Chapter 19 - The demise of the darkness.
Konchuu was squirming wildly underneath several large rafters which had fallen on top of him from the roof, almost crushing the life out of him. He seemed to be bleeding water of purity from every pore of his now crunched frame and his stinger was swirling around him in the throws of it's masters slow demise. Alice through her blade at it, severing the cord which connected it to it's master, throwing it lifelessly to the floor beside the alter. Alice carefully stood up putting as little effort as she could onto her bleeding leg and began to walk towards her crushed adversary. One of his arms and legs had been broken completely and now lay at bizarre angles which were unnatural. (They were the wrong way round!) Alice face grimaced at this horrible sight. She had seen horrors at Rutlages, but it was nothing compared to a person, still alive with their body horrible crushed laying in a tangled mess. She stood silently for a moment in respect when Konchuu's arm suddenly sprang to life and seized her injured leg making her collapse screaming to the floor in a surge of extreme pain. His voice seemed broken but regaining strength every minute. He was regenerating!
Alice suddenly remembered her antidote for the water of purity and pulled it from her pocket. Konchuu's face fixed on it's first fearful look that she had ever seen as the poured a small dose of the liquid onto the arm that held her injured leg.
The effect was immediate. The arm began to bubble and melt away as it reacted violently with the pure water running through his veins and spilling onto the floor. He screamed in extreme agony as his arm gradually dissolved away. Alice wasted no time and threw he small vial at his dented torso spilling the last remnants of her antidote all over his body.
His torso, his face and his legs were all splashed with the water and began to melt away simultaneously. Alice couldn't bear to look as his screams brought down dust from the roof and started to shake the ground once more, but this was not like before.
The walls of the cathedral began to surge and grow in places and rays of light burst through the dark altar onto the walls and roof as if trying to hold the cathedral together in its throws of death and failing. A large piece of rafting smashed next to Alice making her realise that the cathedral was about to either collapse or explode at any second! She picked up her blade from near the now emaciated body of konchuu who was now almost a skeleton with brief lumps of flesh clinging to his corpse. The skull still had eyes and glared at Alice in his final words.
"I'LL BE BACK ALICE! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" and he began to laugh insanely.
His laughter ended as a supporting stone pillar collapsed onto his corpse smashing his skull and sending a dark shadow whirling out of his body, out of one of the smashed windows and disappearing into wonderland.
The prospect of his return was not Alice's primary concern as a large pile of debris had fallen over the doors to the cathedral blocking her only escape. He reached for the nearby blunderbuss and blasted towards the door. The force simply brought more masonry and wood crashing down from above almost crushing her as it had done to her enemy. She frantically looked around for any means of escape from the place that was rapidly turning into her tomb. The windows were too high up to climb and all doors were either blocked or smashed by falling rubble, except the door behind the altar which was glowing light. She scrambled her way towards the door, dodging falling rubble from the roof and saw the mirror on the other side leading her way back to the town!
She leaped for the mirror as the remains of the cathedral came thundering down from above attempting to bury her with no pillars to support it. It was all going to end in these next vital seconds.
She dived with all her might and felt cool air as her fingers passed through the mirror but was stopped by a chunk of the rafters which landed on her legs making her scream with agony. She looked back and saw the dark alter growing brighter and brighter with every passing moment. It was about to explode!
With her last fragments of strength she dragged her body through the mirror just as the altar exploded with an extremely powerful force of evil, totally destroying the cathedral and several buildings surrounding it in a bright ball of bright light and an immensely huge fireball accompanied by huge explosion which seemed to rip through the air and anything near it.
The Cathedral on both sides of the looking glass had been destroyed in the most powerful blast wonderland and the real world had ever seen. The looking glass however stood firm. A legacy to the contrast of the good and dark sides of wonderland.
Alice was awakened by a vague, white shape was gliding over her. She had taken a rather heavy blow to the head and her vision was in temporary shock. It was a strong smell of tea that had filled her nostrils and revived her from her deep unconsciousness.
"I cant see very well!" she said weakly, her voice nothing more than a whisper.
"Don't worry Alice" said a familiar voice.
"There's nothing to see." Said another voice this one deeper.
She recognised the voices to be those of the Griffon and the Cheshire cat and she smiled. Although she could not see them very well, their voices were a comfort to no end.
"What happened?" She asked. "And where am I?"
"You did it Alice!" the griffon replied. "When you froze the water of purity from the statue, all the villagers returned to normal and stopped fighting us."
"We all had to run from the explosion!" retorted the cat. "I'm not quite sure of what you did in there but it was enough to completely obliterate the cathedral and several adjoining buildings."
His tone sounded angry, but Alice knew he was pleased. Not because he was smiling though.
"That was the altar." She said weakly. She coughed for a moment, took a deep refilling breath and continued. "It exploded taking everything that was in the cathedral with it."
"What about the assassin?" Griffon asked, intently.
"He went to pieces!" joked Alice smiling. "The Elder and I created an antidote to the water and when I threw it over him, he melted away!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief on hearing this. The griffon started to speak.
"I found you lying unconscious in the scorched remains of the cathedral. I carried you back to the Eyrie and I've been helping you return to health."
"I beg your pardon!?" interrupted the cat
"Sorry," he apologised "WE'VE been helping you."
"Your little ordeal nearly killed you." Said Cat seriously.
Alice felt it wise not to tell anyone of Konchuu's final threat to her that he would return, no sense in worrying anyone quite yet.
"Rest now Alice." ordered the Griffon "You've still got a long way to come before your fully better."
Alice closed her eyes and rested her head against a bunch of soft feathers and drifted silently into sleep. She would never forget what Christopher had done for her in the cathedral. She also felt that the special moment she shared with him was not Konchuu in disguise, but true feelings shared between two real people who loved.
