Poison

Summary: A Narnian must decide to finally fight good against evil to ensure that the long-awaited prophecy comes true.

Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to C. S. Lewis except for my original character, Slapdash/Corista. The idea for Slapdash was inspired by Stephenie Meyer's character Jacob Black.

There were snow flurries coming down as I made rounds around the castle Cair Paravel. The sky was gray, making the vast towers of the castle look ominous. I sighed and stopped for a moment to examine the view. I had always felt an inexplicable connection to the castle. I knew the bond was somewhere in my blood. My forefathers had long sworn on their blood to protect the thrones of Narnia. I always had felt a pull towards the Cair even though the Four Thrones hadn't been filled. A short grumble from behind me interrupted my thoughts. I turned to see a large wolf staring at me with his tongue slightly lolling out of his mouth.

"Maugrim," I acknowledged, resisting the urge to roll my eyes and flick my tail in annoyance. He was the Chief of police for Jadis, "Queen of Narnia," as she so titled herself. I did not feel a need to protect her throne. The need to throw her out of it was much stronger.

"Corista," he replied. I tried not to grimace at the name. "The Queen wishes to see you. Shall I escort you?" His tongue was practically dripping with drool. It took everything in my power not to curl my lip in disgust.

"That really isn't necessary, but thank you for the offer." He drooled at the Witch's feet. In fact, he drooled everywhere. He constantly tried courting me, but I always declined. Besides, he was old enough to be my father and the very thought sickened me!

"Are you sure? There are renegade Narnians out there." At those words, I pictured a dark-haired centaur bearing down on me. I blinked.

"Goodbye, Maugrim." Before he could respond, I was off, flicking my tail as I went.

~*~

The castle courtyard gave me the creeps. Lifeless stone bodies, scattered about and frozen in mid-motion. What brought a lurch to my stomach every time was the fact that I actually knew a couple of these beings. It was a collection spanning hundreds of years. Generations upon generations. I remembered the battle cries, the sound of hooves charging bravely up to the castle, the sound of crumpling as they met their fates. I paused before one of them. The stone lion had newly marked circles around its eyes and a weird shape drawn under its nose. It looked almost comical if the expression on the lion's face hadn't been so somber. I huffed and trotted quickly into the castle.

She was waiting for me on her throne. I worked on keeping the hatred out of my expression as I came to stand in front of her.

"How goes patrol on the east?" she said in her cool voice.

"Nothing…your Majesty." She nodded once.

"There will be no more need for patrols. We currently have two prisoners in the dungeon—one of which is a Son of Adam." She paused to gauge my reaction. My jaw had dropped in an unwolfy manner.

"The prophecy--?"

"Will not happen." The look she gave would have pierced through me had it been a dagger. After a pause, I nodded solemnly and made for the dungeons. Inside, my heart was beating wildly. Had this day finally come? Was hope to be restored?

After passing the troll guard, I descended the stairs to the icy dungeon. I paused to push open the gate with my nose. Right away I locked gazes with a pair of soft brown eyes, wide and fearful. The boy had dark hair, pale skin, and full lips that were tinged with blue due to the cold. His ankles were shackled and his knees drawn up to his chest. He eyed me apprehensively. No doubt the boy had encountered Maugrim and company. No need to scare him any further. I swiftly changed to human form, an ability inherited from my very first ancestor. Not much was known of him except that he had come from another world and possessed the power to change between man and wolf. My human form was just over five feet tall, and I had dark honey-toned skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes. It puzzled me as to why I looked that way, since in my wolf form, my fur was a light chestnut and my eyes were blue.

The boy had witnessed my transformation and his eyes got even wider.

"Don't be frightened," I said softly. "I won't hurt you."

"S-S-S-Slapdash?" I froze at the mention of my Narnian name and looked into the other cell where the sound had come from. Lying there, green eyes full of pain and fear, was one of my friends.

"Tumnus!" I hissed in disbelief, and ran to kneel at the opening between the cells. I reached in to put my hand on his cheek and he leaned his head into the warmth. "H-how?"

"I met a Daughter of Eve a few days ago…Lucy…She came twice for tea…The first time I seriously considered turning her in, but I let her go. Someone must have seen…" He broke off, tears starting to run down his face.

