Chapter 24
Avantador hurled himself above the trees and his sharp eagle eyes spotted the Flying Monkeys. He frowned and quickly alerted Elphaba to something he noticed.
"They are flying much slower than they should be," the dragon said. Elphaba turned carefully to look at what he meant. They seemed an incredibly far distance away and she agreed.
"Fly toward them. We need to see what the trouble is," she told him. Avantador nodded and used his wings to the best of his ability and quickly caught up to the Monkeys.
"Avantador!" The scouting Monkey by the name of Bakree practically saluted right on the spot.
"Lady Glinda is in need of assistance. We are flying back to the Palace for medical supplies. We need you to reach the Queen and the Prince as quickly as you can," the dragon explained.
"We are ahead of the group. Captain Asli insisted on following us after Chistery ordered us to find you," Bakree told them regarding his small group of three Monkeys.
"Two of you, with all haste, head toward the smell of something burning. The others probably won't make it until daybreak at the rate they are going," Elphaba ordered.
"Yes ma'am!" With that Bakree sent his two compatriots ahead.
"I will inform the others. Good luck and swift wings, Miss Elphaba and Avantador," Bakree bowed and then headed back toward the group. The dragon quickly picked up the pace and within thirty minutes they reached the Palace. Quickly, Elphaba ordered Burcin into the cell that the now powerless Wizard was in, in the infirmary. The Wizard was moved out and chained to the bed next to the cell and Elphaba enchanted the chains to be on the safe side.
"Doctor Magi we need you. Lady Glinda has been hurt and I cannot heal her with a spell," Elphaba explained to the Royal Vinkun Physician.
"Right away Princess," Magi grabbed his bag along with surgical supplies.
"Did you meet up with the Captain?" Lieutenant Ash wanted to know.
"No but we did get some Flying Monkeys to speed up their journey. We need to go," Elphaba knew it would take some time to get back to Glinda and she worried that if the Griffin hadn't returned that they might already be too late.
"What are we to do with the Witch?" Chistery asked.
"She killed King Haluk. She is not to leave her cell," Elphaba ordered before leaving the infirmary with the Royal Vinkun Physician.
"How are we going to get to Lady Glinda?" Magi wanted to know.
"Hope you like to fly Doctor," the green woman smiled slightly as they exited the Palace and Avantador scooped them up.
"I'm going to try and break a record to get back to Lady Glinda, perhaps it would be best if I held onto you," Avantador admitted. Elphaba nodded and he quickly took to the skies. Doctor Magi almost immediately felt ill, not being used to his feet leaving the ground in such a manner. Still he swallowed what threatened to come back up down.
Meanwhile, the Griffin did in fact return and Fiyero had used the plant on Glinda. The blonde complained that it hurt but once the plant had taken affect the bleeding did remarkably slow. Adalet, despite being distracted by the news of her husband, tried to do as Fiyero asked but they were woefully underprepared for such an occurrence. The Griffins helped to build a fire not far away from the humans so that Glinda could be kept warm.
"Prince Fiyero! Queen Adalet!" Two of the Flying Monkey's landed near the house and then quickly approached them.
"You guys are a sight for sore eyes," Fiyero smiled slightly.
"Miss Elphaba alerted us to the trouble. Captain Asli and the others should be here by dawn," the one named, Ashok, explained.
"How much longer until Elphaba gets back?" The Prince wanted to know, figuring that the blonde didn't have until dawn if they couldn't do something quick.
"We do not know," Ashok shrugged, "How can we be of assistance?" He asked. Fiyero felt Glinda's head and noted the blonde had become clammy.
"We need to keep Glinda warmer. Find blankets or something we can use, inside the carriage," he pointed to the vehicle which still had the horses attached. They nodded and headed to it.
"Hang in there Lin. Help is on the way," Fiyero told her, squeezing her hand. He then realized that she did not squeeze his hand back. Looking down, it was then that he came to the horrible realization that she'd fallen unconscious.
To Be Continued…