Here it is! The chapter you've all been waiting for! Let me know what you think.
I stepped forward into the tall grass and it caressed my calves, just as I had always dreamt it could. I took a few steps towards the marble table.
"I have dreamt of this place, Storm," I said, observing my surroundings.
"It is only natural, m'lady, that one dreams of the place in which they were created," she replied.
I turned sharply to her. "Created? What do you mean created?"
"That is something only Aslan can tell you."
"I have yet to meet Aslan, though. Who knows if I shall ever meet him?"
"I cannot enter this place, Your Majesty. You must go on alone," Storm said before turning from me and walking further into the woods.
"Storm!" I called out, but she did not reply.
I turned back to the meadow and found my gaze captivated by the gleaming marble table. Light drifting in through the leaves of the trees made the table almost blindingly white, something I had never noticed before in my dreams. The stone arch over the table seemed entirely dull in comparison.
I approached the table cautiously. The writing on the arch was just as I had dreamed it. The stone head of a lion was in the very top center of the arch and surrounding it was inscribed, Aslan created the Light and she, the Light, will shine for all.
I stared at the arch for a few moments before turning my gaze to the marble table, squinting my eyes from the brightness of it. I reached my hand out to touch the marble surface and barely registered the chillingly cool temperature of the marble before my vision went black.
I floated in darkness; in space; with no conception of time; of light; of anything other than existence. I existed. But where and how I came to be, I did not know nor could remember. And from the darkness surrounding me came the most blinding light to have ever existed. It expanded in my vision, and I could see no more than I had in darkness.
"You were created by the light from the moon and sun and surrounding stars," came a deep voice surrounding me. It echoed off of invisible walls around me and inside me. I vibrated with the life of the voice. It soothed me.
"Who are you?" I asked, still seeing nothing.
Suddenly, my vision transformed and I was spinning recklessly through images. I was stopped before the image of a great lion breathing into what looked like a spinning orb of light.
"I breathed life into you, and you were mine."
The orb of light slowly transformed into a small cub of the same fur as the lion before it. A strange glow emanated from the small cub, giving it an ethereal appearance. I knew immediately that that was me.
"You were born in my image and created to spread my joy."
The lion cub opened it's eyes and they were the same color and shape as the eyes of the adult lion.
"You are the light I designed for a diminishing world."
I closed my eyes, but the vision of the lions before me did not fade.
"Please," I begged. "Tell me who you are."
"I am the Creator; I am your father."
The lion in my vision turned to me for the first time and our eyes connected. My surroundings melted until I could see nothing but the great lion before me.
"I am Aslan," the lion said.
I felt liquid on my cheeks and knew, without a doubt, what he was saying was true. Memories began flooding into my mind and I nearly collapsed from their onslaught. As I fell to my knees, he was right there before me, keeping me from falling.
"My child," he began, his voice falling over me like warm spring rains, "it is time your mind awoke. It is time you remembered who you are and who you are still destined to become."
"Aslan," I cried. "Father."
My arms come around his neck and I am clinging to him as though he is my only source of life.
"There are more things you must come to realize before you can wake up."
I nod against his mane and pull away, looking into his eyes reverently.
"Why were you created?"
"To spread your truth in ways that you cannot and to follow your word to help others in ways you cannot." The words fall from my lips without me even needing to think them.
"Walk with me," he commands.
We walk in no discernible directions until another image begins to form before us. It was a woman, pale and cold, with sharp features and burning black eyes. She stared at Aslan without blinking and did not move.
"I first thought of your creation when evil began to strike the world I had created and loved. I needed someone who could be in places that I could not; that could help others where I could not; and who could spread my truth in ways that I cannot. I needed someone who could be a light to all those beings that I loved; to guide them; to love them as I do; and to be loved by them."
"Who is this woman?" I asked, staring at the image before us.
"Jadis, the White Witch," Aslan told me. "She came to Narnia at the time of it's creation. I knew then that it would not be enough for me to protect my children. I knew I needed help."
The image before us dissolved and, once again, I was treated with the sight of a young lion cub and an adult lion interacting. They were sitting together on the edge of a white cliff looking out at sea. The cub swatted at the older lions paw, but the lion merely glanced admiringly down at the rambunctious cub.
"I created for myself a daughter; one whom I could give my own image and who could adopt my ways. I created you."
"How is that me?" I asked, watching the lion cub. "How is that me if I look like this?"
"Your form is not constant. It can be changed, just as mine can."
The vision changed again and, instead of a lion cub, a small human girl is tugging at the mane of the huge lion as they are walking through a beautiful forest. The lion stops walking and turns to face the small girl. They stare into one another's eyes for a moment.
"When I deemed you old enough, I sent you out into the world I created to be educated," Aslan said to me.
The image of the girl and the lion faded before us and was replaced by one of the girl standing in the middle of a clearing in the woods, looking up into the face of a male centaur.
"You grew in more than one environment," Aslan continues. "I sent you to live with the centaurs so that they could teach you wisdom and courage and skills for battle."
Our vision flashed suddenly to a field, where the young girl was fighting a centaur with a sword. Another centaur stood behind her, guiding her; though his words could not be heard. Surprisingly, the girl quickly bested the much larger and more experienced centaur she was fighting. After her opponent dropped his sword, the centaur behind her handed her another and she began fighting him with two swords in her hands.
Aslan and I walked away from the image of a younger me fighting to another image. A young lioness crouched down in the brush at the edge of a forest, eyes stalking a herd of deer a few hundred yards away. The lioness suddenly leapt from the brush and took off after the deer, two wolves trailing closely and strategically behind her.
"I sent you to live with the wolves, so that they could teach you the importance of teamwork, patience, and strategy."
More wolves appeared from the forest and herded the fleeing deer where they wanted them to go. The lioness led the pack.
"This way, Daughter," Aslan commanded me, steering me away from the pursuit before us.
We came upon another image; one more strange than the others. I was in my human form again, around fourteen or fifteen, but I was not in Narnia. Instead, I was very clearly on Earth. I was sitting at a table in a modern looking dining room surrounded by a group of people all smiling and laughing. The teenage version of me looked immensely happy.
"I sent you to Earth to live with a human family, so that you could learn the importance of companionship and love."
My heart ached at the vision I saw, remembering the family I was given on Earth.
"I remembered them," I said.
Aslan did not reply.
The image faded before us and we were left in darkness, but only for a moment. A light began to shine around Aslan and I, illuminating the two of us in the vast darkness. I realized after a few moments that the light was coming from me. My skin was faintly glowing a faded white and the light stretched out and around us; caressing us softly; lovingly.
"When I thought you were ready," Aslan said, "I brought you back to me and taught you everything you needed to know about your purpose."
I stared at Aslan for a few moments, basking in the familiarity of everything I was hearing; basking in the comfort of finally knowing who I was and what I was meant to do.
Suddenly, I remembered something important.
"Aslan," I said desperately, "Narnia is at war. Again. They need me. I must get back. I must help."
"You will, child," Aslan replied. "But the road back is a long one, and is paved with memories you must first confront before you are restored."
"What do you mean?"
"Ashlynn, there is still so much more you don't know."