Hello friends! MarvelOfMarvels here. In honor (or perhaps dread) of the new Narnia series coming out on Netflix I've started a Narnia fic! The idea for this story was inspired by some of WillowDryad's work, especially Refined by Fire and At the Sound of His Roar. I hope my work is half as good as her stories.

This will be a multi-chapter fic (think longer, not shorter, my muse has not yet learned the art of being concise). My organized, logical plan was to only start posting once I had written several chapters so I could at least begin with a nice updating schedule. However, my muse got way too excited and at this point we have one half of an outline and one chapter. Are we still posting? Yup!...

*insert disclaimer about not owning Narnia here*

"See here I'm still stuck on these fairytales

With a Lion, a wardrobe, and magic unveiled.

For there's truth in these pages

In each line I read.

I'm the boy that betrays him I can clearly see

But the Lion that saves him

Is bleeding for me!"

-Lyrics from Into the Lantern Waste by Sarah Sparks

Enjoy Chapter 1!

CHAPTER 1

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy slumped on a bench of the train station wishing they were anywhere but here. "At least we all get to go together," Susan offered. Edmund gave her a sour look. "It's not like we'll see each other during the term." A whistle sounded down the tunnel announcing the impending arrival of a passenger train and drowning out Peter's attempt to mediate the situation.

"Ouch!" Lucy jumped up. "Edmund stop pinching me!"

"I didn't touch you!"

Susan hopped off the bench. "Edmund, really, just because we have to go back to classes-"

"Something just shoved me," Peter called, standing from the bench. The train shrieked into the station as Lucy and Edmund both demanded to know who was pulling on them.

"Everyone hold hands," Susan yelled above the noise. A wave of people crowded around them, pushing towards the train as it lurched to a stop. Grabbing a protesting Edmund's hand, Susan reached for Lucy just as a portly man plowed through the middle of the group. Peter pulled Lucy out of the man's way and shielded her from the crowd but the children could hardly tell the difference between the shoves from the crowd and the now constant pulling. The train whistle shrieked again and Susan yelled for Peter and Lucy, never letting go of Edmund's hand, but she could not see them in the throng of passengers. The train lurched forward and Peter pushed backwards against the crowd, trying to get back to the abandoned bench and Susan. The train roared out of the station and as it released another frantic whistle blast the children felt an even more insistent tug. With a flash the station was gone.

Peter still had hold of Lucy's hand but Edmund and Susan were nowhere to be seen and the pair was no longer in the crowded station. However the noise remained. The air was hot and scorching and filled with the calls and sounds of people hard at work. The ground underneath them was sand and dust filled the air. Half-built buildings of the same sand color rose around them and everywhere creatures carried loads of sand and straw, or strained against ropes attached to heavy blocks of stone.

"Peter, we must be in Narnia," Lucy cried, tugging at his hand. "But...where are Ed and Susan?"

"I don't think this is Narnia, Lu," Peter answered, pulling her closer to his side. While many of the creatures around them were known to Peter, such as fauns, dwarves, big cats, or mice, Peter could never mistake the dry, oppressive air of this place for the sweet, cool air of Narnia. Looking at the few humans around he saw their brown skin and dark hair. These figures wore tunics and turbans and Peter suddenly knew where they were.

"Calormen," he and Lucy whispered at the same time. The pair realized the seriousness of the situation in the same instant that a whip snapped across Peter's shoulders from behind, nearly knocking him from the ground.

"Slaves! Back to work!" A tall, dark skinned man with a black beard was standing over them, and Peter quickly regained his balance and put himself between the man and Lucy. "What do you mean, slaves - " Peter began, but the man snarled and grabbed his arm, dragging him towards a line of creatures passing along buckets of water.

"Peter!" Lucy ran behind and squeezed into line in between Peter and a fawn. The Calormen man cuffed Peter across the head and growled, "Next time I see you wasting the Tisroc's time (may he live forever) it'll be a beating. You too," he barked at Lucy. Then with a last threatening look he strode off down the line.

"Did he hurt you, Peter?" Lucy asked, taking his arm.

"I'm alright," Peter began but was interrupted by a bucket appearing in front of him. The dwarf next to him hardly waited for Peter to reflexively grab the rope handle before dropping the bucket.

"Don't you know not to stand around where they can see you," he hissed to Peter.

"You Archenlanders must not have been around here long," the fawn next to Lucy noted, looking at Peter and Lucy's light hair and their clean clothes. He gestured for Peter to pass along the bucket.

"But we're not from Archenland," Lucy replied, hefting the bucket Peter passed to her.

"We're Narnian." Peter carefully handed Lucy the next bucket, watching with concern as she struggled a bit to lift it.

"There haven't been Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve in Narnia for more than a thousand years," the faun said with confusion. "And all Narnia creatures have been here in Calormen for hundreds of years."

"A thousand years!" Lucy cried.

"The four kings and queens of Narnia, the Golden Age…" the fawn trailed off wistfully and Lucy looked imploringly at Peter.

"Oh it can't be-" But a hiss from the dwarf cut her off.

