Chapter 20

Deception

The group all held fast their positions in Glinda's disguised castle at Kiamo Ko. The Emperor's guards- the Zompires and Dragons drew nearer. They all were clad in hard dark ebony armor. Glinda was confident that we could see this through to the end, even though everyone else quietly feared for their lives.

"Let them come! This is one army they will not destroy so easily!" I challenged. My staff held tightly in hand as I waited for the best moment to release its building spells. The Zompires rammed against the castle door, shaking the walls and causing dust from the ceiling to fall.

Argy drew his magic sword and Ben prepped by swinging his mace in the air. Julia looked at me with worried eyes, and held my free hand with hers.

Finally the door burst open and hundreds of Zompires ran through. Immediately everyone began attacking. I was shooting blue plasma that detonated and exploded killing groups rather than individuals. Lady Glinda was casting multiple spells simultaneously, maintaining a force field around all of us individually, and preventing the zompires from being able to leave the castle to attack possible other sites, while at the same time, firing to attack spells: white lightning and frost, to freeze the enemy in their tracks, making very easy targets.

"Water always works wonders!" Lady Glinda said. The battle was long and arduous. Until finally, something changed.

Victory was near. Then, all of the dragons in the room screamed and yelled and retreated. To everyone else it was a sign that we must have won, to me and Glinda, it was a warning that something terrible was coming.

"We did it! Their retreating!" Argy cheered.

When the last dragon slithered away, the leader of the Zompires I assumed, now entered Lady Glinda's domain.

"Who are you? Your army hath retreated sir, I suggest you do the same or suffer as your subordinates have," Glinda sternly ordered. The Zompire leader, was not amused. With the head of a snake, and body of a man, the creature was serious and evil through and through, having killed some of his own soldiers to make his way through the Castle Door.

"Spare me your pathetic threats Glinda, I have come for the boy. The chosen one." And with that the negotiations were over. Gold bars sprung from the floor and chained down everyone except me. They all dropped their weapons, and when they hit the floor, they disappeared.

"What do you want from me? If it's just me, spare my friends, and Lady Glinda, they have not done you any harm!" I asked.

"The prophecised boy. To kill the Emperor, and set your self on the throne. Im afraid it wont be that easy. You see, the Emperor has a prophecy too. To kill every last man, woman, animal and child from Earth. After killing Ozma, I think this will be easier than I expected,"

"Enough! All I want is peace, that's all we've ever wanted, to stop fighting and live in normalcy! But instead, your entire family has vowed to never let that happen! You kill without a thought! And vaporize all that's good! It ends now!" I lunged the end of my staff into his chest, and noticed two things. First, he was not bleeding, and second, my foe was laughing and everyone else was silent.

"You dim fool. Such a pity, he did not let me finish my statement earlier, any damage done to me, has been cursed to only affect you son of Ozma." The Zompire departed in a toxic plume of black ash, leaving the ghostly image of the emperors skull, for a few moments after disappearing.

I dropped my staff and ran over to Alec.

"No! No no no no!, this isn't happening, you're gonna be fine man, keep breathing!" I encouraged a dear friend, who was gradually slipping away, to a place I could not follow.

"Anthony, it was nice knowing you, but I have to go," Alec whispered. Blood had now began to stream onto the floor. Alec was getting paler by the second, and breathing slower.

"Alec, you're the last in the bloodline, you can't go, not now. We need you, I need you,"

"You aren't alone Anthony, at least you have that. Take my place on the throne…" And with that, Alec spoke his last words. The royal Oz family, had been killed. A very close friend of Anyhtony's was killed, by an action he him self committed. Overcome with grief and loss, the Blue Wizard held Alec Tippetarius' lifeless and stiff body close to his, as a farewell hug. There was a storm in the distance, as thunder discreetly clapped every now and again. The gold bars dropped by Glinda's will, and mourned the end of an era.

"Anthony, don't blame your self, none of us knew about the curse," Ben said.

"I can't even begin to tell you, what I feel," I tried to say. I was crying the hardest, feeling like I had lost more than everything on this long and painful journey to save Oz, but getting horrible results at the end. I missed him already, and mourned the loss of a selfless friend.

"It wasn't you, it was the Emperor Anthony, really" Julia encouraged. She sat down with me and gave me a hug, trying to separate me from the corpse, which for more than one reason was a healthy decision.

"It's all up to you now Anthony, you heard Alec, you have to take the throne in his place. Emperor or no Emperor, where you lead, I will follow, until the end," Argy vowed. Everyone else said aye, meaning they agreed with that, and swore the same to me now. Glinda tilted her head with a smile, seeing the beauty in the darkness of the moment, and cried, knowing now just how much we have all grown.

I sniffed my last tear, and with still very watery eyes and blurred vision, I stood again, being handed back my staff by Argy, and made a rash decision.

"You guys are the best, truly. I couldn't ask for better friends, and family. This war however will no longer harm anyone else I cherish. Therefore, I am going alone to the Emperor's castle, and I'm gonna kill him. I need you all to make a distraction. I cant get into the Palace my self. I need you to draw his army out again, and stall his attention with a battle. Meanwhile, I will break in and find the Emperor," I declared.

"No, it's too dangerous, you'll be killed before you even reach the Palace gates," Julia said.

"And you're a fool mate, you're courageous yes, but a fool! We're all going with you Anthony, you can't change that," Argy said. I looked at Glinda, hoping she had a better plan.

"If you do this, the chances the Emperor remains in his castle are slim to none. When you do get in, the dragons will be guarding every hall, door, and window. This will end before it begins the way it is now. What you need, is a disguise, and an unusual weapon." Glinda had thought of everything as usual, and prepared for it too.

"I assume you know where I can find these tools?" I asked.

"I can provide the disguise, but it's another mission for you all to help Anthony find the weapon, and that is: a blood orange. I know the prophecy said a pomegranate, but trust me on this, a blood orange will get the job done." Glinda replied. Everyone was confused.

"How is an orange going to kill the Emperor?" I asked.

"First its not an orange. It is a Blood Orange. If eaten by anything or anyone magical, it drains their life force, their blood, and kills them. When you find this orange Anthony, you are going to want to bit the entire tree. I cannot warn you enough the power of deceit this little orange has. When the Emperor took the throne, forests became twisted in nature. Fruit now kills in dfferent ways, instead of healing. Apples poison some even expel the heart, oranges bleed, coconuts crush. The fruit in Oz, is now your strongest weapon for killing the Emperor. It is gruesome, but it is the only way to bring an end to this death that Oz has been shrouded in. promise me you will not eat anything in that forest, all of you!"

We all bowed our heads, and promised Lady Glinda the Good we would retrieve the bleeding orange without eating anything else. She went further though, and made a magical vine on our right hands that would glow if ever we were tempted to break our word, or bite the deadly fruit.

"Good, thank you I feel better now. Now, find the orange first go! To the Haunted Forest in Nether How near the Vinkus River," Glinda ordered. Time was running out, and now that we finally had a reliable plan, it was time to go. We all marched out and headed east (being already in the west, in Kiamo Ko) and began the hunt for a cursed bleeding orange.