“Once we set it on fire, I could close it up.”
“Are you sure?” Werelion presses, and I have to admit, I’m not.
“No, I’m not, but I have faith I can do it.”
“What is faith?” Ardie asks.
“Faith? It’s like a strong belief in something you can’t be sure of.”
“Oh,” Ardie says with a nod of recognition. “Here, the word we use for that is foolishness,” he says, and a huffed laugh escapes me.
“Yeah, maybe that’d be a better word to describe it.”
“How about we burn the egg sack only and be ready to put it out? I can use the leather shoes you made me to stomp out the fire,” Werelion says.
“That could work,” I say and pass Toto to Ardie, go to my bag of weapons, take out the flamethrower, and hand it to Werelion. With Toto in one arm, Ardie helps a shifter bird to his feet and heads out of the cave. Nick goes into Werelion’s sack, takes out the leather booties and hands them to him, then carries our things out of the cave.
“You should join the others outside,” Werelion says to Onna. She smiles, helps a bear shifter to his feet, and heads out with a look back to Werelion.
When she’s out of the cave, I turn to him and say, “She likes you,” and he blushes so hotly his cheeks get rosy from behind his fur, and I can’t help but giggle at him.
Nick returns, lifts a hyena shifter off the ground, and carries him out of the cave. No one is here but me, Werelion, and a giant sack of nasty gross spider eggs the size of a beanbag chair. If Werelion wasn’t so huge, I’d say this was a bad idea.
“You should go too. They might squirt when I stomp them.”
“Ugh! Gross,” I say and shudder with severe disgust.
“Go on.”
“No, I’m not leaving you,” I say as I calm the willies running up and down my entire body.
“Neither am I,” Nick says as he steps in beside me. “This part we will do together.”
“Thanks,” Werelion whispers as he puts on his booties. I know he’s as creeped out as we are, but he’s being so courageous, and it makes me proud.
He stands upright and aims. “Get ready to run,” he says right before he pulls the trigger.
The stream of flame ignites the gigantic egg sack, and Werelion lets go of the trigger. We watch it burn for a moment until Werelion steps closer, and when he lifts his leg to stomp it out, the sack bursts open. Close to fifty flaming spiders scurry from the sack running across the floor and up the cave walls in an instant. Werelion screams and I think I do too. The spiders are the size of dinner plates, and Nick and Werelion stomp on every one that comes close.
We hurry to the cave mouth as fast as we can while the flaming spiders run and screech, igniting the strawberry spider’s silk, and the cave goes up in flames.
As we bolt out of the cave mouth, I reach into my rainbow magic and beam my prismatic mist onto the mountain face, and we watch as the hole closes up. Nick and Werelion stomp out the few spiders that escaped and together we all stomp out the little fires they left in their wake.
When the last bit of flame is out, we take a collective breath of relief. Werelion scrambles to remove his now burned and gooey booties, and when he tosses the last one to the forest floor, I discover where the second spider is. From the face of the mountain, a colossal ruby tiger spider emerges, its gemstone feet clunking on the ground before us. We all scramble backwards, and I shout to all the shifters we just saved, “Run!”
The peregrine falcon shifter takes off, picking up the passed-out hyena shifter in its talons, and flies away as the other shifters bolt. All except Onna, who hurries to Werelion’s side.
“Dorothy,” Ardie says as he gets closer to me, still holding Toto, “Now would be the time to have some of that faith you speak of.”
“It sure would,” I say and reach into the rainbow gateway within me, unsure of what to do but knowing I need to do it fast.
The giant ruby tiger spider, at least three times as big as the first spider, comes toward us with its ruby fangs on display. A stream of hot red crystal shoots out from its mouth like a geyser of lava straight for us. We all dive to the sides of its stream, and I think it’s clear it was aiming right for me—it must know I’m responsible for its cave closing. My rainbow power bubbles up within me as I stand and face off with it, molten ruby crystal hardening at my side. Rainbow mist pulses from me and I sense a stream of water deep below the mountain, so I call it up as I leech the red mist magic from the ground. It strengthens me, focuses me, and I know what I need to do to defeat this crystal beast.
