Restricted
~. ~ Chapter Three ~. ~
"Drop him!"
Aliyah looked up quickly and saw Susan released an arrow from her bow as she reached out to take another arrow from her quiver, aiming at two soldiers with another diminutive human in the boat. Both she and Lucy were catching up from behind as she saw Peter and Edmund already had their swords drawn by their side.
"That's a dwarf." Lucy explained to her as she noticed Aliyah looking at the boat strangely.
"Su, I don't think that's a wise choice of word to use." Aliyah whispered to her. To her dismay, the two soldiers did what as they were told and dropped the poor dwarf into the water. She saw her friend released the second arrow, perfectly shooting at one of the soldiers. She did not expect to witness death in such a short time even though she knew she definitely will get to experience the feeling of killing someone for survival here in this new world.
Peter immediately dived into the water and rescued the drowning dwarf while Edmund went forward to pull the boat to shore. After Peter had successfully saved the dwarf, he carried him with all his might to bring themselves back to where his siblings and Aliyah were. Lucy instantly used her dagger to cut off the ropes that were tying around the dwarf's hands and legs. Aliyah stood behind watching them in action with a worried look.
"Drop him?!" said the dwarf in fury as he threw the ropes on the sand with a huff, "That's the best you can come up with."
"She's just trying to help." Aliyah defended her friend.
"A simple 'thank you' would suffice." Susan added on.
"Are you alright?" asked Aliyah, moving closer to the dwarf to check on him as she tried to understand his situation. Besides, he just had a narrow escape from death.
"Stop there!" the dwarf snapped at Aliyah.
Edmund quickly moved forward and pulled Aliyah behind him protectively as he stood in between them. "You could have been drowned by now if we didn't save you in time." He spoke with a dark and dangerous tone. Something that Aliyah did not remember hearing him speak in this manner before.
"They were doing fine drowning me without your help." said the dwarf, stubbornly.
"Maybe we should have let them." Peter replied him, straightforwardly. He felt that his efforts had gone down the drain despite risking his life saving the ungrateful dwarf. Furthermore, he could not stand the others being rude to his siblings and his friend.
"Why were they trying to kill you anyway? What's your name?" asked Lucy as she tried to decrease the tension between her brothers and the dwarf.
"They're Telmarines." the dwarf replied, coldly, "That's what they do and my name is Trumpkin."
"Telmarines? In Narnia?" asked Edmund.
"Where have you been for the last few hundred years?" said Trumpkin, sort of questioning the four royals in front of him.
"It's a bit of a long story." Lucy told him while Susan handed over Peter's sword back to him and Trumpkin saw it. He could not believe his eyes. Thousands of questions came up to his mind as he began to feel curious at this group of young people who saved him earlier on. He then took a look at Susan's bow and the arrows she was carrying.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. You're it? You're the Kings and Queens of Old?" said Trumpkin as he felt hope returned once again. He turned and pointed his finger at Aliyah, "And you are?"
"She's with us and is our friend." Edmund replied before anyone could answer the dwarf's question.
"Any friend of the Kings and Queens are my friend too." Trumpkin told her as he bowed slightly to Aliyah who returned it back awkwardly.
"High King Peter, the Magnificent." Peter introduced himself and he let out his hand while Trumpkin just stood there, not knowing what to do next.
"You probably could have left off the last bit." Susan reminded him while Edmund turned away, trying to hide his smile.
"Probably." Trumpkin laughed for the first time as he agreed with his Queen.
"You might be surprised." said Peter and he drew out his sword.
"Oh, you don't want to do that boy." warned Trumpkin, shaking his head as he understood what Peter meant.
"Not me. Him." Peter looked at Edmund and he smiled gratefully in return as he drew his sword, getting ready for the friendly spar.
"Is there any way to stop them?" Aliyah asked Lucy, looking concerned.
"Don't worry." she assured her friend, "Edmund is the best swordsman in Narnia. I've never seen anyone defeat him before."
Aliyah raised an eyebrow at Lucy's comment and stared at the boy in front of her who is looking rather at ease. Trumpkin took over Peter's sword and he dropped it on the sand, giving people the impression that he could not fight well. However, out of a sudden, Trumpkin swung Peter's sword at Edmund who nearly jumped in shock. He ducked Trumpkin's attack but was hit by him on the eye using the pommel of the sword.
"Edmund!" Lucy shouted alertly.
"Oh, you're alright?" mocked Trumpkin as he continued to swing the heavy sword at Edmund again.
