Dimensional Reality: Oz (Ch. 4)R

  Good eve to all.  Thank those of you that have noted my story entries and given me your feedback.  I’ll post an actual entry on here soon, probably tomorrow.  Anyway, here’s the next chapter to DR: Oz.  Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 4

            He was so close to her tender skin that she could feel the heat emanating from the brand.  She couldn’t focus enough to see what it was, only that it was an “O” with something inside it.  She closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain.  She knew it was close, the munchkins were yelling louder than ever.  She felt a current of air pass close to her face and suddenly all became very quiet.  She opened her eyes cautiously to see the leader looking around confused and angry.  She looked past him, and could barely make out the far wall of a broken down house where the brand was pinned to the wall with an arrow.  Her vision blurred again before she could make out anything else.  The leader had picked up a crude, double headed ax and with a group of warriors began marching toward the woods where the arrow had come from.  It wasn’t long before there was a blur of motion and a loud thudding sound.  The leader managed to turn around and face the group.  In the middle of his forehead was another arrow.  He gurgled and pitched forward on his face.  The warriors stood their ground for a moment and then broke and ran back to the safety of the group.  There was the sound of steel ringing from the woods and then a hooded figure emerged with a sword in one hand and a ball of flame in the other.  The munchkins cried out at the appearance of this being, but stood together.  The figure raised the sword to catch the light of the feeble sun and the flames grew to the size of a barrel.  The munchkins broke and ran into the city ruins.  The figure looked around for a few moments then extinguished the flame and sheathed the sword.  The figure threw back the hood to reveal a young man.  Dorothy vision was too blurred to tell much else about him.  He walked over to her and put a hand over her thigh, where the fang protruded out.  He whispered a few words and she felt a spreading warmth from there.  Then, quickly and cleanly, he pulled the fang out of her thigh.  She groaned and realized that she could move again, she could speak again.

            “They’ve been frightened, but we need to go now before they come back in force.”

            He pulled a dagger out and cut her bonds, gently easing her to the ground.  He rubbed her ankles and wrists, surging feeling back into them.  She tried to stand, with his help, but as soon as she was upright her nausea overtook her and she stumbled over to the broken flowerbeds and was promptly sick.  It took her a few moments but she was able to calm her heaving stomach.  She could feel the young man holding her hair away from her face as he gently supported her.  His hands felt blessedly cool on her fevered skin.  She felt so weak, she still couldn’t focus for more than a few moments.  She tried to stand and knew immediately she was going to faint.  She had the vague hope that she didn’t fall into the flowerbed she had thrown up in before the man caught her and picked her up in his arms.  She heard a bird singing and was thinking how beautiful the song was when she passed out.  The man steadied her in his arms and walked out of the broken city.