Chapter Twelve
Rebecca drew her sword and watched as the gryphon, Coron, flew overhead. She briefly glanced up at the cliff and spotted Joy. She already had an arrow set on her string, and Rebecca smiled proudly at her. She was certain Joy felt the same protective urge to fight for Narnia as she did. Above her, Coron suddenly took a nosedive and landed on Rebecca's right side. Flamewing jerked away from the gryphon but Rebecca held her in place. "Easy, Flamewing," she said, soothing the horse.
"They come, Your Highness," said Coron "in numbers and weapons far greater than our own." A chill of fear swept down Rebecca's spine, but the memory of Aslan filled her with strength and determination and she sat up straighter in the saddle.
"Numbers do not win a battle," said Oreius in a boastful voice, looking over at the two humans.
"No," said Peter solemnly "but I bet they help."
"Aslan believed in you," reminded Rebecca, "and I believe he will lead you to victory." Peter smiled at her words but quickly grew solemn as the sound of a horn cut across the field. Rebecca thought it sounded rather dull and sickly compared to the rich and full sound of Susan's horn from Father Christmas. They all watched as one minotaur appeared on top of a small rise of ground on the other side of the field. Rebecca recognized it from the Witch's meeting with Aslan. The minotaur roared and thrust his massive blade into the air. Beyond him, Rebecca could make out a vast army coming towards them, and her stomach churned at the sight.
Giants, minotaurs, ogres, hags, Black Dwarves, large polar animals, Cyclopses, and ghoulish creatures Rebecca had no name for. She saw shapes formed from leaves floating around the army and remembered what Mr. Beaver had said about the evil trees. But the most horrible sight of all, was when a chariot pulled by two polar bears came up alongside the first minotaur, and the driver was the White Witch. She carried her scepter in one hand and the reins in the other. Rebecca also noticed she had something golden around her neck which was covering the bodice of the dress, and Rebecca realized it was Aslan's mane. Her stomach churned and she looked over at Peter.
He avoided her gaze and looked back towards the cliff behind them. Rebecca looked as well, finding Joy still standing beside Edmund. Edmund nodded gravely at Peter, and Peter turned to face the Witch's army. Joy looked scared, and Rebecca gave her a brave smile before turning around to face the enemy again. Flamewing danced nervously underneath her and Rebecca gripped the reins tighter. "Steady," she whispered, "once the charge begins, you will be fine." She only hoped the same for herself.
Beside Rebecca, Peter took a deep breath and drew his sword, holding the blade out towards the Witch's army. A couple centaurs blew their horns and the rest of the Narnians started shouting. They raised the weapons in the air, cheering as loud as they could. Rebecca raised her sword towards the sky and kept her thoughts on Aslan. The lead minotaur beside the Witch roared again, and the army started running across the field towards them.
It was just as Peter and Edmund had suspected; the Witch had divided her army in half and was withholding the stronger members to finish off the Narnians when the time came. Rebecca slowly lowered her sword and felt a paralyzing fear take over her limbs. Aslan, she thought, please protect us and grant us victory. Her fear vanished and strength filled her again.
Peter dipped the sword downward for a second, and dozens of gryphons appeared overhead, flying towards the Witch's army. Beside her, Coron took off with a screech, joining his comrades in the sky. They flew over the Witch's army and dropped large rocks on the army. Several gryphons dropped out of the sky, victims of the Witch's deadly dwarves. Coron screeched again and wheeled around to face the Narnians. Rebecca noticed the Witch's army was almost upon them now.
"Are you with me?" asked Peter, looking at his two comrades.
"To the death," said Oreius, and the two looked at Rebecca.
"I'll be here no matter what," said Rebecca. Peter gave her a tight smile, and they looked forward.
"For Narnia," shouted Peter "and for Aslan!" The unicorn reared, the sword blade glistened and for a moment, Rebecca could see the King in him. Then, they charged. Flamewing galloped forward, her nose slightly behind the unicorn's. Rebecca let go of the reins and lifted her shield. The thud of Narnians running behind her filled Rebecca's ears. All she could think of was Joy up on the cliff, Peter to her left, Susan and Lucy who were grieving at Aslan's side, and Edmund, who convinced them all to stay and fight. It was too late for fear, she decided, all she should think of was the now.
