The children and Drinian had followed Coriakin into his mansion. The walls stood tall and the corridor echoed back every step that they took. Many of the doors were designed as if they were leading to a palace. Lights hung from the ceiling, giving off a soft, yellow glow. Kathleen trailed back, taking in the interior of the mansion.

"What did you mean when you said you made them invisible for their own good?" Lucy asked Coriakin as her voice slowly bounced off behind her. Kathleen had this thought too, in addition to the others. She wondered how much she could trust what the Chief said when she was alone with them. He said the Oppressor had made them invisible without their consent, but seeing as they may not understand the full meaning of the word "oppressing," she figured she should take their credibility with caution.

"It seemed the easiest way to protect them from the evil," the magician answered.

Edmund gave a questioning glance to Caspian, "You mean the mist?"

They stopped as they reached an open set of doors, "I mean what lies behind the mist." He gestured for his guests to enter the room before him.

The magician Coriakin gave a strong mysterious telling to Kathleen. She could tell that he was wise beyond his years, even though he was probably older than the rest of the crew, and she was sure that whatever he was going to show them, he wasn't going to say everything he knew. They would have to figure out whatever consequences of their actions on their own. Knowledge is power, but it is also a burden. Something that Kathleen still had trouble understanding.

The room they entered made Kathleen's jaw drop. It was a library with shelves piled high with books that were of different patterns and colors. The books themselves were of different lengths and widths. There were no empty spaces and as Kathleen's gaze rose from the room, she couldn't help but gasp. Not only were there another level of shelves, but books were circling the ceiling, as well as lights but a slightly higher speed. The longer Kathleen started the more she realized they weren't lights, but portals to space. As as, actually galactical space. Each spaced apart and each one a window into a beautiful glimpse into a pocket galaxy.

"Does my library intrigue you?" Coriakin asked from a corner of shelves that was hidden away.

Kathleen closed her mouth into a gleeful smile, "It's breathtaking."

He chuckled and returned to the others with a scroll in hand. With a small swing of his hand, he released the scroll, allowing it to unravel and place itself in the center on the floor. The scroll was longer and wider as it unraveled itself. Once it landed neatly on the floor, clouds formed above it, and islands and the ocean filled most of the paper. The ocean moved and glistened as if the sun were shining right in that very room.

"That's quite beautiful," Eustace said, taking the words out of Kathleen's mouth. Once he noticed everyone's smug face towards him, he corrected himself, "I mean, for a make-believe map of a make-believe world."

Kathleen smirked as she gave a glance to Edmund from across the map, who annoyingly rolled his eyes. Kathleen crouched down to get a closer look at the map. The border of the map was a scene that seemed to be playing in slow motion. It seemed familiar almost. On one side was a centaur blowing a curved horn. Behind him were dozens of red and yellow tents grouped together. Off to the side of the tents, there were two forces about the clash head-on. One was organized in a V-like formation, while the other was charging all at once. Sounds were coming from the map. The horn, horses neighing, dog barking, and lion's roar. With that, it all clicked together to the older girl.

"This is the Battle of Beruna," she said to herself, surprising the voyagers in the room, Especially Edmund. He was aware that she had been reading texts to know of the Narnian history, but he didn't know she had come this far.

Disrupting their thoughts, Coriakin motioned to the map, "There is the source of your troubles." The ocean and clouds moved in one direction as if they were being pulled by an unseen force. Soon an island with black ridges and a green glow appeared on the map. Dark grey clouds surrounded it, like a barrier. The rocks looked like tendrils, waiting to drag in its next victim into whatever fear lies inside. Coriakin called it Dark Island. "A place where evil lurks. It can take any form. It can make your darkest dream come true." He walked onto the map and stopped in front of Edmund, "It seeks to corrupt all goodness," he turned and looked towards Kathleen as she rose, "to steal light from this world."

Kathleen furrowed her brows. This was no longer a guide of where to go next. This was a warning.

"How do we stop it?" Lucy asked, not breaking sight with the magician.

He turned to her, "You must break its spell." He looked back at Edmund and pointed to the sword its sheaf. "That sword you carry, there are six others."

