Night had long since fallen across the island, the stars now shining their lights down upon the world from above. The white sands crunched under Wulfric's feet as looked up at the distant stars, longing within his eyes as the smell of salt filled his nostrils and the lapping of the waves roared in his ears. It had been many centuries since he had last come to the island, his presence was never one to desire invitation and yet his attendance had been requested, which meant something terrible had happened.

He ventured up from the bay, towards where the gentle hills could be seen in the distance. His midnight blue cloak billowed in the faint wind, his neatly trimmed grey beard shone almost white within the glow of the moon. That is where the old man awaited him, ancient and seemingly everlasting, wearing robes made from the fleeces of silver sheep, causing him to shimmer as he looked down at Wulfric with unflinching eyes, his long silver beard dangling towards his bare feet.

"Wulfric," he said curtly, no hint of warmth upon his voice.

"Ramandu, it has been too long," Wulfric replied.

"Not long enough," Ramandu shot back, his eyes narrowing as Wulfric matched his gaze with a hard one of his own. "Come, there is much to discuss,".

Ramandu turned and walked away, forcing Wulfric to sigh as he followed him. Higher and higher, Ramandu led Wulfric, eventually coming to a set of stone steps, which they climbed, emerging onto an ancient square of stone, where a long table stood in the centre, candles had been placed upon the surface, which allowed light to bloom around them. Delicately carved patterns adorned the table, while hot and steaming food filled the table from one end to the other.

"Wulfric, it's about time you arrived!" a voice rang out as a figure stood from the far end of the table, wearing ornate robes of the deepest purple, while his straggly grey beard blew in the island wind. Wulfric couldn't help but smile as the figure approached, arm outstretched before him.

"Coriakin," Wulfric greeted as he clasped his arm in a brotherly manner, which caused a scoff from Ramandu as he passed by them and proceeded to take a seat at the table.

"It does me good to see you my old friend, no matter what others say," Coriakin declared, ignoring the glare Ramandu shot his way. "I only wish our reunion came at happier tidings,".

Wulfric looked at the grave look Coriakin now wore, and a trickle of fear filtered down his spine involuntarily as Coriakin resumed his seat and gestured for Wulfric to join them. He hesitated before pushing himself towards one of the vacant chairs, glancing at the large stone knife that had been placed at the centre of the table, the blade that had once been used to kill the Great Lion Aslan, now served as a reminder of his miraculous resurrection upon the stone table.

Two other figures sat facing him on the opposite side of the table, one male and one female, both of them looking as grave as Coriakin, but they still greeted Wulfric with a nod of the head as he slowly lowered himself into the chair. The male was wearing robes of emerald, flecked with silver, his name was Zualmis, and he spent most of his days on a small island just off the coast of Terebinthia. The female had chosen robes of scarlet, flecked with gold, her name was Alinora, and she was known to frequent the islands in the far north, though what she did there, nobody ever knew.

"Now that we are all in attendance, I bring this council to order," Ramandu announced, his solemn voice echoing around the table. "Dark tidings have reached us from the lands in the far west, one that will effect all,".

"Enough with the dramatics Ramandu, tell us of what darkness you speak," implored Coriakin, his patience obviously wearing thin, which caused Ramandu to glare at him once more.

"Eilneth has awoken,"

The words knocked everyone back, especially Wulfric who suddenly struggled to breath as he gripped the arms of his chair, his knuckles now turning white. His eyes met Ramandu's and there was disgust shining with them, with an ounce of pity, which caused Wulfric to begin shaking his head frantically, almost as if she was trying to remove what he had just heard from his mind. A deathly silence now had a grip over the table, everyone not knowing how to respond to this news, Eilneth was free, she was walking amongst the world once again and every horror that they witnessed seven centuries ago, now flashed before their eyes.

"How can this be?" Coriakin demanded, his face now deathly white. "She was buried at the base of Lagour, her tomb was infused with blood magic, nobody alive even knows this except us and Aslan!"

"It seems we have Wulfric to thank for releasing this darkness once more upon the world," Ramandu said, his eyes still locked upon Wulfric's face, who looked up horrified at the accusation as all other eyes now turned to him too.

"This is not my doing Ramandu, Aslan has already punished me for my past crimes, it is why I sit among you now and not in the sky with our brethren," Wulfric shot back, though his face was still pale.

"You may not have released Eilneth and her generals with your own hands, but through the use of someone else's, for word has reached us that your former pupil has been seen in Calormen, asking about the mountain of Lagour," Ramandu revealed, causing everyone else to go still, their eyes still watching Wulfric for any signs of guilt.