The stream explodes from the ground beneath the ruby spider, lifting it off its ruby feet, engulfing the monster in a giant water bubble that reflects rainbow in the sunlight. As the ground seals up again, the water in the bubble boils. The spider struggles, its longs legs twitching and scrambling, but all its struggling is to no avail. Power rushes from me and surrounds the bubble, so much power, but the source feels endless, as if I could never exhaust it.
The boiling bubbles change from large to tiny as it gives off waves of heat, and the crystal spider goes from red ruby to clear prismatic quartz before it combusts, shattering into thousands upon thousands of tiny pieces. The large water bubble moves toward the mountain face where the cave once was and pops. As the clear rainbow crystals merge with the ruby mountain, the water spills cascading down the mountain face onto the red forest floor. And before our eyes, a likeness of a winged male angel with a rainbow halo, a muscular torso, straight nose, and strong jaw emerges chiseled from the mountain in the spider’s place.
“That must be the one who gives you magic,” Nick says.
“You think?” I say, in awe of the creature depicted in ruby and rainbow crystal before us.
“I do.”
“He’s hot,” I say, and Nick lets out a chuckle as he shakes his head at me. Once we gather our things, we head back to the center of Shifter Forest.
Even though I joke about it, I am so grateful for this being—if it is a being—who brought me here and helped me through. Overwhelming gratitude resonates inside me and the rainbow within speaks without a voice. It tells me destiny and love joins us—we are a part of each other and always will be. Destiny ties us together for eternity. In our union, we are the purest love, the greatest strength, the most striking beauty, and the mightiest force—together we are every shade of every color throughout the realms.
Something about my connection to something like an angel, or even a rainbow, gives me a sense of contentment and peace I’ve never had until now, and although I could never know it to be certain, having faith it is true makes me feel more myself than I ever have. If that’s foolish, I’m fine with it.
The walk back to the shifter’s camp is short, and when we arrive, we find all the shifters surrounding the ones we freed from the web. They are tending to their wounds and ailments, feeding them, and bandaging them up. When they notice us, their eyes wide, shocked we returned, Werelion says, “You need fear your enemy no longer.”
After a moment of stunned silence, all the shifters bow, kneeling to him with their heads lowered in respect.
Shahina stands upright from the center of the crowd. Beside her is the male peregrine falcon shifter we pulled from the web.
“You did not defeat the spider yourself. The Rainbow Witch did it,” Shahina says, and it’s clear that shifter is the King they thought the spider murdered.
“That is not true,” Onna says, confident and self-possessed, unafraid of the self-proclaimed shifter queen, and she tells the story just how it happened, but Shahina is still unsatisfied.
“Is it or is it not true that when she sealed the cave, the spider reemerged and attacked, but only the Rainbow Witch defeated it.”
“No, it is not true,” says Onna. “The spider that emerged was not the spider who ensnared our people. The spider on the mountain was the Uttu, and we all know only magic could have defeated the Uttu. I watched her do it with my own eyes and if
it weren’t for Werelion’s unsurpassed bravery, the Rainbow Witch may not have been alive to destroy the Uttu once and for all. In its place is now a mighty bird shifter cradled by a rainbow. The witch gave us a gift and we should thank not only her but the Courageous and Magnificent Werelion for protecting us all.”
“To claim the throne—” Shahina starts and Onna cuts her off.
“He had to defeat the monster who was attacking our people, and he did. Its body lay in two at the foot of the mountain. See for yourself.”
“But—”
“Enough, Shahina,” her brother commands. “No other shifter is as ferocious, strong, or brave as he. I have been king for too long. I am old now. It is time for a new king, and there is no better shifter than Werelion to lead us.”
“Hail Werelion! King of the Shifters!” Onna says, and the shifters call out in their animal sounds as they bow down to Werelion as their king.
