A/N: Another update, and it was about time, apologies for the tardiness! I hope you enjoy it never the less x
Soundtracks: (in exact order)
Tundra – Jeremy Soule
Two Swords – Ramin Djawadi
Son of the Harpy – Ramin Djawadi
Let's Kill Some Crows – Ramin Djawadi
Winterfell – Ramin Djawadi
Read on!
By the time Voytek had carried Lucy past Shuddering Woods, it was colder than ever, and the wind stung her face as it whipped through the tall trees, carrying snow and misery with it. Bending over the polar bear's back to protect herself from the wind, Lucy hoped they would find the location soon. She trusted he would take her there effortlessly, for he seemed to know the way by heart.
"How are you holding up, my Queen?" Voytek called over the howling wind. Lucy gave up on her hood, as it kept being pulled down by gusts of wind. She squinted ahead but failed to recognize the road ahead.
"I'm quite okay, just a bit cold, that's all!" she called back as a shiver ran down her back. Her braided hair whipped against her neck, and she silently cursed the elements that made their journey such a miserable quest.
Voytek hauled both of them over a fallen log that blocked their way, giving Lucy no warning what so ever. She squealed as she grasped the fur at his withers in surprise. Her thighs were so cold she felt like she would slide off.
"Worry not, daughter of Eve! We are getting closer by the minute!" he assured her as he trekked down a slope of snow-covered bushes, shrubs and rocks. Lucy held on tight as she leant backwards.
. . .
Caspian paced back and forth in his study. He was not fond of Lucy's mission, and he had a lump of worry so heavy it felt like his gut would fall to the ground. Why he ever agreed to this, he would ask the Great Lion himself if he ever had the chance to do so.
Walking over to the large windows, he noticed the weather had worsened over the past hour, and the lump of worry in his stomach grew. No, he needed to do something about this. His sailors-instinct usually never failed him, and neither did his gut - and so, he exited the study to begin his course of action.
. . .
The Seafaring King walked with light, yet quick steps as he made for the High Queens chambers. Two huskies, Barbas and Valka sat dutifully outside the grand set of doors. They perked up as Caspian approached them.
"I need to see the Queen. Now." Caspian said, his voice firm and filled with determination.
The two canines shared a brief glance, before the female, Valka, gave her King a nod, granting him admission. She turned to scratch the door three times. Waiting, she scratched the door once more before turning back to face the Telmarine.
"Now wait." She told him evenly as she licked her snout. Stepping back, he couldn't stand still as he waited and tapped his foot uneasily. He shifted his sword-belt several times. And checked he had his dagger behind his back along with his crossbow and bolts.
About half a minute or so later, the door opened. Dressed in her nightgown under the long robe of burgundy silk, Susan looked down towards the husky in expectation, but soon shifted her gaze upwards when she noticed Caspian stood right before her. Her raven-black hair was braided over her shoulder, and she didn't have any trace of sleep on her. He knew the feeling of sleepless nights.
"Caspian." She simply stated, surprised to see him take initiative to see her after her rejection that morning. But even more so surprised to see him dressed in thick black pants, leather boots, spurs, a woollen black short-coat along with a woollen muffler around his neck. He was armed to the teeth with his choice of weapons, and now pulling long leather gloves up his wrists. His hair was tied up in a leather band. Susan couldn't help but raise a fine, dark brow.
"Lucy's gone after the artefact." he declared as he met her icy gaze who changed from awkward surprise into dreaded disbelief.
. . .
Lucy no longer recognized the very ground underneath her. She had no idea where they were, but she knew he had taken her past the Western March of Narnia, a region with waterfalls and thick forests.
Voytek panted as he made way up a stony path with large boulders on their left whilst their right side fell one hundred feet downwards into a river. The waterfall ahead of them was frozen deep. The path Voytek currently treaded was treacherous, and Lucy couldn't help but stiffen as her right foot hung over the ledge from his back. She was so taken aback at the overwhelming height and the narrow path that she didn't notice the great polar bear halting before a cleft to their left.
