A Dream So Dark

by L. L. McKinney

Haruka spared her a glance, brows raised as if to ask if she was okay.

  Alice nodded, looking to the wound again.

  She didn’t have time to dwell on it. More screams farther in town had her and Haruka breaking into a run in that direction. Surprisingly, the pain in Alice’s leg wasn’t enough to slow her.

  They rounded a corner to find two smaller Nightmares tearing into what used to be a man. Alice’s tea galloped up her throat, over her tongue, and pushed against the back of her teeth. She spun to throw it up over the stone street.

  Her gagging drew the attention of the Nightmares, two catlike creatures with gaping mouths and needlelike teeth. Alice’s stomach roiled, but she spit out the last of the sick, tears stinging her eyes, as she hurtled forward, sword coming up in a swing.

  She fell into step with Haruka easily, able to read the other girl’s motions and certain Haruka was able to read hers. They danced around each other and the Nightmares, making quick work of them, the bodies popping and fizzing away, staining the earth black. They’d have to be purged, but there were other monsters to deal with first.

  The stink of rot and death filled Alice’s nose, the yellow pus of the monsters’ insides staining her blades, her hands, her clothes. She swallowed the nausea pushing around her insides. “You okay?”

  Haruka was inspecting a tear in her own sleeve, now stained red with her blood. She nodded and the two of them turned to move farther into the village. Alice spotted Romi atop a Nightmare. Something metallic gleamed where it was wrapped around its neck, held in place as she twisted it tighter. A whip, Alice realized as Romi lifted the sharpened handle and plunged it into the beast. It crumbled beneath her, and she slid off of its disintegrating remains.

  “That was the last one,” Romi panted.

  There should have been a swell of relief, the beginnings of celebration, even, but the sound of cries and sobs dampened all of that. Alice turned, looking at the destruction around them. Most of the stalls and some of the buildings were broken open. A quick count showed at least eight bodies lying still on the road, possibly more. There were … pieces …

  People cried over their fallen loved ones, next to them, shaking them, holding them when they could. The burn in Alice’s chest reached her eyes and closed off her throat.

  “What was this?” Her voice cracked as tears spilled over her cheeks.

  “This is how things were, before.” Romi drew her whip in, winding it around her arm. “When the war began. And now it begins again.”

  Seventeen

  MY LADY

  The Black Knight stood at the mouth of the road as the Fiends tore through the town and its citizens. Strange, he’d expected a response by now. Maybe the Fiends he’d sent ahead to scout the area had been wrong about Alice being here, and all of this was for nothing.

  Well, perhaps not entirely. As bodies fell, more Fiends rose, numbers to bolster Her Majesty’s forces.

  “She’s here.” A slithery voice sliced through the air at his left. “The Dreamwalker.”

  He scanned the chaos, trying to catch sight of her. “Where?”

  “There.” One of the Fiends paced at his side, its eyeless head fixated down the road.

  In the distance, a Fiend shrieked as it was flung to the ground, dissolving in its death throes. Alice Kingston stood over it, a sword in her hands and fury on her face. The anger wasn’t quite as potent as when he’d glimpsed her across that field, or when he’d gone to her home, but it was close.

  The Black Knight nodded, his fingers clenching into fists at his sides. “Take her.”

  The Nightmares bounded forward with a roar. He remained where he stood, observing the fight. He’d never been able to simply watch; usually he faced off with her as her opponent. She tore through one of the creatures, her ferocity formidable, her form impressive. She twirled her weapons around her body in fluid, deadly motions. Familiar motions. He knew that fighting style …

  His vision blurred. Pain danced between his ears as a flash of white crossed his sight, followed by a flare of red. The battlefield flickered, faded.

  He blinked, trying to focus. Images pressed in against and on top of each other. One moment he was watching Alice tear her way through his forces, and the next … he stared as a woman with long burgundy hair braided to her scalp dove in and around attacking creatures. Her red armor blazed in the daylight. She looked toward him. Their eyes locked. “Humphrey!” she shouted, waving him forward.

