A Long Overdue Ending
A wonder it is to myself what it is like sleeping right out in the woods at night. I mean, without those four walls of your bedroom to assure you that there is a roof above your head, and that there is only one way in and out by the bedroom door. There are certainly no walls to protect you lying down to sleep in the woods. Say that there is the campfire burning brightly, and with your twelve mice friends and a squirrel and a Hoofalope there for your comfort and assurance that you are not alone, even then what is to stop someone or something from pouncing from out of the darkness upon you? How could one find peace to sleep with thoughts like that on their mind?
Reepicheep and his company had no such thoughts, quite obviously, because they slept soundly right until the break of dawn, and the darkness of night ebbed away as the forest flooded with light. What a relief that would be when morning came! No more reason to suspect lurking creatures in the darkness ready to pounce upon you as soon you let your guard down!
The light of morning revealed that Reepicheep and his company had set their camp in the middle of a little lane that ran through the woods, although where they were seemed quite sheltered with thick foliage and bushes. They were all still sleeping when from off in the distance of the woods there came a faun playing merrily on his fiddle.
The lane winded right up to the camp of the mice and the faun's fiddling got louder as he neared their camp and the mice were all well roused from their sleep. Out from behind a gorse bush the fiddling faun appeared and he foundered at the sight of the company in the middle of the lane. And so great was his fright that he tripped and dropped his fiddle and smashed it on the floor!
The mice stood still and his face turned white, the poor faun's head was in a spin! He ran off weeping and the company stood looking at the violin's sad remains.
'By the Mane! Strange things happen in these woods!' cried Gordifleep, 'Let us take our leave of this place, Brudderpeep!'
'There are indeed many strange happenings at hand!' announced Brudderpeep, 'I call on you, Reepicheep. What should our next action be in such strange times?'
Reepicheep could think of nothing else other than getting back to the Stone Table, and shared with the rest of the company the same curiosity about the silence of the dwarves singing and sounds of their toil that sounded for far about the night before, 'Let us go back to the Stone Table at once! I do not trust dwarves enough to leave them unwatched in that place for another moment!'
Immediately Reepicheep lead them from out of the woods and back in the direction of the Stone Table again. They were quite puzzled as to what they found there,
'What have those dwarves done with The Stone Table?' exclaimed Cheerifleep, 'It would appear that they have tried to bury it under that great hill over yonder!'
'That is one mistake we shall not make again!' said Gordifleep, 'We shouldn't have left dwarves to do a job that mice could have done! Walls of stone indeed!'
And indeed it did seem that way, because there was now a great mound of earth where the Stone Table once was, high and steep like a gigantic molehill, but on approaching it closer they discovered a stone framed entrance. They went eagerly past the dark threshold and along a stone-paved corridor to find at the end of that the true splendour of the work of the dwarves and all the mice were glad.
The Stone Table centred a shadowy, torch-lit hall. It's floors, walls and slender pillars were of stone and every little noise sent echoes fleeting about to every dark corner.
'Hail Aslan!' cried Brudderpeep, his voice ringing about the hall 'Let all good Narnians who enter this hall fall under his protection!'
On the rest of their exploration of the place they found that many tunnels delved deep beneath the hall of stone. Some of them were dark and endless but others lead right into the depths of the woods as secret entrances.
News quickly spread about this new stronghold and in the following days it was the talk of all the creatures left in Narnia. They went to witness the stone hall and look upon the Stone Table. Reepicheep and Brudderpeep welcomed them and all who went there abandoned all of their fears in the newfound hope in the predictions of the mice of the coming of Aslan.
Many dozens of mice joined the cause of the first twelve in protecting the Stone Table for as long as they lived or until Aslan had finally returned to Narnia. They became skilled with their swords learning from Reepicheep himself and were highly revered in those days of Narnia. They were days of peace, but they were no fools knowing that like all good things it would come to an end at some point, so the mice did not neglect their vigilance. They befriended the most unlikely of the birds; the ravens. Old Raven himself sent scouts to watch the borders of Narnia and every night they would report to Reepicheep at Aslan's How (that was the name that the Narnians came to call the great mound) but months went by without much to report and then the years began to pass them by as easily as the months, but such times Reepicheep could never have imagined.
