Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.
Summary: 21 Yule 1006 will see the first lunar eclipse to occur on the Winter Solstice in four hundred years. Enemies of Narnia rejoice! For the time of the Golden Age will come to an end with the spilling of royal blood and Jadis will be revived!
A/N: If you have not read the first three stories in the A Light in the Darkness main story arc (Awakening, Shadowed, and Revealed), I highly recommend you do so. However, if you want to give this one a whirl on its own, you can.
Chapter Two: Of Kings and Werewolves
Avoiding patrols, the small band of Werewolves tracked the Narnian whelps who claimed to be kings as they journeyed south away from the safety of their city and their army. The urge to hunt burned in the very depth of their bones. The hunger for the kill, for the sweet taste of man-flesh, was nearly overwhelming. Only the sight and sound of the two Gryphons scouts kept the Werewolves from rushing the Humans and their escort...for now.
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30 Stormfall 1006
Oreius shared an amused look with Ardon as they listened to the Kings grumbling to each other about their pace. King Edmund shook his head, "I don't understand how Susan manages to make all these packages seem small until the first time we stop and then it's too late for us to make, well, ask her to unpack some of them."
The High King chuckled, "Easy, it's Susan. She probably has some sort of agreement with the horses to not give away just how many packages she's sending by slowing down until after we've left the Cair far behind us. And, it is well that you changed your last words from 'make' to 'ask' because, tell me brother, when have you ever known Susan to unpack when forced?"
Oreius smirked as King Edmund conceded the point, "True, and the one time you tried to force her to "pack reasonably" Susan retaliated by packing your travel bags full of everything that was reasonable for her to bring...that was a fun trip." The High King reached over and gave his brother a light shove in response and King Edmund smirked, "Oh come on, Peter, you have to admit it was pretty funny when you pulled out that pair of lacy pink bloomers. Susan really got you that time. Oh, I wish you could have seen the look on your face."
As King Edmund chortled at his brother's expense, Oreius looked over the Kings' heads to see Peridan watching them with an expression torn between amusement and incredulity. Peridan was still adjusting to life in Narnia, but Oreius suspected it was more the mention of Queen Susan's mischievous prank on her brothers that the Human was struggling to equate with the sedate Gentle Queen he and his family had come to know in the last six months. The High King scowled at his brother, though it was hardly convincing, as he finally countered. "Be grateful Susan only sent enough packages to burden three horses and that we have a perfectly legitimate excuse to not be in the Cair when Susan starts on her frenzy of decorating and preparing for the Christmas festivities and ends up commandeering everyone in the Cair, including the army." The High King twisted in the saddle to look at Oreius with a grin, "You know, General, if Susan really wanted to, she could take over the army and leave you with naught to do."
Oreius smirked, "Then it is indeed well that the Gentle Queen has no true interest in war for I enjoy the task of being your general."
King Edmund looked amused then he grew contemplative, "Do you ever get the feeling that the girls are just humoring us by letting us think we've gotten away with something or doing something they couldn't do? Because, the more I think about it, the more I think when we think we've gotten our way it's really the girls who've gotten their way and they are just indulging us so we don't realize it...at least not right away."
Oreius chuckled as King Peter clapped his brother on the shoulder, "Edmund, I think you're letting the fact that Kat's sick and currently physically unable to retaliate for your prank get to you. 'Sides, it's apparently an exercise in futility to try to figure out what in the worlds goes on inside the minds of women."
Peridan and Ardon immediately agreed, with Ardon adding, "If you find yourself getting your way, it's best just to accept it at face value instead of trying to figure out why she didn't get her way. Far less trouble and far more satisfying results." Peridan nodded his agreement, and then Oreius and the Kings laughed as Peridan and Ardon exchanged a look then said in unison, "Don't tell my wife anything I just said."
