SOUTHWARD THE TIGERS: a Tale in the Days of King Frank

Copperfox

Well-known member
PROLOGUE:

In the very early spring of a very early year in the history of the Narnian world, four Talking Tigers were conferring privately in a ravine among the foothills of the mountains which bordered the future Kingdom of Archenland. One of the four, a female named Duskrunner, was a daughter of the deceased Patriarch of the Talking Tigers. The others, offspring of first-generation ordinary tigers, had been awakened to intelligence by Aslan when they had grown almost to adulthood. One of these, named Hookpaw, was Duskrunner's husband; the other two were Shatterneck, Hookpaw's closest male confidant, and Shatterneck's wife Tawnydart.

Tawnydart, of the four, was the most ill at ease with the direction their discussion was going. "Are you _certain_ that there's no need to consult _either_ the King or our Matriarch? This is a serious action to be taking independently."

It was Hookpaw to whom she spoke, and he replied, "I already have guidance beyond their knowledge; a being who speaks for Aslan is enlightening me. And was it not Aslan's will for us to have learned the hunting and fighting techniques of the lions? Our knowledge will now be put to use in a way that promotes the safety of our human friends, and other weaker Narnians."

"There's no disputing the fact that the humans will have a cursed hard time raising farm animals if there are great numbers of large unreasoning carnivores all over Narnia," Shatterneck told his wife, supporting Hookpaw.

Duskrunner also supported her mate: "Besides, it's to the benefit of all Talking Predators to have less competition from dumb ones. Hunting is enough of a hard job as it is, what with having to distinguish fair-game dumb beasts from Talking Herbivores whose lives are sacred to us."

"Which would not be SO hard a job," Hookpaw muttered, "if the Talking Herbivores hadn't started being so recalcitrant about accepting our supervision for their own protection."

"All right," sighed Tawnydart. "I'm with you. Let's make our plans. But it's just ordinary lions we're going to kill, right?"

"For the present," said Hookpaw, exchanging a glance with Shatterneck.

"It's no more than what the Children of Adam, and the Good Giants and Centaurs, would have been forced to do eventually, for the general safety of the kingdom," Duskrunner added.

But the events of the months to follow would prove to be grimmer than anything the first generations of Narnian humans, or their Giant and Centaur friends, had ever expected to see...


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SLIMTALON, the female half of Narnia's first-ever pair of Talking Tigers, lay a short distance to one side of King Frank's field-throne, covering her face with her paws in disgrace and grief. "Oh, Aslan," she sobbed, "this is the first time I have ever been _glad_ that You called my husband Brightburn up to Your country ahead of me...so that he would not have to see this day!" Neither the King, nor any of his attendants, showed any sign of blaming Slimtalon for what had occurred; but she would rather have had all of Narnia hating her, than to learn that her own children hated Narnia.

King Frank, still wearing the light armor he wore when he flew into action on the back of his winged stallion Fledge, gestured with his spear--the same spear with which, not three hours ago, he had slain Slimtalon's eldest son Grovestalker with a skillful thrust from above. The mother tiger knew she had no right to be angry at her liegelord for this, because Grovestalker had been about to murder an innocent half-grown Talking Lioness--whose mother he had killed besides. True, Grovestalker had been led into his crimes by his wife, one of the later Talking Tigers Aslan had raised up to be mates for the children of Brightburn and Slimtalon; but he could have refused to join in evil. Instead, he had now joined many other outlaw tigers in death.

The King was addressing his one current live prisoner, Slimtalon's daughter-in-law Ripplestride. She was being held immobilized by Narnia's first male Talking Elephant, Graniteside, who was keeping a foot directly on top of her head. The faithful pachyderm's flanks had been doctored by a Centaur for wounds inflicted by another feline renegade--a renegade who had quickly met permanent justice on the points of Graniteside's tusks.

