Chapter 5- the story of the human rescued by a Terror Bird before Jadis' reign

Later, just about sundown

Darkness of the night slowly crept over the Narnian landscape, the Sun (which unlike our world's sun wasn't a ball of burning plasma, but actually a biosphere with endemic (area exclusive) flora and fauna living there. The Fire Flower was one such plant from the Narnian Sun. However, it provided light and warmth to the Narnian world below it nonetheless) sinking in the western horizon, its light going with it. High King Peter met Neutrophil and the other Terror Birds part of his forces unable to attend his meeting due to clan duties as scheduled and told them of his plans discussed in the previous chapter. During this, Neutrophil reported to him of the Cartoon Shadow Cat including its behaviour towards them and how it had evaded them. The other Terror Birds including the clan chief and the Sabre-Toothed Cats that had pursued it had also returned to the mixed clan, unable to find it after losing it while Neutrophil, Daggertooth, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Lymphocyte ad been escorted back by the aging Manticore Dionaea. After this, the old Manticore returned to her own clan but not before receiving thanks from Neutrophil and company. While High King Peter continued his discussion with the Terror Bird officials including Neutrophil, Basophil absolutely refused to budge from among the older Terror Birds, terror (ironically) from seeing the sudden appearance of the Cartoon Shadow Cat (his WORST fear now; the Neko-Cabbits and the White Witch had been his top fears but the latter and most of the former were gone and Basophil had also overcome his fear of the former in addition) and he cowered among the adults, trembling like a leaf. High King Peter had seen the trembling blue-purple-spotted non-flying Bird-Of-Prey and had sympathy for him for he was one of the victims of the evil catlike creature resembling a cartoon cat from the old cartoons of Peter and his siblings' world, Earth. However, Basophil, along with his sister Eosinophil and cousin Lymphocyte were aspiring soldiers for High King Peter's forces and they wanted to become a part of his officials like their older brother and uncle, Monocyte. However, Basophil had one problem to deal with: his phobia of the Cartoon Shadow Cat as the main aims of High King Peter's plans of action were cantered around dealing with the last remnants of Jadis' army and areas, and dealing with that Shadow Cat will be one of them. During Peter's discussion with the Terror Birds unable to attend the Cair Paravel meeting with Puss and some other assistants holding up a board showing the magical satellite-like map of Narnia, the same one Peter used at the castle, Neutrophil flashed a worried look at his still-quivering brother among the crowd of adults. If he wanted to be a part of the High King and his three siblings' forces, Basophil had some MASSIVE obstacles to deal with, especially if it meant defending his allies from evil opponents. After all, unnecessary fear and leaving wounded allies to get themselves out of any confrontation with deadly enemies themselves to save one's own skin despite that rescue being within their reach was seen as UTMOST cowardice and a BIG insult to the Warrior Code of a Terror Bird though it was not as insulting as betraying allies to the Witch during the Age of Winter, among other more SERIOUS things. And if Basophil had to face his nemesis for the sake of his allies, if he doesn't face his fears, Neutrophil daren't imagine the consequences. Sadly, he resumed his attention to the High King's plans.

Next morning, in Dionaea's clan

The clan in which Dionaea lived rose with the rising sun and prepared for the morning routine. Like Neutrophil and company's clan though the Terror Birds lived separately from the Wolves and the Sabre-Toothed Cats as separate groups but still intermingled as a community), this clan was fully blended and actually lived in a town or village-like setting consisting of tents, burrows and basic shack-like constructs. Some of the species living in this clan were Curupira, Capelobo, Badgers, some Beavers, Fauns, Dwarves, Theropods, Aardvarks, Raccoons and several Talking Birds. Fewer members of the community were Fairies and draconic creatures called Longma. Longma resembled scaly Horses or Kirin but had bat-like wings so they resembled draconic Pegasi (singular: Pegasus) and so were sometimes called 'Dragon Pegasi' or 'Dragon-Horses'. Unlike the undead-looking followers of the White Witch, the Carcasi (singular: Carcasus) who were also Pegasus-like with batlike wings and who were horrible looking, Longma had beauty and came in a variety of colours. Some Narnians believed that Carcasi were corrupted Longma who had fallen for the Witch's side and that Longma were a relative of the Pegasus but the latter was not true. Longma were a separate kind of Magical Talking Beast altogether. Like Pegasi, Unicorns and Kirin, Longma were noble creatures. Among Dionaea's clan included one or two magical Pterosaurs called Ropen, a family of Hadrosaurs (duck-billed Dinosaurs), several Platypuses and Kangaroos and a Mokele-Mbembe, a species of Magical Dinosaur that had limited control over water and a strong relationship with Undines (Water-beings or Water-Sprites) such as Naiads. There was also a family of, of course, Manticores: Dionaea and her children and grand-Manti-cubs.