"Oh, Tumnus!" I said. It broke my heart to see my jolly friend like this. "I have been on patrol in the east. If I had known, I could have warned you!" I glanced at the boy, who looked like he was going to be sick. "What's your name, Son of Adam?"

"Edmund…" He still eyed me as if I were going to attack him any minute. I smiled a bit.

"I have two names people call me by: Slapdash and Corista. I prefer Slapdash, though. That's what I was born as." Edmund's brow furrowed.

"Slapdash? Doesn't that mean…"

"Reckless, crazy, hyper…That's how I was as a puppy." At this, Edmund looked puzzled. "In case you've forgotten, I'm a wolf." I changed form to emphasize my point. He yelped and scooted back against the wall. I sighed.

"I told you I wasn't going to hurt you! Not that I could hurt you if I tried. You see, I'm bound by blood to defend Cair Paravel and its people. Seeing as you're very likely one of the Sons of Adam described in the prophecy, I cannot harm a hair on your pretty little head!" I paused and there was a moment of silence in which I stared at Edmund and Edmund stared at me and Tumnus stared at us staring at each other. Boldly, Edmund stuck out his hand and touched my nose. My cold, wet nose. He flinched and withdrew to wipe his hand off.

"Yes, that's one of the drawbacks to being a wolf," I said, my tongue darting out to lick at my snout. Edmund rubbed at his own nose.

"You're Lucy Pevensie's brother?" asked Tumnus suddenly. Edmund nodded, looking wary again. "Yes…You have the same nose. Is your sister alright?" Edmund looked away and didn't answer. Tumnus's face grew somber and he persisted. "Is she safe?"

"I…I don't know." There was a clatter from up above and then the sound of footsteps fast descending the stairs. Tumnus and Edmund scooted back to their previous sitting places and I got to my feet as soon as Jadis rushed into the dungeon followed by Ginabrik the dwarf and the troll. She stood to tower over Edmund.

"My wolves tore that dam apart! Your little family was nowhere to be found." She grabbed the boy and lifted him off of the ground. My claws dug into the icy floor in order to stop myself from attacking the Witch. "WHERE ARE THEY?!"

"I don't know!" Edmund squeaked in fear. At this, Jadis promptly dropped him. He landed with a grunt and scooted back as far as his chains would allow.

"Then you are of no further use to me," she said in a deadly calm voice. She raised her wand above her head and I took an unconscious step between them, a growl slipping from my lips.

"Wait! The beavers said something about Aslan!" The room went quiet and all eyes turned to Edmund.

"Aslan," spat Jadis. "Where?"

"Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, he--" Tumnus tried to say, but the troll struck him in the head and he gave a cry of pain.

"They also said something about a stone table, but I left after that. I wanted to see you!" I backed away from the boy, a feeling of disgust starting to seep through.

"Release the Faun." Clanks sounded as Tumnus's chains were broken. The troll dragged him out and dumped him at Jadis's feet. "Do you know why you are here, Faun?"

"Because I believe in a free Narnia," said Tumnus boldly.

"You're here because he," she pointed at Edmund, "turned you in. For sweeties." The look on Tumnus's face showed the disgust I was feeling. "Take the Faun upstairs, and ready my sleigh. Edmund misses his family." I glanced at Edmund, who was hugging his knees and shivering. This wasn't the hope for Narnia. He was helping to bring the doom of Narnia.

"Come, Corista. No doubt you would like to see your friend off before he departs." Jadis smiled sadistically and began to climb the stairs swiftly. My stomach dropped as I saw through her words.

"No!" I clambered after her. She strode purposefully to the courtyard.

"Back to your post," she ordered the troll that had been holding Tumnus. In one swift move, she jabbed Tumnus with her wand.

"NO!!" I yelled. Suddenly, I was grabbed by the scruff of my neck.

"I think it's best that you finally choose a side," Jadis hissed. "A war is brewing and there is no place for middlemen." With that, she threw me down forcefully, knocking the wind out of me, and strolled away. I finally looked up and saw Edmund staring at Tumnus's form with shock. We met gazes. I looked away first, my head shaking in disappointment.

I watched the sledge drive away with my ears flattened against my skull. Now was time to pick a side.

Thank you for reading. Comments? Complaints? Suggestions? Please let me know.

P. S. Is anyone else amused by Edmund drawing on the lion? I noticed that they actually put the lion in the end of LWW at the coronation scene. How I recognized it? Its markings!