Chapter 4:The Cabin
Mombi and Singra were walking through the gates of the castle along the drawbridge. After the eight long years they had spent within the castle walls today was the very first day they had exited the castle. Galore had raised the two of them in extreme isolation. As the two witches got off the drawbridge they turned left. In her hand Mombi was holding a silver wand. The wand had three points to it which would enhance her already powerful magical blasts. When gathering the power the three points would shoot ruby lightning that lined them up together. Next to her Singra was holding her magic snuffbox. This was Singra's main source of dark power. With this her main skill was cursing the minds of her foes. She could either control or destroy their minds. The snuffbox could also put a person in an eternal sleep.
"It's more beautiful than I thought it would be," Singra said to Mombi.
"Oh shut up. We're not here to admire the scenery Singra. We need to kidnap that stupid winkie family for Mother," Mombi replied angrily.
"Why must we always be subservient Mother's wishes," Singra asked with just as much anger.
"Why?! Ugh what the hell is wrong with you?! If we do not obey Mother she will punish us so terribly that we may never walk again. Do you honestly believe that she was kidding when she threatened to cut our hands and feet off," Mombi said.
"Well I never really thought about it," Singra replied.
"Mother was not kidding at all! Ever since Daddy's death she has grown more dangerous and unstable. She is so filled with hatred for our Uncle Pastoria's family that she has neglected to give us the love we deserve," Mombi said with true sadness in her voice.
"I just want to be free of her grasp Mombi," Singra said with tears forming in her eyes.
"I know how you feel Singra. I wish our father was still alive too but he isn't and we must move on with our lives," Mombi said with a slight amount of bitterness.
"You're right Mombi we mustn't dwell on what we don't have and think about what we do have which is each other. Mother is right about one thing though. We must avenge our father. After all it wasn't us who killed him it was Pastoria and the so called good people of Oz," Singra said scoffing.
"Good Singra. You are learning well. I reckon Mother has a plan in place to begin our conquest of Oz and I have the feeling that the family we are supposed to capture will play a role pivotal role in the grand scheme of things," Mombi said.
"Oh Mombi. Kidnapping is such a wicked thing to do. I never wanted to be a wicked witch," Singra said.
"What other choice do we have Singra?! You know as well as I do that disobeying Mother won't fly! As I said before she would probably kill us," Mombi screamed!
"If we combine our powers we can defeat her," Singra reasoned.
"No Singra. That wouldn't work. She has taught us dark magic yes but has made sure that we could never overpower her even if we did work together. Let us not forget we also have no clue what her source of dark power is. She wouldn't risk telling us. Do you know how magic is generated Singra," Mombi asked.
"Yes magic comes from your wand and my snuffbox," Singra said.
"No Singra you are wrong. Magic is generated from our emotions and the intensity of them. My wand and your snuffbox merely project our magic into the physical world. The reason we can't defeat Mother is because she has much stronger hate and anger in her heart and this is why her dark magic is so powerful. She has also filled us with hate for our uncle and his family. This is why both of us use dark magic and not light. We have dark emotions. However neither one of us have emotions near as powerful as Mother's," Mombi explained. For anyone to be able to destroy her they would have to have a stronger amount of emotion than she has that would generate a stronger power than her own and I can promise you that finding someone like this is near impossible," Mombi explained.
"If that's the case I would assume someone as smart as you would have some sort of plan put into action for finding who this being is," Singra said.
"Well of course little sister. You see when Mother kills Lurline she plans to target our little cousin and manipulate her into becoming a wicked witch. Due to her manipulations and the absence of Lurline Evanora will turn to our mother viewing her as the mother she wishes she still had. However what type of person would Evanora be without us to be her encouraging big sisters. Ha! Her own family is going to end up alienating her from themselves without there being a motherly presence to diffuse the tension. Let's face it Singra Evanora needs us more than she knows. However once she finds out her aunt killed her mother she will feel so betrayed and so hurt that her true dark potential will be unleashed and she will finally be more powerful than Mother herself. In fact she will be so strong she will kill Mother for us leading us in our conquest of Oz. We must not tell her that our mother killed Lurline. She needs to find out on her own for her to get the feeling of ultimate betrayal,"Mombi explained.
"You are a genius Mombi! It's amazing how you plan to defeat our mother," Singra said.
"Thank you Singra but I know that already. However I can't hope to accomplish this without your help little sister," Mombi said proudly. As they finished conversing the two witches realized that in front of them was sitting a small winkie cabin. The cabin had two floors to it which were distinguishable by the upper windows of it. In front of the door there was an old porch which was slowly rotting due to heavy rainfall.
"Mombi I think this is it," Singra said.
"Shh! I know this is it. Watch this," Mombi said grinning wickedly. With that being said the two of them went up to the front door.
"Oh yes I almost forgot. Hide your snuffbox Singra. We want to retain the element of surprise," Mombi said. Once she had done this Mombi knocked on the door. The door slowly opened to reveal a man. The man looked no older than 45 and his hair had begun to show the grayness of age.
"May I help you," the man asked suspiciously.
"Yes sir. My sister and I have been traveling by foot for miles and we seek a warm meal to regain our strength to continue our journey," Mombi lied.
