I know this chapter's a little shorter, sorry.
"Mallymkun? What're you doing here? How'd you find me?" Alice asked, amazed at how it could be possible. "Wasn't hard," the dormouse scoffed, "with you ridin' around so noisily. The trouble was getting on!"
The feisty dormouse gestured past the horse's bouncing tail, "You obviously didn't hear me calling you, an' I almost got hit in the 'ed by those hooves while I was climbin' up 'er tail!"
"This horse is a girl?" Alice asked. "Of course!" Mallymkun told her, surprised at this complete lack of knowledge, "Anyhow, I came t' bring you back to Underland."
The girl smiled, excited, "Really? I've been having these dreams about i- wait, why?" "'Why' what?" "Why'd you come to find me? Is something wrong?"
"Oh, you bet it is! The-" A sudden boom from above and behind interrupted Mally, causing her and Alice to both jump in surprise. Thunder, maybe? The horse reared up with a loud whinny, front hooves pawing the air in fright.
"Whoa there!" Alice exclaimed, scrambling for a handhold. She grabbed onto the reins and clung to them, struggling to stay on, while the dormouse jumped and grabbed ahold of the girl's shawl to keep from falling off.
The equine tossed her head in fright and galloped forward, charging across the grass, leaping over bushes and almost hitting a small stone fountain. Alice figured she might as well use the horse's panicky speed to her advantage, and worked at steering the creature in the correct direction.
"Ohhh," Mally complained, trying to get a better grip as she climbed onto Alice's left shoulder, "Why're you out on this thing anyway?" "I was trying to get to Underland," Alice explained, "I guess we both had the same goal in mind!"
As the seconds raced by, filled with the pounding of hooves and the rush of wind, a noise slowly became audible. A steady, snapping 'Whuumf, whuunf' sound, like huge wings. Mallymkun looked around uncertainly, her little pink nose twitching.
"What is that?" Alice asked as she looked around too, also hearing the noise but unable to find its source, "A giant bird?" "No," the mouse answered nervously, "It's th' reason we need you back in Underland! It's the Jabberwocky."
"WHAT?!" the young woman exclaimed, yanking back on the horse's reins in shock. The almost-calmed horse abruptly and gracelessly slowed, rearing up again in surprise and discomfort at the yanking.
Alice was thrown against the equine's neck and then dumped off, fumbling unsuccessfully at the rains and feeling them slip from her fingers as she fell. The dormouse leaped onto the horse's head, and the girl landed with a painful thump on the ground.
At least it was grassy, or she would've had several painful scrapes as well as bruises. In any case, she hit her back, left shoulder and elbow, and her head a little bit. She let out a pained gasp upon impact, got her breath back a little, and then sat up slowly with a quiet groan.
The horse continued to gallop away, and Alice hauled herself up onto her feet with another soft groan. She staggered forward painfully, stretching out one hand in a vain attempt to reach the animal. She might not be able to get home in time without it, and even then, how would she explain the horse's disappearance to her family?
Oddly though, the creature halted after a couple seconds, dancing skittishly from one hoof to another and trotting back. As Alice approached it, grateful and a little confused that it'd returned, she saw that Mallymkun was perched on the horse's neck, holding the reins. Ah, that explained it.
"Thanks," she told the mouse, pulling herself onto the horse's back with some difficulty, "Now how can it be the Jabberwocky?! I killed it, remember?"
A roar from somewhere above them caused all three to panic, with the horse bolting ahead yet again. Alice kept a firm grip this time and hunkered down.
She glanced back and saw the huge, dark silhouette of the monster, caught a glimpse of its burning scarlet eyes. Ok, so Mally was right, it was back. But HOW?! AND WHY?!
Revenge? Probably. On orders from the banished Red Queen? Maybe.
But that didn't answer... "... How's it here? How's it even alive?" Alice demanded. Mally shook her head, holding tightly to the horse's mane, "I don' know! If I did, would I be 'ere at everyone's request, fetchin' you back?"
Behind them there was a loud hissing snarl, and then another boom rang out, sounding almost exactly like thunder but faintly quieter. The horse, spurred on by fear, raced ever more quickly, terrified of the huge beast and the loud noises it made. She did the running, Alice just did the steering.
Pounding hooves threw clods of dirt and grass behind them, tearing up the carefully maintained turf. It felt like only a few seconds passed before the trio- girl, horse, and mouse- reached the grove of trees where the entrance to Underland was located.
The equine had calmed a little, so Alice slid off and took the reins again. At the best run she could manage, she led the horse quickly towards the rabbit-hole. It was still there, she saw with a sigh of relief, right below the tall, ancient tree stump.
Another boom echoed farther away. Mally hopped off the horse and scurried over as Alice laid a hand on the tree-bark just to assure herself it was real. She nodded to herself and led the horse a little ways into the orchard, so it'd be hidden by a row or two of the still-growing trees.
She looped the long reins around a very thin branch on one of the trees. The branch was thin enough that the horse would stay tethered to it, but also be able to break free and run if the Jabberwocky found it. 'Her,' Alice corrected herself, remembering what Mallymkun had said.
She hurried back to the rabbit-hole, thrilled to see it and hardly able to believe that she was here, about to go back to Underland. Suddenly the horse screamed, rearing up beneath the protective leaf-canopy.
An enormous shape suddenly rushed past Alice, slashing down from the sky- huge claws at the end of a massive reptilian arm. The girl yelped, ducking and putting one arm over her head to protect herself from further aerial attacks.
The long, rat-like tail, studded with knobs and tufts of thin hair, swept past. Alice caught a glimpse of the tail before it hit her in the side, almost flinging her off of her feet and to the edge of the rabbit-hole.
"Mally?" she called, glancing around quickly. "Right here!" the mouse answered, popping up out of the grass by the old tree's roots, "Move it!" She scampered onto Alice's shoulder and grabbed hold of the fabric there, and the girl dove through the entrance to Underland.
Overhead, the enormous creature coasted to a stop just above the ground, lowering its hind legs onto the grass and slowly crouching down to glare down the hole. Its scarlet eyes blazed, and a soft snarl rumbled from between its fanged jaws.
The Jabberwocky lifted its head, expression smoothing into an almost amused scorn, and then flapped into the air with one beat of its wings. Suspended there in the dappled moonlight for barely a second, the long frills on its head shivered in the breeze... and it disappeared with a boom.
A thin burst of smoke was all that remained of its presence, and even this drifted away into the cool night air.
WOOHOO! Finally, a confirmed appearance of the Jabberwocky! And don't worry, the horse didn't get killed or eaten, just startled and scared.
