Okay I said that I would update quicker and I will. So here's the next chapter with more action than the ones before it.
Edmund walked around the ruins of Cair Paravel trying to make out whatever parts of it that he could. After walking for a few minutes Edmund was able to spot what looked to be four thrones. The same four thrones that he and his siblings had once sat upon to rule Narnia during the Golden Age. A time of peace for everyone. Well, it was peaceful most of the time, anyway.
Cair Paravel was a complete mess.
The fourteen year old continued walking around walking past one of the growing apple trees that now surrounded the ruined castle that had once stood in all of it's glory in the shinning sunlight.
Edmund bent down next to a rock and looked at it closely. Edmund, out of the rest of his siblings, had the best knowledge on History.
"Catapults." He said to himself before looking to his left to see a broken down wooden door that was once hidden behind a wall. A moveable wall. Edmund stood and walked over towards the door. He sent a glance down the tunnel, looking at how dark it was, before he opened his school bag and pulled out his new torch.
He walked carefully down the old stone stairs, watching his step, so as not to trip and fall. The torch lit his way and was very helpful in ensuring that he didn't slip. Edmund turned the torch off when he had reached the bottom of the stairs as the place was filled with bright light. He put the silver torch into his bag once again before looking forward towards the four chests that had statues placed behind them.
The metal gates were already pushed back, opened by someone else who had been here earlier. Edmund walked over towards the chests. Noticing that Peter, Susan and Lucy's were open already. As he walked past them he noticed that Lucy's dagger and healing coridal, Susan's bow and arrow and Peter's sword and shield were all gone.
Edmund walked towards the one chest that wasn't open. His. He lifted the lid and pulled out his old helmet, looking at it for a moment before throwing it back in. He then pulled out his sword and old shield from the Battle of Beruna that Aslan had given to him. Edmund placed them down onto the dust covered floor and began riffling through the chest for some of his old Narnian clothing that would still fit him in his current age, throwing the lcothing out of the chest left, right and center. It took him quite a while to get to the bottom of the chest where his oldest Narnian clothes, but he did eventually manage it.
He chucked all of the other clothes back into the chest very uncerimonially, but Edmund couldn't exactly care at the moment. His siblings had been here so they couldn't be too far away as they hadn't even been here for a whole day yet.
Edmund walked back out through the metal gates and up the stairs once again and back out into the sunshine and the daylight hours that surrounded the ruins of the old Narnian castle. He was now clothed in a dark blue coloured shirt, trousers and his old combat boots. His sword was at his side and his shield was carried on his back.
Edmund began walking again, heading into the woods again at a different point this time, trying to get his bearings back now and figure out where he was going, maybe towards the river Rush, but then Edmund remembered waht Susan had told him about water eroding away the soil or something like that. Edmund didn't really remember as he wasn't really listening.
When he reached the river Rush, Susan had indeed been proved right and Edmund knew that there was no way he could jump across such a wide gorge. Edmund looked around and suddenly remembered a passage that he had found once that lead to a ford near Beruna. He had tried to take his siblings that way before when they had ruled Narnia, however they had never gotten round to doing so.
So that was the way that Edmund headed.
"I don't remember this way." Susan said as she walked around the curve in the path following her older brother.
"That's the problem with girls. You can't carry a map in your head." Peter said looking over his shoulder as he walked along the path.
"That's because our heads have something in them." Lucy replied as she walked alongside her sister. They then continued walking in silence for a short moment.
"I wish he'd just listen to the D.L.F. in the first place." Susan said in a hushed tone to Lucy. Edmund would have asked what a D.L.F. was, so Lucy sent a glance back towards the little dwarf that followed along behind them at the back who looked back at her in question.
"Dear Little Friend." She said before walking off ahead with Susan.
"Oh, that's not at all patronising, is it?" The dwarf stopped and asked the retorical question, or D.L.F. as he should now be called. Peter continued walking into a dead end and stopped looking properly confused as he looked around.
"I'm not lost." Peter mumbled.
"No." The dwarf said. He had overtaken Susan and Lucy a little way back along the path. "Your just going the wrong way." He said to the High King as he jumped off of a rock.
