AN: thanks to saberlightmaster, Emily Sim, and Jenforvel for reviewing!

Sorry for taking so long to update, but I had a lot of work to do for school…

DISCLAIMER: The Chronicles of Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, not me!

The lines I've quoted from the book come in italic.

I'll continue quoting lines from the original story as I want to stick to C.S. Lewis true story. The X-Files characters are just an additional element to the original story. Their presence will bring along some changes but almost all the characters from The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe will be present

I hope this is alright now…

Chapter Six

A flight, a dream and a winged horse

Scully and Mr. Beaver immediately bundled themselves into coats and rushed towards the front door. They were just about to open it, when the sudden sound of Mrs. Beaver's excited voice hold them back "Wait a minute" she said while hastily packing a ham and a bottle of water into a bag.

"What are you doing, Mrs. Beaver?" exclaimed Scully, obviously annoyed to be delayed.

"Packing a load for each of us, dearie" said Mrs. Beaver very coolly "You didn't think we would set out on a journey with nothing to eat, did you?"

"But we haven't time! She may be here any minute!" said Scully angrily.

"She's right, there's no time to lose. Don't we want as big a start as we can get?" said Mr. Beaver.

"Please don't start fussing!" said Mrs. Beaver while adding an apple to each load.

"That's enough now, come on let's go" said her husband.

Scully was about to say something not very nice, when the old she-beaver finally handed over a load to each of them.

"Here, there are two loads" she said kindly.

"Thanks" replied Scully coldly.

"Well, I'm nearly ready now" answered Mrs. Beaver at last. She rapidly put on her coat and allowed her husband to help her into her snow-boots.

"Oh, please, please, please, do hurry" said Scully impatiently.

Finally they all got outside and set off, all carrying their loads over their shoulders.

The snow had stopped and the moon had come out when they began their journey. They went in single file – first Mr. Beaver, then Scully and then Mrs. Beaver.

Mr. Beaver led them across the dam and on the right bank of the river and then along a very rough sort of path among the trees right down by the river-bank. The sides of the valley, shinning in the moonlight, towered up far above them on either side. "Best keep down here as much as possible" said Mr. Beaver "She'll have to keep to the top, for you couldn't bring a sledge down here".

They went on walking and walking for two hours. Very soon, Scully noticed that Mrs. Beaver was totally worn out and she felt sorry for having been so rude earlier on. She could see how the sack Mrs. Beaver was carrying began to feel heavier and heavier and she really wondered if the old she-beaver would keep up at all.

"Just give me your bag Mrs. Beaver, it's too heavy and it's slowing you down" she said, trying to sound s formal as possible.

Mrs. Beaver looked up and smiled gently.

"You shouldn't be carrying such a heavy pack, come on, I'll take it" said Scully calmly.

The beaver took off her pack and handed it over to Scully.

"Thank you my dear…" she whispered and then sighed, feeling quite relieved.

Mrs. Beaver was exhausted and she no longer took in the dazzling brightness of the frozen river with all its waterfalls of ice; neither did she notice the white masses of the tree-tops and the great glaring moon and the countless stars.

Scully and Mrs. Beaver were now walking next to each other, and together they watched the little short legs of Mr. Beaver go pad-pad-pad-pad through the snow in front of them as if they were never going to stop. Then the moon disappeared and the snow began to fall once more, Mr. Beaver had turned away from the river-bank to the right and was leading them steeply into the very thickest bushes. A few minutes later they all vanished into a little hole in the bank.

Meanwhile the dwarf had gone to get the sledge ready, the Dark Witch decided to pay a visit to Emily and the faun, who were still kept prisoners in the dungeons. She entered the cell and didn't say anything at all. Both Emily and the faun had been put in chains and were sitting on nothing more than the cold and dirty ground of this icy prison. They looked terrible, tired and hungry. The faun stared at her and plucked up his courage to say "Please your Majesty, could we have something to eat?"

"You-you… Silence, fool!" answered the Witch furiously. Emily looked at her with pleading eyes and although no one can explain how this could possibly happen, the Witch suddenly appeared to change her mind and murmured something inaudible to herself, then she clapped her hands and another dwarf appeared.

"Bring the prisoners food and drink" she ordered.

The dwarf went away and presently returned bringing an iron bowl with some water in it and an iron plate with two hunks of dry bread on it. He grinned in a repulsive manner as he set them down on the floor beside Emily and said "Dinner for the little princess and her pet. Ha! Ha! Ha!" Emily was afraid and angry, but too hungry to counter the dwarf's rude remark. Emily took the two hunks of bread and handed one over to Mr. Tumnus. They immediately began to nibble at the bread, though it was so stale that they could hardly get it down.

While they were still chewing away, the first dwarf came back and announced that the sledge was ready. The Witch rose and went out.

The snow was falling again as she came into the courtyard. She took place on the sledge, but before they drove off she called Maugrim, the most frightening of all wolves, and he came bounding like an enormous dog to the side of the sledge. "Call the swiftest of your wolves! We are going to the house of the Beavers. If by chance you should be there the first, kill whatever you find!"

