Okay. Wow. So I know it's been FOREVER, but I'm finally going to try to finish this story. I don't know if anybody even still reads it, but I have to do it for myself - I hate leaving a story unfinished. :P So here it goes. It's gonna be rough 'cause I'm mainly focused on finishing it, not on quality of grammar or whatever. But yeah. Here's to finishing what I started!

Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia. I own Eden, and that's only 'cause she's basically an exaggerated version of myself.

"Eden! Is she alright?"

"Stay back, dear, you can't help her if you don't let them fix you up first."

"She's unconscious!"

"Should I go get some cold water to throw on her?"

"Don't be foolish, that'd only soak the poor girl! Go sit with Queen Susan."

"Eden, come on, wake up."

Tap, tap.

"Eeedden, come now dear, it's not bedtime yet."

Tap, ta-

"Oh, move aside!"

"Hrmph...!"

"Eden!"

SLAP!

"EDEN!"

My eyes flew open and I clawed at the wolf standing over me, trying to run, run so far away, but his grip was strong and he held me fast.

"Good grief, woman, calm down before you hurt yourself more!"

I struggled all the more, not wanting to think about what might have happened to the others while I was unconscious, only focused on escaping from the grasp of the creature that had been choking me to death only moments before.

"Eden, stop! You're safe, look around!"

Get away, get away, far away, run, run fast-

"Eden, look at me!"

I paused in my vicious attack long enough to look up at the face of my captor – and see that it was no wolf that was holding me down.

It was Kiremnus, covered in scratches, looking down at me with an unreadable expression. I stared for a moment, not quite understanding how he could be there instead of Elmo. Where did he go? Did he just leave me for dead? Has he gone after the others? Oh please no...

Blinking, I took in my surroundings. Kiremnus and I sat in the same clearing I was attacked in, and the Pevensies, the Beavers, Aslan, and several other creatures stood there with us.

And then my eyes lit on the dead body of a wolf lying not three feet away.

I shivered, chills from nowhere wracking my body, and realized that Kiremnus had sat back and released his hold on my arms. I breathed out slowly, rubbing my hands over my face and wincing at the pain in my neck and collarbone.

"Wha'... 'append?" I croaked out, coughing at the unexpectedly fierce sore throat that had tied my vocal cords in knots.

"You were nearly killed by that horrible thing!" Lucy spoke from behind me, and I started, not realizing how close she was.

She came over and knelt beside me. "Me and Susan had to climb up into that tree," she pointed to the very one I had tried (and failed) to climb earlier, "to get away from the wolves."

Her lip trembled. "We tried to help you – Susan threw some rocks from the stream at the wolves – but it didn't really make a difference. The wolves only got angry and-" Her eyes shone with the fear that was still fresh in her mind. "Well, anyway, Susan blew the horn that Father Christmas gave her, and Peter came and killed the wolf before it could hurt you any more."

I sat still, trying to process everything she was saying, after a moment choking out, "Where are the... others?"

Lucy stared in confusion for a moment, not sure what I meant. "The others?" Her eyes lit with understanding. "Oh! The other wolves, you mean?"

I nodded.

"They ran away when they saw Peter defeat their leader. Then Aslan sent some creatures to follow them back to their camp – so they can find Edmund!" She grinned, so full of hope that it made my heart constrict painfully. I, of course, understood what she did not: That just because Aslan would do everything in his power to get Edmund back, that did not mean that Edmund would be alive and well when he succeeded.

I shifted my gaze over to the great lion. He stood majestically (it seemed that was the only way he could stand) and gently smiled, as if he knew my thoughts and wanted to remind me that I shouldn't lose hope just yet.

After all, I had just survived against the odds, hadn't I? So maybe it wasn't quite as hopeless as I thought.

I smiled back at Aslan, deciding to trust him and feeling slightly guilty that I had momentarily forgotten who he was and what he was capable of.

