Star Crossed Lovers

Chapter 5A - The King?

Peter's POV

"We've been walking for hours. I don't exactly see any lions or centaurs or minotaurs or anything," I said, rolling my eyes at Gus.

"Yeah, we're getting there. Just a few more miles till we see Safe Haven," Gus replied.

Edmund and I looked at each other and sighed. Was the road going to be this long? We kept walking until we arrived at this big old oak tree. Gus climbed up the oak with his little paws and quickly hid in the leaves.

"What are you doing now?" Edmund asked, feeling annoyed, "We've been walking for hours and now you've decided to climb an oak tree for God knows what reason."

"Young man, don't you see it's getting dark? I'd take you further, but it's no use. The Forest is too dangerous a place to be roaming around in at night," Gus warned.

"You know what, I've about had enough. We need to be looking for Gani and Lucy and Claire. We're wasting our time. We're going to the sanctuary whether you want it or not!" I forced. Edmund nodded his head in approval. It was only Hobson's choice for the rat. Gus could only sigh and told us to keep going north. He said that the bright morning star would guide us. I thanked Gus and walked to the sanctuary with Edmund by my side.

"Do you think that rodent meant what he said? About the dangers in these woods?" Edmund asked suddenly.

"Hey, if it's anything like Narnia then of course not, I don't believe the rat," I replied strictly, confident with my faith, "Besides, Aslan will be with us. He promised he'll be with us every step in our life."

"I suppose so, Pete, but I'm just worried about the girls, you know. Plus our lives are on the line here!" Edmund sighed as he picked up a large twig from the ground.

"They'll be fine, Ed. Lucy's with them," I replied, but still couldn't convince Edmund that much.

"Srtt Srtt."

There was noise coming out from behind a big bush. I couldn't see anything, the darkness had completely consumed the forest. The noise sounded again. Ed and I panicked, thinking that it would be a minotaur or something. Edmund raised up his twig in self defense. I got my fists ready to swing punches if the creature would be a threat. My brain suddenly sent some signals to my brain. 'Could it be Gus?' I thought to myself.

"Gus, that you?" I called into the bush.

No reply.

"Is that you, Gus?" I called once more.

Still no reply.

"Gus, I'm not kidding, if you're there, just come out!" I forcibly called for the third time.

This time, the bush move intensively, causing Ed and I took take a few steps back. We waited as the bush moved more and more intense. Edmund raised his twig higher. Then suddenly....

"Plop!" a large black salamander-like critter hopped out of the bush. The critter had nothing on and stood on his 4 legs.

"Oh, it's just a lizard. You shocked the beans out of me, Pete," Edmund sighed in relief, as he lowered his twig. We both neared the flat salamander and examined it. It looked like it was sleeping. The closer we got, the closer we could see what it looked like. It had grey splotches on its back and tiny fat legs. It looked very slimy and disgusting. It was a good thing that the girls weren't there.

"This thing dead?" Edmund started poking the critter closely. The critter suddenly opened its eyes, revealing bright yellow pupils. It drew out its navy blue tongue and slittered it towards us. The both of us didn't budge. We were too intrigued by the critter. The salamander blinked his eyes and stared at Edmund.

"What are you looking at?" Edmund taunted. The salamander continued blinking, but then suddenly lunged its slimy self towards Edmund and bit his nose with it slimy toothless mouth. Edmund dropped back-first onto the ground and repeatedly yelled,

"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

I chuckled before gently removing the critter off of his nose. The critter wriggled in my grip and continuously tried to bit my nose. After a few failed attempts, the critter stopped and stared at me.

"What's your deal?" it asked in a squeaky voice, "I was sleeping soundly when that guy poked me on the butt!"

"Sorry bout that, it's just we thought you were a dangerous critter and you know, self defense," I explained, while I laid the slimy thing back on its first spot.

"Well okay, but you didn't have to poke me," he glared at Edmund.

"Well, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BITE ME!" Edmund growled, as he continued to massage his red nose.

"Calm down, Rudolf," I pushed Ed slightly to shut him up, "Do you know how to get to the 'Safe Haven' or what they call it?"

The salamander nodded and suddenly arose on its two feet. It pointed to the west and told us to just keep walking. We thanked him and went on our way. I could've sworn that the critter kept threatening to bite Edmund again. We walked and walked. I squinted me eyes and saw a tiny light source. Ed and my heart was filled with joy and hope. We were just a few steps closer to the sanctuary.

We walked a few more steps, but then stopped.

"W-Why are we stopping?" Edmund asked, confused.

"I heard something Ed, shut up!" I shushed Ed. I looked around, and then I heard heavy footsteps.

"GET DOWN!" I silently commanded, as pushed both our bodies onto the ground. The footsteps got even closer and they were accompanied with heavy breathing. From the midst of darkness emerged a big minotaur, which was bigger than the usual ones. It sniffed around, making me duck down even more. The minotaur stopped and walked towards our way. I crossed my finger and shut my eyes, hoping it wouldn't spot us, but alas, he sniffed around and caught us. The minotaur roared into our faces and carried us by our back collars. The minotaur carried us into the light source.

There were tall white pillar-like torches surrounding a campsite. You could say they were like Camp Half Blood, only brighter. We came upon the center of the campsite. There was a big warm campfire there too.  The minotaur set us down, but still got his creepy hands on our collars. A tall young Mediterranean man cane out from behind the campfire with his arms crossed.

"What do you have for me today, Aelius?" the man asked cockily.

"Two trespassers, Your Highness!" the minotaur, Aelius replied.

"Hmm.. What are you two doing here? And you look familiar, who are you?" The man asked intimidatingly.

"JUNIOR, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" somebody suddenly yelled from inside of a tent. A fairly old man walked out slowly. He looked familiar.

"Caspian?" I asked.

The old man chuckled and replied hoarsely, "Hello Peter. Hello Edmund. Please excuse my son, Caspian (the Eleventh (XI)). Please come in."

We entered Caspian's tent and a surprised awaited us there.

"GANI? CLAIRE? HOW DID YOU GET HERE?" Edmund shockingly asked.

The two girls grinned and replied together in sync,

"It's a long story..."

Author's Note:
I have not updated in awhile, because of writer's block and whole other bunch of stories, but meh... I've finally posted this chapter and part B coming right up. Comment on what do you think will happen or what you want to happen in the next chapter! Thx~C

PS. SORRY for crappy pic