Chapter Two

Ginarrbrik entered the small ice cell, stirring Edmund from his thoughts about his family. Nothing was said as the dwarf unchained him. Ginarrbrik withdrew his trusty dagger and led Edmund from the cell into the throne room, past the many statues.

Edmund paused as he recognized a very familiar statue…Mr. Tumnus! The knife at his back left Edmund little time to react before he was pushed before the Queen standing in her sleigh. "Whenever you are ready, Son of Adam…"

Ginarrbrik pushed Edmund into the sleigh, to sit at the White Witch's feet. Ginarrbrik smirked at the all powerful Son-of-Adam, trembling at the foot of his mistress. The smirk didn't leave his face as he set the Reindeer out on their course.

Edmund looked back at the terrified statue of Mr. Tumnus, a shocked expression showing on his face…there was a girl there about Peter's age. Edmund could only see part of her face since her Red hair was blocking the majority of it. Her head was bowed…then; quite suddenly she looked at Edmund, who looked away. The sleigh started to move as Edmund cast a quick glance back at the statue…there was no one there…

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Three humans trudged through the snow that had fallen on the ice-covered river, following behind what appeared to be two small beavers.

"Hurry up you lot!" one of the beaver's shouted.

The eldest human boy knelt down, allowing the youngest girl to ride on his back, "I swear…" He muttered to the eldest girl, "if he tells us to hurry, one more time…I'm going to turn him into a big fluffy hat…"

The three siblings laughed at the inner workings of Peter's mind when the beavers suddenly stopped…bells could be heard in the distance…

"It's Her!" Mr. Beaver shouted, "RUN!"

The group took off as fast as they possibly could, running up the bank of the frozen river and through the trees. The beavers stopped at a small groove in the ground, "Quick! Down here!" they shouted, pushing the children into the small alcove.

There was a tense silence as the group watched a shadow appear before them. The shadow stepped back, "Maybe she's gone…" Lucy Pevensie, the youngest of the siblings suggested.

"I guess I'll go have a look…" Peter said, inching out.

Mr. Beaver started in front of him, "No, you're no good to Narnia dead."

He started to walk out of the cover only to be stopped by Mrs. Beaver. "Neither are you…" she whispered.

Mr. Beaver paused for a moment, giving his wife's paw a little squeeze before crawling up to the above ground. The group was still, waiting…

"I hope you've been good," Mr. Beaver said suddenly, dropping down upside down to view the children, startling them. "Because there's someone here to see you!"

He crawled back up, soon followed by the group…there, standing before there in a red coat, was none other than Father Christmas himself!

Lucy jumped up in excitement, running up to the old man, "Merry Christmas, sir!"

"Yes, it certainly is," He walked over to his big bag, pulling it up to the children. He handed Lucy a vial of healing potion and a small dagger, as well as handing Susan a bow with arrows and a magical horn to call for aide.

It was now Peter's turn. Santa walked over to the future king, "These are tools, not toys," he said, handing Peter a sword and shield, "The time to use them may be soon at hand." He glimpsed at Peter's siblings before pulling him off to the side. "There is another gift for you waiting in the forest at Aslan's camp. I fear you will come to need her help more than anything."

Peter nodded, though confused as he was. He stood there watching as Father Christmas rode off.

Lucy turned to her elder sister Susan, "I told you he was real."

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The White Witch had just left the waterfall, now completely flowing, when a figure appeared. The large black cloak hid most of its features, with a sword and bow attached to its back. The figure knelt by the petrified fox statue, placing her wooden staff gently on the grass. A sigh escaped, letting anyone close know that the figure was a girl. A small pale hand reached out to grab a small chunk of stone lying in the grass, a smirk making its way onto her face. Jadis would not know what hit her. A small glow surrounded the stone as the girl placed it back into the hole on the chest of the statue.

Jadis had to remove the heart of a creature before she could effectively turn them to stone. She usually just cast the stone heart off somewhere, and the only thing left to do would be to return the heart to the creature. It took a lot of power to return the stone heart to its owner, even more to return the creature to life.

The figure sighed as she sat back on the grass. The heart was returned, but she was too weak to return the creature to life, usually she had a great deal of power. She could have brought all the stone figures to life…but Jadis. She cursed that name; Jadis had tried since her birth to remove her power from her. She had almost succeeded more than once. Try as she might, Jadis would stop at nothing to gain the powers that she held within her. It took a constant wave of power and vigilance to thwart Jadis' attempts.

She laughed at herself. That was why she was so weak. Jadis' constant hounding. Being locked up in the Ice Palace, sneaking around trying to return the statues to life, being beaten and…and…

A small tear fell down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away, standing defiantly. She was not a prisoner of Jadis anymore; she could feel her strength returning…and the witch would pay. She looked down at the fox; Aslan would have to take care of him.

She whirled around, black cloak billowing, and walked to the water's edge. She waved her hand over the water, ice formed creating a bridge as she stepped onto it. She crossed the river quickly, staff in hand, running off into the forest of Aslan's camp.

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Peter sat in his bed awake in the middle of the night. His sisters and he had arrived at Aslan's camp a few days ago. He had actually just had a meeting with Aslan after breakfast, followed closely by yet another day of training with Oreius.

He sighed, frustrated with the situation he was in; Aslan expected him to lead an army against the white witch, yet Oreius still had not taught him more than the basics of battle. Peter shook his head, getting out of bed. He put on his boots, strapping his sword to his back, before heading out of his tent. He looked around, everyone must be sleeping, and no one was out.

Peter looked at the trees, and found himself walking into the forest before he even realized what he was doing. He walked silently through the forest, not really knowing why…no one was…

He heard a sound. It sounded strangely like laughter, coming from a small field just beyond the trees. He crept up to a rather thick tree at the edge of the field, peeking out from the side to see what was happening.

There was a girl in a black cloak, spinning around in a circle. Her red hair was clearly visible in the moonlit sky…now that Peter thought back on it…it seemed like the moon was always out and full. The girl was now saying something; Peter crept around the tree to see if he could hear what it was. "I'm free!" he could hear, "No more ice! No more WINTER!"

The girl laughed again, cloak swaying around her. Peter took another step forward…accidentally stepping on a twig.

The girl quickly spun around at the sound of a twig snapping, kneeling slightly as she grabbed something from her boot, and threw it at Peter. Peter looked quickly at the tree at his back to see a dagger embedded into it…only a few inches from his head…

A/N – Did anyone see that coming? Please let me know, I don't want to write another predictable Mary-Sue-ish character…All I can say is that, yes, she will be involved in the battle…but will only fight one person and kill another…