Luckily, Edmund was fast enough to dodge it and he went behind Trumpkin and gave him a whack on his back, bringing a chuckle from Lucy. Both of them were already serious about it as they began to circling around each other, waiting for one of them to make the next move. Trumpkin took the chance to swing the sword at Edmund's feet but he was quick enough to jump and prevent himself from losing one or both of his legs. Edmund went on to make an attack on Trumpkin, slashing his sword as he defended all of Edmund's moves. The sound of the swords, clanking each other made the other four excited and curious who would be the winner but it deep down, they already knew who will win at the very end. It went on and on as Edmund began to increase his speed and managed to send Trumpkin's sword flying off onto the sand. He stood there, with both of his arms raised, pointing his sword at Trumpkin who was staring back at him in shock. No doubt, Edmund is still the best swordsman in Narnia since the Golden Age until now.
"Beards and bedsteads." Said Trumpkin as his legs gave way and he fell onto the sand, "Maybe that horn worked after all."
"What horn?" Susan asked while the others looked at Trumpkin, wanting to hear what he was going to say next.
"Your horn, your majesty, is in the hands on a Telmarine prince. Prince Caspian." Trumpkin explained to them, "Few days back he was found in the woods while escaping from his own people. He claimed they are after his life. That is when he found us and he blew the horn. I helped him to fight off the soldiers but eventually I was being captured and brought to the Telmarine Castle which I got to know that it was his uncle who is after his life and throne. Seeing me as a threat, I think they wanted me dead and that's when you lot found me."
"So where did you last saw him?" asked Peter.
"In the Shuddering Woods." Trumpkin replied, "I hope he is still there."
…..
A boat appeared in the middle of the river as it sat six people; Peter in the middle rowing the boat, Susan and Lucy sat at the front, Trumpkin behind him and Aliyah sat at the end of the boat with Edmund who was helping to steer the boat. The surroundings around them were dead silence as if they are the only living things on the island. No one talked at all while both Susan and Lucy looked up at the trees hovering above them.
"They're so still." said Lucy, still looking at the trees.
"They're trees." answered Trumpkin, "What do you expect?"
"They used to dance." Lucy told him, a matter-of-factly.
"They do?" asked Aliyah, trying to imagine every tree dancing away. It would have been weird!
"Well, we have talking animals like centaurs, minotaur, satyrs, fauns and dwarves." Susan hugged Lucy as she rested on her older sister's shoulders.
"You can find things that you'll never expect to happen here in Narnia, which is why it makes this place to magical and surreal." Edmund added on.
"It wasn't long after you guys left that the Telmarines invaded." Trumpkin told them, his voice with a hint of bitterness. "Those who survived retreated to the woods. And the trees, they retreated so deep into themselves that they hadn't been heard from since."
"I don't understand." said Lucy, sadly, "How could Aslan have let this happen?"
"Aslan?" Trumpkin raised his eyebrow at her, "Thought he abandoned us when you lot did."
Upon hearing the false accusation that what Trumpkin had said, Peter turned around and replied, "We didn't mean to leave, you know." Aliyah could sense his despair. He is the High King after all. It pains more than anything for him to see his Kingdom to be in this state when he returned.
"Makes no difference now, does it?" said Trumpkin.
"Get us to the Narnians." said Peter in a determined tone, "And it will."
With that, no one spoke anymore. They were travelling on the river for some time until a land came to their sight again. Peter rowed the boat towards the shore and everyone got out of it. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Trumpkin were pulling the boat up shoreline while Lucy and Aliyah wandered around and exploring the island.
"Hello there!"
Peter, Susan and Edmund immediately stopped what they were doing and turned towards the enthusiastic voice ahead which turned out to be their dear sister; she was walking towards a bear without a second thought. Aliyah, behind her but she stopped dead on her tracks after seeing what was right ahead of them.
"Lucy!" Aliyah called out to her, "It's dangerous!"
"It's alright!" Lucy replied back, not intending to stop approaching the bear, "It's fine! We're friends!"
The bear began to growl at the young girl as she got closer, not knowing she had walking into a danger zone. Fortunately, Trumpkin was fast enough to sense something was amiss.
"Don't move, your majesty." Trumpkin warned Lucy.
Lucy turned and looked at Trumpkin, who was taking his bow from the boat. Peter and Edmund drew their swords as well and ran towards her direction. Lucy turned back to the front again and saw the ferocious bear charging towards her. Without thinking that she was unarmed, Aliyah immediately ran forward and took Lucy's hand and both of them began to run away from the angry bear. However, Lucy tripped on her dress and unfortunately, pulling each other down to the ground. Aliyah quickly hovered herself on top of Lucy to prevent her from getting hurt and prayed for the best.
"Stay away from them!" Susan shouted as she raised her bow and nocked an arrow at the bear, ready to shoot it if it was getting closer to the girls.
"Shoot!" Edmund yelled at his older sister as he sprinted towards his little sister and Aliyah, his voice getting louder after every word, "Susan! Shoot!"
