I remember walking through darkness following the sounds of my parents’ voices calling out for me. Their voices grew more urgent the closer I got to them, so I ended up running until I found myself standing in front of the doors that led to the ballroom. I knew what I would see if I walked in, so I turned around and tried to run away, but my feet were stuck to the ground. I looked down to see blood everywhere. The blood was holding my feet down and I couldn’t get out of it. I followed the trace until my eyes landed on the source, my parents lifeless bodies.
I immediately woke up screaming and I couldn’t stop crying no matter how hard I tried to stop. My weeping woke everyone up, and Joan held me in her arms as she consoled me until I fell back asleep. I still don’t remember what I dreamed about after that. We spent a month with John and Sarah and by that time, Donatello was practically back to perfect health and we were preparing to leave for Ceres in a week. Nathaniel and I were taught how to do basic chores like sweeping floors and even washing clothes, and once a week, John would prepare a bonfire, and we’d spend our evening there.
One night, John asked me about what happened at the ball and if anything seemed off. I told him about the young man who announced gibberish, but he asked me if there was anything else. I wasn’t sure what he meant until he mentioned how George tried to kill me and Nathaniel. It was then that I remember the scene of George about to harm us and one striking detail that stood out to me: his eyes. I thought it was a trick of the light, so I hesitated to tell them, but something deep down told me that it wasn’t just a trick of the light.
I mentioned the gloss I saw over his eyes with a red reflection, and we all turned to him to see if it was still there, but it wasn’t. John told us how he heard rumors about sorcery being behind that night’s events. Sorcery was prohibited in Pasiphae with a penalty of death, and I knew that John wouldn’t make such allegations so lightly. He said that it was the only plausible reason that he could come up with. “Coups aren’t a common thing in Pasiphae,” he said, “and for all of those guards to just follow absolute gibberish said by some guy who came out of nowhere, it has to be magic. And if it is magic, then there is only one person who can help you. A warlock named Merlin.”
Donatello asked him why he waited to tell us and he paused for a bit before he took out a map and showed it to us. It was a map of Pasiphae, except it had no cities, just natural features and a giant X on a plain. A man at a pub had given him the map and told him that he could use it to find Merlin. To most, Merlin was just an urban legend, but to people looking for extra cash, he was their golden goose.
It was when he was about to tell us how to get to the X, we heard the sound of a warning bell John had put in the forest. Soldiers were on their way to us.
*****
We all got up and ran to the house to get our packed bags. I ran straight up the stairs and as I was running back outside, I saw Sarah hunched over on the stairs, holding her stomach. I yelled to George and he came over and helped her back down the stairs as I tried to carry their bags down as well as my own. When I was helping Joan get the horses, Donatello ran to us and asked us where Nathaniel was. We didn’t know, so Joan went to find him with Donatello, as George and I carefully helped a pregnant Sarah onto her horse.
Once we were ready to go, we went to get everyone else, and Nathaniel was arguing with them. He wanted to stay and fight, but Joan was trying to explain to him why his survival was more important than a lost fight. He refused to leave. “I will avenge my parents!” he said as he firmly planted his feet, ready for battle. “We don’t have time for this, Your Highness. We need to go now!” Donatello yelled.
That was the first time I ever saw Donatello angry. He usually went along with everything Nathaniel and I did, so I was downright terrified when I heard him yell. I know Nathaniel was too, but he didn’t budge. Donatello approached him and Nathaniel pointed his sword at him. Donatello hit his sword away and Nathaniel swung at him.
Donatello dodged the strike and hit Nathaniel’s arm and made him drop the sword. He then hit him on his neck and knocked him out. Joan went over to help him take him to the horses who were acting up with me. I never had to deal with horses before, so I didn't know what I was doing, but I managed to hold their mouths and turns out, petting them calmed them down quickly.
We got to the horses, and Donatello put Nathaniel with me and he went with Joan. George lit the house on fire before getting on our horse and riding into the woods to meet John. They said that splitting up would put Sarah in the least amount of danger and that’s what we did. John and Sarah rode to Ceres, while we followed the map.
To the perfection of a human reading this,Hi, It’s Narnia’s Fifth Resident. The author. Not Callisto*, the Narnian Resident, fifth one to be exact. If you are reading this, that means that you’ve reached the end of Callisto’s Gift! CONGRATULATIONS and thank you soooo much. Words honestly can’t explain how happy I become when I see even one new read on any of the chapters. It gives me the encouragement to keep going and keep writing. It may not mean much to you, but it means the world to me.As a young writer, it’s difficult to put your work out there, and to have people actually take you work seriously as you continue to grow as an author yourself. Keeping consistency even though you feel as though you’ll never be recognized is tough. However, that feeling of guilt from giving up and letting those 2 or 3 re
I was reading a book on a chair in her room, as Elizabeth was being fitted into her coronation gown. The book that I was reading was one that I had borrowed. It once belonged to Merlin, but the book that the maids and Elizabeth thought I was reading was some cheesy romance novel about a maid and the son of a duke. Don’t get me wrong. Those are interesting, but not really my cup of tea. When they were finished, Elizabeth dismissed the seamstresses, maids, and even her ladies-in-waiting, but kept me. She sat down next to me and sighed, so I ignored her childish plea for attention. Sh
He turned slowly and tried to strike me with his own sword, but I had guessed he would do something like that, so blocking him was easy. He knew I had the upper hand in the situation, but he still swung his sword at mine. I couldn’t understand why. Why did he keep on swinging his sword at me with such hatred in his eyes? Were we not siblings? Was he not my older brother, and I his little sister? Was he really telling me the truth? Were we really related? He laughed at my question as he told me to, “Watch your blindspot.” He thrusted his sword at my right side, but I was able to trap in under my man.
The fourth bird I had conjured to keep an eye on everyone followed Nathaniel and Elizabeth as they went into the palace after Paul’s guards. Paul desperately sent all of his guards towards the two as he turned right at the end of the main hallway. “He’s going to the throne room!” Elizabeth notified her sparring partner as they stopped to fight the armed guards. Nathaniel stared into their eyes before asking them what they were doing, going up against the prince. “You killed the king and queen. You are no longer our prince,” one guard said as they all charged at them, swords raised.
The spell sent a rumbling through the ground starting from the top of the hill running down passed the execution grounds and into the town. I hopped on top of the wolf and as we scaled the mountain I noticed all the animals in the surrounding forest taking cover. It was as if they knew what was going to happen. Their instinct was warning them to get far away from me, but humans are different. We’d rather argue with it than actually listen to our own instinct.At the base of the hill, the Henko jumped high above the giant vines sprouting out of the ground and surrounding the castle. The vines took everyone’s attention away from the giant wolf that had just leaped onto palace grounds, allowing the Henko and I to take our places as we waited for our next turn. I conjured four birds and sent them out to scout the area and to keep my pro
(Seems like chapter twenty-five duplicated itself, so beware when purchasing it! They’re the exact same thing, so I don’t want you to waste your money. -Narnia’s Fifth Resident.) The soldiers around her all disagreed and begged me to take Elizabeth with us and leave them behind, but Elizabeth simply hushed them. “I’m not leaving any of you behind,” she said before grasping my hands and putting her trust in me. Her hands were so warm despite her being in a cell for so long. I wanted to stay with her for a little longer, but the second round of guards were on their way, so George, Nat