Meanwhile on the ship, an unearthly roar echoed throughout the air, making all the crew members jump.

"What was that?" Lucy asked Drinian.

There was a puff of fire from the island.

"Is it the volcano?" Gael asked.

"Oh, no. That's no volcano," Drinian said ominously. "All hands on deck there! Archers, arm yourselves!"

The crew members frantically tried to pass out crossbows to each other.

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open as a huge dragon came into view! Lucy clutched onto Gael protectively while Elizabeth prayed that the others were all right.

"Take your positions and wait for my command!"

The dragon flew up and landed on the top of the sails.

"What's it doing?!" Lucy screamed.

"Fire!" Drinian ordered. "He'll break the mast. Hold your positions!"

The dragon seemed to be trying to hang onto the sails for whatever reason. Reepicheep climbed up the mast and stabbed the dragon in the hand. The dragon fell off the sails and flew back towards the island.

Back on land, Caspian, Edmund, and Eva had finally reached the beach and were about to get into the boat to get back to the ship.

Caspian looked behind him and saw a dragon coming for them.

"Eva, get down!" he yelled as he forced the girl to duck. The dragon continued forward. "Edmund! Ed!"

Edmund looked behind him too late and the dragon swept him up in his claws!

"EDMUND, NO!" Eva screamed at the top of her lungs.

The dragon carried Edmund towards the Dawn Treader. Lucy's eyes widened when she realized what it had in its hands.

"Edmund!" she screamed.

"Lucy! Lucy!"

Elizabeth quickly put her arm around Lucy's shoulders, hoping and praying that somehow Edmund would be okay. But the possibility of that was quite unlikely.

Eva was about to burst into tears, sure that Edmund was dead. She had never even gotten to tell him she loved him! To her disbelief, the dragon came back to the beach. Edmund was still alive!

"It's okay!" Edmund yelled to her and Caspian. "It's okay."

The dragon touched down onto the beach and put Edmund back on land. Eva ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. She didn't release him for quite a while.

"I thought you were dead," she whispered.

"It's all right," he said when they finally broke apart. "This dragon…is Eustace."

"What?" Eva exclaimed.

Caspian started motioning for the other crew members to come on land. As Drinian looked through his telescope, he couldn't believe his eyes. Caspian was telling them to come on land when a dragon was there?

But he trusted his king and obediently went onto the island with some other crew members including Lucy and Elizabeth.

"He must have been tempted by the treasure," Edmund told the others.

"Anyone knows a dragon's treasure is enchanted," Caspian said. Eustace growled at him. "Well, anyone from…here."

Lucy slowly approached Eustace and took off the gold bracelet on his arm. He let out a growl, but it was clear he was relieved that it was off. It had been tearing away at his new skin.

"Is there any way to change him back?" Edmund asked.

"Not that I know of," Caspian answered.

"Aunt Alberta will not be pleased."

"Sorry about the hand, old boy," Reepicheep apologized. "I…can be a little overzealous sometimes."

"You? Overzealous?" Eva joked. "I never would've believed it."

"The boats are ready, sire," Tavros called.

"We can't leave him alone," Lucy stated.

"Well, we can't bring him on board, Your Majesty," Drinian countered.

Caspian looked at the others and handed Drinian his sword. "Drinian, you and the others take one boat back. The rest of us will stay here till morning and…work out what to do."

"But you've no provisions," Rhince told him. "And no means of staying warm, Your Majesty."

Eustace growled and lit a small stick on fire with his breath.

"You were saying?" Reepicheep smiled.

Everyone looked at the small fire and laughed.

As the group on land started to make camp, Elizabeth went over to Eustace.

"I bet you weren't expecting this to happen when your cousins visited," she said tenderly. "I know I certainly wasn't."

Eustace refused to look at her.

"Well, the one good thing about this is that you don't have any nasty comebacks for me when I talk to you." She went a little closer to him. "I always tried to be your friend, Eustace. But you could never see me as anything but a maid. And now even though you've turned into a dragon…I won't make fun of you, I won't make any sarcastic remarks, and I won't stop trying to be your friend."

She slowly extended her hand towards him and rubbed his scaly skin in a comforting manner. To her surprise, he actually allowed it.

Eva and Edmund rested next to each other and began looking up at the stars. Elizabeth and Caspian sat next to them.

"I've never seen these constellations before," Edmund remarked.

"Me neither," Caspian replied. "We're a long way from home. When I was a boy, I used to imagine sailing to the end of the world. Finding my father there."

"Maybe you will."

Eva rested her head on Edmund's chest as his hand started stroking her arm. "I miss Susan, Peter, and Elaine," she said.

"Yeah. I do too."

"I feel bad that they didn't get to come to Narnia with us."

"They have their own lives now. Peter and Elaine are getting married…again. And Susan is off in America."

"Even still…"

"Eva, if you don't mind me asking, what did you dream about last night?"

Eva sighed. "The White Witch."

"Really? You too?"

"I had a nightmare that she killed you when you gave in to her. I guess I'm always afraid that she's going to say something that really draws you in, and then I'll lose you."

Edmund pulled her closer to him. "As long as I have you with me, you won't lose me to her."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Caspian draped a blanket around Elizabeth's shoulders. She gave him a small smile as he sat next to her.

"Here." Caspian took one of the swords they had retrieved earlier. "Take this."

"No, no, I couldn't."

"Just for the time being. Until we get to Aslan's Table. You'll need it."

"Thank you."

"You've earned it."

"Oh, no, I haven't."

"Of course you have. If anything, you deserve it just for putting up with Eustace for so long. Not only that, but you have shown great courage ever since you came here. You're a natural swordfighter. In the times I've spent training you, you picked up the skill very quickly. It has been a pleasure to be your teacher."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I'm glad I am able to please you."

"You've also become more confident and sure of yourself. You have been making a personal journey of your own here in Narnia."

Elizabeth smiled shyly. "I'm honored that you think so highly of me, Your Majesty."

"You must now learn to think highly of yourself."

Elizabeth looked over at Caspian. He had really been nothing but nice to her since they had first met. It was certainly a nice change. Sure, Edmund, Lucy, and Eva were kind, but with Caspian, it was just different.

She knew that he liked being around her. He enjoyed the time they spent training together. Never before had she had someone feel that way about her.

As she rested on her blanket, she heard Reepicheep talking to Eustace. "Trouble sleeping?" Eustace growled lowly. "Now now…all is not lost as it seems. I'll stay up with you if you wish. Keep you company. I'll wager you didn't even believe in dragons this morning. Yes. You know, extraordinary things only happen to extraordinary people. Maybe it's a sign! That you've got an extraordinary destiny. Something…something greater than you could have imagined."

Elizabeth smiled to herself. She liked the way Reepicheep talked to Eustace. He got him to open up in a way that no one else could do.

"I can tell you one or two of my adventures if you like, just to past the time. Believe it or not, you're not the first dragon I've encountered. Many years ago, too many than I care to mention, I was with a band of pirates. I met another dragon much fiercer than you…"

As Reepicheep continued with his story, Elizabeth closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.