The spears lowered all around her, and the Narnian cats rushed out in front of the three leaders. Oreius drew his two swords while Peter and Rebecca lowered their visors. Rebecca's heart was pounding so loud it was all she could hear. She raised her sword and held her shield out in front of her. The lines were fifty feet, then twenty-five feet, then ten feet.
The lines met in the centre of the field.
Yowls, shouts, roars, the clashing of metal against metal became the only sounds she could hear. Rebecca slashed a minotaur across the face, then a white tiger in the belly. Everything was a blur about her, fighting was all that mattered. It was like a fevered dream; she was swinging her sword around and stabbing faceless enemies without knowing what she was doing. She noticed that once you severed a centaur's leg, they became useless as a soldier, and that was something the Witch's army seemed to be taking advantage of. The Witch's army was also using new and powerful weapons, things that made the Narnian swords look like matchsticks.
Rebecca tried to focus on her surroundings when charging towards her came a minotaur. She raised her sword to strike but the minotaur swung its sword at Flamewing's legs. "No!" shouted Rebecca and she heard Flamewing scream in pain. The horse crumpled beneath her. Rebecca flew over Flamewing's head and landed hard on her back. The spirit of an evil tree spun its leaves about her, adding to her confusion and her ankle was starting to throb again. Rebecca began reaching for her sword when a minotaur appeared over her and raised his sword, slick with blood.
"Good-bye, Son of Adam!" growled the beast and Rebecca realized he thought she was Edmund! Rebecca grabbed her sword and slashed it at the minotaur's leg, severing it. The minotaur fell, still trying to jab her with its sword. Rebecca rolled out of the way before it landed on her. She shakily got to her feet and stabbed the minotaur through a niche in the back of its mail shirt.
"I'm a Daughter of Eve," she muttered as she pulled her blade free. She then lifted her visor and looked around for Flamewing. A flash of bright red appeared in the corner of her eye and she turned to look behind her. Flamewing's body lay in the field, with a gash across her stomach, and her blood was staining the grass around her. A scream ripped from her throat and Rebecca turned away, trying not to be sick. An arrow glanced off her right shoulder and Rebecca spun around as a werewolf lunged at her. She ducked and it missed her head. Landing on its hind legs, the werewolf snarled at her and lunged forward again. Rebecca brought her sword down across its face and it dropped like a stone at her feet.
All around her, the Witch's army was falling, and it looked as if the Narnians were winning! A strange bird call came from the sky above the battlefield and the fighting paused long enough for everyone to look up. Rebecca watched as the Phoenix flew over the soldier's heads and burned up into flames. It aimed downward and straight along the grass, and a wall of flames leapt up! Just before the wall of flames blocked the view, Rebecca saw the Witch advancing towards them with the rest of her army, including several giants.
The flames grew higher and wider as it burned up the dry grass. Those who were not fighting started to cheer. Rebecca smiled through the dried tears on her face and the roiling of her stomach slowly came to a halt. She quickly looked around and spotted Peter, still riding the unicorn. He lifted his visor and stared at the flames with a worried expression.
A blue flash broke through the flames! The Witch's wand, thought Rebecca. A centaur reared as the Witch broke through the smoke. Her eyes sought out Peter and she headed the polar bears towards him. Peter looked back at the cliff again. Rebecca whirled around and saw Joy, looking terribly worried.
"Fall back!" shouted Peter. "Draw them to the rocks!" One of the centaurs blew their horn, and the archers up on the cliff scrambled away from the cliff. Rebecca started running with the Narnians, cutting down an ogre as she ran. The sound of galloping hooves came up behind her. "Rebecca!" she heard Peter shout. She quickly turned and saw Peter holding out his right hand towards her. She sheathed her sword, grabbed his right hand as he rode by, and swung up behind him. She grabbed his sword belt with her right hand and hoped her shield would protect them as they rode.
"Where's Flamewing?" asked Peter, and a wave of grief swept over Rebecca as she dropped her head onto his shoulder.
"Don't ask Peter," she said, "it," a wave of tears lodged in her throat "it was horrible," she whispered.
"Alright," he said it so quietly that Rebecca almost missed it. She whacked a minotaur in the head with her shield as the unicorn dodged between their enemies.
"Are you alright Peter?" asked Rebecca, trying to take her mind off Flamewing.
