Chapter 64- the evacuation of the base
A little while later
Soon, ALL the inhabitants of the base, every single one of them, had packed their things and were now ready for the mighty evacuation. Many of Gandalf's helpers will be going with the evacuees and will serve as escorts for the creatures since their training in preparation for the Exodus had been severely cut short and as a result, they could not move out on their own due to severely underdeveloped survival skills. The rest of Gandalf's helpers who had packed the precious possessions such as the books containing the history records, samples of each of Narnia's endemic flora and fauna, and what was left of the fire-flowers and other hard-to-grow plants from the crop compartment, and will be evacuating to elsewhere where they will stay until the Dawn of Spring with the Winter Revolution, came based on the Golden Age Prophecy. The evacuees who were to travel south to Archenland had a variety of bags and baskets alongside lamps to carry the Pyros to protect them from the winter curse outside, a variety of metallic objects like coins which will serve as a food source for the Alicanto birds whose diet consisted almost solely of metal, and dream clouds for the Baku whose diet consisted of those clouds, all carried in special bottles and containers. More containers also contained food; organic food, for the other creatures.
Everyone had all gathered in the large meeting hall where Gandalf had killed Belladonna after her brutal fight with Kushanku earlier. Some of the guards had left to keep watch for any signs of the Witch and her cronies outside the entrances of the no-longer secret base while Gandalf and the others made the last preparations before sending everyone off to their destinations. Then as soon as everyone had gathered, Gandalf and Kyukon arrived and ascended to the stage before the crowd to issue them one final set of instructions and resources for the trip. Gandalf then called for ten Centaurs to bring out some large sacks and a group of Fairies, Griffins, Pterosaurs, Dragons, Bird-Drakes and some Elemental Birds, among them Cumulonimbus the Thunderbird, Blaze the Phoenix and Brina the Ice Roc, and the remaining Cherubs, among them Passiflora. As soon as the ten Centaurs had brought in the large sacks, Gandalf addressed the crowd.
"I know it is early for all of you to head off to Archenland but before you all depart the base, there is something we would like to distribute amongst you first," called the nine-tailed Fox to everyone before he gestured with a paw to the sacks, "Since we have not had Christmas for over thirty years and Father Christmas had been unable to come to Narnia and travel around the country to distribute his presents to us, he has dropped by and has left us with these large sacks of presents to us just before his exile form Narnia due to Jadis's winter curse, and just as we were finishing the base. We were intending to give these gifts to you in a few years' time but due to circumstances and the danger we are in, we are gonna distribute these gifts to you now, so let's celebrate Christmas together in these few final moments…"
And with that, Gandalf turned to the Fairies and company and handed to them the first gifts from the sacks.
"Distribute these gifts amongst the families and do it fast," he said firmly. The Fairies and company nodded and with that, the air above the crowd was flooded with the flapping of Insectoid, feathered and skinned wings as the Fairies and company flew over the crowd with the gifts and soon, the gift distribution had begun.
Kushanku had received a magical sword-within-a-sword which was one large blade hollowed out to contain another, smaller blade. The name of this sword was called Gladio-Captionisse, or GC for short, and had required specialist skills to forge due to its design involving the large sword to be a hollow hilt for the smaller, hidden sword. Kushanku had also received a shield with a golden Lion-faced fireball design on it, intended to be a reference to Aslan, and a pack of vials of smokescreen potions which, when deployed, would generate a massive purple-black smokescreen to blind opponents. Nyarth received for his presents a sword and a shield based on his sword-fighting skills; Satoshi received a bow, a quiver of arrows and a flail which was essentially a lightweight metal ball attached by chain to a handle designed to suit handling by paws such as from a Nekomata; Akira received a medical kit containing a diamond bottle of fire-flower cordial and a dagger; Sandstorm also got a medical kit and had received a sword designed to be carried in the mouth to allow four-footed swordfighters to utilise, and Sandstorm had a talent in that area; Crystal and Snowwing both received a set of bow and arrows as well as medical kits containing various medical potions including the fire-flower cordial; Dahlia also received a sword, a shield and a boomerang-like weapon that functioned like the boomerangs in our own world; Obsidian received four swords and a shield while Guinan received a brand new frame for her family photo as well as a medical kit, a blow tube and a set of darts for combat. These items were some of the items that were distributed amongst the crowd by Gandalf's Fairy assistants and their company, and a few of the kids received toys in addition. Some of the kids, such as Troodon, Fluffy-Cotton, Cloudhorn the Alicorn and Webby the Platypus, however, did not receive any gifts due to their naughtiness, and neither did Lana and her band of Harpies for they had been the ones responsible for almost pushing Kushanku over the edge with their obscene notes which they still genuinely regret, and Troodon was especially upset over this but Cedrus had told him that it was to be a punishment for his being naughty and helping Belladonna in endangering everyone's lives. Troodon, at first, was severely disgruntled but through Cedrus's authoritative discipline, was forced to learn to accept it. However, Cedrus did take aside some toys and planned to give them to Troodon later if he had learned to behave but he did not tell the Theropod about them. Amongst the gifts were also tent packs that the creatures will set up during the nights for it was going to be a long journey to Archenland and it may require spending a few nights during the trip, as well as warm coats to protect the evacuees from the freezing cold.
