Jabberwocky-Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

Jabberwocky, Lord of Chaos

Part 1 "Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder"

'Twas bryllyg, and the slythy toves
Did gyre and gymble in the wabe
All mymsy were the borogroves
And the momes rath outgrabe

Beware the Jabberwock
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird
And shun, the frumnious Bandersnatch!

He took his vorpal sword in hand
Long time the maxnome foe he sought
So rested he by the Tumtum Tree
And stood a while in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood
The Jabberwocky, with eyes of flame
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood
And burbled as it came.

One, two! One, two!
And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

And hast thou slain the Jabberwocky?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas bryllyg, and the slythy toves
Did gyre and gymble in the wabe
All mymsy were the borogroves
And the momes rath outgrabe.

--Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking-Glass

    The late afternoon sun crept towards the far horizon. The shadowy corona of the solar disk cast a hazy glow over the lands. The voracious black hole heart of the star sucked in matter and its own fires, eternally devouring and expelling itself.
    The smooth, active badgers were scratching and boring holes in the hillside. Their bodies, silky in their smoothness and agitated in their movements, were rarely still. They were the perfect, industrious workers with no need for direction or purpose, only to be able to do.
    In the trees the parrots were unhappy. They paced from side to side on the tree branches. They dipped their heads, flapped their wings from time to time and keened sadly.
    On the ground the momes rath, a cross between turtles and armadillos, squeaked plaintively like lost children, their faces pinched in their depression
    In the middle of the clearing stood an aged, marble sundial. The copper of its face and dial was green from age. The shadows read 4 o'clock.
    At the far end of the clearing, where the trees grew thick, their boughs twisted in nightmarish shape, a den of fallen timber and brush was gathered. Deep into the depths of the den the air was cool and the fungi was plentiful as the dead wood slowly rotted. Upon a bed of moldering leaves slept a great reptile of dragon-like features and proportions. On its back were folded a pair of great leathery wings. The scales of the beast's body were green and dull.
    The beast stirred in its sleep, claws extending and then retracting into their sheaths. One reptilian eye slitted open, exposing fiery orbs with wisps of smoke rising aimlessly from them.
    A rumble rose from the creature's belly, then the eyes closed and the body was still again.
    The Jabberwocky descended again to the realm of dreams.
    For countless millennia the Jabberwocky has resided in Chaos. He is a Lord of the Chaosium. All creatures of the unordered land are his subjects. All of the hills, forests, plains and mountains as well as every stream, river, waterfall and ocean in his view belong to him alone. No other Lord of Chaos is as powerful as he, nor would any dare to challenge him.
    Before there was time and space there was Chaos. All things were birthed from the Chaos. The stars of the heavens, the planets and the life on them all derived from the primordial substance of Chaos.
    One of the first things to rise from the Chaos was the Jabberwocky himself. He is immortal and without bounds, without fears and with fewer desires. Neither space nor time pose as boundaries for the Jabberwocky. What he wishes to see, he sees. What he wishes to hear, he hears. What he wishes to know, he knows. What he wishes to be, he is.
    From time to time knowledge comes to him unbidden, creeping into his mind as he sleeps his eras long slumber.
    Out of Chaos the Jabberwocky can pull power, reshaping the weave of Chaos as well as himself. All creatures in the Chaosium and all creatures that derive from Chaos are open to him, their minds spread wide to his probings and thoughts.
    Yet for all of this there is a problem that the Jabberwocky faces. A problem that poses a conundrum even to his great power. A problem that brings with it the tastes of hatred and yes, even fear.
    In his dreams the Jabberwocky lay next to a shallow pool. He extended a single, black claw and ran it through the water. Small ripples and whorls rose from the passage of his claw. Small eddies of Order rose from the movement and then deteriorated back into Chaos. One whirling eddy, however, did not die away, but grew larger, swallowing space and devouring smaller eddies. Then its form broke, crashing into unstructured incoherence. The entire pool rippled from the aftereffects.
    This was a bad omen and the ancient Jabberwocky was disturbed.
    The stink of humans was strong, riding the back of this dark omen. The Jabberwocky cursed them. Of all the sentient species born out of Chaos and relegated to the realms of Order, only the humans had discovered a portal between the worlds and migrated into the Jabberwocky's domain. He had tolerated the intruders and the Order that they brought to his realm for centuries. But now the time had come to deal with them, to reclaim his territory and to destroy their kingdom before it destroyed itself. The ripples of its self destruction would bring horrifying catastrophe to Chaos.
    Order that extends its boundaries reverts to Chaos and Chaos that grows too strong devours itself.
    When the humans came to his realm they slaughtered myriads of his cousins and servants. Creatures of beautiful strangeness and mutation were cut down, burned in charnel pits and condemned by the priests of the human intruders.
    All of this the Jabberwocky had tolerated, even ignored as he continued his aeons long slumber. But now the humans were drawing ever closer and bearing with them the seeds of disaster.
    The Jabberwocky extended his conscience and tasted whiffs of magic. The magic was asymmetrical, structured and ordered. What devious straits it was when magic, naturally wild and untamed, was bent to the cruel coldness of Order.
