Epilogue

Epilogue

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe

All mimsy were the borogroves

And the mome raths outgrabe.

I bet you're all wondering what happened next.

By the time we reached the surface of the Tulgey Wood, Trisha and the others had already handled the situation. Every last one of the Mome Raths had surrendered, and they were all willing to give up their lives of evil sorcery and move on to better and brighter things. I think seeing an angry Trisha with a big stick in her hands usually has that effect on people. Also, during our fight with Professor Trellis and the Jabberwock, the Tumtum tree had mostly collapsed, but a lot of its main structure remained miraculously intact. It has since been tended to and is growing back to its normal self.

Lilly was joyfully reunited with her friend Meadow, and Burr with his brother Thorn. Tom was glad to see Aric mostly in one piece, and Trisha chewed me out for not taking care of myself. It was nice to have everything back to normal that way. I restored the Gyres to the remaining de-slithed Toves, and we all returned to Noosta with the generous help of the Bandersnatch. There was a huge week-long celebration in typical Tovish style, but the Mome Raths surprised everyone by magically producing all sorts of cake and party streamers out of thin air. It turns out that the inventors of the ancient magics liked to party. (One of them had with him a curious device called a Phototronic Likeness Replicator, which I borrowed to take some pictures as I visited my friends.)

So, what became of everyone after our quest was over, you ask?

In Noosta, Lilly was introduced to her parents. Apparently they themselves were tribe shamans, but were from a wandering nomadic tribe that was loosely related to the Noosta Toves – which explains her fur markings being similar to those of the Noostians – but her parents had left the baby Lilly with the Noosta shaman to provide for her a better, more stable life, since the Mome Raths and the waking Jabberwock were causing all sorts of havoc and disaster across the land. Now that the danger was past they came back to be reunited with her daughter.

That was a “real tear-jerker,” in Aric's words.

(Graphic 7.1: Lilly in tears of joy with her parents, River, Ashes, Meadow, Aric, Burr and me.)

Lilly introduced every single one of us to her parents, and for her bravery and wisdom Lilly was nominated to be the next togom of Noosta; for the meantime she will continue to work alongside Ashes, her adoptive shaman-mother, and her birth parents are sure to visit Noosta frequently. Now that the Toves are all returning to their homelands and recovering their damaged civilization, she has a lot of work to do and a lot of togoms to work with but she is definitely the right person for the job. She and River are still together, but River's definitely on probation and is making up for past hurts. He seems very repentant, and we've given his extra Gyres back to their original owners. Aric was firm on letting him keep his personal Gyre, that of freezing still water, because “Everyone deserves the chance to start over.”

Burr returned with Thorn to the Aztlav kingdom in the north, where he was given a hero's welcome. All damaged reputations were repaired, and peace settled once more on the broken kingdom. Sadly, Burr's father the king had died during a Mome Rath invasion, but Thorn gave up the throne to Burr because of the great valor and selflessness he had demonstrated in defeating the Jabberwock.

What's more, since royal Aztlav marriage-rites take several months to be finalized and they were still in the planning stages, the ritual marriage between Thorn and Fire was officially canceled. Burr married Fire and the two of them are rebuilding the grandeur of the Tovish nation; in fact, they are starting to re-establish old connections with the otherwise-isolated Borogroves of the land, just like things were in Star and Mountain's days. It's nice that he still gets to work with Lilly in this regard.

(What's even funnier is that Thorn ended up asking Meadow to marry him, so according to complicated Tovish politics, Lilly and Burr are brother- and sister-in-law. Aric couldn't stop laughing when they told him.)

(Graphic 7.2: King Burr and Queen Fire, happily married, with Thorn, Meadow, Aric, Lilly and me at the wedding.)

As for Aric, he returned to New Poliston and was warmly received by his old friends in the city, and the New Poliston Alliance For The Betterment Of Urban Fellows was re-established as an officially recognized organization. (This time around, Aric made arrangements so that if he were to disappear, the group with remain intact.) They ended up finishing the orphanage that Aric had always wanted to build, aside from dozens of other orphanages and schools all over the country, so that nobody would have to grow up on the streets ever again. Aric was even urged to run for mayor, but he declined and decided to simply be the figurehead for the Urban Fellows. He told me that he'd had enough of power and influence for a while.

(Graphic 7.3: Aric and the New Poliston Urban Fellows, with Tom and Trisha and me.)

I asked him if he wanted to start going by Gerard again, but he said that all his friends already called him Aric, and he had lived the best parts of his life when going by that name. So Aric he remains.

Tom decided to move back to New Poliston where he had grown up, to stay next to Aric and be part of all the good changes that were taking place. With Trisha's help and more than a little political expertise, they rooted out all the remaining Mome Raths who wouldn't surrender and convinced them to give up their evil ways. Those who didn't readily surrender were subjected to the Bandersnatch. They quickly changed their minds. Doctor Virchuk, Chairlady Semmerfish, Senior Archivist Reming and the other Mome-Raths-turned-good ended up building a museum full of their ancient artifacts (those that weren't sent to King Burr for safekeeping, that is; remember, Aztlav also boasts one of the greatest treasuries in the Wabe) and a detailed explanation of their former exploits, to get everything out in the light. A lot of people still don't like them, but everybody's convinced that it's better to have their secrets brought out into the open instead of hiding them in the dark.

We ended up deciding to burn the Manxor Slithe and anything related to it. That book and its knowledge were far too dangerous to leave sitting around.

Speaking of Trisha, she was promoted to Captain of the Dunberg Police, but quickly renounced the position when offered the opportunity to be the Military Liaison between the humans and the Toves, just to make sure both races were on the same page. There is still a bit of mistrust and prejudice between Toves and humans, but everyone's doing their best to educate and be tolerant, so the two nations are quickly becoming good friends.

Mr. Eugene Gribley eventually became president of the Dunberg Library Book Club, whose numbers surged dramatically after relations with the Toves opened up, including Slick Johnny and the Jubjub bird. (Right now they're reading up on all the history records that the Toves have kept up until now. That's a lot of history to review, but Mr. Gribley is up for the task, as is the Jubjub.)