While this community continued its morning activities such as preparing breakfast, some going out to hunt game, one of the Longma whose scaly hide was green, its mane and tail lighter green and its batlike wings green on the top and yellow underneath with the arm and fingers extending into the membranes on the underside being bright orange, picked some fruit from an orchard the community grew nearby. Near the Longma, several Fauns, Badgers and Aardvarks continued to browse the trees in the orchard for more ripe fruit.

"Have you got some fruit yet, Chloroplast?" asked an aging colourful Manticore with a massive scar on her left flank from a large shack-like house's entrance.

"Coming right up, Dionaea," replied the young Dragon-Pegasus, a female or Mare as she reached for another ripe apple and picked it. The Manticore, Dionaea, smiled and returned inside to her family. As she prepared some sharp tools like knives to cut the fruit once Chloroplast the Longma had finished choosing a selection of fruit. Just outside, a large form of a Sauropod-like creature but coloured in various shades of blue with some green and white came by. The long, thick tail trailed on the ground behind the massive Talking Beast as it lugged past.

"Grandma," squeaked one of the Manti-cubs upon seeing the Mokele-Mbembe lug its rather large body past the entrance to the Manticores' home outside, "Is it true that a Longma and a Mokele-Mbembe similar to like Mr Rivier out there once help the Terror Birds get an orphaned Daughter of Eve (Narnians' term for a female human) to safety before the evil White Witch took over Narnia?"

"Nepenthes," said one of the young adult Manticores and one of Dionaea's daughters, this Manti-cub's mother, an amused smile on her Humanoid-like face, "You've asked that question a THOUSAND times!"

Titters rolled through the rest of the Manticore family as a smile formed on Dionaea's face.

"Oh, yes, that Daughter of Eve that was orphaned and taken in by Neutrophil and his siblings' grandfather and his clan," said the colourful Manticore in a positive voice used to honour someone who had done something heroic, "Well, until Chloroplast turns up with our fruity breakfast and my older son Tityus returns with some hunted game, I'll tell you..." the Manti-cubs cocked their ears and eyes as Dionaea began to narrate the story of the Daughter of Eve.

Travel back in time to the pre-Eternal Winter time period

Dionaea: more than ten years before the White Witch returned to our country from her long 'exile' due to the Tree of Protection planted by a Son of Adam named Digory Kirke to begin her blood-soaked and sly takeover, a certain clan of Terror Birds carried out their usual way of life such as raising their chicks to either be hunters or warriors, the examination of their first hunt being one of them...

In the days of Narnia before Jadis came and locked it in the 100-year long Christmas-less winter, now known as the Eternal or Age of Winter, the Narnian country's landscape had regular seasons. Inhabitants continued their daily lives and everything was pretty much normal. This time period was known as the Age of Conquest and it began shortly after Aslan's creation of the Narnian world and its contemporary events such as Digory Kirke's adventure to retrieve an Apple from the Garden of Youth. A clan of Terror Birds lived as their descendants did in the present. One day, a certain male Terror Bird was returning from a walk.

Dionaea: His name was Goroth and he was on his way back to the clan after a short walk to get away from the stresses of clan life. These events occurred just before his and his wife White-Thistle's first clutch of eggs, among them Neutrophil and his siblings' father, had hatched. As he walked back to his clan, a startling sound roused his attention...

The Terror Bird, Goroth who sported white plumage with a few grey spots, and like all Terror Birds, head plumes and a menacing sharp, hooked beak, talons and piercing orange eyes, walked along indifferent to the environment and his attention on his destination until it was pierced by a startling wail. The large male Terror Bird, upon hearing this, flinched and scanned his surroundings in confusion. As he did that, a fresh breeze blew through the green grass and trees and made them waver. Then the wail died down. Goroth then dismissed it and was about to take another step when suddenly, another wail seized his attention.

