The group walked as fast as they could to the frozen river since their journey would take twice as long if they didn't cross it in time. When they finally got there, they saw with growing dread that the ice at the bottom of the frozen waterfall was quickly melting and floating away, taking their path along with it.
"We need to cross now!" Peter said urgently.
"Don't beavers make dams?" Lucy asked.
"I'm not that fast, dear!" Mr. Beaver told her.
Peter took Lucy's hand. "Come on!"
"Wait, will you just think about this for a minute?" Susan demanded.
"We don't have a minute!"
"I'm just trying to be realistic."
"No, you're trying to be smart. As usual!"
Elaine looked at Susan awkwardly as Peter and Lucy descended the rocks down to the water. Her stomach flipped when they heard the sound of a wolf howling not far behind them. "Come on," she said to Susan.
The two girls quickly started to follow after Peter and Lucy, but then Elaine swallowed when she saw that the narrow path leading down to the ice was higher than she would've liked.
Susan noticed Elaine's posture stiffen and told her, "Just watch my steps and follow after me."
Touched that Susan cared enough to ease her fears, yet also embarrassed that someone younger than her had to take the lead, Elaine and Susan carefully made their way down the ridge.
When they reached the ice, they could hear it furiously cracking as more and more slabs broke away and floated down the river.
Peter carefully stepped on the ice, and it immediately began to break under his foot. On instinct, Elaine's hand shot out to quickly pull him back.
"Wait, maybe I should go first," Mr. Beaver said.
"Maybe you should," Peter answered nervously.
Mr. Beaver made his way out onto the ice, slapping it with its tail to test its strength. Several times, the ice cracked beneath him.
"You've been sneaking second helpings, haven't you?" Mrs. Beaver said accusingly.
"Well, you never know which meal's gonna be your last. Especially with your cookin'."
Elaine smiled a little, once again reminded of how much the two of them sounded like her parents.
With a deep breath, she and the Pevensies slowly began to traverse out onto the ice with Peter leading the way. The ice cracked beneath their feet, but it still continued to hold them up. For now. Lucy cried out when the ice wavered under her, and Peter quickly caught her before she fell.
"If our mums knew what we were doing…" Susan started.
Peter rolled his eyes and glared at her. "Our mums aren't here!"
Elaine really wished her mother was here. Mia never seemed to panic in any situation, and Elaine was sure she would've handled everything up until now with a serene calmness that only one who had been through the struggles of parenthood could command.
Ice fell from the waterfall which made them all glance up.
"Oh, no!" Lucy cried.
The wolves had found them and were now crossing the waterfall above them to cut them off.
Elaine's eyes widened. Oh, no, Peter…
"Run!" Peter exclaimed as he grabbed Lucy's hand.
They tried to hop over the ice as quickly as they could in order to reach the other side before the wolves did.
"Hurry!" Susan cried.
Unfortunately, they weren't fast enough and didn't make it before the leader of the pack pounced in front of them.
Lucy screamed as Maugrim growled at them.
They all tried turning the other way, but several more wolves stood on the other side, effectively boxing them in on the ice.
Mr. Beaver hissed at one of the wolves in front of them, Maugrim's second-in-command, Vardan. Vardan lunged at him and held him in place with his sharp fangs against his throat.
"No!" Mrs. Beaver screamed.
With no other options, Peter pushed the girls behind him, whipped out his sword, and aimed it at Maugrim.
"Put that down, boy," Maugrim taunted. "Someone could get hurt."
"Don't worry about me!" Mr. Beaver shouted. "Run him through!"
Elaine couldn't just stand here. Peter had to be terrified. As if being attacked by a wolf wasn't bad enough, his fear of dogs had probably all but paralyzed him.
She quickly unclasped her satchel and pulled out her staff. Then she stood next to Peter and aimed her weapon at the same enemy. She didn't take her eyes off the wolf, but she could see Peter spare a glance at her in her peripheral vision.
Elaine knew this was ridiculous. What was she even supposed to do if Maugrim actually attacked? Whack him with the staff? What good would that do when there were at least seven other wolves surrounding them?
"And what do you expect to do with that?" Maugrim asked as if reading her thoughts. "Do you even know how to use it?"
"Maybe not, but I'm sure I could at least break a bone or two if I hit you hard enough," she retorted sharply. "Even I can do that."
"Do you really believe that you're faster than me?"
"Why don't you find out?"
Elaine could practically hear a voice in the back of her mind screaming at her to stop talking. Did she really think egging on a killer wolf was the best course of action?
Maugrim looked at Peter. "Leave now while you still can, and your brother leaves with you."
Upon hearing those words, Susan froze and turned to her brother. "Stop, Peter! Maybe we should listen to him!"
Maugrim chuckled darkly. "Smart girl."
"Don't listen to him!" Mr. Beaver said. "Kill him! Kill him now!"
"Oh, come on," Maugrim said, slowly inching forward. "This isn't your war. All my queen wants is for you to take your family and go."
The ice around them cracked and broke away, and the section they were standing on got smaller and smaller.
"Look, just because some man in a red coat hands you a sword and a staff, it doesn't make you a hero!" Susan told the older ones desperately. "Just drop them!"
Elaine refused to take her eyes off the wolf. "Susan, do you honestly think that a witch is going to let four children who pose a threat to her reign just walk away?"
"Peter!" Mr. Beaver urged again. "Narnia needs you! Gut him while you still have a chance!"
Maugrim inched forward even more, daring the two children to try using their weapons against him. "What's it going to be, Son of Adam? I won't wait forever. And neither will the river!"
"Peter!" Lucy screamed.
They all looked up at the frozen waterfall as water started to powerfully burst through the ice. Peter's terrified eyes met Elaine's. About two tons of water and ice were about to come crashing down onto them.
