The Malignity of Darkness

Chapter I:

Caspian X, the great patron of peace, the voyager, the seeker of truth and knowledge, the wiser younger, the King of Narnia at the present time, sat on his throne in gleaming splendor and pride. His clothes were radiant, polished, and crisp to perfection. His hair was in the same order as well as his face, but his posture was rather cold, heartless, and unforgiving.

"The destitution is great Your Majesty." Reepicheep said as he stood in his place, bowing low to the ground as he should.

"What sort of destitution are you talking about?" Caspian asked, a bit confused. "I called you strictly for report; now acceded to my demands or I have you hauled out!" His voice echoed throughout the halls. Reepicheep, his noble friend and vizier nodded slowly and told of his knowledge.

"It appears that the people are starving, Your Majesty. Ever since you proposed the rations, work has become, to use the phrase lightly, onerous."

"Onerous?"

"Difficult and backbreaking Sire." Reepicheep said.

"I know what it means!" Caspian's voice roared and echoed throughout the halls, "Let them starve," Caspian said, "there are too many of them." He stood.

Reepicheep noticed the clenched fist, the tightly furrowed brow, and the devilish appearance that his superior now carried. Caspian walked towards the door. The mouse stood erect and watched him.

"Ever since the voyage he's been rather malignant," the mouse thought, "as if somehow he has grown...resentment. To whom or to what I haven't the slightest supposition but I wouldn't necessarily want to be in his crossfire."

Just then, Reepicheep heard Caspian cursing and dismissing someone from the doorway. The mouse rushed over to see how it was, but as he did so, he realized how serious Caspian's condition was.

"Get out of here you fucking ferret!" Caspian cried, kicking the poor creature to the ground.

"Please Your Majesty!" The ferret cried, both figuratively and literally. "I meant you no offense, please stop this!"

Caspian kicked him over and over, making the poor frightened peaceful visitor bleed, scar, and have difficulty breathing. Reepicheep rushed over just as Caspian was about to lower his foot and do the poor thing in. The mouse threw himself over the ferret, and although he was smaller than him, Reepicheep turned his back to his King and shielded the ferret as best he could. Embracing him and whispering in his ear: "Don't be afraid, it's going to be alright."

"Step aside Reepicheep." Caspian said.

"Forgive me Your Majesty, but I must rebuff and assert." Reepicheep replied.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me, I said, step aside Reepicheep." Caspian repeated.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me Sire!" The mouse shouted and turning towards him his voice grew evil. "I must rebuff and assert!"

Caspian leaned down to the rodent's level, "You must do what I say!"

Reepicheep moved in closer, standing as tall he possibly could. His eyes turned vermilion, his brow matched his fury and his temperature was feverish. "I will not serve in a house where murder is a ruling!"

"Then you have no use for me anymore."

"As if you have a choice to dismiss me?" Reepicheep said. "You think you can just dispose of me? Don't you understand that I am the only one who hasn't committed eighty-six complaints against you? The only advisor you have left alive!"

"They were disposable."

Reepicheep's eyes calmed down, his disposition was of grief as his heart broke. "They were my countrymen." He paused, giving himself time to compose himself, "You butchered them in their sleep."

"If you wanted to leave," Caspian said, "you could have." He stood and walked back towards his throne.

"I stayed, because I was the only one keeping you alive."

Caspian stopped and turned, his eyes looked down at the rodent condescendingly, "What do you mean by that?"

"Do you not remember the riots?" Reepicheep asked. "The thievery," he took a step in, and with each addition to the list he took another, "the fires, the grief, the anguish, the mass suicides? If it weren't for me then they would have placed your head on a pike and sent your limbs to the four corners of the country."

He stopped in front of the King's feet, "Half the population is dead and the other half are close to it."

Reepicheep hung his head in great mourning. The ferret at the door stood slowly and patiently waited.

"I called you King once," the mouse said, eyes transfixed on the floor, "I called you brother once." He looked up at Caspian, a tear rolled down his face, "I bled for you once. You did not bleed for me. You did not bleed for anyone if I recall correctly."

"What are you implying Reepicheep?"

Reepicheep's blood boiled over and his voice could have been heard from the there all the way to the lamppost.

"YOU ARE NOT MY SOVERIGN!" He released his blade, "H e died when his foot stepped onto home soil and his murderer is standing before me!"