(Graphic 7.4: A candid photo of Mr. Gribley, Pete, Sophie, Blanche, the Jubjub and others translating Tovish documents in the Dunberg Library. Blanche is yelling angrily at me for taking the picture.)

As for me? What did Hector Blithe do after coming home from the Tulgey Wood?

It might surprise you to know that I gave up my position as Head Librarian of the Dunberg City Library. Sophie took my place while Pete and Blanche (who had fended for themselves while Dunberg was under Mome Rath control) continued to work there and aid in the extremely demanding work of translating Tovish history books into modern Humish. Luckily, librarians and scholars have come from all over the country to help with the enormous task, both Toves and humans alike.

But I still haven't answered the question.

I have left Dunberg and I now travel all over the land as the General Manager of All Things Bookish (that's the unofficial title that Aric bestowed upon me.) I actually am the manager of the Central Library in New Poliston, and it's my job to make sure that all the libraries in New Hume are correctly regulated and managed. I enjoy it, but fortunately it doesn't take too much of my time. I spend my days visiting old friends and making new ones, interviewing travelers and togoms and compiling their records into stories to be read and enjoyed for generations to come. And yes, I did find a special little lady who shares my love for All Things Bookish, but that's a story for another day, I think.

(Graphic 7.5: Me and the new Mrs. Blithe!)

As unbelievable as it seems, everything came together perfectly after the Jabberwock was slain. It has been several years since then, and there is peace and prosperity and progress with no end in sight. One day I visited Trisha in her office, and she mentioned that she thought it was ridiculous and too good to be true that essentially everyone's problems were solved overnight.

“Have you ever heard of the term deus ex machina?” I asked her.

“No,” she responded.

“It's complicated,” I said with a smile. “You wouldn't understand.”

There is one more thing I would like to mention before finishing.

Immediately after returning home and helping clean up the library, I sat down and began to write out every experience I had with Lilly, Aric, Burr and the others, making sure I filled in the holes where I hadn't recorded things in my travel journal. I wrote a book about our adventures, and when I was satisfied that it was as true-to-life as I could make it, I brought it before Lilly, Aric and Burr. They highly approved of it (Burr having learned how to read), but I still needed a title for our story.

After much deliberation, we decided on the Tovish word Brillig. It means “a journey worth taking.”

Chapter 6, Part vii

The hewn-stone corridor that led from the throne room was draped with lavish cloths and tapestries, all covered with Tovish heiroglyphics. Hector couldn't stop staring at them as they passed, and resisted the powerful urge to copy them all down. Lilly spared a glance up at them as they jogged down the hall. “Mountain must have really loved the Jabberwock. All these words written here are a love poem,” she said, to Hector's delight.

“How romantic,” Aric said dryly. The corridor angled downward for about a hundred feet, then leveled out again. Torches burned brightly in regular intervals along the decorated walls, and the sconces were obsessively clean of ash.

“It looks like a shrine,” Hector observed. Mountain must have spent almost every scrap of his free time – and he certainly had a lot of free time – wiping down surfaces and brushing away dust. Not a single speck of dirt or grime marred the gorgeous passageway.

At the end of the hall was a stone door, which was etched from top to bottom with beautiful, symmetrical designs and Tovish runes. It was polished to a mirror's sheen and had precious gems inlaid in the design. Hector quickly tried to memorize the pattern so he could sketch it later.

Aric sighed with relief. “Yes! This one actually has a handle!” He reached for it and paused.

Burr growled in haste. “Open the door!” he said impatiently. “Is a thing wrong?”

The man blinked and shook himself out of his thoughts. “No, it's nothing. I just thought that this is it... we have finally reached the Jabberwock. Our quest is almost at an end.”

“Let us finish it,” Lilly said firmly, “And slay the Jabberwock once and for all.” She directed a knowing look at Hector, who gave her a thumbs-up.

Aric nodded, twisted the golden doorknob and pushed the door open.

Everybody stood completely still. The room seemed full of an immobilizing energy. To Hector it wasn't some strange force coming from the creature itself, but rather simply an all-consuming feeling of awe.

“That's the Jabberwock?” Burr said incredulously. Hector instinctively shushed him, though he knew not why.

“It is so beautiful,” Lilly whispered.

Without taking his eyes from the sleeping white beast – whose fur rose and fell with its quiet breathing – Aric pushed everyone forward. “Come on, Professor Trellis is in here somewhere...”

Hector looked around, scouring the room for signs of the Mome Rath, but there was no sign of him. “I don't know if he's been here,” he murmured. Everyone took a step forward onto the lush carpet.

Suddenly the door behind them slammed shut, and Hector felt a strange force seize him. His limbs moved against his will, and he sank to his knees while his hands clasped each other behind his back. He couldn't speak nor move his head, but he could still move his eyes. He saw that Aric and the others were put under the same enchantment, bound to the ground with invisible cords, and a feeling of panic gripped his heart.

Triumphant laughter rang through the air. Though the carpets and walls absorbed most of the sound, it chilled Hector to the bone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Professor Trellis and his two bodyguards emerge from behind a hanging tapestry and take their places before him. The Professor had the vorpal sword strapped to his hip, and the Manxor Slithe lay open in his hand. He sneered at them, in a way that forced Hector to see straight up into his nostrils.

“Welcome, my friends, welcome to the Inner Sanctum of the Jabberwock!” he chuckled. “What a magnificent place, wouldn't you agree? It looks like our friend Mountain spent a king's ransom on the decorations alone. Of course, he was a king, so he could afford it.”

At this point Hector wanted to break free of his bonds and flee, but he couldn't move a single part of his body beyond his eyes. Even Burr and Aric were forced to be silent. The Professor laughed to himself, as if the situation were exceptionally funny. “Ah, to have come so far and have done so much to get here, only to fail in the end. A pity, really. But you can be useful yet.

“If you're here right now, I suppose you have already done away with our associate, Mountain. He then would have told you that for the past thousand years, he has been living off of the Jabberwock's energy, giving him unnaturally long life. Sadly, either his age or the sheer loneliness must have addled his brain, because in all his time here, he never once thought to take control of the Jabberwock and fulfill his greatest desires: of conquest, of dominion, of control. Oh well. You snooze, you lose, as you are so fond of saying, Gerard.” Trellis winked at Aric and chuckled once more. He hefted the Manxor Slithe where everybody could see it.

