Chapter Three
The smoke dribbled into the hallway as Susan, Lucy, Tilnus, Edmund and Peter stood in the hallway and the smell of burning leaves filled the air while the glow from the embers shimmered in the smoke. Arannno and Tumnus ran down the hallway when they came to a stop next to Peter and Tilnus and Mister Tumus slowly walked toward the doorway, waving the smoke out of his face.
"No," Tumnus whispered when Tilnus placed his hand on Tumnus' shoulder and Tumnus balled his hands into fists, his heart thundering in his ears.
"No, don't go inside," Tilnus said as he led him away from the doorway and Tumnus looked at the smoke rising from the floor. "They used Dragon Light."
"What's Dragon Light?" Lucy asked.
"Dragon Light is a spell that produces a fireball hot enough to melt stone. It will melt flesh off bone in a matter of second."
"TumnusTumnusTumnusTumnus!" Tinklebery shouted as she flew toward him and Tumnus held his hand out, watching her land on his palm. She crawled along his palm when she looked into the room and her eyes widened. Changing size, she growled as she felt Tumnus holding her and she turned toward him, placing her cheek against his shoulder. "It's ruined."
"Um, I hate to ask, but where is Oreius?" Peter asked as Miser Tumnus sighed and looked at Aranno.
"The fauns attacked us during the inspection. I…I ran during the fight," Tumnus sighed and Peter nodded his head. "If it wasn't for Aranno, I would have been killed. Maybe it would have been better if…"
"Stop right there, Little One," Tilnus said then turned and looked at his second in command. "Thank you."
"There is no need to thank me. It was an honor to aide one of Narnia's heroes," Aranno said as Tumnus sighed then thought of something and looked at Tilnus.
"Father, if they did this to my bedroom, what have they done to…?" Tumnus asked when Tilnus' eyes went wide and his mouth fell open.
"NO!" Tilnus shouted then ran down the hallway and Tumnus handed Tinkleberry to Lucy then ran to catch up with him.
The leaves moved slowly back and forth while Tumnus led the way and they stopped at the large mouth of a cave. Slowly walking closer, Tumnus looked in the mouth of the cave when he made a soft coughing sound and placed his hands behind his back.
"Anyone home?" he asked when something moved in the shadows and he stood back as something walked out of the cave. The creature was a chimera with heads of a falcon, a lion and a bull, a body of a lion, a tail of a scorpion and wings of a falcon. The chimera's name was Balferone and Balferone slowly blinked its eyes, tilting the heads to one side.
"Greeting, Faun, what can I do for you?" Balferone asked then sniffed the air and looked toward the trees. "Is something burning?"
"Yes, my bedroom was set on fire," Tumnus said and Balferone widened its eyes.
"Who would do such a thing?"
"That doesn't matter at the moment. Would you please take me and my father to our home in the mountains?"
"Of course," Balferone said as they climbed onto its back and Balferone flew into the air. The large winds thundered around them as Tilnus watched the ground going by and Tumnus held onto the soft fur. A short time later Balferone landed as they slid off its back and Tumnus and Tilnus walked toward the trees. Balferone watched them head down the path when it slowly settled on the ground and sighed, placing its head on the top of its paws.
Tumnus led the way while the sun rose higher in the sky when Tumnus looked at his father and could see the anger on Tilnus' face. He was angry as well as they walked by the rocks and the cliffs rose around them. Stopping near a large boulder, Tumnus sniffed the air when he smelt something and balled his hands into fists.
"NO!" he shouted when Tumnus ran and his father followed him. They stopped when they saw the door to their house lying on the ground and smoke rose from the doorway. They slowly walked closer as they looked inside and embers flickered brightly in the darkness. Tumnus stood back as his father placed his head back and an inhuman scream caused the birds in the trees to fly into the air.
Oreius and the centaurs stood near the stone circle when Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy walked closer and Peter looked at the chains hanging from the ceiling. He noticed the chains were looped through several rings and were connected to the top of the iron grating over the stone circle and several iron spikes dotted the iron grating.
"Did we lose anyone?" Peter asked when Oreius looked at him and slowly blinked his eyes.
"Luckily no," he said and Peter nodded his head.
"Did they find the faun that tried to poison Tumnus?" Susan asked.
"Yes. She confessed to the poisoning and said that her mate would have killed her and their children if she refused. We put her over there," Oreius said as they looked at the metal cage that was dangling off the floor by a chain and a female faun with blonde hair and a tan hide and fur looked at them with sad eyes.
"STOP TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN!" Tilnus shouted as he and Tumnus came in the room and Tumnus sighed, placing his hands behind his back.
"But Father…" Tumnus said when they stopped near Peter and Tilnus growled, looking at the female faun in the metal cage.
"NO, THEY DESTROYED YOUR ROOM AND OUR HOME! I DEMAND JUSTICE!" Tilnus shouted then walked to the stone circle and looked through the grating. He could see the fauns sitting on the dirt at the bottom of the pit and he placed his hands on the edge of the stone circle.
"What are you going to do with them?" Tumnus asked as Peter sighed and looked down, blinking his eyes a few times.
"We should roast them with Dragon Light," Tilnus growled then smiled when he saw some of the fauns shaking and Pete frowned, glaring at him.
