WAR OF HEARTS ━ prince caspian x

nineteen

˗ˏˋCHAPTER NINETEENˊˎ-

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THE WALK BACK to shore was tense, and Wren could feel Caspian sneaking glances her way the entire time. Edmund was pale with guilt and said nothing, and Lucy stared at the ground. Wren couldn't find the words to say even if she wanted to talk. She was still struggling to wrap her head around what happened moments prior. When the others were finally in sight, Caspian broke the silence.

"What food did you find?"

"It's volcanic, Your Majesty," Rhince told him, crouching down over the baskets which held the materials they found. "Not much grows."

"Where's Eustace?" Lucy asked, glancing around, and the couple both looked up from the low inventory of food without making eye contact.

"Knew it was too quiet," Wren muttered, straightening up.

"I believe he's out...not helping us load the boats," Reep said.

"Eustace!" Lucy shouted—no response. "Eustace!" She turned to her brother. "Edmund I have a bad feeling."

"I'll go find him," Edmund announced.

"I'll come with you," Caspian offered, and went to brush past her before she grabbed his arm. He raised a brow in surprise, but she didn't drop it.

"Stay safe, okay?"

His hand reached for hers, and he nodded. "We will."

It hadn't been ten minutes after they'd boarded the Dawn Treader when a dark screech echoed from the island. The entire crew tensed. Lucy turned back to Drinian, who was stood next to Wren in concern. She tried her best to remain calm as she stared at the land mass before her—but the thought of something happening to him was overbearing and she felt a lump wedge in her throat.

"What was that?"

A cloud of fire bursted out from behind one of the hills. Worry clouded her gut, and she shared a knowing look with Drinian, and from his expression she could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"Is it the volcano?" Gael wondered in a small voice.

"Oh, no..." Drinian replied. "That's no volcano." He marched down the steps back to the main deck. "All hands on deck here! Archers, arm yourselves!"

Just then, a large scaled dragon appeared from the island, flapping its large wings and making a swooshing sound in the air. It breathed fire, and instinctively, Wren pulled both the young girls behind her and readied one of her daggers as the creature got closer. It narrowly flew by the ship, rocking it slightly with the force of the wind, and the crew could be heard yelling out. It landed on one of the sails, much to their confusion, and the men from the main deck let out shouts of disbelief.

"What's it doing?!"

"Fire!" Drinian commanded, and dozens of arrows shot out from the crossbows. The mast cracked and titled unevenly as the dragon refused to leave the spot, and Wren could just barely manage to catch a glimpse of Reep climbing up the wooden stake to get to it. The dragon breathed fire again as Reep disappeared from sight, and not a second later the dragon fell off and went back to flying over the water, before going back to the island. It came back a moment later, and much to her horror, it was holding Edmund in its grasp.

"Edmund!" Lucy screamed.

They shared panicked looks when the dragon disappeared from sight with Edmund again.

Back on the island ten minutes later, Edmund had come to the conclusion that the dragon was actually, in fact, Eustace. Wren naturally thought the idea was completely mental. Narnia was insane, she didn't quite think it possible. But as they stood there, the creature made no hostile moves, so eventually Wren began to believe what he was saying. Eustace tapped his arm against the ground, showing off a gold bracelet that was tight around his scaled skin.

"He must've been tempted by the treasure," Edmund mused.

"Well, anyone knows a dragon's treasure is enchanted," Caspian retorted, eyeing up Eustace. "Well, anyone from here."

Lucy walked over to him, and gently pulled off the bracelet. Eustace howled in pain and moved his arm. Lucy smiled and stepped away as Edmund stared at his cousin. "Is there anyway to change him back?"

Caspian made a face. "Not that I know of. Wren?"

She shook her head. Edmund sighed. "Aunt Alberta will not be pleased."

"Sorry about the hand, old boy," Reep apologized. "I can be a little overzealous at times." Eustace huffed.

"The boats are ready, Sire!" Tavros called.

"We can't leave him alone," Lucy stated.

"We can't just bring him on board, Your Majesty," Drinian responded.

"Drinian, you and the others take one boat back," Caspian interjected. "The rest of us will stay till morning and... work out what to do."

"But you've no provisions," Rhince stated. "And no means of staying warm, Your Majesty."

Eustace suddenly breathed on a stick, and it caught fire. Wren smirked, and patted the creature's head. "Nice one."

Reep made a gesture. "You were saying?"

authors note

this is super short i'm so so sorry i've been losing interest in this and i've had to force myself to write it. i'm gonna attempt to get a few chapters up this weekend but no promises

also thank u for 10k!!!