"It can't be," Wulfric murmured dumbstruck, the words of Ramandu were like a slap across the face for him.

"And yet it is, your pupil, who betrayed every oath he ever swore to the Lion and has lived longer than he should through the use of illegal means now once again joins the forces of darkness," Ramandu explained, his eyes now more like narrow slits as Wulfric sat there, not knowing what to say and do as his hands began to shake.

"Enough Ramandu, you speak without proof of Wulfric's involvement, his former pupil might be involved, but he broke from Wulfric many years ago," Coriakin replied, coming to Wulfric's defence.

Ramandu fell silent at Coriakin's words, yet their eyes seemed to carry on a silent argument, while Wulfric continued to stare off into the distance, everything now being drowned out by the sound of waves crashing down around him. Tears now shone in his eyes as he realised his two biggest mistakes had now found each other and he found himself looking up at the stars shining above them, knowing he would never retake his place in the night sky.

"What is to be done to combat this threat?" Zualmis asked, turning everyone's attention to him. "If the Unseelie Court should rise again, then it will mean years of darkness for the world, we all remember the amount of lives it cost to defeat it in the first place,".

Grave silence met his words, for all of them remembered those days, when Eilneth released the armies of her Unseelie Court upon the world and the many ferocious battles it took and the many lives that fell, both common soldiers and Kings alike, before she had been defeated. Those were dark days that nobody wanted to see again and all of them were praying that Aslan would return to lead them through the battles that were likely to come.

"We need to move fast, before Eilneth can gather her full strength," Alinora added, her brows knitting together in worry. "Do we know if any of her followers have survived the centuries?"

"Her forces scattered after her defeat, many were destroyed, though there were rumours of some survivors who managed to flee back into the shadows, it is wise to assume that she will attempt to bring them back to her side," Coriakin replied, causing most of the others to nod in agreement.

"We need to warn all Kingdoms that Eilneth has risen, they must be ready to move against her before it is too late," Ramandu urged, his eyes sweeping the table, where they all nodded, except for Wulfric, who remained staring off into nothing.

So, the discussions turned to who was to be warned and which of them would travel there to deliver it and all through it, Wulfric remained silent, barely hearing anything as he made his own decision, one that would avoid anyone else from getting hurt. The discussion had gotten to whether or not Calormen should be warned and whether or not they would be raising an army to help defeat Eilneth when Wulfric got to his feet, causing everyone to look at him as he laid his hands on the table.

"I know I have failed you all, I have failed as a brother and I have failed as a teacher," Wulfric said solemnly, "But I will not allow anyone else to die for my mistakes, therefore I will travel to find Eilneth and do what I should have done seven hundred years ago, end it before it's too late,".

Wulfric nodded to them all, their surprised faces looking back at him, even Ramandu had lost the scowl as he looked upon him. He then turned away from the table and began to walk away from them, determined to right his wrongs, but before he could reach the stairs to lead him back to the beach, a bright golden light erupted from behind him and a deep chuckle, almost like thunder rumbled around them. The other stars all gasped and the scraping the chairs could be heard as Wulfric slowly turned and saw all of them now bowed before the light, as an almighty Lion emerged and gazed upon them all.

"Aslan," whispered Wulfric in awe, it had been over a hundred years since he had last seen the Great Lion and he immediately copied his brethren and fell to his knees, his head bowed.

Aslan chuckled again as he looked at them all kneeled before his feet, his laughter warming them all. He then moved forward, the light disappearing behind him as he ventured towards the table and came to stop. He sat down upon his hind legs as he shook his mane, before looking back at the kneeling figures around the table and Wulfric who remained near the steps, nobody dared move without the Lion's leave.

"Rise my children and be seated," He at last said, the sound of his voice warming all their hearts as they rose and returned to their seats, all except Wulfric, who remained standing by the steps, not sure if the Lion desired his company. "All of you," He added, looking at Wulfric, almost as if he could hear the thoughts that were running through his mind.

Wulfric sat back in his seat as all of them now watched the Lion, the love and respect they all had for him was reflected within their eyes, all fear and worry seemed to have disappeared from their minds, despite the topic they had previously been discussing. Even their surroundings seemed to react to Aslan's presence, as the stars in the sky shone brighter, while the flowers that could be seen around the table seemed to bloom and grow larger, as if Aslan's aura was something they could drink.

"It does me good to see you all gathered here, even if it is the coming days of darkness that is the cause of it," Aslan said, his eyes sparkling with humour and love.

"So, it's true, Eilneth has returned?" Coriakin asked, almost as if he needed confirmation from Aslan himself to believe such a thing.

