Narnia's Shadow // Peter Pevensie

Between Life and Death

They say that when you reach Aslan's Country it would be magical. Flowers surround your feet. Trees so high they touch the sky. Waterfalls gleaming against the sun. Cool winds blow past your cheeks as your body relax. All of your worries disappear and you start over. Knowing that you have left nothing behind since you have already finished your life.

But first you see a bright light flash before your eyes. Your body is floating through the air as you come closer and closer to the golden gates. There you meet Aslan before entering.

So many amazing things waiting for you in the afterlife when you die. But why am I only seeing darkness? Where's the clouds? The trees? The flowers? Aslan?

I look around me to try and find something that isn't the color of black. Something that stands out against the never ending tunnel.

"Hello?" I jump at the echo of my voice. It confused me because I'm not inside of a castle nor a tent. Maybe a deep cave? "Hello?" I call again. I start to walk around to find a way out. But no matter which way I go, it leads me no where.

My heart starts to pound in panic at the thought of being trapped here. Maybe sacrificing myself was a mistake. Immediately, I scold myself for thinking just a thing — for sounding so selfish. That is not how I was raised. I was raised for sacrificing myself so that others could rise. So that Aslan wouldn't die. So that the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve can defeat the White Witch and take back Narnia and rule peacefully.

As I stood there it suddenly occurred to me that I changed it. That I changed my prophecy. It was said that the Shadow was supposed to kill the sacrifice at the Stone Table and instead the Shadow sacrificed herself for the greater good.

Fear creeped up on me. Is this the consequence of going down a different path than the original prophecy? Oh, on Aslan's mane, I must be in the opposite place that Aslan always warned me about. He described it as sadness, dark, and cold. And right now it was all three.

My thoughts soon lead to Peter. If he was alright. If what the White Witch said about taking over Narnia in battle, I pray up on Aslan's mane that Peter leads the army strongly. I know Orieus will be by his side to help lead the troops that I was suppose to lead if I had followed the prophecy.

At this very moment, I am putting my full trust that Peter will lead the others through and defeat her. If that weren't true Aslan wouldn't have marked him a knight of Narnia for nothing. Peter should feel honored that I, the Shadow, am trusting him without fully knowing whether he is fit or not. It takes an honorable decision or sacrifice to earn my trust.

"Hello, Little One." A booming voice echoed all around me. I whirled around, looking for the source that the loud voice belonged to. It sounded familiar but why couldn't I see the face with it?

"Hello?"

"I see that you are between My Country and Tash." The Voice said again. My eyes narrow in suspicion as my feet start to move forward to the direction that the Voice might be coming from. "You are indecisive whether to join the living or the dead." He continued which I was glad because it was leading me to him.

"Why can't I choose if I did this to myself?" I asked the Voice. My steps faltered as a bright light suddenly came out of nothing.

"Yes," He agreed. "And you were very honorable for doing so. Yet, you denied your prophecy by sacrificing yourself instead of Me." When He finished a figure started to appear in front of me. Just a tiny speck. I had to squint to be able to make out what it could be. As I got closer an outline of an animal came to view. "I am very proud to call you my Daughter." A gasp escapes my lips as a majestical lion came into focus. I fell to my knees as a sudden feeling of power and leadership came off Him in waves.

"Aslan," I whisper in awe. He chuckled at my reaction to him being there, His mane had grown back to its beautiful length as if it were never touched. But it doesn't make any sense. He shouldn't be here. He should be up in Narnia taking down the White Witch. He can't be dead. My heart became heavy with guilt and self-blame. I failed. I had failed my own mission. "But—But how? Why are you here?"

"After you cut the blade through you, Jadis turned around and killed me herself with the very same blade." He told me with the same calm voice. Aslan took a step closer until he sat down in front of me. "Natasha, with the power in me I give you your gift." My mind grew confused at His words.

"Did you not already give them back to me?" I ask Him to which He quickly denied.

"I gave you ones that you were going to need in battle. I did not grant you access to the one that could get you home."

My eyes widen. Home? I thought I was already home. Is Narnia not where I was raised? I knew that I was born in the same world where the Majesties come from but that can never be home. Maybe it could have been if I hadn't been abandoned. But I can't keep dwelling in the past.

"Narnia is my home, Aslan." I tell him. "Maybe in the Majesties world was once but I was raised here... with you." The Great Lion shook his head causing his fully grown mane to shake.

"The Children of Adam and Eve do not come from the same place you do, Little One." Aslan revealed. "You came from an entirely different world. From a different war that Peter told you about. You came from a world where heroes are born."

My stomach churned at the truth of his words. If this power that Aslan is informing me about is so powerful that I could enter different worlds; do I even want it? It would be too much to handle. I could go anywhere I want but what are the exceptions? It gave me a sense of understanding that maybe that's why my parents haven't found me. Because, I am in an entirely different world that they don't have access to.

"I do not want it. For Narnia is my home, Aslan. With the Beavers, with Tumnus, with the Kings and Queens, and with..." I look up at Him through my lashes with a small smile. "... my Father."

"Well, how the tables have turned." Aslan laughed at the situation. His smile was large. "At first you wanted your abilities and now... you don't want them all." I tilt my head to the side when He gave me a look that He always gives me when He knows I won't like. "You have to return." He said before He roared in my face.

As my body fell to my side, it occurred to me that His words sounded like a double meaning. And I'm not sure if I like it or not.