The Strangest Voyage | Casmund

ten.

The noise of wind seemed to outshine every other sense that Edmund had. He might've been screaming, but he couldn't tell. He might've been thousands of feet in the air, but he couldn't tell -- mainly because he didn't want to look down.

The only thing that Edmund knew was that he was in the air, and the only thing stopping him from falling to his death was a dragon.

A dragon!

The view from where he was was beautiful, but he didn't have time to enjoy it because soon he was being flown towards where they had docked their ship.

"No!" Edmund shouted, thinking that the dragon would burn the boat down with his fire and force him to watch. "No, no! Please, stop!"

The dragon proved Edmund's thinking wrong, and instead swooped down and flew alongside the boat -- something that the raven-haired boy found odd.

Edmund could hear the crewman shouting and moving around to get weapons, but, when they arrived with them, they were too late.

The dragon had reared up, and had started flying back to the island. The creature flew higher, until Edmund saw something in the distance. It looked like fire, and it was spread into a word... a name actually.

Realisation hit Edmund, and his eyes widened.

The dragon that was holding Edmund was -- used to be -- Eustace.

Only one thought came to Edmund's mind: "Oh, no."

Suddenly, the dragon version of Eustace swooped back down towards the island and landed roughly on the ground.

Everyone surrounded them with weapons, scaring Eustace.

Edmund held his hands up, and yelled, "Stop! The dragon is Eustace!" When people looked hesitant to believe him, he ordered gruffly, "Drop your weapons now!"

Everyone dropped their weapons, and gaped at the dragon in front of them. Some still looked hesitant to believe it was Eustace, but that was understandable -- though they were in a land of magic, wasn't stuff like that normal for them?

Reepicheep stepped forward, looking sorrowful. He patted Eustace's dragon head, and a small, sad whine was heard.

"Well, at least he can't complain any more," one of the crewmen laughed.

"Shut it, you," Edmund snapped, before looking at Eustace's dragon form. He sighed. "How am I gonna explain this to Aunt Alberta?"

Everyone gathered together in a circle around Eustace, and suggested ideas about how he could've been turned into a dragon.

"Maybe he found dragon's treasure," Caspian proposed.

"Yeah," a man said, "but everyone knows that dragon's treasure has a curse --"

Caspian interrupted whatever the man was about to say, and explained: "But he's not from this world. Also, he isn't used to it like Edmund and Lucy are, so he couldn't have known."

The man shrugged in response. Eustace was scowling at everyone, and it made them all a bit nervous -- since now he could burn them with fire.

"I think that's the most logical reason anyone has come up with so far," Edmund said, and Caspian smiled.

Everyone walked back to the ship -- Caspian carrying the sword Edmund had found, and the others trying to find out how they were going to get Eustace on the ship.

•••

The sky was filled with stars that night. It was a gorgeous sight. Edmund wished he could look at the stars forever -- they gave him strange sense of peace.

Caspian was lying beside him at the front of the deck, holding Edmund's hand as they watched the stars twinkle together.

Suddenly, Caspian spoke, breaking the comfortable silence: "I hate the fact that you have to leave," he said.

Edmund smiled sadly. He didn't want to leave either. Narnia was his home -- it was a place where he could be who he wanted, not what people wanted him to be.

It made him feel a sense of anxiety as he thought about going back to his other world.

"So do I," Edmund said sorrowfully. "But I have to go. I'm not allowed to stay here -- in Narnia -- any longer."

Caspian sighed. "I know. It just means that I won't be able to hold you any more," he complained, tightening his grip on Edmund's hand.

Edmund chuckled.

He placed his free hand, the one that Caspian wasn't holding, on Caspian's chest, then also rested his head on the brunet's sternum.

"This is the best I can do," Edmund stated, feeling comfortable in Caspian's arms.

The brunet smirked. "Well, if this is the best, I'm sure the greatest will be even better."

Blushing a deep scarlet, Edmund smacked Caspian's chest -- lightly.

Caspian laughed quietly.

This is what home feels like, Edmund thought, he's my home.

They laid together for hours -- until they were tired, and even then, they didn't move. All they did was lie together under the stars, so they could enjoy the peace before chaos arrived.

•••

Sorry about this chapter being shorter than the others. I wanted to end the story here before the Epilogue.

See you when I next write <3