Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, only my OC's and plot.

Hi all! welcome back to a new week which only means one thing - a new chapter! ;) I apologise for the late release, this week has been insanely busy! Now lets continue on with the story shall we…

Chapter 12: Grovoloniks

I find myself suddenly immersed into a dream, if you can even call it a dream; it feels more real than any dream I've ever had. The sweet fragrance of fresh, red roses overcomes my nostrils as I find myself in a kind of courtyard. It's very beautiful. Surrounding the courtyard are green vines that are covered in the most beautiful roses imaginable. I can see large, green, maple trees behind the vines; branches and leaves' peeking out in small bunches. The floor of it is made up of a beautiful, white stone; it sort of reminds me of marble. There are small, white, love seats surrounding the courtyard with large, colourful butterflies happily fluttering around them. In the very centre of the courtyard is a fountain; a tall, stunning fountain with layers upon layers of crystal-clear, blue water falling down it. On the actual stone of this fountain are hundreds, if not thousands, of individual carvings and three-dimensional sculptures; butterflies and mermaids and fairies and dolphins. I don't pay much attention to the carvings though. Something else is here that steals away my attention.

Sitting on the edge of this fountain is a stunningly, beautiful lady. She looks to be in her mid-thirties and has long, silky, black hair which is tied back into an elegant design of braids and curls. Her dress is a lovely, cream colour with gold trimmings along the edges of it. It's very long and elegant and has very pretty, thin, cream, lace sleeves. Her hands are lightly placed on her lap and her feet are slowly tapping on the ground as if she's remembering a song or waiting for someone. She wears no shoes. As I take a careful and cautioned step towards her, she turns her head in my direction giving me a lovely view of her face. She has stunning, large, clear, blue eyes and very fine, thin lips. She's wearing an elegant, diamond necklace along with a thin, gold crown that stands out beautifully on her black hair. I suddenly feel very dirty and grubby looking in my old, beaten-up orphanage dress compared to this lovely lady. I sigh and look down at myself only to discover that my orphanage dress has been replaced with a long, deep-blue dress. I smile for the first time in a while as I look back up to her. She's standing now and I'm a little bit thrown back by her height. She's tall; very tall.

"Um…how do you do?" I ask hesitantly as I curtsey for her. She smiles a very lovely smile at me as she curtseys herself.

"I'm very well thank you, Athalia. And how do you do?" Her voice sounds like wind chimes; sweet and high. It's a delightful noise to the ear.

"I'm good," I reply stupidly. That did not sound elegant or graceful at all. "I'm terribly sorry, and I hope this is not rude of me to ask, but who are you?" She laughs a beautiful melody.

"Don't worry, Child. It's not rude at all to ask such a question. I don't expect you to recognise me. I am Queen Swanwhite." My mouth falls open of its own accord. Queen Swanwhite? The Queen Swanwhite! I'm about to reply but the entire scene vanishes suddenly as I hear my name being called.

"Athalia. Athalia!" The voice that is speaking now sounds husky and deep compared to the delightful voice of the Queen and I immediately feel disoriented. I feel my eyelids start to flutter as I put a chilly hand to my overheated forehead.

"Huh?" I murmur as I try to sit up and open my eyes.

"Whoa, lay back down, Athalia; it's okay. You're alright now. I'm pretty sure we've gotten rid of the poison." I lay back down as the voice commands before I groan.

"Is that you, Abigail?" I question. The voice laughs deeply as I shake my head slowly. No, it's not Abigail. "King Edmund?"

"No, I'm not King Edmund either."

"Bossy, proud, arrogant King?" I can almost hear the glare in his tone as he replies.

"Yes?"

"Where's Abby?" I hear him take a deep breath in; a sigh.

"She's fast asleep. I think almost drowning twice really wore her out." I roll my eyes at the comment.

"Really? What a surprise!"

"Please stop with the sarcasm. I know you're probably still angry at me from before but it had to be said. I know that you had clearly told me outside that you were in charge, and I do respect that, but I would like to have a say in a few things, Athalia, instead of you turning down my every request like it's nothing important." I grimace.

"I understand. It doesn't mean anything is going to change though."

"ALIA!" screams Abby suddenly before I feel her arms wrap tightly around me. Obviously either the High King was lying or she just woke up. I'm thinking the former. "I'm so glad you're okay! I thought you were dead!" she exclaims as she un wraps herself from me.