"My Queen, we have arrived."
Lucy, stirred back to focus on their goal, perked up, and squinted against the sight of what seemed to be the entrance of a secluded cavern. She managed to slide off Voytek's back without endangering herself and stepped through the snow towards the cleft.
"I secluded this cavern a long time ago, and the hilt has been here ever since. Not many ventures here, and fewer heed mind over this place." Voytek explained as they walked together towards the two boulders blocking the opening to the cavern.
"Step back, little one." Voytek demanded as he pushed past her. He walked towards the two boulders and stood on his hind legs. Pushing against the boulder to the left with a growl, the large rock was coaxed out of the way, little by little. Snow fell over him, but he was persistent, and managed to pry the large boulder out of its place.
Lucy felt the ground underneath her quake by the slightest, and deciding not to put fate to the test, she stopped him.
"Voytek! Stop it, the ground is caving in!"
The bear stopped and looked at the young girl with determined eyes. Hearing several rocks falling down over the ledge behind them, he gave up on the boulder, and fell back onto all fours before facing the young Queen.
"You've made a big enough opening for me to squeeze through, look," Lucy observed, and slithered past him to remove several rocks that blocked the slim entrance that she could barely enter herself.
"My Queen, I cannot follow you through there," Voytek reminded her as she kept removing rocks with cold hands.
"Well, is there no other way through?"
"This cavern is a passage that tunnels into another opening north into the forest. It's closed on the other side, as the trees block the burrow there with their trunks and roots, but they would remove them at my word," the bear told her as he walked after her, only managing to poke his head between the boulders. "My Queen, would you not take me with you?" Voytek called. Lucy opened her rucksack and took out her older brother Edmund's torch. Switching it on, she lit the path and walls around her. The cavern around her was made of dirt, sand and rocks, with roots from trees above them poking through the roof.
"I will meet you on the other side, Voytek! You go there and tell the trees to remove the trunks so I can get through with the artefact. You are the only one they will remove their trunks for," she explained, making him rumble from his chest.
"Her Majesty likes to get things done, indeed," he muttered to himself. Letting her out of her sight was not something he was comfortable with, as he had made a promise to keep her safe. Despite having a sword with her, he did not feel safe with her idea.
"We are so close to getting the hilt, please," she begged the large beast. Snorting, he pulled his head out of the entrance.
"Look along the walls, little one. The hilt is held by a birch's root, you cannot miss it," he instructed, before trekking off to meet her on the other side.
"Be careful ever the same!" she heard him call from a distance as the sound of heavy paws drummed against the ground outside, soon disappearing.
Sighing, Queen Lucy the Valiant made her way into the cavern that went deeper into the ground. The tunnel was moist, cold and dark, but she kept glancing to the walls and lightening the path with her brother's torch to guide her way through the narrow tunnel.
She needed to duck several times to make way for thick roots penetrating the dirt above her head, and at one point crawl against the cold ground. It was eerily quiet in the cavern and her heart drummed in fear, but luckily, it was straight forward, and didn't exit into other tunnels, making it easier for the young, but valiant Queen to stay focused on her goal.
After crouching along the path for what seemed like too long, Lucy's attention finally fell upon a thick, curled root that grew out from the right cavern wall. Striding over to the birch's branch, she investigated it. It had been hollowed out forcefully with some tool, and so she knew this was the branch Voytek mentioned.
She stood on her tip-toes so she could explore the hollowed-out root. Her first instinct wasn't to reach her hand in there, but in this matter, she did not have a choice, and so reached in with bravery in her heart.
After rummaging around the moist hollow with her hand for a while, she felt something hard and cold brush her fingers. She gasped out a 'yes!' and grasped the item. It was indeed the sought-after silver hilt. Pulling it out, Lucy investigated the artefact in her hand. It was indeed part of Jadis' wand, as she recognized the vine of thorns engraved on the sides of the hilt. It looked as well-preserved as the last time she saw it in the aftermath of the Battle of Beruna in the Golden Age. Extremely satisfied with her find (and luck), Lucy placed the artefact in her rucksack, closed it tightly, and made her way towards the other side of the cavern to meet Voytek who hopefully would still be waiting for her.
