A/N: I am so, so sorry about how long this took. I started freelance writing from home, then the holidays got really busy, plus I've been ridiculously sick the past two months. Why, you ask? Well, my husband and I found out the week of Christmas that I'm pregnant! I'm due at the end of August, and the morning (more like literally all day) sickness has been REAL. Luckily, it's started to fade some, so writing has gotten easier. Anyway, be sure to keep reading for fun pregnancy anecdotes. Drop a review!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia.
Chapter 2
The iron of the lamppost was cool against my fingertips even in the summer air. I stared at it a moment longer in awe before a broad grin broke out on my face, and I took off running due east. As I ran, I stripped off my tie and undid the top buttons of my uniform. My skirt slowed me down a little, and I couldn't wait to get out of my blazer. The air of Narnia ran through my loose hair and spurred me on to run even faster.
"Nyx!" I shouted as I started down the hill to her home. "Nyx, I'm back!"
Visions of her through the years came into focus in my mind. I imagined seeing her surprise and hoped she would hear me and run out to meet me. I could almost feel her standing on my shoulder again, her tail wrapping around my neck. Strength surged through my limbs as Narnia soaked into me.
But when the caves came in sight, I slowed to a stop.
"Nyx?" I called again, but I didn't really expect an answer this time.
Most of the entrances to the cave homes were grown over with vines or filled in with boulders. There were no signs anyone had ever lived there at all. I glanced around—had I gone the wrong way? But I knew I hadn't. It reminded me of when Lucy had shown us Mr. Tumnus' house when we first came to Narnia, only to find it ransacked and abandoned. Nevertheless, I walked forward to where her home should be. I moved a tangle of ivy aside and found the entrance. Spiderwebs dangled in the opening with nothing but dirt and dust and rock inside.
"Nyx?" I whispered.
Not even an echo answered me.
I remembered a dryad who had lived next to Nyx's cave, but even her tree was gone. A sense of dread began to grow in me. I turned and ran the other direction with more alarm than excitement. The Beavers were close by, too. Surely, they could tell me where Nyx was. I broke through the trees to Beaver's Dam.
And once again slowed to a stop.
There was no trace of the dam I knew. Even the river that had once run alongside it had grown and completely changed the shape of the shore.
Auren. I could find Auren. I closed my eyes and concentrated, seeking her out. I must have stood like that for several minutes before I sank to the ground. I had reached out for her only to find nothing. There was no trace of her or Maris or even Thalen. I couldn't feel any of them.
"Aslan?" I whispered.
But the only answer I got was the rushing water of the river.
The sound of the water made me realize something else: the woods were silent. A few birds sang and the breeze rustled some leaves, but there was no real life here. I heard no fauns practicing their pipes or badgers and beavers going about their work. I couldn't feel the presence of the tree spirits or hear the watery laughter of the naiads. And where were the Pevensies? I couldn't believe the thought hadn't occurred to me before. They had been out on the platform. Had they come back, too? Surely Aslan wouldn't have sent me alone…but if they had come, where were they? I was definitely in Narnia.
But what in Aslan's name had happened here?
I could feel panic beginning to inch its way in, but I focused on the oxygen flowing into me and tried to center myself the way Auren had taught me. I imagined myself back on our island, her flame right next to mine. I concentrated on each part of me individually until all of me was buzzing with awareness. Then I opened my eyes and looked down at my hand. I created a flame above each of my fingers. The more air I breathed in, the bigger the fire got until my hand was fully ablaze. I felt as though I was waking up again, shaking off the drowsiness of England.
I gasped and pressed my palms against my temples. My mind felt crowded as though other things were pushing their way in. My body responded to the pain and panic, and my temperature shot up. I tried to pull it back down, but I was out of practice. My temperature climbed until sparks shot out of my hands. I sank my fingernails into the soil, gritting my teeth against the waves of heat and pain rolling over me. It all culminated in my head until it felt like it would explode. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the feeling began to fade into just a pressure, then just a presence. No, not one presence. Many. More than I had ever felt.
My breathing slowly returned to normal, and I opened my eyes. The grass around me was singed, my clothes vaguely smelling like smoke. I let out a long breath before I got to my feet. I looked around again and noticed the sun was just beginning to sink into the horizon. How long had I been here? Had it even been morning when I arrived?
"Hey! You there!"
My head snapped up at the man's voice. Four men in armor were riding I cursed myself for having been too preoccupied to have heard them coming. Their armor was distinctly not Narnian. Before I could even respond, two of them loosed arrows. I hit the ground just in time to avoid them.
