Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any of the characters associated with it.

Hi readers, welcome back to a new week and new chapter! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 16: Wall Clues

The room seems to be getting impossibly darker as I run along; my eyes and mind creating images of scary creatures and ghosts in the darkness. Suddenly, I feel the earth shatter under me before I'm airbourn. I feel my backside land on something, and then I find myself sliding downwards into a pit of darkness.

Athalia POV

I scream. Loudly. So loudly, in fact, that I'm worried I'm going to cause the cave to cave in. Can you blame me though? I think anyone who was in my position at the moment would also be screaming their heads off. It's one thing to fall into hole. It's a completely other thing to fall into a dark, cavernous pit where you can't see a thing around you. It's truly terrifying. What's even scarier is when you're sliding down a pit and you have no idea where it's going to take you. What if it leads into a pit of lava and fire or into a giant tank of man-eating sharks and crocodiles? What then? I suppose I'll just die. I'll die alone and on an adventure that I wasn't even able to fully complete. I'll die a failure. I sure hope for Narnia's sake that the other three are able to find this prophecy in time.

I feel myself go around a bend while I think. The ground feels moist beneath me and I can't help, but to try and rotate my body so that I'm not getting a drenched backside, but it doesn't work. Instead I feel myself being thrown off of the slide-like-pit and onto a really mossy, bouncy ground. Everything is still pitch black though so I can't actually see what I've landed on. All I know is that I'm stuck somewhere, by myself, in the dark, with a drenched backside, and that I'm sweating like crazy. This pit is boiling hot and stuffy. I look around me in an attempt to see something, anything, but come up flat. It's the kind of darkness where you can close your eyes and open them again, but it doesn't make any difference in visibility. Well at least the ground is soft. The soft ground doesn't make my mood any better and it doesn't change the fact that I'm still alone and have nowhere to go.

I groan and let the frustrated and scared tears fall down my cheeks. Why can't anything go the way I want it to go for once in my life? This adventure was supposed to be fun; a bonding experience for Abigail and I in which we could return heroines! All it has turned out to be though is a pointless journey in which I get pushed around by an arrogant idiot who seemingly thinks that his way is always better than mine. No doubt he'll take the credit for everything once they find the prophecy and Abigail will once again be left on the side lines; never adopted and stuck in the horrible orphanage for the rest of her life. Not that the orphanage is really that bad, but when you're stuck in it, it feels like prison. No, I can't let that happen to her! There must be a way out of here. I stand up then and wipe away the tears before I start to feel all around the walls. This search proves to be invalid though. I really am stuck in a pit. It's perfectly square and tiny and has no exits. My search has also proved to be useful, though, in the fact that I found more skeletons which means, yay! I'm definitely going to die in here! I sit down again, pushing a bone out of the way, before giving in and just crying. There's nothing else to do. I am going to die. What a pathetic life I've lived.

I bury my face in my hands and just let the tears fall down my face in torrents. Well think about it this way, Athalia, at least the whisperers are gone. The thought just makes me cry even harder. What if they're not gone? What if they're in here right now? Watching me in the darkness?

"Aslan, please, help me," I whisper through the tears as I look up to the ceiling. I open them in time to see a light coming down from the cavern where I just came from. My heart rate picks up again, adrenaline pumping through my system. What if it's one of those things? What if it's coming to kill me? "Aslan. Help me. Now. Please! Don't let me die in here!" I scream in terror as the light gets closer and closer. I close my eyes, wishing it to go away, and when my eyes open again it's pitch black; the light all but gone. I breathe out a sigh of relief before I look to my left. I scream a gurgling, terror-filled scream as the ball of light floats next to me with no one holding it. It must be a ghost; it's got to be! I rip out my sword and point it at the light. "Leave me alone! Please don't hurt me! I don't want to die in here!" I screech as I move backwards on my spare arm and legs.

The floating light tilts from side to side as if it's a curious little puppy tilting its head before it floats over to the far wall. Slowly, as if to make sure I'm paying attention, it moves across the wall. I lower my sword slowly to the ground, placing it on the green moss that I can now see, before I wipe the last of my tears away with the back of my hand. The light barely moves even an inch until I'm completely focused on it then it makes its way across the wall. I look harder only to see letters engraved into the stone. My mouth opens of its own accord before I stand up and rush over to the wall. Tracing my fingers through the indents, I try to make out the words, but it seems like it's all just random letters spread around the place. I look at the ball of light again just in time to see it drop to the ground. What is it doing? As it lowers, it spreads into more of a sheet of light revealing a hidden parchment on the ground. I gasp and run over to it, hurriedly picking it up and ripping it open.

'The clues are the clue to this next clue; use your brain and the walls.'

'Aon siniec ras aon sinie mo peotas keeao sinie; hak paima tekands fer aon bjeajc.'

"What? I don't have the clues with me! Just my satc – " I freeze before ripping my satchel off of myself and flipping open the top. The clues are all there, but they're drenched. "Please no!" I exclaim as I take each floppy mess out. I don't believe it. Stupid mermaid pool! I lay each one of them out flat, hoping in the depths of my heart that they dry and are readable. As I lay each one out though, I watch as the parchment dries immediately and the clues get re-written in elegant script. I sit there, eyes wide, as each clue magically fixes itself. "Thank you, Aslan!" I murmur before reading each one again. Right. Now I wonder if I can move this light to the wall. I look up at it and point to the stone wall. "Light to wall." It doesn't move. Hmm… "Could you please move to the wall, Light?" Still nothing. I stand up then and walk cautiously over to it before reaching out my hand for it. It doesn't move so I touch it. My hand slips right through it though as if there's nothing there. I try pushing it only to discover that it follows my hand movements. I carefully lead it over to the wall before lighting up the clue.