The rest of the trek through the cavern was the most challenging, as she had to crawl on her elbows and stomach most of the times to get underneath the roots of the trees above the ground, and she hoped she would find the exit soon. She was anxious to go home and present the hilt to her siblings. To even think they doubted her!
Feeling the air getting colder as she moved forward, she realized the entrance was near. And after a while of determined trekking and crawling, she saw the massive number of roots and branches blocking her path further. She called out for Voytek and flickered the torch's light, and muffled speech from the outside was the reply to her call.
Lucy was slightly out of breath as she tried to listen to the voice outside but was soon delightfully surprised to see a number of branches and roots pulling up from the dirt above her, making a path for her so she could squeeze out. Doing so, Lucy managed to get out of that filthy, moist cavern in one piece. Seeing Voytek anxiously waiting for her as she squeezed past the last branch, she wanted to throw her arms around the great bear.
"Your Grace is well and in one piece?" the polar bear asked as he made his way over to her. On instinct, Lucy raised her gloved hand to pet his cheek.
"Yes, and I have what we came for. Thank you, Voytek." Lucy said with a beam. Voytek grimaced at her appearance. Her garments of fur and wool, not to mention the Queen herself was filthy with grime, mud and dirt, and she did not exactly smell like a rose after venturing through that cavern. All the same, she was beaming and didn't look like she minded her appearance in that moment. Voytek decided in that very moment he liked the young girl – the world could need strong spirits such as herself. She reminded him much of his deceased mate; she had fire in her heart.
During their quiet moment dedicated to regaining their breaths, Lucy and Voytek's attention was suddenly caught by a shrill, high-pitched, alien sound coming from the depths of the thick woods.
Lucy turned towards the sound with the torch, and she could swear she saw the glimpse of a moving shadow between the trees. The mouth of the cavern was located in a clearing, with tall trees huddling together surrounding them, and so, they were exposed if they lingered in their current location.
Lucy stepped closer to the White-Marshal once the sound echoed from behind them, this time.
"Something is not right." Voytek murmured, and Lucy unsheathed her sword in alarm.
Voytek scouted both sides and kept Lucy against his flank. Scouting his right side once more, a shriek could be heard closing in on them. Lucy had heard nothing like it before, but Voytek growled as he stood up on his hind legs;
"Bone-men."
They were in danger.
Lucy could hear her own heart thunder in her chest, and she was for the first time in a long time frightened for what to come.
The Valiant Queen did not have any more time to reflect on the subject, for two creatures came running at an incredible speed straight at them with outstretched, flesh-less and bony arms from the right side of the forest. Voytek acted quickly, and before Lucy could even comprehend what was happening, he struck at the creatures with one powerful paw, knocking them out of the way. The impact would have been fatal to mere men, but these creatures, stood up at the speed of light, and charged at the great white bear once more. Tucking Lucy behind him, she could barely make out the creatures, but she did see that they had indeed once been men – their remains however, had been brought back into something twisted and vile. These two bone-men were decayed and rotten through and through, with only scraps of clothing covering the carcase of their bodies. They did not have eyes, nor any flesh, only crisp, decayed skin hung on the living bone-men. Voytek charged forth and stood on his hindlegs to crush the first vile creature's skull underneath his large paws. The abomination did not move further after an unsettling 'crack' echoed in the clearing.
Voytek then bit down on the second boneman's naked skull, and tore it from the spine of the creature, immediately ending its wrecked life once and for all.
Lucy had prepared herself to either fight or flee, and she noticed there were shrieks and the sounds of rattling bonemen coming from all corners of the darkness around them.
"Voytek!" she called.
