by S Cinders
His eyes stared at mine, while I tried to see the man that I had fallen in love with.
“It is I,” he bowed his head.
“Are you stuck like this?” I whispered.
“Do not be afraid of me, Indy,” He brought his large head and brushed my cheek with his inky black fur. “I finally understand my past.”
The large white unicorn spoke, “Then you know that it was foretold, one day the black unicorn would rise from the midst of us to rule in peace and prosperity.”
“I know your legends,” Scarecrow replied simply.
“Why is your coat black as night and the others are shades of white?” I touched his black fur. The softness had me keeping my hand on him.
The white unicorn answered for him, “A unicorn’s coat represents everything they have gone through. Their subjection to trials, adversity, and heartache, a badge of honor through the deepening shades.”
My heart felt as if it shattered into tiny pieces. Scarecrow’s coat wasn’t a muddy brown or even a gray. He was pure shiny black silk, almost blue in certain lights. I knew that life hadn’t been easy for him. But this, it was unexpected.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, braiding my fingers into his mane.
“I love you,” I whispered.
I hated that he couldn’t hold me.
“Come, Son of Haslan, you may bring your chosen mate as a pet, but the others must leave!”
This white unicorn was really starting to piss me off.
“How can we turn you back into a human again?” I searched his eyes as if they might hold the clue.
“When the time is right, I will transition back,” he said quietly.
Then turning to the herd, he raised his head, and they all lowered theirs.
“These people are guests of mine and will be treated with the utmost respect. I am the son of Haslan, but you will address me as Scarecrow or not at all.”
“Your father was a great leader. There is nothing wrong with being associated with him,” the white unicorn ventured bravely.
Scarecrow blew hot air out of his nostrils, “My father left his herd on a journey of pleasure seeking. The pool revealed all to me. He traded his horn for a man’s body and then went about spreading his seed far and wide. Why the goddess allowed me to form in my mother’s womb, I don’t know. But I do know that he abandoned her the moment he learned I was coming into the world. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Unicorns are the highest of all life forms,” the white unicorn said loftily. “Haslan owned that woman nothing.”
I felt the anger radiating off of Scarecrow.
“You had best hold your tongue,” his eyes started to glow red.
Shit.
Was the beast still present even in the Unicorn body?
“That woman was my mother,” I saw his teeth lengthen into fangs.
Scarecrow was frightening and strangely beautiful as his body seemed to double in size.
The Unicorners were scared and bowed their heads in fear.
I felt the rustle of wind behind me and turned to catch sight of two giant wings sprouting from Scarecrow’s back.
“Holy fuck,” I muttered.
His gaze turned to me, “Do you see why I cannot turn back yet?”
I nodded slowly.
Scarecrow was magnificent.
“Now, I will say it again. You will let my friends pass over your land in peace. If there are any problems, I will eat every last one of your little blue Dwarves, and you can get off your lazy asses and do things for yourself.
The Unicorners shuffled back as if they had been struck. Tails whipped angrily, and there were several snorts of indignation, but not one of them disputed Scarecrow’s demands.
I turned to my sister, “You and Steele gather the monkeys, we need to be on our way to Mount Munch.”
“You will ride with me, Indy,” Scarecrow demanded, in that dark voice.
“Aw, hell no!” Steele cursed, “I will be the only idiot to have to be carried by the damn monkeys!”
El smirked, “What’s wrong, Tin Man? Everyone deserves a chance to fly, don’t think of yourself as limited.”
Steele grabbed her and planted a rather heated kiss that had me looking anywhere but at them. By the time he sat her back down, she was swaying slightly.
“Together we are unlimited,” he growled and then stopped off in the direction of the monkey’s.
El turned to me with swollen lips and a gleeful smile, “I can’t help teasing him sometimes.”
“You are wicked,” I said grinning.
“So are you!” El laughed and ran after Steele.
I turned to Scarecrow. His back seemed impossibly high off the ground. How in the hell was I supposed to get up there?
As if reading my mind, Scarecrow bent his front knees and lowered his head.
“Climb on, Indy, time is getting late, we must move.”
I struggled to climb on and grabbed his mane to steady myself. I am pretty sure his eyes flashed, and I heard more than one curse.
Finally, I slipped into place just above where his wings folded in.
“You must hold tight, Indy,” Scarecrow was giving sound advice, but what he didn’t realize was that I was holding on for dear life.
I wrapped my hands into his mane, and my knees clutched his massive body. Leaning low I whispered, “Don’t drop me.”
He laughed, it was unusual, but it warmed me to my toes.
“Nothing and no one will harm you, Indy.”
“How can you be so confident?” I asked.
“The pool, it told me things,” was his cryptic reply.
“I hope that it told you how to defeat Dorothy and what we need to do to get you walking about on two feet again.”
That laugh again, “Perhaps it did.”
It damn well better have.
"I am sorry about your father."
I know that I could have waited until a better moment to tell him that, but it needed saying.
His back muscles tightened underneath my thighs, and I felt him stiffen.
