The Chronicles of Narnia: The King and The Servant

~ Chapter 13: Rescue Mission's ~

"Sorry," Malina apologises. "I'm just really scared. What if someone's murdered her, Peter?" she asks, her eyes flooding with tears again. I quickly look down at my feet in anguish before my eyes grow wide. On the floor, covered in dust and dirt, is the engagement ring I only gave Ashley yesterday. I pick it up and put it in my pocket. No matter what happens, I will never lose this ring. I feel tears welling up in my eyes at the thought of her being murdered. What if I never see her again? I blink the tears away in anger. No! I will see her again, if it's the last thing I do. I look down again. Malina cannot see me like this. Hey, what's that? On the floor is what looks to be a crack in the earth. I follow it around curiously. It looks like some sort of door. I put my left foot on it experimentally. The ground instantly rumbles and shakes before it begins to move. I startle back in surprise. Malina and I both watch on in shock as the ground rises up to reveal a secret door hidden underneath.

I grab her hand and very slowly open the door. As we walk cautiously inside, I glance around the room. The walls and floors are all made of a dark stone. The walls themselves are covered with whips and ancient looking devices. There are a few chains hanging up along the walls as well. I know instantly that it's a dungeon of some sort. I hear hooves walking toward us then. Malina and I search around frantically until we find a room that we can hide in. We dive in and shut the door quietly behind us. I could've fought off whoever it is, but considering I don't know how many people there are here, I don't want to risk it! I stop breathing as soon as I hear the footsteps outside the doorway. We hear them go up the ramp and the main entrance close shortly after. We wait a few moments to make sure there are no others before I look at Malina and open the door quietly. Once the sight is clear we walk out and down the hallway. I strain my ears for anything that will tell me that Ashley is here; I can't hear anything but my own heart beat and breathing though. We walk a bit further on until Malina tugs at my hand. I didn't even realise she was holding it. "Oh, Peter, it's no use! We are never going to find her," Malina says, truly upset.

"Don't...say that...Malina!" I say through gritted teeth. As soon as I stop talking, I suddenly hear someone moving. I look around in the dark tunnel and find a set of bronze keys followed shortly after by a door. I put my ear to the entrance and, sure enough, there's shuffling. I move back and find the lock. After sliding the key in, I tear the door open and gasp in horror.

Ashley POV (2 hours prior to Peter POV)

I wake up to what feels like an eternity later. My back's really sore and my head is aching. I look around slowly and notice that I'm in a dark, damp, small, and – very smelly – room. The floor is made up of a cold, dark stone and has little clusters of weeds growing through the cracks of it. There is no window; only a small, wooden door planted on the left wall. I look up at the roof then and notice a small, brown bat hanging upside above me. It's peering down at me; its dark, black eyes are full of curiosity. Where on earth am I? I feel warm tears starting to well up in my eyes as realization dawns suddenly me. I'm in a cell or dungeon!

I quickly look down towards the hard and cold floor. It's now that I notice a trail of blood leading from the doorway to my body. I put my hand on the floor, trying to support myself so that I can get up and get a better look, but quickly pull it away after I feel something warm and sticky underneath it. I take it up to eye level and see that my hand is completely covered in blood. I gasp and let the tears roll down my cheeks. There's also something else missing; my engagement ring. I hold in my weep in fear of the creature coming back and bashing me. I just want a nice, warm, tight hug from Peter right now. I need to get out of here. I use the wall as a sort of scale and try to pull myself up by it. My fingers dig into the cracks in the stone work, effectively working like a ladder. My legs feel weak as I put all my weight on them.

Ahh! I gasp as pain surges right up throughout my entire body. I collapse onto the ground and look down at my swollen leg. I must have broken it. I rub it and notice all the huge, deep, bloody cuts and purple bruises that cover my body. My nightgown is torn and has holes all through it; it only just covers my body. I reach up to comb my fingers though my hair only to pull out a bunch of leaves and twigs. I lie back down and start softly crying to myself. My nose is runny and tears run down my cheeks in flowing rivers. Stop it, Ashley! You're stronger than this! Oh, how I wish my thoughts are true! It feels like hours before I actually stop and sit up.