Chapter 17 - Once more unto the breach.
The pieces were working their way slowly across the fields towards the awaiting possessed townsfolk.
If there orders were to wipe them out, the battle would be over very quickly but they were ordered to push them aside so Alice could enter the great looking glass. One of the bishops shot a red beam of light into the air which exploded fiercely. At that signal, all of the advancing pieces charged forward, roaring with ferocity and determination. The two lines met on the edge of the town and crashed into each other. The townsfolk were putting up stiff resistance as several pawns were thrown into the air, landing dazed and confused. The knights were furiously bashing people about with their shields and the rooks were punching people with all their vast strength. The battle seemed to be going their way as the peasants were being forced back towards the town centre, towards the cathedral.
The noise of the battle was intense and thunder began to boom loudly overhead but this did not drown out the ghostly chime which preceded the ever grinning Cheshire cat.
"The masses are retreating, now is the moment Alice" he said. "Seize it!"
"I agree Alice." Seconded the queen. "You could always add your staff if you need to!"
Alice was already running down the hill and into the town, her ice staff fuming with cold and pointed at the nearest person she could see. She looked above but there was still no sign of the griffon, however if things continued to go the way they were, he wouldn't be needed.
She struck one villager over the head with the staffs handle and proceeded to reduce another one to a solid ice statue. She stepped back onto someone and turned around swiftly, ice staff at the ready. She quickly stopped herself when she realised it was one of her rooks who was busy wrestling some poor demented man to the ground. She didn't notice the woman creeping up behind her with a carving knife ready to slice through her neck and decapitate her until it was too late. She turned around and froze with shock to see the fury behind those glowing eyes and the lightning reflecting, yet highlighting the terror of the shining blade she held firmly in her hand as the rose it above her head ready to plunge into her. Then something happened. A grey shadow swept in front of Alice and swiftly slit the throat of the woman who fell to the floor, gargling in her own blood.
Alice turned to see the Cheshire cat with his back arched and his claws protruding from his paws, stained with blood. He gave Alice a sinister look as if to say "your welcome", retracted his claws and vanished. The villagers were surrounded in front of the large doors of the cathedral. A separate path lead off around it to the great looking glass, Alice's target.
The tension mounted as the chessmen forces glared menacingly at their prey who had fallen in number as most of them lay unconscious on the road leading up to their current location. Their weapons gleamed menacing, reflecting the occasional but booming bolts of lightning overhead.
The moment passed briefly.
The cathedral doors burst open and scores of people armed with torches flooded out of the cathedral, led by the priest who was under the same possession as his followers. The chessmen were overwhelmed in one single torrent of aggressive fury as the villages simply charged straight into them fighting with every ounce of strength they could muster until they all looked skywards searching for a screeching noise that sounded like an eagle. The griffon had arrived.
"Everyone!" he yelled "Drop!" and he threw his bombs towards the ground.
Alice and the chess pieces threw themselves towards the floor as the bombs all landed with a thud.
A brief chorus of "Pop goes the weasel" played merrily until they all exploded violently throwing the enemy back into the cathedral doors knocking half of their number into a deep coma and some others simply into a stupefied state. Alice helped the chess men back onto their bases (as they were quite stuck an unable to re-assert themselves without help) and they all surveyed the scene. The villagers and clergy were all either out cold or rambling profusely, totally out of their minds and no use to no one.
Alice was reminded of some of the inmates of the asylum as she looked down upon their writing forms as they tossed about in total dementia, their eyes wide open which unnerved her as she and her forces had caused this horror. She looked back towards her platoon who was now resting their weary limbs (Alice thought they deserved another coat of polish as their surface had become quite scratched and battered in the turmoil of battle.) and was approached by the griffon in the majestic splendour of his mighty wings and strong frame.
"You were just in time!" Alice said, slightly smiling. "If you'd have arrived a moment later, I don't know what we'd have done."
"I'm glad I arrived when I did, Alice" he replied. His face became serious. "I'll take you to the mirror, hop on." He gestured towards his back and Alice mounted him and they followed the path to the mirror.
"I can't follow you through the mirror you know." The griffon said, regrettably "You must fight this battle alone."
"Great!" replied Alice in a huff. "I just hope Christopher's alright if, I mean when I find him!"
