by Robert McKay
"Alice," shouted Lyla. "Stay with me. Think of your family. Use them to help you push through. Fight for them."
Her words cut through the darkness, but not in the way that she meant them to. It was obvious that she had called out the first thing that came to her mind when she told Alice to fight. Her plea was for her own passion and it reminded Alice that she still deserved to have her vengeance. Yes, she wanted to see her parents again, to live and do so many important things with her life, but in that moment she fought for Lyla and her lost family. It was feeling Lyla’s pain in those words that allowed her to fight against the Jabberwock's roar and find her footing on the rock wall. A few tortuous pulls later and she was again on solid ground, her breath burning her throat like the Jabberwock's fire.
The beast circled high over their heads, snarling and snapping its jaws in anticipation of making them its next meal. There was no time for rest, no matter how badly she needed it. Alice heaved herself to her feet and Lyla resumed her perch on her shoulder. The cave wasn't far. Again she lurched into a run, her feet dragging awkwardly at times due to their exhaustion. There was no guarantee that the cave offered any true respite from the Jabberwock, but the only way she could continue to fight through the pain was to make it a bastion of hope.
Inside, she imagined that Bandy waited to fight the Jabberwock while she recovered her strength and made a plan to defeat the impossible foe. There was a warm bed for her to collapse into that somehow the Jabberwock couldn't reach or burn with its fire. If only she could just reach that cave.
The Jabberwock bore down on them with single-minded determination, its jaws open. Deep in its throat was a smoldering pit of coals that burst into impossible flames. They came to devour her as she ran.
The gout of flame hit the mouth of the cave just as Alice flung herself headlong inside, a combination of jump and stumble that resulted in rock scraping most of her body raw. Her feet were hot from the flames that walled off the cave like an orange curtain. She scrambled further into the cave where shadows danced and flickered in the eerie orange glow.
Finally the flames abated, leaving the rock in the mouth of the cave steaming. The wall of heat pushed Alice to her feet and further into the cave, which strangely didn't grow any darker. It actually began to take on a light green glow.
“We shouldn’t stay in here,” said Lyla. “If the Jabberwock wants to kill us, all it has to do is keep blasting fire into this cave and it will cook us alive.”
The cave was just tall enough that Alice wouldn’t bump her head in most places, far too small for the Jabberwock to come in after them. “I don’t think it will do that. It wants to eat me. If it just wanted to kill me, it would have just burned me up while I was out there in the open.” A burst of flame roared through the cave and Alice jumped into an alcove just in time to avoid being roasted. “Or maybe not.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The heat inside the cave was growing unbearable. Every time Alice peeked toward the entrance she saw the Jabberwock’s glowing orange eyes staring them down, followed by another shot of flame. It was obvious that Alice’s first assumption was right and that the Jabberwock was just trying to lure them out. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t kill them accidentally in the mean time. The cave came to an abrupt end just past the alcove they hid in, about fifteen meters from the entrance, so there was no escape. Whatever plant or animal had been providing the glow when they first entered the cave must have died in the flames because the cave was now smothered in complete darkness except for the dim red light from outside.
“We can’t just stay here, and running out is a death sentence,” said Alice.
“There was another alcove a few meters back, I think we could make it there before we got roasted,” said Lyla.
“And then what?”
“Then we make a plan from there. At least it’s better than just sitting here and waiting to die.”
Alice peeked around the corner and instead of focusing on the Jabberwock at the mouth of the cave, scanned the walls looking for a darker area that would indicate the opening. Her head remained exposed longer than usual and the Jabberwock held back its blast of flame.
Snicker-snack sang loudly in her mind that it was a trap and Alice couldn’t argue the fact. “I see the other alcove on the opposite side of the cave. It’s only a few meters back.”
“And being that we’re not getting the oven treatment right now, I think it’s safe to assume that the Jabberwock will let us run closer to its gullet unimpeded,” said Lyla bitterly.
“Yes, it wants us to come closer,” agreed Alice. “But like you said, it’s not like we have any better options back here.”
“True enough. When you go, you run like you’re on fire and that alcove is the only water around for a thousand kilometers.”
Alice nodded, took a deep steadying breath, and checked her grip on the vorpal sword. “You ready?” she asked Lyla.
“Ready to show that thing the pointy end of my sword. Let’s go.”
Unable to find anything more to delay herself, Alice turned and bolted down the cave. It may have been only a few meters, but it felt like a thousand. Each step echoed like the ticking of an enormous clock that was counting down the seconds left of her life. The orange eyes at the end of the tunnel glinted with malice and then disappeared behind the gaping maw with a dual row of teeth larger than any she had ever seen, even in a museum.
Alice knew it was the end when she could see the flame kindled in the back of the Jabberwock's throat. All that would be left of her and Lyla would be a smoldering pile of ashes and sizzling fat. There was nothing to be done other than running with all the speed she could muster, so that's what she did.
The Jabberwock didn't burn them alive. Instead, it forced its gargantuan head through the cave opening, sheering stalactites and stalagmites from the ceiling and floor as it came, jaws snapping. They weren't going to burn, they were going to be chewed a couple of times and then slid down that thing's gullet to have their broken bodies burned alive in its stomach acid.
