7

The green mist traveled out of their room and through the deck to the room where Edmund and Caspian were. Caspian's eyes were closed in a deep sleep, while Edmund remained awake, his mind filled with different thoughts from what Coriakin had said to them. As the mist traveled under their hammocks, Caspian began to turn in his sleep, muttering "Father," over and over again. Edmund looked over at the king, figuring he was just having a nightmare.

"Edmund," A voice whispered, "Edmund." He looked over at where the voice was coming from and jumped when he saw the White Witch, but her appearance had changed. She didn't look human. It looked like she was a being manifested from the green mist, "Come with me." She held out her hand to him, "Join me." Edmund, not going to give in to her words, pulled out his sword and pointed it at her.

"Edmund," Edmund jumped at another whisper and looked over to see Lucy and Maxine standing beside his hammock. He sighed in relief at the sight of them, then looked back to where he had seen the White Witch and saw nothing.

"Lucy," He whispered in relief, a rumble of thunder sounded above them, and Caspian jumped awake in a cold sweat. Maxine frowned when she saw the look on his face and went over to him. He took her hand and she smiled softly at him, carefully moving a stray lock of hair out of his face.

"I can't sleep." Lucy whispered to her brother.

"Let me guess," Edmund said, seeing Caspian, "Bad dreams?" Lucy said nothing and that seemed to be enough for Edmund, "So, either we're all going mad, or something is seriously messing with our minds." He leaned back into his hammock. Maxine frowned slightly at his words, and Caspian gently squeezed her hand.

Maxine smiled when she came up on deck to find that it was not flooded from the water of the waves. The ship was not rocking violently, and there was no lightning flashing above their heads, and no thunder following it. The storm had passed. Now, the sun shone over the dry deck, and the crew was soaking up as much sunshine as they could after being in a storm that lasted a fortnight. She walked up and let her hand slide against the railing of the ship as she walked, glad that she could come up on the deck without worrying about being thrown off into the water below. As she walked, she didn't notice how Caspian's brown eyes followed her movements from above deck, his eyes traveling down her curvy figure. He clenched his fist as he tried to hold back any thoughts that he had of her that wouldn't be appropriate to think unless she was his wife. However, his will power was not that strong. He began to imagine what she might look like underneath her clothing. His thoughts might have continued, if Drinian had not called his name.

"What?" Caspian asked, looking back at the captain. Drinian sighed.

"Sire, I mean no harm by this," He said, "But aren't you and the elder queen getting a bit… close?"

"Well, some time ago," Caspian said, "When the elder queen was not a queen, we were in love." He looked out to the deck, watching as Reepicheep scurried over to her and they began to converse, "And we are still in love."

"I understand the rush of young love, your highness," Drinian said, Caspian looked back at him as he spoke. Drinian's eyes seemed to swim in a memory, "Many years ago, I experienced the same thing with a young woman. But, as we grew older, we also grew apart. I fear that your relationship with Queen Maxine will end in a much more painful way."

"Who says it will end?" Caspian asked with a frown, Drinian sighed.

"Your highness," He began, "She is from another realm. Eventually, she will return to it, and she will stay there." Caspian looked away from him and back at Maxine, who smiled as Reepicheep demonstrated some moves from a story he was telling her, "I'm just warning you, young love, while fleeting, is also extremely painful when it ends." He walked off to the helm, and Caspian turned back to where Maxine laughed when Reepicheep told a particularly funny part of his story, her smile lighting up her entire face. Caspian came to a horrible realization, and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Drinian was right.

Maxine leaned back against the boat as the men rowed it toward the island. They had spotted it a while ago. The island was large, and it looked pretty barren. She could see smoke rising up from the ground from geysers. She sat next to Eustace, and she had to say, she wasn't exactly comfortable sitting next to him.

"I doubt the lords stopped here, my liege." Reepicheep said from the other boat, "There's no sign of anything living."

"Right," Caspian agreed, "Well, once you get to shore, take your men to search for food and water. The four of us will look for clues."

"Hang on, you mean the five of us." Eustace said. Caspian, Edmund, and the rest of the crew members who were rowing the boat, all stopped to look back at Eustace. Did he really just say that? "Come on, please don't send me back to the rat."