"Tigress Ripplestride!" said the King. "You and your fellow criminals were strongly and clearly warned of the wrongness of your ways when it was found that you had killed ordinary lions without valid cause. But instead of dismissing the absurd hostility you had formed against lions, you proceeded to attacking Talking Lions. Not only did you shamelessly take advantage of your greater size--not that you would have had any right on your side even if lions were larger than tigers--but you murdered even cubs! And the lions had acted in good faith when they taught you their fighting techniques, yet you used that knowledge against your teachers! Your guilt is too well-attested to permit any doubt; but when I lived in the world of Adam and Eve, my nation there believed in letting an accused man speak in his defense. Therefore, if you have any justification at all for your actions, tell it now!"

Ripplestride, flat on her belly at the mercy of the elephant standing over her, felt him ease the pressure on her head to make sure she would be able to speak. She might have come up with something plausible to make her guilt seem less; but her hatred, resentment and self-pity overpowered her fear of death. "The Talking Lions themselves ARE my justification!" she snarled. "Just because they superficially look like Aslan, they think they're better than the rest of the felines! In fact, human, if you had any sense you would _thank_ us tigers for what we have done; for the lions _also_ think they're better than YOU!"

(TO BE CONTINUED)
 
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Slimtalon groaned. She knew that Graniteside had been personally friends with at least two of the Talking Lions (besides their Patriarch and Matriarch) who had perished before the forces of order in the kingdom were alerted to what was happening; she could tell that it was costing the old bull elephant an enormous effort of self-restraint not to kill Ripplestride then and there. Could it be that--

The mother tigress rose to her feet for the first time since the impromptu gathering had begun. "Daughter-in-law!" she cried out. "You are _daring_ the elephant to kill you, or the King to order it done! Don't give in to this madness! There is nothing heroic about throwing your life away when your cause was unjust in the first place! Only humble yourself, and a measure of mercy might yet be afforded you!" Seeing Graniteside giving her an approving glance, she turned toward King Frank. "Your Majesty, I beg your pardon for speaking out of turn."

"You do no wrong by your wise words, honorable tigress," Frank replied. Then he spoke to Graniteside: "Friend Elephant, please allow the accused to stand up, and move a few paces back from her." Standing up himself, the King laid aside both spear and sword, and began walking toward the surprised Ripplestride. The armed demi-human guards on either side, Satyrs and Fauns, made to accompany him, as did the Gryphon Patriarch who was also witnessing the proceedings; but the King gestured to them to stay where they were. Fledge, standing near, snorted, "Your Majesty! Don't come in reach of her fangs!"--but the former cabbie told his former cab-horse, "The accused has said, or at least implied, that she and the others with her did not intend revolt against the realm, but only a feud against beings who supposedly had offended them." In a moment, standing unarmed within easy grabbing range of Ripplestride, the King looked her fearlessly in the eye. "In Aslan's name, I command you to say truly what grounds you had for supposing that mortal Talking Lions thought themselves superior--and why, if this were so, it should give you cause to slay them!"

Ripplestride's rage subsided a little, though she still failed to speak very respectfully to her sovereign. "Let me say first that, as events have shown, we tigers obviously never had any chance of overthrowing you even if we had wanted to, which we didn't. But we took action against an evil which _might_ have threatened your authority as well as the honor and well-being of tigers. From time to time, various Narnians--not only tigers, either--overheard adult Talking Lions telling their cubs, 'We are the best of all beasts; we are the only true images of Aslan, and the only ones worthy to interpret His will!' Don't you see what that implied?"

King Frank looked over his shoulder at Regulus, a Centaur who stood proudly erect in spite of many bandaged wounds which had been the price he paid for slaying another of the murderous tigers. "Did you hear that, Regulus? It confirms the rest of the evidence we had up to now about their motives."

Regulus fingered his beard. "Sire, I suggest that you ask her if she heard of the dream Hookpaw supposedly had." Hookpaw, the apparent leader of the tigers' aggression, had been the husband of one of Slimtalon's daughters; he was now a widower, and a fugitive.

