Chapter Four

The Centaurs' prophecy finally came true about a year after I had found myself in the Lantern Waste of Narnia. Word that Aslan was in Narnia finally reached us. He is the true king of Narnia, and now that he was there, it meant that the humans were also here in Narnia. We had only heard rumors of who they were, but from what I could gather, they were found wandering in the Lantern Waste by a Talking Beaver. The Beaver took them to his lodge where he and his wife explained the prophecy to them, and why they needed to stay in Narnia and help us. But one boy slipped out and went to the White Witch's castle. Why, none of us knew. But my face flushed with anger when I thought about it. Why on earth would the stupid boy want to side with the evil Witch? To think that he (if he survived) could one day rule over Narnia infuriated me.

I had been out hunting and gathering wood for our fire that night when I reached the cliff where our cave was. But when it came into view, my blood ran cold. The snow was tossed around, as if a fight had been put up, and there were drag marks and small crimson spots of blood.

How could have happened? Why would they do it? I fell to my knees when I got back to the cave. The door had been ripped off its hinges and thrown a few feet away, across the snow. Inside, everything was in disarray. Paintings ripped down the middle, papers strewn everywhere, everything trashed. There was a lingering scent. It was musky, heavy, and it choked me. The smell of wolf. A notice was pinned to one of the walls, signed by the Secret Police. Rooner was taken for interacting with a human, and that human was me. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks as I began to sob. I knew that they had killed him.

Before I could stop it, pictures of what had happened flitted through my mind. The Secret Police, led by a huge wolf named Maulgrim, howling and snarling, tearing down the red wooden door and flinging it across the snow. Wolves racing inside, throwing themselves at the grandfatherly faun, pulling him to the ground with their teeth, dragging him out of the door, him trying to fight, but to no avail. The drag marks and blood in the snow. Rooner gone.

I had been out longer than usual because I hadn't found any game. They must have come then. I knew that they were probably looking for me, so I needed to get out of the area as soon as possible. Wiping the tears from my face, I stood and began rifling through my room, looking for what I would need for the journey. I packed everything into my oilskin bag, and then went and fetched my quiver of arrows and my bow. Still sniffling, I turned and looked at the little cave that had been my home for the past year, and then turned and ran off into the cold, foreboding forest.

The snow was deep and freshly fallen, so it was slow going. I sank into it with every step and soon my legs were wet to the skin. I shivered uncontrollably and the occasional tear would slip down my cheek. The Witch had to take everything that had finally made me happy again, just like that. Now I was stumbling in the direction I thought was correct, but I wasn't entirely sure where Aslan was exactly.

I was heading to Aslan's camp to help the Narnians defeat the White Witch. I wanted to train as a warrior. The grief I felt for Rooner earlier had turned to white hot anger and the only way I was going to be able to overcome it was to avenge him. Maybe I would get to see Aslan himself, or the children. But not the traitor. He was probably killed by now, the bastard. I wished I knew why he would leave his brother and sisters to go to help the Witch.

I traveled through the woods, up hills, down into a valley, and then finally the land flattened out. There were still trees, but not as thick. I finally stopped to rest at midday on a boulder. I flopped down on the wet rock, relieved to rest and eat. As I ate, I looked around and listened. Narnia was so much more beautiful than my world. No pollution, no big, loud cities. Peaceful. I was admiring a nearby dogwood tree when I suddenly noticed something strange. Even though it was still frozen, there were pale pink flowers beginning to bloom along its branches. I gasped with delight as they grew bigger and bigger, right before my eyes. This must be proof that Aslan had come to save us all.

I picked up my journey again, and this time I had more energy and enthusiasm. The snow continued to melt and bright green shoots of grass began to carpet the ground. Flowers sprang up out of the earth, giving the landscape bright splashes of color. A warm breeze blew through my curly golden hair, the ends of it tickling my cheeks as we walked. The air was warm and sweet with the smell of the spring flowers and warm, wet earth. Within a matter of hours the cold, icy winter landscape had completely changed into spring and the trees were fully covered with soft green leaves. It was magical.