A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with a re-vamped version of this story. The plot has changed significantly, and I only have up until Chapter Four as per where I want this story to go. I thought about throwing in a prologue, but I couldn't find the time, or the motivation to do that. I just want to let you all know that there are some connections to the other books, not just The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Also, this has no influences from the plot of The Horse and His Boy. It is set strictly after the Chronicles of Narnia movie.
Just so you know, as is said many times in this chapter, Ariah is not a Daughter-of-Eve. She is of another race entirely, and that whole story will be explained later on.
Enough of my ranting, why don't you sit back and read the story!
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the wonderful C.S. Lewis, and any movie elements belong to Disney. The only fragment of this story that belongs to me is Ariah Serenata.
Review!
Chapter One: The End of the Battle
Ariah ran down the side of the rocky mountainside where Aslan's true supporters stood fighting furiously for Narnia. She sprinted past the archers and leapt up onto a rock and used her momentum to leap over onto another, right in the thick of battle. She jumped off of it and dove into the mass of enemies below, swinging her swords and taking out enemies as she fell.
She flipped and landed solidly on the ground and slashed left and right, taking out even more of the White Witch's soldiers. Ariah sliced to her left and twisted the blade so she could stab behind her. She pulled it forward and shoved both of the blades into another's chest and yanked them back out again.
As quickly as she could, she ran to the rock and used one foot to spring off of it, diving into another animal and tearing it apart. She rolled to the ground and got underneath another and stabbed upwards, sending the creature howling in pain as he fell to the ground.
She jumped to her feet and saw the White Witch walking –almost serenely—through the chaotic battlefield, knocking down numerous soldiers along the way. Her eyes were dead set on Peter Pevensie, the Son of Adam who was to be King.
Peter however did not notice this, but those around him did. The second-in-command and a rhinoceros teamed up together to take out the White Witch, but the rhinoceros was slashed in the legs and taken out almost easily. The other, however, was able to get to the Witch, but he was taken out by her magic wand.
It was only then that Peter realized what was happening, and much to his chagrin his younger brother did as well and was now climbing down the mountain with a face as stiff as the stone beneath him.
Ariah swore under her breath and launched forward, taking out as many of the White Witch's people as she could. She had to get to Peter and Edmund before the Witch did. She had to protect them or everything for Narnia was lost.
"A Daughter of Eve!" Someone exclaimed from nearby, obviously thrilled at his discovery. Unfortunately for Ariah, it was the Witch's second-in-command.
Ariah faced him and brought her swords up in a defensive position. "Try me." She dared with a smug look on her face. I don't have time for this. She thought to herself, taking a quick and barely noticeable glance at the Sons of Adam.
The soldier leered at her and charged stupidly, being overconfident he didn't take in the fact that Ariah was lithe and quicker than most.
She easily danced around his blade and brought her swords down behind her, catching the oxen in the shoulders, cutting him badly. She leapt back and blocked his furious axe that was aiming for her head. Her blades twisted around the axe so quickly they were a blur, and suddenly the axe was thrown from the ox's hands. She twisted her body and maneuvered the swords easily until she was able to drive them upwards into the ox's lungs and kill him.
Ariah yanked the swords out and looked up at the White Witch, who didn't notice Edmund was above her. Ariah screamed as she saw Edmund jump down and crashed his sword on the Witch's wand, which exploded in a violent array of blue-silver color and a roaring wind.
"Ed!" Peter Pevensie shouted loudly as he saw his brother in front of the Witch.
Ariah ran forward, as did Peter, and she winced as the Witch shoved Edmund's blade aside and ran her, now broken, wand right through his abdomen.
"Ed!" The elder boy screamed terribly as he saw his brother fall to the ground heavily.
Ariah, knowing this would invoke rash decisions on the elder Son of Adam, immediately sprinted forward and tried to meet the Witch before Peter did. Unfortunately, the boy was closer and began engaging the Witch in battle.
"It's useless little Son of Adam!" The Witch taunted as she knocked Peter around like a rag-doll.
