Chapter 22
With the help of Eustace, we were approaching the island of Ramandu by evening. The island looked just as mysterious and daunting as the map depicted. The sounds of birds screeching could be heard; it sounded just like a jungle. Small waterfalls poured from the mountain of island and into the ocean. It looked beautiful, but I, as well as the others, certainly weren't fooled by its raw beauty.
Once we were close enough, we all got onto the rowboats and set off while Eustace and Reep were flying overhead. I sat next to Lucy in our usual perch at the very front with Caspian and Edmund sitting in front of us, rowing.
"So I've been trying out this whole "positive" thing," I told Lucy. "And I think I've got it."
"Oh?" she said, looking amused. "And what have you come up with?"
I clasped my hands together. "Well, even though we're going to an island where nightmares lurk at every corner and death is waiting to show its big, ugly face so it can rip us all to pieces, or drown us, or maybe just giving us a case of good old-fashioned mental insanity maybe, just maybe, it won't be painful!"
She stared at me incredulously, as did everyone in hearing distance. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who heard a cricket chirping.
"Nothing like a bit of optimism to keep you going," Caspian commented dryly, breaking the silence.
"That's the Narnian spirit!" I agreed cheerfully. "Go team!"
I looked up at the sky and sighed. Of course we couldn't arrive here during the day, it had to be at night.
Sure enough, when we made it onto the shores of the island, I understood the nickname "Dark Island" perfectly. The night sky was nearly black, and it was getting colder. Every time I saw a shadow I nearly jumped, thinking it was some kind of monster or something.
As the crew got themselves together to get ready to go exploring the creepy island, I stood by Edmund, shivering.
"How are we going to be able to see anything?" I asked, looking around worriedly. If we went stumbling through this place blindly, whatever dark thing lurked here would probably laugh at us for it.
His eyes widened. "Oh, right!" He walked back to the rowboat we'd been on and I followed him curiously. He reached in and pulled out the answer to my question.
"You have a FLASHLIGHT?" I gasped, gaping at it like it was a priceless artifact.
He grinned. "Yeah, I left it last time I was here."
"Can . . . can I hold it?"
Looking amused, he held it out to me. I eagerly took it and stared at it in wonder.
"Modern technology!" I said gleefully as if it were a long lost friend. I paused for a moment, considering what I just said. "Well, close enough. Can I use it?"
Unfortunately, I chose that moment to try and flip it in my hand. Instead of catching it, I hit myself in the face and dropped it.
"Damn it," I groaned, blinking rapidly to regain focus. "Yeaaaah. Maybe you should lead."
"Probably," he agreed, picking the flashlight up off the ground.
"But I'm staying with you," I warned him, lacing my fingers through his. "I like to see what happens before anyone else."
"Whatever you say," Edmund said with a smirk.
I stepped closer and kissed him softly. His lips felt soft and tender against mine as we kissed slowly, making it last before I finally tore my lips away.
"Scared we won't have a chance to do that for a while?" he asked me, tucking a lock of hair behind me ear.
"Well there's that . . . and I wanted to wipe the knowing smirk off your face."
He laughed and kissed me again, this time quickly. "Don't worry; I would have made you stay with me even if you hadn't wanted to."
I grinned mischievously. "Well, you are a king. Technically I'm supposed to do whatever you say."
Intrigue spread across his face, but I cut him off before he got too excited. "I said I'm supposedto, doesn't mean I will." I winked and walked away, ignoring Edmund's muttering about being a "bloody tease". Oh, how that nickname never gets old.
I walked over to Eustace, who was looking as uncomfortable as ever.
"Great flying, kid," I greeted him. He made an annoyed sort of snort.
"Sorry, I know I shouldn't call you that," I said with a grin. "But it's better than calling you dragon or giant flying lizard, right?"
He growled slightly, looking slightly put out and I sighed dramatically. "Or, I suppose, I could call you Eustace."
His face softened and I smiled. "See? Doesn't it feel better not to be glaring at everyone all the time?" I reached over and patted his claw-like hand. "I still have faith in you, Eustace," I said softly. I chuckled when he let out a surprised sounding huff. "Yes, even after you basically called me Edmund's whore, who I love by the way." I grinned and heartedly punched his rough, scaly shoulder. "Who knows, you could be my in-law one day, cousin!"
He roared and scrambled back, tripping over his own long spikey tail as he looked at me, horrified.
Heh, I've still got it.
