THE LION, THE CAT AND THE TURTLES

Based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

and

The Chronicles of Narnia
by C. S. Lewis.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
The Enchanted Magician

Susan stood shakily on the oversized shoes of the Dufflepuds as they rowed her farther and farther away from Dufflepud Island, desperately trying to not show how dismayed she felt by the fading sounds of battle behind her. She had never been one for fighting, not even back in her days as Queen, but she didn't like the idea of leaving friends behind to fend for themselves while she was carried off to safety.

If only she'd had her horn with her so that she could call for help, or at least her bow so that she could have... well, maybe not fought the enemy Dufflepuds, but helped frighten them away or something.

Already she felt stronger than she had in years; ever since she had commanded the door between worlds opened, the part of her that was old, weary Mrs. Palmer had grown smaller, yielding to the half-forgotten, long dormant part of her that was Queen Susan of Narnia. It had been roused by the Turtles and the cat back in her own world, and with the Narnian air (even if she was technically not in Narnia) filling her lungs again and again, adding fire and flame to the fire-berry burning with warmth and energy in her stomach, she could feel the Queen part of her grow stronger.

It was a strange feeling, both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, but she held firmly onto it. She knew, as certain as anything, that if she was to have any hope of helping the others, she would need Queen Susan, would need her strength and courage - and, she noted with some surprise, she had never realized how much she had missed Queen Susan until now. It was as if she hadn't been quite whole before now, like there had been an emptiness inside her that she hadn't noticed before it began filling up.

If it hadn't been for the fact that she was still worried sick about Mike, Klunk and Reepicheep, she might even have started enjoying the ride.

It was in the middle of this epiphany she saw the tiny little stone island that appeared in front of them, steadily growing bigger as they closed in on it. It was barely more than a large rock in the sea (with, it must be admitted, several dramatic and interesting-looking stone formations), only a few minutes' swift paddling away from Dufflepud island itself, but the cheers of the Dufflepuds made it clear that as far as they were concerned, this was a stronghold and a safehaven with few, if any, equals.

The Dufflepuds slowed down as they reached the rocky shores of the island, coming to a halt so that Susan could step over onto dry land.

"We're here, your Royalness!" said Clanker with great pride in his voice. "Welcome to the stronghold of the Dufflepud Resistance."

"It's very..." (Susan searched for a suitable word) "...impressive."

"Knew you would like it, knew you would!" the Dufflepuds spoke all at once, all bouncing off the water as easy as anything, landing on solid ground and jumping up and down in excitement. "Now you have to follow us to the Magician! That's right, the Magician, the Magician! He's here on this island you see! Indeed, because if he hadn't been here, we wouldn't have come here! No, we wouldn't, because that would just have been pointless, wouldn't it?"

"Will he be able to help my friends?" said Susan hopefully.

"Of course! He's the Magician, he can do anything," said Clanker. "But you'll have to heal him first."

"That's right," said one of the other Dufflepuds. "He can't do anything before you've healed him!"

"Oh no, oh no, we couldn't ask him to do anything before that," the final two Dufflepuds agreed.

All right," said Susan as patiently as she could. "But who is your Magician, and how do I heal him?"

"Why, he's our Magician, of course!" said Clanker, looking surprised at the question. "You didn't think we would talk about some other Magician, did you?"

"Quite right, quite right, Clankie!" said the other three. "That's logic, that is!"

"It was the terrible monster, you see," said Clanker. It came from the West, and it enchanted our Magician and enslaved the Dufflepuds! The four of us, we rescued the Magician and brought him to this island to hide from the monster, but we couldn't break the enchantment, no, we couldn't, and now he's enchanted and can't help us! So you have to heal him from being enchanted, and then he can help us!"

Susan felt her heart sink a little. She had no experience with breaking enchantments. "What do I have to do?"

"Actually," said Clanker, "we were hoping you'd tell us."

"What?"

