Hola mi amigos! Yay! Chapter.... seven? I think. Anyway, as much as I want to, I can't take credit for any of the characters other than... well, now that I think of it, there are a lot of characters that I did creater. Anyway, I don't own Edmund, or Peter, or Susan, or Lucy, or Aslan, or Orieus, or the Beavers, or Mr. Tumnes(when he comes), or anyone else that C.S. Lewis created. Please review, and I'm sorry we've been taking so long to update our chapters. With school and all it's much harder. Anyway, please tell us what you think. Criticism is accepted, as long as it is constructive!
Cecelia walked as slowly as she possibly could, taking her time as she crossed the campsite. She had been dreading this moment since they had finished setting up their tents. She had even volunteered to help set up some of the other travelers tents, just so she could put this moment off longer. It wasn't her fault though. No, she didn't want to do this. This, this was their fault.
They were the ones who had mercilessly forced her into this. Stupid Peter. Stupid Edmund. Both of them had to have lost their minds if they really thought that she could do this. Why were they even making her learn to fight with a sword? They wouldn't make her if they knew just how uncoordinated she really was. She would be perfectly capable with a bow and arrow in her hands.
"I shall end up chopping one of their heads off!" Cecelia announced as she joylessly made her way across the grounds to where the Pevensie children were waiting with Aslan.
Cecelia instantly stood straighter at the sight of the lion.
Cecelia knew that the lion was kind, but she couldn't help her reaction to the sight of him. He just looked so menacing. Even after the two had talked last night -or rather this morning- she was still quite scared of him. She knew that Aslan meant no harm, in fact he was here to help, but she couldn't change the way she felt about him. Since the talk, every time she saw him or someone mentioned his name she would get this awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. It would take some time getting used to Aslan.
Even when she did get used to him, she didn't think there would ever be a time where she could have the same type of relationship that he shared with the Pevensie children. He was a terrible sight, he was. Still, after all that, the awful feeling would eventually fade and she would feel a sense of hope. Since their talk, he hadn't uttered a single word to her. Even on the journey to the camp he didn't speak to her. Every now and then she would feel his gaze upon her, but that was all, never a word. Rather, he had chosen to walk with Edmund, Peter, and Lucy while Susan rode beside her, careful not to let her out of her sight for to long. Susan was afraid Cecelia would do something stupid if left alone, and she had every right to be afraid.
"Cecelia! Hurry up now! It's time to have some real fun!" Peter called out, waving a long, gleaming sword above his head. Cecelia winced before she shook her head no. The others all laughed and Cecelia scowled. Taking joy in her pain, how rude. Cecelia squinted her eyes, imagining their reactions when they actually saw her with a sword in her hands. Lucy ran over to Cecelia, and grabbed her hand.
"Come on Cecelia! Really, it won't be as bad as you think. My brothers are good teachers." Lucy said, dragging Cecelia over to the other three.
"Truly Cecelia, whats the worst that could happen?" Edmund asked her.
"Well, quite a few things could happen. For starters, I could chop off my head, I could chop off your head, I could chop off Peter's head, or I could chop off the head of an innocent bystander who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Cecelia told the Pevensies. "See, look. I just gave you four bad things that could happen, and there's plenty more. Would you like me to go into further detail? I could, quite easily too." Susan laughed gently and walked over, placing a hand on Cecelia's shoulder.
"Cecelia, Peter and Edmund will not let you chop anyone's head off. I promise you. No matter how terrible you might be, they would never let you harm yourself or anyone else. Just trust me, you'll be absolutely fine. In fact, you might even enjoy your lesson. You'll never know though, unless you at least give it an attempt." Susan told Cecelia calmly. Susan always made her feel better.
"Fine." Cecelia said after a minute's hesitation. "Still, I'd rather if there were as few as people as possible. It'd be better if you didn't witness my lesson. It might scar you for life, literally."
"Come my daughters. Edmund and Peter can handle this." Aslan said, addressing Susan and Lucy. They reluctantly agreed to go with Aslan, following him towards camp. The three children watched as they disappeared in a crowd of Narnians. Then, Peter walked over, handing Cecelia a wooden sword.
"Alright now, we'll start off easy on you, using wooden swords. We'll probably stick with these until you get a good grip on what we're doing. Then, and only then, will we start to practice with some real swords. Now, we don't expect you to be perfect, but you will have to be pretty good before we can move onto the reals swords. We don't want you to chop anyone's head off now, do we?" Peter joked. Cecelia stuck her tongue out at both the boys. Peter only smiled in response.
