She was the light. He was the darkness. One couldn't exist without the other.
Edmund Pevensie knew that he was a king. He knew that he didn't deserve to have adults mock him like they did. He had lead armies. He had won wars. And yet, they all saw...
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"What do you want?" Caspian asked, and to his credit, he sounded disgusted. "Congratulations?"
"You want your uncle's blood. So do we. You want his throne? We can get it for you." Caspian didn't say anything and Diana cursed under her breath, knowing that the dwarf had caught the Prince's attention. "You tried one ancient power. It failed." Nikabrik shrugged. "But there is a power greater still. One that kept even Aslan at bay for near a hundred years."
Fear pooled in Diana's stomach as her brain connected the dots. Nikabrik was suggesting something she thought to be impossible. But she was learning, nothing was impossible.
Growling filled the air and Diana heard Caspian unsheathe his sword, she pulled her own dagger from her belt, ready to leap out from behind the pillar before something made her pause.
"Who's there?" Caspian asked and Diana watched as a hooded creature rounded from behind another pillar.
"I am hunger." It responded with a growel, flashing sharp teeth. "I am thirst." Caspian stepped back as the hooded creature moved closer to him. "I can fast one hundred years and not die."
Another hooded creature appeared from behind another pillar and it staggered through the tomb.
"I can drink a river of blood and not burst." The creature continued. "Show... me... your enemies!" The creature through its hood back to reveal itself as a werewolf. Diana had to stifle her gasp. She thought that they had gone extinct with the White Witch.
"What you hate, so will we. No one hates better than us!" The second figure exclaimed, throwing back it's hood. Underneath was something that looked like a bird, but only kind of. Diana didn't know the name of it.
"And you can guarantee Miraz's death?" Caspian asked and Diana felt her heart drop.
"And more." The creature promised, lowering into a bow. Caspian sheathed his sword. Nikabrik nodded. "Let the circle be drawn!" The creature exclaimed, digging it's nail into the dirt and trailed the lines of a circle around Caspian. It started chanting a language Diana barely recognized. It sounded familiar but she couldn't place it.
The creature completed the circle and pulled something from her cape, holding it up and started yelling the end of the chant. Diana recognized as second too late what it was as the creature turned around and stabbed the end of the White Witch's scepter into the ground.
"No!" Diana screamed, running out from around the pillar. But it was too late. The magic had already started to grow, causing ice to seep across the floor and build up into a thick wall. Caspian ignored Diana's scream, entranced by the magic. A figure started to appear in the ice and the werewolf grabbed Caspian's rist before slitting a cut down the center of his hand. Caspian winced as fresh blood bubbled to the surface.
The White Witch herself appeared in the ice and Diana thought she might throw up.
"Wait!" Caspian exclaimed, stepping back. "This isn't what I wanted." The werewolf grabbed Caspian again, holding out his hand.
"One drop of adam's blood and you free me." The Witch said with her whimsical voice. "Then I am yours, my king."
"No!" Caspian tried to stop the werewolf as it pressed Caspian's hand into a fist. He was trying to squeeze the blood so it would fall to the ground. The White Witch reached her hand through the ice and it appeared pink and real on the other side. She held it out, awaiting Caspian's blood.
"Stop!" Diana cried, running forward and pushing Caspian and the werewolf to the ground. She thrusted her knife at the other creature but it stumbled away from her before her knife could make purchase.
She looked to the White Witch and was about to thrust her knife at the ice to shatter it when the woman said:
"Hello, daughter."
Diana froze.
"What?" Caspian asked from the ground. Diana ignored him, looking up into the eyes of the woman in front of her. Her mother.
"Diana!" Came a shout. It wasn't Caspian's or Nikabricks. Or her mothers. It was Peter and Edmund.
Diana heard the sound of swords being unsheathed but she couldn't move, or turn to look as her friends started to battle the creature, werewolf, and Nikabrick. A howl filled the air and it was cut short. Diana heard something slam into a stone pillar. Even Lucy's cry couldn't take her stare away from the White Witch.
Suddenly, Diana was shoved to the ground and Peter stood in her place. Diana found that she could move again and rushed to her feet.
"Peter, dear." The woman said, sending chills down Diana's spine. "I've missed you." Her voice was lulling. She held her hand out again. "Come on, just one drop." Peter began to lower his sword.
Before Diana could move to stop him, another sword came through the ice from behind, right through the White Witch's middle. The Witch gasped as the ice shattered.
Diana and Peter looked to see Edmund standing there, his sword still raised.
Peter opened his mouth but Edmund cut him off.
"I know, you had it sorted."
Caspian was to his feet by now and looking at Diana like she could no longer be trusted.
Diana ran from the tomb, past Susan, she raced through the stone halls, holding it down just long enough to rush from the entrance and fall on her knees in the grass, puking up her dinner.
She felt a hand at her back, pulling her hair out of her face, and she jumped up, ripping her knife from her belt again and flipping around.
"It's just me." Edmund said, raising his hands to show he was unarmed. She slumped, dropping her knife and collapsing to her knees.
"I-" She tried to form words. He lowered to his own knees and wrapped his arms around her, taking his sleeve and wiping her mouth.
"It's alright." He whispered against her hair as she cried into his shoulder.
That day had been almost too much for her. Her mother, failing the mission, losing all those Narnians. He brushed his fingers through her hair and across her scalp, undoing the braids that had mostly fallen out. Her hair cascaded down her back as she cried against him.
"Please don't leave again." She whispered.
"I can't make any promises." Edmund responded sadly. He wished, more than anything, that he could stay in Narnia with Diana forever. But knew that he wouldn't be able to. He'd have to go back eventually, whether it was sooner or later.
Diana chose not to say anything else and just let Edmund hold her until she felt that her eyes had dried enough to walk through the tomb without getting pitying looks. Edmund pressed a kiss to her forehead after they had climbed to their feet and gripped her hand, leading her back into the Howe.
A/N: hehe hi. Because this is the first book in this series, we don't know much about Diana's backstory just yet but, yeah. Unfortunately, the White Witch is her mother. As the book unfolds, we'll learn more about the role Diana played in the war against the White Witch and how she came to be immortal and such. But this is just a little appetizer to get you going :)
