Chapter 11 - Escape from the masses.
Alice rushed down the corridor with the ice staff breathing (as it were) in her hands. She turned a corner and found one of the drinkers from the bar trying to knock the door down to Christopher's room chanting "I will kill the companion, my cleric". He turned around and met her with the same slowing eyes as the bartender and changed his mind to killing her instead. Her reaction was the same.
With one twist of the ice staff, a torrent of dry ice emerged totally freezing the hypnotised madman. Instead of melting, he toppled over and smashed into a thousand little iced pieces, then melted.
"Alice?" cried out a terrified Christopher. "Is that you? What's going on?" She entered his room to find him cowering behind his bed.
"Yes it's me" she replied "and as for what's going on, I have no idea but I think we'd better leave before anyone else comes along!"
He shook himself down and wizened himself up (well, almost). He opened his drawer in the cabinet and pulled out the Vorpal blade. "Here, I think this belongs to you?"
"You'd better keep it." She said in reply "You might need it!"
"Alice I couldn't, please don't force me!"
She shrugged her shoulders and took the knife from him. He reminded her of herself before the fire. Then, she would never think of killing anyone, but things change and this was Wonderland!
A loud shuffle was heard from all around them as people were getting out of their beds, grabbing any weapon they could find or make and heading towards them with the same orders. They both ran down the corridors of the hotel and descended the stairs into the bar. Unfortunately some people had not gone to bed yet and were still awake. Their initial expression was one of confusion which relieved Alice. "Maybe their Agnostics" hoped Alice but religious or not there were still hordes of people rushing up behind them. Alice suddenly remembered what happened if she twisted her staff handle the other way. She pointed it at the stairway and twisted the handle. The torrent of ice flowed but it seemed to stop in a vertical formation. It formed a hard sheet of ice which completley blocked the doorway, it was also transparent so she could see the amusing sight of people trying to break down the barrier and slipping clumsily.
"Er..Alice!" came up Christopher. His voice was too petrified to ignore so she turned round. She wished she hadn't. The residents in the bar had stopped moving and their eyes were wide open but still their own colour. Until something changed. Their eyes all began to glow bright white and all of them fixed on her with a glare that she didn't like the first time around.
"I think were in trouble!" said Alice
"I think your right!" replied Christopher "What do we do?"
Alice noticed that there was a clear path to the front door. As they were all still, now was a good as time to any. One word was all she could say.
"RUN!" she screamed!
They both darted towards the door dodging outstretched arms reaching for their throats. And it looked like they were going to make it. One person decided to leap for them and caught Christopher by the ankle. He instantly screamed with terror and Alice instinctively turned around and prepared to fire but she couldn't hit his attacker without hitting him too. For a brief moment she paused in total confusion. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around reducing the assailant to a puddle of water in seconds. Christopher's attacker had his hands round his throat despite his best efforts to stop him by wriggling frantically. She had to do it, there was no other choice.
"Sorry Chris!" she said apologetically and threw the vorpal blade at him.
He appeared to close his eyes, bracing himself for the worst when the was a loud squelching sound.
He felt something dripping on his face and opened his eyes. He saw Alice's knife imbedded in his attackers forehead and his blood was curling its way around his eyes, over his nose and falling into his face. That was it. He broke. He threw, his now deceased attacker off him and ran towards the door faster than a speeding cheetah, screaming insanely all the way. Alice held out her hand towards the knife which disappeared from the corpses forehead and reappeared in her awaiting hand.
Trying to follow Christopher was harder than she thought. She had never seen anyone run as fast as he did. She caught up to him when he was blocked by a row of towns folk all brandishing flaming torches, knives, chairs, anything they could get their hands on. She grabbed him and ran in the opposite direction but was cut off by more townsfolk coming in the opposite direction. Alice suddenly realised with horror! They were trapped!
"I'm sorry I ran Alice," he said nervously and feeling shameful. "I couldn't help it"
"That's alright, I'm surprised you managed to get this far!" she replied.