Then as soon as the sacks Gandalf and company had received from Father Christmas, the REAL Father Christmas that is before his exile from Narnia by the Witch's winter curse, were depleted, and after a quick celebration of Narnian Christmas and giving thanks to Aslan was complete, Gandalf moved on to deliver the final instructions to the crowd. The Kitsune species father also had clutched in his front paws a scroll which was a magical map of Narnia for he was going to take it with him and his group. As Gandalf prepared to open up on his final instructions, some of the evacuees began to admire their gifts. Kushanku examined his GC sword. He removed the smaller, thinner sword from its larger, broader hilt-blade, perplexed and fascinated at how it was forged.
"The Gladio-Captionisse has been cleverly forged by truly expert and skilful sword-maker hands during the Conquest Age, centuries before Jadis came," said a Tengu named Helianthus with a proud smile as she stood with a few other Tengu, the species of Humanoids known for their long, bony beak-like noses, hair resembling the feathers in the plumage of a Kiwi, Moa or Cassowary with the males sporting beards similar to those of male Dwarves (these feather-like hair came in a variety of colours, ranging from greenish to brown to white, but could also come in yellow, orange and red, but these colours were rarer. Helianthus's 'feather-hair' was yellow and orange), their protective nature of forests and close friendship with Dryads, their occasional mischievous nature, and limited magical skills such as telekinesis, and were also very skilled in weapon-less combat (known as martial arts in our world, and Tengu were VERY good at utilising Kung Fu-like moves and agility).
Helianthus continued. "As you can see, the design of the sword is intended to be one smaller one inside another, bigger one. It's intended to confound enemies…"
"How" asked Kushanku as he re-sheathed the smaller sword inside its larger, broader hilt-blade. A smile formed on Helianthus's face.
"You'll find out how," she said gently before her face morphed into a stern look, "But remember, that's a weapon… not a toy, so you must use it and treat it like one."
Just then Gandalf's voice rang out a name, alerting the pair.
"Gandalf's calling for you," said the yellow and orange feather-haired Tengu. At this, Kushanku looked up and saw the nine-tailed ivory and metallic yellow-furred Kitsune scanning the crowd for him and shouting his name. At this, the Nekomata twisted his tails and lofted into flight. A relative of Helianthus, her father, who was widowed due to losing his wife in the previous Massacre Event, and was pledged to marry another Tengu female who will become Helianthus' stepmother looked on at Kushanku's ability to fly with his tails in fascination.
"I remember his father being able to fly with his tails like that when he was alive," he whispered. His face, along with his fiancée's, then fell.
"Frosty certainly was an excellent friend," said Helianthsus's soon-to-be stepmother sombrely, "It's certainly said that he had to sacrifice his own life to save his mate and four kits, along with the other escapees such as myself during that raid on our den thanks to that Raiju… who was supposed to have been Frosty's friend… but had betrayed us to the Witch after he had won one of the previous Massacre Event…"
Helianthus sadly nodded in agreement. She and her cohorts had only been very young Tengu at the time and had been too young to understand the brutality of the Witch's reign with the Decadal Massacre Event being one of them. That one ten years ago had turned a close friend of Frosty against him while the previous one had cost Helianthus and a great number of other Tengu and creatures close friends and relatives including Helianthsus's own mother, and a fiancé (husband-to-be) of an adult cousin of Helianthus. That cousin had fled to a place unknown, unable to cope with the dictatorship of the Witch any longer and Helianthus and her family had never seen her again but Helianthus had hoped that she would have settled down somewhere safe. Sadly, the young Tengu teenager resumed her attention to the stage and Gandalf as Kushanku continued flying towards him.