"Well I'm not, in fact, I'm fine, so let's get a move on. Say, where's King Edmund?" I ask as I curiously glance around.

"I'm right here!" I hear a gruff voice say as I hear the sound of footsteps walking towards us. "We all slept while you were out of it so I think we've lost some valuable time."

"Well if the High King hadn't managed to save Alia then I think the mission would've been over by now," Abby butts in as she slightly nudges me. I glance over to the High King before looking down to my lap. Just say it, Alia. It won't kill you.

"I suppose a thank you is in order. So thank you for saving me, Your Majesty," I manage to spit out.

"You're welcome, Athalia. Now what do you say we go into the cave now." Everyone agrees to this so King Edmund and Abby help me stand up before we all walk forwards into the darkness. Abby's hand is gripped onto mine as she and the High King start back up with their jokes. Thankfully for me though, I have other things on my mind.

The fight I had with the High King earlier rings throughout my head. If we would've died in the quick sand, or if I would've died after the fall, the last words we would've spoken to each other were words of negativity and hate. We would've died arguing. This sudden epiphany has me thanking Aslan that we didn't die. I couldn't imagine anything worse than dying right after an argument with someone. Would we even remember the argument when we're in Aslan's country though? I highly doubt it. Maybe it is time to start changing my attitude towards the High King then. I'm sure we'll probably get into many more situations where there's a chance of us dying. Wouldn't it be better for us if we are friends? I take a secretive glance over to him. The clothing he's wearing is brightly coloured and is made of amazing fabric. The sack he's carrying is made of woven silk, intricately placed together in braids. I really should try and give him a chance.

I look forward again and quietly huff to myself as him and Abby begin to laugh again at some stupid joke, King Edmund's laugh can be heard a second later as he only just understands the joke. Just when I think the boring cave systems are finished, they start up again. Endless darkness; endless stuffiness; endle – crunch, crunch, crunch. I stop mid step, causing Abigail to trip a little since she's still holding my hand. She gives me a wondrous look as I put down my lantern and place one single finger to my lips. The Kings don't notice for a few seconds but, when they do, the High King speaks up.

"What is it?"

"I can hear footsteps on the gravel so shoosh up," I whisper furiously before shutting my mouth and listening hard again. The footsteps never cease. In fact, it sounds like they're coming up from behind us – and getting closer. I tug Abby's hand urgently.

"Are you okay?" she whispers as she follows me over to a large boulder.

"We need to hide somewhere. They're coming up behind us!" I say as loudly as I dare before I duck down. She gets beside me, closer to the rock wall, as the two Kings hide behind another boulder that's next to the opposite wall.

"Is it the other creature?" Abby questions in my ear. Well obviously! Who else would it be?

"Possibly." Suddenly remembering my lantern, I quickly jump up and grab it from the middle of the path before taking it back over to us. "Stay close to me, Abigail; I need to blow out my lantern. Your Majesty, you have to do the same," I order before opening up the flap and blowing out the light. I hear the High King open up his too before we're all flooded with darkness. Abby curls up to my side while I keep an arm wrapped around her in comfort. None of us even dare to breathe as yellow swirls suddenly appear on the walls from around the corner. The entire path is lit up with the light from the new candle as voices begin to appear.

"Squawk! Wasn't this, squawk, supposed to be easy?" a loud voice asks. I instantly know that it's a parrot of some kind; possibly a toucan or macaw.

"Be quiet you inane parrot! Who knows what's hiding in these caves? Do you want to give away our position to someone who can possibly oppose us?" another voice replies, only, this time, it's a darker, more sinister kind of voice. I can't help but feel a little bit cautioned. I swear I've heard that voice before somewhere.

"Marille, if the toucan wants to speak then let it speak! You two can't keep at this forever. We all know that it's impossible for the lousy bird to keep his trap shut, especially after we've been trapped in a room full of rodents," a lower voice cuts in. Marille? No, it can't be!

"Make sure you keep the satchel in a safe place where no one will be able to get to it or find it."

"Sir, the little thieves are here, and I reckon that a lifetime in prison will be a perfect punishment for their crime, perhaps I should even keep these maps safe so that no one else will be able to find them ever again."

I look over to the Kings with alarm only to notice them both looking at me with slack jaws. Obviously, it is who we all think it is. No wonder he wanted to keep the maps so badly.

