Ruler of Beasts (5 page)

“Lion!” Ozma's voice was loud and clear in the huge room. The Lion jumped and lifted his paw away from the marble stairs. Immediately, the voice in his mind lessened its grip and he shook his head furiously, trying to dislodge it. Ozma was at his side in seconds, one hand on his shoulder and her light bobbing behind.

“We are still under the Deadly Desert,” she said quietly, “but this was once part of the Nome Kingdom in the Land of Ev. The Nomes' magic lingers here even now, all these centuries later.”

With Ozma at his side, the pull of the staircase was gone entirely. The Lion padded back to the murals, studying them carefully. “These are Nomes?”

Ozma nodded, looking over his shoulder. “Some people say they are actually fairies themselves, who went down under the earth long ago and became a distant branch of our people. There are fairies living underground in Oz who look very much like them.”

“They don't look very nice,” he said simply.

“The Nomes are not a kind people.” Ozma stared at the cruel-eyed man in the painting of the banquet hall and shivered. “This place is tainted. Its power nearly trapped you. Come back to the tunnel, and be careful not to leave my side again.”

After that, the Lion made sure to stay in the circle of Ozma's light. They passed more and more tunnels, but now Ozma seemed sure of where they were going and only rarely stopped to find the way. Soon, the Lion could hear a faint, distant noise echoing through the tunnel. “What is that?” he asked.

“The king,” Ozma said quietly. “Digging.” As they drew closer, the noise grew louder: a repetitive clanking, like metal striking stone.

Ozma stopped. “We're close,” she said. “If you want to rest, now is a good time. We may not be able to later.”

The Lion had been so overwhelmed by the strangeness of their descent that he'd forgotten his hunger for the first time in his life, but at Ozma's words his stomach rumbled loudly. Ozma smiled, some of the strain leaving her pale, drawn face as she laughed at the Lion's discomfort. “Even down here, some things never change,” she said teasingly.

They found a dry patch on the tunnel floor and settled down. The Lion tore eagerly into his bundle and found a hunk of dried meat, some fruit, and a jug of water. Ozma nibbled starfruit and sipped water while he happily gnawed the meat. They sat in silence for a while, letting some of the weariness fade from their limbs.

“What happens when we meet the Nome King?”

Ozma stretched, and the air around her shimmered for a second as if her magic was stirring with her. “I'll talk to him and explain to him how important it is that Oz remains free.”

The Lion thought that this seemed like a naive view of the situation. “I could fight him,” he offered, puffing up his chest. “I certainly will if he tries to attack you.” Presumably that was why Ozma had brought him along. If things went south, he could protect her. But as brave as he was, he secretly had his doubts about taking on who knew how many evil fairy-like creatures. His only real fighting experience was the battle with Jinjur, and her soldiers had been mortal girls.

As if Ozma could read his mind, she smiled at him. “You don't need to worry, Lion,” she said confidently. “I know you think I'm being silly, but I can be very persuasive when I have to.” Her words had that steely hint behind them, and he remembered how she had sounded when she talked about Glinda. If anyone could talk an ancient, evil, homicidal king out of invading their country, Ozma was probably the one.

Ozma's magic light bobbed anxiously. “It's time to go,” she said, reaching forward to scratch the Lion behind the ears. “I'm so glad you're with me. You don't know what a difference it makes to have you here. It's so lonely down here in the dark.” Her voice sounded wistful now, and she resembled the sad, brave creature he'd left sitting alone in her chambers on his first night in the Emerald City. Ozma might be powerful, but she was still barely more than a child.

The Lion stood up and lashed his tail fiercely. “I won't let anything happen to you, Your Majesty,” he said. “Not here and not anywhere else. I'll be glad to protect you until—until the day I die.”

“Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but thank you.” Ozma continued down the tunnel. The Lion followed.

In just a few moments, the clanking noise they'd heard earlier was so loud it was almost deafening. It echoed down the long, dark tunnel so powerfully that the Lion was tempted to cover his ears with his paws. Ozma stopped in front of a blank wall. Even the ball of light was nervous; it wobbled in tiny circles overhead.