Kushanku flew, his forked tails spinning like a propeller, over the crowed and towards Gandalf on the stage podium. At first, the Nekomata expected the worst based on Gandalf's stern onyx-eyes piercing him but that fear was dispelled when Milky Way ascended and joined his side and said, "Don't worry, you're not in trouble."
Kushanku breathed a sigh of relief and continued flying towards Gandalf with Milky Way the Pegasus gliding on her feathered wings alongside him. As the two flew over the crowd, Lana, Suiren, Morgana, Hala and their band of Bird-Harpies looked on guiltily while Dashiell and Amberpaw just turned their gazes away from the platform without a care and began to space out despite the creatures around them telling them to focus on the platform as Kushanku and Milky Way touched down there before Gandalf. As soon as the Nekomata was before him and Milky Way had backed away, Gandalf turned his stern gaze to the crowd.
"First off, I'd like you ALL to issue this Nekomata, whom many of you had rejected and caused trouble because of Belladonna, a SINCERE and HONEST apology for almost sending him over the edge," commanded the Kitsune as Kushanku turned to the crowd. Then without hesitation, the word 'sorry' rose from the crowd as they issued the apology to the Nekomata. However, most of it was half-hearted and thus sounded like a murmur, much to Gandalf's annoyance.
"I said SINCERE!" yelled the Kitsune in a louder voice, "now raise the volume of your voices so that I know that you REALLY mean it!"
The crowd obeyed and shouted sorry together at Kushanku while some of them added how they were sorry for treating him badly because of Belladonna. Lana, Suiren, Hala, Morgana and their friends even flew up and issued their apology for their notes about him while Alexandrite, Molayne, Satoshi, Nyarth and Akira, with the help of some more Harpies who raised them up, also issued their apologies to Kushanku for shunning him and treating him badly.
"It was ALL because of that STUPID FOX, Kushanku," called Lana, hoping that she would be heard and noticed by the Nekomata. However, Kushanku was too busy focussing on the rest of the crowd and shouting, "it's okay, I accept it," and "it's alright" and the like back to them. Because of this, he did not notice the Harpies hovering and trying to get his attention. Giving up, Lana and company returned to their space in the crowd. They planned on a direct, face-to-face apology during the journey. Then after the crowd had finished apologising to Kushanku (though the majority of them still had in mind to issue the Nekomata a face-to-face apology later, such as Lana, Suiren and her group) and he had flown off the stage back to his spot where Helianthus was, Gandalf resumed his main objective of the final speech.
"And I also owe you lot my sincerest apologies for having to send you lot to Archenland FAR earlier than expected amongst other things regarding Belladonna's behaviour but we don't have time for that for that Snow Beast and her crony crowd are on their way, so the sooner we're out of here the better…" said the nine-tailed Fox firmly, before his facial expression changed to one of severity and sternness, "But before you part, here are my final, but IMPORTANT instructions. First off… you must, must, MUST… stick with the others, especially you kids…"
Troodon shuddered as he stood with Cedrus's Curupira youngsters, some of the kids shuddering in the arms of their older relatives, some of them being teenagers, while Tesseract the Unicorn felt a massive wave of nervousness come over him, and he was clearly not looking forward to the dangerous trip. Gandalf continued.
"And parents and the rest of you adults, you MUST keep an eye on your kids at ALL TIMES! Make SURE that you, as well as them, don't… DON'T… wander off. I HONESTLY cannot emphasize that enough. There are a variety of different predators, most who work for the Witch, lurking around each and EVERY corner of the snowy terrain aboveground, and those predators each have a sneaky way of luring and leading vulnerable prey away from the crowd," Gandalf began to shudder, "And one of them is using distractions and temptations to lure you away from the others so that you are vulnerable and on your own where you become an easier target. So you MUST ignore those tempters and their tools however persistent they may be, and keep a firm grip on your young 'uns. Again, I cannot emphasize that enough…"
Troodon as he stood with his new Curupira family shuddered. He clearly did not want to be in such a situation. Certainly not after his ordeal with Belladonna alongside one of Faline's sons, and what she had almost done to Nyarth made is nervousness flare up all the more. Gandalf continued to give his final instructions.
