PREVIOUSLY IN IMAGES...
Edmund had to resort to the last thing he could tell. "We are signing the treaty with Taresh Kazan."
Aslan's face crumpled in fury. "I forbade you to be involved with them."
"We are talking about a kingdom of wealth and power. Ships the size of mountains. Castles carved into mountains—"
"THESE PEOPLE ARE MURDERERS!" roared the Lion. "THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF LIVES ARE ON THEIR HEADS!"
"These people are not all bad!" said Edmund. "Certainly not the Duke...or his daughters, either."
He wanted to take it back, but he knew better. He had already let it slip—and it wasn't as if Aslan didn't already know.
"Deafened by forbidden love," said the Lion in a growl, "and so you are deaf to me."
Edmund wanted to retort, but Aslan wouldn't hear it. He swung his muscular bulk away, making it clear that the conversation was over.
AND NOW, ON WITH TODAY'S INSTALLMENT OF IMAGES...
Prompt #28: Write a story from the land of Bism, the land below the earth, where jewels are alive.
† Bism †
The man wiped his lips with the back of his hand and held out the gem. "Diamond juice," said the man. "You must try it!"
The men and Beasts gave each other puzzled looks. "Who'd ever heard of juice from a rock?" said a tiger. But one human volunteered and squeezed the diamond in his hands, and clear juice dribbled into his open mouth. And once he said, "Nectar of the gods!" it was barely a moment before the rest of the unit was dropping their torches on the floor and mashing their faces against the gem.
"By the gods," said a tiger as he licked his lips. "Fancy what the rest of them taste like."
"This whole place is a treasure house. Jewels living and dead, all worth fortunes. If we harvest the living ones, countries all over the world would be paying fortunes for this nectar. And the dead ones? Why, a single one must be worth a basket of gold. By the end of it, we could buy the kingdoms we want!"
"Oh, be sensible, Your Grace. If we did that, there would be no one left to conquer. And what would we ever do with all our leisure time?"
"We do have a problem," said a man. "Narnia's still hounding us about the alliance."
"Oh, we're through with them," said the Duke. "We'll dispose of them once we get above ground."
"But I will miss them," said the tiger. "It's so amusing to watch them all fawning over us, the silly dogs they are."
"Maybe we should keep them around," said the man. "I've rather enjoyed the stupid looks on their faces."
"We'll decide all that later," said the Duke. "We're here to make a profit. I want every single gem harvested and this cavern laid bare. Come on, you fools, get your axes and shovels—"
"There will be no harvesting," said a booming voice.
The Duke whirled around and went wide-eyed in horror. Before him stood a gigantic golden cat with a shaggy crown of hair; his claws and fangs were out, and his tail was lashing his haunches.
"You," said the Duke in a quaky voice. "You're the bugger they told us about..."
The huge Cat gave a growl in reply.
"Listen...Your Eminence...all that rot was...it was a figure of speech. The money will go to the poor—"
"Enough," said the Cat. "This place may be hidden from the Overlands, but your hearts are laid bare. I know your deeds; I know your words; I hear the blood of your victims crying out for vengeance. But here and now, their vengeance will begin. Your journey has ended here—and so have your lives."
In a blink, the Duke spun around and shouted at them to run, but the Cat threw back his head and loosed a roar. The rocks gave a mighty CRACK as if a rib in Narnia's chest had snapped. The ground and ceiling collapsed all around them, and the Lion disappeared in a blaze of gold—
Edmund jolted with a gasp.
All his senses snapped back to him, and his chambers slid into focus. His hands were balled into fists and choking the sheets, and his heart realized it was awake and started to pound.
It was nothing, he said with a wag of his head. It was a dream...just a dream...
And then he felt the room quiver around him.