With Edmund returned to his siblings, after having talked with Aslan, there is much joy at the Stone Table for a short while. But soon, an icy chill is felt in the air as the White Witch comes to talk with Aslan herself.
"The Queen of Narnia desires safe conduct to come and speak with You," the Dwarf announces.
The creatures assembled around the Stone Table murmur in fear as Aslan responds. "Tell your mistress that I grant her safe conduct, on condition that she leaves her wand behind her at the Great Oak."
As a cold wind blows through the warm summer of Aslan's camp, the Witch enters with an accusation, looking at Edmund; "You have a traitor there, Aslan."
The King responds, "His offense was not against you."
"Have You forgotten the Deep Magic? You know that every traitor belongs to me, and that for every treachery, I have a right to kill." The Witch's voice rises, "And so," she stabs a finger in Edmund's direction, "that Human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property."
Concerned whispers come from all the creatures gathered around the Stone Table, and the Witch takes advantage of the situation; "Your Master knows what is written; He knows that unless the Law is obeyed, all of Narnia will be overturned and parish in fire and water!"
"Peace! Fall back, all of you," Aslan quiets them. "I will talk with the Witch alone."
Slowly, all of Aslan's followers obey. Aslan and the Witch talk in low, intense tones for several minutes — then at last it seems the Witch is satisfied.
Aslan addresses those gathered around the Stone Table; "The matter has been settled." He turns to the children, "The Witch has renounced her claim on your brother's blood." The relived crowd congratulates the children, but there is a strange sadness behind the joy in Aslan's eyes.
The Witch speaks to her Dwarf as they begin to leave the camp, "Now gather our forces. The time is at hand." She stops and turns back to face Aslan. "One final thing; how do I know this 'promise' will be kept?"
Aslan's eyes burn with fire. "You know that when Aslan makes a promise, it will be kept." His defining roar fills the valley, and the Witch wastes no time in getting out of His sight.
Later that night, after Aslan's followers have moved camp away from the Stone Table, Aslan returns alone, hanging his head in sorrow. Worried, Lucy and Susan follow and ask if He is alright and if they might stay with Him. A sad sigh escapes the great Lion. "Yes. I would be glad of company tonight. But when I tell you, you must hide for your very lives." With wide eyes, the girls nod in agreement. The three walk on in relative silence, except for the deep sighs from the Lion.
Then a million nightmarish noises erupt all around them; squeals, howls, hissing, streaks and hideous growls. "Now you must hide, children," Aslan tells them urgently. "And whatever happens, do not let your selves be seen."
The girls dart behind some bushes just as the source of the terrible sounds appear. Dozens of horrible creatures flood the hilltop around the Stone Table, followed by the Witch. Her eyes wild in her hour of triumph, she calls out to the monsters writhing in glee around Aslan — "The Fool is here! Bind Him fast."
In an eruption of noise, the creatures swarm the great Lion, tying Him tight and muzzling His submissive face. He makes no move to fight back. Pointing to the Stone Table, the Witch commands that He be placed on the "alter", then climbs the stone steps to stand over Him.
Aslan still does not defend Himself, only stares back at the Witch, unblinking. A cruel hatred fills the Witch's eyes. "You Fool! Did you think that by sacrificing Yourself You could save the Human traitor?" she demands. "Now not only will I kill You in his place as we agreed, but I will come back, and kill the boy as well." She raises a jagged dagger above the Lion's heart. "In that knowledge, despair — and die!" With a shriek she drives the dagger home.
Aslan lets out a deep groan and a final breath. Upon seeing Him dead at the hand of their Queen, the evil creatures again erupt in terrible glee. "Victory is mine!" cries the Witch, raising the dagger high above her head as a trophy. "Now we will set about finishing what remains of this war. It will not take us long, now that the great "cat" lies dead!"
They stream off the hillside with screeches and howls into the darkness in search of Aslan's followers at their new camp.
Tear-stained and terrified, Susan and Lucy creep out from their hiding place. Aslan is most certainly dead. They cry a while longer, but tears only last so long. "We should go and try to warn the others," Susan says, just above a whisper. But as the girls turn to leave, an earthquake and huge bolts of lightning strike the hillside and the Stone Table, followed by a terrible CRACK! The girls turn back to see the Stone Table broken in two, and Aslan's body gone without a trace.
"Oh no!" they cry. "Where is He? What is it now? Is it more magic?"
Then, from nowhere and everywhere at once, a rumbling Voice answers, "Yes! It is more magic!" And standing just on the other side of the hill, looking bigger and more powerful and glorious than ever, is Aslan, the Great Lion, alive and well.
The girls run to Him, all their fear washed away in pure joy. Then Susan pulls back. "But...But Aslan— We saw the knife. The Witch. You were dead! How...?"
"Yes," Aslan replies, laughing. "Yes! But there was a deeper magic than that Witch knew, a magic from before the dawn of time: That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery—"
"Like You?" asks Lucy.
