Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia.
Trigger Warning: semi-graphic depiction of death.
Chapter 5
I could hear Drinian directing the men with bows, trying to bring the dragon down. Lucy and Rhea were sprinting down the beach even as Edmund and the dragon disappeared over the trees. The men were all shouting to each other, no one sure just what to do. When we reached Caspian, I saw a glimmer of relief come over his face.
"I know where a nest is!" I called as I reached him. "We just killed a dragon not far from here."
Rynelf jerked his head up when I spoke and looked even more flustered than before.
"What the hell is this place?" he shouted.
"Come on!" I said to Caspian.
"But dragons live alone," Drinian called.
"Do you have a better plan?" I shouted. "Are we just going to wait for it to bring Edmund back?"
Caspian and Drinian looked at each other. Caspian nodded and Drinian began barking orders at some of the men to come with me.
"Wait, where's Eustace?" Lander asked, looking around the beach.
I looked up, scanning the sand.
"He's missing," Caspian said, frustration and alarm in his voice. "We were just putting a search party together when—"
"Look to the sky!" Reepicheep shouted from somewhere behind me.
"Arrows on the string!" Caspian commanded.
Lander and I shared a look, each knowing that arrows would not do any good.
I let out a breath when I saw Edmund still dangling from the dragon's front claws. Rhea and Lucy had come running back our way and reached us just as Caspian raised his arm, ready to command the archers to shoot. But he hesitated. I noticed at the same time that Edmund was shouting something to us.
"Don't shoot!" Edmund's words finally came through. "Don't shoot!"
"Hold!" Caspian ordered.
Then the dragon did the last thing any of us expected and dropped Edmund onto the sand a yard away before circling back and landing further down the beach. Though Edmund stumbled on impact, he seemed unharmed. He started running toward us, shouting in short bursts.
"Eustace!" Edmund called. "It's Eustace."
Lucy met him first, and he put his hand on her shoulder as he bent over trying to catch his breath.
"The dragon," he stammered. "It's Eustace."
I nearly dropped my ax. There was a collective gasp followed by a beat of complete silence.
"You're sure?" Caspian asked, his eyes on the dragon that seemed to be staring just as hard at him.
Edmund nodded, regaining his breath.
"Horribly," Edmund said. "He burned a message on the cliff side. It's him."
"Lower your weapons," Caspian barked to the men.
Lucy looked past her brother to the dragon.
"Eustace?" she called.
The dragon gave what sounded like a wail and nodded its huge head. Without hesitating, Lucy strode over to him and gently touched the side of his scaly head. The dragon sighed heavily and nuzzled against her hand.
"Well, I never…" Drinian gasped.
"Sorry about your hand, old boy," Reepicheep said to the dragon. "I tend to get a bit overzealous at times."
I could see now a small wound on Eustace's front left leg. I stared in wonder at the mouse who had attacked a dragon alone. Eustace limped toward the rest of us, but his small cut did not seem to be the problem. On his other front leg was a golden cuff that was digging into his skin. He bit at it fruitlessly until Lucy yanked it off.
"How did this happen? I've never heard such a tale," Reepicheep said as he scampered up to Edmund.
It soon became clear that no one, not even Eustace himself, knew how this had happened. We left Drinian and most of the men on the beach as Eustace led us to a cave not too far from the beach where he had apparently wandered off to. Everyone but Lucy and Reepicheep kept a small distance from Eustace. Lucy stayed by his side, a hand by his head.
There was the body of an old, decrepit dragon just down the hill from the cave. Edmund and Rhea stopped to inspect it. Caspian and I carried on into the opening and found a vast collection of gold. We sighed in unison.
"That explains it," he said as we came back out. "Everyone knows a dragon's gold is cursed."
Dragon Eustace glared at him and snorted.
"Well, everyone from here," Caspian amended.
Then a thought seemed to occur to him.
"The other dragon you killed…" Caspian mused. "You don't think it could have been…"
"Human?" I finished.
I shrugged.
"Maybe," I admitted. "Whatever it was, it wanted us dead."
"You killed a dragon?" Rhea asked in shock. "That's incre—"
She stopped suddenly, sparing a side glance at Eustace and clearing her throat.
"All Edmund and I found were a deer and a few rabbits," she said.
"Is there any way to change him back?" Lucy asked.
"Not that I know of," Caspian said.
Eustace looked around at the rest of us, but no one else offered any suggestions.
"Aunt Alberta will not be pleased," Edmund said.
Eustace huffed at him.
"We'll need to be here for a few days anyway to repair the ship," Caspian said, trying to sound reassuring. "Surely we'll figure something out."
Rhea was studying the bracelet Lucy had pulled off Eustace's leg.
"Caspian," she said. "Don't you recognize this?"
Caspian moved to her side and had barely looked down at the cuff before he let out a breath.
"I'm afraid I do," he said. "That's the Lord Octesian's symbol."
"You don't think…" Lucy's voice trailed off as her gaze drifted to the old, dead dragon at the bottom of the hill.
"It could have been him," Edmund said. "All dragons collect gold, though. The dragon could have just found the bracelet and kept it."
"Still, I think it's a safe guess that the Lord Octesian made it no further than this island," I said.
Lucy rubbed Eustace's head.
"Strange things happen all the time here," she said. "It always turns out all right."
I hoped Eustace didn't see the worried look Edmund and Caspian exchanged.
"Well then, who's to say how long this will last?" Reepicheep said, his tone cheery. "I would hate to waste an opportunity like this!"
He ran up onto Eustace's back.
"Let us take to the sky!" he cried.
I half expected Eustace to turn and incinerate Reepicheep, but instead the dragon gave a small groan before taking off into the air, the mouse whooping in delight.
On our way back to camp, I fell back to walk beside Caspian who was still examining the arm-ring.
"How much did you tell Lander about our voyage before he agreed to come?" I asked, my voice low to keep the others from hearing.
Caspian gave me a side glance.
