Chapter 25

For a long moment Peter was frozen in shock. They all were. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw Edmund starting to unwrap his rings.

"I'm on it," Edmund said grimly.

Peter nodded then let his gaze travel over the rest of their party and made a quick decision. "Susan, go with him."
Susan's eyes flared as she snapped out of her stupor. "No way," she said immediately, reaching for Caspian. She latched onto his arm as though he'd be ripped away from her if she let go. Caspian reacted protectively as well and shifted so he stood between Susan and Peter. "I will go with Edmund," he said immediately.

"What? No," Susan snapped. "You and I stay together."

Peter resisted the urge to grit his teeth. Caspian was a great warrior he knew, as was Susan in her own way, but when the two of them were together their efficiency was greatly reduced since they both went out of their way to keep the other safe. Usually it wasn't an issue because they hadn't been in any life or death situations since their last run in with the White Witch (unless you counted their Aunt Alberta's Christmas parties), but now he needed them both to be the monarchs he knew they could be.

"Caspian's needed here," Edmund said quickly, but calmly. He motioned toward the side of the room where there were a few sparse pieces of furniture – a desk, a cabinet, and a chest. "If there's anything in Crowley's papers about the Queen of Underland or any real magic, Caspian, Jill, and Eustace are the ones who'll recognize it. Peter's sword is needed here. You and I are the fastest runners, you've got a ranged weapon, and Shift's getting more and more of a head start!"

"Lucy –" Susan started to suggest.

"Doesn't have it in her to shoot someone in the back, even if it's necessary," Edmund growled. "Now come on!" He tossed his flashlight to Caspian, touched his gold ring, and disappeared.

"He is right," Caspian said, sounding as though he'd rather bite off his own tongue.

Susan clenched her jaw and shook her head then cast her gaze away. Caspian put a hand under her chin and turned her face toward him.

"I will be fine," he promised her. "Go help your brother."

"All right," Susan said softly.

Then Caspian kissed her.

Peter blinked then quickly turned away to give them at least the semblance of privacy – and to hide the smirk that was pulling at the corner of his mouth. Despite the gravity of the situation he found it a bit amusing. Caspian was usually very reserved in his behavior toward Susan when the other Pevensies were present. It was usually Susan who initiated any sort of contact that transcended holding hands.

"Tell Edmund to meet us back at our house when you're finished," Peter said to Susan when he decided that their parting kiss had lasted long enough. "Don't come back to this world. As soon as we're finished here we'll meet you back at our house."

"But the time difference," Lucy said quickly.

"We won't be here long," Peter told his sisters. "Ten minutes tops. That can't be more than a few hours at home. Go help Edmund, Susan."

He turned just in time to see Susan and Caspian separate, deliberately putting distance between themselves so that Caspian wouldn't be dragged along to the Woods by Susan's rings.

"If I don't see you again –" Susan started but Caspian cut her off.

"Don't even say that. We will meet again," he vowed.

Susan gave a shaky smile and touched her gold ring.

X

Shift forgot to take a deep breath before using the rings he'd filched from Scrubb, and as a result he inhaled a lung full of water when he appeared in the Woods Between the Worlds. He spluttered and splashed and clawed his way to the side of the pool and onto the grassy bank, then sighed.

Once he got his bearings together, he looked around for the first time. These woods were a far cry from the jungle he was used to. The canopy overhead was thick and lush, but made of dark leaves and blotted out more light than the jungle's. There was mist, but it was cool, where as on his home world it hung in the air like heat haze. Shift couldn't tell if it was day or night – but according to Pole and Scrubb's conversation they didn't know what time of day it had been in the woods when they were there either.

All in all, it was a very peaceful place – the sort of place one could easily lull off to sleep in. Shift found his eyes growing heavier and heavier once he'd pulled himself out of the water. He hadn't realized how tired he was. It made sense though, since his sleeping schedule had been turned upside down since he'd been taken prisoner.

I'll just rest for a second, he told himself, closing his eyes. Just a few moments, then I'll be on my way again. There's no reason I can't relax for just a –

Suddenly there was a splash in the pool as someone else broke the water's surface. Shift's eyes flew open and he turned to see Edmund swimming toward the bank of the pool with swift, powerful strokes.

Oh. There is that, Shift thought as he scrambled to his feet and started running.

