Narnia- Life Out Of Shadowlands

Epilogue: A New Beginning on the Horizon

Still, that verdict hung like an unspoken goodbye in the air.

As the Universe stood in expectations, I turned towards the only person who had an answer.

Aslan was smiling and that smile was like no other. That smile was power, a power that radiated out of him and engulfed me in a warmth embrace. That power was around me and within me. It seemed like every single nerve in my body was on fire. There was no pain, just awareness.

I was aware of everything good or bad within me and I could feel them changing. The bad were not being quashed out of me as one would have expected. No, it was being decreased where they needed to be decreased and increased where the need be. The aim was not all good.

The aim was balance. And once balance was attained within me, Aslan gave His verdict.

"Welcome son," He said for no one but me. "Welcome home. You have earned your place here."

Lucy was enthusiasm personified and she gave testament to that statement every time she was happy. As she wrapped her arms around me in one of her 'I love you big brother but I will kill you if you ever do that again' hugs, I looked over her shoulder questioningly at Edmund. He grinned and I knew something was up.

Keeping Lucy under one of my arm, I looked at my two siblings. "What's going on?"

They exchanged a smile and Lucy said simply, "It was all a test."

"A test?" They were doing a marvelous job of baffling me. So, without waiting for them to continue further, I said in my best big-brother voice. "Tell me everything from the start. Whatever you have to say, make sure at the end I know as much about the going-ons as you both do."

They both exchanged another look before Lucy told Edmund, "You tell."

Edmund took a deep breath and started. "Don't ask anything in between and just answer me when I ask you something, okay?" On getting my affirmative, he continued.

"Peter, do you remember what happened near the Door to the Shadowlands?"

"Yes," I replied. "That Narnia was destroyed and all the creatures came in here. The doors were forever closed."

Edmund raised an eyebrow. "Did all the creatures come here?"

I remembered that quite a lot of Narnians and others had vanished into Aslan's shadow so I shook my head.

Nodding, Edmund further explained, "Yes, some of them didn't make it here. Also, among the people entering this world, some were the ones who had died before the battle at the Stable-Hill. But they all entered this world together. What happened as Aslan stood on the threshold of the two worlds was Judgment. Aslan judged every one coming to the Door and those who had earned their place in this world were welcomed and those who had not vanished into the Shadows."

I knew I was not supposed to question him in between but I did nevertheless. "So, everyone was judged but what does that have anything to do with it all?"

He glared but indulged me. "Again, I ask the same question. Was everyone judged?" He apparently understood how little I comprehended because he elaborated again. "Were we judged Peter?"

Thinking back, I remembered seeing Tirrian in Shadowlands, going to London to get the rings, meeting at the train station, the crash. Then, I also thought back on what all had happened as we stood beside the door but nothing stood out to me as a moment of judgment. So, I shook my head.

"Right, we weren't judged then. Almost everyone who enters Aslan's world is judged before they could do that but there are some who have proved their loyalty to Aslan and His Father in the Shadowlands itself. They are welcomed to Aslan's country without facing final judgment." Edmund was looking quite disturbed as he continued on. "However, you can't just start living in Aslan's country as it is. Either you have to be judged and pass that judgment or earn your place in this world through a test."