"I heard that." Reepicheep said from the other boat. Maxine smiled at his words, small chuckles escaping from some of the men.

Eustace frowned and looked away from him, muttering, "Big ears." Maxine frowned, and was about to hit the backside of his head for that, when Reepicheep spoke again.

"I heard that, too!" The mouse said, Caspian, Maxine, Lucy, and Edmund laughed at Eustace's disgruntled face.

It wasn't too long after that that they arrived at the island. Maxine gladly took Caspian's hand as he helped her out of the boat, and Edmund helped his sister and Eustace. Once they reached the shore, the crew quickly went to work getting out baskets and crates to carry any food and water they found on the island. Everyone but Eustace helped them take it out. The reason he didn't help, was because he had decided to separate from the group, believing that he was more than capable of being by himself on a desolate island in uncharted waters in a land he had never heard of until a few weeks ago.

When Maxine and the others started to search for any clues, she didn't bother to notice Eustace wasn't with the crew, and didn't bother to care where he was. She followed Caspian as he led them around the island, around jagged rocks that pierced through the ground, vaguely resembling large fangs.

"Look!" Caspian exclaimed as they came towards a hole where a rope had been tied to a nearby rock so someone could go down into it, "We're not the first ones on this island."

"Think it could be the lords?" Maxine asked as they came up to it. Caspian bent down and picked up a small stone.

"Could be." Caspian said, he tossed the stone down into the hole to see how deep it was. Maxine's head cocked to the side as she saw a glittering, golden light coming from below. "What do you think could be down there?"

"Let's find out." Edmund said, he grabbed onto the rope and started climbing down into an underground cave. Everyone watched as he went down, waiting for him to say something about what was down there.

"What do you see?" Lucy asked him, Edmund looked back up to the hole's entrance.

"It's safe!" He called up, "Come on down!" Lucy nodded and followed him down, as did Maxine, and Caspian. Maxine looked around, seeing a small pool in the cave. A drop of water came down from the ceiling of the cave, making her reflection quiver as the water rippled.

"Think it's okay to drink?" She asked the others, her eyes on the water.

"Maybe," Caspian said, coming up beside her.

"Hey, guys!" Edmund said, "Check this out!" They went over to where he was, and saw the most peculiar thing lying in the water. It was a clothed man, looking sprawled out in the water, but it looked like every part of him was made of gold.

"What's that?" Caspian asked, seeing it.

"I dunno," Edmund said, "Looks like some sort of… gold statue."

"Pretty detailed for a statue," Maxine said, noting how every wrinkle on the man's face had been outlined perfectly. He looked to be a middle-aged man, somewhere between his mid-forties to early fifties. Edmund stared at the statue for another second, then went to the wall, taking hold of a dried up root that rested on it and yanking it off. He went back to the water and tried to use the old, stiff root to move the statue, to see if there was anything around it. When he dipped it in the water, he saw something happen to it and pulled it out, seeing the part that had been put in suddenly become a bright golden color that quickly began to spread across the entire stick. He tried to keep a hold on it as the stick suddenly became heavier and heavier, but found he couldn't and dropped it into the pool. Maxine looked at the water in shock. "Did anyone else just see that?"

"It's like the touch of Midas…" Lucy murmured, looking at the pool, "It must have turned to solid gold."

"That explains why it got so heavy." Edmund said, rubbing his hands, "That must've been over fifty pounds." Caspian walked over to the pool, looking at the 'statue' of the man in the water, now knowing the reason for the statue's strange appearance.

"He must have fallen in." He said.

"Poor man," Lucy said sadly.

"You mean poor lord." Edmund said, seeing a golden shield lying a few feet away from the man.

"The crest of Lord Restimar," Caspian murmured, recognizing it.

"And his sword!" Edmund said, pointing to where the sword's handle stuck out of the water.

"We need it." Caspian said. Edmund pulled out his sword and carefully went over to where the sword lay. No one noticed the green mist moving around in the water beneath them.