As the conversation drifted to the latest news out of Archenland, Oreius looked up to see one of the Gryphons, Ihbari, wheeling back toward their party as he exchanged places with the other Gryphon scout. Winter had come early compared to the last four years with snow falling thick enough to cover the ground in drifts two to three feet deep before they had even reached the end of Stormfall. Still, the pass to Archenland remained open though for convenience' sake Oreius intended to push on the journey home to get out and away from the mountains as fast as possible to prevent them from being stranded by a blizzard. Their party was small, only twenty guards including the Gryphons other than the Kings, Peridan, Ardon, and himself, but there hadn't been any trouble reported and a smaller group meant a faster travel time. He glanced behind them to where the three pack horses walked with heads bent...well, faster travel time on the return trip.
Oreius turned to face forward again, only to pause when he noticed several dark shadows darting among the trees to the right of their party. He frowned slightly then he drew his swords just as Ihbari and Tila shrieked their warnings and howls erupted from the woods. The soldiers drew weapons or bared claws just as the shadows detached themselves from the trees and confirmed what Oreius had suspected; Werewolves. Wolfsbane and How quickly turned their mounts so they could fight side by side with Peridan and Ardon flanking them. The six archers with them fired a volley. The Wolves and Tigers raced forward after the first volley as did Oreius and two other Centaurs. They slammed into the Werewolves. Oreius cut down one and trampled another under his hooves. Whirling around, he brought his blades down in an arc, killing the Werewolf who had attempted to hamstring him. Wolfsbane and How continued to fight from atop their horses as they charged forward to join him in the middle of the fight, but Peridan was on foot as he surged through the snow to continue a ruthless attack on any Werewolf that came close to his Kings.
One of the Werewolves let out a startled howl as a large bull Elk hooked him with his antlers and tossed him back over his body to slam against a tree trunk. Snow stained red with blood churned under their feet as they continued to fight off the band of Werewolves. Oreius felt one of his hooves slip as he stepped on a patch of ice that had been uncovered in the mêlée. A gray Werewolf lunged, trying to take advantage of the misstep. Oreius planted his feet firmly and twisted his right sword to bite deeply into the Werewolf's shoulder. The Werewolf leapt away with a snarl of pain and rage. He whirled to look at Oreius and bared his teeth in another snarl.
Then, a distant howl rang out and, to the surprise of Oreius and the others, the Werewolves still alive broke off their attacks and fled until the trees hid them from sight once more. Oreius frowned at the odd behavior. King Peter looked at him, "What just happened?"
"I am not certain, your majesty." Oreius looked around the impromptu battleground then quietly issued the order for Tila to make her way to the closest patrol and bid them hunt for the remaining Werewolves. The worst wound sustained was a deep cut to one of the archers' arms, so at Oreius' order, they moved out again.
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Frome snarled in rage as Brutus growled, "What were you thinking? I told you to watch the Narnians, not attack them! Now they will be on their guard and their general will probably set patrols to hunting for you as well. Be grateful, you haven't ruined anything but our ability to easily track the pretender kings, or I would have killed you as well, Frome."
Frome snarled again as the little Hag prodded at his wound, "What do you speak of now, Brutus?" He was growing weary of the other Werewolf's crypticness, which had grown steadily over the last two years since his alpha had made the bargain with the Hag matriarch. "Do we not kill the kings?"
Brutus wrinkled his scarred muzzle, "No. Not yet. We need to capture one of the royals of Narnia first, bring Her back, and then we can kill them all."
Frome slapped the Hag away, causing the creature to shriek in anger, and stood, "Then, we capture the dark one tomorrow and-"
Brutus growled, "No, I have a better plan. And, I will not capture a royal so early that we spend weeks trying to avoid both Narnians and the temptation to eat the royal."
Frome snarled as he allowed the Hag to once again resume repairing his wound, "Fine. But, that Centaur will pay for his insult. If he has a mate, I will steal her then rip her heart out before him. If he has young, I will devour them whole. And then, I will kill and eat the Centaur."
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A/N: Please Read and Review! Leave a review and let me know what y'all think about this chapter. Next chapter we'll probably go back to Susan and Kat. Also, so you want to see the trip to Archenland, that is, do you want Lune and Corin to get time interacting with Oreius, the Kings, and Peridan?