Shadowlands: 10 full house

I was in a garden. I ran between the rows and rows of white roses. Two guards jumped up, and I regretted not grabbing my swords. The chain flicked up into my hand, wrapped around the hilts of two tulwar.1

I caught them, and prepared for a fight. The guards did not attack. They simply went about painting the rosebushes.2

A cat rubbed against my leg. I looked down, he smiled back up at me. “Hello chap. I’m a bit lost; looking for a friend, he has something for me. You haven’t seen anything strange around have you hmhm.”3

Had I known better I would have recognized this leering cat as a Kami Priest. But I did not know better. I thought he might be helpful, “Follow me.”4

I continued running for the closing rift. The cat hopped onto my shoulder. I came to a drop off overlooking a miniature house with a quaint little garden. 5

Looking worriedly at the little home was a rabbit wearing court clothes and holding a pair of white kid gloves.6

“Cheers mate!” the cat shouted, he jumped off my shoulder and bounded down the slope in a spry way.7

“Wait,” I started to shout, stifling it in my throat. A lizard came up out of the grass and joined them.8

“How’s it coming?” the cat asked the rabbit.9

“Smoothly, her uncle is still trying to revive her, but that won’t be happening. In the meantime, I sent her into my home, where she should find a-” the rabbit was cut off by the sight of an arm enlarging through his window. “She’s ready master Cheshire. The queen will be pleased.”10

“Yes, she will. Bill!”11

“Sir!” the lizard jumped up from where he had been snoozing in the grass.12

“Go get her out of there. Do I need to tell you to do your job?” The cat stood up to an intimidating height of one and a half feet. He conjured a top hat and a cane. “Now!”13

‘Bill’ jumped up and ran to the house, while the cat placed the hat on his own head. The little lizard tried climbing up the house, holding onto the drainpipe. After several failed attempts, he decided to climb in the drainpipe.14

I started making my way carefully down the slope.15

Bill was on the roof, making his way to the chimney. I crept up behind the two mammals.16

“There goes bill,” said the cat. The little lizard skyrocketed out in the aftermath of a small foot rising through the chimney.17

I grabbed at the rabbit, my hand phased through him. He was a haunt. 18

My mistake had been made. The cat leapt and four clawed my arm. He flicked his cane up with his tail and started clubbing me with it in his right hand.19

I grabbed his head with my hand, and squeezed.20

The rabbit started running, but I whipped my chain around his neck, clothes-lining him. I twisted the cat’s head. He slowly disappeared from his tail up, until I had my fingers wrapped around a bodiless skull. It winked and disappeared.21

The rabbit regained himself and jumped my foot. I yelped as his large teeth pierced flesh, and scraped the bones in my arch. 22

Shadowy tendrils wrapped down my right arm, and my sword jumped into my hand as I reached for it. I pulled hard on the chain. The rabbit let go as I choked him. I slammed him into the ground, and skewered him there. I wrenched on my chain, and his head severed.23

I took my swords, and started chopping away at the house, trying to cut the roof loose. My swords ignited with the frenzy of my struggle. The straw roof started burning.24

With the wood weakened by charring, I was able to wrench out the rafters. I reached through the smoke, feeling around. My eyes were stinging, and I had leaned up against an ember, but still I searched.25

My hand fell on a head. I felt down to the shoulder and pulled out a little girl. She had feinted from heat or smoke, so I laid her down on the grass.26

It was definitely her. It was my hallucination in flesh.27

Heavy footsteps caught my attention. The smile of the cat was leading ten crushers, marked from ace to ten. Unlike other crushers, they were all white save for the black marks indicating their number and suit. Also unlike their kin, they carried huge black clubs.28

Knowing what a crusher could do with his fists, I did not plan on staying to find out what could be done with a cudgel.29

I pulled the girl onto her feet. Her eyes opened a little. I lifted her light body across my shoulders, holding her arm and leg across my chest with my left hand. I held a tulwar in my right hand, and used it to climb up the embankment.30

