Disclaimer: I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me.
"This is unbelievable," Peter said, taking in everything around him, from the snow to the mountains, to the seemingly endless space that definitely did not fit inside one empty wardrobe.
"Impossible," Susan agreed.
They had just finished up a snowball fight after apologizing to Lucy for not believing her. Airies did not take part in their musings, however. She stood a little ways off from them, thinking about what her next move was. She knew that she needed to stay with the Pevensies and keep them safe. They were the key to ending this winter after all. But she did not know how much she should tell them, for fear of overwhelming them and having them disappear, and she could not have that at all.
She was shaken out of her thoughts by a tiny force crashing into her. Lucy had run over and hugged her around her middle.
"Airies, you're home at last!" she exclaimed.
"Home?" Peter questioned, as he and Susan moved over to them.
"This is where I'm from," Airies stated simply. "Narnia is my home."
"I don't understand," Susan said, and Airies explained that she had been born here, and sent away when she was young. Things clicked into place right away for both Peter and Edmund, who had been listening to the conversation from a few feet away.
"So this is where you were sent away from? Is there a war still going on here?" Peter questioned, remembering the conversation they had had earlier about wars and families, and Airies nodded.
"We should leave," Susan cried out in a panic, but Edmund and Lucy both shouted, "No!"
"No, you can't! I mean, you just got here. I promise that you are all safe. War here is not as you would expect. Please trust me," Airies pleaded, cursing herself. She should never have told Peter about the war, but she had found it practically impossible to lie to him.
"I'd really like you all to meet Mr. Tumnus. Please Peter," Lucy begged, and Peter looked over to Airies. "No air raids?" He asked her. "No air raids," Airies promised, which made Peter give in to Lucy's request. When Susan scoffed in disapproval, he merely turned to her and said, "We owe Lucy." With a wide grin on her face, Lucy led the way. As Peter moved around her, his hand sought out Airies' hand and clasped onto it. Airies was thoroughly surprised, but did not pull away. Instead, she did something even more surprising and grasped onto Susan's hand, who then took hold of Edmund's hand, and the five walked as one to Mr. Tumnus's house.
Peter did not quite understand what was going on, but one thing was for certain and that was that he trusted Airies, and if she said that they were safe, then he believed her. There was something strong about her. He got the sense that she could be very powerful. He also felt safe around her; safer than he should feel around someone he had known for only a few weeks. It just felt right to be near her, and he could not argue with that.
The path to the faun's house proved most uneventful, until Susan slipped down a hill, and to the surprise of all of her siblings, began to make a snow angel. This put them all into an exceptionally good mood, especially Peter who had not seen his sister acting so carefree in a very long time. Maybe Narnia would be good for all of them. Peter believed that things were starting to look up.
The whole way to Tumnus' home, Airies tingled with happiness. But she was still unsure where they would go from there. She did not know how much time had passed here since she'd been gone, or where Aslan and his army were now. She hoped that this Mr. Tumnus would be able to answer some of her questions. However, once they got to his house in the hill, she realized that none of her questions would be answered right now.
The faun had been taken prisoner by the White Witch. Her guard had left a note pinned to his door, which now was in Airies' hand. She crumpled it in anger after reading it for herself, crushing the paper in her fist.
Gently beneath her feet, the ground started to shake. A red haze clouded her eyes. Jadis' power was growing out of control. She was now able to arrest anyone she wanted for no reason at all. She really was acting like a queen here. But this would not last for long. Airies was going to bring her demise personally. A mug crashed to the floor, and it alerted Airies to the fact that she was standing alone in the room. As she ran outside to catch up to the Pevensies, the shaking stopped.
She found them speaking to a beaver, who was telling them that he knew the faun. He beckoned them to follow him into the cover of the trees, and Airies was the first to do so.
"What news of Aslan?" she asked right away.
"So it is you, then? The daughter? There was a whisper that you would bring the four to us," Mr. Beaver countered.
"I am. And Aslan?" she prompted again.
"He has not been seen for a hundred years. But there are troops rallying in his name in Beruna."
Airies' heart fell. Aslan had disappeared? One hundred years had gone by since she left Narnia? How could this happen?
"Will you lead us there?" she could not keep her voice from shaking.
"I will, your highness," Mr. Beaver vowed.
"Please don't tell them about me, about who I am," she pleaded as the four siblings came tumbling through the bushes after them.
The beaver told the children that he would lead them to his home for shelter for the night. Lucy took to the animal immediately, Airies assumed for two reasons: one being that he was a talking animal, and the other being that he had known Mr. Tumnus.
Airies was deeply conflicted. She wanted nothing more than to comfort the little girl, but she did not know what to say. She also did not want to give too much away about the conditions here in Narnia. For one, she did not want to scare them away, but mostly she did not want to be the one to put the burden of being Narnia's saviors on their heads. She looked over to Peter, who had his arm around Lucy's shoulders. He had no idea what he was walking into.
