The Wizard Returns Read Free Page B

crazed overdressed monkey on the verge of impaling him.
    â€œWho the hell,” the monkey said, “are you?”

FOUR
    â€œI’m just a traveler,” Hex whispered, barely able to get the words out past the pressure of the monkey’s spear. It seemed like a bad time to explain that he had no more idea than the monkey did who he was or what he was doing here.
    â€œWhat, like a tourist?” The monkey snorted. “Are you kidding? Nobody comes here without a reason. What do you think this is, the Riviera? Look around you, human.” If Hex had tried to look around, the monkey’s spear would have decapitated him, but now did not seem the best time to point out this small fact.
    â€œI came with a—” He faltered. A what? Pete was hardly his friend. “A guide,” he wheezed.
    â€œDon’t you think I would have noticed two of you?”
    â€œI don’t know where he is. He was just with me, I swear it. I lost my memories in the poppy fields, and he—”
    â€œOh, great ,” the monkey groaned. “A delusional hallucinating junkie. Just what we need. As if Oz isn’t going to hell in ahandbasket already. Do you even know how busy I am right now? I’ve got fourteen reports to finish by the end of the week, and my boss is on a rampage, I have all this data on the rival factions and no one will listen to me when I point out their strategic flaws because they say my methods are too newfangled, as if we’re supposed to just swing around in trees hooting for the rest of our—” The monkey sighed deeply in frustration. “Anyway, what am I supposed to do with you?”
    â€œYou could move that spear,” Hex whispered. The monkey scowled down at him, but it lessened the pressure of the spear a little and gestured roughly for him to sit up.
    â€œThank you,” Hex said in a normal voice, gingerly rubbing his throat.
    â€œDon’t thank me just yet,” the monkey said curtly. “Dealing with you is way over my pay grade. I think it’s time for your first audience with the queen, human. Get up.”
    The monkey kept the spear trained on him as he cautiously got to his feet, surreptitiously looking around for Pete. There was no doubt about it: the mysterious boy had vanished. He was totally on his own—and he had no idea why he was even here or what he was supposed to do next. “Thanks a lot,” he muttered under his breath, but the monkey heard him.
    â€œAre you sassing me?” it snapped. “I’ve always thought humans were stupid, but you seem to be an extra-special case of idiot. Can’t you see I’m a fierce warrior?” The monkey waved its spear threateningly. Hex considered responding to this, and then decided his safety was worth more than his dignity—for nowanyway. “Come on. I don’t have all day. If you hold me back I’ll make you finish my statistics reports—and believe me, anyone as dumb as you won’t make it through the first of my equations. Customized them all myself. You wouldn’t be able to make head nor tail of them.” The monkey poked him firmly, and Hex obediently began to walk. On this side of the wooded wall, the forest looked a little more like an ordinary jungle. Heavy green vines dangled from the treetop canopy far overhead. Brightly colored birds flitted past in a whoosh of jasmine-scented air. The ground was covered with thick, broad-leaved plants that gleamed wetly in the dim green light that filtered through the branches. It was a beautiful place, actually, although his first choice of companion would definitely not have been a talking monkey with an itchy trigger finger.
    After they had been walking a little while—the monkey’s spear at his back the whole time—they came to an immense rock face. At its base, a monkey-high crack fissured the rock. Hex could see light on the other side. “In you go,” the monkey