Tale as Old as Time
And Get Rather Chilly
Dragon hatcheries were hot and humid places. But they were not at all the dismal, dank, cavernous, hideaways that Ozian theory books depicted. For that, at least, Elphaba Tiggular was very grateful.
She stood in the doorway of just such a hatchery, smiling fondly as she watched her husband fuss over a particular egg, much like an expectant father would skitter around a hospital waiting room.
"Soon?" Was all she had to ask as she crossed to the nest where Fiyero was hovering.
"Anytime," Fiyero grinned. He glanced at her to make sure her attention was on the large, violet egg before placing his hand on it. The egg glowed a brilliant shade of amethyst where his flesh touched it.
Elphaba laid her hand on her husband's, staring transfixed as the amethyst glow adopted an amber tint as the egg responded to her own magic.
"Dron and Amyra would be very proud," Elphaba commented quietly.
A solemn expression settled over Fiyero's features. Dron and Amyra were the hatchling's late parents. Dron had saved Fiyero's life and through a complicated Dragon tradition became his blood brother. His death, and the death of his lifemate had hit Fiyero hard, and he'd taken it upon himself to see that their hatchling would grow to be a great Dragon.
"I hope so," he said. "I just-
He didn't get to finish. The doors of the hatchery burst open to admit an adult Dragon by the name of Marix and effectively cut him off.
"Master Fiyero, Mistress Elphaba," She greeted them formally. "Voreil needs you in the courtyard."
Neither human bothered with question or protest; when Voreil called, one simply went. They followed Marix out of the hatchery to the vast, open corridors of Voreil's castle until she stopped at a balcony offshoot of the hallway.
"She needs you quickly," she explained, crouching down.
Without hesitation Fiyero climbed aboard the Dragon's back, and offered Elphaba a hand up. Elphaba, who still preferred her broom to Dragonflight, was a little more awkward as she settled behind Fiyero.
"Hold on," was Marix's only warning before she dove off the balcony.
Elphaba clung tightly to Fiyero as they swooped over the roof of the palace and down to the center courtyard. The second she felt Marix duck to allow them off she leapt to the stone ground, doing her best to mask the unkempt feeling Dragonflight always gave her.
Fiyero thanked Marix politely before hopping down to follow his wife to the side of a towering, turquoise Dragon.
"Oris went to the stables this morning and discovered a guest," the Dragon, Voreil, said.
The cryptic sentence was the only prologue she gave before Oris, her stable manager, joined them with a large horse following nervously behind him.
Elphaba and Fiyero both started as they recognized the emblems that decorated the horse's trappings The large crest that rested over the horse's forehead and each of the joints in the tack was emblazoned with the emerald and gold signet of Oz.
"Where did he come from?" Fiyero asked.
"Not sure, but there's more," Oris said. He looked to Voreil for approval before pulling a book from the disheveled saddlebags.
Elphaba gasped as she recognized the Grimmerie, taking it swiftly but gently from Oris's hands.
"Glinda."
When she felt the ground beneath her feet stop rumbling Glinda cautiously lifted her head to glance around at her new surroundings. Though the area was more open, allowing for a little more light, the rain still poured down in droves and blocked her vision. She wiped at her eyes; it helped a little.
The rock wall remained, but it had vulcanized itself with another. Water gushed down the middle and pooled at the bottom, before running on through the forest.
"Lovely," Glinda muttered.
Boq's horse gave her a firm nudge, as if trying to point out that they were soaking wet and she hadn't done anything about it yet.
"I'm thinking!" She insisted, as if the horse could understand.
He jerked his long face towards the rocks and nearly tugged the reins out of her hands. She looked in the same direction apprehensively, hoping the cougar or whatever it was hadn't returned. The rocks were still.
"Ilo," She muttered a basic spell and held her palm out. A pinprick of light hovered above it and she concentrated until it grew big enough to light the woods around her. The light helped a little, but mostly it succeeded in revealing just how much water surrounded her. The waterfall was bigger than she'd initially expected; so was the pool and the brook that disappeared through the trees. And the rain was only making things worse.
She stumbled as the horse nudged her again towards the rocks.
"Quit would you," Glinda demanded, angry that her light had gone out.
The horse only snorted and nudged her again, before stepping towards the rocks. She halted him with a tug on his reins, and stared again at the rocks. She supposed they'd provide a little shelter from the rain; better than standing out in the open anyway.
She took a step before remembering Boq, who remained motionless in the downpour. The rusting was getting worse the longer he stayed under the onslaught of water, if she left him in the rain there would be no hope of moving him when it stopped.
Wiping a determined hand across her face she tugged the horse around so that Boq stood directly in front of its back.
"Spread out," Glinda ordered the horse, tapping his hooves with the toe of her boot until he spread his feet and lowered his back. "Okay now, stay right there."
She let the rein go, confident the horse wouldn't run off and went to stand behind Boq.
"Consurgo," Glinda said forcefully, waving her wand hand at the Tin statue before her.
Nothing happened.
