Early the next morning, the Dawn Treader approached land for the first time in five weeks. Low on rations and morale, Caspian decided to pause their search for the Blue Star and go ashore to look for food and see if they could find any trace of the missing lords.
"I doubt the lords stopped here, my liege," Reepicheep called from the front of one of the longboats. "There's no sign of anything living."
"Right," Caspian replied, rowing another. "Well, once you get ashore, take your men and search for food and water. The five of us will look for clues."
"Hang on, you mean the six of us?" Eustace said from the back of the boat.
Everyone rowing the boat stopped and turned to look at him in disbelief.
"Come on, please don't send me back to the rat."
"I heard that!" Reepicheep said.
Eustace looked away and muttered, "Big ears."
"I heard that too."
The passengers chuckled as they reached the shore of the island. Everyone pulled the three longboats out of the water and then unloaded their supplies.
Some of the crew members went to go search for anything they could eat or drink while Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eva, and Elizabeth scoured the island for any trace of the rest of the missing lords.
A mile or so inland, Caspian exclaimed, "Look! We're not the first ones on this island."
They all saw that a rope had previously been tied to one of the tall rocks and led down inside a small crevice.
"The lords?" Edmund asked.
"Could be." Caspian took a small stone and tossed it down the crevice to see how far it was to the bottom. "What do you think could be down there?"
"Let's find out."
Edmund carefully climbed down the rope first and the others soon followed. Upon reaching the bottom, they all found themselves inside a large underground cavern. A little further in sat a small but deep pool of water.
Something very large made entirely out of gold peeked out of the surface.
"What's that?" Caspian asked.
"I don't know," Edmund answered. "Looks like some sort of gold statue."
Edmund found a weed crawling down into the cavern and yanked off one of the extending roots. Then he went back over to the pool and dipped the root into the water to try to retrieve the statue. Suddenly, the root started turning into gold before their very eyes. Edmund cried out as he quickly dropped the root into the water before the transformational magic reached his hand.
Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.
"He must have fallen in," Caspian said, realizing the statue had once been a human being.
"Poor man," Lucy remarked.
Next to the statue, Edmund saw a shield in the water that had turned into gold. "You mean 'poor lord'."
"The crest of Lord Restimar," Caspian said.
"And his sword!"
"We need it."
Edmund pulled his own sword out of its sheath.
"Be careful," Lucy told him.
"I second that," Eva added. "I'd rather not have my boyfriend turn into a gold statue. How would I ever explain that to your parents?"
Edmund slowly dipped his sword into the water and hooked it under the hilt of the other one before carefully pulling them both up out of the pool.
"Your sword hasn't turned to gold," Lucy noticed.
"Both the swords are magical," Caspian told her.
"Here." Edmund moved the swords over to Caspian who quickly took the new one off Edmund's before it dropped back into the pool where they would not be able to retrieve it.
Lucy looked at the man in the water. "He mustn't have known what hit him."
"Maybe," Edmund said as he set down his sword. "Or maybe he was onto something."
"What are you talking about?" Caspian asked.
Edmund picked up a seashell from the side of the pool and dipped it into the water. Then he quickly put it on the ground and watched as the shell turned into gold. He carefully picked it up again and looked at it with a ravenous gleam in his eye.
"What are you staring at?" Lucy asked him.
Edmund continued to gaze intently at the gold shell. "Whoever has access to this pool…could be the most powerful person in the world."
Eva, Caspian, Lucy, and Elizabeth shared a worried glance.
Edmund looked up at Lucy and Eva. "Lucy, we'd be so rich. No one could tell us what to do or who to live with. Eva, the two of us could ensure a future together. Like Elaine and Peter."
"Edmund, we're only sixteen," Eva said. "I love you, but it's too early to start thinking of things like that."
"Besides, you can't take anything out of Narnia, Edmund," Caspian said firmly.
"Says who?" Edmund asked, looking at the shell.
"I do."
Edmund glared at him and picked up his sword as he stood up. "For your information, Peter and Elaine got to keep their Narnian wedding rings."
"That was different, and you know it."
"I'm not your subject."
"You've been waiting for this, haven't you? To challenge me? You doubt my leadership?"
"You doubt yourself."
"You're a child!"
"Caspian," Elizabeth interjected.
"And you're a spineless sap!" Edmund shot back.
"Edmund!" Eva exclaimed. She tried to put her hand on him, but Edmund roughly pulled away from her.