Dionaea: Goroth knew that sound and what emitted it. He had seen and heard such a creature before when he met the Royal Human family descended from the first King and Queen of Narnia almost nine centuries ago. However, that sound out in the middle of nowhere had him VERY concerned...

Goroth continued to examine the surroundings as he traced the source to its sound. His tracking soon led him to a simple shelter-based construct he identified as being built by a certain creature but the moment his Bird-of-Prey's eyes landed on its state, alarm tore through him.

Dionea: the cries were coming from a simple human cottage but when he went to investigate it, he was met with a disaster zone and among the wreckage...

Goroth took in the interior of the simple cottage in horror. It was though a MASSIVE gale from a storm had been to visit. Furniture was overturned and shredded and meal tools like utensils and plates lay scattered across the floor of the area Goroth assumed was a kitchen. The plates lay in broken pieces on the floor like pieces of eggshells. Wooden slabs, cupboard doors, also either lay cast aside like animal carcases or partially detached from their hinges. More household objects like ornaments also lay scattered and strewn across what was once apparently the living room and wooden objects like chairs lay overturned and/or in pieces here and there. Goroth, after overcoming the horror of the scene, continued to trace the sounds of the crying and wailing until he found its source but when he did, he flinched again and dropped open his beak in disbelief at his find.

Dionaea: the moment he saw that wailing human baby, Goroth searched around the ransacked human's mini-house and to his utmost concern, he could not find ANY of that baby human's family anywhere, in or around the area of the building. In fact there was NO human in sight whatsoever. Goroth knew that he couldn't live the infant alone, knowing that human infants were EXTREMELY vulnerable and helpless without the protection of older humans most especially the parents, and Goroth knew also that this infant needed food and shelter, and quickly, so seeing no other choice, he made the best decision...

Goroth returned into the ransacked cottage, made a beeline for the cupboard and immediately inserted his head into it. He then took the handles of the basket containing the human baby in his large beak and lifted it out of the cupboard. After this, he left with the human baby, exited the destroyed cottage and resumed his journey back to his clan, taking the infant with him.

Back to present

"Goroth had no idea of how that human baby's home had been reduced to that mess, how its family had disappeared and where, but something told him that something tragic had happened in that place that reduced that poor human baby to an orphan," said Dionaea just before a green scaly Horse with Bat-like wings entered the large shack with a massive selection of fruit from the orchard. One or two of the Manticores left to help Chloroplast the Longma carry the selection into the building. Then moments later, the Manticore that had joined the hunting party, Dionaea's oldest son named Tityus, arrived with his Lion's paws clutching some freshly killed carcasses: some dumb quails and a dumb pheasant. The other hunters had also killed one or two dumb deer and some more dumb birds. Like almost every other dumb bird, the quail and pheasant species had Talking counterparts so those individuals were not killed for food as it was tantamount to murder and cannibalism to kill and eat a Talking Beast, and a SERIOUS crime punishable by imprisonment or worse. Dionaea nodded to the returners and continued the story of the Terror Bird and the human baby as the two returners took their selection of food to the kitchen for processing.

"Then after receiving permission from the clan chief, Goroth adopted that human baby, a female, girl or Daughter of Eve, into the clan and named her Jessie after a human friend some of the Terror Bird youngsters had befriended, and raised her alongside his own chicks along with his mate White-Thistle, and the extended family. Over the next ten or so years, Jessie grew into a strong preteen girl and learned the ways of the Terror Bird including the Warrior Code, making tools for combat and for hunting, lessons in running and stamina which were VERY important in hunting trips, Terror Bird-based fighting techniques, and even participated in the First Hunt Exam with her adopted Terror Bird siblings including Neutrophil and his siblings' father and several other young Terror Birds and passed on the first attempt by taking down a dumb moose with a spear she had fashioned herself, that moose subsequently killed by Neutrophil's father with the Axe Beak technique to the neck. Jessie certainly did make her adopted family and clan proud despite her not being a Terror Bird herself. However, that joy was soon to meet its sunset and it was not just because Jessie was approaching her teen years, the time period featuring a tunnel that all Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve children have to enter and pass through..." Dionaea's face then turned dark with a frown as the story took a dismal turn.

