Fire and Ice(Narnia Book 3)

Chapter 12 Perfection

(Edmunds POV) 

A few of us stood together on the top deck of the ship, watching as the professor readied the rings. We knew that the rings had never transported this many people to another world before, so we broke down the group to only six of us. Digory passed one ring to me, Emmy, and Trumpkin, and the other to Caspian, Lucy, and Reepeecheep, instructing us to all take hold of the rings at the same time and think of the Enchanted Forest.

My palms began to grow sweaty and my heart began pounding as he started counting down from five. When he reached three I felt Emmy lace our fingers together and squeeze lightly, giving me more comfort than i've ever felt in my life, and before I knew it we were slamming onto the forest floor. 

"Is every one alright?" I heard Trumpkins gruff voice call out as multiple replies of groans and 'fine' rang out. 

"Okay?" I whispered to Emmy as I pulled her up, smiling as she grinned up at me.

"Perfect."

"Who are we looking for here?" Lucy asked, snapping me out of our moment. 

I frowned in response, pulling the map out of my pocket and running my finger over the list at the bottom, easily finding the name under the girls' that we'd just crossed out. "Thats odd. There's no name here."

"What do you mean?" Caspian stepped forward, pulling the map towards himself and looking over it, doubling checking my response for accuracy. "It's just a blank line."

"Yes." I rolled my eyes, snatching the map back gently. "As I said, no name."

"Quite alright." Reepeecheep piped up, climbing up Lucy to rest on her shoulder as he spoke, causing her to giggle a bit. " Where should we find this person?"

"It gives directions to a small cottage, but they're extremely vague." 

"We should ask someone." Caspian exclaimed. 

"No." I shook my head, pointing east. "Its that way. Come on all."

"How can you be so sure?" He called after me. Sighing, I spun back around to face him. "You have no idea that we landed in that exact spot."

"Its marked for a reason. We need to trust that Aslan had the rings send us where we needed to be." I threw my hands up as he placed his hands on his hips and planted his feet firmly into the ground. "Well, we can't stand here all night and wait for the map to grow a mouth and tell us now can we?"

"Um," Emmys soft voice filled my ears as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "I think Edmunds right. There's some smoke rising up from just beyond those trees. Even its not the cottage there's bound to be someone there who can at least point us in the right direction." 

"Agreed." Trumpkin replied, marching past all of us and heading deeper into the trees. 

****

The walk proved to take longer than expected due to the thickness of the trees. Caspian walked in front, much to my disapproval, and Trumpkin followed him. Next was Lucy and Reep, and finally Emmy and I. We all walked in silence for at least two hours, keeping our eyes open for any and all signs of life, other than foliage. 

"I knew leaving that late in the afternoon was a bad idea." Trumpkin mumbled as the sun drooped even lower on the horizon giving the forest an eerie feeling. Fog was beginning to roll in, coating the ground, and making it even harder to see where we were going. "We should stop and make camp. We only have about thirty more minutes of any light at all, and I for one don't want to be stuck wandering some unknown woods for the night."

"Alright." Caspian sighed, wiping his brow before glancing around and grabbing a few pieces of wood to use for a fire. We made our way over to a small clearing that was easily the clearest area we had seen the entire time we'd been here, placing the wood in the middle of the area and lining it with some stones Lucy had found easily. 

Within about twenty- minutes Caspian and I had the fire going and we were all sitting around it. "I'm starving." Lucy grumbled, rubbing her stomach. "I can't remember the last time I've eaten."

"I'll go look for berries or something." I rose to my feet, brushing myself off and glancing to Emmy who had also stood. 

"Mind some company?" She asked, smiling at me. I shook my head, motioning for her to follow me as we made our way back into the trees. "Its impossible to see five feet in front of us." She exclaimed a few minutes later, breaking the comfortable silence.

There was nothing but trees for miles and, with the fog, she was absolutely right. "Scared of the dark, are we?"

She playfully bumped my shoulder with hers, but instead of pulling away she reached for my hand while her other one held onto my arm. "Do you think they remember me? My mother and aunt, I mean."

"How could they forget someone like you." I replied, gazing at her as she lifted her head off of my shoulder and met my eyes with hers. In the darkness her eyes looked almost black, and i'm sure mine did as well. " I know I never could."

"Never?" She asked, raising her eyebrows as I hummed in response. "Not even I didn't speak one word to you for twenty years?" I shook my head. "What about when you move back home and I stay in Cambridge? Will you forget me then?"

Slowly, I raised a shaking hand and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, letting my fingers cup her cheek after doing so. She leaned into it a bit, causing the ghost of a smile to tug at my lips. It quickly faltered though as she leaned forward slightly, taking a deep breath.

I mimicked her actions, not stopping until our nose touched, sliding against each others. She giggled softly, her squeezing her eyes shut being the last thing I saw before mine closed as well. Our breath mingled together as my lips nudged hers, urging her to close the distance, not wanting to rush her. After a few antagonizing seconds, I felt her lips push ever so slightly against mine, closing the distance, and in that moment I could've cared less if someone was watching us, or if we were going to win this war, or if we never found the rest of the allies. It was only me, the fog, the trees, and her, my own personal taste of perfection.