"He asked to join the crew," Caspian said. "I didn't have to tell him anything."
"You didn't offer to hire him?" I hissed. "He volunteered?"
"He did," Caspian said. "And I figured… why? Do you not like him?"
"He had no idea what we were doing when he came on board?" I asked.
"We didn't exactly keep our mission a secret. I'm sure he asked around. He said he wanted to join the search for the lost lords and see as much of the East as he could," Caspian said. "I told him how dangerous it would be, that we would be meeting more enemies on the way, and he still wanted to come."
I pressed my lips together.
"He's a sailor, Emma," he said. "They're a curious lot."
"Maybe," I said.
But there was little time to reflect on my musings. Even with all the trouble with dragons, we still had work to do. When Reepicheep and Eustace landed on the beach, Reepicheep told us that it seemed that the island was inhabited by nothing but deer, rabbits, goats, and a few wild pigs. No more dragons in sight.
The next few days were more of the same hard work, though I was surprised at how helpful a dragon turned out to be. We did not have to hunt anymore as Eustace dropped plenty of animal carcasses near camp for us. He pulled up a mighty pine tree from its roots and brought it to us to fashion into a mast and scared off a few wild boars that had gotten curious about our camp.
"I do believe I prefer him with scales," Lucy joked in passing.
I had to agree.
Five whole days went by in a blur of repairs and work.
As the sun sank down one evening, Rhea finished cleaning a deer Eustace had brought back and hung it over the firepit. She turned to pick up her flint, then jumped back as Eustace blew a flame into the wood. The fire roared to life, crackling around the deer.
The crew laughed and cheered. Rhea gave a half chuckle as she set the flint back down. After we had eaten, a few men went back to the ship to keep it overnight while most of the crew settled against Eustace's warm sides to fight off the chill of the night. I sat between Rhea and Caspian around the fire, facing the two Pevensies. They were all glancing at Eustace, worry etched into their faces. I suppose we all thought we would have come up with something to change Eustace back by now. None of us seemed particularly interested in going to sleep yet.
Perhaps sensing the energy, Reepicheep launched into the tale of the ancient Battle of Beaver's Dam with such animation that he drew his sword as he spoke. Edmund began the tale of the First Battle of Beruna. Naturally, I made an appearance.
"The next thing I see is Emma running back up towards the archers and leaping off the edge of the cliff!" Edmund declared, throwing his arms out the same way I had.
"She what?" Rhea gasped, covering her mouth and already laughing.
"You make it sound so dramatic," I rolled my eyes. "An eagle caught me, you know."
"I'm sorry," Caspian inserted, holding up his hand. "You mean to tell me that when you jumped off Ryn Tower, that wasn't the first time you—"
"You jumped off Ryn Tower?!" Lander exclaimed in disbelief.
I had not noticed him moving closer into our circle around the fire until he spoke. Most of the crew was already asleep, seemingly unbothered by our noise.
"Why do you keep doing this, Em?" Edmund snickered.
"It's not like it's a habit!" I cried.
"And did an eagle catch you once more?" Lander asked, his eyes bright with humor.
Edmund's smile vanished, and a shadow passed over Lucy's face. Caspian shifted in place.
"No," I said, keeping my tone light. "It was a rougher landing that time."
Caspian huffed in agreement.
"The queen saved my lieutenant and gained the undying loyalty of every mouse in Narnia that day," Reepicheep said.
"And I have not jumped off any cliffs or towers since, I'll add," I joked.
This led to Caspian telling of the Second Battle of Beruna, Rhea and Edmund chiming in at different times to tell their own sides of the story. Rhea then told of our recent battle at the border of Archenland. When she reached the part of the story where she and I were fighting toward the Tarkhan, I interrupted.
"I had it settled until your brother butted in," I said.
I stood, puffing my chest out.
"At your service, my lady," I said, lowering my voice in an exaggerated imitation of Kane. "Embarrassed you needed my help, my lady? How about a dance, my lady?"
Everyone howled in laughter.
"Oh, that we could choose our relations," Rhea groaned.
"Tell me about it," Lucy laughed.
Edmund and Eustace both snorted in response.
Our stories went on, familiar and comforting despite the danger they had caused us at the time. The tales wove around our circle and seemed to settle over our shoulders like a blanket. Lander was the stranger among us, listening carefully to each tale so new to him. I was not sure what I expected to see, but by all appearances, he was enraptured with every word, laughing and sighing along with everyone else.
Though I had been there myself and heard her tell the story a hundred times, I loved listening to Lucy tell of how we had all stumbled into Narnia through the wardrobe. When Lucy spoke of Aslan at the Stone Table, we all grew still.
"Now that is something I wish I could have seen," Reepicheep said. "The Great Aslan himself as he came to life again."
Reepicheep looked out at the sea, one foot slightly toward it and his tail raised.
"But perhaps I shall see him once more at the end of the world when we reach it," he said. "Even if it but a glimpse as we tip off the edge of the sea."
"But you can't…" Lucy's voice trailed off. "I mean…the world is round. Like a ball, not like a table. You can't sail off the end of it."
"Our world is round, Lu," Edmund said, shrugging. "Who's to say this one is?"
Caspian nearly jumped up in excitement.
"You mean to tell me you come from a round world?" he said. "How have you never told me this? What is it like? Have you been to the part where people walk around on their heads?"
I smiled at what I thought was a joke then dissolved into real laughter with Edmund as we realized Caspian was being serious. Eustace snorted out a cloud of smoke and made a rasping noise that sounded like a snicker.
"It's not like that," Lucy giggled. "No one's walking on their heads."
"Oh," Caspian said in disappointment. "Then how does it work?"
Lucy opened her mouth then looked from Edmund to me in uncertainty.
"Well, gravity keeps everything on the ground," Edmund said. "And…we…stay on the ground."
"Yeah?" I asked, smiling expectantly. "Is that how it works?"
"You explain it, then!" Edmund threw up his hands in surrender.