Come to think of it, that was strange. Practically all of the town were up in arms against them and he managed to get to the outskirts without a scratch. How unusual? Now, though was not the time for thinking unless it was of the "how do we get out of this alive?" sort.
Christopher and Alice held hands in preparation for what came next as the villagers were now only 10 feet away and closing rapidly. Totally out of the blue, a box fell out of the sky and landed in front of them and among the villagers with a thud. Literally, everyone paused in surprise though Alice had a strange feeling she'd seen that box somewhere before. A head popped out wearing a jesters cowl with a huge white smiling face and began to chime slightly off key. It started to chime "Pop goes the weasel."
Alice remembered with mild shock that a jackbomb had landed in front of them and was about to either
explode or begin spouting flames in all directions!
"DROP!" she yelled and dragged Christopher to the floor. They just made it!
As the box finished its sprightly tune, it head span wildly and a sheet of flame 5 yards long covering all the villagers in flame, then unexpectedly (except to Alice) exploded knocking everyone off their feet, writing in agony as only a person on fire would do. Then a strange noise appeared from nowhere and it was unlike anything Alice had heard before. It was a cross between an eagles screech and a lions majestic roar. What in all of wonder land would make such a noise? Lion and Eagle? Of course.
Alice looked up and smiled as the sight of a griffon diving towards them met her eyes, he landed with perfect dexterity and began to speak.
"I knew you'd get into trouble sooner or later Alice!" He said, smiling. "So I brought a present!"
"A jackbomb! I'm very grateful, this is Christopher by the way."
"No time for introductions now Alice, we've got to go! Hop on!"
Alice and Christopher climbed on the Griffons' back and they took off into the night sky with a great whoosh of acceleration. She looked down and saw the villager retreating to the nearest water they could find to put themselves out. Griffon was mildly uncomfortable as her friend was gripping him tighter than anyone he had carried before.
"Alice?" Griffon asked. "Could you please tell your friend to ease off a bit, I'm finding it hard to stay airborne with him holding so tight. We don't want to fall now do we?"
Christopher immediately relaxed his grip. He realised he still didn't like flying.
"What are you doing here griffon?" Alice asked.
"I was looking for you ever since I heard you were in the Chess realm. I figured if you were there you must be doing something serious so I followed your trail until found you. Just in time by the looks of it.!" He answered. Alice brushed some ashes from her skirt as they flew. It was still no excuse to get ones dress dirty, especially since she had no change of clothing.
"Where are you taking us?" asked Christopher nervously. If Alice trusted him, he could make one exception to his fear of flying.
"We're heading to the eyrie for now, you need to sleep remember. I'll take you wherever you need to go tomorrow." He said reassuringly.
Griffons voice sounded more mature than anyone else's in the whole of wonderland in Alice's opinion. He acted more responsible than everyone else she had met and was not as stubborn as the Cheshire cat could be. He was always ready to lend a helping hand if someone needed it and had risked his life for the cause of good. He gave his life fighting the Jabberwock in Alice's escapade to defeat the Queen of Hearts (he was brought back when her corruption was defeated to his surprise more than anyone else's).
They arrived at the Eyrie and what a sight it was. An Eyrie was the griffon equivalent of a nest and it looked like a very comfortable for any bird to live in. It must have been the Lion in him to make his home similar to a throne as it was covered in feathers all over and was extremely soft as they landed. Alice and Christopher felt an unusual aura about the nest as they walked around the perimeter. The Griffon explained that the nest was enchanted to protect its occupants from danger and the effects of bad weather. They both agreed they would have a good nights sleep for a change.
"You may sleep on the feathers, I'm sure you will find it most comfortable." Explained the Griffon.
"Thank you very much" Alice replied as she lied amongst the feathers "I get the feeling things bay be improving!" She turned over and kissed Christopher on the cheek who blushed uncontrollably.
"Good night Christopher." She spoke
"Night Alice" he replied. He turned to Griffon. "and thank you sir!"
The Griffon nodded politely and stood watch over the mountains as his guests fell into a comfortable sleep. Something bothered him. There was some dark shadow hovering over Christopher as he studied the boy closely.
He seemed like an ordinary young man, but the Griffon still felt unsure about him.