"You last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Woods, and the quickest way there is to cross at the river Rush."
"But unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts." The dwarf said.
"That explains it, then. You're mistaken." Peter growled an answer back at the dwarf before continuing to walk, his sisters and the dwarf following slong behind him. They continued walking through the land of Narnia until Peter came to an abrupt halt at the end of the land. Susan and Lucy walked over to stand beside him and the three of them looked down from the high ledge. Water, rushing water.
"You see, over time, water erodes the earth's soil, carving deeper..." Susan started to try anf explain to Peter and mainly to Lucy.
"Oh, shut up." Peter said cutting his sister off. The three siblings remained stood by the edge of the ledge. Lucy turned to face the dwarf.
"Is there a way down?" She asked.
"Yeah, falling." The D.L.F. replied.
"Well, we weren't lost." Peter and Susan turned to face the dwarf as well.
"There's a ford near Beruna. How do you feel about swimming" The dwarf asked the three siblings.
"I'd rather that than walking." Susan replied as she started walking again following the small dwarf. Lucy, however had turned back around to face the other side of the river's high ledge.
"Edmund?" She spoke. It was a question, but to herself. Peter and Susan slowly slowed down their walk as if to stop. "It's Edmund! It's Edmund over there!" Lucy said excitedly as she turned quickly to face her older brother and sister and the dwarf, pointing with her arm outstreched towards the other side of the ledge. A smile wide on her face.
Susan and the dwarf stopped and turned to face Lucy and Peter had already done the same.
"Don't you see? He's right..." Lucy spun herself back around to face the ledge again, "...there." The smile had vanished from her face as she saw the other side of the ledge empty.
"Do you see him now?" The dwarf asked her.
"I'm not crazy." Lucy replied, turning to face the dwarf. "He was there. What if he wanted us to follow him. We should follow him." Lucy had turned to Peter.
"I'm sure there are any number of people hidden in this wood somewhere Lu. Just like that bear."
"I think I know my own brother when I see him." Lucy replied anger seeping in to her tone at her brother not believing her.
"Look, I'm not about to jump off a cliff for a King who may or not be over there." The dwarf told her.
Peter turned back to look over at the other ledge where Lucy had apperently seen her older brother. "Why wouldn't I have seen him?" Peter asked.
"Maybe you weren't looking." Lucy replied.
"Why wouldn't he have heard you shouting?" Peter asked his sister another question.
"Maybe he wasn't listening." The younger spoke again.
"I'm sorry, Lu." Peter said sadly before walking off with Susan and the dwarf in the direction that they had just come in. Lucy turned and looked back over at the other side of the cliff, still one hundred percent sure that she had seen Edmund over there. She turned back round and looked at the trees.
That's when she saw something else. The shaped outline of a golden lion. And Lucy only knew one golden lion. Aslan. Lucy went to walk forward as if to follow her siblings and the dwarf, however the lion just shook his head and let out a low growl, making Lucy stop and look at the lion once again. Aslan was looking in the other direction, towards the side of the cliff where she had seen Edmund.
"Lucy!" Peter's voice shouted back. Lucy looked over in the direction where they had headed and then she looked back to Aslan, who was now gone as well and Lucy's heart sank as she turned and sadly followed her siblings towards the fort at Beruna.
Night fell suddenly like a dark blanket covering everything with it's darkness.
"Kill him" Was the choursed shout as fingers, paws and claws were pointed into a center point, by centaurs, bears, fauns and mnay other Narnian creatures that had been thought for a long time to have been extinct.
"Telmarine!" "Lair!" "Murderer!" More creatures shouted and pointed. Caspian looked around the circle nervously.
"All this horn proves is they've stolen yet another thing from us!" The dwarf, Nikabrick, shouted out and pointing to Caspian.
"I didn't steal anything." Caspian spoke, trying to make his voice sound strong despite his growing nerves.
"Didn't steal anything? Shall we listed the things that Telmarines have taken." Shouted out yet another of the creatures that surrounded the young Telmarine Prince.
"Our homes!" A female centaur shouted lifting her sword to point it at Caspian.
