Chapter 9

Eustace slowly opened his eyes reluctantly, mind foggy from sleep. It was still dark outside and he had no idea what had woken him up. Rolling over onto his side, he tried to fall back asleep, but now that he was awake, his mind didn't seem to want to turn off again. He grabbed the sheets close to his body, feeling a slight chill in the air that hadn't been there before, and instinctively reached for Sasha's warmth. But, she wasn't there.

Bolting up, he looked around the small expanse of the cavern, but it was so dark out that it was hard to make out any shapes. The only light that was available to him was the light coming from the full moon that only shone through the crack at the top of the cavern, making visible a slight fog that settled low in the air. As his eyes tried to adjust to the dark, the only shapes that he could make out were the silhouette of Damon, who was sleeping soundly at his feet, his lantern, who's light had gone out long ago, and Damon's pack. But, no Sasha – not even her own pack was left to tell him if she was going to be back.

A growling voice suddenly drifted through the cavern, making him jump. It was not one that he recognized, but sounded as if it were close by. The voice was followed by a much softer one, causing Eustace to jump to his feet, carefully heading in the direction they were coming from. He headed down the dark, dank cavern, goosebumps appearing on his pale skin. The further he went the louder the voices became, until he finally reached a dead end. Confused, he started to turn back, wondering if this had just been a trick of sound, and the voices were in fact bouncing off the walls, coming from a different direction entirely. But before he did, he caught a hazy glow of light coming from a wide opening in the wall beside him that the darkness easily hid.

He quickly ducked out of view, pressing his body up against the clod rock, and peaked around the corner. The first thing that caught his eye was Sasha, only barely illuminated by the moonlight that was coming from the entrance to the cavern behind her. Just from looking at her stature, he could tell that she was angry about something. Her body was as stiff as a board, furry billowing off of her like black smoke. At first, he was unable to see what had her so riled up as his eyes still weren't completely use to the dark. Following the general direction she seemed to be looking in, he was able to make out the form of another figure almost completely submerged in darkness. Right away, he could tell that what he was looking at wasn't human, though to the untrained eye, it could be mistaken for one.

Standing on two legs, the figure was a good head and shoulders taller than Sasha was. Even the arms and legs could be mistaken for that of a human, though the hair that was sicking up in every direction from the hands, face and legs was visible in the shining light of the full moon. The rest of his body seemed to be concealed in a piece of thick material that looked like a cloak.

A werewolf.

He could tell by the gestures he was making that he was angry at Sasha about something, but she just seemed to find this annoying, and nothing more. From this distance though, he was unable to make out what he was saying. He tried to strain his ears to hear even a little bit of what was being said, but it was a wasted effort. All he heard was the low grumble that had bounced off the walls before.

He must have made some sort of noise for right at that moment, they both snapped their heads in his direction. Eustace held his breath, hoping for dear life that the wolf didn't come to investigate. Because, even though Sasha didn't seem frightened by him in the slightest, something about him gave Eustace the creeps. Something about this picture didn't seem right.

The werewolf snarled and took one step towards him. But, as quick as a whip, Sasha ran around him, blocking his path, stealing his attention once again. Eustace took that moment to slowly back away from the sketchy seen before him, making his way slowly back to where he had left Damon who was still snoring loud enough to alert every living thing five miles in every direction of their position, unlike Sasha, who slept as quite as a rock, as though even in sleep she was guarding herself from danger.

Crawling back in bed, he thought about what he had just seen. From what he had always been told, werewolves worked for the bad side. So, what was Sasha doing talking to one of them?

Even though he could feel sleep trying to claim him again, he was determined to stay awake, so that he could confront her about it as soon as she returned. It seemed like the longer he knew her, the less he knew about her, and it was troubling to him that everything about her life had to be kept such a secret.

He was standing on a cliff looking down at the forest below him, eyes following a slight break in the trees to a path that twined through it. It was like looking at a map come to life.

A light breeze blew through his hair, ruffling his clothes. He look down at himself and saw that he no longer wore his ripped dirty clothes, but a loose white shirt and pants. He wore no shoes, and reveled in the feeling of the earth underneath his feet. They no longer hurt - nothing hurt. He no longer had any cuts or bruises and the pain in his muscles disappeared along with the hunger he felt after going so long without food.

He looked out to the land before him again, this time looking farther to the blue and gray mountains looming over the trees in the far distance.

Then, he was not alone.

He approached so slowly that the sound of paw hitting rock and dirt was nonexistent. Aslan stood beside him, head held high, mane blowing around in the wind. He closed his eyes, then slowly opened them, turning his head to look at Eustace.

He looked back at him with a feeling of familiarity, like one would a family member they hadn't seen in a long time, and waited for him to speak.

"Why did you choose this path Eustace?" Aslan spoke calmly.

"Because it looked the easiest," he knew he couldn't lie to him.

"And, do you think that it was the right choice?"

"Not so much anymore. But, at least I have help."

Aslan's face was an unreadable mask, but he thought that he had seen something like disappointment flash behind his eyes.

"You are blind to Sasha's beauty. You have doubts about her, and yet you follow her still."

Eustace stared at him, unable to think of anything to say to that. He did have doubts about her, and yes he did think that she was quite beautiful. But, he also needed her help.

"Do you not have faith in your own abilities? You were chosen to enter Narnia for a reason.

Open your eyes now Eustace – it is time to wake up."

And with that, he turned and left just as silently as he came, leaving him still staring off at the mountain.