"Like Me," the Lion replies. "Is killed in the place of a traitor, the Stone Table will crack, and death itself will start working backwards!" He shakes His golden mane. "Oh children! I feel I am going to roar! You'd better put your fingers in your ears!" His mighty roar shakes the whole country, rumbling down into the valley below where a fierce battle is underway.
The Witch and her army have attacked Aslan's followers, and though they bravely fight back, they are little match for such evil. Peter fights the Witch with valiant effort, but her swordsmanship is unmatched.
Peter is soon on the defensive, always just one moment away from loosing entirely. Once he is disarmed, he is at the mercy of the Witch's wand, tossing him around like a rag puppet.
Preparing to finish off another enemy, the Witch raises her sword above a helpless Peter — but before she can strike, Edmund dashes up behind, grabs her wand and breaks it in two. The Witch's face darkens in anger, and she repays Edmund with a kick to the head before turning back to finish his brother again.
But another roar shakes the battlefield as Aslan bounds in to defend His people Himself. For a moment the Witch stands in total shock, but the shock is quickly replaced with deep hatred. Good and Evil circle each other, and the fight for all of Narnia begins.
The Witch is quick and determined, but the great Lion proves far stronger. Still, He never forces His hand, waiting instead for her to move and responding with one solid movement at a time.
The longer the fight goes on the more the Witch boils in anger. No matter what trick she tries, her plan is thwarted.
Then, in a pure rage, she attacks in a furry of strokes, and Aslan fights back, blow for blow.
In one great swipe of a huge Lion paw, the Witch feels real pain — but determined to see her ultimate Enemy dead before her last breath, she makes a final attempt to finish Him off.
In an instant -quick, smooth, and sudden- Aslan turns the stab back on the Witch, accompanied by a great roar. And with a cry of pain, the Witch falls dead.
Hissing and wheezing, her hideous army scurries to gather up their fallen leader. "The Queen is dead! Retreat!" Carrying the body of the Witch, they disperse quickly, chased back by Aslan's followers and their shouts of victory.
With the death of the White Witch, Narnia moves into full-fledged, beautiful summer. Aslan restores Mr. Tumnus and the others turned to stone in the Witch's crumbling courtyard, and soon the coronation of the four children is underway.
King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just, and Queen Lucy the Valiant are beloved by all the Narnian creatures and rule wisely for many years. Aslan comes and goes through the country, for, as Tumnus reminds the new rulers, "He's not a tame Lion. And He has other countries to attend to."
So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed all the pictures. :) (& my attempt to summarize a brilliant story in not nearly enough space... :P )
And just a note to go with all the pictures, 'cause you miss half the magic of seeing the show live... We had an absolutely amazing cast; everyone did an incredible job in their roles and I am beyond honored to have been a part of it. I wish I had space to write down the awesomeness of everyone in the cast, but alas, these few mentions will have to do:
---Firstly, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver were nothing short of adorable! ^_^ To my sister; you'd better not ever loose that voice you had for Mrs. Beaver or I might cry. XP
---What a great minion I had, my Dwarf! ^_^ Loved your old-dwarf-make-up, and your limp!
---The Nymphs and Sprites did so well with all their dances, and really helped to fill Narnia and make it more of a real world on stage. And way to go to my little brother for being the only guy in the group!
---Edmund and Susan, you guys are awesome as usual. Your accents are spot-on. B-) (Edmund, what was up with you and that net at that one rehearsal?? And Susan, how come we get those strange Russian accents whenever we talk with each other? :P )
---Fenris Ulf: wow, yikes, and great job! Still would have loved to see the red contacts...
---Peter, thanks for your patience with me while I learned all the sword fights you had to throw yourself around in a hundred-million times. :P The fights turned out to be my favorite part, and you were very patient with my slow learning-to-appear-fierce-ness. :P
---Everybody - what on earth was up with everyone wanting to fill in for the Witch's Army whenever they weren't in rehearsal?! Why did you all want to be evil?! You're nuts!
---Aslan: Thank you for understanding and portraying Aslan so well - you made the whole thing very real for me and so easy to respond to in character. I really appreciated acting opposite someone who knew Aslan and Lewis and Narnia so well, so we could always be on the same page. Only downside; you were so into it at the Stone Table you made me feel terrible every time! :P Great job!
---And Lucy, you were (and are!) the sweetest thing ever. You will forever be engrained in my memory as a perfect little Lucy. :)
...We've joked that it's too bad all our family's children didn't turn out to be 'good'... :P Heh, heh. Anyway, hope you enjoyed all that!
(some of the lines are paraphrased from the script we used, written by Joseph Robinette. Pictures from the 2012 production by Academy of Children's Theatre and ACTII of Colorado Springs, CO)
And as Aslan said at the end of our show:
"There is always more magic!"
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