The Man Above

1 - The End

Beast Series 1.00

Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.~

~~~~~

I let my daggers clatter to the deck below as my armored knees thunked down beside them. Eyes closed in exhaustion and ears buzzing with the roars of happiness from the crew and the rescued peoples, I couldn't help but let a blissful sigh leave my lips. It was over. It was finally over.

"Aster!" Bliss shattered, I looked up from where I knocked flat on my back, seeing the grinning face of Lucy the Valiant, High Queen of Narnia, look down on me from her perch on my stomach.

"You know, Milady, if I weren't wearing armor that would've hurt quite a bit more." The young lady chuckled and pushed herself upright.

"I was certain you'd stop being so stiff for once! Come on! Please call me Lucy! You act like an old man!" I rolled onto my feet, clinking softly the entire way, and ruffled her hair gently with a partially gloved hands.

"You forget, Your Highness, that I AM rather old." A flicker of some darker emotion passed across my lady's face but was gone just as quickly.

"Aslan's land!" There was a collective lack of breathing as the crew froze in wonder at the land mass looming on their horizon. The ship drifted quietly. Reverently. And through the flower sea they sailed to the shores of the fabled promised land. The end of the world.

The landing crew comprised of the High King and Queen, their cousin Eustace, King Caspian, Reepajeep, and myself. As we stepped upon the sandy shores we were greeted by the sight of an enormous wave suspended in midair, creating an impenetrable barrier between us and the suggestion of mountains beyond.

Slowly we approached it, and, suddenly, I felt a change in the air. A tingling at my back.

"Aslan?" I didn't want to turn around. I didn't want my hope to be broken if I didn't find my father standing there.

"Aslan!" My king and queen chorused happily.

"Welcome to my lands, young ones." His voice rumbled across the white sands and my very heart seemed to tremble with its power. Ever so slowly, I turned to face him.

There he stood.

In all his golden glory, not looking a day older from the very first moment I opened my eyes as a child to see him, he stood out against the beach like a brilliant sun. His teeth glinted pearly white as he spoke and his magnificent mane danced in the sea breeze. And his eyes, those glorious brown eyes always so full of warmth and fatherly tenderness, were looking straight back at my own. I could feel my spine straighten out of habit as I bowed at the waist towards him. He was my father, my king, and he was back. My tears disappeared into the wet sand at my feet.

"Rise, my daughter, you need not bow to me anymore." I lifted my head slowly and the minute my eyes met his again, I became a blubbering child. Throwing myself at him, I buried my face and fingers into his mane and held tight, afraid that if I loosened my grip for a second he'd disappear again.

"Father..." Aslan said nothing, simply curling his head around me and sighing in what appeared to be happiness. "I missed you..."

When I had sorted myself out properly and was no longer an emotional mess, Aslan addressed us all with somewhat sad eyes.

"Welcome to my land. You all deserve the right to enter, but be warned that should you pass into my land, you may never return to the land of Narnia again."