The White-Marshal had already charged at a group of three incoming bonemen, and they sprinted towards him with bared teeth and stretched-out hands. He bulldozed into them and sent them flying. One he had trampled into the ground, breaking its rotten spine, and what was left of the creature dragged itself along the snow, still determined to attack the superior white-furred bear. The screech it let out was ear-deafening.
So was Voytek's roar as he fought of two of the bonemen that had managed to get a hold of his fur.
"Aim for the heads, little one!" he roared, as he knew he couldn't protect Lucy forever. There were swarming bonemen from every direction, and even though he'd like to know where they came from, and how in the world they had managed to find them out here, his main task now would be to keep the Queen alive.
Lucy's eyes flickered to every direction around them and stood with her back against Voytek, her feet apart and both hands on the sword. She had never been more grateful for learning how to handle a sword from her brothers than in this very moment.
A boneman with only one arm, and no jaw charged at her with a screech that sounded more like a hiss because of the lack of jaw, and Lucy swiftly turned her blade with great force into its skull, decapitating it. It fell at her feet, twitched once, and then stilled.
Two more came from her back, but Voytek came to her rescue and ended them quickly. Before Lucy could even orientate herself, yet another came towards her, despite missing half of its torso and hip. It limped towards her on one leg, fell down in the snow, and dragged itself towards her with a dark moan. She realized quickly that these bonemen had been created with only one purpose; to kill and destroy – no matter how many limbs they missed.
Lucy, determined to live, strode over, and stomped on the back of its head. The sound and feeling of bones crushing under the sole of her boots was sickening.
The brave Queen heard Voytek's distressed roar and spun around, only to see that he had been pinned to the ground by five of the malicious corpses. One had bit down on his neck, and his white fur had been coated red by his own blood. Lucy sprinted to aid him and tore down a boneman that held onto her companion's throat by his bony leg.
It didn't amaze her how light these creatures were considering they were mere bones and skin, for she managed to tear it down to the ground, and then swiftly bury her blade between the corpse's jaw and skull.
Decapitating a boneman that had abandoned his attempt to conquer Voytek to get to her, the White-Marshal was now able to shake the rest of the vile creatures off him and finish them off with bared teeth and heavy, powerful paws.
When would it end?
By the time three more had managed to get into the clearing, Voytek and Lucy had been forced against the trees that guarded the cavern's mouth with great roots and branches, and quickly realized they were too many. They would soon be overrun if there ended up being more lurking about between the trees.
"I fear this might be the end, Your Majesty. I suggest you make a run for it whilst I fend them off for as long as I can," Voytek told Lucy as he kept his eyes on the bonemen that closed in on them. Lucy stood staunch and ready to defend her companion and herself from these evil conjurations, her sword at the ready.
"I am not abandoning you. We're in this together!" she called back, taking down a boneman charging at her side.
Voytek's roar of warning towards the bonemen as he stood on two legs could have crumpled the Stone Table itself, and he swung fiercely at two creatures climbing onto his paw.
The sound caught Lucy off guard, and when two came towards her with such inhuman speed, her fear blocked out everything else.
And so, she did not notice the lights from torches in the woods, the sound of thundering hooves or roaring men heading their way until a red-feathered arrow with an eagle-shaped, golden arrowhead and a steel bolt pierced the skulls of the two bonemen coming towards her.
Lucy froze in her spot beside Voytek as none other than Caspian came galloping into the clearing on top of Destrier, his crossbow at the ready, whilst her older sister appeared on top of her horse at full speed out between the trees, her bow at hand.
Behind them came a total of five riders with three Talking Beasts close behind. The large husky Valka, Niva the lioness, along with the leopard Kiai.
Niva tackled down Voytek's attackers on his right with a magnificent pounce.
It was all a blur of torches, blades, arrows and horse's hooves; Caspian sheathed his crossbow and unsheathed his sword, as he rode down several bonemen, his blade swift.
Susan had joined in the soldiers on the ground with her bow, her arrows true and her strikes powerful.
Lucy stepped closer to the injured Voytek who pulled her in too stand by his flank as the clearing was conquered by Narnian forces.