"Our friend the Mouse, who just arrived here yesterday," Clanker explained, "has told us that a Queen would come to help us in our need. Just as a Queen once saved both us and our beloved Magician from an evil invisibility spell, so would her sister, who was also a Queen, come to break the evil spell that's been placed upon our Magician, and save our brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers and cousins and grandparents from the terrible monster!"

"But he didn't say how!" one of the other three added.

"He didn't need to!" said another one. "You'll do great, your Royal Queenieness! You'll know what to do!"

"Yes, yes," they all chorused, all bouncing and jumping around Susan to lead her up the rocky past and towards one of the stone formations. "Come see him! We'll tell you the story! And you'll know how to help!"

Susan wished she'd been as confident as they sounded. From the sounds of it, they were expecting another Queen Lucy; steadfast, brave and never faltering. Lucy had been a renowned healer and physician back in the old days - not only thanks to her trusted vial of potion that could heal any wound or disease, but also thanks to her incredible ability to instantly see what was wrong with people and what needed to be done. She also had far more experience with magic and enchantments than Susan ever did, and would probably have known what to do the instant she saw the Magician.

For a moment, Susan felt her strength waver, and she was filled with an immense pity for these Dufflepuds; they needed someone like Lucy the Valiant, and all they'd got was Susan the Gentle, the only one left - and, sadly, by far the most useless - of the four Kings and Queens of old. Why couldn't she have been more like Lucy?

But then, the moment passed, and Susan's resolve strengthened again. This was no time to feel sorry for herself or wish for things that couldn't happen. Lucy was long gone, but Susan was still around, and now that she had been given a second chance, she wasn't about to spill it.

Wordlessly, she followed the chattering Dufflepuds (who hadn't noticed her moment of doubt at all) up the singular path on the island; a small rocky path that led straight up to the largest stone formation.

"We didn't used to be Dufflepuds at all," said Clanker, to the constant agreeing of his three companions, as they bounced along. "We used to be something else, only our parents never tell us what that was, because they say it's too horrible to speak of!

"And when they say something is too horrible to speak of, they mean it's so horrible that no-one should speak of it!" yelled the smallest Dufflepud.

"That's right, that's right! But our good and wise Magician, he granted us a great and glorious boon and turned us into the proud and noble creatures you see before you now! And this is where we get to the point, you see, because there is a point to this, that's why I'm making this short and to the point."

"Nothing like a short point, nothing like it," said the other Dufflepuds. "We're here! Enter, enter!"

They'd reached the stone formation, and now that she was up close, Susan could see a crack in the rock, a small entrance to a cave, just big enough that she could walk through it without crouching down. Taking a deep breath, she walked inside.

The cave was dark, what little light was there only coming in through the entrance, and she had to wait a little before her eyes adjusted enough that she could move on and see where she put her feet. It wasn't a particularly big cave, but it was cluttered with small things; a cooking pot, a fishing rod, a few well-used knives and tools. And furthest in, on a stone slab by the inner wall, an old man was lying with closed eyes, as if in a coma.

He looked very much like a traditional Magician, with a long white beard and dressed in a red robe. The only thing that clashed a little with the image was that he was for some reason also barefoot - but maybe the Dufflepuds had removed his shoes to make him more comfortable. Susan stood for a moment, looking at the scene, before moving a little bit closer.

"She's going to heal him, she is," said the Dufflepuds behind her. "We'll be rid of the terrible monster, just you wait and see! How are you going to do it, your Royalness?"

"Good question," Susan muttered, looking at the Magician again. "My sister Lucy once had a vial containing the juice of the fireflowers that grow on the sun. It could heal just about any wound or illness, even magical ones."

"Could it help our Magician?" said Clanker eagerly.

"I don't know," Susan admitted, still looking at the sleeping old man. "It doesn't really matter much anyway, since I don't have the vial here. Why am I even thinking about this?"

"Maybe it can help even if it isn't here!" Clanker suggested, bouncing up to her side. "Maybe you're thinking about something without thinking about it, and the thing you're thinking about isn't what you're really thinking about, but it's something that can help!"

