Chapter 59- the start of Queen Lucy's emergency rush to an alternative antidote
Back in the thicket, Queen Lucy continued co cower in a ball, frightened whimpers and squeaks leaving her mouth and her face formed into a look of terror as she continued to watch Betelgeuse, Rigel and the Dryads fend off more minions. From her perspective, the two unusually fur-coloured Wolves resembled deformed beasts while the Dryads' blossom and leaf-formed bodies resembled small flying monster butterflies. As these frightening distorted images resulting from the phobo-fluid ravaging her brain and body continued to torment her visually and audibly, the poor afflicted Queen began to feel her heart rate accelerate alarmingly, her breathing rapidly increase and her muscles tense up. These symptoms were a sign of a SEVERE panic attack and it was one of the affects of the phobo-fluid. Suddenly, a monstrous dark red Beast resembling a severely deformed minions of Jadis came in, her voice echoing demonically in her ears. Queen Lucy released a MASSIVE scream and scrabbled away as Betelgeuse returned to her to examine her, her form in her vision severely distorted by the poison. Betelgeuse's worry for the young Queen skyrocketed as she saw the young girl begin to hyperventilate and sweat profusely, her eyes flooded with UTMOST terror amplified by the poison gazing at her.
"Queen Lucy, can you tell me what happened?" Betelgeuse demanded, "Have you been poisoned or something?"
Betelgeuse's questions, however, sounded like demonic howling in Queen Lucy's ears and she clasped them shut with her hands and screamed at Betelgeuse to get away from her. Betelgeuse shot Rigel and the Dryads a look of UTMOST dread.
"I think she's DEFINITELY been poisoned by something," she told them. Then a Drop Bear mockingly came in and deliberately battered Queen Lucy with a snarl to UTTERLY scare her, making her scream and scrabble away to the Tree Beast's amusement. Immediately and with a flash of HOT rage burning through her, Betelgeuse lashed at the Drop Bear, seized it by the neck in a front paw and slammed it HARD against a nearby tree's trunk. The Drop Bear tried to get free and snarled at Betelgeuse to release it or it will maul her but the dark red Wolf slammed both front paws onto its neck and tightened her grip on it to the point of strangling the fanged Koala-like Beast.
"STOP TALKIN' AN' SNARLIN' or MY FANGS WILL BE MEETIN' YA NECK, you VILE TREE BEAST!" she snarled, her orange eyes blazing like a forest fire. The Drop Bear, despite having its breathing cut off by Betelgeuse's brutal chokehold, glared back at the Wolf defiantly. Then Betelgeuse fired a question into its face.
"HAS HER MAGESTY BEEN POISONED!?" the dark red Wolf demanded, "ANSWER ME HONESTLY and WITHOUT HESITATION OR I'LL BITE YA JUGULAR!" she enforced this threat by putting her jaws to the Drop Bear's neck in a mock bite to frighten it. The Drop Bear released a frightened growl as Betelgeuse then eyed it again with her blazing orange eyes, expecting an answer. The Drop Bear then smirked mockingly and relented.
"You want ya answer regardin' your poor lil' girl you have for a Queen, granddaughter of that traitorous Wolf Nanu?" it crooned, Queen Lucy looking on nearby trembling violently, the phobo-fluid-induced panic attack sending her body into UTMOST overdrive, "Here it is. Our Mistress Dimitrescu has treated her to a special dose of a fluid capable of inducing irrational fear SO terrible that it brutally twists the victim's perception of their surroundings. In fact their distorted perception frightens them SO much that they essentially go into EXTREME panic over the least significant things such as trees as they appear to take on horrid forms. Happy now!?"
