I'll Come Back, When You Call Me

"Did you hear that?" Serena asked Reepicheep as he appeared beside her.

The mouse looked up at her and twitched his whiskers, confusion written on his furry face. "Other than the sound of the waves and the crew?" Serena nodded. "No," Reepicheep continued.

Serena frowned, glancing back at Lucy who wore a similar expression, then back at the island. The green trees grew larger and larger as the Dawn Treader sailed closer to it. The eerie moans from the island continued, seemingly drawing the ship closer until the sound stopped abruptly. By then the ship was a mere couple of yards away.

Lucy stared out at the landmass and could swear she saw the trees swaying back at forth simultaneously, but as soon as she blinked they were as still as the trees in Narnia had been during the Telmarine era.

Even so, she had a creeping suspicion that she had not imagined their movement.

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"This pass is very confusing..." Trufflehunter commented.

The Dawn Treader was beached and anchored to the shore down the waterfront. The group had cast anchor moments ago and while half of the crew secured the ship to make sure it wouldn't float away and the other half began working to repair the damage the ship had gone through during their journey, Caspian and the others had begun to explore the island.

Trufflehunter, who was supposed to stay on board but had refused to be left behind, accompanied them as well.

Edmund stretched his stiff arms and rested his hands behind his head. "Well, you didn't expect this to be easy did you? That we'd just sail on through with no delay?"

The seven had walked to the end of the beach where the sand ended and nothing but deep water remained. They now rested on some rocks and discussed their location and the previous occurrences. Serena and Lucy, who had removed their shoes and were wading ankle deep in the cold water, both holding up their dresses so the ends wouldn't get wet, strolled back over to the rocks at Trufflehunter's comment—their wet feet squishing in the sand below them.

Serena walked over to where Caspian leaned against one of the taller rocks, and picked up her shoes from where she had left them by his feet. Lucy and Trufflehunter now sat side by side on the rocks while Trumpkin paced in front of them.

"Of course it won't be easy," the dwarf said. "But Trufflehunter is right. This pass is strange. Look around."

Caspian turned his head to the left, then to the right along with everyone else, the wind blowing his brown hair lightly as he surveyed the sky high walls that surrounded them—miles away from the island.

As Serena finished securing her brown boots to her feet, she pursed her lips in thought, standing up next to Caspian and bringing her index finger to her chin. "When Trumpkin said this was called the Serpent's Pass, I assumed we would just go through, then come back out the other side. But it's almost as if we're in some sort of maze..."

Nodding her agreement, Lucy said, "Maybe this is a maze, and we need to follow the right paths to get out."

"But," Reepicheep added. "What if we choose the wrong route?"

Silence fell over them—they all knew what would probably happen inf they made the wrong move.

It was Caspian who broke the silence. "Do not talk of such things. We will make it out of here, Narnia depends on it."

"But how are we supposed to get out of here?" Trumpkin demanded, his pacing coming to an abrupt halt.

Allowing his arms to fall to his sides, Edmund looked around him swiftly before bending over and seizing a small stick at his feet.

"What're you doing, Ed?" Lucy asked curiously as her brother knelt infront of them.

"Alright," he said, drawing a crooked oval in the sand. "Assuming that this pass is just like one giant oval—" he etched another smaller oval inside the larger one and a narrow path leading from one to the other as Reepicheep came and stood beside him. "—we started on the outside, then sailed through the pass and into open space again," he continued, pointing with his twig like a school teacher.

Lucy and Serena sat opposite to Edmund on the ground, leaning forward to get a closer look at his messy drawing while Caspian stood behind them, his hands on his knees so that he could peer over the girls' heads.

Edmund drew an even smaller rectangle in the middle of the small circle and three other paths opposite to the first, leading from the small oval back to the larger one. "Right now, lets say we're here—" he gestured at the rectangle. "—on this island. We need to get from the island over to the open water again." With two flicks of his wrist, he sketched as large X on the other side of the oval. "I don't know what else is beyond this island, but all i know is we need to get from here, down another pass, then back out to sea." With that he stood back up to his full height and rested his stick against his shoulder, a smug smirk on his face.

Edmund became acutely aware of Trumpkin's laughter from beside him. His grin faded. "And what is so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing," the dwarf chuckled. "Just your crude scribbles."

Scowling, Edmund dropped his stick and look back at his rough sketch. "You think you could do better?" he challenged.

"Okay enough," Serena cut in between giggles. Trumpkin had taken every chance he could get to poke fun at Edmund ever since Edmund had been beaten him at sword fighting during their training day. "As... interesting as Edmund's drawing may be—" Edmund rolled his eyes at her choice of words. "He might be right."

Nodding, Caspian stood up, his thumb stroking the lion head on the hilt of his sword as if by habit. "He is also right that we do not know what lies beyond this island." He looked around before continuing. "If we can get to the other side of the island, we can scout the surroundings and the water we will sail through in advance."

"Well," Edmund cut in. "According to my scribbles—" with that he looked pointedly at Trumpkin. "—if this island is shaped somewhat like a rectangle, the fastest way to the other side would be to go through the forest."

"We will probably be able to travel there and be back before nightfall," Caspian added. "From there we will see if there really are different passes to sail through like Edmund suggested."

Trufflehunter peered into the dark mass of tall trees that lay 20 feet away from them. "We should leave right now if we're going to be back before dark."

Lucy and Serena stood as well, gazing into the deep forest and thinking of the voices they had heard while on the ship.

"Oh, we'll be fine," Edmund said cheerfully, sensing the group's reluctance. "We've all got weapons, how bad could it be?"

