Of Story Books and Fairy Tales || E. Pevensie

VIII

Olivia rushed through the garden, hearing the fight between Edmund and the harpy behind her. She felt so useless. Here she was, over a month of sword training and now running away. She had no weapon, and from her first few days in training, it was proven how annoying it was to fight in a dress. 

She turned a corner and came into a part of the garden she didn't recognise. It was like a small courtyard, tall hedges surrounding her. Stone statues of Narnian creatures lined the circumference in a circle, all staring at the centre. Olivia walked into the circle, confused. She had been in the garden many times and never had she come across this.

"Are you lost, miss?" 

From the shadows, a man walked out. A man Olivia did not recognise. He was dressed fairly strange and his eyes were a piercing blue with a shadowy hue around them. Even though his features pulled a concerned expression, she could see it was faked. Something about this man didn't seem at all right.

"Who are you?" she asked as he continued walking towards her, which made her want to take a few steps further away.

"This is the saviour the cowardly lion warned me about?" His face broke out into a smile. Olivia's eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" Suddenly the man was in front of her, all fun smiles gone and a menacing look in his eye. Then, he looked at her with most curiosity.

"Tell me, what did the lion cub tell you about me?" he asked out of the blue as he began to circle her. Olivia's gaze followed him.

"Lion cub?" What was this man on about? He rolled his eyes.

"The king. The Magnificient. High King Peter, Lord of Cair Paravel. Emperor of the Lone Islands." he said as if the high king were some fairy tale joke. 

"I don't even know who you are. How would I know what Peter says about you?" Olivia shot back. 

All of a sudden, the light of the moon faded. When Olivia looked up she saw no sky, just a black void. It was like a huge black dome had grown around her.

"Are you sure you can't even take a guess?" His voice whispered out. 

The harpy reached its talons out and they clashed with Edmund's blade. He pushed it away and swung his sword to cut through its wing-like cloth. The harpy screeched in pain as it fell to the ground against the stone bannister. As it tried to swipe a claw at the king, he slashed the other wing so it was flightless. It only stood about five feet tall, once they fell to the floor they're helpless. 

"Looks like the Traitor King has grown a spine since the Battle of Beruna." it hissed and Edmund pointed the blade at its throat. 

"Who sent you?" Edmund demanded. 

"Until it is measured, it is unknown. Yet you miss it when it has flown." Was its reply. Edmund furrowed his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Edmund!" Peter rushed onto the balcony, Susan and Lucy in tow. They saw the dark creature and the two oldest Pevensies pushed Lucy behind them protectively.

"A harpy? Here?" Susan cried aghast. 

"Why are you here?" Peter glowered as he unsheathed his sword. 

"Four heroes stand yet they do not think of the fifth." The harpy spat. 

"What? Fifth?" Peter looked to his younger brother, sharing the same confusion. A sickening grin spread across the beast's face.

"He's with her right now." A look of realisation came over Lucy. 

"Olivia." That was all she said before running off into the gardens. Susan ran after her, calling as she knocked an arrow in her bow. Regardless of her ball gown, the high queen was ready to fight.

"Where do you think she really is?"

Before the harpy could speak anymore, Edmund had cut its head off. Black blood stained the steel but the Just King didn't waste time after the kill. He had to find Olivia.

"You're the Black Knight," Olivia said quietly. "Elias."

"Oh, so you aren't as stupid as I thought you'd be," Elias smirked, revealing himself from the shadows. "Slow, but not as stupid."

Olivia let out a sigh. "Thanks... I guess." 

"After your kings and queens supposedly killed my sister, I was left with the responsibility to clean up her mess. To raise her army and gather her remaining followers." Elias explained. "I plan to finish what she started."

By now Elias had stopped in front of her with eyes darkened. Olivia wouldn't admit it, but she felt afraid under his gaze. She did her best to hold herself together, but it was beginning to become difficult. Elias knew it as well. He could sense her fear, and he enjoyed it.

"Why are you here then? Why are you telling me this? What do you want with me?" Olivia asked slowly, her breathing becoming heavy. 

"So, the lion hasn't told you?" Elias raised an eyebrow as he took a further step towards her. "Interesting." 

In the distance, they could hear shouting, people calling Olivia's name. 

"Your kings and queens call for you," Elias stated. "Too bad no one can enter or leave the dome without my permission."

Olivia's eyes narrowed. "Let me go." 

"Hmm, not yet. We only just met." The Black Knight smirked. He had leaned in closer and Olivia backed away, wandering up to the black void that was the dome wall. Elias watched in amusement.

"Olivia!" A voice called from the other side. It sounded like Lucy. Then another called her, it was Peter's, then Edmund's rang out. 

"Lucy!" Olivia called back, hoping they could hear her. "Edmund!"

"It's no use." Elias mused in a sing-song voice. "They can't help you here."

"Let me out," Olivia demanded. Her fear was slowly turning to anger.

"I do enjoy watching the desperation of a poor soul," Elias said and he strode over to her. "Watching his mind become more and more lost. I think I'll keep you here for a while, or perhaps bring you to where my sister is buried. I'm sure she'd have good fun in your mind."

When he suddenly grasped Olivia's wrist she screamed in a voice that sounded almost unholy to her. When she did though, she felt a power release within her and a force of light pushed the darkness into oblivion. Elias was thrown back and crashed into a statue. The Pevensie siblings all fell back from the force, each falling to the stone ground. Edmund was the first to recover when he saw the limp body in the centre of it all.

"Olivia!" He got up and ran to the now unconscious girl. He cradled her in his arms. She was still breathing, merely asleep. Lucy rushed over, kneeling beside the two. 

Elias squeezed his eyes as he sat up, only the have an arrow point in his face. He opened his eyes to see High Queen Susan glaring at him. Behind her, Peter held his sword in caution but shared the same deathly gaze. The Black Knight raised his hands in surrender. 

"Good to see you again, Elias," Peter said devoid of emotion. 

"Likewise, your highness." Elias sneered. 

"What did you do?" Edmund poised as his eyes looked to the heretic. 

"I did nothing. That was all her." 

Peter and Susan looked to each other, then to the unconscious girl in their younger brother's arms. That was Elias' moment to leave. He laid back down and sunk into the shadows cast down on him. He was gone.