Susan and Lucy stood up to leave the Stone Table. The sun had not quite risen yet, but they had to leave. Susan put her arm around Lucy's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. Both girls were devestated. As they walked away, Lucy looked back at Aslan one last time. She started to cry again.
Just as they reached the stairs leading down the hill, though, there was a very loud 'crack!' and the ground beneath their feet shook, throwing them both to their knees. Once it stopped, they turned around quickly to look.
The Stone Table was broken in half, and Aslan was gone.
"Where's Aslan?" Lucy asked.
"What have they done?" cried Susan. "Is it more magic?"
"Yes, it is." Both girls turned around again quickly.
"Aslan!" They ran and buried their faces in the Lion's great mane.
"We saw the knife, the Witch," Susan said. "What's going on?"
"You aren't - a ghost, are you, Aslan?" Lucy asked.
The Lion smiled and asked, "Do I look it?"
Lucy laughed. "No Aslan, you don't!"
In answer to Susan's question, Aslan said, "The Witch knew of the deep magic, but she did not know that there was a magic deeper still. When a willing victim who had commited no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table would crack in two and even Death itself would start working backwards."
"We must tell them, then!" Susan said. "Peter and Edmund will have gone to war, and they must think that there is no hope!"
"We have to help them!" Lucy said.
"And so we will, Dear One; but we have some work to do first."