I'm back home! And updates should be coming much more frequently. I am registered for online classes for this semester and am going job hunting on Tuesday. I also am applied to my local University for the Fall 2011 semester! Yayyy! Anyways...on with Chapter 10!
Chapter 10
CASPIAN'S POV
Caspian stood, marveling at the feeling of Lucy's back pressed up against his chest. He could tell that she was getting tired, they had been standing looking for any sign of Edmund for a while now. As he gazed down at her, he could see her blink her eyes groggily and he felt her relaxing her entire body into him. He was just about to suggest that he take her to her cabin for the night when a loud roar and a puff of fire and smoke jetted into the air over the island where Lucy's brother still remained. Lucy was awake instantly, pulling away from Caspian and gripping the railing so tight that her knuckles turned white.
"What was that?" She asked worriedly, scanning the island's shores for any sign that Edmund had emerged from the hills safely. Caspian shook his head, he did not know. He wished he could tell her that it was the volcano, even though that would still be a bad situation, it would not be nearly as frightening at the thought of some sort of beast occupying the island and endangering Edmund. The rest of the crew had heard the commotion, and was rushing up the stairs to the deck, looking at the source of the noise. All of the sudden, emerging from the hills was a golden dragon, breathing fire fiercely and heading towards the ship quickly.
"Archers! Prepare yourselves!" Caspian commanded, grabbing ahold of Lucy protectively and pulling her behind him as he grabbed his sword from its sheath. She fought him, but he was too strong for her. At his words, crew members dashed to grab their bow and arrows, taking stance and aiming at the dragon. The beast roared as he was hit on the leg, losing momentum and came closer down towards the ship. Caspian threw Lucy to the ground as he swung his sword, slashing the beast in the belly but not going deep enough to kill it. The crew watched as the dragon circled around the ship, making his way back to the island where Edmund was now running towards the shore, waving his arms to them in alarm. Lucy saw this, and dashed to her feet and retook her place at the railing.
"Edmund! Edmund watch out!" She sharply turned towards Drinian. "We have to go back!" Drinian looked lost and confused, knowing that she was right but Caspian knew he did not want to put the crew in danger.
"Turn back, Drinian," Caspian said lowly. He would not have something happen to Edmund. He heard a shriek escape Lucy's lungs and turned to see that the dragon had picked Edmund up and was now flying deeper into the hills of the island.
"EDMUND!" Lucy cried, she had tears in her eyes. Drinian had ordered the rowers below deck and had grabbed the wheel, and the ship was on its way back to the island. This was not good enough for Lucy. With as brave a heart as ever, Caspian was not quick enough to stop her from diving over board and swim frantically towards the shore.
"LUCY!" He shouted, dropping his sword and diving in after her. She had a good lead, and seemed to be carrying her head above the water well. Caspian swam quickly behind her, taken aback when she pushed him away when he tried to grab her waist and pull her with him towards the shore. He let it go, and continued on towards the island's shores swimming beside her. As they reached the shore, and pulled themselves out of the water, Caspian looked back to see the boats were almost right behind them. Turning back around, his heart leapt as he saw Lucy bolting towards the hills in the direction Edmund had been taken. With a holler of her name, he fell in step behind her, worried at the fact that neither of them had a weapon.
"EDMUND! EDMUND WHERE ARE YOU?" She cried, not even winded as she ran.
"Lucy I'm here! It's alright I'm okay! Follow my voice!" Caspian heard Lucy sigh in relief but she did not slow her pace, and ran in the direction of her brother's cries with him at her heels. After a few more moments of running, Caspian finally saw the familiar tousled brown hair of Edmund, but was suprised to see the dragon that had taken him, standing only a few feet away and looking calmed. Before Lucy could run to embrace her brother, Caspian grabbed her arm roughly, yanking her back to him.
"Lucy, no." She glared at him as he eyed the dragon, as if daring him to take a step further towards the girl. He was suprised to hear Edmund chuckle.
"It's alright. It's Eustace." Both Caspian and Lucy's jaws dropped just in time for the men of the Dawn Treader to dash up behind them, weapons in hand. All three reacted quickly, shouting for the halt of the attack and shoving the swords down that had been raised.
