That night, Elaine was asleep in her tent when a noise outside woke her up. She drowsily got out of bed and saw Aslan's shadow pass by. Wondering why he was out in the woods instead of in his own tent, she put on her green cloak and quietly left. She ended up peeking out of her tent at the exact same time as Susan and Lucy.

"What are you doing?" Elaine asked.

"Same as you," Susan said. "We saw Aslan and wanted to know where he was going."

"Come on then, quietly."

The three girls followed the lion into the forest, trying their best not to make a sound.

Aslan paused for a second then said, "Shouldn't you three be in bed?"

The girls sheepishly looked at one another and came out in plain sight of Aslan, hiding being pointless.

"We couldn't sleep," Lucy told him.

"Please, Aslan. Couldn't we come with you?" Susan asked.

"I would be glad of the company for awhile. Thank you," Aslan said to them.

Elaine and Lucy went on one side of him while Susan went on the other. They each put one hand onto his mane as they began walking forward. Elaine could sense that something was very wrong, but she didn't understand what it was.

They walked in silence for a short while, the tension in the air very thick.

"It is time," Aslan said to the girls. "From here, I must go on alone."

"But, Aslan—" Susan started.

"You have to trust me, for this must be done. Thank you, Susan. Thank you, Lucy. Thank you, Elaine. And farewell."

Farewell? What was he talking about? What had to be done? Elaine was growing more worried by the second.

They watched Aslan walk forward deeper into the forest. Susan put her hand on Lucy's shoulder, then led the two of them to a place where they could see where Aslan was going.

All three of them were speechless at what they saw. Torches lit up a place where the White Witch's army had all gathered together with the Witch herself in front of what had to be the Stone Table.

No. No, he couldn't possibly be doing what Elaine thought he was doing.

Aslan walked through the crowd of creatures as they all growled and screeched at him. When he got to the Table, a minotaur poked him with his axe, making Aslan growl. The Witch nodded, and the minotaur knocked him over with the axe.

"Why doesn't he fight back?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know," Elaine whispered.

"Bind him!" the Witch ordered. Her minions began tying up their King. "Wait. Let him first be shaved."

The girls watched in horror as the Witch's head dwarf took out a knife and cut off part of Aslan's mane. He threw it into the air victoriously as everyone cheered. Then more of the creatures brought out their own knives and took off the rest of Aslan's mane. It wasn't enough to just sacrifice him. The Witch had to humiliate him.

"Bring him to me."

Two of the creatures roughly pulled Aslan up onto the Table. The Witch threw her arm out and immediately, everyone silenced.

After a few seconds, staffs began banging onto the ground, and soon roars and howls and screeches filled the night air once more. The Witch knelt down and spoke something to Aslan, but Elaine couldn't make out what it was. She wasn't sure she even wanted to know.

When she stood back up, she announced to her followers, "Tonight, the Deep Magic will be appeased! But tomorrow, we will take Narnia FOREVER!"

The cheers and roars got even louder as the staffs banged on the ground even faster.

The Witch looked down at Aslan. "In that knowledge, despair…" She held up the knife high above her.

Aslan looked at the three girls and Elaine met eyes with him. It felt like he was staring straight through her, seeing all her worries and fears and doubts. He didn't look scared for himself, but looked scared more for the girls. How could he be that close to death and be more scared for them? How could anyone or anything have that kind of love?

"And DIE!"

Lucy and Elaine gasped as the Witch plunged the knife into Aslan's body. Their hearts sank as his eyes closed, and he took one last exhale. The three girls hugged each other and began sobbing.

"The Great Cat…is DEAD!" the Witch yelled.

Elaine didn't think she could ever feel such hatred for one person. Her mother and father had always taught her that there was good in everyone, but looking at the Witch, she realized that her parents were incorrect.

The girls waited for the creatures to leave the Stone Table, and then they slowly came out of their hiding place and approached Aslan's body.

Tears ran down all three girls' cheeks at the sight of the lion they had once believed to be undefeatable. Lucy walked up the steps and sat next to him. Desperate to find some way to heal Aslan, she took out her cordial.

"It's too late," Susan stopped her. "He's gone." She slowly walked up the steps to the other side of him. "He must have known what he was doing."

The three girls began sobbing again as they hugged his body. It didn't seem fair that just as things started to make sense, if only a little, he was taken away from them. How were they ever going to win against the White Witch now?

They all looked up at the sound of quiet squeaking to find mice on Aslan.

"Get away!" Susan cried. "Get away, all of you!"

"No," Lucy whispered. "Look."

