Author's Note: PLEASEEE! keep the reviews coming! I LOVE reviews (not flames, reviews) and they encourage me to write more.

The title for this chapter is "Child Prey," which is the title of a song by a band I LOVEEEEEEEE 3 (in my top 5 fav. bands), dir en grey!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of C.S. Lewis' works. I don't own dir en grey or their song or title "Child Prey."

Chapter Four - Child Prey

Wolves are the predators and children are the prey,

That's what happens when the children stray,

The children leave without consent,

They get caught by wolves who are hell-sent.

At last, Skye and of course, the wolves behind him, were on the tail of the children. If anyone gets hurt or dies, it'll be all my fault, Peter thought sadly. I'm the oldest. I'm responsible.

Finally, he ran ahead of everyone else and jumped onto the nearest tree branch in front of them. "Come on!" he yelled, and he saw the wolves, clearly visible and too close to them to bear. "Lucy! Grab my hand, Lucy!" he yelled, and she did as she was told. Peter helped each person up, then shouted "Climb, go as high as you possibly can!" The wolves were at the bottom of the tree now, and Skye was trying to get up, but since everyone was climbing up the tree at a fast pace (Lucy first, then Susan, Edmund, Juliet, Alden, and finally Peter) no one noticed his hands grabbing at the branch.

"Juliet, Alden, someone!" Skye yelled at the top of his lungs. Peter reached down, but Skye fumbled around and screamed in pain. A wolf, the smallest of the group, had his jaws gripped tightly around Skye's leg. More cries of pain escaped his lips and he finally grasped Peter's hand fiercely.

"Ahhhch!" A couple tears of pain slid down Skye's face and he gritted his teeth, trying to contain his pain. Finally, it looked as if he had remembered something, and he pulled a shiny silver object out of his pocket and thrust it through the wolf's snout. The wolf sniffed and released Skye's ankle as Peter pulled Skye into the tree. A dagger.

"Skye, what's happened? Are you alright?" demanded Juliet.

"What do you think happened?" said Skye in an annoyed and pained tone. "The wolves attacked me! Of course I'm not alright!"

The girls were crying furiously now, especially Lucy, who was still too young to have deserved to see what had happened to Skye. Of course, though, no one deserved to see that.

"Why were the wolves chasing you?" Peter inquired, trying to remain calm as the wolves scratched at the trunk of the tree. They howled angrily and jumped up, trying to bite Peter's legs, and he and Skye climbed up higher, to the branch under Juliet and Alden.

Skye looked down and said nothing.

Peter couldn't hide his frustration any longer. "Tell me! What have you done!"

"I..." Skye shook his head. "Be quiet, why don't you, little perfect boy?" He grabbed his bleeding ankle and rocked back and forth while murmuring curses under his breath.

One of the wolves growled louder than the others and stared at the children sitting in the tree. "He's a fool! We'll get him back for this -- Just you wait and see, boy! You'll be dead soon enough." He snarled at the other wolves and bit the small, hurt wolf who was rubbing his paw against his wound. They ran off, but not before letting out another group of violent howls.

Sniffles were heard from Lucy, Susan, and Juliet as they dried their tears.

"We'd best wait a while... before returning to Tumnus," Susan said, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Will we even be able to get back there?" Alden said shaking his head.

"We ran straight. If we just keep going west we'll be sure to reach his home sure enough," Peter answered, staring at the ground far below.

"I have a question, then," said Alden again. "Why were the wolves talking?"

Lucy finally spoke up. "All the animals talk here..."

It didn't matter to Alden or Juliet. The fact that Skye had been bitten by wolf was more shocking than the fact that the wolves talked. The sat on the branches in silence, once in a while glancing at Skye, who was still cowering and grabbing his ankle, almost in tears, until Peter finally agreed that it was safe (or, safer than before) to return to Tumnus' home.

Skye was the last one up in the tree, too much in pain to fend for himself. Juliet helped him down, and he walked, limping, with his arm on Alden's shoulder.

It was pitch black outside now, and they should have been back to Tumnus' hours ago.

"What'll we do?" asked Alden in a worried tone. "About Skye's ankle and leg. He's injured badly."

Peter looked down at Skye's wound. He had ripped off part of his shirt sleeve and wrapped it around the injury. The cloth, once white, was now a deep red, stained in his own blood.

They passed the trees once again, and everything looked the same as before, only darker and more treacherous.

Lucy was the first to spot Tumnus' home, just as before, and she ran gracefully towards it, eager to leave the sinister summer night in Narnia.

They hurried through the door as soon as Tumnus had opened it.

Tumnus stared in disbelief at Skye's ankle. "What's happened?"

"Wolves!" said Susan. "They've bitten him."

Tumnus stared at Skye in a rather menacing tone. "You must've done something to anger than! You're the first to actually be brutally physically attacked!"

"I've done nothing!" Skye shouted back. He stepped towards Tumnus and growled. "Who're you to speak, faun? A betrayer once, as I've heard!"

"I never betrayed anyone of good will!" Tumnus yelled back at him angrily. "How do you know of these words you speak? Who has told you this?"

Skye just looked him and bit his lip.

"Right now we must forget what he's done, whatever that may be," Susan said confidently. "We've got to mend to his wound now, before it gets infected or he bleeds to death."

"I've got just the thing," Tumnus said. "Though I don't reckon he really worked for it... However, as I am no enemy and he is your friend, I'll help you."

He stumbled over to the other side of the room and opened a dusty drawer. He reached in and grabbed out a glass vile with purple liquid.

"Here," he said. "It's similar to one you recognize, I'm sure. A sip and you'll be fine, er - What is your name?"

"Skye."

Tumnus handed Skye the vial and Skye took a quick drink, then coughed. "It tastes foul!" However, he seemed pleased and he stopped groaning in pain a few seconds later.

"It has definitely begun, then," Tumnus murmured sadly. "The wolves attacking other creatures -- Absurd! The Ice Queen -- whoever she may be, or whoever is ruling the wolves... does not take betrayal lightly."

"What'll we do to stop her, then? The same as before? A war, then?" Lucy looked and frowned in Tumnus' direction.

"That's what has to happen. It's what had to happen last time." Tumnus returned the frown. "Tomorrow... I shall bring you to see the water nymphs. They are against the Ice Queen, who will freeze their homes, according to the wolves, if they fail to bring her joy. Therefore, they have spies all around. They'll help us. I know they will. It's not far, but we had best had early in the morning so we have all day tomorrow to plan and prepare and practice."

"What's happening, Tumnus?" cried Lucy, beginning to cry again. "What'll happen? This is horrid!"

"Everything's happening, my dear." Tumnus pointed to the corner of the room, where a pile of sheets lay. "There's blankets, you should sleep, because we're leave sooner than you'll expect."

The children slept waddled in their blankets, and dreamt of the fate of Narnia.