"Edmund, that doesn't make sense." Lucy said in a pant, finally losing the adrenaline that had kept her so able to run the length she had without losing momentum.
"It is Eustace, though. I think he got tempted by a dragon's treasure." Edmund explained, pointing towards a golden bracelet that seemed to be digging into the scaly skin of Lucy and Edmund's cousin.
"Everyone knows that a dragon's treasure is cursed." Drinian stated, Eustace glared at him. "Well anyone from here, that is." Lucy laughed softly, walking slowly up towards her cousin. She cautiously put both hands on the bracelet, yanking it of in a single try. Eustace seemed to let out a whimper, but nodded towards his cousin as if he was saying "thank you." Lucy nodded back, giving the dragon a weak smile before taking a few steps backward. Eustace let out a whimper, and turned his head, doing a sort of nod towards a skeleton figure that sat against a rock nearby. It too, was covered in treasure. Edmund jumped, not having noticed it. Caspian made his way towards the body, spotting a sword lying nearby. He bent down picking it up, observing it closely. Then touched his hand to a Telmeraine ring on the finger of the skeleton.
"Lord Octesian. He must have been tempted as well." Eustace's eyes widened, clearly he did not want to suffer the same fate as the Lord, and started thrashing his head around.
"So, what are we going to do? Is their any way to reverse the curse?" Lucy asked, looking to any member of the crew for an answer, seeming to lose hope in her eyes as the majority of them shrugged in reply.
"Not that I know of." Caspian said tenderly, eyeing Eustace apologetically as he saw him touch his paw to the place where Caspian had cut him. Drinian was half turned looking back towards the direction of the floating ship. Caspian seemed to read the mind of the captain.
"We can't leave him." Caspian half stated, half ordered. Drinian looked back at him with remorse in his eyes.
"Well we can't take him on board, sire." Caspian's heart dropped as he saw Lucy give him a sad look, he knew it would not be easy for her to leave her younger cousin behind. Caspian sighed.
"Drinian, take the rest of the crew back to the ship. Edmund, Lucy, and I will stay here with Eustace for the night. Try and sort out what to do." Lucy gave him a watery smile and Edmund nodded towards him, as if agreeing with the plan. Drinian, though, looked resentful.
"How will you spend the night here with no means of staying warm?" Eustace perked his head up, before opening his mouth and breathing a mass of fire towards the ground, leaving a small crackling fire. Lucy laughed melodically. Caspian and Edmund grinned, looking towards Drinian for any further issues.
"Then it's settled." The captain acknowledged, nodding to them before bidding them goodnight, and leading the rest of the crew back towards the boats.
XoXoXoXo
As the fire crackled, Caspian noticed the soft snores of Edmund, knowing that he was asleep to his right. Behind him, Eustace's dragon form was rising a falling deeply as he slept soundly, and Caspian had felt sympathy as he had heard the sniffs and whimpers from the dragon's direction shortly before it had fallen asleep. Caspian knew that Lucy did not sleep yet, for he heard her normal breathing, and turned his head to the left to face her. Her big hazel eyes were open, staring back at him. She looked worried.
"It will be alright, Lucy." Caspian said gently, scooting a little closer so they were about a foot away from touching. She nodded slowly, eyes lingering over her large cousin before snapping back to look into Caspian's face. He watched her eyes blink tiredly, as they had hours before, he knew that she was exhausted.
"You need to sleep." He stated softly. She shrugged, Caspian sighed. Lucy rarely bothered caring for herself when she knew something bad was going on in the life of another. A noble trait, but he wished that the young girl would take better care of herself in these situations. He reached out and pulled her close, laying completely on his back and letting her rest her head on his chest, right over his heart. He wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"Sleep." He ordered. Lucy nodded once more, closing her eyes. After only a few minutes he felt her breathing slow and deepen, signaling to Caspian that she had fallen asleep. He brushed his lips over her forhead.
"Goodnight, sweet girl." He heard a muffled murmer of words that he could not understand, and chuckled softly. He ran his hand up and down her back, calming both her and himself until he fell into a peaceful slumber.
