by Tarl Telford
"I find it easier to transport my materials on roads. You may lead them, Wizard. I need only awaken them, and they will follow orders."
Nikidik pulled a square green bottle. "This concoction has been passed down my family for many generations. It awakens the form and gives it life. A single drop placed on the back of the neck awakens them." His gaze darted to Kally's face, gauging her expression. "This is the opposite of the Stilling the Dreaming Life Inside potion."
Kally's face showed no hint of recognition. Professor Nikidik filed that tidbit away for future reference. Apparently not all of the knowledge had been passed from her ancestors down to her. She was not the adversary he had believed her to be. "Interesting."
"What is interesting?" Kally demanded.
"Everything. Everything I create is interesting." Nikidik replied.
"How have you built them if they were not awake?" Kally asked.
"A magician never reveals his secrets. There are power sources in this place to bring life to the most lowly construct. This unguent of life will awaken them and they will be alive."
"Is this what you used on Margolotte?" Kally asked cautiously.
"She aided in the development of the unguent. I required sufficient to raise the army. Once I complete the Crown of the Dreamer, I will have no more need of the unguent. I can raise them in perfection." One by one, Nikidik added a drop on the back of the automatons' necks, and they roused to animation. "These are a sampling of what will be yours, Witch. Walkers, Hoppers, Head-Throwers, and Rolling Thunderbugs are a small representation of the larger army."
He gestured to the Wizard. "Wizard, at your pleasure, you may lead them out."
At last, Oscar left. He led the line of strange automatons along the brick road and around the bend, leaving Kally and Professor Nikidik alone.
"The Wizard will not return to the South Castle. Glinda has taken residence there."
"Oh. I was not aware that Quelala's heir was in control. Has she unlocked the secrets..."
"I have not traveled south. My army--"
"Is not for the Emerald City." Nikidik deduced.
"It has a purpose."
"Of course." Professor Nikidik flipped up the mask on the Crown of the Dreamer. "Where would you like the second army?"
"The border of the Winkie lands and Quadling lands. I will meet you there. I may have an additional customer for your services, Professor. I know a king that could use such an army."
"You know my price. Have this king come to me or send his representative. If we can come to an agreement, these armies shall walk Oz and we shall have peace."
Kally looked out after Oscar. Then she looked back to Nikidik. "The Powder of Petrefaction--I want it."
"You have your army."
"The Wizard has given you shadows in cages." Kally countered.
"You broke my machine pipe, and he broke my boiler."
"He pulled ruby down from the ceiling, where none had existed before, and created cages. The cages hold trapped shadows that walked away from the walls on their own. The power in these shadows, Professor, think of it. How many can say that they have been working with things with no body of flesh. If this is what you truly meant by your experiments to rival Gayelette, the Wizard has given you all that you need. That price more than covers the Powder of Petrefaction."
Professor Nikidik looked down the cavern after Oscar, then he looked back toward his laboratory. "You drive a hard bargain, but you are correct. Again, Witch, you are ending up on the wrong side of this deal. You are handing away power for a pittance."
"Let it be my loss." Kally's golden eyes glowed with short-sighted hunger.
"I will get the powder."
Kally waited impatiently for several minutes as Nikidik retrieved the powder in the small vial. She was surprised to see Professor Nikidik hurrying toward her. He pressed the small vial into her hands. "More shadows. Excellent. This is...you, Witch...I am the victor. I shall see Gayelette turn in her grave. I have all that I need. I will meet you on the plains between the lands." Then he offered a warning. "If you use the Powder of Petrefaction on the Wizard, bring him to me when you are done with him. I would like to study him further."
"I will remember that." Kally said, and she walked away. She had received the weapons she needed, but she also had a new rival for true power. She would have to watch this one carefully.
HH2: Chapter 17. Among the Munchkins
The Wizard looked over the constructs of metal and smiled. "The army that will end war in Oz--this is a fine day, a day to be long remembered. What we do here will change Oz forever. We will end war and allow humans to do what humans do best--dream and create stories and art and be truly free." Oscar held his head up high and marched at the head of his inhuman army.
