Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the series that I use. I just manipulate them to my will. Elizabeth, Nina, and Eldunari are mine, though I did steal Elduanri's name from The Inheritance Cycle. ^_^


How to Be a Messenger

Chapter 1: How to Become a Recruit

Elizabeth ran as fast as she could. She was late for school…again. She scrambled into her classroom, out of breath, just as the bell rang. With a sigh of relief, she dropped into her seat.

"Cutting it rather close, aren't you, Lizzy?" Her best friend Nina whispered as the teacher started calling roll.

"Hey, it takes talent to be on time when you're that late," Lizzy whispered back. Nina just rolled her eyes.

The two girls attended Lady Sabine's Academy for Young Girls, a boarding school in Northern England. There they learned basics, like English, math, and other core subjects, as well as studies in fine arts, common skills, like cooking and cleaning, how to fight using different weapons to attack and defend, and basic survival skills.

Their first class on Mondays was English with Mr. Hampton. He was pretty easy-going, but if Lizzy had been late, it would have been the fourth time this month. It was only mid0Spetember, about two weeks into the new term. Lizzy was the only person Nina knew who could be late four times in the first two weeks of school when she lived on campus. It was an impressive feat.

Lizzy struggled through English class. She was really great at it, but she hated to do any kind of school work. It was a miracle (named Nina) that she was passing all her core subjects.

After English, the two girls split. Nina went to the shooting range for Archery class. Lizzy was also outside, but she was on the other side of the school at Blades class. Blades was where students learned how to use and defend from knives, swords, and somehow guns also ended up in that category as well. Blades was definitely one of Lizzy's favorite subjects.

There was a new girl in Blades that day. She quickly rose through the skill level ranks until, at the end of class, she and Lizzy were out there, battling for top-of-class, going all-out with naginatas, a type of Japanese knife attached to a short staff. The teacher was fascinated and enchanted by their graceful fighting, which looked much like a coordinated dance. He was so mesmerized by it that he didn't even make them call a draw when the bell sounded for the next class.

The wove in and out of each other until id did end in a draw, their naginatas crossed in the middle, just centimeters away from each other's necks. Both girls were breathing hard. As they lowered their weapons and shook hands, they heard clapping behind them. Turning, they saw their teacher, flapping his hands madly.

"That was brilliant!" He cried. "I've never had two students so evenly matched! Your technique was beautiful, so refined! Elizabeth, I never knew you had it in you! I guess no one was ever at your level. And how you – "

"Mr. Otori," Lizzy broke in, "We really need to get to class. I have science with Ms. Johnson right now…" Her voice trailed off, but that sentence was self-explanatory. Ms. Johnson was considered by all the students (and even some teachers, though they wouldn't admit it) to be the strictest teacher in the school. Mr. Otori nodded. He wrote them passes to class.

Even with her pass, Lizzy still got a scolding from Ms. Johnson for being late. She couldn't even act like she cared. Her face was still flushed from the fight, her heart still racing. She hoped that she would see that girl again. Maybe they could duel again, have a rematch. It was a lot fun the first time, and she wanted to see if one of them could actually defeat the other. She was sure Mr. Otori would let them use the training ground again if they wanted to, as long as he was allowed to watch.

Science went by in a haze. Lizzy didn't even pretend to be paying attention. As soon as the bell rang to end class, she bolted for the door, as was the first one out, even though she was seated in the back of the room. She wanted to look for the girl, to meet her properly. She hadn't even gotten her name before.

She finally saw her, standing at the end of a hall. She was staring at something that was around the corner. "Hey!" Lizzy called, coming up to her.

"Shh!" The girl said quickly. Lizzy looked at where the girl was staring and gasped. Standing in the hall, facing the other direction, was a gigantic monster. "Troll," she whispered, by way of a quick explanation. Lizzy still didn't quite understand what it was or how it got there, but she decided not to ask yet.

The two girls sat there for a while, careful not to make any noise at all. Apparently trolls are very stupid. Then, the troll sniffed. It had finally caught on. It swung around and saw the two girls there. With a roar, it came charging at them. Her training kicking in, Lizzy took a running leap and did a karate kick, aiming straight for the gut. The troll was tall, but she made it. The kick had almost no effect on the troll. It swatted Lizzy away. She hit the wall and crumpled to the floor, barely conscious.

Her fuzzed brain barely recognized what she saw until later, but what she did comprehend shocked her. The girl held her arms above her head, her eyes closed. As she slowly pulled her hands apart, a blue ball formed there. A spell was forming.

But for the troll, it wasn't forming fast enough. He charged at the girl. With a cry, Lizzy instinctively jumped and knocked the girl over. A blinding white light exploded from them, knocking the troll about ten feet back. Lizzy and the girl slammed into the floor. The girl's blue light went out, but it didn't matter anymore. The troll was out for the count.

Lizzy sat on the ground, breathing hard. She didn't know that knocking a girl down could do that. Maybe it had something to do with the weird blue magic that the girl had been making.

The girl straightened up and brushed herself off, straightening her clothes. "See, I told you I'd find the source," she said, addressing someone behind Lizzy. Lizzy turned her head slowly and jumped back in surprise. Standing behind her was an enormous lion.

"So you did," the lion said in a deep voice. Lizzy couldn't believe her ears. A lion that talked? This day was just getting weirder and weirder. She decided that it would be a good idea to stay sitting down. It was a good thing she did.

In a soft flash of light, a man appeared. He looked to be about in his early twenties. "I don't know if you could say that you found her. I would more call it…stumbling upon her in a rare stroke of luck. If anything, she found you."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," the girl said lazily. "Anyway, she's here, so let's go!"

