The Chronicles of Narnia: The Children of New

Chapter 8: Training and Traveling

"Yeah? What's up?"

"It's time to get back to training," she said as she walked into the tent. I got up, returned my sword to its sheath, and put on my gauntlets that held my crossbows.

"Alright, so what are we doing today? I feel like we've covered everything by now," I said as we walked towards the training field. We mostly used the field behind the tent because sometimes the fire got out of control. But when we were training with normal weapons, we would use the camp's fighting rings.

"We basically have. So today, we're going to be sparing with only your powers," she said while smirking

"Perfect. This will be fun," Smiling, I lit up and held a small flame in the palm of my hand. I took a step back and got ready.

"Let's go then," she said while throwing some of her power at me. Her powers were always blue like water and the stars. I easily blocked the ball of light she threw and swung back. I started fighting her. I shaped the flame into ribbon-like flames. I preferred fighting with them because the fireballs weren't as precise. Ariana went at me with everything she had in her. Two weeks ago I would have lost within seconds. Now, this was an easy win. I punched, kicked, and shot things at her. I used the fire to block everything she threw at me and dodged all her kicks and punches. I swung my fire at her and counterattacked her moves. I jumped into the air and landed behind her. I surprised her by making a flame in a shape that was similar to a sword. I need to work on my shaping of the flames. That way I can start the fight with this fire sword. It'll make my life easier, I thought to myself. It wasn't long before the fight was over. I had Ariana pinned to the ground.

"That was excellent" exclaimed Ariana as I helped her up off the ground. She dusted herself off, "I've never seen such a fast learner or skilled fighter. Honestly, Anna, no one likes practising with you anymore because they know that they'll lose," she chuckled.

I laughed, "Well, I guess that's a good thing," Just then Duralgais galloped up to us. We both looked at him concerned.

"Princess Ariana and Lady Anna, I just got word that Justin should be arriving today," He said in a rushed breath. Oh, thank god! I've missed them. It's been nice being on my own, but it would be even better if I had some people who also were new to Narnia. It'll feel more like home, I thought to myself.

"Excellent. Thank you, General," said Ariana then she smirked, "Let's have some fun, shall we Anna?"

Patrick's POV

We had been riding for almost three weeks now. While it's been nice I've been kind of done with the whole riding thing. The group had not stopped heading towards the base camp since Anna fell. We stopped maybe three times to take a break and rest up. Otherwise, it was just straight riding. How much further till we get there? I thought to myself. During our journey, we had to go around this giant gorge to get to a bridge. It took us longer than it would have if we just crossed the river. But there was no way to get down the cliff and then back up. So instead we travelled through Narnia's thick forests, always trying to stay in the shadows and away from the enemies. Just then we passed what looked to be a watchtower or something hidden within the trees.

Ray had seen it too, "Umm... I just saw what looks like it's a watchtower. Should we be worried that we just got spotted by the enemy?"

"No, don't worry! That's just one of the scout posts. So that means we should be arriving there shortly," called out Justin. He was riding at the front of the group.

"Thank god. I'm so ready to stop riding. Uhh... But no offence Felicity," I said

She laughed, "None taken"

"Don't worry it's not that much longer. Though Ariana is going to kill me when she finds out about... Nevermind," Justin started to say but then trailed off. He didn't say what he was originally going to. I knew why and so did everybody else. If he brought it up Zoran would get mad.

All of us had stayed away from the Anna subject since we left the morning after she fell. He has a right to be angry and he has a right to still be grieving. She was his sister after all. But he looks so lost. At least Ray keeps him sane. I have no idea what any of us would do if we didn't have Ray to keep Zoran in check. But damn, I miss Anna, I thought to myself as we got closer to the camp. I missed Anna so much and I wished so badly I told her so many things. But so many things had happened since we got here. There was barely any time to process anything. All of a sudden, I saw the camp and it wasn't that far from us. Finally, we're here and will finally get an explanation.

"We're here. Thank god," exclaimed Jackson. We all fell silent as we rode up to the front gates. They were tall and a bit intimidating. The gates opened as soon as we reached them and revealed the camp. Inside there were lots of tents scattered everywhere. There were creatures of all kinds. I was amazed at what I was looking at. We followed Justin to where the horses were kept and then dismounted. I pet Felicity goodbye before I started following Justin again. He only walked a little way before he was met by a man who was half horse and half man. I assumed he was a centaur.

"General Duralgias," said Justin to the centaur

"Right this way Captain," he said and led us to the biggest tent in the back. It was very regal looking and was spotless. I imagined that it was the princess' tent. Then someone came out of the tent and it was the princess. She was wearing a light blue and white dress. She had dark blonde hair that was slightly curled and her eyes were dark brown, almost black. She wore a thin silver crown on top of her hair.

"Your highness," said Justin as he bowed to her. She just nodded at him.

"Hello, Captain. I see you got them all here safe and sound," she said smiling. Justin then looked really nervous. Jackson, on the other hand, looked like a deer caught in headlights and he just stared at her. I could see the appeal and attraction, but I was already into someone else or was into someone else.

"Well... you see--" Justin started to say before he was cut off by the princess.

"I bet you all are extremely tired and probably also very hungry," she said and we all nodded at her. The food was not the best during the trip. She smiled but also looked like a smirked. "I'm going to have our Head General take over from here. She will show you to your tents and where you will be eating,"

As soon as she finished speaking a figure wearing a black cloak came out of the same tent the princess had come from. They walked up and stood next to her. The hood of the cloak was large enough that it covered the person's hair and face. I wonder who that is? I thought as I looked to Justin for confirmation. He just shrugged at me, looking equally confused.

"General Kesler will show you the way," she said smiling.

But wait, Kesler is Zoran and Anna's last name. That's not possible unless someone else here has that last name. Which I highly doubt, I thought to myself. Then what happened next caused the world around me to freeze.

"But I think you all know her as just Anna" and as Ariana said that the figure removed their hood to reveal the face of someone who I believed to be dead. Who we all believed to be dead.

It can't be. Anna died. She fell off a hundred-foot cliff. There was no way she could have survived that. What is going on? Am I dreaming? These thoughts were rapidly going through my brain. I looked around at the others. They too were in shock. And it turned out that I wasn't dreaming or imagining anything. It was in fact her. Standing before us was the one and only, Anna Kesler. She was smiling and looked truly alive and well.

"Hello. Did you miss me?"