Chapter 25

More Nightmares

Kadius slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying on an uncomfortable bed, his shoulder was banged and he grunted in pain as he slowly managed to sit up. He rested against a wall and breathed slowly as the pain from his shoulder continued.

"My Lord" a voice said

Kadius looked over to a door and saw Quigley standing there, the little man seemed nervous but Kadius was in too much pain to say anything about it. He gestured for Quigley to come near, which he did but very slowly.

"How long have I been out"? He asked

"Two days my lord" Quigley answered

Kadius sighed at that, things were getting desperate now he had to find the rest of the items or he would feel more of his maters wrath. He hated the fact that William managed to retrieve the painting first and he made a promise to himself to put an end to William and get all of the items.

"Quigley do we have any leads on the items"? Kadius demanded

"No my lord" Quigley stammered in reply

Kadius growled in anger causing Quigley to quiver in fear, Kadius looked at him and Quigley immediately understood that he wanted to be alone and quickly left the room. Kadius thought about where the items could be he could not fail Tash, he saved his life which was more than Aslan had done for him.

William pulled the car up on the kerb across from the Police Station; this was the second time he had done this. He carefully watched as different officers in tunics went in and out of the station simply doing their day to day routine.

William tried to memorise everything about the building but he had to make sure that the rings were still there before he even attempted trying to sneak in. He thought about his experiences he had in stealing things which all came from him living on the streets when he was fifteen, before he went to Narnia and became High Protector.

However this time he couldn't help but think about how if he fails then it's the fate of the world instead of just his brother and sister which hangs in the balance, a thought which scared him entirely.

He continued to watch as the day slowly dragged on, he was exhausted but whenever he attempted to sleep he was harassed by terrible dreams involving a creature standing on a mountain of bones. He didn't know if these dreams meant anything but the creature kept calling his name over and over again and the thing that seemed to frighten William the most, is that lately he was slowly feeling Aslan's presence less and less.

Susan sat on her bed as she held the bow in her hands; she slowly slid her hand up and down feeling the strange connection she seemed to have to the weapon. She still had trouble believing it belonged to her; she swore she had never fired a bow in her life.

The trio were currently staying in a small hotel located just outside of Finchley, the rooms were quite small but at least it seemed safe enough for now anyway.

The door to her room opened and in walked Sophia, she smiled at Susan who smiled back before her eyes focused on the bow again. Sophia approached and sat down beside her, she watched as Susan gently held the bow in her hands and she understood how hard it was for Susan to feel a connection to something yet not remember having it.

"Are you okay"? Sophia asked

"I don't know, I feel lost" Susan answered honestly

"What do you mean"?

"Supposedly I have it in me to be a fearless archer who was a Queen of a country, that's just not me though"

Sophia sighed at that, she understood that it would take time for Susan to rediscover her true self. But as she sat there and listened to Susan express doubt in herself she couldn't help but wonder if Susan's true self would ever remerge.

"Susan I have lived among humans for many years now and I have seen what they are capable of, it is true that at times you can be a flawed race but there other times where humans show so much spirit and courage. Take Britain during the early years of the war, Germany had overrun Europe, France had surrendered and America had not yet joined; yet this tiny little island stood up and in one voice we said we will not lay down for Hitler and his Nazis we will stand and we will fight until there is none of us left standing. You see Susan that's what Humans are capable of and that is what you are capable of"

Susan smiled at that, it was true during the early years of the war Britain stood alone against the mighty Germany and yet we continued to fight. However she still didn't know if that kind of courage existed in her, it existed in her siblings and also in her parents but she was different from them she had always considered logic before action unlike her siblings.

A small tear appeared in her eye at the thought of her siblings, she thought about how they would happily charge into this adventure with excitement despite the level of danger the cult brought. Sophia put a comforting arm around her shoulder and Susan slowly lowered her head onto her shoulder and allowed Sophia to calmly stroke her hair, it reminded Susan of how her mother used to do it when she was upset and that seemed to bring even more memories of her family.

Kadius sat behind his desk once again reading many different documents and occasionally scribbling something down on a piece of parchment. He mumbled to himself and groaned every time he moved his still bandage arm.

"My Lord" Quigley's voice came from outside the door

"Come in Quigley" Kadius sighed

The little man entered the room and nervously approached the desk; however there was more than fear in the face of Quigley there seemed to be a great deal of excitement as well. This caused Kadius to become puzzled and curious as to what could make this nervous stuttering oaf so happy.

"Quigley what is wrong with you"? Kadius asked

"What do you mean my lord"? Quigley replied confused

"You look cheerful"

Quigley seemed like he couldn't help it, he smiled even more which cause Kadius to become even more puzzled and also a little annoyed at how he could be so happy after they failed to retrieve the painting and both of them ended up with wounds in their shoulders.

"We have found it my lord" Quigley squealed in delight

"You have"?

"Yes my lord"

"Where"?

"It's in an antique shop in Yorkshire"

Kadius smiled at that finally he was one step ahead of William and this time he swore to his master that he will not fail this time. He ordered Quigley to ready the men and for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime he laughed with pure happiness of success.

William was standing in a lovely forest which seemed to glow with sunshine, he was so happy to be back in Narnia again that he wanted to scream in happiness. However soon the forest started to burn, he attempted to put on the fire but it didn't work it continued to spread until everything was burning around him.

He watched in horror as the world he loved was slowly destroyed, he turned around and stop dead. There standing before him was a Susan dressed in a lovely green Narnian dress, he couldn't believe she was standing before him in all her grace as queen.

"Susan" William said a small smile appearing on his face

"You should never have returned William, I was better off without you I was safe and secure. You've put me in danger now, your the reason the cult wants to kill me" she said her eyes cold.

"No Susan this isn't you" William begged

However soon Susan was joined by Swanwhite, she wore a lovely white dress and she seemed to look like an angel. But like Susan her eyes which were once warm and full of love were now cold and lifeless.

"It's your fault I'm dead, you should got there in time" Swanwhite said

"No"!

Then George appeared dressed in his armour with his sword sheathed at his side, he looked powerful as he stood there. His eyes were also like the others showing no signs of life or warmness.

"It was because of you I turned to Jadis, you pushed me towards her" George said

"No"!

Then they were joined by his little sister Lizzie dressed in a lovely red coat and skirt, his parents dressed on the same clothes he saw them wearing when they boarded the Titanic. All three of them blamed him for their deaths, he screamed in disbelief as the forest continued to burn around him.

"You see High Protector, you have caused the suffering to many people" A high cold voice said

William turned to see a hideous creature standing before him, he had the head the vulture, four arms and stood to at least 7 feet tall. This horrific creature was none other than the demon Tash.

"You"! William shouted

"You see High Protector, you are remembered for being a heroic leader who fought so valiantly to defend Narnia but yet the stories forget the people you made suffer" Tash said an evil smile appearing on his Vulture beak.

"Lies, you're trying to get inside my head" William yelled in defence

"Believe what you want William, but soon you will come to me and then you will do what your old student failed to do; you will kill Susan the Gentle"

"NO"! William shouted waking with a start

He looked around at his surroundings to see that he was still in the car parked on the kerb across from the police station. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair to feel it drenched with sweat.

"Just a nightmare" William whispered to himself

Yet on the way back to the hotel he couldn't help but be frightened, he prayed to Aslan but still he could not feel the great lion's comforting presence.