When Eustace turned back, he was gone.

"Eustace! Eustace – wake up!"

"Go away - I'm tired," Eustace grumbled, rolling onto his side, trying to get back into his dream.

"You idiot, we have to go!" Came Sasha's voice again as she shook him violently. It wasn't the shaking that broke through his hazy bubble of sleep, but the panic in her voice.

When he opened his eyes, he could instantly tell that something was wrong. Sasha was looking down at him with a look of fear and anxiety, Damon on his feet behind her, sliding his arms through the straps of his pack, his head snapping to the side at the sound of a high pitched howl.

"Sash, come on, we have to go," he said with strained patients.

He was fully awake and on his feet in an instant.

It was still dark out and the fog that he had noticed earlier seemed to have thickened rather than cleared. Its look of silver smoke swallowing them whole as the moon's light made it stand out against the darkness around them.

"What's happening? What's going on?" Eustace whispered, but they were too busy gathering their things to answer him.

Sasha grabbed the blanket that he had been laying on and, not bothering to put it back in her pack, she took his hand when Damon tapped her on the shoulder and took of down the cavern, Sasha following close behind, dragging him with her. That's when he heard it: The howl sounded like that of a dog, but much stronger, almost like a scream.

"What's going on!" Eustace shouted as loud as he dared, but his only answer was Sasha pulling him faster behind her.

The sudden clamor of scrapping footsteps sounded behind him. It was the sound of claws scrapping on stone. He started to panic, knowing that what they were running from was no dog.

Sasha looked back at him then, looking him right in the eye, not slowing the pace.

"Werewolves."

The sound of her voice was drowned out by that of feet hitting cold stone, mixed with the uneven breath of three teenagers and wind blowing past their ears, but he didn't mistake the words he read on her lips.

Another pair of claws sounded behind them, than another and another, all scraping in an unsteady rhythm.

A snarling sound from above him made him look up to his right, his eyes scaling the length of the cavern wall until he could see the visible outline of a dark figure running alongside them at the top as they ran through the dark wet cavern below.

The scratchy steps became louder, and soon a flash from his other side made him snap his head around to see another figure above them hot on their heels.

"Sasha!" Eustace called, but her face was a mask of determination as she let go of his hand so that they could run faster.

Though his mind was wide awake, his muscles were not. He didn't think that he could go for much longer – the only thing keeping him upright was pure adrenalin.

The sounds of the wolves were getting closer now, and he knew that they had no chance of outrunning them. They would be upon them soon.

"Just a bit further!" Damon called back, leaving Eustace thoroughly confused as to what he was referring to.

Glancing from Sasha to Damon, he noticed with some resentment that neither of them seemed to be tiring in the slightest. They both looked as though they did this on a daily bases, and could keep on going for hours.

Eustace could see the entrance to the cavern right before them, and thought that that was what Damon had been talking about, when suddenly he took a sharp turn to the left, disappearing into a crack in the wall that he had not noticed. Sasha slid in right after him, grabbing his wrist as she did to squeeze him in last. It was a tight fit and an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia rushed over him. The black rock of the cavern wall was scrapping over his back, his nose almost touching the other. It was clear that Damon was unable to go any farther as the already tight space became even smaller the farther he went, and was surprised that he made it in at all seeing as he was almost twice his size, a pure wall of muscle. Eustace was pushed up close beside Sasha who left him just enough room to get his body in all of the way - but just barely.

Just as they all made it in, they turned to see the pack of werewolves bound past, five on the ground, and three from above who jumped down to join the others. They did not keep going as he had hoped, but instead came to a halt, circling the area of the entrance as if they couldn't decide if they wanted to stay or leave.

"Where did they go?"

"Outside."

"No their still here."

"Well then, where are they?" they all growled, sniffing the ground for a trace.

"Enough!" snarled one, slinking around the pack.

It was evident that he was the leader from the authority in his voice. The only thing that set him apart from the others in appearance was the black cloak that was draped around his shoulders, identifying himself as the wolf he saw with Sasha.

The way they moved was more human than animal – they slid through the shadows, almost blending into the black of the rock with their dark coats, sniffing the ground for a sign of them, all the while getting closer and closer.

Eustace stood stock still, not even daring to breath, forcing himself to stare at the rock before him to keep from hyperventilating. He stayed that way for what felt like hours, unmoving though everyone of his limbs felt as stiff as a board.

"Okay, I think their gone," whispered Sasha, making Eustace jump ten feet in the air.
When he chanced a look out at the open cavern, he saw that it indeed looked empty. He hadn't even heard them leave, but not a single wolf was in sight.

"Should we check it out?" asked Sasha.

"Not all of us," said Damon. "Eustace you go, you were the last one in."

He nodded and took a deep breath, trying to get up the nerve to move, but somehow got his legs to keep him upright. Finally, he stepped out into the cavern, head snapping every which away. He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, having the sudden feeling that he was being watched. His eyes were playing tricks on him, making him jump every time he thought he saw a shadow move.

The light crunch of rock sounded behind him, making him whip around, only to come face to face with a werewolf. He was standing on all fours, teeth bared, eyes as black as the cloak that hung over his shoulders, the silver glint of the moon reflecting off of them. The hood was pulled up over his head hiding most of his face, the horrible smell of rotting human flesh coming off of it.

Eustace's scream filled the night sky, followed by the sound of snarls and hollers disappearing into the night.

The last thing that could be heard was a single howl.