A/N: Welcome back to another chapter of Victory Does Not Make Us Conquerors!

Hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and hopefully, forgive my slow updates :/ Alas, that's how it is having busy days and less time to actually sit down and write.

Enjoy!

Soundtracks:

"Gone" - Arianna Deligianni (Snow White & the Huntsman OST)


No matter how filthy she was, no matter how much her teeth chattered as she froze, Lucy's hope that her family would come for her, that Aslan would aid them in their quest never faded. She still believed.

Looking at the stale, mouldy bread that she hadn't touched beside her on the filthy ground, she still believed.

Feeling lethargic, tired, cold to the bone and filled with anxiety, she still believed that Narnia's fate would be in Aslan's ever-so gracious hands.

The matter that disturbed Lucy the most, however, was the waiting - the godawful waiting. Since she woke up in the cage, she had only been served some bread and a bowl of water once. Other than that, an undead satyr had stepped up to the cage once, snorted, and marched away just as soon as he arrived. He was making sure she was still alive, Lucy supposed.

Not knowing how many days had passed, she stared between the bars of her cage, not really focusing on anything. So, when the undead satyr silently appeared in front of her iron bars, she startled at the sight and let out a gasp.

The 'clink!' of her cordial falling out the folds in her dress down to the ground rang in the room, making the guard snort in alarm.

Stepping forward, the undead satyr quickly unlocked her cage with a rotten hoof, and strode inside.

"No!" Lucy protested as she was about to grasp the cordial. The satyr growled at her and slammed the hilt of his axe against her head to push her back. Grunting as she was slammed against the iron bars, Lucy placed her hand against her temple, her vision blurred at the impact of the axe. The satyr mechanically bent down to pick up the cordial before marching out of the cage, locking it, and leaving Lucy to her own company, looking after him as he disappeared with her cordial.

The young Queen was distressed as she hissed at the pain in her head, feeling more vulnerable than ever.

. . .

As dawn touched the top of the mountains around them, the Pevensies and their company of Narnians and Telmarines had finished their fleet and began paddling across the water to get back on land. Caspian and Rhea scanned the area they had left their horses, only to see that they were gone; their lead ropes had been torn. Their bodies were nowhere to be seen, however.

Scouring the lakefront more closely, Rhea spotted the shiny armour plates of Adranos and his men upon the ground. Scattered about was several bodies, and it dawned upon Caspian what had happened.

Paddling quickly to land, Caspian, Rhea and Peter waded the shallow water to investigate the scene further.

On the ground to their left, one of Adranos' men had been mauled by bone-men, but he had not gone without a fight. Three lay spread around him, one with his rotten claws still buried in his throat, even in death.

"They were ambushed…" Susan stated as they walked past the scene.

The other guard had fallen victim to the bone-men as they had scavenged his intestines, his face down into the ground.

The company halted to let the scene sink in and could only hear the soft howling wind as they prepared to fight off any remaining bone-men.

A soft cough ahead to their right caught Caspian's attention.

Jogging towards the sound, Caspian found Adranos, still alive, sitting down against a boulder on the forest floor, clutching a death wound on his waist.

The rest of the company followed their King as he walked over to Adranos as he coughed up blood.

Noticing the change of lights, Adranos opened his eyes to see his King kneeling down before him, his brown eyes stern, yet saddened at what had become of him.

"My Lord…" Adranos muttered under his cough. Caspian exhaled a sigh as he looked at the Lord Commander.

Adranos was severely wounded and had lost a whole amount of blood. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were bloodshot from the exertion. Around him lay the carcasses of bone-men, their heads severed from the bodies.

"It didn't have to come to this, Adranos." Caspian told the dying man as he met his gaze.

"Victory is impossible, my King. You will be defeated…" he coughed in response.

"Be that as it may, I will never let Narnia fall. None of us will." Caspian promised him.

To his surprise, Adranos smirked and exhaled sharply.

"If that only were enough…" he muttered sadly. Caspian did not reply to this.

With no more strength in him, Lord Adranos let out his last breath, and left this world behind.

Studying the man, Caspian regretfully wished it hadn't come to this.

Seeing the satchel in his hand, Caspian took it, stood up on his feet and handed it to Peter, who made sure the crystal was still there.

Susan stepped forward, bent down, and studied Adranos. She raised a hand to close his eyes, before she spoke in a gentle voice:

"We should bury them."

The group said nothing to disagree with her, and so they spent the next hour digging the soldiers a grave by the lakeside.

As Edmund, Caine and Caspian pondered on what they had witnessed, they realized the dire situation. Adranos and his men had not been loyal to Talulah and her army of undead. They feared for their lives, their families' lives, and the world as they knew it. Of course they would do her bidding, if she had persuaded them enough that she would let their families and friends live if they did. But, seeing how she had blindly sent her army after them to retrieve the crystal off their hands, the Pevensies realized Adranos and his men had been her puppets.

Pawns in her cruel play.

Susan and Peter carefully placed the bodies of the soldiers in their graves as the rest of the group sealed the three mounds. Marking the graves with a formation of rocks, the party stepped back to gaze upon the finished result in silence. As they did, a rustle from the trees in the woods behind them interrupted their silence.

Drawing their weapons, they were all prepared for a new attack.

Alas, relief struck them hard when Destrier led the herd of horses in a fresh gallop past the trees, all seemingly unharmed, towards the party of Kings and Queens and their good companions. Caspian stepped forward with his hands up to stop his horse. The black draft halted quickly, his nostrils wide, and ears forward as his master grabbed his bridle to study the stump of rope that was still attached to him. Caspian hm-ed once in confusion before giving Destrier a pat on his sweaty neck.

Concluding the horses had probably escaped during the attack, instinct driving them to flee, it still amazed them that the horses had found their way back to them instead of making their way home.

Susan knew better, however, for she looked above the trees as she grabbed the reins of her jet-black mount and saw a familiar beat of black-feathered wings in the sky, along with kicking hooves disappearing over the tall pines.

Astraea had followed them.


A/N:

How's that for a plot twist, huh?

I'm sorry for the short chapter, I'll make up for it this weekend, I promise!

Until next time,

Dragon