Behind them, the other three Dufflepuds take a collective breath in order to agree with this statement - but the agreement never came. Susan turned to look at them and was mildly surprised to see them exchange glances and look uncertain.

"That doesn't make any sense, Clanker," the smallest one finally said. "If you think about something, you think about it. You can't think about something without thinking about it."

"You can't," the other two agreed. "It's impossible to think without thinking! If you don't think, you don't think!"

The Dufflepuds fell silent again, and all four of them were looking fairly shocked at each other and themselves, as if this disagreement over philosophical matters had been completely out of line. Finally Clanker turned back to Susan and said, looking ashamed of himself. "We're deeply sorry, your Royalness, deeply sorry. That argument was uncalled for!"

"Completely uncalled for, completely uncalled for," the other three murmured, averting their eyes and shifting uncomfortably. "What must you think of us? Starting a fight like this! And in such dire circumstances too! We should be ashamed of ourselves, we are ashamed of ourselves."

Susan opened her mouth to answer them, but closed it again as the thought struck her. For a long moment she just stood and stared at the Magician. Could it really be that simple?

"I think," she said, and was surprised at how strong her voice suddenly sounded, "I think that you have a point, Clanker. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are!"

"What?" said Clanker, clearly confused.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are," Susan repeated. "It's so simple!"

"Well..." said Clanker. "You couldn't very well do what you can't, with what you don't have, where you aren't, could you? That's only common sense, isn't it?"

Susan almost laughed. "Yes," she agreed, "common sense. But sometimes common sense is a hard thing to come by, even for an old Queen. Aslan told me what I needed to do, all those years ago! I just didn't realize all that implied before now! We don't have Lucy, and we don't have her vial, but we do have me...and I have recently swallowed swallow a fire-berry, which came from the same plant as the fireflowers from the sun..." She felt a smile spread on her face. "And how are enchantments usually broken, in all the stories?"

The Dufflepuds looked blankly at her.

Slowly, Susan knelt down beside the Magician, bent over him and planted a light kiss on his lips.

And there was a brilliant, bright light.

"This is where they live?" said Mike, looking over at the house. It was a large, long building, made entirely out of gray stone, with many windows and several doors, though it was only two stories high. "Everyone on the island lives in that one building?"

"Exactly," answered Reepicheep. "The Dufflepuds all live on the ground floor."

"And what's upstairs?" said Klunk from his perching place on Mike's shoulder. "Storage rooms?"

"Those are the quarters of Coriakin, the Magician. Though at the moment," Reepicheep added with an expression of disgust, "they serve as the lodgings of the monster."

They hadn't had much trouble avoiding the Dufflepuds. As soon as the curious one-legged creatures had been warned by the two fleeing warriors from the battle, every last one of them had picked up such weapons as he or she could, and in a large group bounced down to the shore while yelling incomprehensibly. Not a single Dufflepud had stayed behind to guard the house; in fact, they hadn't even bothered to close the door properly when they left.

Reepicheep, who claimed to know the Dufflepuds well, assured them that they would spend at least half an hour jumping around by the water and search for the intruders, before one of them thought of the idea to look anywhere else. In that time, said intruders could go wherever they liked on the island without fear of being spotted, long as they stayed out of sight from the shore. "The Dufflepuds are not the most skillful thinkers in the world," he said. "But they are a good people, not nearly as foolish and unreasonable as they once were. And in this, they are innocent pawns of the monster. If we can avoid spilling any more of their blood, so much the better."

"Sounds good," said Mike, silently wondering just how foolish and unreasonable these Dufflepuds had been before if Reepicheep thought their current behavior was an improvement. "So what is this monster? Is it in here?"

"Such is my guess," said Reepicheep. "But I have not actually seen it as of yet." He raised his head and sniffed the air, his face a study in concentration. "There is, I think, something here that should never have been. Hidden, but there all the same."

