He is too late. By the time Peter reaches the river, his sisters are dead.
The wolves howl in the distance, their mission fulfilled. Susan and Lucy lay on the grass. Blood seeps into the dirt and stains the stream where they had fallen.
Peter goes mad with grief and guilt. Even Aslan is barely able to console him. He offers only a faint chance of hope, but it is all he can give.
Anguished, Peter agrees to help defeat the Witch. Perhaps killing her will break the spell she has cast on his brother.
The battle is waged. Narnian fights Narnian, brother fights brother. Aslan, knowing the prophecy, gives his life for Edmund's. But this Edmund has not been saved or redeemed. He is a Prince, a child of destiny who will rule Narnia.
Or at least that is what She told him, and in this world he believes her.
In this world, Aslan had not died and returned. He had not freed the statues held in the Witch's castle, and so the forces of Good are crushed by superior might. Peter fights in a dwindling group of brave warriors.
And Edmund, desperate to assert himself as the rightful successor of Narnia, enters the fray.
So he faces his arrogant, perfect brother on the field of battle. With the Witch's poisonous lies humming through him, he hacks and slices in jealous anger.
But Peter is better, and still has the Lion's blessing. He knocks his brother back, and Edmund slips from the rocks and breaks his legs. The prophesied High King stands over his brother, Rhindon poised above Edmund's heart.
Peter, who still loves his final sibling, is unable to deal the fatal blow. He calls a retreat, and those who can race into hiding. The Witch carries her Prince off the field of battle, and strengthens his injured legs with icy supports.
Winter creeps back over Narnia. The surviving Narnians huddle in caves and holes. The Witch and her Prince continue a reign of terror even worse than before.
It is fifteen years since the War.
Though the Witch and her Prince search tirelessly for the last Pevensie, he has remained hidden. But his people need him, and he cannot let them down. So when a group of Narnians raid a storehouse of food, fifteen years to the day of the Battle of Beruna, two brothers face each other again.
The duel is long and violent. The brothers are almost evenly matched, Edmund flush with magic and power, Peter weakened by hunger and travel. But all things must come to an end, and the Prince delivers a fatal blow to the Golden King.
But all hope was not lost.
As Peter lay at his feet, crimson lifeblood staining the snow, Edmund awoke. He looked upon his dying sibling, and felt a lion's call.
The Witch never suspected the Prince's treachery, and she died upon his icy blade, stained with his brother's blood. The Second Winter was at last at an end.
And with the return of Spring to Narnia, the White Stag is spotted near Lantern Waste, and Edmund makes a desperate wish.