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Chapter Three
"Come on, faster!"
I huffed, jogging after Aja, who had brought me to the rocky hills surrounding the camp. As she leapt and jumped with ease from stone to stone, I scrambled behind her, clambering to find my footing. Her hooves trotted easily along the snow covered ground, and I sighed, trying my best to follow suit. I turned, looking over my shoulder at the camp below us. I could see Oreius, the general of Aslan's army, watching us from the ground below. Both he and Aja were dressed in simple leather jerkins and tunics, while I myself was clad in high leather boots over thick trousers, and a tunic and jerkin underneath a woolen cloak. I also had leather gloves on my hands, so that I could climb without fear of losing my fingers. I gripped onto the edge of a snow covered rock, and pulled myself up, watching Aja grow farther away. I groaned.
"Aja, I can't go as fast as you, I'm not a faun!" She stopped, smirking down at me.
"Well, that's just it. You have to learn, don't you?" I sighed. "Besides, Oreius is watching! Come on, now!" I followed, the thought of impressing the intimidating general spurring me on. Once we reached the top, Aja made me do a series of running, jumping, and other stamina related exercises, until I was sweating through my tunic and I had discarded my cloak in the snow. By the time we climbed down the rocky hill again, with me skidding and sliding in the snow, the sun was sinking in the west, and Oreius was waiting for us at the entrance of my tent. As we passed by, he nodded stoically in my direction.
"Well done," It was a simple statement, but I was glad to have pleased the General. I smiled slightly, and nodded back respectfully, before Aja and I passed through the curtains into my tent. Inside it was warm, as Arden had stoked the fire before we arrived, and I quickly shed my jerkin and cloak, leaving me in my tunic and trousers. Brushing the sticky strands of hair away from my sweaty face, I fetched a cup of water from the table, before handing one to Aja as well and taking a long drink. Aja smiled as she looked at me.
"You did very well for your first day," she said. "Especially for someone who doesn't have hooves." I laughed.
"Thanks." I sat down on my cot, sighing as my legs finally gained reprieve. "I'm glad you think so." Aja nodded emphatically.
"Of course! And two years is plenty of time to get you trained perfectly to protect the Kings and Queens!" My heart seemed to skip a beat.
"Two years?" Aja nodded. "But I…I need to go back…to…" I stopped. That was silly, I didn't have anywhere to go, but for a moment I'd thought I'd had. I shook my head, but I couldn't rid myself of the uneasiness that settled over me. Aja stepped towards me, looking a bit concerned.
"Where? Where do you have to go?" I blinked.
"Nowhere. I don't have to go anywhere…" I smiled reassuringly at her. "But the Kings and Queens won't be here for two years?" She nodded.
"Aslan said we will train you for two years, so I assumed that's when the Kings and Queens are coming." I nodded.
"Two years seems like such a long time…" Aja laughed.
"Oh, don't worry; you'll be plenty busy during that time." I sighed, but couldn't fight the smile that spread across my face.
"Ugh, let's not talk about that," I groaned imploringly. "Let's just…rest." I made my way to my cot, and collapsed backwards onto it, watching the smoke from the fire escape through a hole in the tent ceiling. Aja laughed, and reclined on her own cot, sipping her water.
The next few days seemed to fly by; I trained with Aja every day, until I could hardly stand. I began to feel more and more satisfied, however, as I started gaining on her in our running or climbing exercises, or nearly disarming her in a sparring match. I practiced with a sword and dagger every day, as we had decided that a shield, sword, and dagger would be prime weapons for a royal guard. The sword was strong, good both for defense and offense, and shield was protective and useful, and the dagger precise, good for up close sparring or long distance throwing. I found myself growing fond of the weapons, becoming quite comfortable handling them. It was a few months into my training that I first managed to disarm Aja.
I grinned, holding my sword to her throat, having flung hers away into the snow. We stood still for a moment, chests heaving, trying to catch our breath, before Aja broke into a wide smile. "Well done!" She exclaimed. I lowered my sword, and laughed in disbelief and excitement. "Thanks," I sheathed my sword, looking to her expectantly. She smiled. "That's enough for today," She glanced to the south. "Sun's nearly set, anyway." She stowed her weapon, and he walked together back to our tent, where I took off my belt, setting my scabbard on the table before removing my leather jerkin. I sat down on my bed with a sigh, and smiled, thinking of my accomplishment as Aja sipped contentedly on a glass of water. The peaceful silence lasted only a moment, however, as the tent flap was quickly pushed open to reveal Arden, her curls flying about her face in the harsh wind, and her green eyes wide with a fear I've never seen in her. I sat up quickly, my heart rate quickening. Aja stood also, her hands on her blades.
"What is it?" she asked, her voice urgent, yet cautious. Arden entered the tent, and closed the flap behind her.
"They're here. They've found us." My blood ran cold.