"Sooo," said Mike. "You don't actually know all that much about this monster at all."

"All I know for certain is that the monster commands a strong magic, strong enough to defeat worthy Coriakin and make slaves of his subjects," the Mouse replied. "But we must put faith in our strength and valor - and trust that Aslan is with us. For now that the Queen has gone to face her task, it's time for the rest of us to face ours - whatever it may be."

"Guess it doesn't include running and hiding and calling for mommy?" It was meant as a joke on Mike's behalf, but the insulted look Reepicheep shot him made him wish he hadn't said it. "Uh, anyway," he continued, "if Mrs. Palm - I mean, the Queen, is off to break the enchantment or whatever, maybe we should see what we can do in the meantime... but how do you deal with a monster that has magic?"

"Use magic?" Klunk offered.

"Hmm." Mike rubbed his chin, trying to think. While a lot of people (including certain brothers) might have said that thinking was not Mike's strongest suit, this wasn't quite true - he could think as well as anyone when the situation called for it, it was just that most of the time he had Splinter, Leonardo or Donatello around to do the heavy thinking for him, and he much preferred spending his energy on having a good time. But now, when neither of them were here and the only actual ninja around was Mike, he knew he needed to put forth more of an effort and come up with a plausible strategy. How to beat an enemy who has powerful magic and probably all the advantages.

Hmmm.

"I don't suppose the monster has any spare magic wands around?" he said lamely.

"I beg your pardon?" Reepicheep, seemingly forgetting the perceived insult, looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

"Well, I think Klunk's actually got something here. We have a saying in my world that goes 'fight fire with fire' - so why not fight magic with magic? And since this Coriakin isn't here, I thought maybe if the monster had some magic we could, uh, borrow..."

Reepicheep's brow furrowed. "What you suggest does not seem to be the most honorable path," he said accusingly.

"Sure it is," said Mike cheerfully. "It's a strategy to defeat a monster and free a bunch of innocents! As my brother Leonardo would prolly say, honor without compassion isn't honor at all."

Finally, Reepicheep smiled. "I do think I like your brother," he said. "All right, let us for the sake of argument say that we could use the monster's magic against it. Can you control the magic? Are you a Magician in your world?"

Mike felt his heart sink, just a little. "Well, I've played one online... and I've read all the Harry Potter books..."

"And these are magic books, are they?" Reepicheep sounded skeptical.

"They're full of magic!" Klunk declared. "I saw one of the movies on TV, and it was all wand-waving and ghost deer running about!"

Reepicheep wrinkled his furry nose. "I would have dearly liked an explanation for what you are talking about, but I suspect it would take longer than we have," he said. "I know for a fact that there is a book of magic spells in Coriakin's study, but whether the monster has taken it or not, I couldn't say. Besides -"

"Only one way to find out!" said Klunk. "Watch the master spy cat in action!" And with that, he jumped from his perching place on Mike's shoulder and ran up towards the house.

"Klunk, wait -" Mike began, but the cat had already darted in through the open door and vanished inside.

For one long moment, Turtle and Mouse just stood staring at the open door.

Then Reepicheep drew his rapier with a flash of light. "We must follow him!" he said. "Come!"

"Wait -" said Mike, raising his hand, but the Mouse was already rushing towards the door.

For a second, Mike wavered. He knew how good Klunk was at being sneaky; the cat seemed able to vanish as well as any ninja when he felt like it, and three infiltrators would be a lot easier to notice than one, especially when one of the three was so much bigger... and there was no guarantee there were any hiding places inside big enough for a mutant Turtle. His brain said that the most sensible thing he could do was to wait and hope the two would be able to manage on their own - but his heart protested loudly against any notion that did not involve rushing in to protect his cat against any threat he might encounter.

And, though Splinter had often advised his students against blindly following their hearts instead of reacting sensibly, Mike's heart always won over his brain. He drew his nunchucks and followed Reepicheep inside.