"Enough now. Overseer's coming," he snapped, and handed the next bucket to Peter, who shook his head at Lucy. They would have to get to the bottom of this later. Overwhelmed with thoughts and worries about their missing siblings and the dangerous situation they found themselves in, Peter and Lucy worked in silence for the next several minutes. Unexpectedly, horns began blowing from various areas around the camp and soon the stream of water buckets ended.

"Well that's quitting time," the fawn said, stretching out his back and stamping his delicate hooves. The group of workers was counted by the overseer and then dismissed. "Did they assign you quarters?" the fawn asked. Peter shook his head. "Typical." The dwarf sighed. "I supposed you'll invite them to stay with us, Simus. The overseers haven't yet managed to beat that bleeding heart out of you."

"Now, don't be so rude in front of our guests. Come along, Son of Adam, Daughter of Eve." The fawn and the dwarf led the way and Peter followed, hugging Lucy close to his side.

The group traveled through narrow walkways lined with small, sand brick constructed houses where the Narnians all seemed to live, the dwarf grumbling and the fawn chiding him all the way.

Lucy tugged at Peter's hand. "Peter, look," she whispered. "It's Aslan! He's here! He wants us to follow Him!" She pointed down a narrow alley and Peter though he saw a glimpse of gold. Please, be Aslan, he thought. He desperately needed his help and guidance in the strange new place.

"Friends," he called up to the pair. Is your home near?"

"Why, yes," the fawn answered. "It's just there." He gestured to a crooked square construction just down the path.

"We will join you shortly. Please excuse us." Without waiting for an answer he and Lucy hurried down the alley in search of Aslan.

They found him in a secluded space behind several small Nanian houses and up against a stone cliff wall. Lucy ran to him and buried her face in his mane.

"Oh Aslan!" The great Lion seemed to smile and lowered his head to her.

"Greetings, dear one."

Peter knelt before the Lion. "Aslan please, what has happened here? What has happened to Narnia?" he asked, pain evident in his voice.

"And where are Susan and Edmund? Did they not get to come back?" Lucy asked, a crease in her youthful forehead.

"Peace, my children. I will tell you why I have brought you here, to a land not your own. The Nanians, your people, are slaves here to the Calormenes. Not long after you returned to your own world they were taken from Narnia, the land of peace and freedom, and brought here to bondage. You are here to free my people, your people, and return them to their own land."

"But Aslan, the fawn said hundreds, thousands of years-" Lucy cried.

"Time works differently here than in your own world."

"So it has only been a year for us, but a thousand years for Narnia," Peter said slowly.

Lucy's eyes filled with tears. "So everyone we knew….is dead?"

"Those you called friends have gone to live in my country, dear one." The Lion sat and lowered his head again to Lucy, who hugged his neck tightly. Peter stood and put his arm around Lucy, his head bowed.

"Aslan willing, we will see them again, Lucy," he whispered.

"Indeed, all is not lost. But now you must look to this new Narnia, these new creatures who need your aid." Aslan drew back and stood. "Your task is to prepare the people to leave this place, very soon, to return to their land. They have lived here long and some hearts have gone astray. They will need your leadership. Do not let the powers of this country keep you from this task."

"Yes, Aslan," Peter cried. "We will free our people, and defeat Calormen once and for all."

"No, my child. This is not your battle to fight, but my own. You are my messengers. Not in the name of the crowns I bestowed upon you, but in my name. Bringers of truth and freedom in the name of Aslan. Do not seek to be known as Kings and Queens here, for I have ensured that the people will not recognize you. Instead, be my mouthpiece, for this battle is between me and the god these people worship, the god Tash."

"Yes Aslan," Lucy said.

Peter bowed his head, for he had so often longed to return to the position of High King of Narnia, and his heart longed to fight back against the oppression he had so recently witnessed.

"Peter, you already know me. Take the place I have for you and remind those who have forgotten me," Aslan said gently.

Lucy took Peter's hand and squeezed it in the silence.

Peter took a deep breath and looked up. "Yes, Aslan. You have my crown and my sword, if I had it. And you have my heart.," he said slowly, sure of the words, but unsure if he could live up to them. Aslan gave a warm growl and touched his nose to Peter's forehead. He gave Lucy a lion's kiss and each felt a measure of courage and strength warm their hearts.

"Susan and Edmund have their own part to play in this, but they are here in this world with you. However, put your mind to your people and trust your brother and sister's paths to me. Go now. I will be with you."

"Thank you, Aslan," Peter said. Lucy gave Aslan one last hug and then let Peter lead her back to the little crooked house.

Please review! I know some of my timeline/movie details might be rusty so feel free to help me out! Also grammar/spelling mistakes, because again, overeager muse. But kind reviews only, please! I am a delicate sunflower and flames may mean no more chapters from me :(

*If you love Narnia and haven't heard of Sarah Spark's album Into the Lantern Waste please check. It. Out. I guarantee you will love it!

See you with a new chapter next week (ish…..let's be realistic here).

-MoM