The Light of Narnia - Book 3 (Narnia X OCish Reader)

Chapter 10 - Temptation

"What mansion?" Edmund asked further. At that moment, the said house became visible. "Ooh. That mansion."

-~:~-

Eustace came out from the bushes, immediately starting to whine about being left behind. He shut up when he noticed the one-legged dwarves.

Meanwhile, you and Lucy came from the house along with Coriakin, the nice man whom the creatures had for some reason dubbed 'the Oppressor'.

"Lucy! Y/n!" Edmund sighed in relief when seeing the two of you.

"Your Majesties," Coriakin bowed to the boys.

Lucy decided it might've been the right time and place to do the introduction. "Caspian and Edmund. This is Coriakin. It's his island." The boys bowed to show the man respect.

"That's what he thinks!" the leader of the dwarves piped up from behind Edmund where he was currently hiding. "You have wronged us, Magician."

And I took that personally, you thought, frowning a bit. You didn't like the creatures' attitude towards anything magical, yet, you wished you could make friends with them. Why? You didn't know.

"I have not wronged you," Coriakin assured, walking forward. "I made you invisible for your own protection."

"Protection?!"

"That's oppressive, Oppressor!"

"I have not oppressed you."

"But you could've if you'd wanted to!"

"Begone!" Corakin stopped walking before throwing lint at the creatures. They scattered in fear. You laughed. They were quite funny if they weren't being rude or threatening you.

-<>-

Coriakin led all of you through the huge house. Well, all of you being the rulers, the Captain and Eustace. "What did you mean when you said you made them invisible for their own good?" Lucy asked curiously.

"It seemed to be the easiest way to protect them from the evil," Coriakin answered as if it was really that simple.

"You mean the mist?" Edmund asked from the left of you. You were walking between him and Caspian, the bad feeling in your gut growing with almost every step.

"I mean what lies behind the mist." Coriakin's words made a shiver run all over your body and into your very bones. There was no doubt your feeling was right by now but you were afraid of what it would mean.

You stepped into the large room and forgot about everything for a second, looking up at the ceiling with wonder - it seemed as if pieces of the starry night sky floated around there, surrounding the books that were being sorted into their own places. How they looked made you just want to dive into the starry pools, away from all problems, and never come back.

Your attention was drawn away from the ceiling when Coriakin returned with a big scroll and it rolled open on the floor between all of you. It was a magical map of sorts. There was an oval, reaching to all the sides of the huge rectangle and the corners and little edges uncovered seemed to show the scene of the Pevensies arriving at Aslan's camp and then all of you fighting your first war once upon a time.

"It's quite beautiful," Eustace commented before remembering he was supposed to be rude and mistrusting. "I mean for a make-believe map in a make-believe word." A grin came to your face. For some reason, the young boy was growing close to you even if you didn't talk to him much. You saw Edmund beside you smile slightly, too.

"There is the source of your troubles," Coriakin spoke and the map started moving along the water until it showed a big black bunch of mist with occasional green strikes in it. The sight made you feel sick to your stomach. As much as you didn't want to admit it, it frightened you like nothing else ever had. "Dark Island."

It's definitely deserving of its name, you commented in your head.

"A place where evil lurks," Coriakin continued. "It can take any form. It can make your darkest dreams come true. It seeks to corrupt all goodness... To steal the light from this world." The man looked at all of you warningly as he turned in the middle of the map.

"How do we stop it?" Lucy asked determinedly.

You were impressed by her voice. There was no ounce of fear or stutter yet in those few words she made clear that she was being serious.

"You must break its spell," the old magician said before turning around and pointing to Edmund's hip. "That sword you carry. There are six others."

"Have you seen them?" the boy asked.

"Yes."

"The six lords. They passed through here?" Caspian realized.

"Indeed."

"Where were they headed?" Caspian inquired further.

"Where I sent them." The map moved again and you looked at the new island, wide-eyed. The mere sight of it seemed to chase all the darkness away. All your fear.

"To break the spell you must follow the Blue Star," the said little thing floated above the map. "To Ramandu's Island. There the seven swords must be laid at Aslan's table." Hearing Your Father's name, you realized why the isle gave you such comfort. "Only then can their true magical power be released."

Caspian at the other end of the map from Coriakin glanced behind him to Drinian doubtfully. "But beware." He turned back when he realized the old man wasn't finished yet. "You are all about to be tested."

"Tested?" you asked, no apparent quiver in your voice. The new hope and strength the sight of Ramandu's Island gave you had helped you keep your thoughts from making you go mad right then and there.

Coriakin looked at you seriously. "Until you lay down the seventh sword, evil has the upper hand. It will do everything in its power to tempt you."

"Be strong," Coriakin instructed. "Don't fall to temptation. To defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness inside yourself." You swallowed, as if trying to swallow your fear that was starting to swell up in your thoughts again. But this time you knew what you had to do to stop it.