    The Jabberwocky stirred again, rising ever closer to wakefulness. In the clearing the slythy toves stopped their agitated borrowing for a moment, sensing a disturbance from the cool, shadowy and damp den.
    Slowly the great beast's eyes opened, the fiery orbs burning bright. A low rumble rose from his chest and brimstone issued from his nostrils.
    So be it.
    The den of dead timber and brush shuddered. The paragroves squawked and flapped their wings in manic fright.
    If he must play this game, then he would do it by his own rules. It was time to move the pawns into place. A few sacrifices would bring the King and his Knight into the Jabberwocky's trap and perhaps make the queen his.
    The Jabberwocky's head rose from his den. Smoke issued from his flaming eyes and nostrils. The slythy toves scampered away, the paragroves squawked ever louder and took flight. The momes rath, seeing the great beast rising from the bowels of its den, squeaked frightfully and backed away from the Jabberwocky, their little bodies shivering in fear.
    He would feed off of the enemy. Their cattle and their women and children would fill his gullet. Their screams would only serve to whet his appetite further.
    The Jabberwocky emerged fully from his den, ignoring the small animals that ran from him.
    The legs of the great beast moved ponderously, the footfalls shaking the ground with each step. The wings on his back twitched spasmodically from their long disuse.
    He forced his way through the clearing, knocking the weathered sundial out of his way. When he had room, he slowly spread his wings wide, raised them and brought them down once, creating a downdraft of wind.
    Again and again he beat his wings, each stroke stronger than the last as the blood and life flowed back into the great leathery expanses. Finally, one great swoop of the wings and a launch from the coiled muscles in his legs and the Jabberwocky was aloft.
    The Jabberwocky took to the air gracelessly and rose until he was above the tree tops, wings beating furiously, franticly. Then he began to move forward, slowly at first and then faster, the wind howling across his wings. The forests and countryside blurred by in the coming evening as the Jabberwocky continued to gain speed. A roar broke from his jaws, echoing over the lands.
    As the black hole sun of Chaos set behind the horizon the lamp light of the town surrounding the castle of the king could be seen brightening the land.
    From a farm along the outskirts of the town the Jabberwocky fed off of cattle, slaughtering them en masse. Very few of the cattle he actually devoured. The Jabberwocky slaughtered the herds merely for the pleasure of it. The death and destruction brought life back into the marrow of his bones. It was exhilarating and the adrenaline pumped through his body, putting power into his muscles and clarity to his mind.
    The scent of humans came to his nostrils. He turned his massive body away from the cattle and towards the hamlet where the hated humans congregated in their houses and their beds. Again he took flight, skimming the ground. As he neared the hamlet his chest billowed, sucking in air. From his mouth then issued flame which swept across the houses that lined the edge of the town. White flame burned all the wooden structures and even stone and mortar as well as all of those who dwelled within.
    From the neighboring houses and hovels people ran screaming. The women and children the Jabberwocky struck at with his claws and teeth. The men, though fear gripped their hearts, tried to strike him with old, rusted weapons, pitchforks and hoes.
    The Jabberwocky turned his back to them, ignoring them. This enraged the men as their pride was proven futile and their courage useless.
    "Beast!" cried an aged voice, a commanding quality in its tone.
    Growling, the Jabberwocky turned. Caught in his mouth was a screaming, thrashing boy of twelve summers. The Jabberwocky bit down and cleaved the child's torso in half. The upper body of the child fell to the ground with a painful cry at the feet of the holy man who stood garbed in robes and who carried a staff topped with a pontifical cross. The holy man gasped at the sight of the boy's divided body and the blood and guts that issued from the wound.
    The holy man retreated a step as the child reached out feebly in its last moments of life.
    "Merciful God," the priest muttered in a soft, gasping voice. The color had drained from his face, his eyes were wide in terror.
    "Invoke not your god here in Chaos," the Jabberwocky hissed, his eyes narrowing to slits. The beast lowered his head towards the priest. "In the realm of Chaos I am the only god and I am its Heart. And where, pray tell me, was your mercy, your pity and care for the boy that just died at your feet? Your feet moved backwards, not forwards, did they not?"
    Fury, fear and shame knotted the holy man's face as he raised his staff in defiance and shouted. "Bow, beast! Bow before the might of our Lord, as have so many of your fellow abominations!"
    "My 'fellow abominations'? Do you mean the thousands of my brethren who were wantonly slaughtered by you odorous humans? Do you wish to feel the pain, despair, fear and hopelessness of those you have slaughtered in the name of your God?"
    The Jabberwocky opened his eyes wide, capturing the priest's gaze. The priest gasped and staggered back, his mind assaulted by the images of creatures of Chaos as they were slaughtered, burned and destroyed. Neither the old, the crippled nor the young among the natural denizens of Chaos had been spared.
    "No," cried the holy man. The sound of his voice was brittle and hollow, like dried husks blown to dust by the fist of the winds.
    "Yes," the Jabberwocky growled. "All in the name of your 'God'. Now know my wrath. My vengeance." The Jabberwocky laughed, the sound of it booming across the town. Then he burbled, bubbles issuing from his mouth.
    The bubbles, fragile looking and filmy, surrounded the priest and closed in on him. Then they exploded, the force of the explosions lifting the holy man's body into the air before it dropped back down. The holy man was dead when he met the ground. The Jabberwocky turned away from the bleeding and broken bodies of the priest and child, turning his attention back to the town. He waited for the next move to be made by the humans.