There were nights especially memorable to Reepicheep. Only on nights when the moon was full did the Narnians meet in the stone hall of Aslan's How for a grant feast. Lunetail and the Waterfall Pack would be there then in would come the White Stag to storm the stone hall and out under the moon a great chase would begin, but rarely did anyone ever catch the White Stag with a belly full of food, thanks to the cooking of the Beavers.
Bunter Beaver would praise his wife Prixy for her cooking the most out of all the beavers, and only Aslan knows what quarrels would begin between them if he had show preference to any other beavers cooking, but fortunately that was not the case.
Formal invitations were sent every week before the feast began to Moonwood the hare, but not even for that would he leave his home in the west of Narnia. He truly was a dedicated and hardworking creature.
Gumblefeather and Lunaplume would also be there to show their faces, but seeing that moths or bats were not on the menu of the Beaver's cook books they had to eat their fill before they arrived.
In fact the only Narnian's who did not attend the feasts were those who abided in Cair Paravel at that time. Shivel had gained himself very high stature among the Narnians who lived there. He was an ape, and a very intelligent and scheming one at that. He had great ideas when it came to making Cair Paravel into an impenetrable fortress but now that that had been done he had somehow convinced all the Narnians that had done all the donkey work during the building that they could not have achieved anything without him and that they only had him to thank for their safe place to live.
No doubt it was a safe place to live, but Shivel did a magnificent job of exaggerating the dangers outside Cair Paravel's walls that the Narnians inside it were simply too petrified to leave the place at all. Shivel was treated almost like royalty. He had all he needed in Cair Paravel so why should he go to Aslan's How when he could have his own feast in his own halls? Which is what he began to do of course, but his feasts were nowhere near the likes of the ones held in Aslan's How. He did not enjoy music or merrymaking while he was eating, so everyone else had to follow his example. They truly were very cheerless events.
Peace reigned in Narnia for many years and Reepicheep and his friends lived contently as protectors of the Stone Table in this way. But as time went on Reepicheep and Pattertwig bore witness to troubling things. They watched their friends grow old and weary of training as warriors. All around them they saw their Narnian comrades wizen under the toll of time; yet Pattertwig and Reepicheep would never age a day.
They were deeply saddened as they watched their closest friends wither and eventually pass from the world, and only now realising the significance of that night when they drank the light of the Lamppost from Queen Susan's Horn, they cursed the gift of longevity that fell unto them by doing so.
Now Reepicheep, and sometimes Pattertwig, often sent letters to Anvard concerning the welfare of the Narnains that went there, but both of them had their own reasons for sending them too. Pattertwig had not forgotten about is friend Thistlefur the warhare, and he was always glad to hear how life was in Anvard for her. Reepicheep, on the other hand, cared greatly to hear of how Heathricheep fared, the Mousemaid of Anvard's Gardens, but in Reepicheep's heart he always knew her as the Flower Nurse of Dancing Lawn. Since she left Dancing Lawn there never grew another flower upon that green clearing, and since Reeicheep last saw her there was an emptiness within him too, but as to what he felt he did not know of the word to put on it. In his last letter he wrote personally to Heathricheep:
Dear Heathricheep,
As one treads through the place of Dancing Lawn,
There is one who's laughter is sorely missed.
Without the Flower Nurse the lawn has no flowers upon,
And you have left one mouse's heart in distress.
Come back to the forests you once called home,
And under the full moon we shall dance again,
For I cannot leave Narnia until Aslan to us comes,
Even now without my knighthood to claim.
Yours Truly,
Reepicheep
And with the passing of three sunrises Heathricheep's return came to him by a swift messenger, and it was with the scent of sweet flowers in the spring,
Dear Reepicheep,
I loathed to leave Narnia's fair Dancing Lawn,
That is true as any mouse's word,
But to the gardens of Anvard my desire has gone,
A paradise for all growing things in the world!
In the gardens of Anvard we can dance again,
Under moon with music of the lawnbabes.
Lay down your sword, by the Lion's Mane!
The are no battles left for mice with Narnian blade!
Yours sincerely,
Heathricheep
And with that letter it seemed that there was no chance of seeing her again, because Reepicheep was even more adamant to stay in Narnia than she was to stay in Anvard, but his sorrow was heavy on him as he was sure, after a time, that the same fate befell her as that of his old friends, and after that Reepicheep, more than Pattertwig, became all too accustomed to heartbreak. But with the loss of companions there also came new ones as the young Narnians grew up strong to match the skill of their predecessors.
