Page 143 of Witch Queens: Tales from Oz

CHAPTER 51 - PART 5 – Indy

We rode hard for aboutan 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.

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