Chibb Falls

Chibb's wings were pinned by the talons and no matter how hard he fought, he was held in a grip of steel. He looked up and saw that he was held not by a vulture, but by a great golden eagle.

The eagle wheeled and attacked one of the vultures with its free claw and its beak. The vultures, though bigger than the eagle, were cowards and they fled as quickly as they could.

The eagle turned towards Archanland and gained altitude, Chibb had never been so high in his life, the country spread out like a map and the jagged peaks of the mountains between Narnia and Archanland grew steadily nearer.

With strong steady wing beats, the eagle soared over the mountains and left Narnia behind. Archanland was before them. Chibb could see that it was winter here too, but it was much warmer then Narnia, even at this altitude.

Then the eagle dove and alighted in a tree. He uncurled his claw and set Chibb upright on a twig.

"Hello old chap!" the eagle said, "Sorry I had to hold onto you like that, but you were nearly a goner!"

Chibb almost fainted with relief, "I'm going to king Lune…very urgent!" and then he did faint clear away.

~o*o~

As soon as the wolves had vanished Shard set to real running, it was almost morning and the sun was just beginning to peak above the horizon.

Twice Shard lost the scent and twice he found it again, finally it lead him into a little ravine and to a bunch of bushes. He found a hole in the ground and slipped into it. It was empty, but he knew that the humans had been there recently.

Shard clawed his way out and found the scent again. He knew he was close.

~o*o~

They had shouldered their packs and started on their way again. They were much happier now then they had been the night before; they were able to protect themselves. but how cold it was! The dry, freezing air burned their lungs and stung their faces and eyes. Their movements became slow and awkward and they felt very tired.

Sleet had fallen the night before and formed a thick crust on the snow, so they strapped their snowshoes on their backs.

A question had been gnawing at Peter's brain for almost an hour now, finally he asked Mr. Beaver about it.

"What is Aslan?" he asked. "Is he a man?"

"Why don't you know, Son of Adam?" Mr. Beaver asked his eyes wide, "You mean we never told you?"

"I suppose you didn't," Edmund said, "or else he wouldn't be asking you."

"Well then," Mr. Beaver said, "Aslan is a lion, he's the king of beasts! The king of kings."

"A lion?" Susan gasped, "Is he safe?"

"Who said anything about safe?" Mrs. Beaver asked, "of course he isn't safe, but he's good."

They walked on, threading through the trees, pushing aside frozen branches. The woods began to thin and the shadows lay in long purple stripes on the snow. After about an hour they reached the edge of the woods and before them spread out a flat plane of snow.

"These were famer's fields before," Mr. Beaver said, "Narnia had the richest crops."

"Peter," Susan's voice came from the back of the procession, "I think you should see this."

Peter walked over to Susan, "what is it?" he asked.

"Look," Susan pointed down at the ground.

The crust of ice had been deeply dented and the pads of the foot that had done it were clearly visible. The print was bigger than Peter's hand stretched out.

"I wonder where it is now?" Peter said standing up.

"I don't know!" Susan said, "I looked away for a moment and there it was!"

"Well," Peter said, "We'd best keep on, I'll walk behind."

They started out onto the field, Mr. Beaver leading.

Lucy found that one could skate on the ice. She went ahead, followed by Edmund, sliding, slipping and falling, getting picked up and falling again. Evan Susan tried sliding and fell once, tearing a hole in her stockings.

Suddenly from up ahead, came a sound like tearing cloth, Lucy completely vanished from view.

"Lucy!" Susan screamed, scrambling to her feet.

~o*o~

"That's it!" a warm mild voice seeped into Chibb's fogged brain, "That's a good little fu-fu!"

A warm liquid was forced into Chibb's beak and he spluttered and opened his eyes.

He was laying on his back in a room that seemed big to Chibb, but it really wasn't. A lady with apple cheeks and a rosy smile was leaning over him with a spoon in one hand and a mug in the other.

"That's much better!" the lady said, "Oh don't move!"

Chibb flopped around so he was laying on his front, "I must see King Lune at once!"

"But you're not well enough to see the king!" the lady said, patting his head, "Maybe a week or two."

"Where am I?" Chibb asked.

"You are at King Lune's castle at Anvard!" the lady said, "Goldwyn brought you in earlier today, said he rescued you over the border."

"I really have to see the king!" Chibb said again.

"I told you," the lady said, "you're not up to it. Now I'll go and let you rest."

She left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Chibb sat up and fluttered to the door, there was no possible way he could get it open.

There was a window across the room and he flew to the sill and peered out, it overlooked the courtyard and he could see people and animals walking about down there.

Chibb tried to turn the little knob on the window and get it opened, but that sort of thing wasn't meant for a bird to do. When he saw he couldn't he threw a tantrum and pecked the wood work in the window, the next instant the window swung open and Chibb fell into thin air.

A/N:

Up next: The Big Oak

Introducing Narnia in exile.