"Do not be sorry," he rumbled, "I had figured that it was something of that sort. And if my plan goes as I want it to, he may have provided me the way for us to be together."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Indy, he gave his horn to be mortal. Maybe I can do the same, and we will live a normal life together. Have children and grow old, that is my dream. I want to be with you."
I felt more swelling in my throat, "I want that too."
And then I thought for a moment, "I thought that unicorns had to eat the silver apples to have eternal life?"
He threw his head back and almost dislodged me, "That is what they tell people, but in truth, the apples are nasty to taste and only look pretty. The Unicorners enjoy when mortals steal the fruit and get sick from it."
"Bastards!" I snorted.
He laughed more, "I am not arguing with you there."
CHAPTER 50 - PART 5 – Indy
We flew over the Unicorners land without having to dodge any arrows or bullets. Steele pouted the entire time the monkey’s carried him. I tried not to laugh, but El wasn’t as kind.
“No good deed goes unpunished, Tin Man!”
He shot her an obscene gesture, she blew him a kiss.
“I feel as if they are pulling me apart!” Steele grumbled as he shook his arms and legs dramatically.
Scarecrow snorted, “When we land we can gather your legs and chest and put you back together again.”
Steele’s mouth flattened into a straight line, “You are hilarious.”
“I wouldn’t want them to knock the stuffing out of you,” El flew close to him.
“Don’t start!” he pouted, but it was just then that I saw Mount Munch.
“We're there,” I called out, “We’ve got to find Dorothy!”
Mount Munch was straight up, and we seemed to be somewhere near the middle of it. Up, up, and up some more we flew, trying to find the
top. But it seemed the higher we flew, the more that mountain grew.
The air was feeling thin, and we were high above the clouds when I saw the top.
We approached the precipice and gently landed on the firm ground. It was terrifying to look over the edge and see nothing but clouds and blue sky. It gave one a feeling of being upside down because no matter where you looked, it was all the same.
There was a lot of foliage on the top of the mountain, which surprised me. A forest lay to the right and crops were being grown by the inhabitants of Mount Munch to the right. A few Hyups approached before bowing low.
“Your Majesty, you honor us with your visit. I am Fern, and this is Rain.”
Fern looked to be around middle aged, his beard was quite long, but he had kind eyes. Rain must have been his teenage daughter.
I smiled, “Thank you, Fern and Rain, we have much to discuss.”
Fern’s face wrinkled, “I beg your pardon, miss, but we were speaking to the royalty.”
El’s laugh sputtered out of her.
I must have looked like I swallowed a lemon.
“We are royalty,” I gritted out. “My twin sister and I are daughters of the King.”
The daughter came forward, “My father means no disrespect, Witch Queens, it is only that we recognize the blood of Haslan.”
“Bloody hell!”
Scarecrow snorted, “Please, call me Scarecrow.”
They looked as if they had died and gone to heaven just because he spoke to them.
El stepped forward, “We are looking for a girl, about your age, Rain. She has brown hair that she wears in pigtails. Her dress is blue and white gingham, she carries around a small picnic basket with a dog inside.”
I turned to El, “She is also wearing ruby red shoes, don’t forget to add that part.”
“And she is wearing my sister’s favorite heels,” I could feel her roll her eyes even though I didn’t see it.
“We know of whom you speak,” Fern looked around furtively. “She has a prisoner. It is a woman with long red hair.”
“Mombi,” I breathed, “She is our elder sister.”
“Is she alone?” Steele asked.
“No,” Fern replied, “She has a pride of lions at her beck and call, but there is something wrong with the way they looked. I am positive they are under an enchantment.”
El bit her lip, “Where are they?”
“A half days ride into the forest,” he began, “But Witch Queens, there are many dangers in the forest.”
“We will fly over it,” I shrugged.
“You must not,” Rain rushed to say, “The air just above the trees is filled with toxins, the only way through the forest is on foot.”
“Or hoof?” Scarecrow added, “Perhaps, El, you can change Steele into something that will help us get there faster?”
“Oh, hell no! No—no—no!”
Steele threw his hands in the air, “It’s bad enough I smell like monkey butt, I draw the line at transfiguration on myself. A man can only take so much!”
El tipped her head to the side, “What’s wrong, Tin Man? Don’t you trust me?”
“Not even a little bit,” he retorted. “I love you, but I know you.”
El smiled widely, “Then you won’t be surprised at this.”
She flicked her wrist and Steele transformed into a massive draft horse. The only thing was that instead of onyx black or sable brown, his coat was a shocking bright green.
Scarecrow snorted while I burst into giggles, “El, you really shouldn’t have!”
“What?” she replied innocently, “It’s my favorite color.”
Steele stamped his hoofs and shook his head. His eyes, bright with fury.
“Hold still,” El demanded, “I cannot mount you when you are having a tantrum!”
I don’t think Steele wanted to be mounted. In fact, I am confident that he wanted to mount her head to the nearest wall.
“Don’t be such a baby,” She crooned, “You don’t want me to use my magic again, do you?”
“Wait a minute! I thought your magic didn’t work on Steele?” I blurted out.
