Chapter 10- Aslan is back!

Ben

"Lu, this way!" I yelled. Lucy ruefully tore her eyes away from her sister, who had to stay behind to take down the Telmarines chasing us. She turned the black horse Destrier's reins away and followed me as I led her through the forest. She caught up to me, and I took her hand, in a gesture to try and calm her. But I needed it as much as she.

We had been riding through the forest all morning, searching for Aslan. We've had no luck so far, and we had unfortunately gained a tail. I was riding a horse named Eurania, who had very happily agreed to take me. Lucy and I galloped through the forest, searching for a hint or a clue.

Suddenly, we detected a third party behind us. I turned to see one last Telmarine following us, and I let go of Lu to try and free one of my swords. She saw them, too, and we pushed our horses a little faster, trying to evade them. I was about to unsheathe my left blade when we saw a golden figure on a flat boulder rise up in front of us and roar something loud. Destrier and Eurania reared, dropped us, and galloped away, terrified, as the Telmarine came up behind us. Suddenly, the great golden beast lunged above us and took down our follower, and Lu and I rose as the Telmarine soldier was torn apart, awed.

"Aslan!" we exclaimed, running for the lion and tackling him in a bear hug. He gave a hearty laugh as we fell into a pile, hugging and giggling.

Aslan was back.

Aslan

Sophie

"Susan!" I screamed, lunging for her hand. She yelled as the flying rock destabilized the ground beneath her and fell, and I grabbed her hand quick before she hit the ground. She swayed back and forth for a few life-long moments, until I let her drop to a small ledge a few feet below. Not allowing myself to leave one soldier alone, I dropped next to her and said, "Don't do that again."

She chuckled humorlessly. "I'll try not to. There's no way we can get any range from here because of the trees- we might be able to hit someone on the ground, though."

I smirked viciously. "So you're saying the only way we can do any good is if we're in the thick of it?"

"Exactly."

"Shall we?"

"We shall." We exchanged a look that said it all- that we would be the best of friends if we survived, that we were the best of friends if we didn't, and that we were near sisters, and that status would endure until the end of time. We took hands, glanced at each other one more moment, and jumped.

We hit the ground together, sharp pain exploding in my ankles. I looked around, found the first Telmarine I saw, and let a silver arrow fly straight into his heart. He barely saw it coming.

"Let's go!" I yelled over the ruckus. Susan deferred to me and began following me, and it was then that I truly was Warrior Queen Sophie the Strong once again. She and I fought our way through cluster after cluster of people, occasionally gathering a minor wound or two. Susan had received a scratch under her eye; I had blood trickling out the side of my mouth. Just as I cut the artery of a Telmarine with my bow tip, a sword thwacked against my shoulder, giving me a bruise. I turned around to see the Telmarine I had shot in the arm our very first day back, grinning at me with a maddened look.

"Isn't this ironic?" he said, his eye twitching a bit. "I hope you're ready to atone for what you've done, for I'm eager to get my vengeance."

"For what?" I screamed over the noise while loading my bow. "I hit you in the arm! It's not like I killed your family!"

"No, you may not have," he said, coming closer. I took one step back whenever he took a step forward. "But you shamed me in King Miraz's court. You're simply a stupid, weak girl! That should not have happened! I'm here for atonement!"

I fired the arrow into his shoulder, losing all restraint when he called me a "stupid, weak girl." My title is Warrior Queen, after all. What did he expect? He ripped it out of his shoulder and charged at me, giving an impressive war cry. We dueled up and down the field, neither opponent willing to give way. When he thrust, I dodged. When I slashed, he leaned. He was pushing me up the field, closer to the main throng, when I tripped over a dead body. My back arched over my quiver, and my bow landed just a few centimeters away from my hand. The Telmarine warrior stood over me, grinning madly and raising his sword, when the small tip of a blade protruded from his chest, and his demented smile was replaced with a vacant expression. The tip retreated, and as the Telmarine fell to the side, a smaller figure took his place, hunched over and ready to strike again.

"Edmund!" I exclaimed, climbing to my feet and hugging him gratefully. He returned the embrace, and I said, "Thank you so much! How can I repay you?"

Once we separated, he half-smirked and said, "By making sure Pete doesn't get into more trouble than he's bargained for."

"It's a deal. Now get out there and I better see you when this is over!" With an affectionate shoulder-shake, he darted back into the battle, and I looked for Sue: I lost sight of her when I battled the rogue Telmarine. On the way, I slaughtered more and more Telmarines, a vindictive happiness growing. The Narnians were my family, my kingdom- I wasn't going to let their deaths go without at least showing their murderers what they were up against and evening the score. If I had to kill a few people, so be it.

I was just pushing another enemy into the ravine Caspian's troops had created, which trapped and surrounded the Telmarines, when I saw something that made my heart stop: Peter dueling with an enemy soldier, nearly falling into the ditch. It took only a second for me to reach into my quiver, pull out an arrow, nock it into my bow, and pull back the bowstring, aiming directly for the two. But then I stopped: they were so close together, and with my distance and deadly aim, I could kill Peter.

Rolling my eyes and wondering how exactly the High King of Narnia had gotten himself into this predicament, I lowered my bow and began dodging this way and that to get a closer shot. I had a few close calls: a sword nearly went flying into my neck, and I sacrificed my loaded arrow to get a Telmarine out of the way. I was about ten yards from the grappling pair now, and I restrung my bow, took a breath to aim, and released the arrow, which flew straight through Pete's assailant's neck.

I could see Peter's shocked expression as the Telmarine inexplicably fell away. I had already begun running for him again, and he climbed out of his dangerous position to meet me.

"What in the name of Aslan are you doing?" he hollered after we had hugged like there was no tomorrow. He stared me worriedly in the eyes and said, "You're supposed to be up with the archers!"

I strung up an arrow but kept the bow dangling by my side, saying, "If I was still up on that ledge, you'd be dead right now, so I don't think you're in a position to argue."

Suddenly, a deafening roar sounded from within the earth it seemed, and great footsteps shook the ground. Everyone ceased fighting immediately: what had made that mighty roar?

The man Caspian had been struggling with in the ravine froze for a minute, until a huge, vine-like…thing shot out of the wall of dirt, wrapped itself around his middle, and pull him against the wall, knocking him out. The vine thing retreated, and as I watched huge flocks of birds sweep across the sky, the answer came to me.

"Trees! The trees are alive!" I exclaimed as Peter pulled Caspian up, and together we watched as the great trees traversed their way across the battlefield majestically, shooting out their roots and crushing the enemy's war machines beneath them. I cheered for the trees, the creatures that had been asleep for so long- if there was any time to wake them up, it was now.

Pete and I looked at each other and kissed: the battle was finally turning up. We separated, and Ed and Sue had rejoined us: Ed had sustained a scratch on the cheek, and Sue had a bruise on her forearm. And so the five of us stood in a line, watching the trees wake up at last. We glanced at each other, making sure we weren't dreaming, and then Pete raised his sword, took my hand, and yelled, "For Narnia!"

The five of us led the charge, side by side, ready to take Narnia back.