A/N:
Here is part two of chapter 20, Crystal Clear II. Hold onto your hats, ladies and gets, you're in for a ride!
With no further ado, let's do further.
Soundtracks:
"Megaloceros" – Paleowolf.
The total Snowfell at Dusk-soundtrack from GoT.
"Isa" – Wardruna
Read on!
So far, the company had only found bones of different animals and of people, with armour pieces here and there. They had not been the first ones to venture down here, that was for certain. The Telmarine King knocked over a rock with his boot, exhaling sharply through his nose.
By the time they had seemingly turned every rock and stone to look for the crystal, Caspian wanted to scream. Was it not here? Had the remains of former adventurers been a sign that someone had already found it? Had Talulah and her men-.
"Men! Come and have a look at this!" Edmund called out from a different corner of the cavern.
His hope lit anew, Caspian soon found the location of the Pevensie teen, along with Peter, Rhea, Caine and Susan who came just behind him past a corner. They all strode over Edmund, who was stood by a pool of shallow water, his torch at hand.
"What is it, Ed?" his older brother asked. Edmund nodded out towards the muddy waters and lit the surface of the water with his flashlight.
"See there? Something we ought to check out, I believe," Edmund stated as he wiggled the flashlight, pointing to what he had seen in the water.
Concentrating, they all noticed that there was indeed something in the water. It looked to be a body, clad in rusted plated armour of iron. Laying on his back, they saw the glimmer of a weapon shine through the water by his left shoulder.
Peter and Caspian shared a glance, whilst Susan stood up on two pointed rocks to get a better glimpse of the figure in the water.
Caspian 'hmm'-ed, disrobed his leather duster, and waded into the water to get to the corpse in the water. Peter followed him, handing his sister his torch.
"Be careful." Susan warned as they trod over to the body, cool water reaching their lower thighs.
"He's dead, what harm could he do?" Edmund commented, earning him an unappreciative gaze from his sister.
"The dead have a tendency to become restless these days, if you haven't noticed," was Susan's terse reply, her eyes returning to the two Kings in the water that studied the body.
"Luckily, this one isn't." Caspian reassured her as he poked the body with the tip of his boot.
"As a matter of fact, I think he was protecting something. See it?" Peter mentioned to Caspian, pointing down into the water. Between the body's hands, lodged tight between bony fingers, was a satchel.
Caspian reached down into the water and heisted the body up from the bottom. Holding the rotten corpse at an arm's length, he grimaced at the vision of rotten flesh and bones before him.
"Take the satchel," he told Peter with gritted teeth as he turned his head away from the foul, putrid smell of the corpse. Its jaw hung open, water pouring out from it. Mud poured out the body's skull and down Caspian's arms as he held the body up by its armour.
Peter quickly cut the satchel loose from the body's sword-belt, and tore it from its hands, unfortunately tearing off the carcass' wrists as he did so.
Hearing Edmund's sound of nausea, he too felt his stomach churn at the sight.
Caspian dropped the body back into the water, grimacing at the sight - may the man rest in peace. Quickly washing his hands, he watched as Peter cut open the satchel with his dagger and found a rotten wooden box inside.
Wading up to the others, Peter and Caspian were anxious to open the box. Once on land, Peter gently pried the box open with the tip of his dagger. The wood was so rotten it almost fell apart in his hands.
The other's watched in anticipation. Rhea caught herself holding her breath as she watched carefully.
Picking open the rusted lock, a filthy linen cloth could be seen wrapped around something pointed. Picking up the item inside, Peter's mouth hung agape when he held the slender crystal piece in his hand. It was beautiful, despite one end broken by Edmund's sword when he first cut the wand in two during his duel with Jadis before the Golden Age. The Crystal, glowing in his hand, shone a bright cyan, specks of radiant gold in the crystal's core, as if the magic itself had taken form inside the piece of the staff.
"That's it… We have the crystal!" Peter announced in awe, a smile of relief and disbelief taking form on his chiselled face.
