The Faded Portrait of a Bygone Era

There Shall Find the Utter East

The four Kings and Queens changed from their armor, getting themselves into a more presentable state after the battle. All of the people of the Lone Islands were taken into the ship, given whatever rations the Dawn Treader had. There were many of them, but the crew found room for all.

A longboat was readied, and Caspian, along with Margaret, Edmund, Lucy, Reepicheep, and Eustace made their way towards the Great Wave. They left Drinian with orders to get the Lone Islanders settled whilst they went to investigate.

Edmund and Caspian worked the oars, the little dinghy gently drifting through the sea of white lilies. The delicate flowers gently parted before them, and closed behind as they floated past.

Margaret wondered how deep the roots of these flowers must go, to keep them in one place as such. Perhaps they were anchored by magic.

Silence carried them for a little while, but the lilies spread far and wide, and as time lingered on, a conversation slowly began to stir.

"How is it that you came to be a boy again, Eustace?" Margaret asked kindly.

Eustace seemed changed, both in form and in spirit. Now dressed in properly Narnian clothes, he could hardly be mistaken for the miserable, wretched little boy who had first stumbled upon this land.

"It was Aslan..." he replied at last. "When I flew away, I didn't make it far before I fell... the pain of the sword was too much to bear, you see. I landed on a little beach... a sandbar, really, just a ways away from Dark Island. When I looked up, I saw Him there. The way you all talked about Him, I... I hadn't known what to expect. But He was so much more than I ever could have imagined.

"I heard His voice in my head." Here, he paused. "More than in my head, really. It felt as if He were speaking to the very essence of me. I felt Him. He told me to take off the dragonskin, as simply as you might tell someone to undress for a bath. And I tried to... I did... It hurt, awfully, but I scratched and bit and pulled until it was off. But I was still a dragon. I tried again, but it was like wearing too many coats. I took one off, but there was always another one under it.

"I nearly gave up. But... then He came towards me. I knew I couldn't do it myself, but... I suppose I was still afraid. I liked being a dragon, in some ways... I could breathe fire and fly, and... I could help you all better that way. But at the same time, I just wanted to be me again. So I let Him do it.

"I thought it had hurt to try it myself! It hurt ten times as much when he did it. But... I suppose it was a good pain. A necessary kind of pain, like when you pull a thorn from your foot so you can dress the wound. The dragon fell away for good that time. Then, He said, There is still work to be done, my son. He breathed over me, and suddenly I was on Ramandu's Island with that seventh sword in my hand. So I took it to the Table. The Mist tried to stop me, but... I wasn't afraid anymore."

Edmund looked at him with a far more gentle expression than he had shown the boy thus far.

"It is good to have you back, Eustace," he said gently.

Eustace gave him a shy smile in return.

"Being a dragon wasn't all bad," he replied. "I think I was a better dragon than I was a boy, really." He paused, his smile dropping for a moment. "I'm so sorry for being such a sop."

"It's alright, Eustace," Edmund said. Then, teasing, he added, "You were a pretty good dragon."

A slight chuckle rippled through the group.

"That's what Narnia is all about, Eustace," said Margaret, gently resting a hand on his shoulder. "We come here to learn, to better ourselves. Edmund knows a thing or two about change, and just how powerful forgiveness can be."