Ariah gritted her teeth and finally caught up to them. She was now behind the Witch, and she was using that do her advantage as she brought both swords across her back. "No it's not!" Ariah shouted at the Witch, who had let out a cry of pain and spun around, seeing Ariah for the first time.
Her eyes widened considerably. "Another Daughter of Eve? Impossible!" She shrieked and brought her wand around, preparing to slash Ariah in half, but Emma lightly stepped aside. The Witch was miscalculating because Ariah was no ordinary human.
Ariah caught the Witch's wand in her swords and brought them back up in a furious attempt to make her stumble. Unfortunately Ariah also misjudged and she was knocked aside by the Witch's strength. She fell to the ground and held up both her swords to defend herself as the Witch came down upon her, but the Witch did something very strange and crossed her sword and wand and they landed on either side of Ariah's body.
The Witch frowned and yanked them out of the earth and came down again, but turned sharply when she realized that Peter was attacking her. There was a clang of metal on metal, and a thud of a sword hitting a shield and then Peter was flying backwards.
Ariah leapt up from the ground and ran at the Witch. She twisted her sword around as she prepared to leap backwards and shove the sword into her cold heart. Alas, Ariah was greeted by a sword that grazed her side, tearing away some of the fabric of her warrior's outfit. Ariah did not wear chain-mail like many around her, in fact she wore only a vest and breeches made of hard leather and emblazoned with Aslan's symbol.
"You fool!" The Witch shouted almost eerily as Ariah lost her speed and dropped to the ground, wincing in pain. She brought up her sword and wand and prepared to come down on Ariah again, except this time Peter rammed her with his shield, sending her stumbling. When she faltered, her sword almost buried itself in Ariah's chest, but luckily, Ariah's quick reflexes told her to roll to the side.
Ariah leapt to her feet and glanced at Peter very quickly as the Witch stood her ground again, and lunged at Ariah with enough force to overtake a normal human. Ariah met the Witch's sword with her own and the sound of metal on metal screeched loudly through the battle field, forcing some to turn and stare.
The Witch nearly screamed, but stopped as soon as she saw Peter unprotected. She turned to ram her sword deep into the Son of Adam's chest, but Ariah caught the movement and kicked her legs out from under her.
She prepared to stab the Witch, but the woman had just as much power lying on her back as she did standing. Ariah was knocked aside easily and one of her swords skittered away from her. She turned back over and saw the Witch hovering over her again, her wand poised for a strike.
Peter however, lunged and stuck his blade out over Ariah, blocking her from the Witch's strike. The Witch turned and swung at him, but he held up his shield protectively and deflected the blow.
This gave Ariah enough time to grab her other sword and stab upwards, catching the Witch in one of her legs. She jumped up as the Witch stumbled backwards, her eyes watering in pain. Ariah glanced at Peter, and the two of them ran at the Witch, their swords ready to pierce her cold flesh.
The Witch, seeing the two running at her, stepped out of Ariah's blade's way and immediately twisted her sword up, knocking Peter's blade away from him. In the next second, the Witch became a blur and knocked Ariah off her feet, sending her swords scattering away through the grass.
"Peter!" Ariah screamed as the Witch twisted again and prepared to slam her wand through Peter's flesh.
He noticed this as well and brought his shield up just in time, catching the Witch off-guard—but only for a second.
Ariah struggled to get up, but found that the Witch had unknowingly sliced clean through her warrior's outfit and made a fairly deep cut on her stomach. She winced in pain and watched the Witch poise herself again and prepare to strike.
The Witch twisted almost casually and knocked aside Peter's shield and in the same moment, stabbed downward, through Peter's chain mail of his arm and pinned him to the ground.
Peter cried out in agony and lifted his other arm to protect himself.
Ariah screamed as she watched the White Witch prepare to stab Peter through his beating heart.
Then she heard a deafening roar which drowned out all the other sounds of battle.