But also like their predecessors they aged with the passing of time, and Reepicheep and Pattertwig remained as youthful as the day that they drank from Queen Susan's Horn. The pure light of the Lamppost flowed through them and for many generations they upheld the tradition that once started with the first twelve protectors of the Stone Table. And the Hoofalope, being the incomprehensible creature that it was, lived long with Reepicheep and Pattertwig as well.
Now Pattertwig, after grieving for his dear friend Brudderpeep, had long departed from Aslan's How and made his home in the southern forests of Narnia again, often roaming about them, taking responsibility for looking after the Narnains who all lived within those woods. And often he could be heard singing songs of beavers as he rowed along theRushRiverin a little logboat.
There was no foreseeing the day that the Men from Telmar would come out of the west and into Narnia, but Reepicheep never doubted that the day would soon be upon them, and he would be ready to oppose them when they did.
Although warning did not come all at once, when from out of the foreboding and silent Western Wilds, and down to the lower lands of the western border of Narnia, there came galloping and thundering through the woods like a tempest two of the noblest creatures that Narnia had not seen for countless years now. It was two centaurs, the last two in fact of Granitegale's army; a mighty warrior with hair and beard as black as night. He held in his right hand a sword with a golden hilt and he bore a silver shield where across it ramped a red lion. And the other was a maiden, carrying a wonderful yew bow and a quiver full of arrows.
Swiftly they cleared the breadth of the land, and came before the high stone walls and towering gates of Cair Paravel. Shivel, the Lord of Cair Paravel and descendant of Shivel, the first ape to claim ownership of the fortress and took his name after him, happened to be gazing out over the eastern seas from the high parapets on that afternoon that the two centaurs arrived to his gates.
He looked upon them with fear as they stood before his walls, for nobody in Cair Paravel at that time had ever seen a centaur before, they were thought to have long passed from existence. And the centaur with the black beard beckoned to the ape to open their gates unto them in his deep and noble voice which the ape had not the heart to deny.
Shivel took them into his halls and a fine feast was prepared for them. Dinner with a centaur is a grand deal indeed, because it takes a lot of feeding to fill their two stomachs, as you may have heard before. Shivel had quite forgotten this about centaurs and was in dismay as he watched them clear the table completely of food; he had quite hoped that their would be enough for his secret evening helpings that he would pursue in the kitchen by himself when his sleep eluded him; his hopes for that seemed dim now.
The centaurs spoke of the many battles with the Men of Telmar that had lasted for countless years in the mountain pass at the far edge of the Western Wilds. And they and Granitgale himself were that last three who stood able and willing to fight against them, but at last Granitegale fell in a final charge against them and with him any hope of victory that was left died with him. With his final words he cursed them and named them Telmarines.
They warned Shivel that the Telmarines would follow their tracks and would soon be upon them, but then Shivel blew up in a rage. He was not pleased with the centaurs eating all of his food, he felt cheated by that, and he was even less pleased at the centaur's tidings because he deemed them as lies, and some part of a plot to strike fear into the hearts of the Narnians within his walls.
Their weapons were seized and put in a secret place and in the jail they were locked beneath Shivel's fortress where none could hear their voices. Therefore there was no warning for Reepicheep when the Telmarines did come, and come in the hundreds they did three days later. The days of peace for the Narnians had ended.
They had tracked the centaurs right to the gates of Cair Paravel and they lined up their large army in front of its gates, bringing forth a great battering ram manned by many men. It was made from the trunk of the biggest tree in Narnia, and on it there was little green door with a dent in it, and a brand new looking glass window. If you have not guessed from that, it was the tree that Moonwood had lived in, and only Aslan knows whatever became of poor Moonwood himself when the Telmarines came to his home!
The gates were demolished and the Telmarines flooded throughout Cair Paravel, killing everything that moved. The Narnains were not prepared for such a thing to happen after so long a time of peace.
They pulled down the walls of stone and obliterated the fine masonry of the buildings and burned everything else to the ground. Only when night fell did the Narnain's of Aslan's How descry the violent flames towards the eastern shores. It was a full moon and a great many were gathered there with Reepicheep for the feast.
