Episode 3: Rude, Red, and Royal

At some point along their walk, the leading soldier managed to produce a snare drum whose straps he promptly slung around his soldiers. Thus the last fifteen minutes were punctuated by rhythmic rap-tap-tapping that dissuaded any and all conversation.

Ruby tried to stop herself from staring at where Penny's sword, now wrapped up in a red cloth, was hanging at the leader's waist. She failed. She also failed at keeping her hands relaxed at her sides like the rest of her team; instead, she kept thumbing her rose emblem, trying to take reassurance in its familiar metal, cool to the touch. That, too, failed.

Everyone else seemed fine with their journey, albeit wary of the three soldiers trailing behind them. Their path, a dirt trail cutting between vibrant red grasses flanked by a simple wooden fence, wound slowly up the biggest hill in the acre. Massive white structures reminiscent of board game pieces yet weathered and dirtied by time jutted out from the ground, but even those paled in comparison to the castle they approached.

Its rectangular towers, flanked by trees as red as everything else in the acre, jutted up from tiers carved out of the hill while the rest of the castle squatted below, the support to a greater show. Red conical domes with golden cupolas topped those towers. One central tower stood out above the rest. Though hard to see from this distance, the cutouts on this one, two to a face and punching through nearly its entire height, all sported a golden bell. No doubt, when they rang, the noise was deafening.

Their team closed ranks.

"Are we absolutely sure we should be doing this?" Yang asked quietly. "We can still take Penny's sword and turn back."

"The red king helped Alyx," replied Ruby.

Weiss spared another look at the castle. "We aren't Alyx."

Yang rubbed at her right arm. "And I kinda picked a fight with his guards."

"All we have to do is beat him at one of his games," Blake said placatingly.

Ruby said, as calmly as she could, "Exactly. What else can we do? Trying to go against the story just put us in circles."

"I…suppose you're right." Weiss didn't sound thrilled.

"Yeah. Suppose I am." Neither did Ruby.

Yang eyed her sister, brows lightly furrowed. "Ruby—"

The snare drum ratcheted up in volume. They tensed and looked ahead, where two lines of halberd-bearing toy soldiers flanked the path on the way to the castle's main entrance. All around them, the red grass fields had transitioned into an immaculately maintained garden. The red trees were perfect dodecagons, the hedges sharp rectangular prisms.

From this angle, the castle almost seemed to be glaring at them from its many windowed eyes.

The snare drum redoubled its rhythm again. Weiss flinched, and then the armed soldiers arrayed ahead of them stepped back in pairs, starting with the two closest to the team. As they moved, they brought their strange halberds up and to their lips, revealing that they were trumpets as much as they were weapons. When they blared, it wasn't just Weiss who flinched.

A small figure strode towards them through that arched tunnel of bladed noise. A golden crown sat crooked upon his white porcelain head, the rich red of its inner velvet matched by his thick cape and ostentatious royal garments. His mouth was set in a smile, his eyes closed in enjoyment of the fanfare for his sake. His every step clinked slightly against the path that had gone from rough dirt to polished stone.

He finished his approach with a proud pose timed perfectly to the fanfare cutting out and the fountains behind him releasing a burst of spray. His wide smile broadened to show teeth.

Yang cocked her head, eyes going from the tall soldiers that flanked him to the short boy below. "You're the red king?"

The boy's eyes snapped open to reveal vibrant red irises and diamond pupils. "How dare you!"

The soldiers' trumpets were at once moved to be wielded as weapons. Weiss reached for Myrtenaster, Blake for Gambol Shroud, and Yang readied her fists. Ruby swiped at empty air.

"There is no king," the boy continued in the same affronted tone. "I am the Red Prince." He struck another pose. The weapons were lowered. After a beat, Yang, Blake, and Weiss relaxed—but only slightly.

The Red Prince huffed out a sigh, crossed his arms, and rolled his eyes at them. "Why I never. Coming to someone's castle without even knowing who they are. And on my BIRTHDAY!" He stomped a foot with the last word, prompting every soldier to straighten—just a few had begun to slouch—and declare:

"Happy birthday, your majesty!"

One soldier, though, was distracted by a blue butterfly flitting by. His neighbor elbowed him, and even though he echoed the congratulations, the prince was unimpressed with the delay. The longer the silent royal stare lasted, the thicker the tension in the air became—until the prince waved a hand.