"Let's start with some vocabulary, that way you'll know what we're talking about and we don't have to stop and explain ourselves. Just some simple things to get you started." Edmund said, picking up a wooden sword before he dove into a long, and in Cecelia's opinion, devastatingly boring lecture over the parts of swords and multiple attacks. He talked about things like hilts, pommels, grips, and cross guards. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Edmund stopped. It seemed as though the end was near, but then Peter picked up where Edmund left off without a moments hesitation. It was as if they had choreographed exactly what they were going to saw, and when they were going to say it.
Peter then went into a lengthy speech about the types of attacks. There were so many that Cecelia couldn't keep up. It seemed as though there were a million different attacks, and the only ones that she picked up were something like strikes, cuts, and thrusts. They just happened to be the first three that Peter mentioned. After that, Cecelia's mind went completely blank.
"Now pick up your sword. Practice has begun." Edmund said. Cecelia woke up from her day dream and stared at the boys until she remembered what was going on.
"What? Oh... And so the end begins." Cecelia muttered under her breath, picking up the wooden sword that lay on the ground in front of her.
To Cecelia, it seemed as though practice dragged on forever, even longer than the lectures the boys had just given her. To Peter and Edmund, it felt as if practice had only just begun. The group was still using the wooden swords they had started out with, and Cecelia already had a collection of scrapes and bruises covering her body.
"Are we almost done with practice?" Cecelia asked, whining, as Peter finished criticizing her form.
"We told you that every time you complained, practice would only get that much longer." Edmund said as he walked over.
"Yes, I know that, but I really can't last that much longer. I'm telling you that if I don't get a break soon, I'll faint." Cecelia told them.
"Come on, now. Let's see what you can do so far." Edmund said.
With those words, Edmund lunged, aiming his wooden sword at Cecelia. He jabbed her in the ribs, causing Cecelia to stumble backwards, the breath knocked out of her. She gritted her teeth, but she jumped forward towards Edmund. He easily dodged the strike she threw. Cecelia was becoming quite agitated, which might have been Edmund's point. She took a quick side glance to see Peter sitting on the ground, a smug smile on his face. She knew that practice wouldn't end until they were satisfied that if it came to it, she would be able to hold her own in an emergency. Well, at least until help came.
"That's it." She spoke through her clenched teeth.
Sweat formed on her brow as she put all of her strength into the fight with Edmund. Time after time Edmund knocked Cecelia down, and time after time she swung at Edmund only to find she missed him. It was one swing Edmund threw that really made her mad. He twisted the sword in an odd fashion before he swung it through the air. His sword brushed against her cheek, with a surprising accuracy. Even though the tip of the sword had only graced her face, when she lifted her hand to her cheek she felt warm blood. There wasn't much, but that didn't change the fact that it was there.
Cecelia ran at Edmund and gave everything she could, plus double. She gave more strength than she knew she had, but still, she found that she couldn't beat him. He missed her a few times, and she found that she was able to fend off some of his blows if she really put her mind to it, but no more than that. She jabbed him twice, but he still bested her. With a quick twirl of the wrist, he disarmed her, sending her wooden sword flying across the field. She followed it with her eyes, and soon found that was a big mistake. With a quick lunge forward, Edmund stuck her in the stomach, sending her sprawling on the ground. Cecelia reached a hand up to her forehead, wiping the sweat off her brow.
"I'm finished." Cecelia stated in a harsh whisper, sitting up.
"You know what? I agree." Edmund replied. Cecelia stared at him dumbly.
"Really? Your kidding me. Do you actually agree with me?"
"Cecelia, that was the best you did all practice." Peter said as he joined the two of them.
"But, Edmund beat me." Cecelia said, still unsure of what was really going on.
"Yes, but do you really expect that after one day of practice, you could beat one of us. Edmund and I have been practicing sword fighting since the day we arrived at Cair. Everyday we go out on the field with Orieus and Mindes, practicing hour upon hour. Also, I do think our teachers did a better job instructing us, than we did you." Peter explained.
"Come now, you're finished." Edmund said, extending a hand to Cecelia. Cecelia took it, and Edmund hoisted her up. He rested his hands on her shoulders until she found her balance.
"So, is that it for today?" Cecelia asked. Edmund and Peter nodded.
"Your all done." Peter informed her, a small laugh escaping from his lips.
"Good." Cecelia said, taking a step forward. The world around her began to spin, and suddenly Cecelia found her face an inch away from the ground. Edmund and Peter had caught her just before she hit the ground.
"Cecelia, are you okay?" Edmund asked concerned as he helped her sit on the ground.
"No, not really. My legs feel like gelatin, and I swear as shall pass out any second now."
"Okay, just, well, just sit on the ground. I'll go fetch you a jug of water." Edmund said, running off.
"Cecelia, why didn't you tell us you felt like this?" Peter asked.
"I did tell you, multiple times. You just never listened. In fact your exact wording was 'From now on, any time you complain, practice will just get longer.' I tried telling you."
