A Daughter of Aslan

I : Left Behind

When she first discovered this place, it was by complete accident. After picking a fight with her eldest brother, who was much bigger and stronger than her considering he was five years older, he became so frustrated with Elizabeth that he locked her in the family's handmade wardrobe. The wardrobe didn't have a lock and key. Therefore her brother simply stood in front of the door, trapping Elizabeth inside.

After beating on the door a few times, she concluded that it was impossible to get out on her own. The only way she was going to be able to get out would be when her brother decided to let her out.

Annoyed, and without many options, she went to the back of the wardrobe to sulk in the corner, only to discover the end of the wardrobe had vanished. Instead of the typical wall in the back, there was snow and trees. Without realizing it, she had discovered an entirely new world. There was a lantern located a few trees away from the back of their wardrobe. She probably only spent a couple of minutes in the unknown world, but when she returned to the wardrobe, she found her brother still standing at the door, unwilling to let her out.

Once he did, it was needless to say that none of her siblings believed their fourteen-year-old baby sister had gone to another land and back within seconds.

So she continued coming to this place, despite her siblings' disbelief. Each time she did so she would stay a little longer as she grew more confident and comfortable in this hidden world within the back of their wardrobe. The few times she had come here, she always found the lantern and adventured on from there. Now, as she ran through the snow, she knew that if she could make it to the lantern that she could make it back to the wardrobe from there. The wardrobe would instantly take her back home as it always did and everything that happened within the last few hours would just be a horrible dream.

As she ran, the blonde teenager took a quick moment to look over her shoulder to see if anyone had been following her. She couldn't imagine who would want to follow a fourteen-year-old, but this Queen had already exceeded her expectations. As far as she could tell, the coast was clear. Thankfully, Elizabeth turned around just in time before running headfirst into the lantern. Grasping the lantern, she looked left and right, trying to find the path she could recognize while she took quick breaths of air after sprinting through the woods.

The snow was falling harder now, slightly blurring her vision, but she could just make out the slight curve of the tree and the footprints that were etched in the snow beneath it. The footprints were fresh; they had to be with the heavier snowfall coming down considering that the girl could still clearly see the prints. Digory had been here, possibly only seconds before. Without a moment to waste, she sprinted towards the tree and plunged deeper into the forest. Elizabeth recognized the low tree branches that would conceal her for now and should bring her back through the wardrobe back home.

Without wasting time, she rushed through the branches to where the entrance to the back of the wardrobe should have been. While she hurried through the grove, she felt a slight thud and flew backward. Completely stunned and confused, a frown crossed her face as she stared at the veil of branches in front of her.

This was new.

This had never happened before.

She should have been welcomed by the feeling of coats around her, which always let her know that she was back in the wardrobe and, therefore, back home. But instead of finding herself in the back of their wardrobe, she was left slumped over still in the snowy forest. Once she was able to get back on her feet, this time, she etched slowly back to where she had first felt the hard thud. She lifted her arm and tried to feel whatever she ran into or what she hoped would be the fur coats. Instead of coats, she felt a rough boulder blocking her path.