"That is what humans do best?" Kally asked, one eyebrow raised high. "That does not sound like anyone that I know."
"Maybe you need to get out and meet more people. You might be surprised at how good people can be."
"We are passing through Munchkin Country. Perhaps we can meet some of these good people there. We can amass quite an entourage."
"A crowd." Oscar frowned. "I don't see how that would help. We have an army--a small army. I thought it could just be you and me walking."
"Nikidik is welcome to walk with us. I can invite him." Kally offered.
"No." Oscar held up his hands. "I think it is better that it is just you and I. This is going to be a surprise for everyone in Emerald City. The more people we see the less chance I have of actually surprising anybody."
"I guarantee that this army will surprise, just like it is meant to." Kally assured him.
Oscar forced a tired smile. "Good. We can go, then." He walked a few steps and then stopped. "Wait a minute." Oscar protested. "We are not going through Munchkin Country. Kalinya is the enemy. She will kill us if she can. She has sworn eternal enmity against Glinda and her friends."
"Glinda is not here." Kally clarified. "Ah, but her friends also, which includes you. I see."
"How could you not see that? Of course it includes me--I'm the Wizard!"
"She's not there."
"What?"
"Kalinya is not there. I didn't want to tell you this, because I thought you'd tell Glinda. Kalinya is gone. She's gone into exile--something about searching for meaning in the forest."
"Like Thoreau."
"What?"
"Henry David Thoreau--he wanted a simpler life. Moved to the forest. Wrote books."
"Okay. Something like that. She's gone. She won't bother us if we go through. Come on, Wizard, we're just passing through the land of the East."
"With an army!" Oscar exclaimed.
"Only a small one. I promise you, the Munchkins will love it."
* * * * *
A small boy named Boq, who was proudly six years old, ran out of the forest as the army approached the fields. He immediately fell into step with Oscar. "Hullo."
"Hello, there. What's your name?"
"Boq. I'm six."
"That's a good age to be. Where are you from, Boq?"
"Here. My house is in the village, by the bridge."
Kally kept glancing over at the boy. He was older now than when she had seen him last. She said nothing.
"My brother is dead." Boq said after a few seconds.
"I'm sorry." Oscar glanced over at Kally. She shrugged and stayed silent. "How did he die?"
"In the rain. The monsters came. He fought them. I saw. He chopped a hand off. Stabbed the giant through the heart." Boq jumped around, swinging his imaginary sword. "Then the monster hit him."
"You have quite an imagination." Kally said.
"Then the witch came."
Kally jumped. Her face paled.
"Oh, I see. What witch was that?" Oscar asked, smiling.
"Her." Boq pointed at Kally.
"She's not a witch. Her mother is a witch." Oscar explained. "Kally isn't a witch."
"Oh." Said Boq. He kicked a rock in the ro
ad. "I thought she was."
"It's easy to fit people into the stories that we have in our heads. Sometimes the stories seem very real, but we have to know what is a story and what is real."
"But it was real." Boq insisted.
"It might have been real, but Kally is not a witch." Oscar corrected.
"Okay." Boq kicked another rock. "Hey, what are these guys you're leading? Are they your army?"
Kally sighed in relief. "We are taking them to train. Just passing through the village."
"What are their names?"
Oscar glanced at Kally. She said, "They don't have names. They're just soldiers."
"Everybody has a name. Like that guy on stilts. I think his name is Big Leebo. And the fat guy is Little Pecan."
"Why is that name even good?" Kally asked. Her face was screwed up in confusion.
"Because he is fat. And pecan pie is the best. And he likes to eat pie. Lot and lotsa pecan pie. He says, 'I'll take a little pecan.' At dinner."
"That's a good reason." Oscar agreed.
As they reached the top of the hill, Munchkin Village came into view.
"What are they doing?" Oscar asked Kally. "That framework there, what is it?"