“Upon returning Dorothy to the civilized realm from which she hails, I will come back and rule over you. But for now, we must go to see the Red Witch,” Werelion says, and we bade them goodbye and continue on our journey to Glinda’s Castle.
30
The Redwoman Army
In no time at all, we emerged from the red forest into farmlands of red barns and coral grass with rubies jutting out of the ground in hexagonal clusters and strewn about like pebbles. Although it’s midday, no one is out. I can feel their presence though, feel their eyes on us as we walk southwest toward Glinda’s Castle past farmhouse after farmhouse painted every shade of red. It’s as though no one wants us to know they’re inside. I suppose I can’t blame them—we are a scary-looking group. So, we press on, snacking as we walk to avoid stopping for lunch, and before the sun sets, we make it to the outskirts of a large valley.
On the other side of the valley atop the mountain’s ridge stands Glinda’s Castle. It’s a city unto itself comprising carved and faceted rubies. Some walls are as sheer as rose-colored glass while other parts of the Castle are opaque and look like red and pink marble.
If the Emerald Palace is like the Palace at Versailles, then Glinda’s Castle is like Neuschwanstein on steroids. And like Emerald Palace, Glinda’s Castle oozes sparkling red magic—incarnadine mist twinkles as it cascades off the ridge—but unlike Emerald City, the magic doesn’t reach the valley.
Populated with houses and buildings built from red colored wood and red brick with ruby tinted windows, red brownstones line the brick roads each with their own unique shade of red or pink. Where the streets intersect, their colored bricks stagger. Flowers line every street and cover every tree in blooms. Flowers fill every yard, and flower gardens border the valley. Some might think it teeters into the overkill category, but from above—so many blooms mixed with the grid of vivid colored brick roads lined with buildings of matching shades—it looks like the Flower of Life pattern in pixels of reds and pinks.
“Look at that,” Ardie says at my side as he looks off the crest of the mountain.
“Who are you and what is your business here?” a female voice booms from behind us.
We turn our heads to find three teenage girls at our backs appraising us with severe eyes. Each soldier girl wears a crimson military uniform and heavy red leather combat boots. Unlike the uniforms of Emerald City with long-skirted coats and ornate decorations, these are slim fitting and look as though the girls who wear them might fight in them.
“Hi, I’m Dorothy. This is Nick Chopper, Emperor of Winkie Land; Werelion, King of Shifter Forest; The Wise Zombie Millard, Ruler of Emerald; And this is Toto, my dog. We came to see Glinda—we must speak with her.”
“Walk,” the blonde in the front commands, her full lips pressed in a firm line, and the other teenage soldiers look just as stern behind her.
“Sure, not a problem,” I say and start walking in the direction they nudge us toward. And we all descend the mountain walking the narrow path along the ridge.
Soon we come to a staircase of red brick, so we take it down to the foot of the mountain and into the valley. We walk through town in silence passing homes and apartments, delis and bakeries, markets and shops, clothing boutiques, even a department store. When we reach the foot of the mountain at the other side, we come to another staircase of red brick. We climb it to the top and come out into a courtyard filled with battalions of teenage girl soldiers in red uniforms, marching in formation, sparring, running laps, and behind the massive courtyard is Glinda’s Castle.
With their swords poking at our backs, they push us over to a redheaded woman with painted red lips in her mid-twenties wearing a military uniform. As we approach, a look of surprise takes over her symmetrical face.
“Do not move,” the blonde soldier commands and steps away. She hurries over to the redheaded woman and whispers in her ear, but her stern expression gives nothing away. She gives the blonde an order and approaches us while the blonde hurries into the castle.
“What is your business with Glinda?” the redhead asks.
“I’m hoping she can help me return to my realm.”
“Are you the witch who fell from the sky?”
“That’s me.”
“The one who’s been going around assassinating witches?”
“Vampire Witches,” Nick corrects.
“The first was an accident, and the second was by order of the Wizard. He promised to return me to my realm if I did it, so I did, and then he left to visit his wizard brother in the sky, so I’ve come here to ask if Glinda can send me home. If she can, great. If she can’t, fine.”