"Your right. I'm sorry, nay, we're sorry. I know Edmund is sorry as well. We should have paid more attention" Peter said, sitting Cecelia on the ground.
"Yes you should have." Cecelia said with a quick nod of her head.
"Oh, well, I mean she did wonderfully. Her body just couldn't really handle it, I guess." Cecelia heard Edmund say. She turned her head around to see Susan and Edmund running towards her. Behind them, Lucy was walking at a much slower pace, trying her hardest not to spill the jug of water she was carrying. Cecelia blinked a few times as she suddenly saw two Susan's fussing over her. She rubbed her eyes a few times.
"Oh, I'm seeing double now. Either that or you all have twin siblings you never told me about." Cecelia said, blinking a few more times.
"Lucy! Please hurry with the water!" Susan shouted.
"I'm trying! If I go any faster there won't be any water to give her!" Lucy yelled back.
Seconds later, Cecelia felt Lucy press the cold jug of water in her hands. She lifted it to her mouth, drinking practically the whole jug in one gulp before she handed it back to Peter.
"Are you feeling any better?" Lucy asked.
"A bit." Cecelia replied shortly.
"That's good. You know, I think it's almost time for dinner." Edmund said happily. Cecelia watched as Lucy rolled her eyes.
"You're always thinking of dinner, aren't you Edmund?" Peter asked.
"No, not just dinner. I think about lunch and breakfast too." Edmund replied sarcastically. Susan shoved him playfully.
"I think I'll skip on dinner." Cecelia told them all. "I'd rather just sleep, if that's alright with you all. I don't think I'll feel better unless I get a long nights sleep."
"That's perfectly fine." Susan said. "Sleep if you want. You shall be eating breakfast tomorrow though. You can't skip out on that if you are going to skip out on dinner." Cecelia agreed to Susan's conditions and with Lucy and Peter's help, Cecelia stood up.
"I'll help you back to our tent." Lucy said, grabbing Cecelia's hand. "Let's go."
///////
Cecelia awoke to the screams and yells of battle. Never before had she heard such sounds except on the radio. Cecelia sat up and looked to her right to see Lucy awakening, and moving with such haste. She grabbed her belt and wrapped it around her waist before pulling her silver dagger out. Cecelia winced as she recalled what she had almost done. Lucy was just about to leave the tent when she looked back at Cecelia.
"Hurry now. Grab your bow and your arrows." Lucy instructed. Cecelia quickly strung her bow and slung her quiver over her shoulder and followed Lucy outside.
The second they stepped out of the tent, a large bat found a liking to Lucy's blonde hair. It began tugging and pulling, all the while filling the air with odd screeching noises. Lucy let out a small shriek, unable to do anything else as the bat began to pull harder. Cecelia lifter her bow and pulled the string back. With a satisfactory "pluck" the arrow buried itself in the bat's wing. The bat fell to the ground, and using her dagger, Lucy stabbed the bat. Cecelia watched in horror as it's life was drained out of it. Lucy shuddered a bit as well.
"After everything, I'm still not used to the death that comes along with battles." Lucy whispered. "Come now. We have to find the others, and quickly!"
Lucy ran through the fighting creatures, trying to find Aslan or her brothers. Twice they had to stop while one of the Fell creatures attacked them. They eventually found Peter fighting a minotaur. Cecelia released her bow, and her arrow found a home in the minotaur's back, before the minotaur fell lifelessly to the ground.
"Thanks." Peter muttered.
"My pleasure?" Cecelia replied, unsure of what she was supposed to say to that. Peter smiled slightly before turning to face Aslan who had just pinned a nymph on the ground.
"What's going on?" Lucy asked.
"The Fell are attacking the camp. They're searching for someone." Aslan said.
"Where are the others?" Cecelia asked, feeling slightly insignificant surrounded by the fighting warriors.
"Susan is in the forest surrounding the camp with some fellow archers, trying to take the Fell down when they aren't looking. Edmund is, well, I don't exactly know where he is. I last saw him when we separated to fight the Fell creatures. I do suppose that he's somewhere in camp fighting." Peter said. Lucy nodded sharply before following Peter as he ran off to attack some Fell.
"Cecelia, I suggest you find Susan and the other archers. You could be of use with them." Aslan said before following after Lucy and Peter.
Cecelia took off into the woods, searching for Susan. Cecelia found her her sooner than she thought she would. It seemed as though they were looking for each other.
"Cecelia, come with me. We need your help. The Fell seem to be after two people only. Why, I don't know. They're only fighting the rest of us if they need to, and if they think we're a threat to their goal." Susan said as she ran through the trees, her step was so light and graceful, it seemed as though her feet weren't even touching the ground.
"Who is it they're after?" Cecelia asked, struggling to keep up with Susan. Cecelia already wasn't the most athletic, it really didn't help her cause that the light was starting to fade.
