Chapter 19.

Leaving that cave was a relief. It had felt wrong from the very start and I was eager to get out of there as soon as possible. Somehow, I managed to climb back up the rope without difficulties other than it taking forever. But hey, I learned that I lacked quite a bit of upper body strength. I was certain that by the time I got to the top they'd all have left without me.

To my surprise they were waiting patiently for me at the top.

"Sorry, guys," I mumbled as I clumsily scrambled out of the pit. "Thanks for waiting."

Without any trace of emotion, Caspian and Edmund simultaneously nodded. Lucy smiled, saying, "Of course."

I couldn't help but be in awe of her. Even when she was pissed beyond belief she found kindness in her heart. I truly understood how she was a queen, despite being so young. The way she snapped two bewitched men that were ready to kill each other back to reality and how she never backed down was so inspiring. Respect and loyalty gushed up inside me for her. I wasn't sure how Narnia could ever get along without her. I wasn't sure how I could get along without her wisdom and courage to keep me on my feet.

Then there's these assholes. Really not wanting to even look at either man at the moment, I linked my arm through Lucy's as we silently made our way back to the rowboats and the crew. When we reached them, there were several baskets spread out.

"What food did you find?" Caspian asked, frowning as we neared. The baskets were practically empty.

Rhince crouched over them as if to advertise what they'd found.

"It's volcanic, your Majesty," he explained. "Not much grows."

. . . Fantastic.

"This place is a natural disaster waiting to happen," I commented, observing the area uneasily. The sooner we got away, the better.

"Where's Eustace?" Lucy asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Oh, God," I said snickering. "Speaking of natural disasters."

"I believe he's out, not helping us load the boats." I looked behind me to see Reep standing on the edge of the rowboat.

"Eustace!" Lucy called, growing steadily more and more worried. "Eustace!"

All she got in response was the sound of steam hissing from the holes in the ground nearby.

I noticed Edmund had come up to stand next to me to watch his sister.

"Edmund," she said to him worriedly. "I've got a bad feeling."

I sighed. "Yeah, me too," I admitted. Even leaving the cave hadn't done anything to squash the horrible feeling bubbling up inside me.

"I'll go find him," Edmund promised seriously.

"I'll come with you," Caspian agreed. Edmund eyed him warily, but didn't argue. Caspian handed Lucy our newest "lord sword" and followed Edmund.

"Not without me you're not," I protested. They both stopped mid-step and slowly turned to look at me. I didn't really feel like staying behind . . . and someone had to keep those kids in control.

Before they could say no, I quickly said, "Look, if anyone is gonna hurt the kid, it's going to be me. So I'm searching for him, whether it's with you two or—"I put extra emphasis on this part "—by myself."

That did the trick. The pair exchanged a look, and nodded hurriedly.

"Do you have a sword?" Caspian asked me.

I blinked. Shit, now they really were going to leave me behind. "Uh . . . right. Well, you see—"

"Rhince!" Caspian called. "Can you let Rose borrow your sword?"

Immediately, Rhince came up and presented me his own sword.

"Thank you," I told him gratefully. "I'll take good care of it."

I tucked it away in my belt and with that, Caspian, Edmund, and I took off to go find Eustace.

We hiked up the mountain trail, all of us calling for the kid. So far there wasn't a single sign of him.

I nearly ran into them when they suddenly stopped dead in their tracks.

"What, what is it—ohh!" To our right, was a long passageway, the ground completely covered in various objects made of solid gold, like some kind of river.

"Treasure," Edmund said, dejectedly.

"Trouble," Caspian corrected him.

"We're so screwed," I agreed unhelpfully.

Edmund's eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked closely at an object that seemed to have smoke rising from in. We immediately ran down to investigate.

It was Eustace's shoe.

I shook my head. There had to be another explanation.

"Eustace," Edmund said, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Edmund's gaze moved around and he walked forward, with me right on his heels.

Laying on the ground, was a singed, smoking mess. My hand flew to my mouth as I felt my eyes prickle. No, no, no . . .

"No!" Edmund dropped to his knees and began searching through the items. Caspian followed suit. I felt too numb to even move a finger. I just stared in horror as they looked.

Edmund picked up what was clearly Eustace's diary. "Oh, cousin," he whispered, stricken.

This couldn't be happening—it just couldn't. Tears filled my eyes, making my vision blurry. I quickly blinked them away. I had to be strong for Edmund.

"I'm sorry," Caspian said, looking almost like he couldn't even comprehend the situation.

"He was just a boy," Ed said in disbelief. "I never should have left him."