As soon as Frank turned to face Ripplestride again, she anticipated the question and said, "Yes, I know of the dream. Hookpaw dreamed he was in a deep fog, and saw dimly a creature somewhat resembling a Gryphon. This creature warned him that the Talking Lions were planning to persuade Narnians to worship ALL of them as they worship Aslan." Both Frank and Regulus were intrigued to hear her say "THEY worship Aslan" rather than "WE worship Aslan;" but neither King nor Centaur made any remark about this.

Ripplestride, as if beginning to hope that she actually might not be put to death after all, continued: "You know that we Talking Tigers have been conscientious in obeying the law never to prey upon other Talking Animals, or any reasoning beings. When we hunt, we even risk losing our meal by calling out periodically for any Talking Animals in our path to make themselves known, so we won't kill them by mistake." (In this, at least, the King knew her to be speaking the truth, for it was one of his royal concerns to keep track of the conduct of Talking Animals whose nature forced them to kill for their food.) "Thus it is that even Talking Deer, Talking Goats and so on are unafraid to speak with us; and thus it was that we received independent reports of the arrogant behavior of the Talking Lions. The Lions were hoping to get a great variety of Narnian creatures on their side--potentially, some of every sort _except_ felines, since the very kinship of the feline types made us and the leopards and cheetahs the lions' particular objects of contempt."

King Frank raised an eyebrow. "You tigers have left us with a terribly small number of surviving lions who could be questioned on this point; but speak on. Are you saying that the lions would have sought to overthrow human authority?"

Ripplestride nodded. "At the very least, that was a possibility they would have considered if their bid for power and influence went well. Their prejudice against all who were not lions like themselves--"

Her words were cut off by a roar: a roar which seemed to fill earth and air with a presence and power beyond comprehension. But Ripplestride was the only being there for whom that sound brought fear; all others present, even the grief-stricken Slimtalon, bowed in adoration as Aslan Himself appeared from nowhere alongside King Frank.
 
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Aslan acknowledged the worship of His creatures with an outgoing breath which was the very air of Heaven touching all present. The healing of every physical wound was accelerated, and Slimtalon somehow found her grief less agonizing. The Great Lion drew closer to Ripplestride, who simultaneously cringed in helplessness and unconsciously bared her teeth in reflexive, powerless defiance.

"Unfortunate stripling," He said to her; "that you and your kindred should be misled into demonstrating a new depth of depravity scarcely known among Narnians until now." Turning to run His gaze across King Frank and the other onlookers, He added, "In these early years of the Narnian world, you who are native to this world have learned by stages about evil, treachery and deception. It is easy enough to grasp the idea of _external_ deception, when one person lies to another person. But here before you crouches a living example of the deeper dishonesty, the same which motivates all the wicked actions of your enemy Jadis as she nurses her schemes far to the northwest from Narnia. It is SELF-deception: a conscious desire to believe a supposed fact which one KNOWS to be false, or which one COULD know to be false if one were willing to pay attention to logic and evidence."

He turned back toward Ripplestride. "I tell you with perfect knowledge that NOT ONE of My Talking Lions EVER said that the Talking Lions deserved to be supreme over other creatures merely because they look like Me. The closest any of them came to saying such a thing was to tell each other that they had a solemn duty never to dishonor My name by wicked conduct, because they enjoyed such a privilege as to bear My likeness. Some creatures who spoke to you tigers about these words of the lions confused the wording--but never so much as to amount to a clear statement that the lions meant to demand worship. In every case, you tigers had to supply part of the confusion yourselves...WILLFUL confusion, because you found there was _pleasure_ in feeling a sense of grievance. This dark pleasure is indulged in by many of the children of Adam and Eve in their world, as King Frank would confirm; now you tigers have cultivated it in Narnia, without even needing sinful humans to help you do it.

"For some--above all, for the one called Hookpaw--it was an entirely conscious decision to want to believe the worst about the lions. Once these tigers had succeeded in making themselves believe the false grievance, they spread it to others; and each of the others was guilty of at least a little complicity, a little willingness to be deceived. It saddens Me to say that, of those above the age of moral accountability, ONLY TWO Talking Tigers in all of Narnia remained completely blameless: your mother-in-law here, and the male named Quickspring, who is at Cair Paravel reporting to the Queen."