Back to the pre-Eternal Winter time period with Goroth's clan

Dionaea: it was after the Tree of Protection had withered and died and just before Jadis locked Narnia in the Eternal Winter. She was in fact in the process of conquering the land with her assortment of HORRIBLE creatures, many of which were traitors among them one of our ancestors who betrayed the Aslan-loyal Manticores to the Snow Beast and Devil Woman. During the White Witch's conquest, Gandalf the First and Great Kitsune and the father to ALL Kitsune-kind and his group were finishing the underground base, hastily completing its finishing touches and essential bits. The Narnians against the Witch were despairingly watching their country get smothered by the shadow of the Devil Woman which will eventually be the precursor to the Eternal Winter and all its difficulties, alongside the Witch's own incredibly corrupt law system. Based on Jadis' rancour for ALL humans, Goroth's clan knew that Jessie was now in mortal danger and has to leave Narnia to a human's place for her safety...

Goroth's clan elders had called a meeting on a hill. The clan chief stood atop a jut from the soon-to-be snow-smothered green land. A sombre look was clearly visible on his face and the faces of the other Terror Birds, the inner circle members and advisors of the clan. Despair, worry and dread; the reason for their sombre looks, at what was happening to their land and the imminent Age of Dread as they have nicknamed it, churned within them.

"Jadis is taking over every square mile of Narnia with her army and is doing so fast," said the chief, "Our King and Queen's counter-forces have been trying to deal with the threat but to no avail. Despite every single ounce of effort being poured into fighting back against the White Witch and her army, among them our own clan members who had volunteered to go to war against them, the Witch and her forces are still sweeping through like a MASSIVE stampede of sinister horses. It was just as the Centaur stargazers had predicted and as the Great Terror Cat (the Terror Birds' name for Aslan) had warned us when the Tree of Protection keeping Jadis at bay has withered..."

Silence then fell along the officials as they gazed at their leader sombrely. It was a typical look of despair, common behaviour among a leader and his higher-ranking assistants and officials when a threat showed itself to be too great to deal with. Then the chief's gaze turned to a certain male Terror Bird in the gathering.

"And that means the fate of a certain member of our group. Goroth..." said he. At the sound of his name, Goroth looked up and stepped forward. The clan chief's face then morphed into one of sternness as he began to address the subject. "I'm afraid it is no longer safe for Jessie to stay with us. She has to leave our side... and Narnia."

"But Chief," said Goroth in protest, "Ever since I took her into our clan while my chicks were due to hatch a few days later, Jessie has been like one of our own daughters, especially to my wife White-Thistle, and our chicks also love her as one of their own siblings despite her being a completely different species..."

"I'm sorry, Goroth," said the chief sadly, "One, Jessie is approaching adolescence and will soon be maturing into an adult Daughter of Eve and two, Jadis will NOT hesitate to kill ANY human that stands in her way, be it young, old, disabled and so on."

"The White Witch DETESTS humans, Goroth," said one of the inner circle members, "After all, the Golden Age Prophecy is about how four humans will conquer her and take the throne."

"And further, the White Witch is TOO powerful for even a flock of powerful Terror Birds to deal with," said another, "and any Talking Beast who tries to protect ANY human is either immediately killed or turned to stone by her wand..."

"We can take her to Gandalf's underground base now that it's nearly finished," suggested a younger member, "She may be safe there."

"Even so," said the chief, "The White Witch will still be able to find her and that would SERIOUSLY jeopardise Gandalf and the others, especially the secrecy of their base as it's supposed to be a strict secret for its future use once the White Witch has FULL grasp on our lands once she conquers it..."

The other inner circle birds shuddered as they dreaded what Jadis had planned for the land and its inhabitants in the coming years, perhaps decades. The chief continued. "Don't forget, the Witch is able to sense the presence of a human in a WIDE diameter of area. Now whether it's through some form of telepathy or other method, I don't know but one thing is certain: conditions are becoming TOO dangerous for Jessie to stay here. She MUST leave the land and perhaps move into a place outside of Narnia, safe from the Witch's reach. A human's village or town is the best option as she will not only be out of the Witch's reach, but with her own kind as well."