"I'm sorry but we barely have enough food to support just our own family much less traveling strangers," the man said.
"Please sir. We won't be any trouble. Just help us and we'll be on our way," Singra chimed in.
"I apologize again but we cannot exert ourselves for strangers. We don't have enough food for even ourselves," the man said.
"My my. Can you believe this man sister," Mombi taunted.
"No sister. What should we do," Singra replied.
"I know exactly what to do," Mombi said with a smirk on her face. Before the man knew what had hit him Mombi whipped out her wand and with a blast of ruby lightning shot him clear across the inside of the cabin tearing the cabin door right off of its hinges. Hitting the wall with a loud thud the man fell to the floor knocked out cold but still alive. Raising her wand Mombi blew off the smoke that was emitting from the three tips of it.
"Wow Singra. That felt so good. I've been waiting to do that for years. Go get the little brats and bring them down here to me," Mombi ordered. As Singra nodded she began to walk around the cabin peering into the different rooms searching for the children. Then she heard someone shouting on the floor above her.
"Frank is everything ok down there," a female voice called out. As Singra heard this she too began smirking and headed toward the wooden staircase on the other end of the room. She was almost at the top when a woman appeared from behind a corner of a small hallway carrying a basket of old rags.
"Who are you and what do you think you are doing in my house," the woman asked with anger beginning to rise in her voice.
"You can call me Singra your worst nightmare and I have come to capture you, your husband, and your bratty little children," Singra said.
"Do not come near my children," the woman screamed throwing the basket directly at Singra's head missing her by a longshot. As the woman began to charge toward Singra getting ready to knock her backwards down the stairs Singra used her snuffbox to throw magic dust at the woman which knocked her out immediately. The woman fell down the stairs tumbling and landed with a crash right in Mombi's line of vision. Seeing this Mombi grabbed the woman's arms and dragged her across the room next to her husband who was still unconscious. Seeing the rags she used them to gag the husband and wife so when they woke up they couldn't scream. Using her wand she made a link of chains materialize around the man and woman's legs and feet. Passing through the hallway Singra found the three children playing in the room together. The oldest was a girl and the other two were boys.
"Boo," Singra screamed. The frightened children began screaming, crying, and calling for their parents to come help them. This brought a great joy to Singra who began laughing maniacally frightening the children even more.
"Now which two of you little brats want to come with me first," Singra said.
"You're a horribly ugly lady," the middle child screamed still scared for his safety.
"What did you just say to me little boy," Singra screamed clearly offended by the child's stupidity.
"I said you're a horribly ugly lady and your momma must be even uglier considering you're her kid," the child screamed again this time braver than the last. At this statement Singra let out a horrible witch laugh that was half screaming and half laughing.
"So I'm ugly am I?! If that's the case I will start with the boys first! As for you little man you can tell my momma what you said about her," Singra screamed again. With that being said Singra practically threw herself at the three children grabbing the boys as hard as she could by the wrists wrenching them up. The three children began crying again and Singra just laughed as she dragged the brothers down the stairs. When they got downstairs the two boys saw their parents, gagged, chained, and unconscious. This made them scream and cry even louder. Before they could start kicking Singra threw magic dust on them as well knocking them both out at the same time. They fell right next to their parents and Mombi looked down at them with satisfaction.
"Finish tying them up Mombi. I am going to go get their older sister," Singra said.
"Your handiwork is exemplary Singra," Mombi grinned. Singra ran back up the stairs and found that the girl's crying had subsided a bit. How she was able to calm herself was beyond Singra's knowledge and so she stared silently at the girl for a minute. This girl looked no older than eight and strangely enough reminded her of herself the day that her father was ripped away from her. Then she came back to her senses and gave the girl a horrible smile designed to scare her.
"Please don't hurt us. I think you are beautiful.
"Oh don't worry darling. I'm not going to hurt you but my sister might if you don't behave yourself. Give me your arm," Singra ordered. The girl did so obediently and Singra dragged her down the stairs by her wrist. Right when the two reached the floor Singra used her snuffbox and also knocked the girl unconscious. Mombi quickly tied and chained the girl up.
"What took you so long Singra, I've been waiting down here for you," Mombi said clearly upset.
"Oh nothing of significant importance," Singra replied.
"Good. Now I need you to wake them up because I can't undo your magic," Mombi said.
"Of course," Singra replied. Using her snuffbox one last time she sprinkled more magic dust and the five members of the family began to slowly regain consciousness.
"I trust you'll all find my beautiful chains uncomfortable," Mombi said. As she said this the entire family began trying to scream and break free of the chains but neither of these endeavors proved successful.
"It's no use. These chains are made from pure dark magic and only magic itself can undo their bind on your wrists and ankles. Struggling to escape will only exhaust you," Mombi taunted. The family soon gave up on this and succumbed to the control of the two witches.
"Now we are headed to see a very special woman. Our mother has been looking forward to meeting the five of you. Lucky for you she lives right in the castle near this disgusting cabin you call a house. Now get up and start walking," Singra commanded. Mombi took her place in the front of the line and Singra filled in at the end. The line exited the door and began their long trek back to Galore's castle.