A/N: Shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Trouble is afoot but so are some clues. Glad you liked it. Thanks so much!
Chapter 33
Chistery and the other Flying Monkeys didn't even wait for Baki to fully explain. They took off into the sky and Glinda automatically didn't like what she saw. Unable to find Lieutenant Bayram, she shouted for someone to find Lieutenant Dilek and to hurry. While she was doing that, the Vinkun Lieutenant already was moving to get troops mobilized. If something needed the Flying Monkeys, then there was big trouble afoot. That's when he heard someone shout,
"Smoke in the distance!"
"We need firefighting crews! On the double!" Dilek barked. Everyone was running around but there was order to the seeming chaos and the troops were on the move as quickly as they could be.
Chistery was worried that they were already too late. While Baki could fly fast, his wings were much smaller than those of the Flying Monkeys. One of his brothers screeched, alerting Chistery that trouble was ahead. He saw the raging fire of the corn exchange and his heart sunk. He ordered his fellow Monkeys to fan out and to look for anyone they recognized. Anyone they didn't recognize deserved whatever they got.
The leader of the Monkeys searched the scene. It appeared that there wasn't a living soul around. The heat of the fire was intense and they could only get so close, so searching the building was out of the question. There was a screech and everyone converged toward the noise.
A body lay on the stone pavers about twenty yards from the burning structure. There was a bullet hole in its back and blood soaked the pavers. Chistery dropped down and looked at the face; he didn't recognize the person. That meant perhaps Elphaba and the others were around there somewhere. Ordering the others back into the sky, they searched some more.
Over the course of the next twenty minutes, more bodies were found but none of them appeared to be the people they were looking for. Chistery was beginning to worry that something much worse happened Elphaba and the others. A screech brought his attention back toward the city. Troops were on their way, the firefighting crews were with them but Chistery figured they were at least ten minutes out.
"Chistery!" That voice could only be coming from the woman they'd been searching for. He swiveled around in the air and found the green woman on the ground not too far away. She was covered in soot and her dress was ripped and there looked like smeared blood on her face. That's when he realized she'd been hiding under a large piece of metal and a chunk of bricks. He hoped the others were with her.
The Flying Monkey quickly landed next to her and the others followed suit. Elphaba hugged her friend and he was so happy to see her. The soldiers came out of their hiding place, a little worse for wear but no one in imminent danger.
"Thank Oz you're here," she told him.
"Are you ok Mistress?" Chistery was concerned.
"It was a bit dicey but we're all mostly in one piece. I'm so glad that Baki was able to get you here," Elphaba said. Fiyero came up to them and shook Chistery's hand. He had a hole in the shoulder of his uniform, there was blood but obviously Elphaba had been busy healing the men.
"Thank you. Have you seen any more of them?" The Prince asked.
"We've only found dead bodies. We were beginning to worry," Chistery explained.
"Well we were all a little tired. I have no idea how Fae is still on her feet," Fiyero said. Chistery looked at the others and realized that everyone had at least some sort of wound that had been healed. Still they had managed to kill the enemy.
"Dilek is on his way," Chistery told them.
"Good. We need to get the fire out and we need to give everyone an update," Fiyero said.
"Where are the horses?" Elphaba asked. Chistery hadn't even been looking for the animals and he quickly sent the others out to find them, hoping they had all made it away from the fire and the gunfire.
"Who were those buggers?" Baki wanted to know.
"Wizard sympathizers. While we could not interrogate any of them, I think I know what is going on. Has Zink woken up yet?" Fiyero asked.
"Sergeant Zeki had him moved to the interrogation room right before Baki arrived at the Palace. He's doing much better than he was," Chistery said.
"Glad to hear it but he should be careful," Elphaba immediately grew concerned.
"Says the lady who isn't always so careful," her friend gave her a look.
"He's got a point," Fiyero chuckled and immediately regretted it as her elbow found his stomach.
To Be Continued…