༄ 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 (𝘗𝘊) ༄

Chapter 24: Aslan Keeps His Promise From Long Ago

A little look into Ana's time in the Telmarine dungeons. I tried to keep it vague, but there are references and allusions to abuse/torture. You have been warned.

Apologies for another POV change, but this was how it worked out best. It was too long to combine with the others and I prefer to avoid 3 POV changes within one chapter.

𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍

~3rd Person Point of View~

Ana awoke to unfamiliar surroundings and a pounding in her head. She recalled the battle and her subsequent capture easily enough that she didn't panic. Allowing the rest of her senses to catch up, she tried to figure out exactly where she was. She felt the cold hard ground underneath her and cold metal on her wrists—shackles she realized when the chains clinked after moving them.

She heard sounds somewhere nearby, yet distant. They weren't right beside her but they were close enough that she didn't need to rely on Phoenix to hear them. They were quite loud. Clanging, shouting. It was as if they were building something. But Ana didn't want to risk opening her eyes just yet, fearing a concussion.

Trying to figure out if anyone was waiting on her to wake up, Ana kept her eyes closed. She could hear the sound of labored breathing nearby as if someone was injured. There were no footsteps to accompany it though, so she assumed the person was sleeping. But otherwise, figured she was relatively alone. At least no one was waiting for her to wake up.

Slowly opening her eyes, Ana's suspicions were confirmed. She was in a cell of a not-so-complete dungeon. Her wrists were chained to some kind of bolt attached to the floor, ensuring she couldn't move far. There wasn't even enough length on the chain for her to reach the edges of the cell. It appeared she was in a corner cell, the furthest from the entrance to the dungeons. But there was a small, barred window that allowed her to see outside and provided her with some light. However, the chain didn't allow her to get close enough so she had to stand on her tiptoes to see what was going on.

Unfortunately, the action reminded her of being shot in the leg and she groaned at the action. Still, she pushed through the pain to find out what was going on.

She was right. The Telmarines were building something. It appeared to be a castle and they had started with the dungeons. Ana suspected they were building the secret passageways and catacombs below them just as much as they were building above. She saw some of the larger and stronger Narnians helping with the construction and Ana frowned. They wouldn't help them willingly so something must've been done to force them to work. She could only imagine what it was that caused them not to fight back.

A door opened and Ana strained towards the sound. Several footsteps followed the noise and she half expected someone to approach her cell. But they didn't even make it halfway down the hall—and therefore too far for her to see them—before coming to a stop. She heard the distinct sound of a key in a lock and the clang as a cell door opened.

"Move beast!" someone shouted. Her eyes widened marginally as she heard hooves clopping on the stone floor.
'A faun perhaps?' she thought.
There was a sound of something hitting flesh and the creature groaned. "Move!" the same voice ordered.

Ana struggled to see what was going on, but the chains made it impossible. If the door had been located elsewhere—facing the entrance rather than the empty cell across the way—then she might've had better luck. All she was able to make out was that several Telmarines had dragged one of the Narnians from the cells. It could've been a faun, satyr, or even a minotaur—though the last was the least likely—judging by the sounds it made. The cells were almost too small to fit a centaur and she only heard one set of hooves instead of two. The creature had pleaded and whimpered the whole time so Ana knew this wasn't the first time they had been dragged from them.