"I'm fine," said Peter, but his tone said otherwise. "I still wish Aslan was here." Rebecca agreed.
"I wish so to," she said, "but we must cling to his words and follow in his example." She felt bolstered by her words, and with it came a frisson of anger. "Do you think that the Witch's collar is," she hesitated, not sure of how to say it.
"I know it is, Rebecca," said Peter, anger colouring his words. "And I can't imagine what Lucy and Susan saw last night." Rebecca shuddered at the thought of what had happened and was thankful that Edmund had stopped Joy from following Aslan and the girls last night. Otherwise, Joy would have seen it as well.
Peter directed the unicorn into the Valley of the Rocks. Behind them, the Witch's army was following, weaving through the rocks like a black-grey serpent. The Narnian's arrows flew overheard, and Rebecca spotted Joy's white-feathered arrow among them before they sank into the enemy behind them. Then, Rebecca noticed Black Dwarves running along the top of the valley, and they were firing down on the Narnians. One was aiming at her and Peter!
"Peter, look out!" screamed Rebecca. The arrow sank into the unicorn's hip. It kicked up its back feet and Peter and Rebecca went flying over its head! Again, Rebecca hit the ground hard and the world spun as her bare head connected with the ground. Her helmet had flown off and was lying several feet away. A breeze lifted a few loose strands of hair away from her sweaty face and her braid was catching on the chainmail of her mail shirt. Her ankle was now hurting so bad that Rebecca tried to fight back tears of pain as she grabbed her sword and slowly stood up again.
The unicorn was whinnying in pain, and Peter was on all fours, looking rather dazed. A rhino's grunt further up the hill caught her attention, and she turned away from the Witch's army to see where it was coming from. Oreius and a rhino were watching the two humans and started running towards them. Oreius and the rhino charged past her without a second glance. By now Peter was on his feet, gripping his sword. "Stop!" he shouted as they went by, but neither heard him.
The rhino plowed into the Witch's army but didn't get very far before a tiny goblin cut him down. Oreius leapt over the body and cut down two minotaurs. He charged towards the Witch's chariot. Peter and Rebecca were frozen, unable to tear their eyes away from watching the terrible event unfold. Oreius leaped over the chariot, tried to cut off the Witch's head and landed hard on the ground, staggering. He aimed his sword at the Witch again, ready to strike, when the Witch drove her wand into his chest.
"No!" shouted Rebecca. Peter was still beside her, but the look on his face broke Rebecca's heart. The statue of Oreius fell to the side of the chariot, shattering upon impact, and the Witch stepped out of her chariot with her gaze fixed on the two humans, and a triumphant look on her face. "Oh, Peter," said Rebecca, and then the enemy came upon them.
The Witch's army had overtaken Peter's army in the Valley of the Rocks. Up on the ridge, the archers were rushing down among the rocks to help their remaining soldiers. Joy was trying to fire on the Witch's soldiers but her hands were shaking with fear. Watching Rebecca go over the head of a horse twice in one day was enough to rattle her nerves. "I wish Aslan was here," she said.
"I'm going down there," said Edmund and he started to the path. Joy panicked and grabbed his arm, forcing him to a halt.
"No!" she cried, for she didn't want to be left alone on the ridge but Edmund yanked his arm out of her grasp. "Peter said not unless it was necessary!" she reminded.
"Well, I think it is!" argued Edmund. A Black Dwarf fired an arrow at him and the two dove behind the rocks to hide. "I can't just stand here," he said. Joy slowly nodded, knowing there was no point in arguing.
"Fine, but I'm coming too," she said, not wanting to waste any more precious time while their soldiers were battling below them. Creeping along the ground and trying to stay out of sight of the deadly dwarves, the pair made their way down towards the battlefield. Edmund rushed down among the soldiers while Joy hung back. She found a little nook between two large rocks which gave her protection from the archers above, and she was out of sight from the soldiers below. But instead of firing, she found herself looking for Rebecca, Edmund and Peter. Rebecca was taking on a hag, and her face was red with exertion while her braided hair was fraying in every direction. Edmund was fighting an ogre and struggling to keep his side protected with the shield. Peter was standing in the middle of the field looking around at the soldiers.
