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Many a land have we visited in our dreams

Some are vague and cloudy, easily forgotten

But some are so vivid and bright

They can be mistaken for something

More than a dream

A secret realm perhaps, hidden from our world

Or maybe just a distorted shadow

Of what we call home

OZ

Chapter 1

Our tale starts not with a stormy night or events of great importance, but with an old black cat named Dinah. She was nothing special, a normal cat on all accounts. But for some reason, she always managed to be the cause of some form of trouble. Today was no different. Dinah had been snooping around the Gale’s farm and woken the small dog Toto, who belonged to their niece, Dorothy.

Dorothy had moved in with her aunt and uncle after the tragic fire at her old house in London. Her parents and younger brother perished but Dorothy managed to escape. Although on her way out she managed to burn her hands extensively after deciding to rescue Toto. With the house gone and her inheritance claimed by countless business partners of her parents, Dorothy, being too scarred to support herself at the workhouse, went to live with her aunt and uncle in Kansas, bringing Toto with her.

Despite Toto’s stature, he had taken it upon himself to guard Dorothy with his life; turning from a once well-groomed and placid terrier to an aggressive scrappy animal, burnt and scarred by the fire. Dinah had seen enough years pass to know when to run and now was one of those moments. Unfortunately, those years were not as kind to her old bones. As Toto chased her with teeth bared and Dinah laboured ahead, it soon became clear that she would not make it out of the farm in time.

Dorothy looked up from her battered old book as she heard the yelping of a distressed cat from outside. Ten, twenty, thirty seconds passed. Then silence.

Standing up Dorothy leant out the window facing the front garden just in time to see Toto trot triumphantly from behind a bush, his sharp little teeth stained red.

The rage of Dinah’s owner Ms Liddell was terrible.

Mrs. Liddell screamed and screeched at Dorothy’s aunt Emily and uncle Henry for what felt like hours to Dorothy as she looked on through the window, her expression blank. Bored, she glanced at the sky. A storm was coming, a big one by the colour of the clouds. She turned and saw Emily and Henry’s skin grow pale as Ms Liddell’s insults developed into threats. With nervous glances at Dorothy, Emily and Henry moved the conversation outside, where their words where whipped away by the howling wind and Dorothy was left in the dark.

Dorothy was always told to stay away from the withered spinster Ms Liddell, as she was more than a little mentally unstable. But Dorothy decided since she stayed away from most everyone anyway, she needn’t worry. Even before the fire she was more interested in the fantastical worlds of her books than the reality in front of her. Due to her privileged upbringing she often pretended to be one of the princesses from her stories, her little brother being a soldier and Toto her loyal body guard. They played with their mother’s sapphires and rubies just as another child would play with their dolls or toy soldiers, while their parent’s entertained guests in parties that were ‘not for little children’. It was not strange, looking back, that Dorothy was different to other children. But even with all these possessions other children could only dream of having, Dorothy was never truly happy.

When she first arrived Emily and Henry tried to interact with her, show her around the farm, introduce her to the other children, but Dorothy was not interested. She was polite enough but her eyes stayed dead, and in the end Emily and Henry learnt to leave her to the burnt and battered books she brought from London, and Dorothy’s life slipped into silence once more.

But as Dorothy watched a defeated Emily trudge back to the house with an apologetic look on her face, Dorothy felt a twinge of apprehension and squeezed Toto close to her chest. She had a feeling that the solution to the dispute was not something to look forward to.

As Emily opened the door to the house Dorothy turned around and fixed her eyes on Emily's. The two dark amber orbs stared intently into the tired hazel eyes and Emily felt a shiver run up her spine. She simply couldn't understand the girl, and as most people do, Emily feared what she couldn't understand.

Tearing her eyes away from Dorothy's Emily tried to find the nicest way to tell her of the fate of her beloved Toto. Minutes passed. The wind roared louder. Dorothy kept staring, not moving a muscle, watching Emily fidget about.

'Toto is to be put down.'

Dorothy blinked and her eyes narrowed. Emily watched with growing fear as Dorothy's face gradually turned into a mask of fury, Toto growing menacingly all the while.

'No.'

Toto jumped from her arms and Dorothy strode towards the door. The house was shaking now and the wind was close to deafening. Emily raised her hands as a sign of peace, subconsciously taking a step back.

'You will not take Toto from me.'

As if in response to hearing his name Toto leaped forward and snapped at Emily's legs. She tried to take another step back but bumped into Henry, who tried to kick Toto. Toto dodged the kick and his sharp little teeth sunk into Emily's leg. The wind howled alongside her screams. As Emily and Henry stumbled back in shock Toto leaped back into the house and Dorothy grabbed the handle of the door. She slammed it into Emily, once, twice, three times. Until finally Dorothy could close the door properly. Her hands were shaking from the effort but she managed to lock the door, ignoring the screams of her aunt and uncle. The house shook again, scattering shelved items across the room. Dorothy glanced out the window and froze.

A cyclone was coming.

Chapter 2

Dorothy called Toto over and ran desperately into her aunt and uncle's room. The walls started to collapse around her as Dorothy wrenched the wardrobe open, taking shelter inside. She flinched as the roof started to groan.

The roof smashed down, pulling the walls with it. Somehow they stayed safe and as the Cyclone hit the wreckage of the house, it sucked the wardrobe up alongside the other rubble.

What felt like hours passed, banging into other flying debris, flinging Dorothy around like a rag doll. Finally Dorothy meekly opened her eyes to see what was going on.

At first all she could see was the mist, but soon she started picking out shapes. Mountains passed below her, closer than she would like and with horror she realized that the cyclone was dying down. Fortunately it carried them over the biggest mountains but now it was really running out of steam as they slowly glided over the foothills.

With a crunch something collided with the wardrobe, slamming Dorothy back into the corner. She caught sight of a beautiful woman with dark olive skin through the door for a split second, but then she was gone and the ground was fast approaching.

