The Wizard Returns Read Free

following the feel of the Old Magic—that’s what’s telling me where to go.”
    â€œOld Magic?” Pete didn’t answer at first, and Hex thought he was ignoring the question, but after a moment, he shrugged.
    â€œYou really don’t remember anything, do you? The Old Magic is the lifeblood of Oz. The power that runs through this place and keeps it alive. It’s like a huge web that connects everything together. The people, the landscape, the animals, the palace—Old Magic flows through everything. Only the mostpowerful witches in Oz can tap into it. And the fairies, of course, because technically it’s their magic—but I don’t think even they truly understand how it works.”
    â€œThe fairies who will be testing me?” Hex asked.
    â€œThe fairies are the original citizens of Oz,” Pete replied, apparently content to continue his history lesson. “They were the ones who first crossed the Deadly Desert, long before Oz existed, and used their blood to give Oz its magic and bring life to the desert. They created Oz out of the wasteland. Because of that, the fairies are the rightful rulers of Oz. There have been other guardians of the throne over the years, of course.” Pete shot Hex an inscrutable look. “But none of those rulers are legitimate unless they’ve been authorized by the fairies. Anyway, if anyone can help you get home, it’s the fairies.” He put a strange stress on the word “legitimate,” and Hex wondered what he was getting at. Fairies? Old Magic? It all sounded like a bad penny dreadful. He frowned. Penny dreadful. An image of a cheap, flimsy booklet, its cover printed in lurid colors, a fanged vampire leering over a cringing blonde girl in a low-cut dress. Something he’d once owned? He felt as though he were surrounded by a translucent but impermeable wall—he could almost see through to the other side, where his old self awaited him in his real life, memories intact. But every time he tried to reach out he crashed into a barrier as solid as glass.
    He had stopped walking, trying to remember, and Pete was watching him with an unreadable expression that seemed almost sympathetic, in contrast to his previous hostility. “It must bestrange,” Pete said. “Not knowing who you are.”
    Hex struggled to keep hold of the memory, but it dissolved again into the blurry recesses of his mind. He felt almost queasy, and realized belatedly that the strange sensation was shame. “I wasn’t a very good person, was I?” he asked quietly.
    Pete looked surprised. “No,” he said after a moment. “Not really.”
    â€œMaybe it’s better I don’t remember,” Hex said. “Maybe I should just start over.”
    Pete’s expression grew hard again. “Do you really think that’s how it works? You forget about all the bad things you did, and they just go away? The people you hurt still remember. They have to—” Abruptly, Pete stopped, as if he’d thought better of what he had been about to say. “Get moving,” he said gruffly. “We have a long way to go.”
    The blue field gave way to rolling hills of flowers that moved like waves even though there was no wind, stretching all the way to the horizon on either side. In front of them loomed an immense black forest, with trees so tall that even at a distance Hex had to tilt his head all the way back to see where their inky tips speared the blue sky. As they drew closer, he saw that the trees grew so closely together they almost resembled a wall. The forest had an unmistakable air of menace—and they were unmistakably headed directly for it. “You want us to go in there?” Hex asked, trying to keep his voice casual, and though Pete’s back was to him he could hear the sneer in Pete’s response.
    â€œDon’t like it? Too bad.” After that, Hex resolved not to askany