Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Battle, Part One
The journey to the battleground was about a two-hour march from camp. Edmund, Georgie, Lily, and Peter were given horses so that they could lead the army. As they made their way towards the chosen field, Peter filled the other three in on what his plans for the fight were. He also let them know what his signals. Once that was finished, though, the four of them fell into a silence and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of swords knocking against armor as the soldiers trudged along. When they finally reached the location, everyone was quick to get into formation. Edmund, Georgie, and Lily led the archers and the Beavers up towards the cliffs. Peter was right; they had a good view of the battlefield.
Looking down, Lily watched as Peter took his place at the front of his army with Oreius on his right. They stood there waiting until out of nowhere, a griffin glided around in the sky, screeching its arrival. It flew in front of the cliff before swooping down and landing on Peter's left. Peter had the idea of sending someone ahead to look out for the Witch. The three were in the middle of the griffins report when a loud horn was sounded. Looking out, Lily and the others watched as the Witch's army approached.
She couldn't help but let her mouth drop when she saw how large the army was. Although they were far away, Lily was able to recognize many of the creatures that had been in her dream the night before. Turning away, she locked eyes with her brother before reaching out and grabbing his hand. On the other side of Georgie, Edmund shared a look with Mr. Beaver before turning back to look forward.
The Witch's army continued to advance until it reached a small rock ledge that sat in the middle of t
The army continued to advance until it reached a small rock ledge that sat in the middle of the field. The Witch drove her up on the ledge, perching herself above her followers. From his own place in front of his army, Peter turned his head to look up at his brother and the Rivers on the cliffs. Edmund and Georgie both nodded their heads towards him, which he returned. Lily brought her fingers to her lips before moving them towards the blonde boy. The action caused Peter's lips to turn up slightly, but even from this distance, he could see that she was scared.
Turning around so that he was once again facing the enemy, he calmly unsheathed his sword and lifted it to the sky. From behind him, his troops let out cheers and yells of encouragement, lifting their swords to match their king. They did this to help build confidence and strength as the Witch's army started to make its way towards them.
The horrible creatures moved swiftly to close the distance between them and the red-clad army who stood their ground. Georgie dropped his sister's hand before drawing his sword simultaneously with Edmund. Following the boys' lead, Lily pulled her bow from her back and held it loosely in her right hand, waiting. Being in charge of the air team, Georgie waited until the enemy forces were about halfway before lifting his sword and pointing it out towards the advancing monsters.
In a matter of seconds, the sky filled with griffins carrying large, heavy rocks. The griffin that had scouted ahead led the other over the creatures before dropping their burdens. Edmund and Lily also raised their weapons and smiled as a large number of soldiers were crushed under the falling rocks. But the smiles didn't last long. After watching some of their men be flattened from above, their archers began shooting arrows at the griffins causing many of them to fall from the sky as well.
Peter watched as the enemy continued to draw closer and decided that it was now time to move as well. Lily watched as he raised his sword and let out a battle cry before urging his unicorn steed towards the approaching enemy. Oreius moved as well, remaining close by. The soldiers behind them paused to let out their own cries and shouts before taking off as well, their weapons drawn and at the ready.
What happened next all seemed to be happening in slow motions.
It took the two armies maybe a few seconds to close the distance between them, but to the three standing on the cliffs watching, it felt like hours. Large cats from both armies sped off in front and were the first to collide with one another causing dirt and fur to fly. The remaining soldiers of the two armies met shortly after.
Edmund, Georgie, and Lily could do nothing but stand there as the clang of metal began to fill the air followed by the cries of the wounded. The brunette girl felt a shiver run down her spine as the cries of the injured grew louder and louder. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and bury her face in her brother's shoulder, but her fear for Peter kept her eyes on the battlefield. When the two armies had met, he had been lost in the mass of bodies. Quickly, her eyes darted across the field in an effort to find him once more. Edmund must have been doing the same, because, after a while, he cried out.
"There he is!"
Lily followed Edmund's finger and couldn't help but let a sigh of relief pass her lips when she found him. Peter was fighting a few of the monsters by himself, his sword a blur of silver as he swung it around. Aslan's army seemed to be holding firm, fighting off the Witch's followers.
But that had just been the first bout.
The Witch had stayed back and was watching the fight from the safety of her chariot. Once it seemed like her forces were being beaten, she decided that it was time to kick things up a notch. Grabbing hold of the reins, she urged her polar bear mounts forward with the rest of her army following behind. Being locked in battle, Peter and the rest of his army were unaware of the Witch's movement. But the three standing on the cliff saw.