"Who? Th—the Witch?" Arden nodded grimly, before throwing our pitcher of water on the fire, effectively putting it out. Suddenly, the sound of a horn echoed through the air, and I heard yelling and the chilling clash of weapon against weapon. I took up my sword again, quickly buckling the scabbard back to my waist, and throwing my cloak over my shoulders. Once we had everything, Aja took my wrist, and Arden made her way to the doorway. Before she reached it, the flap was torn aside, and a hideous creature jumped inside, its gruesome features twisted into a snarl, its gnarled claw holding a deadly scythe above its head. It focused on Arden first, and swung its weapon at her. My breath caught in my throat, but she dodged it easily, and Aja leapt forward, spearing the creature with her blade. It let out a screech, before collapsing on the floor. There was a beat of silence, before the flap opened again and two more of the Witch's followers pounced, this time at me. Aja managed to distract one, but I was forced to draw my sword to defend myself. Filled with new confidence after my latest victory, I held up my blade in an attempt to appear frightening, though my presence didn't seem to faze the creature. He grinned at me through yellow teeth, swung his own blade at my unprotected side. I only just managed to block his blow, but his swing was much more forceful than I had anticipated, and I stumbled backwards. I scrambled to my feet just in time, but I was now backed against the wall, with no way out. I held my blade in both hands, preparing for the blow, when my opponent suddenly staggered, and fell, with Arden's blade plunged between his shoulders. She retrieved her sword just as Aja bested her adversary, and the two of them looked at me.
"Are you all right?" Arden asked gently. I nodded, though my knees felt strangely wobbly. Although I had won a sparring match earlier, it was nothing compare to being thrown into a real fight. Aja took my arm again, and held her sword out in front of her as she opened the flap to the tent. The sight outside took my breath away. The Witch's followers were everywhere, and there were far more of them than there were of us. They had set fire to some of the tents, and I looked away at the sight of one of centaurs I had seen around lying in the snow, unmoving.
"Come!" Arden beckoned, and I followed her, wishing I could drown out the sounds of the Narnians being slaughtered. I felt Aja behind me, and I tightened my grip on my sword as we made our way away from the camp.
"Wait!" I stopped. "What about the others? They're going to die!" Arden looked pained, but Aja placed a soothing, yet firm hand on my shoulder.
"We have instructions from Oreius, that we are to get you as far away as possible if something like this were to happen. Please, Evelyn, you must trust us." Aja stared pleadingly at me, and I swallowed the bile in my throat at the sudden wail of pain from the camp.
"Narnia needs you to live, Evelyn," Arden grasped my wrist, pulling me towards the woods. I hesitated. I didn't want to go back, I was terrified, and I didn't want to die, or get hurt. But I couldn't ignore the feeling of guilt and dread in my stomach at the thought of escaping while everyone that had been so kind to me was killed in cold blood. Arden tugged on my arm again, and I finally relented, following her into the woods, with Aja close behind. It seemed as if the sounds of destruction were fading, but the woods were dark and eerily silent. Suddenly, Arden stopped short, holding her sword out in front of her. I felt Aja tense beside me as well, and I waited, hardly daring to breathe. Arden took a hesitant step forward, and a sudden growl from my right made me jump, while Arden extended her sword towards the sound. Another growl sounded from the left, and then another from behind us. We pressed our backs together, squinting in the darkness so as to see our enemies, when a cold voice rang out.
"Well, well, looks like the knight needs some protection of her own. This should be easy." I stared in the direction of the voice, and saw a pair of yellow eyes emerge from the shadow, until a large wolf as tall as my waist emerged into the moonlight, almost immediately accompanied by half a dozen more canines. Their snouts were pulled back into snarls, baring their sharp teeth, and they surveyed us closely, before the leader chuckled, a low, grating laugh. "Take her." Instantly, all six of the wolves pounced. I ducked, thrusting my sword in front of me, managing to catch one in the shoulder. The wolf whimpered, before snarling and pouncing again. This time Aja engaged the enemy, and glanced at me quickly.
"Go!" She said, speaking through gritted teeth. "Get away!" It took a moment to register that she was talking to me, and I thought about what they had said earlier, about Narnia needing me. Ignoring the guilt, I turned, and ran. I barely made it a few paces when one of the wolves leapt in front of me, blocking my path.
"Where do you think you're going?" He snarled. I held my sword out in front of me, my hands visibly shaking. The wolf laughed. "Nice try," He leapt, and his teeth clamped down on my sword arm, sending burning pain shooting through my fingers and up to my shoulder. I cried out, falling to my knees as he pulled me down. The sword tumbled from my grasp and sunk into the snow. The wolf let go of my arm with a vicious growl, and I fought to keep my eyes open through the pain. My ears were ringing, and all I could focus on was the fiery pain in my arm. I barely heard someone call my name, when my vision went black.