Betelgeuse took a few seconds to register this information until finally and in a fit of rage over this revelation; she acted on her threat as the Drop Bear released a cackle. Opening her maw wide, the dark red Wolf lashed at the Drop Bear's neck and plunged her fangs into it. As she inflicted the deathblow bite to the Drop Bear and withdrew to watch it bleed out, the mortally wounded Beast flopping onto the grass limply, a Black Dwarf armed with a stick fashioned into a spear, one of its ends sharpened to a point, came in and prepared to run the unaware dark red Wolf through when suddenly, an arrow slashed through the air from nowhere and jabbed it in the back of the neck. A howl of agony exploded from the Dwarf's neck to Betelgeuse's alarm and she shot her attempted assailant a look as it fell over from the fatal piercing of the arrow. Rigel also came in and to her UTMOST relief, they saw reinforcements come in. The Dryads continued battling some more minions when suddenly, a jet of deadly orange-yellow fire-lighting, foxfire, appeared and fatally turned them to blackened carcasses. The Dryads backed away as the shooter of the foxfire, a Nine-Tailed Vixen with her shining ivory gold and metallic yellow fur leaped in and struck another creature, a Lemon Rabbit armed with a spear-carrot dead with another foxfire blast. Nearby, Queen Susan shot more creatures dead with her arrows. Then some more helpers; Hagrid, Kushanku, Tumnus, Neutrophil, Basophil, Eosinophil, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Sordward, Shielbert and Squea'tagnan and Acorn the Quokka appeared and drove off more minions, the Terror Birds using their Axe-Beak technique to dispatch more of them and Acorn cutting down a Strawberry Beaver (a variant of the pinker Raspberry) with his sword. As soon as the minions were driven off or put to death, those driven off fleeing into the vegetation, Betelgeuse and Rigel called to the group and pointed to Queen Lucy and they gathered around the catatonic and terror-afflicted young Queen. As they did, Queen Susan's jaw dropped open in UTMOST horror at the state of her younger sister and Tumnus winced violently.
"What has HAPPENED TO HER!?" demanded Queen Susan as Hagrid and Alestomeria looked over the catatonic Queen Lucy.
"She's been hit by some kind of panic-inducing poison according to that Drop Bear," Betelgeuse explained while the Dryads including Merriweather looked on in worry for the younger queen, "I don't know what sort of poison exactly but... it's having a dramatic effect on how she sees things..." as she spoke, Hagrid found the dart stuck in Queen Lucy's right arm, indicative of the white and blue feathers decorating its tail end. The moment this was revealed, UTMOST horror and disbelief tore through the group.
"Trees and bushes," Athos whispered while the other Mice had their paws over their mouths. Betelgeuse and Rigel also flinched at the icy coloured feather-decorated stick rammed into Queen Lucy's arm.
"That's not good," said Neutrophil.
"Is that a dart?" asked Kushanku while Acorn the Quokka, Basophil and Eosinophil looked on speechless, the disbelief freezing their ability to form words. Alestomeria then began to explain, a VERY dark look on her face.
"Yes, Kushanku," she said, "And Betelgeuse, you are spot on with your findings on this poison."
Betelgeuse and Kushanku exchanged looks as the Nine-Tailed Vixen then launched into an explanation, not a good one.
"Queen Lucy has been hit with a dart containing a mind-affecting, extreme fear-inducing toxin called phobo-fluid, a magical chemical capable of causing panic attacks and terror on a SEVERE and fatal allergic reaction level. It severely twists the casualty's perception of their surroundings by making them see and hear things that aren't there, objects and sounds to appear distorted and frightening while at the same time causing EXTREME panic to ignite within them. In essence, the poison sends the casualty into a severe waking nightmare that they cannot get out of."
The listeners exchanged horrified gazes as Hagrid continued the explanation, "We have studied this mind-torturing poison along with other dangerous substances such as EXTREMELY addictive Toxo-Cream which King Edmund would have got hooked on if it weren't for Cilan's intervention, and the Snow Angel's Cure, another mind-affecting potion, during the White Witch's reign."
Another wave of horror swept through the group as Hagrid continued. Then Tumnus began to look around for her fire-flower cordial while the Kitsune Dog Fox or male began the next thread.
"Phobo-fluid was another of the White Witch's evil torture weapons and it is sourced from a highly dangerous flower called the fear flower. However, cultivating the fear flower was extremely difficult so phobo-fluid was in short supply pretty much like every other resource in our land the Witch had locked in her curse of perpetual ice and snow during those 100 years."
"Unlike the effects of the so-called Snow Angel's Cure which are a dreamlike trance state such that those in it obey commands without question," continued Alestomeria, "The effects of phobo-fluid cannot be reversed via infliction of extreme pain. Furthermore, aside from its severe psychological effects on the victim's mind, phobo-fluid is also deadly physically and it is not just from the EXTREME anaphylaxis-like fright-or-flight symptoms it causes."
As she said this, Tumnus, together with Betelgeuse, Rigel, Merriweather and Eosinophil, continued looking for Queen Lucy's fire flower cordial while Queen Susan looked over her afflicted sister, tears streaming down her face. However, to their UTMOST dismay, they could not find the young Queen's most-precious and invaluable medical potion bottle.