Flashes of blue appeared to Joy's left and she shifted her position to get a better view. With a cold shock, she saw it was the Witch! She was using her wand to turn the Narnians into statues. She twisted to the right and left, and anyone who came close to her became a stone statue. Oreius came to mind and Joy looked away, knowing his broken statue lay somewhere nearby.
Focusing on the battle, Joy took careful aim and fired on the Cyclops that Edmund was now fighting. It sank just behind the shoulder, giving Edmund the opportunity to take it down with one blow. He must have recognized the arrow for he started searching the cliffs around her. Peter started shouting at him, getting his attention, and then Mr. Beaver grabbed Edmund by the hand and started dragging him up the cliff as Peter started fighting another minotaur. Joy ran among the rocks and met the two halfway up the ridge. "What's going on?!" she asked. Edmund didn't answer, watching something down below.
"Peter said we have to get you out of here," said Mr. Beaver, stuffing his bow into the quiver on his back. "Oh, your sister!" Joy instantly searched the valley for Rebecca. She spotted her leaning heavily against a rock, pain evident in her face, and the hag lay dead nearby. A minotaur charged towards Rebecca and she lifted her sword again to fight. Joy knew she wouldn't back down now, but she had to try before…Joy didn't want to think of the worst possibilities.
"I'll get her," she said, and started down the cliff when Mr. Beaver grabbed her hand.
"It's too dangerous!" he shouted. "You two need to get out of here!" Edmund suddenly drew his sword.
"Edmund?" asked Joy. Edmund started running forward, back down towards the battlefield. "Edmund!" she called.
"Peter said," started Mr. Beaver but Edmund turned sharply around and said, "Peter's not king yet!" He then started running along the top of the ridge.
"Edmund!" shouted Joy, and she started running after him.
"Daughter of Eve!" called Mr. Beaver, but Joy ignored him. Edmund made a wide circle along the top of the valley, darting in among the rocks so as not to be spotted. Joy tried to keep up with him but she kept on tripping on her skirt and eventually lost him above where Rebecca was fighting the minotaur. She finally stopped at the top of an outcropping, searching for her friend down in the valley.
"Where'd he go?" she whispered. The sun glinted off a metal helmet down below and Joy's eyes latched onto the sight. Edmund darted out from between two rocks and jumped, sword in the air.
"Stop!" he shouted. The Witch spun around and clutched the wand to her side. She stared at him as he landed on his feet, facing her. Edmund didn't move. Joy quickly set an arrow on the string and aimed at the Witch's heart. To her astonishment, the Witch smiled and held out the wand so it was parallel to the ground. Edmund quickly raised his sword again and brought it down on the wand, severing it in two. A great blue flash appeared and Joy gasped. He had broken the Witch's wand! Joy felt a rush of pride for her friend and didn't fire the arrow. Peter and Rebecca were now watching as well.
The Witch looked beyond furious. Edmund must have noticed for he backed up a step. Using a dead Narnian's sword, the Witch knocked Edmund's out of his hand and drove the broken piece of wand into his stomach! "Edmund!" screamed Joy.
"Edmund!" shouted Peter.
"No!" cried Rebecca. The Witch stared coldly at Edmund as he dropped onto the battlefield. Joy, blinded by anger and panic, ran down between the rocks towards Edmund. Peter gave one last stab to his minotaur and charged at the Witch. Rebecca resumed her fight, her face as white as a sheet. The Witch glanced at Joy as she bolted past her before turning to fight Peter. Joy dropped to her knees beside Edmund, afraid to touch him. She forced herself to speak.
"Edmund? Ed, can you hear me?" she asked.
"Yes," he whispered, his face steadily growing pale. There was a rattling noise to his breathing that didn't sound right. Shoving her bow back into her quiver, Joy bent down and looped her arms beneath his shoulders and slowly pulled him up the hill and away from the Witch and Peter's fight.
"Ow," moaned Edmund softly.
"It's alright Ed," said Joy, her muscles were straining under the weight of the heavy armour. "You'll be fine," she said, and gently set him down on a gently sloping hill around the corner from the main fighting so he wouldn't get hurt. She took out her bow again, set an arrow on the string and knelt beside Edmund, watching the fighting around them.
"Where's my sword?" asked Edmund, slowly opening his eyes.