"Yes, and Aslan will take care of her as well," said the first inner circle bird to Goroth, "so you need not worry."

"Um, speaking of a human's village or town," said one of the older advisors, "A visiting Albatross told us of one he had visited outside of Narnia's southern borders, in the mountainous region separating our land from neighbouring Archenland. They are mostly a fishing village as they live near the sea, though, but a few of the villagers are also hunters and farmers. Maybe Jessie will be safe there?"

"Then there Jessie shall be taken," said the chief. Then Goroth breathed a sad sigh before he finally relented to the decision. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll be the one to take her to that village."

"Then make it so," said the chief, before his glare hardened to one of UTMOST seriousness, "And remember, Goroth, Jessie MUST be out of our country before the White Witch fully completes her conquest and takeover of Narnia and before our Monarchy falls, which is likely to happen and also likely imminent."

"Especially since some of Gandalf and his mate Seresute's own offspring had joined the Witch's side, among them one of their daughters who had willingly given in to the temptation of evil and allowed the darkness within her to take her over," said the first inner circle bird with UTMOST distaste. Goroth nodded in obedience to this. Then the clan chief dismissed the meeting and the group left the meeting spot and returned to the clan.

Dionaea: shortly after the meeting, Goroth kept to his promise and started his long journey with Jessie that afternoon. Goroth soon deduced that the demise of Jessie's biological family was the work of some of Jadis' cronies as there had been other reports of other humans either going missing and/or getting killed by mysterious creatures, presumably some of Jadis' minions who had entered Narnia early to seek out ANY human that may be present within the country for their Mistress to locate herself and kill. This clearly indicated the impending unstoppable snowstorm, both metaphorically and literally, so to speak. Goroth knew that the journey south with Jessie was going to be a long one and difficult but he had no choice if his adopted human daughter was to be removed from the Witch's barbaric, bloodthirsty reach, and that Devil Woman was taking over Narnia FAST. It won't be long until the entire country was in her grip...

That afternoon, Goroth walked with a young human girl on his back. After flashing one final look back at the other clan members including his wife White-Thistle and his biological chicks, one of them Neutrophil, Basophil and Eosinophil's father and another, the father of Monocyte and Lymphocyte, the pair walked on. The human girl, Jessie, was now around twelve years old, not far from becoming a teenager. She bore quite a build for a human child but her legs were well-built, the result of learning how to run and hunt throughout her childhood like a Terror Bird. She wore an animal's skin as clothing on her torso for warmth and modesty purposes. This animal's skin was taken from a dumb beast, possibly a deer, and the Terror Birds had fashioned it into a coat for the girl to wear since she had no form of natural pelage (fur) or plumage to insulate her from the cold. After all, apart from the patches of hair humans had on their heads and other parts of their body, they did not have a full coat of fur like a mammal such as a dog, cat or bear. As the girl grew, larger dumb animal coats had been fashioned for her to suit her increasing size and this coat was the most recently fashioned. Sometimes the Terror Birds would fashion replacement coats for the girl whenever her current coats got worn or damaged. The girl walked barefoot and had never once worn any kind of footwear like shoes, one of the things humans were known for though some human groups, particularly the tribes who lived in natural environments such as forests in our world, managed well barefoot. After years of walking and running over various terrain types barefoot, Jessie's foot soles have become rock-hard like armoured skin. She sported long ginger coloured hair and resembled a typical human child that had grown up in the wilderness in overall appearance. Her skin was fair light brown and her eyes were brown coloured.

As the distance between Goroth and Jessie and the rest of the Terror Bird clan grew, the latter gazed back tiredly. She stretched her mouth open for a yawn, raised her arms and stretched them too.

"Shouldn't we head back to our clan now, Pops Goroth?" she moaned tiredly, "I'm feeling sleepy."

Goroth, upon hearing this, turned and gazed at his adopted human daughter with a sad look on his face. He was reluctant to answer this question but he had to and did so after some hesitation.

"Jessie," he said sadly, "I'm afraid... I'm afraid the answer to that is a strict no."

"Why?" asked Jessie. Goroth then began to reluctantly explain the reason.

