they start to run towards us-which they will, I'm certain of it, they're not just going to stand there and let themselves be shot at-you'll run, I'll go get Elphaba."

"You know, she's not terribly dumb, I think she might have the brains to run on her own accord, you may not have to actually carry her."

Fiyero heard the sarcasm but didn't register it. He nodded gravely. "Yes, but they could be holding her there, or something."

Damaran swallowed, and Fiyero peeked above the grass. "Okay, they're coming. Get ready."

Damaran took a deep breath, very nervous. He stood, crouched over, peering above the top of the tall grass. He could see them, almost straight across from them about a hundred yards off. Most were on horses, but Elphaba was walking. He looked at her wrists. They weren't tied, which he was glad for. He readied his bow and arrow, and saw a soldier turn around to the man behind him, point to Elphaba, and say something obviously hilarious, as it was difficult for them to contain their laughter. That was his target, he decided, and took aim at the man who joked, pulling the arrow back, but not yet releasing it. Fiyero was also peering above the grass, waiting for the perfect moment. "Okay, wait, wait…okay, now."

Damaran released the arrow, and it hit the man in the arm. The man clutched his arm and fell backwards with a shout. He ducked down quickly, and looked over the grass, fairly confident no one could see him. The soldiers looked confused, shouting and pulling their horses to stops. He looked over at Elphaba. She also looked confused, and looked wildly around, hands to her side, almost as if trying to regain balance. He looked at Fiyero, who was crouched over, about ready to stand up. He drew his arrow back, then stood up suddenly and released, coming down quickly. Damaran still watched through the grass, and Fiyero's arrow didn't hit anybody. The soldiers-and Elphaba-all looked over at where they were, though. They had definitely been seen. Damaran took a deep breath, gaining courage, and stood up. He drew an arrow back, and prepared to release.

Fiyero watched, crouched on the ground, as Damaran drew the arrow back. Out of nowhere, an arrow hit Damaran sharply on the chest, and he gasped, stumbled, and fell backwards. Fiyero gasped himself, and rushed to his side. "Damaran!" he whispered sharply. Damaran smiled weakly, scared to death, and sat up.

"Blunt arrow," he said, relieved. "It left a bruise, I think." The two, remembering that they were in the course of battle, peered back through the grass, wondering what their enemy was doing then.

They saw Elphaba, twisting and writhing in the hands of the Gale Force. "Elphaba," Fiyero gasped, and attempted to stand up. Damaran held onto his arm, restraining him.

"No, not yet," he said sharply. "We wait until there's a chance."

Elphaba had three guards pointing sharp looking spears at her, and they were bringing her arms behind her, tying them. A closer look revealed that her ankles were already tied closely together, and she was kicking and attempting to wrench herself from their grips with an admirable force, making the soldiers holding onto her use their muscles to hold on.

The same guard who had ordered the others to throw water onto Elphaba (the captain, they both assumed) pointed to her as she twisted with all her strength. "Do you see this?!" he shouted to the grass. "You did this with your stupidity!" At that, Damaran had to put both of his arms on Fiyero's shoulders, as he sensed that Fiyero would kill him if he got the chance. "And you stay right where you are!" The captain continued. "You show yourself again and we'll kill her! Do you hear me?!"

Fiyero stopped straining against Damaran's grasp, defeated. It took only a moment's thought to realize that the captain would kill her if they did show themselves-they would accomplish nothing that day. He and Damaran kept watching.

The captain went back to his horse, and Elphaba seemed to cease fighting the guards. She looked down at the ground, soldiers surrounding her on all sides, as the captain rode up behind her. He motioned for the guards to hand Elphaba to him. The three guards holding Elphaba lifted her up, the guard helping to situate her on his horse, and she twisted once more, a sight that sent Fiyero's heart lurching. They sat her sidesaddle in front of the captain, her hands behind her and feet together. The expression on her face was one of fury, and Fiyero felt that the person who had made her mad should be scared for their lives right then. Almost on cue, her head turned sharply behind her, and the guard who Fiyero recognized as the one who had attempted to kill Damaran fell to the ground. He twitched and screamed, having some sort of seizure. Damaran's and Fiyero's eyes grew wide, never seeing Elphaba display power quite like this before. They stared back and forth between Elphaba and the guard on the ground, until finally the captain sitting behind Elphaba realized what she was doing and hit her, which made her break her gaze and the guard stop moving. He panted on the ground, a few guards surrounding him. Everyone knew what Elphaba had done, and they backed away slowly, wide-eyed in fear. She didn't look at any of them, but stared off into the distance, her look of fury replaced by a look of deep sadness. The guards all stood up, as the captain blew his whistle and told them to move out. They saw Elphaba turn around to look back at the guards, then turned back around as the captain behind her put his arms around her, gripping the reins and moving on. She looked out at the grass, and it seemed almost as if she could see them. Fiyero had a selfish urge to stand and call out to her, but he wanted to give them no more excuse for them to hurt her. The guards all followed the first horse, a considerable distance away, and the two watched as they went out of sight.

Fiyero fell back onto the ground. "I'm such a moron," he related emotionlessly.

Damaran almost nodded, but didn't. After all, he hadn't done much to discourage the plan.

"I can't believe we did that. All we accomplished was to get Elphaba tied up. I mean, she could have escaped! She was practically free! But now, there's no chance at all."

Damaran sat back, thinking hard. "She was practically free."

"I know! Now she's completely helpless."

Damaran was puzzled. "So…why didn't she just go?"

"What?"

"She was practically free. Why didn't she just leave, right then?"

Fiyero sighed impatiently. "I don't know, they would have…speared her, or something."

"No…Elphaba would have tried to go, at least. She wouldn't have just domestically walked on. No, she stayed because we were still captive. She was worried for us."

Fiyero started to put the pieces together mentally. "So now that she knows that we're not still there-"

"As soon as she gets the chance, she'll leave."

Fiyero sat up, excited. "So we did accomplish something."

"Yes."

"Well then," he said calmly, picking up his bow, the spear, and Elphaba's broom, "I say we continue to follow them."

A/N: Everyone celebrate! Damaran's not dead! YEA! LOL yeah, I think a few of you suspected Damaran might still be alive…and I thought I was so darn clever in hiding it. LOL. It would have made more sense to combine this chapter with the last one, but I wanted you to think Damaran had died…because I'm cruel like that. : ) Nothing much was accomplished in this chapter, in terms of the story moving along, I mean, but I like it. Don't know why, but I do. And I hit fifty reviews! Yea! Thanks so much, you guys! I really appreciate all the enthusiastic reviews…you're so sweet! You guys rock, keep reviewing!