"Have you seen them?" Edmund asked.

"Yes," the magician answered as if he was reliving a memory that was forgotten long ago.

"The six lords, they passed through here?" asked Caspian.

"Indeed," Coriakin took a few steps towards the current King.

"Where have they headed?" the King asked again.

"Where I sent them," with that, the map moved once again, moving in a different direction. As he walked on the map, the clouds disbursed apart. As Coriakin stepped off the map, a new island came reached into view. "To break the spell, you follow the Blue Star to Ramandu's Island." He outreached his arm, making appear a small blue light above the newly formed island. "There the seven swords must be laid at Aslan's table. Only then can their true magical power can be released. But beware. You are all about to be tested."

"Tested?" Lucy repeated his word in confusion.

Coriakin stepped closer to Lucy. Kathleen could see Edmunds' hand tighten around the hilt of his sword.

"Until you lay down the seventh sword, evil has the upper hand." Lucy thought about this as he continued, "It will do everything in its power to tempt you."

It was Kathleen's turn to repeat her confusion, "Tempt us?"

Coriakin gave a saddening expression as he walked towards Kathleen, as he knew a tragedy the others did not. Kathleen had gotten nervous about whatever the magician was going to say next as he stopped in front of her. He leaned slowly, "Be strong" was all he said as he walked away. "Don't fall to temptation. To defeat the darkness out there," he turned Caspian, "you must defeat the darkness inside yourself."

It was a quiet walk on the way back to the longboats. Everyone had been putting Coriakin's words deep into thought. The darkness inside themselves? How would they be able to confront that onto themselves, much less defeat it?

Defeating the mist just got a lot harder.

The rest of the crew had already returned to the ship with one longboat left behind for the children and Drinian. Kathleen was trailing behind, yet again, thinking of what Coriakin had said.

They were all about to be tested with some type of temptation. He said it connected with the mist and their darkest desire or worst fear will be brought out from inside out, but how will it do that? And also, what is Kathleen's worst fear? The first thought was losing her family. Her brother and her father. Never seeing her mother again, but something about that thought seemed too obvious. She was sure the fear Coriakin had to warn them about ran deeper.

"Hey," a voice said, pulling her away from her thoughts. It was Edmund, and she was glad it was him. She'd rather listen to him than wander down the dark ideas in her mind. In fact, she rather listen to him talk than anything. "You, um, you had us worried for a moment."

She looked at him then behind him. Caspian, Drinian, and Lucy were nowhere in sight. She must have been more in her head than she thought. "Sorry," she said as she picked up the pace, "I was thinking."

"About what Coriakin said?" guessed Edmund as he kept up with her speed.

She nodded, not knowing what else to say.

Edmund was in thought too. Many things were racing in his mind. The Magician they had just met, the other six lords, his sister, cousin Eustace, Kathleen. Twice she had been taken with Lucy. He didn't know why this was happening or why Aslan was letting it happen, but he knew the Great Lion always had a reason. He always did.

As the two teenagers saw the longboat in view once again Edmund began to slow down. "Katie," he said nervously, "may I ask you something?"

She stopped ahead of him. Hesitantly she replied, "Yes. Of course."

He repeated and nodded to himself, "Yes. Of course, uh." In all honesty, Edmund didn't know why he stopped her. There wasn't anything he needed to ask. Sure, there were things that he wanted to say, such as if she still had her admiration of Narnia like she did when she first arrived. He wanted to know what did she think of Coriakin's words. He wanted to know if she was comfortable when she slept in the hammock and if she was getting enough rations. He wanted to know how far she had gotten in her personal task of reading and what had she learned about Narnia. He wanted to know all this and much more, but he mostly wanted to know how she thought of him. If she knew about the Battle of Beruna, then now she must know what he did all those years ago. Did she look at him differently or did she never have a way to look at him in the first place? He wanted to know, but he knew that now, especially now with knowing what they were up against, he couldn't ask her. The timing is all wrong.

To be honest, he worried he would never know when the right moment will appear. "Why didn't you tell Caspian or Drinian about the spears? About your concerns, I mean. I sure they would have thought of a solution to abide both sides."

