Underland (Narnia) - Rilian's Escape

Rilian's Escape

When Rilian is rescued and the Queen killed, Rilian and the others seek to find a way back to the Overworld. Rilian knows of a new passage on this side of the Sunless Sea, that the Earthmen have dug recently in preparation for the Queen's intended invasion of Narnia. They fear being apprehended by the Earthmen, but commotion breaks through the silence, and they discover that the Earthmen too have been trapped in Underland by the Queen's magic. Now that she is dead, the Earthmen are freed from their task of preparing her invasion, and they return gleefully to their own home, the land of Bism.

Bism, far beneath Underland, glows with volcanic heat. As Golg, their Earthman guide, leads them past the opening to Bism, the travelers look down into it and make out a river of fire where Salamanders swim, alongside groves and fields of many colors, not unlike a stained glass window. Lewis describes Bism as a place of beauty for the Gnomes, who desire to reach it as much as Rilian and his companions want to reach the Overland. Golg describes the living riches of Bism as far outstripping the "dead" gold and jewels that Overlanders find in their shallow mines. Rilian is torn with desire to see this land, but the rift between Underland and Bism is about to close, and the Gnomes hurry to be on the correct side. Rilian and his companions escape to the surface through the tunnel dug by the Earthmen.