"By the Mane…" Caine muttered as he stepped closer to look upon the crystal. In all his life, he had never seen such a thing.
"I can't believe we finally found it…" Caspian exclaimed between his laugh of relief.
Edmund stepped closer to feel the Crystal in his hand as well, smiling at the find. He felt a pang of emotion at the sight of that crystal, as if the White Witch herself were to haunt him for the rest of his life, all because he broke the Crystal, and tore down the wall of ice when Jadis was half-way resurrected by the hag and werewolf. His heart jumped at the sight of the crystal, for one reason or another.
At that very moment, the company heard the familiar 'click' of a crossbow being loaded.
"We will take that Crystal off your hands, your Majesties."
The sound of Lord Adranos' voice boomed through the cave as he appeared behind the royals, his men at his sides with their crossbows at the ready.
All turning towards them, Susan gasped as she was pushed behind Rhea for her protection.
"Lord Adranos, sheath your weapon!" Caine ordered, his arm going towards his sword.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Adranos' guard warned as he pointed his crossbow towards him. Caine knew of the man's trigger-happiness and raised his arms above his head.
"Adranos, what do you think you are doing?!" Caspian growled towards him.
"That Crystal belongs to our mistress, and she will have it, one way or another. Now, hand it over, or die." Adranos replied, his voice cold and eyes sharp as he secured his crossbow.
"Hands up, all of you!" one of the guards shouted as he aimed his crossbow.
It was three readied weapons against them, they wouldn't stand a chance if they were to fight.
"You traitor!" Peter shouted as Adranos approached him.
"Throw it here, or your family dies."
"Don't give it to him, Peter," Susan exclaimed before one of the guards hissed and pointed his crossbow straight at her face.
Caspian's blood boiled as he watched the scene. He wanted nothing more than to rip these men to pieces, but, knowing the jeopardy they were in, restrained himself from doing so, and held his hands above his head.
Peter sighed heavily before throwing the crystal before Adranos' feet. Still pointing his crossbow at the oldest Pevensie, Adranos bent down and picked up the crystal.
"Lordship, don't do this!" Caine asked of his fellow guard as he turned to walk away. The crossbows were still threatening to fire.
"Oh, but I will. And there is nothing you can do to stop her Highness from having Narnia at her feet. Nothing! She has Queen Lucy, and she has this. And most of all, she has us to do her bidding." Adranos said, his accent heavy as he tossed the crystal up and down in his hand.
He smirked wickedly as he studied the crystal; "Talulah shall be our Queen…"
. . .
"You cannot leave us here to die!" Edmund shouted up the rock wall as they all watched Adranos finish his climb up the rope they had used to climb down the treacherous wall. Adranos' two guards stood at the ledge, pointing their crossbows down towards them to prevent a sneak attack, especially from the Archer Queen herself.
"Oh, don't you worry, your Majesty. I am certain someone will come to your aid when they hear your dying screams," Adranos replied with a sly smirk as he cut the rope from the ledge and threw it over. The rope fell by their feet as they stirred uneasily, looking upwards towards the treacherous Lord and his two bodyguards.
"You will pay for this, Adranos!" Rhea shouted towards the wall, but to no avail: the men had already left them for dead.
. . .
Caspian paced angrily back and forth as he silently cursed the traitor Adranos and his men. How could he have been so blind?
Edmund, who was sat on a boulder on the floor interrupted his self-inflicted scorning.
"Caspian, calm down. Anger won't solve anything," he said calmly, but Caspian only growled at his words. He stopped however and looked upwards to where Adranos and his men had disappeared.
"I should have seen this coming; he wasn't with us when we found the body! How could I have been so thoughtless?" Caspian explained as he started his pacing once again.
"None of us could have seen it coming, my Lord," Caine reassured him as he stood behind Edmund, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword.
