Narnia- Life Out Of Shadowlands

Ch:10 Further Revelations

Chapter 10

Further Revelations

"What!" I shook my head, not ready to believe what Edmund just said. How could Tash make a claim on my brother? We were in Aslan's country; nothing should be going wrong here. "This is utter nonsense."

"Aslan told." Was his simple reply.

"I don't believe this." I declared, exhaling. Ed did not respond as slowly his eyelids drooped and he fell into slumber. It was strange. One moment he was crying, the other he was asleep. I abruptly remembered something similar happening in the shadowlands. 'Sarah' was my first thought. I frantically looked around and spotted the girl in question standing at the door, her face blank.

"Sarah?" Dad asked, as if he was confused. Then his eyes widened and I knew that in that moment he realized that someone had tampered with his memory.

"Sorry about the whole erasing the memory incident." Sarah offered a weak smile as Dad slowly rested Edmund's head on the pillow. Once he was done, he turned towards Sarah and me with a look that clearly told that he meant business. "Care to explain what's going on?"

I too looked at Sarah expectantly since we were discussing a matter where I was clueless.

"Sleeping spell." Sarah nodded towards Edmund's sleeping form. "Didn't really want to unnerve him more than what he already is."

"Will you tell us what's going on?" Dad interjected impatiently. Sarah too realized that we were not about to be distracted. Sighing she said, "You both will have to be strong."

"Try us." Was my curt reply.

She looked at our hard eyes and answered. "Tash has made a claim on Edmund's soul because he says that Edmund's soul is tainted with treachery, greed, malice and foulness. He is a traitor and every traitor's soul belongs to Tash."

Her words took me back to those grounds near Beruna in Aslan's camp when another foul being had tried to claim my brother. The price that had to be paid for his freedom had been quite high. Still, I shook those memories away and glared at the girl from whose mouth such words were coming. "Edmund repented. He served Narnia with his whole heart. Fought battles for his people. Brought justice to everyone. He has more than made up for his sins and the ones who were betrayed by him have forgiven him. We have forgiven him, the Narnians, Sir Giles Fox, Mr. Tumnus, had forgiven him. Most important of all, Aslan had forgiven him. Why is Tash making such a claim on him now?" I almost spat these words on her.

Sarah looked down at me with strange tenderness in her eyes and I suddenly felt like a small child throwing tantrums. Her eyes were wise and gentle and in that sad tone she said, "Peter, old mistakes, though forgiven do leave a stain, sometimes even on the culprit's soul."

I was almost lost in that gaze of her. I understood what she meant but that understanding was at the moment beyond me. I controlled my anger while Dad spoke. "But he is here. Everyone is judged before he or she is brought here, aren't they? Then how can some Trash claim my son."

I did not know whether Dad purposefully called Tash Trash or it was just a slip of tongue but I agreed with him nevertheless. Tash was a trash who was trying to ruin my brother's life – or soul in this case.

"Yes, he was judged too, and he was forgiven as well but do you really think Tash is playing fair." She sighed, a hint of annoyance, not at us but at that Demon God, "Aslan suspected this from the beginning. He knew Tash would somehow or the other try to take Edmund."

"Aslan can deny him." I thought up a simple solution.

"Aslan would have but things are not as it was supposed to be." She took a deep breath and continued. "The Deep Magic has its rules and bindings which even Aslan cannot break. Tash has caught something which, through the law of Deep Magic equals his claim on Edmund as Aslan's." Two blank faces met her reply, as we did not understand anything at all.