"Yes, yes, a joyous occasion, thank you very much."

"I thought you said it was a king," Weiss whispered to Blake.

"He was. Maybe the book isn't totally accurate."

"I'm willing to bet a king wouldn't be so rude," Yang mused. "Or small." A few soldiers gasped. "Or loud."

"Well," snapped a soldier behind them, "if it hadn't been for your kind, the king would still be here!"

Every other soldier shushed him. He bit whatever passed for his tongue and they resumed their parade rest positions.

The only ones who didn't were the ones who had traveled with them from the village. "Your majesty! We have brought you a magnificent gift befitting the royal birthday!"

One of the soldiers carried a parcel of red cloth. Where they'd gotten that was a mystery—probably the same place as the drum. The two who had stepped forward kneeled before the prince, and the one bearing the parcel held it out.

"It is very rare! The weapon of the greatest warrior to ever live!"

"Acquired by us and only us with no help at all," tacked on the other soldier.

"But we're the ones who—"

Blake shushed Weiss before she could finish her complaint. Blake was staring at the prince, at his clothes, at the soldiers, and their surroundings. "I think…I think we should see how this goes, before we say anything."

The prince's eyes sparkled with greed. He rushed up to the soldiers and cast off the cloth covering to reveal Penny's sword. It gleamed under the green-hued sky, multifaceted and beautiful.

All excitement dropped from the prince's expression. He looked up at the soldier's face. "Green?"

They froze.

"Why," the prince continued, getting just a little closer to them with each word until they were cowering, "is. It. GREEN?"

They had no answer, and so, without further fanfare, the Red Prince wound back his leg and kicked Penny's sword, Penny's last sword, all that was left of Penny, towards the bushes.

Ruby broke apart. Before Blake or anyone else could stop her, she rushed through the line of soldiers—they couldn't stop her semblance—turned corporeal long enough to snatch the sword out of the air, and then blurred back to where her teammates stood.

"What was that?" The prince was staring at Ruby. Ruby, clutching Penny's sword, stared back and tried not to let her anger and grief get the best of her.

"What was what?"

"You—you turned red! And those petals!" A soldier rushed up to the prince with a small handful of the petals generated by Ruby's semblance. "I've never seen these before. They're so…so flawless! This is a birthday present! I want more!"

"There are no more."

The prince stomped his foot. "I. Want. More!"

The two soldiers that had been blubbering for the prince's forgiveness for delivering a green present zipped over to Ruby. "His majesty wants more!"

"You must give him more!"

Ruby clutched Penny's sword tighter. Her heart pounded in her chest. Static rose to fill the gaps in her thoughts. "There's no more."

Yang, Blake, and Weiss stepped between the soldiers and Ruby. "You heard her," said Yang. "Back off."

The Red Prince heaved a sigh. "Failures, you two." He signaled the other guards. "Take them away."

Ruby and the others watched with growing confusion as the guards dragged their two brethren into the hedges.

"Wait, they're not going to—" Yang started, only for the rise and fall of two halberds to cut her off. Weiss gasped, Blake went green, Yang gaped, and Ruby flinched away. Little squeaked and buried themselves deep in Ruby's hood.

"Oh my gods," Weiss whispered.

"The book never," said Blake, "I mean, the king didn't—"

Ruby turned to the prince, who had begun walking back towards his castle. "You killed them."

He shrugged. "Beheadings cheer me up. And since you won't give me a present…"

Ruby glanced back at Blake, who nodded. "We can make it up to you. I, uh, heard you like to play games."

The prince stopped and then faced them with a flourish of his cape. His eyes narrowed and he smiled an unwelcoming smile.

The bells were ringing. Even in the bowels of the castle, whose hallways twisted and turned upon themselves so much that she'd gotten lost almost immediately, Ruby could hear them tolling. They were getting louder and louder, too.

When they descended a winding stairwell to their destination, the reason why was clear: the bell tower was directly above what Ruby now realized was the throne room. The room's checkered floor sat over a pit with a bottom she wasn't able to see in her brief glimpse before the guards none-too-gently prodded her forward to the raised dais in the center. A luxurious throne with a heart-shaped back sat there, and in front of the throne, a table with a single stool opposite it.

"So," the Red Prince said as he hopped up onto his throne, "what exactly do you desire from me in exchange for playing my game? This isn't a normal birthday present. There's always a catch when there's a game."