'This is not happening,' she thought; shoulders slumped and eyes closed.
"Consurgo!"
Still nothing.
She gave up on magic and shoved at Boq's back the conventional way. The wet metal was icy cold against her already freezing hands and her efforts only succeeded in tipping him to land heavily against the horse. To his credit the giant stallion spooked but didn't buck or shy away.
The frequent flashes of lightning and thunder returned, as the tiny witch struggled to push much-larger Tinman onto the horse's back.
"Consurgo!" She shouted the spell and gave a great heave and managed to get Boq's arms and torso across the horse's back.
She was breathing heavily now, shivering uncontrollably, and thoroughly exhausted. With determination born, she later supposed, of survival instinct, she grabbed the reins and led the horse through the dark rain towards the rocks.
The horse seemed happy to be finally moving. He nearly passed Glinda up in his haste to get to the rocks, and didn't stop when she did at the base of the cliffs.
"H-hey!" She called, her voice horse from screaming and the cold, when the leather straps slipped from her hands and the horse kept heading towards the waterfall with Boq dangling over its back. "Stop! Woah!"
The horse continued to pick it's way over the rocky ground. Glinda scrambled after it.
It was darker near the cliffs. She forgot the light spell in her haste to stop the horse before it could dump Boq in the pool and spoil her efforts to return his favor. She reached blindly for the reins and ended up grabbing a handful of mane instead. She held on tightly with both hands while the horse walked directly through the water and into the falls, dragging Boq and Glinda with him.
She waited to feel the crush of more water, too tired and cold to do anything else. Waited for it to wash all three of them away. But it never happened. Instead they passed behind the falls and out of the rain. The horse gave a great shake, dropping Boq, Glinda and drops ofwater to the ground.
Glinda landed almost gently on her back and stared up at the horse. The horse stared back. She knew it wasn't possible but she would have sworn he was actually smug. Her gaze left the horse's eyes to search around. On her left the backside of the waterfall curtained the opening of the cave the horse had dumped them in. It was dark so she couldn't tell how big it was. It was big enough and more importantly it was dry.
She gritted her teeth and forced herself to get up. She tugged the horse away from Boq's still form, it was easier to move him than the helpless Tinman and she wanted to be circle the three of them around a fire.
The horse settled itself on the ground where she left him, tucking it's legs close to it's body to keep warm. Glinda let Boq be, and focused on magic again. They had no firewood, and she knew going to look for any would be futile as it would all be soaked. The only other choice was a magical fire, which was considerably harder than creating a ball of light or even levitating a Tinman. And without her wand or the Grimmerie it she'd have to use the simply worded but indefinitely more complicated spells she'd learned under Morrible's tutelage.
"Agon!"
Nothing
'Oz Glinda, could you do something right for once!'
"Agon!"
To her great relief when she repeated the spell a large spark burst in the air before her.
More confident now she tried again.
"Agon!"
This time a merry little flame planted itself on the rock ground of the cave.
"Impendo!"
The flame grew to a nice sized bonfire. Pleased with herself Glinda crossed to the horse and pulled Boq's pack off. She rifled through it until she found the oilcan she had hoped would be there.
Crossing back to Boq she sat down gingerly at his side. She started with his eyes, forcing her icy hands to work the release mechanism on the can. The oil worked it's magic and at last his eyes moved. They went gratefully to meet Glinda's. For a minute she considered leaving his mouth till last but decided against it.
"Thank you," he breathed when his lips weren't rusted shut anymore.
Glinda merely shrugged in reply, afraid if she opened her mouth to speak the only sound that would come out would be her teeth chattering.
Boq seemed to take her silence and stiffness as a sigh that she was still mad at him and stayed silent. At lease she'd forgiven him enough to drag him out of the rain and de-rustify him.
He slowly tested each joint as Glinda made them usable; starting with his neck, then arms, then knees, ankles, and toes.
"Here," she said so quietly he almost didn't hear her. She handed him the oil can, indicating he should do his waist himself.
If he could have blushed he would have –profusely- as he reached bashfully for the oilcan.
Glinda turned to the fire while Boq finished tending to his legs.
It felt so good to move again!
He stood awkwardly and moved to the pack to replace the oilcan, patting the horse as he went. The great beast had already dried, thanks to his oily coat designed to keep water off.
Boq turned back to Glinda and was surprised at her appearance.
"Lady Glinda!"
Now that she'd moved closer to the fire he could see her properly. Her skin was pasty white except for around her eyes and mouth where it had turned a purplish-blue. Her teeth chattered loudly as she stared blankly into the fire. Her once curly hair was tangled and matted; water dripped from the ends to collect on her already soaked clothes.
She made no acknowledgement to his exclamation.
"Glinda!" He yelled, snatching her drowsy attention from the entrancing flame.
"What?"
"You're freezing," Boq stated.
"I know tha's why 'm sittin' by the fire," she slurred absently between shivers.
Boq knew he had to get her warm and dry or the hypothermia would kill her, but doing so was not going to be easy.
