One Fine Day

Chapter 16

A Sunlit Talk, and a Moonlit Walk

Before either of us could consider how we would tell Lucy of our decision to stay, we heard movement in the brush to our left. I quickly side-stepped, putting myself between Aaralynn and the forest, and drew my sword.

"Who's there?" I commanded. My voice did not waiver. My hand did not shake. "Declare yourself!"

"Edmund? Is that you?" The voice sounded somewhat familiar, and yet not.

"Declare yourself; I won't warn you again." The movement continued as a figure began to emerge. I readied my sword.

"Wait…"Aaralynn's arm reached around to halt mine. "Eustace?"

"What?" No sooner had Aaralynn said his name and the figure fully emerged from the trees. "By Aslan, it is him."

Suddenly Eustace lurched forward like he was about to fall.

"Easy there," I said as I hurried to catch him. "Are you ill?"

"It's been ghastly," he replied.

"But it's better now that you're a boy again, right? Won't the others be thrilled to see you," Aaralynn said.

"Oh please, I… I don't think I'm ready to see them just yet."

Eustace fell silent and I could see he was uncomfortable. I glanced at Aaralynn. She smiled softly and gave the tinniest nod. She understood.

"I'm going to go back to camp, and make sure no one comes looking for you," she said.

"There are some rocks, just over there, we can sit on," I said once Aaralynn had left.

Eustace nodded and began making his way over. I walked beside him, ready to steady him should he falter again. He remained silent for some time as the sun began its slow progression over the horizon. I felt His presence with us and kept my patience until Eustace was ready.

"I… I don't want to tell how I became a Dragon," Eustace began. "Not yet anyways. I'd rather do it all in one go, if you don't mind."

"I can respect that," I replied.

"By the way, I didn't even know I was a Dragon until I heard you all use the word."

I had suspected as much, but I didn't say so.

"I want to tell you, though, how I stopped being one."

"Fire ahead."

"Well, last night I was feeling more miserable than I ever have before. I knew the ship must be near ready to sail again. I may not know what all it takes to make it ready, but I could see well enough. And I could see that it was nearly what it was before.

"And well, I know they tried not to—Caspian and the Captain I mean—but I could hear them talking about what to do with me. And I realized I was more of a nuisance than ever before. I was feeling awful about that, and then that beastly arm-ring was hurting like anything…"

"How is that now?" I asked when he paused for a moment. Eustace laughed, and it was a different laugh than any I'd heard from him before. Then he easily slid the arm-ring off and handed it over.

"Here it is, any who wants it may have it as far as I'm concerned. So, I was lying awake last night feeling miserable, when suddenly there was a Lion on the beach. He wasn't an ordinary lion either, mind you. He was big, much bigger than a lion ought to be. And I was afraid. I wasn't afraid of it eating me; I was just afraid of it, if you know what I mean."

"I do."

"Right, so I tried closing my eyes and looking away, but it didn't help. I still knew it was there. And then it told me to follow it."

"You mean it spoke to you?"

"I… now that you mention it, I'm not sure that it did. But I knew I was meant to follow it. And I knew that I had to do what it said. So I followed it into the woods.

"Mind you, there was no moon last night, but wherever the Lion went there was moonlight there. On and on we walked, going deeper and going higher. Until at last we came to quite a different mountain than any we've seen here. And there was a garden with trees and fruits and everything. In the center of the garden there was a well. It was more like a bath really, with marble steps leading down into it. The water was clear, and I knew if I could only soak in it for a bit it would ease my pain.

"Then the Lion said—mind you, I don't know if it actually spoke or not—but it said I must undress first. 'That's silly,' thought I for I wasn't wearing any clothes. No sooner had I thought that though, and I knew it must have meant my Dragon skin for Dragons were like snakes and could shed their skins.

"So I began to scratch at myself. At first it was just a few scales that fell off. But soon enough I had peeled away my whole skin and I stepped out of it. I went to the bath's edge and was about to step in when I saw my reflection. I was still covered in scales. So I began to scratch again and I peeled off another. Just as before though, I saw there were still more scales. A third time I pulled off my skin, but it too was no good.

