Chapter 9 – Awake!

I'm at war with the world and they try to pull me into the dark. I struggle to find my faith as I'm slippin' from your arms. It's getting harder to stay awake and my strength is fading fast. You breathe into me at last. I'm awake! I'm alive! Now I know what I believe inside. Now it's my time, I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life. Here, right now I'll stand my ground and never back down. I know what I believe inside. I'm awake and I'm alive!

Shing, shing, shing. The noise caused Caleb to reach for his sword and shield. As he did so, he noticed a note stuck to the inside of his shield. It read, 'If we don't live what we believe, we'll start to believe what we live. We miss you. H.' Caleb smiled. Heather; always leaving notes for her friends. He jumped as he heard the noise again. Shing, shing, shing. He rose to his feet, recognizing it as the sound of the Witch's knife from his nightmare. The Green Mist. His jaw clenched automatically. With a quick glance at Precious sleeping nearby, he unsheathed his sword and crept towards the tunnel. The tunnel was the entrance by which Jill, Eustace and Rilian had escaped from the underground world below onto the Dancing Lawn. No one had dared venture into in the tunnel for fear it would collapse on their heads. Not even the bravest workers would dare. Rilian had wanted the hole filled in but no one would do it. But Caleb decided to creep into its dark and mysterious depths. He was after all 'the Courageous King.'

"Caleb, come in here." Caleb obeyed as if in a trance. He knew it was dangerous to listen to the voice that belonged to the Lady of the Green Kirtle. So he kept Aslan in his mind the whole time as he slowly put one foot in front of the other. Out of the shadows, a man crept towards unsuspecting Caleb. With a cry, he sprang out and caught Caleb off guard. But Caleb was quick to recover against this unseen enemy. It was blow for blow between them. They were equally matched in strength but Caleb was superior in skill. Soon he had driven his assailant back against the wall. Caleb raised his sword above his head intending to strike his opponent's head off when he recognized him as Tristan, the man who had kidnapped Heather and Jake.

"Stop!" a girl's voice cried. Caleb whirled around.

"Precious, what are-"

"Caleb, look out!" she screamed. Caleb was thrown to the ground as the man sprang at him. Precious watched with horror at the sight before her eyes. Caleb and the stranger tumbled around on the floor. Arms, legs and swords were kicking and flailing. Caleb finally managed to find his sword and rise to his feet. He took a running start at the man. Tristan began battering Caleb with his shield. Tristan was brutal. He was not going to lose the fight. Caleb was losing his strength while Tristan seemed to be gaining more. Caleb struggled against him but at last was thrown into the wall and knocked to the ground again. Precious covered her eyes in fear. The world seemed to go in slow motion for her. Caleb dragging himself up, Tristan slashing at the air, then they both were rolling on the ground. Tristan rose to his feet. It was all Precious could do to keep from crying. Caleb at last struggled to his feet and gripped the hilt of Tristan's sword. There was a blur of red, silver, gold and black as the two battled it out. Caleb thrust his sword towards Tristan's arm but he missed and the sword fell with a clatter to the ground. Tristan, taking advantage of the moment, pummeled Caleb with his shield. With one last effort, Caleb grabbed the shield and twisted it around forcing Tristan's arms behind him. Tristan in turn, elbowed Caleb in the face with his armored elbow. Tristan grabbed Caleb's sword from the ground and swung it wildly at Caleb's head. Caleb, missing his shield, caught the blow with his forearm. He used the opportunity to slam his fist into Tristan's wounded knee. Precious, meanwhile, ran across the cavern and grabbed Caleb's shield. She slammed it on Tristan's head with as much strength as she could muster. The Telmarine staggered backwards. With a smile at Precious, Caleb hurried towards Tristan. But before he could reach Tristan, a mysterious force thrust him back against the wall.

"Precious, run!" Caleb yelled. "Get out of here!" He struggled against the force. Precious hesitated.

"Now!" Caleb screamed at her. "I'll find you later!" With a frightened glance, Precious fled from the tunnel with Tristan on her heels. A lady cloaked in green mist appeared with a lovely cackle.

"Hello, little king," she grinned. "Nice of you to drop by."

"Thanks for your hospitality," he muttered. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."

"Not so fast!" she chuckled. "We have a little business." Caleb continued to fight against the force that held him captive. The Lady of the Green Kirtle noticed this action.

"It's no use fighting," she reminded. "You can never escape from it."

"No!" Caleb cried. "I will never stop fighting. I won't stop fighting evil till the day I die." He could feel the strength of Aslan surging through him.

"Brave words for a prisoner at the mercy of his captor," she chided.

"My friends will come for me," he answered through clenched teeth.

"Really?" the lady laughed. "I thought you weren't friends anymore." Caleb hung his head. They were kind of on hard terms at the moment but he was sure they'd come for him.

"They will always be my friends," Caleb answered bravely.

