First time squeezing (most of) the battle into one chapter. Enjoy!


Chapter 20: Battling the Great Serpent

The creature screeched and Ana knew it was getting closer. She looked behind them and noted it kept diving in and out of the water, which helped it gain momentum. It was quickly gaining on them and she knew they couldn't outrun this sea creature.

Before anyone knew it, the serpent was upon them. It leaped out of the water and flung its body across the deck. It stretched from port to starboard, coiling itself around the ship twice as if trying to break the ship in two. Ana realized, belatedly, that it probably was. The large body made it difficult for the crew to move and get around. Some had been trapped under the serpent's body.

Ana took the opportunity to try and shoot the beast. While her arrows did manage to pierce its hide, it had very little effect. The creature merely screeched and wrapped itself tighter, ripping planks from the sides of the ship. The sides of the ship started to crack. Trying to come up with a different tactic, Ana noticed Lucy dragged Gael inside the stern of the ship. She was taking her someplace safe, away from the battle. But in reality, if the serpent destroyed the ship, there was no safe place.

Ana hurried up the steps to join Caspian. The Captain was otherwise occupied so he was stirring the ship to keep it heading on a straight path. The serpent reared its head, looking for a victim while its body remained wrapped around the Dawn Treader.

"Ed! Ed! Caspian shouted, trying to get Edmund's attention. "We ram the serpent. Smash him on the rocks."
"Steer her to port!" Edmund replied. "I'll keep it on the prow!" He made his way towards the bow of the ship. The serpent lunged at him but missed and caught another sailor instead.

Lucy returned, armed with her sister's weapons. Gael was nowhere to be seen and Ana knew that was for the better. The Valiant Queen joined her at the top of the steps and both drew arrows from their quivers. Caspian continued to steer as Edmund made his way up the steps leading to the dragon's head. He disappeared inside the mouth and they could no longer see him. But they saw the light from his torch as he pointed it at the sea serpent's face. This caught the creature's attention and it moved towards the bow of the ship. Ana could hear Edmund taunting the creature before it dove for the head.

"No!" both girls cried out.
"Edmund!" Caspian shouted, letting go of the wheel.

Fortunately, the serpent only received a mouthful of wood. The dragon head of the ship was destroyed, but Edmund was safely tucked inside. The creature spat out the wood as he made his way on top of the head. He continued shining his light in its face and taunting the creature. Ana exchanged a glance with Lucy and both nocked their arrows. Steadying themselves from the violent rocking of the ship, they aimed their weapons. The familiar 'twang' of arrows being released from their bows could barely be heard over the noise. Ana's arrow hit the creature in its eye and the sea serpent hissed. She could only assume Lucy's hit its mark as well.

"Brace yourselves!" Caspian shouted above the roar. The ship collided with the rock and the serpent screeched.

Lucy fell into the stairs' railing and gripped it tightly to keep from being flung over it. Ana didn't have anything to hold onto. As such, she tumbled down the stairs. Her bow fell out of her hands and skidded across the deck. It was accidentally kicked by several of the men and soon it was lost among the fray. She picked herself up just as Caspian reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you alright?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulder. She sent him a weak smile. Everything hurt but she didn't think anything was broken.
"I'm fine," she told him instead. He frowned and gave her a cursory examination. After confirming she wasn't bleeding or had any obvious injuries, he rushed away.

The ramming forced the serpent's body to unwind from the ship. Now they had space to move around and men hurried to find some sort of weapon. As Ana searched for her bow, she noticed Edmund's unconscious form near the base of the mast. He must've fallen all the way from the top with hardly anything to stop his descent. Caspian was already by his side, but she rushed over for fear of him having serious injuries. Her weapon was forgotten.

Caspian shook Edmund a little, hoping to wake him. It took a few tries, but he did open his eyes. Both breathed a sigh of relief that he was alive. When Edmund tried to stand, Caspian helped him to his feet and helped to steady him. Though Ana was concerned about a potential concussion, she was glad he was up and moving.

Their reprieve was over, however, as the serpent returned. They hadn't killed it. The creature moved towards the boat again. It appeared to be very angry. Ana could see that its right eye was foggy, having been blinded in the fight. Whether it was from Eustace's fire or her arrow, it was hard to say. But then the serpent's body began to glow a yellowish-gold and split down the center into a cobra-like frill. Each side had several centipede-like legs with claws.