XoXoXoXo
Caspian woke to the feeling of Lucy slowly pulling herself off of him, and reached out to pull her back when he saw that it was barely daylight. She laughed softly, pushing his hands away gently and standing up, looking excited.
"We can't sleep any longer, Caspian. Look!" She pointed out into the sky. "It's the blue star!" And so it was, shining and gleaming like he had seen no other star do before. It hung right above where the Dawn Treader floated, and Caspian saw that members of the crew had awoken and were jumping up and down and waving their arms frantically at the sight of it. Caspian and Lucy quickly awoke Edmund and Eustace, pointing it out to them. Both looked happy about this, but Eustace still looked slightly put out. Lucy nudged him gently.
"I think the best thing would be to have you fly along side the ship," She told him, before looking to Caspian and Edmund for agreement, which she recieved. Eustace looked a little better, and bent down low so that the three of them could simply hop on his back and he flew them low enough to jump back on the ship before moving to hover beside it, flapping his wings slowly as he kept up with the Dawn Treader's pace. After planting her feet on the ground, Lucy ran excitedly to Drinian.
"How long do you think it will be?" Edmund and Caspian raced up behind her, panting as they tried to keep up with her pace. Caspian answered for her.
"It can't be too long, Lucy. Coriakin said something about how the blue star appeared when you were only a short distance away. My guess would be by tommorow evening." Drinian nodded. Edmund was off to get rations. Caspian was about to suggest to Lucy that they follow him but she shook her head.
"I'm not really hungry. I think I'm going to go get washed off." Only then did Caspian notice that as a result of sleeping on the island ground overnight and from swimming there in the first place, Lucy did look rather dirty. He supposed he did, as well. She had dirt all over her clothes and a bit on her cheeks. Her hair looked relatively clean but was just a little messier than usual. He chuckled. She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Hey! You're pretty stinky yourself!" She scoffed, turning around and dashing down below deck. Caspian laughed, shaking his head, and went to get food.
XoXoXoXo
LUCY'S POV
Lucy rushed down to her cabin, blushing madly. She noticed that she did this a lot around Caspian. She was not sure why, but he spoke to her or pulled her close, she felt her heart beat quicken and her cheeks heat up as they turned a faint pink. She tried to put it off, she did not want to over analyze things. Besides, she and Caspian had been best friends since meeting during her last visit to Narnia, when she was but 12. She laughed as she thought of the times just after meeting him, when she tried to pretend that she did not like him because she knew that Peter did not like him, and she wanted to be faithful to her brother. But everytime she would make a rude comment or give him a glare, he would only chuckle whole heartedly and sometimes even stick his tongue out at her jokingly. He saw right through her act. Lucy sighed as she sat down on her bed for a moment. No, Caspian always had been able to know how she was feeling and would act in the appropriate manner for it. He could tell when she was scared even before she started to feel it for herself. Now, as she saw what a wonderful man and ruler he had become, she could not help but look at him in a different way. He was probably the most handsome man she had ever seen, but it was like he did not even know it. A lot of Kings get conceited, thinking that every woman he meets wants to be his Queen, but not him. Some Kings even took multiple wives and concubines only for the purpose of having a few male heirs come from their wombs. Once again, not Caspian. He had told her numerous times that he would not marry but once, or show love but to one woman, and he would wait as long as it took to find the perfect one. She wished that she could live only in Narnia, not so that she could be Caspian's Queen, for she was not positive of her feelings for him yet, but so that she could be near him always. He was her best and most loyal friend, and no one made her feel more special. She stood, beginning to strip herself of the dirty clothes, and a single tear rolled down her cheek as she realized that the Dawn Treader was close to it's final destination, and she would be torn from Caspian soon enough. Lucy sighed, wiping her tears away and controling her breathing, trying to grab ahold of herself. She grabbed a fresh set of clothes before going to bathe in the wash basin.