Dorothy squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the impact she knew would come. When it did, the wardrobe shattered at the jolting impact, but luckily Dorothy was unharmed. She lay still amongst the shattered wood that was once a wardrobe, and the wind died down around her.

Toto wriggled out of Dorothy's arms and reluctantly she realized she couldn’t lay there forever. Standing up she glanced around. The mist was even thicker down here, obscuring most everything. With a stumble she went off to inspect the nearest shape she could see.

Body twisted unnaturally, eyes wide and staring, the beautiful lady lay broken on the ground.

The woman was like no one Dorothy had ever seen before. Bands of white gold wrapped around her body over a thin grey dress. Held in place by the bands were two giant sapphires, one on her breastbone, one down her stomach. Her skin was dark and smooth, her hair raven. She was like a character from another world.

Dorothy could not look away. She noticed on each wrist a shining bracelet of ruby and copper, strangely out of place.

'Take the bracelets' Dorothy froze. 'You killed her, you gain all she has lost'

Dorothy turned around to see the speaker emerge from the mist. She looked just like the dead woman, beautiful and graceful. She dressed similarly too, but with wires of silver and lilac cloth. Two amethysts were held in place by the bands of silver, one on her hip, one on her ribs. Her pale lavender hair was cut short, her eyes expressionless shards of amethyst. Power seemed to emanate from her.

Dorothy could tell it was not wise to disobey.

Dorothy slowly pulled the bracelets off, trying not to touch the body. She clumsily slipped them onto her own wrists and turned back to the other woman.

'Where am I?' Dorothy said, her voice stronger than she thought it would be. The woman gave her a cold smile.

'Why, you are in the land of Oz my dear.' Dorothy kept eye contact with the woman, waiting for more information.

'My, you are a brave one.' the woman giggled. 'I carry the title of the Witch of the North, and that is, or was, my sister. The Witch of the East. But fear not little one, I mean you no harm. I have no love for my sister of the East, in fact I was tracking her down myself for stealing something very precious.'

Dorothy tried not to show her rising fear. Could this be a hoax? The Witches cold eyes told her not.

'Oz is not a safe place for little girls, or their doggy’s. I suggest you leave while you can.' The Witch smiled again and started walking away, disappearing into the mist.

'Wait! How am I to get back home? Where on earth is Oz anyway? And what do you mean by-' Within a blink of an eye the witch was standing right in front of Dorothy, her smile unnaturally wide.

'The Wizard is the only one with the power to send you back where you came from. He lives in the great Emerald City, in neither the land of the east, south, west or north. The road paved in yellow will show you the way.' The Witch’s smile widened as she leaned forward.

'But beware little miss, in this land governed by the Wizard, my sisters, and I, ‘death’ only exists for the powerful. The murderers. The thieves. The Banished. Their punishment is worse then ‘death’, their bodies serve us and their souls are cast away. Their lost souls fight among themselves and scour the land, building new bodies to try and replace what they have lost. Most are mad by now, forgetting what it was like to be normal, and they will do anything to make their bodies stronger.

'But you see, my dear, the best parts for their bodies are living flesh and bone.'

And with that chilling last word the Witch was gone.

Dorothy looked around but the mist obscured everything, she couldn't even tell if it was night or day. She wandered aimlessly for a while, Toto in her arms, before she finally found something other than earth. A dark and gloomy forest.

Stiffly she started to walk towards the forest. At first the trees seemed to be dead, but on closer inspection Dorothy noticed that the 'trees' were made of white gold, and cold to the touch. A gnawing feeling settled in her stomach as she entered the metal forest. She defiantly wasn't in Kansas any more.

Chapter 3

The dim light of the setting sun refracted from tree to tree, more than once momentarily blinding Dorothy. Ghostly reflections of her own panicked face darted about on the edge of her vision, making her more and more tense. It was like a broken hall of mirrors and soon Dorothy and Toto were helplessly lost. At least the mist had dispersed after a while.

After what could have been hours the spell of the forest was broken. A painful roar shattered the silence, followed by yowls of triumph. Dorothy froze in fear until the sounds faded away, leaving only whispers of incoherent babbling. Could it be the Banished that the witch warned her about? Her mother had always said that curiosity killed the cat, but Dorothy was defiantly not a cat, and she needed directions. This could be her only chance.

The trees made following the babbling sounds hard but soon Dorothy and Toto arrived at a clearing. Trees were smashed left and right and the shards littered the floor, a dull rainbow of ribbons were scattered around, the fabrics rich colours only a memory to the now dark and torn material. There seemed to be no one in the clearing, but Dorothy could still hear the muttering. Stepping carefully to avoid pieces of the metal trees she walked towards the source of the sounds. Toto stayed at the edge of the clearing, pacing back and forth, ready to defend his mistress.

Dorothy finally arrived at the source of the sounds; a cracked and dirty diamond nestled in a pile of material. It defiantly didn’t look threatening.

‘Hello?’

‘Hello to you too, although I'm not ready for visors at the moment. I'd be a bit weak at the knees but I don't have any.’

It seemed like Dorothy had found one of the Banished. And it was at her mercy.

‘Have you come to liberate my possessions from me again? All I have left now is nothing, so your search will be a waste. Forgive me if I cannot stand, I seem to have misplaced my backbone. Misplaced it into the hands of my visitors. Bones are all I have left and now I have none!'

The Banished fell silent and Dorothy realized it was waiting for her to speak.

‘My name is Dorothy, and I am looking for a road paved with yellow bricks. Do you know where I might find it?’

‘What a terrible name! I would introduce myself but myself has just been stolen so I am not quite sure how that would work. A yellow road you say? Yellow is a cruel colour, I’d suggest you don’t follow it.’

Dorothy frowned. The Banished was making no sense, and it didn’t even seem to notice that she wasn’t another Banished. She decided It was mad. But it might know where the road is.