  My … lady…?

  Turning, the woman roared as she charged one of the creatures and leaped into the air. Alice was the one who dropped from the sky as the vision shifted again. An outline of the other woman’s armor flickered around her. A howl split the air. Alice spun, her sword lifted. The pain in his head intensified to throbbing.

  He shut his eyes. Someone screamed behind him as a Nightmare ran them down.

  Wrong. This is Wrong. He knew it, and here he was anyway. There was nothing to be done.

  You did something before.

  But his lady willed it.

  She’s not my lady.

  “ALICE!”

  His eyes flew open. His entire body went cold.

  Eighteen

  ALL

  A million questions flew through Alice’s mind, but before she could voice even one of them, a shrill scream split the air. She, Haruka, and Romi whirled to spot … Alice didn’t really know what she was seeing. The man that had been attacked by the Nightmares she and Haruka had slain was crawling across the ground. His trembling fingers scrabbled at the stone. His broken body left a trail of meat and red and black—thick, oozing black that bubbled over him, consuming him.

  Haruka gasped something in disbelieving Japanese.

  Another scream. Another body was crawling along the street. They all were, pulling themselves up, their bloody flesh falling away, darkness pouring in over them. One of them threw back their head, fangs erupting from gums with a spurt of blood and ooze, the skin of their face peeling back from a muzzle as it formed with the snap and crack of bone. Then it roared, shakily pushing up onto two legs.

  “Nani, kore?” Romi hissed under her breath. The other bodies were turning and rising as well.

  “Nightmares!” A woman came racing in from the far side of town. “Nightmares are com—” She screamed as the newly formed monstrosity closest to her pounced, ripping at her with talons. Romi lashed out, her metallic whip catching it around the neck. She yanked and the beast flew toward them. Alice spun into a slash, slicing through its thin middle. It hit the ground in halves, its legs kicking.

  Chaos erupted around them as the other bodies rose, attacking those nearest. Screams and howls went up around them. Alice tightened her grip on her sword to try and stop her hands from trembling.

  “Look!” Haruka pointed in the direction the woman had come running.

  Alice’s insides ran cold.

  At least a dozen Nightmares poured along the street, a mix of the ones she was used to fighting and these new horrors.

  “We can’t fight that,” Haruka gasped.

  “Come on.” Romi turned and raced back the way they’d come, toward the ranch.

  Up ahead, long, slithery bodies of various colors and sizes took flight. The Furies, Alice realized. Willa must be turning them lose to save them.

  Just then, the girl came running from the stables, toward the house. Neasig emerged, and the two of them raced over to a couple of red Furies, climbed onto them, and took to the air.

  At least they’re safe.

  Something slammed into Alice from behind and took her clean off her feet. Pain radiated through her body with the blow, then again when she hit the ground, tumbling across it.

  Her face pressed into the dirt.

  “ALICE!” Haruka screamed.

  A shrill wail filled her ears. Something sharp pierced her back.

  Mama …

  Nineteen

  IS

  The Black Knight flung himself forward, the rush of the ether par
ting as he vanished, spun through nothingness in a blink, then dropped into existence. He slammed into Alice from above, his back against hers, placing himself between her and the attacking Nightmare. It roared and bore down on them with a wicked, razor-sharp tail the length of his arm. He couldn’t block the blow, but he could deflect it. Instead of skewering them like fish, the tail ripped at his side.

  Pain tore through him.

  Alice jerked beneath him and screamed.

  The knight brought his sword around and drove it into the monster from beneath. It bucked and drew back, the tail pulling free.

  “Ah!” Agony spread through the rest of him. He rolled to the side and onto his knees. Alice clutched at her hip, pushing up similarly.

  “W-what…” Her eyes lifted from her bloodstained fingers. Confusion and pain twisted her face.

  Biting back a groan, he pushed to his feet, staggering as a feeling like fire chewed at his nerves. He wouldn’t be able to put up a fight in this condition.

