The Day of the Seventeen-Headed Dragon: A Legends of Oz Story (ON HIATUS)

❀ | Author's Note Part 2: Back Again, Still Working | ❀

"I swear from the bottom of my heart I want to be healed. I want to be like other men, not this outcast whom nobody wants."

- E.M. Forster

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To my readers,

Hello again everyone! I hope all of you had a nice April and that May has been a good month for all of you. Yes, I know this isn't Chapter 3, so I'm very sorry for disappointing all of you yet again. I am currently working on it, and I am happy to report that it is almost complete!

Now onto what I have decided to do and what this update is. Due to my schedule, I have realized that I won't be able to give you all a new chapter of this story every month. However, every single one of you engaging with my story keeps my spirit and passion for writing about my Legends of Oz universe alive. I can't leave you all for months with nothing since you deserve more than that. So, I've decided, every month, you will either get a new chapter of this story (or another story in the future once this is completed) or a little dialogue about my AU (like the one in the first author's note).

I do have many aspects of my AU figured out because I have been developing it for over many years, so if there is anything specific you would like to know about, feel free to let me know in the comments or a direct message! These are for all of you, so please don't hesitate to ask. I just ask for wholesome and appropriate requests because my work is intended to be PG-13.

However, the next chapter posted after this one will be Chapter 3 of the story. I left you all at Dorothy and Scarecrow playing chess in their pajamas, and I got to get going, so we can see that dragon!

Thank you for inspiring me to continue,

The Gale Narrator

PS: The dialogue for this update might be a little confusing, but there will be an explanation at the end.

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A young woman was walking through the Quadling Forest, alone and with a broken heart. Her fiancé had broken their engagement off, and her Munchkin parents were extremely upset. She needed comfort and someone to tell her where to go next. It was early evening, and the sun was beginning to set, but she was afraid to go home.

As she walked deeper and deeper into the woods, the woman came across a small wooden cottage. The cottage had a blue roof with small painted white flowers. The paint was worn, due to its age, and the walls showed some cracks. However, the garden out front was well-cared for and not overgrown. It was full of fresh herbs and fruits, but it also had sunflowers. It was late autumn, and sunflowers usually didn't grow in Oz. Some seeds were brought over from a foreign land by the former queen, Dorothy Gale, but that's all the woman could recall. She knew she shouldn't go into a stranger's house, but she felt called to go in.

The woman slowly opened the door. It creaked loudly. The room was lit only by the natural light from the windows and a few scattered candles burning brightly around the room. When she continued to look around, the woman noticed an old lady sitting in a cozy green armchair, reading a book. The old lady had reading glasses on, and she seemed ancient. She was blind in one eye, and her hands shook a little. Her skin was extremely wrinkled but looked smooth. The blossom of youth had faded from her cheeks many years before, but her hair was still quite thick. However, her hair was so grey that no one could tell what color it had been before.

"Hello, ma'am?" The woman said, politely trying to get the old lady's attention. "I'm sorry for coming in uninvited, but I'm lost."

The old lady looked up from her book and smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, dear. I was expecting you."