Chapter-22

The rabbit's words settle in my mind, each one a carefully placed piece of a larger, unraveling puzzle. The Hatter, obsessed. The Queen, empowered but afraid. The Shadow, a force that grants wishes at a terrible cost.

Curious.

I turn my gaze to the shifting darkness, the growl now a deep, guttural snarl vibrating through the very air. The clearing seems smaller now, the writhing shadows pressing in, their unseen forms promising something ancient, something monstrous.

The rabbit presses closer to me, trembling. It seeks protection. It seeks hope.

I offer neither.

Instead, I smile. A slow, deliberate thing.

"A force that grants wishes… at a cost." My voice is steady, unfazed, as I let the thought roll over my tongue. "And tell me, little one—what is it that Wonderland wishes for?"

The rabbit shivers, its ears flattening once more. "I—I don't know." Its voice is barely a whisper now. "But whatever the Shadow gives… it takes more in return."

My fingers brush against the amulet at my chest, its pulse a steady, reassuring beat against my skin. The power within it stirs, not in warning, but in anticipation. It recognizes something here—something familiar.

I exhale slowly. "Good."

The rabbit flinches at the word. I pay it no mind.

The shadows move.

A figure steps forward from the abyss—a hulking form, its body an amalgamation of darkness and something far more twisted. Its shape is humanoid, but its proportions are wrong. Limbs too long, fingers ending in curved, jagged claws that drip with inky blackness. Its head tilts unnaturally, hollow pits where eyes should be, staring at me with something that is not sight, but hunger.

It does not lunge. Not yet. It is waiting.

It wants something.

The air thickens, charged with malevolent energy, pressing against my skin like unseen hands.

The rabbit whimpers, barely holding itself together. "W-we have to run—"

"No." My voice is calm, decisive. I take a step forward instead.

The creature tenses.

"I don't run."

A long, unsettling silence stretches between us. The creature studies me. I study it.

And then, in a voice like shattered glass and distant screams, it speaks.

"Who are you?"

A test. A challenge. A doorway to something far greater.

My smile deepens.

"Let's find out."