"Squawk! I agree with the (squawk) ghoul. Let me (squawk) talk whenever I very well (squawk) please too," the toucan replies.

"Let's just retrieve this prophecy so that we can get our reward," Marille says as their footsteps get closer. I get closer to the boulder as they speak and quickly cover Abigail's mouth with my hand as I pull her closer also. I keep my eyes trained on the path next to us, waiting for the moment when I see their feet and legs.

"It's your fault for going with the first door! We should've gone with the second door like I had suggested, but we can't now so let's just get on with it," the ghoul says as they walk right next to us. I'm finally able to get a good look at them. The bird is definitely a toucan; bright, coloured feathers and a long, red beak. It's sitting on the shoulder of the ghoul, who's wearing a piece of animal skin and is carrying a long bow and arrows. His eyes are wide and fierce. Marille is walking next to them. The satyr is wearing quite a bit of armour and has two scimitars, one on each side of his waist. The trio don't notice us tucked behind the rocks as they walk on by.

"Can we (squawk) please stop with the (squawk) door? At least we're all still (squawk) alive," the Toucan butts in again.

"The flying rodent's right. Let's just get on with it. Look there's a large room up ahead. Follow meeeee…" Marille's voice trails off before we all hear a loud clunk.

"Marille! Are you alright?" the ghoul exclaims worriedly.

"Of course I'm not alright, you blubbering idiot! Now help me out!" Marille screams back.

"We need to get you out of that hole!" the ghoul exclaims, ignoring Marille's comments, as the toucan and him both bend over the perfectly-round pit in the floor. I look over to the Kings slowly and gesture with my finger for us to move around the boulder so that we're not in plain sight. They nod once slowly before we all very quietly try to sneak our way around the stones. I watch the flying parrot cautiously as we do; it wouldn't do for us to get caught here. We all make it around safely and I watch the two Kings as they make a very quick dash over to our boulder. I send them an angry look in reply. They could've been seen. I look down to Abby then and notice her smirking as she holds a stone. She looks from the stone to the ghoul with a wicked grin. I smirk in reply and nod once before she slowly and very carefully stands up. She tosses the stone before ducking down quickly again; her hands covering her mouth as she does so. A second later we hear a loud clunk followed by various cuss words and the sounds of a flying parrot. I put my own hand over my mouth to stop from laughing out loud. Something closes then as the voices all abruptly disappear. Thank you, Abigail!

"I think the ground just closed," she whispers cautiously a second later. I stand up slowly and glance over the boulder. Sure enough the hole that was in the floor is now gone. I can't help but notice that their lanterns have been very meanly disbanded also. Well they now get to take the lovely journey with us. I stand up and walk over to them before I pick them up. I chuckle in spite of myself before I hand one of them over to the High King.

"Alright, group, let's keep going. Just make sure that you stick close to the walls; it would be awful if we fell down into the hole with the people who we're trying to avoid," I say as we all begin to walk again. They do as I suggest and all stick to the sides before we find ourselves in a large empty room. There's nothing in it; it's just empty. There are no coloured plants or wells or even insects, it's just a large empty space.

"Well this is stupid! What are we supposed to do in here?" King Edmund asks as he glances to me. I shrug.

"Try looking around everyone. Maybe there's a secret pathway somewhere," I say as we all walk into the room. King Edmund immediately begins to search the walls, pressing his hands against the stone. Abby copies him, only she starts on the other side of the room, while the High King and I walk all over the ground in search of a button or a switch or something! I sigh in annoyance after ten minutes of searching. Oh Aslan, what are we supposed to be doing right now? I scan my eyes around the room again, checking every stone and vine. My eyes land immediately on a moving stone. I raise an eyebrow and walk curiously over to it. The movement doesn't cease so I lean in ponderously to place my ear against it. I can hear snuffling and scratching coming from the other side.

"Alia, wha – "

"Shh!" I whisper furiously as I whip my head around for a second and place a finger to my lips before putting my ear back to the stone. The snuffling continues before the stone begins to move outwards. I startle back a good five paces as I watch on curiously. The stone pops out of the wall suddenly before the strangest creature I have ever seen comes tumbling out of it. The other three run up to me immediately before we all watch on in silence as the creature stands up.