Alice rushed down the corridor with the ice staff breathing (as it were) in her hands. She turned a corner and found one of the drinkers from the bar trying to knock the door down to Christopher's room chanting "I will kill the companion, my cleric". He turned around and met her with the same slowing eyes as the bartender and changed his mind to killing her instead. Her reaction was the same.
With one twist of the ice staff, a torrent of dry ice emerged totally freezing the hypnotised madman. Instead of melting, he toppled over and smashed into a thousand little iced pieces, then melted.
"Alice?" cried out a terrified Christopher. "Is that you? What's going on?" She entered his room to find him cowering behind his bed.
"Yes it's me" she replied "and as for what's going on, I have no idea but I think we'd better leave before anyone else comes along!"
He shook himself down and wizened himself up (well, almost). He opened his drawer in the cabinet and pulled out the Vorpal blade. "Here, I think this belongs to you?"
"You'd better keep it." She said in reply "You might need it!"
"Alice I couldn't, please don't force me!"
She shrugged her shoulders and took the knife from him. He reminded her of herself before the fire. Then, she would never think of killing anyone, but things change and this was Wonderland!
A loud shuffle was heard from all around them as people were getting out of their beds, grabbing any weapon they could find or make and heading towards them with the same orders. They both ran down the corridors of the hotel and descended the stairs into the bar. Unfortunately some people had not gone to bed yet and were still awake. Their initial expression was one of confusion which relieved Alice. "Maybe their Agnostics" hoped Alice but religious or not there were still hordes of people rushing up behind them. Alice suddenly remembered what happened if she twisted her staff handle the other way. She pointed it at the stairway and twisted the handle. The torrent of ice flowed but it seemed to stop in a vertical formation. It formed a hard sheet of ice which completley blocked the doorway, it was also transparent so she could see the amusing sight of people trying to break down the barrier and slipping clumsily.
"Er..Alice!" came up Christopher. His voice was too petrified to ignore so she turned round. She wished she hadn't. The residents in the bar had stopped moving and their eyes were wide open but still their own colour. Until something changed. Their eyes all began to glow bright white and all of them fixed on her with a glare that she didn't like the first time around.
"I think were in trouble!" said Alice
"I think your right!" replied Christopher "What do we do?"
Alice noticed that there was a clear path to the front door. As they were all still, now was a good as time to any. One word was all she could say.
"RUN!" she screamed!
They both darted towards the door dodging outstretched arms reaching for their throats. And it looked like they were going to make it. One person decided to leap for them and caught Christopher by the ankle. He instantly screamed with terror and Alice instinctively turned around and prepared to fire but she couldn't hit his attacker without hitting him too. For a brief moment she paused in total confusion. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around reducing the assailant to a puddle of water in seconds. Christopher's attacker had his hands round his throat despite his best efforts to stop him by wriggling frantically. She had to do it, there was no other choice.
"Sorry Chris!" she said apologetically and threw the vorpal blade at him.
He appeared to close his eyes, bracing himself for the worst when the was a loud squelching sound.
He felt something dripping on his face and opened his eyes. He saw Alice's knife imbedded in his attackers forehead and his blood was curling its way around his eyes, over his nose and falling into his face. That was it. He broke. He threw, his now deceased attacker off him and ran towards the door faster than a speeding cheetah, screaming insanely all the way. Alice held out her hand towards the knife which disappeared from the corpses forehead and reappeared in her awaiting hand.
Trying to follow Christopher was harder than she thought. She had never seen anyone run as fast as he did. She caught up to him when he was blocked by a row of towns folk all brandishing flaming torches, knives, chairs, anything they could get their hands on. She grabbed him and ran in the opposite direction but was cut off by more townsfolk coming in the opposite direction. Alice suddenly realised with horror! They were trapped!
"I'm sorry I ran Alice," he said nervously and feeling shameful. "I couldn't help it"
"That's alright, I'm surprised you managed to get this far!" she replied.
Come to think of it, that was strange. Practically all of the town were up in arms against them and he managed to get to the outskirts without a scratch. How unusual? Now, though was not the time for thinking unless it was of the "how do we get out of this alive?" sort.