The mouse moved close and personal, "You have exactly seven seconds to return to normalcy before I sincerely consider placing my blade where I vowed it dare not go. Now," his voice simmered down to a whisper, "utter words which prove me wrong. There is something in you, something that- secretes madness."

Caspian smiled, kneeling down again "I prefer the term darkness."

"Then it's official then." The mouse leapt in the air, threw his blade impaling Caspian's heart. When the mouse landed, Caspian was keeling over. The monarch coughed.

"You shall be executed!"

Reepicheep did not pretend to notice, he walked towards the ferret and when he reached the door, he turned back and said, "Then it shall be a glorious execution."

The mouse and the ferret exited.

"Now, what business do you have?" Reepicheep asked the ferret as they walked through the courtyard and out into the world.

"Well, it's peculiar business I can tell you that."

"Peculiarities sir are my specialty."

"Really?" The ferret asked.

"You don't sail to the edge of the world and back and return without seeing some peculiarities. If you don't then you weren't necessarily taking a voyage." Reepicheep said.

"Ah," the ferret said somewhat meekly. "Well this business, thankfully so I suspect, does not involve water or seafaring. It involves a...well, I don't necessarily what to call it."

"First words that come to mind when you think of it. Go!" Reepicheep said.

"Carnivorous labyrinth."

Reepicheep stopped himself. "Carnivorous labyrinth?"

"I told you it was peculiar."

"That's more than peculiar!" The mouse cried, "That's suspect to alcoholism and improper use of methamphetamines. Are you under the influence of said narcotics?"

"What are you, the police force?"

"No but I can very well summon an officer." Reepicheep said.

"Don't worry or trouble yourself Master Reepicheep, I'm just a ferret who isn't drunk nor his is an addict. He's just scared."

"Please don't call me Master or Sir or anything of that nature, it's too superficial. By the way, while we're on the subject, what do you call yourself?" The mouse asked.

"Russ," the ferret answered, "and it's alright if you find me crazy."

"That's an understatement." Reepicheep said.

"Oh it is, do tell!" The ferret laughed as the two made their way into a field towards the Western Wood.

"For starters a carnivorous labyrinth is impossible." The mouse said continuing, "For an inanimate object made out of a bush, I'm assuming that's what you're talking about yes?"

The ferret nodded.

"Good," the mouse said, "then I'm on the same page. Anyway, the complexities of the matter are rather absurd to begin with. If you're saying that there is a such a thing as a carnivorous labyrinth then you are also saying that it is a sentient being, implying that it has a mind of its own and thus the ability to think and..."

The ferret smiled.

He's rambling on like a sophomoric twit. Russ thought, Babbling on about the theory and science of a

"thing that couldn't possibly exist! And furthermore, are you even listening to me Russ, I don't think you are, but no matter I shall continue anyway, "

This and that and so on, he's dreadfully boring and seems to nag constantly. He would make a great woman and an excellent companion for my father who's always debating about policy and trifles. Just yesterday he mentioned how a piece of paint chipped off one of his traps, for his hobby of sinister trap making has now reached a new level of absurdity. He talked about a stupid paint chip for hours on end.

"Finally, I think you're-" Reepicheep stopped talking (for he had been doing so for roughly an hour) and realized where he was. "completely serious."

It was a monstrosity. Extending the length of seven ships and the height of a castle this earthly beast, accompanied with a ghostly fog, appeared to be inching towards them.

Well," Reepicheep said with a slight chill up his spine, "it appears to be rather decrepitude now doesn't it?"

Russ nodded, "Indeed, the foul stench of the thing. Personally, I think it has something to do with-"

A voice, shrill and deathly cut the ferret off, it spoke. "Beware fair travelers, for the key to the door is 661318 and the door is one of death. Abate Verge Ye How!"

"Speak coherently mystical sprite!" Reepicheep asked.

"The Erinyes is what plagues your house and keeps your friends." The voice replied. "Kill the Erinyes, and you will have rid the Dark Lord of his nefarious plot."

"What are you talking about?" Russ said.

"Your task is to not let the Dark Lord consume the rodent." The voice said, "Protect him as you would a brother, and he will threat you with the same honor. For you and he are equipoise."

"So," Reepicheep said, "where do we begin?"

"You begin," the voice said addressing Reepicheep, "where the light was first seen by her."

"And what about me?" Russ asked.

"You begin," the voice said addressing Russ, "where the flute song ended."

After that the voice disappeared into air, leaving the two now duty bound brothers at arms at a bit of a loss.