“I have been reading up on the nature of the magic that enslaves the Jabberwock. As I'm sure you all know, it requires a great deal of slithe-energy to maintain the bond, which of course means the sacrifice of living things. There are only six of you here right now, which would only give us a short amount of time to romp around, but as soon as we get back to the surface – which should only take a minute or two, at the most – there are plenty more souls on the surface to harvest for my purposes.”

The Professor's bodyguards seemed to have detected the wording in Trellis's sentences, and realized that they, too, were going to be sacrificed. Before they could move to react, Professor Trellis casually said:

“Tozola mino.”

And a fiery yellowish-blue flash illuminated them both. The light flew to Trellis's outstretched hand, then extended toward the Jabberwock. It encircled the creature's thick neck, forming a leash made of vibrant, shimmering energy. The remains of the soldiers – two piles of blue ash fell to the ground with a puff of smoke.

Neither Hector nor his companions could move to protest, but from where he knelt Hector could see their eyes. Aric was horrified and wary, as though he knew exactly what Trellis was capable of but was unable to react; Burr was angry and defiant, but powerless to attack; Lilly seemed conflicted between struggling for survival and accepting her unavoidable fate. What do I look like? Hector thought. He felt scared, of course, but also insatiably curious.

Trellis smiled. It was a sort of smile that Hector had never seen on anybody ever before: one of maliciousness, spite, and cruelty. It was the smile of the sadistic torturer that no longer had a scrap of humanity left in him. His usually-well-kept hair hung in sweaty strands across his forehead, and his lip twitched as he bared his teeth in a greedy grin.

“It is time to wake our little friend from his shallow sleep...” he crooned. He tiptoed dramatically toward the Jabberwock, then lovingly patted its huge forehead. He whispered a single word into its ear.

(Graphic 6.12: We see the Jabberwock lying asleep, but suddenly its eyes snap open. They are gigantic and horrible, with slitted pupils and spidery veins at the edges. The monster bares its terrible teeth, losing all appearance of docility and beauty.)

Even if he hadn't been under the binding sorcery, Hector would not have been able to move in his absolute terror. The Jabberwock's monstrous eyes glistened with an ancient hatred, and its heavy, ravenous breathing rapidly increased. It began to stand, but Trellis pushed down gently on its head with a smile. The beast obediently sat back down, which caused the whole structure to rumble. Trellis couldn't hold back another triumphant peal of laughter, and he held out his hands theatrically.

“It is awake! Finally! After centuries of waiting, the Jabberwock is finally awake! The beast that destroyed entire cities with a swipe of its paw, leveled mountains with its glare and brought the world to its knees! It is mine! Ha ha ha haaa!”

He wiped a tear of mirth from his eye and leveled his gaze at each one of them. “You actually thought you stood a chance. You actually supposed that you could beat me to the Jabberwock? You? Pathetic. I have studied the ancient magics for longer than any of you have been alive. And what are you? A traitor to his friends...” Trellis shook his head at Aric, slowly walking beside him.

“...A foolish, ignorant simpleton...” he scoffed at Burr as he passed.

“...A coward and a weakling...” he sneered at Lilly.

“...and a naïve, untried bookworm.” Professor trellis clucked his tongue in shame and sighed. “To be honest, I'm surprised that you even made it this far without killing yourselves. Oh well. At least your long journey won't have been completely in vain.” He stepped toward Aric and took him by the chin, looking straight into Aric's wide eyes. Trellis seemed even madder than Mountain had been. “Because you, my old apprentice, and all your little friends, will be the first to feed it.”

The door behind them suddenly flew open.“Etzera!” cried out a voice from the doorway, and Hector fell to the ground, free from his magical bonds. A shadowy shape flew through the air and landed on Professor Trellis, and the two figures began to wrestle across the room. With a shock, Hector realized that it was River who had pounced on the Professor and was brawling mercilessly with him. The Jabberwock watched the proceedings hungrily with its horrible eyes, but did not move to intervene.

“Rise, Book-Bearer!” said the voice from before, and furry hands picked him up from the ground. Trembling with adrenaline, Hector regarded the Tove that held him upright. She was obviously very old, and her appearance was unkempt and haggard. Her fur had once been yellow, but had long since faded to white. She directed her piercing eyes into Hector's face. “You must retrieve the Manxor Slithe and take the Jabberwock's leash for yourself! Hurry, for you will not have a second chance!”

“T-take the leash for myself?” Hector stammered. “But I don't want to--”

“It's so you can kill the Jabberwock, you fool!” seethed the woman. “Go, get the book!”

“You're Star, aren't you?” he asked. Star smiled mirthlessly.

“You're quick, Librarian. Get the book now or we will all die.”

Intimidated, Hector obeyed. River was slashing at Professor Trellis with burning claws and attempted to freeze him solid with icy breath, but some invisible shield protected the Mome Rath from these attacks. Trellis grabbed River and tossed him into the side of a golden brazier. The magical yellow-blue leash still stretched from Trellis's hand to the Jabberwock's neck, lengthening and shortening as he moved toward or away from the Jabberwock. The vorpal sword was still belted to his waist.

Hector cast around and saw the Manxor Slithe, lying face-down and half-hidden beneath a fallen stand of cloths. He moved to recover it, but looked up just in time to see Professor Trellis's shape blur, and stretch, and duplicate itself. Two identical Professors stood side-by-side. Then each Professor copied himself again. Without warning, all four Trellises attacked Lilly, Burr, Aric and River. The sound and heat were unbearable, and over all the cacophony, still the loudest sound of all was the heavy breathing of the ravenous Jabberwock. Hector didn't know how much time the two sacrificed Mome Raths gave them before the beast broke free of its leash, but he didn't want to find out.

On his hands and knees, Hector scrambled behind a gigantic incense-burner shaped like a totem pole and made his way toward the book. Aric and his opponent tumbled together against the pole and both fell to the ground, kicking and punching ferociously. They landed right in the space between Hector and the book, blocking him off. Looking at the Trellis-clones, it seemed that with their supernatural strength they would soon overcome Hector's companions. He panicked.

