Author's Note: Oh my, two chapters in one night, arent you lucky! I just had to write this one because the inspiration overwhelmed me. Thanks for the review, Queen Su!

"….Anyway, all that's a much shortened history of how Narnia and all its creatures were created. Aslan left after that for a very long period of time in which the White Witch, Jadis, placed herself Queen of Narnia. She made sure it was always winter and never Christmas. She had a thing for ice, cold and snow. There was this magic wand she had that could turn living things to stone. They say she had an entire castle littered with statues of those she'd disliked. My father himself was turned into stone himself. That's not really relevant though.

A prophecy lurked in the minds of all those in Narnia that loathed the Witch's rule of terror. Something about two Son's of Adam and two Daughter's of Eve being the only ones who could defeat Jadis. Then one day they just turned up out of the blue and things started changing. Aslan returned for one thing and began building an army.

The story goes that only three of the prophesised ones made their way to aid him however. One of them, the one they now name King Edmund the Just, betrayed them – he betrayed his own flesh and blood to the White Witch, can you believe that? Still, the others wanted him back so when they reached Aslan he struck up a deal with Jadis. He sacrificed himself for the traitor.

At that, High King Peter went to war with Jadis. He and his brother fought against her with numbers much less than hers and still managed to win. It is said to have been because of the High King's great leadership. Anyway, the Witch was killed and the four siblings took their seats at Cair Paravel as the sovereigns of Narnia. Oh yeah, and Aslan somehow rose from the dead. Not quite sure how that works…."

Sharp tailed off, frowning. Then he seemed to deem it not worth his concentration and fell silent. Hattie watched him for a moment before falling into deep thought. When she had asked for the fox to tell her a bit about Narnia she hadn't expected the entire history. Though it was quite interesting, she had to admit. At school she'd always had a love of history so to learn one as magical and exciting of such a foreign country was brilliant. Especially the way Sharp suggested that they still fought great wars with swords and horses. She loved the medieval parts of history like that – knighthood and famous battles for good causes.

Nevertheless, she was quite shocked by this brother who seemed to have betrayed his family. How on earth could anyone do that, she wondered, she would do anything for her brother. A pang ripped through her heart at that thought and she quashed it immediately, taking a deep breath.

She just hoped that these Kings and Queens would help her find Rupert. Hopefully they wouldn't just take one look at her and ignore her. By the sounds of the tales of Narnia they were, for the majority, good people. Surely they would assist her?

"Hattie, will you tell your dog to stay away from me?" Sharp's slightly anxious voice cut through the girl's thoughts and she glanced over to see him eyeing Barney nervously. The canine was watching him intently. Hattie could see that their little scuffle had really affected the fox's opinion of the 'dumb mutt'. Sharp's russet fur on his back still bore the matted scars of Barney's teeth. No blood had been drawn but the Narnian creature had been severely shaken.

"All right," she laughed, whistling for her pet that bounded joyously over and head-butted her outstretched hand. "Barney, you need to leave Sharp alone, okay?" The dog looked at her bemusedly. She knew he hadn't understood a thing but fortunately he wandered off to sniff around the water's edge instead of scaring the fox any more.

Sharp still eyed him warily. All previous bravado had vanished.

"So…" Hattie said, bending over and picking up a smooth pebble that she stroked for a moment before flinging it out onto the lake so it skimmed across the surface. Barney barked excitedly. "What other sorts of creatures are there in Narnia, other than Talking Animals, I mean?"

"Um…there are fauns….and nymphs, nyiads and dryads, centaurs, giants…"

"Giants?!"

"Yes, I said that didn't I?" Sharp offered her an exasperated expression. "Also…hags, Minotaurs – like you met earlier – oh, dwarves, how could I forget them? And griffins, werewolves, humans – obviously, but not a lot – ogres…" The animal paused, looking pensive. "Oh yeah, the trees are alive. They can hear us."

"Seriously?" Hattie gasped, spinning round to stare, open-mouthed, at the foliage as if it would suddenly move or talk.

"There's Mer-people and dragons…I can't really think of more right now but there probably are more."

"Right…and those would be 'not a lot' of humans?"

"Huh?" Sharp, who had been inspecting the ground for any tasty bugs crawling across the algae-slathered stones, stuck his head up and looked to where the girl was pointing. His amber eyes suddenly narrowed considerably, until they were no more than slits and he smelt the air quickly. Then he spun round to face his companion. "We need to hide. They aren't friendly. I've never seen them in Narnia before but I can tell they are hostile. Move! Now!" With his last statement, Snap physically snapped at her heels to make her move.

"Watch it!"

"Move! Unless you want to get kidnapped too or killed," the fox hissed vehemently.

"What? You mean they are the men who have Rupert?!" Hattie questioned, alarmed, as she realised the importance of Sharp's statement. He said nothing but continued to push her into the shelter of the trees. "No, I need to confront them! I need to find Rupert!"

"You'll be no good to your brother dead, Daughter of Eve, now hide!" The fox himself buried his russet coat among the dense undergrowth, blending in so well that had Hattie not known he was there she wouldn't have had a clue. That was the point though. Seeing he was right, she dived reluctantly down beside him and waited. Then she remembered. "What about Barney?!"