King Frank moved forward. "My Lord Aslan, I do not understand. Rivalry and friction there has been among Talking Beasts in the time since Digory, Polly and I saw You create them--but never anything like this. Up to now, apart from that brief trouble caused by disgruntled sheep, the only serious evil we have had to fight arose when creatures were corrupted by the distant influence of Jadis. This evil seems, if I may say so, homegrown." The King did not mention in the hearing of the others the fact that Aslan had once privately warned him about this other evil.

"The source of it," Aslan replied, "is at once closer at hand than Jadis, and farther away. Do not concern yourself at this time about the distant aspect. As for the the near aspect: to speak accurately, these fallen tigers did not commit their crimes because they were angry at the lions for glorying in a bodily resemblance to Me. Whether they realize it or not, they were actually angry at _Me_ for looking like the lions." He looked at Ripplestride. "For wearing the material form of a lion, RATHER THAN THAT OF A TIGER. That is your empty grievance!"

Aslan began pacing in an outward spiral, passing by each spectator, His voice remaining perfectly audible to all. "Because your first king remembers his origin on Earth, he has been able to tell all of you such things as he knows about the form in which I am known on Earth, the form of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Later generations of Narnians will mostly forget about My Earthly life; but to you who have heard of it, I can say this and be understood. In My identity as Jesus, I have had millions of children of Adam and Eve conjure up foolish complaints against Me, because in some way I was not what they wanted Me to be. My disciples, while I lived in mortal flesh, wanted me to be a warrior and ruler--while rulers wanted Me to be _less_ involved with politics than I was, lest I upset their convenient routines. And it went on like that after I ascended back to the Father, Whom you know as the Emperor. Rich men wanted Me to side with them against poor men, while poor men wanted Me to give them license to take revenge on rich men. I have been called on to support light-skinned men against dark-skinned men, dark-skinned men against light-skinned men, and the two sexes against each other. So it is no marvel, though it remains a sad thing, that here in the Narnian world someone would choose to be indignant against Me for appearing as a lion instead of a tiger."

Slimtalon at last found the boldness (had she realized it, it was Aslan Himself _giving_ her the boldness) to creep toward her Creator and say, "My Lord Aslan! The King and the Queen have in truth taught us Narnians about such things as You describe--and said that, in that other world, You nonetheless made ways to remedy the folly of invented grudges. Oh please, can You not even now undo in some degree this woeful evil which has befallen us?"
 
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Hey, glad to see you. Not many stories get my narnia-authenticity stamp; i'm very picky...but this is good. Pretty interesting story...i hope you keep it up.
 
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(Hi, Dreamer! I promise to look for your story, too)

Aslan gazed at Slimtalon with a look of paternal tenderness, telling her, "I was talking with your husband in Heaven just before I came down here; he knew as well as I did what a right heart-attitude you would show. Yes, there will be a remedy--though My Father, the Emperor, will not allow evil acts chosen by free will to pass with no consequences whatsoever." Turning to King Frank, He said, "You can call off the hunt for the remaining outlaw tigers. All of them who remain within the borders of Narnia, and who have not already been killed or captured, are now reduced to ordinary beasts, with no memory of what they were. You may tell the surviving Talking Lions that the loved ones they have lost are alive and well in My country beyond the dawn; and certain mother lionesses, who fought heroically against unfair odds trying to defend their young, are being accorded especially high honor there. I regret to say that those tigers who brought death on themselves in this mad uprising are _not_ in so pleasant a place."

These words turned the knife of sorrow in Slimtalon's heart, though she knew that Aslan knew that the crimes which had occurred were no fault of hers.

"And what of the prisoner before us?" asked Frank. "I assume that You already see in my mind the sentence I intend for her; does it meet with Your approval?"

"It does, my son; therefore declare it now."

