Sorry so much for not updating. As some of you may know, I moved, so it's been harder for me to update. Well, this is the fifth chapter. Enjoy! :)

~CampHB

~Chapter 5: Prince Caspian~

Fire…flames creeping closer…

I woke up for the third time that morning, gasping. The dreams were more vivid than ever. Had I really killed my mom? I'd hoped that she would die. And right after I said that, I knocked the lighter out of her hand, which triggered a fire. The guilt of that would always burden me.

Did she ever love me? And did I ever love her back? What did she mean by 'I gave up everything so that you could have a better future'?

The questions were imprinted in my head. I stretched, feeling stiff after sleeping on cold, hard ground.

The sun was rising, splashing bright hues of pinks, oranges, and yellows onto the twinkling dark blue canvas of the sky. The glowing embers in the fire were warm now. A small hand rolled across my legs.

Lucy tossed on the ground, settling down again. Her eyes were closed in deep sleep.

Where am I? was my first thought.

Everything seemed unfamiliar. The most I knew was that I wasn't in a subway station.

'Narnia,' a quiet voice rumbled in my mind. 'Behold, the land of Narnia, created by the Son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea.'

Who's that? I looked around for the possible source of the voice.

'Patience, young one,' it said. 'You will learn all in good time. Now go into the woods.'

Where?

'Go.'

I reluctantly walked into the clusters of oak, maple, and elm trees.

What now? I thought. There was no one else in the woods so far…or at least that was how it seemed.

A hand reached out from behind me and pulled me back, covering my mouth so that I wouldn't make a sound. I kicked my legs and tried to scramble free. My sword clanked at my side.

Great. Now what? Another serial killer? Just my luck.

"Let go!" I tried to yell, but it came out more like, "Lmf guuummm!"

"Be quiet," a voice commanded. "Stay still or else I'll kill you."

I froze in place, not daring to move a centimeter. A sword tip was ready to slit my throat.

"Get away!" Peter's voice reached me. He was rushing toward me with his great sword drawn, ready for a duel.

"Stop!" Thundering feet sounded throughout the forest. Weird creatures came galloping into the scene.

Some were half horse, half men. Others were short dwarves like Trumpkin. There were goat-men and minotaurs. Panthers and leopards leaped into the clearing.

Armor was fitted onto their bodies. Bows and arrows were held ready to shoot. Spears, javelins, and swords were ready to be used at moment's notice.

"Let her go," Peter commanded.

"Why should I? Who are you, anyway?"

"Let her go."

"No."

Peter charged again. Sharp steel dug into one of the veins in my neck, letting blood flow out. This person that was holding me captive wasn't going to hesitate to kill me. That was obviously not good.

"Peter!" Susan ran into the clearing with Gareth, Trumpkin, and her younger siblings behind her.

Gareth stumbled back a few steps before regaining his balance. He glanced at me—or the person behind me, I should say.

What? I was confused.

"Prince Caspian," Gareth said, head bowed.

Prince what?

"Prince Caspian?" Peter looked at my captor. "Is that who you are?"

"Yes," he replied. "And who are you?"

"He's High King Peter," Trumpkin said.

"Oh."

"Release her," Peter said, motioning to me. Caspian immediately let go.

I turned around to face him. He was taller than me, with dark, waving hair. His brown eyes were hidden from emotion. Caspian had tanned skin, with black armor. A sword also hung at his side. As he moved, I saw a glint of something gold hung on a cord inside his shirt.

"High King," he said. "And…Queen Susan; King Edmund; Queen Lucy…" He pointed to me.

"No, that's Lucy." Peter gestured in the direction of his younger sister.

"Then who…"

"She's Tarah."

"How is she here? She dresses different."

Peter shrugged like he didn't care. "I don't know. She came through a door." Then he focused his attention on me. "Where were you this morning?"

"What?"

"Where were you? We were searching all over for you. And here. You never leave your sword behind. It's your weapon—your life."

He threw the borrowed weapon at me. I grabbed it.

"I was—"

"Why were you in the woods?"

I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay silent. I shouldn't lose my temper over him.

"Well," Edmund broke the tension, "we should get going."

"He's right." A horse-man spoke up. "If we are to reach Aslan's How by tomorrow, we should go now." He glanced at Caspian.

Caspian nodded. "All right, Roonwit. Gather your family."

He began to lead us away from the woods. Peter glowered at me before turning away. Lucy seized my hand and clutched it tightly.

"I'm glad we found you, Tarah," she whispered. "I was scared."

Yeah. Sure. Whatever. I don't care.

The trek stopped again during the late afternoon. I moved forward to see why.

We were on a cliff; below us rushed a great gorge, the waters moving swiftly. On our left there were higher cliffs. On the right was a dirt path leading downstream.

"Which way?" Susan asked, glancing at Caspian quickly, then breaking her gaze.

He didn't look at her. "I don't know."

"Downstream," Gareth said. "We'll be able to reach the Great Rush. And if we choose upstream, there will be more cliffs to climb. Downstream is the best choice."

"All right. Downstream it is."

"Look! Look! Over there! It's Aslan!" Lucy was jumping up and down excitedly and pointing upstream. "It's Aslan!"

What a wonderful imagination, I thought sarcastically. I see the lion.

We turned our heads in her direction. I lifted my eyes in the direction of her gaze, but I didn't see anything there but rocks.

"Where did you think you saw him?" Susan asked.

"I didn't think I saw him!" Lucy stamped her foot. "I saw him. He was right…there…" Her voice trailed off.

"She may have seen a wild lion, or might have been hallucinating." Trumpkin shrugged the matter off.

"No! I saw him! And he wanted us to go that way!" Lucy pointed upstream.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Because I don't see anything."

"He was there!"

"I think we should listen to Lucy," Edmund put in. "I mean, because last time I didn't listen to Lucy, I ended up looking really stupid. The truth is, Lucy also has the best connection to Aslan, too."

Caspian glanced over to Roonwit the Centaur for some help.

"You are the true king," he told Caspian. "I will follow your leads."

"Caspian, Peter, Lucy, Edmund, Gareth, me…If the six of us vote, there's no tiebreaker," Susan stated. "We need someone to decide for the final decision."

"Who, then?"

"Tarah." Edmund waved me into their ring.

"Upstream, raise your hands," Peter announced.

I raised my hand, as well as Peter, Susan, and Gareth. Caspian hesitated a second before raising his hand too.

"It's decided, then. Downstream we'll go. Come on." Peter started down the dry dirt path.

I looked at Lucy. The little girl seemed as if she was fighting not to cry. Edmund took her hand.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," he said. "I tried, but the others won't listen."

"I-it's alright, Ed. I-I—"

As I turned before they could say any more, I started to feel a little guilty about not agreeing with Lucy.