Kathleen crossed her legs then uncrossed then in a fluid, dance-like motion. She even unintentionally pointed her toe. She shrugged, "I didn't think it would have mattered what I said. They still would have taken their weapons. I have no power to them or make them think otherwise." She snapped her head up realizing how she might be sounding. "But, maybe you were right! They made the spears once, surely they can do it again. And there's fruit and vegetation on the island, they should be able to find it. We did at night, so I'm sure they'll be fine." She walked back to the boat, embarrassed by her rushed words.

Together, the raven-haired teenagers walked to the longboat with the others just settling in.

"I never asked, Kathleen," Lucy said while helping the two teens on the boat. "While I was in the mansion, they didn't do anything to you, did they?"

Kathleen could sense that Lucy was being gentle about the situation and gave a closed smile, "No, nothing to lose sleep about. And it's not like they would have done anything anyway. My guess is that this was the first time they acted in the somewhat rough nature that they did."

Drinian and Caspian pushed the boat and jumped into the boat at the last minute. They each had an oar in hand, and once they found their balance, they sat down and began to row.

"Yes," Drinian said in a playful mocking tone, "Such a rough nature that you offered to school them on their letters." Kathleen scrunched her nose.

The others, being Lucy, Caspian, and Eustace, who weren't there when she told Drinian and Edmund about her confession, started at her with confused looks.

"What does he mean?" asked Caspian curiously.

"Well," she said as she took hold of the hilt of the short sword that Edmund returned to her, "I wasn't sure how long Lucy will need to find the right spell. It was a place neither of us had been to, and I'm surprised she found it as quickly as she did. The Dufflepuds though, they were getting anxious, I could tell. So, I thought of an idea to give her time."

Lucy widen her eyes as a memory flashed through her eyes, "Yes! They said they didn't know how to read or write."

"Or add," Kathleen said as she thought of the same memory.

"So what?" Eustace said tiredly, "You were going to play teacher until Lucy made those Duffle-things visible again?"

Kathleen nodded, "Precisely. Some had gone off to get their spears as writing utensils, then they saw the crew on the way back, and then you know what happened next because, well, you were there." She said the last part in one breath, trying not to remember what she told the Chief and the other Dufflepuds.

"Why am I not surprised that you of all people would think of that?" Eustace said as he shook his head and turned him away from the others.

"Incredible," Drinian said in a laugh.

"Truly," Edmund agreed softly.

The days that passed after departing from Coriakins island were rough. The farther in the ocean they sailed, the tougher the waves became. The water rocked the ship from side to side. Soon the harsh waves had led the Dawn Treader into a storm that was getting nastier by the day. It had been fourteen days since they departed from Coriakin's island, and Kathleen could sense the crewmen getting anxious. Rations have been turned to half at what it was.

Kathleen had gotten behind in her reading and had to put a hold on her lessons due to the rough waters. Once the waves began, Kathleen found it easier to maintain balance on the ship than some of the other men. She had to thank her dance instructor for that. As Edmund and Lucy helped the crew stir steadily above deck, Kathleen had been station below, passing pails of water that had been brought in by the storm. She had thought it was because Caspian and the others didn't want her where most of the danger was, but it wasn't like she couldn't feel the ship rocking as she helped the crew below deck.

At first, she shouted a few words of encouragement to the others that she was below with, and they had found themselves doing the same, but as the days went on, the shouts of encouragement just became shouts.

"Hurry up, men!"

"Pass the pails. Pass the pails!"

"Man up or we'll all be bones in a wreak!"

Kathleen couldn't blame their attitude. They had been on the voyage longer than she had. And it had probably lasted longer than what they signed up for. No one was sure of their situation on the ship, or how they were to get home. They were on edge. Over time, Kathleen decided to stay quiet when she could see the crewmen's tension build about their unknown situation, which had turned out to be most of the time.

Sleep had been harder to reach as well. One rock would be too much, knocking someone out of their hammock, making them yell and wake up their neighboring sailors. This happened to Kathleen twice after she switched sleeping arrangements with Gael. She first slept in a hammock that was over Wilter but then changed to one that was closer to the ground, courtesy of Edmund.

