𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕟𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 - ᵖᵉᵗᵉʳ ᵖᵉᵛᵉⁿˢⁱᵉ

꧁(Tʜᴇ Dᴇᴇᴘᴇʀ ᴍᴀɢɪᴄ)꧂

When Susan awoke morning had broken out and the stone table was cooler than it had been before. Drawing her cloak closer she turned to Lucy and nudged her gently to get the girl to wake up. Lucy looked down at Aslan and stroked him softly.

Susan gave the girl a sympathetic look before getting up.

"We should go" She got off of the stone table and waited for Lucy to follow.

"I'm so cold," Lucy mumbled as she stood up. Susan helped her climb down the stone stairs of the table. The two slowly walked away from Aslan's body. Risking one more glance over their shoulder, the two set off for the woods.

Suddenly the winds picked up and the earth shook. The girls fell down the larger part of the stairway and behind them a deafening crack rang out. Lucy turned back and gasped loudly before yelling out.

"Susan!"

Susan had turned quickly to see what had upset Lucy and felt ready to cry when she had spotted the broken table. Aslan's body was nowhere in sight. Fear and anger rose from the pits of her stomach. She stood up quickly to get a better look and grabbing Lucy's arm they slowly walked back to the table.

"Where's Aslan?" Lucy asked softly.

"What have they done?" Susan lamented.

Suddenly a golden light shone up ahead and Susan and Lucy looked up in awe. In the archway Aslan appeared looking stronger than before. His mane shone in the golden sunlight and Susan and Lucy beamed in joy.

"Aslan!" they cried out as they ran to him. They threw themselves on him in an overjoyed hug and Lucy could not help noticing he was slightly larger than before. He let out a rumbling laugh as they embrace him.

"But we saw the knife, the Witch." Susan began, trying to wrap her head around the miracle that had just occurred.

"If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the Deep Magic a little differently. For she would know that if a willing victim who had committed no treachery died in a traitors stead, the Stone Table would crack and even death itself would begin to turn backwards."

Aslan's explanation allowed the girls to understand. Then Susan spoke with a sudden worry in her voice.

"We sent the news that you were dead. Peter and Edmund will have gone to war."

Lucy drew her dagger quickly at Susan's words and turned to look at Aslan.

"We have to help them." She spoke with such determination that it caused Aslan to chuckle slightly. He lifted his paw and move Lucy hand down gently.

"We will dear one, but not alone. Now, climb on my back. We have a far to go and little time to get there."

First Lucy got on, she knotted her fingers gently into his soft fur. Once Lucy was stable, Susan got on behind Lucy and wrapped her arms around the little girl's waist. They hung on tightly as Aslan's muscles tensed ready to pounce. He spoke loudly to them this time.

"And you might want to cover your ears." He shouted, giving the girls just enough time to block out a thundering roar that echoed through the valley, shaking the trees in the forest as he sprung forward.

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

The scenery had passed them at a rapid pace as Aslan almost flew across the land.

"Where are we going?" Susan had asked at some stage of the trip, however, Aslan had just run faster and called back to her as he sped up.

"Hang on" he had called out to them and soon they saw the Witch's castle glimmering up ahead somehow a little less threatening than before.  It had not taken Aslan very long to reach their destination as he had wasted no time in getting into the now-abandoned castle as all of the Witch's followers had joined the battle. No one had expected another attack to occur in their fortress whilst they were gone.