“He's here,” she said. “Thank goodness. I wasn't actually sure he would be.”

“You came down all this way and you didn't even know if the Nome King would be
here
?” the Lion asked in disbelief.

“It seemed likely he would be,” Ozma said serenely. “But you never know.” She rested her palms on the rough stone wall and the air around her began to glow. Her huge, beautiful gold-veined wings unfurled from her back like a butterfly's and spread outward in the still, hot air, glowing with a brilliant emerald light. “We won't have long to get through,” she gasped, her voice thick with exertion. “When I say the word, you have to follow me right away.”

As the incredulous Lion watched, the stone began to glow red-hot around Ozma's palms. The red glow spread outward like molten lava, running in channels to form the outline of a door covered in mysterious runes. A golden doorknob, glowing
with the same emerald light as Ozma's wings, protruded from the door. “Now!” Ozma yelled, yanking at the doorknob. The entire door-shaped section of wall swung inward, and Ozma leapt into the darkness on the other side with the Lion and the ball of light at her heels. The Lion was half convinced he'd slam into solid stone, but instead he felt as though he were falling from a great distance. And then, with a bone-jarring thump, he landed on the floor of another tunnel.

“Well, well, well,” hissed a sinister, sibilant voice. “What under the earth do we have here?”

The Lion rolled to his feet, looking around frantically. Ozma lay crumpled next to him, her head lolling at an unnatural angle. She looked unconscious—or dead. The Lion swallowed hard. She had to be fine. She had to be. Panic welled up in his chest. What was he going to do now? Everything was up to him! He remembered the terrible darkness in the tunnels, the way he'd thought it was alive. He didn't want to die down here in this awful place.

But then he remembered Ozma's strong, powerful voice when she'd challenged the darkness, and felt ashamed of himself. He was a Lion—and not just any Lion but a king bearing the Wizard's gift of courage. He would be strong. He looked around again, confidence flooding through him.

They had landed in some kind of cavern. The walls were lined with torches that burned with a blue fire and did little to dispel the darkness. The ceiling was high enough to be lost overhead in blackness. The clanging noise was almost deafening, and the air
was even hotter than it had been in the tunnel they had just left.

The man who had spoken was looming over him. The Lion recognized him instantly. He looked exactly like the pale, terrifying king from the banquet hall. His skin was a sickly white. His icy pale eyes glittered evilly in the blue torchlight, and he wore robes as densely black as the darkness that surrounded them. But instead of the long white hair the king in the painting had had, this creature was as hairless as an egg. He seemed both ancient and ageless at the same time—there was something fathomless, cold and cruel and very, very old, in his eyes. An iron crown, wrought in the shape of thorny branches, rested on his bald head. He carried a staff topped with a glowing blue crystal. There was no mistaking him for anyone other than the Nome King.

The Lion drew himself upright, hoping his voice sounded more confident than he felt. “I am the Once-Cowardly Lion of Oz, bearer of the Courage of the Wizard of Oz and King of the Beasts, and I demand you desist your invasion of Oz at once,” he shouted over the clanging, hoping fervently that Ozma would wake up any minute.

The Nome King laughed and waved one hand. Around him, the darkness seethed, and suddenly he was surrounded by pale, thin warriors in black armor, their faces hidden by black helmets. The Lion's heart missed a beat, but he held his ground, determined not to show his fear.

“You're a long way from home, little cat,” the Nome King hissed. “Do you really think you're in a position to be making
demands?” He leaned forward, and the Lion took an involuntary step backward. The crystal on top of the Nome King's staff blazed with blue-white light. At last the Lion saw the source of the terrible metallic noise. At one end of the huge cavern, a vast, many-armed machine of iridescent blue metal the Lion had never seen before was chipping away at the rock. More bald Nomes—these stoop-shouldered and scuttling, wearing leather aprons over their shirtless chests—stoked a furnace at the heart of the machine, dumping load after load of coals into the glowing inferno. They wore thick black glass goggles on tattered leather straps to protect their eyes from the heat. Huge leather gloves clanking with chain mail kept the coals from burning their hands. They were all pale as mushrooms but coated in black dust, their lean, wiry bodies scarred and burned where the leather had not been enough to protect them. Many of them had carved elaborate designs into their bare arms and chests and packed the cuts with coal dust so that their skin seemed covered in dense black lace. Others had shoved chunks of iron through their earlobes, noses, or lips. Moving together, they looked like an army of sinister beetles pushing their burdens back and forth like ants carrying food back to their nests.