From the other end of the room Lilly must have seen his plight, because she slipped out of her opponent's grasp and dashed for the Manxor Slithe. The shadow-Trellis behind her leaped after her, taking hold of her legs as he heavily fell with her to the ground. She grunted as she landed, mere inches away from the ancient book. With all her remaining strength she pulled herself closer to it, but the Professor clawed his way toward her head and grabbed a fistful of her hair.

“Stop it!” Hector shouted, and grabbed a golden ornament from a nearby incense-stand. He threw it as hard as he could, and it struck the attacker on the ear. Trellis snarled and clutched his bleeding ear with one of his hands.

Lilly pulled herself free and snatched up the Manxor Slithe. With a cry of exertion she tossed the book over Aric and the other Trellis; its pages flapped madly as it fell awkwardly through the air, seemingly in slow motion. Hector extended his hands and managed to catch it. Lilly turned back with bared teeth to face her adversary once more.

With the Manxor Slithe clutched against his chest, Hector scooted backward until he was relatively hidden in a mass of rolled-up carpets standing on end against a wall.

Fortunately, Professor Trellis had left the correct page dog-eared. Hector scanned the open pages as fast as he could, then pulled himself to his feet. Looking up, he realized that he had to choose the correct Professor in order to take command of the arcane leash. All four of them were exactly identical and they were all fighting with his friends in one brutal mess, but--

There! The one strangling River was the only one with the leash stretching from his hand. Hector hastily reviewed the words of the spell, then pointed at the true Trellis and shouted:

“Liardi mino xeq!”

Like a glowing yellow serpent floating through water, the leash gently detached itself from Trellis and floated lazily through the air toward Hector. He reached out and grabbed it, finding it insubstantial, but it wrapped itself obediently around his wrist.

“No!” roared the original Trellis petulantly. The distraction gave River just enough time to react, so he thrust himself into Trellis's chest and sent the Mome Rath tumbling backward...

...Straight into the open maw of the Jabberwock. The monster's three-pronged, purple tongue lashed out and wrapped itself around his arms and waist, drawing him inward while he struggled violently against the pull.

“No! You imbecile, Blithe! You cannot do this to me! I am Professor Rigoberto Trellis! I am the Leigelord of the Honorable Guild of the Mome Rath! I will have my vengeance! I will---Aaaagh!”

The Jabberwock closed its unnaturally sharp, foot-long teeth after the man's boots, swallowing Professor Trellis whole with a pleased grimace. Once closed, a ghastly light burned inside its mouth, shining out from between its many teeth like an otherworldly furnace. Hector looked away.

He opened his eyes. The Jabberwock sat on its pedestal as before, looking hungrily at the others, but did not move. The shadow-Trellises had vanished. Aric lay flat on the ground, squeezing his eyes shut and panting with exertion. Lilly leaned against a column as she gasped for breath, and Burr and River simply looked around in astonishment.

Hector coughed. The room seemed very, very quiet all of the sudden, except for the breathing of his companions. Even the Jabberwock seemed sated, for the time being.

“Well,” Hector croaked, and his knees collapsed.

He found that Burr was lifting him up again, and the two of them stood together for a moment to calm their trembling bodies. Hector weakly lifted his wrist and saw that the leash still extended from his arm to the Jabberwock's neck, glittering silently in the air.

“Hector,” Aric gasped as he struggled to his knees. “Did you make him eat Trellis? Tell me that was you.”

“No!” Hector said frantically. “No, no! It wasn't me! He ate him all by himself, I promise!”

Aric smiled knowingly. “Right, right. Of course.”

The Tove named Star stepped over a fallen roll of carpet and approached Hector. She was smiling. “Well done, Book Bearer. Well done, River. Well done, everybody. Now it is time to fulfill the prophecy – it's about time, too – and destroy the Jabberwock for ever more.”

“Wait a minute,” Lilly drawled from her place by the column. She languidly straightened herself and glared with confusion at the shaman. “You told me that we would not be able to kill it. You said that we could only wound it again so that it would sleep for another thousand years! You lied to me!”

“It was a motivational lie,” Star said mischievously. “I told you that you would only be able to wound it. I knew that you would not agree with such a prophecy. I knew that you would react in one of two ways: either try to defy fate and kill the Jabberwock, or give up and go home, in which case we would all end up dying anyway. If you had believed me, you might have only tried to fulfill prophecy and merely wound it, which would have been a very unwise thing to do, and again we all would have died. So you did the right thing, and it is time for you to kill the beast.”

Lilly looked like she wanted to argue some more, but instead she sighed and shook her head. “I am too tired to fight with you. Let us slay the thing and be done with it.” Star nodded with satisfaction.

Hector spoke up with alarm. “But, where's the vorpal sword? Didn't Professor Trellis have it when he got--”

River made a sound and lifted the golden sword in the air. “I took it from him just before he was eaten. Here, Aric, this belongs to you,” he said, and handed the hilt to Aric. The man slowly took the sword and rose to his feet. He looked the blade over with tender care. Aric glanced up at River and licked his lips, unsure of what to say.

“River... why did you save us? Why did you come after Professor Trellis?”

The Tove bowed his head in shame and directed a glance at Lilly. “I have been a fool. A great, stupid, selfish, fool. After Burr... taught me a lesson, I began to think that there was no hope for me. All the Gyres in the world couldn't bring me the satisfaction I wanted. I had given up what made me truly happy for an empty, selfish vision...”

Lilly moved toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He raised his head slightly, but couldn't bear to look her in the eye. “River... You can come back to Noosta with me. However.” Her voice became firm and scolding. “You have a lot of apologizing to do, and not to me. You have much to do to make things right again.”

He sighed and nodded in agreement, and wiped at his eye with the back of his hand.

Aric's face softened a little. “Cut him some slack, Lilly. If a miserable wretch like me can make up for all the horrible things I've done – and I still have a lot of forgiveness to earn – then he can have the slate wiped clean, too.” He sighed. “So I guess I'm the one that's going to do the dirty deed?” He looked around, as if to offer the sword to the first to volunteer. Nobody did.

“It's what you set out to do from the beginning,” Hector said. “You deserve to finish what you started.”

Aric seemed strangely numb as he fingered the glittering handle of the reflective sword. “Yeah. It's kind of weird to think that I'm finally here. I didn't actually expect to make it this far.” He laughed weakly. “Hec, just make sure he doesn't bite me in half, please.”

