Susan Of Narnia

Awkward Meetings

Susan rode Shoof for hours upon hours until she felt like her legs would turn to jelly. Stopping she knew would only waste time so she didn't complain with words. Her constant groans and tense movements made her pain quite apparent to the steed.

"We shall rest a bit, your majesty."

"No... We... We have to-" her panting trailed off into a big gasp for air. Shoof healed, allowing Susan to throw herself upon the grass and relax her muscles. She stretched her back, her legs, her arms, her neck, and everything in between. Shoof too was starting to feel the effects of all the ground they had made. He although had the legs of a horse and was capable of more distance than a Daughter of Eve.

"Based on these trees, I'd say we're getting closer."

"What's special about the trees?"

"The more lush and nutritious they look, the closer you know you are to Aslan's How."

Susan looked up at Mother Nature's towers and did seem to notice a change from the trees that were at Cair Paravel. These were thicker, greener, and had the hint of their old rhythmic breathing.

"Why don't more linger here if it's so much more alive?"

"They say it's haunted."

"Haunted?"

"With the spirits of those an individual has hurt."

Suddenly Susan felt the strange atmosphere these woods brought. A fog covered the ground, a thick and heavy fog that felt like chains on her feet.

"We must flee before it gets too much."

Susan concurred, but her body stayed put. Her eyes became glossy and she stayed staring at the fog, feeling it's tie around her legs getting tighter and tighter. Shoof had to yank her off the ground and managed to snap her out of the trance. She mounted the centaur properly and the pair were off again.

The remainder of the trip consisted mostly of canyons. These canyons were the same ones Susan, Lucy, Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin the Dwarf had traveled through to find the How. Currently the two travelers scaled that familiar cliff where Lucy had claimed to see Aslan on the opposite side of the chasm. No one believed her and they ended up running into Telmarines. Susan regretted how she treated her siblings so many times, but now realized how much she kept them out of her mind since their deaths. The trail continued between more rocky walls, eventually leading into more thickets of trees. The woods seemed everlasting. The beautiful terrain Susan had been used to in Narnia was replaced with decayed scum sprouting from the dirt. Mud splashed and plants crunched under Shoof's hooves. Finally their path came to an end at an open plain in front of the How. The bright green blinded the Queen for a moment, not seeing such a color for days. This dazzling earth seemed untouched by the Old Narnia's deterioration.

"At last," Susan muttered with such agitation.

Slowly the pair trudged across the broad plain, half excited and half restless. Shoof was more determined. Susan dreaded each step she took, the pain vibrating through her entire body. If not for the half horseman's constant nagging, the Queen of Old would have given up long ago. Once they were close to approaching the How's entrance, a faun revealed himself from the cave's darkness. He held a spear and a shield which had the well-known face of the Great Cat. The closer and closer the strangers got, the more and more Narnians that came to the faun's side with various weapons; axes, bows, swords, hammers. They were ready for a fight.

Susan reached for an arrow from her quiver as the pair were approaching harm's way, but Shoof caught her wrist.

"We cannot show any sign of danger."