Kiremnus stood beside me, having gotten up a few minutes past, and offered to help me up. I grasped his hand and stood, swaying a bit at first, but then standing steady.

I looked over some ways away to Peter and Susan who were sitting on a log with some dryads and talking in low tones. They seemed very solemn and I assumed they were discussing Edmund. Suddenly, I noticed a long gash across Susan's arm, dripping scarlet, and my eyes widened. One of the wolves must have gotten to her before she made it up into the tree!

I walked over to them, not really wanting to interrupt, but needing to make sure she was okay.

"Su... are you... alright?" I gaped at the bloody row of sutures that one of the dryads was carefully tying off. She and Peter glanced up at me and stood up quickly, smiling and looking relieved.

"Eden! I was so worried! What were you thinking?" Susan exclaimed, looking at me with a mixture of relief and incredibility.

"You could have gotten killed!" Peter said, his expression resembling Susan's but with a smidgen of pride (well deserved, after all he did save my and his sisters' lives).

"Wha'?" I frowned. "How's I... suppose' to know... there was a wolf in-" My sentence ended with a sharp bout of coughing as my lungs decided to pitch a fit. I sat down abruptly, trying not to choke on the air moving forcefully in and out of my lungs.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Peter voiced his concern from beside me.

I nodded and exhaled slowly as my lungs got over their seizure. I peeked over and shot them my cheesiest grin, though it didn't feel very convincing. "I'll be fine. Jus' need-" I was cut off by my lungs having yet another hissy fit.

Stupid lungs. You know it's bad when you can't even trust your pulmonary system anymore.

I groaned as the waves of pain in my throat died down a tad and I became aware of an annoying voice telling me what to do.

"You need to stop talking, you're going to pass out. How badly do you want to die?"

With my eyes still closed, I made a face in the voice's general direction. That faun thinks he knows everything. "How badly... do you-"

Pulmonary failure in progress. Lung error detected. Alert, alert.

Next place I found myself was on the ground again, gasping for air. Not really somewhere I'd like to be twice in one day. But it happens, you know?

Kiremnus knelt beside me, grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet, all the while shaking his head in obvious amazement at the depths of my stupidity. It's honestly more surprising that he didn't realize it when we first met. Oh wait, he did.

"I will take Eden to her quarters. She needs to rest in a place where she won't be tempted to speak unnecessarily." Kiremnus sighed and started guiding me out of the woods. Peter and Susan just waved at me, looking a little concerned, but not even attempting to rescue me from the grasp of Kiremnus the Cruel. Kruel? Cruel.

I had originally planned on pouting all the way back to camp, but unfortunately exhaustion won over and I only had enough will-power to pout half of the way back. As soon as I entered the tent, Kiremnus dropped me into one of the hammocks and gave me a stern glare. Which would probably have been more effective if he didn't have such kind eyes. Yeah, you can't fool me, buddy.

"Rest here. No talking. Understand?" He hit me with his most no-nonsense type of voice. I have to admit, I may have giggled a bit. Blame it on the lack of oxygen to my brain, or the exhaustion, or anything. I don't care.

"Who'm I suppose'... to talk to?" I rasped, smirking at him and motioning to the empty tent.

"Well, seeing as you're... you... I wouldn't put it past you to start talking to yourself." He was perfectly straight-faced while he spoke, but as he turned towards the door I saw the barest hint of a smirk in the corner of his mouth.

"Ahaha." I grinned over at him, even though his back was turned. "You know me too well."

He paused halfway through the door, looking back over his shoulder. "Be quiet. I mean it."

When he didn't leave right away, I took the opportunity to keep talking. "You realize... this is the most you've... ever said to me... right?"

He just looked at me. "Get well soon," he muttered, his tone a bit cold, but his eyes sincere.

I began to reply, but he disappeared out the door before I could even form the first syllable.

"Thank you?" I croaked pathetically in the now empty room.

I rolled my eyes at the silence and fell asleep.