Oz

“Can I ask you something, Row?” Rowan glanced at Niall. They were skirting the walls of the castle, the two of them the only people in sight. The walls stretched up high, ivy covering the cracked and old stone. Both Niall and Rowan had their bows in their hands, and arrow strung. “I know that was technically a question, but you know what I mean.”

“You’re probably going to ask anyways,” she answered, smiling at him. She scanned the area where they had stopped. She couldn’t see anything in any direction, but her spine was tingling, like something was approaching. “So get on with it.”

“Did you- do you ever blame me for…. y’know, what happened with your family?”

Rowan snapped her head in Niall’s direction. Her heart quickened and her stomach sank as she frowned at him, her brows pulling together. She began shaking her head vigorously, almost sick with the thought that Niall could have ever thought that.

When Niall and Rowan had first met, they were impossible to get apart. Niall and Rowan had been running around the apple trees, dodging the projectiles the trees were throwing at them when Rowan’s family house had caught fire. It was a kitchen accident, something so simple but so devastating.

Rowan had lost a brother and a mother in her fire. Her father had been out in the fields, and Rowan had been neglecting her duties at home, out and about with the blonde boy who she was falling in love with faster and faster. She hadn’t been there to help, hadn’t been around to save them.

“What in all of Oz would ever make you think that?” she breathed, walking up to Niall. He had his head hung slightly, biting his lip. She touched his arm lightly, drawing his attention to her. “I could never blame you for the tragedy that befell my family. Please tell me I’ve never lead you to believe that, it would make me sick.”

“No, no. I’ve just always blamed myself for you feeling so guilty, Rowan.”

“Niall, I would never hold you accountable.”

“You just… sometimes it seems like you’re wary of our friendship. It only happens sometimes, but I’ve seen it there, in your eyes.”

She formed a line with her mouth. “Niall, that’s because I sometimes thought you spent time with me because you felt guilty for what happened to me and my family… do you?”

“No!” he exclaimed, grabbing her face with both her hands. He was so passionate then, his eyes burning for her to understand. It stole her breathe, to be that close to his unruly, gold hair, bright blue eyes and dirt smudged face. “Of course not, Row! I hang out with you because you are the most unique girl I’ve ever met in Oz and because I hate my life back home, I hate that my parents expect something of me, that they think they’re above everyone.”

“Oh.”

“Rowan, if anything, I’ve- I’ve…” He stuttered, searching for the right words. Rowan’s breath caught in her chest. “I’ve quite fallen-"

Rowan turned her head, interrupting him. “Do you hear that?”

Niall dropped his hands, silent and alert. “It sounds like wings?”

Rowan looked at him, wide-eyed and scared. “Flying monkeys!”

Both of them took off, running as hard as they could, following the line of the wall to the front of the castle. The others were running out of the castle and from the east side of it just as a screaming monkey came down form one of the shining towards, it’s horrid sound and grotesque teeth enough to make several of them scream.

The creature dove right at Liam, who put up his hands in defense. But Rowan had already pulled her bow, loosing an arrow and sticking the creature. It’s shrill cry went out one more time before slamming into the earth. By the sounds, there was more coming, this one being ahead of the pack.
“We have to get back to the city,” Liam yelled, pointing. “We have to run, we have to get there by nightfall. Draw your weapons.”

Everyone drew weapons, consisting of swords, daggers and the strange, wood-worked weapons Harry used. Rowan tossed an extra knife to both Louis and Cecily, pulling another arrow from her quiver and taking off.

They all fell into a line with Rowan at the head, her bow able to take down anything that came from a distance before it could get to anyone. She was followed by Liam who was telling her which way he wanted her to go and warning her of a broken brick. Marianne was close behind Liam, Louis and Cecily behind her and Illthyia and Niall bringing up the rear, Niall handy with another bow.