"Our land!"
"Our freedom!" A faun shouted out. Nikabrick held a hand out to it as if in praise of the point that it had raised.
"Our lives!"
"You stole Narnia!"
"You would hold me accountable for all the crimes of my people?" Caspian asked.
"Accountable... and punishable." Nikabrick said walking closer to the Prince.
"HA! That is rich coming from you, dwarf." Reepicheap jumped out, finally making his presence known to everyone else, drawing his small sword, "Or have you forrgotten it was your people who fought alongside the White Witch?" The small mouse asked pointing his blade at Nikabrick dangerouslyclose to the dwarf's body at times.
The dwarf flicked at the blade with his ring covered fingers, "And I'd gladly do it again, if it would rid us of these barbarians."
"Then it's luckat it is not in your power to bring her back." Badger walked towards the Prince, still on Caspian's side even if no one else was. "Or are you suggesting that we ask this boy to go against Aslan now?" Caspian gripped the magical horn tighter at the mention of the great lion.
Creatures shouted out. Badger inturrupted them.
"Some of you may have forgotten, but we badgers remember well, that Narnia was never right except when a Son of Adam was king."
"He's a Telmarine! Why would we want him as our King?" Nikabrick asked throwing his hands up into the air.
"Because I can help you." Caspian spoke again.
"It's a trick!" Some shouted whilst others shouted something along the llines of, "At least hear him out!"
"Beyond these woods, I'm a prince. The Telmarine throne is rightfully mine! Help me claim it, and I can bring peace between us."
"It is true. The time is ripe." The centaur from before stepped forward, out of the crowd, "I watch the skies, for it is mine to watch as it is yours to remember, badger." "Tarva, the lord of victory, and Alambil, the lady of peace, have come together in the high heavens. And now here, a Son of Adam has come forth... to offer us back our freedom."
"Is this possible? Do you really think there could be peace?" Asked a squirrel who sat on a tree. "Do you? I mean, really?"
"Two days ago, I didn't believe in the existance of talking animals... or dwarfs... or centaurs. Yet here you are in strength and numbers that we Telmarines could never have imagined. Whether this horn is magic or not, it brought us together. And together, we have a chance to take back what it ours."
"If you will lead us, then my sons and I..." The centaur paused to draw his sword, "Offer you our swords." Every other centaur around him draw their swords as well and held them out to Caspian. Fauns and even minotaurs had also drawn whatever weapon they had and held them out to Caspian, who could do nothing, but just looked around the circle of creatures in shock and happiness.
"And we offer you our lives, unreservedly." Reepicheap said bowing down with his drawn sword.
"Miraz'a army will not be far behind us, sire." Badger pointed out.
"If we are to be ready for them, we need to hurry to find soldiers and weapons." Caspian looked around the circle at evereone's faces, "I'm sure they will be here soon."
Trees were being cut down left, right and center as the three siblings and the little D.L.F. watched the soldiers, that they had presumed to be Telmarine soldiers work way at building something, they could only guess that they were attempting to build a bridge. One to lead them to the Narnians and to Caspian. The children poked their heads over some of the wood that they had already cut to watch this and remain hidden, however it chucked out their plan of swimming across.
The D.L.F. looked over to the right, Peter, Susan and Lucy following his line of sight before spotting to horses, all of them ducked down lower in a weak attempt to remain unnoticed.
"Perhaps this wasn't the best way to come after all." Susan whispered to Peter as they ducked down, the little dwarf grabbed a hold of one of his arrows to have it ready to use if they needed it. After all his bow was already held in his hands. Lucy remained ducked down, while Peter and Susan took another look up the horses had come to a halt and their riders were dismounting.
Peter stood, his back bent as he made his way back towards the trees and the wood that they had just come from, the dwarf followed his bow and arrow still ready to be used at any time. Susan and Lucy carefully did the same after Lucy had sent one last glance over at the bridge.
A little while later the four had arrived at the exact same point that they had been in at first when Lucy had thought that she had seen Edmund. Lucy had now already told her brother and sister of how she had then seen Aslan who had been pointing her in the direction of where she thought she had seen her brother. However as she had already thought that they would say that they didn't believe her.