"In addition to keeping to the path and with the others," the nine-tailed Fox continued, "You MUST keep to Aslan's guidance. The Great Lion is going to serve as your guide and will use a golden fireball shaped like a Lion's face with a flaming mane around it, both during the day and during the night…"
Nyarth gazed at Kushanku, Satoshi and Akira curiously. However, he dare not ask any questions for he did not want to distract his younger siblings from Gandalf's speech, so he resumed listening to the Kitsune.
"If you wander away from Aslan's guidance," continued Gandalf, "You will surely end up in a LOT of trouble. As I've said before, the journey is fraught with all kinds of dangers, so you must follow Aslan's lead to get you safely to Archenland…"
Dashiell, who stood with Amberpaw somewhere else in the crowd, released a scoffing laugh.
"What if we have to go through rugged and dangerous terrain?" the Cheetah muttered. At this, one of the Enfields, which were Wolf-like creatures, with feathered Bird-like forelegs and Puma-like hind legs and tail, shot Dashiell a glare.
"Aslan knows best, Dashiell," said the Enfield, "He ALWAYS does… past, present and future."
"Yes," said another, a female and the mate of the first speaker, "so we must follow the Lion…"
A "Shh!" sounded nearby as Centaur silenced the talkers. The two Enfields obeyed and resumed listening to Gandalf. Dashiell continued to roll his eyes in mockery, muttering to himself. It was clear he still had a foul attitude towards the Great Lion.
As Gandalf spoke, one of the creatures called a Crocotta (a creature resembling a maned Hyena with a Badger's face and haunches like a male Deer, or Stag), raised a paw.
"What about you lot?" asked he. Gandalf gazed at the Hyena-like Talking Beast.
"I was gonna explain what we're gonna do actually, Proteles," said Gandalf before the Kitsune launched into it; "We will not be leaving for Archenland with you lot, but will instead flee to other destinations outside of Narnia where we will wait until the Winter Revolution and the Dawn of Spring comes, along with Aslan who will bring in the Great Thaw. Some of us will be heading to a hidden cave while our aquatic helpers will be returning to the Narnian Sea…"
As Gandalf said this, in one of the transport tanks, water-filled levitating transport devices especially designed to carry aquatic creatures who cannot walk on land like the Dolphins as well as protect them from the freezing temperatures aboveground (much needed for the journey), Coralfin the Ichthyosaur breathed a sigh of relief for she was looking forward to returning to the sea and escaping the Witch's tyranny and all its terrors. She had got a glimpse of the extremely bloody Massacre Event and had been severely traumatised, especially at the Witch and her cronies' love for such feral entertainment and she had hoped to NEVER, EVER encounter such violence intentionally induced to satisfy one's sickening pleasure again. The same was true for the other Ichthyosaurs, the Plesiosaurs, Mosasaurs, Dolphins, Seals, Penguins, and the Merfolk, and the rest. Gandalf continued, this time holding up the rolled-up magic Narnia map in one of his paws.
"During our separate journeys, I, alongside a few of the helpers, will be tracking your progress through the wintery terrain of Narnia on your journey south to Archenland so that you lot make it there safely," the nine-tailed Kitsune explained, "Your tents and coats have tracking devices, much like beacon balls, built in or attached to them which will show up on our map and reveal your whereabouts," as Gandalf explained these tracking devices, which were designed to give off a signal much like the beacon balls most often used by the Witch's cronies in their patrol groups to help determine each other's location on a screen map, Alexandrite examined her coat and saw a tag with a crystalline emitter. That must be one of the tracking devices Gandalf and company had installed into the coats and tents, but thankfully, the crowd will be under the watchful eye of Gandalf and company and not the Witch for these devices had been magically programmed to show up on the magic map of Narnia held by Gandalf and not to the locator screens of the Witch's cronies. Gandalf continued; a serious look on his face.
"Should trouble befall you, I will have to break off the journey, find you and intervene," said the Fox, "but hopefully, that will be unlikely, as long as you stick with Aslan's guidance and stay together at ALL times."
Most of the crowd members nodded as Gandalf finished with a very serious and emphatic instruction.