Edmund spun around, seemingly disoriented as he searched for the creature. Caspian had walked away, but Ana was still by his side when the serpent began searching for its next target. Shaking its centipede legs, it found the two of them. It stared Ana and Edmund down as if deciding which one it wanted. Just like in Ana's dream, it wanted to kill her. Both were now being targeted by the serpent.

Edmund stood rooted to the spot, almost entranced by it. Ana's gaze flicked from him to the serpent. She noticed the exact moment it decided to strike and started to push Edmund out of the way.

"Move!" Caspian shouted and something hard collided with her.

A moment later, Ana realized three bodies tumbled to the ground. Edmund was thrown the furthest, having been shoved by two people. Caspian was quick to move though, grabbing a blade and cutting off one of the serpent's legs. It screeched and moved off the deck, but didn't dive back into the water. They all watched as the leg quickly disintegrated into the mist.

"We can beat this," Caspian realized.

The serpent was a manifestation of a person's fear. The Green Mist simply fed off of it and made it seem stronger than it was. Like it was an actual living, breathing creature instead of something created by Edmund's mind. All three realized this and knew how to turn the battle in their favor.

The serpent pulled at the mast, trying to drag the ship into the sea.
"We have to get it closer!" Edmund announced, rising to his feet.
"All hands to the main deck!" Drinian commanded.
"Ready the harpoons!" Caspian ordered, also standing.
"I want everybody up here!" The Captain shouted to his men. In order to make this work, they would need everyone.

As the serpent continued to pull, Edmund swung on one of the broken ropes leading to the lookout tower. He climbed up what was left of the rope ladder and the crew scrambled across the deck. Ana went in search of her bow again as they armed themselves with harpoons. She found it buried under some pieces of wood and tattered pieces of canvas. She was only mildly surprised it was still intact. It was infused with magic after all.

Several of the crew had found the harpoons. While Ana might've been able to throw one of them, she doubted she'd be much help in pulling the creature. So she stayed out of the way as the men waited for their orders.

"Ready?" Caspian asked, ready to throw one of the harpoons.
"Aye sir!" someone answered.
"Now!"

The harpoons were released, embedding themselves in the serpent's chest. It screeched in pain and tried to wriggle away, pulling the ship with it. The Dawn Treader started to tilt on its port side a bit as the serpent resisted.

"Pull its head down!" Caspian instructed. They all worked together, pulling on the ropes as the sea serpent fought them. The ship started to level out as they pulled it closer. "Heave!"

Still, the creature pulled against them. As they struggled to pull it down further, its head slammed into the lookout tower just as Edmund reached it. Ana could only watch as he knocked off his feet and into the sides of the tower. He used the ropes to pull himself and regain his footing.

Ana would've tried firing another arrow at the serpent, but figured that would only enrage it more. The action hadn't seemed to be too useful thus far. She thought it would just make it harder for the rest to pull the creature down. So instead, she and Lucy both watched as the events unfolded, feeling a little helpless. Ana was merely glad that the outcome of this battle was significantly different from all her dreams. Perhaps she would survive this battle.

She watched Edmund get to his feet and saw a cloud of mist coming toward him. He stopped in his tracks, his recently drawn sword falling to his side. Ana knew he was seeing something and she climbed the steps again to get a better view. She immediately pulled an arrow from her quiver and aimed, hoping to distort the mist enough that Edmund could focus.

"Edmund!" Caspian shouted, unable to see that he was distracted. "Do it!"

Just as Ana went to fire, the serpent jerked again. Part of the ship broke off and knocked the crew off a few of the lines. They lost the ropes for the harpoons and the serpent was able to pull away a bit. A few men were thrown into the sea in the process. The ship titled and Ana lost her balance, dropping the arrow as her back slammed into the side of the ship. Lucy reached out in a panic, trying to stop her from falling further. But she thankfully didn't hit it with enough force to go over. Still, Lucy gripped Ana's arm tightly as she pulled her away from the edge. Ana knew she would be covered in all kinds of bruises and sore once this battle was finished.

Suddenly, Rhindon began glowing blue. It seemed to pull Edmund from his trance as he looked at the blade.

"Do it!" Caspian shouted again.
Edmund turned away from the mist and faced the serpent. The glowing blade attracted its attention. "Come on!" he demanded, pointing the sword at the creature.

