(Land of Gargoyles)

*January 15th, 1906*

*Land of Gargoyles*

Dorothy and her friends were confused at what they had just heard from Jim as the horse looked confused, which didn't help the situation.

"What do you mean? Is the place abandoned or something? We can't turn back and don't intend to waste our time, so we must keep moving." Dorothy advised Jim while Oscar nodded in agreement as he began to speak.

"She is right, Dorothy has been to many strange countries throughout Oz and she has always escaped safely, so let's head forth and make the best of it," Oscar advised Jim while Betsy and Zeb nodded in agreement while Jim sighed in annoyance.

"All right, but don't blame me if we run into trouble, " Jim spoke back to Oscar as the horse officially continued the journey toward whatever was above once the gang made it to the top, they found themselves in the Land of Gargoyles.

"This must be the country of Gargoyles, right? I heard they don't like sound so we must navigate this place as quickly but quietly as possible" Betsy whispered to her friends in a cautious voice as she saw the wooden gargoyles flying towards them; however, they only watched them while Dorothy and the others nodded in agreement.

"I have a bad feeling about this but I hope you're right.." Zeb uttered nervously while seeing the gargoyles getting closer to them indicating that the creatures aren't what they seemed as one began to quickly charge at Dorothy; however, Oscar quickly pulled out two revolvers from his pocket.

"It seems they're not as peaceful as one might imagine but with my two revolvers, I can at least fire a warning shot that will scare them away!" Oscar spoke out as he began to fire many shots from his weapons which scared off the creatures as some flew away in fear.

"T-Thanks! The Good Witch of the North's spell would have protected me anyways but I do need the extra help.." Dorothy spoke out to Oscar in gratitude while the humbug nodded in agreement.

"Of course but that's not the last time we're gonna see them so be prepared" Oscar warned Dorothy while pointing at the flock of gargoyles coming their way.

"There's more?! What do they want from us?! It's not like we're making too much noise!" Zeb cried out in annoyance while covering himself in hopes of protecting his body from the attack while Betsy was shoving them out of the way.

"It seems this might be problematic, Someone is trying to deter our journey.." Jim spoke out while using his hooves to kick one of the gargoyles that was approaching him; however, this did no damage which was picked up by Oscar.

"Those wooden creatures are impossible to harm, it seems. All Jim could do is cause a few splinters but they keep getting back up.." Oscar spoke out while continuing to fire shots from his revolver as this surprised Dorothy and the others.

"R-Really?! Then we must make a run for it since we're wasting time and we can't afford to have anyone injured or worse" Dorothy advised Oscar and the others as she quickly motioned her hand towards Jim since he was carrying the carriage while Zeb nodded in agreement.

"She's right and I would rather fight the invisible bears right now! Suppose we can find another set of stairs and be on our way?" Zeb spoke out as well while Oscar shook his head in denial much to the surprise of the two children.

"Remember what the invisible woman said? These creatures are fast! They'll quickly catch up to us and harm Jim so we must fight them off and force them to give up!" Oscar spoke back in defense this made Dorothy and Zeb think for a moment before realizing that he was correct.

"R-Right. I didn't think of that but how do we fight them off? I have no weapons and I'm not much of a fighter as well.." Dorothy spoke back to Oscar as she saw the humbug quickly passing her his sword which was caught by her.

"Here, fend them off with this sword and just hit them on the head and protect Zeb, okay?" Oscar advised Dorothy while continuing to shoot at the creatures which were met with Dorothy nodding in understandment as she began to use the sword.

"I don't understand why these stupid creatures are harming us! We haven't done anything wrong!" Betsy spoke out in annoyance while using her small luggage to smack the creatures; the ordeal could be heard by Eureka who was sleeping in the carriage as this had woke her up.

"What's with all the noise?! I'm trying to sleep here.." Eureka spoke out in annoyance while walking out of the carriage and to her surprise, there was chaos as she saw Dorothy, Oscar, Zeb, Jim, and Betsy holding off the gargoyles to the best of their ability.

"W-What's going on here? It's always something in this troublesome journey but it wouldn't help to join in the fun" Eureka spoke out in amusement mixed with annoyance as the cat quickly jump out of the carriage and began to scratch at one of the gargoyles which caused some of them to flee as this was noticed by Betsy.

"Good job! Just keep those creatures at bay Eureka!" Betsy complimented the cat while she continued to smack the gargoyles with her basket while Dorothy, Zeb, and Oscar were having trouble as well.

"I-It seems my bullets are slowly running out but it seems these pesky creatures are still approaching us.." Oscar spoke out with concern while firing the last of his bullets at the creatures as this news shocked Dorothy and Zeb.