"You don't need it right now," said Joy "we'll find it later." To be honest, she didn't know where it had landed when the Witch knocked it out of Edmund's hand.
"Joy!" screamed Rebecca. Joy's head flew up and saw Rebecca was pointing behind her. Joy whipped out an arrow, spun around on her knees and fired at an ogre's face and chest. It fell several feet away from her, and Joy turned back to Edmund.
"Where's Peter?" asked Edmund, his voice was getting more and more raspy. Joy fired at a dwarf and looked around, spotting Peter fighting the Witch. She was fighting with two swords, and Joy realized one of them was Edmund's!
"He's fighting the Witch," she said, and tried to slip some confidence into her tone. She looked down at him again. "Stop asking so many questions," she said with mock annoyance. Edmund squinted up at her with a slight smile and Joy smiled back. She then tried to unbuckle his helmet, maybe that would help a little bit. A shadow fell over Edmund's face and Joy looked up to see a white tiger poised on a rock above them, ready to pounce. Joy fired an arrow into its shoulder right before it pounced. A Bulgy Bear leapt in the way and the two rolled down the cliff, clawing at each other.
Joy spotted the Witch and Peter's fight again. She tried slicing Peter's neck, then knocking him off his feet, but Peter kept on coming back. Behind him, Rebecca was watching Peter's fight and her own, still fighting the same minotaur. Why did everything have to go wrong? thought Joy.
"What's happening?" asked Edmund, and with the noise of battle all around her, Joy almost missed the question.
"Peter's still fighting the Witch," she said, "he's doing a good job too!" She looked down at Edmund, who no longer had his eyes open. "Don't try to talk so much, okay?" Edmund didn't respond, but he was still breathing. Joy fired again at an ogre, then reached for another arrow. Her hand felt nothing in the quiver. Joy pulled the quiver down off her back so harshly that the strap broke and examined it. She had run out of arrows. "Oh no," she whispered. She looked around for rocks to throw at approaching enemies.
A roar came from the distance, it was too powerful and terrible to be from one of the many large cats around her. Joy looked up and spotted a golden lion up on a cliff, who roared again. All the fighting stopped, and Joy gasped in amazement.
"Aslan," she said softly. Then she grew louder. "It's Aslan! Ed, he's come back!" She then noticed that standing around Aslan were droves of Narnian soldiers, so many that Joy couldn't begin to guess how many there were. She spotted Lucy and Susan, and even a faun who looked like Mr. Tumnus! The Narnians started climbing down the cliff and into the valley.
Peter and the Witch resumed fighting. But Peter must have been caught off guard, for he was trying to meet the Witch stroke for stroke and he couldn't keep up! Behind him, Rebecca had finally slain her minotaur and ran towards Peter to help him, only to be stopped by two more minotaurs who seemed to be holding her back to keep her from helping him. Joy noticed then that Edmund was gasping for air, wheezing like she had with her bad cough last winter.
"Edmund, you have to stay with me!" she said as tears filled her eyes. "Come on!" She was panicking now, not knowing what to do. She fiddled with the leather strap on his helmet, but her fumbling fingers couldn't undo the strap. "You need to tell Lucy and Susan about your bravery! You need to see Aslan again!" Peter cried out in pain from across the field.
"Ah!" Joy looked up and saw Peter pinned to the ground by his own sword! The Witch stood over him and swiped downward. Peter blocked the blow with his shield but it fell away and off his hand, now useless. The Witch twirled her blade, ready to strike.
"Peter!" screamed Rebecca. She broke through the minotaurs. The Witch raised the blade. Joy covered her face with her hands.
"I can't look!" she cried. She heard Rebecca scream, the Witch cry out and then a series of fierce growls from Aslan. Joy peeked through her fingers and saw Peter kneeling beside Rebecca before he helped to her feet. Joy noticed Rebecca gingerly put weight on her injured ankle as she got to her feet but Rebecca didn't seem to notice, for she flung her arms around Peter and buried her face in his shoulder as he looked towards Aslan. Aslan was standing off to Joy's left, and Joy saw a swatch of blonde hair on the ground behind him before looking back at Aslan.
"It is finished," said the Great Lion.
The White Witch was dead. They had won the battle. Joy breathed a sigh of relief.
"Peter!" called Lucy and Susan as they ran forward. Rebecca let go of Peter and limped away from him so he could hug his sisters. Lucy ran straight to Peter while Susan hugged Rebecca.
