Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews. Things are picking up!

Chapter 8: Seeing the Day

"Anne! ANNE!"

Anne jolted awake at the sound of her name and the rough shake of her shoulders. A face swam into view, and for a while Anne thought it belonged to that Lion, but as her vision sharpened it was none other than Laura's. Anne blew a sigh of relief. "Phew, Laura – I thought who it was!"

"Who?"

"Nothing – I had a dream, that's all."

"Was it a good dream?"

"Well, I didn't scream or anything, did I?"

"No, but you mentioned a name."

Anne gaped. "I did? What did I say?"

"You said 'Aslan, Aslan', and right after that, the fire lit up again even though it had died out," Laura paused. "Anne – what was your dream about?"

"I dreamt about this – " Anne sat up and rubbed her eyes, " – this Lion. His name was Aslan. He asked me about my whistle – and I told him all about it, and Gurd too." Anne frowned. "Laura – you don't think – could it have been that Lord Lion himself?"

Laura shrugged. "Who knows? After all, nobody here in this land seems to know anything about his real name. Maybe it was him. Maybe it wasn't."

Anne laughed. "You know, Laura, if I had told you this last week, you wouldn't have believed me. You would have given me a nice ticking-off and strict orders to bed."

The elder girl smiled. "Would I? Crikey, I think you're right!"

"What time is it now?"

Laura checked her watch but slapped her forehead at once. "What am I thinking? The watch's been broken ever since we came here. I can't tell you for sure, Anne, but as you can see it's still dark."

"It must be midnight," said Anne.

"Indeed it is," said a voice from above them. They looked up and found Mapha smiling down on them, but there was no mirth in his smile. "Daughters of Eve, why are you not sleeping? Replenish your energy while you can."

"We can't sleep," said Laura. The Dryad sighed and gazed into the blackness of the trees surrounding the small encampment. The only light that lit up the clearing came from the fire that was burning right in the middle. Once or twice, Anne thought she saw some movement in the shadows.

Finally, Mapha said, "There is great evil lurking in the woods. The fire must not burn out."

"Why?" asked Anne. "What are those – those things out there?"

He looked full and long at her before replying, "Spectres. The most malevolent of Gurd's servants. They loath the light and sleep during the day. The fire will keep us safe as long as it is alight." After a pause, he continued in a hollow voice, "these were once Dryads and Hamadryads and Nymphs before their homes were destroyed. Weak, shapeless and hungry, they turn to Gurd to sustain them. In exchange for life, they give their souls to him." He shook his head sadly. "Some of them were my friends."

Anne and Laura felt very sorry for him, but before they had the chance to comfort him, a surprising gust blew and the fire went out, leaving them in semi-darkness. A shriek was heard from the distance. Mapha put an arrow to his bow and told them, "Rouse everyone now! We have overstayed our welcome."

Laura and Anne got to their feet and wasted no time doing as he said. It took Anne several minutes or so to get William to wake up, for he was a deep sleeper. When he was fully awake, the Dryads had all already drawn their bows and the encampment had been cleared and some had already disappeared into the night.

"What's going on?" asked William.

"Spectres!"

"What?"

"Anne, William! Come on, let's stay together!" She grabbed their hands. The Dryads were now a good distance away and the children struggled to keep up with their long, hurried strides. After some time, Anne let go of Laura's hand.

"Laura! Wait! I – I can't go any further!"

"Come on Anne, it'll be all right," said William. "I'll carry you." He squatted and Anne climbed thankfully onto his back. They scanned the trees around them for a sign of the Dryads. They caught sight of a group of shapes moving away and made a dash for it. If they lost them, they were as good as dead.

Suddenly, a loud shriek erupted from all around them and from the black cluster of trees all around them dark shadows burst out and advanced upon them. Anne screamed and wrapped her arms more tightly around her brother. The Spectres stretched out their black hands, which looked to be just about the only thing solid about them and made an effort to touch them. William gave a yell of anguish as a Spectre's finger brushed against his forehead and he fell to his knees. Anne fell onto her back and it hurt so badly but she forced herself to get up and go to her brother.

"Will! Will! Are you all right?" she turned him over and gasped. Right in the middle of his forehead was a black gash that writhed and bubbled. William clutched at his head as he moaned and groaned. She called his name again several times but he didn't answer her.

Without any warning at all, something bright and hot swooped just above her head. Anne ducked with a terrified cry but realised that the Spectres couldn't have done it; didn't Mapha say that they were afraid of the light? She looked up and saw that it was Laura's doing. Anne didn't know how she had managed to light a torch – but she had. Laura waved it furiously at the Spectres, all the while shouting things like, "Filthy creatures!" and "Be gone!" and "Leave us alone!" They backed away, but they didn't go for good. Laura couldn't keep them at bay forever.

Anne fished out the whistle and blew it one more time in desperate hope. She huffed and puffed until the sweet, mellow sound filled her ears and blocked out the world. Suddenly there was hope, a singing joy, a melodious comfort to the frightened soul, and a warm and a comforting warmth that seemed to pat her on the shoulder and say, "There, there," and the next thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a pure, bright light.

Anne sat up and rubbed her eyes. The brightness faded and then pretty soon she discovered that the light had only come from the sky, the same dull sky, but there were no trees around her. She got unsteadily to her feet and saw that she was on a hill-top, a very wide hill-top that was about the size of Miss Pevensie's lawn. She walked towards the edge and saw the forest spread out below her like a valley. Snaking its way through it was a pitiful, murky river. The winter had ended. She gaped. And to top it all off, the scenery looked oddly familiar.

"Anne!"