Konchuu was squirming wildly underneath several large rafters which had fallen on top of him from the roof, almost crushing the life out of him. He seemed to be bleeding water of purity from every pore of his now crunched frame and his stinger was swirling around him in the throws of it's masters slow demise. Alice through her blade at it, severing the cord which connected it to it's master, throwing it lifelessly to the floor beside the alter. Alice carefully stood up putting as little effort as she could onto her bleeding leg and began to walk towards her crushed adversary. One of his arms and legs had been broken completely and now lay at bizarre angles which were unnatural. (They were the wrong way round!) Alice face grimaced at this horrible sight. She had seen horrors at Rutlages, but it was nothing compared to a person, still alive with their body horrible crushed laying in a tangled mess. She stood silently for a moment in respect when Konchuu's arm suddenly sprang to life and seized her injured leg making her collapse screaming to the floor in a surge of extreme pain. His voice seemed broken but regaining strength every minute. He was regenerating!
Alice suddenly remembered her antidote for the water of purity and pulled it from her pocket. Konchuu's face fixed on it's first fearful look that she had ever seen as the poured a small dose of the liquid onto the arm that held her injured leg.
The effect was immediate. The arm began to bubble and melt away as it reacted violently with the pure water running through his veins and spilling onto the floor. He screamed in extreme agony as his arm gradually dissolved away. Alice wasted no time and threw he small vial at his dented torso spilling the last remnants of her antidote all over his body.
His torso, his face and his legs were all splashed with the water and began to melt away simultaneously. Alice couldn't bear to look as his screams brought down dust from the roof and started to shake the ground once more, but this was not like before.
The walls of the cathedral began to surge and grow in places and rays of light burst through the dark altar onto the walls and roof as if trying to hold the cathedral together in its throws of death and failing. A large piece of rafting smashed next to Alice making her realise that the cathedral was about to either collapse or explode at any second! She picked up her blade from near the now emaciated body of konchuu who was now almost a skeleton with brief lumps of flesh clinging to his corpse. The skull still had eyes and glared at Alice in his final words.
"I'LL BE BACK ALICE! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" and he began to laugh insanely.
His laughter ended as a supporting stone pillar collapsed onto his corpse smashing his skull and sending a dark shadow whirling out of his body, out of one of the smashed windows and disappearing into wonderland.
The prospect of his return was not Alice's primary concern as a large pile of debris had fallen over the doors to the cathedral blocking her only escape. He reached for the nearby blunderbuss and blasted towards the door. The force simply brought more masonry and wood crashing down from above almost crushing her as it had done to her enemy. She frantically looked around for any means of escape from the place that was rapidly turning into her tomb. The windows were too high up to climb and all doors were either blocked or smashed by falling rubble, except the door behind the altar which was glowing light. She scrambled her way towards the door, dodging falling rubble from the roof and saw the mirror on the other side leading her way back to the town!
She leaped for the mirror as the remains of the cathedral came thundering down from above attempting to bury her with no pillars to support it. It was all going to end in these next vital seconds.
She dived with all her might and felt cool air as her fingers passed through the mirror but was stopped by a chunk of the rafters which landed on her legs making her scream with agony. She looked back and saw the dark alter growing brighter and brighter with every passing moment. It was about to explode!
With her last fragments of strength she dragged her body through the mirror just as the altar exploded with an extremely powerful force of evil, totally destroying the cathedral and several buildings surrounding it in a bright ball of bright light and an immensely huge fireball accompanied by huge explosion which seemed to rip through the air and anything near it.
The Cathedral on both sides of the looking glass had been destroyed in the most powerful blast wonderland and the real world had ever seen. The looking glass however stood firm. A legacy to the contrast of the good and dark sides of wonderland.
Alice was awakened by a vague, white shape was gliding over her. She had taken a rather heavy blow to the head and her vision was in temporary shock. It was a strong smell of tea that had filled her nostrils and revived her from her deep unconsciousness.
"I cant see very well!" she said weakly, her voice nothing more than a whisper.
"Don't worry Alice" said a familiar voice.
"There's nothing to see." Said another voice this one deeper.
She recognised the voices to be those of the Griffon and the Cheshire cat and she smiled. Although she could not see them very well, their voices were a comfort to no end.
"What happened?" She asked. "And where am I?"
"You did it Alice!" the griffon replied. "When you froze the water of purity from the statue, all the villagers returned to normal and stopped fighting us."
"We all had to run from the explosion!" retorted the cat. "I'm not quite sure of what you did in there but it was enough to completely obliterate the cathedral and several adjoining buildings."
His tone sounded angry, but Alice knew he was pleased. Not because he was smiling though.
"That was the altar." She said weakly. She coughed for a moment, took a deep refilling breath and continued. "It exploded taking everything that was in the cathedral with it."
"What about the assassin?" Griffon asked, intently.
"He went to pieces!" joked Alice smiling. "The Elder and I created an antidote to the water and when I threw it over him, he melted away!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief on hearing this. The griffon started to speak.
"I found you lying unconscious in the scorched remains of the cathedral. I carried you back to the Eyrie and I've been helping you return to health."
"I beg your pardon!?" interrupted the cat
"Sorry," he apologised "WE'VE been helping you."
"Your little ordeal nearly killed you." Said Cat seriously.
Alice felt it wise not to tell anyone of Konchuu's final threat to her that he would return, no sense in worrying anyone quite yet.
"Rest now Alice." ordered the Griffon "You've still got a long way to come before your fully better."
Alice closed her eyes and rested her head against a bunch of soft feathers and drifted silently into sleep. She would never forget what Christopher had done for her in the cathedral. She also felt that the special moment she shared with him was not Konchuu in disguise, but true feelings shared between two real people who loved.