Hours after Xaphan's near fatal attack, found everyone within Cornelius study once more. The books were strewn over every available space they could find. The pages were turned one by one. Any information pertaining to the entrance to the Dreamscape that they had found was useless. It gave no indication of the entrances appearance or its location.
Caspian turned from the books and sighed with frustration. "We are still no closer to finding the Dreamscape."
Peter straightened upright from the table he was bending over. "We've been searching for hours. Perhaps if we take a moment to clear our minds we might be able="
Caspian shook his head. "We've searched through all these books dozens of times over. If we haven't found it now, then there is nothing to find."
"Or maybe you're not looking hard enough." Peter replied.
"We don't really know what we're looking for. Fighting about it won't help." Edmund said.
Lucy looked up from her book. Caspian still looked exhausted from his ordeal. Peter didn't look much better. In fact, Peter looked worse. There was something about Peter that wasn't sitting well with Lucy. His skin was coated with sweat. The color from his face and hair seemed to have completely diminished. Lucy noticed his hands shaking against the table.
Peter rubbed his face. "I'll be back." Peter moved from the table and walked out of the study.
Lucy waited until Peter was out of hearing range. She turned to Edmund. "Does Peter seem…different?"
Edmund frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I feel like, Peter's different. That he's been different for the past few hours." Lucy explained.
"Like he's lost something?" Caspian asked.
Lucy and Edmund turned to Caspian. Lucy nodded. "Yes."
Caspian nodded still searching through one of the books. "I've noticed it as well. Since he dispatched of the demon."
"Do you think it affected Peter as well?" Edmund asked.
"It's possible." Caspian said. He closed the book and turned from the table.
"Where are you going?" Lucy asked.
"To follow Peter. If Xaphan has staked Peter as his next target, we need to watch him carefully." Caspian explained.
"Be on your guard." Edmund said.
Caspian nodded. He walked from the table and out of the study.
Edmund turned back to Lucy. "Lu you don't look too well yourself."
Lucy nodded. "I haven't been able to sleep since we came back to Narnia."
"Why's that?" Edmund asked.
"I don't know." Lucy answered.
Edmund reached out and gently rubbed Lucy's shoulder. "It'll be alright, Lu."
"I hope so Ed. But I can't shake the feeling that there's something more wrong about all of this." Lucy explained.
Edmund's brow dropped. "What do you mean?"
Before Lucy could reply, there was a loud clatter outside the room. Edmund and Lucy both turned in the direction. Another clatter echoed outside the room. And then another. Edmund and Lucy burst from the table toward the door. The noise continued, growing louder and accompanied by a shout.
Edmund and Lucy burst from the room into the hall. It took only moments before they located the source of the clatter. Down the hall they could see Peter and Caspian fighting. Caspian was leaning back over a decorative table. Peter's sword was drawn and clashing down on Caspian's sword. Caspian seemed to be defending himself, not aggressing against Peter, but Peter was attacking.
"Peter!" Lucy yelled.
Peter was not fazed by Lucy's voice. He kept at Caspian, bringing his sword down on Caspian once more. Caspian winced as he held his sword, preventing Peter from running his sword through him. He held his sword in both hands, one on the hilt and the blade in the other.
Edmund ran down the hall. He stretched around Peter, trying to pull him from Caspian. "Pete stop!"
Peter shook Edmund off his back. Edmund staggered onto the floor. Peter raised his sword above his head and swung it down. Caspian moved from the swords reach, finally managing to rise from the table. He shuffled a few steps from Peter, directing his sword toward Peter.
"Lucy take the book." Caspian said. He held it out toward her, out of Peter's reach.
Lucy had not seen the book while Peter had Caspian pinned to the table, but now she could see it in his hand. She ran toward Caspian, quickly taking the book into her hands. Peter's eyes shifted to Lucy, scarring her. His blue eyes appeared almost entirely black. Lucy held the book close to her chest. She'd seen that look in the demons eyes after Peter had slain it.
Peter moved toward Lucy. Caspian moved into Peter's direction. It was then that Peter turned his attention back to Caspian. He swung his sword brutally at Caspian, causing the blade the slice through his shirt. Caspian cried out in pain, holding his arm to his chest. A faint ribbon of red soaked through his shirt.
Pain flared in Lucy's skull, high pitched, and piercing, causing her wince.
Peter moved again, each strike just as fierce and merciless as the last. Caspian blocked Peter's strike, but made no move against him. Edmund pushed himself from the floor and unsheathed his sword. He moved up behind Peter, but not without drawing attention to him. Peter glanced behind and spotted Edmund drawing close to him.
Another flare of pain, almost as if it was a high pitched scream. Lucy winced again, taking a step back from the fight.
As Edmund moved against Peter, Peter easily swipe Edmund's sword up into the air. Peter kicked Edmund back and quickly turned back to Caspian. Caspian slammed his sword into Peter's, almost catching Peter off guard. It took only a moment for Peter to recover. He swung his sword at Caspian. Both moved quickly to keep pace with each other's swings, as if they were in a simply training duel.
Peter knocked Caspian's sword to the side, leaving his chest open for another attack, which Peter took. His sword crossed up across Caspian's chest again. Another ribbon of red formed on his white shirt. A bloody 'X' stained Caspian's shirt. Caspian cringed, holding his chest once more.
The pain struck Lucy once more. The high pitched scream filled her once more, seizing her muscles. The pain surged through her head, blocking everything from her, even the battle. The high pitched scream grew in her mind, and from a scream, it became words; "LUCY!"
Lucy whimpered. The book fell from her hand as she dropped to her knees in pain. Her hands came up to her head. The pain grew more intense, surging through her skull and down her neck. Lucy moaned as the pain grew more intense.
As Lucy slouched on the floor, everything seemed to stop. Edmund's attention shifted from the feuding Kings, to his fallen sister. Fear gripped his heart as he watched his sister cower in pain. Caspian heard her drop behind him. He risked a glance and saw her on the floor. It took only a second before Caspian realized that Peter had stopped fighting him. His sword hung at his side, his eyes on his youngest sister.
"LUCY!" seared through Lucy's mind, causing her to whimper in pain.
Suddenly a glimmer of light broke through the window before them. The light descended upon the ground. A figure appeared in the center of the light. It was a grand figure, an animal. The animal charged before anyone could really see what it was. It charged down the hall toward Lucy, who had not noticed the animal charging toward her.
As the animal reached Lucy, a fierce roar echoed through the hall. It shook the very castle. Caspian, Peter, and Edmund fell to their knees from the force of the roar. Their bodies seemed to have lost all will to move. The animal reached Lucy, running through her. Its form was distorted for only a moment, but Lucy collapsed as it passed through her. Caspian had only seconds before the animal reached him. It took that long before Caspian realized the animal made of light, was a lion. As the lion ran through him, Caspian felt the warmth of the sun wash over him as he lost sight of everything around him.