Hatter's POV

Ilosovic Stayne stood next to a petit woman I did not know with his back turned to me. Her short red hair blew in a wind that touched no one outside of her tight Circle. They held each other's hand but not with affection. Alice was sprawled in the center of the circle, her clothing was buffeted by the wind but she did not shift.

"Nuair a chuaigh tríd an sruth foraoise adhmaid
Agus adh Eascraíonn go léir a bhí ann
As crainn arda, motionless, crochta dorcha
Le Shadows mottled ar a n-bark
Come ó na Talún na Scáthanna
Bog ar"

Cold anger was my only companion as I broke through the wall of power. A huge gale struck me but I moved forward. My foot bumped against something solid and I instinctively looked down. His jet black hair was pushed away from his green eyes, his empty gaze was glossy. I knew this man.

Daniel Stayne lay dead on the ground before my feet. I fought the urge to spit on his corpse and moved on. He deserved his fate, if only for hurting my Alice, but he did not deserve to be disrespected in death.

I drew the Vorpal blade from its sheath and, before he could turn and see me, ran it through The Knave of Hearts. I would show no mercy. Not if mercy meant sparing the man who conspired to kill those I love. The woman I love.

"Fágann an uisce Gliding na ríochtaí intíre,
Agus duillíní idir Meadows fada leis na Farraige
Ceart sa dorchadas
Flames an sruthán Glade"

Stayne's body went limp as I drew the weapon from his torso. The Vorpal blade was not stained with his blood, it would never be dirtied by something so vile, and it remained pure.

The spell was broken as the woman spun to face me. She was surprised and stumbled over the Summoning spell's words. I looked into her face and saw the features of the women I had hated for my whole adult life. This was the Red Queen reincarnated.

Her pause was brief. She began singing the demented song again and she backed away from me. A black cloud swirled above us, and lightening flashed along the magical borders.

"Ní bheidh feidhm ag an bhfios fuil, bíodh imní ort
Ceart, ach go déanach
Glaoite ag na geataí an
Áit cursed
Ná bíodh imní ort anois
Is é an praghas a íocadh
An Shadows preabadh os mo.
Thy túir adh sa cheo fair
A deireadh mionú, tríd an elms
Aonair Tá éisteacht. Bhfad, i bhfad luíonn sé."

I inwardly cringed at the sound of her high screeching but then my attention went elsewhere. Alice was standing up inside the center of the storm. Her eyes meet mine for a second before she was yanked into the air. Her hair flew in every direction but it seemed she was unable to move. I could see her mouth form a scream but the sound did not reach my ears.

Suddenly the song was replaced with a terrible roar. Wings spread across the blackened sky and bright white eyes stared down on us.

"Why have you sssummoned me to thiss land where my Brother was sssssslain?" a deep voice boomed.

"I call upon you to give this Kingdom to its rightful owner, and bring down the Terrible White Queen." the woman's voice did not tremble with fear. She knew what to say.

"Why sshould I care about this afflicted dessssolate plassse?" snarled the Jabberwocky, his eyes seemed locked on me.

"I-I.. well.. This women.. The White Queen ordered your brother's death!" the girl stuttered

"Why do you allow my Challenger into thissss place?" The Beast bellowed.

"The girl is incapacitated. She is our gift to you!" she seemed to find her footing once more. I was frozen in place, Vorpal Blade in hand.

"Not the girl! The Ssssword! The Man!" he hissed and Alice fell from her place in the sky. Her body hit the ground and seemed to crumple.

"The man?" the young woman's eyes searched me, her mouth agape.

"I am here to slay you, great Bestie" I shouted, something deep inside of me seemed to take control. The Jabberwocky jeered, his disgusting features twisting. The small woman was all that stood between me and the creature.

I would not be stopped this time. I shoved her aside.

Alice's small frame still lay in a heap and Rage was my friend.

"Ahhh…. My enemy… my brother'ssss defeat. I will not be so easssily conquered." The brute's voice was nasal and gravely.

"I think the conquering will be easy indeed" I felt the Sword stir in my grasp. And I couldn't help but grin.

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought -
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

I lifted the blade against my foe. His wings were not tattered with age but taunt with youth. He opened his wide mouth and revealed sharp teeth the size of my left leg, perhaps not my right leg but definitely as long as my left. I was not struck by fear. This was my Destiny, as I had known all along.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

The Vorpal blade shined without light. It didn't need to guide my battle worn hand as I fought the beast. All my life I had trained for this very moment. I ducked under his swinging tail and skipped around his swishing claws.

Each time he moved to attack my blade grazed his leathery gray skin. He was young where I was not; he moved quickly and with precision, but he had not ever faced a man driven by insanity. He had never battled a man who was watching his love's still limp body out of the corner of his eye.

The Vorpal sword sliced through the air with a low whoosh. It came down not one but twice. Each time you could here the clatter of the sword against hard scales and then soft flesh.

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

The best's head came off without a roll. It's eyes were blank and glazed as I retrieved the creatures head.

I tossed it half across the courtyard then turned to the only important thing in the world. Alice's stagnant figure.

-sigh-