It seriously is the weirdest thing I have ever seen. It's short, probably around three feet tall. The little thing's body is pretty much made up of a bunch of roots and twigs intertwined together. Connecting the twigs and roots to each other are very pretty, coloured stones; blues and reds and greens and purples – gem stones. Its feet – if you can even call them feet – have large claws on them, perfect for gripping onto things. Its hands are what get me though; it has no fingers. One of its hands is like a large shovel, only it's made out of a dark stone which is embedded with gems; obviously it's a creature that digs. Its right hand looks like a normal hand only made of roots and with really long nails. Its black eyes are large and wary and it doesn't seem to blink. It has small ears made out of, what looks to be, more twigs. Its head is covered in a green moss which makes the creature look very scruffy indeed. It's wearing a strange, brightly coloured kind of soft-looking cloth over its chest and lower body also that looks very dirty. The creatures' breathing is quite heavy which makes it very noisy in the empty room. It moves silently though, its feet, but a soft thump on the rock flooring.

I look down to Abby quickly for an explanation. Surely she's heard of this creature before. She shrugs in response to my wondrous glance.

"Excuse me? Little creature? I hope you don't mind my asking but, what are you?" The creature looks at the High King with wide eyes before its mouth opens wide.

"Your Majesties? It privilege and honour to front of you. King doing what down here? Don't, no answer that. You follow Greven to Grovo? Along come!" What did he just say? Something about the King? I raise an eyebrow curiously as the creature toddles past us and over to a bunch of rocks. He then gives one of them the slightest touch before all the rocks roll away. He then turns to us and gestures with his shovel hand to follow him before he spins around and walks into the tiny cave. Well that was strange. I turn back to the others who are all still staring after the creature.

"Alright, you heard the thing, lets follow it! It might lead us out into the open again," King Edmund says as he begins to run forward. Abby, who seems to be agreeing with everything the young kings says lately, eagerly trails behind him. The High King is about to follow his brother but, in an unusual act of physical touch, I grab his hand and hold him back. He immediately looks over his shoulder and raises his eyebrows in surprise as he spies my hand in his. His surprised look turns to one of understanding though as the sign of a smile begins to form on his lips. I ignore it though.

"You don't seriously think this is a good idea do you? We don't know anything about this creature! What if it leads us into a trap and eats us all alive?" He clicks his tongue once as he thinks of a reply.

"It seemed friendly enough. You worry far too much. It just opened up another entrance so it must be here for a reason. Let's just go and, if you still have regrets, take solace in the knowledge that we've all got weapons that can kill something if needs be." I nod rather reluctantly at his words before his smirk appears again. "You know you're still holding my hand right?" I look down quickly and pull my hand away almost immediately.

"Don't breathe into that, High King, I still don't like you or consider you one of my friends," I say venomously.

"Dully noted." I narrow my eyes at him.

"Once we've found this prophecy, I'm going to make it my personal duty to never speak to you again," I spit out. He raises an eyebrow, his lips turning up into a smile.

"Is that so? Well then I guess –"

"Are you two coming? That thing is already ahead of us by five paces," Abby says as she comes running into the room. I don't even have time to answer her before she's grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the cave. I can hear the High King's laughter from behind me as Abby pulls me down towards the ground and shoves me into the tiny hole.

"Okay, I get the point! You don't have to shove me!" I complain as I begin to crawl through the cave – if you can even call it that. It's more of a small hole than anything else. The ground in this "cave" is very soft; in fact, it feels like moss. I can't help but smile. Finally, something other than rock! I can hear King Edmund's yelps of pain as we continue on through the tunnel. Apparently his back is scraping across the ceiling; just like the rest of us. Abby's right at my heels, filling me in on boring information regarding moss and glowing rocks. Seriously? Does it look like I care? I'm not complaining though, at least her mind isn't focused on the fact that it's a tight, small, black cave. I can occasionally hear the High King from behind her, adding in snippets of wisdom here and there, not that I'm paying any attention to him anyway, but it's nice that he's trying.

"Golly!" King Edmund suddenly exclaims, "It's so amazing!"

"What's amazing?" I question immediately.

"Just hurry up, then you can see what I'm talking about!" My eyebrows furrow as I crawl as quickly as I can through the last of the tunnel. There's a bright light before my eyes can make out what's actually in there. Suddenly they widen though as the room is revealed to me.

What could possibly be in the room? Let me know what you think in a review! :) Also don't forget to alert and favourite this story if you're enjoying it and would like to know when I update.

Thanks for reading and have a safe week!

- narnia and beareject fan 1 xoxo