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"I think this might actually be too obvious to be a trap," says Mir.

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"Arlen, back me up instead."

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Arlen appears to have already followed the bird to its next branch, and awaits the others.

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"Oh, for- fine. But this is under duress."

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"Nior will protect you," Mir assures him, patting him on the back as he follows the bird.

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"The hell he will. I'm the size of a grown man and I have a quarterstaff, I'll protect myself."

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"Well, then, what are you worried about?"

The bird leads them quite a ways through the woods. It's cold. Caves are also often cold, though, so they're not dressed as badly as they could've been.
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"I'm worried for you fragile little bastards. So stay close to me, I have a stick."

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"Happy to," snorts Mir.

As they proceed, though, it begins to seem more and more appropriate to shut up. He does that.
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As does Harin.

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They end up in a medium-sized clearing, and then the robin darts away and doesn't stop to be followed.

Nior looks around. His eyes settle on a tree across the clearing.
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After a pause, some beavers bustle into sight!

A beaver wearing an apron begins fretting. "Hello, hello, what's this? Human children? Come on, then, let's get you back to the dam, you'll catch your death of cold and then where'd we be, oh dear..."
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"Lead the way," says Mir.

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She bustles the children damwards. "Such a time for you to come, and all Sons of Adam that I can see, what a muddle, how awfully strange. But Aslan's will is his own, and he is on the move again, that much we know. Come on, come on."

(The other beaver, who appears to be her husband, is less talkative. He seems mostly to be along for moral support.)
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Aslan. Who in any available world is Aslan? The name makes Miraen feel like... like someone just showed him the challenge of a lifetime and then clapped him on the back and told him to get to it. Energized. Alive. About to get things done.

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Harin feels, for an instant, like the kind of person who deserves to be happy for what he does. A good person, someone who deserves to rest. After a moment it leaves him hollow, but in that moment he understands what it could be like to be happy.

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Nior feels two things at once. One is an echo, an understanding of Mir's reaction. The other is... complicated. Like a beautiful intricate puzzle, like staring into the cold embrace of death, like something that's perfectly right and perfectly wrong in a seamless, gratingly incongruous meld.

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Arlen feels full of energy and life. Like he could climb a mountain and crash into the shore again and do it all a thousand times more.

"Holy shit," he breathes. "Does that happen every time you say 'Aslan'? Why do you have other words?"
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"Same question," says Mir. "Wow."

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Mrs. Beaver looks bemused. "Um... well, I suppose you just get used to it after a while. It's very nice, yes."

They've reached the dam; she ushers them in carefully.
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"Lovely house you have," says Mir. "Please, can you tell us what's going on? It's been a very confusing day."

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"Oh! Yes, certainly, I'm terribly sorry, it just completely slipped my mind you wouldn't know anything, it's quite alright. You've been... well, you've been prophesied as the Kings of Narnia, I suppose. The Sons of Adam, come at last, to help Aslan overthrow the White Witch."

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"I'd hoped for something along those lines," Mir admits. "Does the prophesy say anything about how we're supposed to manage this?"

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"Ah. Not in so many words, no."

"You're to sit on the throne at Cair Paravel," contributes Mr. Beaver. "The ancestral palace. Though that probably comes after her defeat, come to that."
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"Well. I do enjoy a challenge," says Mir.

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