I know, I know. It's been waaaayyy too long since I've updated... Sorry! I had a major case of writer's block, but special thanks to AngelicScream for getting my butt back in gear! I've been told that my character is slightly Mary Sue, so I'll do my best to fix that, and feedback is always welcome. Without further ado, here's the next chapter!
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The Dawn Treader lurched forward as it tipped into the vortex, splashing cold sea water over the deck. Serena clutched the mast tightly with one arm, her bow in the other as the ship completely caught in the current, the water pushing it in a spiral.
"Hold on!" Caspian yelled over the shouting crew.
Lucy's brown hair flew into her face as she gripped the railing tightly, peering over the side of the ship. The dark pink tentacles of one of the octopuses released its hold on the ship, its suction cups leaving circular patterns on the side before disappearing quickly beneath the waves.
'My Lord!" The faun in the crow's nest shouted down. "One of them just let us go! It's swimming off the starboard bow!"
"Take you aim!" Caspian shouted to the archers, who began lining up at the side of the ship, Trumpkin pushing his way to the front.
Serena stood in the midst of all the fauns and dwarfs who had gathered beside her—9 in total, bows and arrows drawn, ready to follow her lead. She wobbled slightly as the ship continued to move in a swirling motion, struggling to keep her stance strong.
Her eyes scanned the water as she drew the harpoon-arrow back, her gaze locked on her target—the giant octopus swimming rapidly to safety.
Come on, she pursed her lips and her hand twitched ever so slightly as the creature swam in a zig zag. Her eyes moved swiftly from side to side, trying desperately to keep her aim steady. Her arm following the octopus's moves and she braced herself to release the arrow—
—when she was suddenly hit hard in the back, sending her toppling forward to the deck. She shrieked and threw out her hands to break her fall before hitting the deck with bone jarring force. She heard a grunt as someone landed beside her, followed by cold water that rained down on her and the screams of crew members.
Serena looked up quickly and caught sight of a thick pink tentacle swinging wildly over the ship—or so it seemed. She watched in horror as three of the archers were caught in the suction cups of the tentacle, one of them dropping his bow and arrow. The Narnians screamed as the tentacle constricted around them as rose into the air.
Serena's cry died in her throat as they were carried off the ship and into the churning water. If she had been standing up for a millisecond longer, she knew it would have been her that was dragged to the depths of the ocean. She knew that whoever had knocked into her had saved her life.
The fear that she had fought down began to slowly creep back into her heart.
Her vision began to blur, blood pumping so loudly in her ears that she could barely hear the combined screams of the rough waves and the crew. She rose slowly and shakily to her feet and moved towards the side of the ship, when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Don't!" Trumpkin's gruff voice said sternly from beside her. She turned her panicked gaze to him, and the tears that she thought would have swelled in her eyes remained dormant.
She stood frozen, looking with horrified fascination at the chaos around her. It was then she realized that the creatures had somehow figured out their plan. They hadn't released them, they were merely waiting for the archers to show themselves—so that they could take them out. It was only then that she realized how devilishly smart these creatures were.
"Trumpkin! Serena!" Lucy shouted and started to run forwards to them, but Edmund held her back as another tentacle flew over the right side of the deck.
"Serena move!" Trumpkin screamed as he shoved her roughly to the deck. She landed hard on her side, not even the impact enough to pull her out of her stupor. The tentacle swiftly took hold of two more archers. They shouted their battle cries and tried to fight it off, but not before they too were pulled overboard. So much death…
"For Narnia!" One of them shouted before they were consumed by the icy water, leaving only four archers left. It was then that the first tears began to stream down Serena's face. The ropes attached to their arrows snapped from the strength of the creatures as they pulled on them, and rocked the ship heavily to the left.
She barely heard the cries of the crew as they went skidding across the deck, the Dawn Treader threatening to tip over. Her harpoon-arrow slipped from her fingers and rolled out of sight, and she barely managed to keep hold of her bow as she continued sliding to the other side of the deck.
A strong, calloused hand wrapped around Serena's wrist as she slid past the mast and pulled her onto her knees. Caspian looked down at her tear stained face and realized in that moment that she was just a girl, with such little experience of battle and the horrors that came with it.
"Everyone stay down!" Caspian shouted, keeping his hold on Serena's wrist. "Spread out and stay away from the sides!"
The ship slowly ceased its rocking and leveled out, still moving in a continuous circle, sailing closer and closer to the centre every second.
Serena, who had hung her bow over her shoulder to keep her hands free, gripped the mast tightly as the ship lolled sideways. Her stomach lurched at the rough movements, and she suddenly felt sick.
Reepicheep wrapped his tail around one of the stairs leading up to the quarter deck and grabbed hold of a rolling Trufflehunter before he could tumble past. "Keep your guard up!" The mouse shouted.
"My Lord!" The faun in the crow's nest, who had somehow managed to refrain from falling out, screeched loudly. "The second one of is swimming away!"
Caspian turned to Serena, who looked back shamefully. "I dropped my arrow..." she replied softly.
"Take mine Lady Serena," one of the archers offered his harpoon-arrow to her, the fierce determination in his eyes giving her new strength.
But no sooner than she extended her arm to take it, a pink tentacle flew over the deck and grabbed the archer with frightening accuracy. Caspian pulled Serena back sharply to avoid being caught by the deadly suction cups as the Narnian and his arrow were pulled into the water.