“Not fine,” Nick says.
“Whatever, just tell her we’re here, please,” I say, tired of her looking at me with narrowed eyes, and I don’t appreciate being accused of showing up to kill her. If that’s why I came, I wouldn’t tell her who I was then would I?
“Do I look like a messenger?” she sneers.
“Yeah, you kind of do,” I say, and she narrows her eyes at me. “Perhaps you should introduce yourself.”
“General Titiana, and I need no formal introduction to any of you.”
“You have terrible manners,” I say with disdain—I can’t stand rudeness.
Good manners are how we show others respect. Without them, you are disrespecting the people around you. At least that’s what Aunt Em always says. I tend to agree, because being on the other end of this rude woman makes me feel as though she is disrespecting me, and it rubs me the wrong way.
She huffs a light laugh and says, “I’ve heard that before,” she says and shrugs.
“It’s amazing you’re still alive,” I say with a threatening grin just like hers.
The blonde soldier returns and whispers in the General’s ear.
“Attention!” the General shouts, and every soldier stops and kneels, lowering their heads.
The massive front doors of the castle fly open and out comes Glinda in a beautiful red silk gown beaded with actual rubies. Her vibrant dark red hair is curled to perfection and adorned with ruby-studded combs in a style straight out of an old movie starring Rita Hayworth or Ginger Rogers. When she spots us, she smiles bright as she beelines over.
“Ah, you must be the Kansas girl I’ve been hearing so much about,” she says as though she knows where Kansas is.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Well, isn’t it just ducky you came! Come! Come in,” she says as she turns and heads back inside waving for us to follow.
We follow Glinda into her ruby castle as I pray she has no clue how to send me home, because if she does I could leave Nick in minutes, and I know I’m not prepared for that. Not in the slightest.
31
The Red Witch
“It’s nice to meet a fellow American in these parts,” she says as she saunters down a long ruby corridor with us following along.
Astounded, although I don’t know why, I ask, “You’re from my realm? How did you get here?”
“Plane if you can believe it. Back then I was an aviator. Well, it was a h
obby—I was an archeologist by trade. When I was in East Africa with the tribes of Mount Kenya—the Kikuyu, the Embu, Meru, and so on and so forth—I took off in my plane, got caught in a storm, stuck in an air current, tossed around for at least a day, and when I landed, it was right here on this mountain. It amazed me to find I had magical powers of all things. How about you?” Glinda says as she walks us through her giant ruby castle.
“A definite shock, but the boots started it.”
When she looks down at my feet, her eyes widen.
“Ah! You have them now! Oh, good to know Gayelette hasn’t gotten her grubby mitts on them.”
“The Vampire Witch of the East wore them,” Ardie says.
“Yes, well, Gayelette stole them from me first.”
“The vampire bat monkeys said they were yours first,” I say.
“They sure were. They’re yours now. What a cute little bloodhound,” Glinda says and pets Toto who licks her hand hello.
“His name is Toto.”
“Isn’t it strange they have so many animals but no dogs? Werewolves they have, but no dogs.”
“Yeah, why is that?”
“Dogs just didn’t evolve from wolves here. Cats are the only domesticated animals in the realm and very few people have pets. Cats just show up and decide they are living in your house and you are feeding them. Some people keep them around and some don’t.”
“Weird.”
“Very,” she says as we approach a rose-colored crystal door. “This lift will take you to your rooms. After such a long trip, I’m sure you want to rest. Transportation is not up to par around here, but they don’t have the infrastructure to do it. Magic does the job, but still, your gams must be tired,” she says as the doors slide open to the round, translucent ruby elevator that looks out over the valley and the courtyard.
We step inside and Glinda looks at us with a bright smile from the other side.
“Relax, rest, rejuvenate, and I will have food sent to your rooms tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll have breakfast together. Sound good?”
Dorothy In the Land of Monsters Page 47