"I'm tired of playing second fiddle. First it was Peter, and now it's you. You know I'm braver than both of you. So why do you get Peter's sword? I deserve a kingdom of my own! I deserve to rule!"
"If you think you're so brave," Caspian said, "prove it!"
He pushed Edmund back which made Edmund raise his sword against him. Using the sword they'd just retrieved, Caspian fought against him, the two swords angrily clashing against each other.
"No!" Lucy cried, quickly stepping in between them.
Eva firmly held Edmund's arm back while Elizabeth lightly touched Caspian's hand that held the sword.
"Stop it! Both of you! Look at yourselves. Can't you see what's happening? This place has tempted you. It's bewitching you. This is exactly what Coriakin was talking about. Let's just get out of here."
Lucy quickly left the pool and went back to the rope to climb out of the cavern.
Caspian looked at Elizabeth's hand on his and suddenly felt ashamed that she had seen such an ugly side of him. "Come on," he said to her.
He and Elizabeth followed after Lucy.
Edmund once again looked at the seashell in his hand.
Eva gently put both of her hands onto his. "We'll be okay without it."
"How do you know?"
"Elaine told me the last time I was here…that gold doesn't last. I didn't really understand what she meant at the time, but I do now. Edmund, we've survived this long, right? We're going to be fine."
Somewhat reluctantly, Edmund tossed the seashell back into the pool and left the cavern with Eva. Once they were back above ground, Edmund's head cleared and he became aware of how foolish he had acted.
"I…don't know what happened back there," he said as he started walking back to the shore.
"What happened is that all the emotions you've been bottling up finally came out," Eva told him. "Why didn't you tell me you were struggling with feeling second-best? I'd already suspected as much, and I wouldn't have judged you for it."
"I was perfectly fine ruling alongside my brother and most of the time, I'm perfectly fine following Caspian's orders. But every now and then, I wish that I could be the only king, the only one people listened to. And…in my dreams, the White Witch toys with me about those feelings."
"Despite what she'd like you to believe, there's nothing wrong with feeling that way. But I can only help you and be there for you if I know how you're feeling in the first place."
"I'm sorry."
"Well, I wasn't honest when it came to how I feel about my scar either, so I suppose I don't really have much room to talk."
"Then how about no more hiding how we're feeling since it's not doing anyone any good?"
"Agreed. And Edmund, if you ever feel like you're 'second fiddle', just remember this." She put her hands to his chest and lightly kissed him. "You're always first to me."
Edmund smiled a little. "Remind me again?"
Eva giggled and gently kissed him once more.
"Oi, lovebirds!" Drinian called. "When you're quite finished, we could use your assistance over here!"
The two of them laughed, and Edmund put his arm around Eva's shoulders and walked over to the shore with her.
"What food did you find?" Caspian asked the crew members loading up the longboats.
Rhince knelt down by the baskets that contained an abysmal amount of anything edible. "It's volcanic, Your Majesty. Not much grows."
Lucy looked around them. "Where's Eustace?"
"I believe he's out not helping us load the boats," Reepicheep responded.
"Eustace! Eustace!" Lucy turned to her brother with a worried expression. "Edmund, I've got a bad feeling."
Edmund rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'll go find him."
"I'll come with you," Caspian said as he handed the newest sword to Lucy.
"I'd like to come too if that's all right," Elizabeth quickly added.
Caspian nodded and hurried to catch up with Edmund.
Eva looked at Lucy. "I'll look with them. Hopefully, we won't be long."
Lucy nervously watched them all go, hoping that her cousin was okay.
Edmund, Eva, Caspian, and Elizabeth began walking across the rocky terrain in search of their missing passenger, all of them calling out his name and trying to hear if he replied.
Soon enough, they came across a small ravine filled with various pieces of gold.
"Treasure," Edmund said quietly.
Recalling their fight down in the underground cavern, Caspian replied, "Trouble."
All of them carefully made their way into the ravine, looking for any sign of Eustace.
Edmund's heart sank when he found a burnt shoe. "Eustace."
Eva put her hand to her mouth in alarm.
Fearing the worst, Elizabeth quickly looked around and she let out a quivering breath as she knelt down next to a pile of singed and smoking clothing. "No!" she cried. She picked up the clothes and discovered Eustace's burnt journal lying beneath it. Tears pricking her eyes, she carefully cradled the small book to her chest. "No…"
Elizabeth felt horrible. Alberta had given her a home and a job after suffering from physical and emotional abuse for two years, and she had repaid her by allowing her son to be taken to a magical land and killed. And if the burnt clothing was anything to go by, it probably hadn't been a pleasant way to go.