XoXoXoXo
Lucy sighed deeply as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Now clean, she wore a rolled up pair of Caspian's pants held with a belt, one of his long sleeved white shirts and a maroon belt around her waist. Barfoot as always, and with her now dry hair hanging just as it normally did. She tilted her head to the side as she tried to see what Caspian told her that he saw, beauty. He told her in such a sweet and honest way, so it must be true. She shrugged to herself, supposing that she should just believe him, before rushing out the cabin door and bolting up the steps that took her above deck. It was now late afternoon, and the half of the crew that was not busy rowing was merrily chatting and challenging eachother to duels. The mood seemed to be lifted aboard the ship since everyone knew they were headed in the right direction and that they would be at their destination soon. Eustace flew easily over the ship, soaring back and forth and actually looked as if he was enjoying himself. I certainly would, Lucy thought, If I could fly. She saw Edmund and Caspian, leaning casually against the railing and speaking with Rynelf and Reepicheep. She noticed that Caspian and Edmund barely spoke to one another, and when Caspian would speak Edmund would give him a glare. This seemed odd to her, since the two of them seemed to almost always get along. She would get to the bottom of that later. A rush of excitement washed over her as she looked at her brother, and remembered the fear that had overtook her the night before when Eustace carried him off. She rushed up to him and threw her arms around him before he could even register what was happening, after a few moments of being suprised, he hugged her back, laughing. She could hear the laughter of Caspian, Rynelf, and Reepicheep as well.
"Geez, Lu, I'm fine. You know that." He smoothed her hair before releasing her, smiling down at her as she beamed up at him.
"I know that, but I'm just happy that you are. I was worried about you! I'm sorry for being sour with you before!" She hugged him fiercely once more. "Even though you deserved it," She joked, nudging him. Edmund rolled his eyes, ruffling her hair one last time. Lucy laughed again, before looking at Caspian briefly to find him smiling down at her in a way that only he did, the smile that made her nervous. She blushed, and turned to talk to Reepicheep and Rynelf. Rynelf groaned.
"What's the matter?" Lucy asked him.
"Well, your majesty, the crew is just starting to get a little restless. We did not find much food on that island we just parted from, and although the blue star will hopefully lead us to Ramandu's island by tommorow night, we don't even have enough rations to last us until then. With working constantly up above deck while we aren't rowing, it's hard to stay healthy enough to do our jobs correctly with such little rations." Lucy felt bad. Even though she was getting no more food than any one else on the ship, she still did not have to do as much physical work as them. She had never thought of this. A few more members of the crew that had passed by and heard his words groaned in agreement.
"If I get any hungrier, I'm going to eat that dragon!" A nearby man hollared. Lucy looked up to see Eustace's eyes widen.
"It's alright Eustace! That won't happen!" She yelled back to him. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as Eustace sped up to be closer to the front of the ship. Her jaw dropped in amazement as she watched Eustace wrap his tail around the dragon head of the ship and begin pulling the ship along with him, rapidly increasing their pace. All around, crew members cheered and clapped their hands.
"Eustace! That's brilliant!" Edmund called, clapping his hands. Lucy laughed, as did Caspian.
By nightfall, the crew of the Dawn Treader was able to see Ramandu's Island a few miles in the distance. At first, they had decided that they would simply drop the anchor and float for the night, but Lucy complained that since Eustace had worked so hard to get them their quickly, that they should go venture the island straight away. Naturally, Edmund and Caspian agreed. So it was settled, and the crew dropped anchor and loaded into the small boats, Eustace hovering over them, waiting for them to arrive to the shores before touching down on them himself.
CASPIAN'S POV
They arrived on the shores of Ramandu's Island, looking around to see that it was the most beautiful of any of the lands they had yet to see on their voyage. The blue star hung directly over the middle of the island, shining light on green grass, waterfalls, trees covered in millions of leaves and flowers all around. Caspian heard Drinian suggest that they walk until they were exactly under where the star hung. So off they went, Caspian feeling envious as Edmund held Lucy's hand. The older brother had insisted since it was nightfall and they did not know of what creatures lurked in these woods. Lucy had rolled her eyes, shaking her head saying that she was not five, but let him take her small hand anyway. They walked through the trees, looking up to see when they would be under the light of the blue star directly. Caspian was looking up when he heard a gasp that he knew came from Lucy. He snapped his head down to see what the danger was when he saw it. A huge table covered in the most scrumptous looking food he had ever seen. Immediatly, the crew dashed for it.