Susan, who rested her back against the rock wall, blocked out the prattle between the group as she attempted to think of a solution or two. It wouldn't be long before they would run out of water and food, and in the end, freeze to death. Hence, they needed to get out, and they needed to get out now.
Her eyes trailed down to the coiled rope that lay on the ground, wet and filthy.
Straightening up, she walked over to pick it up. She put it around her torso like a sash and turned around to study the wall. Rubbing her chin with her hand, she studied the wall in silence with crystal-blue eyes.
The wall was vertically 180 degrees, and difficult to climb. Dangerous and life-threatening, even. The rocks were slippery, and it was challenging to get the right footing. They had struggled on the way down - there was no chance it would be easier on the way up.
One misplaced footing, and she would fall, possibly to her death.
Alas, considering their current options, this would be their best bet. If they didn't find a way up, they would all die anyway.
Susan had never been a religious type, but at that very moment, she prayed that every deity supported her in this decision to escape the cave.
. . .
"Su, are you sure about this?" Edmund shouted upwards the wall as they all watched her tough, yet extraordinary climb.
"Do you have any better idea?" was Susan's quick-witted reply between gritted teeth as she pulled herself over yet another tough-placed boulder.
Caspian and Peter held their lit torches up high, whilst Edmund lit her path with his own torch.
"I really don't like this," Edmund stated as he swallowed hard. Caspian and Peter couldn't agree more.
"Just shut up and light my path!" Susan erupted from above as she found footing on a flat rock and hauled herself upwards. Grasping a seemingly suitable rock, it crumbled at her weight, and she lost her hold.
Sliding for only a moment, Susan quickly regained her balance and hold upon the wall, finding support on a sharp rock.
They all let out the breath they had been holding in as they watched her nearly fall. Caspian's heart drummed in his ears as he watched her with distressed eyes.
When Susan thought she had lost all strength in her arms and legs and couldn't climb any longer, she felt the edge above her head, and used the last energy she had to heave herself over. Once up, she crawled a foot away from the edge, and collapsed on the ground there in exhaustion as she panted. Feeling her pulse beat loudly, she barely heard the victorious cries and calls from below as she had made the climb.
"Good work, Susan!" Peter called from below as he merrily nudged his brother's shoulder.
Spending a moment on the ground to gather her strength and breath, she pushed herself up to crawl back to the edge. She pulled the rope off her torso and let it down the wall so her companions and family could make the climb.
. . .
Exiting the cave with Caspian and Caine in the lead, they all looked around in case they would spot the traitors. It had become dusk during the hours they spent inside the cave, and it would soon become too dark for them to see anything across the water.
Jogging down to where they had left their fleet, they were disappointed, but not surprised, to see that it was gone - Adranos and his men had escaped the island.
Sighing, Caspian looked out the waters, and saw no sign of living. Or living dead, for that matter.
"We'll make camp here tonight, and build a new raft in the morning," Caspian ordered, which none disagreed to.
Splitting up, Edmund and Caine went hunting, whilst Peter and Rhea gathered kindling and deadwood for the fire.
. . .
It had grown dark by the time Susan got to tend the bonfire as it sparked alive, and she stirred it gently as she placed more kindling upon it. Blowing gently, the embers grew stronger, now turning into a bonfire to keep them warm during the night.
Crouching on one knee by the fire, she quickly warmed her bruised and cold hands. She was alone, as the others helped prep the squirrels they had caught.
The sight of Caspian moving towards the fire caught Susan's attention as she watched in the corner of her peripheral vision.
"May I?" Caspian asked, ever the gentlemen, his voice tired and exhausted.
"Help yourself." Susan replied gently, without turning towards him. Her heart raced, and she cursed herself for feeling so skittish around him.
"How's your eye?" she decided to ask, hoping small-talk would ease the tension between them.
Surprised at her sudden initiative to talk, he touched his aggressive scar instinctively. It still burned and stung at the touch.
"Could be worse, I suppose," he replied as he sat down cross-legged by the fire, a distance away from her.