Breathing quickly, he frantically looked around for a way to save everyone's lives while Elaine shoved her staff back into her satchel.
"Hold onto me!" he shouted.
Lucy, Susan, and Elaine clutched onto his coat, and Peter sank his sword into the patch of ice they were currently standing on. The remaining ice that made up the waterfall cracked and shattered and fell into the water below. The girls screamed as the resulting wave lifted up the patch of ice before plunging them beneath the river.
Elaine could not describe how she felt when she submerged into the water. It was shockingly cold, and she thought for a moment that it had caused her heart to stop. She wasn't sure how her numbed hands managed to hold onto Peter's coat, but by some miracle, they did.
Just when she couldn't hold her breath any longer, the slab of ice broke the surface. Everyone hanging onto it took deep gulps of air as the ice quickly floated down the river with the current. Elaine's lip quivered from the cold that seemed to seep through to her very bones. They'd be lucky if they all didn't get hypothermia before they reached Aslan's camp.
The Beavers easily swam over to the slab of ice and pushed it over to the bank on the other side. Susan disembarked first followed by Elaine.
When they turned to Peter, he had a panicked look on his face, and they saw that he was holding Lucy's coat. No Lucy.
"What have you done?!" Susan exclaimed.
"Lucy!" Elaine called, watching the swift current with terror.
"Lucy!"
Elaine stepped to the edge of the bank and prepared to jump back in, never mind the freezing water. Even if she was included in the prophecy, Elaine would much rather have Lucy survive here instead of her.
"Has anyone seen my coat?" a small voice said, stopping Elaine in her tracks.
Peter whipped around and relief washed over him and the girls as his little sister approached them, her tiny sweater falling off her shoulders. He gently helped her put her coat back on as Elaine and Susan gave them relieved smiles.
"Don't you worry, dear," Mr. Beaver said. "Your brother's got you well looked after."
"And I don't think you'll be needing those coats anymore," Mrs. Beaver added.
They looked over at the trees and smiled. For the first time, the pink flowers on the trees blossomed through the white snow, signaling that spring had finally come.
The White Witch glared so icily at the rushing river that Edmund wouldn't have been surprised if the water froze up again from the intensity of that stare alone.
Ginarrbrik started to take off his heavy coat. "It's so warm out."
The Witch turned her glare to the dwarf, and Edmund was a little amused that she made him squirm for once.
Her servant quickly put his coat back on. "I'll go and check the sleigh."
Edmund smirked to himself, careful not to let the Witch see.
In truth, he was thankful it was now much warmer. His clothing had not been suited for the cold and snow, and his body appreciated the chance to warm up after spending hours inside an ice castle and suffering through that horrid sleigh ride.
He never thought he'd be so thankful to see running water or flowers in the trees. Just one day of that winter had been bad enough. He couldn't imagine living in those conditions for a hundred years.
"Your Majesty!"
Edmund and the Witch turned around at the sound of Maugrim's voice. Maugrim and his pack stepped out of the woods. One of the wolves held a fox in his mouth.
"We found the traitor. He was rallying your enemies near the Shuddering Woods."
The wolf roughly threw the fox onto the ground where he yelped in pain.
"Ah, nice of you to drop in," the Witch said, all pretenses now gone at the knowledge that her power was weakening. "You were so helpful to my wolves last night. Perhaps you can help me now."
The fox bowed his head. "Forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Oh, don't waste my time with flattery."
"Not to seem rude, but I wasn't actually talking to you."
The Witch glared at Edmund, and he worried for a second that she was going to hurt him again. His insides twisted at the title that he knew he no longer deserved and now realized never had.
Forgive the fox? Edmund should be begging the fox to forgive him.
The Witch twirled her wand in her hand before taking a few steps toward the fox and pointing it at him. "Where are the humans headed?"
The fox looked up at her in fear and shrank back, but he refused to answer.
The Witch held up her wand.
No, no, Edmund couldn't let her hurt another creature, especially not one who was still loyal to him despite him literally standing by the Witch's side.
He quickly darted in front of the fox. "Wait! No! Don't. The beaver said something about the Stone Table and that Aslan had an army there."
The Witch pursed her lips. "An army?"
Edmund looked down at the fox to see him shake his head in shame. He suddenly wished he hadn't said anything. The fox had been ready to accept his fate, and at least the Witch wouldn't have gotten the information she wanted. He couldn't keep feeding her things like this. He was only putting everyone in more danger.
"Thank you, Edmund," the Witch smiled sweetly. "I'm glad this creature got to see some honesty. Before he dies!"
In one movement, she stabbed the fox with her wand and he quickly turned to stone.
"No!" Edmund cried.
No…now the Witch knew something she shouldn't…and it didn't even matter because the fox was dead anyway. It had been for nothing.
The Witch rounded on him and firmly slapped him across the face.
Edmund squinted his eyes shut, blinking back tears. His put his hand to his stinging cheek. He'd never been struck before. Not even Peter, who always gave him a hard time, had ever physically hurt him.
The Witch put her hand on his shoulder. "Think about whose side you're on, Edmund. Mine…" She took his head in her hand and forced him to look at the stone fox. "…or theirs?"
Edmund took a shaky breath as she released him from her hold.
This hadn't been what he wanted…
But how many more times could he make that excuse? Even if this hadn't been what he'd wanted, he'd gone to someone he knew meant Narnia harm all because she'd told him exactly what he'd wanted to hear.
How many more creatures were going to get hurt because of him? How much longer would the Witch keep him around before she decided she had no use for him?
Please…someone help me…
The Witch stood in front of her wolf pack. "Go on ahead. Gather the faithful. If it's a war Aslan wants…" She used her wand to turn a passing innocent butterfly into stone. "…it's a war he shall get."