“I have been working for a very long time to reach the glorious country of Oz,” the Nome King snarled. “Do you think I'll stop now because a snippy little house cat says I should?”

“You'll stop because the Queen of Oz tells you to,” said a high, clear voice behind the Lion. The Nome King's sneer transformed momentarily to a look of shock. The Lion whirled
around. Ozma stood tall and proud, her wings spread out to their full span and their golden veins glowing. Her dark hair whipped around her head, crackling with electricity. Her green eyes had darkened to black and her enchanted orb blazed with a green light that rivaled the Nome King's crystal. The two rulers stared at each other, neither of them giving an inch.

“If it isn't Lurline's little protégé, the Princess of Oz,” the Nome King laughed, recovering quickly from his surprise. “Do you really think your magic is a match for mine, child?”

“I'm the Queen of Oz now,” Ozma said coldly. “And you know it is, old man. Abandon this foolish plan and leave my country in peace. There is no reason for war between our peoples.”

“Oh, there are plenty of reasons,” the Nome King said, waving his arm again. The cavern wall behind him shimmered and dissolved into a window onto another world. The sky was a dark, stormy gray over barren fields where blackened stalks of corn and wheat looked like skeletons. A harsh wind blew dust storms across the desolate landscape, whipping against the crumbling stone walls of a tiny village that looked abandoned. But as the Lion looked more closely, he saw gaunt, desperate faces in the windows of the houses. A starving dog limped through the empty streets, too hungry even to howl. And the wall was lined with—the Lion flinched in horror—heads. Some were human, and some were creatures he didn't recognize at all. Creatures he'd never seen before.

As they watched in horror, a group of strange, terrifying
creatures descended on the desolate village. Their bodies were human but their arms and legs were the same length so that they moved on all fours. How can they move so quickly? the Lion wondered, and then he saw that the creatures' feet and hands had been replaced by whirling, spiked wheels. As they drew closer to the village, he could see their clothes—crazed, clashing patchworks of garish colors that stood out harshly against the washed-out landscape. Their eyes were mad and wild. One of them hefted a blazing torch aloft and with a screech of laughter hurled it at the nearest house. The straw roof caught immediately, and soon the entire hovel was ablaze as its inhabitants poured out into the dirt street in terror. More of the wheeled creatures set fire to the village, shrieking with glee and laughing and pointing at its helpless, sobbing inhabitants.

“Behold the Land of Ev,” hissed the Nome King. “The Deadly Desert is expanding. The drought is so severe nothing can grow. The Wheelers terrorize my subjects. The magic itself is seeping out of the land. Unless Oz shares its bounty, the country is doomed.” He glanced back at his warriors. “Plus, I'm getting really tired of living underground,” he said in a more conversational tone. “Bad for the complexion, you know? And the only thing to eat is mushrooms. I'm
really
sick of mushrooms.”

Ozma looked stunned. “I did not know it was so bad there,” she whispered.

“The people above the earth are starving,” the Nome King said. “The riches of Oz are vast. Why would you not agree to share them? From what I hear, the Emerald Palace is plenty big
enough for two.” His words were reasonable, but there was a dangerous glitter in his pale eyes.

The Lion remembered himself. He was the King of the Beasts and the Protector of Ozma, and he was not to be trifled with. “You didn't ask to share!” the Lion roared furiously. “You're tunneling under the Deadly Desert to invade Oz!”

The Nome King barely flinched at the Lion's fierce roar. He drew himself up to his full height, his eyes blazing. “Did you expect us to beg, Lion? To come crawling through the desert like some poor relation? Oz is no greater a country than Ev, and no more deserving of its riches!”

“But why are you invading?” the Lion protested. “You could have sent a messenger! Anything other than spending years digging under the desert in secret.”