Ruby, ahead of her teammates, followed him up the short steps. "Your majesty, you are as wise as you are…" She hesitated and Little whispered in her ear. "Magnanimous!"

The prince frowned like he didn't even know the meaning of the word.

"Our only request is that, if we win, you help us get to the tree."

"The tree?" The prince kicked his legs up to rest his feet on the table. "It's so…far away."

"That's, uh." Ruby forced a smile. "That's why we're asking."

"Hm." The prince considered Ruby, and then his gaze wandered to Yang, Blake, and Weiss while he tapped his chin. "Very well. If you win, I will help you with what you ask." He pulled his legs down and settled into his throne, that cold smile back on his face.

"Great!" Ruby sat down across from him. There weren't any other seats, so her team lingered behind her. She set Penny's sword gently down on the ground next to her. "So…" She looked at the board. There were red pieces with spiked heads and white pieces with smooth round heads. All the pieces had jointed arms and legs, but only the white pieces bore visible signs of damage. It wasn't like any game she'd ever seen. When she looked back at Blake, Blake appeared just as confused as she did. The story hadn't gone into detail on the mechanics of the game against the Red King, only that Alyx cheated. "How do we play?"

The prince froze in disbelief. Then he burst out laughing, as did every guard around them. Yang crossed her arms and scowled, as did Weiss, while Blake wore an annoyed frown.

"Rule one!" the prince declared, and at once the laughing ceased with the thundering slam of every halberd's pommel hitting the floor. "Each player may move each pawn one space with each turn."

As he spoke, the pieces on the board popped up and began to move on their own.

"Rule two!" Two more slams that sent Little back into Ruby's hood. "Whoever gets the most pawns to the other side of the board wins. Rule three!" Three slams. "To take over a space, you must dispose of whoever occupies it."

"Dispose of?" Ruby repeated.

Every pristine red piece, which had gathered on the prince's side of the board, raised its sword.

Every battered white piece, which had stumbled to Ruby's side, wearily assumed its position. There were gaps in their formation, unlike the prince's.

"Okay," Ruby said slowly. "I think I'm missing some pieces."

The prince's smile grew, as did the malice in his eyes. "How perfect that you brought along friends to play with, then."

He snapped his fingers. A bloom of red magic trailing gold sparks rushed out from the throne, under the table and Ruby's stool, down the dais steps, and around Weiss before Ruby could even fully stand. Weiss shrieked and vanished in a puff of red smoke. Blake, the next to be surrounded, followed. Yang made it two steps towards Ruby before she, too, was yanked away. Ruby followed the smoke with her eyes all the way to where it crashed down on the empty spaces in her side's formation to reveal a shrunken Weiss, Blake, and Yang. They got up, groaning but alive.

"What are you doing?" Ruby demanded of the prince.

"Why, filling in your missing pieces, as the game demands."

"Ruby!" Blake called from the board. "We're fine! Just focus on winning. Remember—we just need to get as many as we can to the opposite end."

Yang deployed Ember Celica and Weiss brandished Myrtenaster.

"You can count on us," said Weiss.

"These guys have nothing on Grimm."

Ruby pursed her lips. "Okay," she took a breath. They were just board game pieces; her teammates would be fine. They would be fine. "Okay. Can you take the front spots?"

The white pieces exchanged looks. They were almost too happy to let Ruby's teammates take point.

"What's the plan?" asked Weiss.

Ruby scanned the board, her own pieces, the prince's. She went back over the three rules. It couldn't be that easy. It couldn't. Could it?

"As I am a gracious ruler," the prince said, "the white team may go first. Begin!"

The guards ringing the dais twirled their halberds and slammed them down one last time. The whole throne room went dark save for the light from the silenced bell tower above, which shone down on the table like a spotlight.

"Don't advance," Ruby ordered, much to the confusion of the white pieces. "Weiss, conserve your strength. Blake, Yang: shoot them."

Yang grinned. "Yeah, why waste time crossing that distance?" She faced the red pieces and cocked back a fist, then let fly her weapon's explosive shells. Blake aimed well away from those areas, mowing down the edges with burst fire.

Every explosive shotgun round took out a whole cluster of red pieces. Gambol Shroud's bullets ripped into their targets more effectively than any of the white pieces' dulled swords could ever hope to.

