Revolution || Narnia Fanfiction || thecallofnarnia & NaturallyNarnian

Chapter 8: Star Power

"Why aren't there more fires?"

Oreius stared at the lost-in-thought High King. "I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but-"

"There should be more fires...I mean, I haven't seen a dragon in real life until now, but I've seen movies, there's...there's literal trails of destruction they leave behind. Those smoke points, they're not points caught in a line of destruction, they're just...points. They're methodical."

David slightly raised his hand, pointing and tapping on air. "Dragons typically aren't mindless beasts, think...Smaug for example, they have the capacity for intelligence and decision making, even just the average dragon guarding their treasure hoard means they have something to protect," he said as he paced around in front of the balcony. "Now let's assume that this dragon came from this world, from this Narnia, well, where? If you've a capacity for intelligence, then you have other capacities for sleep, for locomotion, for exhaustion...dragons are powerful beasts, sure, but let's say that this one came from the outermost reaches of the world, and stopped as little as possible to rest on its way here, making a beeline for Cair...no one saw? No one heard? Not a single peep from anyone, not a single whisper from the trees..."

David had that far-off state of deduction and calculation. His eyes were vacant because his mind was firmly no vacancy. "The dragon therefore must've been summoned here, somehow. Let's say that Mara got pissed and summoned a dragon to here, why would the dragon not leave literal trails of destruction?" he asked, waving out to the chaos of the town below. "If you summoned, or yet, Operated, a dragon to come wreck someone's shit, you would- well...wreck their shit. But that's not what this is. This isn't a diversion, this isn't menaced threat, this isn't...burning revenge. The only reason you would summon a dragon to not burn down a kingdom is if you consider that kingdom valuable, something that you want to protect, just like a dragon wants to protect its treasure hoard."

David began tapping his hand on the balcony. "Mara doesn't want to destroy Cair, she wants to destroy me and take over the kingdom. This is a calculated call-out. This isn't invasion and destruction, this is invasion and conquest."

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.

David froze.

Hello, David.

Hello, Operator.

Not gonna call me by my name?

David went from tapping on the balcony to gripping it.

You don't deserve the basic respect that calling you by your name entails, he shot back. Why are you in my head again?

Because I can be. I'd do it much more, threatening you and haunting your every second, but unfortunately I have other directions I must divert my power to. Like this dragon I'm controlling, for example. I've landed on the Fields of Beruna. Come and try to fight me, slay me, kill me. Of course I'll try to kill you. And even if you do succeed, all you'll do is kill an innocent dragon.

David's grip on the balcony tightened.

How much time do I have before I have to be at Beruna?

Mara paused.

A day, your time, she acquiesced. Time to prepare gives way for time to dread. If you don't arrive, I burn your world down anyway, starting with you.

David gasped and jolted as someone tapped his arm. He couldn't tell who, his truncated peripheral vision was no help as usual, but his eyes were frozen with fear, like he just had a nightmare and didn't dare to move them.

"Your Majesty...are you still with us?"

He exhaled deeply. "Mara's using a dragon to fight me in a 1-on-1 and kill me. That's exactly why the dragon is in Beruna as we speak, with no people to burn, just an empty field. If I don't fight her, she'll burn the world. After she kills me and the useless king is dead, she'll take over Cair. This entire thing was her plan. Well- the dragon might be a pissed off reaction at mass-curing her little puppets, but it remains the same: weaken me, crush me, kill me."