"But whatever you do, DON'T STRAY FROM HIS GUIDANCE and STICK TOGETHER AT ALL TIMES!" yelled the Fox loudly to intensify the importance of these instructions. The crowd nodded again but a few of them wore worried or scornful faces, and Dashiell was one of them who had the latter attitude. Then as soon as Gandalf had finished giving his instructions, he commanded everyone to make their way to the south-facing exits. Thankfully, during this time, the lookouts who had left to keep watch for the Witch and her cronies at the hidden exits had not returned to deliver the warning, but Gandalf knew that this opportunity in getting the evacuees and his own helpers and family off to a safe head start will not last, and he wanted to get himself and everyone moving fast before the Witch arrived.
As the crowd began to move, Kushanku took hold of Akira and Satoshi's paws while those two held paws with Nyarth, Alexandrite, Padparadchsa, Snowwing, Dahlia and some of the other Nekomata, Bakeneko, Jackalopes, Rabbits, Wolpertingers and Skvaders. Nearby, Sandstorm, Cyril, Desdemona, Molayne, Nanu, Link and Tesseract were moving along with the other four-footed Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures while Crystal stuck with the other Birds and winged non-avian Talking Beasts, such as the Talking Dragons, Wyverns, Cockatrices, Lindworms (a species of two-legged Dragon-Snakes), Bird-Drakes, Wyverns, Bird-Serpents, Pterosaurs and the Bats, and also the flying Magical Creatures like the Harpies and the Sphinxes, and a Cherub who was going to journey with the crowd. With Cedrus and his family, Troodon was moving along, clearly very nervous. He tried to search through the forest of the other creatures to find his biological family led by Ena and Dromaeo, his mother and uncle respectively but could not find them. Those Theropods were not going to have him back with them anyway and he was going to travel with Cedrus's tribe. Sadly and clutching the hand of a young male Curupira based on his vivid red hair, one of Cedrus's older sons named Tsuga, with one of his three-clawed hands, the young Theropod boy moved along.
"You remember what Mr Gandalf said about sticking with us, alright, Troodon?" said Tsuga firmly. Toodon nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat.
"H-h-have you ever wandered into Yuki-onna or Krampus before?" he asked. At this, one of Tsuga's sisters, a neon orange haired Curupira girl named Keteleeria who wore a flower in her hair, stepped in.
"We have only ever seen Krampus from a distance but we certainly have had a disturbing encounter with the Snow Siren Yuki-onna," said the female Cururpira, "Tsuga and I had only been young kids at the time and that deceptively angelic Snow Beast ambushed us and killed a few of us while we were hunting game for a flock of Secretary Birds and Archaeobirds…"
Troodon flinched. "What is it with hunting parties and their encounters with these monsters, anyway?" the two-footed Lizard muttered, "First there is Miss Obsidian with the loss of her brother and parents to Krampus, a few of the Rhinos' families to Krampus's Bakeneko…"
"That's one of the dire consequences of the Witch's winter curse over our land, Troodon," said an adult female Curupira, Cedrus's wife named Deodara who was also the mother of Tsuga and Keteleeria and the matriarch of the tribe and Troodon's new family, "Now stay focussed on getting out of here and getting to Archenland. Remember, STAY with us AT ALL TIMES!"
Troodon flinched and nodded before walking with the Curupira group and clutching Tsuga's hand at all times. In the library, Truffula and the others with her had finished packing what was left of the precious books into special suitcase-like carrier boxes as well as checking the sample of each of Narnia's endemic flora and fauna held in special containers and pots.
"Right, let's get out of here, let's move, hurry!" commanded Truffula and with that, the group consisting mostly of Tanuki, Sphinxes, Centaurs, Fauns, Satyrs, Lightning Pyros (among them Plasmabolt who, unlike the Fire Pyros, were not affected by the winter curse aboveground and were able to travel safely without the need for a container) and a variety of other fantasy and our world's animal-like creatures packed the precious items and possessions and hurried down the corridors in the direction of the south-facing exits. As the last of the group members left, Truffula flashed one last glance at the library, its shelves now completely empty of books, and shuddered. Pulling her gaze away from the once-safe storage facility for the records of Narnia's history, the prophecies and information about the variety of creatures, the Tanuki followed the others.