"Where's Edmund?" asked Susan, looking around. Peter looked over at Joy and all the children started running towards her. Joy looked down at Edmund's pale face when a grunting to Joy's right made her look up. To her horror, it was Ginaarbrik! He was glaring at Edmund with a tight grip on his axe. Panicking, Joy threw her empty quiver at the dwarf's face and then looked around for a rock or something to throw next.
"Stop right there!" she cried as she picked up a rock.
"Edmund!" called out Susan. Joy watched as she fired an arrow at Ginaarbrik, hitting him squarely in the chest, and all the children continued running. They crowded around Edmund on all sides. Susan quickly removed Edmund's helmet, finally getting the clasp undone. Lucy took a small bottle out of a pouch on her waist and glanced nervously at Susan, who nodded. Rebecca whispered, "One drop will cure any injury." Lucy poured a tiny drop into Edmund's mouth and his laboured breathing stopped.
Peter looked on the verge of tears, so did Susan. Lucy stared into Edmund's face, crying. Rebecca wrapped a comforting arm around Joy's shoulders as her eyes filled with tears and Joy looked away from Edmund. Then, he started coughing.
Joy broke away from Rebecca, ready to hug him at a moment's notice. The tears started drying up all around the group. Edmund opened his eyes and looked up into everyone's faces. Lucy looked at Susan with amazement. Peter quickly pulled Edmund up and hugged him tightly, crying again. Joy and Rebecca sagged against one another with relief as Peter finally let go of Edmund. "When are you going to learn to do as you're told?" he asked, choking on the words. Edmund only smiled in response.
Lucy launched herself at Edmund, knocking him into Peter again. Peter grabbed Rebecca's arm and pulled her into the hug, followed by Susan and lastly Joy. In the middle, Edmund said, "I can't breathe!" The children all moved back laughing, and then Edmund's joking smile faded as he looked over Peter's shoulder. Joy followed his gaze and saw Aslan. She was so relieved and happy to find out he was alive after all that tears filled her eyes.
Aslan breathed on a stone statue of a satyr, and it came back to life! Joy gasped. Lucy picked up the bottle of healing cordial, smiled at the others and started running away. "Lucy, wait!" called out Peter. She stopped in her tracks and looked back, confused. "Could you heal Rebecca's ankle before you run off?" Lucy looked at Aslan, who nodded, and she smirked as she came running back to the group. Rebecca pulled off her boot and Joy winced as she saw the bandage was red with blood.
"The Witch swiped at my ankle right before Aslan reached her," said Rebecca, and she stiffly removed the wrapping, visibly in pain by the tightness around her mouth. The last bandage fell away and the children gasped and looked away from the raw, bleeding wound. Lucy, looking a little sick, poured a drop on the ankle, and suddenly it looked good as new! Rebecca quickly hugged Lucy and leapt to her feet. "Hey," she moved her right arm "my arm has healed as well!"
Lucy then ran off and spent the rest of the afternoon tending to the injured soldiers while Aslan breathed on the stone statues. To everyone's relief, he even brought back Oreius! Then, on the field of battle, Aslan knighted Edmund and commended him for his bravery in severing the Witch's wand. Lucy and Susan whispered amongst themselves throughout the ceremony until Peter told them to shush. Afterwards, Rebecca collected hers and Peter's scattered weapons while Joy gave Edmund the biggest hug she could muster.
By the time evening fell, all the Narnians returned to the camp. The Narnians who had stayed behind, Jamila included, held a great celebration in honour of their victory. Several centaurs brought out huge casks of spiced wine, a favourite Narnian drink. All the children tried it and discovered it was actually quite nice. During the celebration, Lucy introduced everyone to Mr. Tumnus, and Edmund apologized to him for the betrayal. Mr. Tumnus forgave him, and then joined in with the dancing fauns and satyrs.
Sometime later, Aslan called all the Narnians together before his tent and called for silence. "Silence!" he said in a strong, yet gentle voice. "Tomorrow we shall pack up camp and move to the castle of Cair Paravel to begin preparations for the coronation of our Kings and Queens." All the Narnians cheered. The children smiled and laughed with them, and even Aslan smiled from his place on the dais.
Narnia had been restored.