The pair stared, horror-struck, from their hiding place as they spotted the golden haired dog playing idly by the lakeside. His tail wagged slowly and rhythmically as he wandered about the stones. With his nose to the ground, he was yet to see the men just down the beach. Hattie cursed the animal's inquisitiveness and his lack of awareness. First with the Minotaur and now this! Hopefully, the men will think nothing of him – a lone dog – and believe him just a wild creature of Narnia. Hopefully.

Hattie's eyes darted from her vulnerable pet to the approaching men who seemed to be armed with bows and arrows. Her stomach churned uncomfortably. What if they were out hunting for food? What if Barney looked like an easy target? Should she chance a whistle or would it give them away?

Just as she was contemplating this vexing dilemma, she heard one of the men yell. Oh no, they must have seen Barney. The girl's heart was in her throat as she leaned forward in an attempt to get a better view. But they weren't looking at the dog, she saw. The group of five men were observing the sky; seeing what she had no clue because the sun shone glaringly in her eyes. It seemed to have got their attention well and truly distracted so she whistled softly for Barney. The animal's ears pricked and he galloped towards her, tongue lolling happily. Nobody noticed.

As they watched, one man drew his bow, knocked an arrow, and aimed for the heavens. Then, after a moment's pause, he let it loose. The most terrible, blood-curdling, skin-chilling scream filled the air – reaching even as far as their hiding place – and something plummeted to earth. It landed with a painful sounding thud somewhere in the distance, shrouded in trees. Seeming to curse their bad luck at their kill falling some way away, the men decided to leave it and move on. They marched off. Sharp breathed a heavy sigh of relief to her left.

Hattie, meanwhile, was leaping to her feet. She had sped off into the trees behind them without as much as a word. All the fox saw were the pink, muddied soles of her feet vanishing into the dense foliage. Groaning with frustration, Sharp tore after her, closely followed by Barney.


Tree branches whipped passed her and lashed mercilessly at her face but the girl didn't care. She needed to get to where she'd seen the kill fall. She needed to know what it was. She needed to know whether it was still alive. It was then that she almost stumbled on the object of her thoughts.

To begin with she wasn't sure exactly what it was and whether it was even alive. However, she saw the steady rise and fall of it chest and knew it was not dead yet. The reason she could not work out what the thing was was because it was just a mess of tangled limbs. Hattie could not tell one end from the other – she could see no head.

Suddenly it moved and she jumped, her body tensing with fear and anticipation. A head unravelled itself from the rest of the confusion and twisted round to face her. Two large, glassy eyes observed her guardedly. The head was that of a beautiful horse, its nose and muzzle well-proportioned and soft. All over, the animal was as black as pitch.

Despite the magnificence of the horse's head and colouring, there was something else that caught Hattie's attention and had her mesmerised as it climbed slowly and shakily to its feet. An enormous pair of ebony wings had just unfurled from beneath its fallen frame, flexing experimentally in the air to check for damage. The feathers were glossy and perfectly defined - if slightly ruffled.

The winged-horse fixed her with a questioning stare just as Sharp entered the clearing. He froze when he caught sight of the vision of black before him, as did Barney. Flicking its ears forwards the horse spoke.

"Was it you that shot me down?" The tone was undeniably accusing. Hattie noticed its heaving flank and the arrow shaft embedded deeply in the skin. Around that area, the coat was darker and glistened with sticky, red blood. Her heart went out to the poor animal.

"No, of course not, I would never do such a thing," the blonde girl stated emphatically, "Do you see any weapons?" She spread her hands wide.

"Then who was it? Because if I find them, mark my words, they will feel the bluntness of my hoof." The horse snorted with fury, its nostrils flaring angrily.

"They have gone. We came to help."

"Help? Why should I need help?" The winged-animal shot her an insulted look, as if she had just suggested she should defecate on him.

"There is an arrow in your belly. It must be really painful. I can try and take it out," Hattie said, trying to keep her tone as calming as possible. It was obvious the creature was stressed.

"Leave me alone! Get away from me!" Kicking out with his hooves, the horse caused the girl to jump back, alarmed. Sharp leapt forward, his expression angry.

"Watch it, horse; you nearly had my friend's head off then. She's only trying to help. Can't you see that?"

"I-I…she's a Daughter of Eve." This fact seemed to have suddenly registered with the winged-beast and it paused, staring at Hattie with pain-ridden eyes. She wanted to quail under the intense gaze but knew she must stand her ground if she was to gain the horse's trust and respect.

"Well deduced," Sharp said, the usual hint of sarcasm lacing his voice. "Now, will you let her help you?"

"I…"

The horse flapped its wings slightly, as if indecisive, and shuffled its long black legs so it scuffed up dirt from the earth. For a second its ears twitched and then it seemed to come to a conclusion.

"I would be very grateful should you help me, Daughter of Eve." Folding its mighty coal-coloured wings onto its back, the horse lowered its head. Hattie smiled. "My name is Kolfinna."

Just in case you don't register, just for future reference, Kolfinna is a male horse and means 'black horse'. Fitting, right? :D Please, please review! NIGHT!