‘I would still very much like to go there.’ Dorothy tried to smile, something she didn’t do often.

‘I simply do not have the time to talk to you, I don’t have any time at all, and neither do you. Nothing is for free, my words cost you time, but my answers will cost you more.’

‘But I thought I didn’t have any time?’ The Banished made a gargling noise and stayed quiet, it appeared to be sulking.

‘How immature’ Dorothy sighed.

‘I am far more mature than you are! Why you can’t even find a road!’

Dorothy held her tongue and took a deep breath. This was getting her nowhere; she needed a plan, quick. Her eyes fell upon the material scattered around them.

‘You said you have lost your backbone, what about the rest of your body?’

The diamond rocked back and forth, Dorothy guessed it to be the closest the banished could come to a shrug.

‘Oh, my lungs and guts, my arms and legs! They are scattered around us right now, and I can’t put myself back together again! I feel like a certain unfortunate egg, except I didn’t fall off a wall, I was brutally murdered!’

‘But you’re not dead! The Witch said only powerful people can die here and you defiantly aren’t powerful.’ Dorothy was seriously losing patience with the Banished now, but much to her surprise when it spoke next it’s voice was deadly serious.

‘You are unfortunate indeed to converse with a Witch’

‘I am more unfortunate than you know. I killed one of them’ The Banished fell silent.

‘Why do you seek the road paved in yellow?’ Dorothy was taken aback by the Banished now serious tone. Obviously he was not as completely insane as he acted, intrigued Dorothy decided to tell him.

‘I don’t belong here in Oz. I need to go to the Emerald City and see the Wizard. The Witch said that he will send me home’

‘The road is dangerous. Other Banished prey on travellers, it is a rare occasion indeed when someone arrives safely at the Emerald City. You will need protection if you don’t want your body taken. Although a life as a Banished isn’t that bad.’

Dorothy clenched her little fists. ‘You don’t understand! I’m not from Oz! I can die! And I do not want to die here!’

The diamond rolled curiously around, as if to survey the area.

‘Help me re-build a body out of this material and I will take you to the yellow brick road. I will go with you to the Emerald City, and along the way offer you what protection I can.’

Dorothy looked down at her feet. This was her only choice.

Chapter 4

It wasn’t hard to make the new body at all. It was quite a strain on Dorothy’s hands though, and by the time it was finished they were shaking uncontrollably. Toto sniffed the bundle of rags critically as Dorothy finally dropped the diamond where the head would be and sat down.

The bundle of rags twitched a couple of times until it finally rose from an indistinguishable bunch of rags into a vaguely human shaped figure.

‘You look like some kind of nightmarish scarecrow’ Dorothy remarked, surveying her handiwork with what could be mistaken for a smile.

‘What is a scarecrow?’

‘It’s something that scares crows’

‘Well, I wasn’t expecting that’ Dorothy stood up and brushed down her skirt. She didn’t want to admit it, but when the Banished wasn’t sprouting nonsense he was quite good company. While she was tying together its body it talked to her about the four, or now three, Witches of Oz. One for each point of the compass. He told her of how North and South were allied with the Wizard and how East and West were constantly being bullied and bribed into swearing their alliance too. He also explained that ‘death’ only exists for Witches, all the other residents of Oz’s souls simply escape from the body when it is seriously damaged or when a Witch pulls them apart.

‘I can’t remember my original name but Scarecrow seems a good alternative.’ The Scarecrow stumbled like a drunkard out of the clearing and into the forest.

‘Come Dorothy, I will show you the way to the road of yellow bricks!’ It said dramatically.

Dorothy smiled for the first time in what felt like years.

As they walked (well, the Scarecrow didn’t really walk, he kind of stumbled) the forest started to thin out, much to Dorothy and Toto’s relief, and soon they caught a glimmer of yellow reflected by the trees. The flashes of colour cheered Dorothy up immensely; they were nearly out of this terrible place! As she stepped forward eagerly, a small sliver of metal snapped beneath her foot.

'Quiet!' the Scarecrow hissed, his head lolling back and forth, as if searching for something. Dorothy froze, and after seconds of silence the scarecrow seemed to relax. Silence.

Krrraaacccckkkk.

Toto scrambled at Dorothy's legs, trying to get into her arms, whimpering all the while. The sound came again, louder this time. Much to Dorothy's horror, the scarecrow lead them closer to the sounds, she wanted to run, but she couldn't risk loosing her guide. So, crouching low, Dorothy picked Toto up and cautiously followed the scarecrow.

Slowly, a clearing became visible through the trees.

Patches of dirty yellow brick could be seen where the ground had been disrupted by footprints. To the right Dorothy could see the blanket of earth becoming more and more thin until the road beneath was revealed as a bright yellow band weaving its way through the trees.

In the middle of the clearing, a giant broken tree stood. Its bright bark had been shattered into jagged pieces, revealing darker flashes of metal beneath. Kneeling in front of the tree was a tall figure clad in armour. He twisted a piece of the bark off the tree and the cause of the strange noise became clear.

Dorothy relaxed at the sight of the armoured man and stepped forward to introduce herself. This was the first proper resident of Oz she had seen, and although she didn't want to admit it she missed being around normal people, especially in this strange place.

The Scarecrow tried to pull her back in between the trees but it was too late. The armoured man noticed her presence and turned around, his eyeless helmet sending a shiver down Dorothy's spine as she realized something.

No-one had told her Banished couldn't have a human shaped body.

Anger at her own stupidity burnt in Dorothy's stomach. There was no turning back now. Searching frantically, her eyes fell on a rather large broken branch.

Moving faster than she ever had before, Dorothy leaped forward and grabbed the branch in her weak hands. It was heavier than she expected and she felt her grip slip, but she hung on and swung the branch with all her might.

With hardly any effort the Banished caught the branch in one hand, and with a sharp twist wrenched it from Dorothy's grasp. Toto growled by Dorothy's feet as she flinched, waiting for the Banished to make it's move.