With a loud growl, the bear stood on his two hind legs and was ready to pounce at the girls any second. Susan did not release the arrow from her hand yet but the bear was already shot down before it could reach Lucy and Aliyah. She turned back and saw Trumpkin holding onto his bow, his arrow missing. It was him who saved the lives of the two girls.
"Why wouldn't he stop?" asked Susan, in surprise.
"I suspect he was hungry." Trumpkin replied, walking towards the fallen bear in front of the two petrified girls. One second late and they would be the ones lying on the ground, dead.
Peter and Edmund were the ones who reached Lucy and Aliyah first. Peter quickly helped his sister up and Lucy hugged him back tightly as she seeks comfort from her older brother. Aliyah sat on the ground, still trembling from the terrifying incident she had experienced earlier on until a hand appeared in front of her. She looked up and saw Edmund offering his hand to her. She took it weakly as he pulled her up and steadied her with his hand on her back.
"Are you alright?" he asked, softly.
Aliyah nodded her head in reply as she controlled her breathing although she felt her legs going to give way any moment and Edmund knew she was lying.
As an act of defense, Peter and Edmund did not keep their sword and they continued to point at the dead bear while Trumpkin went forward to check on it.
"Thanks." Lucy said to Trumpkin.
"He was wild." commented Edmund.
"I don't think he could talk at all." Peter continued, agreeing with Edmund.
"Get treated like a dumb animal long enough." Trumpkin told the two kings, taking out a dagger. "That's what you become. You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember."
With that, he began to stab the bear, making sure it is completely dead. Lucy, who could not bear to see the process, hid her face in Peter's embrace while the others watched it in silence.
…
The group began to wander off into the island after their encounter with the wild bear. The seven of them continued their journey in the woods with Peter as the lead. Peter made sure that Lucy was by his side all the time so that history would not repeat again when he nearly lost his beloved sister. No one mentioned about the incident that happened earlier on until Susan decided to break the silence.
"Aliyah," Susan went to join Aliyah who was at the back of the group, "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…you know."
"Is alright, Su." Aliyah replied, quietly. "I understand."
"I thought it was a talking bear and I can't bear to –" Susan explained.
"Su," Aliyah cut her off and went on to hold her best friend's hand, comforting her, "You do not have to explain. I do not blame you at all."
"But your life was threatened back then." Susan argued. She just could not forgive herself for putting her sister and her friend's life on stake. No doubt, she is the still the Gentle Queen after all. "You could have died."
"It doesn't matter, Su. At least Lucy is safe." Aliyah replied, "My life does not matter"
"You need to deflate that assumption of yours." Susan scolded her, loud enough for Edmund who was walking in front of them to turn around and looked at them, wondering what was the commotion about. "Stop thinking that you are worth nothing. You value a lot to me, to us. Things are not the same here in Narnia. I will not allow you throwing your life away for nothing, none of us will."
"What's wrong?" Edmund asked his sister.
"Perhaps you can talk some sense to her." Susan sighed as she rejoined the group in front leaving behind Edmund and Aliyah alone.
"We should get going." Aliyah told Edmund after some time, not meeting his determined gaze on her, "We wouldn't want them to worry about us."
"Aliyah," he called out to her and held onto her wrist, stopping her before she could walk off.
"I'm fine." she replied, thinking that Edmund was going to reprimand her like Susan did. "And I promise I will not have that kind of thoughts anymore."
"You don't have to pretend that you're strong all the time." He told her and that totally caught her off guard.
"I don't know what you're talking about." she said, still refusing to look at him.
"A normal person wouldn't acted like you did, keeping quiet and pretending to be calm when they were just inches away from being attacked by a bear." Edmund reasoned out to her, "So stop pretending that you're fine."
"I can manage alone."
"Like how you did back in school?" Edmund questioned her harshly, "By being unapproachable and ignoring how people are treating you badly and locking yourself up in one corner and drowning your sorrows by crying alone and act as if nothing affected you after that? Is that your definition of managing alone?"
"How did you –"
Before Aliyah could finish her sentence, something unexpected happened nearby them. There was a pile of dried leaves on the ground which flew up the ground slowly. Edmund drew out his sword and stood in front of Aliyah and the two observed closely when the leaves formed a shape of a person as if it tried to approach them desperately but within seconds, it let out an agony cry that startled Aliyah and vanished into thin air, with the remaining leaves dispersed and falling back onto the ground.
"What was that?" asked Aliyah, her face full of shock but her voice remained calm.
"Dryad. They are spirits of the trees." Edmund replied solemnly. His face turned serious as he looked at the pile of dead leaves on the ground. Another sad reality of his home being destroyed hit him hard in his heart as it reminded him of the days he would ride in these woods with dear Philip for patrol or destress himself from all the councils he had to attend as commanded by his dear brother. He turned and looked at Aliyah as he put his sword back to his sheath.
"Come on, we should move on."
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