"Oh, cousin," Edmund sighed.
Caspian knelt down next to Elizabeth and put his hand on hers while he looked over at Edmund. "I'm sorry."
"He was just a boy. I never should have left him. What could have happened to him?"
"In this place? Anything." Caspian stood up and walked over to a fully-clothed skeleton. "And he wasn't the first. It's Lord Octesian. We should find his—" He turned to see Edmund picking up Lord Octesian's weapon. "…sword."
Edmund took the sword out of its sheath to examine it.
Caspian then went back over to Elizabeth who still hadn't moved. "Elizabeth…we have to go."
Taking a shaky breath, Elizabeth allowed Caspian to help her stand, still clutching Eustace's journal to her chest, and they slowly made their way back to the shore.
No one was eager to have to tell Lucy what had happened to her cousin.
On the way back, Eva lightly put her hand on Caspian's arm to make him stop walking. "Maybe this isn't the right time for this and forgive if I'm being too forward, but back in that cavern, you and Edmund said a lot of things, and all of it had to come from somewhere. I haven't forgotten our conversation in the dungeon on the Lone Islands. You still doubt yourself, don't you?"
Caspian sighed heavily. "I grew up hearing stories about King Edmund. I know he's technically younger than me, but he still ruled this land for fifteen years and knows more about being a king that I probably ever will. Half the time, I don't even know if I'm doing the right thing, and lately, I wonder if I shouldn't just let Edmund be in charge while he's here."
Eva wondered if Edmund and Caspian knew how much their fears and insecurities overlapped. "Edmund was a good king because he wasn't ruling alone. If he had been out here on the sea during his first reign here, he would probably be facing the same doubts that you are now." Eva took his hand and put it next to her open palm so that he could see both of their scars. "But remember what you told me? This is supposed to remind us of who we need to trust. Aslan named you king of Narnia himself, and thinking that you don't deserve your title means that you don't trust in Aslan's judgment. I've gotten a little better at remembering what this scar means lately, but perhaps you should start taking your own advice."
Caspian smiled at her. "It's hard to believe that only two years have passed for you. You've grown so much since the last time I saw you."
Eva started walking to the shore as she smiled back. "That means a lot coming from you."
Back on the ship, a long, unearthly roar pierced the air and made all the crew members jump and anxiously look at the island.
Lucy nervously turned to Drinian. "What was that?"
A puff of fire exploded from behind one of the giant rocks on the island so no one could see what had caused it.
"Is it the volcano?" Gael asked.
"Oh, no," Drinian answered ominously. "That's no volcano. All hands on deck there! Archers, arm yourselves!"
Some of the crew members quickly began passing out crossbows to each other.
Lucy's eyes widened in horror as a huge dragon flew off the island and towards the ship, roaring and breathing fire, and she clutched onto Gael protectively.
"Take your positions and wait for my command!" Drinian ordered.
The dragon flew above the ship and landed on top of the crow's nest.
"What's it doing?!" Lucy screamed.
"Fire!" Drinian yelled.
Archers fired their loaded crossbows at the dragon, trying to get it to go back to the island.
"He'll break the mast. Hold your positions! Fire!"
The archers shot even more arrows towards the dragon. It started to fall, but then it quickly used its two front claws to hang onto the top of the sail.
Reepicheep scampered up the mast and swung on a rope so he could stab the dragon in the hand with his tiny sword. "Take that!"
The dragon roared and finally fell from the sail before flying back towards the island.
Edmund and Elizabeth reached the longboat on the shore and started to load it up so they could get back to the ship. Caspian and Eva followed close behind, having put a little distance between the others as a result of stopping for their earlier conversation.
Caspian heard a strange noise and stopped walking. He turned around and then quickly forced Eva to duck. "Eva, get down!"
Eva cried out in surprise and looked up in shock as a huge dragon flew right over them.
"Edmund! Elizabeth!"
Elizabeth turned and took a fraction of a second to register what was flying directly towards her before she started running down the shoreline in an effort to escape the dragon. Suddenly, she felt two giant claws grab her waist, and she screamed as the creature lifted her up into the air.
"No, Elizabeth!" Caspian yelled.