𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐱 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 (𝐒𝐂 & 𝐋𝐁)

Chapter 15- The Underlands

Fortunately, for us, we never hit the bottom suddenly. Well not hard enough to harm us severely. I was very surprised and never understood why. But there were a great number of bumps and bruises.

Jill was buried under a pile of lose stones and dirt so that she was unable to get up. She kept complaining about it as no one could see anything. It was far too dark. We could've had our eyes open or shut and it wouldn't have made a difference.

Everyone started to move around. We all tried to stand. I knew Jill made it out from underneath the rubble when she didn't say anything. Then we established that no one had any broken bones or major cuts. Other than a few bruises we were all fine.

"We won't be able to climb up that again," I stated referring to the cliff.
"Have you two noticed how warm it got?" Puddleglum asked us. "We're really far down. At least a mile or so," he continued.

After that, everyone was quiet. We made no sound and had no idea what to do. So we just stood silent in the dark at the bottom of the slope.

Then Jill broke the silence saying that she was thirsty. None of us made any suggestions because there was nothing we could do. I was surprised. We were all tired and thirsty, yet none of us felt as bad as we should. After all we had just tumbled down a steep slope. It was probably because we were so tired.

A long while later, someone spoke. The voice was not who we had been hoping for. We hoped Aslan or one of us would be the one to break the silence. Instead the voice was flat and sounded almost dark, if that was possible.
"What are you doing here, creatures of the Overland?"
"Who's there?!" all three of us shouted at once.
"I am the Warden of the Marches of Underland. With me there are a hundred Earthmen. All of them are armed," was the answer we got. "Tell me now who you are and what you are doing in the Deep Realm."
Puddleglum answered as truthfully as possible. "We accidentally fell down here."
"Many fall down here and few ever return to the world above. Now come with me. You must see the Queen of the Deep Realm."

I was then curious as to what she wanted us for. The voice told us that he did not know. It also said that they only obeyed her commands. They weren't meant to be questioned.

Then the cavern was flooded with light. It seemed that the one speaking had not been lying about having a hundred men with him. They held strange lanterns but they weren't very bright.

We held each others hands. If we didn't, we feared that we would be separated from each other. That was the last thing we wanted in a place like this.

The Warden had us march. The further we went the lower and more narrow it got. It was hard to move very fast. Especially when you where surrounded by hundreds of creatures. Eventually we ended up having to crawl through. Jill didn't like it at all and after a short dilemma, we finally made it to what seemed like an underground forest. It was filled with all kinds of dragon-ish creatures.

These were creatures that had fell down. Just like the Warden said, very few made it back up. They all seemed to be dead or asleep. The Warden told us that it was said that they would eventually wake at the end of the world. I was starting to worry if we would ever get back. Jill must've already been worried about that because she looked absolutely terrified.

It had been awhile since we started walking. I had no idea how long it really was. All I knew is that we had been walking for miles and probably hours.

Then we were traveling by boat. Puddleglum even pointed out that we were once again following the signs Aslan had given Jill. We were to go under the Ruined City and, according to Puddleglum, we were.

There was little talk between us after that. They gave us food, though it didn't taste very good, and then we fell asleep. I hoped that everything that was happening was only a dream. But sadly, when I opened my eyes, it wasn't.

Eventually, the boat led to an underground city. There were just a few dimly lit lights underground. Besides, The City was quiet. It gave me an eerie feel. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

When our boat reached the shore, we were taken up into The City. The Earthmen that had brought us kept bumping our shoulders. Even though The City was quiet, it seemed to be crowded.

Then we stopped at what seemed to be a castle. There was a discussion between the Warden and two sentries at the arch of the castle. At first the three had exchange the saying of "Many sink to the Underworld. And few return to the sunlit lands." That was something I feared would happen to us. Then there was talk about placing us in prison until the Queen returned. She seemed to be gone for the moment.

Just as it seemed to be coming to an end, the discussion was interrupted by a voice from the top of the staircase.
"What trouble are you keeping down there Mullugutherum?" the voice shouted. "Overlanders? Bring them up immediately!"

Mullugutherum started to argue with the voice but it wouldn't allow any of it. So instead he complied and led us up the staircase. As we went up, the light increased.

We started heading inside. Earthmen parted curtains for us and we walked into a beautiful room. There a young man rose to greet us. He seemed bold and kind while at the same time there appeared to be something about his face that didn't seem right. I didn't know what it was. He was also dressed all in black.

"Welcome, Overlanders!" he greeted. "I believe I have seen you two children and your strange governor before. Was it not you three that met me by the bridge before? When I rode there by my lady's side?"
Jill and I both came to the same conclusion but only Jill spoke aloud. "Oh. You were the quiet black knight?!"
"And the Lady was the Queen of the Underland?" Puddleglum questioned very sternly and in no friendly voice.

Then I spoke up, angrily. It all accidentally slipped out about her sending us to the castle of the giants. I hadn't meant to insult the Lady aloud.

The knight was upset and even threatened to fight me if I hadn't been unarmed and just a child. He said that he would have no one insulting his Lady's honor. The knight told us that everything she said was of good intent. I found it hard to believe but didn't say anything.

"What is your business in the Deep Lands?" he asked.

Before Puddleglum could say a word, Jill blurted out that we were trying to find Prince Rilian of Narnia. It was only afterwords that she realized what she had said. These people could've been enemies. However the knight didn't even seem fazed. We quickly found out why.

"Rilian? Narnia?" he said not even caring. "What land is Narnia? I have never heard that name before. It must be thousands of miles away from the parts of the Overworld I know. And it is a strange fantasy that brought you here seeking this-how do you call him? Brillian? Trillian?- in my Lady's realm. There is no one here called by that name."

Then I began to explain to him Aslan's Signs. Not in full detail, or that they were Aslan's, or even all of them. Just the message from the City Ruinous that said "Under me." The knight told me that it was all part of a bigger message that had faded away throughout the years. He even explained the story behind the message. I was starting to believe that we had just been led here by accident but Puddleglum told us no. He said that Aslan was our guide and that there were no accidents.

"Your King must live for a long time," said the Knight laughing, "if he knows all this."
"And your Lady must live for a long time too if she was there when the message was first written," Puddleglum answered.
"Very true. She is of a divine race and she knows neither age or death."

The Knight began to explain to us all the plans this Lady had for him. How he was supposed to be King of someplace in the Overlands. That once he was king, he would marry her. The Knight was so glad and pleased that his Lady had chosen him.

It was a long story that he told and he had someone bring food and drinks for us. We all listened carefully and I became very suspicious of this Lady. It was probably a different reason than Puddleglum's though. He never liked her from the start. I bet he was just waiting for the perfect time to question the Lady. But for now he had to wait.