Chronicles of Narnia Book Five : The Voyage of The Dawn Treader

Unpleasant, know-it-all bully Eustace Scrubb is transported, along with his cousins Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, to the magical world of Narnia through a painting of a ship. Swallowed up by the picture, the three children find themselves falling into the water beside the Dawn Treader, a sailing ship built by King Caspian of Narnia for the purpose of traveling east to find seven missing lords exiled by his evil Uncle Miraz. Caspian is also searching for the eastern edge of the world (Narnia is apparently flat) and has brought with him Reepicheep the Talking Mouse, who, according to a prophecy, will find what he seeks in the "utter East."

Edmund and Lucy, who are also Narnian royalty, greet their old friend King Caspian. All three children become members of the ship's company, although Eustace does so with bad grace. Eustace clashes with Reepicheep, attempting to use his greater size to tease and torment the mouse. However, Reepicheep's ferocity and honor eventually make it clear to Eustace that he'll have to stop if he doesn't want to find himself in a swordfight.

The Dawn Treader arrives at the three Lone Islands, Felimath, Doorn, and Avra. When they go ashore on their own for a walk, Eustace, Lucy, Edmund, Caspian, and Reepicheep are captured by slave traders. Caspian is sold to a local nobleman who turns out to be Lord Bern, one of the seven missing lords. With Lord Bern's help, Caspian overthrows the corrupt Governor Gumpas, abolishes the slave trade in the Lone Islands, and rescues his friends. The Dawn Treader's crew restocks and refurbishes the ship. Caspian makes Bern a Duke and installs him as the new ruler of the Lone Islands, under Narnian dominion. (Found Lord Count: One!)

When the Dawn Treader sets sail again, it's caught up in a violent storm that destroys the mast and practically totals the ship. After several days on low water rations, they land at what appears to be a deserted island to make repairs. While the others are working, Eustace sneaks away to rest and gets lost among foggy hills. Finding himself in a strange valley, he witnesses a dragon die from old age. After making sure the dragon is dead, Eustace ventures into its cave, where his greed is awakened by the sight of a massive amount of treasure. Eustace puts on a gold bracelet and falls asleep lying on a pile of gold coins. When he wakes up he is shocked to discover that he himself has turned into a dragon, with the gold bracelet digging painfully into his now-enormous and scaly arm. Eustace returns to his shipmates and manages to communicate what has happened to him. As a dragon, he is able to help hunt for food and uproot trees for rebuilding the ship.

When the Dawn Treader is nearly ready to leave, Eustace has a mysterious, miraculous encounter with the great lion, Aslan, who turns him back into a human boy by peeling layers of scaly skin off of him and tossing him into a pool of healing water. Eustace rejoins his shipmates a much more pleasant and helpful person. Examining the bracelet that Eustace was wearing, Caspian realizes that it belonged to one of the seven missing lords, Octesian, who must have been killed by the previous dragon or transformed into one the way Eustace was. (Found Lord Count: Two!)

After setting sail again, the Dawn Treader is attacked by a sea serpent that tries to encircle the ship in a coil of its snakelike body and squeeze it to pieces. Thanks to the bravery of Reepicheep and Eustace and the efforts of everyone on board, the sea serpent is pushed off the end of the ship, and the tightening loop of its body crashes harmlessly into the sea.

The next island the Dawn Treader lands at appears to be uninhabited. Caspian, Edmund, Eustace, Lucy, and Reepicheep go for a hike and discover a pool of water in a valley. When they sit down to rest beside the pool, they discover the belongings of one of the missing Narnian lords, including his sword and chain mail shirt (a "chain mail shirt" is one of those metal shirts made out of chains that medieval knights and Frodo Baggins wear). They notice a golden statue of a man at the bottom of the pool, and when Edmund tries to measure the depth of the water with his spear, it turns to gold, too. They realize that the water of this pool and spring turns everything to gold. At first Caspian and Edmund become greedy and cruel as they imagine the power this water could bring them, but when Aslan appears briefly on a nearby hillside, they come to their senses. They return to the ship with only a fuzzy memory of their experience, although they remember that they found one of the missing lords (they don't yet know which one). (Found Lord Count: Three!)