“This will be a time of not only my need, Mother Dryad, but also the need of the land. I have never asked the dryads for their direct involvement, and I will not now. I know of your wishes to remain hidden. You have trusted me to protect the forests. But this time, I fear I will need more help if our land is to survive.”
“We are here for you, Goldenhair. What help can we give you?”
“I need an army.”
***
marchenton, present day.
The last trails of orange light clung to the sky and on the field, Wonderland soldiers worked their orders, preparing kegs of water that had been combined with Wonderland’s drinkme potions.
“That’s the last keg from this batch,” one soldier said, pulling the small round barrel from the cart as he swatted a bug away from his face. “Looks like we’re the last trebuchet to start launching,” a Four of Clubs ranked soldier commented as he glanced further down the line. Another trebuchet rocketed into action as it dropped its mighty counterweight downward and its large arm pitched high in the night.
“Yeah, it’s these damn bugs, slowing me down. Bugs have been out all afternoon, if they aren’t biting you, they’re buzzing in your face or walking on ya’,” replied the other guard, a Two of Clubs, slapping the back of his neck. “Crazy place this is, who’d live here with all of these bugs?” He slammed a hammer down on a spike on the top and made another hole in the keg.
“Gah!” He waved his hand in front of his face as a cloud of gnats assaulted him. “We should have started a fire, smoke will keep them away.”
“Too late now. Besides, we’re almost finished clearing the trebuchet wheels of these thorns. There was a Seven of Clubs here before; reminding us not to get too close to the brush line that hasn’t been shrunk yet. He’s says that stuff’s pretty dangerous. Snark you like a boojum if you get caught up in it.”
“Eh, dump a little more of the drinkme water on it… won’t be a problem,” To emphasize it, the Four of Clubs took a ladle and dipped it into the keg, taking a moment to swat at another flying insect. He threw the liquid on the bloodthorns. Instantly the thorny briar began to shrink away.
Then the Two of Clubs soldier suddenly shouted out, clawing and grabbing at his ankle. “Ow! Something bit me! I think I stepped on an ant hill!” He yanked his gloves off and grabbed at the plated armor. Pulling off the armor and began to brush the ants from his leggings. “Vicious bastards!” He grunted as he swatted the biting ants from his legs.
“Don’t be such a dodo, Two of Clubs,” the first soldier laughed, as he swatted away at another buzzing insect. “Pull the blocks from the wheels so we can get the trebuchet ready to launch this stuff.”
“Give me a minute,” as the Two of Clubs soldier continued to brush the ants from his leg. He hopped awkwardly to the wooden blocks that were used to chock the wheels for the trebuchet.
“Does it seem windy to you?” the Four of Clubs soldier wondered aloud, nodding to the distant tree line to east. “It’s pretty breezy over by the trees; do you think that will affect the trebuchets?” He adjusted the sling length slightly to give a greater range.
The Two of Clubs was about to reach for the blocks, then looked over.
“Yeah but... there’s no wind; actually… sounds like a bunch of birds in the trees,” he remarked, noticing other soldiers down the line also swatting and flailing their arms almost constantly. The first soldier had loaded the siege weapon with the first keg of the magical liquid.
“Could be,” the first solider murmured. “Could be the wind though.”
“Damn buggy out tonight. I ‘m going to have a hundred bites all over me by tomorrow,” the Two of Clubs soldier joked offhandedly and reached down for the blocks.
A sharp hot pain delivered by something with strong hot-iron tongs locked upon the unsuspecting soldier’s wrist and he yelped, pulling his hand back to see two small bleeding puncture wounds on his skin; instantly the wound burned as his fingers numbed and his muscles began to spasm and contorted in a cramped fashion.
“There’s a snake by the blocks! I just got bit!” He shouted, hoping up in pain and holding his hand. From the grass there came a shallow, dry angry hiss. Then the snake attacked again, instantly striking out, this time sinking its fangs deep into the meat of the doomed soldier’s leg, left unprotected from removing his armor to scratch at ant bites. Within minutes the Two of Clubs solider fell to the ground unable to do anything but lie there in agonizing pain, his attempts to speak becoming a gurgle of bubbling, bloody foam.
