Wonderland (Intergalactic Fairy Tales Book 1) (22 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The second trip to the Imagisphere was a very different affair. There were an impossible number of guards packed onto the ship that carried her. Every one that Alice could see was visibly nervous. Most of them had the two of hearts painted on their armor. New recruits who had obviously seen the previous attempt to get her back on the ship. It made her smile. She was a dreaded pirate at last. Lyla rode in the open on her shoulder and nobody bothered to try and stop her.

The Imagisphere itself was like nothing Alice had ever seen. There was no speck of green within view. The ship dropped her in a canyon of black rock. Huge spires of the black stone stuck up like impossibly large spearheads piercing the red sky. The sun couldn't be seen, despite the seeming perpetual twilight and complete lack of cloud cover. Nothing about the place seemed to even try to mimic a real landscape.

"Well, this is welcoming," quipped Lyla. "I think I'll move into that cave over there, as soon as I clear out the horde of man-sized flesh-eating bats that surely live in it."

"At least they did give me the sword again," said Alice, pointing.

The vorpal sword sat on a pedestal of the black rock about thirty meters away. Far enough away that the ship could be easily away before she had a chance to get to it. Not that she had even intended to try and assault the ship. It was long gone before she had even noticed the sword.

"That's some cold comfort," said Lyla. "There isn't even a way to get out of this dreadful black bowl."

The rock walls around them were mostly smooth except for the cave that Lyla had pointed out. The rock pillars were large enough to provide some shelter to duck behind, but not really a hiding place. The rocky ground rose and fell to create a labyrinth of smaller chasms that could serve as hiding places if it became necessary, though they were just as likely to be great ways to fall to ones death if they weren't paying attention. At its highest point, the floor of the canyon didn't get closer to the rim than about a hundred meters. It was probably about three times that length. The queen wanted them contained this time and had gone to pains to make it happen.

Alice walked over and retrieved the sword, not bothering with tests for traps this time. It was obvious that the queen wanted a show put on for her subjects, not just a quick execution. She swung the sword a couple of times, delighting in the sound it made and listening to the song inside her head. If Snicker-snack knew anything of what they would face, she stayed silent on the topic.

Almost as if on cue, an earsplitting roar echoed through the canyon. Alice covered her ears, but it didn't make a difference. The sound pushed against her senses like the air pressure when you took off in a ship or went up into the mountains. There was definitely an audible component, but it was the least terrible part. The roar seemed to stretch into infinity, as if it were all the sound there ever was and ever would be. As it continued there were layers and layers that revealed themselves, some as quiet as whispers that seemed to come from just behind you, no matter which way you turned, others that were so huge and oppressive that you longed to shove something in your ear to make it stop. Each new layer stacked on top of the others, every one still heard clearly. None of them waned.

There was no doubt that this was a psychic assault as well as a physical one. That could only mean one thing.

The Jabberwock.

Armed with that knowledge, Alice closed her eyes and did her best to concentrate. There had to be a way to beat a psychic attack, just like there were physical attacks, no matter how overwhelming they seemed. That's when she remembered that her hand still held Snicker-snack. If the sword was able to talk to her mind to teach her fighting techniques and sort out subterfuge, then it should be able to help with this.

Her mind had drifted far from the concept of body during the psychic assault. It was a battle just to remember what it felt like to hold the hilt of the sword in her hand. Bit by bit she remembered the soft feel of the leather wrapped metal grip that felt like it was molded for her hand, and the comforting weight of the sword slicing through the air.

Once she had a good mental picture of the look and feel of the sword in her hand it was time to reach out to it mentally. The whispers of the Jabberwock's attack mocked her cruelly. They told her that she was just a weak little girl that should consider herself lucky just to be a snack for such a noble creature as the Jabberwock. It filled her mind with all the childish insults that had been hurled at her in school. Her parents shook their heads in disappointment; if only she’d been a good young lady and become a doctor. Even Anna joined in, taunting her about the size of her chest and how no boys would ever like her because she looked just like one of them. Then the queen joined in with a chorus of, "Off with her head!".

The words washed over her like a flash flood, threatening to carry her away. Then, through the torrent, came a single mournful note that somehow conveyed both concern and hope. That single note built into a whole chorus of praise and compliments, followed by sword thrusts set to music. Snicker-snack practically babbled with a list of commands and movements.

Alice followed them instinctually, her eyes not yet focused. It saved her life. A blast of hot air washed over her head as she ran forward and tucked into a roll. The heat was so intense she was sure that her hair was singed. The sword stayed in her grip and didn't let go of her mind. Orders were shouted at top volume in order to block out the press of the Jabberwock's psychic attack.

Out of the roll and back to her feet, Alice spun in time to see the Jabberwock beat its leathery wings and arc toward the rim of the canyon. Lyla still clung to Alice's shoulder, her teeth bared in a snarl.

"Are you all right, Lyla?"

"Will be shortly. I wasn't ready for that hit. Still has my head spinning a bit. I've had lots of practice fighting off that thing's attacks, so I should be fine from here on out. Thankfully it doesn't seem to bother us small folks as much as you larger types." Lyla shook her head and then looked Alice up and down. "How did you manage to fare so well, anyway?"

"Snicker-snack," said Alice. "It can help me shield my mind." She held the sword aloft and glared at the Jabberwock who had perched on a spire on the edge of the canyon. It wrapped itself around the jutting rock like a snake. Its dark-blue, scaly hide made it almost invisible when it settled its bat-like wings against its body. A gout of orange flame erupted from its mouth along with another of its strange roars.

