A great cry rang across the square just moments after the fires went out. Everyone looked at the giant cloud holding Oz's face. People ran around in terror, Evanora and Theodora murmured their disbelief, and Vella and Shay just looked on, not entirely sure of what to make of it all.
"Fear me not, great people of Oz, fear me not," Oz's voice drowned out the sounds of panic.
"Impossible!" Evanora and Theodora cried.
"More tricks?" Evanora asked, "After everything? How dare you defy us?!"
"Dare?" Oz's booming voice filled the square once more. "How dare you, wicked sisters? No one defies Oz!"
"Guards!" Evanora shouted. "Destroy him!"
Vella and Shay ducked for cover as Evanora's guards threw spears at Oz. Nothing seemed to affect him- all the spears just went right through him. His roar filled the air once more, shaking everyone in the square.
"You thought you could kill me?" Oz asked. "Thanks to you, I have shed my mortal shell and taken my true ethereal form. I'm now more powerful than ever! I'm invincible! Do you still doubt me?"
"Doubt you?" Theodora laughed cynically. "I defy you!"
She drew back her hand, which was once more filled with flame, and threw a handful of fire at Oz. He exploded, sending a few people flying backward. And then the square was silent. The only sound was Evanora complimenting her sister.
The people waited. And waited. Seconds seemed like hours as they waited for Oz to come back, oh, how they hoped that he'd come back. But he didn't.
Evanora and Theodora, now rid of their distraction, went back to Glinda, prepared to kill her again. They were stopped short once more when Evanora was hit on the back of the head by an apple. Vella walked up to stand by Evanora, dragging Shay behind her.
"Now wait just a minute!" she said.
"You!" Evanora said. "Interfering with my plans again?!"
"What is with this country? You two are ten times worse than Mog Chothra!" Vella exclaimed. "I haven't been in this country long enough to know what this war is about, but I do know that I want to get home, and I can't do that until this war is over! And since the wizard is obviously not as invincible as he claimed to be, I'll end it!"
Theodora growled and looked at the two of them.
"Hey, I had nothing to do with this decision!" Shay said. "She just dragged me up here in a fit of anger!"
Vella, with her free hand, continued throwing apples at the two of them- it wasn't necessarily going to end the war, but it sure did make her feel better.
Theodora and Evanora, after Vella ran out of apples and was preparing to throw Shay, let power flow to their hands and both prepared to strike.
~~~
"Well this is just great," Shay said. Vella sighed.
The two teens really were no match for Evanora and Theodora, especially with Theodora's recent development in power. Not only had the two witches tied up Shay and Vella, but they'd also stripped them of their silverware and whatever else was in their pockets. It really was hopeless- Evanora and Theodora's enemies were either captured or too scared to speak up. There was still no sign of the wizard (little did the people know that he was, in fact, alive and sitting in his grand contraption watching the scene play out, waiting for the right moment to interfere).
"Now that we have no further distractions..." Evanora started, "Witness what happens when you defy us!"
The two raised their hands above their heads once more, prepared to kill not only Glinda, but Vella and Shay too.
And then the Wizard came back. Evanora and Theodora were stopped short once more as they whipped around to face the wizard.
"No," Evanora whispered.
The people rejoiced. Glinda disappeared (but not before untying Vella and Shay). The wizard "unleashed the stars" and the people advanced on the two witches. Vella was able to take the knife she had back and nearly stabbed Evanora. Evanora made a run for it while Theodora prepared to fly away.
"Theodora," Oz said, interrupting the witch mid-flight. "I know your wickedness is not your doing, and, should you once again find the goodness within you, you are welcome to return."
"Yeah!" Vella called. "You were supposed to help us get home, too!"
Oz's giant face looked at her for a second before turning back to Theodora.
"Never!" she screamed before flying off into the distance, never to be seen again for a long time.
The people cheered, Oz vaporized, and Vella and Shay hugged each other, finally taking the time to collapse internally after nearly being electrocuted and/or burned to a crisp multiple times. And for a moment, they almost felt like they belonged.
STAI LEGGENDO
Missing Trilogy Book 1: Finding Home
FanfictionTrapped. Shay and Vella are trapped in a world that isn't theirs. Not only that, but this other world is at war. And Shay and Vella are caught in the middle of it, when all they want to do is go home and assure their families that they aren't dead...
