Part Two: Aurora
A/N: My thanks to Cammy for the picture of Dawn Treader! The link to her drawing is listed in my profile for anyone that would like to see.
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It was a stifling hot night in early summer and we and a handful of courtiers were relaxing on the garden balcony overlooking the Eastern Sea. There were almost no breezes and a haze of humidity hung low on the horizon. Overhead the stars were brilliant and white and the full, ivory moon cast a long reflection across the ocean. We lounged about happily, sipping sweet mead and talking with Cheroom, the court astronomer and my tutor, and General Oreius, Cheroom's great-nephew. The old Centaur was particularly anxious to see one of the stars, Proxena by name, because according to reports from other star gazers in the area it was behaving oddly. The past few nights had been cloudy, frustrating their efforts to observe this wonder for themselves.
Now before relating anything more of this tale I must explain something to those of you who are unfamiliar with the skies above this land of Narnia. Just as with the land and the seas and possibly even beneath the earth, the dome above Narnia is inhabited by living, intelligent beings: the Moon, the Sun, the Stars, and the Planets. They are not lifeless bodies as on other worlds. Aslan created the Sun and Moon on that first day he called Narnia into being and set them in motion across the sky. From the moment they were aware the Sun and Moon were in love, and the Moon gave birth to thousands of children as white and cool as she and as shining and brilliant as their father.
And these children danced and sang as they moved across the heavens, a beautiful song of praise and love to Aslan for giving them such devoted parents and the whole dark expanse of the night where they lived and grew under their mother's watchful eyes. They watch the earth and the oceans just as we watch them, counting the lights below and naming them just as they have been named. Their motions and dance cause the winds, which cause the waves, which move the oceans and give the earth its pulse.
So this clear summer night we waited to see Proxena in her glory step over the horizon and join the dance as she had done every night for more than a millennium. I remember Cheroom, my teacher, so anxious and excited, my brother the High King and my sisters the queens interested for the sake of science and seeing something new. I was very curious, because Cheroom and I had explored the library and nowhere could we find any record of a star doing anything but shining and moving across the sky on a set path.
"How long until Proxena rises?" wondered Lucy, fighting a yawn. She was sharing a long couch with Susan, sitting still for once as Susan undid Lucy's auburn hair from its intricate braids.
"Another hour or so, Lu," Peter replied. "Think you'll make it?"
She yawned in earnest this time. "I'll try. I would like to see it."
"Ed said that the stars don't change," Susan said, running her fingers through Lucy's hair to smooth it. "Do you think there could be something wrong, Cheroom?"
"I may be able to tell you more when I see the change with mine own eyes, Majesty," said the Centaur.
"What differences have been reported?" wondered Peter, looking to the Centaurs.
"She does not shine as brilliantly," said Oreius. "And her motions seem to have slowed."
"How do you know Proxena is a she?"
Oreius smiled. "History tells us that the Sun, upon becoming a father, sent the Moon Dog, Sterno, to Narnia to announce the birth of his children. There were so many of them that it took Sterno three days to tell all their names."
Peter laughed but did not question Oreius' tale since we had all seen the Moon Dog's milky-white path in a halo around the moon. I myself had seen the Sun Dogs as well, and I had found that very story in an astronomy book.
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"Hold on!" exclaimed Eustace, fit to burst with inquisitiveness. I was amazed he'd made it so far without interrupting. "You're saying the sun and moon keep dogs?"
"Yes," Lucy replied, "hounds. The sun has three and the moon has one. We met them. Now shush. Do go on, Ed."
"But -"
"Shhh!" insisted Lucy and our cousin settled down.
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The hour passed in pleasant conversation, but when it came time for Proxena to rise we all fell silent and gathered along the balcony's wide railing. We strained our eyes on the horizon, but Proxena did not take her place in the sky. Finally, very late and very dim, we saw a glimmer. Slowly, well behind her siblings, she stepped above the rim of the Eastern Sea. Gone was her brilliant white light, replaced by a sickly, yellowish tint.
"By the Lion, what could be wrong?" worried Susan, looking to Cheroom for answers.
The old Centaur shook his head. "I . . . I do not know, my queen. This is most distressing."
For a long while we stared in silence, no once certain of what to say, when suddenly there was a flash of white around the ailing star, then it faded back to dim yellow. Something had changed, though, and we all saw it. There was something more in the sky. It was not a shooting star (which are not stars at all but the spears the stars use when hunting) but it was as bright as one. It did not fade or arc down to the earth. Rather it seemed to move towards us in a weaving path, like a snake gliding through grass.
"A comet?" suggested Peter, sounding skeptical of his own suggestion.
I shook my head. That object was no comet, though it seemed to have a tail. "It's too small for that," I said, "and it's not following the sky. It's moving across the sea."
"Could it be dangerous?" wondered Susan nervously.
Peter shrugged, not helping at all when he said, "We'll find out when it gets here."
I hoped she didn't get the notion in her head that Lucy and I should be sent away for our own safety. This was an event not to be missed. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Susan since the rest of us rarely shared her reactions. She was a very sensible and Peter and I were a constant source of worry with our reckless behavior and regular injuries.
The light was growing larger and larger as it drew closer. It was no longer entirely white, but shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. The tail I had noted spread out behind it like a wide ribbon, slowly fading to darkness.
"It's very beautiful," murmured Lucy.
"La," agreed Peter. "I say, Ed, Cheroom, could this be an aurora?"
"But it's summer," was the best I could do for an answer. Still, an aurora was a better fit for it than a shooting star or a comet. "If it's an aurora, it's one with a purpose."
