___________________________

----------------------------------------------

He couldn't breathe.

The poison was taking effect far faster than he had anticipated.

His shoulder was drenched with fresh blood and he could feel more slowly seeping to the surface. But,

it was nothing compared to the pain. It was so excruciating that it took everything he had from crying out as he could feel the poison continue to gnaw and consume his flesh. His side hurt from pushing himself further than his body was letting him, but all he knew was that he had to run or else he would be seen once more and then he would be surely be dead this time. They had attempted to kill him, but instead of hitting his heart, the arrow landed soundly into his shoulder. The the blade of the arrow was poisoned as he soon came to find out, but he hurled himself into the bushes before they could hit him again. He would have fought the invaders, but he had no weapon on his person, but he did know where a sword was. The safe refuge was also the place where the weapons were kept.

In the castle.

And that was where he was going in order to survive. As well as to warn Elwyn and Trumpkin. The two of them would instantly know what needed to be done. He thought back to the series of events that just occurred.

Everything lost to him.

Everyone he loved, taken.

They were gone.

Dead.

He could still hear the screams of anguish replaying in his head. And the pain listening to those screams were far more painful than poison in his shoulder or a cramp in his side.

He did not know what was to come, but he did know that he was running for his life. His very life, and many other innocent ones depended on his sprint to redemption.

He finally emerged from the woods and into the grassy hills that ran towards the city into a valley below. Behind the city, lay the rocky cliffs where the magnificent Cair Paravel lay upon.

As he hurriedly ran down the gradual slope, it was saddening to think that the town and court of the castle seemed so peaceful. As if it did not know that there were over five thousand enemy solders about to invade and stop at nothing to kill everyone and everything in sight.

He had met the leader himself, and had no desire to do so again. Just merely thinking about the pure evil of a man sent shivers up his spine.

He shuffled the spiraled and fearful thought from his mind, and only focused on his destination.

The castle.

He soon made it into the outskirts of the town, as he raced through the streets he wanted to cry out and warn the innocent, but something did not feel right. But it was the right thing to do right? In reality it would only make everyone panic, so he knew he needed to speak with Trumpkin and Elwyn first.

They were no novice when it came to war. Trumpkin was the one who assisted and fought alongside the King to overthrow his wicked of an uncle during the Narnian revolution almost seven years ago.

And Lady Elwyn, well, she was a warrior at heart. She adventure and courage was who she was. She was from the line of King Gale. The brave King of Narnia who held enough courage to face the terrible dragon terrorizing the Lone Islands. Gale sailed to the islands and destroyed the monstrous beast, making the grateful inhabitants of the islands entitle the King as the first Emperor of the Lone Islands. Gales courageous traits passed to Elwyn and she was very experienced with a blade. Everyone on the Islands knew of her, and she was given the highest regard. She was not considered a royal, but of royal descent and was high respected on the islands. She mostly kept out of the towns living in the hills and woods on the secluded north shore of the mildly populated island of Avra of the Lone Islands. All that was known of Lady Elwyn's childhood was a particularly unhappy one. Her mother had died in childbirth bearing a stillborn son when Elwyn was only four, and her father, the governor of the Island of Avra, fell ill a few years later and was found long dead, stiff and cold in his chambers by none other than eight year old Elwyn. Doctor Cornelius, Caspian's childhood tutor and close friend to Elwyn's father, sailed to the Islands and concluded the cause of his death:

a poisonous snakebite.

She remembered being told that a snake must have slithered into his bed in his sleep the night before. Doctor Cornelius had told her that there was more to her fathers death than it seemed and he made arrangements for her to live with a distantly related aunt and had lived in seclusion on the north shore on the Island of Avra. Cornelius had visited her for a few days every year or so, but his main priority was raising and teaching Caspian, the young prince of Narnia.

When she was barely eleven, she had an unquenchable urge to walk along the isolated rocky north shore before sunset one evening. Her old aunt was already sleeping and would not have approved, but the poor girl was feeling more alone than ever before and she felt as if something was pulling her outside. She set out to the rocky shore, which was only a few minutes walk from the warm cottage, and began to shove her feet through the sand as if that would get rid of the lonely emptiness inside of her. She was looking down at her feet moving in the sand when she suddenly collided with something soft and hairy. She jumped back and looked up to what was she realized was a monstrous golden Lion. She completely froze and dropped her jaw as she saw It was looking at her straight into her eyes, but she realized she was not afraid of It. He was so big and bright and his eyes held a soft expression in his eyes making her feel completely safe and for once not alone. Her old aunt had warned her of strangers but she felt like she had seen this Lion before.

Doctor Cornelius often told her of a Lion who was the true ruler of Narnia and many other worlds, and was nothing but good in the truest form.

His presence was so magnificent and radiant that she could not keep from kneeling before kneeling at his big paws in honor and respect.

"I know who you are Sir." She said seriously, her head slanted downward staring at the brown sand beneath her.

