ELECTRA OF THE LONE ISLANDS
Disclaimer: The characters of Peter Pevensie, Susan Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Lucy Pevensie, and Aslan are all property of Disney® and of C.S. Lewis, as is Narnia.
The Lost Child
A bright red glow lifted against the northern horizon. Had the color been against the eastern or western sky, it might have been mistaken for the breathtaking phenomena that took place every morning and evening. The rapid increase of red, however, gave off the evil foreboding presence that was only intensified by the piercing screams that filled the air around it.
Chaos filled the night, the fateful night Electra would never remember.
She was watching everything from her window, entranced while looking down upon her city that was aglow with the same light that kept her room lit in the deepest parts of the night. It was the same light that frightened away the monsters and demons that lurked in the darkest shadows only to come out when the unsuspecting victim was dreaming pleasantly.
Why the people in the city below screamed in fright away from such a protective light was a mystery to her, and drew in her curiosity all the more.
Her bedroom door opened with a bang, causing Electra's attention to be pulled away from the sight outside the window. An elder woman with graying-blonde hair hurried in, glancing over at the bed. A look of panic crossed her face as her eyes grazed wildly around the room before falling upon Electra.
"Electra!" she gasped in a crazed whisper, "Get away from the window! You could be seen!" She hurried over, kneeling to the floor to bring herself more to Electra's height. She pulled her close, embracing the small girl tightly. The urgency Electra felt from the woman caused fear to seep into her for the first time that night. She pulled away from the elder woman, her moss-grey eyes wide.
"Nurse?" Her small voice called through the air, coming out like a small wounded animal. The sound made the nurse tremble and pull Electra into a closer embrace.
A loud crash forced their bodies to jolt apart. Electra looked around still unaware of what was going on. Yet she was starting to feel the danger around her. Tears began to spring forward as she was lifted into the air; her dark curls bounced on her shoulders as the nurse balanced Electra in her arms.
"We must go find your parents" she whispered hurriedly, carrying the child from her room.
The halls were in even more of frantic than the Nurse, so much so that Electra's fear was momentarily forgotten as she watched everyone run about, wondering where each that fell within her line of vision was headed.
"Electra, my child!"
Electra felt herself being lifted from the nurse's arms and into a set of entirely different ones. The face was familiar, the same moss-grey eyes and curled hair, only light. She knew she was safe in her mother's care but she could never feel as safe as she did with the nurse. The man next to her mother was also familiar, and resembled Electra in that he had the same dark hair as well.
"You should leave quickly, your Majesties," the nurse whispered. Her hand shakily ran through Electra's hair and down her cheek. "I shall miss you, sweet princess."
"Nurse," Electra whispered, taking the nurse's wrinkling hand in her small smooth ones. Electra didn't quite understand the feeling, but something inside told her that if she let go of the elder woman, she would never see her again.
"We must go," her father urged, leading his wife and daughter down a side and much less frantic hall. Electra kept her eyes on the nurse as she stayed put stayed put, the nurse in turn watching them flee before they turned a corner and she disappeared from view entirely.
Tears once again leaked from Electra's eyes and she let out a small cry of despair. She didn't understand why her nurse hadn't come with them.
"Hush, my darling," her mother whispered. "You must be silent."
Despite her grief, Electra obeyed, silencing herself so her only signs of grief were her tears.
They were now deeper in their home than Electra had ever been. They had just passed through a metal door and were traveling down a long hallway in which each side had two sets of walls: the stone ones farther back and the close ones were metal bars. Upon reaching the far wall, her father leaned forward and pulled open an unseen door from the floor.
Beneath the door was a small hidden chamber that held a river. It seemed the river ran beneath their huge home. A boat and watchmen were waiting for them, Electra clung tightly to her mother as the small boat rocked with their added weight, but didn't tip over.
Electra, finding all of this too uneventful to pay attention to as her father whispered to the watchman, fingered a chain around her neck that held a necklace. On it was a small pendant with what she knew to be her name inscribed into it.
"Good luck to the both of you, your Majesties," the Watchman whispered as Electra's father took out the oars and began rowing toward the exit.
A thunderous crash was then heard from above. Electra felt herself being pulled into an even tighter embrace. Shouts and metal clanging reached Electra's ears. The sound was loud and throbbing, painful. Her reaction was a natural one—to scream.
Words from her father and mother clashed. Her mother was now holding her so tightly she could hardly breathe.
A whistling sound filled the air, and Electra turned her head at the sound of a splash just in time to see her father fall from the boat. Screaming filled the night as Electra was once again lifted up into her mother's arms. There was a sudden jolt and then she felt herself fall forward, strait into the water. The weight of her mother limply clinging to Electra forced her downward. She flailed, not knowing how to swim and unable to breathe. The turquoise sea engulfed her, slowly fading to black.
A small twinkle of light caught Electra's attention for a second. She could make out a pair of great big eyes peering at her, barely outlined in the murky water. The face that surrounded those eyes reminded Electra of one of a cat, but this one seemed much bigger and had fuzzy hair surrounding its head.
She could just make out it opening its great mouth, forcing a small current her way, before everything went completely black.