"Onward! The thrill of the unknown lies ahead." Reepicheep said as the unloaded the long boats.

"Couldn't this have waited until morning?" Eustace asked.

"There is no honor in turning away from adventure, lad." Reepicheep replied.

"Listen. Where is everyone?" Lucy asked as she stood behind Edmund, Rose, and Caspian.

"Come on, Jelly Legs." Reep said to Eustace.

"I'm capable of doing it myself!" The boy fell as he got out of the boat. Caspian looked to Rose.

"And you're certain he's related by blood?" He asked.

"Unfortunately." Rose sighed. The group stood around as they looked for any sign of people. A bell tolled causing Rose to unsheath her sword.

"Reepicheep, stay here with Drinian's men and secure the place. We'll head on." Caspian said, "if we don't come back by dawn, send a party."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Reep replied and scurried off. The five walked off.

"Yeah, it looks like nobody's in. Can we head back?" Eustace asked.

"Do you want to come here and guard something?" Edmund asked the younger boy.

"Ah, yes! Good idea, cousin. Very, uh, logical." He rushed towards them. Caspian handed the boy a dagger, "I've got it, I've got it! Don't worry."

The four walked into the building and looked around.

"Uh, I'm ready to go when you are." They heard Eustace say.

They approached a table in the middle of the building and looked down a list of people, "who are all these people?" Lucy asked.

"Why've they been crossed out?" Edmund asked.

"It looks like some kind of fee." Lucy stated.

"Slave traders." Caspian and Rose shared a look. The bells tolled once again and they heard a man yell.

They reacted quickly when several men dropped from the ceiling. The four fought the men until they heard Eustace scream.

"Unless you want to hear this one squeal like a girl again, I'd say you drop your weapons." The man holding a knife to Eustace neck said.

Rose glared at him and her nose flared. Rage was growing in her and her siblings and Caspian knew it. Threaten her family and you're going to die.

"Like a girl?" Eustace asked.

"Now!" The man screamed. The four dropped their swords.

"Put them in irons." The man said.

"Let's take these three to the market. Put those two in the dungeon." The man said.

"Get your bloody hands off of me!" Rose yelled.

"Listen to me, you insolent fool! I am your king!" Caspian screamed in anger after hearing the idea of his wife being taken to the market. One of the men punched Edmund in the face.

"Don't touch him, you bastard!" Rose bellowed.

"You're going to pay for that!" Edmund said.

"Actually, someone else is going to pay for all of you." A man walked out from the shadows.

The men started to drag Lucy, Rose, Eustace off. "No, Caspian! Cas!" Rose yelled.

"Rose! No! Let her go!" Caspian tried to get to his love.

»»»

Rose, Eustace, and Lucy all leaned against the concrete wall with several others. Rose was sat in the middle of the two. Eustace has leaned his head against her arm. After watching what she assumed was a sacrifice they were drug to where they would be sold.

Rose was sold for three hundred as she was the high queen. Lucy was sold for one hundred and fifty. While Eustace was up there, "I'll take them off your hands. I'll take them all off your hands!" She heard Reepicheep.

Several of the crew members threw the disguises of their heads and pulled out their swords. Rose smirked at that. Reepicheep unlocked the locks on Rose's hands, "thanks you, Reep." Rose's fist made contacted with one of the guards noses. The fighting continued until all of them were either dead or gravely injured.

The group walked through the cheering streets. One man approached them begging them to let him come as he was a fine sailor. Caspian agreed.

"My king! My king!" Lord Bern said as he approached them. "This was your fathers. I hid it safely in a cave all these years."

"That's an old Narnian sword." Edmund said.

"It's from your Golden Age. There are seven such swords. Given from Aslan, to protect Narnia. Your father entrusted them to us. Here, take it." He held out the sword to his kind, "and may it protect you." Cas took it and the crowd cheered.

"Thank you, my lord. And we will find your lost citizens." Caspian said to him and the group left the islands.

»»»

The next morning the crew woke to see that Lucy missing. They followed the massive footsteps in the ground to a garden.

"Caspian, Rose. Lucy's dagger." Edmund said. He picked up their sisters dagger.

"Stop right there or perish." A voice said after spears rained down on them. Rose was knocked off her feet.

"What sort of creatures are you?" Caspian asked he helped his wife up.

"Big ones - with the head of a tiger and a... body of a different tiger."

"You don't want to mess with us." The voices said.

"Or what?" Edmund asked.

"Or I'll claw you to death." One replied.

"And I'll ram my tusks right through you." Rose watched as they slowly became visible. She rose her eyebrows at the sight of them.

"And I'll gnash you with my teeth."

"And I'll bite you with my fangs. Grrr!" One growled.

"You mean squash us with your fat bellies? Tickle us with your toes?" Caspian asked them.

"What have you done with our sister, you little pip - squeak?" Edmund asked as he approached one that had fallen. Rose had her sword pointed at the thing already.

"Now, calm down."

"Where is she?" Rose yelled.

"You better tell her!"

"In the mansion." The chief replied.

"What mansion?" Rose and Edmund asked in sync. "Oh. That mansion." They said once the mansion appeared.

"I'm getting sick and tired of you all leaving me behi-" they all heard Eustace cutting himself off, "this place is getting weirder and weirder."

The dufflepuds all cried out at the fact he called them weird.

Rose turned her attention to Lucy and a man. "The Oppressor!" The dufflepuds exclaimed, scrambling around.

"Lucy!"

"Your Majesty." The man said.

"Edmund, Caspian, and Rose. This is Coriakin. It's his island." Lucy explained.

"That's what he thinks. You have wronged us magician!" The chief said.

"I have not wronged you. I made you invisible for your own protection." He said as he walked towards them. They all hopped back on their one foot.

"Protection?"

"That's oppressive!"

"I have not oppressed you."

"But you could've if you'd wanted to." One cried out.

"Begone!" He three something.

"It's a spell!" They cried and hopped off.

»»»

The group walked into the man's library. He rolled out a large map, "it's beautiful. I mean for a make believe map of a make believe world." He said.

Rose looked at the map as it showed the battle against the White Witch. "There is the source of our troubles. Dark Island." Coriakin said. The map moved to show a black and green island, "a place where evil lurks. It can take any form. It can make your darkest dreams come true. It seeks to corrupt all goodness to steal the light from this world."

"How do we stop it?" Rose asked him.

"You must break its spell. That sword you carry, there are six others." He replied.

"Have you seen them?" Edmund asked.

"Yes." The magician replied. He looked to Caspian and Rose.

"The six lords, they passed through here?" Caspian asked him.

"Indeed."

"Where were they headed?"

"Where I sent them. To break the spell, you must follow the Blue Star to Ramandu's Island. There, the seven swords must be laid at Aslan's table. Only then can their true magical power be released. But beware, you are all about to be tested." Coriakin said.

"Tested?" Lucy asked him.

"Until you kay down the seventh sword, evil has the upper hand. It will doe everything in its power to tempt you." He leaned closer to Lucy, "be strong. Don't fall to the temptation. To defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness inside yourself." He looked to Caspian.

_______________________________

word count : 1,375

those slave traders really thought huh 😤 like no baby you don't get to hold lucy, rose, and eustace without their will WITHOUT they're family coming to whoop your ass.