Christopher and Alice held hands in preparation for what came next as the villagers were now only 10 feet away and closing rapidly. Totally out of the blue, a box fell out of the sky and landed in front of them and among the villagers with a thud. Literally, everyone paused in surprise though Alice had a strange feeling she'd seen that box somewhere before. A head popped out wearing a jesters cowl with a huge white smiling face and began to chime slightly off key. It started to chime "Pop goes the weasel."
Alice remembered with mild shock that a jackbomb had landed in front of them and was about to either
explode or begin spouting flames in all directions!
"DROP!" she yelled and dragged Christopher to the floor. They just made it!
As the box finished its sprightly tune, it head span wildly and a sheet of flame 5 yards long covering all the villagers in flame, then unexpectedly (except to Alice) exploded knocking everyone off their feet, writing in agony as only a person on fire would do. Then a strange noise appeared from nowhere and it was unlike anything Alice had heard before. It was a cross between an eagles screech and a lions majestic roar. What in all of wonder land would make such a noise? Lion and Eagle? Of course.
Alice looked up and smiled as the sight of a griffon diving towards them met her eyes, he landed with perfect dexterity and began to speak.
"I knew you'd get into trouble sooner or later Alice!" He said, smiling. "So I brought a present!"
"A jackbomb! I'm very grateful, this is Christopher by the way."
"No time for introductions now Alice, we've got to go! Hop on!"
Alice and Christopher climbed on the Griffons' back and they took off into the night sky with a great whoosh of acceleration. She looked down and saw the villager retreating to the nearest water they could find to put themselves out. Griffon was mildly uncomfortable as her friend was gripping him tighter than anyone he had carried before.
"Alice?" Griffon asked. "Could you please tell your friend to ease off a bit, I'm finding it hard to stay airborne with him holding so tight. We don't want to fall now do we?"
Christopher immediately relaxed his grip. He realised he still didn't like flying.
"What are you doing here griffon?" Alice asked.
"I was looking for you ever since I heard you were in the Chess realm. I figured if you were there you must be doing something serious so I followed your trail until found you. Just in time by the looks of it.!" He answered. Alice brushed some ashes from her skirt as they flew. It was still no excuse to get ones dress dirty, especially since she had no change of clothing.
"Where are you taking us?" asked Christopher nervously. If Alice trusted him, he could make one exception to his fear of flying.
"We're heading to the eyrie for now, you need to sleep remember. I'll take you wherever you need to go tomorrow." He said reassuringly.
Griffons voice sounded more mature than anyone else's in the whole of wonderland in Alice's opinion. He acted more responsible than everyone else she had met and was not as stubborn as the Cheshire cat could be. He was always ready to lend a helping hand if someone needed it and had risked his life for the cause of good. He gave his life fighting the Jabberwock in Alice's escapade to defeat the Queen of Hearts (he was brought back when her corruption was defeated to his surprise more than anyone else's).
They arrived at the Eyrie and what a sight it was. An Eyrie was the griffon equivalent of a nest and it looked like a very comfortable for any bird to live in. It must have been the Lion in him to make his home similar to a throne as it was covered in feathers all over and was extremely soft as they landed. Alice and Christopher felt an unusual aura about the nest as they walked around the perimeter. The Griffon explained that the nest was enchanted to protect its occupants from danger and the effects of bad weather. They both agreed they would have a good nights sleep for a change.
"You may sleep on the feathers, I'm sure you will find it most comfortable." Explained the Griffon.
"Thank you very much" Alice replied as she lied amongst the feathers "I get the feeling things bay be improving!" She turned over and kissed Christopher on the cheek who blushed uncontrollably.
"Good night Christopher." She spoke
"Night Alice" he replied. He turned to Griffon. "and thank you sir!"
The Griffon nodded politely and stood watch over the mountains as his guests fell into a comfortable sleep. Something bothered him. There was some dark shadow hovering over Christopher as he studied the boy closely.
He seemed like an ordinary young man, but the Griffon still felt unsure about him.