𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 || Narnia x Zombie AU

Chapter One: Ignite

The breeze nipped at Peter's nose as Lucy's laughter rang through the forest, echoed by Susan's softer giggle and Corin's bark.

Pale afternoon sunlight shone through bare branches, casting a kaleidoscope of dancing shadows over the bed of golds and crimsons that crunched under the horses' hooves.

Peter grinned. "Come on, Ed, quit whining, I'm beginning to think you don't even like us."

"It's not you I don't like," said Edmund, his tone less than impressed.

"So it's me?" asked Corin.

"Will you shut up? I said it's fine. See? I'm enjoying myself."

Corin's hand flew to his heart in mock scandal.

Peridan chuckled along with the rest of them. "Don't mind his majesty, we all know he'd rather be up north chasing down that monster that bested him two weeks ago."

"Yes, I would, thank you very much. And so would any of you, if that little vermin stuck you with her knife and got away with it."

"I'm confused, Ed," said Peter, "I thought you were the best swordsman in the land." He fought down his smile and raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Alright, alright, I see how it is. None of you even care that I got stabbed."

"We do care, Ed," said Lucy, "It's just, you do seem to get stabbed an awful lot."

"I think," put in Susan, "Lucy will soon run out of cordial if she keeps healing you two after every mishap with a hag."

"Hey!" said Peter indignantly. "When did this become about me?"

"Don't make me remind you about last time with the giants," said Susan. "I might believe you were trying to get yourself killed."

Peter opened his mouth to refute her, but couldn't come up with anything. The rest of the party laughed again, and Peter settled into a resigned smirk, catching a playful glint in Edmund's eye.

"I say," said Lucy after a few moments in which the jingle of their saddles filled the silence. "I thought we would have heard music by now."

"How do you mean, Lu?" asked Peter.

"Well, have you ever known the fauns to go a day without dancing this time of the year?"

"She has a point," said Peridan. The knight pushed a stubborn lock of red hair out of his handsome face as he glanced back at Peter (he was riding up at the front of the party next to Lucy), only for the wind to blow it right back again. "I did think we would have heard something. Wasn't that one of the main reasons for our excursion?"

"And we must be close to Dancing Lawn," said Susan, "I know this forest well enough."

"I'd say we were nearly upon it," agreed Peter, "If not for this strange silence."

There was another pause, and then Corin said "It has gone awfully quiet, though, hasn't it?"

And then Peter noticed what had been creeping at the edges of his senses for the entire conversation without ever quite registering. "I daresay the birds have gone."

All six of them looked around at the same time, all noticing at once that they hadn't heard a tweet or a whistle or even the twirr of an insect for several minutes.

Peter didn't remember exactly when the wood had gone quiet, but a strange feeling settled like a stone in his gut, and he saw from Edmund's face that he was equally perturbed, the steel grey of his eyes meeting Peter's blue in a silent question.