"Oh, I can assure you I don't know," I laughed.
I probably should have been embarrassed by the gaping hole in my knowledge, but Susan had been surpassing me in science lessons our whole lives. I much preferred literature classes.
"You really don't notice when you're there," Lucy said. "It feels the same as this world."
I knew what she meant, but I wondered how true that actually was for her.
"But even if we find the edge of the world, will Aslan's Country be there?" Edmund asked. "Is it the kind of place you can just sail to?"
"I do not know," Reepicheep said. "But I do intend to find out on this voyage."
"You believe Aslan's Country is what awaits us at the end of the world?" Lander asked, his brow wrinkling.
"He is the son of the Emperor Over the Sea!" Reepicheep said. "And over the sea he comes to us. When I was but a child, a wood woman spoke this verse over me:
'Where sky and water meet
Where the waves grow sweet
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek
There, is the Utter East.'"
Reepicheep looked at Lander with such hope and excitement in his eyes, I thought his small frame might burst.
"I—I do not know what it means," Reepicheep said. "But the spell of it has been on me my whole life."
Caspian nodded.
"When I was a boy, I used to dream of sailing to the end of the world," Caspian said from his place beside me. "I used to think I would find my father there."
Lucy reached over from Caspian's other side and touched arm. I was struck by how grown she looked when she did it—so much like Susan, so much like their mother.
"Perhaps you will, Your Highness," Reepicheep said. "They say Aslan's Country is what awaits us when this life passes. No one can tell us of what it's like, but I do believe that this is the way to it."
Edmund looked at me from across the fire and raised his eyebrows, but I did not say anything.
"What do you think his country is like?" Lucy asked Reepicheep.
The mouse smiled.
"It must be a great adventure," Reepicheep said.
With that promising air over us, we all turned to collect our sleeping packs. I walked a little away from camp to shake the sand out of my blankets. Lander stopped beside me on his way back from patrolling the wood's edge.
"So, what say you?" he asked. "What would we find in this Aslan's Country?"
His tone bordered on mockery.
"You don't believe in it?" I asked.
"Until tonight, I never met anyone who thought the lion was anything more than a story, much less a country that belongs to him."
I noticed that he didn't answer my question.
"I'm sure they would say the same of me," I said. "Just a story."
"So here you are thinking there's a magical land for a magical lion at the end of the world," he said.
"I don't know if we can sail to Aslan's Country," I admitted. "But I know it exists. I've been there, to the threshold of it at least. I didn't go in, but…"
I stopped and shook my head. Lander's expression changed. He looked deep in thought.
"I wonder what would await us on the other side of that door," he said.
"Of the magical lion's magical land that you don't believe in?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
I saw him smile as I shook out my pallet once more.
"I suppose we should put philosophies to bed for tonight," he chuckled.
He started unbuckling his sword from his waist then stopped and gave me a quizzical look as though something had just occurred to him.
"How did you see the edge of that place?" Lander asked. "I thought you only got there if—"
"I died," I said simply.
I shrugged.
"Well, a little, anyway," I said.
I expected him to laugh at the absurdity of it. I waited to see his usual amused, unruffled expression as though he thought I was joking, but it did not come. Instead, he stared at me, his hands frozen on his belt. I thought I saw his eyes flicker down to the scar on my throat that I so often forgot about, the scar Leandra had given me. Then the shock on his face turned to something else, something softer that made me break eye contact. When I looked down, I saw Reepicheep scampering up to us.
"Your Majesty?" the mouse said. "I will happily take the first watch."
"Thank you, Reepicheep," I said. "Wake me when you need to."
I did not even look at Lander again before walking over to my place between Rhea and Caspian and laying out my pallet, my cloak serving as another blanket over me. I shut my eyes and willed sleep to come quickly.
Over the next two days, it became clear that the Dawn Treader was once again ready to set sail. The problem of Eustace's being a dragon weighed more heavily by the hour. No matter how much we all talked in over in urgent, hushed tones when he was not around, none of us could come up with any ideas of what to do with him.
"There's no way to safely have him on board," Drinian mused.
"Perhaps he could fly behind?" Lucy suggested.
"Could he keep up?" Caspian asked.
"Even if he could, how would we keep a dragon fed?" Edmund pointed out.
There was a silence.
"It's a shame, really," Lucy muttered. "If we had a dragon going into a fight against your mother…"
We all grew quiet as Eustace landed on the beach again.
That afternoon, I decided to investigate more of the island if only out of boredom.
"Care to join me?" I asked Rhea as she walked past.
She grinned and offered her hand. We took off as soon as I pulled her up. Flying on a dragon's back was far more comfortable than dangling from a griffin's or an eagle's claws as I had done before. We flew for quite some time before Eustace landed on a mountain where we could see the rest of the island. Eustace wandered off toward a herd of goats. The wind made me glad I had put on my cloak.
The view was spectacular with the sun sparkling down on the sea and the rolling trees and hills of the island. I pointed out a huge clump of yellow below us.
"Cassia trees," Rhea said, confirming what I thought.
I noticed the wistful tone in her voice.
"Don't tell me you're missing her already," I said.
She gave a soft chuckle and sat down on the ground.
"She was not too pleased with me when we left," she said. "She didn't exactly approve of your choice of companion."
"Well, her approval is a rare thing," I shrugged.
Rhea was still looking at the cassia trees again, but a flash of anger came across her face.
"Approval seems scarce everywhere lately," she muttered.
"What do you mean?" I asked, surprised at her biting tone.
She did not answer.
"Rhea?" I persisted.
"When Eustace started the campfire the other night, I—I just…" She rubbed her palms down her pants in agitation. "If I had started that fire myself, the men would've fainted."
She finally looked up at me.
"I can create fire with my hands, and I use a flint, Emma!" she cried. "Because I don't want the crew to panic, because I do everything I can to not remind them of who I am and what I can do. I try so hard to make them like me or at least not be afraid of me anymore. Then a dragon, an actual dragon, blows fire from his mouth, and they applaud?"