Swift and silent as only a cat on the prowl can be, Klunk ran through the corridor, his soft paws making no sound at all against the even softer plush carpet. The house, while not as big as some of the buildings he was used to in New York, was still enormous, and even more so to a little cat like him, but its layout was simple and easy to grasp: Through the entire house ran the corridor, endlessly long and with thick plush carpets, and to either side were many doors - some open, some shut - that led to other rooms; bedrooms, a kitchen, what looked like some common dining room. Any room on the ground floor (at least as far as Klunk could make out) was accessible from that corridor, which would make the place easy to search.

He ignored all the rooms, though (even the kitchen, which he considered a deep and personal sacrifice), and instead headed for the very end of the corridor, where the staircase stood waiting for him.

The place was almost as silent as Klunk himself; at first, the only sound he could hear being the slow, solemn tick-tock of a big, ominous grandfather clock placed almost at the end of the corridor, but then - the sound of footsteps, running footsteps, behind him.

Instincts took over at that point, and the instincts said that if he was being pursued, turning and looking back would just cost him precious seconds he might not afford, so instead he sped up, rushing over the carpet faster than he'd ever run before, ignoring the hissed "hey!" from behind him. With a huge leap, he reached the grandfather clock and climbed up, reaching the top in less than a second.

The top of the clock was round and not very easy to keep your balance on, but cats are very good at not falling down when they deed to, and Klunk spun around without too much difficulty to look down and for the first time see his pursuers. "All right, flatfoot!" he announced. "You'll never take this cat alive! I've got the high ground now, and... oh," he cut himself off as he saw Mike and Reepicheep come running up to him.

For a brief moment, Klunk felt embarrassed - but like all cats he was good at pretending he wasn't. "I knew it was you guys," he said as lightly as he could.

Mike looked like he was about to chuckle, but instead he just said. "I'm glad the others aren't here right now... I'd never hear the end of how I'm a bad influence on you. C'mon down, will ya?"

"Yeah, might as well. The book wasn't up here anyway." Satisfied that he'd been able to think up such a compelling reason why he'd climbed up in the first place (and the two others certainly seemed to have bought it), Klunk jumped down into Mike's waiting arms and climbed back up on his shoulder. "Why'd you follow me anyway? I thought we agreed that I was going ahead to spy?"

"No, you agreed you were going ahead to spy," said Reepicheep. "Or perhaps 'wait' means something different in your language? We must stay together, cat! Splitting up would make us far easier pickings for the monster!"

"I think the entire spy thing's a bust now anyway," said Mike. "If the monster's here and hasn't caught on to the fact that we're here now, it's gotta be deaf."

The three tensed and fell silent, looking around the empty corridor. Klunk strained his ears to listen for signs of a monster; the sound of heavy footsteps, of angry snarls, but there was nothing - the only sound was the continued ticking of the clock.

"Maybe the monster's not in?" he suggested.

"Or maybe it's waiting to lure us into a trap," said Reepicheep. He drew his rapier, which seemed to glow a little brighter as he began walking towards the stairs. "In either case, there is nothing to be gained from prolonging the inevitable."

As the Mouse began climbing up the stairs, Mike turned to look at Klunk. "Okay, buddy," he said. "Just as a precaution - if we meet the monster, you run. Try to find this magic book while I keep the thing in check. Kay?"

Klunk, pleased that he was being given such an important task, nodded. "Kay."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Mike nodded and smiled at him, and then began following Reepicheep up the stairs.

The ticking of the clock faded behind them as they walked up the first flight of stairs. When they reached the landing and turned to go up the second and final flight, all noise had vanished, and the world was all silence. Maybe, Klunk thought, maybe there was some kind of magic spell that stopped noise from going between the floors? He decided not to say anything in case he was wrong, and instead concentrate on what was ahead of him.

