1 Darkness That’s all there was Darkness so profound that he couldn’t see his hand an inch from his face He might be in a tiny box or in a huge cavern There was no way to tell His breath was loud in his ears and his heart pounded so hard that it actually hurt I have to calm down Brink Springer thought My fear is making me imagine things It can’t really be this dark I have to let my eyes adjust He stared into the blackness trying to slow his heartbeat staying focused on taking deep breaths It was still dark Brink closed his eyes then opened them again Still dark Pitch-black Maybe it’s an illusion he thought Brink’s
magical talent was making illusions and he’d gotten pretty good at it during the past week as he traveled through the Land of Oz He’d even begun to think that he could see through other people’s illusions too But if this was one he couldn’t tell If not an illusion then what he wondered No regular night could be like this completely without light Normally there were stars and the moon but not tonight It was simply never this black It never had been in Brink’s sixteen years of life Somewhere there had to be a torch or a candle Somewhere a tiny bit of light had to reach him if everything was normal But nothing had been normal since he had reached Glinda the Good’s Palace The golden bridge across the raging river had looked broken to his friends but Brink could see it He’d run over the delicate span to the gates of the famous sorceress’s castle hoping to prove to his friends that the broken
bridge was only an illusion He’d expected them to see him safe on the other side and to follow him But that hadn’t happened Brink’s pulse sped up again as he thought of Zerie Greenapple her eyes going wide with terror as a Winged Monkey scooped her up into the air Another Monkey had taken Vashti Weaver and all Brink could do was watch helplessly from the bridge as his two friends were carried off by the agents of Princess Ozma to their giant airship hovering overhead Why hadn’t the Monkeys taken him too Brink had turned to the golden doors of Glinda’s Palace banging on them with both fists He’d known his only chance was to get the attention of the great sorceress to beg for her help It was the reason he Zerie and Vashti had traveled so far from their home in the north of Quadling Country Glinda was the only one with the power to oppose Princess Ozma and her ban on magic in
the Land of Oz The golden gates had swung open and Brink saw her Glinda as beautiful as all the old tales had said with long red hair piercing blue eyes and a gown of sparkling white so bright it almost hurt to look at Help Brink had cried falling to his knees in front of her Ozma has taken my friends Glinda had smiled at him Smiled and raised her hand Then there had been a loud sound like a clap of thunder and the next thing he knew it was dark and he was alone Brink laid his hand on the ground which felt cold and rough beneath his palm He didn’t know if he had seen Glinda a few seconds ago or a few days ago The darkness had come as such a shock that he wasn’t sure if he’d lost consciousness or if he’d simply been transported here by magic He felt sure of only one thing and that was Glinda
