It reached nighttime in the new camp, and Peter kept looking out if the tent and staring at Aslan. Kayla walked outside, and Ivar followed her.

"Kayla! What is wrong with you tonight?"

"Ar dtús mo mham, ansin m'athair. An mise seo chugainn? An mise seo chugainn?"

"What?"

"Ivar. First my mother, then my father. Am I next?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Mamaí was the first to go, and she did it for me. And now, Athair-."

"Aslan is going to do what?"

"Ivar. If I tell you, you cannot, I repeat, cannot tell the others I said this."

"I won't. I've never broken a promise before. I don't want to start now."

"The only reason the witch renounced her claim on Edmund is because Athair is going to sacrifice himself for Edmund. When there is an incident of treachery in Narnia, blood has to be shed on the Stone Table, and Athair does not want it to be Edmund. Or any of ours. He feels we've been through too much, so he's taking Edmund's place."

"Like Jesus did for us."

"Exactly."

She sat down on the ground and looked into the night air with tears in her eyes.

"Aslan called you Caoilfhionn yesterday."

"He was the one who gave me that name."

"Do you hate it?"

"No. Just in our world, Kayla rolls off the tongue easier. Especially in America and the United Kingdom."

"I guess it does. My name really didn't change at all."

"No, it didn't."

Ivar grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it.

"What was that for?"

"I don't know what else to do to calm you down besides take your mind off of it. Aslan no doubt knows what he is doing, otherwise he wouldn't do it."

"Edmund is his flesh and blood as well. He deserves this. The witch will get her comeuppance for sure. After all these years, she will."

"Aslan told me that Peter is ninety-seven years older than me."

"That's what the book says. He was born in the Narnian year 203. You were born in the Narnian year 300."

"What Narnian year were you born in?"

"220."

"So, you're eighty years older than me."

"That's correct."

"I just wonder why in our world, I'm older."

"I guess only Athair truly knows the answer."

"Aslan is all we have left of our families."

"What?"

"My real parents are gone. The Pevensies real parents are gone. Aslan is all we have left."

"No, he's not."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for starters, the Pevensies are my nieces nephews, and cousins. And even if that weren't the case, we would still be family. Family is not in the blood, Ivar. It's in the bond."

"Peter told me yesterday that he thinks of me as his brother. I told him I think the same."

"And there's your proof. Peter and Edmund are like brothers to me as well. And I certainly think of Lucy and Susan as my sisters."

"What do you see me as?"

"Alright, there is no way to sugarcoat this, so I have to be blunt. It seems like we see each other as a potential love interest? I don't know how else to put it."

"No, you're right on the nail. But, we'll just have to see as to how everything plays out."

"Yes, we do."

Back in the tent, the girls were asking Peter if Aslan was still outside.

"Is he still there?"

"Yes. He hasn't moved."

"He seems so sad all afternoon."

"He's not going to be there. For the battle."

"He's leaving it to me. To us."

Ivar and Kayla walked in, and saw the expressions of fear on the Pevensies faces.

"To all of us."

"This is a way of helping us grow. A chance that none of us would have had if we had stayed in this world, and chance we would not have if we hadn't come back. Narnia needs us, and we need Narnia. I'm sure of it."

"But he wouldn't desert us. Just when we needed him."

"No. He knows what he's doing. He knew what he was doing when he sent us away, and for us to meet up and become a family again. And he knows what he is doing now. Even in the dark there is a light. He will always be there when we need him. He is here for us now, and whatever he's going to do, he needs to do."

"But what will he do?"

"I can't say for certain."

That was all that Kayla could say to the Pevenises. She just gave Ivar a look, and he understood. The other thought that it was just a look of worry, like the ones they had on their faces.

"So, if a lion is our grandfather, can we turn into lions? Kayla, can you turn into a lioness?"

"I don't know yet."

"Here. Let me read your book again."

"I have the pages of our family tree bookmarked."

"We have an ancestor that's a lion. We are related to the White Witch?!"

"We are?!"

"It says it right here! Her nephew is our great-grandfather! A prince of Narnia is already one of or ancestors. A snake, a bear, a dragon, a vampire, and two dark lords."

"Who knows what we can turn into. I'm scared to find out."

"I am, to."