"We haven't decided yet," Peter said when they turned and headed for the stairs and Tumnus slowly followed them up the stairs. Turning, he looked at the stone circle then at the metal cage while his stomach churned inside him and he walked faster up the stairs.
The moon was full and bright as the moon moths floated across the sky and their wings shimmered in the moonlight. Tumnus stood by the window as he looked out at the night sky and softly sighed. He walked to the fireplace when he noticed the wooden box on the mantel and carefully picked the wooden box off the mantel. Tilnus had insisted he and Tinkleberry stayed in his quarters as Tumnus sat on the bed and placed his legs up, looking at the wooden box. He felt the bed sinking a bit when he saw Tinkleberry sitting next to him and she snuggled closer, looking at the box.
"What's in there?" she asked as he looked at the wooden box and moved his fingers over the carvings on the lid of the wooden box.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said and leaned the back of his head against the headboard.
"Tell me," she said and he glanced at her with a smile on his face.
"It's a secret," he said and she looked at him with a confused look on her face.
"A secret?" she asked and he nodded his head, slowly closing his eyes.
The teakettle whistled while Tumnus walked to the stove and carefully picked the teakettle up. He poured the water into the teapot when he placed the teapot on the tray and sighed.
"Is the tea done, Stick?" a low voice behind him asked as Tumnus rolled his eyes and turned around, looking at the fauns sitting at the wooden table.
"Yes," Tumnus sighed.
"Well bring it over here!" a low voice said while Tumnus walked with the tray to the wooden table and looked at the five fauns sitting there. The five fauns were his older brothers and their names were Talnus, Telnus, Ternus, Timnus and Tolnus. Pouring the tea into the china cups then placed the china cups on the wooden table, Tumnus half closed his eyes and Telnus laughed, gently smacking Tumnus' bottom.
"All ya need is a frilly apron and ya'd be Mum!" Telnus said.
"Leave Stick be!" Timnus said.
"And you're wrong. He doesn't look like her at all," Tolnus said as Tumnus walked to the table and looked at the picture of the female faun. His mother died when he was very small and it saddened him that he didn't remember her.
"Where is Tamnus? He said he'd be home before sunset," Tolnus said when the door opened and Tumnus looked at the faun coming inside. The faun stamped his hooves then came down the stairs and smiled at them.
"Looks like I'm home in time for tea!" Tamnus said and removed his scarf, tossing on the floor. Tumnus walked closer when he poured the tea in the teacup and handed it to Tamnus, who sat on the stool. Tumnus placed the teapot down on the tray when he sat on the floor and Talnus smiled, looking at Tamnus.
"Where have you've been?" Talnus asked.
"Have you been out playing Stones?" Ternus asked.
"Yes, and I won something very interesting!" Tamnus said when he brought out a piece of paper and they looked at it.
"Oh, look at that! You won a piece of paper!" Tolnus teased and Tamnus snorted.
"A lot you know!" Tamnus said when he opened the paper and they looked at the markings on the paper.
"You won a piece of paper with DOODLES on it!" Timnus said.
"Those aren't doodles. That's a map," Tumnus said after he stood up and looked at the piece of paper.
"How do you know?" Tolnus asked.
"I've seen some in my books," Tumnus said.
"Pffffffffffft, you and those book things," Talnus snorted.
"So, Stick, can you read this? Tamnus asked and Tumnus looked at the map.
"Yes, this is Cair Paravel, the home of the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve, and this mark stands for the lamppost. Go this way and this is our home. Now, if you keep going this way, you will find…." Tumnus said as he looked at the piece of paper and looked at the writing at the bottom. "….the Eye of the Moon."
"What? The Eye of the Moon isn't real!" Termus said.
"What is the Eye of the Moon?" Tolnis asked.
"It is some mystical orb that was lost after the last war," Talnus said when he got up and walked to the fireplace, taking the pipe off the holder. Taking a long matchstick out of the wooden box, Talnus lit the long matchstick then lit the pipe and smoke swirled around his head.
"Put that out! Father will have a fit if he knew you were smoking!" Tumnus said and Talnus smirked, walking to him.
"And who is going to tell him?" Talnus said and gently thumped the pipe on the top of Tumnus' head, bits of burning tobacco floating in tiny red swirls to the floor.
"If the Eye of the Moon is real, and we found it, how much do you think we'd get for it?" Tamnus asked and Tumnus' eyes widened.
"Who know and who cares. We don't have time to go look for it. There's a war on, remember?" Ternus said.
"We'll go looking for it AFTER the war!" Tamnus said.
"Father will never allow it," Tumnus sighed.
"Only if he finds out," Timnus said then took the piece of paper off the table and he walked to the fireplace, picking up the wooden box. Opening the wooden box, he placed the piece of paper in the wooden box and closed the lid. Placing the wooden box on the mantel, he folded his arms over his chest as he smiled and tilted his head to one side. "So, are we agreed? We keep this a secret then, after the war is over, we go after the Eye of the Moon."
"If we come back," Tumnus sighed and they looked at him with blank looks on their faces.
"Who said YOU are going?" Tamus asked.
"Father would never allow you to come with us," Ternus said.
"Which is why you have to swear to us that you will NOT touch that box," Tamnus growled and Tumnus sighed, nodding his head. Watching his brothers going upstairs, Tumnus balled his hands into fists then looked at the wooden box, sighed and watched the fire crackling in the fireplace.