A/N: A shout out to James Birdsong. Glad you liked the last chapter!
Chapter 25
Elphaba raced past everyone to follow the Sergeant outside. She figured she was the only one who could stop what might be coming as the dragon had bonded with her. Once the two were outside, she saw the troops bravely holding their weapons on the mythical beast.
"Lower your weapons!" The Princess ordered. There was some hesitance and she shouted at them,
"If he was going to kill us, he'd have done so already!" That worked and the soldiers lowered their weapons. As they did so, Elphaba climbed the stairs to the walkway at the top of the Palace walls. The dragon was outside the walls, seemingly waiting patiently.
"Good dragon, I do apologize for the troops. Fear can override all other thoughts and we were at war. Though somehow I have a feeling that we are not at war anymore," Elphaba spoke to him, absorbing the brilliant shades of red that adorned his scales.
"You may call me Bonescraper, your Highness. I understand the fear of men and of Nomes but I sense no fear in you, child of two worlds," the dragon spoke.
"As Princess, I cannot afford fear. It makes me weak in front of my enemies," Elphaba smiled at him. By now, she heard footsteps behind her.
"Good. You are the last of the Dragon lords and as such I will follow you as you command," Bonescraper bowed his head.
"I do not look to keep you, mighty dragon. All are free in the Vinkus and the whole of Oz. I only ask what happened to the Nomes back in the Nome Kingdom," Elphaba said. A hand was placed on the small of her back and the green woman knew it was Fiyero's. To her left, the King and Queen were standing with Glinda next to them. She quickly introduced them all to the dragon and he bowed his head.
"No one will need to fear the Nomes any longer. The borders are protected as my ancestors' spell still holds and the spell that I cast upon the Nomes will ensure that they never leave their own borders again. I have trapped them in a prison of their own making," he replied.
"We have one Nome left here in Oz. What are your suggestions?" She wondered.
"The spy who used magic to hide himself," Bonescraper nodded and paused.
"I suggest you remove the spell that was cast upon him and let him burn in the Ozian sun. Once the spell is removed, not even his immortal status can protect him from the sun. It is more powerful than most realize and will undo the immortality granted to him," he finally responded after some thought.
"He was a spy and he knew what he was getting into," Elphaba nodded, noticing that both Ayla and Tahir were nodding in agreement.
"Precisely. Or I could always drop him back into the Nome Kingdom so that his brethren can deal with his failure," the dragon suggested. The Princess nodded, knowing that there had to be another reason for Bonescraper's appearance in the Vinkus.
"Before I take my leave, I have but one thing to do, and that is ask what you require of me," he spoke up.
"I only require you to live your life and be available should I need you but I do have some questions that I'd like to ask in private," Elphaba told him. Bonescraper quickly moved closer to the wall and extended his right paw. Fiyero helped Elphaba up into the large paw and handed her, her broom. She then extended her hand to him and he got up on the paw as well.
Balfour had seen the whole exchange and quickly went up the stairs to be at Glinda's side. He had gone out for a morning walk and had just returned as the dragon had showed up.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"We need to talk," she told him.
To Be Continued…