She let out a frustrated sigh.
"You notice that Rynelf never lets me be alone with Caspian?" she asked. "You notice how carefully the crew watches me like I'm going to…"
She shook her head.
"I just thought people would trust me more by now," she finished.
I looked at her for a long moment before sitting down beside her.
"I know," I said softly.
And I did. It was draining to make yourself seem small so others could be comfortable.
We sat in silence, gazing down at the rest of the island.
"People do trust you, you know," I said. "There are some who never will, it's true. But Caspian trusts you. Drinian does. Edmund and Lucy do."
I glanced down at Auren's sword resting at Rhea's side.
"And I trust you," I said. "That's why I chose you."
I saw her head turn towards me.
"I think most people thought I would bring Cassia with me," I said. "And I could have. I trust her with my life."
I rested my forearms on my legs and met Rhea's eyes.
"But it is not only a matter of my life," I said. "This fight we're sailing into…you know there's a good chance we won't all live through it. Almost a guarantee."
I paused.
"I asked you to come because I knew you would keep Caspian safe no matter the cost," I said. "You're here to protect the King of Narnia himself. Who cares what anyone else thinks of you?"
Rhea seemed like she was about to say something else, but Eustace came traipsing up to us noisily, two goat carcasses hanging from his mouth. He dropped them and wiped the blood off his muzzle in the tall grass.
"There's another island just there," Rhea said, pointing due east.
It looked smaller and flatter than the one we stood on.
"Have you flown over that one, Eustace?" I asked.
He nodded his head.
"Anything interesting?" Rhea asked.
Eustace tilted his head from side to side.
"I do wish you could tell us what you're thinking," Rhea mused.
A jolt ran through me. I looked up at Rhea and Eustace, an idea slowly forming.
"Maybe I can help," I said.
"What?" Rhea asked, but I was already walking toward Eustace.
"The other dragon," I said. "I was able to see into his mind. I saw through his eyes for just a moment."
"Before you killed him?" Rhea asked, skeptical.
I walked toward Eustace and, though he did not back away, he eyed me cautiously. He pulled back when I reached my hand out.
"I promise I won't hurt you," I said. "Maybe you can tell me how this happened."
I stretched my hand toward him again. As soon as my fingers touched his scales, I closed my eyes and concentrated just as I had on the dragon before, though this time, I did not try to separate the flame from the dragon. I only focused on it. For a second, nothing happened, then a wave of heat rippled over me. I could see myself standing before Eustace with my eyes closed.
"—thought I'd be waiting for someone to read my mind. Quite strange, this place—"
I could feel Eustace's voice like a pressure behind my eyes. I was so shocked, I opened my eyes and pulled my hand away.
"What is it?" Rhea asked in alarm.
"It worked," I said softly.
I could feel Rhea's eyes on me as I placed my hand back on Eustace. This time, I did not hear words, but saw images. One was of Eustace falling asleep on the gold in the dragon's cave, the next him waking up in a panic to find himself transformed. It was impossible not to feel dejected.
"So, you just fell asleep on the treasure," I said. "No incantations or wizards involved."
Eustace sadly shook his head. I bit back a curse. That gave us nothing new to work with. I felt him see my disappointment. I could feel his shame. I saw that we had not been as secretive in our discussions as we had thought. Eustace knew we needed to move on from the island soon. He also knew there was no way for him to come with us in his dragon state. His guilt was overwhelming.
I wanted to assure him that we would figure something out, but the false promises died on my tongue as I sensed his next thought, one I was sure he had not meant to share with me. Eustace was planning to leave. He was going to sneak away before dawn and hide until we were forced to leave the island without him.
"Please don't tell anyone," he thought. "It's okay."
I was shocked by how settled he sounded.
"You know there isn't another choice," he thought.
"Rain's blowing in," Rhea said, staring up at the sky.
Her voice startled me, and my connection to Eustace broke. I was sweating and suddenly very tired. I looked up to see that Rhea was right.
"We should get back, then," I said.
I stared at Eustace again, unable to reconcile the thoughts I had heard with the image I had of him as the whining brat he had been before he was a dragon. Eustace hesitated, a question in his eyes. I did not answer it. Rhea and I climbed onto his back.
"What did he say?" Rhea asked.
"Not much," I said. "Not much at all."
By the time we got back to camp, the sun was setting. The storm ended up blowing over us with only a small sprinkle of rain. Rhea took the first watch as we all turned in for the night. Hours later, Edmund woke me up to take my shift. I stood beside Eustace who was perfectly still until Edmund had fallen asleep. Then, he raised his head. One look at him, and I knew he had been waiting for me.
"Are you sure about this?" I whispered.
He nodded his head slowly. In my mind, I once again turned over all the ideas we had discussed. Still, nothing. We could not bring him with us. And we needed to keep going.
"We'll come back for you, you know," I said. "Once we reach the East, we'll come back. Surely by then we'll know how to…"
My voice trailed off.
"This is very brave of you, Eustace," I said. "Very brave, indeed."
He nudged my hand with his snout. I smiled at him and rubbed the side of his face. Then I turned my back to him and stared into the woods. My cheeks burned, but I did not turn around even as I heard the beating of his wings. I felt his presence grow dimmer and forced myself to let out a breath.
We had to keep going.
When Reepicheep took my place, he asked where Eustace had gone. I gave the half-truth that I did not know where the dragon was and crawled back onto my pallet. I stared at the stars, unable to find rest. I tried not to picture Lucy's face when she realized her cousin was gone, tried to block out how Reepicheep would feel when we had to sail away from his new, unlikely friend. Eustace was only a little older than Lucy. Could I really leave the kid behind?
I did not fall back asleep, but I forced myself to lay still until it began to grow lighter outside and everyone else began to stir. Lucy sleepily rolled over and looked at the place where Eustace had lain.
"Wonder why Eustace is up so early," she mumbled.