"Rose!" Caspian called. I left a traumatized Eustace to go see what his royal Highness wanted.
"What's up?" I asked him brightly.
"I have an extra sword you can have," he said, pulling out a simple, yet sharp looking sword from its sheath to show it to me. "I figured after all the lessons with Edmund and everything you've earned one." He slid it back in its case and handed it to me.
My jaw dropped as I took it from him. "Wow, Caspian, I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll be careful," he said, grinning.
"I will," I promised, tucking the sheath away in my belt.
He nodded approvingly and clapped me on the shoulder before he left to gather the crew. In that moment, I'm pretty sure I had completely earned Caspian's trust, which felt good. It felt even better knowing I didn't have to borrow any more swords.
By the time we got moving to explore, the moon was high and the sky was dark. Everything looked beautiful and deadly, as if it were the beginning of a nightmare that had started as a dream.
The only sounds to be heard was the crunching of leaves and twigs underneath our feet as well as the chittering, chirping, and squawking of animals. None of us spoke. I suspect everyone was afraid whether they wanted to admit it or not. After walking a good bit through the creepy forest, we came across a stone bridge with statues of creepy looking animals lined up on the sides. Edmund was leading our group with his flashlight in one hand, and my hand holding his other tightly.
At the end of the bridge, there was a sort of arch from trees that had intertwined together. Through it, I could see some sort of long table.
"Why do I get the feeling this is a scene out of a bad horror movie?" I whispered as we got close enough to examine it. As we walked, Edmund shone his light on it. There was candles, dead flowers, and food that looked to me to be fake. The table was set with plates and silverware, enough probably for a dozen people.
I could practically feel the ominous music playing in the background.
We walked alongside the table, examining it closely for any sort of clue.
"Mmm," I heard Tavros gruff voice say. I looked over at the dazed Minotaur. "Food." He started to walk towards the table, a hungry look in his eye.
"Wait," Drinian said, stopping him before I did, which was a good thing, considering my way involved tackling him which really wouldn't have ended well for anyone. Despite how hungry I was, this whole setup practically screamed to be a trap.
Tavros looked disappointed, but didn't protest.
My hand was shaky as it clung to Edmund's, who kept squeezing it in reassurance and using his thumb to stroke it. It didn't distract me from the fact that something wasn't right.
Then, at the very end of the table I saw lumps of thorns and tree vines in three separate piles. Weird. I wondered how they formed like that. Clearly thinking along the same lines, Ed shined his light on them, and I felt my heart stop as I jumped, as did everyone else. "Holy shit!" I hissed, trying not to scream.
Encased in the mess of thrones and vines, were three old men who appeared to be dead. Their eyes were closed and their skin was pale as can be.
Everyone wrenched out their swords and I immediately followed, expecting them to come back as zombies at any moment and attack.
Cautiously, Edmund and I edged forward to examine the man closest to us. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful.
"Lord Revilian," Caspian said, pointing his sword at a man near him from the other side of the table. He moved on to the next man.
"Lord Mavramorn," he stated as one by one everyone began to put their swords away, seeing that these men were no danger to us.
"Lord Argoz," he continued. Note to self; never become a lord. It will lead to complete doom.
I looked over at Lucy who was moving the long, white hair out of the face of one man, whose eyes were wide open. She let out a yelp and jumped back.
"What's the matter?" I asked, wide-eyed.
"He's breathing," Caspian said, looking baffled as he leaned in for a better look. I stared at the men Edmund and I were closest to, and sure enough, I could see the faint, but steady, movement of their chests rising up and down.
"So are they," Edmund said, shining his light on one of the lords. "They're under a spell."
I let out a shaky breath. "I wonder how this happened."
"It's the food!" Caspian suddenly yelled, making me nearly jump out of my skin.
"We're right here, bro," I told him, trying to control my breathing. "No need to yell. Besides, I think we're all a little smarter than to—"
I cut myself off as I heard the clanging of the food dropping back down onto the table.
"Oh, come on guys!" I said in exasperation. "You suck!"
They all looked at one another, looking slightly ashamed. I know we were all starving, but even I knew not to eat strange food that had had been laid out by a stranger who clearly didn't like guests being awake for dinner.
"Hey, it's the stone knife," Edmund said, pointing his flashlight at a knife on the table. "This is Aslan's table."
The talking lion got his own table? Sweet.
