Chapter 22
Captain Asli and his men had dismounted their horses and were making camp when the sound of wolves howling echoed through the woods. It was not an uncommon noise in the Vinkus but what came after it certainly was.
"Sir…. what… was… that…?" A very green Gale Force soldier stammered as he looked to his superior officer from his position on the ground. He had been instructed to start the cooking fire but his duty was forgotten.
"That was a dragon," Asli said and he looked to his second in command.
"The castle is not in the direction it came from. It would seem that he was called away from the castle," Lieutenant Ash commented.
"Forget making camp. Water the horses and mount up. We need to get to the castle. If Avantador is not there then something may have gone wrong with the Wizard," Asli ordered. Quickly the troops scurried about as the evening sky darkened and the sun sank even further into the sky. It was then that they heard another noise and this one they all recognized.
"Flying Monkeys!" Lieutenant Ash announced. Asli quickly fired off a round with his sidearm and the Monkeys diverted recognizing the sound of a Gale Force weapon anywhere.
"Captain Asli!" The leader of the group, a Monkey by the name of Nat, bowed his head and the others followed suit.
"Where is Chistery?" Asli wanted to know.
"Guarding the Wizard. He ordered us to find where Avantador was and assist in any way possible," Nat explained.
"All right I want everyone to mount up and head to the castle. Nat, Sergeant Stewart and I will follow you on horseback. Ash, you're in charge while I'm gone," the Captain ordered. Ash nodded and quickly got the soldiers moving again while Nat and the Monkeys took to the skies with the Captain and the Sergeant on their trail from the ground.
Meanwhile, Avantador's roar shook the forest and when he had finished nothing but silence followed. Even the smallest of crickets did not chirp, for fear of the dragon.
"You will stand down and you will tell us where the King is or you will never leave this forest," the dragon hissed at the witch who had become the wolf.
"Do you let the dragon do all your talking spawn? No spine of which to speak of?" Burcin was still challenging them despite the threat from the much larger, much more powerful lizard.
"I don't have to fight you. You kidnapped the King and Queen of the Vinkus. That is high treason for which the punishment is death. Tell us where the King is and work with us to restore Oz to what it was before Morrible and my father got a hold of it. It is my final offer," Elphaba seethed. Once again her parentage had led to distrust of her and her wishes for Oz.
"I am more than willing to die for my cause. The question is, are you?" The wolf smirked.
"Then so be it," Avantador replied. He made a move toward the witch when Elphaba cried out,
"This is my fight! I have started it and I will finish it!"
"Fae, you don't…" Fiyero started but she held up her hand to silence him.
"I do and I must," she then thrust up both of her hands towards the sky and everyone around the fighting witches froze. Burcin moved toward her, astonished at what the young woman just did. Not many could cause their surroundings to freeze
"No help from the others will be forthcoming. It is just you and me," Elphaba smirked.
"Indeed you are powerful. The stories are true. Well child of two worlds, let us finish it then," the older woman challenged before lunging at Elphaba. The green woman threw an energy ball at her before whistling for her broom. The cleaning implement jumped to her hand just as the energy ball struck Burcin squarely on the nose. The older witch tumbled backwards and Elphaba mounted the broom, taking to the skies.
"If you wanted an aerial battle, all you had to do was say so," Burcin smirked before chanting another spell that turned her into a large eagle. She screeched and flew up at Elphaba who zoomed down toward the ground at a high rate of speed. Burcin turned and followed. Just inches before the ground would have smashed her body terribly; Elphaba pulled up and headed for the Griffin holding Glinda. Burcin caught onto the move too slow and tumbled onto the ground. She shook it off and headed straight for Elphaba who was working to free the frozen blonde from the grasp of the magical creature.
"His grip is too powerful," Burcin smirked as she crashed into the green woman's back. Elphaba could feel her ribs giving way but she quickly chanted a healing spell before pretending to fall toward the ground, still mounted on her broom. Burcin held her position, enjoying the view when Elphaba released a fire ball from her hands, before righting herself on the broom. This was much more effective than the energy balls she usually used and it knocked Burcin out of the sky. The older woman couldn't recover and she slammed into the ground. Immediately, Elphaba freed her frozen friends before landing next to the eagle, her magic crackling at her fingertips.
"This has gone on long enough. Where is the King?" Elphaba demanded. Burcin transformed back into a human and spat blood on Elphaba's dress.
"The King is dead," she sneered.
"Then so shall you be," Elphaba said, grabbing the witch by the throat.
To Be Continued…