Guardian of Narnia

Chapter 13

~1998~

Alex sat on the Stone Table. She was the only one in Aslan's How. No one had returned here for years. No one but her. She spent a lot of her time here. She would paint on the wall, making images of the times leading up to the Golden Age and of the Pevensie's rule.

Over the years, the Light Elf had changed a lot. Her light brown hair grew longer, causing her to keep it in a ponytail. Her green eyes no longer held joy. In fact, Alex had not laughed in almost nine hundred and eighty years. She had not smiled for that long either. She had not found a single thing to laugh or be happy about.

Her style of clothes even changed. Now, the elf wore dark clothes. She wore dark grey pants and a dark grey top with a high collar, no sleeves, and showed most of her stomach, giving everyone a view of her scars. She had black cloth wrapped around her arms and black boots. Her swords were strapped onto her back, covered by a black cloak.

Alex had just heard the news that Telmarines had invaded and taken over parts of Narnia. They had stayed away from the forest. They apparently had heard the old tales of when the trees still walked. A man by the name of Caspian had been proclaimed king of Narnia.

Alex clenched and unclenched her fists. Because of her, the Narnians were worse now than they were when they first went into hiding. The trees stopped dancing. The dryads had all disappeared. Talking beasts lost their voices, turning into dumb animals. Any Narnian found by Telmarines was killed, normally out of fear.

"And it's all my fault," Alex muttered. "Narnian has fallen because of me."

~2291~

Alex was making her normal rounds around Narnia. Every few months, she went around visiting everyone she knew of to check on them and their people. That's part of how she knew the trees and dryads were no longer moving. She had gone to visit them, only to be greeted by silence.

She had just finished her visit with Glenstorm, a centaur, and his people, and was now on her way to see her friend Trufflehunter. Glenstorm had a wife and three sons, whom he was teaching how to fight. Glenstorm had a gift. He could see the future just by looking at the stars.

Before Alex had left, the centaur had told her that better times were still to come. He had said that a Telmarine will call upon the Kings and Queens of Old and lead the Narnians to victory and freedom. Alex was hesitant at first since she doubted the Telmarines, but she knew deep down he spoke the truth. Everything he ever saw in the stars came true.

Suddenly, voices reached the elf's ears. She froze in spot, her hands quickly moving to grab the hilt of her swords. She pulled them out and silently ran towards the voices.

"Looky what we have here, gents!" a man's voice said. "A giant rat!"

"I am not a rat!" another voice replied. "I will have you know that I am a mouse!"

"It talks!" someone else cried.

"Of course I talk!"

A smirk tried to sneak its way onto her face, but the elf kept it down. A group of Telmarines had found a talking mouse. One Telmarine was holding it up by its tail. She put one of her blades away and watched the exchange from the shadows.

"What do we do with it?" a Telmarine asked.

"The same we do with every other Narnian we find," another replied.

One pulled out his dagger. The mouse's eyes widened for a moment before suddenly curling up and biting the Telmarine holding his captive. The man dropped the talking beast. Instead of running away, the mouse ran around the men, confusing them. The Telmarines tried stabbing the ground with their swords, trying to avoid their feets and each other. Eventually, one fell to the ground, managing to pull down another man with him. A moment later the other fell.

"That was for calling me a mouse!" the beast exclaimed.

"That was impressive," Alex said, stepping into the light.

"Who are you?" the mouse questioned as she walked towards him.

"Alex."

"The Guardian of Narnia. My lady."

The mouse bowed.

"Oh, please don't. I hate formalities. That's part of why I have everyone call me by my nickname and not my real name."

"My apologies then. How can I help you?"

"What is your name?"

"I am Reepicheep."

"I saw what you did to these poor men, Reepicheep." Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she looked at the unconscious men. "I want to train you."

"What?"

"You have the heart of a noble warrior. I don't come across many creatures like that nowadays. With your permission, I would like to train you to become a knight of Narnia."

The mouse smiled broadly.

"It would be an honor, my lady." Alex sent him a look. "I apologize, Alex."

Alex nodded.

"Come along, noble mouse. You have much to learn." Reepicheep crawled up her arm and sat on her shoulder, wrapping his tail under her arm to keep himself steady. "But first things first. We must get you a sword."