"Guess we're not going to discuss this, then," I murmured to myself as I jumped back to my feet and took off into the trees.
A few more arrows whizzed by my head as I ran, with the soldiers gaining on me with every step. A thousand ideas ran through my head, each of them more desperate than the last. I was outnumbered, unarmed, and out of practice as an Eshwen. I could feel my old battles soaking back into my muscles, but I wasn't ready to test my skill against four trained soldiers.
But then, my options disappeared. Pain pierced the back of my left thigh as an arrow finally found its target. I stumbled forward, barely breaking my fall with my right arm. I stifled a cry of pain, but I was shaking. I dug my fingers into a tree and forced myself back to my feet, but the soldiers had already surrounded me. Three of them had arrows notched and pointed at me, the other held a sword in hand. I saw the style of his helmet and the insignia on the hilt of his sword. It stirred an old memory. We hadn't dealt with them much. They were just a small people off the coast.
Telmarines.
No one spoke or moved for several seconds. I fought to catch my breath.
The man with the sword dismounted. "I suppose you have an excellent reason for skulking around so near the outpost in an area that has been off limits under pain of death for over a decade."
I furrowed my brow. A decade? Impossible. And why would Telmarines have an outpost in Narnia? I could feel blood running down my leg, soaking into my sock.
"Speak, girl!" the soldier demanded. "Or die where you stand."
He grasped his sword even tighter.
I racked my brain for anything I could remember about the Telmarines, then something clicked. They were even more superstitious than the Calormens.
I stood as tall as I could, not putting any weight on my left leg and glared at the soldier with a confidence I didn't feel.
"You should be very careful who you challenge in these woods," I said, my voice as deep and even as I could make it. "You never know what you might stumble into."
I isolated fire to my eyes, letting them glow bright yellow, then ignited both of my hands. I opened my mouth to continue my threatening monologue, but the soldiers all let out horrible shrieks.
"Demon!" One of them screamed.
The man with a sword stumbled backwards, pale and stuttering, until he found his horse. The others didn't wait for him, but all took off in a panic. Within seconds, I was alone again. I allowed myself a small smile, then lowered myself to the ground. The light was fading as darkness fell. I slowly moved to lay on my right side and felt around at the wound on my leg.
"All right, it isn't so bad," I said under my breath.
But the second my fingers brushed against the arrow, I had to press my lips together to muffle my scream. It was an awkward position to try to pull it out, but I knew I couldn't count on any help arriving. I had seen Auren do this exact thing before—pull an arrow out of her leg and heal herself. I could almost hear her voice now, telling me to simply breathe through it. The thought gave me the resolve to firmly grasp the arrow and pull as hard as I could. This time, there was no holding back the scream. I saw spots in my vision and fought to stay conscious. I hadn't even pulled the arrow all the way out.
"I can do this. I can do this," I muttered over and over to myself. "Not the easiest thing to breathe through, but okay."
I knew the bleeding would be worse as I pulled it out. I was betting on my ability to heal myself, which, to be honest, was not a great bet. I ripped a piece of my shirt off, then shoved it in my mouth to muffle my shout. I took another shaky breath and yanked the arrow out. I could feel even more warm blood coursing down my leg. I pressed my hand back into the wound.
"If Auren could do this, so can you," I whispered, knowing it might not be true.
I tried again and again to no avail, then a warm wind swept through the trees. It washed over me, calming my breathing and muting the pain for just a moment. I pressed my hand against the wound and focused all my energy. And the pain disappeared. The bleeding stopped. I let out a strange sound, a combination of a relieved laugh and a shuddering breath.
I was beyond exhausted but forced myself to my feet. It wouldn't be wise to stay in the same place too long. I walked well into the night, not making any conscious decision of my direction. I stopped when I found a fallen tree propped against several boulders and overgrown with other plants. I slid underneath the natural shelter and pulled my school blazer closer around me.
The woods were eerily quiet, save for a few crickets. How could so much have changed in the year since we had been gone? Telmarines had outposts in Narnia, the landscape had shifted drastically, and there was no sign of Auren or the others. The soldier had said the law had been in place for a decade. How—
That's when it hit me. Everything came together in my head, but instead of gasping and sitting straight up, I felt more rooted in my spot than ever before, unable to move or even breathe. We hadn't been gone for a year. Time worked differently here than it did in England. I should've known. When we came back to Professor Kirk's after having spent years and years in Narnia, no time had gone by at all.