They found themselves at the end of another long, wide corridor - and in the distance, at the far end, daylight streamed in through a large window. Just like on the bottom floor, the corridor ran through the length of the entire house, with doors to either side - but on this floor all the doors were all half-open and painted with strange symbols, and weird-looking masks hung in a row on the wall, gazing out at the corridor with empty eye-sockets. There was an eerie feeling to the place, and Klunk peered around to see if the monster happened to be there... but he saw nothing.

Reepicheep was standing in front of them, holding his rapier high.

"Monster!" he called out, and his voice seemed unnaturally sharp and loud as it pierced through the deafening silence. "I know you are there! You can't hide from one who has seen Aslan's land! Come forth, and we'll -!"

He never got any further, because at that very moment the carpet he was standing on shook and almost caused him to lose his balance. He managed to stay on his feet, but the carpet seemed to be coming alive around him, it waved and twisted about and raised itself almost like a giant, angry snake.

Things happened so quickly that Klunk barely had time to see what was going on. With a flash light, the Mouse slashed his rapier down through the carpet, cutting a hole in it big enough for him to fall through and land on the floor as the carpet raised itself, lashing about and trying to land on him.

"Klunk!" Mike yelled. "Fastball special!"

"What?" was all Klunk had time to say before Mike grabbed him - and all of a sudden the cat was flying, finding himself hurled in a long arc above Reepicheep and the carpet. He barely had time to register anything more before he landed on his feet on the other side of the weird battle, skidding across the now carpet-less floor.

He spun around in order to see Reepicheep slash the carpet in two with his rapier, and the two pieces of carpet twitching and lashing about, trying to squash the Mouse. As if this wasn't enough, all the masks on the wall all of a sudden began changing their expressions, going from their blank, eerie staring to twisted anger and hatred. As one, they hurled themselves off the wall and launched themselves at Mike, just as he ran up to help Reepicheep.

"The book!" Mike yelled to Klunk as he twirled his nunchucks around and with powerful blows beginning to smash the attacking masks to pieces. "Find the book! We'll deal with the burglar alarm here!" His arms went like lightning, striking out and pulverizing one mask after the other, though the rest of them kept coming, even as the carpet pieces raised themselves and joined in on the attack.

"What? Oh right!" Klunk wasn't keen on leaving Mike and Reepicheep to fight alone, but he had promised - maybe the book had a spell that could help them! The sounds of the battle ringing in his ears, he took off and ran down the corridor, peering through the half-open doors into every room he passed.

There were rooms with strange maps, one room filled with crystal balls, one filled with magical-looking golden trinkets. Normally he would have loved to explore each and every one of them, but the battle was going on behind him, and each room he looked into contained no books at all.

He was just about to give up, thinking that the monster must have hidden all the Magician's books, when he came to the last room - and found that it was full of books. A large room with three windows, and the walls were lined with bookshelves, each one filled with rows and rows of books, all bound in leather and all smelling of dust - and of so much raw, unbridled magic that it made his fur stand on end.

But the one book that drew his attention, the biggest one of all the books in there, was lying open on what looked like a reading-desk, and that one felt more powerful and more magical than any of the others.

That had to be it.

Klunk turned to look back, and there in the far end of the corridor he could see Mike and Reepicheep still fighting against the masks and the carpet, and now paintings and furniture had joined the fight as well, throwing themselves at them. Mike dodged and jumped and kicked, sending more than one mask and painting flying, and Reepicheep was a glowing blur, cutting the carpet up into smaller and smaller pieces. Neither of them seemed hurt or tired just yet - but Klunk knew all too well from his life with the Ninja Turtles (even if he'd been a normal, dumb cat for most of said life) that no warrior could fight non-stop without rest, and if the attacks continued, they would sooner or later be overpowered.

"Please, please, please, Aslan, let there be a spell that can help us out!" he prayed under his breath as he darted into the room and up to the reading-desk. If he could just find a spell, any spell...!

It was only when he'd jumped up onto the desk and placed his paws on the open book that he saw the major flaw in his plan.

"Cats can't read!" he yowled in frustration, staring at the pages and hoping against hope that the incomprehensible squiggles and lines written there would suddenly start making sense.

