Aslan's army reached the northern end of the battlefield a full hour before noon, dispersing themselves according to Peter's orders. Edmund and Kira led the centaurs to the top of the cliffs, watching as the warriors calmly oiled their bowstrings.

"How can you be so calm?" Edmund asked softly. "How can you just sit there and fix up your weapons, knowing that you could die as soon as this starts?"

"One hundred years is a long time to wait for freedom, my King," Kira replied. "For those of us old enough to remember the time before the White Witch, it is especially painful."

"There are centaurs old enough to remember?" Edmund asked, astonished.

"Oreius and I have sixscore years each," Kira answered. "There are fauns and dwarves old enough to remember, too. We are gifted here with long lives."

"But a battle—" Edmund began.

"Yes, we may still die in battle," Kira replied calmly. "But we are glad to die for Aslan, because we know that he has lands Beyond the Sea prepared for us."

"Do you think we'll end up there, if we die here?" Edmund asked, his voice barely audible.

"My King, I do not believe that you will die," Kira said gently. "Nor your brother, nor your sisters. Aslan would not have come back if he did not believe that you were the ones to save us. And we have never been so united as we are under your leadership."

"But if we do die—"

"If by all the injustices in the world, you do not live, you will receive great honor in the kingdom of Aslan's father, the great Emperor Beyond-the-Sea," Kira said firmly. "Do not be afraid, my King."

"Kira, I'm not a king, I'm not a leader, I betrayed my own family!" Edward protested palely. "I don't want to fail Narnia, or fail them."

"Your mere presence is enough, my King," Kira replied. "And Aslan trusts you, as do I, to be more than good enough for Narnia." Edmund nodded slowly. He took a deep breath, calming himself, and settled himself into position.

"Thank you," he said softly. Kira bowed silently as Jyoti made her way down the cliffs to stand behind her father and Peter, whispering farewell to her mother.

"Keep you safe, daughter," Kira whispered, touching her shoulder.

"And you, mother," Jyoti replied, passing out of her sight.


Down below, Peter clutched his swordhilt tightly, nervously slipping his sword in and out of its sheath.

"Calm yourself, my King," Oreius said, deep voice rumbling. "The troops will gain courage from you."

"Everybody thinks we're some kind of heroes," Peter protested. "I'm not a hero. I'm not brave enough."

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer," Jyoti said quietly, stepping up behind him. "I believe it was said by a Son of Adam called—"

"Ralph Waldo Emerson," Peter replied, a slight smile chasing across his face. "How do you know of him?"

"The first King of Narnia, King Frank, had a book of quotations by this Ralph Waldo Emerson in his pocket when he came to Narnia, and it passed to his son. It was lost, for a time, but I found it while I was in the Witch's dungeons ." Jyoti answered. "Oreius carries it with him."

"So you think I'm a hero?" Peter asked.

"I don't think so," Jyoti said, smiling. "I know so." Peter nodded slowly, his smile lingering, and signaled to Malchus.

Malchus took off from the clifftop, soaring the length of the battlefield in seconds. He circled back, spiraling to land next to Oreius and Peter.

"They come, your Highness, in numbers and weapons far greater than our own," he announced breathlessly.

"Numbers do not win a battle," Oreius lectured sternly.

"No, but I bet they help," Peter muttered under his breath. Malchus took flight to join the gryphons and eagles once more, waiting for Peter's signal to attack.

Jyoti's eyes widened at the size of the Witch's army as they approached over the horizon. She shook her head and checked to make sure that her katanas were firmly strapped in place. Straining, she could just make out the Witch's words.

"I have no need of prisoners," she said coldly. "Kill them all."

At Peter's signal, twoscore of gryphons and eagles took to the skies. Malchus screeched his war cry, releasing a boulder into the mass of the Witch's army. Jyoti vaguely heard a minotaur bellowing for the archers to look to the skies, and watched with fear as several gryphons fell, pierced by Black Dwarven arrows.

Beside the Witch, five Furies assembled, taking off at her nod of command. They rose awkwardly, clashing with the forerunners. One gryphon fell, his wings pinned in a Fury's claws. Still more fell to arrows, until Malchus released a second boulder, sending it careening through the air to crush a Fury and bowl over several archers and a Minotaur.

Behind him, the army cheered. Malchus screeched a second time, and the aerial warriors peeled off, returning to circle over the bulk of their own army.

"Are you with me?" Peter asked quietly. Oreius looked him in the eyes.

"To the death," he replied simply.

"For Narnia, and for Aslan!" Peter cried, and led the charge out. Oreius was right next to him, both swords drawn. Jyoti went with them, scarcely feeling the ground beneath her feet as they drew closer and closer, and drew her katanas as she kept pace next to her father.

The world seemed to grow silent as they neared the front line of Jadis' army, and the cheetahs sprang ahead of them.

And then the battle was joined.