"Wait!" He hollared. They looked to him, confused. "It may be poisoned." They huffed, but nodded to the King's orders, and backed away a few steps. Caspian saw that Lucy had yanked her hand from Edmund's grip, and was making her way to the end of the table. Edmund pulled his flashlight from his pocket and shined it in the direction of where his sister was heading, and she shrieked when she saw what was there. Three men, very old, with long white beards. They looked as if they were dead. Lucy backed up, frightened, and jumped when Caspian wrapped and arm around her waist to steady her. Edmund, though, was advancing towards the three men. He was studying them closely.
"Caspian. These men couldn't be...?" Knowing what he was asking, Caspian pulled Lucy behind him, letting her go before making his way closer towards the men. He immediatly saw the rings on their fingers, and the swords in their sheaths. He reached forward to the men closest to him, moving the white hair that covered his face so that he could get a better look.
"Lord Mavramorn." He picked up the man's sword, which happened to be sitting on the table, and used it to move the hair away from the faces of the other two men. "Lord Argoz, Lord Revilian."
"Quickly, their swords." Lucy pressured. Caspian and Edmund nodded, Caspian placing Mavramorn's on the table as well as Octesian's, which he held in his belt. Edmund pulled the swords from the other men and placed them their as well. Drinian held Restimar's, and placed it on the table. Edmund had been using the sword of Lord Bern, and put it there. Lucy counted on her fingers.
"That's only six." She sighed, her shoulders slumping. Caspian nodded towards her.
"We have yet to find out about Lord Rhoop. We need his sword." Before anyone else could speak another word, a bright light shone through the trees. They looked up to see the blue star descending upon them, but as it reached the ground, it turned into a beautiful young woman. She had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes with shining skin, and wore a white gown. Caspian could see Edmund's eyes transfix upon her, like his did when he looked at Lucy, he smirked.
"Who are you?" Lucy asked politely. The woman shot her a dazzling smile.
"I am Liliandil, daughter of Ramandu. I am your guide." Caspian's jaw dropped.
"You're a star." She turned to him, and nodded.
"You are most beautiful." Edmund said, sounding dazed. Liliandil smiled brightly at him. Caspian smirked. Lucy rolled her eyes. Liliandil looked towards the crew.
"Are you not hungry? The food is for you! Please, help yourselves." She gestured towards the buffet. Needing no further invitation, the crew members started moving once again towards the food.
"Wait!" Lucy raised a hand in signal for them to stop. She turned to the star. "What happened to them?" She nodded towards the three lords. Liliandil looked towards the men sadly.
"These men were driven half mad by the time they reached our shores. They were threatening violence on one another. Violence, naturally, is forbidden at Aslan's table. So they were sent to sleep."
"Will they ever wake?" Caspian asked, concerned, but happy that the men were not dead.
"When all is made right." Caspian nodded, looking at his father's friends sympathetically. He felt a small hand on his arm and smiled down at Lucy. Lucy looked back towards Liliandil after smiling to him in return.
"We have six swords, do you know where the seventh is?" She asked. Liliandil nodded, and gestured for them to follow her. Caspian, Lucy, and Edmund followed, Edmund close on her heels. The rest of the crew stayed behind and ate. She led them to a clearing where they could see an island not far away, one surrounded with storm clouds and smoke. It looked rather frightening.
"Coriakin told you of Dark Island?" She asked them. Edmund nodded towards her, standing only inches away. Caspian's eyes widened.
"Lord Rhoop. He is there?" The star nodded back to him. Lucy slumped a little behind him. He knew immediatly that she was scared, and wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.
"You will need great courage." Liliandil went on. She turned and looked at Edmund, smiling at him sweetly. He stuttered a little, smiling back. Caspian rolled his eyes, Edmund was obviously too distracted to realize what was going on.
"I hope we meet again." Edmund told her. Caspian could barely supress a laugh as Lucy made a gagging notion beside him. Liliandil told Edmund that this was her wish as well, before bidding them goodbye and shooting back up into the sky. Edmund turned to the other two, looking angry.
"What?" He demanded, not waiting for an answer before storming off. Lucy and Caspian burst into laughter. Something precious before they were to dive off into unspeakable danger shortly.
LONGEST. CHAPTER. EVER. Lol, but I loved writing it! Thanks for reading!