"Well, maybe we should try to get some sleep."

"I suppose we should."

"See you on the morrow, family."

Kayla headed to her own tent. She did not want the others to see her cry herself to sleep.

"Ivar. Do you think we've trained enough?"

"There's only one way of finding out."

"Throughout the centuries, there have been soldiers younger than us fighting. I hope and pray we can pull this off."

"I feel the same."

"Well, goodnight Ivar."

"Goodnight, Peter. Goodnight, Pevensies."

"Goodnight, Ivar."

While he was walking to his tent, Ivar looked to into Kayla's tent to see if she was alright. He could hear her crying, and stepped inside. He did not know what else to do for her, so he pulled her up next to him and let her cry into his shoulder.

"I'm crying for more than one reason, Ivar. I'm crying because my Athair is going to die tonight, and I'm crying for a people I barely even remember. Is that normal?"

"I don't know. In our world, this world isn't normal. Yet, here we are."

In the Pevensies' tent, Lucy had trouble sleeping. Her waking up abruptly woke up Susan as well.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I can't sleep. But I have a terrible feeling there is something hanging over us."

"I feel it too. Something is going to happen. Something terrible."

"Let's go and find him."

Susan and Lucy head out of their tent to go and find Aslan. Kayla was already outside.

"Kayla. What are you doing out here?"

"I can't sleep."

"Your eyes are red."

Sometimes tears just flow for no reason."

But she had a reason to cry. The three of them go to look for Aslan, and find him walking in the forest.

"Children? Children. Why are you here?"

"We couldn't sleep."

"I can't even think about falling asleep, Athair."

"May we come with you?"

"Yes. Yes, I should be glad of the company of my children and grandchildren tonight. You may come, if you will promise to stop when I tell you and leave me to go on alone."

"We promise we will."

"Thank you, Aslan."

The three girls walked with Aslan as if they had been doing it all their lives. Aslan stopped walking, and he was looking tired, physically and emotionally.

"What's wrong? Can you tell us what's wrong?"

"Are you ill, Aslan?"

"No. Not ill. Lay your hands on my mane, so that I can feel you."

As Kayla did, her hands were shaking, and she could not stop herself from hugging him and crying into his fur. Aslan nuzzled the three of them, and each girl hugged him tight. The walked a bit farther, with the girls never letting go of him.

"Here you must stop. And whatever happens, do not let yourselves be seen. When your lives are in danger, remember, do not let yourselves be seen."

He walks on without them, into the place of the Stone Table. Kayla stayed behind a bit in the woods, clinging to a tree with her emotions coming up through her system as vomit. She was shaking all over. The witch was waiting for Aslan.

"Behold! The great lion! Bind him1 Bind him, I say! Bind him!"

Minotaurs, cyclopes, and other witches bind Aslan to the Stone Table. He goes in without a fight.

"Now, let him first, be shaved!"

They cut his man short, and throw his hair to the ground to be stomped on. Susan and Lucy are hiding as best as they can, but they are still able to watch what is happening. They are both bawling their eyes out, and Kayla was still throwing up. As they put the bindings around his face, Aslan could see Susan and Lucy hiding.

"Now, who has won?! Fool! Did you think by all this you would save the human creature? as agreed in our pact, I will kill you instead! The deep magic from the dawn of time will be appeased! But, when you are dead, what is to stop me, from killing him too?! You have lost your life! And you have not saved his! Or the others! I know who they are! I know who all of them are! You have given me Narnia forever! In that knowledge, Aslan! Despair, and die!"

"Don't look, Lucy! Don't look!"

The witch plunges a dagger into Aslan's side, killing him.

"The great cat is dead!"

The witch and her army run past the girls, but they are able to keep themselves hidden. Lucy and Susan go up to Aslan's body, but Kayla was passed out in the woods.

"Let's take these binds off him."

"I wish they didn't tie them so tight!"

"Oh! We'll never get them off him!"

"Keep trying!"

"It's no use!"

"Ugh! Mice! Horrible little mice crawling all over him! Get away!"

"No! Wait a minute! They're nibbling at the cords!"

"They must be friendly mice."

"I don't think they realize that it's too late."

Susan and Lucy ended up crying themselves to sleep, never bothering to go back to their tent.