*****     In the castle where the King of the Red and his family resided a young man, not long weaned from his nurse and his beard not yet grown, stood still, his arms extended outward as a servant fitted his armor.
    Redfen was the only prince and heir to the Kingdom of the Red; birthed from the loins of the Queen and fruit of his father's seed. Today he would wear his shining new armor into battle for the first time. The armor was a masterly piece of work, featuring an engraved breastplate with roses worked in the metal, green and red glass giving bright life to the stems, leaves and petals of the etched roses.
    Form-fitting bands of plate were strapped to his arms and legs. A target buckler was affixed to the left forearm plate. Beneath the armor he wore a chain mail tunic and leggings.
    The aged king entered the chamber carrying an ebony wood box in both hands. There were brass hinges and clasps on the box, holding it closed.
    "The time has come, my son, to pass my sword on to you. This was the sword of my father and his father before him."
    The king held the long, narrow box with one hand and undid the clasps. As he lifted the lid of the box a green glow shone forth.
    "Father," the young prince whispered, his voice filled with both awe and reverence. He stepped forward and lifted the glowing metal from its resting place with cautious fingers. "The vorpal sword."
    "Used to slay scores of the creatures of this world. It has been bloodied time and again. I would use it now, but I am old and gone to seed. My bones ache and my strength is diminished. That is why the time has come for you to prove your manhood. You must be bloodied, your prowess proven and your glory made."
    "I shall not disappoint you, Father. I will slay this beast and bring back its head to be displayed in the Great Hall."
    "If you are to be triumphant then listen to me well. I see in your bright eyes and on your clean cheeks the same things that brought me near death and disaster many times when I was of your age. Brashness and headstrongness are no allies of the young warrior. Courage, boldness and bravery are much more scarce and are harder to find and befriend."
    The king leaned closer to his son and pitched his voice low, speaking directly into Redfen's ear.
    "Heed me well, my son. Beware the Jabberwock! The jaws that bite---"
    In the town below the castle the Jabberwocky's carnage continued. An old woman cowered in the door frame of a rickety old wooden house. She sobbed and screamed in terror as the Jabberwocky's jaws descended towards her and cut her body in half.
    "The claws that catch!" The screams assuaged the rage of the Jabberwocky. A taloned claw shot forward and captured a fear-stricken man who stood with a pike in his hands. He had been rooted in place by terror. When the claw closed and pierced his body the only sound from his throat was a gurgled cry.
    "Beware the Jubjub bird," the king continued. "This demented creature has long harried our cattle. Every warrior we have sent into its lair has disappeared, ne'er returning."
    "And shun, the frumnious Bandersnatch! It is cunning and its appetite never sated. The teeth and claws of the Bandersnatch are sharp and its attacks are blindingly quick."
    Redfen gazed into his father's eyes, his own blazing with youthful intensity and blind courage. "Fear not, Father, for I know of these things and how best to dispatch them. Whence I return from my battles I shall take my place by your side and lead the armies of the land. The minstrels and the lords will long sing of our victories."
    "Then go, my son." The king squeezed his son's shoulder in parting. "Go with my blessings, my love and my prayers. May God watch over thee. When the time comes, strike true and to the heart of the beast."
    With that the king leaned closer and kissed his son's brow, then Redfen turned towards the waiting retainers who led the prince to his warhorse. *****     "Is there none among you humans who might stand against me?" roared the Jabberwocky. Blood caked his snout and talons. His eyes burned an intense, fiery red.
    "Have none of your brave warriors and knights the courage to face my might and taste my wrath?"
    "Hold, demon, and face me!" came the cry of a brave and youthful voice. The Jabberwocky snapped his jaws shut and turned, finding a youth astride a white stallion, the warhorse armored with shining chain barding. Atop the youth's head was set a steel helmet with golden eagle's wings folded back along the sides. In the young man's right hand was the vorpal sword, its blade long and glowing green. The sword was heavy, as evidenced by the boy's struggles to hold it up. The blade continuously drooped downward and the boy would struggle to right it, only to have it droop off-balance in yet another direction.
    "I have come--to do battle--and to bring your rampage--of terror--to an end!" The young prince's words did not flow from his mouth in a smooth, powerful speech, but in disjointed phrases as he struggled to hold up his sword and to steady his fidgety warhorse, which snorted and restlessly pranced from side to side, jostling the prince as it moved, the vorpal sword keeping up its wavering dance in the air.
    The Jabberwocky looked down at this unseemly knight and his troubles, blinked once in bewilderment and then reared back on his haunches and roared in laughter, flames and bubbles issuing from his throat.
    "So!" boomed the Jabberwocky. "The king sends his boy to me. You have no beard, boy. You are virgin, never lain with woman, I can smell it on you. You are nothing but a sacrificial pawn. A lamb. Just a mere boy, barely out of his crib."
    The Jabberwocky lowered his head, bringing himself close to the young knight. The Jabberwocky's breath burned and stank against Redfen's face.
    "If you would strike me dead, then do so," mocked the beast, turning his head and baring his neck for Redfen. "Unless, of course, your hand is only good for the stroking."
    The Jabberwocky swung his head back towards Redfen and saw the blood rising on the youth's cheeks and could even hear the gritting of his teeth. The Jabberwocky pulled back his head and again roared with laughter.
    "I thought as much, manchild. If you desire to quest for manhood, then quest for me. Come to me in my den, for that is where our battle will begin and end."
    The Jabberwocky spread his wings to their fullest length as he prepared to take flight. The great expanse of the leathery wings blotted out the light of the moon.
    "If your heart has the courage, young Prince of the Red, then come to me and may that sword of yours be sharp!"
    The wings descended with a gust of wind breaking over the prince and his steed. The Jabberwocky slowly rose to the air, his great bulk lofted up by the labored beats of the wings. Redfen sat there and watched the beast disappear into the distance.
    Within his armor the young man shivered, the terror and fright of the confrontation slowly ebbing out of him, as did the false bravery accorded to him by the rush of adrenaline.
    "Highness?" came a timid voice.
    The prince turned, his heart hammering a frantic staccato in his breast. Beside him stood one of his retainers.
    "Prepare provisions," Redfen said in a strained voice. "I must give chase after the beast."
    The retainer stood indecisive for a moment but then bowed. "Yes, Highness."
    Once the saddle bags of food and flasks of both wine and water had been affixed to the stallion's saddle, Redfen bade his home farewell and rode through the remains of the village. As he passed he heard the subdued, despairing cries of the peasants.
    He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to drown out the plaintive cries by reciting sweet nursery rhymes to himself.

