Chapter 1: Escape from the Witch's House

Eighty-Five Years Later

Whether it was by the plan of Aslan or simple fate, it would come to be that Etheraya and Licinius fell in love and were indeed married after all. It was not much of a ceremony as either of them would've liked, but there was not much chance for one. Jadis, for that was the witch's name, proclaimed herself Queen of Narnia and threw the captured nobility in the dungeons of her new castle, which she had built on the banks of the Great River in between two mountains. Cair Paravel now sat abandoned. She had chosen not to occupy the true palace and placed hers in the northern part of Narnia, which was now almost a century deep into a forever winter. The commoners, person and beast alike, were to submit to Jadis fully, or be either killed or turned to stone (this seemed to be her favorite way of punishing her victims). The nobility in the dungeon were allowed to move about as they pleased, but they could never leave. They did not see her as their queen, so they called her the White Witch.

Just as Ynacia had told her, Etheraya and Licinius, who secretly took the Moltenore last name as was tradition for men who married into the family, had twelve children: seven sons and five daughters. Two of their sons were tragically mauled to death by Jadis's wolves when they tried to escape. Unfortunately for Etheraya and Licinius, none of their daughters were chosen by the Jewel to be the rightful Queen. Their middle daughter, Dulcinea, had four children: two daughters and two sons. Neither of hers were chosen either. However, Dulcinea's oldest child, her daughter Valera, married a nobleman named Darius. They first had a son, Aram. But eight years after he was born, in the year 982 they welcomed a daughter named Maraidia.

She was the hope that they had been waiting for. As soon as her first cries of life pierced the air, the Jewel of Everlasting Light, which had been passed down throughout the generations, sprung to life and glowed for the first time since Queen Ynacia's death. It had chosen Maraidia as the true Queen of Narnia. This filled the nobility with intense joy but filled Valera and Darius with worry. What if Jadis found out? To combat this problem, they passed her off as a boy. They kept her hair short and dressed her in tunics and trousers instead of dresses. Valera and Darius then conspired with the rest of the nobility to form The Army of Aslan. They plotted and trained in combat to one day escape from the White Witch. For a few years, it seemed to work and Jadis knew nothing. However, when Maraidia was nearly two, tragedy struck. Jadis unfortunately but correctly suspected Valera of being a Moltenore. Right as she was about to kill her, Aram jumped in front of his mother and sacrificed himself. It proved to be in vain, as Jadis killed Valera immediately after.

Now, a year later, Darius felt it was time. They had been presented with a golden opportunity. Jadis had left to consult with one of her spies that lived in the Great Western Wood. She had also taken many of her wolves and that little dwarf helper of hers with her. It was now or never. The only problem? Everyone was chained up. Jadis took great care to ensure that her prisoners had no chance of going anywhere when she was away. Darius gingerly crawled over (so as to not have his chains rattle) to the opening in the ice and peered into the cell next to his. Another man was sitting with his arms across his knees, head down. "Reynas!" Darius whispered sharply. "Its time." The other mans' head perked up, his eyes wide with uncertainty.

"But, My Lord," he protested. "Jadis-,"

"Jadis is gone." Darius interrupted. "She'll be gone for at least a couple more hours. We may not get another chance. Aslan has granted us mercy with this opportunity. It'd do best to not waste it." At this, he wriggled his fingers and managed to stick his hand into the back of his trousers. His hand grasped a thin piece of metal that he proceeded to stick into the lock of the heavy metal cuffs around his wrists. He had had several months now of practice in picking locks. He had often chained himself up and calculated how fast he could free himself. Now he could do it within a couple of minutes. As soon as he had himself free, he turned and unchained his little Maraidia. She knew even at three years old to remain quiet while her father set to work. When her shackles were off, Darius stroked her face and gazed into her eyes. They were hazel green and brown with flecks of gold, nearly a mirror image of his own. For a moment he considered placing the Jewel of Everlasting Light, which he had kept in a crack in the ice of the wall of his cell, around her neck. She was the Queen after all. If she only had it on just in time for them to escape, then everyone who had even a drop of Moltenore blood in them or by marriage would be able to have their magic once again. Then, just as quickly as the thought came, it vanished. "No," he thought to himself. "She's not ready".