Nodding to Aslan, the King then spoke somberly: "Tigress Ripplestride! Had you perished in the putting down of this conspiracy, the fault would have been your own; but with our Creator's own approval, I grant you mercy-- within conditions which are not unreasonable. Seventeen Talking Tiger cubs have been left parentless by this needless bloodshed. You shall become a foster-mother to them all, and shall teach them both to worship Aslan and to _obey_ His laws of goodwill to ALL reasoning beings of Narnia. Any material assistance needed for this shall be provided to you. Since your wicked pride inclined you to believe that lions thought themselves better than you, when in fact it was YOU who thought yourself better then THEY because of your mere bodily size, you shall be reminded every day for the rest of your mortal life that there are creatures far bigger and stronger than YOU. The Talking Elephants, and the Giants in my service, will keep a close eye on you; and if you are wise, you will be grateful that they do not deal with you for being smaller the way you dealt with lions for being smaller. In fact--it is my royal command that, the first time you meet an elephant or a giant on any given day, you shall say to them, 'Thank you for not slaying me as I deserve.' This order shall stand until your good behavior convinces me that it may be withdrawn; until such a time, any refusal by you to show humility shall be punished by some reasonable disciplinary measure. Regulus! Guards! See that all is put in readiness for Tigress Ripplestride to begin her penance."

Ripplestride looked into the King's eyes, then into Aslan's eyes. It startled her to realize how similar the mortal man's gaze was to that of the omnipotent Lion. For the first time ever, she began dimly to realize what Aslan's human followers on Earth knew: that it is the Spirit of the Lord, living within a person, Who makes all the difference. She spoke with new meekness, at once to her King and to the King of Kings: "I thank You for giving me this grace, and this chance. I submit to all that is commanded."

Terribly though Ripplestride had sinned, Slimtalon still was glad that her life was to be spared. Now she ventured to address Aslan once more:

"My Lord Aslan--did I not hear You speak of tigers _within_ the borders of Narnia? Does that mean that some who turned renegade are now _outside_ this realm, and are neither dead, nor captured, nor transformed into mindless ordinary animals?"

"That is correct, faithful tigress," Aslan replied. "And it was as much to them as to the matter of Ripplestride and the cubs that I was referring when I spoke to you of a remedy for the evil. One of your sons is both still alive and still a Talking Tiger: your youngest son."

A portion of the stony burden on Slimtalon's heart was taken away. "Bluntmuzzle? Where is he, Aslan?"

"He is with Hookpaw, the worst offender of all the outlaw tigers. Also with them is Elkfinder." Aslan knew that Slimtalon knew who Elkfinder was: a yearling female not of the direct bloodline from herself and Brightburn, thus one who upon maturing would be a suitable mate for Bluntmuzzle. Aslan would not be taking the conversation along this path if there were no hope of redemption, so...

"Are they fleeing toward warmer climates, my Lord? I would suppose that to be natural for any tiger who had cause to leave Narnia."

"Correct again, dear one."

Hope grew so swiftly in the mother tigress' heart that it was almost as painful as her grief had been. "What will You do about them, Aslan?"

The Lion kissed her snout; as He did so, Slimtalon felt renewed strength filling her being. "I shall enable _you_ to do something, dear one," Aslan said. "Now, climb onto My back. Take hold of Me any way you choose; your teeth and claws cannot injure Me, and you will want to hold on tight. Like the migrating birds, we are going to FLY south!"

(TO BE CONTINUED)
 
ten posts? wow. At least i'll say you seem dedicated...
I thank you for checking out my story though i'm rather embarresed...it isn't one of my best and i would have liked a better impression. Still. Appreciate it.
Good sense of justice, the punishment...it could have easily been muffed up. keep it up.
 
As Aslan gets airborne, we cut to another location

The pleasant, fertile country which would one day be known as the Kingdom of Archenland had been surveyed by King Frank personally in quieter times, riding on Fledge to observe the terrain from the sky. But there were not yet enough humans in the Narnian world to settle it. The new generation, born of marriages between Frank and Helen's children and assorted sufficiently human-like denizens of Narnia, was only just now being brought up. And if there were any unrelated humans finding their way into the Narnian world by gateways between the universes, none had yet come near enough to Narnia to be detected by Narnians.

