Chapter 4

Eustace was really starting to feel uneasy now - questioning whether or not he had made the right decision by taking this path in the first place. But, he was so far now that it would be a pain to go all the way back just to take a path that looks even scarier than this one was turning out to be (not to mention he might have another run in with Sasha who gave him the creeps). So, he just kept walking, hoping that things would get better the further he went.

Although, one worry that couldn't be so easily dismissed was his growing hunger. It was like an angry animal growing inside of him. He had been walking for nearly five hours now since he had first stepped out of that wardrobe, and he had know idea what to do about food.

All of a sudden, Eustace could see smoke billowing above the trees in the distance and he debated whether or not he should go check it out. But then, a big gust of wind blew towards him and he could smell the scent of meat cooking. The loud growling in his stomach eventually won him over and his feet started moving of their own accord towards the smell. It smelled so good, he would just take a peak from behind the trees to see who was cooking the meat and whether or not he should chance confronting them, he reasoned. After all, what was the harm in looking?

So, making up his mind, he picked up the pace a little bit. He kept moving down the path until he could hear voices then stopped in his tracks when he did, not because he was afraid of approaching them, but because of their weird sound. The voices were all very deep, erupting a sound that was a cross between a growl and a gurgle. He wasn't able to tell how many of them there were but he knew that there was a good many of them.

He started walking again, much slower then before, until he could see movement from behind the lush greenery up ahead where the path became a bit hazy from the thickness of it.

Tip-toeing behind a thick patch of brush, he looked out over it the slightest bit, the action stirring a picture of Sasha in his mind for some reason.

Then he caught a glimpse of what was behind that brush and all thought of Sasha left his mind, replaced by immense fear.

A group of five boggles were huddled around a fire cooking something that look suspiciously like a human heart over a blazing fire. Even from where Eustace was standing he could tell that they were all taller than he was by at least a good foot. They were green-beige in color, their skin rolling on odd parts of there body like they had to much skin to fit their bone structure. None of them were wearing any clothing other than a dirty brown loin cloth, and none of them had any hair on their bodies but for a small patch of whips coming from their head that were thin and shriveled. They all had big hands and feet with thick chipping finger and toe nails that were turning an odd color of yellow that match the color of their beady yellow eyes.

Looking around the clearing, Eustace could see piles of bones randomly distributed on the ground, as well as an eyeball here or a scalp there.

All he could smell was the scent of burning human flesh.

The clearing was shaded from the sun by the trees that stretched over it – the smoke from the huge fire casting an eerie fog, and giving the clearing a menacing feeling.

Every nerve in Eustace's body told him to turn around and run in the other direction as fast as he could, but he had to push forward. He couldn't let them scare him away. He had to come up with a way around them unseen and unheard.

After sitting there unmoving for another ten minutes, he came up with a plan to sneak around the outside of the clearing, staying in the cover of the trees and plants the whole time so as not to be seen. He wanted to give the clearing as wide of a birth as he possibly could without loosing sight of the path and getting himself lost.

Slowly getting to his feet, he started walking away from the clearing, just enough so that he could just barely still see it, then turned to the left, now on his new path that he made for himself.

Moving with caution, he ducked behind after tree, trying to watch the ground so as not to step on any twigs and give himself away, while he tried to keep his eyes on the boggles as well. It was not an easy task.

At all.

But, even though his pace was slow, he was able to make it about halfway to his destination before he noticed something odd about the clearing. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he stopped where he was and, placing two hands on the tree in front of him, he looked out at the clearing to see what had changed.

Four

The number flashed across his brain.

There were only four boggles standing around the fire now, not five. He was looking around the stretch of clearing trying to find out where the fifth one had gone when he felt a puff of hot air on the back of his neck, making the hair back there stand straight up. His entire body became as stiff as a board, an icy, prickly feeling running up his spine as all of the color drained from his face.

Whimpering, he slowly turned around, only to come face to face with the missing boggle.

"Who are you?" it growled from somewhere deep in its throat, drawing the attention of the other boggles.

He was going to faint, he could feel it coming. This was how he was going to die - he was going to be pulled apart by a group of boggles, his bones scattered in piles all over the ground, and his heart roasted over a blazing hot fire.

He tried to answer him to keep them all busy while he tried to think of a way to make it out of there with his life, but nothing came to mind. His mind was completely and utterly blank.

Lucy had told him about boggles one day when they were sitting in the park having a picnic with his family. They had wandered away from them after they ate to go in search of a nice quiet place to relax and talk, and found a shady apple tree that was far enough away from the other people who were out for a nice stroll in the sun, so that they could not be over heard by any of them.

He had always asked Edmund to Lucy to tell him anything and everything they knew about Narnia, as he was so fascinated with the subject after is time there. But, Edmund had gotten tired of his asking after a while, so he mostly went to Lucy with his questions.

She had told him some facts about boggles, but she had not had very many encounters with them, so didn't have very much information to give him. All she could tell him was that they could crawl into your bed at night and put a clammy hand on your face while you slept, and that sometimes they kidnapped children. But, those were only things that she had heard from other people, and didn't know if any of it was true.

Now, standing here facing them right now, he had a feeling that he was about to find out.

"You didn't answer my question little boy," the same boggle growled menacingly, taking another step toward Eustace, now towering over him, breathing his vomitous breath in his face.