"He's hiding something Alice." said Griffon "I can't tell what it is, but there's something not right about him.
"I've got to help him whether you like him or not!"
"Very well Alice. Just be careful!" She slided of his wing as they approached the looking glass.
It was a single person mirror simply standing at the end of the path. It leaded to a realm where normality became its opposite. It was where the hatter had been corrupted and tried to kill Alice last time she was here. She stepped towards the glass and was about to step through when she was stopped by the griffon.
"One second Alice!" he called out "the Troll told me to give you this"
He unfolded his wing revealing a blunderbuss. This was the most powerful weapon in wonderland and still it took many shots to kill the Queen of hearts. Now Alice was worried.
"Just in case!" the griffon said.
She readied the blunderbuss, nodded in appreciation and stepped through the glass.
The moment she vanished, the villagers awoke from their states and the battle was raging once again.
"Hurry up Alice!" the griffon shouted "I don't think we can hold them off for long!"
Alice appeared in front of the looking glass cathedral whose very appearance was enough to strike fear into any mortal being as it wreaked of evil out of every window. Alice heard a scream coming from within. It was Christopher! She opened the doors and rushed into the cathedral, blunderbuss at the ready. She was running down the corridors of the cathedral passing scores of empty pews and sanctums which all emanated a dark presence as she ran past them, following the sound of the screams of her most dearest friend. He had already gone through a great deal of pain and suffering in his life and she felt id did not deserve to end like this, being sacrificed in an evil place controlled by the corrupt religion. She turned the last corner and gasped as the sight that befell her was truly a picture of horror!!
In front of her was the main sanctuary of the cathedral an tied to the altar dripping with blood was Christopher. He was now unconscious but his mouth was bloody as if something had been ripped from his mouth with great force. Standing over him was a dark figure dressed in robes of black chanting in an unfamiliar language was the Cleric of the Religion of wonderland.
"He is what I must kill!" thought Alice. "This is the new festering wound of Wonderland!"
As if in answer to her thoughts, the Cleric looked up with eyes similar to his possessed minions only instead of white, shining bright red eyes I which were centred where his face would normally be except it was missing! He began to speak with a voice that would drain a persons soul and replace it with total fear.
"You cannot control my minions Alice and you will die sooner than your friend here!"
He began to glide towards her, arms outstretched ready to wrench the life out of this beings neck when Alice raised the blunderbuss. The red bishops voice echoed in her head from the past. "The cleric is not the one!" She shrugged it off carelessly and fired.
The force of the blast threw Alice further back down the central isle and the blunderbuss shell impacted with the cleric with a violent explosion of fire and pure energy. He screamed in agony and vanished in an inferno of green flames leaving a pile of ashes on the floor.
She picked herself up and ran over to Christopher who was awakened by the blast and was now screaming once again. He looked up into Alice's face and stopped.
"I thought I was dead Alice?" he said very weakly as if the life had been drained from him.
"No Christopher, I had to come and get you, I think I love you." Alice replied with tears in her eyes.
She cut his bounds with her vorpal blade and helped him onto his feet. He stood with great difficulty and started to shake all over.
"Hold on Chris!" she said comfortingly "We're getting out of here!"
Christopher took Alice in his arms and they embraced. Alice felt a surge of warmth flow through her as they held each other. She had never felt this strongly about anyone before and she had risked her life to find him.
She felt warm.
She felt secure.
Until…..
Christopher snatched Alice's vorpal blade from her hand and drove it through her stomach opening her up and spilling her blood onto the floor in a pool around her dark boots.
She felt sharp steel!
She felt pain!
She looked up into his eyes searching for an answer as to why. But all she found was despair.
He was staring at her with soulless eyes and his face was twisted with a combination of immense hatred and incredible evil. She backed away and slumped down in front of the alter in total disbelief.
Christopher began to morph into a dark figure of a man. An evil man yet strangely familiar.
Then she remembered with the last energies she had. This was Konchuu. She had been tricked.
"Surprise Alice." Konchuu said, his voice bristling with contempt. "I love you too!"
Alice screamed with all her might!
"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
She slipped into unconsciousness covered in her own blood and her own tears as the last thing she saw and heard was his evil laugh as his stinger crunched into her head.
"no!" she whispered.
