Chapter Text
“Come back soon!” I called to the boy as we rode off into the distance. He reminded me very much of another I had met what must have been a thousand years ago. They had the same haunted look in their eyes, the same turn of phrase. They must be from the same place…
“Ginarrbrik, pull off here! We must see where this Son of Adam entered from. We’ll sneak through the trees.”
We were not too far off from where we had left him by the lamppost, and by our luck he was still there. After a minute, a figure appeared from the other side of the path, smaller than the boy, with hair barely reaching the shoulders. This must be the girl who he said had been here before…
“Edmund, you made it!” she cried as she ran to embrace him.
“Yeah, I made it,” he grumbled, “But where have you been?”
“Having tea with Mister Tumnus!”
So that’s the traitorous faun Edmund had told me about. I whispered to the trees, telling them to send a message to Maugrim that Tumnus was to be done with as he pleased. I followed the children as they made their way into the forest beyond that dreadful lamppost. Making sure to stay out of sight. The trees were very dense in this area, to the point that I couldn’t fit between them without giving away my position. The dwarf went after them in my stead to see where the portal was.
As I sat waiting for news from Ginarrbrik, I thought about what I should do. This accursed land had been my prison since that first dratted boy had brought me here from his own. Now I had the chance to escape and exact revenge on his world, but in so doing, I might lose my claim here. Should I destroy this portal so no humans could enter it again? Would another portal be made in its stead, leaving me in a continuous cycle of paranoia?
“Your Majesty,” Ginarrbrik called. “The children have returned to their own world.”
“Is the portal still open?”
“Yes, there is a room on the other side of the door, and I can see that it is not affected by your winter.”
“Hmm…”
“What shall we do?”
I think for a second, pondering my choices. As much as hate to admit it, I knew from the Dawn of Time here that Aslan has much more control over this world than I do. Whatever prophesies he creates are bound to come true in one fashion or another. But he doesn’t control the others. I’ve seen the human race, and I know that even without my magic, I am stronger and smarter than them. And who is to say I couldn’t get some of my powers back in time?
“Gather the others. I’m going to bend this World of Men at my heels.”