Disclaimer: right, the ethically questionable (or down-right wrong) people are mine while the world and the heroes aren't. Somehow I'm not surprised.
Beta'd by trustingHim17, and thank you!
OOOOO
Lucy ran to where Susan stood and found her trembling, a shaking hand over her mouth and her tears falling as she stared at a pile of stone. Lucy, glancing over, froze at the sight of a few feathery pieces. Knowing the statues crumbled at the slightest touch, Lucy understood and threw her arms around her sister, holding her tight.
"I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to," Susan cried.
"Hush." Lucy patted her pockets with one hand, looking for a hanky. It was all she could offer in the face of Susan's grief.
Above them Jumak, still shaking with the loss, with his failure, stood and spread his wings. He knew where his king had rested. He knew who was in the courtyard. And he knew he would make them pay for the loss of his purpose. For the loss of the King.
Khonat also felt the death of the King. The pain of it had knocked him out of flight, the flight it took most of his remaining life to accomplish, for he had spelled himself to fly four times as fast as a Telar's wings, fast enough to reach Narnia's borders; and now he was faltering. He closed his eyes, knowing he would fall, though they were close enough he had not failed, the birds who led the army to the border would lead them to the Kings and Queens. But then claws wrapped around his stone arms, his wing, pulling and pushing, and they guided him to rest on something warm and moving. They were saving him, too. The wind still whistled around him, and he opened his eyes.
The city of Telar was just below him, and there, on the highest road, were the Son of Adam Kings and a group of Telar still winded by what they felt. He opened his mouth to tell the Birds and winged Horse to dive, but there was no need. The Narnians had seen them.
Peter braced himself, ready to run or fight. The kneeling Telar still blocked their escape, but he had to be ready. Perhaps they could shove one aside—
Edmund grabbed his arm, pointing behind them, at the open air. Peter turned and stared, as stunned as the Telar around them.
The sky was filled with Narnians. Birds, Griffyns, Pegasi, everything from Starlings to Eagles, larger than normal birds. On one of the winged Horses rode Khonat.
Half streamed above the road, the other half flew below. Wingedfeather the Eagle opened his beak and screamed at the two Kings, "Jump! Jump, your Majesties!" Both Kings turned to face the edge, hesitating for a split second before leaping off the road. The Pegasi flew beneath them, both boys sliding onto their backs with a painful "Ooomph," and flew back towards the tops of the trees, leaving the Telar behind.
Peter looked first for Edmund, catching his glance as they both made sure the other was safe. Then Peter looked back. The Telar were growing smaller as the Narnians flew away, Khonat having landed among them, but Peter saw their wings beginning to rise, to flap, and he turned to the Narnian he was riding, leaning forward to yell above the wind: "We have to find the Queens!"
"Oh, do stop, Susan. I'm sorry, but we have to save Edmund!"
"But this was the King," Susan choked out. She stifled her next cry and stood straighter, mopping her face with Lucy's handkerchief. Her younger sister had frozen beside her. "He looked as if he grieved, Lucy." She took a deep breath, beginning to wring out the handkerchief, when the sound of flying wings made them both look up.
"You killed my King!" Jumak landed with a crack of stone under his feet, wings beating till the air pushed back the Queens' hair, and the tears dried on Susan's cheeks.
"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I didn't mean to, I didn't know!"
"I was his protector!" Jumak raged, his hands extending to grab them, to rend them or to take them in the air and throw them at the ground. Susan grabbed Lucy's hand and turned to run, dodging around the ruined dais, praying they wouldn't trip. She jumped over stones, panting for breath, the fear driving her to run and the guilt in the back of her mind, telling her this might be just. Wondering what Edmund would say.
"Jumak! Stop!" Another Telar landed beside Jumak and Susan drew Lucy down, hiding behind the stones, panting and wondering if they would survive.
"They killed the King! They killed him! He's gone, Sirrioth! Even you can't heal him, Juddahum."
"Who killed him?"
"The taller Daughter of Eve! She touched him, and this—look, this is all that is left of him! These stones!" Jumak's voice shook, and Susan heard one stone scraping softly against the other. "These were his wings." His voice began thundering again, gaining volume. "Now they're stone, because they killed him!"
"Then go find them. They ran for the forest."
"They will not live through the night," Jumak swore, and the Queens heard the beat of his wings, receding quickly.
"You can come out now," Juddahum called softly, and Susan and Lucy slowly stood, walking around the dais and standing before the Telar. Sirrioth drew Lucy into his arms, though he glared at Susan.
"Did you kill our king?"
Susan felt the water rise in her eyes, and she blinked, feeling the tears fall down her cheek. Lucy spoke up for her. "She did not mean to. It was like before, Juddahum, she wanted to help—"
"And she touched him," Juddahum finished wearily. He looked down at the stones that lay in a pile, and Susan flinched. "And now he cannot mend my daughter." He looked back at the two Queens, sorrow creasing his face till Susan was painfully reminded of the former King, of how much grief weighed down a heart. It hurt to see, but Juddahum was not still, and perhaps she could help him, as she'd tried to help the King. She listened as he spoke. "You tried to save your brother as I tried to save my daughter. Forgive me, please—please; but I cannot help you more."
"Go to your daughter," Susan commanded quietly. "We will do what we can to save you." Her voice caught. "And I am sorry too."
Juddahum looked to Sirrioth. "Remember we've only ever needed one." He threw back his wings, jumping into the air and flying for the house with his daughter outside.
Sirrioth glared at Susan. "You killed our King, and I'd willingly let Jumak have you. But your sister is innocent, and young. For her sake I will bring you to safety."