  Alice swept around, knocking his feet from under him. He went down with a surprised shout, air forced from his lungs as he landed on his back. “Ahh…” A feeling like thunder erupted through his head when something connected with the side of it hard enough that his helmet cracked.

  A foot planted itself on his chest. The end of a blade tapped the front of his helmet.

  “Where are my friends?” Alice demanded, her voice shaking.

  He shook his head. Her friends? His thoughts whirled, tumbling over one another. Friends. His friends were dead. What was she talking about?

  “Where are they?” she screamed at him, the pressure on his chest increasing.

  He couldn’t breathe.

  “Alice!” A girl raced toward them, sword lifted. Another Dreamwalker, from the look of it.

  He had to get out of here.

  Pulling at whatever strength that wasn’t literally bleeding from his torn side, he felt his form waver, then fall away entirely. The world faded in a rush.

  Twenty

  CHAOS

  Alice nearly toppled over when the Black Knight vanished and her foot connected with solid ground.

  No … She stared at the bare spot, the Nightmare popping and fizzling nearby as the last of it collapsed inward. “No!”

  “Alice.” Haruka took hold of her arm and pulled. “We have to go.”

  Alice searched the chaos for signs of him. People continued to run. Bodies littered the road, Nightmares and people. The road was awash with fluids.

  Then she spotted it. Lying against the ground, near where the Nightmare finally faded, the Vorpal Blade, slick with yellow. Impossible, yet there it was.

  “We have to go!” Haruka yanked.

  With a frustrated shout, Alice darted forward to grab the handle of the blade. Heat raced through her palm, but she only tightened her grip and turned to follow the other Dreamwalker.

  Romi was already across the field, fastening something to Chou, who shifted, his wings beating every few moments. All the other Furies had already taken flight, little more than colored dots in the sky.

  The girls vaulted the fence and raced across the meadow. Alice’s injury burned with every step, but she pushed to keep going. Haruka made it first, climbing into what looked like some sort of massive bassinet. She reached to give Alice a hand up, the two of them tumbling into the space, which was about as big as a queen-sized bed.

  Romi shouted something in Japanese, and the basket jerked. Alice’s stomach dropped with the familiar feeling of taking flight. With a bit of trouble keeping her balance, she finagled around onto hands and knees and pulled herself up at the edge of the basket. The wind whipped at her face and hair. Below, the ground dropped farther and farther away.

  Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

  Each beat of Chou’s wings jostled the basket slightly as they climbed, the ravaged village eventually fading from sight.

  Alice sank to sit against one side of the basket. Haruka had settled at the other end, her eyes on the black blade between them. Alice reached to take hold of it. Like before, heat moved up her fingers.

  “What is that?” Haruka asked quietly.

  “It’s … the Vorpal Blade. Or at least a really good copy.” Hatta had the original, which was—hopefully—still locked up safe and sound back at what was left of the pub. “The Black Knight had it.” And now she did. She had no idea what that would mean, but … at least it wasn’t in that asshole’s hands anymore.

  They flew for longer than Alice could keep track of. She and Haruka occasionally exchanged words, Alice talking more about everything that happened since the Black Knight first arrived, Haruka explaining what little she knew about the war. Seemed Romi was as tight-lipped as Addison and Anastasia.

  Eventually a tilt and slight rush of vertigo signaled they were descending. Both girls climbed up to peer over the lip of the basket. The view was incredible, with a Technicolor rainbow of waves washing against a nearby shore, then out over the largest body of water Alice had ever seen here in Wonderland. She noticed critters moving around on the quickly approaching ground, but they all darted away before she could get a good look, though she saw some ran on two and four legs while others raced off on many more.

  Great beats of feathered wings stirred the grass and dirt beneath them while Chou set them down with a slightly jarring thump. He then settled behind the basket, warbling, the sound like low, distant thunder.

