Page 52 of Ozma

Tik-Tok grinned secretively, and tugged off his glove, revealing a hand made entirely of gold. The color was an exact match to the object he’d flashed her a moment ago. His hand appeared to be a real appendage, and as he flexed his fingers, she noticed it even moved like one. The only differences aside from the coloring were the tiny screws in areas where the joints bent, and the overlapping folds that could be seen when he shifted his digits and wrist. She couldn’t see how far the metal stretched up, and if it was his entire arm—or only to the elbow.

Thin silver rings with jewels of different hues decorated all of his fingers, except for one in the middle that was entirely of silver. “I don’t give anything away lightly. Or at all.” He removed the silver ring from his middle finger and held it up in front of her face. It shone brightly as if flecked with glitter. “I’ll want it back when I collect the female.”

Ozma reached to grab it, but he delicately moved her hand away. “No.” He bit his lower lip. “Give me your hand. It has to be transferred with freewill.”

“Hold on—” Jack interrupted, anger lacing his words as he stepped in front of Ozma. “What kind of sick game are you playing? You aren’t going to place that damn thing on her finger, then say she’s your wife.”

“If I didn’t already have plans for another, she would do well,” Tik-Tok purred. “But your queen is safe from such things.”

Jack’s hands clenched at his sides and Ozma pulled him back beside her. As she took a deep swallow, her stomach sank at the thought of the unknown fae belonging to this male in the future. Straightening her spine and lifting her chin, she placed her hand into his anyway. His cool metal fingertips gently held her as he slid the silver circle onto her middle digit. The ring was loose at first, but it tightened around her finger, the color changing from silver to gold, by some sort of magic.

She went to twist it to the side, to examine, but the ring wouldn’t budge. Ozma’s eyes widened, her heart accelerating as her gaze darted from Jack to Tik-Tok. “What did you do?” Her voice shot up an octave.

“It will stay on. Even years from now, the ring will remain there, until our agreement is complete. But it will also allow you to share another’s magic as long as they are without a protection spell. Just study whom you want to borrow from while whispering, ‘divide one’s magic and make it as though mine,’ to ignite it.”

Ozma whispered the words, while staring at Jack, and something stirred within her.Magic. It didn’t feel attached to her, though. The power seemed to be floating, and perhaps this would make it so the Wizard couldn’t absorb that from her too. Lifting her arm, she studied a vine above and twisted her hand. She squinted and focused on it to move until the vine slowly slithered forward, its pointed end curling.

“Where did you get this from?” Ozma asked, releasing the vine, pushing it back into its original place. She wanted to use more of the power, test it, but would hold off until inside Oz’s home.

“One of the sea witches gave me the ring as a gift to assist with the prophecy. I did have to fuck her to keep it, but she’s a good female. Like you.” Tik-Tok reached for a lock of her hair and Jack slapped his hand away.

“Stop trying to touch her,” Jack seethed, narrowing his eyes.

“Perhaps”—Tik-Tok’s smirk grew wicked with delight—“two females in the future might suit me better than one. What do you think, darling?” His fiery, red gaze lit with playfulness. He didn’t even glance at Jack.

“Quit toying with Jack when we’ve already made a deal,” Ozma said.

“That wasn’t necessarily anever. But don’t worry, Jack. You did a good deed for me, so I’ll leave you your queen.” Tik-Tok chuckled and motioned them forward. “Come on then. I’ll help you get past the Wizard’s barrier.”

“Why don’t you just give us the compass,” Jack grunted as he walked beside Ozma through the forest.

“How about … I give you nothing?” Tik-Tok peered over his shoulder with a smirk, sliding his glove back on and flexing his fingers. Ozma wondered what it would be like to have a metal arm, one that still moved just the same. Could he feel with it?

Loud chirping noises echoed as the trio traveled further, the moonlight guiding their way down twisting paths. The area was bright enough to see their shadows reflecting across the moistened dirt and grass, along with the outlines of trees and shriveled branches. As they drew closer, she could see a flickering of green flashing into the sky, emanating from the Wizard’s home.

In the distance, growls and rustling stirred, but they weren’t near enough for Ozma to be worried, although her heart still pounded ferociously. She also knew Jack was running low on magic, so she hoped whatever creatures were out there stayed where they were.

As they approached the Wizard’s house, the emerald light glistened even more in the darkness, like a beacon. The swarm didn’t sound any nearer, their noises remaining in the distance.

As they came to the edge of the barrier, Ozma halted, but Tik-Tok pressed his metal arm forward, and the barrier didn’t stop him. His fingers brushed a wooden pole and pushed something. A hidden button? Around the Wizard’s sanctuary, the barrier flickered once, twice, then vanished, as if it had never been there at all.

“It helps to have a metal arm,” he cooed.

“So I suppose you didn’t really need the compass to get us in here,” Jack grunted.

A shuffling came from the back of the house, then a figure rounded it, slipping into view. Before Ozma could draw magic from Jack, a dagger sailed past her from behind and planted itself into the guard’s head. His knees buckled, and his body folded to the ground with a thud.

“Looky there, you don’t have to worry about the guard now,” Tik-Tok said.

Ozma frowned but took a step forward at the same time Jack did. She’d thought that maybe an invisible barrier would still be there, yet they passed through unharmed. With a glance over her shoulder, she noticed Tik-Tok hadn’t moved.

Tik-Tok reached into his pocket and tugged out his object. While cradling it, he brought it to his mouth and whispered something in another language. The object shifted, as though alive, unfolding until she recognized it as a compass. The dial in the center glowed a pale gold as it started spinning around and around.

“Are you coming?” she whispered.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m headed for my ship. My crew will leave a rowboat on shore for you. If you’re still alive, use it by dawn to get back on board. Otherwise, we’ll retrieve the boat and you’ll be trapped, as I won’t be coming back.” With those words, he turned around, striding straight toward the sounds of the horde in the distance, leaving Ozma and Jack alone once more.

This time, to face the Wizard.

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