"We cannot find Queen Lucy's fire-flower cordial ANYWHERE!" cried Tumnus in despair.
"We don't know where it's gone!" added Eosinophil.
"I believe those minions may have taken her cordial so that she cannot cure herself or have us cure her of the phobo-fluid afflictions," snarled Betelgeuse in EXTREME rage.
"Can we seek anyone else who has fire flower cordial such as Tumnus' cousin Guinan?" asked Queen Susan, her voice on the verge of breaking over seeing her little sister in such critical condition, "I know she has a bottle in her possession."
"I'm afraid it'll be too risky to take your sister to Guinan or anyone else with fire flower cordial on hand as there are so many of these minions of Jadis around," Alestomeria sadly replied.
"And additionally, there's not much time," put in Hagrid. Despair splashed over Queen Susan and company but Hagrid continued, "However, my wife and I and our den assistants have another antidote to the phobo-fluid but it's back at our den."
"We have been building a secret backup medical kit during the final months of the White Witch's reign right up until the Great Thaw with Aslan's coming," added Alestomeria, "for use in the event of anything worst happening especially at the hands of these surviving minions of the White Witch."
She then turned to the Dryads and commanded them to get some tough vines and roots and the Plant Sprites obeyed and began to search for such. However, the sounds of various foot types on foliage and wing flaps in the air in the dense thicket's vegetation sent alert through the group and they shot wary gazes all around. The Dryads also stopped but then resumed searching for the roots and vines for Alestomeria. Those wingbeats and footsteps were the sounds of more minions gathering around and they were getting ready to attack the group. They were reinforcements gathered by the remaining minions after they were driven off by the Kitsune and company and now they were back with a vengeance. Immediately, Hagrid reached a paw into one of his nine tails and pulled out a small block with a button. Hagrid and Alestomeria had stashed a few supplies into their tails' fur for many Kitsune and Kumiho can use their tails like secondary satchels to carry additional supplies though only small items can be packed into their tails' fur. After pulling out the button block, Hagrid pressed it. A high-pitched sound emanated from the block into the forest to the confusion of the group. However, he prevented anyone from asking and resumed the explanation about the phobo-fluid.
"During the White Witch's reign, that Fox-Witch and apprentice of the White Witch herself, Dimitrescu Dokuringu and to a small degree, Belladonna, had been secretly experimenting with these deadly potions and poisons to test their properties and effects, effectiveness as weapons and make them more potent where possible. The aim behind those EXTREMELY cruel experiments was to build a backup set of weapons in the event of the Golden Age Prophecy coming true. Now, we believe these surviving minions of Jadis and also Dimitrescu herself are armed with these poisons, one of them being the Jadis' Poisoning Dimitrescu had managed to inflict on our High King via that cake. Thankfully that kind of poisoning is one of the rarest types of poisoning around in the entire world of Narnia. Furthermore, we believe that aside from trying to destroy the Golden Age Prophecy's beginnings, Dimitrescu may be planning on something FAR more heinous, possibly involving the Nine-Realms Potion, High King Peter's only antidote."
Looks of horror flared on the listener's faces.
"And what could that be?" asked Kushanku.
"I don't know but we do NOT like it one bit," Alestomeria replied in a low growl. Just then, the Dryads returned with the tough roots and vines. Immediately, Queen Lucy, who was rapidly deteriorating due to the toxic phobo-fluid, was hoisted onto Alestomeria's back with her head on Alestomeria's nape and tied tightly to the Vixen with the vines and roots. Alestomeria gazed worriedly at the afflicted Queen.
"I'd better get Queen Lucy here back to our den and administer her the antidote before the damage the phobo-fluid is causing to her body becomes permanently irreparable," the Vixen said and as soon as Queen Lucy was secured enough to her back with the vines and roots, she was ready to go.
"How long do you think she has?" asked Tumnus, Queen Susan releasing sobs with streams of tears running down her cheeks in rivulets.
"Not long," replied Alestomeria simply and with that, the group began to carefully sneak through the forest to the clearing on the other side. Nearby, Hagrid clutched his signal button block while Kushanku, Basophil, Eosinophil, Acorn the Quokka, Neutrophil, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Sordward, Shielbert and Squea'tagnan got ready for battle, their eyes intently scanning the surrounding undergrowth.