"And who am I?" He asked her, but she felt that he was not asking her a question.

"You are the true ruler of Narnia and the King above all kings Sir."

She blinked in surprise when she heard a soft chuckle escape from his mouth and felt warm breath on her face as she looked up at him.

"I may be those things but I am something more." He paused, making her curiosity took over then.

"What can be more important than the highest ruler and King there ever was and ever will be?" She said plainly, her young mind making her completely trusting. I am sure you remember that age when you always spoke your mind, until your parents made you actually think before you spoke.

"I am Friend. To any and all who accept me. Now will you?" He asked her directly.

"I would be honored Sir." She said passionately. Never more sure of anything else in her life. "Though I am not experienced with fellowship, for I have grown up only in isolation." She said nervously.

"That is why I have come to you now child. That you may know that you are not alone." He answered soothingly his voice rich and strong.

Without realizing it, a single tear escaped from her eye.

"Thank you Sir." She said sincerely. "But what may I offer you?"

The Lion smiled at her, and it filled the emptiness in her heart for the first time.

"Your trust and courage pleases me child." He answered.

"You will be my messenger. In days to come I will send you to many places and you will be a great warrior and huntress. These Islands will one day depend on you to hunt for wicked men, and one day, I will send you on a quest to save the young prince in his time of need, but you must never act unless I come to you. There is great danger ahead daughter, but you will be prepared for it when the time comes. I will soon send you a trainer, to teach you the skills of a blade."

And that was the last time she saw the Lion for several years. But true to his word she was walking alone on the same shore three days later when she came across an old kind man who had been expecting her to be there. He met her every evening for the next seven years training her in the arts of combat. She never learned his name, but she enjoyed his company. She never asked questions, for she knew he would not know the answer. So she waited, becoming more and more skilled with the blade and soon after her eighteenth birthday, her old aunt having just passed, the Lion appeared instead of her trainer.

"You are ready daughter. And you have grown." He said with a sigh. "Now go to the parliament of Narrowhaven immediately, and offer your services as a bounty hunter, they are in dire need of your service."

They were in fact in dire need of a bounty hunter, and she soon began her service as bounty huntress. She went all over the world finding famous criminals and returning them alive, then being paid generously and finally returning back to her native island of Avra of the Lone Islands and stayed in her small childhood cottage for a time. Until word reached her that there was another outlaw to catch. She was soon promoted to chief hunter, but they only called her away from her cottage unless they had an outlaw that they were unable to capture. She never returned to parliament without accomplishing a capture and she was known abroad for her skills in bounty hunting.

She was only nearly nineteen when the Narnian Revolution took place and she was unfortunately occupied on a quest finding a criminal on the run sailing across the Eastern Ocean. By the time she returned eight months later with her criminal, there was a new king on the Narnian throne. A king she had heard much about through her friend Doctor Cornelius. She remained a bounty huntress until the age of four and twenty. And then Aslan had other plans for her.

It was an ordinary evening in her small cottage on the north shore of Avra. She was preparing herself for bed, when she felt a sudden urge to walk outside to the beach. By now she knew to obey that urge, and when she reached the calm ocean, she saw the Lion in the moonlight.

"It is time child, Caspian is in immediate need. He and a man by the name of Peter are on their way to the castle of Harfang. Which lies beyond the Wild Lands of the North. You must leave immediately I have made arrangements. Ride to the south shore of Avra and you will find a man expecting you, and he will lend you a small boat to reach the Wild Lands. You will know what to do when you get arrive. Your destiny is only beginning daughter, and remember you are not alone. Come let me breathe on you, you have my blessing, now be who I have made you to be!"

"Lady Elwyn, Sir Trumpkin!" The messenger yelled as he burst through the doors and into the room where Trumpkin and Elwyn were discussing sleeping arrangements with the newly arrived Duke of Narrowhaven.

Elwyn and Trumpkin turned toward the unexpected guest and looked at him curiously.

"Ah what is it?" Trumpkin groaned.

The messenger placed his hands on his knees and bent downward, exhausted from the long sprint.

"There is an army marching just outside of this city." He paused.

"An enemy army!" The poor servant croaked in fear. "They've killed my wife and children and shot me with a poisonous arrow before I got away!" He screeched before breaking into a sob.

Elwyn looked at Trumpkin.

"Who did?" Elwyn asked in concern.

The messenger sniffled before answering.

"He calls himself Lord Vartan."

Elwyn once again looked at Trumpkin.

"He changed his name." She stated calmly.

"Did you see any sign of Caspian and Peter?" She asked.

"No Lady Elwyn." The messenger answered.

"How far away is Vartan?" She asked.

"No more than three miles from here Lady. We are doomed."

"Do not speak of ruin and wrath, when there is still hope." She passionately corrected the hunched man.

"We are alone in this fight." Trumpkin stated. "Wake the guards, tell everyone what is to come."

___________________________

----------------------------------------------