Ever closer it pushed and heaved, its serpentine body writhing to allow it to force another meter. Its claws raked horrible rents in the side of the cave with a sound like the collapse of a skyscraper.
Despite the Jabberwock's efforts, Alice ducked into the narrow alcove just before the beast's jaws reached it. Alice pushed herself as far back into the claustrophobic space as she could and then turned to watch the approach of their demise.
The Jabberwock's jaws snapped over and over again, leaving little to be seen in the main part of the cave other than its yellowed teeth and the armor-thick hide around its mouth. Precious seconds ticked away while it writhed and tried to turn its head to push into the little alcove they cowered in.
"How do we get out of here?" asked Alice in a hoarse whisper.
The Jabberwock's writhing slowed and the stench of its breath filled her nostrils. The smell was the overwhelming reek of burnt meat. It coated her throat and stung her eyes.
"It seems to be stuck. You could cut off its fool head with that sword of yours and then we could crawl out of here."
Snicker-snack urged caution and Alice agreed. "It could be a trick, but I don't see any other options."
Alice raised her sword arm and lunged forward, a feint that would have been obvious to another sword fighter. Suddenly, the Jabberwock's head turned at an impossible angle and was meeting them head on. It had them easily if it wanted to burn them. Alice adjusted her lunge to a horizontal swipe and lobbed off a portion of the Jabberwock's upper lip before retreating as far into her crevice as she could. The Jabberwock roared. Black blood spread down its teeth. The ugly chunk of flesh quivered on the cave floor. A wave of psychic power washed over Alice. It bombarded her senses. Despite the presence of Snicker-snack in her mind keeping her focused, it was all she could do to keep her feet. A profound feeling of loss and hopelessness pressed into her chest, leaving no room for the beating of her heart. The tip of the sword droope
d and made a hollow ringing sound as it bounced off the rock. Nothing in the world would ever be all right again. All that was left for her was to curl into a ball and hold her chest until the end came. Snicker-snack poured thoughts and emotions over her in a relentless torrent, trying to break the Jabberwock's hold. They pinged uselessly away from the hardened bubble of sadness that surrounded her. Nobody would ever caress her hair in the loving way her mother did when she put her to bed at night. She would never see pride in someone's eyes when she mastered a difficult task. Her life had been reduced to the cold hard rock that enfolded her on three sides and would be her tomb if the Jabberwock never made it in to finish her.
Those things were her only truth until she felt the warm touch of a small furry body pressed against her cheek. It was curiously wet around its face. It trembled slightly, but it was a warm body pressed to hers in a final gesture of comfort before the end. She felt her heart warm momentarily, like the sun breaking through the clouds in the midst of a bitter winter storm.
Then Lyla was gone and her heart sank.
Realization of a truth much more horrible than the forced depression of the Jabberwock's psychic attack washed over her like a bucket of ice water. There was only one reason Lyla would leave her shoulder.
"No!" shouted Alice, her vision clearing just in time to see Lyla's tiny form disappear under the Jabberwock's gaping jaws, too small to be seen and attacked.
There was nothing to be done.
From out in the cave her tiny voice could be heard, raised in a hoarse shout. "For my family!"
Unable to help herself, Alice stepped forward to see what happened. She was just in time to see the dormouse, barely as large as the tip of one of the Jabberwock's claws, jump from the ridge above its orange eye. Her sword was broken into its separate pieces, one in each hand. She drove them to the hilt into the orange orb and used her minuscule weight to drag the blades all the way down to the Jabberwock's scaly cheek.
It was so fast that the Jabberwock didn't even have time to blink before its eye was a torn mess. The shriek it let out was deafening, though not a psychic attack, simply a yowl of pain from a creature unused to its sting. It shook its head like her cat did when you blew in her ear, and Lyla went flying.
Alice was in motion before Lyla had a chance to hit the ground. She had to believe that Lyla had survived. Lyla was indestructible. The Jabberwock was writhing in pain from the damage Lyla had done. This was the best chance she would get to strike. Snicker-snack had never been more alive in her hand than that moment. The blade sang and vibrated in her hand like a hive of disturbed bees on the hunt for blood. Barely cognizant of her own actions, Alice lashed out over and over again, each strike biting into the blue-black hide of the Jabberwock and painting the cave walls with its black blood.
The Jabberwock twisted and bucked, knocking Alice into the cave wall with its bulk before finally finding enough purchase to pull itself free of the cave.
Stars formed in her vision and a searing pain burnt the back of her head, but she would live. The Jabberwock couldn’t say the same. With a few more hits to the the thing's neck, she would have taken off its head entirely. The practical part of her brain thought she should scramble back to her hiding place in case the Jabberwock managed to throw flames her way as it died. The emotional side won the argument and pulled her to her knees to look for Lyla.
She called her name over and over again. There was no response. Tears were already pouring down her face when she found the dormouse's crumpled body a few minutes later, along the edge of the cave.