She turned around and saw Laura and William running towards her. Laura had tears in her eyes. The black wound on his forehead seemed to have faded into nothing but a brown mark. They hugged her so tightly that Anne had a little difficulty breathing, but nothing could stop the hot tears that streamed down her cheeks. And then all the emotion that had been constrained throughout their miserable adventure in the dead land was released. Even William, who was a boy and thus not expected to cry, shed tears.

"Am I glad you're all right! You gave us such a terrible fright!" said William as he wiped his eyes.

"What – what did I do? What happened?" said Anne wildly.

"You blew the whistle," said Laura with a smile, "And the Spectres just went away."

"Kind of exploded, actually," added William.

"Anyhow they were gone, and then you fainted. William and I took turns to carry you until we met up with the Dryads. Then they gave us a good scolding," Laura turned her gaze to the busy group of Dryads who seemed to be gathering and discussing something rectangular in shape, "and they brought us here."

"Where is here?" said Anne.

"The Stone Table," answered William as he pointed at a rock formation that Anne didn't notice before. It stood right in the middle of the hill-top and the shape of the table was unmistakable. Upon closer observation, it was really a huge, flat slab of stone laid out on top of four stone-blocks. Other than that, there was nothing attractive about it at all.

Anne soon tired of trying to find any special feature about it and suddenly she remembered. "What about John? Did – did any of the Dryads managed to find him yet?"

Instantly, the moods of the children changed to misery. "No," said Laura, "we're here already at the Stone Table but no plan seems to be taking shape. I'm beginning to wonder if the Dryads know what they are doing."

"I'm sure they've got something up their sleeves," said William confidently. "Anyhow, they seemed to have found something."

"What is it?" asked Anne.

"Let's find out."

They joined the Dryads who were watching Mapha and Rathan attempting to break a small, rusty lock on a grubby-looking chest. The chest had intricate inscriptions carved all along its side, visible even through the dirt. She asked aloud, "Where did you find this?

"Below the Stone Table," replied a Dryad. Her voice was laced with wonder. "We were surprised why no one had found it and dug it out earlier before us."

"That is because it was never there until today," replied another Dryad. "Trust me, I've been often to the Stone Table. The below of the Stone Table had always been empty until today."

Anne wondered that, somehow, it had something to do with the whistle. The shape of the keyhole in the lock seemed to resemble the conch-like shape of it. Thankfully, she hadn't lost the whistle in the commotion with the Spectres. She slung it over her head and said, a little timidly, "Can we try opening it with this?"

Mapha and Rathan stopped abruptly and turned to look at her. There was an uncomfortable silence wherein they seemed to study the odds of that simple whistle being able to open such a tough lock.

At last, Mapha conceded.

Anne made her way through the front and knelt in front of the chest. It was a lot bigger up close, and Anne wondered with burning curiosity what it could possibly contain. Was it a treasure chest, or was she about to open a Pandora's box? She licked her lips nervously and fitted the hole with the other end of her whistle. She didn't think that she would like to blow next time on something that had seen the inside of a rusty lock.

She fiddled a bit, and suddenly with a click, the lock opened. She slung back the whistle over her head and removed the lock. The lid was lighter than had been expected. She took a deep breath before she lifted the lid.

John was just about to give up on ever seeing the day again when the Raven returned some time later with the same, huddled creature. Meridian the Raccoon whimpered as they approached. John was determined not to do the same.

"Son of Adam," said the Raven in his cold, gritty voice, "do you know what has happened?"

He shook his head. Even though it was quite dark in the cold cave, he was sure that he could see the shake of his head.

"The animals are moving, Son of Adam. It is a massive exodus in the direction of the Stone Table," said the huddled creature in a voice that trembled with excitement.

"Some of my Spectres have reported that they have ambushed two Daughters of Eve and one Son of Adam," resumed the Raven wickedly, "And I am very sorry to say that they have left their black mark on the Son of Adam."

John's heart jumped in terror. William!

"What happened to them?" he asked shakily. "And what's this black – mark thing? What did they do to him?"
The Raven cackled. "You will find out soon. Zar."

John wondered what on earth did Gurd mean, but when he saw the huddled figure moving towards him, he concluded that Zar must be its name. Zar lifted his black robe and drew from inside a polished black goblet and a black chalice. As John watched, the chalice was tilted and steaming hot black liquid poured out from the chalice. The smell was supremely awful.

"Drink it," said the Raven when the goblet had been poured full.

John gave him a revolted look. "You can't be serious!"

"Or you will not have the strength to walk all the way from here to the Stone Table. Though you may be a Son of Adam, I am not your servant."

"What's the Stone Table? Are you going to kill me there?"

"Possibly," the Raven's beak curved into a twisted smile, "if your brother and your sisters do not co-operate."

John's heart leapt. Laura! William! Anne! "Fine," he said, and as Zar approached him with the goblet, John scrunched his nose and held his breath and tried not to feel sick as he swallowed the concoction.

It was warm, and if it didn't taste so vile, he reckoned he might have enjoyed it. Zar forced the whole goblet down his throat until he coughed and choked and spluttered. It took a while for the whole thing to go down, but when it finally did, John could feel the strength returning to his limbs.

"Stand," commanded the Raven.

He tried, and found he did. He was tempted to say thanks, but the whole situation was so grim and malicious, and not to mention the hostile taste that still lingered on his tongue, he could not bring himself to spit it out.

"Now come," said the Raven as he turned around. "Do not think you can escape without my notice. I am more powerful than you think."

"Whatever," grumbled John. "What about Meridian?"

"The traitor can stay until he has fully learnt his lesson," said Gurd.

John looked back helplessly at the quivering Raccoon. He would have liked to go neck with neck with the Raven, but he desperately wanted to see his family again.

"I'm sorry," he said softly before he followed the Raven out of the cave and through a series of dark and gloomy and dank tunnels before finally the day came into sight and shone a glimmer of hope in his heart.