"Be careful." Lucy warned him as his foot got closer to the water. He cautiously put the blade in the water and hooked it under the hilt of the lord's sword and pulling it out of the water.

"Why didn't it turn to gold?" Maxine asked, seeing that the two swords were unaffected by the water.

"Because the swords are magical." Caspian said, moving to help Edmund as he moved the sword away from the pool of water. "Here," He held out his hand and grabbed the dry handle of the sword and held it up. Lucy looked down at the lord sadly.

"He mustn't have known what hit him." Lucy said.

"Maybe…" Edmund said, putting his sword down, "Or maybe he was onto something." Caspian furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" He asked him. Edmund kneeled down and picked up a shell that was lying next to the pool and dipped it in the water. Then he quickly pulled it out and put it next to the pool, watching it turn to gold. He stared at it in awe, and picked it up, keeping his eyes on the shell.

"What are you staring at?" Lucy asked. Edmund glanced back at the pool, then back at the shell.

"Whoever has access to this pool," He began, "Could be the most powerful person in the world." Maxine felt an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach, sharing a glance with Caspian. Edmund looked over at his sister, "Lucy… We'd be so rich. No one could tell us what to do, or who to live with."

"You can't take anything out of Narnia, Edmund." Caspian said, Edmund seemed to not pay attention as he kept staring at the shell.

"Says who?" Edmund asked. Caspian frowned.

"I do." Edmund looked back at Caspian, seeing his serious face and glared at him, picking up his sword, walking towards him.

"I'm not your subject." He growled.

"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" Caspian asked with a knowing, angry look, "To challenge me. You doubt my leadership!"

"You doubt yourself!" Edmund snarled.

"You're a child!" Caspian countered.

"And you're a spineless sap!" Edmund shot back.

"Edmund!" Lucy cried incredulously, reaching out for his arm, he yanked her hand away and looked back at Caspian.

"I'm tired of playing second fiddle!" Edmund said, glaring at the older king, "First it was Peter, now it's you. You know I'm braver than both of you! And why do you get Peter's sword? I deserve a kingdom of my own! I deserve to rule!"

"If you think you're so brave," Caspian began, "Prove it!" He shoved Edmund roughly and he stumbled back a step. Edmund swung his sword at Caspian, and it clashed against his. Maxine looked at the two in disbelief, were they really fighting about this? Then again, who wouldn't? Everything that touches the pool turns to solid gold. But this was just crazy! To think that greed could so easily cloud their minds… This wasn't good. This had to be the temptation that Coriakin had warned them about. She had to stop this before they killed themselves. She jumped in between them, holding her hands out to get them to stop.

"Alright, both of you quit it!" She yelled at them, her voice echoing through the cave. She looked at the two boys, "Look at yourselves! Don't you see what's happening?" Edmund and Caspian looked at each other, lowering their blades slightly, "This place has tempted you. It's using magic to mess with your minds. This is exactly what Coriakin talked about." They both lowered their swords completely, "Let's just… get out of here." She walked past the two boys, Lucy following her, heading for the exit. Caspian and Edmund looked at each other, sharing an apologetic glance. Caspian put his sword away, picking up the sword of Lord Restimar and followed the two girls. Edmund looked down at the shell in his hand and tossed it into the pool of water. He didn't notice the green mist as it disappeared somewhere deep within the pool.

Once Caspian was out of the hole, Maxine waited for him, holding out her hand to him. He took it and she pulled him up, doing the same with Edmund when he came up after Caspian. When they stood by her sides, she reached up and slapped the backs of their heads.

"Ow!" Caspian said, his hand going to where she had smacked him.

"Hey!" Edmund said, putting his hand to the spot where she had hit him.

"That was for being stupid." She told them. Edmund frowned, still rubbing at the spot she had hit him, as did Caspian. "If either of you do something that stupid again, you're gonna get a lot worse than a smack to the head."

"Right…" Edmund mumbled, following Lucy as she walked back to the longboats. Maxine was about to do the same, when Caspian caught her arm and kissed her cheek. A light blush covered her cheeks as she looked up at the king.

"Thank you, Maxine." He said, smiling at her. She smiled back at him, taking his hand as they walked back to the boats.