"I hear and obey, O Queen" growled the wolf, and immediately he shot away into the snow and darkness, as quickly as a horse can gallop.

Soon Maugrim and his wolves were down on the dam sniffing at the Beaver's house. But of course they found it empty. A quarter of an hour later the Witch was there too.

"What? The house is empty? How could they possibly have escaped?

Maugrim!" The Witch was definitely annoyed and irritated.

"Yes your majesty…" replied Maugrim quietly.

"I'm very disappointed…"

"I'm sorry…your majesty"

"I want you to follow their trail… They can't be far away" ordered the Witch.

"But your majesty…the scent is cold and the snow has covered up the footprints… how-?" protested Maugrim.

"How dare you disobey!"

"Sorry your majesty" murmured the wolf.

"Now go! I don't have further time to lose; there are still a lot of things to prepare as tomorrow will be my wedding day…" said the Witch and smiled foully at the wolves, before taking place on her sledge.

That night Mulder had a very strange and penetrating dream.

He was sitting in a park next to a young and gorgeous woman, and a little girl that looked strongly like her.

Although the sun was shining, the place was almost deserted so that they had more or less the whole park for themselves.

He felt fine, perfectly comfortable and happy.

The young girl was busy collecting little stones and pine cones, which she presented to them with all the pride and excitement of a young child. While watching her, the little redhead next to him, would laugh and play with splendour the role of a mother who is filled with wonder at the sight of the findings of her little angel.

Mulder loved watching her laugh and light up in his presence, moreover, as he continued looking at her, he thought she had the most beautiful and soft smile that a woman could possibly have.

He couldn't remember himself having ever been so happy. And the reason for his joy was the woman next to him. She was of a radiant natural beauty and being with her felt just right.

Slowly he put his arm around her waist and gave a sigh of satisfaction when she leaned back and cuddled up against him. Feeling the warmth of her body against his own filled him with a deep sense of comfort.

It's hard to describe all the things that ran through his mind in that precise moment, but as love is well-known for muddling one up, it surely were a lot of good things.

The weather was lovely and Mulder closed his eyes, enjoying the heat of the sun and the presence of the little redhead.

Soon she placed her head on his shoulder and joined him into his relaxation.

The sweet scent of her hair mixed with the soft summer breeze and while inhaling this light scent, Mulder couldn't help but give her a kiss on the forehead.

They remained in this position, her head resting on his shoulder and his arms wrapped around her, till a young girl's cry of excitement would force them to open their eyes and stand up straight.

"Dana! Fox! Look at what I've found!" shouted the young girl while running towards them.

"Oh… that's a very beautiful stone… Did you find it all by yourself?" asked the redhead curiously.

"Of course I did" answered the girl proudly.

She placed the black stone onto the blanket spread on the grass and set off again to find other treasures.

The woman turned to Mulder and both would smile and then take up their cuddle.

This big hole turned out to be an entry leading to a tunnel.

"This tunnel will bring us straight to the stone table, the meeting place of the animal council and the secret Resistance-group" explained Mr. Beaver.

"But shouldn't we alert the other animals?" asked Scully.

"I've sent messenger birds to all the members, they should all be here very soon" replied Mr. Beaver.

"And what are we going to discuss… I mean… you said the Badgers had some plans that might work out…"

"Yes but I fear that the Witch has changed her plans now that she has Mulder in her control… Have you ever heard about the Garden of Youth?"

"I've heard about the Garden of Eden…" said Scully and Mr. Beaver shook his head in disapproval.

"The garden of Youth is situated at the western entrance to castle in Cair Paravel on the top of a hill. All around the very top of that hill runs a high wall of green turf… And inside the wall there are trees growing… You can see branches hang out over the wall and their leaves are not only green, but also blue and silver.

"What's so special about this garden?" asked Scully.

"Sh- let me go on. High gates of gold, fast shut… never saw a place so obviously private… of course this is where the Kings and Queens of Narnia used to live…" said Mr. Beaver.

"Why isn't the Witch living there?"

"You see…Behind the first gates leading to the garden, are other gates which lead into the castle. However these gates will only open once the true King and Queen of Narnia stand in front of it…"

"So the Witch tried to get in and…" said Scully.

"The gates remained close".

"She's going to try it once more… now that she has Mulder"

"I fear she will…" mumbled Mr. Beaver.

"But you said that she cannot possibly be the true Queen!" protested Scully.

"One can never say for sure… I mean…"

"But Mulder is not in love with her!" objected Scully angrily.

"Who knows…? She's a witch… she might have enchanted him… given him a love philter or…" said Mr. Beaver quietly.

"If the gates are really protected by the deep magic from the dawn of time, they'll be able to distinguish between true love and a falsified conjuring trick" replied Scully.

"I hope so…"

"What about the first Gates, the one leading to the garden?" asked Scully.

"Everyone can enter…but the people who got in… were not the same when they got out…"

"Did the Witch get in?"

"Oh yes…

"And?" asked Scully, curious to know what happened.