"He took his vorpal sword in hand
Long time the maxnome foe he sought."

    Redfen rode for many days, following the flight of the Jabberwocky, his path marked by the devastation and carnage left behind by the Chaos Lord. Each night he was given lodging and succor by the subjects of the kingdom.
    Finally he came to the forest that stories had been told of. Dark clouds hung over the trees and the sound of unsavory creatures came to his ears.
    Girding up his courage, Redfen spurred his horse forward into the darkness of the forest. The eternal twilight glow of the black hole sun was quickly shut out and Redfen found himself in a realm of shadows where the trees were strange and filled with formless, fearful shapes.
    A screeching came from above him. Redfen started, looked up and swore an oath as he saw a massive bird swoop down at him.
    Redfen desperately tried to reach his sword in its saddle scabbard. Before he could do so, the bird crashed into him and dragged him off of his saddle.
    Redfen landed hard on his back, the wind knocked out of him. His vision cleared after a moment and he saw the head of the Jubjub bird, servant of the Jabberwocky, standing over him. The Jubjub bird resembled an oversized, demented and deformed pelican with obvious madness shining its eyes.
    The bird gave a throaty "jub jub" and lunged for Redfen's face. Redfen gasped and rolled out of the way. Behind him he heard the beak of the bird snap together in the space where Redfen's face had been.
    The prince struck out blindly with a gauntleted hand and caught the bird a glancing blow to the head which illicited a shriek of pain, shock and rage from the Jubjub.
    In the moment's respite, Redfen scrambled on all fours to reach his warhorse. Behind him the Jubjub bird shook its head to clear the momentary confusion. Redfen pulled himself up the saddle straps and grabbed for the hilt of the vorpal sword, trying to draw the blade upwards. He grasped the glowing steel to finish drawing it from the scabbard. One of his fingers brushed against the edge of the sword and the blade cut through the metal of his gauntlet and through the skin of his finger.
    Hissing in pain, Redfen turned and took the the hilt of the vorpal sword in both hands, holding it before him in a ready stance. The Jubjub bird regarded the young prince slyly, cocking its head to the side and chuckled in its throaty voice. "Jub jub. Jub jub."
    All around Redfen the forest took on an ethereal, crimson glow which darkened the already dim sky. The shapes of the trees and the fearsome things in the trees were outlined by the crimson light.
    "Dearest God--!" Redfen whispered as he made out the shapes in the trees that he had glimpsed from time to time during his trek but which he had never been able to clearly make out.
    From the boughs and branches of the warped and twisted trees hung the bodies of scores of warriors, each of whom had gone into the forest searching out the Jubjub bird, the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky as well as countless other monsters of Chaos. They had all fallen prey to the Jubjub bird instead. There were peasants as well, hanging in the trees along with the dead warriors and knights; simple people who had wandered too close to the forest or had made the mistake of entering it.
    Most of the bodies were skeletal with either rusted armor or decaying rags. Some of the bodes were newer, the flesh still on their bones, rotting in the humid heat of the summer.
    Once again the Jubjub bird gave its throaty chuckle, "jub jub, jub jub." The beast took delight in the prince's fear and revulsion.
    Redfen swallowed and squared his shoulders, attempting to force courage back into his body.
    "With God by my side nothing shall stay me on my quest for vengeance and no creature of this misshapen world shall vanquish me."
    The bird hissed at the prince's defiance and charged, flapping its wings. Redfen raised the vorpal sword and swung it down with all the force he could muster as the Jubjub bird neared.
    Redfen felt the hot blood splatter across his face as the vorpal blade sliced cleanly through the body of the bird.
    A malicious grin crept across the prince's face as the bird fell at his feet, dead.

******     In the forest clearing where the sundial still lay on its side, the Jabberwocky stirred. Scattered about the beast were the carcasses of badgers and momes rath; as well as a generous scattering of multi-colored feathers.
    The Jabberwocky felt the death of one of his most loyal servants. Red Knight had taken Black Bishop. The game continued to move apace.
    A low growl issued from the great beast as the fiery eyes slowly closed again. The Jabberwocky rested and waited. *****     The crimson glow of the forest had faded back to its preternatural dimness and the forms of dead warriors and peasants had receded back into the darkness, for which Redfen was glad. The sight of all those dead had disturbed him, their forms permanently burned into his mind's eye.
    What he did not see behind him, for he refused to turn his head to look back on the horrid sight he had witnessed during his battle with the Jubjub bird, was that where the hooves of his horse stepped roses grew and flowered, following the questing trek of the young prince.
    In the lair of the Jubjub bird the bodies, the sight of which had burned themselves into the vision of Redfen's mental eye, were slowly being lowered to the ground by vines. In the sockets of their rotted eyes a dim, crimson glow was forming. *****     The forest was unnaturally quiet. There were no songs of birds or crickets. The only things that broke the silence were the occasional whisper of the breeze and the sound of buckles and chain mail striking together as Redfen's horse trotted over the grass and blankets of moldering leaves. It was as though all life and the sounds of life had left the forest with the death of the Jubjub bird.
    But there was still sound from the Jubjub bird as its decapitated head thumped rhythmically against the horse's flank. Its eyes were still open and still mad, dulled only by the glassy sheen of death. Redfen had secured the head on a leather thong and tied the head to the horn of the saddle.
    Redfen rode on through the day and when the night became too thick to see through he camped at a massive tree with low-lying limbs and a thick, beehive shaped trunk. He tethered the horsed to one of the low branches, fed and watered the faithful animal and rubbed the horse down after he had done his own nightly ablutions.
    Finally, with the stars scurrying about in the black sky of Chaos, he lay upon his bedroll with the scabbarded vorpal sword at his side and fell into an uneasy sleep.