"Oh, yes. Follow the imaginary blue star to the island of… Raman-doo-doo! Place the seven steak knives at the table of the talking lion!" Eustace snorted to himself as he walked around the barren island. "Ninnies," He kicked a nearby stone angrily and kept walking. As he passed by a large rock, something shone in his eyes and he squinted, looking to see what thing was trying to blind him. His eyes widened when he saw a mile-long trail of beautiful golden objects and treasures glittering in the sunlight. He stared at it in awe, not believing his eyes.

"What is that—" He was cut short when the rock he was standing on had decided to move so he would fall into the large trench the treasure lay in. Eustace sat up, looking around him with a smile, "I must be dead." He stood up, dusted off his clothes, and then started grabbing every piece of gold he could find. If he was going to be stuck in some magical world, he was going to make it worth his while. Something else that glittered caught his eye and he looked to see it was a lovely golden arm band. He went to go and grab it, and he jumped when he saw that the arm band was still on the arm of a clothed skeleton. "You're definitely dead." He pushed the skeleton over and took the arm band from his body and putting it on his own, "Won't be needing that then, will you?" He went to the rest of the treasure and started stuffing it in his pockets as fast as he could, looking up when he heard something like a roar sound in his ears. He didn't see anything, so he continued to grab as much treasure as he could, "Finally, a favorable turn of events."

Eustace didn't care to notice the green mist that was coming out from behind some of the gold he was taking.

As Maxine and the others walked back to the boats, they saw the crew was loading up baskets of what must have been food back to the ship.

"What food did you find?" Caspian asked, coming over to them. He looked to see the baskets were half-empty with different assortments of greens, and some root vegetables, but not much else. Rhince came over to the baskets, looking up at Caspian.

"It's volcanic, your majesty," He said apologetically, "Not much grows." Caspian sighed unhappily. Maxine frowned and picked up one of the greens, inspecting it curiously.

"I thought volcanic soil was one of the most fertile on earth?" She said confusedly.

"That's at the foot of a volcano, Max." Edmund said, "This whole island is the volcano, I'm guessing, not many things grow naturally on a volcanic island."

"Oh." Maxine said, tossing the plant back in the basket. Lucy looked around, noticing the absence of someone.

"Where's Eustace?" She asked aloud.

"I believe he's out not helping us load the boats." Reepicheep said. Caspian sighed exasperatedly, and Maxine rolled her eyes.

"Eustace?" Lucy called out, looking for any sort of reaction from the island around them, "Eustace!" Still, no sign of her cousin, she looked back at her brother, "Edmund, I've got a bad feeling."

"I'll go find him." Edmund said, turning to start looking for his cousin.

"I'll come with you." Caspian said. Edmund looked back at him and nodded, Caspian looked back at Maxine, "You go with Lucy back onto the boat."

"Fine," She said unhappily, crossing her arms over her chest. Caspian followed Edmund as they headed off and Maxine turned around to help the crew load the boats.

Maxine leaned against the back of the boat as the crew mulled around the ship below them, preparing to leave the second Caspian and Edmund came back. Lucy and Gale were next to her, Gale happily chatting with Lucy about something her mother did for her once. She stopped, however, when she heard a loud roaring sort of sound. The ship became silent as the roar came again.

"What was that?" Lucy asked Drinian, who stood behind them. The roar came again, and Maxine's eyes widened when she saw a cloud of fire coming from a hill on the island. Maxine felt a sinking feeling in her stomach at the sight of it.

"Is it the volcano?" Gale asked worriedly.

"Oh, no," Drinian said grimly, "That's no volcano." He turned to the crew, shouting, "All hands on deck!" The roar came again, and Gale huddled up beside Lucy, "Archers! Arm yourselves!" Crossbows were handed out to every archer on the ship, and once they were ready, Maxine heard a flapping sound and her eyes widened as she saw a huge dragon flying towards their ship. It flew around the ship, and the archers gathered on the deck, "Take your positions and wait for my command!" The dragon flew up and landed on the mast.

"What's it doing?" Lucy shouted out fearfully, keeping Gale close.

