A Narnia Tale: For King, Queen and Country

A new beginning

This is not the end, its not even the beginning of the end but, perhaps, it's the end of the beginning

Only a few moments later he stood in a snow covered forest. The ground was hilly and covered in a thick pack of snow. Almost instantaneously he shivered of the cold. Erik was dressed for a cool summer night, not for a freezing forest. He didn't know what to do, expect that he couldn't stay here. So he started walking, he didn't know where too or into what direction but he climbed the hills and crossed some small frozen streams. The country was extraordinarily beautiful, the sky was deep blue and while it was cold, Erik felt warm inside. In his head he repeated what the lion had told him. After a couple of hours, he still couldn't figure out what all of it meant. His only hope was that he found someone to ask directions to "Aslan's Camp" or whatever it may be. He didn't see any movement across the trees until he left the treeline behind and found himself looking over a big, icy plain. 

And in the distance he saw five figures, three bigger and two smaller ones, walking across the field. A couple hundreds of meters behind them, he saw a chariot speeding towards them. Erik was too far to see what happened then. So he ran closer, until about two hundred meters, and he hid behind a tree. The chariot had stopped and the figures were talking, he couldn't hear what they said. After a dozen minutes, the group splitted up, the chariot came his way while the others walked into the woods. Erik wondered if he should stop the chariot and ask the driver directions. Only now he thought about the possibility of a fight breaking out. His hand hovered automatically to the place where his gun would be, but it was empty. So Erik reached into his boot to find his knife. With the blade in his right hand he stepped away form the tree and in front of the chariot, which he saw was actually a sleigh. 

'Ho!' the driver yelled and the sleigh stopped. Only now Erik saw that it was drawn by reindeers and not by the horses he'd assumed. The sleigh came to a halt right before him and a man climbed out. He was well fed to say the least and had a long white beard. The man looked at him with a sparkle of joy in his eyes. Still, the man had a majestic presence and instantly Erik knew he wasn't a possible enemy. So he quickly sheeted his knife back into his boot. 'Good day, young man!' the figure said with joy. 'What makes you stumble through the forest on this beautiful day?' he asked. Erik responded quickly and direct: 'I need to find Aslan's Camp. As soon as possible,' When the man heard the name, he became serious. 'Aslan's Camp? Well, then you are going the right way. But, may I ask who told you about it. I've seen very few real humans the past hundred years here in Narnia. In fact, you are the fourth this century,' So Erik explained the entire story, who he was and what the Lion had told him. 'Ah, you've seen the Lion. The mighty King of Kings, Aslan himself!' The man laughed. 'So then I will help you on your way. You know what? Hop in my sleigh, I see you are not scared for a bit of work and there is a lot of work to do. That is what happens when Christmas is cancelled for a hundred years,' Erik was confused and asked: 'Sir, I don't understand. What happened to Christmas then? And who are you?' 'Well, I am Father Christmas of course. And why there was no Christmas for an entire century, well that is quite the story,' the man replied. So after a small hesitation, Erik climbed in the sleigh. Father Christmas apologised for not having a present for him. Erik didn't mind, with his thirty-one years he was way too old for presents anyway. The man replied that no one was too old for presents, which made Erik laugh for a bit. He went through his blond hair while chuckeling. 

Not long later Father Christmas began telling the story of Narnia. How a wicked Witch had overthrown the rightful ruler of Narnia and installed herself as its Empress. How she forced Narnia in an endless winter and how she tyrannized the surviving population. He talked about the famine that followed, resulting from the small amount of crops that grew. The country was basically uninhabitable, but all the creatures that lived here, refused too leave. This was mainly because no country wanted to take them in. the only country that wanted to help, Archenland, didn't have to food to help them without starving their own citizens. The man told about the prophecy, how two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve would come to Narnia and bring peace too the country. He explained that the figures he'd seen in the distance where the people of the prophecy and because of them Aslan returned to Narnia and so had he, Father Christmas. Erik asked what was so special about them. Father Christmas explained that they came from the same world as he did. He told him that they where still children all between nine and fifteen. 'They are called the Pevensies,' He said. Erik almost fell out of the sleigh when he heard the name: 'Are you sure? Because I knew their father. I need to see them right now,' Father Christmas apologized, explaining that they were too far away to turn back now, and there was still a whole lot of work to do. 'I'm sorry, I've should have said that sooner. But don't worry, they are going to Aslan's Camp too. And I'll bring you close, if you help me a little bit first,' After a bit of arguing Erik finally gave in. They finally arrived on their destination at five o'clock. A small house, not larger then a large garden shed. Just next to it there was a small, unfinished Beaverdam. 'So, here we are. The home of the Beavers. I promised mister Beaver that his little dam would be finished when he returned. luckely those pesky wolfs are already gone, see the damage they caused. All the more reason to start working,' Father Christmas said. So he and Erik began working. Erik would chop the wood necessary for the dam and reperations and Father Christmas would put them in place. It was hard labour, but Erik was used to that. he almost wated to take his shirt of, but showing off his abs in the middle of winter wasn't a smart idea. It was only when the sun went down that they stopped. It was perfectly timed, the dam was just finished. Where there was first only a bunch of sticks piled alongside each other, now you saw a perfectly functioning dam with sluice-gate. And that wasn't everything. Erik noticed that it became warmer every hour or so. And where there was first only snow, slowly green grass began to break through. Offering a different view from the endless white he'd seen until then. 'So, and now my end of the bargain. I will bring you close to Aslan's camp,' Father Christmas said. So Erik hopped into the sleigh and wondered how the reindeers would pull it through this melting snow. In the end, he decided not to worry and slowly fell asleep for the first time in two days. 

Alright, part two is finished and part three is ready for release. Again, tell me what you think, this is my first published story ever so i have a lot to learn. It might have escaped your notice, but i love Narnia and soldiers. So making a story about a soldier stranded in Narnia seemed to best way to start. I'll see you guys (and girls) in the next episode.