A Daughter of Aslan

XVIII : Finding the Pevensies

As the wolves clambered out of the tunnel barking and howling, Malaki was left pacing up and down in the snow with his tail flicking back and forth while he tried to come up with a story as to why he was here. He knew if he didn't come up with something quick and if it wasn't convincing enough that the wolves wouldn't believe him. Then they would find the children and the beavers shortly after, and of course, Malaki would not be left to tell the tale.

"Greetings gents," Malaki said trying to sound confident as the wolves began to walk in a circle around him. "Lost something, have we?"

"Don't patronize me!" One of them snarled at him showing off his fangs. "I know where your allegiance lies." From the authoritative tone and the way the other wolves turned to this one meant that this must have been their leader or Maugrim. If this was the one Elizabeth had told Malaki about, he would have to choose his words very carefully.

"We're looking for some humans," Maugrim said in a grave tone, annoyed that they lost the children again and now were stuck to deal with this ridiculous fox.

The Pevensies and the beavers, sat high up in the tree making no sound they possibly could. Any sound could give them away since wolves have such strong hearing. Instead, they were forced to sit in the tree looking down to watch what went on below them in pure silence.

Malaki let out a laugh at Maugrim, his shoulders shaking. "Humans? Here in Narnia?" He asked looking confused scrunching his face up and as if Maugrim had lost his mind. "That's a valuable bit of information, don't you think?"

Maugrim tilted his head towards Malaki, making a motion towards another wolf that then jumped on Malaki grabbing him in between his jaws. Malaki was then left airborne in-between the wolf's teeth barely able to breathe. It felt as if all the air had been knocked out of him. Lucy gasped in the air about to let out a cry for the fox but Peter was quick to grab her mouth shut with his hand.

Maugrim then took a step towards Malaki, his eyes level with the fox. "Your reward is your life," he sneered at him as Malaki let out a soft whimper, more so from pain than giving Maugrim information. "It's not much," Maugrim said with a harsh laugh before turning serious again. "But still."

Malaki had to come up with something now before it was too late. Otherwise, the wolves would know it was a lie. "Where are the fugitives?" Maugrim demanded to know and Malaki out another whimper before hanging his head.

"North," he said quietly lifting his head back up. "They ran north," he finished with a slight nudge of his paw in the direction he was telling the wolves.

Maugrim watched Malaki for a few seconds before letting out a growl and turning to the wolves. "Smell them out," he ordered before letting out a bark and taking off in that direction, the other wolves hot on his tail. The wolf that held Malaki threw him out of his jaw and took off after the others while leaving Malaki in the snow

Malaki made a slow effort to get up before he fell back onto the snow, his side feeling as if it was on fire from the bite. He had never felt something as bad as this before. The Pevensie's and the beavers watched in horror as Malaki lay stillborn on the snow until they knew for sure they were safe and the wolves were gone before hopping down from the tree and coming to Malaki's rescue. After building a fire, everyone sat gathered around the small flame while Mrs. Beaver sat with Malaki trying to fix his bite.

"They were helping Tumnus. The Witch got here before I did," Malaki said in a grave tone, trying to explain what had happened before he found the children. He let out a sharp cry from the pain in his side where Mrs. Beaver was picking and Lucy's eyes grew huge.

"Are you alright?" She asked him innocently not knowing what else to do.

"Well, I wish I could say their bark was worse than their bite. Ow!" He yelped from the pain and Mrs. Beaver jumped.

"Stop squirming!" She ordered him, giving him a commanding look. "You're worse than Beaver on bath day."

Malaki strongly wished that Elizabeth was here to help him instead of the beavers, although their intentions were kind. She always seemed to know how to fix cuts and wounds and sometimes would even use her magic was painless and a much better option. This effort Mrs. Beaver was trying to perform was only painful and seemed to not even be helping. Malaki squirmed out from underneath her, getting out of her grip, before standing up and backing up from Mrs. Beaver. "Thank you for your kindness, but I'm afraid that's all the time I have time for."

Susan and Lucy both looked at the fox in shock. He had only just gotten here and saved their lives as well. "You're leaving?" Lucy asked with a concerned tone.

"It has been a pleasure My Queen, and an honor," Malaki said bowing low to the ground. "But time is short and Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops for his army."

The beavers gasped and Mrs. Beaver smiled showing her teeth while Beaver's eyes just grew bigger and bigger in awe. "You've seen Aslan? You must have also met his daughter then?"

"What're they like?" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed in excitement. The children also stopped what they were doing and turned to Malaki, interested in what he had to say about them.

Malaki smiled at all of them his eyes full of warmth just thinking about the two. "Like everything we've ever heard. You'll be glad to have them by your side in the battle against the White Witch," he said as he turned to Peter. "His daughter has trained for many years to fight alongside you."

Instead of looking excited, though, Peter looked like he was about to vomit and Susan looked horrified. "But we're not planning on fighting any Witch," Susan explained looking down at Malaki.

Malaki lost his smile and he looked shocked. "But surely King Peter, the prophecy!"

"We can't go to war without you," Beaver said in a soft voice to Peter who was looking at the ground.

Peter looked over at Susan before looking back at the others and shaking his head with a sigh. "We just want our brother back."

Malaki sighed at Peter's response. He sounded just like Elizabeth, typical. "Sometimes we have to set ourselves aside and think of the greater good of those around us," Malaki said to the Pevensie's before he turned on his foot and was off into the night.

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A/N:

It's moments like this where I just sit quietly and do a few deep breaths.

Why can't Malaki just go with them? Like please, JUST GO WITH THEM CAUSE WE ALL KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU BECAUSE YOU DON'T.

It's fine. Just a few more breaths and I'll be good.

Let me know what you're thinking and be sure to vote on the chapter!!!