Once everyone was awake, there were more and more questions of where Eustace had gone—he had always been with us in the early mornings. I wandered through the treeline under the guise of getting firewood.
"You all right? You look a little pale," Caspian asked me
"Tired," I managed to say, then brushed past him.
I dropped the few branches I had gathered when I heard a squeal on the beach. I ran back to hear more sounds of delights and see everyone gathered around something.
"Look who's come back to us!" Reepicheep shouted.
When Lucy let him go, I could finally see his face. There stood her cousin, a dragon no longer.
"Eustace!" Caspian laughed.
Eustace was laughing and beaming at everyone. He looked different than he had before he had been a dragon. His eyes were brighter, and his smile was somehow happier. His gaze landed on me, and he gave me a knowing look. I felt the knot of guilt in my stomach loosen a bit.
"Just when I thought Aunt Alberta and Uncle Harold were going to need a bigger house!" Lucy cried, smiling widely.
"How did this happen?" Rhea asked.
"Aslan," Eustace breathed. "I met Aslan."
"But of course!" Reepicheep exclaimed. "Who else could have done it?"
"The…the lion?" Lander stammered.
Eustace then told us the full story of how Aslan had come to him, how the lion had told him to undress and bathe.
"But I couldn't get all the scales off, no matter how hard I tried," Eustace said. "He had to do it for me. It hurt worse than anything, but it felt so good to get them off at last."
He looked around at the group.
"I'm sorry for being such an ass before," he said.
Edmund clapped his hand on Eustace's back.
"You heard our story," Edmund said. "I was much worse on my first trip to Narnia."
At last, we made the final preparations to set sail. We named the place Dragon Island and carved it into the stone of the cliff side. Caspian then offered Eustace the arm ring he had been wearing when he turned into a dragon. He didn't want it, so he offered it to Lucy. She didn't care about having it.
"All right, then," Caspian said. "Catch as catch can!"
He hurled the bracelet into the air as high as he could. It caught on a branch just above the inscription where no one could reach it.
"The affect is actually striking, Your Majesty," Drinian said to the embarrassed Caspian.
I snorted. "Your aim is heinous, Your Majesty," I said.
"Perhaps we should throw you off one more cliff, Emma," Caspian said, raising his eyebrows. "You could grab the bracelet on the way down."
We set sail from Dragon Island that afternoon, and I was not sorry to see it go. We stopped soon after at the island due east. We sailed along the coast for several hours looking for a decent place to anchor.
"I'm afraid this is as close as we can get, Sire," Drinian said to Caspian. "I would suggest taking the landing boat in, though you may have a rough go of it."
"Right," Caspian said. "Did you see anything flying over it?"
"Not really," Eustace said. "The trees are too thick to see much through. It didn't look inhabited, though."
"All the same, I'd like to have a look," Caspian decided.
"Lower the landing boat!" Drinian called.
Drinian walked away, shouting more orders to the crew. I climbed into the landing boat right behind Lucy and Eustace. Waves crashed along the rocky shore of the island.
"Doesn't look very inviting, does it?" I said.
"Do we need an invitation?" came a voice from above.
Lander stepped into the boat and sat down at the oars across from me.
"Clearly some of us don't wait for one," I said. "You're coming?"
Lander propped his forearms on the oars.
"I just love rowing, you see," he said. "Can't get enough of it."
"Better you than me," Edmund laughed as he climbed in.
Caspian, Rhea, and Reepicheep came in behind him, and we set out for the island. The closer we got, the less gloomy it looked. The waves sent us tumbling onto the jagged shore, but white sand greeted us just beyond the rocks. I walked onto it, drying my clothes from the wet landing. We spread out over the beach, but all we found was a small, half-buried boat that looked like it was made for a child.
"Well, looks like someone lives here," Eustace mused.
But as we made our way further inland toward a dense forest, there were no more signs of human life. The weather was perfect, the sun warming us but the shade of the trees keeping us cool. Birds I had never heard before sang above us. Rhea and Lucy began to make up names for the ones they did not recognize.
"See the brown one?" Rhea asked.
The bird she was pointing at had a misshapen beak that looked like a scowl and eyes far too big for its head.
"I think I'll call that one an Edmund," Rhea said.
Edmund gave a mock gasp.
"You were so nice last I saw you!" he said. "You've clearly been around Emma for too long."
Eventually, we stumbled across a freshwater stream and began to follow it. Before long, we found it in the form of a small wooden bridge.
"There must have been someone here not terribly long ago," Eustace said. "The wood is still in good shape, I'd say."
Lander examined the bridge closely.
"Capable people, too," he said. "This is fine workmanship."
"Safe to cross, then?" I asked.
Lander rapped his knuckles against the wood.
"Probably, but—"
I strode past him before he could finish. The bridge held my weight without the slightest creak.
"Safe!" I declared on the other side.
"Do you ever hear Susan's voice in your head when you do things like that?" Lucy asked as she crossed. "Or is it just me?"
"No, I hear it, too," Edmund grumbled.
We wandered into beautiful wetlands that reminded me of the marshes near the River Shribble back home.
"Perhaps there will be a few marsh-wiggles around," Edmund said, seeming to read my thoughts.
"They don't like the warmer climates, I'm afraid," Reepicheep said. "They prefer it further north. I daresay I would enjoy one of those northern winds right now."
I peered through the trees ahead of us, trying to make out a strange shape I saw.
"How does a mouse such as yourself come to be so well traveled?" Lander asked, his tone polite and interested.
"It is strange, I suppose," Reepicheep chuckled. "Then again, how does a Telmarine soldier such as yourself end up in the Lone Islands?"
Reepicheep's tone was far from accusatory, but we all stopped and looked at Lander who stood frozen, his eyes set on Reepicheep and his hand on the branch he had been moving aside.
A soldier. Of course.