"Fire!" Drinian shouted, the archers did as he commanded and began firing off arrows at the dragon. It roared out and writhed in pain as some of the arrows landed, making the wood of the mast beneath it creak from its weight. "It'll break the mast!" The dragon instantly jumped off the mast and hovered above it. The power of the wind coming from its wings was enough to make some of the crew stumble around the boat.

"Right!" Reepicheep said, putting his sword in his mouth and climbing up the mast to where the dragon had landed on the mast again.

"Fire!" Drinian shouted again, the barrage of arrows that suddenly hit the dragon made it fall over, gripping onto the mast so it wouldn't fall over. Reepicheep climbed up to the top of the mast and jabbed his sword into the dragon's claw. The dragon roared out in pain, fire escaping its throat as it fell away from the ship and flew away back towards the island. The crew cheered once it had gone, but Maxine and Lucy remained uneasy. Edmund and Caspian were still on the island looking for Eustace.

The dragon instantly went to them, flying over Caspian, who looked at it in fear as it came closer to his friend, "Edmund!" He looked back just in time to see the dragon scoop him up in his claws and fly away with him, going past the ship.

"Ed!" Maxine cried, seeing him go by.

"Edmund!" Lucy screeched in fear for her brother.

"Lucy!" Edmund called back, the dragon quickly flew away and back towards the island. Edmund squirmed and struggled to get out of the beast's grasp as it flew over a mountain, and he was greeted with a very strange sight. Parts of the dried, black lava from previous volcanic eruptions had been set a fire by something, spelling out some very poorly made, but easy to read, words.

I AM EUSTACE

Edmund looked at the dragon, then back at the words he had used his fiery breath to write into the ground.

"You've got to be joking."

Maxine, Lucy, Caspian, Reepicheep, Edmund, and Drinian all looked at Eustace in wonder as he stood before them, trying to get a golden arm band off of his front paw with his teeth, and when that didn't work, he tried to get it off by dragging his paw against the ground.

"He must've been tempted by the treasure." Edmund said, looking at his scaly cousin that glared down at the arm band that had caused his skin to swell painfully from its small size.

"Well, anyone knows that a dragon's treasure is enchanted." Caspian said. Eustace let out a low growl and glared at the king, "Well… Anyone from… here."

"I probably shouldn't be surprised that Narnia has dragons," Maxine said, "Yet I never saw this coming." She shook her head in disbelief at the sight of Eustace, who sent her a small glare as well. Lucy walked over to Eustace, and he hopped back slightly, still holding up the paw with the arm band. She reached out and yanked it off of him, walking away with it as Eustace seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Maxine looked over at Caspian, "Is there any way to turn him back to normal?"

"Not that I know of." Caspian said, looking back to Drinian, who looked away unsurely. Eustace looked at all those who were there, hoping one of them would have an answer. Edmund looked back at his cousin.

"Aunt Alberta will not be pleased." He said. Eustace growled and slammed his paw onto the ground, hanging his head.

"Sorry about the hand, old boy." Reepicheep apologized with a sheepish smile, "I… can be a little overzealous at times." Eustace glared at the mouse, a low growl coming from him.

"The boats are ready, sire!" Taveras said from the shore. Lucy looked over at Caspian.

"We can't leave him alone." She said.

"Well, we can't bring him on board, your majesty." Drinian said, Caspian sighed and handed him the sword of Lord Octesian, which they had found near his skeletal remains.

"Drinian, you and the others take one boat back." He ordered, "The rest of us will stay here 'til morning and…" He looked over at Eustace, "Work out what to do."

"But you've no provisions!" Rhince said incredulously, "And no means of staying warm, your majesty." Eustace's eyes shifted as he looked for something, and he roared as fire shot out of his mouth and lit a piece of dry wood on fire.

"You were saying?" Reepicheep asked with a smirk. Everyone smiled at his words, and some laughter escaped from their throats as Eustace smacked his lips together, as if breathing fire had left a strange taste in his mouth.