"That's not fair!" cried the prince.

"None of your three rules said we couldn't dispose of a piece that wasn't in an adjacent space," Ruby snapped.

"But—"

Ruby stared him down. He curled his fingers into fists, shaking with fury. All the pieces on the board stopped to stare at him, and so did Blake and Yang. He took a deep breath. "You said you wanted to go to the tree. Why?"

"Um, because we want to go home, and we believe the tree can get us there."

He glared. "And how do you know this?"

Ruby tried to figure out what his angle was, but it didn't seem like these questions would help him in the game at all. "It worked for someone we know."

"Someone you know, hm?" The prince's eye twitched. He took another deep breath, deeper than the first, and then, looking again at Ruby, seemed to be struck by an epiphany. "What type of creatures are you, exactly?"

"Well," Ruby tried to ignore the thickening tension. "Little's a mouse, at least I think—"

"Sure!" Little answered from Ruby's hood.

"—Blake is a faunus, and Weiss, Yang, and I are humans."

It felt weird to specify her humanity, and so her intonation canted upwards at the end. Even on Remnant, it was usually just assumed.

And yet the declaration was met with gasps of horror entirely unlike Little's complete incomprehension. Several white pieces dropped their swords. All the red ones readied theirs.

A crack split the Red Prince's face nearly down the middle. At the last instant, it cut over into his right cheek. Nothing but black yawned beneath. "Human?" He shook. "Human? I knew it! You are cheating!" He jumped up on the table, nearly throwing every piece off its feet. Weiss steadied herself, Blake, and Yang with a quick gravity glyph. "That's enough. All of you, attack! Get them!"

Ruby shot to her feet too. "Now who's cheating?"

"It's my game! My rules! My royal birthday!"

Ruby curled her hands into fists, but the fight was on the board, not around it. "Weiss, use your glyphs to funnel them!"

"On it!"

Little white glyphs sent the red and white pieces sliding around and crashing into each other until they were only coming from two directions instead of all of them. Yang and Blake covered her while continuing to mow through the pieces with ranged fire. For a moment, it seemed like an easy victory—and then Ember Celica clicked empty.

Yang cursed. Blake did a quick check of Gambol Shroud. "I've got less than a quarter of a magazine."

"Conserve your bullets, Blake," Ruby urged. "Stay back and cover Weiss. Yang, get as close as you need to."

Yang slammed her fists together. Her aura flared golden for a second. "Yeah, fine by me."

It wasn't as easy of a victory, but with Yang tearing through the forces that couldn't get through Weiss's glyphs, a victory it still promised to be. The Red Prince's fury grew with every piece felled, fury that grew when those that went down didn't get back up.

The remaining pieces gathered in the center. They were going to rush together. Ruby raised a hand, preparing to just sweep them from the board, only for Yang to yell that she had it covered.

Yang signaled Blake. Blake threw Gambol Shroud's pistol, holding the ribbon, and twisted around and around to help Yang build momentum. Weiss dropped her remaining glyphs and summoned just two in their place: one for Yang to kick off of, and then one far larger one high above the board.

Yang hit the first glyph, released Gambol Shroud, and soared. She reached up to grasp the hilt of an icy blue sword forming out of the second glyph. It took its full shape when she reached the apex of her flight.

She came down spinning as a bladed whirlwind. Hair ablaze, she crashed into the assembled pieces like a meteor. The sword cleaved through any that it touched and split the board while the impact's shockwave scattered the rest.

The Red Prince shrieked in indignation and flipped the table. Blake, Weiss, and Yang went flying. Ruby flew after them, emerging from her semblance just in time to catch them before they could plummet into the abyss below the throne room alongside all the other pieces. The spotlight had disappeared; light once more flooded the throne room. Every soldier in it had his weapon pointed at Ruby.

"Throw a tantrum if you want," Ruby snapped, "but we won! You have no more pieces! Take us to the tree!"

"Guards!" They closed in. Ruby got to her feet, Little and her friends in her cupped hands. She readied her semblance. "THEIR HEADS!"

"Your majesty," entreated a lilting voice entirely unlike the prince's desperate shriek. The prince looked back to a floating pair of blue eyes with white slit pupils hovering over the upended table. "Oh," the voice tutted, "you must be so distraught." The air below and around the eyes rippled; a purple-and-blue checkered cat shimmered into view as they brought up one paw to lick. "Unable to do the one thing you were put on this acre to do. I understand."