It was so obvious now. I thought of the way he stood when he was on watch—legs slightly apart, shoulders pulled back, hands together behind him, face set in a relaxed but alert expression. Every morning, he tied his pallet into the tightest bundle. His hand never strayed far from his sword hilt when he wore it. His reflexes rivaled mine. It made sense. I should have known the moment we fought the dragon together.
"I'm not a soldier," Lander said, swallowing. "Uh, not anymore, that is."
I glanced at Caspian and was surprised to see how his face had hardened.
"Name your service," Caspian said, his voice slipping into the one he used on the battlefield.
Lander squared his shoulders, and I watched a veil drop back over his face, leaving no trace of how visibly rattled he had been a moment before.
"Eight under pledge to the lord regent, Your Majesty," Lander said. "Rose to captain and left four years ago."
"Eight years?" Lucy asked, clearly thinking the same thing I was. "How old are you?"
Lander's jaw tightened before he answered.
"Twenty-four this past winter, Your Majesty," he said.
I quickly added the numbers in my mind, horrified at the conclusion I drew.
"You…you were twelve when you became a soldier?" I asked.
Edmund, Eustace, and Lucy looked as confused and appalled as I was, but Rhea regarded Lander with somber understanding. Reepicheep's nose twitched, but Caspian shocked me with the rage on his face.
"Caspian?" I ventured.
"What's going on?" Lucy asked, also looking to the king.
"He's a deserter," Caspian spat.
"A deserter?" Edmund echoed.
"Conscripted soldiers serve until they're thirty," Rhea explained. "At least, that was the law until…"
I looked at Caspian.
"Until you abolished it three years ago," I finished, remembering.
"Will you defend yourself?" Caspian demanded, never looking away from Lander.
Lander stood completely still, his head facing straight forward, his gaze focused on nothing.
"You dare to join my crew, to stand before me when you know the punishment for your crime?" Caspian shouted.
Still, Lander said nothing. I fought the urge to get between him and Caspian. Caspian took a heavy step toward Lander and was about to speak when Lucy did.
"What is that?" she asked.
She pointed toward the strange shape I had seen through the trees.
"I think…that's a house up ahead," she said.
I kept up with her as she jogged toward it. Everyone else followed us, Caspian still simmering and Lander still completely expressionless. We broke through the hedge and stopped.
No one spoke as we took in the scene before of us. We saw what remained of a village. The sunken-in roofs of the destroyed houses were blackened by fire, the broken fences wrapping around overgrown gardens charred almost into dust. Nature was already reclaiming the territory for itself as streets and doorways were barely visible under a thick growth of grass and vines. A bird flew up out of his nest in an old wheelbarrow.
Reepicheep moved first. Seeing him walking past me helped my limbs unstiffen. I went into the nearest house. I saw only more burned wood, more broken pottery, more tattered remnants of a home. I stepped back, my fingers brushing against the doorpost. I jerked my hand away with a gasp.
"Damn it," I hissed.
A shadow fell as Caspian walked in behind me.
"Leandra?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said.
I could feel her all over the village as though her fire had been her fingerprints burning into the doorpost. She had permeated the place like blood staining cloth. From the corner of my eye, I could see the others dispersing through the town, picking through what remained of the lives Leandra had shattered.
"I guess this means we're on her trail," Caspian said. "We're catching up."
Only we were a few years too late. I was always a few years too late it seemed.
I was staring at a splintered bedframe when a loud, cracking noise came from outside. Edmund stood at the front of the house across from us, his foot fallen through the weak wood. Lander already had his arm and was helping him back out.
"You were right to be wary of him," Caspian said, his face hard as he stared at Lander.
"Maybe," I said.
Caspian's head jerked my way. "He's a deserter and coward."
"He was pressed into service as a child," I argued. "He was the victim of a law you abolished."
"I don't expect you to understand," Caspian said, turning away. "You're not a Telmarine."
And that is my good fortune. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from speaking the thought aloud, but heat rushed through me at his dismissive tone. I took a breath to pull back my temper before I spoke.
"Are you forgetting that he served Miraz?" I argued. "He would've fought us in the castle. He might have met us on the battlefield. Are you really—"
"His duty was to stay," Caspian snapped, whirling back around.
"His duty was to support the usurper we unseated?" I shot back. "Really, Caspian?"
His eyes flashed with irritation.
"He pledged himself—" Caspian began.
"A child can't pledge himself to anything," I interrupted.
"How can you trust a man with no honor?" he hissed.
"I didn't say I trust him," I said. "I just don't condemn him for this."
"Your Majesties?"
We turned toward the voice behind us to see Lander standing in the doorway. Somehow, he had crept up without our noticing.
"The ship is sending up signals for us," Lander said.
Caspian abruptly brushed past Lander and strode out into the sun. I followed him outside but stopped in the dirt street while Caspian continued on.
"Lander," I said.
He looked back at me.
"Why would you risk it?" I demanded. "You know what's at stake. Why would you come with us?"
He winked at me and grinned.
"Well, there was a beautiful blonde woman—"
"Lander," I stopped him, no humor in my voice.
He sighed.
"Because you're looking for the same people I am," he said.
"The lords?" I asked. "Why?"
"My father is among them," he said bluntly.
"Your father?" I asked, unable to hide my surprise. "Why—why didn't you say anything?"
"It's not something I usually include in introductions," he said.
He gave a mock bow.
"Lord Restimar's bastard at your service," Lander said. "Not exactly the family status you're used to associating with, Your Highness."
His sarcastic tone turned bitter. He searched my face, his stance defensive against an attack I had not launched. I drew in a weary breath, still holding his gaze, then turned away and began walking up the hill toward the sea.
"Looks like we're stuck here for the night," Edmund said. "There's a storm blowing in, and the ship doesn't have good enough anchorage to stay so close to shore. They have to move back out."
I saw what he was talking about. The ship was already moving away from the island far past where the landing boat could safely take us. I looked around at everyone shifting uncomfortably then turned back toward the village.
"Well, I guess we need to find shelter before the rain starts," I said.
