and no good intent. They scrabbled
onto dry land and attacked any card soldiers and chessmen
within
sight: yet another battle, an ambush upon Alyss’ senses and strength. Pointing her scepter at the Heart Crystal, she surrounded the Earth mercenaries with a barrier exactly like the one that had so recently separated the queendom from Boarderland—the pylons, the sound waves that could fry a trespasser’s internal organs. But as she did, the scorpspitters that had cornered Catabrac warriors in a dark quadrant of the Chessboard Desert disintegrated into nonexistence. The warriors blasted their way through a spread of Five Cards and advanced toward the capital city. Redd, informed of Sacrenoir’s arrival and rolling toward Wondertropolis in her three-wheeled vehicle, guffawed when she remote-viewed the barrier meant to contain Sacrenoir and the others. The closer she got to the Heart Crystal, the more she felt her powers increase. She stopped up the barrier’s pylon vents; the sound waves flickered and went out. Alyss conjured another barrier, but Redd stopped up its vents just as quickly. Alyss conjured a third barrier, but this time, sensing Alyss’ gaze upon her and wanting a distraction, Her Imperial Viciousness said aloud, “Let’s see how my guardsman friend is doing.” She then directed her energies to a particular Wonderland farm, where Dodge, having commandeered a spirit-dane, was speeding through a gobbygrape arbor to the Everlasting Forest, it having been reported to him that The Cat was last seen there, decimating card soldiers with tremendous swings of his paws. Since the fighting began, Alyss had taken comfort in the fact that Dodge and The Cat were nowhere near each other. But Redd’s ploy worked. Alyss let herself be distracted, focused her imaginative sight on Dodge, who had climbed off his spirit-dane and was unsheathing his father’s sword, stalking toward— “Bibwit,” Alyss yelled, “tell Dodge The Cat he sees isn’t real! It’s a construct!” The tutor repeated the message several times into his desk’s audio intake, but Dodge didn’t respond. If The Cat were a construct, he would find out for himself. The Cat grinned and stood his ground as Dodge ran toward him with a sword aimed at his throat and— Bonk!
A pail flew up and hit the guardsman in the shoulder, and before he could recover, another came at him from his opposite side. Clonk! Off balance, he swung his sword to defend himself against a hoe that had been thrown at him by some unseen hand.
Redd.
Alyss conjured pails and farming tools of her own to smash against her aunt’s. But more than a few of Redd’s conjurings made it through, hitting Dodge in the head, arms, legs and stomach, frustrating him, angering him, all while The Cat stood untouched and laughed. And in trying to protect Dodge, Alyss lost sight of what she’d been doing, imaginationwise, on other fronts. Sacrenoir and the rest of Redd’s Earth army passed between her barrier’s gobbedup pylons with ease. Elsewhere throughout the queendom, Redd’s hordes punished Alyss’ forces and closed in on Wondertropolis. Alyss realized her mistake. But it was then, as she was beginning to think Redd unstoppable, that she truly understood Blue’s message.
Court loss or lose. Invite loss.
She stood before the Heart Crystal, her scepter held loosely in her hand, doing nothing. “Alyss!” Bibwit shouted. “A-lyss!”
I must invite loss to prevent Redd’s victory.
sight: yet another battle, an ambush upon Alyss’ senses and strength. Pointing her scepter at the Heart Crystal, she surrounded the Earth mercenaries with a barrier exactly like the one that had so recently separated the queendom from Boarderland—the pylons, the sound waves that could fry a trespasser’s internal organs. But as she did, the scorpspitters that had cornered Catabrac warriors in a dark quadrant of the Chessboard Desert disintegrated into nonexistence. The warriors blasted their way through a spread of Five Cards and advanced toward the capital city. Redd, informed of Sacrenoir’s arrival and rolling toward Wondertropolis in her three-wheeled vehicle, guffawed when she remote-viewed the barrier meant to contain Sacrenoir and the others. The closer she got to the Heart Crystal, the more she felt her powers increase. She stopped up the barrier’s pylon vents; the sound waves flickered and went out. Alyss conjured another barrier, but Redd stopped up its vents just as quickly. Alyss conjured a third barrier, but this time, sensing Alyss’ gaze upon her and wanting a distraction, Her Imperial Viciousness said aloud, “Let’s see how my guardsman friend is doing.” She then directed her energies to a particular Wonderland farm, where Dodge, having commandeered a spirit-dane, was speeding through a gobbygrape arbor to the Everlasting Forest, it having been reported to him that The Cat was last seen there, decimating card soldiers with tremendous swings of his paws. Since the fighting began, Alyss had taken comfort in the fact that Dodge and The Cat were nowhere near each other. But Redd’s ploy worked. Alyss let herself be distracted, focused her imaginative sight on Dodge, who had climbed off his spirit-dane and was unsheathing his father’s sword, stalking toward— “Bibwit,” Alyss yelled, “tell Dodge The Cat he sees isn’t real! It’s a construct!” The tutor repeated the message several times into his desk’s audio intake, but Dodge didn’t respond. If The Cat were a construct, he would find out for himself. The Cat grinned and stood his ground as Dodge ran toward him with a sword aimed at his throat and— Bonk!
A pail flew up and hit the guardsman in the shoulder, and before he could recover, another came at him from his opposite side. Clonk! Off balance, he swung his sword to defend himself against a hoe that had been thrown at him by some unseen hand.
Redd.
Alyss conjured pails and farming tools of her own to smash against her aunt’s. But more than a few of Redd’s conjurings made it through, hitting Dodge in the head, arms, legs and stomach, frustrating him, angering him, all while The Cat stood untouched and laughed. And in trying to protect Dodge, Alyss lost sight of what she’d been doing, imaginationwise, on other fronts. Sacrenoir and the rest of Redd’s Earth army passed between her barrier’s gobbedup pylons with ease. Elsewhere throughout the queendom, Redd’s hordes punished Alyss’ forces and closed in on Wondertropolis. Alyss realized her mistake. But it was then, as she was beginning to think Redd unstoppable, that she truly understood Blue’s message.
Court loss or lose. Invite loss.
She stood before the Heart Crystal, her scepter held loosely in her hand, doing nothing. “Alyss!” Bibwit shouted. “A-lyss!”
I must invite loss to prevent Redd’s victory.