Kally smiled triumphantly. "That is the Witch's cathedral. It is their rite of passage."
"Ever'body gots to go backwards like this." Boq walked backwards to demonstrate his skill. "Then the tall guys bump their heads and ring the bells. Ding-dong, the Witch has said."
Oscar glanced over at Kally. He saw her twisted smile, but wasn't quite sure what the boy was talking about. "What has the Witch said?"
"Tall can only stay if their children gonna pay." Boq rhymed.
Kally's eyes widened. "I had not heard that. Go on, child."
Boq shrugged. "Taller than the witch, go and dig a ditch. Closer to the ground, never seen or found. Easy."
"So the people--the Munchkins--walk backwards through that wooden passageway. If they are too tall, they bump their heads and ring bells, and then they have to leave? Who made these rules?"
"The Witch Queen rules this land absolutely. I would not question if I were you."
"I do question it. Who can control their stature--how tall they stand?"
"According to you, Wizard, any man can control how tall he stands. Or don't you remember liberty?"
"That is not what I meant and you know it, Kally. I meant that a man doesn't control his height."
"Listen to yourself. You are not seeing the greater picture. If a person is not raising their head to look for freedom, they don't ring the bells. So it's up to them whether they want to stand tall or not. Mostly they don't just to fit in. Isn't that right, child?"
Boq shrugged. "I guess. But someday I'm going to be tall enough to ring every single bell."
"Every one of them?" Kally asked, smiling sarcastically.
"Yup. All of them. I'm going to be so tall, just like Big Leebo." He pointed back to the tall automaton that he named.
"That's a good boy. Why don't you go sound the alarm? Tell the people that an army has come." Kally suggested.
"Yeah. Everyone will be so neat to see them." Boq ran ahead of them. "I'll go tell."
Boq shouted and hollered all the way down the hill. The Munchkins in the town square turned to look up the blue-green hill. They trembled as they saw the small army. The people hurried through the Witch's cathedral, until every one of them stood on the far side of the wooden framework. They stood at the base of the statue of Kalinya. Boq ran through the passageway to find his parents.
Oscar and Kally led the army through the center of town to stop in the town square.
"Why are they afraid?" Oscar whispered to Kally.
"Two years ago an army marched here. They had Kalinya to protect them then. They do not have her now."
"But there are at least twenty times as many of them. They outnumber us. And we don't mean them any harm."
"They don't know that."
Emeritus King Widdershins slowly waddled to the town square, where he took his place in front of the entrance to the Witch's cathedral. "You have come into our land with an army, Stranger. Who are you? And what is your intention?"
Kally began to speak, "We--"
"I am Oz, the Great. We are leading the Royal Army through your land on a tour."
A shout from back in the crowd came, "Oz is a fiery head!"
"Oz is invisible!" came another shout.
"Oz is not a man!" came another.
"Yes, but--"
Boq pushed his way through the crowd and tugged on Emeritus King Widdershins' robes of state. "Those are his soldiers. That one is Big Leebo. And that one is Little Pecan."
"Be quiet, child." Widdershins pushed the child back behind him.
Boq pushed his way back out. Widdershins held his robes in front of the boy. Boq went around the other way.
"They are real nice." The boy said.
Widdershins puffed out his chest. "We are a peaceful people, unengaged in war. We do not desire war. Additionally, and in fact, I do not believe that you are Oz. The Great Wizard would not walk among the people with such a small army. Moreover, the Wizard does not need an army. He is more powerful than us all."
Oscar stood a little taller and fought to keep the smile from his face, but it shone clearly in his eyes. Kally eyed him narrowly. Boq looked with awe up at Oscar. He believed.
Oscar said, "We are passing through. With your permission, my good king--"
"He's not king." Kally interrupted. When Oscar looked quizzically at her, she continued. "King Emeritus, sometimes called Duke. Kalinya is Queen and ruler of the Munchkins."