"You need to dry off," he told her gently.
"Can't. Horse ran off with my closhe," she stated in the same simple, mindless tone. She wrapped her arms around herself, hugging in the warmth.
"You still need to get out of those wet clothes and dry them out," he said firmly, fumbling in the pack for the only bedroll. "You're gonna catch your death."
"I don' haf anything to chansh into," she protested, the determined spark at last returned to her eyes.
"I know," Boq, said patiently, pulling the bedroll apart to extract the thickest blanket. "You can wrap up in this while your clothes dry."
"Absholutely not!"
Boq sighed and tried coaxing her some more.
"C'mon, you'll be much more comfortable once you're dry. I promise I won't look until you're completely wrapped up," he said in a tone he'd used when babysitting his younger siblings a lifetime ago. "Here, take the blanket and I'll turn around."
"No!" Glinda insisted defiantly.
Boq mentally went over the stages of hypothermia. She was already shivering violently and breathing shallowly, she'd certainly adopted a bluish pallor; if her behavior was anything to go by then she losing rationality as well. If he didn't get her warmed up soon she'd stop breathing and her heart would shut down. Her size was working against her; it sped up the process.
"Please," he begged. "I'll even go out to the mouth of the cave."
Glinda stared at him and did her best to look adamant, but she couldn't keep the cold from her expression and her shaking hindered the effect. Boq was losing his patience anyway. Her life was slipping away a little more each second and she was worried about propriety. If coddling and begging wouldn't work he'd have to be a little more forceful.
"Glinda," he said sternly, forgoing her title. "You are going to die if you don't get those clothes off. Now either do it yourself or I'll do it for you."
He was a little surprised she had the presence of mind to look horrified at his suggestion. It should have been a small victory; he'd finally managed to intimidate her. But the look on her face made him hope he'd never have to do so again.
"What'll it be," he asked, forcing himself to sound like he'd go through with his threat.
Glinda glared at him, but her shivers and exhaustion made her disinclined to argue further.
"Turn around then."
Boq handed her the blanket, turned around, stared resolutely at the horse and demanded his mind to focus on remembering the first aid courses he'd gone through in training.
Glinda set the blanket to the side, and reluctantly peeled off her thick –but soaked and frozen- shirt and trousers. The process was slow; her fingers couldn't seem to work the buttons properly, and when she finally had them undone enough to wriggle out the wet material clung to her numb skin. Eventually socks joined the other clothes in a pile in front of the fire and she reached for the blanket.
"Underthings too," Boq managed to add without choking on his own words.
"N—
"It's not an option, if you're not as dry and warm as possible soon we're going to have a very serious problem," he told her. And then amended, "I'm sorry."
Her camisole and other unmentionables joined the growing pile of garments.
Boq was quite certain she was mumbling something rather unladylike but he couldn't tell for sure because of the clattering of her teeth.
"You can turn around," she allowed when she'd wrapped blanket he'd given her around herself so well she wasn't sure she'd ever manage to get out.
Boq picked up another blanket from the roll and stretched it out in front of the fire right at the side of his horse.
"Now come lay over here, it will be warmer than sitting on the rock."
Glinda found she didn't have any more willpower to bother with protesting and just did as he said. It was warmer curled up next to the horse anyway. When she was settled Boq took the final blanket and tucked it carefully around her head and shoulders.
"Feel better?" He asked.
She nodded from within her cocoon of blankets.
"Try to stay awake for just a little while longer."
That was harder than it sounded.
All of Glinda's energy was focused on getting warmer. She barely had the strength to keep her eyes open. She let them close for the briefest moment and at once Boq was at her side shaking her shoulder gently.
"Lady Glinda," he called her name quietly but urgently.
She pried droopy eyelids open and looked around in a daze. Her clothes were draped over a line rigged between rocks before the fire; her boots were set near them. Boq was beside her, holding a tin cup full of something steamy. She must have closed her eyes longer than she thought.
"Drink this and then you can sleep," he promised, helping her sit up a bit and then propping the cup against her dry lips.
She took a sip and made a face.
"What is it?"
"Just warm water," Boq said apologetically. "I put some of the berries from breakfast in when I heated it. I don't know if that sweetened it up much. But it'll help keep you warm."
She drank slowly, ignoring the taste. Finally the cold that seemed to pierce her very soul ebbed away little, by little, by little.
When at last the water was gone Boq set the cup aside and let Glinda lay back into the blankets. He rearranged the one around her head to serve a little better as a pillow. Then he sat down next to her head and leaned against the horse's broad back. Glinda snuggled charmingly between the horse and his thigh, searching for a tiny bit more warmth and comfort.
Boq indulged in a smile and draped an arm across the horse's back as he watched the fire and listened carefully for Glinda's breathing above the din of the waterfall.
"Thank you," Glinda whispered suddenly. Boq looked down at her with questioning eyes. "Thank you for saving my life."
"You're welcome," he replied softly.
Within seconds Glinda fell asleep and Boq was left to be her protector. A duty he once again felt honored to have.