Hector twitched the leash, and the Jabberwock closed its eyes and lowered its head, once again appearing docile and asleep.

Aric stepped onto the stone platform and adjusted his grip on the vorpal sword. He took a deep breath and released it slowly. Every pair of eyes followed the shining blade as Aric lifted it into the air, high above his head. Just before bringing it down onto the Jabberwock's exposed neck, he wistfully said,

“You know, I'm starting to hate this Jabberwock.”

Then with all his might, he swung the golden sword in an arc over his head and straight down into the Jabberwock's flesh. With a metallic zing it sliced clean through the creature's neck and struck the stone below. The leash instantly vanished from Hector's wrist.

A golden glow began to seep its way out from the wound. A golden mote drifted upward and passed by Aric's face. It was followed by another, then another, and soon a shower of gold-colored sparks floated free from the monster's corpse. They filled the room with sparkling light until there were no more shadows. Glittering like so many millions of stars in the sky on a clear summer's night, they swirled around in fantastic glory. Hector reached out and brushed his hand through them, and they weaved themselves playfully between his fingers. He smiled, and all his cares and pains and fatigue melted away, replaced by an enormous relief and feeling of satisfaction.

For a moment more the gleaming motes danced through the air; then suddenly they reversed direction, flying quickly back toward the beast's defeated body like shooting stars. They collected on its fur until it was one single glowing mass...

...then they winked out of existence, leaving the room dark and cold. Of the Jabberwock, there was no trace.

“It is done,” said Star with immense pleasure. She closed her eyes and fell backwards, a look of utter bliss on her tired old face. Lilly cried out and moved to catch her, but in a flash of golden light she too vanished.

The five of them stood up and by unspoken accord, moved together into a circle.

“Well, guys...” Aric said, puffing out his cheeks as he thought of what to say. “Now what?”

“Trisha and the others need our help upstairs,” Hector said.

Lilly nodded. “And we need to restore Gyres to the enslaved Toves.”

“I will lead the way,” Burr said confidently. “Follow me. We have no time for to talk.” He marched toward the door.

Aric laughed and clapped Hector on the back. “Gee whiz, Burr's sure turned out to be quite the valiant little fella. I think he'll make a good king, don't you think, Lilly?”

“I think so as well,” she smiled tiredly.

“And you'll make a good shaman, eh?”

She glanced at Aric and laughed with nervous relief. “Er, ha ha... um, we shall see about that.” River, lingering behind them, chuckled softly to himself.

The four of them started walking in Burr's direction. “Hey, Hector?” Aric asked.

“Yes?”

“When are you going to write that book?”

Hector frowned in confusion. “What book?”

“You know,” Aric said knowingly, and winked at him. “That one about our adventures. You said you'd write one.”

“No I didn--”

“I am excited to read it,” Lilly said earnestly. “Surely it will become very popular among my people and yours, to know how the Toves and the humans came together to defeat a common enemy.”

Hector shrugged noncommittally, but his mind kept toying with the idea.

“I suppose I just might do that,” he said.

THE END

Chapter 6, Part vi

Aric thought the stairs would never end. They hugged the outer rim of the pit, spiraling downward. However, even though they were steep and despite he and Burr taking them nearly three at a time, no end appeared in sight. The strange fog that filled the air wrapped itself around Aric's limbs and chest, sucking away the heat from his body and stuffing itself into his lungs. After a while, he felt that he was trying to run through waist-high water. Burr seemed to be holding up a little better, but it was clear that things were not looking very bright.

“Burr, are they close?” Aric asked for the tenth time.

The prickly guy shook his head. When he spoke, he sounded congested. “I can't smell them. Everything smell like char.” Aric sniffed as well, and had to agree with Burr; it wasn't a burnt smell, not exactly, but it did definitely smell somewhat like charcoal. He wondered why.

“Can you hear them?”

The two of them paused for a second to catch their breath, and Burr cocked an ear to the swirling mists. He nodded. “Barely. They are running fast, to get there first.”

“Then let's catch up with them,” Aric said, and grit his teeth as he continued to bound down the stone steps.

He began to wonder who had hewn them out of the rock. Whoever it was, they had gone through a lot of trouble to make this giant prison cell for the Jabberwock. Had it been Mountain, who failed to slay the beast? Perhaps, for some reason, he hadn't wanted to, and so instead carved this elaborate holding-place for his dangerous pet. Or maybe this whole cavern had had a different, forgotten purpose, and it had simply been very convenient for confining apocalyptic death-monsters.

“Look, look!” Burr whispered. The Tove pointed downward into the nearly-opaque mists, and Aric had to squint for a few seconds before he realized what he was seeing.

The stairs eventually came to an end some four hundred feet down, and there was a flat platform which seemed to be the base of the cylindrical pit. There was a handful of shadowy, black figures in the distance, some of which held their death-spears upright. In the fog, they seemed to be feathers sticking straight out of their heads, as though they were alien, bird-like monsters.

Confident that if he could barely see them, they would have the same difficulty in seeing him, Aric inched his way ever downward. He kept his eyes trained on the gathered Mome Raths. As he got closer, he saw that the group was clustered around some object which seemed to draw all their attention, but Aric couldn't see exactly what it might be.

Eventually, he began to be able to make out that there was a conversation going on. “...I have the vorpal sword,” said one Mome Rath. It was the unmistakable conceited baritone of Professor Trellis. “Let me through.”

Somebody else said something which Aric couldn't pick out. The Trellis-silhouette nodded. “I understand that. But I must get to the Beast below, on urgent business. It is about to awake, yes?”

The other person uttered a single syllable. It was most likely “Yes,” judging from Trellis's reaction.

“And it mustn't get loose, correct?”

“No,” the other person probably said.

“Then let me through. I will contain it for you. We come as friends, as associates; we want the same thing. We will both benefit from this...”

Aric scowled at the Professor's flowery words. Those were the same flattering, soothing things that he had said that day three years ago when Aric stood before the Mome Raths for the first time, and he had let himself be lulled into complacency. Not any more, never again. Aric wanted to shout, wave his arms, cup his hands to his mouth and bellow: “Don't listen to him! He's a liar and a cheat! You'll only end up his puppet!” But he controlled himself. Barely. This scene needed to play out.