And then he realized something else: Mike knew perfectly well that Klunk wouldn't be able to read any spells. He hadn't really sent him off in order to get help or find the book, he'd just made up an excuse for Klunk to run away from the fight so he wouldn't be in danger.

It was almost touching to realize how much Mike wanted to keep him safe, but that didn't help the cat's frustration, nor would it help Mike or Reepicheep.

"Come on, book!" Klunk shouted at the pages. "Abraca-help-bra! Um, accio help! Work, stupid magic!"

Nothing happened. He batted at the pages with his paws, turning them at a furious speed, tearing one or two of them with his claws. As the pages turned, more symbols and incomprehensible signs turned up and faded out again, glowing win strange soft colors as he touched them, but nothing more happened. The magic was there, he just couldn't reach it.

"We need help! Here! Now!" he hissed, trying out all the magic words he could think of. "Shazam! Klaatu Barada Nikto! Abraca-pocus! A-la Peanut Butter Sandwiches! Please and thank you!"

With those last words, the book gave an unexpected jump, sending Klunk flying for the second time that day, and loud booming noises like thunder filled the room lights beginning to flash like lightning. Magic crackled in the air, and a huge beam of green light suddenly shot out of the book and out the closest window, Klunk's voice echoing: "We need help! Here! Now!" a couple of times before fading away.

"Please and thank you?" Klunk murmured in disbelief from his sudden place on the floor, shaking himself and trying to get the echoes out of his ears. "That got results? I was just kid- eeeeeow!"

His remark turned into a startled yowl when, all of a sudden, someone grabbed him from behind and hauled him up off the floor.

Susan blinked to clear her eyes. The light had almost blinded her, and she could only see the contours of something moving in front of her; something slowly raising itself and getting taller. Then, the shadows of the cave diminished and her vision grew clearer - and she found herself looking directly at the old man, no longer asleep, but standing tall and erect.

It worked, she thought with a small thrill. The fairy-tales had been right; the kiss of a Queen had broken the spell - and the fact that the Queen was old and gray didn't matter in the least when she had a life-giving fireberry inside her. Through her joy, though, she half-wondered why the Dufflepuds were being so uncharacteristically silent - shouldn't they have been cheering loudly and falling over themselves to agree how good it was to have their Magician back?

The old man smiled warmly at her, his eyes filled with gratitude... and then, he made a motion with his head for her to turn around and look behind her.

Puzzled, she did so - and saw why the Dufflepuds had fallen silent.

There, in the cave opening, even bigger and brighter and more beautiful than she remembered, stood a Lion. His mane flowed around his neck, shining like the sun and the moon and the stars all at once, and his paws, soft as velvet, tread lightly on the stone floor. But it was his eyes that drew Susan's attention; in those eyes she saw entire worlds, the birth and death of thousands, of millions of people, and they were looking directly at her... looking right through her.

"A-Aslan," she gasped, involuntarily taking a step back and bumping into the old man behind her. It was the name she had told herself she'd forgotten and rejected, but - just like the part of her that was Queen Susan - she had missed without knowing it ever since she was young. This was the meeting she deep in her heart of hearts had longed for and dreaded for more than fifty years, and now she felt beside herself with fear.

The Lion nodded his head slowly and sat down on his haunches, lifting his eyes again. "My daughter," he said, and his voice was strong as a hurricane, mild as the summer rain, golden and sweet like honey.

And Susan was struck by a memory of a time, long ago and far away, when she had stood before him, ashamed and scared because she hadn't let herself believe. After a long and awful moment when she'd almost panicked because she'd thought he would reject her, he had breathed on her, letting her know that all was forgiven and told her not to listen to fear. The surprising power of the memory, so much stronger and clearer than any of the memories she had regained in the last day, nearly overwhelmed her, and she sank to the floor, struggling with her tears.

"I - I've been such a fool, Aslan," she managed to say, and was surprised at how small and rusty her voice sounded compared to his. "I've done everything you told me not to do..."