They realized that the mice were actually chewing away the ropes that were binding him. Susan and Lucy gently took off the ropes that acted as a muzzle, and Lucy began gently stroking his fur.

"We have to tell the others," Susan stated.

"We can't just leave him," Lucy said.

"Lucy, there's no time. They need to know."

"I'll go," Elaine told them.

"You can't go alone!"

"I promised Peter that I would be there for him no matter what. And he needs me now more than ever."

"But you can't know the way back. It was too dark to see where we were going."

"I'll just do my best."

Lucy looked up at Elaine. "The trees."

Susan and Lucy looked over at the trees that made up the dense forest.

Elaine looked back at her friends. "I'll be careful. I promise."

She left the two girls and headed back the way they had come. "Hello?" she called out to the trees. "Is anyone there? I need your help."

"What can I do for you, my lady?"

Elaine turned around and saw a figure made entirely out of pink flower petals. "I need help getting back to camp. I must inform the others of Aslan's death."

"Of course, my lady. It would be my honor."

The dryad led Elaine back to Aslan's camp, and they quietly entered into Peter and Edmund's tent. Upon hearing the noise, Peter instinctively whipped out his sword.

Elaine quickly held her hands up. "Peter, it's just me." She pointed to the dryad. "This is a friend."

"What is it?" Peter asked. His eyes adjusted and he noticed that Elaine's eyes were very red and her cheeks were puffy. "What's wrong?"

"We bring grave news from your sisters," the dryad told them.

"I'm afraid that…Aslan is dead," Elaine said. "The White Witch killed him last night."

Both boys were silent for a moment. Then Peter bolted up and went to look inside Aslan's tent.

"She's right. He's gone," he said as he exited the tent.

He numbly walked forward to the table where the battle plans were sitting with Edmund, Elaine, and Oreius nearby.

"Then you'll have to lead us," Edmund said. "Peter, there's an army out there and it's ready to follow you."

"I can't."

"Aslan believed you could. And so do I."

"We have faith in you, Peter," Elaine said. "You can lead these people."

"The Witch's army is nearing, sire," Oreius said. "What are your orders?"

For the first time, Peter accepted that he was in control, and he began hurriedly looking over all of the battle plans in front of him. Together with Elaine, the two of them made a plan and began preparing for battle with the White Witch and her army.

As Elaine went to her tent to prepare, she caught sight of her mirror. She gingerly picked it up and looked at the reflection.

"Why would Aslan willingly give himself up like that? How can we survive without him?"

The mirror flashed and showed the four Pevensies together in a throne room, ruling over Narnia. It was always their destiny to become the Kings and Queens of Narnia. Had Edmund been killed by the Witch, that destiny would have failed and all of Narnia would have fallen apart.

The image then flashed over to an image of Peter and Elaine fighting in battle. They knew exactly what they were doing, and they were actually winning.

Elaine set the mirror down with new confidence in her and Peter's abilities. The mirror had done its job.

She began putting on her armor and when she exited her tent, she knew she was ready to fight.

Elaine ended up next to Peter and Oreius right at the front. Peter was atop a unicorn while Elaine had a horse of her own.

A griffin who was acting as their scout flew down next to Peter. "They come, Your Highness, in numbers and weapons far greater than our own."

"Numbers do not win a battle," Oreius said.

"No," Peter muttered. "But I bet they help."

Everyone watched nervously as the Witch's army started towards them. Elaine's breath hitched in her throat as she realized just how many creatures made up the army. There were so, so many of them. Their odds suddenly got a lot smaller.

Peter took out his sword and held it high above him. This seemed to raise the army's spirits for they all started cheering behind them.

On the Witch's command, her army began running across the land towards Aslan's army. Peter pointed his sword forward, and a flock of griffins and birds soared above them. They flew over the Witch's army and dropped heavy rocks on them rendering many members of the army dead already.

Elaine's heartbeat quickened as she watched the army draw closer and closer.

Peter turned to Oreius. "Are you with me?"

"To the death," Oreius responded.

He then turned to Elaine. "And you?"

Elaine knew she could not hide the fear in her eyes from him, but she replied firmly, "Always."

Peter looked forward and held his sword high. "FOR NARNIA! AND FOR ASLAN!"

With a triumphant cry, Aslan's army advanced towards the Witch's army with Peter, Elaine, and Oreius in the lead.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Elaine closed her eyes for a second as she took in the fact that this was it. The whole journey, leaving home to meeting the Pevensies to going inside the wardrobe, had all led to this moment.

The two armies collided on the battlefield and war broke out.