"I think not!"

Edmund was strong and determined as he raised up his shield, which the ugly harpy took a rather nasty nose-dive into. The collision of flesh and metal was so strong for both parties the harpy collapsed to the ground and Edmund was knocked right off of Phillip. As the young king squirmed in pain on the ground, the harpy leaned forward into Edmund's face, breathing hot, smelly breath onto him.

"Ed!" Peter yelled.

"Don't think this will be so easy, little boy," the harpy snarled.

"If you hurt my brother…" Peter said angrily

He whipped his sword in the air at the harpy, who glared at the two brothers as it lifted itself off of the leaf-covered ground with its wings and bared its razor sharp teeth. Peter kept his sword pointed at the hideous creature while Edmund managed to grab his sword from where it had fallen. Meanwhile, a frightened Lucy was hiding behind Dria watching the whole conflict.

"Don't you dare hurt my brothers!" she cried.

The harpy growled and bared its claws menacingly Lucy, who cringed behind Dria with her arms wrapped around one of the horse's hind legs. The youngest monarch of Narnia reached to her belt so she could pull out her dagger, which caught her oldest brother's eye.

"Lucy, don't provoke it! We'll handle it!" Peter ordered.

The ugly forest beast hissed evilly at the little girl, who tightened her grip on her dagger and pursed her lips together in determination. Meanwhile, Edmund had gotten his sword back into his hand and was painfully standing up, ready to help his brother take on this nasty harpy.

"Ed, are you alright?" Peter asked, noticing Edmund limp slightly.

"I'm fine, Peter," Edmund insisted.

As the harpy hissed angrily and launched himself into the air, Peter and Edmund continued to hold their shields up for protection, not doubting that the creature would take a nose dive at them again.

Once the horrid little creature had reached the top of a tree, it spread its wings out and extended its sharp claws as far as it could. It whirled around then swooped down and flew right towards the two kings of Narnia.

"Watch out!" Lucy screamed.

Peter and Edmund raised up their shields and held their swords out so the harpy would fly right into a blade of metal. They also tried to side step the foul beast as it flew through the air right at them. But as it flew between the two kings, it had its vicious claws extended out and Peter could feel white hot pain as they slashed his cheek.

"Peter!" Edmund and Lucy yelled at the same time.

Peter pressed the back of his wrist against his cheek as the intense pain seared throughout his face and blood streamed from his wounds. He was breathing in and out rapidly to try and block the pain, but it was too intense to even ignore. As the High King was bleeding from his wounds, the ugly harpy cackled evilly at him.

"If you can't protect yourself from simple claws, it's hopeless," it growled.

Peter gave the harpy an evil look as blood continued to stain his gauntlets. But Edmund was furious at this horrendous monster for injuring his older brother and was determined that it would pay dearly. With a look of anger in his eyes, he motioned for Lucy to come forward from her hiding spot.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Now's the time to use your cordial. I have to teach this monster a lesson." Edmund said angrily.

"What are you…" Peter started to say.

"No, Peter. He hurt you so he deserves to pay for what he did."

Edmund held his sword so the sharp tip was pointed right at the vicious little monster. It continued to cackle evilly at the young king for being so overly confident in himself.

"Oh you may think that you are a strong king. But I know you are gravely mistaken."

"I don't think so. I also don't take too kindly to those who hurt my family."

"And you will be next, little king."

The harpy was very determined to get Edmund as it flew backwards a few feet, ready to attack the boy with its razor sharp claws. And Edmund's fingers started to hurt from gripping his sword handle, but he didn't care about that. He just wanted to hurt the harpy who had attacked his brother.

"Despair…and DIE!" the harpy screeched.

It wasted no time in flying towards Edmund, claws extended and all. It was prepared to deal the young king a serious injury to incapacitate him. What it wasn't prepared for was Edmund whipping his sword downward at its wings. The sharp, metal blade slashed through the harpy's right wing as if it was a stick of butter and the vicious creature shrieked in pain as it collapsed into a pile of leaves.

"You!!!!! You…shall…pay!!!" it cried out through the pain.

"I don't think so," Edmund said harshly.

He proceeded to march over to the injured creature and placed his boot on the creature's injured wing. The harpy glared at the young king, but he felt a cold blade of metal against his throat. He looked up at Edmund, who had the tip of his sword pointed at the ugly creature and a look of fury in his eyes.

"Now, care to tell me where your queen is holding my sister?"

"Why should I? I have allegiance to—." the harpy started to say before Edmund pushed his sword against the creature's throat a little harder. Growling under its breath, the harpy sneered "Fine, I shall relent the information. Your sister is being held in an old stone palace in Archenland. It's just outside of the Praden Forest, so you can't miss it."

Satisfied, Edmund slid his sword back into its sheath and removed his boot from its position on the harpy's wing. He proudly walked back over to Lucy and Peter, who were holding onto each other's hands while watching the whole scene take place.

"But don't think this means your quest will be any easier," the harpy growled and started to limp away in pain.

"Are you alright, Ed?" Lucy asked.

"I'm fine, Lu. Now we know where Susan is being held."

"And your cordial was a great help to me. Thank you," Peter said and hugged his little sister.

"It's no problem. At least you're okay now."

"But can we get out of here? I'm sure none of us want to spend the night in this horrid place."

"Right you are, Ed. Let's leave this depressing camp and find someplace safer."

An hour later

It had taken a while, but the three monarchs had found a decent clearing far enough away from Jadis's old camp where they felt safe. And they had also managed to find enough branches and stones to make a decent fire pit, which helped them stay warm in the darkness of the night. But as Peter, Edmund, and Lucy sat around their makeshift campfire, all they could think about was Susan and her wellbeing.

"I wonder if Susan is staying warm, wherever she is," Lucy mumbled softly.

"I hope she's even getting anything to eat," Edmund said.

"I just want her to be safe until we can rescue her, if that's even possible. I want Aslan to protect her."

"I'm sure he will. He's everywhere as the true king of Narnia, so I know he is watching over Susan," Peter said.

"But how do we know that?"

"Well, Lu, I think if you say a prayer to Aslan, you can be assured that he will watch over her."

Lucy sighed and got down on her knees in front of the fire pit. She clasped her hands together in a prayer position and looked at the fire in front of her. She could feel tears forming in her eyes as thoughts of her sister being in danger raced through her mind. Eventually, she looked up towards the stars in the sky and said a tearful prayer.

"Aslan, I hope you can hear me. If you can, don't let any harm come to Susan. Keep her safe and let her know how much we miss her. Just let her come home alive and safely, that's all I want. "

Peter and Edmund couldn't help but begin to cry themselves upon hearing Lucy's short but sweet prayer. They sat next to her on the ground and wrapped their arms around her shoulders, sobbing in the process.

"Lu, that was beautiful."

"Thank you, Ed. I hope Aslan heard it."

"I'm sure he did. And I'm sure that he is watching over Susan for us."