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For the next hour or two, the seven made their way through the forest, Trumpkin and Lucy talking at the front, Edmund and Trufflehunter in the middle and Caspian, Reepicheep and Serena bringing up the rear. The thick trees almost covered the bright blue sky above, giving the forest an eerie and dark shade.

"So tell me more about all of your battles, Noble Mouse," Serena said with a smile to Reepicheep, who bowed in return, eager to tell of his epic crusades.

"Most certainly my Lady. There was of course the night raid High King Peter organized on the Telmarine castle—oh what sight it was! The Kings—" he nodded to Caspian. "And Queen flew in on griffins, while my mice and I infiltrated their base and—"

Serena felt something wrap around her ankle and she squeaked in surprise as she pitched forward, landing with a dull thud on the ground, her arrows spilling out of their quiver and onto the forest floor. Her green eyes wide with shock, she propped herself on her elbows and turned swiftly to see what had caught hold of her. On the ground by her feet she saw nothing but soft dirt—nothing she could have possibly stumbled on. What...?

"Are you alright?" Caspian's voice asked. Serena look up and saw that he had knelt in front of her offering his hand, worry etched on his face. With a jolt, she realized she was still lying on her stomach with her mouth agape.

She blinked twice, feeling her face heat up slightly as she grasped his calloused hand in her own. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"What happened?" Reepicheep questioned as Caspian helped Serena to her feet. The mouse stared at her in confusion while she dusted off her dress, her head swiveling from side to side as she searched the floor.

"What are you looking for?" Caspian asked, following her gaze to the earth below his feet.

Her brow furrowed and she frowned. "Something tripped me... I felt it wrap around my ankle."

She continued to inspect the floor, only to find nothing out of the ordinary. What was that? I know I didn't imagine it.... she thought as she knelt down to retrieve her fallen arrows, replacing them in her quiver.

Reepicheep scurried over the ground, his nose twitching as he investigated. He stood and looked up at her. "There's nothing there now."

Caspian looked at Serena as she stared out into space, a puzzled expression on her face. What could that have been about? he wondered. She blinked out of her stupor and shook her head, her raven hair spilling over her shoulders. "Nevermind," she said quietly. "They're going to leave us behind if we don't hurry.

With that she turned and walked quickly after Edmund and Trufflehunter, Caspian and Reepicheep falling into step beside her.

For the next half an hour as Reepicheep continued with his story, Serena half listened to him and stayed alert, her grip tight on the strap of her quiver as her eyes scanning their surroundings. Something wasn't right in this forest, that much she knew, what she didn't know was who or what was perusing them and what their intentions were.

Finally, they broke through the thick mass of trees and back into the blinding light.

The beach before them was different from the one on the other side of the island. The water seemed darker—the waves more violent as they crashed onto the shore. Even the sand itself was darker, almost black, as opposed to the bright tan sand on the other beach.

Shielding her hazel eyes from the light, Lucy squinted to see off into the distance. As her eyes adjusted, she looked up at the dark clouds in the sky covering the bright sun from view. A strong gust of wind blew her hair into her face and caused her dress to billow around her legs. Those clouds weren't there on the other beach... she thought with a frown, pushing her brown hair behind her ear as her gaze fell on the sight in front of her.

A couple of miles in the distance, Lucy could barely make out the end of their surrounding walls, and three openings at least 70 metres apart. Edmund's theory had been correct.

As if answering her thoughts, Edmund's voice shouted triumphantly, "Ha! I told you this pass was like a giant oval, and it has three different exits!" Lucy could almost hear the smirk that was undoubtedly plastered on his face in his voice.

Serena and Reepicheep appeared at Lucy's side. Serena's hand shielded her eyes as she followed Lucy's gaze. "So that's our way out..." she mumbled as if speaking to herself.

"But again, we still have the same problem," Trumpkin yelled over the sound of the waves as he and Caspian came to a halt on Serena's other side. "Which way are we supposed to go? Who knows what we'll find if we take the wrong pass."

Caspian cleared his throat. "We will cross that bridge when we reach it. For now, at least we know what awaits us when we begin sailing again." Even with the sun out of view, just by looking at the sky, he could tell that there were only maybe three hours of daylight left.

Trufflehunter was the last to join the group, waddling to the front so as not to be blocked by Edmund and Trumpkin. The badger squinted his beady eyes. "Shouldn't we pick the middle one? Usually the middle is always correct."

Edmund shifted his weight to one leg and ran a hand through his short hair. "I'm betting on the right one..."

"And I think we should take the left, but that still doesn't solve the problem!" Trumpkin sighed in frustration.

As they continued squabbling about the best route out of the Serpent's Pass, Serena felt a light breeze caress her face, billowing her dark hair lightly around her shoulders. She turned her head around but saw nothing—only the entrance back to the forest. Something is here... Her senses on red alert, she walked a few feet away from the group in search of the presence she felt. They hardly seemed to notice.

Something light and soft brushed against her hand. Lifting her hand from her side, she caught sight of dozens of black petals floating through the air. Her gaze slowly followed the petals as they blew from around her hand until they drifted in front of her.

Soaring above her head, the dark leaves circled in the air before freezing and fluttering down upon her. No sooner than they made contact with her, Serena's mind went blank and a small smile graced her face. From the back of her mind, the same mournful crying she had heard on the ship rose back to her ears.

A lock of her hair blew from in front of her face as the black petals caught the next breeze and swarmed around her, encircling her hands as they lead her gently back into the dark depths of the forest.