Lucy spotted her brothers too, their strikes against the decaying creatures steady, their bodies moving in a rage. Rhea the female Telmarine guard moved with her scabbard and longsword with the grace of a slender housecat, flanking Peter on the ground.
Caine came to Lucy's rescue and defended her front, his broad sword of silver held up in a threat towards those dusty, restless corpses who felt like challenging his duty towards his Queen.
One of the horseback soldiers had put fire on one of the creatures with the help of his torch, and the boneman sprinted about for a short moment, before finally falling to the ground as a pile of dust and charred bones.
There were bonemen still coming from all directions of the woods, and the felines along with Edmund had made it their mission to hunt down the bonemen there.
Peter and Caspian stood back to back as they fought off a total of four walking skeletons, their arms ready to claw at them.
Rhea knocked one down with a mighty snarl along with her scabbard and crushed its skull, giving Peter opportunity to end his opponent quickly. He then swiftly turned around to face Caspian.
"Duck!" he shouted and swung at Caspian's second opponent with ease once his fellow King ducked before his blade.
"Thanks!"
A number of the bonemen on the ground had been taken down by Susan's well-aimed arrows, and she was currently aiming at two bonemen coming towards her in a straight line, one right behind the other. Releasing her arrow, it penetrated both of the corpse's skulls in one hit, and she couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction at the double-hit.
"Dear Little Friend, what on earth have you gotten yerself into now?!" Trumpkin the dwarf shouted towards Lucy as he appeared by her side. His war-axe was in his grasp, and his face was ridden with determination to defend Lucy.
"I was planning to save Narnia!" she shouted back once she had a hold of the situation around her in that moment. She moved towards Caine's side and a warm feeling spread in her chest when he saw her grin at her, and then charge at an incoming limping boneman.
After eliminating the bonemen in the clearing, and when their numbers were reduced into mere scattered corpses in the woods, the soldiers on horseback made sure to finish them off as well.
Once the last boneman fell to the ground with a dying hiss, Peter, Caspian and Trumpkin walked towards Lucy and Voytek.
Voytek was panting for a long time before he fell heavily onto the ground with a grunt, his injuries and blood loss taking a toll on him. Lucy rushed to his side, anxiously getting her cordial out of the rucksack.
"No, little one…" he murmured in exhaustion as his head fell down against the snow. Lucy dropped to her knees by his head, desperately trying to give him a drop of the elixir.
"No, nonono, Voytek… Please, take this…" Lucy begged him as she stroked his jaw: a streak of blood spread in her palm.
Soldiers and Narnians gathered around the fatally wounded polar bear as their Valiant Queen attempted to heal him.
Caspian stood further behind with Peter at his side as he grasped his left arm against a graze that bled downwards his arm,
"My Queen… Do not give me… that drop… I have served my purpose now. There is nothing… Nothing left for me now…" The great white bear spoke weakly as he felt the world spin before his eyes. Tears streaked down Lucy's red cheeks in defeat. They had come so far, why would he give up now? High-held torches surrounded him, and the flicker of light was soothing.
"I miss my family… My mate… I want to join my cubs, little one..." Voytek said, his voice growing weaker as a whimper escaped his chest. The white snow around him started to grow a pink hue, and the snow falling from the sky fell heavily onto his fallen, broken body.
"My cubs… Alva," he called out in a mere whisper as he gasped for air.
Looking towards the sky for a moment, it seemed to come closer, or that he was going towards the sky, he was not sure. All he knew was that the lights would guide him home…
As Voytek's sharp, last gasp escaped his lungs and he grew forever limp, Lucy stroke his still damp fur one last time as heavy sobs escaped her. She forcefully threw the cordial onto the ground, feeling absolutely awful and disgusted to even hold that thing in her hand right now.
Peter and Caspian stepped closer, but they held their ground once Caine crouched down beside her and placed a hand onto her shoulder with a sombre look upon his face. He let her fall against his chest as she sobbed into the cold steel-plates of his armour as he stroked her hair tenderly.