"What shall we do now? If you can't use your weapons then surely we must retest somehow since the extra help is slowly going away.." Dorothy spoke back to Oscar in a concerned voice while Zeb nodded in agreement.

"S-She's right! We gotta make a run for it or else we'll be overpowered by those creatures!" Zeb chimed into the conversation in a tone of panic while Oscar thought of what to do next as he continued to fire the bullets at the creatures.

"N-Nonsense! We can do this! We just gotta.." Oscar spoke out as his sentence was interrupted by one of the gargoyles quickly snatching one of his guns and throwing it across the land much to the surprise of the humbug.

"D-Drats! That one had a few more bullets in it.." Oscar uttered in defeat as he looked at the second revolver which contained zero bullets before throwing it on the ground while Dorothy saw the events transpiring.

"What shall we do now?! Do these troublesome creatures just refuse to leave us alone? We gotta make a run for it before they kill us" Dorothy spoke out to Oscar while fighting off the silent gargoyles while she waited for an answer.

"We shall fight together alongside Jim and Eureka and force these creatures into submission! Even if it's the last thing I'll ever do!" Oscar responded in a motivated tone of voice as he was ready to face whatever was coming his way while Dorothy had a look of concern; however, she knew there was no other choice.

"R-Right! I've dealt with the Wicked Witch of the West and other such dangerous foes! We can do this!" Dorothy spoke out with a confident smile on her face while this was heard by Betsy as she smiled as well.

"My friend is right, we just gotta hold them off until they tire out! We can win!" Betsy spoke out to Oscar as well as she continued to shrug off any attack that was coming her way from the wooden creatures.

The battle with the Gargoyles eventually became too much for our heroes as many more of the wooden creatures appeared before our heroes thus causing everyone to slowly struggle.

"D-Damn it! They just keep coming like insects in the summer! How troublesome!" Dorothy spoke out as she was out of breath, struggling to defeat the wooden creatures while things weren't looking good for Oscar and the others as well since they were on the same boat as Dorothy.

"You can say that again, at times I wish I was an actual wizard then I would have easily blown them away but don't give up! Keep fighting!" Oscar spoke back while punching the wooden creatures with his fists which caused them to be rather red due to splinters and to make matters worse, many more came.

"I-I don't have any strength! W-What shall we do! We gotta make a run for it!" Zeb cried out in worry as he struggled to swing the weapon he was using which was a knocked-out gargoyle; however, that was proven to be useless as he felt himself being carried by the wooden creatures which caused the boy to grow more fearful.

"H-Help! I've been captured!" Zeb cried out in fear as this was heard by Dorothy who grew more angry. "Let him go! Right now or else.." Dorothy could only utter out as she felt herself being carried by the wooden creatures.

Eventually, Oscar and the rest of our heroes were defeated and carried by the wooden creatures.

The Wooden Gargoyles had carried them for miles over the Wooden Country and eventually, they were dropped off at a house that had neither doors nor windows and their buggy was dropped off as well much to the relief of everyone.

"Goodness, gracious! What was that about?! I'm just glad we're safe and sound.." Dorothy spoke out in relief while taking a few deep breaths while Zeb was freaked out.

"Safe and sound?! They might keep us here until we starve then kill us later! How are we gonna get out of here!" Zeb yelled at his cousin in annoyance as Dorothy sighed to herself before speaking.

"I don't know but that's what we're working on right now we could wait here until tomorrow and call upon Ozma but who knows when those terrible creatures will return" Dorothy spoke back to Zeb as this somewhat calmed him down as he began to speak.

"Sorry for the outburst, It's just I'm not used to all of these crazy adventures like how you might be" Zeb spoke out in remorse as he looked over to see his cousin smiling.

"It's okay, I would be in the same boat if I was in your position but the best way for us to succeed is finding a way out of here.." Dorothy spoke out to Zeb while Oscar and Betsy nodded in agreement.

"She's right, we need to truly think and observe our surroundings. If we can think of a method in escaping from this country then things would truly work in our father " Oscar spoke out to his friends while thinking to himself as Dorothy, Zeb, and Betsy nodded in agreement; however, this time of peace would be interrupted by Aurora as she appeared before everyone which shocked everyone.

"A-Aurora!? What are you doing here? Were you behind those attacks that had me and my friends almost killed!" Dorothy spoke out to the Mangaboo Princess in anger as the young woman laughed to herself.

"Good Evening, It's a pleasure to see everyone again. I told you outsiders such as yourself will be punished.." Aurora responded while laughing to herself as things for Dorothy and her friends had just taken a possible turn for the worst.

Will Ozma save our heroes in time or Dorothy and her friends fall victim to Aurora's trap?