Peter twisted slightly and his mouth opened, the Witch looked up on the rocky outcrop and her eyes narrowed and Ariah saw her say, "Impossible." Ariah however, stared at the golden lion atop the rocky outcrop in awe and she realized that he had come back through the Deep Magic of Narnia.
Not only had Aslan come, but he had brought other soldiers with him and they appeared along the outcrop with him. The Daughters of Eve stood alongside him, Susan had her bow drawn and she was aiming an arrow at the Witch and Lucy had her dagger brandished as if she were ready to fight. Among them were Mr. Tumnus, a sincere friend of hers, and several other warriors.
In the next moment, Aslan roared and sprung forward, attacking the Witch with apparent ease and the both tumbled over the side of the plateau they were on.
Ariah watched them tumble away and looked back at the group of people Aslan had brought with him. They were now cascading down the side of the mountain, shouting and yelling and preparing to attack the Witch's army. She winced as she ducked out of the way and when they passed, she saw Susan and Lucy running at Peter.
"Peter!" Susan cried and flung her arms around him. "Thank God!"
"Peter!" Lucy ran up to her elder brother and flung her arms around his waist.
Peter hugged them both equally as hard and they all collapsed into a heap in the grass.
"You have done well Peter Pevensie, very well. It is over."
Over, Ariah thought with a sense of relief and happiness. Jadis is dead, it is finished. She looked at Aslan and the Son and Daughters of Eve and tried to crawl forward, but her wound hurt too terribly. She glanced at it and saw that it was bleeding profusely—at this rate she would die by the end of the day if it was not mended, but this was no easy cut, it was a slash from the Witch's magical wand and she would need the help of the Magical Healers. Only when she made a sharp noise from the pain the wound gave her, did they all look her way.
"Lucy, Daughter of Eve, this one needs that healing potion Father Christmas gave to you," He instructed carefully.
"No," She shook her head weakly as all of them came over to her. "Please, save it for those in greater need," She had done what she had set out to do; she was finished, there was no need for her now.
Aslan laughed, it was a strange, throaty sound. "You are in great need—this is no normal wound," He nodded his great head at Lucy.
"Here," She said quietly. "Tip your head back and I'll pour a drop down your throat."
She grimaced slightly and did as the Daughter of Eve suggested and in an instant she felt a drop of her powerful potion slide down her throat, warming her the entire way. Ariah looked down at the cut as soon as she swallowed and was amazed at what she saw: the wound was repairing itself. "Th-thank you my lady," Ariah whispered to the little one and traced her fingers over the once grievous wound.
"Where's Edmund?" Susan asked, glancing around nervously. "Peter, where is he?" Her tone suddenly changed as she grew worried.
"Oh God, Ed!" Peter leapt up from off the ground and started sprinting around to where Edmund had fallen.
Aslan however waited for Ariah as the two girls rushed off after their brother. "You are a brave one and just like them, yet you are not a Daughter of Eve." He said slowly, thinking as he spoke.
Ariah shook her head and stood slowly. "I am no Daughter of Eve, but I have been here for one-hundred years."
Aslan cocked his large head. "The time the Witch's Winter descended over Narnia…"
"Yes, that is true," She held the great lion's tawny gaze with her own that matched his power.
"And I smell the magic in you, but you do not have a core in it…what sort of dilemma is this?"
Inclining her head, she said, "It is not a dilemma, but rather legends like mine do not revolve around magic as a center of life. It is something that I use to aide me in my task."
"Your task…" He mused aloud, then shook his great head so that his mane rippled slightly. "Well I will not ask you about your task, but I will think on this matter. You puzzle me greatly, and though it may be deliberately I will not treat you as a traitor because you have saved Narnia's hope."
"My core reason of coming to Narnia was not to be a traitor Aslan," She bowed her head and continued, "But I'm afraid I can not tell you that core reason."
"All is well then, you shall stay here in Narnia under my good graces," His head turned left and right for a moment, then faced her again. "You are a protector, yes?"