"What of our brothers?" Lucy asked, as Susan nodded her understanding.
"Susan! Lucy!" The chorus of voices calling made all three look up, and there, oh there were Narnians! Eagles and Pegasi and Gryffins and so many more. And there were Peter and Edmund, coming like the Kings they were, their crowns shining in the filtered light. The other Pegasus landed, Susan scrambling onto it as soon as she could, and turning to lift Lucy up, only to find Sirrioth already lifting her up.
"Go," the Telar said. "Jumak and his followers will be seeking their deadly revenge, if you stay within our borders. If you are not within our borders, Khonat and Zedekah will keep him in check."
"A sleepy leader and a dying second-in-command, that will go well," Susan heard Edmund murmur. A part of her thrilled to hear him speak, this reminder he was safe, while the other half of her wanted to cry and laugh at how Edmund the comment was.
"We will be away at once," Peter responded, raising his voice to command the Narnians. "Give Khonat our thanks, for all he has done!" he called back as wings began to beat. Susan tensed at the sound, but there was warm skin beneath her, a mane beginning to fly back in her face, and no stone anywhere. They were rescued, and safe—almost, that is. For behind them, as they rose through the bottom of the large trees, were other wingbeats, though the Telar were not close enough for Susan to see if they were being chased.
"Where are we going?" Susan heard Edmund call out.
"There's a troop of Narnians who followed us, Your Majesty! If we can get to them, we can stand and fight!"
"Can we do anything to help?" Lucy called from behind Susan, her arms tightening.
"Not at the moment, Your Majesties," the Pegasus beneath them said in a strained voice. And so the four Pevensies fell quiet and let them fly.
The Telar did appear again during the flight, though the Narnians landed twice to switch the Kings and Queens to other flyers. They passed over the mountain before night fell and were flying down the side when they spotted the other Narnians: over twenty Centaurs and clan upon clan of Dwarves, each one with a pickaxe over his shoulder.
The exhausted flyers landed, the ones with the Kings and Queens in front, and the Four soon disappeared behind a wave of warriors, the Black Dwarves leaning on their pickaxes and spitting on the ground, and the Red Dwarves asking if they would get to fight the Telar after all—they hadn't carried those pickaxes all the way for nothing, had they?—while clapping the Kings on their backs and bowing to the Queens. Oreius immediately began organising the group for speed, wanting nothing more than to get the Four back to Cair Paravel, and they left within minutes.
He carried King Edmund himself, listening to the High King tell the story of all they had discovered, all while riding back into Narnia, towards home. They were a few miles past the border when they finally stopped and set up camp, and the Four curled up under Narnian blankets, in a Narnian forest, surrounded by their subjects guarding them from love. With Oreius standing within sight, his silhouette dark against the clear stars, the Four laid side by side, their heads near the fire. Edmund lay squished in the middle, next to Susan (at Lucy's insistence, as Susan had said little after her fierce hug for her little brother). It took some time for them to settle, with small interruptions such as "Get off the corner of my blanket, Peter!" and "Lucy, your elbow's sticking into my stomach," and "If you jump on me again, my dinner is going to come up," but none of the soldiers minded hearing the young voices playing, for play is often the surest sign of healing.
But as it got darker, and the clearing filled with the sound of Dwarfs snoring (the ones that weren't on watch), the Four became quieter, staring into the orange fire and listening to the sounds of Narnia, and of safety.
"Do you think the Telar will find a way to heal themselves?" Lucy asked out of nowhere.
"I don't think that's possible, Lu," Edmund put in quietly. Susan felt her heart twist. She'd been the one to ruin their chances, to cause the destruction of an entire race. She hadn't meant to. And she hadn't been willing for them to take Edmund's life to save themselves either. But the King…
"They do not have the power to heal themselves, and they have not, as far as we have seen, turned to Aslan to heal them," Peter put in.
"Maybe they will now," Lucy answered. "Maybe now, when they have nothing else, they'll finally turn where they should have been looking all along."
"I hope so," Peter said quietly. He turned over, pulling his blanket up to his shoulder. "Goodnight, everyone. And Edmund, if you're gone in the morning before I get up, I'm sending the grumpiest of the Black Dwarfs to find you and drag you back by your wrists."
Susan felt her heart lighten. "And if he's not awake yet, I will," she agreed with Peter. "Only I'll ask them to be gentle bringing you back and not to let you be alone till we reach Cair Paravel."
"And me," Lucy chimed in, pushing herself closer to Susan.
"Fine. Goodnight," Edmund grumbled. "I should have stayed in Telar," he muttered under his breath, then "Ow!" as Peter rolled over and punched him.
"It's not called Telar," Lucy corrected sleepily. "That's their name, the statues. Juddahum said the land is called Telmar."
"It's a pretty name," Susan murmured. She brushed Lucy's hair back, and checked Edmund. His eyes were already closed. She looked one more time at Oreius—one more time, just to make sure they were safe, because they always were if he was near—and closed her own eyes, and fell to sleep.
END OF PART I
OOOOO
PLEASE READ this A/N: This is the happy ending. I usually write happy endings, and so for those who haven't noticed, one of the genres for this particular tale is "Tragedy." Part II contains the tragedy. If you want a happy ending, please stop here, and thank you very much for reading, that's often what motivates me to write. Otherwise, Part II will begin next week, and, well—I'll try my hand at a tragedy for the first time.
Response to Guest: I did mean to switch into present tense (despite the wiser advice of my beta) because I was trying to see if it increased the sense of urgency; it didn't work, judging by your reaction, so thank you for the input! I'll count that as a learning mistake.