Esc%pe i$ The #ight
In the dead of night, a dark rider approached the castle of Anvard bringing news that would start the war of Archenland and Calormen…
The messenger dismounted his horse and walked up to the gates to be stopped by a guard.
"What business do you have here in Anvard?" the guard asked drawing out his sword. The messenger only laughed,
"Why you fool, this letter is to your king, and if you want to see the heir gain the throne, I suggest you take this to him." The messenger said throwing a letter onto the soil before mounting his horse and riding into the night… The guard picked the letter up with caution before reading it.
"Oh, my!" he said in fright before running to the Keep…
King Lune sat on his throne as he talked to one of his advisors. "How is Corin doing with his studies?" the king asked to the advisor wearing a midnight blue cloak. The advisor nodded,
"Very well your majesty. He has managed to learn some history on the Narnian's." The king laughed and clapped his hands.
"Excellent! Well done indeed!" the advisor nodded before speaking,
"He is having trouble staying focused, I know he is the only heir to the throne, but do forgive me for saying that he acts as though he'd rather not." The king nodded in understanding before whispering to the figure,
"Corin is now the only heir I have, so he is of much importance to Archenland. After the incident with Cor, I cannot risk my boy's life."
"I understand your majesty." Just then, the doors to the hall slammed open and in came the guard running with a letter and some servants.
"Your majesty! Your majesty, Calormen has sent word that if you do not forfeit the throne tonight they will kidnap Corin as they did your oldest son!" King Lune and the advisor stood up immediately,
"How long ago was this?" the advisor asked stepping down to the guard. The guard only responded,
"Twenty minutes ago." The guard stated. The advisor quickly turned to King Lune,
"Do not forfeit the throne! I will take Corin to safety!" the advisor said before beginning to leave. King Lune rushed down and grabbed the advisor,
"Where will you take him?" he asked worriedly, the advisor only shook its head.
"I dare not say, but he will be in good care." Another guard rushed in,
"They're here! They ran down the halls! What are they looking for? My men are trying to hold them off but we can't for long!"
"Corin!" the advisor said in panic and took off down one of the halls.
"The Tisroc said for us to get the boy, he has to be in one of these rooms." A screechy voice said as the advisor hid behind a pillar. The three men continued before one saw the cloak coming from the pillar.
"You come out of there and we might not kill you." The chubby soldier warned. The advisor let out a sigh and walked out from behind the pillar. The soldiers smiled to each other,
"Well what do we have here boys? A girl." The skinny soldier said with a smile
-"Not just any girl, a girl alone." The chubby one added nudging the taller one. The taller one looked at the girl before asking,
"What's your name girl?" the two others looked to her. The girl looked down,
"It's…" but she then saw a torch on her right and in-reach. "It's…none of your business!" she yelled grabbing the torch and throwing it at the three causing them to howl in pain. She quickly ran down the hall and into the Prince's room.
Prince Corin was sound asleep and took little notice of the commotion outside…
A hand grabbed his tunic and lifted him up causing him to yell in fright. The girl placed her hand on his mouth silencing him. The boy saw the girl and relaxed.
"Oh, Claire, it's just you." He said before laying back down, but was stopped,
"Corin! Not now! Come with me quickly and grab your sword!" she said pulling him out of bed.
"What's the ru-" Claire only shook her head,
"No Time!" Corin grabbed his belongings in confusion,
"Ready?! Come on!" she said taking his arm and running out of the room.
"There she is! And there's the Prince!" the chubby soldier yelled. Corin looked confused but Claire gave a shriek,
"Run!" and so they did, she led him down some stairs and into the servants passage.
"Where are we going?" but no response came for they ran into two other Calormen soldiers.
"Corin, Run to the stables! If I'm not there in two minutes make for the woods and keep going till the animals talk!" she said before grabbing another torch and throwing it at the two soldiers. Corin nodded and ran down another passage way…
Claire struggled to keep the odds against her. She had little material to work with and the soldiers weren't that dumb like those before… One of the soldiers pinned her into a pillar,
"Damn it!" she hissed under her breath…
Corin ran into the stables and readied his horse. He jumped on and took the reins.
"Where is she?!" he asked aloud but no response came, but the galloping of a horse.
"Come on!" Claire shouted passing him by. Corin yanked his reins and took off beside her… The stable doors blasted open and he and Claire rode off into the night…
"There they are!" a soldier shouted. Claire only laughed, and for some odd reason she enjoyed the look on the Calormen faces. She waved at them smiling,
"Bye!" Corin only gave a laugh as they rode on. From above in a window, King Lune saw his son and Claire make for the woods. This brought much joy, but they were being followed by five Calormen soldiers, this caused his fears to come alive…
"Claire, behind us!" Corin shouted looking behind him. She looked startled and looked over her shoulder,
"What?! They don't give up do they?!" she said before kicking her horse into a faster pace, "Keep up Corin or you die!" she said causing the Prince to ride past her. She gave a smile before concentrating on the yells behind her. She and Corin's horse jumped over a fallen tree.
"Over there! The prince, get the prince!" a man yelled. Corin rode faster as did Claire. The tree's blocked their view of sight, making it difficult to see where the riders where at and what was in front of them….
"Corin we need- Look out!" she screamed dodging an arrow as it whizzed past her head. "Cor, do what I taught you on riding faster!" she commanded. Corin only nodded and bent over so where his head was at the horse's mane. The arrows continued to whiz past them but failed to hit their marks.
"I guess the trees do have some advantage!" Corin joked; Claire only rolled her eyes smiling… They rode hard for some twenty minutes, before the arrows stopped. Taking no chances they continued their ride before coming to a river.
"We need to cross, Corin!" Claire explained, Corin only shrugged his shoulders,
"Obvious, and what am I suppose to do?!" Claire only bit her tongue as the Calormen soldiers yells' could be heard in the distance,
"You wanted adventure, now here is one! Cross!" she said slapping his horse to gallop into the water. The yells got nearer but Corin was nowhere near done crossing. She scoffed, before motioning her horse into the water… She reached Corin in no time at all, and gestured him to move over.
"What?!" he cried out, but all she did was move herself onto his horse. She took her horses reins and turned them instructing the horse to head back to the shore…
"Why did you do that?" Corin asked as Claire took the reins and led them out of the water.
"Because, I'm fooling them. I going to make it seem we got caught in the water and drowned. Or at least by us some time!" she said as they galloped into the dark forest…
"Where's the boy?" a soldier asked as Claire's horse galloped past them. The captain only gave a yell,
"The Tisroc won't be pleased with this at all!" another soldier said. Fear now began to overcome them, save the General.
"No," he said calming them down, "No, we can use this as a bluff for the old King. I want men patrolling this river day and night, and kill all who come near it. If the boy is dead that is good, he was going to be anyways, but if he's on the other side of the bank, well let him be, BUT don't let him get back over here!" the general said before galloping away…
Corin and Claire rode on into the night, enjoying the silence and peace. The trees began to spread and thin out as they galloped onto a grassy plain.
"Did we lose them?" Corin asked every ten seconds. Claire only got frustrated, "Yes, Corin. I believe we did."
The two rode together in silence, enjoying each other's company, (Well, when Corin wasn't speaking). After the sun began to rise, Corin found it safe to speak.
"So where are we?" he asked looking all around at this new land. Claire only smiled,
"Narnia," she breathed with happiness and hope…
