Chapter 7

Life in the dungeon was made a little better for Kat thanks to her new friends. Bigfoot always stood up for all of them when the Talking Rats taunted them while Sunrise kept bringing them news on what was going on. Gem the Unicorn always retained hope that somehow they would be rescued. Kat was adamant that Carter was on his way to rescue them, but even Bigfoot didn't see how a boy could rescue them.

"This friend o' yers had no trainin' in combat. How's 'ee suppose ta get us out?" Bigfoot kept asking.

"Carter will find a way. He always does." Kat said.

"Even though you've had to get him out of his messes more than once." Sunrise said. Kat had taken the time to tell her friends about their adventures, and her friends were impressed at the courage, but took note of Carter's recklessness.

"The boy has spirit, but he must learn to use his head." Gem said.

"How is usin' our heads gonna stop those ulgy fellers?" Bigfoot asked.

"More than just charging in is." Gem said.

"Sunrise, is there anything new happening?" Kat asked the Cat while the other two began arguing.

"Not since the last time I checked, but I'll go take a look." Sunrise said as he ran off.

"And 'ere comes the vermin." Bigfoot said as he noticed the Rats coming.

"So, still here are you?" The leader of the Rats said as he scampered in front of the cells.

"Beat it before I beat you!" Bigfoot threatened.

"How? You're not going anywhere." The Rat said. "Your hopping days are over. You may as well become a stuffed animal."

"I'll show you a stuffed animal!" Bigfoot said as he rammed the bars of his cage. The Rat, however, leapt off the bar of the cage and landed with his fellow Rats, who laughed like they had never seen anything more hilarious. They reminded Kat of the groups she had seen at school who liked to cause trouble.

"You wouldn't be so cocky if we weren't in these cages." Gem said.

"But you are in those cages and we're free to do what we want." The Rats said. They laughed and then began to throw rocks at the prisoners.

"To think that Aslan chose your ancestors to be Talking Beasts. They would die of shame if they saw what you were doing now." Gem told them.

"That's kind of impossible because they're already dead!" The Rat leader said. All of the rodents laughed their heads off while the leader entered Kat's cage.

"What are ya up to?" Bigfoot asked.

"Well, I've heard so many good things about little Girls, I wanted to see if they were true." The leader said as he approached Kat. "And what better way than to taste them?" At this the Rat bit down on Kat's hand. As soon as he did that, a loud roar echoed throughout the dungeon that dislodged several rocks from the ceiling. The Rat released his hold on Kat and looked around in fear as did the rest of his gang.

"You have made a terrible mistake, Rat." Gem said.

"Who asked you?" The Rat snapped as he ran back to his pals. "That was probably just a spell of Her Majesty. Nothing to worry about. The golden furball has no power here!" No sooner had he said that than the torches seemed to intensify in their brightness. Everyone had to shield their eyes, although Kat, Gem, and Bigfoot found the light pleasing while the Rats felt like they were going to be sick. In the light stepped forth a great Lion.

"Aslan." Bigfoot said as he and Gem bowed down as politely as they could.

"I-it can't be!" The Rats all said.
"Rats, I gave your ancestors the ability to speak, but I also warned them. If they did not live as Talking Beasts, they were to go back to the Dumb Beasts that they were taken out of." Aslan said, his voice more stern than the principal at Kat's school.

"Please Sire, no!" The Rats all begged, no longer jeering and taunting. Many of them kissed the ground Aslan walked upon, but were quickly sent back to their group.

"Rats, I take from you the gift of Speech, and reduce you to live out the rest of your lives as Dumb Beasts, and your descendants shall carry this curse as well!" Aslan said as he let out a great big roar that could be felt throughout the Pure Fortress. The slavers quaked in fear while the slaves all looked up with hope in their eyes. Harnilca in her throne room looked around, as if she expected an assassin to jump out at her at any second. The Rats them dropped the keys that they were holding and scampered away. Kat, Bigfoot, and Gem saw that they had ceased to be Talking Beasts and were now Dumb Rats. They were never seen again.

"Wasn't that a little harsh?" A voice from behind Aslan asked.

