Night began to fall over the landscape of Oz as Daniel walked towards the castle to save his friends. Then, he stopped.

"I could never do stuff like my mom could." He said to himself, feeling rather down. "She's so cool...and I'm just her son. Why did I even bother with this whole thing?!"

Daniel kicked a rock high into the air. He continued to walk, until he heard a few voices singing harmoniously.

"Come on,

Daniel...

Donʼt give up

hope...

Yooooou,

have the power...

Donʼt you slide

down that ste-

eeep slope..."

Daniel looked back and saw three small mice being led by a slightly taller mouse wearing a gray suit.

He also had a sharp flattop, which was odd because of his short fur.

"Who are you?!" He asked.

"I am Luther. King of the field mice." The small rodent spoke. "My wife sent us to find you to tell you that you should never give up, even when it seems as though all hope is lost."

"Personally, I doubt anything good will come from you. LOOK WHERE I AM NOW!!" Daniel exclaimed, feeling rather angry and upset now.

"It donʼt matter

now child,

What you do or

believe..

Shut that mean olʼ

li-onʼs mouth

And you, will,

succeeeeeed..."

Daniel continued to walk away, but the mice still sang. He looked back, and started to smile a tiny bit, then shook his head.

"So,

Come on, come

on now Daniel,

Show them what

you can be..."

Daniel thought about what the mice were saying, and decided to continue his quest to free his friends as well as his mom. As he walked through the forest, he stepped on a twig, which made something rustle in the distance.

"WHAT TH—" he said.

"Doooon't worry, child, I'm not gonna hurt you." A strange auto-tuned voice said all of a sudden.

"Who said that?" Daniel asked.

"Iiiii did.." said that same auto-tuned voice again.

"The...Rak?!" Daniel gasped.

A tall creature with a dragon-like face, deer hooves, a fish tail, and bird wings strutted out in front of Daniel. The boy's jaw dropped at the sight of the creature.

"Yes, iiiiiit is iiiiiiiiii." The Rak said. "And of course Iiiiiii can talk—you just didn't listen! Iiiiiii got somethin' tooooo show yoooouuuuuu..."

The Rak bought Daniel over to a small nest that it had created. It made a noise, then two small bodies started to move around—they stood up, revealing that they too, had deer-like legs, bird wings, and a fish tail.

"You...were protecting your family this whole time." Daniel said to the enormous creature.

"Only cause' I thought yooouu guys were pooooachers." The Rak said, nuzzling one of his young. "If yooou waaanted to come in, you could've jussst asked."

"My friends are in danger, mister Rak.." Daniel said. "Can you come with me to save them?"

"Oooooof coooooourse." The Rak said.