"She has, and her magic has grown more powerful during the centuries she has slept, we must be cautious in how we proceeded," Aslan answered, his voice becoming grave for the first time.

"What would you have us do Aslan?" Ramandu asked, his back straightening with determination, he would do anything that Aslan asked of him, and the Lion knew it as he bowed his head towards the Star.

"Do as you said, the world has to be warned and they have to be ready, that is the task I set you all," Aslan announced, as they all bowed their heads in return, acquiescing to his wishes.

"Narnia, Archenland, and the Seelie Court should be our first priority, all three of those lands were vital in her defeat, I say vengeance against them will be on her mind," clarified Zualmis, which caused Aslan to chuckle in response.

"You are correct Zualmis, I have already sent someone to warn those lands and to ensure they are ready," Aslan informed, and Wulfric couldn't help but look at the Lion, curious as to who he had entrusted for this task. "It is to the other lands I would now have your attention,".

So, the decision was made, Zualmis would travel back to Terebinthia and convince their royal family to start gathering their forces, while Alinora would have the difficult challenge of travelling to Tashbaan and alerting the Tisroc of Calormen of this new threat, though whether they would agree to form any alliance against Eilneth remained to be seen. As for Ramandu and Coriakin, they were to warn the Lone Islands and the Seven Isles respectively and urge both to ready their soldiers and fleet for when the call to arms finally came. Wulfric however was not given a task, instead he stood on the beach and watched each one of his brethren depart, while he remained staring out across the darkened waters of the ocean and that is where the Lion found him. They stood in silence, just listening to the roaring of the waves, while many questions forced their way into Wulfric's mind, yet his mouth refused to ask them, afraid of the answer he would receive.

"For seven hundred years I have waited for this day, waited for my sins to revisit me," Wulfric admitted as his gazed up at the moon, it's light casting a silver glow over his face.

"Coriakin mentioned you wanted to go and face Eilneth alone, to save many others from having to face her armies in battle, that was very valiant of you," the Lion rumbled, his voice comforting him as more tears welled in his eyes. "I however would have a different use for you,".

Wulfric turned his glassy eyes and found those amber orbs upon him, and he fell to his knees, unable to stand in His presence any longer, a sight which caused Aslan to chuckle. He waited with bated breath as he looked up at Aslan, ready to accept any duty that was required of him, whether it cost him his life or not. Aslan had once given his life in order to stop a dark Queen and even though he had been resurrected, Wulfric was willing to make the same sacrifice even if that power was unavailable to him.

"War will come to Narnia, no matter what we do, therefore we need to ensure they have soldiers to defend it," Aslan explained as he turned his attention back to gazing out across the sea. "I need you to go Ettinsmoor and gather as many of the Narnian exiles as you can, we will need their help in protecting Narnia,"

"Exiles?" Wulfric asked surprised as he slowly got back to his feet. "Those Narnians followed Jadis against their own people, against you, why would you expect them to now fight in your name?"

"All creatures are capable of redemption Wulfric, even them, even you," Aslan replied, his words leaving Wulfric speechless. "Forgiving others is easy, but forgiving ourselves is the true test and it is time those Narnians forced into the Northern lands had theirs,".

Wulfric nodded slowly as Aslan smiled at him, the wisdom of his words reverberating into Wulfric's very soul. Then his thoughts turned to the young boy he once met almost frozen in the Western Woods of Narnia, how he set himself to the task that Aslan had set him when he first cast him out of the sky and taught that boy how to be a warrior and a commander of battle, how he hoped that the boy would lead Narnia to great things, only to have that trust and that love for him destroyed and the land of Narnia descend into bloody civil war.

"Is it true what Ramandu said?" "Is it him?"

"It is, he has grown desperate in his quest it seems," Aslan answered, his eyes filling with hurt.

"I thought I knew him; I thought I taught him better and now he has released Eilneth and the whole world will pay for my failure," Wulfric said, his voice finally cracking.

"There is still hope, a hope that has now returned to those lands and who I have entrusted to save Narnia once again," Aslan revealed, his eyes sparkling as Wulfric looked to him with a furrowed brow.

"Who?"

"The Phoenix will rise again Wulfric, he has not failed us," was all Aslan said, before he vanished in mid-air, leaving Wulfric staring back out across the dark waters, his heart lighter than before and hope now shining in his eyes.

"William," Wulfric whispered, a small smile now spreading on his lips.

Here is Chapter 2! Thank you to the review I've had so far, I hope more people join us on this journey and I hope you enjoy it 😊

Long Live Aslan!

AA