The idea of spending the night in this abandoned place made my stomach turn, but it was the safest option. We wandered around the houses and found all the normal things a town would have—toys, pots, beds, stables…what we did not find were bones.
"Maybe no one was hurt," Lucy said. "Maybe everyone left before…"
No one pointed out what a hollow hope that was. We all knew.
We chose the house with the most intact roof to camp in just as the rain started but not before we all got plenty wet. Soon, the storm fell on us with full force, water dripping in all four corners of the cottage. The holes in the roof actually proved to be a stroke of luck as we could light a small fire with plenty of ventilation for the smoke.
Lucy came back through the door with an armload of firewood. She shook her dripping hair out as she set the wood down, then looked back at where I was sitting with my legs crossed against the wall. Before I could say anything, she gracelessly flopped into my lap.
"Why?" I groaned.
"I'm wet and cold!" she said. "Warm me up!"
I slid down the wall onto my side, Lucy still holding onto me.
"You've gotten too big for this," I laughed.
"Oh, please," she said dismissively. "I've seen you do it for Peter, and he's twice my size."
"I'm a bit damp myself," Edmund said.
"Oh n—" I started to protest.
But Edmund joined Lucy on top of me.
"Ugh, fine," I surrendered, raising my body temperature.
From the ground, I saw Rhea and Caspian sitting back-to-back while Eustace sat against her right side and Reepicheep stood against Rhea's leg. They looked far more comfortable than I felt.
"Warm and toasty," Caspian grinned.
I rolled my eyes but had to give in and smile. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lander shift from one foot to another.
We roasted a rabbit that Rhea had caught over the fire and ended the night much more cheerily than I had expected to, but as soon as everyone laid down to sleep, the shadows of the cottage seemed to deepen. Lucy took the first watch, and I laid down next to Rhea. Even on the hard floor in the haunting town, I fell asleep quickly.
Vague, smoky images floated through my mind. Heat built up inside as a scream echoed louder and louder. I was running after…something. I had to get to her. She needed help. I had to—
I woke with a start. I sat up slowly. For a second, I forgot where I was until I saw my friends sleeping around me. I was relieved to see that I had not disturbed anyone.
"You okay?" came a soft whisper from behind me.
Caspian sat with his back against the doorframe, his legs stretched out across the opening. I could still hear the steady rain outside, though it seemed to have let up some.
"Yeah," I whispered. "Strange dream."
I stood and walked over to where Caspian sat, looking out at the sheets of rain in the darkness. I felt fully alert and knew I did not have a hope of going back to sleep.
"I'll take watch," I said. "Why don't you get some sleep?"
"You sure?" he asked.
I nodded and reached out my hand. He took it and pulled himself to his feet. He looked over at the others, and I followed his eyeline to Lander.
"Did you know Lord Restimar had a son?" I whispered.
Caspian's brow wrinkled.
"No, he didn't," he said.
I raised my eyebrows and looked pointedly at Lander.
"Apparently, he did."
"No, he never married. He—" Understanding came over Caspian's face. "I see."
He stopped and considered for a moment.
"I still don't like him," Caspian said.
"Eh, me neither," I said, patting Caspian's back as he walked toward the fire to go to sleep.
I had been sitting up for about an hour when Rhea suddenly jolted awake. The movement sent her foot straight into Lander's shoulder. He was on his feet before Rhea had even sat up. She was breathing heavily, her face a mask of alarm. I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Hey," I said quietly. "It was just a dream."
She was already calming, becoming more aware of her surroundings just as I had.
"Probably the same one I had," I whispered.
Only Reepicheep stirred in his sleep, the storm covering our noise enough that the others slept on.
"This place…" Rhea said, rubbing her face.
"I know," I said.
She let out a long breath.
"I'm so sorry," Rhea said upon seeing Lander standing over her.
He shook his head and smiled.
"You saved me from a dreadfully boring dream," he said.
Rhea shook her head as though to clear it, drowsiness coming back into her eyes. I went back to my place in the door as she laid back down. I stepped out of the cottage fully and onto the small wooden porch as thunder clapped in the distance.
"I can take over if you like," Lander said, joining me.
"I'm fine," I said, not looking at him.
He stood silently for a long moment.
"I was harsh earlier," he said.
I looked at him and tilted my head slightly.
"I can take it," I said.
A smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"I'm sure you can," Lander said. "But I'm sorry for it anyway."
I crossed my arms.
"The first time you apologized to me it was for kissing me," I said, leaning against the outer wall of the cottage. "The second for snapping at me. I wonder what the third will be for."
"Oh, I'll think of something," he smiled.
"You know, you could have told us who you are a long time ago," I said. "No one here will judge you by your birth. Least of all me."
"A strange thing to find among royals of all people," Lander said.
I snorted.
"We sort of stumbled into royalty," I said. "Caspian is the only one born into it."
"I'm a bit surprised he didn't execute me today," Lander said.
"Well, there's always tomorrow," I joked.
I put my hands in my pockets.
"So, you left Miraz's army to find your father?" I asked.
"Not really," Lander admitted. "But once I deserted, I had to get out of Narnia. I decided to make my way to Calormen and signed on to the first ship I found that was heading east."
"Pug's ship," I guessed.
"I didn't know he traded people," Lander said. "And once I got to Narrowhaven, no one was going further east anyway, so I just…stayed."
"Your father must mean a lot to you to come all this way," I said.
"I don't know," Lander said, shaking his head. "I barely saw him as a child, and he left when I was small. But my mother died when I was six. I had nothing left to lose, so here I am."
"I'm sorry," I said.
I wanted to say more, but everything that came to mind sounded insincere.
He chuckled and shook his hair out with his hand.
"You must think I'm crazy for coming so far looking for a man I barely know," Lander said.
"Not at all," I said. "I would do the same if I could."
"If you could?" Lander asked.
"I'm afraid I'm running out of parents," I said.