Peter bulled straight through their ranks, running over as many as possible with sheer force and using his sword to dispatch the rest. Oreius moved with surprising grace for one so large, using his massive bulk to trample anyone in his path. Jyoti was a blur of motion, making up for her size with blinding speed. She dimly heard the battle all around her, but focused only on protecting Peter's flank.

The arrow exploded overhead as the Phoenix burst from its tip. One final Fury rose, spiraling upward, aiming to intersect the Phoenix before he could do any damage. Peter squinted through the slits of his helmet, snatching a spear from a fallen Narnian. Still galloping at full speed, outracing his flank guards, he sighted and loosed the spear. Edmund watched as it rose, arcing higher and higher to drive straight through the Fury's heart.

Slowly, starting with his wingtips, the Phoenix began to burn, until his whole body was engulfed in flames that trailed behind him. He dipped low, just touching the grass with his wingtip, and the ground burst into flames. As he soared across the ground, a wall of flame erupted in his path, blocking the progress of the Witch's army. He arced upward, shrieking triumphantly, and vanished into the flames.

"Fall back! Draw them to the rocks!" Peter called, his voice echoing over the pitched battle. Jyoti sheathed her swords immediately, tucking them in place as she ran. She vaulted over Oreius' back, taking up a position atop a jutting rock peak, watching as Kira and the archers fired volley after volley.

From her vantage point, just beyond the approaching Narnians, she saw several of the Witch's army almost on the heels of Narnian stragglers. She yanked her boot-knives free, tossing them carefully in her hand to get a sense of their weight.

"My apologies, Queen Lucy," she whispered, glancing up to the skies. "Do as I say, not as I do." She drew her arm back and fired them off, one after another, dropping two Cruels in their tracks. She tucked the sheaths away, glancing up just in time to see Peter fall from his horse, only yards ahead of the frontrunners of the Witch's main force. Her eyes widened, and Oreius turned to see what she stared at.

"Stop!" Peter ordered hoarsely as they charged.

Jyoti could only stand and watch as her father followed in the path of the rhinoceros, killing the Witch's minotaur General with two perfectly placed swords. He drew his huge, double-handed blade, swinging it experimentally, and attacked the Witch full-force, soaring over her as he drove his sword toward her heart. She ducked, bending acrobatically beneath the swing, and drove her wand into his abdomen.

"Father!" Jyoti screamed, shaking, fumbling to draw her katanas. "Peter, get up, get up now!" Peter scrambled to his feet, sword drawn, and shook his helmetless head, watching in horror as the Witch methodically decimated his forces with her wand. Jyoti's eyes began to glow silver as she stepped down from the rock, drawing her katanas in the same motion. Light flashed down her blades as tears of pure anger fell on them, glowing until they verily radiated light. She dispatched soldier after soldier of Jadis' army as she began to run faster and faster, becoming only a blur of silver and black, doing to Jadis' forces what the Witch herself did to Aslan's.

"Ed!" Peter yelled, glancing back at his brother. "There are too many of them! Get the girls, and get home!"

"Come on, you heard 'im!" Beaver added, tugging at Edmund's mail. "Peter said get out of here!" Edmund started to follow him, then paused, seeing yet another gryphon dashed to pieces on the rocks after being struck by the Witch's wand.

"Peter's not king yet," he muttered, sprinting across the rocks. He paused behind the Witch, just out of her sight, and yelled as he swung at her wand. She reacted quickly, drawing it back, but lunged out with it again. He brought his sword down, hard, and shattered it. The Witch's eyes widened furiously, and she disarmed him quickly. Taking the broken wand, she drove it into his stomach, and turned away dispassionately to arm herself with a dead soldier's sword.

Jyoti turned as an icy shock wave blasted through her, seeing Peter's horror-stricken face as Edmund fell. Forgetting her surroundings for a moment, she watched with awe as Peter strode forward to engage her, moving quickly. His sword was a blur as he parried and thrust, holding his own against the Witch.

A roar behind her caused her to turn once more, and she got her katanas up only just in time to block an axe-blow from another minotaur. She danced around him, katanas flick-flicking in and out, just out of his reach, cutting him again and again. He feinted left and cut up, slicing a shallow cut down her arm. She lunged forward, wincing at the pull in her muscle, nicking his abdomen, and pulled back quickly as he lunged at her, blocking his axe blade behind her head. She twisted her swords around the shaft and disarmed him, neatly decapitating him as she swung her blades around to the front once more. She wiped her blades quickly on his pelt, and stumbled forward suddenly. She staggered, leaning on her swordblades, and slowly reached a hand around to her back. Even armored, it had been sliced to the bone. Jyoti turned carefully as the world dimmed around her, glancing confusedly at the one last minotaur wielding a double-headed axe. He bellowed his triumph as she fell, staring up at the sky.

I'm coming home, Aslan, she thought softly, eyes closing as the world fell into darkness.