Unable to find the right words to comfort him, I got on my knees next to him and put an arm around him, laying my head on his shoulder.

"Oh, Edmund. I'm so sorry," I whispered, trying not to choke on my words.

"What could have happened to him?" he asked, sounding almost as if he were in denial about the situation.

Caspian glanced behind us. "In this place? Anything." He rose to his feet and Edmund and I shifted to watch him. "And he wasn't the first." He walked over to a skeleton. "It's Lord Octesian."

My eyes widened. I barely registered Edmund getting up and walking away. This place was a complete and total death trap.

"We should find his—" a shing noise made him pause, and me whip around. Edmund was pulling out a sword from its sheath.

"—sword," Caspian finished.

I stood up and just looked at Edmund, who looked as helpless as I felt. Eustace . . . stupid, arrogant Eustace the child was—

I shook my head. "Eustace can't be—he was just—." I turned away, covering my face with my hands as I struggled to fight the sob that was fighting to break free.

Edmund came over to me and pulled me into his arms. I buried my face in his chest, letting the tears flow freely as my body shook. I clung to him as I cried. He held me just as tightly, maybe even crying too.

It felt like only ten seconds that we stood like that when, in the distance, there was a loud, deafening roar. We both jumped apart and whipped out our swords, Caspian doing the same.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded as we grouped together, circling around to look.

"I think I might have a guess!" Caspian said, his eyes whipping around the area in search of the source of the noise. "We should get out of here." Another roar came, this time even louder.

"Noo, I thought we'd stay here and offer ourselves as a freaking flambé!" I yelled at him as he took off running in the direction we'd come.

"Let's get back to the ship!" Edmund shouted, grabbing my hand as we ran after Caspian.

We were approaching the shore, the Dawn Treader not far in the distance. We could easily swim—why did it sound like a gigantic bird was coming up from behind us?

"Edmund, Rose!"

We barely had time to turn around before a gigantic, ginger colored dragon grabbed the two of us with its incredible sized claws, lifting us off of the ground. I was too stunned to even scream. Terrified, I looked up at it. It had long, gawky legs and its scales were rough against my skin. The dragon soared us over the ocean and around the Dawn Treader. Our arms weren't being constricted, but it'd be useless to even attempt escape. So we settled for holding onto each other for our dear life, which was an extremely accurate statement.

Coming to terms with the situation, my eyes grew wider and wider as I stared at the open water below us. Well this is it, folks. He ate Eustace and now he wanted dessert. Well, maybe I'd be the coffee since I'm slightly bitter.

"Edmund! Rose!" Lucy was screaming at the top of her lungs from the upper deck on the ship.

"Lucy!" Ed bellowed as we circled past the ship and back towards the island. Faintly, I could hear the sound of the crew shouting over the rush of the wind in my ear, my long hair flying around so much it felt like a whip against my cheeks.

I wasn't sure what was scarier. The fact that we'd been taken hostage by a ferocious dragon or said dragon dropping us to our death below.

Edmund and I clung to each other, screaming. I swore so badly that it'd put a sailor to shame. Not that any of it would do either of us any good, but it was really our only option at this point.

I could barely take in the island, we were going so fast. Or maybe I was just so scared my vision was all disoriented. Either way, everything seemed like one big, terrifying blur of rocks and mountains.

The dragon flew us through the island at top speed. Eventually, neither of us could do anything except gasp for breath and watch in horror.

Well, if I was going to die I might as well make a confession, right?
"Edmund!" I said, shouting a little so he could hear me. "I know this is a sucky time to do this, but just in case I have to tell you. I—"

I cut myself off as the dragon's flapping slowed, giving us the chance to see something that nearly killed me from shock.

"Mother of God!" I shrieked.

There, in the middle of a large, black crater, written in flames was three simple words that changed everything,

"I AM EUSTACE".

Edmund and I looked at each other in astonishment. Okay, no, that doesn't even begin to describe the look on either of our faces. My eyes felt like they would roll out of my head and if I were a cartoon my jaw would have clanged the forty feet to the ground. Edmund kept looking up at the dragon and back at the words. Good job, Eustace. He had finally broken his cousin—and possibly me too.

"You have got to be joking," Ed said, horrified.

I strained my head to look up. The dragon—er, Eustace, was slowing down, his face looked solemn, almost self-conscious. Of course even as a dragon he somehow still had facial expressions!

I took a deep breath. "Edmund, cover your ears!"

Before I could give him the chance to do so, I screamed loud enough to wake the dead.

"EUSTACE, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO THIS TIME?!"