Lion’s sandpaper paws grind against an array of broken glass scattered across the street leading to Emerald City. Sure the name sounded fancy, but it was before the mass city with sky piercing treasures and majestic towers became shattered and vacated buildings. Spiderweb designs displayed among the reflecting walls as Dorothy half admired her emotionally broken appearance passing a cracked wall.
“What happened here?” Dorothy asks while cautiously crunching shards under her ruby shoes.
“Nothing good,” Tin Man replies while observing his surroundings.
“You smell it?” Scarecrow asks.
Lion glances over asking, “Smell what?”
“Reeks of death, dead animals have a difference from people. I know, I’ve eaten both. I smell the stench of human flesh, it’s inviting and offending at the same time.” He turns his head around as if he could almost actually see what was around him, all the while inhaling the putrid air with a repressing grin.
Dorothy takes a step closer to Lion,1 she felt safer near a beast that was able to withstand pain, and possibly able to kill a witch with his massive paws in mere seconds. “Heard a man of magic resides here, let’s find this b*****d,” Tin Man says, one arm holds steady to swing a blood stained axe.
Within the glass maze of a ghost town they come across a vacated building, the words TURN AWAY scrawled on two loose doors barely clinging to the frames spread a warning.
Dorothy halts and begins to have second thoughts. “Maybe this a bad idea, what if it’s dangerous?” she asks aloud. Tin Man grips his other axe and slams his foot into the doors spreading them apart. “We didn’t make it this far for nothing. We find this man and find out h*********l the witch, or we kill him and figure it out on our own. Either way, these axes are getting fresh blood soon.”
He walks ahead with his metallic knuckles cracking, the axes shaking in his palms. This close to revenge for his wife, he was willing to do anything necessary to finally fulfill it, even if it meant murdering an innocent in this game.
Lion looks over and whispers, “Stay close, we don’t know what we’re in for.” The vast room they entered was large from what their echoes could provide by bouncing off the walls, there were no lights. Just a cold darkness that seemed to wrap around their bones.
Dorothy takes a step closer placing her hand across Lion’s rough fur, scabs and scars rest under her fragile palm as they walk together. Scarecrow inhales the air and says “The smell is over powering, this isn’t right, if this is a man who helps those in need then why does it reek of death? Something bad happened here.”
Walking a couple meters further, Dorothy stops and raises her forearm to cover her nose. “Oh goodness, I can smell it now. What is that?” she asks. Lion looks around and listens as something catches his attention.
Tin Man continues to walk ahead oblivious to the warning. His foot slides on something underneath him, he lifts his foot to hear something dripping to the floor. Flames explode upwards tickling the skies from the right and left of them, full light comes to view exposing mutilated bodies and bleached bones before them. A mans ripped face slides off of Tin Man’s boot making a sloppy sound hitting the floor. Blood covers the walls and ceilings all around, on both sides were trenches filled to the brim with body parts and intestines. A tiled walkway through the center was what they stood upon. Dorothy steps back wrapping her arm around Lion’s back.
THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO IGNORE MY WARNING SHALL SUFFER A SLOW AGONIZING DEATH
A threatening voice boomed from the sky, Tin Man wields his weapons and yells “We only seek help from The Wizard! We mean no harm!”
YOU SHOULD OF TAKEN HEED TO THE SIGN, ALL THAT YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO NOW IS A QUICK RELEASE OF LIFE
In front of the narrow pathway lay a wide arena, circular in shape with flames engulfing the outer edges. Lion looks both ways as the fire spews in a motion closing towards him, Dorothy and Scarecrow. He pushes them both forward with his paws and lunges as the heat burns his back legs barely kissing his fur.
Dorothy falls to the ground scraping her elbow, the arena area felt hard and far more rough than anything she ever felt. Picking herself up she panics as she realizes the floor is made of bones merged
together in a melted mass.
Scarecrow reaches touching her arm and helps her up. “It-it’s made of bone! The ground we stand upon! Where are we?” Dorothy yells. The ground shakes with small vibrations rattling their feet, gaining their full attention they look towards one section as a beast steps through the fire. Its head was almost shaped like a goats, glowing red eyes glared at them with ebony fangs exposed between bleeding lips. The body was almost as high as the building they were in, the head of it looked over them as it almost scraped the ceiling. Two black velvet wings spread out from each side with sharp bone sticking out from the bottom in multiple tips.
The body was muscular and covered in what looked like worn leather armor, two hooves replaced where feet normally would of been.
“So you seek the wizard, is that so?” the beast asked. Tin Man arched his axes back and replied, “We mean no harm! But if you choose to intervene, I warn you I won’t show mercy.”
The beast laughs wrapping its clawed paws across its black fur. “Surely I deserve more of a challenge, this will be an easy feat. But, if you wish to engage, then prepare to meet a miserable fate, I have been drained of mercy as well.”
Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow all begin to run towards the massive beast leaving Dorothy behind.