"I am many things Aslan, and a protector is one of them," She looked around the rocky outcrop as they walked along slowly. "I think that these four will do fine in ruling Narnia. They are just, magnificent, gentle and valiant, don't you agree?" She watched the four of them hugging their youngest brother gratefully.
"These four will become the Kings and Queens of Narnia for as long as they live," Aslan confirmed. "And they will make Narnia prosper and it will come out of the dreadful winter that the White Witch cast over the land."
Ariah smiled as Peter glanced back at her and the great lion. "I will protect them if that is what you wish of me Aslan," She broke the gaze she held with Peter and looked back at the Lion who watched her curiously with great, tawny eyes.
"Protect them? I hardly think there will be need for protecting in this new Narnia, but if the time comes, then I would beg of you to take that position," He paused for a moment, as if thinking things over before saying, "Become a friend to all of them, share your wisdom with them; they can not put a country on its feet by themselves…they're going to need help."
"Of course," What are you doing Ariah? She berated herself viciously as she felt her insides wince underneath the great lion's unyielding stare. Feeling as though he penetrated the calm surface she had created, she swallowed and continued with as much fervor as she could. "I will become a friend to the Pevensie's and help them in this time of reconstruction," Turning her head away from the piercing gaze, she murmured, "And I will become their protector if the need arises."
"And that is all that will be needed in this Golden Age. You will find a place amongst the court at Cair Paravel and you will become a friendly, familiar face to these children. You have a power in you that I can not place, but I am not sure I would want to. There's something else to you that you keep hidden behind stone walls and that you want no one to see."
She closed her eyes for a long moment and then slowly opened them again. Refusing to look back at the lion, she nodded slowly and said, "There are things…there are reasons why I am the way I am. I live on the edge of my death every day, even if there is no danger," She paused for a moment and thought about how to best word her situation without giving the real reason why she was here away. "Worlds are at war Aslan, and soon worlds will be at war with each other. Narnia isn't the only place in the universe and there are a select few who can travel throughout each of the different worlds."
"That I do know, and to be frank with you I am afraid that Narnia will become apart of the Great War, which is why I try to keep the peace within its borders. You know that the easiest way for an inter-world war is for the own world to be in turmoil, and luckily the White Witch's reign is over."
Inclining her head, she replied, "And hopefully it shall remain as such so the Great War doesn't bleed into Narnia. I am sure that the High King will keep us away from trouble, and the other king and queens will collaborate just the same. Narnia will be pulled into a Golden Age and will remain strong so that infiltrators don't have the opportunity to come in. I have the utmost confidence put into these four children."
"As it should be," He nodded his great head, ripping the mane of golden hair, and continued in a throaty voice, "For Narnia will remain such a flourishing world," Noticing that Lucy had gotten up and started running around to the various wounded creatures, he said, "But it seems Lucy has discovered her part in this, now it seems I have to go do mine."
Ariah nodded and smiled. "Yes, it seems she knows her place in the world. Now I believe it is time for me to help clean up this mess with you," She looked around as well. "Though I do not have the Lion's Fire, I do have my own special way of undoing magic," She reached behind her and pulled out a curiously shaped object containing a fiery red liquid.
Aslan nodded in understanding as he eyed the liquid with a faint note of interest. "The nectar of the Fire Plant," He mused. "You do come highly equipped."
Ariah merely nodded and uncorked her bottle. "We have a lot of work to do," She murmured softly and glanced at Peter one last time, only to find that his stunning blue eyes had found her again. "Peter is quite an exceptional fighter," She said aloud, and turned away from him. "And I think that I will have no problem forming friendships with all of the Pevensie children.
Smiling wolfishly, he agreed, "I think that the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve will take a great liking to you…perhaps some more than others."
"Perhaps, but I will take care not to become too attached. I'm sure there are many other proper, respectable ladies for the two kings to set their eyes upon."
"You say that like you don't want attachments."
Hesitating for a long minute, she shook her head and stared into the tawny eyes of the great lion from across the Eastern Sea. "I don't."
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