Disclaimer: I don't own any of this! Lord of the Rings and everything it contains was originally the idea of J.R.R. Tolkien. Credits for Narnia and everything associated with it go to C.S. Lewis. This was based on the video 'The king, the girl and the lion – Trailer' by Nonokun24 on YouTube. This chapter refers to the series 'Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 1: Water: The Siege of the North', the comic 'De Rode Ridder: De vreemdeling' (volume 229) (translated, the title means 'The Red Knight: The stranger') and the books 'De Macht van het Zwaard 4: De Zwarte Magiër' ('The Power of the Sword: The Dark Sorcerer') and 'Boudica: Dreaming the Hound'. Most of that was just me thinking – either in the Flemish Dutch version or while translating – 'Hey, that's a nice wording!' If anyone finds other references, those are most likely 100% coincidental.

Author's note: Welcome, dear readers! I'm glad I didn't keep you waiting too long this time.

I'd like to thank all readers, and in particular those who ever reviewed my work. A story only means anything if someone reads it.

I won't bore you with the rating again, just something I want to point out. It's pretty obvious, but just for good measure: no, I do not condone rape of an 11-year-old, or rape or child abuse at all for that matter. Khamûl did it because he's evil, irrational, perverted and sadistic. Sorry, I myself like things 100% clear.

Previously, Khamûl, Sauron's Governor in Rhûn, took Karnak with him. Her brother hasn't made it a secret that means he'll be after revenge. And he just may have gotten exactly what he needs for that…

Obviously, I hope you'll enjoy this!

Please read and review!

Jarw – Rhûnhirrim's fall

I see the angels,
I'll lead them to your door.
There's no escape now,
No mercy no more.
No remorse cause I still remember
The smile when you tore me apart.

You took my heart,
Deceived me right from the start.
You showed me dreams,
I wished they would turn into real.
You broke the promise and made me realize.
It was all just a lie.

Within Temptation: 'Angels'.

Chosen

'The pain that grips you
The fear that binds you
Releases life in me
In our mutual
Shame we hide our eyes
To blind them from the truth
That finds a way from who we are
Please don't be afraid
When the darkness fades away
The dawn will break the silence
Screaming in our hearts
My love for you still grows
This I do for you
Before I try to fight the truth my final time

"We're supposed to try and be real.
And I feel alone, and we're not together. And that is real."

Can't wash it all away
Can't wish it all away
Can't cry it all away
Can't scratch it all away

Lying beside you
Listening to you breathe
The life that flows inside of you
Burns inside of me
Hold and speak to me
Of love without a sound
Tell me you will live through this
And I will die for you
Cast me not away
Say you'll be with me
For I know I cannot
Bear it all alone

"You're not alone, honey.
Never... Never."

Can't fight it all away
Can't hope it all away
Can't scream it all away
It just won't fade away, No

Can't wash it all away
Can't wish it all away
Can't cry it all away
Can't scratch it all away

(Can't fight it all away)
(Can't hope it all away)
Can't scream it all away
Ooh, it all away
Ooh, it all away

"But the imprint is always there. Nothing is ever really forgotten."
"God, please don't hate me.
Because I'll die if you do.
…"'

Evanescence: 'Understanding'

Claw. Step right, step left, block. Claw!

Again Kandar's left hand enlightened red for a minute, and the piece of wall he struck at splintered.

His mother noticed: "It'll really take a long time before you create a hole sufficiently large to escape through, you know."

The boy merely sniffed. He was not at all in the mood for bantering. His mother did know that, but she was trying to calm him down. She would do better to find another way, he thought. The Heir stood panting for a while.

The woman addressed him: "Kandar, a man needs rest. You could do better to save your strength for when a real chance comes."

Kandar answered: "I cannot, for I have to train and be strong for the day I will make him pay. Oh yes. I will make them all pay."

His mother looked at him, thoughtful. That day her son had changed in about an hour more than he had in the past two years. He had always taken his forms seriously; as an Heir he was expected to. But in the few hours he already was practicing now, she had seen something inside him that had never been there before. There was a new passion, even a fury when he struck.

The boy had learned hatred.

He got on the floor sitting cross-legged nonetheless. "Though you may be right coming to peace will do me good, mother," he conceded, with a voice sounding like a mass of falling ice.

The woman did recognize that: Kandar was trying to seize control of his emotions and because of that became excessively distant, until he had regained his balance.

The Heir shut his eyes. Every member of the Eastern nobility learned the techniques of meditation from childhood. In that it was about isolating oneself from the world. In the given circumstances she did understand her son found that an agreeable idea.

But she didn't delude herself. Spiritual enlightenment was only achieved by great and wise Shoguns, and even then only after many years of training and discipline.

