A Narnia Tale: For King, Queen and Country

The Beach

We shall never surrender

Erik stood quietly on the beach, the cold wind made him shiver in his coat. As far as he could look, he saw endless rows of green clothed figures. Nobody talked, he knew how everyone felt. They all waited for the boats that they knew wouldn't come. And when they would come, the sky would instantly be black, filled with dead. A faint rumble from the inland. The man standing next to him looked back, he was the only one who did. 'Well, still no panzers coming down the hill,' He said with a sarcastic tone. Erik looked angerly at him: 'Don't jinx this, soldier. The French are doing what they can.' The man nodded and went back to his trance, quietly looking at the English Channel. Erik didn't even care that the man didn't salute to him, as would be proper with his rank of an army major. Still he couldn't hold himself and looked back, the city of Dunkirk was covered in a black smoke. In his fantasy he could already see those German tanks rolling onto the beach, and the majority of English soldiers didn't even have their guns anymore let alone anti-tank weapons. He shivered again and prayed to God to get out of this cursed place. Right now, the only thigh he wanted was a quite place to live in peace.

Three months later

'Major Henderson!' a voice broke the silent night. Erik turned around and saw his friend standing in front of him. Captain Pevensie kept to the expected  formalities since Erik was a higher rank. 'I got orders to escort you to Regimental headquarters. Sir,' Erik nodded. He frowned when he heard the message. An evening in the headquarters was full with high ranking officers who liked their noble family tree and spent their days in an office while the soldiers slept in the cold woods. Erik was different, sure, he came from a long lasting noble family line and went to the best school the English Empire had to offer but he also saw his fair share of action. In Belgium and France, he always fought at the front lines. Lead by example, that was his way of leadership. Erik took a large gulp of the whiskey on his desk and he followed the captain outside and into the jeep that was waiting on them. 

The road was dark, and the jeep didn't use his headlights so that German planes couldn't spot them and use it to find cities to bomb. So when they drove to the next military base. Erik closed his eyes with the idea to take a quick nap, flashes of water and burning boats filled his mind. He opened them as swiftly as he had closed them. It was only when he saw the jeep and the road that the fear loosened its grip on his heart. He looked at the private next to him: 'Aren't you from Finchly, Tom?' Erik had to take his mind of that beach and what followed on to it. The man replied: 'yes, Erik' Now that they were away from the base all froms of formality went out of the door. The Major shook his head: 'God, they are getting a rough time down there. I heard the Royal Air Force can't keep those bombers off,' The man nodded again: 'Yes. My wife has send our four children to the countryside. That is way safer,' Erik knew that was what most parents did with their children, it was the only sensible option. If you had the choice between sending you children away to strangers or keeping them in a city that got bombed every night, then you'd sent them as far away as possible. He was about to answer the man when he felt an enormous blow at his left side. Erik felt how he got catapulted from the car and in an instant he knew what happened. Another car had hit them right in their side and without the headlights on, they didn't see the other car. Erik didn't feel any fear to die, he had seen too much combat for that. In his final moments, he closed his eyes and prepared from the blow that would end his life.

He felt the ground, but instead of the cold hard stone he expected he was greeted be nice and soft grass. While he rolled over the ground he felt the sun on his body. Slowly he came to a stop and opened his eyes. Erik crawled up and saw the grassy field around him. Strangely he didn't feel any pain. Curious as what had happened to him he stood up an looked around him. The field was surrounded by enormously high trees. The air was the weirdest about this place, not the heavy and dirty air you had in London. No, here the air felt fresh and light. After a couple of breaths he already felt better than he had felt in decades. Erik turned around as to study his surroundings. When he looked behind him, he almost yelled out loud at what he saw. A lion, as tall as a horse and with enormous manes. The aura of the beast quickly took him over and with shaking knees Erik sank to the ground. 

'Stand up,' A low and authoritarian voice sounded trough the woods. He lifted his head, there was no one expect him and the lion. When Erik looked at him the lion lifted his head up and back down, like he nodded. Unsure at what he had to do Erik asked with an unsteady voice: 'Excuse me?' And with a bit of hesitation: 'Sir,' The lion opened his mouth and said clearly: 'Stand up, major Henderson,' Slowly Erik followed his orders. 'Sir? Will- will you eat me? Sir?' he asked. It honestly surprised him that he was so scared. After all what he had been through, he was scared of a lion? The lion almost laughed: 'How do they say it in your world? If I had a penny for every time someone asked me that question,' He shook his head: 'I could, if I wanted. But if I wanted, you wouldn't be talking now.' Still not sure whether or not he was going to end up as dinner, Erik didn't dare to come closer. So when the lion walked towards him, he quickly walked backwards. A small groan came from the throat of the lion: 'I never lie, Erik. Trust me,' So Erik stopped, scared as hell for the lion. Only when the beast was less then a meter away he stopped. After a minute where the lion was seemingly waiting, he dared to ask: 'Sir, who are you? Where am I? What happened?' Now the lion laughed out loud. 'Those are a lot of questions, son of Adam. Well, I am Aslan. You are at the very edges of my country and you had a car accident, in which you will lose your life in less than a second,' A long second passed. 

Erik looked at himself and then back at Aslan. 'Well, why am I here? Sir?' he asked. 'Ah, now you ask the right question,' Before the Lion could continue, Erik interrupted him. 'Sir, what happened to my friend in my car? Is he dead too?' A small annoyance disappeared just as quickly as it came in Aslan's eyes. 'You aren't dead, yet, otherwise we wouldn't have this conversation. And no, he is alive, wounded but he will survive,' He looked at Erik until the major nodded. 'So, why are you here? Well, you asked my father for something tree months ago, on that beach. And now you have the chance to make that wish a reality. In a moment, you will go to a country called Narnia. Once you arrive, you will have to make your way to my camp. And when you get there, you will receive a task only you can perform. And, when you succeed, you will get what you wished for,' Erik had no time to react, the Lion breathed against him and he felt himself being lifted through the air.

Hello everyone! I hope you liked this first little part. As you've probably noticed, this isn't a generic Narnia fanfic as seen from the viewpoint of a girl who fights alongside the Pevensies and falls in love. There are enough of those out there (and many of them are awesome, go and read them), i wanted to do something different (and, perhaps, darker). So please leave a comment, did you like it? Please remember that this is just the beginning, as soon as the next part comes out (which should be tomorrow) we will discover Narnia.