"So rested he by the Tumtum Tree
And stood awhile in uffish thought."

    Redfen woke late the next morning. The forest was still silent. His warhorse was still tethered to the tree and had grown restless while waiting for Redfen to waken.
    The prince was stiff from sleeping on the ground. He was more used to the soft beds and sheets of the castle and the warmth of the hearth.
    From the undergrowth came sounds of movement. Redfen turned, his senses and body coming alert, the stiffness lifting from his muscles. He took the scabbard and pulled out the sword a short ways.
    There was another rustle from the undergrowth and this time he caught a glimpse of matted fur. Redfen unsheathed the sword completely and held it at the ready.
    Two feline eyes glared from the underbrush and Redfen rose to his feet and prepared for his next battle.
    "Come then," Redfen called out. "I have already taken the head of the Jubjub bird and I will take yours as well."
    Confidence flowed into Redfen as he borrowed on the victory over the Jubjub bird. He smirked as he thought of the glories that would await him in the banquet halls of the castle and the thrilling songs of bravery and knightly valor that the bards would sing in his praise.
    A loud growl issued from the creature that hid in the underbrush, the growl was followed by the massive shape of the Bandersnatch as it lunged at the prince, claws extended and ready to rip the boy's flesh to shreds.
    Redfen's eyes went wide with shock. The Bandersnatch was an unusual cross between hunchback and lion with the face of a man, massive yellow teeth and a body covered in matted and muddy fur.
    A thin squeak escaped from Redfen's throat as the Bandersnatch charged. Redfen swept at the beast with his sword and missed, his aim going wild. The Bandersnatch easily sidestepped the frantic swing.
    A claw reached out and ripped through the prince's leather leggings. Redfen cried out as his leg buckled beneath him. He held the sword before him, trying to fend off the beast while he fought against pain and the wash of fear that threatened to drown him.
    The Bandersnatch circled Redfen, giving a low, mocking growl. The warhorse snorted and pawed the ground frantically, the sight and scent of the Bandersnatch breaking through the horse's training as primitive instinct took over. The Bandersnatch swiped playfully at the horse, causing the animal to rear up, giving a shrill cry as it did so.
    Redfen, on one knee, followed the Bandersnatch as it circled back towards him, not giving the beast any openings for attack. When the Bandersnatch closed the size of the circle, Redfen yelled and thrust at the beast with his sword.
    The Bandersnatch backed away a few steps, giving Redfen a chance to get back on his feet. His left leg protested in pain and threatened to buckle beneath him again. He gritted his teeth against the pain and willed the leg into action. Redfen backed away from the Bandersnatch, keeping the sword before him, until his back connected with the trunk of the Tumtum Tree.
    The Bandersnatch mewled in pleasure at the sight of Redfen hurt and unsteady, his back to the tree, the leg wound seeping blood and the smell of fear rising from Redfen's sweat. The Bandersnatch stepped forward casually and dodged the thrust of Redfen's sword. The beast extended a claw, making to leisurely rip out a swath of Redfen's belly.
    The Bandersnatch overestimated the immobility of Redfen's terror. The prince was a trained warrior even if he was untested and of privileged birth and soft life. The vorpal sword slashed and cleaved cleanly through the right paw of the beast.
    The Bandersnatch howled in pain as the paw fell to the ground and the stump of the arm spurted with blood. A sneer formed on Redfen's face as he stepped forward, raising his sword for the killing blow.
    The sword descended and cut the Bandersnatch's head from its shoulders. The head flew through the air, the eyes and mouth wide in shock. Blood and gore followed in its wake.

