Page 46 of Ozma

“I hope we find the Wizard soon, so we can get off this fucking island,” Jack said, hopping over a log.

“Shouldn’t be too long.” But she wasn’t sure. By the map in her veins, she could tell the island wasn’t large, yet she didn’t know if Oz would be close by or at the opposite end somewhere.

Above them, shriveled, blackened fruit dangled. Mombi’s doing. They all oozed dark liquid that matched what coated the swarm’s mouths.

Jack wrinkled his nose. “Whatever you do, eat nothing here.”

Ozma rolled her eyes when a crunching sound came from ahead, along with something like gurgling and a horrid odor.

“Jack, stop!” she whisper-shouted, latching on to his sleeve. “And don’t use your magic.” It would be too easy for them to be detected if the Wizard was staying somewhere close by. Hopefully, their incident at the front of the island wouldn’t get back to Oz too soon.

They both stopped, listened, then slowly walked the mushroom path. Keeping her feet light, Ozma took a few more steps toward an opening in the trees. Her eyes widened at what she saw through the slits in the leaves.

Dead bodies of fae, rotting and festering, were sprawled across the forest. Their stench permeated the air, and Ozma covered her mouth so she wouldn’t lose her stomach. However, there weren’t only dead fae, but live ones too, feasting and sucking on the blackened bodies.

Chapter Twenty

Jack

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Fae and human addicts attacking them was one thing—Jack and Ozma were live prey—butthis? Jack’s gaze latched onto a particularly ghastly human with more exposed muscle than skin, and a black hole where his nose should’ve been. The human snapped a dead fae’s finger off, tendons stretching as the digit was pulled free, and stuck the rough end into his mouth.

And sucked.

Bile burned its way up Jack’s throat. This was too much. Far, far too much. The gods-forsaken pumpkin farm seemed like fucking paradise to him now. Even being enslaved to Mombi was better than any of this, though he knew the witch was responsible for these creatures. She must’ve used her black magic on the fruit which created monsters, likely to quash any threats to the Wizard that reached the island. But, on the farm, there were no monsters—only a nasty old crone who was too fond of swinging her cane. Usually at him. Not to mention, the farm didn’t smell like the inside of a dead swine’s asshole.

“We should go before they notice us,” Ozma whispered in Jack’s ear.

“Right.” Jack forced back a cough and nodded to his left. It was the direction they had been heading when they’d paused. Going toward the monsters was clearly out of the question, as was going back toward the beach. They could only hope the only way left was therightway.

Ozma followed him as they crept around the field. He kept his eyes and ears trained on the rotting horde, expecting them to attack at any moment. So, when Ozma lunged and knocked him to the ground, he was completely caught off guard.

A growl vibrated above him, sending fear straight down to his marrow. Ozma let out a strangled scream. Her legs thrashed where she lay across Jack’s back. He tried to shove himself free, but the weight of her and the addict was too much. He was pinned. Suddenly, he felt Ozma rip her dagger from her waist.

Jack clawed at the ground and managed to drag himself a few inches out from beneath the fight. Then everything was silent. The weight baring down on him doubled. Jack struggled to pull the rancid air into his lungs.What the fuck is going on?

“Get”—Ozma growled and shifted her weight—“off.”

A body rolled down beside Jack’s head. One Ozma had clearly just slaughtered, and the sight left him light-headed. He could’ve lived the rest of his life without seeing a toothless kobold, blue eyes milky and skin molting, with a dagger jutting from his forehead.

“Fuck,” Jack spat, rolling to face Ozma. “Are you all right?”

Ozma stood over the dead kobold with blood sprayed over her face and neck. Her breaths came in great heaves as she nodded and retrieved her dagger. In the distance, predatory snarls carried through the air. “Are you?”

“Yes.” He rose from the ground and wiped the blood from her cheeks. She’d saved his life. Drove a blade straight through the fae’s skull. If it didn’t appear to be half decomposed, he would’ve said it were impossible, but the bone seemed to crumble around the weapon. “I need to keep what’s left of my magic for Oz or I’d cage the field off.”

“Yes,” she agreed as the growls deepened into something more feral. “But we can’t stay here.”

They needed to move, and fast. Jack and Ozma sprinted away as quietly as possible. Every so often, one of them would step on a stick that had fallen from a skeletal tree and the crack rumbled like thunder in his ears. There were a few leaves on the ground that crunched below their feet, sounding as if someone was ringing a dinner bell.Here we are. Come and get us.A shudder ran through Jack’s body.

After what felt like ages, they stopped near a shallow stream and guzzled the cool water. Black fruit hung within an arm’s length of the bank but none of what dripped from the rotten skin reached the clear water. Oz would need to keep the fresh water supply disinfected for his own purposes. The fading sunlight shone off the surface, showcasing the smooth pebbles at the bottom and the tiny red and yellow turtles that hurried far from Jack and Ozma’s cupped hands.Cute little buggers,Jack thought. Probably the only cute fucking things here.

“Look,” Ozma called. “There.”

Jack followed her gaze and caught a glimpse of green light glowing through the trees on the other side of the stream.The Wizard of Oz.Jack had only spoken to Oz briefly the times he’d come to the farm, but leave it to that smug son of a bitch to hide on an island while using obvious magic to give away his location. Ozma led the way closer and paused at the edge of the clearing.

A green, domed barrier glimmered faintly over a small stone house, smoke billowing from the chimney, with six smaller sheds spaced out along the outer edges. Each smaller building was painted black with different symbols carved into the walls. The grass was worn away where someone had walked back and forth between them and the house, while the rest of the lawn grew too tall. Flowers poured down the sides of boxes beneath the windows, rose bushes needed pruning, and weeds covered a small vegetable garden. Two chickens pecked aimlessly at the ground near the other side of the barrier. Jack wondered if they were there for the eggs or to sacrifice to whatever strange gods the Wizard worshipped.

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