Maxine lay next to Caspian as they looked up at the stars late that night, their fingers linked together. A few feet away from them was Edmund, who was sleeping soundly, Gale and Lucy shared a blanket a few feet away from him. Opposite the fire pit from them was Eustace, who lay on the ground on his side, trying to get to sleep in his new body. Reepicheep lay curled up a few feet away from him, sleeping pleasantly, and a few feet away from Reepicheep was Rhince, who had tucked his arm under his head as a make-shift pillow.

"I've never seen these constellations before." Caspian said as he looked up at the stars.

"Same here," Maxine said, "But, then again, I didn't recognize any of the constellations in Narnia, either, so…" She shrugged nonchalantly, going back to star-gazing, "We're a long way from Narnia, aren't we?" Caspian nodded silently.

"When I was a boy," He began, "I used to imagine sailing to the end of the world… and finding my father there." Maxine looked over at the young king, her thumb gently rubbing his hand.

"Maybe you will." She said, Caspian looked over at her, smiling softly. She smiled back and she moved so she could give him a soft kiss.

"Maxine…" Caspian began, "I've been thinking—"

"Always a good thing." Maxine said with a smirk, Caspian let a small smirk come across his own lips, but it left as he continued.

"When you do return home," He said, "What if you never come back?" Maxine groaned quietly, shutting her eyes as she shook her head.

"Don't ask me to think about that." She begged, "I don't want to think about it."

"But it's going to happen at some point." Caspian said, "You need to figure out what you're going to do."

"I know what I'm going to do when I get back, Caspian." Maxine said, sounding a bit insulted that he would think she wasn't prepared, "I'm going to get back to what I'm supposed to be doing."

"And that is?"

"Look for a different place to stay other than the Farsend orphanage." Maxine said, "Find an apartment, maybe near where my mom is so I can visit her more often. Then, I'll find a good college, get a degree in something and get a good life." She looked over at Caspian, "I mean, what else is there for me to do?"

"Get married." Caspian said, "Start a family. Why can't you do that?"

"I'm eighteen, I'm too young to start a family." Maxine said.

"I meant later on in your life." Caspian said, Maxine shrugged.

"I dunno, maybe." She said, "If I meet a nice enough guy. Why do you need to know?"

"Because, Maxine," Caspian said, "This venture could be the last we ever see of each other. I just want to make sure you're prepared."

"I am prepared." Maxine said, Caspian gave her a doubting look, "Sort of. I'll figure it out, okay?" Maxine moved over so she could rest her head on his chest, "Can we stop talking about it and just go to sleep?" Caspian looked down at her, seeing her blink her blue eyes at him with a small pout on her lips and he sighed in relent, smiling as he put his arms around her.

"Yes." He said, kissing the top of her head. Maxine smiled and closed her eyes as she snuggled into him.

Later on into the night, Reepicheep awoke to the sound of low rumbles, and looked to see it was Eustace. A fat tear rolled down from his eyes to his snout and splashed against the ground as he cried quietly. Feeling some pity for the poor boy in a dragon's body, Reepicheep got up and went over to him.

"Trouble sleeping?" He asked quietly, Eustace moved his head away from him. "Now, now, all's not as lost as it seems." He walked closer to him, "I'll stay up with you, if you wish… Keep you company." Eustace didn't make any sounds of protest, so he took it as a notion that he wouldn't mind, "I'll wager you didn't even believe in dragons this morning." He said with a small smile. Eustace didn't respond, and he laughed awkwardly, looking away, "Yes…" He looked back at the dragon, "You know, extraordinary things only happen to extraordinary people… Maybe it's a sign! That you've got an extraordinary destiny." Eustace lifted his head and looked down at the mouse, listening to him, "Something… Something greater than you could have imagined." Eustace seemed to get a small, hopeful look in his eyes and Reepicheep smiled at him, "I could tell you one or two of my adventures, if you like. Just to… pass the time." Eustace shifted so he could be more comfortable as Reepicheep spoke, "Believe it or not, you're not the first dragon I've encountered. Many years ago, too many that I care to mention, I was with a band of pirates. I met another dragon, much fiercer than you…"

I am BACK! Ha ha, okay. Just another warning, updates might not be coming out as quickly as before.

Oh, and if any of you were wondering, I had an AWESOME time on my trip. :)