I twisted a strand of my hair around my finger. I almost did not say anything else. But then lightning struck, illuminating up the space between us, and for some reason…I kept talking.
"The family that adopted me is in another world that I'll likely never see again," I said. "I don't know who my father is, and my mother…I'm not exactly looking forward to seeing her again."
"You aren't close?" Lander ventured.
A real laugh burst out of me.
"No," I laughed. "No, we are not close."
I waved my hand at the destroyed houses around us.
"We have her to thank for all this," I said.
"Oh," Lander said. "Leandra. I didn't realize…"
"That the crazed Eshwen we're hunting is my mother? It's not something I usually include in introductions," I said, echoing his words and mocking his tone from earlier.
"See, I've been trying to figure out how an Eshwen who can stand against a dragon without a mark got a burn scar on her throat," Lander said. "I suppose you have her to thank for that, too?"
"We had an argument," I said with a grin. "You know how mums can be."
"Not really," Lander said dryly.
I felt my face go red.
"I'm so sorry, that was—"
Lander put his hand over his mouth as a laugh threatened to spill out.
"Are you laughing at me?" I asked.
My mouth was open in shock, but I was further surprised when my own laughter joined his.
"I'm so sorry," he said, still fighting back a snicker. "It's—it's not funny."
"No, it's not," I sputtered.
At the edge of my vision, I saw a green spark, but it disappeared as I turned my head.
"Did you see that?" I asked, sobering.
"See what?"
The light appeared again, this time a little closer, only a few houses down the row.
"There it is again!" I said, pointing.
"What is that?" Lander breathed, moving toward me.
Then it grew to form the silhouette of a woman, fading in and out of sight, swirling in the wind. She raised her hand to me. I took a step forward.
Lander caught my arm.
"Are you insane?" he hissed.
"I have to follow her," I said, not taking my eyes off the image.
Something in my gut pulled me toward the figure.
"You can't follow a ghost into a marsh in the middle of the night during a storm!" he protested.
I barely heard him.
"I have to follow her," I said again.
Then she turned and began running away.
"Wait!" I shouted.
Without another thought, I took off into the trees, rain stinging my face.
"Wait!" I called. "What are you?"
I could barely keep up with the figure even running at full speed. Every time I thought I lost her, I caught sight of the faint glow once more. Then the solid earth beneath my feet disappeared. I slid into the bog, mud and water closing over my head. I broke through the surface again, gasping and frantically looking around for the green light. I wiped the mud from my eyes, but nothing but inky blackness greeted me.
"Where did you go?" I shouted.
I kept treading in the thin mud, things that felt like tree stumps and logs bumping into me. I tried to turn back toward where I had been running, but I was too disoriented to know which way that might be. Something else bumped into me. I held my palm above the water and called a small flame to light my way, treading with my other arm. As soon as I saw what had bumped into me, I flew back in alarm.
Bobbing in the water in front of me was the body of a man. He was face down in the bog, an unnatural blue color and covered in mud, hair matted in clumps on his head. One of his legs was gone, a blacked stump in its place. My panicked movements caused the body to turn over, revealing a partially decomposed face and empty holes where his eyes should be.
A scream of cold terror ripped from my throat. I swam back from the body, only to hit something else. I turned to see another body, this one of a small woman, behind me. Most of the flesh on her face had been burned away until half her jaw was a skeletal smile. I fled back, my fire going out as I used both my hands to swim. More bodies crowded around me as I swam forward, pushing against me until I had to shove them aside to get through. I tried not to look at them, but the lightning lit up their forms, a sea of cold, dead, rotting faces.
Something hit my leg. Something else hit my shoulder. Each touch knocked more reason out of my head until I was floundering blindly in the mud, my cries for help melding together into a wordless screech. I caught a glimpse of the green form again, hovering over a patch of dry grass. I desperately swam toward it. The light disappeared just as I touched the solid earth. I froze. I tried to breathe as I held on to the grass. Everything felt silent for a moment, the only noise a distant rumble of thunder and the rain falling on the marsh. I was starting to claw my way up when two rough hands closed around my forearms. The green light exploded in brightness above me, then darkened into an almost solid form of a woman, a dryad.
She held onto me, wooden nails digging into my skin, and leaned over the edge, her face inches from mine. Her long, mossy hair spilled over her shoulders and brushed against my cheeks. Her expression twisted into pain, into anger. Her eyes popped open and thick, black liquid leaked down her face like tears and into her wide-open mouth. She was silent for only a second before she let out a scream so high my ears rang and at the same time so low it rumbled the ground. I fought to pull away from her, adding my scream to hers, but her hands held fast.
Then a great gust of wind whipped through the marsh, and the dryad swirled away into mist. I raised a shaking hand back up toward dry land and pulled myself up, but the second my knees touched the ground, heat and pain shot through me. Ghostly voices shouted in the back of my head. I screwed my eyes shut, but I could not block out the visions that crowded in: dozens of humans running toward me, screaming for help. Flames roaring behind them. Trees moving across the marsh only to crack as the fire split them open and swallowed them whole. The smoke seemed to fill my lungs.
Everything faded as I clamored away, falling back into the black water on the other side. I went back under, things floating from the bottom and touching me from every side. I felt an arm, a leg, a hand. Then something tightened around my arm and ripped me out of the water.
I landed on the shore and scrambled further away from the edge. I twisted my arm away from the hand holding it and tried to stand before stumbling back to the ground. My breath came in short, trembling spurts. Something touched my shoulder, and I screamed again.
"Emma? Emma."
Lander crouched before me, covered in mud and holding a torch. The fire made his dark eyes glow as the rain made tracks on his face.
"What the hell happened?" he demanded. "I couldn't find you, I—"
He stopped when my trembling hand touched his face. He looked surprised but did not pull away as I pressed my palm into his cheek. He was warm. He was alive.
"Emma," he said again, his voice much gentler this time. "What happened?"
"She killed them," I whispered, my voice hollow and shaking. "She killed them all."