There was a red string tied off at the pool he'd emerged from, which Shift guessed would lead to the pool that was the gate to the humans' home world. How they'd managed to find the pool that led to the world where Caspian had been kidnapped to, Shift had no idea. He passed more than twenty pools before finally reaching the other end of the cord, where it was wound in a ring around what had to be the Earth pool.

Behind him he heard fast, violent footfalls. Edmund was in pursuit, and if the expression on his face when he surfaced from the pool was anything to go by, he was mad. Shift risked a glance over his shoulder then hurried around to the other side of the pool, trying to put more distance between himself and the irate human.

"Don't you turn your back to me, coward!" Edmund growled.

Shift felt a moment of panic as he realized that there was no way to tell which of these pools led to the Narnia world. He'd deduced that it would be one of the closest ones to the Earth pool, but now he wasn't so sure. The pool to his own world was so far away. Had the humans used trial and error until they found the right world?

Shift didn't know and he didn't have time to figure it out. A twang sounded over Edmund's footsteps and Shift's panting. An arrow sailed right by Shift's head and hit a tree. He veered off to the side and leapt into the nearest pool.

"Get out of my shot, Edmund!" Susan shouted even as Shift fumbled for his rings.

He noticed, with alarm, that the knot that held the yellow ring in place was loose. Even as he slid the green one over his stubby finger the gold one slipped off of the cord. Shift uttered a guttural curse which turned into a howl of pain as an arrow grazed his arm. He dove after his gold ring, hoping that the water would distort Susan's aim with her projectile weapon. A glimmer of the yellow metal let him know that his ring was sinking fast. He reached for it, stretching his arm as far as he could, trying to grab it. For a moment he thought that he would get it.

Then the green ring he wore worked its magic and Shift disappeared.

X

Edmund skidded to a stop at the side of the pool and swore creatively enough to get a month's worth of dish duty if his mother had heard him. Susan quickly closed the distance to stand at his side.

"Drat," she whispered then looked at her brother. "Should we go after him?"

Edmund wanted to. He wanted to make that treacherous Morlock pay. But charging off into an unknown world just for revenge wasn't a good idea. Regretfully he shook his head. "We can't. We don't know what we'd be walking into. It could be a hostile world . . . or it could be Narnia."

Susan's expression darkened. "I hope not. I don't like the idea of letting that filthy creature loose in Narnia."

"Narnia would be too good for him," Edmund said with a sigh. "But whatever world he's in, that was a one way trip."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked.

Edmund pointed toward the bottom of the pool where the gold ring Shift lost glittered with an unnatural light.

"Oh. Should we get it?" Susan asked.

Edmund shook his head. "It's fine where it is. We don't have a matching green ring for it now, so we might as well just leave it here where it's harmless."

"Peter said we're to regroup at our house," Susan told him. "In our world."

Edmund frowned. "But the time difference . . ."

"They plan to spend no more than ten minutes going through Crowley's things," Susan said. "It shouldn't be more than a few hours in our world. We could go wait for them by the other pool though."

Edmund shook his head again. "This place wasn't meant for humans," he reminded her. "Or most creatures. The less time we spend here the better."

"You're right," Susan sighed.

Edmund started to turn away but Susan grabbed onto his arm. He looked at her quizzically and was surprised to see that she looked almost sick with worry. "What's wrong?"

"You don't think . . . you don't think that Shift will do something awful in the world he's in now, do you?"

Edmund gave her a slight smile. "He's just one ugly, ape faced Morlock. How much harm could he possibly do?"

X

AN:Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up Friday, October 30th – the day before Halloween. We're getting close to the end now, but there's still room for a few more twists and a little more excitement – and of course, Crowley's demise.

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed, including: Diva divine, merlyn2, boarcher, amber'eyed'countess, Miniver, maristelle,

HeadbangGirl – Shift learned everything he knows about the rings by eavesdropping on Jill and Eustace. There are some holes in his knowledge, but he knows enough to be dangerous. Also, thanks for the language lesson. I know how to insult someone in 12 different languages now! Gotta learn the important stuff first, lol.

garnetred – Shift swiped Eustace's rings right after they got out of the tree in the last chapter, when he bumped into Eustace. Pick pockets use that trick – misguided direction.

mae-E – Eustace was definitely speaking from experience. He's had lots of practice annoying his two cousins. Not as much with Caspian, but definitely with his cousins.

Lily S. Potter – You're right about when Eustace lost his rings. And I picked him specifically because it was ironic, what with him giving Jill so much grief about losing hers, lol.