'Keital qeina ha aon gieral mo blomera peleret neoma mo ol.'

"Okay, good. Now stay, Light." I carefully pull my hand away, hoping it doesn't follow me. Luckily it stays put. I breathe a sigh of relief before scurrying over to the clues. Alright so the first word is 'Keital'…Ah, found it! Keital means 'one'. I grab the quill out of my satchel before elegantly writing the word on the spare parchment. I smile and look up to find the next one. The next word is 'qeina' which means… 'rock'. Good. Now onto 'ha' which means…'is'. 'Aon' stands for…um…oh, 'the'. 'Gieral' means 'key'. 'Mo' stands for…'to'. So there are two to's in here then. Good to know. 'Blomera' means 'always'. 'Peleret' is 'open'. 'Neoma' stands for 'caves' and last but certainly not least is 'ol' which means…'me'. I figured it out!

'One rock is the key to always open caves to me.'

"One rock?" I look around me at the four walls and sigh. Great, just what I need. "Aslan, please tell me you don't expect me to search every rock here. I need to find the others so we can get on with the mission." I can almost hear him laughing his great laugh at me as I lean against the wall. This is going to take me forever. Well, Alia, you're not going to get anywhere by just sitting here. I know that. I groan and stand up before I begin pushing in all the stones; one by one.

Two Hours Later

Dud. Dud. Dud. Another dud. Another dud. Another dud. Kill me now. Whoever thought this clue would be challenging was wrong – dead wrong! It's so boring and so un stimulating that I feel like a walking zombie at the moment. Trying to push in stone after stone after stone – well you get my drift. I'm barely even trying anymore. After two hours of doing this, I feel like all my brain cells have been killed and gone to Aslan's Country.

"WHEN WILL THIS EVER END!?" I shout out rhetorically while slamming my fist onto the wall, or should I say into it, since my hand just sunk into the wall – wait a second. My hand just sunk into the wall? I look down wondrously before pulling my hand out. The whole wall sinks suddenly as a new passage is revealed to me, complete with a wall torch (which I take admittedly.) I smile brightly before rushing over to all the clues, scooping them up, throwing them in the satchel, and walking back to the entrance. I pass my sword on the way and quickly stick it back into its holder on my waist. I would hate to forget it. I turn to the ball of light then to thank it, but it's disappeared again. I try to ignore that little fact and instead head off into the new passage with my handy, new torch. Having explored caves in darkness now, I can happily say that I love these torches. I don't care that the smoke gets in your eyes occasionally or that you have to relight it often, it's just nice to have some light so you can at least see where you're going.

I follow the cave around in circles; it's almost as if I'm doing a figure of eight throughout the tunnels. My mind races a million times a minute as I keep coming up to more bends and never ending darkness. Every time I round a corner my heart jumps only for it to fall again with disappointment. Am I ever going to see Abby again? In a moment like this I wouldn't even mind seeing one of the Kings if it means I have company and someone to listen to. I sigh. Why must my life be so difficult? I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing for some sort of miracle, before opening them again. All at once I see a bright light ahead.

It looks a little bit like a large glow worm at first, but as I approach it the light begins to swirl into colours as well. My eyes grow wide in astonishment before my legs carry me forward. I put the torch out and throw it away carelessly. I run as fast as I can, getting closer and closer to the light before I jump into it. As soon as my bare feet touch the ground I squeal with delight. My eyes adjust ever so slowly, but once everything is clear I fall to the ground. Grass! Oh how I missed you! And my darling blue sky; never in my life have I ever been so excited to see thee! I gulp in the fresh air like a fish gulping in water. The air in this mountainous valley is clean and fresh and I smile brightly as I grip the grass in my hands and tear it apart with my fingertips. At last, I'm out of the cave system!

I close my eyes in delight, revelling in the sound of happy, singing birds and the wind as it rustles through the leaves in the trees. As I listen more and more though, my ears begin to pick up on another noise. Running water. A STREAM! I jump to my feet in an instant before running down into the bright, happy, green forest. Massive oak trees are dotted around the place as many birch and beech trees dance around them in the wind. I force my way through the shrubbery, following the delightful noise of the water as it increases in tempo and noise. I push through one last bramble before falling forward into cold, shallow water. For a second, I sit in the stream in shock before chuckling and then laughing loudly. I eagerly drink the water as it pours down towards me in small torrents; knowing that it's all fresh water and not some stale, old water like we found in the caves instantly puts me in a better mood.

While I'm sitting in the water, I also take the time to wash myself down a bit. My dress is tattered and torn in too many places to count I discover as I wash the visible skin between the gaps. Glancing down to my arm, my eyes grow wide. How did I get so many scratches without even realising it? I wash away the dried blood with difficulty before moving over onto my next arm. It's the same deal with that one too. Many of the cuts look as if they'll scar and I can't help but roll my eyes. Miss Fink is going to have a heart attack when I get back; I just know it. I choose to ignore my legs for the moment, too afraid to see the damage that was formed by me sliding down the slippery, sharp rocks, and instead focus all my attention to my now aching feet. I massage them, trying to ignore the blisters and bruises covering them, while removing all the traces of dirt and blood. I smile happily at the clean feeling I'm starting to get before splashing some water all over my face and standing again. As much as I wish I could stay here for the rest of my life, there is still a prophecy to find and I need to get going and find the others before it's too late.

Will she find them? You'll find out next week. ;) Don't forget to leave a review if you're enjoying the story so far and alert and fav to keep up to date with when I post!

I hope you all have an amazing week!

- narnia and beareject fan 1