And fell into darkness in front of the dark alter.
The pieces were working their way slowly across the fields towards the awaiting possessed townsfolk.
If there orders were to wipe them out, the battle would be over very quickly but they were ordered to push them aside so Alice could enter the great looking glass. One of the bishops shot a red beam of light into the air which exploded fiercely. At that signal, all of the advancing pieces charged forward, roaring with ferocity and determination. The two lines met on the edge of the town and crashed into each other. The townsfolk were putting up stiff resistance as several pawns were thrown into the air, landing dazed and confused. The knights were furiously bashing people about with their shields and the rooks were punching people with all their vast strength. The battle seemed to be going their way as the peasants were being forced back towards the town centre, towards the cathedral.
The noise of the battle was intense and thunder began to boom loudly overhead but this did not drown out the ghostly chime which preceded the ever grinning Cheshire cat.
"The masses are retreating, now is the moment Alice" he said. "Seize it!"
"I agree Alice." Seconded the queen. "You could always add your staff if you need to!"
Alice was already running down the hill and into the town, her ice staff fuming with cold and pointed at the nearest person she could see. She looked above but there was still no sign of the griffon, however if things continued to go the way they were, he wouldn't be needed.
She struck one villager over the head with the staffs handle and proceeded to reduce another one to a solid ice statue. She stepped back onto someone and turned around swiftly, ice staff at the ready. She quickly stopped herself when she realised it was one of her rooks who was busy wrestling some poor demented man to the ground. She didn't notice the woman creeping up behind her with a carving knife ready to slice through her neck and decapitate her until it was too late. She turned around and froze with shock to see the fury behind those glowing eyes and the lightning reflecting, yet highlighting the terror of the shining blade she held firmly in her hand as the rose it above her head ready to plunge into her. Then something happened. A grey shadow swept in front of Alice and swiftly slit the throat of the woman who fell to the floor, gargling in her own blood.
Alice turned to see the Cheshire cat with his back arched and his claws protruding from his paws, stained with blood. He gave Alice a sinister look as if to say "your welcome", retracted his claws and vanished. The villagers were surrounded in front of the large doors of the cathedral. A separate path lead off around it to the great looking glass, Alice's target.
The tension mounted as the chessmen forces glared menacingly at their prey who had fallen in number as most of them lay unconscious on the road leading up to their current location. Their weapons gleamed menacing, reflecting the occasional but booming bolts of lightning overhead.
The moment passed briefly.
The cathedral doors burst open and scores of people armed with torches flooded out of the cathedral, led by the priest who was under the same possession as his followers. The chessmen were overwhelmed in one single torrent of aggressive fury as the villages simply charged straight into them fighting with every ounce of strength they could muster until they all looked skywards searching for a screeching noise that sounded like an eagle. The griffon had arrived.
"Everyone!" he yelled "Drop!" and he threw his bombs towards the ground.
Alice and the chess pieces threw themselves towards the floor as the bombs all landed with a thud.
A brief chorus of "Pop goes the weasel" played merrily until they all exploded violently throwing the enemy back into the cathedral doors knocking half of their number into a deep coma and some others simply into a stupefied state. Alice helped the chess men back onto their bases (as they were quite stuck an unable to re-assert themselves without help) and they all surveyed the scene. The villagers and clergy were all either out cold or rambling profusely, totally out of their minds and no use to no one.
Alice was reminded of some of the inmates of the asylum as she looked down upon their writing forms as they tossed about in total dementia, their eyes wide open which unnerved her as she and her forces had caused this horror. She looked back towards her platoon who was now resting their weary limbs (Alice thought they deserved another coat of polish as their surface had become quite scratched and battered in the turmoil of battle.) and was approached by the griffon in the majestic splendour of his mighty wings and strong frame.
"You were just in time!" Alice said, slightly smiling. "If you'd have arrived a moment later, I don't know what we'd have done."
"I'm glad I arrived when I did, Alice" he replied. His face became serious. "I'll take you to the mirror, hop on." He gestured towards his back and Alice mounted him and they followed the path to the mirror.
"I can't follow you through the mirror you know." The griffon said, regrettably "You must fight this battle alone."
"Great!" replied Alice in a huff. "I just hope Christopher's alright if, I mean when I find him!"