The Four of Clubs soldier heard the grass suddenly come alive with invisible movement all around him. He jumped up on the trebuchet. Rallying against his own fear, the solider hurried, looking to complete his orders and release the trebuchet. The unsecured siege engine rocked from the release of its ammo and the terrified man to fell to the ground. Several flashes of pain told the second doomed man there were more snakes on the ground; dully he became aware that all along the battle field more shouts and screams had started to come from the Wonderland army. With his muscles locking up, the man crawl to his feet and fought to reset the trebuchet, his legs numb from snake strikes as he struggled to load another keg. His jaw clenched and teeth chattered from the pain; near paralyzed, the Four of Clubs collapsed, pulling the lynch pin free as he fell dead before he hit the ground next to his dead partner. The trebuchet rocked to life, the great counterweight swung down and as the sling hurled the keg a spiraling liquid sprayed everywhere as the keg crashed deep among the bloodthorns.
***
“Attack!” Goldenhair raised her staff to the trees. “Kuratden!” she shouted in her strange language from the shadows of the trees. “Fly with wings to defend the land, repel the intruders with beak and claw. Peck out their eyes and pull their entrails from their abdomens! Dunathar, Ketch dos mathos!” Ready for battle, Goldenhair was dressed in the armor of the forest. Thick pieces of bark protected her arms and legs. Her shoulders and her back were covered with shells of turtles of various sizes. Her chest was protected by the hard antlers of deer while more antlers from deer and bucks adorned her arms, serving as powerful defense and as deadly weapons. Her face, still traced in thin sigils, was painted with savage stripes of black. Today Goldenhair was as great a force of nature as she had ever been.
The trees erupted with the every manor of bird. As they took to sky blocking out the last of the light, the cloud of birds flew about the battle field. Hawks, eagles and falcons with their razor sharp talons dive-bombed the Wonderland army, sending its surprised troops fleeing about. Smaller birds, such as crows, ravens and even sparrows landed amidst the mass confusion, startling the soldiers with their feathery screeches and aggressive flapping as they deliberately pecked at ropes. As the winged confusion grew about the encampments, Goldenhair pressed on. In addition to bothersome insects and deadly snakes, Goldenhair called for the smaller animals - squirrels and raccoons, possums, rats and field mice, badgers and wolverines, all manner of smaller beasts charged forth from the underbrush, slashing and biting anything they could. Skunks darted around Wonderland soldiers, spraying their foul smelling liquids. Beavers chewed wooden poles, and porcupines ran about, jutting their painful quills in the way of panicked soldiers of Wonderland’s army. The birds flew about, and animals with claws and painful bites quickly ravaged the large army into disarray. But just as quickly the soldiers came around to defending themselves. As they pulled shields and drew weapons to strike back, a frightful sound came from the dark forest.
From the trees, Goldenhair gave a long series of howls that were answered in the surrounding darkness by a more ominous howling which carried across the evening air like doom. Her call was immediately picked up by others and the whole forest came alive with the howls of wolves and whooping barks of coyotes.
“Go, brothers! Into the fray!” Goldenhair commanded.
Bursting through the trees the rest of Goldenhair’s forest army raced into battle. The wolves were first, running full speed w
ith their heads low and teeth bared; predator and prey alike shoulder to shoulder to the attack. Great stags and elk trampled and kicked, gouging their antlers about as they ran chaotically through the ranks of Wonderland’s army. Huge moose charged in. Bellowing angrily, bears, from the large grizzlies to the smaller black bears, roared at and mauled anything they could find. Mountain lions leapt upon helpless soldiers. Hundreds of animals charged into the side flank of the unsuspecting army. Soon the soldiers on the field began to notice that the larger animals made a more concerted attack and by the time the second of the six trebuchets had collapsed, Wonderland’s soldiers began to fight back. Goldenhair and her army had devised a sweeping singular attack from the flank, a deadly race across the field from one forest-lined edge to the other. Under the cover of a fading twilight on the first night of the invader’s arrival, Goldenhair ran with her bears, as all of the animals from the tiniest ant to the large grizzly charged into battle.