The rotund Munchkin frowned but nodded. "That...is correct. Our Queen and Protector shall hear of this." To his honor guard, he said, "Dispatch a runner to her Majesty and inform her of these strangers and their army. We shall see who receives their due punishment. If she is not in her dwelling, find her."
A runner immediately ran away from the square.
"We should leave." Kally took Oscar by the elbow. Quietly she said, "We don't want to be here when they discover that their Queen Protector is missing. There could be panic."
"We wouldn't want to panic them. Why would they want to be so short, anyway? I don't understand. I don't especially like it." Oscar whispered.
As they led the small army away from the city square, Kally answered the Wizard. "Their Queen Protector has spoken. No one in the land can be taller than her. We only saw the short ones. There are no more tall ones. Perhaps they are digging ditches or selling their children."
"You say that like you are proud of her accomplishment." Oscar said, casting a sideways glance at Kally. He frowned. "It's a good think you're not in charge. I'd be exiled in a heartbeat, even though I am short."
"Yes." Kally agreed.
* * * * *
Boq followed the army as it walked through the woods. Boq stayed close enough that he could hear some of the talk between the Wizard and the Witch.
"--fighting so no more death. Silver and gold could bring..."
"No...Emerald City...freedom...unless..."
"Liberty...destruction..."
The army followed a strange route that eventually led through the forest back to a large wheeled machine surrounded by baskets. The boy heard the Wizard say that this machine was the Hamstrambulator. That was a funny word. But it was a funny machine.
Boq hid behind a tree. The witch led her automaton army away from the setting sun. The Wizard reattached the running legs to the large wheel of the Hamstrambulator. He watched Kally lead the metal and wood soldiers further through the forest. The Wizard sighed deeply.
In the center of the clearing, the sun broke through the trees to send a beam directly down on the Wizard. Oscar stood in a fading beam of late afternoon sunlight, feeling the warm ray flow over his face. He spread out his arms. "Almost soon, Father. Almost soon I will be free from war. Then I will be free."
Kally fussed with the robots near the Hamstrambula
tor. She was out of earshot. Boq crept a little bit closer to the Wizard.
Boq heard a whispering voice next to him. "If you want to see change, make it happen. Dream to change the world." He jumped and looked around, but there was no body to go with the voice.
"Grow in years and in wisdom." The voice spoke again.
Boq stood very still. A small bird whistled near his ear. He could not feel it, but he could hear it. Something magical was happening.
"You will see things in your life that will be wonderful--the stories you will tell your children."
"Who are you?"
"I am the voice of freedom. If you are a friend to me, I will always be near."
"I will."
In the clearing, Oscar turned halfway and smiled.
Boq froze. Had the Wizard seen him?
"The army is ready to move. Are you finished with your little relaxation moment?" Kally entered the clearing.
Oscar glanced around. "Yes, I believe my work here is finished."
"The work is never done. There is always more power."
"Power must be controlled and used only when necessary." Oscar chided.
"Power must be gained before it can be controlled." Kally shot back. "Remember our purpose. We are going to take power from one who unrightfully gained it. As you say, Wizard, power must be used responsibly. We are going to gain power, and then we will use it responsibly."
"It is a nice afternoon. I would like to rest for a while longer."
"We have a mission. This was your idea, remember that."
"I remember, but I am tired."
"What would the world think of a wizard who is tired? What would the world think if they knew that you were not so great and wonderful as they thought?"
"I do not care what the world as a whole thinks of me."
"Then what do I think?" Kally asked. Her amber eyes pierced his heart.
"I don't know. You want me to keep pushing. I want to, but I am so tired."
"Make your mind do the work. Your mind can do what your body cannot. That is the nature of magic. You are a wizard, are you not?"
"So people say."
"You are a wizard. It is not rhetorical. You have power to change the world."
Boq stepped carefully around a tree to get a better view of the witch. When he saw her in profile, he was certain--she was the witch from so long ago. It was only two years, but that was nearly a lifetime to the little boy. His foot stepped carelessly, and he slipped and fell to his knees. His grunt burst out, breaking the silence.
