serendipity - narnia [EDITING]

chapter 38

Chapter 38
The Golden Touch

The tempest raged on for a few more days before the Dawn Treader caught sight of land again. Dahlia leaned against the railing of the ship, finally comfortable with being on the open deck now that the seas had calmed, and looked at the barren wasteland they were approaching. The island was a sandy brown color all around and appeared to be volcanic.

The Dawn Treader was anchored off-shore and a few longboats, piloted again by a weakening Dahlia, set off to scour the island. The rest of the crew was more than happy to let her lead them to shore, since they were collectively more mentally and physically exhausted than they had been on any voyage before.

"I doubt the lords stopped here, my liege," Reepicheep called to Caspian from his post at the bow of one of the longboats. "There's no sign of anything living." He was absolutely right, but they had to take the chance considering how stagnant their progress had been during the storm.

"Right," Caspian agreed, because the island appeared to have nothing besides sand and rocks. "Well once we get ashore, take your men and search for food and water."

"I'm not sure there will be all that much, Cas," Dahlia said with a resigned look at the island ahead.

"I know, but it's not like we have much of a choice," Caspian muttered so the rest of the crew didn't hear. "The four of us will look for clues," he called over to the other longboats, gesturing at himself, Dahlia, and the Pevensies.

"Hang on, you mean the five of us," Eustace quickly said from the back of the group, lifting his head for the first time since they'd entered the longboats. The royals and their mage turned to stare at him in unison, already having flashbacks to the last time they'd reluctantly dragged him along.

"Last time you went with us to explore an island, we got kidnapped," Edmund retorted, genuinely appalled by his cousin's suggestion. Caspian cast a quick glance to Dahlia, who'd actually seemed to recover from her own kidnapping better than the king had.

"I don't think there's actually anyone to kidnap us this time," Eustace tried to argue, but he was met only with looks of offense and confusion. "Come on, please don't send me back to the rat."

"I heard that," Reepicheep yelled from the next longboat over.

"Big ears," Eustace muttered quietly, nose scrunched up in distaste.

"I heard that too." Eustace did end up getting sent 'back to the rat', and as soon as the longboats reached the beach the crew started to unload supplies. Caspian, Dahlia, and the Pevensies set off on their own to search the island for any signs of life, specifically in the case of the lords.

The group trudged along the sandy ground covered in large, jagged rocks. As they walked, they realized just how much the limited food and water was affecting them; even the smallest incline left them all winded. Eventually, they came upon an uneven crevice in the ground that seemed to have been created naturally. A thick rope hung down into the cavern below, wrapped several times around a large boulder next to it.

"Looks like we're not the first ones on this island," Dahlia noted, crouching down to try and see into the hole.

"The lords?" Edmund asked. Dahlia shrugged, standing back up and brushing her hands on her pants to get the sand off.

"Could be. Let's hope for our sake that it was." The mage found a small chunk of rock and tossed it into the hole, watching as it bounced against the bits of rock jutting out from the tunnel walls before crashing into the blackness below.

"What do you think could be down there?" Caspian asked, leaning over Dahlia's shoulder to get a better look.

"No idea," the mage replied, already taking a step closer to the pit. "I'll head in first, if you start floating down here after me you'll know it's safe."