Disclaimer: I don't claim to own The Chronicles of Narnia. That would be C.S. Lewis, a genius among authors.

Set after Silver Chair.

Eustace yawned widely and his eyes closed tightly; he scrubbed at them eyes violently, as if he were trying to rid himself of his exhaustion.

Someone on his left snickered at him and he raised his head to shoot the culprit a glare. Jill Pole's smirk only widened under the weight of his gaze. "Oh, hush up, Pole," Eustace growled, more good-natured than angry. "It's not my fault I'm exhausted."

"Then whose fault is it?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

Eustace sighed, sitting back in his chair. "I had a nightmare," he murmured, watching out of the window of the train.

"What was it about?"

He paused for a moment as vivid memories of the nightmare washed over him. He wondered how he could describe it to her without shuddering. "It started out as a good dream, but then it changed…"

vVvVvVv

He was in Narnia again, even if he didn't know how he knew. Perhaps it was how much fresher the air seemed, or how bright the colors were. He didn't care how he knew; all he cared about was that he was home.

His cousins, the Pevensies—well, just Peter and Edmund and Lucy (Susan never seemed to speak of her experiences in Narnia)—had told him how they longed for Narnia (Lucy said they longed for Aslan more than that, to which her brothers had nodded solemnly in agreement), and now Eustace understood. The only thing he felt was joy. Even now he was grinning from ear to ear, probably looking like a fool—but at least he was a happy fool.

But his joy was short-lived when he realized he couldn't move normally. He shifted from left to right and opened his mouth, huffing in annoyance. Then he froze. His breath came as two pillars of smoke from on top of his nose.

Eustace the dragon was back.

He tried to scream but a grating roar erupted from his throat and flames flickered around his jaw, comfortingly warm against his scales. No! he felt like screaming. Aslan, no!

The Lion was nowhere to be found. Instead, Eustace had never felt more alone. Scalding dragon-tears slid down his cheeks and fell on the sand beneath his feet. A ship's outline shrank on the horizon and somehow he knew it was the Dawn Treader.

Eustace roared again, fear and desperation echoing around him. Mocking him. He flapped those horrible, bat-like wings and tried to rise into the air, but he didn't even get two feet off of the ground.

Weariness overpowered him and he sank down and shut his eyes.

vVvVvVv

"That's horrible," Jill whispered, her brow furrowed in sympathy. "Have you had many dreams like that?"

"Not very often. It only happens after a spectacularly hard day, or if I don't get much sleep before." He sighed. "It's always so… vivid, though."

"I understand. I still have dreams about trying to get back to the surface, when the water rose, and it always rises too fast and we can't get out." She thought for a while, tilting her head a bit to the side. "I've never thought about it before, but it does happen more often when I'm tired, or during a storm."

"Well, I'm glad—"

"Scrubb, Pole. Is there something more important that you would care to share with the class?" Their teacher, an elderly woman with a sour expression on her face, glared down at them, looking bored.

"No, ma'am," Jill answered angelically, rolling her eyes at Eustace. He grinned at her and thanked the Lion for a true friend before the pair's minds returned to the lesson at hand.

Author's Note:
This (short) chapter is courtesy of my friend smacking me over the head. (Actually, I updated mostly because I hadn't in forever, and plus VTD came out today!)
So….. reviews are loved—greatly so. (Hint, hint.)
What character do you want to see next? Review and/or vote on my page, please!
~Elissa~