Thus, there were no castles or towns for the three southbound fugitive tigers to avoid. Hookpaw led the way, and did most of the killing of animals along the way to provide meat for all of them to eat. (In all the attendant exertions, he never complained of pain in the not-yet-healed wounds on both of his shoulders: wounds inflicted by a Talking Lion who had been gallantly defending his family against Hookpaw.) He even gave fair shares of the good meat to his two companions. Hookpaw prided himself on being loyal and considerate to fellow Talking Tigers; it was only everyone else he viewed with contempt. At the secret meetings of tigers which had led up to the campaign against the lions, Hookpaw had coined a slogan: "Everything for the Species, nothing for those outside the Species!"

It was on their third morning outside Narnian territory, as they devoured a stag they had surprised, that the half-grown female Elkfinder asked the question Bluntmuzzle had been afraid to ask their leader: "Why did we fail? Why didn't Aslan allow us to kill ALL the Talking Lions, when they were so disrespecting Him as to steal His glory?"

Hookpaw showed no anger toward her, only a pensive look. "I confess I've been thinking that over myself. These last two nights, I hoped that the Great Gryphon who speaks for Aslan would come to me in another dream and explain. He didn't; but I think I have it figured out."

Emboldened by the dominant male's mild speech, Bluntmuzzle asked, "And what is the answer? Is it because we didn't exercise the cunning to make the first victims' deaths look like accidents?"

"No, no, little brother. The answer is profound in its pure simplicity. We lost because we were not powerful enough and swift enough to complete the killing-out before others intervened to rescue the lions. POWER is what makes all the difference. Aslan allowed us to lose in order to teach us that we must above all seek to become STRONGER. Might vanquished us; and only with greater might will we ever be able either to return to Narnia on our own terms, or establish a secure domain for ourselves elsewhere. It is might that makes right."

Elkfinder was only more unsettled, not less, by Hookpaw's answer to Bluntmuzzle. The thought pushed itself upon her that Narnia was NOT ruled by the strongest creatures in it. A human being, without weapons, would be as helpless as a sheep if attacked even by a lion, let alone a tiger; yet the majority of Narnian beings, even huge ones, obeyed King Frank without complaint. Frank, and his wife Helen, commanded the respect of rational beasts and mythical creatures because of their WISDOM. But Elkfinder decided not to push her luck by asking Hookpaw what he thought of that. Still less would she ask why Hookpaw never seemed to express grief over the death of his own mate, whom he had led to her death in the war against the lions.

As for Bluntmuzzle, it occurred to him that, although Hookpaw had been a generous and patient leader so far, if they came to where game was scarce the elder tiger might apply "Might makes right" in that situation--and begin hogging for himself all the good flesh of any animals they did catch. But aloud, he only said, "Have you any idea HOW we will become stronger?"

Hookpaw grunted around a marrowbone. "Two ideas at present. One is that if we find ordinary tigers, and each of us three mates with one of them, we might be able to produce talking offspring--whom, of course, we would teach to follow the right path of tigerly strength. The other is that the Great Gryphon might be authorized by Aslan to furnish help in forms we do not yet anticipate. But for that hope to come true, we surely must prove ourselves worthy with proper determination and ruthlessness."

Elkfinder's private misgivings increased. Something simply did not sound right about Aslan advocating ruthlessness. She knew the story, told by King Frank who had witnessed it, of how Aslan, on the day He created Narnia, had allowed the alien humanoid Jadis to live even though she had vainly tried to kill Him. Besides that, neither Elkfinder nor anyone she knew had ever met any Gryphon who claimed any such title as "the Great Gryphon;" there was only Hookpaw's dream to go by. It seemed rather little to rely on. But, she supposed, there had to be something for them to hope for; they certainly could not hope to return to Narnia as matters now stood.
 