Within a while, the south-facing exits were bleeding with streams of various creatures as they departed the underground base. Coats were wrapped around the walkers while tents were carried on the backs of some of the creatures such as the Centaurs, Horses, Donkeys and the magical counterparts of the Horses such as the Unicorns and Pegasi. Heavily expectant mothers rode on the backs of the stronger four or six-footed creatures such as the Centaurs, Unicorns, Wampus Cats, Talking Dragons and a few of the larger Dinosaurs such as the T-Rex and Ceratopsids, and also the Rhinos and the Bovines. Pyros such as Emberflame were kept in special containers and the babies and eggs were carried in the special baby carriers. Young Talking Beasts and Magical Creatures able to walk were kept within the firm grip of their older relatives and carers, and those still in the process of healing and had declined the fire flower cordial treatment were also carried. Ena was carried by a Stegasaur while the rest of her family excluding Troodon were walking alongside the plate-backed Reptile. It took a good while for the base to finally empty but by the time the last of the creatures were out, Gandalf stood with Kyukon and some of the helpers, his ivory and metallic yellow fur glistening against the snowy background. However, the nine-tailed Fox showed no admiration whatsoever towards the snowy environment for he knew who was responsible for this never-ending snowy scenery. As Gandalf stood with some of his higher-ranking helpers, some of who will be going with the evacuees to Archenland, such as Cedrus and Bursyamo and their underlings and tribe members, a Lindworm arrived with a Sphinx, a Capelobo (not Hocico for he had been killed by Belladonna), two Daytime Okuri-Inu and a Minotaur. Some of Gandalf's helpers had remained behind to check the vacancy of the base, up and down, to ensure that ALL the compartments and corridors were deserted during the departure. However the checkers had left something behind.
"Okay, Gandalf," said the Lindworm, a female, "Everybody's out and we have set up decoys to distract the Witch and her cronies and buy us time. Hopefully we'll be well away from here by the time that bunch of twisted variety of diseased, feral, psychotic monsters and their equally psychotic and deceptively beautiful Devil Woman leader turn up…"
"That's excellent, Anaconda," said Gandalf with satisfaction and gladness, "Now let's leave here while we still have the time. You join the crowd heading for Archenland."
Anaconda and her comrades obediently nodded and left to join the larger crowd. Then as soon as the large gathering was ready to disperse and leave for their destinations, Kyukon went up to Gandalf and gave him a very passionate nuzzle for she was going to lead the majority of Gandalf's group in the direction of another destination outside of Narnia, along with the precious possessions such as the books and Narnia's flora and fauna samples.
"You be safe, my brave Fox warrior," said Kyukon as she continued to nuzzle with her mate for this would possibly be the last time the pair will see each other. Gandalf nuzzled her back.
"I will, my jewel flower," the male Kitsune crooned lovingly back. Then after the couple and the Kitsune species' ancestors broke the nuzzle, some of their offspring and helpers came in, along with a few of the members of the Archenland-bound crowd like Bursyamo and Cedrus and a few of the Kitsune who had opted to go to Archenland as well. However, there was no time for a departing hug from ALL of the crowd members for they must be off as soon as possible. Some of the hugs were very tearful and a few were reluctant to break the hug but they knew they had to. Then after Blaze had finished hugging Gandalf and had joined the Phoenixes bound for Archenland, Gandalf looked on at the Archenland-bound crowd.
"Remember, stick together and follow Aslan's guidance," the nine-tailed Fox commanded. The crowd all shouted "Yes" (apart from a few such as Dashiell) back at Gandalf and nodded before finally turning round and heading off south with their escorts leading them. Then Kyukon's group left in their direction with the resources from the base, tearfully waving goodbye to Gandalf and the last of his helpers who had opted to stay with him and watch over the Archenland-bound crowd's journey on the magic Narnia map and as soon as Kyukon's group was on its way, Gandalf and company departed the now-empty base as well. Gandalf stole one last gaze at the entrance to his no-longer-secret home and left after the others.
However, just as Gandalf and company were about to begin their own journey, a crystal communicator held by one of the Minotaurs who had opted to stray with Gandalf began to flash. Kyukon's group and Gandalf's group had a crystal communicator on them so that they could speak with each other over long distances, sort of like Nanu's communicator and our Skype app in our world. At this, the Minotaur shot a stunned gaze at the communicator in his arm and called to Gandalf.
"Gandfalf, someone's calling us," said the Bull-Man and with that, he set the communicator down before the group as they gathered round.
"Kyukon's group is calling us already?" asked one of the Phoenixes who had also opted to stay behind with Gandalf, alongside a couple of Thunderbirds and three Ice Rocs (Cumulonimbus and Brina had left with the Archenland-bound crowd), in befuddlement.
