Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.
Summary: Toll for the brave! The brave that are no more... Golden Age AU.
Additional Disclaimer: The verse cited below is the first verse/chorus from the sea chanty "Toll for the Brave" circa 1782. I didn't write it and I don't own it.
A/N: This is NOT part of my A Light in the Darkness universe. Written at the request of one of my reviewers as a companion fic to Dark Divergent.
Toll for the Brave
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Toll for the Brave!
The Brave that are no more,
All sunk beneath the wave
Fast by their native shore!
"Come on, Ed!"
Edmund grunted as Lucy tugged on his sleeve, "Lucy, I agreed to come down to the beach, didn't I?"
His sister laughed gaily. "Yes, but it's not as much fun if you don't come for a swim too." She clasped her hands together under her chin as she gazed at him with her big blue eyes. "Please, Edmund? Pretty please?"
Edmund sighed. He may not be as gullible as Peter when it came to the Eyes, but even he wasn't completely resistant. Besides, it was the middle of a very hot summer and the seawater would feel good against his bruises. "Oh all right."
Lucy squealed in delight as if she was still eight, instead of a woman grown at twenty-two, and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing tightly. "Thank you! Now come on, oh slow one!"
She took off racing down the beach to the gently lapping waves. Edmund glanced up at the Cair but there was no sign of Peter and Susan. More than likely, they hadn't been able to pry themselves away from the enthusiastic attention of King Lune yet. Especially since Lune was still quite jolly over the fact that his firstborn son, Cor, had been returned to him these three weeks past. And Peter had only just returned to Cair Paravel (in rather poor shape) a scant three days ago, so he probably wouldn't be allowed to come down to the beach anyway.
Shucking his boots and socks, Edmund had only just started jogging across the sand when he heard it. Lucy's yelp of surprise. He narrowed his eyes against the morning sun's glare. Lucy was bobbing in the waves. Perhaps one of the Mermaids had decided to play. Some of the younger ones would pull down unsuspecting swimmers just for a little fun before they joined in a splashing game. Then a dark shape appeared in the waves beside her. Lucy went under again.
Alarm coursed through him as he realized that wasn't a Mermaid. With a shout, Edmund snatched up his sword and raced into the waves. As soon as the sandy bottom fell away from his feet, Edmund dove. He had to find Lucy.
A roiling mass of coils appeared just in front of him. In their center was Lucy. A thick coil was wrapped around her entire body, trapping her legs and pinning her arms against her sides, preventing her from reaching the little dagger at her hip. Edmund swam forward until he could stab the coil entrapping her. The coil released her, writhing and curling in on itself as a black viscous substance streamed from the wound.
Grasping Lucy's wrist, Edmund swam toward the surface, tugging her unconscious body up. The creature must have choked her because she hadn't been under long enough to pass out for other reasons. But she would be all right if he could just get her to where she could get air. They had almost reached the surface when more coils shot out from the creature. The coils wrapped around them both and dragged them down into the depth of the sea.
His lungs were burning, the need to breathe was almost too much but Edmund focused only on his mission. He had to free Lucy. The coils wrapped around his arms and body were too tight. He needed to trick it into loosening its grip. He caught a brief glimpse of Lucy and noticed the coils weren't as secure around her. He forced himself to go limp, closing his eyes halfway just in case the creature used its eyes to ascertain whether he was unconscious (though he doubted it was so). His lungs were burning and he knew he didn't have much time left if he wanted to be able to rescue Lucy, but he stayed limp.
Aslan, Aslan, please give me the strength to free us from this beast. Finally, the coils loosened their grip. Edmund waited just a little longer, ignoring the way his lungs burned painfully. The coils loosened a little further. He plunged his sword into the coils holding Lucy. The coils immediately curled in on themselves and Lucy's limp body floated free.
Coils shot up and curled around his legs, dragging him down further. Darkness was edging in, but he spied the glint of weapons and armor rapidly approaching. The Merpeople had sent their warriors. He watched one Merman scoop Lucy into his brawny arms and rush her to the surface. As the darkness filled his vision, the last thing he felt was the sudden slackening of the coils' grip on him.
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Toll for the Brave!
The Brave that are no more,
All sunk beneath the wave
Fast by their native shore!
"No! Oh no!"
Susan's piercing cries filled my ears as she fell to her knees between Lucy and Edmund. A dull roaring filled my ears, drowning out the sound of Susan's voice, of the tearful murmuring of the crowd around us, of everything. It wasn't until I collapsed next to Susan that I realized the noise was coming from me. I picked them up, holding their heads against my shoulders, burying my hands in their still damp hair, and rocked as I roared in grief and anguish. Not Lucy and Edmund, not the Valiant and the Just.
No, this could not be. I shook them a little, trying to rouse them even though their cool skin and the blue tinge to their lips proved the fantasy that they were just unconscious heartbreakingly false. As I held them, they no longer looked as though they had ruled beside me for fourteen years. They looked too young, more like they had when we had first come here (despite all the growth spurts). They were too young to be gone…too young. I lowered my head as I rocked them. Sobs shook me even as I desperately listened for the sound of their breathing. Oh Aslan, oh Aslan, oh Aslan…
I barely registered the fact that Susan was clinging to me, her tears wetting my neck and the bandages there. I cared not for the pain shooting up my limbs as the wounds I received from fighting the Giants up north protested my actions. I cared only that Lucy and Edmund were gone. I held them and wept.
Our tears had not even come close to running dry when we were forced to allow their bodies to be taken and prepared for burial. I stayed on the floor, I couldn't make my legs move, and held Susan as she sobbed against my chest, soaking my tunic and bandages with her tears. Oreius stayed with us even when the others left. I raised my head and rasped, "What happened?"
Grief etched the stern planes of the Centaur's face as he responded, "The Merpeople report that some sort of sea monster, perhaps a Kraken, attacked the Valiant Queen and the Just King went to her aid. He fought to free her of the monster's grip with his last breath. The Mermen who went to their aid were able to drive the creature back but it was too late to save your brother and sister."
They shouldn't have died. Not here, not off the shores of our own beach. But, they died bravely. Lucy had been chattering only last night about how she wished they had had a little more time with Aslan when He appeared in Anvard. She would have all eternity in His presence now. That would make her happy I knew it would. She and Edmund were safe and whole in Aslan's country…and we would see them again one day. I tried to rise, pulling Susan up with me, but I nearly fell. Oreius caught me and pulled us both up and into the embrace of one who was like a father to us. Lucy's laughter and Edmund's sly smirk…oh I would miss them, but we would survive this and we would make sure the legacy of the Just and the Valiant did not fade.
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A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, this is the last death fic I'm writing. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one.
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