The Lost Legacy

Chapter 15: Ripples Indeed

Sophie.

A voice woke the whimpering Sophie from her sleep. She sat up straight her bed, clinging onto to the blanket covering her from head to toe. The room was dark, cold and empty. The door was locked ever since she returned to her chambers. No one could have been there, unless they were already inside, biding their time.

"What?" 

Sophie.

The whisper was very deep and very soothing, a voice she hadn't heard before. The thumps of her own heartbeat seemed to shatter the silence of the room when a loud roar took over. Her eyes opened wide when she heard the roar again, fainter this time, as if from a few distance away from when she had first heard it. 

The moonlight sheets were thrown to one side of the bed as the young woman stumbled towards the window, seeing a figure in the courtyard. Somehow, she knew who it was. He looked right at her, his hair ruffling in the wind. She grabbed a cloak from the nearby dressing table and ran towards the courtyard, but by the time she got there, she saw the figure running away.

She looked around at the castle, as if to see if someone was going to wake up and let her know that she wasn't alone in having heard the roar. But nobody had. The castle was still and silent as it stood over the foggy morning. And so, she made her way towards the stables. It was usually locked up, but it didn't long for her to break it open with a huge rock nearby. 

"Hey, buddy." She woke Thomas up. "Help out a friend?" She asked, receiving a whinny in reply. She pulled him out of the stables but had no time to set the saddle. Thomas nodded when she apologised for it. "Let's go!"

Thomas neighed loudly and trotted in the direction she wanted him to head in. He really was a fast horse. Sophie's wish was coming true. "There!" She pointed to the dark figure that they followed through the silent and empty town.

The figure roared once more and sped faster. Sophie's heart leapt with hope that someone would have heard it but the town remained silent. She had no time to worry about them and concentrated on looking at the dark shadows through the early morning light from the moon and the sun.

"Faster, boy!"

The darkness seemed to have disappeared as soon as they left the town. Thomas stopped instinctively as he waited for Sophie to give him instructions. She searched for the figure through the morning dew and saw him nearing the forest in the distance.

"There."

Sophie didn't care about the branches hitting her face. She tried to push them away but they didn't seem to matter. Thomas was also doing his best to not drop her. Bless him, she thought. They were heading through a familiar path as they took a sharp right in the forest.

"Beruna."

After ten minutes of riding, they finally reached the clearing, where the figure stood facing the river and the bridge. Thomas slowed down and lingered near the woods. Sophie hopped off him and landed on her knees. She looked at the figure and wondered how she was calm through all this. 

"Welcome, Sophie Adams," the figure said as He turned around.

"Aslan." She knelt before Him immediately.

He placed a paw to her shoulder as if to bless her. "Rise, my child. It's about time that we met each other."

Sophie looked up at Him and a calmness washed over her as she finally understood what Reepicheep and the Professor had meant when they said that seeing Aslan was like seeing the truth and reality. "I can't believe that I'm meeting you."

"That is quite understandable with the way you've made your way in Narnia. I'm sure that you have a lot of questions. Why don't you tell me what is bothering you?"