The cat jumped down from the table, stepped over Penny's sword, and approached the prince. "Surely you don't want to behead them—they are fragile things without a head. If you get angry and break one of them," the cat stopped by the prince's legs and lowered themselves to their haunches while their tail flicked, "they might not ever come back."

The cat's head disappeared. Ruby gasped, but it was back with her next blink.

"B-b-b-but," the prince protested, his earlier fire gone as the cat wound around his legs, "it's my birthday, and they wouldn't let me—"

"I know, your majesty," placated the cat, "it truly isn't fair. You must play your game and win at any cost. It must hurt your heart." A tiny collection of blue and purple checkmarks broke off from the cat and slid up the prince's clothes to rest over his heart before sinking in. "Let me help."

The prince sniffled. The last of his anger drained away. "Fine." He sat heavily with his legs splayed out before him as his tears turned to marbles that scattered across the floor. "I won't behead them." He abruptly slammed his fists into the floor, making the cat jump back and hiss in surprise. "But I never want to see them again!"

He laid fully on his back and began to wail. The guards rushed to his aid; the cat slipped through them with ease to stop by Ruby.

"What about my friends?" she asked the cat. "They're still tiny, and he," she pointed at the bawling prince, "promised to get us to—"

The cat went from the floor to strolling across her upraised arm in an instant. "Promises are like birds." They stopped and rolled onto their back to stare upside-down at Ruby. "They taste great, but always escape."

Ruby furrowed her brow but the cat leaned in close to her ear before she could ask what that was supposed to mean. "You should go, before he changes his mind."

And with that, the cat leapt down and bounded across the floor to the foot of a nearby staircase. Ruby hesitated. Penny's sword was still by the table, past the crying prince and all his guards.

"Come, quickly!" the cat exhorted.

"Ruby," Yang patted her thumb, "we'll honor her another way when we get back to our world."

So Ruby followed the cat with one last look at Penny's sword, alone and abandoned by the broken board. The prince, meanwhile, let himself be helped to his feet. "You're banished!" he screamed after her.

"Banished?" the soldiers echoed. "Banished!"

They abruptly gave chase to make sure the banishment stuck. Left with no choice—the cat was too fast—Ruby tapped into her semblance and hurried after him. Speed rendered the twisting, contradictory halls even more confusing, and gravity constantly shifting did not help. She fell through a door that was on a wall that became the floor, coalescing in time to crash into a different wall that had once been a ceiling. Her friends were fine but the cat was getting away, so again she used her semblance, even though its speed in this place left her more and more nauseous with each burst.

Squad after squad of guards crossed her path. They ignored the cat completely, forcing Ruby to evade, evade, evade. The castle went on forever, hallways becoming bridges becoming spiraling pathways that led down and up and sideways all at once.

Until suddenly the cat paused at an unassuming pair of wooden shutters in the wall. They popped them open to reveal a dark tunnel beyond. "Here. This is the way out."

Without any other option, Ruby followed them. The shutters slammed shut behind her; a few seconds later, guards ran past, still shouting about banishment.

In the small crawl space beyond, Ruby sat against the wall and took a second to catch her breath. "That went so horribly wrong," she said. "But thank you for saving us."

The cat flicked an ear and smiled. "Good thing I dropped by the prince's party when I did." They began to walk, and Ruby followed after depositing everyone in her hood. Little was still snuggled deep in the folds, but there was plenty of room for the others, small as they were. "I usually hate parties. How did you end up in his game, anyway?"

"We wanted to speak to the Red King," Blake supplied. "But he…wasn't there."

"So much for that plan," Weiss muttered.

The cat got right up in Ruby's face. "The king?" They shifted to stare down their muzzle at Blake. "And how do you know him?"

"Uh," Blake had no answer. That cat cocked their head and then their strangely minimal weight disappeared from Ruby's back. She looked ahead and the cat was strolling along several paces in front of her.

"Times change, you know, and so do we, when it's our time to change." They paused. The light at the end of the tunnel began to brighten. "Don't you?"

The light grew blinding. Ruby threw up a hand to shield her eyes, and when she could see again, there was nothing but hard-packed dirt below her fingers. They were outside the castle—well outside, in a small clearing amid the red grass, the great tree looming over them as it loomed over everything.