The sea serpent dove for Edmund, jaws open wide. Edmund thrust the sword into the roof of the creature's mouth. Immediately, the serpent appeared to have been struck by lightning. Streaks of bluish-green light hit the creature. As the blade was removed, it began to fall into the sea. It sank limply to the bottom, already dissolving into nothing before it hit the water.

The battle was over, finished. They had won. Edmund began his descent from the lookout tower while the others collected themselves from the deck. The sudden disappearance of the serpent had knocked the crew off their feet. As such, Ana wasn't surprised that none of them noticed that it was getting brighter. Streaks of light pushed through the fog. The mist was starting to dissolve, as was the island. In its place was open water.

"The spell..." Ana observed.
"It's lifting!" Lucy exclaimed. "Edmund! Caspian! Look!"

Edmund paused and looked around. Caspian slowly sat up from his position on the ground to get a better look. Ana could feel the change in the air. The feeling of evil was quickly fading away. The men helped each other to their feet as they watched the once Dark Island fade into nothingness. That was when Ana noticed boats emerging from the fog.

"Look," she said, approaching the ship's edge. Lucy was right behind her.
Others were quick to gather around, staring out across the water. "Narnians! Narnians!" they cheered, clapping.

Caspian joined the two and Edmund arrived a moment later. It was then that Ana observed Rhince exiting the stern of the ship. He was carrying Gael in his arms as he approached the edge. Lucy noticed as well and moved towards them. He set his daughter down and they began to quickly search the boats for their lost family.

"Mummy!" Gael exclaimed.
"Helaine!" Rhince called out.
"Gael!" the woman replied.

Without warning, Gael jumped into the water and began swimming towards her. Rhince quickly followed suit, eager to reunite with his wife. Ana smiled as Lucy watched them. She was happy but she also seemed a little sad, much to Ana's confusion. She didn't know why. Perhaps Lucy thought her opportunity to be an older sibling to the girl was over.

Edmund left to comfort his sister. He gave her a sideways hug wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into it, almost burying her head in his shoulder. Ana could only smile at the youngest royal siblings. They were always looking out for each other.

Caspian bumped her shoulder and she turned to look at him. He flashed her a grin before turning to speak to the crew.
"Let's have them on board!" he ordered. "Clear the decks!"

He approached the siblings and Ana decided to follow. Lucy turned as Caspian approached. He gently squeezed her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. She smiled in return, grateful. Everyone was happy again.

The crew worked to clear the deck and help those who had been thrown overboard. Ana observed that most of them had survived. She was pleased with that but saddened by the lives they had lost. Battles were never pretty and some never came home. But that was something they would have to deal with afterwards. Right now, they were all celebrating their victory.

"We did it," Lucy grinned.
"I knew we would," Ana told them.
"It wasn't just us though," Edmund stated, noting that defeating the serpent didn't put an end to the spell.
"You mean...?" Caspian began, but he was cut off by a voice on the other side of the ship.
"Hey! Hey, I'm down here, Lucy. Over here! Hey, Lucy. I'm in the water! Lucy!" the voice called and the four made their way to the other side.
"Eustace!" Lucy exclaimed with a big grin.
"I'm a boy again! I'm a boy!" Eustace shouted with greater enthusiasm than his cousin.

The shouting drew the attention of several others. Reepicheep walked up beside Ana to see what all the commotion was about. He was pleased with what he saw.

"Eustace!" he said. "I see your wings have been clipped! Ha, ha!" The Mouse laughed and then jumped into the water. The others giggled as he started singing. "Where sky and water meet. Where the waves grow ever sweet—It is sweet." Reepicheep brought a paw full of water to his mouth and Eustace tasted some of the water too.

"It's sweet. Look! Look!" Eustace turned around and Reepicheep climbed onto the boy's shoulder, pointing out to sea. The others followed his gaze and noticed the water in the distance appeared white.

"Aslan's Country," Caspian remarked. "We must be close."
"Well, we've come this far," Edmund smiled.

The two Kings exchanged glances, grinning. Everyone knew exactly what they were thinking. Caspian went to find the Captain while they helped both Eustace and Reepicheep out of the water. Edmund took him inside to find a change of clothes and change out of his armor. The crew was still clearing the deck to make room for the Narnians. Ana and Lucy asked one of the sailors to prepare a longboat before heading inside as well. They were going to set sail for Aslan's Country and Ana felt like their journey was almost over.