There was another exchange, too quiet for Aric to understand, and then something happened. A door in the side of the wall opened up, beside the person that the Professor was talking to, and Professor Trellis moved to enter it with a pair of guards. Suddenly he turned around and faced the place where Aric was crouching.

“Good luck following us, Gerard! Yes, I can see you, standing on the fifty-ninth stair; and Burr as well, just two above you. You're too late. Men, please kindly cut their heads off. I no longer have any interest in them.” And with that, he ducked his head out of view, and the hole closed up as mysteriously as it had opened.

The remaining half-dozen soldiers began to shout their war-cries, and one of them charged up the stairs. A hundred thoughts buzzed through Aric's mind as he thought up a way to stop the man before his deadly blade got too close – somehow topple him off the stairs, or use the spear that Aric had acquired to slice apart the other man's weapon – when Burr cried out a warning. Aric saw just in time, and threw his belly onto the stairs above him.

A crossbow bolt whizzed through the air and buried itself in the solid stone above Aric's head. With a terrible hissing sound, the rock began to bubble and melt before his very eyes. Aric scrambled up a dozen stairs and managed to turn around, pointing his spear defensively at the approaching soldier. He heard the crank of the crossbow as its owner reloaded another enchanted arrow.

“Burr, do your thing!” Aric yelled, and ducked. A rumbling peal of thunder rippled the stone beneath his feet as a fiery bolt of lightning seared through the air and struck the man charging up the stairs. His whole body lit up with energy for a moment as he tumbled backwards, and over the lip of the staircase. He landed with a noisy metallic clang.

By some luck Aric dodged the second arrow, and Burr let loose another shaft of lightning toward the archer. The attack left a streak of purple burned across Aric's vision, and he scowled and blinked to clear his eyes.

Three more arrows thudded into the stone, behind them, one of which tore a hole clean through Aric's jacket. He cursed. “Burr, we have to get down there, or they'll pick us off!” He hefted his spear and hurled it as hard as he could down into the group of soldiers; it didn't kill anyone, but somebody cried out as it struck their foot. Burr threw his as well and sent more bolts of energy downward. He must not have been very accurate, or the enemy might have had some sort of Gyreproof enchantments about them, because not one of them died.

I didn't want to have to do this any more, Aric thought, but desperate times and all. He located the nearest arrow – buried in a vertical crater of liquified rock – and ripped it from its hole. The arrowhead was strangely shaped, barbed on one side and swirly on the other. Aric crouched down, ignoring the other arrows that screamed through the air around his head, and muttered something in a language that his tongue was no longer accustomed to. He jabbed the tip of the arrow into the stone at his feet, and it easily sunk an inch into the hard rock.

A purple light pulsed once from the arrowhead, rippling through the stone stair, and then shot away through the solid floor. A glowing purple line streaked downward from the arrow, following the contours of the natural wall of the staircase; when it hit the floor it changed direction, homing in toward one of the archers. It stopped under his feet, and he realized this a little too late. The ground bubbled hungrily beneath him, and suddenly he was swallowed up by the churning floor. His scream was cut off as his head disappeared beneath the surface.

The other soldiers were shocked just long enough for Aric to yank a fresh arrow from the wall. Burr brushed past him, racing down the stairs with a speed few humans could match. With his claws, teeth and lightning, he quickly dispatched two more guards. Aric redirected the vile enchantment of the arrows in his hands to take down another man and distract another, just long enough for Burr to finish him off as well.

One Mome Rath remained. He threw his spear at Burr, who lithely ducked out of the way. It clattered uselessly against the rock wall. Then, to Aric's dismay, the man pulled something from his cloak and brandished his fists. Some thick equipment covered each of his forearms, and the air around him rippled as if with the heat of a campfire.

“Burr, don't use your lightning!” Aric shouted, and the Tove hesitated. Unfortunately, this gave the soldier time to leap toward him and grab him by the arm; in the blink of an eye, the soldier twisted around and threw Burr with terrifying force against the wall. Burr yelped once, then fell heavily to the ground.

Aric growled and ran down the stairs. There was no time for ancient magic trickery; not that it would work against Tezerotronic Phase-Bracers anyway. Aric landed awkwardly as he reached the last step, twisting his ankle as he landed, but he rolled to his feet and picked up a dropped spear. Burr, limping but able, kept his distance from the man with the crackling bracers. The Mome Rath shouted and clapped his hands together. A shockwave rippled through the air between them, and Burr twisted out of the way. Not fast enough, though, and it caught him by the waist. He toppled onto his back, laid out vulnerable to the soldier. The man seized his chance and charged Burr.

With a savage cry, Aric swung the bladed spear horizontally, to slice the man in half at the stomach. The soldier saw Aric's swing and brought his arm down just in time, blocking the blade and jarring Aric's arms painfully. Burr rolled out of the way and grabbed a fallen crossbow; he hurled it straight toward the man, but with a simple slap of his hand, the flying weapon shattered into splinters.

Burr and Aric backed away from the soldier, who walked closer and closer to them. The tezerotronic whine from the equipment made Burr wince, and Aric grit his vibrating teeth. Those were still experimental the last time I heard of them, Aric thought quickly. They have a lot of power, but also a lot of drawbacks. If only we can use the bracers' weaknesses against him...

“He can't run very easily,” Aric shouted. The soldier snarled and clapped, firing a shockwave at them, but they both dodged in different directions. He turned toward Aric and started walking; the man was sweating with the effort of walking. Aric checked, and sure enough, on his helmet there were anti-tezerotron nodes to protect his ears and sense of balance.

“He needs his helmet in order to stay conscious!” Aric yelled. “And his sense of balance is weakened! The bracers can't--”

The man shouted and suddenly fell to one knee, but it wasn't in pain or fatigue. He slammed his heavy fist on the ground, and the floor violently split into ragged slabs. Aric jumped just in time, but landed wrong and fell, banging his shin on a stone edge. He gasped in pain. The soldier's foosteps sounded loudly in his ears, and the whine grew stronger as he approached.

