|When Two Worlds Collide - Book III

Back on the beach, Caspian, Miriam, Lucy and Edmund decided to leave the crew and explore the volcanic island in hopes of finding something that might lead them in the right direction. Caspian had ordered Rhince to look for any food and Miriam asked Theo to help him.

They had walked through the rocky volcanic terrain for a while when Caspian saw something. "Look, we're not the first ones on this island." It was a rope tied to a rock right by a crevice on the ground.

"The lords?" Edmund asked.

"Could be." Caspian picked up a stone and threw it down the crevice and they all watched it fall until it hit the ground below them. "What do you think could be down there?"

"Let's find out." Edmund suggested and they all climbed down the rope, one by one. Edmund was the first one down, followed by Caspian, Miriam and Lucy.

Once they were down they found themselves in what reminded them of an underground tunnel with slippery rocks and the rumbling sound of the volcanic pressure made the ground shake and stones to fall down from the ceiling.

In the middle of the tunnel was a deep pool of water that glittered from the sunrays that peeked in through the narrow cracks in the ground.

"What's that?" Caspian asked as they looked down into the pool of water.

"I don't know. Looks like some sort of gold statue." Edmund responded. He broke off a branch from an old vine on the wall to touch the golden statue underwater, but as soon as the branch touched the water, it turned into gold, and Edmund quickly threw the branch into the water to avoid becoming a golden statue himself. "Ah!"

"He must have fallen in." Caspian concluded as they looked closer at the golden statue.

"Poor man." Lucy said.

"You mean, "poor lord." Countered Edmund when he saw the shield lying next to the man in the water.

Caspian recognized the shield immediately. "The crest of Lord Restimar."

"And his sword." Edmund found the lord's sword also in the pool but further away, like he had lost his grip on his shield and weapon when he fell in.

"We need it." Caspian stated and Edmund unsheathed his sword to use as an aid to catch the sword.

"Be careful." Miriam watched nervously as Edmund carefully caught Lord Restimar's sword with his own. But to their great surprise, nothing happened to Edmund's sword and Lord Restimar's sword was intact – it had not turned to gold. "Your sword hasn't turned to gold."

"Both the swords are magical." Caspian helped Edmund to get the sword safely away from the pool. "Here." He grabbed the sword and both him and Miriam examined it while Edmund and Lucy turned their gazes back towards the water.

"He mustn't have known what hit him." Lucy concluded.

"Maybe. Or maybe he was onto something." Edmund laid down his sword and picked up a seashell instead.

"What are you talking about?" Caspian asked curiously.

Edmund dipped the seashell in the water, quickly laid it on the ground near his feet and watched as it turned to gold. He picked it up again and examined it as his head spun with ideas.

"What are you staring at?" Lucy asked her brother

"Whoever has access to this pool... could be the most powerful person in the world." Edmunds eyes never left the golden shell as he answered his sister. "Lucy, we'd be so rich. No one could tell us what to do... or who to live with."

"You can't take anything out of Narnia, Edmund." Caspian told him and Miriam felt a sudden change in her husband's demeanor.

"Says who?"