"So where exactly do you think you saw Edmund and Aslan?" Peter asked as Lucy looked over at the place where she thought she had seen Aslan before she turned to look to the other side of the river where she had seen Edmund. She turned back to face Peter and Susan wordlessly before she spoke again.
"I wish you'd all stop trying to sound like grown ups." She then turned to the dwarf, "I didn't think I saw him, I did see him." She then walked away from them, closer to where she thought that she had seen her brother and to where Aslan had been pointing too with his paw.
"I am a grown up." The dwarf commented.
"It was right over..." The piece of land that Lucy was stood on gave way and she screamed. Susan shouted out, "Lucy!" of she saw her sister fall, what all of them presumed to be to her death or at least a serious injury. The dwarf was first to reach the gaint hole in the land, Susan and Peter quickly following.
Lucy looked down at the river. "...Here." Lucy said as she looked back up at her siblings and dear little friend as she remained sat on a lower peace of land that seemed to be a path that was leading down to the river Rush.
The four began to make their way carefully down the dangerous path. Peter went at the back and Lucy walked along in front with the little dwarf following along behind her. She had already reached the river and was making her way across the big stones that had made a path across the river. She misplaced her foot on one and nearly fell backwards, but her dear little friend grabbed onto her arm and back and managed to catch her, Lucy gave him a smile, before she continued to walk across the path. Susan and Peter followed along behind. Lucy was looking up at the sky for a moment while she waited for the oldest in her family to catch up.
The sun shone brightly and the trees were still as unmoving as they were before, but the sunlight seemed to make things look a little better. When Susan and Peter had managed to catch up Lucy continued, everyone continuing to follow her. As Lucy made it across and turned to wait for her older brother and sister and the little dwarf again, she silently thanked Aslan for the hint and she showing her something of her brother, who when Lucy had seen him on the other side, hadn't been wearing his school uniform. She smiled before all of the group continued walking to find a place that was safe to use as a place to sleep at tonight.
The night time darkness settled in and Lucy lay on the dark green grass looking up at the sky, her hands behind her head that she was using as some kind of bad pillow. Peter and the D.L.F. were already asleep.
"Lucy, are you awake?" Susan asked in a whisper. Lucy didn't answer. Susan sat up and looked at Lucy noticing that she was still awake. "Why do you think I didn't see Edmund and Aslan?" Susan asked her younger sister, resting her body weight on her left arm. Lucy turned to face her sister slightly before rolling over on to her side and resting her weight onto her right arm.
"You believe me?" Lucy asked in shock.
"Well we got across the gorge." Susan pointed out.
"I don't know." Lucy replied honestly after a moment of silence. "Maybe you didn't really want to."
"You always knew we'd be coming back here, didn't you?" Susan asked. Lucy nodded.
"I hoped so." Susan laid back down on the grass, her right arm behind her head.
"I finally just got used to the idea of being in England."
"But you're happy to be here, aren't you?"
"While it lasts." Lucy looked down at the ground sadly before she too laid back down, arms across her chest, looking up at the sky with the fire blazing behind her. Little did the two sisters know that the dear little friend had listened to all of their conversation.
The fire was out when Lucy gently opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around the circle of her, Peter, Susan and the D.L.F. before flicking her head round to look at another part of the wood. She stood up and began to walk towards where she had just been looking, before stopping a looking back at her family. She turned her head and ran off in the wood along the grass covered path, dashing off into the sunlight and mix of trees.
She walked a little while later making her way around any tree branches that were in her way, but most of the path was clear and straight forward to walk on without falling over anything.
Lucy looked at the still trees, wishing that they could talk to her once again. She wondered if Edmund had been wishing the same thing when she had seen him before. After all the trees would have been his only company unless he had found some, but considering that had she had nearly been killed by a bear and that they had only found the dwarf by chance, she highly doubted that.