"Begin where the flute song ends?" Russ asked. He looked at Reepicheep, "Have any idea on what that means?"

Reepicheep shook his head, "You're asking the wrong person. It's all Balderdash to me, and I can only speak a few words of it."

"Well perhaps we can go to someone who speaks Balderdash?" Russ suggested.

"Good idea," Reepicheep answered, "and I think I know just the person to help us." He looked around, taking his bearings. "He lives not too far from here, in fact, if we hurry we can make it by sundown."

"You lead, I'll gladly follow." Russ said. Reepicheep shrugged and took off in a northern direction following the tree line for a bit and then going into the Wood some more. Russ followed, confident in the mouse' bearings and navigation, perfectly content in playing the back wheel. The ferret however was not looking forward to being in front, which he assumed would eventually be the case. At the moment, he was just thankful to have someone who understood him and by his side now, for he had gone to see Trufflehunter, his cousin by marriage, for ferrets and badgers are not related but are somehow in the same family of classification, but he was of no help.

"No," Trufflehunter said to Russ as he stood in his doorway, "you have given me enough trouble already Russ, I refuse to be apart in this crusade of yours."

"Please Truff!" Russ pleaded with him, falling on his knees, "I need your help, we all do."

Trufflehunter rolled his eyes, "Absolutely not!" He shouted, "Don't you realize that you are the reason I live here now. I had a beautiful home just upriver and because of your foolish behavior forced me into here. I'm sorry but I cannot, and will not help you any longer."

"Oh come on Truff," Russ replied, "you're still holding a grudge."

"It's my fatal flaw, now get out!" Trufflehunter said and shut the door in his face.

"If you don't help me," Russ said, "then who will?"

Trufflehunter rolled his eyes and from behind the door said, "Why don't you go bother Reepicheep, I'm sure he'll help you. You two have the same zeal for adventure anyway. So go, hopefully some of him will rub off on you."

Reepicheep lead Russ to none other than the badger's house. When Russ caught up to him, the ferret hung back a bit. Reepicheep knocked on the door.

"Truff, it's me Reepicheep, you home?" The mouse asked.

"Um, Reepicheep," Russ said rather meekly.

Reepicheep turned towards him and noticed that the ferret was cowering behind a rock in a fearful, miserable state. The mouse walked over to him.

"Why so distraught!" Reepicheep cried with a bit of enthusiasm. "We're safe here."

"You might be," Russ replied, "but I don't think Trufflehunter takes me too kindly."

"Why would you say that?"

Russ sighed, "I sort of caused his house to collapse on top of him and his family."

Reepicheep laughed a bit, "In truth that's hilarious."

"Well," Russ said with a pause, "not really. You see, Trufflehunter is the only one that survived that incident."

"Oh," Reepicheep said taking back his laugh, "I see."

Russ nodded as tears fell down his face, "I didn't mean to! It wasn't my fault, I was just trying to fix the roof for them that's all. I must've hit a support beam or something-" he cried, "I'm sorry, it's just difficult to bear is all."

"Does Trufflehunter blame you for it?" Reepicheep asked. Russ nodded as he began to wail.

"He reminds me every time I come over. He makes me feel awful. Calls me a murderer, a devil, an evil specter. I have apologized to him, even re-built the house and buried the family but he still dismisses me." He paused, attempting to compose himself. "What do I have to do to make him see my suffering!"

"Nothing, simply change the conversation."

"But how do I do that when he keeps bringing it up?" Russ asked.

"Try small talk."

The door opened and Trufflehunter walked out. "Hello?" The badger asked looking around. "Did someone knock?"

Reepicheep appeared from behind the rock and smiled, "Over here Truff!" He called and walked over to his friend.

"Why Reepicheep," Trufflehunter said with a smile and a firm handshake, "it's been far too long, far, far too long."

"Indeed," the mouse said, "I need you to do me a favor."

"Of course, what is it?" The badger asked.

"Make reconciliation with Russ and then decipher some Balderdash." Reepicheep said.

Trufflehunter sighed and walked inside, "Come in," the badger looked over toward the rock, "you too if you must."

Russ emerged from behind his hiding place slowly and walked towards the door. Reepicheep stood in the doorway, holding the door open for him. "See," the mouse said, "small talk."

"Small talk huh?" Russ said making a mental note, "I'll have to remember that."

Reepicheep nodded, "Baby steps Russ," the ferret walked in the door, the mouse closed it after him, "baby steps."