The truth of my words became more evident each passing moment as the ribbon of light wove its way over the wide ocean, reflecting on the smooth water. We watched in rapt fascination, losing all track of time as the dancing light filled more and more of the sky. Very soon it was evident that it was headed for Narnia, and soon after that it was clear that Cair Paravel was its target.
"Majesties?" Oreius whispered to me and Peter, checking to see if we wanted any action taken.
"Alert the palace guard, General, but no more," said Peter. I was relieved that no alarm was to be raised. "We'll wait and see how this plays out."
The aurora was close enough that we could hear an odd, humming sound accompanied the wavering colors. There was something within the light, something long and thin and sinuous, and all at once I realized that it was not part of the aurora, but the aurora was part of it. This thing, this creature or force, glowed with this gorgeous light and energy.
Faint sounds behind us drew my attention and I saw several of the palace guards - several very large palace guards - quietly joined us on the balcony. I smiled. Oreius, bless him, would take no chances.
Then the aurora seemed to shrink. What had been wide and bright enough to fill half the sky gradually reduced down in size, growing whiter and brighter as the colors were condensed. The humming grew deeper and louder until it sounded almost like voices in harmony. Closer and brighter and faster, more intense each second until we were dazzled and the eastern side of Cair Paravel was cast into white sunlight that altered all colors and made the shadows stand out in stark relief. With startled cries we fell back a few steps and then -
Silence. I lowered my arms from my face as people recovered. The first thing I saw was Peter, and he was staring in wide-eyed awe. I followed his stare and took another step back.
There was a Dragon standing on the railing.
Now there were many illuminated books in the library of Cair Paravel dealing with Dragons and even several depicted in the stained glass windows in the Great Hall, but what Narnians call Dragons were nothing like this creature. In Narnia, Dragons were once men whose nastiness and greed made them hoard riches until their very selfishness turns them into wyrms. They are not particularly bright creatures nor can they speak, and they have violent tempers, large wings and breathe fire.
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Eustace snorted and folded his arms across his chest in a huff that was more show than any actual offense.
"Shhh!" ordered Lucy, Caspian, and Reepicheep.
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This new Dragon was nothing like that, and indeed I had never heard or seen tell of a dragon so small or as couth as this one. He had no wings, looking more like a snake with short legs and five-clawed feet that he used like hands. In his front right foot he carried a great pearl that was blue-black and luminous at once. A ruff of feathery red tendrils encircled his head and he sported a pair of short, blunt-tipped antlers, branching only once like those of a young stag. His snout was rather pug and wide, with large nostrils and long, trailing tendrils on either side of his nose like a moustache. His scales shimmered with every color so that at times he even appeared white, though he showed mostly green and yellow on his body, all the way to his long, red-tufted tail.
But what struck me most were the Dragon's eyes. They were very large and round and purple in color and the pupils were barred, like a goat's. Looking into those eyes, strange as they were, was like looking back over countless ages. He was at once very old and very wise and very powerful. In a way he put me in mind of Aslan, because just by looking into the depths of his eyes you could sense this Dragon was good and would only use his strength to build and protect, not destroy.
Curling wisps of mist rose off his icy hide, enveloping him in a haze. Thick frost spread out along the railing 'neath his feet and from where I stood I could feel the cold radiating off of him. The Dragon stared at us with interest while we stared at him in speechless wonder. For the longest while no one moved or spoke, and then the Dragon bowed his head to Peter.
His motions were strange because he radiated so much energy that ghostly after-images followed behind him, lingering for a few seconds so that the only way you could see him clearly was when he was perfectly still. Peter, who much to Oreius' chagrin was the closest one to the Dragon, bowed very low in return, clearly as deeply impressed as I was by this Dragon's aura of majesty. Then those purple eyes searched the people assembled and stopped on Susan. Again, the Dragon bowed, and she curtsied in return. Then it was my turn, then Lucy's.
Peter spoke first. "In Aslan's name, be welcome to Narnia and Cair Paravel, good sir. I am King Peter. These are my sisters, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy, and this is my brother, King Edmund."
Slowly, regally, the Dragon bowed his head in acknowledgement of the salutation. He drew a deep breath, the motion scattering ice from his sides, and when he spoke his voice was as deep as it was ancient with a queer, echoing quality to it as if he spoke from the bottom of a well.
"From my home, from my Master, and from my Master's Son, I bring you greeting, O kings and queens of Narnia. Blessings upon you and your land, and may you serve as you have been served. I am named Dawn Treader. I am called the Sky Walker, the Sun Grazer, and the Father of Storms. I command the air and from the void beyond the sky I watch over the worlds and make certain that what must be, will be."
"From whence do you journey, good Dawn Treader?" I asked, intrigued by every aspect of him.
Those purple eyes turned to me. "I come from Over Sea at the bidding of my Master's beloved Son. I bring you grave tidings, O Narnia."
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"Over Sea?" demanded Eustace. "You said that before. What is it?"
I smiled, remembering. "Over Sea is the home of the Emperor."
Eustace shook his head, not comprehending, and Lucy took mercy upon him.
"The Emperor-Over-Sea is Aslan's father, Eustace. He is the one that set the boundaries of the Deep Magic."
"Emperor? Has he a name?"
My cousin's innocent question almost broke my heart and I closed my eyes against my tears and my memories.
"Yes," I finally managed to say, and no one dared question me further. Lucy handed me wine, and I took a deep drink and then a deep breath before I could go on.