Taking up their arms they went out into the depths of night and hastily to the aid of those at Cair Paravel, too late though they were. But more swiftly did Reepicheep ride forth upon the Hoofalope, and he came upon the Telmarine army unawares. Some dozens of the men fell to Reepicheep's blade on the plains before the burning fortress, but his strength was spent as he took a heavy blow on his shield and fell hard upon the ground and he knew no more of that night.
Many of the other mice followed Reepicheep's example and charged boldly upon the Telmarines under the cover of darkness. Although Reepicheep was brought safely back to the stone halls of Aslan's How by his comrades after a wise retreat, while some never made it back at all, including the Hoofalope, so that after Reepicheep recovered from his injuries sadness fell upon for the dear losses of friends from the battle, so much so that he saw the losing of Queen Susan's Horn to Telmarine possession as little loss. DWARVES
Many of the Narnian's were now truly fearful in the days to come with the arrival of this new enemy. It was by good fortune that the Telmarines never discovered Aslan's How in that time, or at least its true purpose, seeing it as only a strange or eerie hill in the middle of the grassy plain, so it provided for the Narnian's a haven more than anything.
Ever after, they did not engage the Telmarines in outright battles (if they could help it) in the later years of the Telmarine residence in Narnia, for they had come to build settlements for their people, the majority of which to the west of Narnia. And with the naming of their own king they built a great castle and claimed Narnia as their own kingdom. Although there where some dwarves daring enough to venture openly seen in the Telmarine towns and villages, and they became valued members of their society for their magnificent smithery work which no man could outdo.
Great hunting parties would be sent into the woods by the Telmarines quite often, and they would hunt down the talking beasts as they rode upon horses and sent after them their loyal hounds. But the hunters were harried also by Reepicheep and his fellowship and many a Telmarine hunter would never return home again.
This did nothing but irritate the Telmarine king, for his concern was not of the welfare of his loyal men but mainly of the filling of his own royal larders. He decreed that he would finally rid Narnia of all the talking beasts who attacked his men and so he made war upon the very Narnian forests themselves.
His army burned and hacked their way south, then eastward toward the sea; the trees and their spirits never knew such anguish since the very dawn of their creation. And all talking beasts fled before them. Pattertwig assembled warriors in small numbers to resist them but they were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the Telmarines. Only with the help of Reepicheep and his host of elite warriors could they make a stand against the Telmarines.
The desolation of the forests at the hands of the Telmarine army reached all the way to a southernmost river in the shadow of the mountains, and it was there that the Narnians made their stand. As they forded that river they were cut down by the Narnians and hailed upon with arrows before they could reach the other side of its banks, and for a time the fight looked well for Reepicheep and Pattertwig's comrades but the Telmarines had found another crossing further upstream to them and had came around to flank the host of Reepicheep and Pattertwig's warriors. It was then that the trees sprang to life. They tangled the Telmarine men with their roots from the earth and closed themselves around them. The Telmaries took such fear that they all dropped their weapons and fled for their lives. The Nyads and Dryads of the forest became so fearsome in their wrath after the deeds of the Telmaries that they thought them demons and sinister spirits. So from the forest the Telmarines were chased, and in their wake all the trees that they had cruelly slew before sprouted to life once more and the forests were thicker in later days than ever they had been, all of the eastern and southern part of Narnia became verdant and thick with elusive forests. Never did any of the Telmaries dare to go by those wooded lands again, save for the very boldest of them. Therefore, the Narnians that remained lived for a long while in harmony, without being hunted and pursued by Telmarine men. But as a consequence of this great doing by the Narnian trees and spirits, they became dormant and fell into a long sleep. They no longer talked to each other, or moved by their own will, or danced in the moonlight at night. And so the nightingale's singing at night was always in vain with no dryad awake to sing with him.
The forests were always quiet then for many years. And if you ever found yourself walking alone in the Narnian forests in those times, it would be very lonely indeed. You would not see, nor hear, any talking beasts there, call out to them as you might. They avoided all humans, to avoid being discovered to maintain the peace that they had. And the trees were always silent and still like on a windless day.
But you'll be happy to know that things changed in later times, though it is not up to me to tell you about that, because at this point the ending of Reepicheep's Path of Knighthood is long overdue. There was no sight or sound of him in the depths of the dark and mysterious forests even if you could find Aslan's How without getting lost, I would not like to find out what would happen if you were mistaken as a Telmarine hunter whilst discovering their hiding place…