Alice could do nothing but cry and look down at the tiny form of her fallen companion. She tried to be grateful for her sacrifice, but she felt nothing but anger. She had tagged along to jail with her when she didn't have to. Then she had come all the way to the Imagisphere to do battle beside a girl she'd only met a couple of days ago. This was a debt she couldn’t ever repay, and she didn’t want it. She wanted her friend. How could she walk out of that cave without Lyla?
Finally, when she allowed herself to push away the guilty thoughts and really think about who Lyla was, she remembered her last words: "For my family.”
She hadn't sacrificed herself just to save Alice.
She had done what needed to be done in order to complete her task of vengeance, and she’d done it brilliantly. Lyla had died so that Alice had a chance to slay the Jabberwock. That was how she would remember her friend and her death. Not as a sad sacrifice for someone she barely knew, but as a fierce act of determination to avenge her family. Lyla had done something she’d trained for years to accomplish. Alice should be proud.
Comforting as it was, it didn’t end Alice’s pain. She cried without pause until the card guards filed into the cave to take her back to The Red Palace.
The guards edged toward her with their batons stretched as far as they could reach, their eyes fixed on the vorpal sword laying at her side. They needn't have feared. Her grief had taken the fight out of her for the moment. The guards didn't take any chances though. They wanted her unconscious when they retrieved the sword. The nearest guard to her flashed her a wicked grin and she could have sworn there was a moment where his brown eyes flashed a bright yellow. Just before he pressed his baton gently to her shoulder, his gaze turned down to Lyla and there was a definite sadness to his expression. Then the world left her to darkness and for a blessed moment took her grief with it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
"Alice," whispered a soft voice. "It's time. You have to wake up now."
Immediately upon waking, a wave of sorrow washed over her and she wanted nothing more than to retreat to the quiet darkness that unconsciousness brought. There was nothing the waking world offered that she wanted to be a part of. "No. There's no reason to be awake."
"I know it may seem like that. It will get better, in time. Right now though, you have living friends who need you. You can't let them die just because you want to be left alone in your grief."
That brought her around. Her parents had always tried to talk to her about duty and responsibility. They were such abstract concepts before arriving in Wonderland. Now they were real and tangible, and easier to understand. If she didn't get up, her friends would die.
"I'm awake," she said. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. They were just coming to a landing in the palace docks. None of the guards were close to her, not even the seats across from her were occupied. The voice had come from right next to her. That seat was empty, though the cushion did have a strange impression as if a body were there and had recently left. The cushion didn't rebound though.
"Yes, I'm sitting next to you," said the hushed whisper of the Cheshire Cat. "In a moment, I'm going to retrieve the sword from just up there in the middle of that crowd of guards. Do you see the place?"
"I do."
"I will get the sword to you and then you need to beat a hasty retreat to the elevator as we planned. I'll provide the distraction you need." Cheshire's grin flashed for a moment, causing a few guards to glance their way before it disappeared again. They didn't seem inclined to come any closer. "You ready?"
"Ready."
There was nothing to indicate that Cheshire had left except the slowly rising dent in the cushion where he'd been seated. Alice watched intently and never saw so much as a disturbed hair until the vorpal sword lifted into the air and the tip could be seen over the heads of the guards. They all had their backs turned, so they hadn't yet taken notice.
The loading ramp of the ship opened to allow the horde of soldiers to exit. One of them glanced behind him and saw the floating sword. He let out a startled yelp and then fell back into his comrades, holding his bleeding throat. The rest of the guards not involved in the collision turned in unison and found themselves facing a levitating sword. They were already holding their clubs, though some of them lowered them rather than raising them in defense. Pandemonium ensued as each individual guard decided what the best course of action should be. Some tried to help their fallen comrade
, who was obviously beyond the help of even a medical professional. Others edged cautiously toward the floating sword, which had started lashing out randomly at them. None of them were hit. Whether that was by Cheshire's design, or caused by the sword's opposition to being wielded by someone other than Alice, was impossible to tell. Either way, most of the guards wanted nothing to do with it. They had no target to take down and they'd seen the gruesome work the blade could do. They turned and fled, in some cases trampling their less fortunate brethren.
Appropriately satisfied with the chaos, the sword floated over to Alice and landed in her hands. At least, that's how it appeared to the onlookers. A few of the bravest soldiers lunged toward Alice, drawing their own swords as they came, the queen's orders to use their clubs forgotten.
Alice let fall a final tear for Lyla and then concentrated on the job of saving her remaining friends from the executioner's axe. A lunge skewered two approaching guards in one stab. They collapsed, and she withdrew, flicking her blade across the legs of the guard closest to them. The few brave others began to circle, looking for an opening that wouldn't get them gutted.
A fierce yowl followed by a hiss turned two of their heads toward the loading ramp and cost them their lives. Alice cut through their chests with a vicious slash. Their blood sprayed across the guards on either side of them. The feline yowls turned to more human screams as Cheshire blinked in and out of visibility, delivering debilitating or lethal wounds as he went.
The combination of Alice wielding Snicker-snack and a lethal cat that could disappear at will proved too much for the queen's new recruits and they fled the ship in an undignified rush while Cheshire dogged them from behind, pushing them farther into the docks and away from the elevator.