***
Alice threw open the flaps of her royal tent. Still dressed in the protective leather padding of her under armor, she adjusted a leather bracer on her arm. “What in the slithy toves is going on?” Alice shouted. “We were not expecting a ground assault. Where did these animals come from?”
She stepped to a nearby weapon rack and grabbed a belt with sword and scabbard, quickly buckling it about her waist. Then Alice pulled one of the nearby pole arms affixed with a royal flag of Wonderland and began to call out to a nearby Dodo wrangler.
“Most curious!” The White Rabbit emerged from the tent, close behind her, pulling out a napkin that was tucked around the neckline of his grey vest. “Looks they are going after the trebuchets,” Rabbit pointed. “Number three has fallen!”
Most of the commotion was closer to the front line, whereas Alice’s tent was farther back and situated on the rise of one of the many hills that overlooked the field.
Alice looked about and stepped over to a soldier who was trying to settle two large cavalry dodos. Alice pulled the reigns away before he finished, stepping quickly into the stirrup and mounted the saddle of the large bird.
“Those are all the trebuchets we brought with us! We have to protect those trebuchets! It would take too long to bring more over!” Alice shouted.
The White Rabbit quickly mounted the other dodo, as he did he heard himself say, “Alice, it’s far too dangerous for you go alone! You aren’t even wearing proper armor!”
Rabbit sat in the saddle for a moment realizing what he had just said. He watched Alice pick up a shield.
“No time for that, Rabbit, come on!” She urged her giant bird into a run, heading towards the embattled trebuchets.
He watched her ride off. Is this the moment? he wondered. The perfect opportunity to eliminate Alice was at paw. This strange attack of animals would serve as the perfect backdrop of confusion for the death of the queen, he thought. And she’s not even wearing her armor into battle. But to risk it without knowing the whereabouts of the Cheshire Cat? The timing was as good as it was terrible.
“Would this be more a benefit to Cheshire’s designs or to mine?” Rabbit worried aloud. “For all the planning, the chance to topple a regime all but comes down to a chance window of opportunity,” he grumbled. “Still,” he reminded himself, “It will have to look like an accident.”
Bound up by his thoughts, Rabbit almost lost sight of Alice. Not wasting any more time, Rabbit kicked his dodo into a run, looking to keep close to the queen.
Alice saw a fourth trebuchet collapse in the distance. She quickly altered her course and spurred her giant war dodo on to the next trebuchet in the line. She drove her dodo through her soldiers, some running from fear while others fought against every sort of animal.
“Stand your ground!” she yelled out. Riding through Alice grabbed up a flag of Wonderland that had been attached to a pole arm, holding it above her head as she galloped toward the trebuchets.
Drawing near, she was surprised to see the towering siege engine erupt into flames. Still able to launch one last payload, the trebuchet had been loosed; its long throwing arm now ablaze in orange fire. Those soldiers left to man the trebuchet were able to launch one last keg down upon the Bloodthorns with a great splash. Fully engulfed in flames, Alice’s fifth trebuchet would succumb to its fire before it had another chance to launch. Alice pulled her steed to the left and raced to the last trebuchet. Other soldiers were already rushing in to man the last trebuchet, pulling hard to reset the throwing arm into position.
Alice rode in fast and turning her dodo abruptly in front of a strange blonde haired woman, dressed in bark and turtle shells. Alice pulled the reins and finally skidded to a stop in front of the woman, who shouted out in a strange language Alice had not heard before.
“And here I thought this was just a bunch of wild animals,” Alice said lowering her pole arm at the golden haired woman. “There is method to this madness after all.”
Feathers ruffled, the great dodo extended its neck and gave a loud, menacing gurgling hiss at the woman.
There came a roar out of the darkness and a blur of brown fur as one of Goldenhair’s bears charged in. The bear raked its sharp curved claws across the dodo’s face. The powerful punch blindsided the dodo and sent it, along with Alice, tumbling to the ground.