We could have missed a century in the time we had been gone. I couldn't believe how stupid I had been not to realize it sooner. Faces crowded my mind: the Beavers, Nyx, Mr. Tumnus, Oreius, Maris, Thalen…Auren. They were all gone. They were all dead. And in the absence of the kings and queens, Telmarines had invaded and conquered the land.
I suddenly felt suffocated under the tree. I crawled out and stared up at the stars, too tired and confused to even cry. Under the wide, open sky, I felt more profoundly alone than I ever had.
"Aslan," I whispered. "What are you doing? What am I supposed to do?"
The stars didn't have an answer, but the longer I looked at them, the easier it was to breath. I saw a few constellations I remembered and sat down in the grass instead of climbing back under the tree. I eventually fell asleep there, counting the stars as my company.
OoOoO
The sun had not been up long when I woke up. I was immediately reminded of all the good and bad things about sleeping outdoors. On one hand, I was dreadfully sore from the hard ground as well as dirty and uncomfortable. On the other hand, the breeze rolling over me smelled as sweet as I remembered and made it harder to focus on the other things.
I stood and stretched, finding my leg to be completely healed, though I was now covered in dried blood and dirt. I had a lot of decisions to make about what to do and where to go, but I knew the first thing I needed was water. It wasn't long before I wandered to a stream. I had only intended to drink, but the second I touched the water, dirt and blood began to wash off of my hands. Without hesitation, I threw off my blazer and dove into the water.
I was just about to climb out when I suddenly felt someone coming. I frantically looked around for somewhere to hide but only had time to lower myself until only my eyes showed.
Two women in red dresses ran out of the trees on the opposite shore. They both looked around but didn't seem to see me.
"I thought she was here," the taller one, blonde one said.
"She is," said the brunette. "I can feel it."
"Sister!" the brunette called out. "Please don't be afraid. Let us help you."
They were Eshwen. I could feel the air practically humming from their energy. They began to walk downstream, but I swam to their shore.
"Wait!" I called out.
They stopped and turned to me just as I jumped out of the water. I raised my temperature to dry my clothes and singed the sleeve of my shirt slightly. I patted the spark away.
"Sorry," I said, turning bright red. "A bit out of practice."
They were both staring at me with wide eyes. Now that I was closer to them, they looked like sisters, both with the same brown eyes and square jaws. The brunette looked strangely familiar.
I started to introduce myself, then stopped when I saw how pale she had gone.
"Your Majesty," the brunette said, her voice shaking. "It's you."
She started to kneel, but I rushed forward and grabbed her hand to pull her back up.
"No need for that," I said. "Call me Emma."
She stared intently at my face. "You're so young," she said. "It's been nearly fifteen years since I saw you."
"You're the one I saw," I said, finally recognizing her. "You're the one who appeared to me, asking for help."
She was still staring in shock. "How—"
"Amara," said the blonde woman, whom I could tell was closer to my age stepped forward. "Is this the best place for questions?"
Amara shook her head as though to clear it. "No, you're right. We need to get back to camp. Will you come with us?"
"First, I need to know…" I trailed off for a moment, almost losing my courage. "How long has it been since I was last seen in Narnia?"
She looked confused but answered me. "It has been over a thousand years since you reigned at Cair Paravel, my lady."
I snorted and shook my head. "Well, I hope nothing important happened in the last millennium."
"Please, we must go," Amara said.
I nodded and followed them into the trees. I lost track of how long we had been running, but eventually we stopped near the caves where Nyx had once lived. The thought made me feel dizzy again.
The blonde woman led the way toward the rock wall, then seemed to just disappear into the shadow. Amara followed her. I stepped forward uncertainly, hands outstretched so that I wouldn't smack my nose into the rock. Then my left hand collided with the rough edge of an opening. I felt my way through, then the passage widened until I came into the open. I was surprised not to find myself in a cave. I stepped out into a crescent-shaped clearing naturally hidden from the outside. There were rows of tents lined up and an area with tables and benches and a large, glowing firepit with a makeshift kitchen around it. Women in dresses matching Amara's milled about at work. It took my breath away.
"How?" I asked Amara. "There are so many of you. I can feel…so much."
No wonder I had felt overwhelmed earlier. There must be over twenty female Eshwen here. The most I had even been around were two.
"Come with me to my tent," Amara said. "We have much to talk about."
I followed close behind her as the sun I had not seen in so long shone overhead. I felt warm for the first time in a thousand years.