All this time, Lizzy had just sat there, watching events unfold, but now seemed like a good time to get involved – things about her were being decided and she had been left behind in the conversation. "No. I'm not going anywhere until I know exactly who you are, what just happened, and where the heck you guys are trying to take me."

The girl looked down at Lizzy. "Well, I'm Eldunari, the guy is Paladin, and the overgrown, talking lion is Aslan." She said, matter-of-fact. "That thing was a troll that followed me here from Middle Earth," she continued. "We are going to take you to True Narnia, so you can become a messenger. If you want to, of course," she added, rubbing her ribs where Paladin had elbowed them. "But if you ask me, it's a pretty good deal."

Lizzy stood up quickly and put her hands out in front of her, palms out. "Hold on a minute. Narnia? Really? Isn't that the name of a place in some book I read? There's no way you can take me there. You have to get there by magic, and that doesn't exist."

Eldunari sighed and looked at Paladin and Aslan. "Here we go." She turned back to Lizzy. "Hun, look around you. You just defeated a troll with a white light and now you're talking to a lion. How can you say that magic doesn't exist?"

This isn't happening, Lizzy thought. "This is a dream," she whispered. "That's it. That's exactly it," she said with a little laugh. "I just dozed off in Ms. Johnson's class. That explains all the bizarre things that are happening."

"Except that in a dream, if you get hurt, you wake up," Eldunari pointed out. "You almost got knocked out back there. Sorry, dear, but you're not dreaming."

Lizzy's head got light. Magic, real? It couldn't be possible. Yet here was the proof, right in front of her. "So suppose I decided to believe you – and I'm not saying that I do – but if I did, what would happen then?" She asked.

Eldunari nodded, like she knew something that Lizzy didn't, and said, "You would go with us to True Narnia and learn about how to be a messenger." She glanced at Paladin. "You'll be the only new recruit there, so your training will go fairly quickly."

"And what would this training be?" Despite herself, Lizzy was starting to get interested.

"Well, you would learn about what it means to be a messenger, some magic basics, and how to use your messenger-specific powers." Eldunari looked Lizzy in the eyes. "So does that mean you're coming?"

Lizzy looked down. It would be good to learn about magic, especially after…whatever had happened with the troll. But she didn't want to leave her home. "Would I ever be able to come back?" She asked.

Eldunari nodded. "I'm sure you would be able to come back for a few years after you became a messenger. But we don't age, so it will get harder to stay in one place as you're supposed to age. And, as you'll learn, it would be inconvenient for us to get old and die." Lizzy bit her lip. It was a hard decision. Eldunari could tell that she was struggling. "How about this," she suggested. "You can finish your day, go to the rest of your classes, think about your decision, and tell me after dinner. I'm technically a student here for today, so it shouldn't be hard to find me."

"Okay," Lizzy said after a slight hesitation. "If that's the case, then we'd probably better get to lunch before they stop serving and we have nothing to eat."

Eldunari nodded. "Lead the way." She turned back to Aslan and Paladin. "See you later, bros." She blew a kiss and then followed Lizzy to the cafeteria.

After she had gotten her food, Lizzy walked back to Nina. "So, how was your day?" She asked.

"Day? We only had one class apart!" Nina laughed. "But Archery was brilliant today. We got to do target practice on horseback through the forest behind the school. Not exactly your type of sport," Nina looked at Lizzy with a smile. "Not violent enough."

Lizzy gave a little laugh. "Yeah, definitely more your type." She tried to pay attention to her friend, but her mind kept wandering. The more observant Nina sensed this and let her think. They ate their lunch together quietly.

Lizzy managed to get through her art, music, and combat classes. History was a lot harder since she didn't find it very interesting. Her mind kept wandering back to what Eldunari had said.

Finally, the deciding moment came – supper. And when she walked into the cafeteria, her two choices were laid in front of her, blatantly and harshly obvious. On one side of the cafeteria was Nina, waiting for Lizzy to come over like she always had. And on the far opposite side was Eldunari and the possibility of a strange new life. The paths were right in front of her, but now that she had to choose, she didn't want to. For a moment, she stood indecisively, tray in hand. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and finally took the first step…towards Eldunari. Before she could lose her nerve, she walked over and sat down, shooting Nina an apologetic look.

Eldunari just looked up at her and then continued eating her food. She was waiting for Lizzy to take the first step, and though she hated to admit it, Lizzy knew that. She took a bite of her own food and then said, as casually as she could manage, "I'm going with you."

Eldunari nodded without even looking up, confirming what Lizzy had already come to realize – she had known all along that Lizzy would choose to go to Narnia. "Then there's not a moment to lose." Without even finishing her dinner, Eldunari grabbed Lizzy's hand and pulled her out of the cafeteria.

"Wait!" Lizzy said, stopping short. "Don't I at least get to say goodbye to Nina?"

"I've already left a note on her bed, explaining things as best as I can. Now let's go!" Great, Lizzy thought. But before she could respond out loud, they were sent off by a collage of swimming lights.


So here's the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon. If you have any ideas for a book/movie that I could use in my story, just tell me what it is and I'll see what I can do. Here are the titles that I'm experimenting with so far:

Rowan of Rin
The Dragonkeeper Chronicles
Harry Potter
Circle of Magic/The Circle Opens
Song of the Lioness/The Immortals/Protector of the Small
Lord of the Rings
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Sailor Moon
Percy Jackson
Star Wars
Ranger's Apprentice
City of Ember
Charlie Bone
Inheritance Cycle
...