"'You will have to let me undress you,' the Lion said. I was terribly afraid of His large paws, but oh how I longed to bathe in that well. 'There's nothing for it,' I thought. I'd have to let Him do it. So I lay down before Him.

"The first cut was so deep and it smarted more than anything. But then that pain became a pleasure. You know, like when you pull off a scab; it smarts but it feels good too."

"I know the feeling well."

"When He finished I could see the skin He'd peeled off was much thicker than anything I could have done and I knew that was all there was. Then He caught me up and tossed me in the water. Just as I knew it would, the water felt great. Even the pain in my arm subsided, and as I went to inspect it I realized it was no longer the arm of a Dragon, but it was a boy's arm—it was my arm again.

"When my bath was done, I got out and He dressed me in these clothes—I don't know how. Then He breathed on me, and suddenly I was here again, coming out of those trees there. It all seems so unreal; it must have only been a dream."

"Well I don't think that's the case," I said.

"You don't? Why is that?"

"Well you're wearing the clothes for one thing, and for another you have been… undragoned as it were."

"Yes, I suppose you're right. What do you think it all was then?"

"I think it was the only thing it could have been. You've seen Aslan."

"Aslan? I've heard that name several times since arriving here. And, I don't know, I hated it. Now, I'm not sure why I ever did. I know it makes no sense."

"It makes more sense than I care to admit. Between you and me, you weren't half as bad as I was on my first trip. You were only an ass. I was a traitor."

"Well, don't tell me about it then."

We fell into silence for a moment, letting the sun radiate us. When Eustace spoke again he sounded hesitant once more.

"Edmund?"

"Yes, Eustace?"

"Would… would you really have stayed?"

So he'd heard me and Aaralynn talking earlier then. "Yes," I said. "And so would have Aaralynn."

"So then you're… I mean the two of you are… You're really…"

"Married? We are."

"Oh." He paused again before adding, "Then I'm sorry to you for giving you all that slack about it back home."

"Thank you, Eustace. I do appreciate that, and you are forgiven. Now, if you are ready, I think it time we make our way back to camp. There is only so much Aaralynn can do to keep Lucy from eating our share of breakfast."

"What song will you sing for us this morning, Aaralynn?"

"Now, Lucy, you know very well that should Edmund return to find that he had missed my song, he would be sorely displeased. And I would have to tell him that it was your doing."

"Well if my brother doesn't hurry then I shall have to use my Queenly authority and insist that you sing for us."

"You do realize that you're Queenly authority hasn't worked on me since I married your brother and became a Queen myself." Caspian and those sitting near us laughed.

"Are you so certain of that?"

"I say, Lucy, there's your brother there," Caspian said. "But hold on, who's that with him?"

"Eustace! It's Eustace!"

Lucy and all the crew jumped up and rushed to greet Eustace. And just like that, me and my song were forgotten, which is precisely why I didn't want to begin one. And I was very glad Lucy hadn't insisted, Queenly authority or otherwise I never could refuse her.

"Aaralynn, look! It's Eustace!" Lucy shouted.

"Yes, I see."

"You don't seem surprised."

"Oh? Well didn't I say he was a boy again?"

"You most certainly did not," Caspian said laughing.

"How did this happen? "Lucy asked.

"Oh… well…" Eustace began unsurely but Edmund came to his rescue.

"I should think it obvious, Lu. Who else could have the authority to un-Dragon him?"

"So you've seen Aslan then, have you? How splendid."

"And after such a meeting I am sure you are hungry. Here," I said as I held out a bowl for him. He reached for it but then paused.

"I… I couldn't take someone else's helping."

I smiled. "Well then, it is a good thing I made this one especially for you."

"Oh. Um, thanks."

I handed Edmund his bowl as we sat down together. Everyone gathered round again, and in between bites of food, Eustace told us all how he became a Dragon."

A/N: I know there's not a lot of extra stuff or variation in this chapter, but I wanted to leave Eustace's un-dragoning as pure to the book as I could. It has always been one of my favorite scenes in the Narnia series. I mean, three times Eustace tried to do it himself before submitting to the Lion...it's beautiful.

Anywho...Thanks for reading. Now at last we can leave Dragon Island. Let me know what you think. An author always loves to hear feedback, good or bad.