~By the Lion's Mane: The Call~

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

The second star flared brighter as it touched the ground as Lilliandel had, and then dimmed to reveal a figure. It came to stand at the opposite end of the table as the girl, and I could see it was an old man. His tall, slender frame was dressed in a silvery blue robe that seemed to emit a pearly glow. His silver beard hung down to his shins, and his hair hung down to the backs of his calves. His eyes were of clearest gray.

When he came to stand at the table, we all rose as one in unspoken respect. And then he and the girl began to sing, high and clear and mournfully. It was the loveliest sound I had ever heard, but I, to this day, cannot remember the words.

And when they were finished, the sun rose above the horizon, casting its rays down to the table. As I squinted at it, I knew for sure that it had indeed grown larger as we sailed farther east. And that meant that we truly were close to the end of the world.

This realization was both exciting and terrifying. I was eager to see what we would find at the end of the world, but then, I also felt uneasy. I couldn’t say why, but there was a slight sense of urgency now, and I felt like I needed to be closer to Edmund. I mentally shook myself; I had no way of knowing that anything was wrong, and besides, I would be with him whatever was to come. I turned my attention back to what was happening in front of me.

There was a great sound, like flapping, and the song was taken up by thousands of other voices. I turned back to the sun, and saw that the sounds were from hundreds of thousands of snowy white birds, unlike any I had ever seen before. They landed on every surface, even my head and shoulders much to my shock.

But through the feathers, I saw one bird land on the old man’s outstretched arm with something in its beak, but I couldn’t tell what it was, because it too bright to look at for long. The bird dropped the glowing thing into the old man’s mouth, and then the singing stopped. The was just the ruffling of feathers and then after a few moments, the snowy birds rose in a great thunder of wings, and when they were gone, the table was clean of all remaining food.

Then the old man turned to us and said, “Welcome to Aslan’s Table, travelers from the West.”

We greeted him back, and then Caspian said, “Sir, will you tell us how to wake our friends from their sleep?”

The old man nodded. “Gladly. To end their sleep, you must sail to the World’s End, or as near as you can come to it, which I take it is your intent anyway. However, you must come back having left one of your company behind.”

We were quiet for a moment, wondering what this meant, before Reep voiced our questions.

“What will happen to the one?” he asked.

“He must go on into the utter East, and never return to this world,” said the old man.

“That is my heart’s greatest desire,” Reepicheep said softly.

I looked at him sharply, but before I could say anything Caspian said, “And are we near the end of the world? Have you any knowledge of what lays beyond this island?”

The man shook his head. “I saw long ago, but that was from a great height.”

Eustace jumped up excitedly. “Did that mean you were flying through the air?”

The old man smiled kindly. “I was much higher than the air. I am Ramandu, but I see that you do not know my name. But no wonder, as the days when I was a star were long before any of you had been born, and all of the constellations have changed.”

I blinked, trying to let this sink in. Next to me, Edmund said under his breath, “Wow, he’s a retired star.”

I smiled. “Why aren’t you a star any longer?” I asked.