THE FARAWAY LANDS OF OZ - Book One

Part Five, Chapter Twenty-Four: The Lords of Fear

EVANORA

"Out of the way!" A man carrying about ten different bags pushed me aside, neither minding who I was nor whether there were any other people on the road. And he was not the only one.
Hundreds of people, old and young, were storming out of the city gates with all or most of their belongings. Some appeared terrified, others were looking bored and unbothered.
"What's going on?" I tried to ask several times but all of the people that I had turned to ignored me and hurried on even faster. I clicked my fingers and the luggage that I had taken with me was engulfed in green flames that transported everything to my room. It felt good to have my own magic flowing through my veins again.
"What is happening, Lady Evanora?" The Seeker asked loudly but I had to disappoint him for I had no idea myself. It was a sunny day and there were no prospects of cataclysm as far as I could tell, and I sincerely wondered what was going on. Mother and my sisters would know.
"I have no clue what is going on, but my family will. Follow me."
I met the fleeing crowd head-on and walked past the hurrying children, men, women and old people. I actually fought my way past them, since they wouldn't pay attention to me at all. I unsheathed Wuuthrad, for I felt that Alduin was safer where I could see him: in my hands and close to my chest.
Eventually, I reached the plaza though and saw the large gates of the palace standing far open. I had to smile, seeing home again and even more when I spotted Glinda standing right beside the gates, helping out an old woman with her luggage.
She was so admirably dedicated that it was almost inhuman. I squeezed myself past the last few people and headed right for my sister, the Seeker following me closely. She didn't see me right away though but her jaw dropped and her eyes grew once she caught a glimpse of my brick-red hair.
The look of surprise turned into one of pure joy though, while she ran down the few golden steps leading from the plaza to the gates and greeted me with a suffocating hug. Her arms closed around my torso and she lifted me with a little spin. I had missed her warmth and kindness and the smell of her peach shampoo in my nostrils.
"You are finally here! All of us thought we lost you... Mom said that she'd personally head out to seek you if you would be gone for more than three days but here you are!"
Three days? That is how little time has passed here? The emperor had talked about this, I remember. While they had waited for me for three days, I had spent about three weeks in Tamriel. But I would tell them all about it later, first I had to know why everyone was being evacuated.
"This is the Seeker, by the way." I broke the hug and tilted my torso to introduce the floating being. Her face expressed my own feelings when I had first laid eyes upon him.
"It is a pleasure," he said out loud in his rattling and pipy voice but Glinda was almost too baffled to speak so I took over again.
"Well, he is a Sovereign. And he helped me return. And so did he." I lifted the ax slightly off my chest and Glinda's eyes darted towards it. She probably felt rude staring. "This is Wuuthrad. The dragon captured inside it told me the location of this."
I raised the Elder's Scroll, and her eyes grew even more than the last few times. "So, I promised him a place to stay in Oz. The mountains to be exact."
Still, Glinda looked like she had too many words in her mind to formulate a proper response to everything I showed and told her. So, she only shook her head in a way that looked like she shook all the questions to the back of it and put on one of her brightest smiles.
"Well, anyway, come on in. Everybody's waiting for you and will be eager to hear what you have to tell us. We're a little busy with preparing against them but a few minutes to say everyone hello and catch up can be spared."
Glinda wouldn't even let me speak any further. I had never seen her so hysterical that it must be something quite serious for her to step that much out of character. Or it's the impact of what I had just said. I will find out in a bit.
She continued pulling me into the palace, down hallways of green and gold with long burgundy carpets and paintings of former kings and queens. The Seeker was floating on behind us. She led us to the backdoor to the morning room where mother was packing our silverware with the help of grown-up Marcy.
She was even more beautiful than I remember and had decided on a black top together with a grey skirt, fishnet tights and knee-high strapped boots. Her Bordeaux-colored hair was kept short and did not grow past her jaw-line. Glinda cleared her throat.
"Guys... I brought you a surprise!"
They stopped what they were doing and looked towards my sister with a worried expression. When they saw me though, they dropped the spoons and forks they were holding and rushed to hug me as well.
"EV!" Mother screamed as she hugged almost a little tighter than Glinda had done. I had mixed feelings about this reunion. It made me remember everything that had happened before my stay in Tamriel.
It made me remember all the losses and I felt the familiar lump expand in my throat. On the one hand, I was more than happy to feel mother close to me once more but on the other, I was afraid of her reaction towards...
"I am so sorry, sweetheart. Zion told us what happened, and I would not know whether I'd be as strong as you are if I should lose any of you. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to kick this person's butt myself!" I could not help but laugh and blinked the sorrow and tears away, looking up into a chandelier's light.
"It's okay mom. Thank you. We dealt with him in the end, and I am certain that Noa is someplace beautiful. He will get his proper farewell once I, the Seeker and Alduin settle in."
She kissed my cheek and squeezed my shoulders. It was revitalizing to see her smile again, but I saw the skepticism in her face, once I had brought up both my companions.
"How did you manage to stumble across them?" So she knew Tamriel better than I had thought she would. "Beings of folklore and prayers. Ev, you never cease to surprise me with the crowd you attract. But we'll discuss it properly once they are gone."
They? Glinda mentioned mysterious people too. Is this the cause of this mass chaos? I decided not to pay it much mind yet and instead hugged Marcy and kissed her forehead before I dared ask what the fuss was about.
Mother had just sent out a fire message to my sisters, Zion and my friends here so they could greet me personally. I couldn't wait to see and feel my husband again.
"So dad told you about Tamriel? I, well... I promised them to stay here. And I believe that both their legendary powers should be used to the country as well. A seer and a dragon. We had not had any of those since 1913. Dragons came and went with Merlin and Morgana even."
I was met with a nod, but mother shushed me down with a frantic hand wave. I really wanted to know what was going on, the longer they behaved like this.
"Later. No time!"
They continued with packing the silverware into little wooden crates, while I took a seat after pouring myself a glass of my best friend, enjoying the taste of the liquor on my lips and the sensation it sent down my throat. There had not been proper drinks in Tamriel and I enjoyed the Bourbon that I had missed so much more than was allowed.
"Could someone please explain to me why we are clearing the premises though? I'd like to know what is going on in my country," I asked after several sips of brown liquid and after stroking the armrest of my most favorite armchair several times. I looked at mother who was just as perplexed as Glinda. I had decided to play the queen card. Jokingly, of course, but I received a reply, nonetheless.
"It's the end of October, dear..."
And? I felt my eyebrows move together as my eyes darted between the three other women in the room.
"So wha- Oh..." The end of October... I remembered... It is them... The Lords of Fear...