"Not everything," said Aslan mildly, and she was surprised to see that there were tears in his eyes as well. "When you were called, you returned. When my friends came to you for help, you gave it. When my last lesson was needed, you remembered it." He placed a soft, heavy paw on her shoulder, letting it rest there. "Once a king or Queen in Narnia, always a King or Queen. Will you return to me, my daughter?"

She sobbed then, in pure relief. Aslan wasn't angry at her. Aslan wanted her back. It was more than she had dared hope for.

And even though she was too choked up to speak, Aslan understood her. Without removing his paw from her shoulder, he gently touched her forehead with his tongue before lifting his enormous head.

"Coriakin," he said, greeting the old Magician.

"Always your servant, Sir," Coriakin answered, bowing low, if somewhat unsteadily. "But I'm afraid I'm still a little disoriented after the long enchantment. That intruder took me quite by surprise, I'm sorry to say." There was concern in his voice as he continued: "How long has it been?"

"Worry not for your subjects, Coriakin," said Aslan. "Their time of enslavement was harsh, but brief. Even as we speak, it is nearing an end."

"What about my friends?" said Susan, lifting her head. "Mike, and Klunk and - Reepicheep? Are they all right?"

"Aid is coming to them," said Aslan. "Though not in the form they might have thought. You will see them again shortly. But for now -" He removed his paw from her shoulder and raised himself. "Twice you have ridden on my back, dear one. Let today mark the third time."

Susan raised herself as well, taking an uncertain step towards him. Even though the concern for her friends was still nagging at her, the thought of being allowed to ride on Aslan one more time made her stomach twitch with excitement. "Please, Aslan," she said. "Where are we going?"

"I have something to show you," he answered, "and something to tell you. Fear not, my daughter - you are with me once again." As Susan climbed onto his back, he once again turned to the Magician. "Rest here, Coriakin. We shall return to you before long."

"E-excuse us, Mister Sir?" came a small voice from one side. The four Dufflepuds, who had just been standing still and gaping at Aslan the entire time, and only now seemed to find their voices.

Aslan turned to them and looked them over. "Speak, small ones," he said.

"Well," said Clanker. "Don't take this the wrong way -" ("Oh, no, please don't do that!" the other three chorused.) "-but, well, who are you? We have never seen you before." ("Never, never, never!") "And when I say we've never seen you before, I mean that this is the first time we see you!"

Aslan smiled. "But I have seen you," he said. "I know you well, Clanker. And because you and your friends have taken such good care of Coriakin, we shall see each other again, and know one another better still!"

With that, he turned away from them, and leapt out of the cave - and Susan felt the almost forgotten sensation of wind in her face and the soft roughness of golden fur underneath her.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's notes: Aslan's back! His meeting with Susan is one of the things I've been wanting to write ever since I started this story, and I'm glad I finally got to do it. The two have a lot to talk about, though, so keep your eyes peeled for more!

This was one off those chapters that started out slow in writing, but once I managed to get over the one problem I had with it (the scene where Mike, Klunk and Reepicheep are outside the house), proved surprisingly fun to write. A little too fun, in fact - I had to tone down both Klunk, Reepicheep and the Dufflepuds here to prevent the entire chapter from becoming too silly. (While I follow the canon for the Narnia books and not the movies for this story, I think my Reepicheep has been influenced a little by his movie portrayal; at least he's got the sarcastic edge here.)

Otherwise, the chapter takes up a couple of things I've been wanting to explore a little for a while now, most notably with Susan. It's canon for both the Narnian books and movies that Lucy was always a little envious of Susan, who was so much more beautiful and "grown up," so I thought it would be interesting to show that perhaps Susan was just as envious of Lucy, but for other reasons.

And, just for fun - can you recognize all the "magic" words Klunk used with Coriakin's book? Apart from "abraca-help-bra," which was my invention, all the words and phrases he uses are borrowed from elsewhere - can you identify them all?