"They need more time!" Lily yelled, turning to the boys and Mr. Beaver.
Edmund nodded in agreement before turning around to look at a female centaur that stood ready and waiting.
"Fire!" he cried as he lifted his sword and pointed it out over the edge of the cliff.
At his command, the lady centaur drew back her bow and let forth a fiery arrow.
Once in the air, the arrow flew for a moment before bursting in a small explosion of sparks. Out of the smoke appeared a phoenix. Lily smiled as the beautiful bird soared through the sky for a moment before angling it's body sideways and skimming the grass with it's wing, leaving in its wake a trail of fire.
It had been Peter's idea to use fire against the Witch. He thought it would be a decent deterrent or signal, whatever they might need. And now the fire was acting as both. It stopped the Witch's army from advancing and alerted Peter to what was coming.
The archers on the cliff all started to cheer when they saw the Witch's army pause; even Mr. Beaver threw a fist in the air. However, neither the fire nor joy lasted long. With the help of magic, the fire was extinguished and the Witch pushed her chariot forward once more.
With the fire gone, the second half of the Witch's army was able to charge in and join the battle. Aslan's army quickly started being bested as they were greatly outnumbered. Peter noticed that and decided that it was time for plan B. Turning his unicorn around, he started pushing his way back the way they had come; yelling at the top of his lungs while he did so.
"Fall back! Draw them to the rocks!"
"That's the signal! Get ready!" Mr. Beaver yelled as the horn started to sound.
The three children on the cliff turned around and moved away from the edge and got into their positions. Lily quickly reached back and grabbed an arrow from her quiver. Placing it in her bow, she drew it back and held it, waiting for Edmund's order. All around her, the other archers were doing the same thing.
All around them, they could hear the sounds of the soldiers below them. The clanging of their armor, their shouts as they tried to help each other. Keeping her bow in place, Lily looked down and tried to locate Peter once more. It took some time, but she was soon able to spot him on his unicorn. It took all she had in her not to let out a cry of joy when she was that he wasn't injured.
Next to her, Edmund raised his sword and held it in the air for a second before bringing it down, signaling that that it was time to fire. Lily looked away from Peter and retrained her eyes on the enemy. Taking a deep breath, she released the arrow and watched as the blue-feathered arrow joined the flock of red-feathered arrows in the sky. They seemed to hang there for a second before falling down to earth again, embedding themselves into the bodies of the Witch's followers.
Lily was about to release another volley when something caught her down below. Looking down, she saw that it was Peter's unicorn. It had been hit by an enemy arrow and threw Peter to the ground. Lily watched as he slowly pushed himself up.
Turning her head, she saw that Edmund had witnessed the same thing as she had. The two were too busy looking at each other that they didn't see what happened next until Georgie said something, his voice filled with shock and fear.
"What is Oreius doing?"
Jerking their heads around, they watched as Oreius and a rhino turned around and charged. At first, Lily thought that they were going to help Peter. But then she saw Peter on his feet with his hands up. Scanning the field, she saw why Peter was trying to get them to stop.
The Witch was making her way towards them on her chariot, a trail of statues behind her. The rhino went in ahead of Oreius, clearing a path about halfway until a few small creatures brought him down with sharp blades in their hands. Oreius jumped over the rhino's body before engaging in a fight with a Minotaur. It was a fierce, quick fight, but Oreius came out on top in the end after plunging his two swords into the Minotaur's back.
He then charged the Witch.
At first, the three children positioned at the cliff thought that Oreius was going to be able to beat her, and he would have, if the Witch would fight fair. Knocking away his sword, she struck out with her wand and turned the large centaur to stone. Peter stood there in shock for a moment before he was engaged in a sword fight with a horribly ugly creature that he did not know the name of. Having had enough, Edmund, Georgie, and Lily decided that they had had enough and took off towards the fight. They knew they had promised Peter to stay on the cliffs where it was safe, but they couldn't just stand there and watch anymore.
Author's Note: Guys, there are only five chapters left after this! We're almost done! I'm so happy that you all liked the sibling moment between Georgie and Lily, I really like it too. Like I said last chapter about this one, not a lot of action in it. There will be plenty of that next chapter, though, plus a nice fluffy scene between Lily and Peter. Thanks so much for the reviews on last chapter: Scout out, Kate07, sarahmichellegellarfan1, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, TellYouAllAboutIt, and Millions Of Amelias. I also want to thank all the people who have favorited, followed, or is just reading along with this story. I'll see you all Thursday then with part two!
