Dorothy is taken back by the sentence uttered from Glinda’s lips. It’s almost unreal, intentional murder? Dorothy turned to look back at the munchkins, slobber rolling over their chapped lips, a crazed look in their eyes from hunger, this decision wasn’t hard to make.
“What exactly do you want me to do?” she almost choked on her words as they came out.
Glinda smiles exposing her perfect set of teeth “The road we stand on paves the way, follow it through the land until you reach her castle. At the top of it is where you’ll find her, now you might be wondering why I’m willing for her to die?”
Dorothy nodded her head.
“This sister is of pure evil, this land was once magnificent before her and my other sister decided to take over. She has hybrid animals that act as minions, she feeds on the blood of young children and infants, to top it off she’s much more powerful than me.”
“And you expect me to kill her?!” she didn’t mean to question Glinda, it just slipped out by instinct.
Glinda motioned an arm towards the two legs crushed beneath the house. A few munchkins ran over and began tugging on the sparkling shoes, one shoe seemed stuck until the munchkin chewed into the ankle. Making its way to the bone, it made a loud popping sound, the foot now severed, the munchkin hit the shoe until the foot fell out.
They handed Glinda the shoes and scurried off.
“These are protected by a spell, wearing these will allow you to get close enough to kill her. She’ll sense my presence, but not yours.” She hands Dorothy the ruby slippers and places a hand on her back “Now dear, h*********l her? That I don’t know, but you’ll figure it out. You have no choice, either you’ll die trying, or you’ll come back for dinner. I’m not so mean though love, see if you do kill her, why you’ll be rewarded. That I can promise.”
Dorothy bends down to pull off her beat sneakers, the soles had been worn down slick with the inside falling apart. Sliding her feet into the shoes she feels comfort she didn’t know existed.
“Down the brick road, you’ll reach her castle at the end. But be cautious, there are more obstacles than just a long road, danger lurks with every turn. With that being said, it’s time to go, my munchkins are starting to grow hungrier by the minute.”
One of the munchkins gets close by, sniffing Dorothy perversely, it’s mouth salivating heavily. She backs away and looks at Glinda “I guess I have no choice then.”
As she walks down the road, Glinda and her army shrink into nothing but a distant blur. The wind picks up striking her almost to the core, she slides her hands up and down her arms trying to hold in any warmth “How am I supposed to do this? I almost wish I was home. And Toto, oh why did he have to go?”
Just to the left of the road were dark woods, thick with dying trees and withered branches. It seemed like a smart idea to go through it to avoid the fighting winds. Anything at this point couldn’t surprise her, but as long as she stayed near the edge to see the yellow bricks it should be okay.
Breaking up small branches under her shoes, she tries to avoid the muck while swinging at nearby insects. They looked like mosquitoes but were slightly larger, the light slowly began to change with a gentle fog building just above her feet as she continued. It was easy to get lost in here, and easier to feel like the woods were somehow closing in, even though that was impossible. She stayed near the edge but the fog began to get heavier, soon a simple turn around and a climb over a stump was all it took, the road was nowhere in sight.
Panic slowly setting in, she decides to take a chance and climb a tree to get a better view. The trees were mangled and felt odd, the bark was softer than she ever felt, the leaves were more stiff, and the apples hung high at the top. Dorothy plants her foot on a branch and lifts herself up, she grabs onto another piece jutting out when a low grumble is heard.
The tree begins to vibrate and rumble the ground, the bark splits apart revealing two slick red eyes, a bigger crack forms a jagged mouth opening up. Dorothy screams as a branch wraps around her body with a firm grip scratching her stomach. The surrounding trees begin to mimic the original one, uprooting themselves from hard dirt, cracking and bursting sounds surround her.
A thicker tree snatches Dorothy away by her leg and holds her upside down, its mouth widens apart with boiling sap gurgling in the throat. Dorothy grasps the sides of the mouth, crying. She pushes back as droplets of sap pop and singe her cheeks.
The tree roars letting go of her suddenly, she falls back landing in a mud puddle while another tree steps over her. She crawls back while the trees crowd around someone, or something. Loud clings of metal are heard slamming into the trees, one tree falls erupting a wave of dark blood from its side, spewing the liquid over a rusted looking figure.
Wielding two axes, it continues to swing, chopping limbs and hacking faces. A tree falls backwards collapsing into a puddle of stagnant water, its eyes closing as the body turns stiff again. Other trees break apart or split into lopsided angles. The stranger is seen briefly before one last tree grabs it from behind, it forces him down into its throat swallowing him whole. The tree turns to Dorothy and without making its first step, grunts as two metal tips burst through its belly.
They slide back in before two metallic hands push out gripping the bark, the tree bursts apart from the center releasing a light waterfall of dark blood. A metal boot lands in the puddle, with the rest coming out slowly of the slumped tree. Within the low light some features were seen, a creature forged of metal and skin, human like facial features with small silver sheets drilled into the skull, the stomach for the most part a compiled mess of welded parts from what seemed like a junk yard. It walked crookedly towards Dorothy sliding the two axes into a leather s******n its back. The legs were welded as well, poorly at that.
It crouches down near her, one eye human like, the other a hollowed eye socket with a ring of brown screws circling inwards. Staring for a moment, it finally asks “And who might you be?”