El’s grin widened, “When Cass healed me, she infused some of her magic into my body when she shared her lifeforce. That is where I got the ability to fly and, apparently, now my magic works on Steele. It is quite beneficial, don’t you think?”
Fern and Rain looked lost, but there was way too much to the story to go into with them.
Steele stomped stamping and prancing around. He couldn’t talk in this form, but his eyes spoke volumes.
“Are you going to allow me up now?” El walked to Steele and gently laid a hand on the flat of his long nose.
Steele’s head dipped once, giving her permission.
After kneeling, much as Scarecrow did, El climbed aboard as if she had been doing such things all our lives, which I knew full well that she hadn’t.
“Wait! El, Indy, don’t leave without us!”
And to my complete shock, Glinda appeared just past the edge of the cliff, held tight in Gregory’s arms. He flew her over to where we were standing, huge golden wings attached to his back.
It would appear that Gregory had eaten the golden pear from his garden.
“You can’t fly where we are going,” I quickly brought them up to speed.
“That is Scarecrow?” Glinda blurted out as she stared in horror at his unicorn form.
Scarecrow huffed impatiently, “We are wasting valuable time. El, do your magic on Gregory and let us be off.”
“What magic?” Gregory bristled, but it was too late to argue.
El had already magicked him into a large stallion.
“Pink?” my lips twitched.
“It’s my favorite color!” Glinda beamed.
El’s eyes twinkled, “Only the best for you, baby sister.”
Gregory and Steele had similar pissed off looks about them. I had no idea that horses could convey that much emotion.
Glinda fluttered over to him, “Gregory, you are the bravest prince!”
She kissed his mane and threw her arms around his neck.
I hoped to hell that I didn’t look that idiotic when I hugged Scarecrow. But somehow, I knew that I must have done.
“Enough,” Scarecrow boomed, “Let’s go!”
Glinda didn’t even need Gregory to kneel. She just grasped his mane and swung herself up like cowgirl Barbie. I fought rolling my eyes. We were going to need all the help we could get.
Even from my baby sister who wore too much glitter and rode a pink jackass—erm, horse.
CHAPTER 51 - PART 5 – Indy
We rode hard for about an hour when we encountered the first hazard of the forest. The trees began to rearrange themselves, causing us to become confused and lose direction.
“Perhaps we could climb the trees and see if we are headed the right way?” Glinda suggested.
I shook my head, “They said there are toxins in the air above the trees. That is not a chance I am willing to take.”
Indy wrinkled her brow, “Is there a way to tag the trees so we know when we have passed them?”
She tried putting a magical mark in the shape of an x on a tree and then another. We rode for a few minutes and out of nowhere every tree started glowing with x symbols.
“They have to be interconnected somehow, “I called out.
Elphaba frowned, “There is no possible way that the trees are intelligent enough to not only communicate, but change their physical attributes on a whim.”
I turned to her, “Then you explain it.”
She tossed her fingers and the closest tree’s x disappeared. As we looked to each of the other trees marks, they began to fade. She repeated it with color, soon we had pink trees, blue trees, stripped trees.
It didn’t matter which tree she cursed, they all mimicked what had happened to the first one. My patience level was sinking by the second.
I raised my hand and called out, “You have five seconds
to yield to the Witch Queens, if you do not, I will burn this forest to the ground.”
Flames leapt from my palms, spraying out with sparks of light.
The trees look a step back, and then another. Suddenly one of the trees reverted back to its normal color and shape. One by one each of the trees became brown and green again.
That had worked a lot better than I had expected.
It wasn’t until we went another one hundred feet and began to sink into the quicksand, that I realized they didn't give a rat’s ass about anything I had said to threaten them. They were just smart enough to stay away from the Sand Lands.
The horses began to sink. The more they thrashed the further they sank.
“You must be calm!” Glinda screamed, “The more you move, the faster you will shrink.”
That was easier said than done.
“Magic, El,” my pleading eyes met my sisters, and we nodded together.
“What?” Glinda cocked her head, “Are you using your evil twin powers again?”
I snorted, “You need to get out more, Lin. We don’t have any twin powers.”
I heard her mumble something about the twins being super pain the asses, which was rather clever for our stick in the mud sister.
“I read somewhere that quicksand is rarely more than a few feet deep,” El tapped her chin, “They said that you need to lay back and try to swim away from the sand.”
Scarecrow snorted his annoyance, “I am not in a form where I can lay on my back and swim!”
My lips twitched.
“It isn’t funny, Indy!”
My smile gave way to surprise, “I wasn’t even talking.”
“But I know you,” Scarecrow warned, “I know you have visions of the three of us guys trapped. So, if your mind is doing what I think it is, you and the girls will not be moving on without us.”
I flushed, “I would never suggest such a thing!”
He grumbled something under his breath and then I felt him trying to buck me off.
“Indy, can you climb from my back to dry land?”
I looked over to dry ground.
“Yeah, I think so.” I stood up in the saddle and then leapt for what seemed like my life.
I landed none too gently.
“Those of you that are stuck. Lay back and slowly make your way over to Indy. She will help to pull you out.”