*****     Red Knight takes Black Rook.
    The time had come for the Jabberwocky to meet this impetuous prince and to settle accounts with the champion of the humans.
    The Jabberwocky rose ponderously, its ancient body stiff and creaking from aged joints and bones. The wings unfolded from its back, began beating and the beast rose slowly into the air. *****     Redfen rested, sitting with his back against the trunk of the Tumtum Tree. He had cleaned and bandaged the wounds in his leg and calmed his warhorse, which was once again grazing on the grass which grew green and ardent in the shade of the Tumtum Tree.
    From the distance came a whiffling sound as something ripped through the air. Redfen paused at the sound, cocking his head in the direction it came from, somewhere deep in the forest. From the bough of the Tumtum Tree just above him hung the heads of both the Jubjub bird and the Bandersnatch, secured by leather thongs.
    Redfen reached for the vorpal sword and extracted a polishing cloth from his pack. With slow, cautious movements he cleaned and polished the blade, careful not to touch the edges of the glowing sword lest it cut through his fingers again. His wounded digit now cleaned and bandaged.
    The whiffling sound came again. This time it was louder and clearer. Redfen grew pensive, adrenaline starting to seep back into his veins. He put aside the sword and cloth and reached for his shield and armor. He had strapped on the forearm plate to his left arm as well as the target shield when he saw through the trees the sight of flaming eyes and exploding bubbles. Dropping the breast plate of his armor, Redfen dove for his sword.
    Within the thick forest the bubbles of the Jabberwocky's burbling exploded, felling trees in a great swath. Beneath the boughs of the Tumtum Tree Redfen stood, preparing for the final battle. His warhorse whinnied and pranced at the sight, sound and smell of the coming Lord of Chaos. Only its rigorous training, and the tether which tied it to the Tumtum Tree, kept it from bolting.

"And, as in uffish thought he stood
The Jabberwocky, with eyes of flame
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood
And burbled as it came."

    The bubbles streaked towards Redfen and surrounded him. He held the target shield before his face. The bubbles exploded and sent him crashing to the ground. The explosions were mostly harmless, the force which had killed the holy man in the town days earlier, was lacking.
    A rumbling rose from the Jabberwocky as he settled himself to the ground, his wings folding back along his body. The rumbling resolved itself into a chuckle as Redfen struggled to his feet.
    "Well, Redfen?" queried the Jabberwocky. "Do you still seek to kill me, or will you renege on your quest?"
    The Jabberwocky gave out a snort as he finished his words, fire and brimstone rising from his nostrils.
    Redfen gritted his teeth as he worked on marshaling his courage and his thoughts.
    "I will complete my quest and free the people from their fear. You will kill no more innocents. This day the dead shall be avenged!" Redfen cried out, the words roiling out of his gut and filling the small clearing with their crystal sound.
    He had finally found the voice, the courage and the strength of the heroes of the sagas. The vorpal sword, which he held in both of his hands, was steady and felt well- balanced.
    "Have you not had enough revenge? From the branches of the tree I see hanging the heads of my two most loyal minions. Your fight was with me, not them."
    "The beasts attacked me and I defended myself," Redfen shot back indignantly. "What are their lives compared to those of my people?"
    A slow rage was creeping across Redfen as he forced himself to listen to the words of the Jabberwocky and to stay his own body from flying into an attack. He would wait for the Jabberwocky to make his move first. Redfen would not be accused of striking without due cause.
    "'Beasts?!'" howled the Jabberwocky, rising to his feet. "The only beast I see is you, beardless manchild. You trespassed into their domains just as you and your 'people' have transgressed my lands. You have been butchering the native masters of this land for centuries.
    "The slaughter I made of the town does not even begin to repay the debt incurred from the murders of my kind. Be it well known, I could have slain you all.
    "Let us consider the debts settled, boy. I am sickened by the madness of your kind and your so-called Order."
    The Jabberwocky, on his feet with his wings furled back across his back, began to turn away from Redfen.