"You know…There's something written on the Gates, something like this":

Come in by the gold gates or not at all,

Take of my fruit for others or forbear,

For those who steal or those who climb my wall

Shall find their heart's desire and find despair.

"Sounds like a piece of advice"

"Hmmm… In the very center of the garden is a tree with great silver apples, apples that will fulfill your heart's desire if you taste them. But one has to be careful in these magical places… Just look at the Dark Witch…"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if it's true but there's a legend saying that She hasn't always been like that… That she was a beautiful and good girl until she ate from the forbidden fruit… Children are curious and irresponsible, but the Witch, even as a child, had always had a feeble for power and might, she was different from the other human children that lived in Narnia in those times…

We think that one day she climbed in over the wall and tasted the fruit…

There's something true about getting your heart's desire and getting despair along with it. The Witch became very powerful but her face became deadly white, white as salt and her heart turned into a heart of stone…

But as a said… it's just a legend…" explained Mr. Beaver.

"Whoever wrote these lines onto the gates wanted the people entering to be unselfish and noble" said Scully.

"I've seen noble people entering, Agent Scully, and demons coming out…" murmured Mr. Beaver sadly.

Now back with Scully and the Beavers. After another twenty minute walk, they arrived at the Stone Table, where already many animals were waiting for them. The Badgers were busy talking to a group of bears and just next to them; Scully could recognize a couple of overexcited foxes and a dozen panthers.

"Hello my dear friends!" said Mr. Beaver "Unfortunately… I have bad news for Narnia's inhabitants".

At once all the animals stopped talking and turned round in order to look at Mr. Beaver. Their faces were marked by fear and anxiety. Scully noticed how some of them were throwing curious glances at her.

"The Witch has captured three of our friends. Mr. Tumnus, little Emily and Mr. Mulder are no longer safe…"

"We have to rescue them!" shouted one of the excited foxes.

"Don't hasten" said Mr. Beaver.

"Please. Tell us what happened Beaver" ordered the Black Panther, which was by far the most noble and wise animal of all those that were present.

"The Dark Witch has somehow enchanted Mr. Mulder and forced him to follow her into her house. She hopes that by marrying him she'll become true Queen of Narnia" explained Mr. Beaver.

"Can you anticipate her actions?" asked the Panther.

"Turn to the west and tell me what you see" said Mr. Beaver.

"I can see big mountains and a river coming down cliffs in a waterfall. And… beyond the cliff there are high green hills with forests… and far away… there are big snowy mountains…and then… there's nothing but the sky" said the Panther calmly, wondering what the beaver intended to achieve with this question.

"Yes… And at the end of the river there is a steep, green hill and… on the top of that hill is… the Garden of Youth and the castle".

"It will take us at least two days to get to the castle, we'll never managed to be there before her… if this is what you intended to do of course" said the Panther.

"This is precisely where the Witch will go to celebrate her wedding. I know how she longs to sit on that throne in Cair Paravel…"

"The beaver's right. This is precisely where she'll go, and where she'll bring Mr. Mulder, for the prophecy will work only if both of them are present" said a firm voice just behind Scully.

Immediately she turned round to see who was standing behind her and discovered a beautiful winged horse.

"Sapphire my friend" said the Black Panther.

Scully continued to stare at the horse in disbelief, never had she seen such a magnificent horse. He was white as snow and had golden wings.

"By flying I could be there in less then a day" said the horse. Mr. Beaver exchanged a few glances with the Black Panther and then turned to the winged horse next to Scully.

"Sapphire would you carry this daughter of Eve on your back to the mountain valley I spoke of?" asked Mr. Beaver while pointing at Scully.

"Of course" replied the horse.

"But I can't ride! And this horse is not even wearing a saddle… or a bride…" protested Scully.

The horse was slightly amused by her comment and replied kindly "I'm a free Narnian horse; I'm not used to carry people on my back you know…"

"But… I-" stammered Scully helplessly.

"Do you want to save your partner and the two prisoners?" asked the Black Panther.

"Of course I do. I'd give my life for them…"

"Well, then why hesitating?" asked the Panther.

"Alright I'll fly with the horse" answered Scully and this time she really sounded determined.

"Grip my body between your knees as hard as you like; sit straight up, keep your elbows in and grab my mane" said Sapphire.

Immediately Mr. and Mrs. Beaver helped Scully up.

"Do not fly too high… And do not try to go over the tops of the great ice-mountains. Look out for the valleys, the green places and fly through them" recommended the Black Panther. Sapphire nodded, he knew nature's dangers best than any other creature here in Narnia. They would have to be very prudent, especially now that they were traveling at night-time.

"Oh my God…" murmured Scully to herself, while leaning forward to pat the horse's glossy neck. She was nervous and anxious, but her determination to find Mulder and to get Emily back was stronger than her fears. The mere thought of Mulder marrying the Witch was killing her.

Next moment the country dropped away beneath them, and whirled round, as Sapphire circled once or twice before setting off on his long westward flight.

All Narnia, many-colored with lawns, rocks and heather and different sorts of trees, lay spread out below them, the river winding through it like a ribbon of quicksilver.

TBC…

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