Falling. They were falling. Vella and Shay were falling to their deaths once more. Memories of home and the gorge and everything else that had happened that week filled their minds. But this time, something did catch them. The two found themselves in a bubble and were lifted back up. The others were similarly bubbled.
Oz was trying to maintain his balance as the others looked at everything around them. They passed all sorts of scenery, which seemed like it should only exist in dreams, as they soared through clouds that reminded Vella and Shay of Meriloft. They passed mountains, forests, giant crystals of emerald and tiny flowers of ruby, and all sorts of other sights that could never be described properly.
"If only my parents were here to see this with me," Shay whispered, awestruck by everything he saw.
"Yeah," Vella agreed, looking down at the ground that whizzed past far below them.
"I-is that a wall?" Oz's voice broke Vella out of her thoughts.
She looked up at what looked like a giant bubble in front of them. Behind its iridescent surface, she thought she could see a kingdom and a rather large palace.
"Of sorts," Glinda said. "It repels our enemies and keeps us from harm."
"Yeah, but… we're headed straight for it and… going kinda fast… Too fast-er… I'm gonna die!"
Everyone but Glinda gave him odd looks.
"You needn't worry, Wizard," Glinda assured him. "It's a magic wall and all good-hearted souls… get to… oh…"
"I'm gonna die!" Oz repeated.
The others stared at him, confused. He didn't seem like too bad of a person.
"Why don't you just stop the bubbles?" Vella asked.
"I have no control over the bubbles now," Glinda explained, turning to look at her.
"Autopilot," Shay and Vella both murmured.
Shay swore he could hear what sounded like a muffled voice. He looked over at his bubble-mate.
"Did you say something?" he asked.
"No…" Vella replied.
The sound of Oz screaming dragged their attention back to the situation at hand. A strange, tingly feeling passed through the two as they passed through the wall. They watched Oz in the bubble behind them as he (eventually) passed through too.
The bubbles landed on the ground with a pop. People cheered for Oz, pleading for his help. Oz and Glinda walked through the town.
Shay and Vella stayed back, utterly confused. Where were they now? How would they ever get home? Theodora was back with Evanora, and now that they knew the truth, there was no way that they were going back there.
A crowd gathered around Oz as he began addressing the crowd. Vella and Shay stayed back. They knew nothing about the war that this country was in, and neither really wanted to get involved. All they really wanted to do was to get home. Shay could hear the noise again-it was louder this time-and he looked at Vella. She was looking around and must've heard it too.
The two heard the noise again-it was definitely a voice, and a familiar one at that. It almost sounded like…
Shay reached a hand into his pocket. He'd completely forgotten about his spoon. He pulled it out of his pocket and it sighed in relief.
"Finally!" the spoon said. "I've been trying to get your attention all day. I was beginning to think you had found another spoon… sir."
"Er… Sorry Spoon," Shay replied. "We've been busy."
"So that's where that was," Vella said.
"What do you mean?" Shay asked.
"When I was on your ship, I found this guy," she pulled the knife out of her pocket and muttered something about changing clothes, "and the fo-I mean-Lorraine, and I was wondering where the spoon was."
The spoon and knife, upon seeing each other, both gasped and said "you!" at the same time.
The two started arguing. Vella and Shay just watched, not really wanting to interfere. In fact, the argument was quite amusing to them, and focusing on the silverware's problems made theirs seem to melt away.
The sound of screaming pulled them back to the land of Oz. Some large smokey… thing… was headed for the wall. Glinda was yelling at everyone to take cover. The thing broke through the bubble. Vella pulled Shay out of the way just as it hit the ground.