'You are not from Oz are you?'

Dorothy jumped at the sound of it's voice, deep and calm, but she didn't respond.

'In all my years, I have never seen or heard of an outsider visiting Oz, this is indeed interesting.'

'What do you care? Surely you just want my flesh and bones for your body, my origins have nothing to do with anything.' Bravely Dorothy raised her eyes to it's helmet.

'You do not understand. I have lived in this forest for thousands of years. I was one of the first Banished, all others here fear me. But life here is tiresome, decades slip by unnoticed. Nothing new ever comes to Oz. Nothing. Nothing, apart from you.

Something momentous is happening, I know it. And I intend to be a part of it.'

Chapter 5

Much to Scarecrows disappointment, Dorothy agreed to let the armoured Banished travel with them.

Scarecrow didn't trust the Banished at all, and made quite a show of declaring it, but as for Dorothy, she was quite taken with the Banished. He reminded her of her old tutor back in London, he answered all her questions, and his voice was always calm and steady. He explained how his body was made of the tree-metal. The skill to work the metal was an old and rarely taught one. But, when used properly, it produced one of the best materials for a body in the whole of Oz, second only to flesh and bone. Seeing the look on her face, he reassured Dorothy that he was perfectly content with his current form, and they soon set off down the road of yellow bricks.

Scarecrow argued at first about following the road, it was too easy to be ambushed along it, but the armoured Banished just shrugged and carried on, reassuring Dorothy that he was so well known in the forest, that no other Banished would dare attack them, even for the promise of flesh and bone.

'And even if they did attack, I will soon promptly remind them why they fear my power here'

The scarecrow muttered angrily but followed anyway. He didn't want to admit it, but he feared the road. His body was weak (probably the weakest in the forest) and he was new to being apart form his birth body. In a fight he'd be hard pushed to defeat the girls dog. He also felt guilty about leading Dorothy so close to something so dangerous, he had promised to protect her after all, and he wasn't doing a very good job of it. Ignoring the Banished's promise that no-one would dare attack him, Scarecrow kept an eye out for anything or anyone up to no good.

As they neared the forests edge he caught a glance of a gleaming body of copper and gold through the trees, quickly followed by a terrified roar. Never had it felt so bad to be proven right.

The trees shook as the Banished bounded closer, Scarecrow lumbered over to Dorothy and tried to pull her off the road and out of the way, but it was too late. With a crash, the Banished bounded though the last line of trees and into the road at an astonishing speed, only to collide with the ancient armoured  Banished with a thunderous crash.

Howls and screeches followed the golden Banished to the edge of the trees, slowing from their frantic pace until they finally stopped. In the shadows between the trees, rubies, sapphires and pieces of topaz which acted as eyes for the howling Banished all shone with a sinister light, their focus on the golden Banished.

Brushing the dust off his shining white-gold armour, the ancient Banished took a steady step towards the trees, unaffected by the thunderous collision. Slowly at first the glowing eyes dissolved back into the trees, and by the time the armoured Banished had taken three steps they were all fleeing in the opposite direction, screeching in fear this time.

Tension was thick in the air as focus changed from the disappearing Banished to one dazed one right in front of them. It's golden body seemed unharmed and it seemed to be groaning quietly. Stealthily Toto crept towards the Banished, much to Dorothy's horror, sniffing and growling all the while.

Shoving aside the Scarecrow like the bunch of rags he was, Dorothy hurried after Toto. She bent down to scoop him up in her weak arms but before she could, one burnt little paw hit the Banished.

In a flash of gold and copper the Banished sprung to it's feet, it's jaws snapping shut just short of Toto's leg. Without thinking Dorothy yelled like an animal and with the arm not holding a shaken Toto, punched the Banished right in one shining ruby eye, nearly breaking her already damaged hand in the process.

The Banished froze, as did Dorothy. And then, much to everyone’s surprise, it opened it's mouth and started to cry.

With a thump the golden Banished sat down on it's hind legs, and wailed louder then ever. Dorothy could see it's golden body was fashioned like a lion's, with a mane of copper and ruby eyes. It would have looked extremely impressive if the golden Banished wasn't howling unhappily like a little child.

Dorothy was pretty sure the punch had done more damage to her fist than the Banished's eye and she soon grew impatient with the Banished's childish behaviour.

'Oh do stop crying! Why you should be ashamed of yourself, acting like a baby, and after a punch from a little girl as well!'

The lion shaped Banished just howled louder at Dorothy's scolding.

'I-I-I didn't mean t-t-to!' It wailed, 'I was provoked!'

'Nonsense!' Dorothy shouted, 'I have a good mind to-'

'Quiet little one,' the armoured Banished said calmly, 'the Banished is no threat, let us move on. We still have a long way to go.'

Dorothy sniffed and cradled Toto closer to her chest, the armoured Banished was right. With a huff she turned to leave.

'No wait! I'm sorry my lady, I was scared it was another savage Banished after my gold and copper! Oh I should never have come to the West! I just wanted some beautiful white-gold teeth!' The Banished howled loudly and Dorothy realized he must be one of the few able to work tree-metal.

'Don't leave me to the mercy of those savages!' It wailed, 'They came after me the second I entered the forest! Usually I can scare them away, but they were desperate and I was weak! But you! My white-gold saviour!' The lion shuffled towards the armoured Banished 'You saved me! You chased them away! Let me travel with you!'

And before Dorothy could interject, the Banished agreed.

Chapter 6

Dorothy was sure that they were strangest travelling party she had ever seen. The white-gold armoured Banished lead the way, followed the golden lion shaped Banished carrying Dorothy and Toto, and jauntily weaving between them all was the Scarecrow.

Scarecrow had cheered up considerably at the addition of the lion-shaped Banished to their party, and they soon became friends. He had dubbed the golden Banished 'the Cowardly Lion' or just Lion for short, and the Lion was thrilled at their new-found friendship, even if he couldn't understand what the Scarecrow was going on about half the time.