"He's hiding something Alice." said Griffon "I can't tell what it is, but there's something not right about him.
"I've got to help him whether you like him or not!"
"Very well Alice. Just be careful!" She slided of his wing as they approached the looking glass.
It was a single person mirror simply standing at the end of the path. It leaded to a realm where normality became its opposite. It was where the hatter had been corrupted and tried to kill Alice last time she was here. She stepped towards the glass and was about to step through when she was stopped by the griffon.
"One second Alice!" he called out "the Troll told me to give you this"
He unfolded his wing revealing a blunderbuss. This was the most powerful weapon in wonderland and still it took many shots to kill the Queen of hearts. Now Alice was worried.
"Just in case!" the griffon said.
She readied the blunderbuss, nodded in appreciation and stepped through the glass.
The moment she vanished, the villagers awoke from their states and the battle was raging once again.
"Hurry up Alice!" the griffon shouted "I don't think we can hold them off for long!"
Alice appeared in front of the looking glass cathedral whose very appearance was enough to strike fear into any mortal being as it wreaked of evil out of every window. Alice heard a scream coming from within. It was Christopher! She opened the doors and rushed into the cathedral, blunderbuss at the ready. She was running down the corridors of the cathedral passing scores of empty pews and sanctums which all emanated a dark presence as she ran past them, following the sound of the screams of her most dearest friend. He had already gone through a great deal of pain and suffering in his life and she felt id did not deserve to end like this, being sacrificed in an evil place controlled by the corrupt religion. She turned the last corner and gasped as the sight that befell her was truly a picture of horror!!
In front of her was the main sanctuary of the cathedral an tied to the altar dripping with blood was Christopher. He was now unconscious but his mouth was bloody as if something had been ripped from his mouth with great force. Standing over him was a dark figure dressed in robes of black chanting in an unfamiliar language was the Cleric of the Religion of wonderland.
"He is what I must kill!" thought Alice. "This is the new festering wound of Wonderland!"
As if in answer to her thoughts, the Cleric looked up with eyes similar to his possessed minions only instead of white, shining bright red eyes I which were centred where his face would normally be except it was missing! He began to speak with a voice that would drain a persons soul and replace it with total fear.
"You cannot control my minions Alice and you will die sooner than your friend here!"
He began to glide towards her, arms outstretched ready to wrench the life out of this beings neck when Alice raised the blunderbuss. The red bishops voice echoed in her head from the past. "The cleric is not the one!" She shrugged it off carelessly and fired.
The force of the blast threw Alice further back down the central isle and the blunderbuss shell impacted with the cleric with a violent explosion of fire and pure energy. He screamed in agony and vanished in an inferno of green flames leaving a pile of ashes on the floor.
She picked herself up and ran over to Christopher who was awakened by the blast and was now screaming once again. He looked up into Alice's face and stopped.
"I thought I was dead Alice?" he said very weakly as if the life had been drained from him.
"No Christopher, I had to come and get you, I think I love you." Alice replied with tears in her eyes.
She cut his bounds with her vorpal blade and helped him onto his feet. He stood with great difficulty and started to shake all over.
"Hold on Chris!" she said comfortingly "We're getting out of here!"
Christopher took Alice in his arms and they embraced. Alice felt a surge of warmth flow through her as they held each other. She had never felt this strongly about anyone before and she had risked her life to find him.
She felt warm.
She felt secure.
Until…..
Christopher snatched Alice's vorpal blade from her hand and drove it through her stomach opening her up and spilling her blood onto the floor in a pool around her dark boots.
She felt sharp steel!
She felt pain!
She looked up into his eyes searching for an answer as to why. But all she found was despair.
He was staring at her with soulless eyes and his face was twisted with a combination of immense hatred and incredible evil. She backed away and slumped down in front of the alter in total disbelief.
Christopher began to morph into a dark figure of a man. An evil man yet strangely familiar.
Then she remembered with the last energies she had. This was Konchuu. She had been tricked.
"Surprise Alice." Konchuu said, his voice bristling with contempt. "I love you too!"
Alice screamed with all her might!
"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
She slipped into unconsciousness covered in her own blood and her own tears as the last thing she saw and heard was his evil laugh as his stinger crunched into her head.
"no!" she whispered.
And fell into darkness in front of the dark alter.