Several times Rowan screamed a warning, letting loose an arrow with deadly precision. She was good with knives as well, rubbish at sword, but she was a killing machine with a bow in her hands. The others had to deal with random attacks as they ran past the tree, Marianne yelling once as she thrust her sword into the chest of a monkey, killing it.

At one point they had to stop completely, coming in contact with a thick swarm of the evil, winged creatures. Rowan was shaking with fear, sure that she was going to lose one of her friends. Every chance she got, she turned to look at Niall, to ensure that he was there, and even killing things heading his way.

After over an hour of running, the swarms of monkeys stopped coming. It made Rowan wary at first, but finally she decided that they either didn’t care, or those twisted witch bitches thought that the group was dead.

Because the flocks stopped coming, they finally took a small break, gulping down water from the river. The water faeries gave Niall no problems this time as he stuck his face into their home, gulping down copious amounts of water between gasping.

Rowan had a cramp in her ribs, laying on the floor and extending her arms above her head to breathe it out. She made have been the fastest in the group but she could not maintain the amount of time that they were running, now that the adrenaline was wearing off and the exhaustion in her legs was burning, the twang in her arm from pulling her bow seeping into her.

Everyone else looked just as ragged. Niall had a cut on his face from a monkey, Louis was nursed a busted lip from being knocked backwards by a harpy and Harry looked outright exhausted and angry that everything seemed to be attacking them.

“We have to get to the castle soon,” Niall finally stated. He was on all fours by the river, head dripping with water and sweat. “Rowan and I are going to have to break into the army to arm ourselves with more arrows. We’re going to run out; we won’t even last if another wave of those demons on wings come back.”

“He’s right,” Rowan hissed between a cramp. “I have knives but I can’t throw those twenty yards into the air, especially if it comes back down and hits someone in the head.”

“We’ll get to the city,” Liam said tightly, straightening. He was soaked through his clothes with sweat, a grim determination on his face. “We have to. When we get there, we’ll get weapons, I don’t care how many people we have to cut down.”

Cecily winced. “Don’t forget the law, Liam.”

Everyone murmured agreement. There was a single law in all of Oz that people didn’t break. Even in times of conflict and fighting, it was always avoided. “Humans don’t kill other humans,” Illythia echoed. “Our most sacred law.”

“I doubt they’re going to hesitate to kill us,” Louis muttered, agreeing with Liam. Marianne glared at him, seemingly appalled at the idea. “What are we supposed to do? Knock them over the head with a shovel?”

“Or,” Harry said slowly. “Go by unnoticed. Weapons will come in handy for the monkeys, but we won’t need them for the guards if they don’t see us.”

“How do we do that?” Niall asked, glaring at the curly headed boy with some sort of contempt that Rowan had never seen. It was like he was over everyone and everyone’s idea. For some reason, it made her wonder what he had been about to tell her before the attack. “We would need an expert.”

It clicked. “Harry is an expert on not being seen,” Rowan said, somewhat in a daze. She was trying to picture it, how to get in the city. “Aren’t you, Harry?”

“Exactly.”

“That settles it,” Liam announced. He grabbed his weapon, motioning for everyone to stand again. “Harry, I want you to think on how we’re going to get through the city. But if it doesn’t work… we’re going to have to break laws. Now come on, we’re running. No more talking.”

It took them another hour and a half of running and pausing, but the rebel group finally weaved their ways through the trees. A dark storm was gathering over Emerald City, it’s volume purple and swollen. It looked ugly as it did dangerous.

The group hid in the trees, looking at the storm and the city from across the poppy fields. None of them stood to close to it, knowing just how easily it would be to trip and fall prey to their poison that sent people into a deep sleep. No one was tired enough to do that just yet.

“Alright,” Liam said, turning to his group. Niall stood by Rowan, touching her hand slightly. Feeling a surge of bravery, she grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing. He smiled softly, squeezing back. “We’re here. Harry, what did you have in mind.”

The curly-headed boy grinned. “Well, here is what I was thinking…”