Dorothy had to explain what a lion was to Scarecrow at first, as they were only heard of in The Emerald City, which the Lion had apparently visited frequently before becoming a Banished. He couldn't remember much of his former life but he understood a lot of the things Dorothy mentioned from her own world, which left her wondering how things from her world were known in the Emerald City if no-one from there had ever been to Oz. It was all very confusing.

To pass the time they decided to come up with a name for the armoured Banished, which lead to a lot of demeaning and sometimes rude suggestions from the Scarecrow. Finally with the help of Dorothy they settled on 'the Tin Man'. The Tin Man didn't seem to mind the name, though he didn't seem to mind much anything, so it stuck. And that is how they finally emerged from the woods, the first three Banished to be given names.

Now they were clear of the tress, Dorothy could take her first proper look at Oz.

The first thing she noticed was the sky. To the south-west a golden glow kissed the horizon, blossoming out into red, then purple, then into a navy night sky above her. The sun glowed softly to south-west, while the moon hovered north-east, with a gasp Dorothy realized, it was night and day at the same time!

Stunned, Dorothy's eyes darted from sun to moon and back again, unable to say a word.

'What is wrong Dorothy?' the Lion asked softly, trying to look over his shoulder at her.

'The sun is up over there, but the moon is up here! Surely it can't be night and day!'

'What do you mean? The sky is always like this, it never changes, even through the seasons.' the Lion explained.

'Amazing! In my world, the sun rises, and is alone in the sky for the whole day, then it sets and the moon becomes visible, and that is night. Although I must say, the sky looks far more attractive like this' Dorothy smiled happily, a good chunk of her pent up fear dispersing. Suddenly the whole Oz fiasco seemed a lot less terrifying.

Finally as they moved along the yellow road Dorothy changed her attention to Munchkinland, home to the Munchkin race which Scarecrow was once a part of.

It was stunning in itself, stone buildings seemed to grow out of the ground in elegant shapes, all shades of grey. The village would have looked quite dull if not every building was adorned with vines of white-gold, twisting in intricate patterns, and with sapphires set into the stone at various intervals.

But that was not all, behind the houses loomed a great tower. Like the houses it too seemed 'grown' but this time completely out of sapphire and white-gold, and it shone beautifully in the moon-and-sunlight, sending ghostly reflections of blue onto the streets and houses below it.

'That my dear, is the abode of the late Witch of the East.' The Tin Man gestured towards the grand sapphire tower 'If you didn't have to go home, it would be yours now.' Dorothy stared at the beautiful tower in awe, and wished for a second she didn't have to go home.

It was quite a steep decent down to Munchkinland and the yellow brick road had to wind back and fourth to make the trail less dangerous, but unfortunately it also made the trail extremely long. Taking a quick look around at his companions, Tin Man decided to make camp by a large rock for a while, so everyone could rest up for a bit.

Although it had been hours since Dorothy arrived, she wasn't hungry at all, just a little sleepy. It puzzled her at first as to why, but in the end she just put it down to Oz and it's weird and wonderful ways. Toto was ravenous but they had nothing edible, so he had to make do with water from a nearby stream. As for the Scarecrow and Lion, they happily collapsed on the floor and fell straight to sleep. Once Dorothy was given the chance to relax she realised she was sleepier than she thought, and she soon drifted off.

A chorus of screams from Munchkinland woke Dorothy with a start. Hands shaking, she peered over the edge of the rock.

Streams of savage banished tore through the city like a hurricane, destroying everything in sight, Munchkin or building. Dorothy watched with horror at the mindless destruction and she soon had to look away, bile rising in her throat.

'They must have found out about the Witch of the East's death' The Tin Man said from where he was sitting, keeping watch over the sleeping Scarecrow, Lion and Toto. 'She is the only thing that kept Munchkinland safe from them, that is why the Banished reside in the Backwoods.'

Dorothy felt a stab of guilt as his words. She couldn't get back to sleep, she just sat there, frozen, listening in horror.

Soon the screams died away, leaving only the manic laughter of the Banished. After a while chanting could be heard alongside the laughter, consisting of only one gleeful sentence.

'Ding dong, the witch is dead!'

Chapter 7

The Scarecrow and Lion woke not long after the attack, but the Tin Man made them stay at the makeshift camp. They would wait until the Banished had taken what flesh and bone they wanted and moved on from Munchkinland, mostly for Dorothy's sake.

The Banished had worked themselves into a frenzy at the news of the dead Witch and they were also emboldened by their new bodies. Some may even take the chance and try to attack Tin Man. He was sure he could defeat them, but if a group came then Dorothy could be in danger, as well as the Cowardly Lion and weak-bodied Scarecrow. He couldn't risk Dorothy's death, life to the Tin Man was just getting interesting again.

It took almost two hours for the Banished to calm down, but they didn't leave the city, which troubled the Tin Man.

'I assume they will make it their new stronghold, I suggest we leave the road and avoid Munchkinland completely, it is the safest way.'

Scarecrow disagreed for the sake of disagreeing, but the Tin Man silenced him with a threatening tilt of head, asking him if he'd like to lead instead.

They followed the road down the decent from the Backwoods, but as soon as they hit flat ground, they veered off to the left. The road ran straight through the middle of the city and out the other side, so it wouldn't be that hard to meet up with it after they passed Munchkinland.

Even though they avoided coming to close to the Munchkinland border, the stain and stench of blood was impossible to ignore. Dorothy actually threw up when the stench became too much for her, and wisely the Tin Man led them further away from the bloody and broken city. In a wide ark they passed the middle of the city, and a flash of yellow became visible in the distance.

They were almost three quarters of the way around Munchkinland when a group of Banished spotted them. They hovered at the border of the city, eyes focused on Dorothy as the group walked past. The Tin Man kept the pace slow and steady, trying not to provoke the group of Banished, hoping they could get past untroubled.