"Remember the account of Narnia's creation in which the first six Extra-Narnians (beings not born in Narnia but instead came from an outside world, such as humans from Earth) that appeared when the Great Terror Cat was singing the world into existence, that story we told you and your adopted chick siblings, often before bedtime?" he said, "One of those six was Jadis the White Witch, an immensely powerful sorceress who was unable to return to Narnia for centuries after Digory Kirke, one of the other five extra-Narnians and a Son of Adam and a member of your kind, planted the Tree of Protection. Well, now that the Tree has withered and died, that sorceress has returned and is taking over our land at an alarming rate. She DETESTS humans and so is extremely dangerous to humans like you."

"Why's that?" asked Jessie.

"She just is," said Goroth before turning firm, "Now no more questions and let's focus on starting our journey to the humans' village which is a LONG way from here. I hope we find help along the way as we've got quite a way to go."

Jessie grumpily folded her arms and pouted, a common behaviour of stubbornness in most human children as her adoptive Terror Bird father continued to carry her through the forest and further away from the clan.

Back to present

"It had not been an easy decision to take Jessie to the human's place, but it had not been an easy journey either," said Dionaea, "One of the things Goroth had to deal with was Jessie's stubborn attitude and defiance and another was the roaming cronies of Jadis as they and their Mistress continued their conquest. Thankfully, Goroth had help, mainly from a Longma and a Mokele-Mbembe and they helped the pair through a variety of obstacles."

"One of which included dealing with a sinister creature that eventually became one of Jadis' most trustworthy underlings," said Chloroplast the Longma after she had placed the fruit onto the worktop to which Dionaea nodded. The Dragon-Pegasus then sat down beside the aging Manticore, "But it wasn't the Cartoon Shadow Cat, it was a hideous Humanoid that resembled a Son of Adam but had an upside-down head. Incredibly sadistic he was, and took pleasure in torturing his victims. However, Goroth and his group managed to escape the monster and get to safety with Jessie beside them."

"And after days of travelling, Goroth and company managed to reach the southern border and the mountain region," continued Dionaea, her audience listening intently. As she said this, the blue and white head and neck of a Sauropod-like creature peered in, having heard the talking. Dionaea flashed the Mokele-Mbembe a look and continued. "There, they found the small human village and Jessie was left where she spent the rest of her days, while Goroth and company returned home with plenty of help due to the distance. However, by the time the group returned to Goroth's home place, Narnia had already been locked into the Eternal Winter and Goroth's clan had moved, that area having been turned into one of the inhumane labour zones where the oppressed were forced into extremely hard labour for the White Witch such as building her golden idols. Goroth's group had managed to get Jessie out of Narnia just in time."

"The kids and grah-ndkids of Jessie live he-e-ere now," said the Mokele-Mbembe, its voice tinted with an odd accent. These creatures stretched the long vowels so their pronunciation of words with such sounded longer. For example, 'cope's long 'O' could become something like 'co-o-o-oope'. The blue Sauropod continued, "The hu-u-umans that lived he-e-ere have returned after the Witch was vanquished."

"Indeed, Rivier," said Dionaea, before her gaze turned to her listeners, "So there you have it, the story of Jessie and how Goroth saved her life from the White Witch with the help of the father of a certain Longma here, and a certain Mokele-Mbembe."

Then a proud smile formed on the Mokele-Mbembe's face while Chloroplast nodded. Then it was revealed: the Mokele-Mbembe that helped Goroth get Jessie to safety from the Witch was the very same Mokele-Mbembe peering into the shack and that Longma was Chloroplast's father (Mokele-Mbembe can live for several hundred years, a common trait of Dinosaurs and Dinosaur-like creatures though they almost cannot outlive a Kitsune which were capable of living up to a thousand years). Then after a short applause, breakfast resumed as some of the Manticores and Chloroplast set to processing the food. Dionaea walked up to Rivier, the Mokele-Mbembe peering into the mini-house.

"We-e-e certainly did fa-a-ace some HIDEOUS cre-e-eatures and obstacles on the wa-a-ay," said the Magical Sauropod seriously.

"We ALL did before and throughout that Tyrant's reign, Rivier," said Dionaea sternly, "But thankfully, she's been vanquished and all that's left is the remains of her army and areas. High King Peter will be calling his officials to start the first stages."

Rivier nodded and withdrew his head and neck from the shack while Dionaea joined her family and co-inhabitants as Chloroplast began to distribute the chopped up fruit.