𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐱 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 (𝐒𝐂 & 𝐋𝐁)

Chapter 25- Inside the Stable

I'm not sure how how it happened, or even when. All I knew was that as soon a Tirian shouted his orders I turned a ran for the rock. The next thing I know, I'm being picked up and carried. At first a thought it was a Narnian but I quickly realized that it was not. It was a Calormene and he was carry me to the stable!

I kicked and struggled in the Calromene arms but to no avail. The man was much stronger than I. He was also much closer to the stable door than I would've liked. The door was flung open, and I closed my eyes afraid of what I'd see, as the Calormene threw me inside. My last thoughts were of the Narnians and how I had failed to help them, failed to restore their faith in Aslan. The Narnian I knew was no more.

It felt like hours, but it must've only been seconds, when I finally opened my eyes and blinked. Instead of being greeted with the darkness I thought would be inside, I was met with light. Not the the kind from torches but of being outside. It was night when we fought and for a moment I thought I had been rescued and it really had been hours since I closed my eyes. But then I took stock of my surroundings and found these to be indeed false.

There were faces of my friends around me. Peter, Edmund, Lucy, the Professor, and Lady Polly. They were all there and I was confused as to how or when they got there. Obviously I wasn't back in England based on the dress of them. Every one of them wore fine, glittering Narnian clothes, the clothes of royals. Each of them had a crown upon their head as well. Peter, Edmund, and Professor Kirke all had exquisite mail on, only the kind of a royal, and they carried swords in their scabbards. It was then that I realized I was dressed similar to the three and was even more confused.

Before I could so much as utter a word of my confusion, Jill appeared. Just appeared from no where. One moment she wasn't there and the next she was. Like me, she had somehow gotten a change of the clothes and was dressed much like Lucy and Polly Plummer. She looked at me, herself, at our friends, and then back to me. The confusion was very evident on her face. Just as she went to comment the others chuckled at our confusion and waved us over.

We went to stand beside them. "What happened?" Jill asked them.
"We don't know. We've only just got here ourselves," Lucy answered.
"Where is here?" I asked.

Before anyone could reply, three more figures appeared. King Tirian, the Tarkaan, and the hideous creature that we assumed was Tash. Tirian faced us but didn't seem to see us. The other two were facing away. The others drew their swords and I quickly did the same, but no one approached the creature. When it spoke, it didn't even seem to acknowledge we were even there.

"You have called me into Narnia, Rishda Tarkaan. Here I am. What do you have to say?" it's voiced was rough and his voice sounded more like a croak.

The Tarkaan didn't even look up from the ground or even speak. He just shook and was no longer as brave as he was earlier. Then I realized, half of his courage had left the moment he realized there might be a real Tash. In that moment, in front of Tash, what little courage remained quickly vanished.

Tash didn't seemed to like his silence as an answer. With a sudden jerk- almost like a hen stooping to pick up a worm- he pounced on sad, shaking Rishda. Tash tucked him under his two upper right arms. Then he turned his head to face Tirian and look at him through one eye- having the head of a bird made it impossible to look at him straight on. I thought he was about to say something, but Tash never got the chance.

"Begone, Monster, and take your lawful prey to your own place: in the name of Aslan and Aslan's great Father Emperor-over-the-Sea!" one of the others said but I wasn't sure who.

Immediately afterwards, Tash vanished taking the Tarkaan with him. Tirian turned and for the first time seemed to notice we were there. He bowed courteously and looked about to speak. But before he could, Jill laughed. Tirian turned his attention towards her and stared for a moment before gasping. I knew that he recognized her. Then I watched as his eyes gazed over me and I saw the recognition in his eyes. He looked at the others and then down at his dress. Just like us, he no longer worn his chain mail but was instead dressed in fine clothes. He was obviously confused as to how that happened.

"Sire," Jill said stepping forward- seemingly pulling The King out of his muse- and curtsied, "let me introduce you to Peter The High King over all Kings in Narnia."
I watched in amazement as Tirian knelt down on one knee in front of Peter, knowing immediately who The High King was. "High King, it is an honor to meet you."

Peter raised him to his feet and acknowledged his praise like any High King would. Then he led Tirian to the oldest of the girls, Lady Polly. She was much younger than I last remembered seeing her, but it was still obvious she was the oldest. I didn't even ponder why she seemed so much younger than when I had last seen her. It was the same with Professor Kirke. He was much younger than when I last same him at the station.

Tirian was introduced to Polly. "Sir," Peter said, "this is the Lady Polly who came into Narnia on the First Day, when Aslan made the trees grow and the Beasts talk." Then he moved to the Professor saying, "and this is Lord Digory who was with her on that day.
This is my brother King Edmund and my sister Queen Lucy."
"Sir," Tirian said after he greeted each one, "If I have read the chronicle correct, there should be another. Does Your Majesty not have two sisters? Where is Queen Susan?"
"My sister Susan," Peter answered a moment later with sadness in his voice, "is no longer a friend of Narnia."
"Yes," I agreed. "Whenever we've tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia, she says 'What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still dreaming about all those funny games we used to play as children.'"
"Oh, Susan!" Jill replied, sadly. "She isn't interested in much nowadays. Too keen on growing up too quickly."
"Grown-up indeed," Polly added. "I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time trying to be the age she is now and she's going to waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time in one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can."
"Well, let's not talk about that now," Peter interjected. "Look! Here are some lovely fruit-trees. Would anyone like to taste them?"

In was in that moment that i realize something strange had happened to us. I also took notice of the fact that our adventure just took a very strange turn. Everything wasn't how it was before and nothing ever would be.
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Sorry it took so long to update. I'm not sure how many more chapter there will be before the end. Probably one or two. Possibly three. The ending is already written so depending on how many chapters, this story could be over soon. It won't take me long to post the ending.

However, I could also just end it now. Make this be the last chapter before the ending. There won't be an epilogue in this story. The choice is up to you, the reader. Let me know? The more chapters I write the longer it will take to update I am in school now so updates will likely only happen on weekends.

I am excited to get this story back into Ana's POV. It's getting closer but that also means the end of the series. I'd hate to end it.

But thanks to one of my readers, I do have an idea to keep the series going. I won't tell you how or what I mean until the last chapter. You'll just have to wait and see. Or think about what it could be.

Once again, I do apologize for or updating sooner. I just wasn't up to writing anything.