Aric looked up in time to see the man standing over him. His eyes were red-rimmed but mad with hate. These are Trellis's hand-picked zealots, he realized. These aren't the rank and file Mome Raths that do the paperwork. Trellis means business.

The zealot lifted his arm, and the bracer crackled with magical energy.

Suddenly a wooden pole blurred out of the air and slammed into the side of the man's helmet with a metallic peal. He toppled heavily onto his side, and a small crater erupted on the floor where he placed his hands to stop himself. The node on the side of his helmet spat out a few sparks where it had been struck.

Aric scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his shin, and found one of the death-spears. He turned around and with a shock saw that the soldier was already on his feet and loping toward him with his arms extended. Aric quickly jabbed the blunt end of the spear toward the man's collarbone. This time he was too slow to block, and the spear caught him between his neck and shoulder, and he twisted awkwardly to keep his balance.

Burr appeared and rammed his fist into the man's stomach. Aric tried to stop him, but it was too late: the strange energy from the magical bracers visibly coursed through Burr, making him flinch in pain, but he continued with the falling Mome Rath, making sure he landed flat on his back.

Aric reached down and pulled Burr away. The soldier moved again to rise. Aric gripped the haft of his spear, judging the distance. “Not so fast, buddy,” Aric said, and swung the bladed death-spear over his head and down toward the man.

The very tip of the blade sliced clean through the stability-core ring of the bracer on his right arm, and the valuable part tinkled uselessly to the ground. Its owner panicked. “What have you done?!” he yelled, fumbling with the equipment. Aric grabbed Burr by the collar of his shirt and walked quickly away.

“We're gonna want to put some distance between us and him,” he explained when Burr looked at him with confusion. The tezerotronic whine increased in volume and pitch, as did the crackling noise. Aric shielded his eyes. There was a brief flash that lasted for the blink of an eye, a faint pop, and a rush of air. A moment later, when nothing moved nor made a sound, Aric opened his eyes.

Where the soldier had been was a clean, smooth, bowl-shaped crater. Not a single trace of the man remained.

“And that's why they were still experimental,” Aric said with a decisive nod.

“Look at this,” Burr said curiously. Aric followed him, stepping over the bodies of the dead guards.

“What did you find?” Aric asked.

“Look.”

(Graphic 6.10: In the wall is an indent the size and shape of a door. There is no handle, no window and no opening.)

“I could swear that Professor Trellis walked through this wall a minute ago,” Aric muttered as he groped around the edges of the indentation with his hands. “I wonder how he got in.”

Suddenly, Hector's bright voice filled the room. “Aric! You're all right!” The librarian gasped as he saw the carnage. “Did you do all that?”

“With a little help,” he responded, and ruffled Burr's ears. Lilly followed Hector down the stairs, frowning at the bodies. “I don't know how much you guys saw,” Aric said, “but Professor Trellis was here just a moment ago. He was talking with somebody, reasoning with him, and that person decided to let him continue on to find the Jabberwock. Somehow this wall opened up and he walked through.”

“He must have gained permission, as with the forest edge when we first arrived,” Lilly said.

“Yeah, but how are we going to get that same permission?” Aric complained. He watched as Burr sniffed the edges of the false doorway.

“Perhaps he got in because he has the vorpal sword?” Hector supplied.

Aric sighed. “Yeah... Those swords are kind of in short supply, sadly.”

“There is no Gimble thereon,” Lilly said, half to herself.

Suddenly the ground rumbled again, just as it had done when they were in the tunnels. A stalactite fell from the darkness above and shattered into a thousand shards on the floor. Hector jumped a foot into the air with fright.

“Everybody close to the walls,” Aric commanded as more stone spikes fell and threatened to impale them. The rumbling lasted for a few more very long seconds, then stopped; then it started again, fiercer than ever. A low-pitched sound thrummed through the entire chamber, almost like a moan.

“We must get through, the Jabberwock is awake!” Lilly said urgently. “We must find a way through, and quickly!”

“I'm really tired of these puzzles and permission issues,” Aric said. “Burr, if you wouldn't mind...” He gestured theatrically toward the door and took a step back. Burr gave himself some space, then flexed his hands. Bluish-white lightning danced on his fur, the leaped from his arms and pierced the wall. After a deafening explosion which showered them all with dust and chips of stone, Aric coughed and looked at the wall. A charred hole just big enough to crawl through gaped open in the false doorway. Without a word, Aric climbed through.

He stood up in the dark space beyond, waiting for his eyes to adjust, and with a terrible shock, realized that he was not alone.

(Graphic 6.11: A male Tove sits on a throne-like chair with a thick book on his lap. He is dressed exotically, and there are Tovish tapestries and souvenirs on the walls. The man looks up with a terrified expression.)

“Who are you?” asked the unfamiliar Tove frantically in perfect Humish. “How did you get in here?”

“Where did he go?” Aric asked as calmly as he could.

“Where do who go? I don't know what you're talking about.”

Aric could feel his pulse rising. “A tallish man, well-dressed. Had a golden sword and an old book. Two bodyguards. A sneer that could turn milk sour. Can't miss him. He just came in here two minutes ago, and if you don't tell me right now--”

The Tove stood up indignantly. He was muscular and seemed well-fed, but strangely, Aric couldn't place an age on him. “I do not respect people barging into my home without my permission! If you want to find your friend, you have come to the wrong pl--”

Aric strode forward, slapped the book out of the Tove's hands and seized him by the lapels. “Now you listen to me, buddy,” he seethed into the man's reluctant face, “Professor Trellis is not my friend. He is going to do something very, very bad, and we are going to stop him. Do you understand? We have to get to him immediately. The fate of the world is in the balance.”

Though clearly frightened, the strange man had the guts to speak his mind. He put his paws up in the air defensively. “I am sorry, my friend, but I will not tell you which way he went.”

“And why not?” Aric asked. He kept his grip tight on the man's shirt.

The Tove actually smiled, which made Aric's grip loosen a little. “Because you are going to kill the Jabberwock.”

Aric scowled. “Then you're on the wrong team,” he said, and pulled back his right fist to strike him. Suddenly a pair of hands tugged on his coiled arm. Aric looked: it was Hector.

“Stop!” he pleaded. “Maybe he can help us!”