Faster than the blink of an eye, the Banished made their move. Howling and screeching they bounded up to the travellers, eyes on Dorothy. She only got a quick glimpse of them before the Tin Man hurled her and Toto onto the Lion, but it was enough to fuel her nightmares for years to come.

Corpses of once lively Munchkins played as new hosts to the Banished, each one had two rough sapphires pushed into the corpse's eyes, tearing the tender flesh of the face with it's sharp edges. Blood poured down from what once was the poor Munchkin's eyes, clotting and congealing on their face. The stench of blood was unbelievable, making Dorothy gag, she would have thrown up if she had anything left to throw up.

The Banished howled in glee at the chase. Scarecrow was stumbling behind, and almost got caught but the Tin Man darted back and slung the bunch of rags over his shoulder. The rough ground make it tough going for the Lion and Tin Man and they were soon tired, especially the Lion. The Banished's new bodies were seemingly tireless, and the gap between the two groups gradually got smaller and smaller.

With a triumphant howl, one Banished using the corpse of a small boy caught hold of the bottom Dorothy's dress, leaving globs and smears of blood over the material. Turning around she tried to dislodge his grip but it was no use, the other Banished were closing in and Lion was slowing down.

Desperately Dorothy yelled and as if in response the rubies on her bracelets shone viciously, and with a flash the Banished was flung away, smashing into his comrades. All strength left Dorothy with that flash and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Dorothy awoke to Toto's frantic yapping, and she realised they were back on the yellow brick road, Munchkinland far behind them. Apparently the flash from the bracelets had scared the Banished off, and they were untroubled the rest of the journey back to the road. Fortunately Dorothy hadn't lost balance on Lions back when she fainted, although she was stiff from the awkward position.

Curiously Dorothy studied the ruby bracelets she had taken from the Witch of the East. They just looked like normal bracelets, albeit expensive ones. Four rubies were set in a row, mounted on a thick band of gold with thinner gold wires twisting around the precious gems in dreamy swirls. Surprisingly they weren't heavy at all, and Dorothy had nearly forgotten about them. She was just about to pull one off to inspect it further when Scarecrow yelled enthusiastically, making her jump.

Looking over the Lions head, she noticed the source of Scarecrow's joy. Squinting at the horizon a great spear of Emerald was visible.

The groups’ spirits soared at the sight of their destination, except Toto, who wasn't interested in anything that wasn't food. As they got closer and closer the faint sound of running water could be heard, and two sparkling rivers came into view either side of the road, both linking up at the base of the Emerald City. Much to Toto's delight the Lion bounded off to catch some fish, letting Dorothy stretch her legs for a while.

As they set off again and Dorothy sat there, stroking what mangy fur Toto had left, feeling the happiest she had felt since the fire. Sitting there laughing and joking with the Lion and Scarecrow, the Tin Man joining the conversation every now and then to argue with Scarecrow, she realised she had stopped thinking about her travelling companions as Banished a long time ago, and she now saw them as something else.

Her friends.

Chapter 8

The gentle gurgle of the rivers gradually escalated into a thunderous roar as they came closer to the spear of emerald. The Lion explained to the group that the giant Emerald spear was hollow, and the city was actually inside, protected from the elements and Banished.

As they got closer the yellow brick road rose from the ground in a slope, higher and higher it went until it joined up to a ledge on the side of the emerald. Cautiously they slowed their pace, careful not to fall off the now steep road.

The roar of the rivers was deafening by this point, and looking down Dorothy saw why. The two rivers cascaded down a massive hole twice the size of Muchkinland. In the centre of the hold rose the great Emerald, the mist from the waterfalls obscuring the bottom.

Finally they arrived at the ledge only to find no door in sight, just a white velvet bag. Dorothy picked the bag up, hoping to find a key inside, but instead she was met by little circular pieces of green paper.

'You must place one of these on each of your eyes.' the Lion explained. With a sceptical look Dorothy picked one up and cautiously held it up in front of her left eye.

In a flash the paper attached itself to her eye, tinting her world green. Frightened, Dorothy tried to get it out but to no avail, and in they end they decided to do as the Lion instructed, he had been here before after all. The paper also stuck to the gemstones the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man used to see with, so when they let the last piece attach to Toto's left eye everyone's vision was tinted green.

With the tinted paper a door could be seen on the side of the emerald, and with one gentle touch it swung open. Finally they were in the Emerald city.

The Lion lead them down emerald streets to the town square where they could access the stairs to the Wizards floor. It was here Dorothy finally got her first glance at the Elmarians.

At first Dorothy thought she was back in London somehow. The Elmarians milled around in intricate dresses and suits, green of course, chatting happily amongst themselves. Confused, Dorothy furiously rubbed her eyes, thinking she'd gone mad.

When Dorothy lowered her hands she was greeted with a horribly different scene. The bright and beautiful dresses were gone, instead the Elmarians stood in rags, exposing translucent white skin stretched tightly over skeletal frames. Various gears, cogs and tubes broke through their dry skin, and each Elmarian wore a dark metal mask over their nose and mouth.

The Elmarians simply stared with their dead eyes as the group   made their way through the crowd. Dorothy's heart nearly stopped when one of the Elmarians asked where they were going. But the Tin Man answered for her, and soon the Elmarian lost interest. As they made their way to the spiral staircase in the centre of the emerald the crowd began to thin out, much to Dorothy's relief. With a sigh the tension left her and her fists unclenched. Much to her surprise she saw two pieces of green paper float down from between her fingers. Somehow she had rubbed them out.

The paper was what must have made the Elmarians look normal at first, she realised with a start. That was why the others seemed so unconcerned. Something odd was going on here, and she didn't like it.

The Elmarians stared as they ascended the staircase, sending chills down her spine and freezing her jaw shut. They reached the landing relatively quickly. Almost as soon as they stepped off the last step an Elmarian guard lunged at Dorothy. With one swing of his bony arm he knocked her out cold. The little green papers worked their magic on the Banished, and the whole encounter went unseen.

