Elizabeth, the Young Explorer

The Mist

Author's POV
Caspian and Marku kick at the door in desperate attempts to get out. Edmund wakes from an unconscious state at the loud banging.

"You alright?" Caspian asks, both him and Marku pausing.

"Yeah." Edmund replies. With that, they go back to kicking the door.

"It's hopeless. You'll never get out." A male voice says from inside a dark hole in the wall.

"Who's there?" Edmund pries.

"Nobody...just a voice in your head." It answers.

"No, there's only one voice I hear in my head, and it's not yours." Caspian whispers to himself, approaching the opening where the voice came from.

A frail old man peeps out. Gray, greasy hair dangles in front of his face, blending with his beard of identical color and texture.

"Lord Bern?" Caspian pries, noticing the familiar face.

"Perhaps once, but I'm no longer deserving of that title." Lord Bern replies as Caspian looks back and Edmund and Marku.

"Is he one of the seven?" Ed asks and Caspian nods, crouching down to make eye contact with the old man.

"Your face...You remind me of a king I once loved well." Bern mumbles.

"That man was my father." Caspian answers, sending a surprised look on the old man's face.

"Oh my lord. Please forgive me." He moans, standing up.

"No, please. Please." Caspian says, gently helping him up. They grab each other's arms and get a good look at each other for the first time.

Outside, a horse neighs and an anguished woman screams.

"Helaine!" A man yells.

"Mummy!" A young, feminine voice adds.

"No!" The woman cries out again. Edmund jumps up, holds on to the bars, and looks out the dungeon window to see what's going on.

A group of people, the woman included, are tied up and sitting in a little cart pulled by horses, with someone jogging behind them. A man and a little girl run from their house and towards the lady, probably his wife and her mother.

Once close enough, the man and woman take each other's hands, but are pulled apart by the one jogging behind the cart. The other man shoves him off, as the little girl cries out for her mother and watches the scene between her parents.

The father's efforts were in vain, and his wife, along with the others on the cart, are harshly pulled off, and thrown into a boat. They went from relatively calm and quiet to frantic and crying. By now, Caspian has joined Edmund to watch the scene.

"Where are they taking them?" Caspian asks Lord Bern.

"Keep watching." Lord Bern answers simply. The boats drift out into the sea as thunder rumbles. A mysterious, green mist comes, and engulfs the boat. It then retreats, but the boat is gone.

"What happened?" Caspian questions.

"It's a sacrifice." Bern answers.

"Where did they go?" Caspian continues.

"No one knows. The mist was first seen in the east. Reports of fishermen and sailors disappearing out at sea. We lords made a pact to find the source of the mist and destroy it. They each set sail, but none came back. You see...if they don't sell you to the slave traders, you're likely to be fed to the Mist." Bern says.

"We have to find the girls. Before it's too late." Edmund declares.