Susan moved forward to comfort her younger sister with long steps, but a twig snapping between the trees and bushed at her right had her freeze in her spot.
Before being able to even ready an arrow on the bowstring, a boneman sprinted her way so quickly that no one was able to aid her before the vile creature lunged at her with a gaping jaw and almost fully decomposed claws reaching for her. Taken aback, the Gentle Queen was tackled to the ground along with the inhuman monstrosity who had now locked his jaws deeply at the column of her neck, making her unable to shake it off and defend herself.
The sound of blades being unsheathed rang in the clearing, alerting Lucy too who cried out for her sister in her distress. Caine held her back as she tried to scramble herself up on her feet.
Susan wrestled the creature for a brief moment until the sound of boots against the crisp snow behind her head led to the boneman being wrenched off of her and the familiar sound of a dagger piercing its temple rang in her ears in the distance. The pulse beating in her ears made her aware of what had happened just then.
She was unable to get up as she reached for her severely torn neck, the flesh-wound immobilizing her, and she quivered once on the snow-covered forest floor after another desperate, yet failed attempt to get up. She felt someone crouching down by her head, holding her down with one strong hand.
"Cordial, now!" she heard a voice call: Caspian's voice.
Another gasp of pain escaped her gritted teeth as her neck burned like nothing she had ever felt before. She felt the sting of claw marks upon her skin as well, but her corset, woollen short-coat and leather trousers had taken most of the hits from the boneman's fierce attacks.
Trumpkin had tossed Caspian the cordial, and he opened the flask to heal her. She had been injured badly and the artery pumped out fresh blood for every second that passed.
"Here," Caspian muttered above her, and Susan registered the sweet, yet tangy taste of the fire-flower elixir upon her lips.
"Oh Gods, Su," she recognized the voice of her older brother in front of her.
She could hear distant, unclear shouts behind her by the trees, and a moment after, Edmund calling her name as he fell to his knees at her back, a soothing hand upon her back.
Peter removed the leatherstrap by her chest that held the quiver of arrows at her back, and she gritted her teeth at the flinching movement.
"Susan, it's alright… Relax, the pain will go away soon," Peter's voice was soothing, and she heard him clearer now that the pulse didn't beat in her ears as strongly.
She found it easier to breath too and could relax more as the pain subsided with each breath she took. Her head fell against the ground once the grasp of pain eased on her body, now being able to relax.
Lucy watched the scene from afar, still mindlessly stroking Voytek's fur, as her thoughts went to her sisters. Caine muttered soothing words beside her, reassuring her that her sister would be alright. He held her down against him in her moment of distress, knowing it would be better this way. It all happened so fast, the young Queen was in a state of shock.
"There we go…" Edmund sighed out in relief as the fatal wound on her neck stopped bleeding, and after a while, started to heal.
Susan felt only twinges of pain by the time she could sit up, and with the help of her rescuer, stand up.
"Careful, you've lost a lot of blood," Caspian assured her as she turned woozy. Closing her eyes to stop the world from spinning, Caspian's strong chest supported her whilst she regained her posture.
"Susan…!" Lucy managed to call in a hoarse voice from her place in Caine's arms. The oldest female Pevensie wasn't able to respond at first, as the world around her spun, and she were on the brink of fainting. But, her babysister's second cry for her made her take a step towards her, despite black dots appearing before her vision.
"I'm…. alright… Lucy," she replied in a weak voice, Caspian still supporting her with his strong arms and warm chest.
Susan didn't remember anything after that and could barely hear Caspian's worried whoa! before her legs failed her as she passed out on the snow that was shed with blood and decorated with carcasses of the undead.
A/N: I have never cried whilst killing off an OC before, so this was a turning point for me.
I am sorry if this turned out much more dramatic than necessary, but, in truth, I like it! Some drama a day keeps the doctor away…! Maybe it's an apple they're talking about, I'm not sure x
I hope you enjoyed this never the same!
Until next time,
Dragon