When she awoke she had no recollection of anything since entering the city. The Tin Man and Lion put it down to fatigue and had let her rest outside the doors to the Wizards chamber until she awoke. She was told how the guard had seen her faint and saved her from falling down the stairs.

The Lion asked if Dorothy wanted to wait until she was feeling better to see the Wizard but she decided against it, and with a smile the chubby Elmarian guard pushed open the heavy green gates for them.

At the end of a long hall sat a young man garbed in a green suit. His bright green eyes seemed to light up behind his glasses as he smiled as his guests.

'Dorothy, you have come at last.' He motioned for them to come closer to his throne, smiling cheerfully.

'And I see you have brought friends! No need to tell me of your journey, I've had a faithful friend keep an eye on you.'

Dorothy and the others moved forward slowly until they stood in a row in front of the Wizard. They bowed awkwardly and waited for the Wizard to speak again.

'You three Banished, for whatever reason, have worked hard to get here. It is not often we get visitors here, except the travelling merchants. I believe this deserves a reward.' The Wizard waved his hand nonchalantly and a small door in the wall opened.

A group of Elmarians pulled what looked like three coffins into the hall, leaving them in front of the Banished.

'I had these recovered from the armies of the East and South. You are henceforth pardoned. I cannot restore the life you lost but, I can give you your bodies back.' With a smile her turned to Dorothy as the Banished opened the coffins eagerly.

'And you young miss, will be wanting to go home, correct?'

'Well, no sir.' She replied, shocking everyone 'I wish to stay'

Chapter 9

Dorothy stood there definitely, looking at the Wizard, only to be hugged by curly-haired blond man in a blue uniform.

'Oh Dorothy, I'm so glad you're going to stay! What a marvellous time! I have my me back, and you'll be staying here with all of us.'

Dorothy realised it was the Scarecrow in his new body and relaxed. He continued to ramble nonsense as Dorothy turned to see the Tin Man and Lion's bodies.

The Tin Man was wearing the same uniform as Scarecrow, his black hair and serious face not surprising her in the least. Standing beside him the Lion wore a uniform of red and looked only around sixteen, his long ginger hair standing out vividly against his olive skin.

Finally letting go she could see the grinning Scarecrow properly, his hair was more wavy than curly and he was grinning like a fool, Dorothy couldn't help but smile back.

'I'm sorry to put a dampener on the mood, but there is no way you can stay here.' Dorothy's smile fell at the Wizards words.

'That's not fair! We got rewards but not her!' The Lion shouted angrily. The Wizard glared at him and with a whimper he jumped behind Dorothy. 'S-sorry' he whispered.

'The Lion has a point' The Tin Man said loudly, crossing his arms defiantly.

With a sigh the Wizard took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.

'There is one way, but it is dangerous'

'We got all the way here didn't we?' The Scarecrow said arrogantly.

'To stay you must become a Witch. And to become a Witch, you must kill a Witch. That is the only way'

'She has already killed the Witch of the East.' the Tin Man replied in the shocked silence.

'That does not count. It was not intentional' the Wizard replied with a sigh.

The Tin Man opened his mouth to reply but the Wizard silenced him with a raised hand.

'I am telling you, it does not work like that. Killing another Witch is the only way. You would have to take up the responsibilities of being a Witch, but you would become a full citizen of Oz and I would not be bound by law to send you home as I am now. I will give you this one chance to stay, but I can only overlook the laws of Oz for so long.' Grumpily he ran his fingers through his dark green hair.

'Usually I would not recommend this, It would be a dangerous journey and an even more dangerous encounter, but I have been hearing reports of how the Witch of the East is enslaving and torturing her own people, the Winkies. Possibly in order to make an army capable of conquering the other lands. I personally cannot do anything about this, I lack the power. And although the Witches of the South and North are allied with me, they would have to be banished from Oz for killing one of their own by the law. I would send an assassin but regular residents of Oz cannot kill a witch, Our hands are tied.'

'However, you as a outsider would be able to do it. This way you get what you want, the Winkie people will be freed and the lands of Oz will be out of danger. A win win scenario, no?' With a wave of his hand the doors opened.

'That is all I have to say on the matter, kill the Witch of the West or have me to send you home. It is your choice'

Thanking the Wizard for his advice, Dorothy walked through the doors and out of the hall, her head held high.

She would stay in Oz, no matter what.

Sitting in the merchants quarters, Dorothy was finally given a chance to sit still and think.

She wondered when exactly she had decided she wanted to stay in Oz. She couldn't pin-point the exact time, but she realised she had been hiding the truth from herself for a while. It was only when she was finally given the chance to go home did she admit it to herself. In the short time she had spent here with everyone, Oz had become more of a home than Earth had been her whole life.

Dressed in his new red, white, and cream outfit, the Lion brought out a detailed map of Oz so they could plan a route to the land of the West. Fortunately for Dorothy Oz had very simple geography and the route didn't take much planning at all.

In essence Oz was a circle divided in four by rivers with the Emerald city at it's core. Each land had a road starting in the ring of woodland at the foot of the mountains called the backwoods, and each road lead straight to the Emerald City. The few travelling merchants from each land (which Lion was sure he was a part of once) used the roads quite frequently, but most of the time they were empty. To get to the West they had to follow the blue brick road, all the way to Winkieland.

Fortunately for them, when a Banished gets it's original body back it doesn't become a normal resident of Oz again, the bond between soul and body differs somehow. The process was a rare one but the Lion had still managed to dig up some information on it. From now on the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man didn't need food or rest, and they were much stronger physically than any normal Oz resident. This news was met with much cheering from the Scarecrow, but the Tin Man silenced him once he noticed this wasn't everything the Lion had found out. With pained expression the Lion explained the one downfall to their new powers.