As the group began to make their way, the larger group of minions began to follow, some of them armed with crossbows and bows and arrows ready for long-range attacking when suddenly, they froze at a sound in the distance. Another Drop Bear possessing an injured arm due to Rigel's attack on it during the earlier skirmish began to look around while the arrow-armed minions aimed their nocked bows and crossbows in all directions. As Hagrid and Alestomeria's group continued their journey, Kushanku, Queen Susan and company also froze upon hearing the sound begin in their ears. They also began to look around.
"What's that noise?" asked Porthos. Hagrid and Alestomeria looked around but their gazes were expectant.
"Reinforcements of our own," Hagrid replied simply as he continued to hold the signal button. Porthos saw this and looked on in wonder.
"Hey, I know what..." he began but Hagrid nodded to confirm that whatever he was about to say was correct. Among the bushes and ferns, the minions continued looking around with some glaring at Hagrid's group when suddenly; several small comets flew in and buzzed a Slender-Man's faceless head to its alarm. The faceless Humanoid known for its long spindly arms and legs, tentacles, three-piece suit and bone-white skin was sent into a stumble to the confusion of the others. However, within seconds, the air around them suddenly became flooded with a MASSIVE swarm of more of these flying creatures, their wings beating the air being the distant sound the minions and Hagrid's group had heard. But these creatures weren't small birds or bats. Nor were they flying insects that swarmed like bees and locusts. They were fish... literally flying fish. Flyingfish built to live in forests and thickets to be exact. Explosions of ugly cries of frustration and anger erupted from the minions as the swarm of flying fish, Forest Flish, began to overwhelm them like a swarm of locusts. Hands, wings and paws flew at the Flish as they continued to tackle and strike the creatures' faces and bodies. The Slender-Man tried waving its long arms and back tentacles at the scaly darts with enlarged pectoral fins for wings to drive them off but it continued to be bombarded in the featureless face and upper body by more of these greenish creatures. And not only were the beating of their wing-fins an annoyance to the minions but their clicks and bird-like cries as well and the minions' ears were practically being UTTERLY attacked and battered by these torturous sounds. The Hags clasped their ears shut and screamed as more Forest Flish buzzed by, chirps and screeches exploding from their beak-like mouths. Through the vegetation, Hagrid looked on in their direction, his paw holding the signal button still emitting the high pitched noise, a noise Forest Flish were sensitive to and were driven crazy by it, for a while until finally, the Dog Fox released the block, seized it in a telekinetic grasp with his eyes glowing neon blue and the block still emitting its signal in an aura of the same colour and then mentally sent it flying at high speed through the trees for a good few metres and away from his group and at the hidden minions. The block flew so fast that the minions failed to notice it and immediately, the locust swarm-like cloud of Forest Flish flew after it. The turn of the torrent of the Forest Flish swarm and barrage as they flew after the block began to drag many of the minions in that direction and within moments, some of them began to stumble. The archers tried to shoot down the Forest Flish but of course, shooting arrows in a MASSIVE swarm of small flying animals was NOT a good mix for various reasons. The archers, overwhelmed by the sheer number of the Forest Flish and their hands grasping their crossbows and bows and arrows being knocked off aim by the wing-finned barrage, began to aimlessly fire their arrows in unplanned directions, some of the arrows piercing their own allies including the Slender-Man who was pierced in the chest by a stray arrow fired from a Black Dwarf.
While the Forest Flish swarm kept the minions occupied, Hagrid's group drastically accelerated their rush for the outside; Queen Lucy tied to Alestomeria's back with the roots and vines. Once they were out of the forest, Hagrid turned to the others.
"Alestomeria, you take Queen Lucy to our den and administer the phobo-fluid antidote to her QUICKLY," he barked, "Kushanku, Basophil and Eosinophil, you go with her and serve as her bodyguards for the journey. The rest of you, back with me to Cair Paravel to help our other allies deal with the other minions of Jadis and also find Dimitrescu before she reaches the Nine-Realms Potion."
Immediately and without wasting another second, the group split into two and went their separate directives. Alestomeria with the catatonic Queen Lucy on her back, Kushanku, Basophil and Eosinophil immediately took off while everyone else including Queen Susan, Tumnus and the Dryads took off for Cair Paravel. Betelgeuse and Rigel wanted to accompany Alestomeria but Hagrid wouldn't allow them and told them that they will be needed at Cair Paravel and Monocyte will need Neutrophil's assistance. Reluctantly, the two Wolves obeyed and followed Hagrid's subgroup back to Cair Paravel.