The Witch's Wand
This is one of those stories about Narnia that isn't very nice to tell, but is part of the history of Narnia, and thus it must be told. It is the story of how the White Witch acquired that object that caused so much fear in the hearts of the inhabitants. It is the story of how she got her wand. For the White Witch did not bring her wand with her from Charn; no, she created it within Narnia.
It had been many years since the Tree of Protection had been planted by young Digory Kirk. So many years had passed that many of the Narnians had forgotten that there was an evil that had come into the world at the beginning of time. They knew that the Tree was there to protect them, but they were not exactly sure what it was protecting them from. They still looked after the Tree, but it was more out of tradition than any special feeling they had towards it.
Even though the Narnians had gradually forgotten about the Witch, she had not forgotten anything about them. For the fruit from the garden worked as Aslan said it would; she stayed young and grew miserable with her life. And with that misery came a great anger for Narnia. She always remembered her first hours in that world—seeing Aslan and understanding him as few could. She understood the great power of his Magic and hated him for it. As a result of this anger and hatred, the Witch had spent those hundreds of years working on a plot to take over the land. However, she was faced with the problem of the lack of a weapon. She no longer held the powers that she had in Charn, but she did still have her knowledge of Magic.
"I must develop a weapon against Narnia!" cried the Witch in a cold, harsh voice. "I will never be fully prepared for the attack on Narnia unless I have a weapon to use against them."
"So why don't you make a weapon, Mistress?" asked Lostern. Lostern was a Black Dwarf whose family had been beguiled by the White Witch many generations ago. Ever since that first helping of the Witch, they had pledged their lives in service to her.
"Fool! I cannot simply make a weapon out of nothing. I must have something to start with. Evil does not spring up out of this land like good does. I must create it from the good," explained the Witch impatiently.
"Why haven't you created it then, Mistress? What is stopping you?"
"That Tree! I must have something powerful from within Narnia itself to use. And that Tree has kept me out of Narnia for so long! Even now, you know that I still cannot get any closer than the borders of the land. My Magic powers are of no use here. I have not been able to build any form of defense against that Tree. The land and the air no longer hum with the song that He used to bring the world into existence, but that Tree still carries His power within it."
Suddenly a thought occurred to the Witch, "That is it!"
"What, Mistress?"
"I must have a branch from that Tree. I am not able to fight directly against it, but I do still have my knowledge. I can twist the power of the Tree and use it for myself," she said.
"Lostern! You must do two things for me. You must go into Narnia, up to that Tree, and get me a living branch from off of it. Second, you must find the gold that you love to play with so much. Bring them both back to me as quickly as you can."
"But, Mistress, how am I to get a branch from the Tree? You know that the Narnians guard it from harm."
"Yes, but they have forgotten much of what happened in the beginning. The memories of men are not long, and they no longer remember what exactly they are guarding against," said the Witch with a wicked gleam in her eye. "It will not be hard for you to reach the Tree. Call upon our friends the wolves to help you by making a disturbance so that you can reach it. If they balk at it, remind them of the promise that I have made to them."
"Yes, Mistress," replied Lostern.
So Lostern grabbed his pack and set out to go down into Narnia. He and the Witch had been sitting at the very edge of the Wild Woods of the West, up above the Great Waterfall. Lostern knew that it would take him some time to get down to the Tree, but he also knew that it was not good to keep his Mistress waiting for very long. Luckily for him, since he was a dwarf, he was able to scramble down the cliff side without too much difficulty.
Once Lostern reached the base of the waterfall, he went hunting for the wolves. He knew that they had a den in the rock cliffs, but he also knew that they tended to roam around rather freely, so he was not sure where to find them. Cautiously, he approached the entrance to their cave.
"Who goes there?" a gruff voice called from deep within the darkness.
"It is I, Lostern. The Mistress has some business for you."
A great, grey wolf with beady, black eyes padded into view. "Oh, what does she have for her friends the wolves?"
"She needs you to come with me and make a disturbance around the Tree of Protection."
"And why should we do this?" asked the wolf.
"She is getting ready to make the weapon that will help her to defeat Narnia, and she needs a branch from the Tree."
"I see. And once she defeats Narnia…"
"Yes, she will hold true to her word and make your family the head of her Secret Police and give you all of the land to wreak havoc upon."
"Good. So that is all we must do? Create a disturbance?"
"Yes. You must get the guards to run after you so that I can reach the Tree." explained Lostern.
"And when is this mayhem to occur?"
"We need to leave now."
"Very well. I will round up my brothers and meet you on the river bank across from the Tree."
Lostern paused to catch his breath before heading for the river. Even though the wolf had to find his brothers, they were still much faster than he. Fearful of what the wolves might do if he did not reach the river at the same time as them, he ran as fast as he could and arrived at the river just as the wolves did.
The great, grey wolf approached Lostern. "Here we are. There are three of us. We have run a circle around the Tree and scoped out the guards. There are four, one for each direction. There is a Red Dwarf, a Stag, a Bear, and one man."
