Becoming a Lioness (Book 2)

Chapter 35 Back to the caves

We soared through the thick blanket of clouds that littered the other wise blue sky at an unbelievable speed. I sighed in contentment as I ran my hand over a bruise on Peters biceps and winced as he flinched a bit.

I felt Lucy tighten her grip on me and take a deep breath. "Um- Maggie? What is that?"

I turned back and looked down at the ground below as we exited the clouds, dropping lower in the sky as we neared the Dawn Treader. Through the trees I could just make out a dark shadow dashing wildly through the greenery.

I opened my mouth to answer, but before any noise could come out an ear splitting shriek rang out, causing the griffin the emit its own cry of pain and begin its descent to the ground. I held Peter against me as we fell through the sky at a terrifying speed.

"No!" I cried as the griffin hit the ground with a thud, sending us all flying into the dirt, and pulled itself away in agony.

I pushed myself up and threw myself at Peter, lifting his head as he moaned lightly. Brushing my fingers through his matted hair, I called to Lucy, "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She replied shakily. "But I'm not sure for how long." She pointed towards the trees as she spoke.

I followed her finger and froze as I saw the creature she was referring to. It stood four feet above me, easily, and was covered from head to toe with thick black fur, not including its face, which was an off white.

Sharp fangs hung down over its bottom lip that resided below the two holes in its face that acted as a nose. It's charcoal colored eyes stared back into mine as it cocked its head to the side and lurked forward a few steps, tantalizingly slow.

"Jiberg." Lucy whispered. "Didn't Aslan say they echoed?"

"Let's hope the others didn't hear that battle cry." I whispered back, not taking my eyes off of the beast. The second the words left my mouth, another similar screech rang out, causing the beast to turn away from us.

"Run!" I exclaimed, pulling Peter up with Lucy's help, and dashing through the trees as best we could. I could hear the creature galloping behind us, which only caused my drive to find safety to increase.

"The caves!" I exclaimed, suddenly realizing that Edmund had mentioned that he found me around here somewhere.

"What?" Lucy called back, slightly out of breath as we ran.

"The caves the Pirates put me in. It's around here somewhere. I know there's an entrance through the trees somewhere. Follow me!"

Lucy nodded heavily, and increased her pace, as I did so myself. "Whatever you say."