Susan now turned to gaze at him at his reply and found that she agreed with his answer. His brow and a small inch below his eye would be permanently scarred, but his eyesight was intact.
"Indeed." Susan leant back and sat down as she drew her knees up towards her chest, her eyes gazing into the flames before them.
There was a silence between them. Not an awkward one, but an honest, peaceful one, and it was the first time since their night together that Susan felt truly comfortable sitting by him, having nothing to say.
Caspian, however, broke the silence:
"It was brave, what you did today. You could have died," he stated.
"We would've died at some point, had I not," she replied dryly.
Caspian swallowed hard at the truth in her words.
"Promise me this;" Caspian spoke again, "Don't put yourself in danger to save our hides," he looked towards Susan, who looked with lidded eyes into the flames.
"You're one to talk," she replied as he met his gaze. He raised one brow at her words.
"Caspian, there will come a time when you cannot protect us all," she told him with a silent voice.
"If doing anything in my power means keeping my family safe, keeping you safe, then I will do just that," Caspian replied as he stirred the flames with a long stick. Her heart jumped a beat.
"Even if it means getting yourself killed?" she said, turning to look at him. Her gaze was stern, but he could tell her hard exterior was a cover for her genuine concern.
Deciding not to answer her bluntly, he took a moment to think through his reply.
"I would do exactly the same thing you would do, if it came to that."
"It's a different setting. You're High King of Narnia, with tremendous responsibility, a person that we are all trying to protect. We're… We are former Kings and Queens of old, thrown back and forth through worlds like some sick, twisted joke. We're not supposed to be staying here, Caspian, we never were. Whether it means we die, or get sent back, we are not here to stay," Susan said, her outbreak making her voice crack. It was emotional for her to say these words, but they needed to be said.
"You don't mean that. It could be different this time. Aslan himself said neither of you would be returning, Lucy and Edmund would never return. Yet, here you are. Tell me that can't mean anything?" Caspian said as he shifted in his seat to look at her. She was torn, he felt it to the bottom of his heart that she was split, hurting, and without hope. If only he could make her see, that there was hope. They had nothing, if not hope.
"Even Aslan cannot foresee events like these. How could he have known, that all of Narnia would be under a reoccurring evil yet again? That he needed to have us here once again? When this is all over, in whatever outcome, when we are no longer needed, he will send us back, like he always has." Susan said, her eyes tearing up. She turned her head to look into the flames. Caspian shifted once again and stretched out for her hand. He took it in both of his.
"I need you here… All of you. I always have, and I always will." Caspian proclaimed as he squeezed her hand in between his, hoping she'd understand. Understand that it didn't have to be like this: that she didn't have to live in fear.
Tears streamed down Susan's face at his words. Her heart panged against her chest, and she wanted nothing more than to scream.
"You have no idea how much I want it to be enough…" she said sorrowfully. She took her hand away and stood up. She couldn't handle it any longer.
"Susan-"
"I'm sorry, Caspian. But, I'm afraid our time here is limited, that part will never change. And even if I want it to be different, we don't have a saying in that. That's why, we can't stay… That's why… you and I, can never be." Susan said before walking away. She dried her tears with the back of her hand as she left him by the fire. Caspian stood to look after her as she disappeared into the woods with her bow. He was to follow her, when Edmund and Caine returned.
Edmund saw the shadow of his sister pass the trees in the woods and watched as Caspian sighed sharply as he gazed after her.
Edmund patted Caspian's shoulder, getting his attention.
"She needs time. Don't worry, though, she'll come around." Edmund stated with a reassuring lop-sided smile.
Caspian appreciated his words, but sadly, it didn't soothe his aching heart. The only thing that did put a balm on his heart was this:
Queen Susan still bore feelings for him.
A/N: There you have it. A bit soppy at the end, I'm aware, but, you have been asking me for more Suspian-moments. Don't worry, there will be plenty of those!
Until next time,
Dragon