  Romi spoke to him in Japanese, but her tone was full of praise and love, like when people talk to their dogs or something. Alice climbed out of the basket. Her legs were a little wobbly but held. Haruka climbed out behind her just as Romi slid down from the saddle. The two of them worked to get Chou free of the harness that held the basket, then the great creature half slithered, half walked over to the edge of the water and bent his snoot to drink.

  That was when Romi noticed the sword, freezing in the middle of brushing her hands off. “What’s that?”

  “The Vorpal Blade,” Alice explained for a second time.

  Romi’s brow puckered. “No, it isn’t. I’ve seen the Vorpal Blade. I’ve … I’ve held it.”

  “It’s the one the latest incarnation—or whatever he is—of the Black Knight used.”

  “He was back in the village.” Haruka stepped up beside Alice. “Led the attack.”

  Something Alice couldn’t quite read passed over Romi’s face. “How did you get it?”

  “He dropped it after he … after he saved me.” Alice shrugged when two very confused looks crossed both of their faces. “I don’t get it either. But I was down, and a Nightmare was on top of me. He jumped in the way when it—he took the hit. Got him good.” His blood was everywhere. “This was covered in the Nightmare’s remains. He probably lost it in the fight.”

  “Why would he do that?” Haruka eyed the sword like it might strike on its own at any second. “Risk himself, I mean.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.” Alice rolled her shoulders. “I couldn’t just leave it there, though. And I figured it’s better in anyone’s hands but his.”

  “That remains to be seen.” The pucker between Romi’s brows deepened. “Especially if it’s anything like the original. Change of subject, I’m guessing neither of you managed to grab any of our stuff.”

  Both girls shook their heads.

  Romi heaved a sigh. “Then we have no provisions. We can’t make it to Findest like this.”

  “There’s got to be somewhere to get more.” A note of panic entered Alice’s voice.

  Romi nodded. “There are several places but that would just add more days to our journey. And, with this attack, I am wary of leaving my Gateway unprotected for so long. It is the closest—those beasts may well be drawn to it.”

  “Wait, you’re not talking about going back, are you?” That panic intensified.

  “I’m considering it, yes.”

  “We can’t go back!” Alice tightened her grip on the Vorpal Blade. The darkness coating it rippled faintly. />
  Romi took a step back. “I want to help, but I can’t leave the Veil unprotected. Not when that many Nightmares are roaming the wilds so close. Haruka and I have a duty to fulfill, and it’s not cleaning up Addison’s mess.”

  Alice stared as feelings of fury, frustration, and hopelessness warred inside her. Every time it felt like they were taking a step forward—

  “Fine.” She didn’t have time to try and convince them to help her. And much as she hated to admit it, Romi had a point. “I’ll go by myself. Just point me in the right direction.”

  Romi pinched the bridge of her nose. “You won’t make it. Not like this. You should come back with us.”

  “You have your duty, which is fine. I have mine, too. That ain’t changed.” And she had the added problems of her missing friends, trying to find the Heart, and now whatever the hell had happened back at the pub. Not knowing was killing her. “Look, I said it’s fine. I get it, I promise. But I’m going. With or without you. And it would really help if I knew which way.”

  “You’re serious?” Haruka asked quietly, watching her with a look Alice couldn’t really place but that made her middle tumble slightly.

  “Deadass.”

  Romi shook her head and muttered something in Japanese. Haruka answered in turn, and whatever she said made a smile pull at Romi’s lips. “You’re either very brave or very foolish.”

  Alice snorted. “That’s such a cliché line.”

  “Still applies.”

  “I’m going with her,” Haruka said. “Those things were clearly there because of her. Besides, she needs my help more than you do.”

  Alice blinked, frowning. That felt like a jab, though she didn’t say anything. Yet.

  Romi fixed Haruka with a look, and the two went back and forth in more Japanese, with Romi growing more agitated and Haruka holding firm. At least, that’s how it sounded. Alice had no idea what they were actually saying.

  Finally, Romi sighed once more. She did that a lot, Alice noticed.