queen of narnia

[charning]

Jadis is enraged. Aslan, back! Confirmed by the deputy of her own Maugrim, who died on the sword of the very child she thought she'd caught! Maugrim, dead. She paces. She comes too close to Winter for her liking on one of her passes through her throne room and rather than turn an instant before she means to she backhands him out of her way into the nearest wall. She paces and fumes and roars.

Finally she spins on her toe to face Winter, who may still be on the floor in his careless way but has surely recovered from the blow by now. "You," she says, "must go to the lion, and tell him that I desire safe conduct to treat with him on a matter of as much importance to him as to me. Go peacefully, I do not mind if you alarm the pitiful creatures who side with him but do not harm them while I seek parley. Do you understand, my Winter?" She bends to crook her first two fingers under his chin to turn his head up for frigid eye contact, inspecting him, thinking furious thoughts to which he's only an accessory. "I think the lion may be unnerved to see you. We will see."

Comments

[alicornucopia]

It is. It's spectacularly loud, and the trees before him bend like blades of grass in a great wind.

When he has done, and the girls have taken their hands from their ears, he says, "We have a long journey to go. You must ride on me."

[deepest_magic]

Oh wow. Bella isn't going to second-guess him on that. Up she goes.

[neverbeatme]

And up goes James behind her! This is logical, since if James were in front her sword and shield would make an uncomfortable surface for Bella to potentially bump her face on.

[alicornucopia]

And this way around they are quite comfortable as Aslan takes off. He is swifter than the fastest racehorse, tireless and leaping over small and medium-sized obstacles, and the day is dawning a beautiful spring full of blossoms and new leaves and the smell of grass.

They are going towards two hills that nestle up against each other at the base.

[neverbeatme]

"The Witch's house," says James to Bella.

She remembers.

[alicornucopia]

"Yes," says Aslan.

[deepest_magic]

"Are you just going to - go for her directly without having to have the entire battle at all?"

[alicornucopia]

"Not quite. Hold tight, children."

And with a flying leap he is over the outer wall surrounding the Witch's castle, and in a courtyard, full of statues.

[neverbeatme]

"—Those are people," says James, almost as soon as she glances at one.

[alicornucopia]

"They were and they will be again," says Aslan, kneeling to let the girls off of his back, and he breathes on a stone lion, then whirls around to see to a naiad, and then continues bounding about the courtyard attending to each statue great and small.

[deepest_magic]

"Oh - look," says Bella, peering at his first subject, where color is bleeding into him from nose onward.

[pythbox]

The stone lion is becoming an un-stone lion, in a gradual process reminiscent of fire spreading over a lit page. As soon as his head is free, he shakes it vigorously, restoring golden life to the stone fringe of his mane. He pauses for a yawn and a stretch as living colour works its way down his back, then shakes himself all over and bounds after Aslan to jump and dance and lick him with gratitude and happiness.

[neverbeatme]

"Wow," breathes James.

[alicornucopia]

Aslan is never still, though he acknowledges this and other gestures of gratitude with evident joy. Soon the courtyard is full of romping delighted creatures, colorful and madly traipsing, unicorns and dryads and one good-natured giant.

When the courtyard's statues have all been released, Aslan calls, "Now, look alive, everyone, inside the house, search every corner! You never know where some poor prisoner might be concealed!"

And everyone bursts into the Witch's house, which is quite empty of live occupants while she prepares elsewhere for war.

[neverbeatme]

James goes looking - and of course she reports whoever she finds - but there's a particular person she's looking for. And when she locates him, she runs to find Aslan immediately.

"I found Tumnus!"

[alicornucopia]

"Show me, then," says Aslan, and he follows her.

[neverbeatme]

She shows him directly to the faun-statue, tucked away in a corner.

[alicornucopia]

And presently that Faun is awake and alive again, patting himself down in amazement.

[neverbeatme]

"Are you okay?"

[alicornucopia]

"I - I do believe I am!" says Tumnus, as Aslan bounds off again.

[neverbeatme]

"Oh good," she says, and hugs him.

[alicornucopia]

Hugs!

Eventually the entire house has been ransacked of statues, and the giant has clubbed into oblivion the wall that Aslan leapt over to reveal the spring landscape beyond, and Aslan says:

"Our day's work is not yet over, and if the Witch is to be defeated before nightfall we must join the battle at once. And now! Those who can't keep up - children, dwarves, small animals - must ride on those who can. Those of us with good noses must come out front with us lions to sniff out where the battle is and the rest must follow us. Look lively and sort yourselves."

[neverbeatme]

James heads for Aslan, figuring that if he's willing to let her ride him again, he'll be the fastest and she'll be needed at the battle as a visibly human commander with a magic sword.

[deepest_magic]

Bella goes, too, and presently they are Aslan-mounted again while everyone else piles onto the larger creatures and the sniffers range out ahead to find a trail. A hound gives a loud bay and everyone's off in that direction.

[alicornucopia]

"Off my back, children," says Aslan, and when they have dismounted he roars to shake the whole of Narnia end to end, distracting the witch as she is just about to knife some poor animal and rallying the portion of the army she has been, till this moment, soundly trouncing. All the statues she has made in the battle so far are restored to life and rejoin the fight.