As the bird hit the ground, Alice fell with it, her arms getting tangled in the reins as she landed, her head struck the ground hard. Alice went limp, blacking out as the dodo fell on top of her, pinning her beneath it. The great bear was on top of the dodo, slashing and biting, keeping the bird on the ground. The dodo slammed the bear with its thick, bulbous beak, and snapped at the bear as it tried to land a bite. Its short legs kicked and slashed at the bear, as it tried desperately to get back up. But the bear quickly locked its crushing jaws around the Dodo’s throat and shook it violently.
Rabbit had seen Alice and the dodo fall, and reined back his own steed a fair distance away to watch the outcome.
“Perhaps I don’t have to do anything other than to sit back and let Alice get killed,” Rabbit smirked.
But then to Rabbit’s surprise, as soon as the dodo was dispatched the strange woman shouted in an odd language that Rabbit could not make out, then she and the bear moved on. He expected they were moving to take out the next rider, but in the confusion and the chaos of the night, they joined with the other animals running through the camped army and as quickly as the pair had appeared, they were gone.
“What the snark?” Rabbit said in disbelief.
In fact, Rabbit realized that all of the animals were now moving off and disappearing into the forests of the other side of the field.
It seemed, for now, the rolling animal attack was over.
The White Rabbit dismounted his dodo and briefly checked his stolen dagger. His pulse raced and his ears twitched nervously. Perhaps she was dead already. His whiskers shifted anxiously as he approached. He rounded the fallen steed, remarking aloud the phrase “dead as a dodo” at the sight of the giant bird with its long neck broken awkwardly and its throat ripped apart by the bear.
As he circled around, he came across Alice lying on the ground, her legs trapped beneath the dead bird. But she was coming back to consciousness. She was helpless and alone, and out of sight beneath the dead dodo.
“Still alive,” Rabbit remarked.
“Oh, dear Rabbit, thank goodness you are here,” Alice said. “I think the bear thought I was dead,” she speculated as she tried to pull herself free from under the dodo. “Help me, Rabbit. I’m stuck.”
Rabbit slowly pulled the stolen dagger out and keeping it hidden behind as he walked toward Alice.
If there was ever the perfect moment to kill Alice, he thought. It is now.
For a moment Rabbit recalled the very first time he had seen her. He had rabbit-holed to another realm and was hiding in a garden. He saw Alice with her older sister. She was just a small child of seven, playing with her cat near the banks of a river.
Rabbit forced the
memory from his mind, “It’s dangerous on the front lines, Alice,” He whispered darkly, almost absently. “You should leave the fighting to the soldiers,” he added.
He was standing over Alice, as she was trying to pull free still, “My foot got stuck in the stirrup, when the dodo fell,” she explained out of breath from exertion.
Rabbit looked at her. His grip tightened on the dagger. A thought entered Rabbit’s mind, something he realized. If you kill Alice now, you all but hand the throne over to the Cheshire Cat. Rabbit growled, angered at his own logic.
“Maybe that would be for the best,” he whispered under his breath, frustrated that he allowed himself to be put in, what was the proper term, he thought, into check, effectively. Rabbit despised the fact that the Cheshire Cat had put him into check against their own plans.
He knelt down close to Alice and with the dagger hovering above her, quickly and with all of his might he brought it down with a flash…
… and cut the leather strap of the stirrups. With a heavy sigh, he offered his other paw to Alice, which she grabbed and he pulled her free. Helping her to her feet, Alice gave Rabbit a kiss on his furry white cheek, But Rabbit, stood there looking stoically off in the distance.
“Thank you for your help; you have impeccable timing as usual, dear Rabbit,” she patted him on the shoulder. “Luckily I seemed to have escaped unscathed, that could have gone a lot worse.” Alice said as she brushed herself off. “Is everything okay, Rabbit, you seem distracted?”
“Indeed. A perfect day was just ruined,” Rabbit answered somewhat annoyed.
“I know what you, mean,” said Alice as she looked around the battlefield at the death and destruction the swift animal attack had against her troops. “We’ve taken some losses and some damage to be sure but we shall strike back at dawn. They will be shown no mercy now.”
RISE OF CENDRILLON
(INTERLOGUE PART IV OF IV)
Near Cornish, Marchenton 9 years ago
Shards Of The Glass Slipper: Queen Alice Page 26
