Alysia in Wonderland by Greg Dragon

Chapter One
    There were birds chirping in the thick black leaves above where Alysia Knight lay. She didn’t know how long she had been out, or where she was for that matter, but the thing that stuck out the most was that her shoes were missing. She probed her mind for some sort of reminder. Where had she been, what was she doing, and where was she now?
    The smell of the woods was a thick, moldy, rank smell, and it was dark, so dark in fact that she barely saw the striped black and red snake that slithered across her legs. She held her breath and watched it go, but when it was almost past her she had to stifle a gasp. Were those spikes on the end of its tail? What sort of snake was that?
    Her heart was racing now, and she looked down at her hands to see if the armor would start forming. Typically when she was anxious or afraid, silvery armor would appear at her fingertips and worm its way up her fingers, then hands, until her entire body was covered. But there was no armor, not even the faintest feeling that there would be any, and this more than anything else made her worry.
    The canopy of black leaves blocked out the entire sky, but through the black peeked areas of yellow in different shapes and sizes. It was the cloudless sky, pushing light through that dense thickness to form tiny spotlights on the forest floor. Alysia noticed this and wondered how it was that she was in Yalem, the demon world. The yellow sky was its signature as well as the strange creatures that she was now able to see.
    She sat up and dusted her legs off, noticing that she was in khaki shorts and a green t-shirt. What happened to my hakama? she wondered, and where the hell is my sword? Her mind went back to her fight with Hope, but there was a blank area beyond her victory that would not clear up no matter how hard she tried.
    A noise brought her around and she sprang into action. Laying back, she pulled her knees over her head and then threw them up and out, performing a kip-up that landed her on her feet. The spiked snake skittered away rapidly, and the sounds of the forest shrank to a deep silence that made her skin start to crawl. Then there were branches breaking and twigs snapping as something large and heavy bore down on her position.
    Alysia thought about running, or scrambling up a tree, but since she knew that the armor would protect her, she stayed still and prepared herself for a fight.
    By the time the creature was onto her she had thought better of staying, but she was too late in plotting an escape by the time it got to her. Eight misshapen legs, oddly human in shape, supported a large, round abdomen bristling with thick black hair. On top of this chaotic blend of monstrous wrongness was a muscular set of shoulders that extended into arms and hands that gripped a wicked spear. There was no head but in its place was a gaping maw of teeth that ran in rows.
    It bore down on its prey with the speed of a seasoned cage fighter, but Alysia was ready for it and was not disturbed by its appearance. She jumped to the side, out of the way of the spear as it struck the ground where she once stood. It pulled the spear back and thrust it down again in rapid succession, jabbing and poking, intent on running her through. On the fourth thrust, Alysia grabbed the haft, just above the area where it connected to the blade. She thrust her foot out at the center, snapping it in two, and spun around to face the creature with the bladed half in her hands.
    It isn’t a sword but it will do , she thought as she watched it reel back and thrust at her before realizing that its weapon was no longer usable. The creature screamed in fury when she did this, and skittered around rapidly, trying to get behind her. Alysia stepped back into a deep crouch and then began stepping from one foot to the next in a form of capoeira ginga .
    She circled with the creature, keeping it in front of her, then slid in with her right foot forward, spun acrobatically while parallel to