"Nay, for they brought this upon themselves, Son of Adam." Aslan said to someone behind him. "In the Beginning there were animals that were chosen to have the gift of speech, but I warned them that if they did not honor the gift, they would lose it. The Rats chose to serve the path of evil, and brought this upon themselves. Now you must free your friends and warn the King of the danger." Aslan said. Kat had to blink, and when she looked again, Aslan was gone and Carter was standing there holding the key to her cell.

"Carter!" Kat said as soon as she was able to stand up. "What took you so long?"

"Hey, I had to walk a long way to get here." Carter said. "Luckily I was able to make some new friends." Kat then saw that Carter had come with a Tiger, a Wolf, a Minotaur, and a Mouse. With them was Sunshine.

"I found this group outside while I was going to spy on Harnilca. They said they were here to rescue you, so I led them into one of my secret tunnels. We ran into Aslan at the back of the dungeon, and He bade us to follow him. That was when He turned the Rats into Dumb Animals." Sunshine explained.
"Well I'll be. Your friend's a reliable lad after all!" Bigfoot said as soon as he was out of his cage. He then took the key to Gem's chain and freed the Unicorn.

"Thank you my friend." Gem said.

"Now what are you going to do?" Sunshine asked.

"Free all the slaves that are being kept here." The Mouse Theekisheeb said. Everyone gathered up the keys that the Rats dropped and hurried through the dungeon, freeing every slave that they came across. Soon they had a good sized group as they left the dungeon and came out into the courtyard. There they attracted the gaze of everyone out there, slave and taskmaster alike. Looking up, Carter and Kat saw Harnilca overlooking the courtyard from the safety of the bailey. Kat could've sworn she saw a look of outrage upon the Witch's face.

"Kill them!" Harnilca ordered everyone. Immediately from the walls rose a lot of creatures that the Partners realized were Vultures and Giant Bats. The wicked creatures descended upon the group, prepared to strike, but Bigfoot thought quickly.

He tore off a piece of the cloak Carter was wearing and grabbed a stone from the ground. Using the piece of cloak as a sling, Bigfoot threw the stone at one of the Vultures and hit it on the head. The bird fell dead before it could reach them. Several of the slaves followed Bigfoot's example. They tore of pieces of their garments and used them as slings to fight off the airborne foes. Theekisheeb wasted no time getting out his rapier. The valiant mouse climbed up the walls of the castle and leapt onto the nearest Bat. Theekisheeb used his blade to end the Beast's life while jumping onto the back of a Vulture, doing the same thing and repeating the cycle.

The taskmasters were not about to let this go unpunished. Ogres, Hags, Werewolves, Cruels, and Men (those who sought to overthrow the young King) rushed at the group raising whips, knives, and all sorts of weapons to slay the group. However, several of the Centaurs, Minotaurs, and Fauns that they had freed rushed through the taskmasters, slaying many along the way, and rushed to the slaves who were in chains and freed them. These new comrades gathered up what they could and rushed at the taskmasters who so cruelly mistreated them.
Drawing his sword, Carter made sure that nothing got near to Kat. He forced back any Werewolf or Ogre that drew too close to them. He could see his friends fighting valiantly against the foe. Selena took down a Hag that was about to throw a knife (Carter later learned that it was the same Hag who helped kidnap Kat) while Brutus engaged a Minotaur who had betrayed Narnia. Red Dwarfs were fighting Black Dwarfs who preferred Black Magic to the goodness of Aslan. Stripesneak fought with a White Tiger who had tried to devour Theekisheeb, who helped by slashing at the White Tiger.

Despite the number of their forces, the servants of Harnilca were better equipped. They had more weapons and armor than the slaves did, and were fighting just to slaughter. Both Carter and Kat could see that they were going to be overwhelmed if they didn't get out of there. Kat did not want to lose her new friends. Carter felt the same way, for he cried out, "Guys! We need to get out of here while we still can!" Brutus heard his cry and ran over to help lessen the amount of foes around them. A cry among their new allies was to retreat. Some of Harnilca's forces tried to lock the gate, but were stopped by Talking Rhinos and Bulls who ran over them and forced the gate open. All the freed slaves ran through the gate, with Bigfoot giving Kat a ride on his back while Carter ran alongside Selena and Stripesneak. The Giants guarding the way in were surprised to see all the slaves, but they had all escaped before they could figure out they were supposed to stop them.