"Their swords!" Caspian practically dove into the vines to get one out. Edmund reached for one near us and dug through the vines to pull it out. Oh yeah, weren't we supposed to arrange all of the swords on the table or something?
"On the table," Caspian said eagerly. Yep, we were.
Caspian and Edmund began pulling out and placing the swords on the table and Lucy placed one as well.
"Very fancy looking," I said approvingly.
"That's six," Edmund said, looking slightly discouraged.
"Still missing one," Caspian said uneasily.
"Glad we're all on top of things," I said sarcastically.
Suddenly, the swords began to glow a bright blue, looking wild and creepy.
"Is this a good thing?" I demanded, staring at it wide-eyed,
"I'm not entirely sure," Edmund answered, also looking freaked out.
"Then why does it look so disproportionately epic?!"
"Look!" Lucy said, looking up at the sky. The blue star we had been following seemed to be getting bigger and brighter. I squinted. No, wait, scratch that, it was getting closer. The intensity of it made me blink rapidly as it lit up the whole area, making it actually possible to see details without Edmund's flashlight. Everyone looked pale, amazed, and slightly frightened as the "star", which really looked like a big, glowing orb got closer and closer to the ground.
I couldn't look away. I felt like a bug drawn to a light bulb or something equally discreditable.
When it was only a few feet off the ground, the glowing swirled around until it transformed into an extremely pale, beautiful woman with long blonde hair.
The woman spoke, her voice sounding melodic and enchanting. "Travelers of Narnia, welcome."
Never mind the fact that she was a blue orb two seconds ago, all of the men immediately bowed, looking at her as if she were a goddess or something.
Edmund didn't bow, at least. Just stared, looking slightly confused.
"Arise," the woman said and I snickered quietly. Pretty sure they already had, if you know what I mean.
The men slowly got to their feet and she smiled brightly.
"Are you not hungry?" she asked charmingly.
"Who are you?" Edmund asked her, dumbstruck. I scowled at him.
"I'm Liliandil," she replied, "daughter of Ramandu. I am your guide."
Oh okay, that's good. See you in hell, crazy blonde.
Caspian, Lucy, Edmund and I began to walk towards her, deciding she wasn't a threat—yet.
"You're a star?" Caspian guessed. Beaming, she nodded.
"You are most beautiful," Caspian told her, looking like a lovesick puppy.
"Very subtle, Pretty Boy," I said, rolling my eyes.
She looked concerned. "I-If it is a distraction for you, I-I can change form."
"No!" Edmund and Caspian said in unison, as I said, "Yes!"
"Gag me with a shovel," I muttered, exchanging a look with Lucy who seemed to find this woman as annoying as I did.
For good measure, I wrapped my arms around Edmund's arm and laid my head against his shoulder, which seemed to snap him out of it. He enfolded me into his arms and held me close as we watched her.
"Please," Liliandil said. "The food is for you." A light shone down on the table, making the food look like heaven was shining upon it. Hello, cue the Hallelujah chorus. "There is enough for all who are welcome at Aslan's table. Always. Help yourselves."
To my horror, all of the men began to reach out for the table.
"No!" I shouted at the same time Edmund said, "Wait!"
That's my boy.
"What happened to them?" he asked, indicating the petrified lords.
She looked sad. "These poor men were half-mad by the time they reached our shores. They were threatening violence upon each other."
I wanted to threaten violence upon her.
"Violence is forbidden at the table of Aslan," she continued. "So they were sent to sleep."
I blinked. "Now that's cold. You're a meeaaaan little blondie."
The woman looked at me, her beautiful face confused by my words. Did I fucking stutter?
"Will they ever wake?" Lucy cut in, looking friendlier towards the woman.
"When all is put right," she explained kindly. "Come, there is little time."
The crew began to eat under Drinian's watchful eyes as the four of us followed Liliandil. She seemed to glide across the forest floor. Edmund's arm was around me as we walked, holding me tightly. He kissed my head reassuringly. "Relax, I wasn't lying when I said I love you."
"Good, I love you too," I said, smiling. "Plus, I was about to plan a one-woman mutiny against your or something."
He looked at me in amusement. "That would have been fun to see."
I nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'm sure me withholding any kind of physical affection would have been entertaining for me too."
With the stunned look I received, I was certain his attraction for the star was over.
Between Edmund and Eustace, I really was having a good day.
AN: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review and what not, feedback is helpful and just plain fun to read. New chapter hopefully tomorrow or the day after—we'll see.