“Didn't you just hear him? He's on Trellis's side!”

Lilly spoke up. “He went this way, Aric!” She pointed down a hallway that led away from the throne-room.

Suddenly Aric felt a pair of teeth sink into his left forearm. He shouted in pain, then dropped his fist onto the Tove's head to make him let up. Jolted, he fell off his throne and scurried into a dark corner. “You'll never stop the Jabberwock!” he cried out frantically. “You're too late!”

“Who are you?” Aric asked with genuine horror, rubbing his bleeding arm.

“It is Mountain,” Lilly realized. Aric glanced at her, and her eyes were wide with the shock of the revelation. “The one that did not slay the Jabberwock.”

“What do you mean?” Aric asked. “Mountain died almost a thousand years ago, he can't still... can he? How do you know it's him?”

“It is Mountain,” Burr agreed. “Look, that symbol on his throne and on his robe. It is the Aztlav signet. And his fur-markings, they is just like all the stories say.”

Confused, Aric glanced between Mountain and the others. He looked at Hector, who, of course, was writing in his journal. “What-- What? Really? But how?”

Mountain started laughing from his corner, and Aric easily recognized it as the laughter of the mad. His slate-colored eyes glinted in the torchlight, and his voice was full of fanatical inflexion. “Fine. I'll tell you. Yes, it is me, I am Mountain, the original wielder of the vorpal sword. I, who went to slay the Jabberwock. I, who only wounded it, and sealed it away for a thousand years. I built this place with my own two hands out of the stone, to house the beast, to keep it comfortable so it would never want to leave. But why did I not kill the creature, that most lovely of the Wabe's creations, you ask?

“It was because I saw its worth. It is not the terrible beast you all think it is. No, it is not! Ha ha! It carries with it the manxoma of the entire Wabe! Its power is not simply one of destruction! No, its power is the ability to transfer life energy from one thing to another. Of course, it can take that energy for itself and destroy the world, but it can also grant that energy to other living things! It can grant eternal life! And it has done so to me for the past thousand years! And so it shall stay!”

Suddenly Mountain sprang up toward Aric and tackled him to the floor, tearing at his face with his long claws. Burr and Lilly leaped to his rescue, but the mad Tove swatted them away with his ferocious talons.

While he was distracted, Aric pulled the dagger from his belt and rammed it into Mountain's chest. The Tove gave a start, but kept on fighting with the same vigor. Aric slapped away his paws and clamped his hands around Mountain's neck, It was softer than it looked, but even though he squeezed the creature's windpipe shut, he kept clawing at him with a savage grin and insane eyes.

“He can't die!” Aric grunted, and Burr finally managed to rip the madman off of him, and Aric pulled the dagger out in the same movement. Not a drop of blood spilled. As the two of them tumbled about the room, upsetting lamp-stands and tables covered in tapestries, Aric saw Hector rifling through some books in the corner.

“Now is not the time, Hec,” Aric said, but Hector waved the comment away.

“I'm trying to see if we can cut him off from the Jabberwock's energy somehow, so we can stop him!”

Aric's thoughts raced, and he ignored his numerous scratch wounds for a moment. “Think, think... He would probably have to regularly receive energy from the Jabberwock, so it would be somewhere he would frequently go--”

“The throne!” Lilly exclaimed, pointing at the ornate chair. Aric ran to it and examined the back and seat. He pulled out his knife and started cutting away at the cushioned back-rest, but Lilly stepped up and in one deft movement, tore the entire cushion away with her hands.

“Thank you,” Aric nodded. He pointed to the glowing circle of runes etched into the stone behind it. Quickly reading the ancient-magic letters, he picked a certain key spot in the formula and started etching an extra rune. The sounds of furious, snarling battle filled his ears, making him sweat as he traced and retraced the desired lines with the tip of his dagger.

Finally the extra rune took its place in the ancient sentence, and began to glow with its companions.

Suddenly, a despondent wailing pierced Aric's ears. He turned and saw Mountain, pinned by Burr to the stone tiles. A pool of dark blood was spreading outward, filling in the regular pattern of lines between the tile squares. Mountain was moaning and howling, and goosebumps covered Aric's neck as he saw what was happening to the ancient Tove.

His fur changed from a rich black to gray, then white, then the color of dust. The skin on his angular face sunk inward, and his well-toned body seemed to deflate until he was little more than skin and bones. His eyes bulged from his sockets and his whole person became pale in color, emphasizing the dark red patch in the center of his chest, where Aric had stabbed him. His breathing was labored and became slower and shallower. Burr slowly stood and left the miserable wretch to wither.

Nobody spoke. They all watched as Mountain's borrowed life force drained away. With immense effort he looked straight into Aric's face, and his eyes still held a gleam of triumphant madness. “Star sent you, didn't she?” he gasped in a voice drier than all the deserts in the world. “Yes, she did... She never approved of my choice... She has wanted to see me dead for a long time... But she lives using the same power that I have used...”

Lilly's eyes grew wide once more. “Star... Star! That was the togom of the Tulgey Wood, the one that guided us here!”

Mountain laughed, but it was more like a choking cough. He shriveled even more in that brief moment, and parts of his extremities began to blow away as trails of dust in the slight breeze that swept through the room. “She is a fool...”

And with those words, Mountain gave one last shudder and became still. Time proceeded to take its suspended toll on his body, and it crumpled up like the limbs of a dead spider. When he was simply a leathery skeleton, the aging finally stopped.

“I cannot believe it,” Lilly said to herself. “I was speaking to Star... I wonder if by destroying the bond between Mountain and the Jabberwock, we also destroyed the bond for Star? Will she still be alive when we get to the surface?”

“Definitely not if the Jabberwock comes free,” Aric warned. Seeing his coat sleeved in bloody tatters, he huffed and pulled it off, dropping it to the floor.

“Are you all right, Aric?” Hector asked, gingerly poking at Aric's arms. They had long, bloody scratches, and they dripped slowly onto the floor.

Aric shook his head nonchalantly. “Nah, the pain'll kick in after the adrenaline wears off, in about twenty minutes. By then we'll have either slayed the Jabberwock, or be dead, in which case it won't really matter.”

“This way,” Lilly said, and they followed her as she followed Professor Trellis's trail.