    "I make you this offer," the Jabberwocky called back over his shoulder, his voice low and meaningful. "Go home and live out your life in peace. Stop your invasions of my land and I vow to never again attack nor harm you, your kin or your herds."
    The Jabberwocky's whole body was now turned away from Redfen, offering only his back to the Red Prince, signaling an end to both conversation and confrontation.
    "No!" Redfen cried after the Chaos Lord. "It is no easy thing to lay to rest, Beast! My people must be allowed their lives, property and well-being. We will continue to grow and prosper whether or not you lay claim to the borderless lands of this world. And I can not take at face your empty words or promises."
    Redfen stepped forward, feeling his courage tighten into a massive fist. The words that he spoke now were words that expressed the feelings and beliefs that made him whole. He was Prince of the Red Kingdom, his duties lying in the welfare of his people and their lands. He had embarked upon this quest in their cause and he could not, would not, back away from it. It would not be over until either he or the Jabberwocky were dead.
    "I have slain two creatures of Chaos this day and the day before. Now your blood will be spilt to the ground as well."
    Redfen raised his sword high and charged after the Jabberwocky, intending to strike, whether or not the beast's back was turned.
    "Little fool!" the Jabberwocky roared. The beast swung about with surprising speed and caught Redfen in the stomach with the back of his left paw, felling the prince to the ground.
    "I offer you peace and your life and you answer with steel and vehemence and magic contorted by your humans. Where was it ever deigned that magic should be forced into shape and mold? It, like me, was meant to be a free, unfettered and unconfined thing of Chaos!" The Jabberwocky stared angrily at the vorpal sword, its magic glowing brightly from the steel blade.
    Then Redfen's warhorse caught the Jabberwocky's eye and he narrowed his eyes in rage.
    "And this beast has worn the heads of my faithful servants on its saddle. It shall wear them never again."
    The Jabberwocky lunged forward, past Redfen, and caught the warhorse in its mouth, lifting the horse from the ground. The horse gave a scream, its eyes bulging in terror and pain, as blood erupted from both its mouth and the wound made by the Jabberwocky's sharp teeth.
    "No!" Redfen shrieked as he watched the two halves of the horse's body fall to the ground. The prince was up on one knee and struggled to his feet. Before he could charge the Jabberwocky the Chaos Lord struck out with his right paw and caught Redfen in the left shoulder, ripping a trail from the upper chest to the lower abdomen, tearing through the leather and chain mail that the prince wore.
    Redfen fell back and cried out in pain as the blood welled from the wounds and turned him into a sticky, slippery mass of blood. He touched a hand to one of the wounds and pulled it back as pain seared from the touch. Yet the wounds were not deep. If Redfen tended to them soon he could save himself and with husbandry of his strength make it back to one of the farm houses beyond the forest. Before he could do that, though, he still had the Jabberwocky to contend with.
    "You taste your first real pain, boy," the Jabberwocky called down to Redfen. "Your time is at an end."
    Redfen looked up at the beast, hatred and rage and pain burning in his mind. Then a haze redder than either his hair or the blood he dripped fell across his eyes and a strength that brought certainty and resolve with it filled his form. In days to come Redfen would learn that this "red rage" was the last thing a warrior might see and experience before his death as he made a final stand.
    "God will provide and God will protect!" Redfen roared back at the Jabberwocky. Redfen stepped forward, inside the Jabberwocky's defenses, and struck quick and clean with his sword, tearing into the Jabberwocky's left shoulder.
    The Jabberwocky reared back in pain and startlement. Blood flowed freely from the wound. A wound that was much deeper than the one the Jabberwocky had given Redfen.
    The Chaos Lord sucked in air, his lungs billowing. From his mouth then came white-hot flame that rushed at Redfen.
    The prince lifted his left arm and put his small target shield between himself and the flames. The magic of the shield activated and placed a wall of green magic between the prince and the fires. Heat still seeped through and Redfen gasped for air. The wounds on his chest and abdomen cauterized from the heat, sealing in pieces of chain mail and ripped leather. Redfen hissed at the pain, but the red haze that he saw drove him forward.

