Vella, Shay, Oz, and Finley had all left that morning and started down the yellow brick road. Finley blabbered the whole way--Vella and Shay ignored him by talking about home while Oz had to listen to everything the monkey said. Finley had also insisted that they take a look at the source of some smoke they saw billowing in the sky.
They’d found the ruins of China Town, a small village made of the same material as its name. The four walked through carefully, although they couldn’t break anything any more than had been already.
“This is horrible,” Vella whispered. “It reminds me of what they said Mog Chothra would do to our town if…”
A sound of something or someone sobbing interrupted her. All four of them looked around, trying to find the source. …show more content…
The others heard him introduce himself before he turned to them, moving out of the way so that the person in the house could see them.
“This is Finley,” he gestured to the flying monkey behind him, “and these two kids are… er…”
“I’m Vella and this is Shay,” Vella finished, gesturing between herself and Shay.
Oz turned back to the little girl inside the house. He took his bag from Finley, then disappeared into the little porcelain house. A few minutes later, Oz backed out of house with a small girl made out of the same material as everything else in the town. She was smiling and thanking Oz as much as possible.
Later that day, the group--now there were five of them--found themselves at the edge of the dark forest, none daring to be the first to enter.
“Are you sure you kids want to do this?” Oz asked, addressing Vella, Shay, and the China Girl.
All three were, despite their hesitation. Oz took a deep breath and took a tentative step into the forest. Nothing had eaten alive (yet), so he took another. And another. And another. The others soon