Serena remained frozen on the spot even as another tentacle wrapped around another archer as well as the rope attached to Trumpkin's harpoon-arrow, ripping it from the dwarf's hand as it slipped beneath the waves once again with a massive splash.
Leaving the arrowless Serena and Trumpkin as the only archers left on the Dawn Treader.
Icy water rained down on the ship, soaking everyone onboard as the faun's voice cut through the noise. "It's getting away!" He shouted.
"One more left!" Edmund said.
The last—and the biggest octopus held defiantly onto the right side of the Dawn Treader, waiting until the very last moment to let go. A large wave rose from the water on the left side of the ship, and it lurched sideways until the front of the ship was pointedly facing the dead centre of the vortex. Then the creature let go.
The ship angled downward sharply, all of the cargo on the deck sliding forwards until they crashed in a pile at the front of the ship—or fell into the black hole that lay in front of them. Everyone held frantically onto the ship, struggling to refrain from sliding into the abyss like the cargo. Caspian held Serena around the waist with one arm, the mast with the other, Serena holding onto the mast as well.
Lucy squealed as she and Edmund grabbed the other side of the mast, their feet hanging down below them—wretched gravity pulling them towards their fate.
"Hold on!" Caspian's voice shouted, sounding slightly strained as he held on tightly to the mast and Serena.
We're going to die... The truth dawned on Serena as the Dawn Treader slipped agonizingly slowly towards the centre of the whirlpool. We won't make it out alive...
Suddenly her fear faded into nothing, and she resigned to their fate. We're all going to die. Her grip on Caspian unconsciously slacked, and she withdrew into herself. All of their arrows were gone, all of their archers were dead… We're going to die.
Caspian swore he felt when Serena gave up, and he struggled to keep a hold on her when he felt her starting to slip. "Serena!" He shouted over the roaring waves. "Serena! Do not give up, just hold on!" It was his duty as King to never let the hope of his people die, even when he knew that their fate was inevitable.
Serena could vaguely hear someone shouting at her, but she didn't care. She stared with unmoving eyes at the black waters surrounding them, spraying over the deck. The gaping mouth of the whirlpool in front of them, waiting to devour the ship and everyone on board. We're all going to…
Something glistened in the corner of her eye. She turned towards its trying to get a better look. Her eyes slowly widened and she gasped in realization.
It was the tip of an arrow.
The rest of it was buried underneath the cracked and broken barrels, but she could see a length of rope hanging half over the edge of the ship. A spark of hope flared within her.
She glanced at Trufflehunter and Reepicheep, holding onto the stairs for dear life; Trumpkin onto the railing and Edmund and Lucy onto the other side of the mast. Last, she looked at Caspian and his deep brown gaze met hers. He furrowed his brow, trying to read the look in her face. She wasn't crying anymore, and her wide eyes held a spark of something he could not quite place. She took a deep shaky breath and, with her eyes still locked on his, released her hold on him and the mast.
His eyes widened and he grasped her tighter. "What are you doing?" He demanded, struggling to keep his grip on her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But it's alright."
"Serena stop!" His deep voice sounded really panicked now as gravity began pulling her from his grasp.
Edmund poked his head over, his jaw dropping as he realized what was happening. "What are you doing?" He yelled. "Hold on!"
Serena merely shook her head, feeling her body slide inch by inch out of Caspian's grasp.
"Serena don't!" Lucy's voice screamed off in the distance—Serena couldn't hear much of what any of them were saying. Adrenaline was coursing hard in her veins, making her whole body tremble.
"I cannot hold on much longer!" She heard Caspian shout as she dropped her gaze from his eyes toward the arrow.
And then she slid out of his hold.
"Serena!" Voices called her name but she ignored them.
The wind blew her hair behind her as she slid down the deck, the swirling vortex just over the side approaching rapidly. She realized with horror that at this speed her momentum would carry her right over the edge of the ship.
Before she could give it another thought, her feet hit the wood of one of the crates, cracking open under her weight and momentum. A sharp edge cut deeply along the length of her calf as she continued sliding downward until she slowed to a halt. Pain shot through her right leg and she let out a strangled cry, feeling blood soak through her dress in crimson pools.
She could vaguely hear her name being shouted from somewhere behind her.
Her breath coming in painful gasps, she grasped the harpoon-arrow and pulled it out from under the dismantled barrel.
As she dragged herself to the front of the ship to pull the rope back up, she looked down into the centre of the whirlpool. All she could see was pitch black—the dark unknown waiting for the ship.
And she was running out of time.
Her calf throbbing painfully, she tied the end of the rope around the bowsprit. Her movements were slow and shaky, but she managed to knot it again and again, making sure it was secure before turning around into sitting position, her back against the crates and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Her head was beginning to spin, no doubt from blood loss, but she stubbornly forced her eyes open.
She could barely make out the last octopus swimming to safety. Their last shot.
After a few fumbling attempts, Serena managed to fit the harpoon-arrow to the bowstring and pulled it back to her ear, eyes glued to the pink creature. Her breaths were short and her arms were shaking uncontrollably, the tears leaking out of her eyes making her vision blur.
Suddenly the world around her disappeared, and somewhere in the back of her mind, a memory floated to her conscious mind. A voice unknown, yet so familiar. Only a simple sentence, but something about it gave her the strength to set her final aim.
That peculiar, simple sentence, with a voice so friendly and familiar, echoed through her head.
Trust in this bow, and it will not easily miss.
With a newfound clarity, she released the arrow and it soared over the water, rope trailing behind it.