"Edmund and Mindes." Susan said, her voice as sharp as a knife.
"Why them?" Cecelia asked, confusion clear in her voice.
"I don't know, but we're soon going to find out." Susan replied.
They ran the rest of the way in silence. Cecelia could hear the "twangs" of bow strings close by, the other archers couldn't be far. Cecelia heard the pained scream of something as they were killed by an arrow.
"Don't kill them!" Susan called as she made her way up a tree. "We need to figure out what their motive is, so don't kill them! Aim to injure!" Try as they might, the archers found it somewhat hard not to kill the Fell. Many Fell escaped, many died, and we were left with only a few who were well enough to question. Most of the archers had left the woods to join in the fight at camp, leaving only Susan and Cecelia in the trees. There was only one Fell creature left in our range, who was currently pinning Edmund to the ground. The light was completely gone now, and the only light was the camp fire they had set up during dinner. Edmund, who had been fighting all night, was now starting to lose some strength and was struggling to keep the Fell away from him.
Susan shot an arrow, and the creature fell on top of Edmund. With some effort, Edmund pushed the creature away and sat up. Susan jumped out from the tree and they rushed over to Edmund. Susan reached down and helped Edmund to his feet.
"Thanks, Su." Edmund said, brushing some dirt off of his tunic.
"No problem." She said, taking a deep breath.
"They seem to have taken a liking to me." Edmund joked, a scowl on his face.
"No kidding." Susan said as we walked back over to the main part of camp. The remaining Fell had either ran off or gave up.
"Do you know why?" Cecelia asked.
"No idea. But Su, I think Aslan was right, you know about her powers. I think they're taking effect. I could barely keep up with some of the Fell. I bet I would've been killed a few times there, if you hadn't had the archers out there in the forest. I think her powers are draining my energy. I don't know of anything else that would explain why that took so much out of me. That should have been easy. Really easy, but it wasn't." Edmund said.
"It's alright, Ed." Susan said, wrapping an arm around Edmund. "You just need to rest."
They made their was over to the camp fire where Lucy was waiting for them.
"Where is Peter and Aslan?" Susan asked.
"Oh, they're questioning the Fell over there. We're not allowed to go over though. Only Aslan and Peter are allowed. The guards kept telling me that. It got quite annoying. 'Aslan and Peter, Aslan and Peter.'" Edmund pulled away from Susan and sat down on a log nearby the camp fire.
"Are you alright Edmund?" Cecelia asked.
"I'm fine. I'd like some water though." Edmund said, running a hand through his black hair.
"I'll get some for you." Lucy offered.
"Thanks." Edmund replied before falling silent.
Cecelia tugged on Susan's sleeve, and motioned for Susan to follow her. They walked into a tent that wasn't to far away from the camp fire.
"What's wrong?" Susan asked.
"Is Edmund alright? It seems like something is wrond." Cecelia asked.
"Edmund... well, he's having a hard time right now. We'll leave it at that. You see, he is having almost as hard of a time as you are, just in a different way." Susan explained softly. Cecelia nodded, though she still didn't full understand.
"Does it have anything to do with the witch you guys fought when you first came here?" Cecelia asked.
"Yes, Cecelia. It has everything to do with her."
Cecelia and Susan walked back out to find Lucy sitting beside Edmund, holding his hand, her head resting against his shoulder. He squeezed her hand tightly, as if fearing she would disappear if he didn't hold on tight enough. They walked over and sat beside the two, just as Peter and Aslan made their way over to the fire.
"Well, what did you find out?" Edmund asked when they reached the group. Pain was clear on Peter's face as he looked down at his younger brother.
"Quite a few things." Peter said sitting down.
"Like what?" Cecelia asked.
"The Fell, confirmed some of our fears. For example, the one who hired them is traveling with us."
"Who is it?" Lucy asked.
"It was Mindes." Aslan replied simply.
"He's being held in his tent now. We have guards watching him carefully."Peter said.
"Well, that explains why the Fell were after Mindes, I suppose." Susan said, thinking aloud. "Why did he employ them?" Peter winced.
"That's the worst part of it all."
"What's so bad about it?" Edmund asked.
"He employed the Fell, well, I can't even say it. It's too horrible." Peter said, placing his head in his hands. "I swear, when I get my hands on him, I'm gonna kill him!" He mumbled harshly.
"Edmund," Aslan began. "Mindes employed the Fell creatures to kill you."
Is that considered a cliffhanger? Sorry, if it is. It's just where it had to end. Anyway, I'll try to update sooner. Thank you so much for everybody who's reviewed! If any of you have any ideas for upcoming chapters go ahead and post them. I know one of our reviewers asked for a ball scene at the end, and we loved it so much we're actually gonna put one! Yay! Now, please review!
-Audrey