"They've only just left us," said a Centaur, Perseus. Gandalf, however, wore a stern look for he knew that it was not Kyukon who was making the call. As the ellipsoidal communicator levitated from the snow and transformed into a flat, oval screen, Gandalf's assistants looked on in confusion and worry while Gandalf wore a scowl on his face. Then within moments, a familiar crystalline being with beautiful icy needles protruding from her head appeared, but don't be fooled by her beautiful appearance, especially as Gandalf's scowl morphed into a fierce glare as recognition took hold. Behind the nine-tailed Fox, his assistants hid behind Perseus, not wanting to get a glimpse of the White Witch and her feral monster assistants.
"Good morning, Gandalf," crooned the Witch, Jadis, on the oval screen. Her face was clearly saturated with triumph, smugness and sneering, and Gandalf could clearly see that in her onyx-like eyes.
"Good morning, Jadis," replied Gandalf dryly, not fazed by the Witch's attempts at intimidating him, "I believe you're using your magic to access my communicator, am I right?"
A scoff escaped Jadis's mouth.
"Huh, you sure seem to guess correctly each and every time something strange happens such as now," crooned the Witch mockingly, "I guess your SUPER-SLOOOOW 900 year journey to a nine-tailed Kitsune has finally paid off, hasn't it? I could have made you into a nine-tailed Fox upfront…"
"None of your bragging and boasting about offering me that shortcut with your devious magic, Witch," snapped Gandalf brusquely, "especially when you projected yourself into my head each time I left Narnia before you took the country for your own evil, selfish gain, to tempt me time and time again with that useless shortcut…"
A wide smirk only formed on Jadis's skeleton-white face such that her teeth showed through. Then behind the Witch, a white, faceless creature rose eerily and gave Gandalf a scornful, obscene hand gesture. Behind Gandalf, his last few helpers felt outrage tear through them at the Slender-Man's outright disrespect for the Kitsune. One of the Satyrs tried to step beside Gandalf and yell at the Slender-Man but two Centaurs and a Roc restrained him.
"But that faceless beast is giving Gandalf an EXTREMELY rude gesture," growled the Goat-Man but the Roc rebuked him.
"Let Gandalf and Perseus see to this," he commanded. At this, the Satyr obeyed, calmed down and watched on as Gandalf and Perseus continued glaring at the Witch, Gandalf completely ignoring the Slender-Man's attempts to taunt him.
"Give it up now, Kitsune," crooned the Witch sneeringly, "Your super-secret base… is no longer a secret…"
Gandalf just said nothing and maintained his glare, his eyes locked fiercely with Jadis's sneering pair on the crystalline communicator. Perseus also kept his cool and composure. Finally the Centaur spoke.
"It's been an UTTERLY disappointing revelation that you had managed to find our base, Witch," growled the Centaur in a controlled voice of rage. The rest of Gandalf's helpers looked on in awe. The Witch's wicked smile widened as a Nogitsune, a dark red one, appeared and projected a magical hologram picture of a familiar purple-black Nogitsune.
"I believe you'll have met this Kitsune and my top student of my sorcery classes, Gandalf and Centaur," crooned the Witch, "You don't need us to tell her who she is but she was the one who revealed your base's location to us. She'll have passed the second-tail age now and be a two-tailed Kitsune, but when we find her, I hope to make her into a powerful nine-tailed Kitsune straight away as a reward as well as my second-in-command of my army…"
Gandalf remained silent and glared fiercely at the hologram picture of Belladonna held up by the dark red Nogitsune. Perseus, however, flinched as the eyes of the Nogitsune in the picture appeared to glare back at him in an intimidating fashion. The look on Belladonna's face certainly was a carbon copy image of that of Jadis and Gandalf did not want to reveal to the Witch that he had put her to death with his foxfire. The Witch continued sneeringly as the Nogitsune withdrew Belladonna's picture and moved aside.