Kathleen noticed something different about Edmund since they had come back from the island. He was constantly checking on her, making sure she had her rations for the day and wasn't seasick from the ship rocking. It began to feel like he was hovering over her, which she guessed was since she had been kidnapped twice in a magical world. Lucy had been taken too, but she'd been in Narnia before, and she was older than people would think. Kathleen had a hard time not blaming herself for this.

If Kathleen would have had her sword with her, it would be a different situation. She could have a way to defend Lucy and herself. She knew she had only a little training and the only time she actually fought with a sword was with Caspian, but having that with her would have helped protect themselves against the Dufflepuds. Right?

This was her thought as she slowly fell asleep on the table of Caspian's cabin, which had gone to Lucy and Gael. Each night, Kathleen would try to get in some type of reading before going to rest for the night. She would stay there for a few hours, even after the other two girls had gone to sleep, then go to her hammock in the port.

That night, Kathleen had woken up with a warm feeling on her face. She sleepily went to wipe off whatever it was. Finding that there was nothing on her face in the first place, she lifted her head from the table. Immediately, she found what was bothering her. Sunlight.

The storm had stopped and the ship had set into a smooth course. She rubbed the stiffness off her cheek and looked about the cabin. Lucy and Gael had already left and made the bed. There must have been something Lucy wanted to show Gael because usually, the youngest Pevensie would wake her if she had fallen asleep on the table.

Sitting up and stretching, Kathleen changed into her now dry clothes and then her boots, which to her surprise wasn't soggy from the storm the night before. As she double-checked that the boots she was wearing were in fact hers, she noticed something from the corner of her eye. Well, more noticing the lack of. Her notes that she had been working on had gone missing. She figured when she fell asleep, she had tucked them into her hand or under book, but they were nowhere in sight. She checked under the table and in the pages of the book and found nothing. She didn't know how much time had passed until she was sure that she had looked under every nook and crack in the cabin. The notes she had written were nowhere to be seen.

Kathleen also began to wonder why no one came to check on her or made sure she was awake. It surely midday by now and the ship was quiet. Perhaps Edmund told the crewmen to let Kathleen sleep in and not to bother her? With the way, he had been acting, that must be it, and maybe Lucy was reading her notes. She wasn't sure why she wouldn't ask first but maybe that's why they aren't in the cabin.

Maybe Lucy took to notes to show Gael Narnian history. Yes, that seemed like the most likely possibility, but she still had to be sure. She opened the door to the hallway that led to the deck above in one way and the port on the other.

As she closed the door, Wilter was exiting the door that leads to the port.

"Good morning," Kathleen said. Wilter must have shut the door right as she said it because he didn't reply. She tried again, "Morning Wilter, have you seen Lucy?"

Still nothing. Be had begun walking towards her but his eyes didn't seem to register that she was there. She moved aside to allow him to walk past her. She called his name one more time but got no response.

She tugged on her sleeve. Why does she have a bad feeling about this?

Kathleen tried to push her uneasiness and followed Wilter out to the main deck of the ship. He hadn't noticed her and it seemed like no one else did either. She greeted her crewmen with "hello's" but no one said it back or even acknowledged her.

She began to panic until she saw the captain of the ship. Drinian. Maybe something happened to the men while she was in the cabin. Or maybe there was an order and she didn't get the message. Either way, Drinian would know.

Kathleen quickly jogged up the steps, swiftly passing a sailor who was coming down. He hadn't noticed her either. She watched the man reach the bottom of the stairs as she reached the top. She didn't like what was happening.

Drinian stood at the ship's wheel talking to another crewmember as she stood behind him waiting. She overheard him talking to the other about keeping course to find Ramandu's island. Once they were done, Drinian turned back to the wheel and focused up ahead.

Kathleen tried to see what he was looking for but could only see the open ocean.

She gulped, "Uh, Captian?" Nothing. "Captian Drinian?" Not even a blink. She went to tap his shoulder and screamed at what happened next.

As soon as her finger made contact with his shoulder, her mouth went dry. Her whole hand dissolved. Her hand turned into a cloud of mist and then reformed as soon as she pulled away.