"So there was a Red King," Yang said, looking at Blake. "You were right."

"But something's changed since then."

"So we're not in the story after all," said Weiss. She crossed her arms while Ruby sat down to put her head in her hands. "We're in its stupid sequel, which means we know even less than we thought we did."

The cat began to circle Ruby. "First things first. What are you, what did you need to talk to the king about, and what," they paused to roll over in front of Ruby, "is your favorite dessert?"

Ruby groaned. "Again? We're humans."

"Ugh. You don't say." The cat's tail pointed at Ruby accusingly. "You're not nearly as interesting as the others I've met." Their gaze drifted to the grasses, where a golden butterfly had alighted on an errand blade. "Hold that thought."

They readied themselves and then pounced, their front half separating from their back half in the air, connected by a thin stream of checkers before reuniting on landing.

"This cat talks way too much," Weiss decided.

"Sure asks a lot of questions," Yang added.

Blake drew in a sharp breath. "Because they're curious. The curious cat!"

"Cat?" Little poked their head out from where they'd been sleeping. "What cat?"

"They're a friend," Yang reassured them. Ruby watched the cat bite into the captured butterfly, only to let its ruined wing fall from their mouth when they caught sight of a buzzing beetle flying by.

"Oh. Okay!"

Blake stood and began to pace along Ruby's shoulder. "When Alyx was lost, she met the Curious Cat, who loved to ask questions. The cat helped Alyx find the tree!"

Weiss frowned and pointed. "The tree's right there. Not much finding to do, really."

"Find the way to the tree," Blake clarified. "Ruby, you have to follow that cat. They're our way out!"

Startled into action, Ruby hurried to her feet and chased the cat chasing the beetle.

"Go. Run."

Across the Ever After, the Jabberwalker finished its flight back the place of its birth: a place brimming with more ancient magic than any other acre, a place from which all other things had come.

Low purple clouds hung over a landscape long blighted by magic left untended, left to rot. Green lightning and cracks of thunder punctured the darkness and oppressive quiet; stinging rain that failed to quench the parched land fell endlessly. Ruins—things half-made, abandoned, some once alive, some never—lay scattered like a child's playthings.

The Jabberwalker sprinted through razor-sharp grasses, some of the only vegetation that could survive here, leaving blood from wounds old and new in its wake.

"Pick."

Its flight slowed.

"Fix."

It scoured the ground, ripping through the ruins and discarding all the pieces it found.

Behind it, a brilliant pink meteor broke through the cloud cover to crash into the desolate landscape below. The impact shook the ground and started loose a flock of batlike creatures that, chittering, scattered into the wind.

The Jabberwalker turned towards the meteorite. It dropped the tiny wood carving in its claws and slunk across the ground. It ascended the small hill between it and the crater. Inside that crater, a young woman with brown and pink hair and a black bowler hat was slowly climbing to her feet. Her fingers flexed with unvented fury. Pink fragments raced up and down her form, cycling between appearances too quickly for any to truly take hold.

Her rage turned to confusion. She stared down at herself, at the waves of fragments that broke away from her feet to scatter across the ground. The magic around her, invisible to her eye but lighting up the marks on the Jabberwalker's mask, swirled in response to her unconscious call.

"Find."

She spun to face the Jabberwalker when it spoke. Her form resolved back into the pink-and-brown haired girl—a form that was mirrored by two clones on either side. She stared at those clones in shock. They glittered in the Jabberwalker's sight, a mix of those fragments the same pink color as the girl and this acre's magic.

More fragments broke away from the girl. More clones took shape.

"Stop," the Jabberwalker said, shrinking back a step. It wasn't right. The magic wasn't hers. But it listened.

But it wasn't hers.

The clones looked at each other, mirroring the actions of the original, but not exactly.

"End," the Jabberwalker pleaded.

It wasn't hers, but it listened to her, as it had once listened to the Creators. As though she was theirs.

The girl opened her delicate pink parasol to shield herself from the rain. With a smirk at the Jabberwalker, she snapped her fingers. Lightning struck nearby and all her clones closed in on the creature, all of them drawing a deadly sharp blade from their parasols, all of their eyes glittering with malice.

"Cease." They did not cease. "No. No!"

The Jabberwalker's howl cut off abruptly. Lightning struck again, thunder rumbled, and the rain continued to fall.