Reverie || Caspian X (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

POSTED 1/30/23

This fanfiction is based on the book and film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The characters' ages follow the film/fanon ages (i.e., Caspian is around 17 years old in this film).

The sun was bright and warm as it shined down onto the earth. The air was fresh and moved with a slight breeze, bringing musky and floral scents along with it. Magnificent trees stood tall and wide, their branches and leaves forming a foliate canopy over them.

"Make haste, Elara! Hurry!"

The sounds of feet pounding heavily on the ground as well as panicked shrieks and exclamations were a stark contrast to the stillness the forest held. The tense atmosphere overtook the serenity that everything within the trees stood for.

Elara's hair flew in all directions as she allowed her legs to keep her moving forward. Her body was practically on autopilot; she didn't know where she was going, what she was doing, or what would happen next. All she could do was do as she was told — run.

Her hand, previously holding onto that of the woman before her, had long been released in the middle of their frantic sprint away from whatever loomed behind them. Several men and women ran past her as well, looking and sounding equally as stressed as she did.

Louder screams echoed behind her, and Elara instinctively whipped her head around to see. She was stopped when the woman with her placed a hand on her cheek, forcing her to face her instead.

"Listen to me, Elara," she said. "There may be a way to survive this."

"But how? Even if we keep running, they'll catch up," Elara said hopelessly.

"There have been whispers — whispers that he has left an escape for us deep in these woods."

"Whispers? You mean, there's no guarantee that we'll be saved by something that we don't even know exists?"

Another round of yelling came from behind. The woman tugged on Elara's hand again, forcing her to burst into a run once more.

"If we don't have faith, we have nothing," was all the woman said as they dashed past more and more trees. While Elara would have appreciated such hopeful words on another day, they were not very helpful now. In fact, they almost sounded like they were mocking her.

Her throat was turning dry, her legs were growing numb, and her feet protested in pain. Scanning her surroundings, she noticed that the trees stayed thick and numerous, but the path began to clear. The air was a little cooler, but she barely took notice of this as sweat ran down her face and back. She had never ran this much in her entire life, nor had she ever seen this part of the forest. After all, it was an unspoken rule not to venture into it in the first place.

And then, the sounds of metal and clanking grew louder from behind them. Elara's adrenaline spiked and more worries coursed through her veins. They were so close now. It was only a matter of time before they caught up.

"What do we do?" she exclaimed desperately, still running for her life.

"Stop."

Elara nearly tripped over her own feet and gaped in disbelief. They had reached a cliff leading down to a river, and there was no route around them where they could escape. The only thing in sight that was worth noting was a structure of rocks and stones that vaguely resembled an archway. It only seemed to go further into the forest, but it would eventually lead back to exactly where they came from. In short, they were trapped and done for.

"Stop?"

"It's here. You can feel it."

Elara tried her best to calm herself down and not stare at the woman like she was crazy. Despite the sounds of people approaching nearer and faster by the second, she took the risk. She halted in place and took several deep breaths... and to her surprise, she indeed felt it. There was a sort of pull inside her bones, like a magnet attracting her and telling her to move closer. There was a strange aura too, something indescribable; the closest Elara could compare it to was a mixture of sparks in the air and a warmth enveloping them like fire, and yet it did not feel dangerous in the slightest.

"It must be through that arch, then," the woman said in a low voice, pulling Elara's hand for the nth time to go closer. "Go, now."

"What?" Elara spluttered, taking one step away from the arch. "Just me? What about you?"

"I'll be right behind you."

"And what about — oh my goodness, we just left him there and who knows what punishment he'll —"

"Then it's a good thing he won't remember anything."

"At all?" Elara said quietly. The woman's face faltered at that, and she almost wanted to say a lie just to make things better.

"I'm sorry," was all she could say. "At the very least, I'm certain he won't face any repercussions. He's better off this way... and you will be, too."

All of a sudden, the woman placed both of her hands on Elara's temples. A dazed and unfocused look clouded Elara's eyes, and she slumped onto the woman in a partially conscious state. The woman had to half-drag and half-carry Elara a few more paces. Casting one last gaze on the young girl, she pushed Elara towards the arch. As expected, Elara disappeared from sight.

And when Elara came to, the chase was fortunately over. But she was no longer surrounded by beautiful trees and flowing rivers. Instead, grey buildings towered over her, the air was full of smog, and day had turned to night. She was sprawled on the ground by a set of stairs that led to yet another building she couldn't recognize. And before she could even get her thoughts together — which felt impossible, because she couldn't remember a thing — the doors swung open.

"I can't believe I have to run to the market for more milk at this hour..." a lady was saying. She stopped short when she noticed Elara there, looking completely out of place. Jumping slightly in surprise, she said,
"Oh, my, what are you doing down there?"

"I... I'm not sure," Elara's voice was soft and hesitant.

"Where are your parents, young lady?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, dear. What's your name?"

"I... I don't know."

A/N: If you're reading this before I've even announced this new fic, congrats and welcome ^-^

I spent a lot of time trying to flesh out the plot for this book and I actually haven't read other Caspian fics, so this is me literally going into all of this blindly haha. Y'all have no idea how excited I am to write this!!