Darius told Maraidia to sit still and stay quiet. She nodded at her father. Darius stood up and stretched himself before walking into Reynas's cell and freeing him as well. Silently, he pointed him in the direction where he knew the keys were placed. When he took off, Darius raced to the other entrance and grabbed the other set of keys off of its hook. As silently as he could he went from cell to cell, unlocking and freeing everyone that he could. A few times he came across someone in their cell who had died. But there was no time to mourn. When everyone was freed, they were all assembled in the halls of the dungeon. Darius finally scooped up Maraidia and fastened her into a small leather backpack that he had made to carry her in. He tried to remain as quiet as he could while speaking to the people. He knew that any louder and the wolves would immediately be upon them.

"We have to get into the armory," he said.

"But that would be suicide, Your Lordship!" exclaimed a noblewoman.

"It's our only chance. And we must have faith in Aslan." Darius replied. "There's also no way that we'll survive out there without weapons. After we have them in hand then we shall make our way to the Witch's stables and plunder her horses."

"Where will we go, Sire?" asked a man.

"Glasswater Creek," replied Darius. "There are a few small villages dotted along the bank. The forests and hills around them are so thick that they're virtually undetectable. We will be safe there, Aslan willing. Now we must be as quiet as we can. We have to sneak out the back entrance or else the Secret Police will discover us and we'll all be dead." Just as he turned around to open the door a young boy piped up.

"But what will we do if they do find us, Lord Moltenore?" he asked. Darius looked over his shoulder at the young lad before cocking a small smile.

"Fight like hell, my boy," He turned to unlock the door. "Now, to the armory. Make haste, we haven't a moment to lose." The armory was located at the very top of the tower in which the dungeons were contained far below. Darius led the way quickly but quietly, treading on his tiptoes down the narrow hallway and then up the stairs. Once they had to pass by an opening which a wolf was guarding but luckily, he was asleep. Finally, they reached the armory. If the wolves had happened upon the scene at that moment, they would have gotten quite the shock to see around 300 nobles crowding the staircase. Darius sent a group of about twenty in at a time to gather up all the weapons: swords, daggers, spears, maces, heavy blunt staffs, bows and arrows, and even pieces of armor just to name a few were taken one by one until everything was cleaned out and the armory laid bare. Darius was the last one to exit the room. He had grabbed two swords. One for himself and the finest one of them all for Maraidia, as a weapon for her to use when she grew up. It was double edged and beautifully crafted. It had a blue leather, sapphire and diamond-encrusted hilt complete with a lion's head on the end. Ancient Narnian runes (of which Darius did not know the meaning of) decorated the flat part of the blade on one side. Darius always told Maraidia while she was growing up that he chose it because it was "A perfect fit for a Queen of Narnia". He strapped both of them into holsters, one on each side of him, and led everyone back down the stairs.

"Now," he said, turning to face them. "We shall make our way back through the dungeons and out the back of the castle. According to maps made by my wife's uncles (Aslan rest them), there are a few small tunnels that lead out of the palace onto the grounds. We'll have to crawl on our bellies to get out. Now let's move." Everyone began to go back in the direction from whence they came. Darius spotted Reynas's face and made his way over to him.

"Forgive me, My Lord," Reynas began. "But this seemed too easy. I have a feeling Jadis and the Police planned for this."

"Always the cautious one you are, my friend," Darius chuckled. Now his tone turned serious. "Listen, Reynas," he said. "You are my most trusted friend and agent. I want you to take this." He pulled out the Jewel of Everlasting Light from his pocket.

"And do what with it, Sire?" Reynas asked with wide eyes, staring at the wonderous treasure before him. Darius placed it in his hands.

"Take it and bury it in the Courtyard of Stone Statues," he said. "It is too risky for me to keep it. Jadis will not think to look for it. It will remain there until Maraidia is ready to wield its power." Darius looked over his shoulder at his daughter, who had promptly fallen asleep on him. "Go! Quickly, my friend!" Reynas nodded and took off in the direction of which no one else had dared to go. Darius raced ahead to get to the front of the group. He led them throughout the winding labyrinth of the dungeons. Then, just when they turned a corner, they found the snarling face of Maugrim, the Captain on the Secret Police, along with a dozen other wolves.