Suddenly Kandar opened his eyes. A bright, bluish and at the same time silver light shone from them. And he started to levitate.

His mother watched in disbelief as the impossible happened. Silver energy appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around him as a protective cocoon. For minutes the boy stayed in the air like that.

Finally, the trance stopped. The energy faded and Kandar descended softly. His eyes were closed again and when he opened them once more, they were normal.

Still a little puzzled he got up and told: "The Dragon has spoken to me. No, it wasn't really speaking; he appeared and looked at me, and I got a message in my head. He informed me that he, just like me, disapproved of the present situations and that he made plans to end it. As a tool for those plans he had chosen me, he said, and another Shogun who would be marked by Western blood and Western weapons. I dared to point out to the Enlightened Father I wasn't a Shogun yet, but the great god said that was only a matter of time. Furthermore he said that he, if I would do what he wanted, would give me the strength to do so. A part of this power would pass to Karnak, because the bond between us is one not even the Dragon could create."

His mother was shocked; the Great Dragon, the patron god of the Easterlings, hadn't spoken to a mortal for centuries. And now he seemed to have… chosen… her eldest child. A great honor, of course, but also a huge responsibility. Wasn't Kandar too young for that?

Quickly she banished that thought from her head. The Dragon was never wrong. It was sinful to question his wisdom.

Mother and son were distracted as the door was thrown open. Laughing evilly two Darklings dragged Karnak in. She was utterly exhausted and seemed terribly sick. Her beautiful Eastern robe had gone; her tunic was torn.

In Kandar's eyes suddenly a blue fire burned and although his mouth didn't move, his mother clearly heard a growl.

The soldiers roughly threw the girl on the cell's floor.

One of the men told Kandar, falsely grinning: "You're lucky, boy. Not all girls are that… pleasant."

The second added: "Lord Khamûl thinks she's very… nice. And personally I can't really disagree."

The boy didn't answer, but now his eyes glowed. The soldiers were fazed and backed off.

The woman put a hand on his shoulder and softly said: "Karnak needs you. You're not helping her like this."

That did have effect; Kandar calmed down again until finally the fire in his eyes went out.

Now all worry again he bent over his sister. "Karnak, are you okay?"

The girl whimpered: "About everything hurts. I… I have to throw up, but I can't anymore because my stomach's empty."

The Heir put a hand on her forehead and was startled: "You're glowing with fever."

He asked their mother: "Mom, what's wrong with her?"

The woman took a few moments to think and then said: "In former times great wise and prominent scholars taught that diseases were caused by impurities in the blood. It is possible that Karnak's symptoms are a reaction to the – I'm sorry – defilement she has suffered."

Up to then she had remained calm, but now she knelt beside her daughter and held her in her arms.

"Oh, girl," she sobbed. "I wanted to save you this so badly."

Kandar didn't say anything, but softly put a clawed hand on his sister's forehead. He closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating deeply. Then he raised his head and opened his eyes. A bright blue ray of light emanated from them. The clawed hand started glowing bright red. Startled the wife of the Admiral of the Eastern Fleet threw a glance at her eldest child.

The latter had meanwhile fixed his eyes on Karnak. No more light came from them, but blue fire, which, without even scorning a hair, entered the girl.

Kandar looked around.

This place was so… strange. He moved his left arm for a moment and looked at it on reflex.

He really should moderate about this place being strange. He himself was really strange.

He appeared to be made of blue fire, poured neatly in the shape of his body. Now suddenly a Tiger stood beside him as well, built of bright red energy. The animal didn't attack him and Kandar calmly took his time to think.

Around him there was more blue fire. He seemed to be in some kind of corridor or tube, filled with black spots which seemed unfriendly to him.

Then he understood: he was literally inside his sister. He was in her blood flow. The ancient myths about the healing magic of the Mikado, the old Kings of Rhûn, that the greatest among them had practiced, described something like this. It was about sending the Dragon Fire – that burned in the blood of every Easterling – in your own body into another's blood and helping that other person to destroy the impurities.

This was a different level of reality! The blue was Karnak's own Dragon Fire. The black, that was what made her sick. The Tiger was his spirit, who had to be there to guide him. All of that fit. But how was he supposed to destroy the black stuff?

He took a moment to think; then he extended his hand towards the closest impurities. A stream of hot blue fire shot at the black spots, which promptly dissolved.

Kandar grinned. This might be fun.

He appeared to be able to send fire from all of his limbs and even his mouth. After that he put into practice all the exercises he had learned over the past three years at the Dragon Academy. The black disappeared; the pure white corridors gained ground. Karnak's Dragon Fire fought along with him, and the Tiger fiercely clawed at the impurities and shot red energy at all sides. The hostile black disappeared.