"Now that your base's secrecy has been exposed, it is time to face outright destruction. YOU and your pretty mate will be captured while everyone else you have been hosting in your little underground hotel will be taken to be dealt with," she crooned, "and as for any records you have on that filthy Big Cat, the Thawing Prophecy, and the records you and your mate have collected on Narnia's history, all that will be taken and burned. And as soon as every last shred of the records you have spent the past 900-plus years collecting since Narnia's creation has been destroyed, everyone will know that I, Jadis, am the true Goddess of the Highlands and Narnia's TRUE QUEEN…"
"You've been longing to rule Narnia ever since those extra-Narnians brought you into this world just as Aslan was creating it, Witch," Gandalf finally spoke before he rose to all fours, turned his back to the communicator screen and walked a few steps before finally turning to face Jadis, "You've also been causing a LOT of trouble for a LOT of us, including myself and Kyukon during our trips out of Narnia with your temptations and interferences since you had been kept from returning to Narnia when the Tree of Protection was planted…" Gandalf paused dramatically, "and even though you've got your wish in ruling Narnia and causing suffering to everyone including the countless hearts you have sliced into two and inflicted deep mental wounds and scars with your abhorrent Decadal Massacre Events you have established in which you force countless innocents into bloodily slaying each other like feral beasts…"
"The name for the decadal event is FIGHTING LEAGUE, Gandalf," snapped the Witch but Gandalf continued, ignoring the Witch's snappy attitude.
"You still can't get enough of your greed for gain, your vanity and your bloodlust," continued the nine-tailed Kitsune, his deadpan glare firmly glued to the Witch, "Furthermore, you behave like a spoilt brat when you can't get what you want but that's the least of your traits…"
Gandalf then glared hard right into the Witch's eyes as she glared back at him like a stubborn child. Perseus and the other looked on as Gandalf began to calmly voice the truth about Jadis.
"You're twisted, Jadis," said the Kitsune in a low, dangerous, deadly voice at which the Witch shuddered with anger at how he had just addressed her, "You're the very definition of the greatest and the purest evil to EVER exist in ALL of Narnia, from the far reaches of the land disc to its sky. And think you're the most beautiful person in all of Narnia with that angelic crystalline voice, beautiful appearance and innocent demeanour that even a Cherub would envy?" Gandalf shook his head, "You're nothing of the sort… you're just a Devil Woman with evil on your mind… you're a usurper… a feral, mindless, sadistic Snow Serpent and Ice Dragon… a Destroyer and a Liar and the Mother of ALL Lies in EVERY sense of the word… and an EXTREMELY psychotic extra-Narnian from the world of Charn with a love of EVERY SORT of vanity, slaughter, suffering and everything else that is pure evil to the core, from top to bottom and from back to front and on top of that, you are a mocker of the Great Lion of All Lions..."
Jadis's scornful look transformed into a furious glare at the Kitsune's calm demeanour, but before she could spit a rhetorical insult at Gandalf, the nine-tailed Kitsune calmly swept on.
"And don't think your super-cooled fist of diamond-solid ice will last on the throne forever, Jadis," he continued, "It WILL eventually end with the Dawn of Spring when the Lion Above All Lions brings his radiant warmth to thaw out the country you have frozen with your winter spell…"
"Ah, that's just a PILE OF smelly (BLEEP)," snapped Jadis in a bratty voice, "That maned Puddy Tat will ASOLUTELY be NO MATCH for me, the TRUE GODDESS of ALL of Narnia if he EVER turns up. As for you, Kitsune, YOU are gonna become my ULTIMATE trophy amongst my collection of statues, alongside your MATE when we capture you. I have ALWAYS wanted to have a pair of nine-tailed Foxes amongst my collection of trophies, and now that wish is coming true…" Jadis's face and voice then morphed into a more threatening tone, "And if you EVER interfere with our plans, WE WILL DESTROY YOU, and you KNOW that EVEN a 900-year-old, nine-tailed Fox with all its power and intelligence is ABSOLUTELY no match for me because I'm FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN EVEN ASLAN, so YOU HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST ME!"
"Then take your best shot, Jadis, because we are ABOUT to intervene," snapped Gandalf calmly but in a fiercer voice and with that, he seized the communicator and cut off the communication with Jadis, the crystalline device morphing back into a crystalline ellipsoid object. His helpers gathered round as he packed away the communicator into a bag.
"Wow you sure were calm throughout the entire time, Gandalf," said one of the Fauns.
"Let's just leave here before that Witch and her army of turn up, which is likely to be imminent based on how she had managed to contact us," said Gandalf and with that he and his helpers were off, moving at a faster pace despite the snow hindering them in an effort to put some distance between themselves and their former, soon-to-be plundered home.
This is actually the last chapter of 2019, so Happy New Year! :)