I heard the girl mutter something about a cat without a grin. A large rock embedded into the slope near me. “She’s mine mortal!” shouted the cat’s floating smile.31

I set the girl down at the top of the slope. Something seemed familiar. Something I hadn’t noticed; cards, roses, a rabbit, Uncle Charles. It clicked. 32

“There goes Bill,” I whispered to myself. I knelt down beside the girl, swords sheathed.33

I placed my right hand on her forehead. The shadows danced over her body. She coughed out some smoke and sat up. “Alice?” I asked.34

“Yes, how do you know my name?” she asked with fear in her eyes.35

“I’ve read your uncle’s works,” I said. It was deceitful, but technically true, “Incredible logician. We can discuss that later though. Right now, I need to get you to safety.”36

“Why? Safety? Am I in danger?” she was shaking visibly now. Another rock hurtled overhead.37

“Not while I’m here,” I said, “Don’t be afraid.” I placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled halfheartedly. “Do you trust me?”38

She nodded. I tapped a rock to my boot, and it glowed bright black. I handed it to her. She followed me as I crawled to the edge of the drop off. Crushers six through ten were at the bottom, collecting good throwing stones.39

Ace through five were making their way around the cliff. “Alice,” I held out my hand, “You can call me Al. If anything gets close enough to hurt us, throw that stone at it.”40

“You’ve done this a lot haven’t you?” she asked, pressing against my side.41

“Only once really.” I said, crouching low. The crushers started throwing rocks at us in volleys. Fortunately they couldn’t see me, and the rocks landed safely behind us.42

The situation was bad. I couldn’t make more than one attack from where I stood or Alice would in danger. And if I left her to go attack the throwers, the other team would have no one in their way.43

I wrapped an arm around Alice’s shaking body. “I’m going to distract that group, you wait until the others get close and throw that rock, then come down after me.” I drew my tulwar. Shadowy flames spread across my body. Alice backed away. The tendrils enveloped my right blade, and my shackles wrapped around the left blade. 44

I started down the slope, pitching my swords at the ten of clubs. I hit him in the shoulder and the chest. I wrapped a hand around the chain, and wrenched the blade out of the crusher’s shoulder. I swung it around in a wide circle. It wrapped around seven’s neck, and hit nine in the face. Six stepped between me and my right blade. I called it to me, and it plunged through his body.45

I let the blade pass by my hand, and it hit eight in the head. I leapt up onto eight’s shoulders, and pulled the sword out of his face. As I leapt off, I pulled myself to seven, pitching it into his head. As I passed over him, I grabbed the hilt and the sword levered up through his skull.46

There was an explosion and a scream. Alice tumbled down the slope. The Cheshire Cat slid down after her. I tapped my sword to my boot, and threw it between them. The cat disappeared in an explosion of stripes and confetti.47

I sheathed my swords and picked up Alice in my left arm as she ran to me. I turned, running between the bleeding Crushers. I cleared their fists, and felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder.48

I spun, trying to land with Alice on top of me. She sat up and cowered away as the Cheshire Cat, now an intimidating five feet tall, pulled the grappler out of my shoulder. He pulled the sword out of his cane. “Now Alice. You get to watch your friend die, and then become food for thought.”49

He unbuckled my belt, and tossed it aside with my swords, “How’s the poison feeling chap?” he mocked me, “What? Cat got your tongue?”50

I heard Alice sobbing as he circled around me. “No last words. It was a good effort Al, I commend you. I guess it can’t be put off any longer.” He raised his pointed cane in both hands, tip down. There was a sizzling sound, and a burning sword slid out of his chest.51

He fell onto me, his knees in my chest and stomach. Alice stood there, shocked, holding my swords. I laid there and watched the Crushers approach. The ace took his club and smashed me in the chest with it. Alice clung tightly to the swords as they carried her away.52

I reached weakly for five. The chain slithered at him for a foot, and then fell slack in the grass of the maze. 53

see how weak he is Grok