“The Wizard was no friend of the Land of Ev,” the Nome King said coldly. “I did not know Ozma had replaced him.”

The Lion narrowed his eyes.
He's lying,
he thought. Did Ozma guess? If she did, she was hiding it. What did she have up her sleeve? He made a noise of protest, but Ozma held up a hand to silence him.

“My dear, brave Lion,” she said gently. “The Nome King is right. If the Wizard is partly responsible for the suffering of the people of Ev, it's our duty to help them. I will do what the king asks, if it means avoiding war.”

How could the Wizard be responsible if no one knew for certain that Ev even existed? Ozma wasn't making any sense. But the Nome King's eyes lit up, and his warriors took a step back,
apparently deciding they would not be needed to defend him.

“We have been preparing for war for a long time, and my people are angry,” he said. “Peace will not be quite as easy as you think, Ozma. Ev is not some charity case that you can dismiss with a few loaves of bread.”

“How can we avoid a battle?” Ozma asked, her eyes wide. Lion couldn't believe she was still negotiating, when it looked like she had already lost.

The Nome King was silent for a long moment, and then a slow, nasty smile spread across his face. The Lion shivered. And cursed his courage for leaving him when he needed it most.

“I will make you a bargain,” he said. “You will allow me to use my magic to disguise you. If your little companion can recognize you, I will return to Ev.”

“And if he fails?”

The Nome King smiled. “If I am to sacrifice everything, then your cost must be a great one, too. If he fails, you will remain enchanted—forever.”

Ozma tilted her head, considering. “If you return to Ev, you're not sacrificing anything at all except a war with my people.”

“You see what Ev is like now,” the Nome King hissed. “This is our last chance to survive. If you defeat me, Princess Ozma, my kingdom is ruined. My people will starve. I would not dream of asking any less of you.”

“No!” the Lion roared. “If you are enchanted, Princess, he will claim Oz for himself!”

“Perhaps,” the Nome King said idly, picking his nails with a
triumphant look in his eyes.

“That's not—” the Lion began desperately, but Ozma cut him off.

“He gets six guesses,” she said.

The Nome King laughed. “Are you kidding?”

“Five.”

“Three,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“I'm not—” the Lion said.

“Agreed,” Ozma interrupted, extending her hand to the Nome King. He took it, and their clasped hands blazed with a searing green light. Green lightning cracked across the cavern, and for just a second a cool, refreshing breeze wafted past them. The Nome King yelped in surprise and yanked his hand back.

“What have you done, witch?”

“I'm a fairy, not a witch,” Ozma said calmly. “And I've bound you to your word with all the power of Oz.”

The Nome King stared at her, his eyes glittering with suspicion, but Ozma returned his gaze with an innocent smile. “May I speak to the Lion before you enchant me, Your Highness?” she asked sweetly.

He scowled. “If you must, but be quick about it. My people are hungry. I am not interested in delays.”

Ozma knelt down beside the Lion and hugged him. “Trust me, dear Lion,” she whispered into his ear.

“How will I know you?” the Lion asked. “What if I fail?”

“You won't,” Ozma said confidently. “You can't.”

That was hardly reassuring, but Ozma was already standing
up to face the king. “I'm ready,” she said.

The Nome King's smile was so sinister that even the Lion's courage faltered. He raised both arms, and his robes opened slightly, revealing an elaborate ruby necklace glittering at his throat. A ruby necklace the Lion recognized immediately. It was the necklace Glinda had shown him in the Forest of the Beasts. He blinked. Was it possible? Did the Nome King have the necklace Glinda was looking for? How had he gotten it? Ozma's eyes narrowed. She'd seen the necklace, too. Did she know what it was?

But there was no time to think about that now. The Nome King flicked his wrist, and the cavern began to fill with a silvery, foul-smelling mist. The Lion covered his face with his paws, but he couldn't help breathing in the noxious fumes.
“Replicatum scatterorium,”
the Nome King hissed, and the weird mist evaporated. Coughing, the Lion looked up. The floor of the cavern was covered with tiny silver figurines that looked exactly like the Queen of Oz, and Ozma was gone.