"But they cannot help you," she taunted. "Look, I will show you." A swirling pool appeared on the wall. Caleb looked deep into it. And just as the Lady said, it was so. He could see his friends. Kelly and Jake were being attacked and beaten back by a group of outraged giants. Precious was running for her life, Tristan chasing after her. Rilian and Kamryn were riding deeper and deeper into the forest in search of the dreaded Green Mist. He saw a ship tossed by giant waves. He heard the cry of, "Man overboard!" He looked into the water, trying to spot who had fallen in. Princess Sarah was floating in the water. He heard Heather's cry from the rigging and saw as she dove head long into the water after her friend. The girls' cries for help were drowned out by the sound of crashing waves. With a snap of her fingers, the Lady caused the pictures to disappear. Caleb still stared at the spot. Aslan, help me! He cried in his mind. The Lady of the Green Kirtle smiled to herself. Her plan was working out perfectly. She began to slip away. Once at the entrance to the tunnel she paused.

"So long, cowardly king!" she laughed. Caleb spun around as an avalanche of dirt began flying. The cave was collapsing on his head! He struggled through the falling boulders, the dirt blinding him. At last he could push on no longer and he fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"What happens if you die here?" the words flashed before his eyes. Caleb struggled in and out of consciousness, his memories flashing through his head.

For the next few minutes, he was overwhelmed with his friends' thoughts and memories too. He saw how Kelly hated that he left quickly after church every week. He saw why Heather, when she was really as scared as he on the roller coasters, never admitted it for fear he would tease her and think she was weak. He understood why Jake stood by quietly, watching, waiting and hoping that the situation would change. Jake didn't want to lose his friends any more than the rest. He saw himself and Heather, in church, drawing on a paper that sealed their friendship. He saw the painstakingly drawn letters that read, 'Best friends ever! Caleb and Heather.' He saw himself high in a tree saying, "Just trust me, Heather." He remembered how she left her fears behind and scrambled up after him. Scene after scene flashed before his eyes.

"You have to come see my scooter!" Caleb practically dragged Kelly and Heather through the C.E. Center to the garage.

Heather looked up and smiled as she heard the loud thuds down the stairs. Caleb arrived breathless at the entrance to the church nursery. He waited patiently until she was free to leave. He gave her an odd look.

"What?" Heather asked.

"Your hair is a mess!" he laughed. She shrugged. She didn't really care what her hair looked like at the moment.

"I was climbing under the slide with Josiah." She answered. Caleb studied her for a moment and then looked down at the hat in his hands.

"Hmm." Suddenly he had a silly idea! He shoved the hat down over Heather's messy hair. She looked at him funny as if to say, "What was that for?"

"There," Caleb announced. "Much better. You know what Kelly's gonna say?"

"What?" she asked, still getting over his strange actions.

"She gonna say, 'What in the world!" he laughed. And sure enough as they walked out the doors, Kelly threw up her hands and exclaimed, "What in the world!"

"Caleb and Heather, heads together!" Jake taunted with a laugh. Heather clamped her hand over his mouth.

"Jake and Kelly's heads are smelly," Heather retorted with good humor.

"JaKelly!" Caleb teased from his position on the floor.

"Bye Caleb."

"Bye." They shook hands.

"Oh, by the way," Heather smiled mischievously. "You're it!" She laughed and dodged as he tried to tag her back. He caught up with her once they reached the stairs.

"You're it!" He called. She whirled around and tagged him again.

"You mean you're it!" she laughed.

"No you're it!"

"You're it!"

"You're it!" Finally when they were tired of saying "You're it!" they began saying, "It!"

"It!"

"It!" They had stopped tagging each other now. They just held a hand on each other's shoulders.

"You're it!"

"No, you're it!"

"You mean you're it!" Kelly and Jake had to drag them apart. Kelly pulled Heather towards their car.

"You're it, Caleb!" Heather yelled back over her shoulder. He and Jake smiled and waved.

Caleb's face seemed to light up the whole ice arena. "We should do the barn dance!"

"No." Heather crossed her arms. "I can barely stand on ice let alone dance on it!"

"Come on, it will be fun!" Caleb encouraged.

"Caleb, if I fall," she threatened. He shrugged.

"You won't fall." So they linked elbows, Heather clutching his sleeve with her free hand. They slowly began the spinning circle.

"Give me the hat," Caleb warned. Heather and her friend Leah smiled cunningly.

"Never," Heather answered fiercely with a teasing grin.

"Okay, fine!" Caleb exclaimed and threw himself on top of them.

"Caleb!" They tried to shove him off.

"You should have given me the hat," Caleb teased.

"Hey Caleb!" Jake called from the doorway.

"He's trying to find the hat, Jake!" Leah answered. Heather twisted Caleb's wrist around. He grimaced in pain and made a face at her. She let go and shoved him backwards. He tripped over a box and was about to take Heather down when he saw…Jake waving the hat around. Caleb sprang at Jake, but Jake was too fast. He darted down the stairs with Caleb howling after him. Heather and Leah cracked up but then decided to follow just in case Jake needed backup.

The memories flashed on and on. Caleb's head was dizzy with images. But through the confusion and strong voice called out to him.

"Caleb, call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

"Aslan?" Caleb tried to sit up. He was still in the cave, buried under the rubble. His side felt crushed. He saw a tiny bit of light peeping out. He tried to crawl towards it. Caleb dragged himself to the light and started to dig his way out. With a last burst of energy, the hole widened and he pushed his hand out.

"Caleb! Caleb! Can you hear me?" He heard a frantic voice call before he slipped out of consciousness again.

"I'm awake and alive!" he gasped. "I know what I believe inside and I will stand with Aslan till the end."

Author's note: Song: Awake and Alive by Skillet