𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍 || 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑎𝑛

CHAPTER 9

꧁ The Dragon Island ꧂

The next morning the sea was calm and the sky clear, the terrible storm that had tossed them between the waves for two weeks seemed to have finally ceased.
An island had appeared on the horizon, as if to witness the actual end of their misfortunes and bring hope to the crew. Noticing the enthusiasm in the eyes of his men, anxious to touch the ground again, Caspian ordered the longboats to be lowered immediately.

They were now a short distance from the beach when the King turned to his captain.

"Once we get ashore, take your men and search for food and water." he told him, "The four of us will look for clues." he then added, referring to the Pevensie children, Elizabeth and himself.

"Hang on," Eustace spoke up, catching everyone attention, "you mean the five of us." he said, as if it was obvious. Seeing the questioning looks of his companions, however, he hastened to exclaim, "Come on, please don't send me back to the rat!"

"I heard that." Reepicheep replied from the other boat.

"Big ears," Eustace muttered, crossing his arms, annoyed.

"I heard that too." the mouse said again, making everyone burst out laughing.

When they reached the shore they realised that they had probably put too much hope in that place: it was a volcanic island, warm and arid, with almost no vegetation. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, to find supplies in a place like that, but perhaps they would have found traces of the Lords' passage.

As per the King's orders, while the crew was entrusted with the control of the boats and the search for supplies, the Royals and Elizabeth explored the hinterland, looking for any trace left by the Lords. Eustace, however, had vanished into thin air.

"Look, we're not the first ones on this island." Caspian pointed out, indicating the beginning of a rope descending into a fissure in the ground.

"The Lords?" Edmund hypothesised, approaching it, immediately followed by the two girls.

"Could be," the man replied. "What do you think could be down there?" he then asked, looking down into the crack.

"Let's find out." the boy said, bending over to make sure of the rope's strength.

Unfortunately, however, it did not seem to be at all reliable, on the contrary, it seemed as if it was about to break at any moment.

"Well, if they used this rope to go down, I think we can do the same," Edmund stated, ignoring the evidence.

"Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked him, being rather sceptical of that idea.

"Ehm, positive." he answered.

"You know this is mental, right?" his sister intervened, looking at him incredulously.

"And you, you sound just like Susan now," he told her, still remaining focused on the rope.

Caspian grinned at the comment. "Do you think you can do it?" he then asked him.

"Of course I can do it!" he claimed, offended that they could even think otherwise.

That being said, the boy began to slowly descend into the crack, paying attention to any slightest movement in an attempt not to break the rope. Once at the bottom, it was Caspian's turn, who was then followed by Elizabeth and eventually Lucy.

The four found themselves in a cave very different from the one where they had happened on the previous island. This one was illuminated by the warm sunlight, which filtered through the various cracks in the rock. There was no magic crystal or talking fire, instead a large body of water occupied much of the ground. Inside it, it was possible to see numerous gold objects; there were swords, shields, coins and jewels, boulders and shells even, and what looked like a very realistic statue.