Alice cringed at the sound, but it was nothing more than an annoying metallic screech with the sword taking precedence in her mind. The heat from the flame was enough to warm her cheeks, even from this distance. If it hadn't been for Snicker-snack, she and Lyla would have been reduced to a pile of bubbling goo.

"How am I supposed to kill that thing?" asked Alice. She shivered under the cold regard of the Jabberwock. It didn't seem angry any more than a lion is when it misses a chance to take down a gazelle. It just seemed determined, and hungry.

"I haven't the faintest bloody idea," said Lyla. "You won't be making friends with that beast though, I can tell you that. You would be just as likely to make friends with a hurricane or an avalanche. All it knows is destruction."

Lyla's expression grew distant and pained, reminding Alice that it was the Jabberwock that destroyed her family. The thought of losing her mother and father struck home and it was all she could do to stifle a sympathetic sob. She wanted nothing more than to hug her tiny friend and tell her that she would avenge her family with her, but Lyla was too small for hugs and the Jabberwock chose that time to launch itself into the air.

Alice took off running before she even realized where she was going. Small rocks and holes threatened to turn her ankle at every step. Fighting the craggy landscape was a battle in itself. Behind her she could already hear the beating of the Jabberwock's wings as it bore down on her. The cave was too far away for her to make it before they were intercepted. The only question was, would the monster use its flame this time, or come in to snap her up with its powerful jaws? All the while she ran, possible scenarios flashed through her head about how to avoid death for just another minute, another second.

Jaws snapped just behind her with a sound like boulders colliding. Before her loomed a wide crack in the rocks that was too wide to jump. If she stopped or slowed at all, both her and Lyla were dead. There was little choice. Alice pushed herself harder, running as fast as she was able.

"What are you doing, Alice?" asked Lyla, her voice frantic.

"If I slow down, that thing is going to have us."

"You can't jump that far."

"I know," said Alice. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself to run faster, though her legs were burning.

"But you don't know how far it iiiiis doooooown." Lyla's last words were drawn out as they launched out into a yawning abyss.

Alice raised Snicker-snack before her in a two handed grip just as she pushed off from the near side of the fissure. As Lyla had pointed out, she couldn't jump nearly far enough to land on the ground on the other side. Time seemed to slow down. As they plummeted, the rock wall on the far side loomed closer and closer. A collision was imminent and it was going to be painful. The tip of the vorpal sword hit the wall first and bit into the rock with a deafening screech and then continued to sink in until only the hilt remained outside of the cliff face. Alice rebounded off the hilt when it jabbed her sharply in the chest, but somehow managed to hold on. The sword had absorbed the bulk of the impact as it drove into the rock. At least that's what it told her. Otherwise it probably would have broken her sternum. The wings of the Jabberwock beat warm air down on her as it passed harmlessly overhead.

Now she hung precariously from the hilt of a sword, some ten meters down from the edge of a rock cliff.

"You'll have to pardon me," said Lyla. "I think I may have made a bit of a mess on your shirt, Alice."

Despite their compromised position, Alice had to laugh. "If that's the worst that happens to me today, I'll count myself lucky. Do you think you can climb this wall?"

The rock wasn't nearly as smooth on the cliff face as it was on the ground above, thankfully. It was pitted and pocked with small dents where chips of rock had fallen away.

"Not a problem, why?" asked Lyla.

"You should climb up on your own then, in case I don't make it."

"I'll hear nothing of the sort, young lady," groused Lyla. "You're climbing out of here if I have to pull you by the nose."

As nice a thought as that was, Alice wasn't at all sure she could make it and she wasn't about to take Lyla down with her if she didn't have to. "I'd love to keep you on my shoulder, but I think you might serve me better if you scouted for hand and foot holds above me."

Lyla debated the words for a moment as if she might argue and then nodded and scurried up Alice's arm and onto the rock wall. "Lift your feet just a touch and you should be able to find a tiny ledge to rest them on," said Lyla.

Her keen eyes certainly would prove useful, even if that wasn't the real reason why Alice wanted her on the wall. Alice followed her instructions and rested the bulk of her weight on her feet. The vorpal sword whispered a careful song in her head, showing her the way to slide the sword a bit higher and to one side in the rock. It was a delicate balancing act that kept the sword anchored enough to hold her weight and still able to move in the rock. A slight hesitation when her balance shifted caused the sword to stick instead of gliding smoothly through the rock. If she lost her focus any worse than that, she would plummet to her death.

Lyla continued to call out hand and foot holds as she found them and they made slow progress up and toward Alice's right. All of her muscles burned. She longed to lean back and stretch out, but Snicker-snack urged her to keep her chest as close to the wall as she could manage.

Alice reached and pulled with the sword over and over again, marveling at the ease with which it cleaved solid rock. Seamus truly was a wizard and she owed him her life at least three times over. Her thoughts turned to freeing her friends. There was no way that she would consider leaving The Red Palace if all of them weren't with her. Impossible as it was, plotting their grand escape seemed a much smaller challenge at the moment.

The top of the cliff gradually came into view, one strained reach at a time. Her arms were on fire and the leather grip on the sword was slippery with her sweat. She groaned loudly with each pull to a new height.

"Come on, Alice, you're almost there," called Lyla. She was on the edge of the cliff in relative safety.

A harsh shriek pierced the air and shattered Alice's concentration. Her foot missed the ledge that Lyla had directed her to and she dropped to the full extension of her arms, swinging like a pendulum from the hilt of the sword. "Argh!" she cried, fighting to maintain control of her own thoughts and control the sword's tension in the rock while the psychic assault of the Jabberwock beat against her consciousness. The pale red light of the sky above began to fade to black.

"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.