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If Aslan had not been invulnerable to any harm He did not choose to be vulnerable to, Slimtalon's claws and teeth would have drawn blood from Him at His first ascent into the air, she clung to Him so nervously. But with time, the Matriarch of Talking Tigers gained confidence that her Lord would not let her fall, and began to take interest in the panoramic view of her world.

The Narnian world, not exactly a planet as planets are known in the universe of Adam and Eve, had less total mass than Earth; it was only by the Divine will that it had gravity similar to Earth's. But the flatness of its inhabited surface meant that one flying above it could see a breadth of scenery not less than would be seen flying high over mankind's native planet.

"Why does the land grow yellowish far to the south, my Lord?" Slimtalon asked.

"What you see," replied Aslan, "is a hot and waterless region--what King Frank would call a 'desert.' I created it there for a purpose. One day it will serve as a natural barrier, making it difficult for foes from the south to come by land against the descendants of your King and Queen."

"What foes, Aslan? Is not Jadis in the west rather than the south?"

"The openings between the worlds have already begun to let new human arrivals blunder into this world; but I have not allowed any of those arrivals to be so near to King Frank's realm as to be of any concern for him in his lifetime. In a future period, the largest single concentration of non-Narnian humans will found a large and powerful kingdom--but on the far side of the desert, where for a time they will content themselves with imposing tribute upon the disorganized tribes that will form still farther south of them. You, daughter, will not see any of that--unless it be by looking down from the edge of My country, long after you shall have joined your husband there. For now, the desert will also be a barrier to your son and his companions."

Slimtalon felt a fresh worry. "Will they die of thirst?"

"No. The one who is misleading them--I know who it is, but the time has not come to tell you--will derive no use from them if they perish thus. He will prompt them, if they do not have the idea for themselves, to swing far to the west and bypass the desert. In their minds, there is no hurry to get TO any destination, provided they are quick enough to get AWAY from Narnia."

In the time this much conversation took, they had already passed over Archenland, and were coming to the frontier of the desert, having nullified the head start the fugitives had achieved by fleeing as soon as defeat looked certain. "Are we keeping to this course because those we follow have not yet veered away from the desert?" Slimtalon asked.

Aslan appeared to be looking at some definite point on the ground far below. "No. They are already changing their direction. The reason why we go this way is so that your appearance will have more of an impact on them."

"_MY_ appearance??" The tigress was baffled. "What else but YOUR appearance is needed to bring them low in terrified submissiveness?"

"I rule by truth and love before force and fear," the Great Lion told her. "They must have their chance to listen to reason. I told you I would enable you to do something; you shall be the very voice of reason. But there is no harm in making the bearer of wisdom impressive. Trust me, daughter: when they see you approaching from _south_ of them...when they realize that you have covered more distance in an hour than they could in over two days...they will know that a power is with you, yet without being _quite_ so flattened with fright as they would be at My direct rebuke. Besides, I did not create all of you intelligent beings with minds and wills of your own just to end up doing _everything_ for you Myself." Those last words were spoken in a kindly enough tone that Slimtalon did not feel reprimanded by them.

After cutting across a section of desert, they turned slightly northward again, then descended from the skies to a low hill amid open grasslands: a place near which Hookpaw, Bluntmuzzle and Elkfinder presumably would pass. Aslan kissed the tigress again, imparting more of His vigor to her. "Here I will leave you for a time, Slimtalon. The lines of argument which are forming in your brain to use with your son and his companions are valid enough. But mark well these two commands until you see Me again. One is: Expect the unexpected, for more is at work here than you know. The other is: No matter what alarming sights await you, trust in Me, for I will not abandon you to an impossible predicament. I will be closer than you may think."

Then, without waiting for more speech, Aslan disappeared like a forgotten dream. Repeating to herself the substance of His instructions, the tiger matriarch began smelling the air for any scent of her kindred.
 
(She won't join in disobedience to Aslan, I assure you; she's the heroine!)