"One, two!"

Redfen again cut into the Jabberwocky with his vorpal sword, this time ripping open the chest with a diagonal slash. The fire died away from the Jabberwocky's mouth as the mortal wound was inflicted.

"One, two!
And through and through."

    The vorpal blade cut through the scaly hide of the Jabberwocky's chest a second time, making an "X" from the two diagonal strokes.
    A shrill scream rose from the throat of the Jabberwocky as it fell to the ground. His eyes closed slowly, smoke still seeping from beneath the closed lids, as steaming blood issued from the wounds and seeped into the ground.
    The body of the Lord of Chaos lay sprawled on the ground, still twitching in its death throes. The long neck was extended, fully exposed to Redfen's final stroke.

"The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!"

The sword bit through the scales and horns that covered the Jabberwocky's neck, cleaving the head from the dying body.

"He left it dead, and with its head..."

Redfen raised the severed head of the Jabberwocky high above him, his muscles struggling to hold the head aloft. Blood dripped from the wound, the hot, viscous fluid falling into his red hair, splattering across his face and mingled in the wounds of his chest.

"He went galumphing back."

    Across his back was slung the vorpal sword in its scabbard and over his shoulders were the heads of the Jubjub bird, the Bandersnatch and the massive head of the Jabberwocky, which covered most of his back.
    Beneath the far reaching boughs of the Tumtum Tree lay the bodies of the warhorse and the Jabberwocky. Near the trunk of the tree was a saddle and bags as well as scattered pieces of armor.
    High above in the sky the black hole sun, eternally devouring and shedding itself, waned towards twilight.

"'Twas bryllyg, and the slythy toves
Did gyre and gymble in the wabe
All mymsy were the borogroves,
And the momes rath outgrabe."

Jabberwocky, The Lord of Chaos and the exceprt "Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder" is Copyright © 1997 Jason A. Beineke and the Jabberwocky Studio. Jabberwocky, Lord of Chaos is based off the short poem, "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll as it appeared in the book, Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Back to Fantasy

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