Lucy continued walking, carefully pushing branch out of her way as she turned a corner. She continued to look around and after a moment she spotted somthing that put a small smile onto her face. Little light pink and white tinted blossoms blew out in front of her, blowing her hair slightly as they formed into the same of a person who laughed before blowing away into the sky. The sun shinning brightly as Lucy looked up at the disappearing blossoms in shock and awe before she continued walking. More blossoms gathering around her as she did so.
One appeared in front of her and pointed her into a different direction. Lucy turned around and saw the trees parting to make a straight path for her to walk down. Lucy thought that she could hear something like a roaring sound. Lucy started to walk down the path before she heard something or someone call out her name in a light whisper.
"Lucy." The young girl continued to walk forward not believeing it to be true until she heard the voice agin, "Lucy." Lucy smiled and quickened her pace before breaking into a run in the direction of the voice. She rounded a corner and there he was. Stood on a high rock with the sun shinning down onto his back. Ther stood Narnia's true ruler in all of his glory.
"Aslan!" Lucy ran to the lion placing and hand in his mane and a hand on his forehead, burring her face in to his mane. "I've missed you so much!" She said quietly before removing her hands and head from the lion and standing back to look at him in full veiw. "You've grown."
"Every year you grow... so shall I." The lion said and Lucy was right, he was taller, he had grown, just like she had. Lucy smiled, but that smile faded.
"Where have you been? Why haven't you come to help us?" She asked the lion, interested to know why he hadn't been there for them like he had before. Why he hadn't come to them with Edmund safely in tow.
"Things never happen the same way twice, dear one." Aslan told her. Lucy looked at him quizzicaly before she heard a branch crack, her head turning to the direction of the noise and then her eyes opened and Aslan was gone.
Edmund woke up somewhere along the path. He had stopped walking when it began to get dark, mainly because his leg were aching, but he realised that he must have fallen asleep at some point. The young boy rose to his feet and began to walk again. It wouldn't take him long to reach the ford at Beruna now and Edmund could see that he was getting closer from his surroundings. He knew that he would have to swim across to the other side, but at least that would be a rest from walking, however it would still take a lot of the fourteen year olds energy to get across the water successfully.
Edmund hadn't yet seen the ford at Beruna, but he was thinking that it was the same as it was before, but it really wasn't. Edmund hadn't had anyone to tell him of the Telmarine's being in Narnia nor had he seen what Peter, Susan, Lucy and the D.L.F had.
While most of the people continued working, six stood seperate form the rest, doing nothing.
"How much did they take?" One asked. He was the one who seemed to hold the most power over all of the people who worked here. One stood next to this man, three stood opposite him and one stood alone by an empty wagon. It was he who the leader was adressing the question too.
"Enough weapons and armour for two regiments." He replied, however he wasn't finished yet, "But... there's more." He lifted the little door, gate like thing that had words engraved into it that hadn't been there before."
"You were right to fear the woods." The leader read off of the wood.
"X?" The man stood next to him asked.
"Caspian. The tenth." The leader replied.
"I apologise, my lord. The blame is mine." The man opposite the now claimed lord said. The man stood next to the lord smiled, enjoying his incredibly.
The lord nodded, "I know." He took some steps forward towards the man, "Tell me, general..." He drew the general's sword, "...how many men did you lose?"
"None, my lord." The general replied.
"None?"
"They came like ghosts, in the dead of night. We never saw them." The general spoke again to the lord.
"Then how do you explain your injuries?" The lord asked. The general just looked confused switching his eyes between the lord and the manstood next to him. Before the lord hit him across the face with the hilt of the general's sword that the lord had taken earlier. "I asked... how many men were killed during this bloody Narnian attack?" The general looked up at the lord, nose and lip both bleeding, the lord held the hilt of the sword pointed toward the general, " Of which you were a fortunare survivor."
"General... how many?" The lord pushed for an answer.
The general grabbed a hold of the hilt of his sword taking it from the lords grasp, "Three." The lord turned and walked away, satisfied with the answer. The man who had been stood next to him followed.
"I apologise, Lord Sopespian." The lord who had just spoken to the general was now speaking to the man who had been stood next to him. This man two was obviously a lord as well. "Caspian is not a victim of this savage uprising. He is the instigator. It seems Narnia is in need of a new king." The lord told lord Sopespian.