"Going somewhere?" he said.

"Yes," replied Darius simply. "Through you!" Darius swung his sword at Maugrim just as the wolf leapt at him. He threw him into the dungeon wall, temporarily knocking him unconscious. Darius grabbed the crossbow of the nobleman next to him and fired an arrow into another wolf, hitting it in the shoulder. It too fell to the ground. "For Narnia!" Darius shouted. The entire Army of Aslan began to make their way through the Secret Police wolves. A few of the Army members were killed, but most of the wolves had been vanquished. Only two remained. "Split up!" Darius yelled. "More will be coming! We have to lead them away from each other!" He threw the wolf he was battling over a ledge and down many feet to his doom. Darius noticed the tunnel continuing on the other side. Looking to the other wall, Darius spotted a lever which would lower a bridge from the ceiling. Grabbing it, he lifted the pulley, lowering the bridge. "Everyone, jump on! A few at a time." Once he made sure that everyone was across, he fired another crossbow shot into the main rope, sending the bridge down over the small ravine.

He made his way back to the front of the Army (after checking to see if Maraidia was alright of course. She had been crying a good deal throughout all this, as most toddlers would do). He grabbed a torch off the wall and began to lead them further throughout the tunnel. They had made it a good way when the howls sounded from a distance away. More were coming. Darius turned around and put a finger to his lips to signal for quiet. Making scarcely a noise, the Army carefully made their way over the stone and ice. The ceiling got lower and lower, so much so now that they were crouching. A few of the taller people had to crawl. Reynas met up with them at some point along the way, having successfully completed his task. Darius was filled with joy to see his best friend safe.

After they had gone on for what seemed like miles, another sound reached Darius's ears. It was a sound that had been described to him but one he had never heard. The sound of running water. After a ew more turns, they stumbled upon a tiny stream (though stream is generous).

"Impossible!" said a man behind him. "There is no natural liquid water in Narnia. There hasn't been for over eighty years!" This was true. Jadis gave them small icicles to get their water from. It was barely enough most days. Now, the only way to actually drink water was to melt the ice over a flame and then letting it cool. Suddenly, something else happened. He felt Maraidia's hair blowing against his neck. He looked over his shoulder and saw that her hair (though short, she was being passed off as a boy, you remember) was blowing in an unseen wind. Darius knew what that meant.

"Oh, have none of you faith?" he asked. "This is a sign from Aslan! He's telling us this is the way out. Forward!" They followed the water where it led into another wide opening. There was a sheet of ice, about six feet thick constructed like another bridge over another ravine. One small step or slip could mean disaster. The wolves were closing in. They didn't have much time. Darius went first, and everyone else followed in a single file line. It took a short while, but all 300 made it. He rushed them along into where the tunnel continued and told everyone to press themselves against the wall. Everyone held their breath as Maugrim and more wolves emerged on the other side of the ice. After one tried to cross and slipped and fell, the lead wolf turned around and they went back the other way. The Army breathed a collective sigh of relief. Darius pointed the way down the tunnel. Everyone had their weapons at the ready, just in case. Eventually, they came to a dead end, a wall built up of small and medium sized boulders. Just as they thought all hope was lost, Reynas had an idea. He took the pickaxe that Darius had given him and began to hit the rocks with it. A few minuets later, several of them came free. There before them was a small hole, and by looking through it they could see the way out. The evening light was shining over the snow. They had made it. Darius called everyone forward that had an axe and they began chipping away. When the final boulders fell, the Army of Aslan looked upon the outside world for the very first time in eighty-five years. A few began to cheer, but Darius stopped them.

"There will be time for celebration later," he said. "We're not out of this, yet. Now we have to get to the stables and to the horses. Some of you may have to double or even triple up. By what I've heard, Jadis has about 70 horses and 30 reindeer. We will take them all and anything else we can find. This is our moment." It was a short journey to get around the castle wall to the stables. Once the gate was lowered, they all rushed in and quick as a flash saddled up on the horses and reindeer (Darius chose for himself the Witch's unicorn). Just as the Secret Police had burst out of the castle doors and the decimated rock wall in which the Army escaped, they had disappeared into the fading light, heading for the banks of Glasswater Creek. Finally, they were free.