With a deep breath, Airies moved towards him and rested a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, and gave her a small smile. She then slowly let her hand run down his arm until she was lacing her fingers through his. His smile grew wider, and he squeezed her hand in response.
The path to the beaver's house was clear of any danger or surprises. The only surprise took form in the Pevensie's showing up outside of Mrs. Beaver's front door and shocking her into silence. Right away, she ushered them inside and started feeding them. They told the Pevensie's of the war going on around them, and it ended up being Mr. Beaver who told them of their part in it. The children acted exactly as Airies had expected them to. Peter and Susan exclaimed that they did not want any part in this war, but Lucy wanted to stay and help. However, she was overruled by her older siblings who claimed it was time for them to go. Only they did not realize that through their arguing, Edmund had given them the slip.
"I'll kill him," Peter growled.
"You may not have to. Has your brother ever been to Narnia before?" Mr. Beaver asked. His wife was shaking her head.
"Yes, with Lucy," Susan answered. "Why?"
"I believe, though as unfortunate as it is, that we have a traitor in our midst," the animal said gravely.
"Traitor? What do you mean? Where has he gone?" Susan cried.
"The White Witch's castle."
"Jadis," Airies growled under her breath, and as she started to get angry for the second time that day, the ground once again started to shake. As the children and beaver fought about what to do next, Airies thoughts turned to Edmund. She did not fully blame him for turning to Jadis. She had many tricks up her sleeve. Mostly she worried about him, Jadis was deranged and unhinged; dangerous. She was also ashamed. She had promised all of them that she would keep them safe. What a great job she was doing so far, she thought sarcastically.
Susan shouting, "We should have left while we still had the chance!" brought Airies back to the room.
"Stop fighting!" she shouted, slamming her fist onto the table. Everyone went silent. "Beaver, you take them to Beruna. Now. If Edmund is in her clutches, then she knows that you all are here and the hunt will be on."
"And what about you?" Mrs. Beaver asked.
"I'm going to get Edmund," she said simply before standing up and moving towards the door, but Peter stood in her way.
"I'm coming with you."
"No."
"He's my brother," Peter argued.
"You have no training, and you will only slow me down," Airies said shortly, starting to get annoyed.
"And you have training?" Peter scoffed.
"Fourteen years of it. This is what I was made for. Take your sisters to where Aslan's army is waiting for you. Do not try to follow me." With that, Airies moved once more towards the door and once she was outside, she took off running.
Night had fallen over Narnia, and everything was eerily dark, but Airies knew her way. She moved quickly and smoothly through the woods. The closer she got to the castle, the more nervous she became. She knew that no matter what she told Peter, she was completely unprepared to face Jadis now. She had no weapon, and no idea how to control the other elements. Aslan and Anali made it very clear that those powers would help to defeat the White Witch. She had no game plan; the only thing she knew was that she had to get Edmund out of Jadis' clutches.
It took almost all night to reach the witch's castle. She found wolf tracks in the snow, Jadis' guard. She hoped that the Beavers did not take her warning lightly. She was exhausted, but she had to find a way in. She staked the place out until morning. She did not have to get in, however, because Jadis, along with Edmund, was coming out. Airies ran after them, but the witch's sleigh was far too fast for her to keep up with.
She chased the sleigh all the way to a waterfall, but she found that she was too late. Jadis was gone, and Edmund had been turned to stone.
"NO!"
Airies rushed out of the bushes and collapsed to the ground at Edmund's feet. Sobs wracked through her body. "Ed, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She was too late, and Jadis was too powerful. She had won, and Airies failed. She was not able to keep her promise.
"NO," Airies roared, standing up. "She did not win. You are not gone."
She felt the fire coursing through her, but this was new. She had never felt so strong. She put her hands on either side of Edmund's face and shut her eyes. She willed the fire to move from her heart, through her arms, out her palms, and into Edmund. She had never wanted something so badly before, and she thought that it was for that reason alone that what she was doing might actually work. She heard a faintly beating heart which was not her own beat around her, and then the cold stone beneath her fingers started to feel warm and soft, and soon Edmund was coughing and gasping for breath.
"Airies?"
His voice was weak, but that did not stop Airies from pulling him into a hug. "I did it. It worked. You're alive!" she laughed. She was so happy. "I can't believe it. I actually did it." Tears leaked from her eyes as she held Edmund at arm's length.
"My family?"
"They're fine. They're safe, and on their way to Aslan! What happened? Did she hit you?"
She lightly touched his cheek where a bright red spot had formed and Edmund winced.
"She was chasing after my family. She lied. I don't know why I believed her. She told me I could rule by her side, and I wanted that so badly. But then I found out the truth, and I didn't want that. And she found the fox who hid them, and she tried to turn him to stone. But I got in the way. How am I here? What did you do?"
"It doesn't matter. You're safe, Ed, and out of the witches clutches. Can you walk? We're going to meet your family."
Airies grasped Edmund's hand in hers and together they made their way to Beruna.