Untitled by Unknown Author

samurai blade. "This, and a few tricks I picked up from the Navy Seals."
        For the frst time, I saw Gombo remove his cloak and start to beat his wings. They were enormous, with a span almost half again as wide as he was tall, looking more like a bat's wings than a bird's. He rose into the air, hovered, and few off towards the north.
        Nick called everyone together.
        "There is a small garrison of Bhjennigh's troops not far up a road on the other side of those trees," he whispered, pointing off to where Gombo had fown. "With me now, quickly, no prisoners. Clean and silent."
        And everyone started off at a run towards the road.
        What? I thought. No prisoners? What exactly are we doing? I trotted down the road with everyone else, still not quite getting it. I had seen already that Nick Chopper was deadly serious, fanatically persuing some end that I didn't understand, dragging me along for god knows what reason, but I hadn't been sucked headlong into the vortex yet.
        About thirty seconds before we reached an ugly brick building, three or four of the giant green guys noticed us. They stood in front of the building, like statues, legs apart, with their axes at the ready, waiting.
        Nick and company charged—silent, determined, lethal.
        Jesus, I'm really gonna die, I thought. This is insane. I held the gun out in front of me, aiming it at the ground.
        Trees started rustling, crashing against each other on the other side of the building, accompanied by an ear-splitting trumpeting. I saw Gombo come charging through on the back of a massive, red elephant. It reared up, and down it came, pulping one of the soldiers under the weight of its front feet.
        Ah, I thought, element of surprise. I leaned against a tree, aimed the gun at nothing in particular. And watched the carnage.
        It was over in seconds. During the distraction, Nick, Ralph and the merry men had taken out the entire garrison, inside and out of the building—ffteen very scary individuals, half of them of the ugly green variety.
        Except one.
        I heard the whoosh of air before I saw anything; I whipped myself out of the way just in time to see the ax blade sink into the tree with a thunk. While the old boy was trying to get the blade out, cursing a blue streak, I fred the Magnum at him. I fell fat on my ass, knocked back by the recoil, and blood and organs sprayed all over me. I guess the gun was in super-enhanced working order, because the entire upper part of the guy's torso was missing.
        I leaned sideways to heave, again, surprised there was anything left in my stomach from the last time. I guess it takes a while to get used to being surrounded by wholesale slaughter.
        Most of the others were covered with varying degrees of gore, too, some of it from their own wounds, though it didn't appear that anyone was injured too badly. At the Tin Man's instructions, they had started to strip off the clothes of the dead soldiers, and replace their own clothes with the leather and chain-mail outfts.
        I realized then that all the killing had been the result of my casual suggestion to Nick that he fnd some disguises. I remembered him saying that it hadn't actually happened the way it did in the movie. My mind ran through several gruesome variations based on what I had just seen.
        Though I still can't picture a vicious, bloodcurdling Scarecrow. It just makes me think of a really bad horror movie. He must be just about as useless as I am in a situation like this. I started wondering then just what kind of a creature his legend was based on anyway.
        "I see that came in handy," called Ralph, running up, nodding toward the gun. He grimaced at the result. "Nice shot."
        "He suprised me," I replied spacily, still shocked I'd actually done it. I know it was a question of me or him, but I've never shot anyone before. I hope to never do it