"I-I," Eustace stuttered, trying to form words.

The boggle gave him a wicked grin, his lips stretching over his rotting crooked teeth, one of them hanging by a string from his gums and looking like it could fall at any second.

"Whats wrong little boy, are you going to wet your pants?" he said in a mock baby voice, the others laughing at this like it was the funniest thing they ever heard.

They were all closing in on him now, compacting him a tight little circle. All of them panting and snarling at him, all of their breath together making him feel dizzy and on the verge of vomiting.

One of the boggles spit a green piece of bubbling goop at his feet, and snarled at him spit strings flying from its mouth.

Eustace could tell that the boggle that had spoken to him was the leader from his demanding presents, and the way the others stayed out of his way, giving him space to interrogate him. He was also the tallest out of the five, and that made him seem even more terrifying.

He knew that there was no way out of this. He racked his brain for some sort of an escape plan, but he just couldn't get it to work. All he could think about was his gut-retching fear, and the sense that he was doomed to become boggle feed.

"Oh well, I guess we'll just have hush puppies," said the same boggle, and all of them started laughing again, trudging right for him.

Eustace would have rolled up into a ball and started crying from fear, but that joke had just been so bad that for some reason, his fear started to wash away instead.

"Hey!" came a voice somewhere on his left.

All of the boggles stopped their forward march immediately, and looked around the surrounding trees to find out where that voice had come from.

Eustace knew before she even finished saying that three letter word.

Sasha jumped from a tree a good ten yards away from the tangle, instantly pulling her sword from her belt after landing gracefully on her feet.

Eustace chose that moment to run for it, cutting through a brake in the circle, while the boggles backs were still turned to him, watching Sasha to see what she was going to do. He almost made it to her side when he heard a voice calling from behind him.

"Hey!" it shouted, then snapping out of its shock. "Get them!"

"Oh my God, I'm so glad to see you," panted Eustace.

"You can thank me later," said Sasha, putting away her sword and grabbing Eustace's hand as they both made a mad dash for it.

Eustace had been sincere when he had said that he was glad to see her, because even though they weren't to safety yet, he would not have even had a chance at survival had she not shown up when she did.

Together they made it back to the path on the other side of the clearing, running for their lives. It was easier to run now that they didn't have to duck around trees, and there weren't as many roots growing partially out of the ground here and there to trip on, but there was no way that they could keep this up for long. There was no way that they could outrun these creatures. Their legs were much longer then theirs were, with a lot more muscle as well – they would catch up to them in no time.

"Sasha, I really hope that you have a plan, because we can't run forever," wheezed Eustace, trying to suck air into his lung, but at the same time trying to stop it from freezing in the back of his throat by blowing hot air back out to warm it.

"I do, just keep running, were almost there," said Sasha.

How she could look so calm, like she could run all day long was beyond Eustace, he felt like he could just fall over and die right there.

No more. Come and get me boggles. Just put me out of my misery.

After a while, a fork in the road appeared, and without hesitation, Sasha broke right, with the boggles hot on their trail. They were so close now that he could feel there breath on the back on his neck once again, and could feel the swish of air as they tried to grab him.

"Sasha!"

"Almost there!"

Just when he though it was to late, that they were done for, Sasha grabbed his wrist and yanked him to the side, both of them tumbling into the bushes and thickets and a loud crack sounded followed by yelps and snarls.

Every bone in Eustace's body hurt, and he was bleeding in several different locations on his body. He just laid there for a second trying to get some air into his lungs while he massaged the stitch that had formed in his side with a sore and bleeding hand. Bruises had already begun to form on his pale skin in several different locations that he could see at the moment but he knew that there were many more that were out of sight, covered by his torn, dirty clothing.

Once he gained enough strength to hoist himself up on his elbows he looked back out at the path to find a group of very cranky boggles struggling to brake free of a net that was wrapped around them snugly, and hanging from a tree at least twenty feet above them. They were nothing but a tangle of arms and legs as they tried to fight their way to freedom all the while fighting each other.

Looking at her accomplishment, Sasha stood there laughing at the scene before her, which just made the boggles even angrier and they fought even harder to brake free.

"Come on, that trap won't hold them for long," said Sasha stifling her laughter.

Form what he could see she only had miner scratches but other than that seemed fine. Eustace just rolled his eyes at this and got weakly to his feet. He really didn't care at this moment that Sasha could see how tired and beaten up he was. All he wanted was to lie down somewhere and take a long nap, but they had to get away from this place before he could do that, because even now the ropes were starting to brake, and they could get out of there at any moment.

Once he got to his feet, Sasha started down the path in front of him, but looked back after a few steps noticing that he didn't follow her right away.

"Whats wrong?"

"I didn't say you could come with me."

"I just saved your life," said Sasha with a roll of the eyes. "I thought I payed for my ticket."

"You don't even know where I'm going."

"Neither do you," said Sasha with a smirk.

Eustace looked down at his feet at that blunt comment.

"Fine, whatever," he said with a sigh. "I guess you can come."

The snapping of another rope made them both turn and look up at the trap that was becoming weaker and weaker by the minute.

Sasha just looked calmly at it, then turned on her heels and started down the path again, but this time Eustace followed just a few steps behind her.