Just like the Witches and the Wizard, a fatal wound wouldn't just cause their soul to depart their body and become a Banished any more. It would kill them.

Chapter 10

The journey to Winkieland had been blissfully uneventful, and they had taken the chance to get to know each other more. Dorothy told them of her world, and as the ex-Banished's memories retuned they told her the stories of their lives in return.

The Cowardly Lion regained some confidence as he remembered his life as one of the travelling merchants, where he had to fend off Banished with weapons forged from tree-metal, a skill his mentor taught him. He was banished for trading with the Winkies, as contact with the lands of the two rebel Witches was banned.

The Tin Man revealed to them that he was once a general in the Great Army of Oz. Thousands of years ago, the army drove off the monsters that once inhabited the land of Oz. When Oz was finally free the army disbanded and he was offered a job as the Witch of the East's advisor. Turing it down he went to settle down with a Munchkin girl he had fallen in love with and in spite the Witch banished him. Dorothy could see that the returning memories pained him, and it was now clear to her why he was so cold and detached as a Banished.

The Scarecrow found out he was the son of a rich Munchkin lord. He had been arrogant and foolish in his time as a Munchkin and after one too many times drinks his loose tongue ended up getting him on the wrong side of the Witch of the East.

As they neared Winkieland they developed new names for themselves. The Scarecrow became Crowe and the Lion became Leon, changing and growing into better men than they were before. As for the Tin Man, he finally revealed his birth name, Aren.

Upon finally arriving at Winkieland disguised as travelling merchants, they were shocked to find the whole city empty.

The Witch knew they were coming, and she knew why.

Winkieland looked much the same as Munchkinland, except gold and yellow topaz adorned the houses here. Due to this the city had a beautiful glow about it, similar to a sunset. Unlike the Witch of the East's tower, which stood to the north of Munchkinland, the great topaz tower stood in the centre of Winkieland. Aren explained that this was the layout favoured by all four Witches, but the Witch of the East in a fit of rage moved hers outside the city.

Their original plan was to enter in disguise and sneak into the Witch's tower, but it seemed the Witch had anticipated their attack. All they could do now was make their way to the tower and stay alert, and hope that when they did spring the trap they survived.

As they stepped through the gate of Winkieland Aren reminded Dorothy that she was not alone. Although regular residents of Oz couldn't kill Witches, they could defiantly restrain one, and when Dorothy rested Aren had taken the time to teach Crowe and Leon all he could. They had become quite the warriors; training hard for the little girl they had grown to love.

With a nod Dorothy clenched her white-gold dagger that he had made for her in shaking hands, the plan had failed but they would be fine. Not to be left out Leon, Aren and Crowe drew their white-gold swords, prepared for the worse as they moved slowly through the empty city, alert to the slightest noise.

In the end when the attack came it wouldn't have mattered if they had been alert or asleep. The assassins moved faster than should have been possible, and before anyone could even notice them a sharp golden blade slashed through Crowe's pale neck. With a dull thud his dead body hit the floor, just as a second assassin’s golden blade ate it's way into Leon's heart. Aren was at least able to slash at the first assassin before being grabbed from behind by the second. And finally in one swift movement the first assassin's dagger tore through the roof of Aren's mouth, lodging in his brain.

All Dorothy could do was scream.

She couldn’t believe what happened.

It couldn’t have happened. They were stronger then normal citizens of Oz, how could two people kill them?

They tossed away their lives like they were worthless.

Everything was going wrong.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

She screamed again, tears streaming down her face.

Slowly her sorrow boiled into a furious flame of anger.

'SHOW YOURSELF WITCH!' she roared, her voice breaking. Glaring at the impassive topaz tower through a veil of hot tears.

In a flash a woman appeared in front of her, garbed in grey and gold, standing tall and proud with golden eyes. She was beautiful and terrible, just like the other Witches.

Dorothy felt the anger insider her flare up as the Witch stood there expressionlessly.

This was her fault, she killed them.

Dorothy’s bracelets began to glow in response to her anger, the metal twisting and expanding until a pair of copper gauntlets covered her weak hands, the four rubies placed along the knuckles.

With a roar of pure fury Dorothy punched the Witch with all her might, her armoured hand smashing through ribs and crushing vital organs.

The Witch fell to the floor, dead.

Turning back into bracelets the gauntlets followed the Witch to the cobbled ground.

She had done it. She had killed the Witch of the West.

Epilogue

The sound of clapping echoed around Dorothy, and curiously she slowly turned around.

The Wizard leant against the wall of a nearby house, smirking cruelly, the unmasked assassins standing next to him. Dorothy recognised the Witch of the North, and what could only be the Witch of the South, both looking equally pleased.

A chorus of screams broke forth from inside the tower and  a pale bony man with a metal mask on emerging from the entrance. Dorothy's memories of the true Elamrians came rushing back as she stared at the living horror.

The Wizard smiled and sauntered towards the frozen Dorothy.

'Looks like you are still confused my dear,' He smirked evilly.

'You see Dorothy, Oz belongs to me. When I arrived here from our world I knew I was destined to rule this place. North and South agreed. I made them new weapons, and they pledged themselves to me, but the other two declined. I made myself an army, a mixture of Oz magic and our science, to take over Winkieland and Munchkinland. But you see the Witches protect them. My allies here would help but a Witch has to be exiled from Oz if they kill another Witch. Finally I came across you while exploring in my dreams. It was a sign. I organised a trap for East, sucking her into a storm, and with South's help they brought in you my dear, to be the cause of East's death. Finally they planted South's weapons on the body, so when I finally sent you here you could use them to kill the last obstacle in my path. After all you've gone through to become a Witch, you were a one the second you hit and killed East! You left those pesky Munchkin's defenceless and rounded up all the Winkies for me. All in all I should thank you. But, you know the law, right?'

'When a Witch kills a Witch she must be exiled from Oz'

And with that he placed his hand over her tear filled eyes.