"And who will that king be, lord Miraz?" Lord Sopespian asked.
"Who do you think, it will be me." Miraz replied.
It was at this moment that Edmund arrived and looked around in slight confusion, but he didn't think that these people had invaded Narnia. He didn't even know that they were the Telmarines. Edmund walked slowly through the workbase, thinking that he should ask what was going on, but he had no clue really on who to ask until he spotted a man who looked like the one that was in control of all of this, so Edmund headed towards him.
"Um excuse me." Edmund said as he walked over towards the man, who turned to face him, "Could you help me?" The person that Edmund was speaking to was Lord Miraz, who wasn't known for being nice, but the lord suddenly seemed to have a good, nice side. He surprized lord Sosespian with his response anyhow.
"Of course, why don't you come with us back to the castle and we can figure out where you are headed."
"Oh," Edmund was shocked by the kindness of a man who he didn't even know, "Thank you."
"You're most welcome, I'm lord Miraz." The lord told the boy expecting to know his name in return.
"Edmund." The young king replied, however he decided to leave the king part off for the moment.
"Well, Edmund." The lord began calling Edmund by his name now, "Can you ride a horse?"
"Yes my lord." Edmund wanted to sound polite.
"Please call me Miraz." The lord said as he climbed onto his horse, reaching a hand out to Edmund who was still on the ground. Edmund took the hand and was pulled up onto the horse's back.
"Hurry up lord Sopespian, we'll meet you back at the castle." Lord Miraz said before galloping off with Edmund towards his castle, lord Sopespian following.
Lucy opened her eyes and sat up, now fully awake. Peter, Susan and the D.L.F. were still asleep. Lucy was closest to her sister, so decided to try and wake her up. She also knew that Susan wasn't always a heavy sleeper, but in this case she was.
"Susan! Wake up!"
Susan did hear Lucy, or at least Lucy thought that she did, "Certainly, Lu." Susan rolled over onto her front,"Whatever you like."
Lucy heard the sound of something like a snapping twig or branch, much like she had heard when Aslan had disappeared from her view in her dream like state just a moment ago. Lucy climbed to her feet sending one last look at her sleeping siblings before beginning to walk again, away from their camp. She walked for a while before heading over to a tree and placing a light hand onto the bark of it.
"Wake up." She looked up at the sun lit sky. This Narnia was the opposite Narnia to the one that she had seen in her dream. This was the savage Narnia, where the trees were gone. For now anyway. She removed her hand and began walking again along the thin path that was between the trees.
"Aslan?" Lucy said out loud as she continued walking, looking for the great lion that she had seen in her dream and she wasn't expecting the strong hand that covered her mouth and the one that was placed on her shoulder nor the force that pulled her back down the path slightly. When she was against the wall of bushes she was able to look at who her attacker was and she was surprised to see that it was her own brother, Peter.
The older blonde removed the hand from her mouth, but not the one from her shoulder. The pair moved over, so that they could look at what Peter had spotted from behind the safety of the bushes. What they saw was a minotuar with armour covering it's shoulders and it was carring a bow and some arrows as well as an axe. Typical minotaur style.
Peter put a finger to his lips as a symbol for Lucy to keep quiet. The youngest Pevensie, whose hands were currently gripping on to the bushes seemed to understand as she remained perfectly silent. Her eyes followed her brothers movement as he walked forward. It was only then that Lucy noticed that her older brother was carring his sword with him. Lucy moved slightly so that she had a better view from where she was behind the bushes to keep an eye on her brother still.
Peter drew his sword, the blade catching in the sunlight and edged closer towards the passing minotaur who hadn't yet noticed them. Suddenly there was a shout that caught Peter off guard and someone else had jumped in front of him, who they hadn't before seen. Lucy couldn't tell who it was from her distance, however she couldn't fail to notice how the sunlight caught onto a silver metal blade that they held.
Most of the next chapter is already written, so I should have it uploaded quite quickly. I'll update The Just next.
Thanks to those who have reviewed, favourited and alerted this story, please review and thanks for reading.