Distances grow suddenly large again when one is NOT effortlessly flying on Aslan’s back. Slimtalon caught no scent or sight that day of those whom she sought; so, before nightfall, she turned her attention to food.

Even this far from Narnia, she took care not to risk violating the covenant of peace among all Talking Animals. From time to time she called out, “All creatures who understand spoken words, make yourselves known to me, so that I will not attack you by mistake!” (There was no language barrier to complicate things; when Aslan had created the Narnian world, in His foreknowledge that its first human arrivals would be from England, He had made all the reasoning beings able to speak English.) Her scrupulous conduct inevitably resulted in many delicious-looking non-intelligent animals escaping from her. In the end, coming upon a stream big enough to contain fish, Slimtalon caught enough of these to relieve her hunger. As far as she knew, Aslan had not created any fish with humanlike intelligence. Then, upon finding a suitable thicket in which to sleep the night, she prayed:

“Aslan, I trust that You see and hear me even when I cannot see or hear You. If I am to be a voice of truth to my son and his companions, I implore You to let me be guided by the Holy Spirit Who mystically joins You with Your Father the Emperor.” (Narnians of the first generation had some understanding of the Holy Trinity, though this was to grow less clear with later generations, as Aslan, or Jesus, was the only Person of the Godhead to show Himself in the Narnian world.) “I think I understand the things You said about self-deception; but how am I to UN-deceive those who have lied to themselves? Should I let them think at first that I agree with them, in order not to anger them? But if I do that, will it only make it harder at last to insist on the truth?” She continued praying in this manner until fatigue made her stop.

Hours later, Slimtalon was harshly awakened by what seemed like a chilly winter wind blowing over her. Peering out of the thicket, she beheld a sight that filled her with uncomprehending dread. Aslan HAD told her to expect the unexpected and still trust in His protection, but this was TOO unexpected…
 
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The moon was not in the sky at this time, but the strange figure she beheld some twenty yards away seemed illuminated by colorless moonlight. It resembled a very large Gryphon, but there was something _wrong_ about it. The first wrongness that was noticeable was that it did not smell like a Gryphon; then, as it began to approach Slimtalon, she could see that it had almost no hair. When it came still closer, she saw that its eyes were cold and reptilian, with none of the noble, openhearted look she had noted in the eyes of real Gryphons. These eyes were unmistakably cruel; and their glance made the tigress tremble. She felt certain that she could neither fight this thing effectively, nor outrun it.

Now it was less than ten yards away. Its beak moved in speech; and for the first time in her life, Slimtalon heard words which certainly were words in a meaningful language—but NOT a language that she could understand. All she could sense was that the words expressed a sneering contempt for her, and for all beings of flesh and blood.

Desperately resisting the paralysis of terror (and wondering in a corner of her mind, even then, if this was how a hunted animal would feel), Slimtalon prayed urgently, if not very eloquently:

“Aslan, I trust You—Aslan, I trust You—Aslan, save me!”

The next instant, the advancing apparition flew straight backwards, as if a gigantic, invisible mallet had struck it. Screeching in rage, the fiend looked all around as if to see what enemy was thwarting it; then it charged headlong at Slimtalon—only to be hit still harder by the unseen force and hurled still farther away.

A third time, then, the creature approached Slimtalon—but slowly this time. No third hammer-blow met it; apparently, Aslan, wherever He was, knew that it was giving up on trying to kill or capture the tigress. Coming as near to Slimtalon as it dared, the apparition spoke again, this time in English: “I see that you are protected. I wish you pleasant dreams, dreaming of what I may do to you if that protection is ever withdrawn. But know this: there are others who do _not_ share your immunity; and at the same time, they have no _need_ for immunity against me, for I lead them to a glorious destiny!” Lifting its beak the way a haughty human might lift his nose, the thing vanished…and the night air became warm again.

While Aslan did not appear visibly, nor offer any explanation for what Slimtalon had seen, she could sense His continued presence--due to the very fact that she could sleep again at all (with no nightmares) after such an encounter with evil.
 
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