"Can the three of you handle all of them?" asked Lostern.
"Oh, yes," said the wolf, "we are used to fighting. These people do not often engage in battles; they are soft and carefree. And they are not used to seeing us. They will run. Wait until they are all either chasing us or fleeing, and then do what you must."
"Very good. Let us get it done. I will go up-river a little ways and cross, and then you can start your attack."
Lostern went up-river to a log that was laid across the water to serve as a bridge. Once he was on the other side, he doubled back to the Tree of Protection. Hiding himself in the bushes he waited for the attack from the wolves. Within a few minutes, Lostern saw a wolf rush into the clearing around the Tree. It was chasing a rabbit. Suddenly, it changed course and rushed right at the man and the Stag! "Watch out!" cried the man as he darted out of the way of the charging wolf. The dwarf and the Bear came running from the other side of the Tree. The man took charge.
"Fleet and Rumble! Rush to the castle and let them know that wolves are attacking the Tree! Darren and I will stay and see if we can chase them off!"
Immediately the Stag and the Bear took off to the east. The man and the dwarf set themselves for a fight. But the wolves were clever. By darting in and out between the man and the dwarf, they were able to lure them into the forest away from the Tree. Lostern saw his chance.
Darting through the clearing that surrounded the Tree, he reached high into the air and jumped for all he was worth. Snap! A branch broke off of the Tree into his hand. Landing, he turned and raced back the way he had come. He thought, The wolves can fend for themselves. I must get back to my Mistress.
After crossing back over the log, Lostern pelted back to the cliffs of the Great Waterfall. He still had one more thing to do before he could return to his Mistress: he needed to get the gold. He climbed halfway up the cliff to a cave that he knew had gold in it, at least in time past. Inside he found the vein of gold still left intact. Snatching out his pick, he started to dig. Soon Lostern had a pile of nuggets on the ground next to him. Stuffing these into his pack, he continued his trek up the cliff.
When he got back to the Witch she was impatient. "About time you returned!" she snapped at him. "Faugh! I can tell that you have at least succeeded in getting the branch."
"How is that, Mistress?" asked Lostern as he pulled it from his pack.
"Fool! I can smell it! The Magic of the Lion is still present in it."
"Oh."
"And you did get the gold?"
"Yes, Mistress. It is in my pack."
"Good. Now, Lostern, melt the gold all the way down into liquid. I must prepare the branch."
"Yes, Mistress."
While Lostern was melting down the gold, the Witch began to work with the branch from the Tree of Protection. She stripped off its bark and exposed the damp, green wood underneath. However, at this point she found that she could not go on. The Magic within the branch was too powerful for her. It assaulted her eyes and nostrils; it burned her hands.
"Lostern!" she cried weakly, "How fares the gold?"
"Ready and waiting for your instructions, Mistress."
"Good. Leave it. You must finish the preparation of the branch. Take the knife and pare the branch into small, thin strips. Then you must take the strips and squeeze the sap out of them."
Under the skillful hands of the dwarf, the branch was transformed from a solid piece of wood into a mass of parchment thin slivers of green. Taking them into his hands, Lostern twisted them until the Life, the sap, was drained out of the wood and into a container.
"Now pour it into the gold," said the Witch as she watched him. "When you have mixed the sap into the gold, move out of the way: there is Magic to be done."
As soon as Lostern had completed this task, the Witch came and stood over the mixture. There was a gleam of malice in her eyes and a look of intense concentration on her face. Raising her hands and arms up to the sky she said horrible words that were garbled and harsh and evil to the core. Her hands clapped together over the top of the sap and gold. A faint, white mist came up out of it. The Witch stepped back and sank down onto a rock. Her face bore the glaze of exhaustion, but there was a glimmer of satisfaction in her eyes.
"Now, Lostern, forge a wand from out of the mixture," said the Witch.
Soon, Lostern had a slender wand ready for his mistress. After setting it in the creek that flowed nearby to cool, he handed it to the Witch. She took the wand in her white hand and held it up above her head. It glinted in the sunlight. She eyed it with satisfaction. With a flick of her wrist she aimed it at a chipmunk seated at the base of a tree. A hideous cackle escaped her lips.
Lostern raced over to make sure that his eyes had not tricked him. There, where a living breathing chipmunk had been, sat a perfect little stone statue. He picked it up and ran back to the Witch. "What have you done?" he cried.
"I have succeeded!" cried the Witch. "I have twisted the Tree's power to my own will! The Tree that was meant to protect and preserve Narnia against my power has given me what I needed. It shall now be used against what it was designed to help. It still protects and preserves—but without Life!"
And so the White Witch had her wand. It gave her the edge that she needed to fight against the Narnians. When the time came for her to attack Narnia, the defenders of that land became ranks of stone. During her rule, the worst fear of the Narnians was that she would steal their Life and turn them into statues.
As for Lostern, from that day on he questioned greatly the ways of the White Witch. And we can only hope that when Aslan returns to take His people back to His country, Lostern will be counted among them.