Kandar took a few moments to gather his thoughts. The heart, he realized, was the axis. If he could reach that, his sister was saved. Karnak had fever; he would have to retake it from the Evil Fire. But he knew he could do it. He had never felt so strong.

Calmly the Heir addressed the Tiger: "You're supposed to be good at tracking. Take me to the heart in this body."

The Tiger seemed to nod and ran off. Kandar and some of his sister's Dragon Fire followed.

Soon they were at Karnak's heart, surrounded by black fire. A big flame of the Evil Fire came at Kandar, but he deflected with his flat hand and launched a counter offensive.

Now the battle started for serious: the Evil Fire shot flames Kandar normally wouldn't have survived, but now simply blocked with fire of his own. The Dragon Fire burned hotter; no attack came through. The fire in Karnak's blood furiously circled around her heart, constantly quickly striking and safely retreating again. The Tiger spat red energy and struck with four legs. It went slowly, but the Evil Fire lost ground.

Then, very suddenly, the Heir and his two allies combined all of their strength. A massive bundling of blue fire and red energy cut a path through the black and before it could be hindered, Kandar, his Tiger and his sister's Dragon Fire took what was theirs: a place in her heart. In utter disorder the dark flames fled before them. The blue fire in Karnak's blood immediately purified her heart and started to spread over her body.

Suddenly the Tiger clawed at Kandar, who raised his flat hand in defense. When his hand hit the claw, he felt some kind of shockwave of energy.

'Of course,' he realized. 'My spirit is a part of me! What belongs together must never be separated.'

The boy looked at the Tiger deeply and took him in. Man and Tiger, no, Dragon Fire and Spirit, fused, became one. The Tiger was absorbed into the Heir. When the fusion was complete, Kandar stood at his full length again. He looked at his hands and grinned.

The Evil Fire gathered again to join the fight once more. The boy stretched his hand at the opponent and blue fire put out the black. Now he used his left hand, and that spat unnaturally red fire. It looked like lava, but they were flames.

He attacked the Evil Fire, putting out the malice. The young noble's fire burned hotter. The Dragon Fire won.

Kandar closed his eyes. It was time to return.

Kandar closed his eyes again, and when he opened them once more, they were normal. The boy breathed heavily, like after an exhausting training. He saw his mother looking at him, questioning and worried.

Calmly he said: "Karnak will be better. The Evil Fire is put out. Her blood will be pure again soon."

The woman was shocked. Healing magic was reserved for the mightiest wizards among the Mikado, a small élite even within the Sons of the Dragon. She realized her son had just applied this form of magic. But he shouldn't be able to at all. He was 13, and not even Shogun yet; theoretically he only had an indirect bond with the Dragon.

The Heir wasn't paying attention; he asked his little sister: "How are you now?"

Karnak looked at him and smiled laboriously. "A little better. It still hurts."

Kandar said apologetically: "Yes, I can't do much about that."

Karnak continued: "But I'm not sick anymore, and I think the fever has dropped a little already."

"Good," her brother smiled, proud of himself and above all happy for his sister. "Try and get some sleep. I'm sure you'll be alright again tomorrow."

"I'm tired," the girl yawned in agreement.

And she promptly fell asleep.

Kandar noticed: "It's better if she doesn't get cold."

At that he took off his own robe, and he couldn't help but sigh in relief. He felt better in his comfortable tunic; those gave him the same… defensible feeling his uniform of the Dragon Academy did. Eastern robes were beautiful, but an Easterling only felt at ease when the only restrictions to his freedom of movement were those his own body imposed.

With his robe, he covered his little sister. "You sleep now."

After that, he told his mother: "We would do better to go to sleep as well."

"What about you?" the woman asked.

The Heir shrugged his shoulders. "A warrior needs to be able to endure discomfort. A winter night in the open is colder and bare rock is harder. So I'll just have to manage."

With that he lay down, and soon he fell sound asleep.

Author's note: So, Kandar went from a 13-year-old boy to the most powerful sorcerer in Rhûn since the Kings of old. That just might come in handy if you want to, I don't know, overthrow Sauron or something. He's definitely powerful. But does he have enough power?

Next time in 'The King, the Girl and the Lion – With a Vengeance': After some time in the East, we return westward. What happened to our friends in the meantime? Peter and Lucy are headed for the Islands, but why? And what will their reaction to their Eastern company be?

Also, I have to admit the choice for the theme song of this particular chapter may be vague. If you have any questions about it, please ask.

And, as usual, I can recommend Supreme Arcanite Magician's story on here and the videos about the prequel by Nonokun24 and EdwardElricGirl200 on YouTube.