18: I'll find you
Edmund winced slightly as Peter sat him against a nearby tree, sighing a little and sitting beside him, nothing but worry in his bright blue eyes.
"I'm fine Peter." Edmund muttered.
"You're far from fine." Peter muttered. "You broke your ankle, and you say you're fine!"
"I will be when we get back to Cair." Edmund told him, trying to put on a brave face despite the agonising throb from his injury.
"And Lucy's coridal." Peter added.
"I don't need her Cordial Pete."
"Yes you do." Peter snapped firmly. "If you don't you could be off your feet for weeks, Susan will demand you not to leave your bed!"
Edmund blinked at him before taking a deep breath and hastily nodding his head. "Alright I'll take the coridal." He said quickly.
Peter couldn't help but smirk a little at this, before shaking his head. "Honestly though Ed, if you had just looked where you were going-"
"I didn't see the tree root!" Edmund defended. "I didn't purposely lodge my foot under it and try and continue walking, therefore twisting it so badly it broke!"
"If you looked then you might've seen the root." Peter told him, shuffling to sit in front of his brother to check his ankle.
Edmund only glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest and wincing when Peter touched his ankle.
"Sorry." Peter sighed. "We just need to get you back to Cair, although I don't know how much longer you're gonna be able to walk."
"You are absolutely not carrying me Peter, before you say anything." Edmund said firmly.
"Fine." Peter muttered. "But that's means you're gonna have to lean on me and hop the rest of the way back."
There was a hint of amusement in his voice which only caused Edmund to roll his eyes. "Fine by me." He muttered.
"I seriously don't know how you can make a simple thing such as a nice summer hike turn into a disaster." Peter murmered, raising an eyebrow at his younger brother.
"Says you." Edmund snorted. "Or have you forgotten two weeks ago when we went for a ride and you practically rode your horse towards a tree with a low hanging branch, and then proceeded to ride into the branch, knocking you off the horse and leaving you unconscious for three hours."
Peter glared at him. "I didn't see the branch." He told him. "I was too busy trying to beat you to the lake."
"Of course you didn't see it." Edmund smirked. "You're as blind as a bat."
"Well then so are you," Peter said. "Seeming as you never saw the tree root."
"And you never saw the branch." Edmund said. "So we're even, we're both as blind as each other."
Peter chuckled slightly, before taking a deep breath. "You ready to hop?" He chuckled, a hint of amusement in his voice again.
Edmund grinned despite the pain he was in. "You bet."
"Can we stop a minute." Edmund muttered, as they reached a large clearing in the woods still leaning against his brother as he hopped along. "You're walking way too fast."
"Am not." Peter protested, but leant Edmund against the nearest tree anyway, just outside the clearing.
Edmund stayed standing and watched as Peter walked a short distance away and glanced around the clearing and into the woods. "How long do you reckon until we reach Cair?" Edmund asked, still standing on one foot.
"Probably not for a few hours yet." Peter sighed, turning back to Edmund. "Honestly, why couldn't you have done this yesterday when we went on a short walk, instead of today when we decided to go on a ten mile hike!"
"Twelve mile." Edmund corrected him, earning a smirk from his brother.
"Tweleve mile hike then." He said. "You fancy some lunch?"
Edmund nodded. "You reckon you could find some berries around here too?" He questioned, glancing around.
"Perhaps." Peter said with a nod. "I'll go and have a look, in the meantime please sit down."
Edmund nodded at him. "I will."
Peter smiled for a moment before turning and beginning to walk away. He didnt get very far though before he stopped dead, a frown making its way onto his face.
What was that noise?
Hesitating a little he glanced around, and after turning to his right, his eyes went wide, panacking slightly at the sight of what was flying straight for him.
The dragon was huge, and looked angry... angry and hungry that is.
Peter drew his sword, and the second it reached him he ducked, almost sitting on the floor in an attempt to avoid the Dragon's claws.
He stood and watched as the Dragon circled around the clearing, before diving back down again, although this time he did not fly for Peter.
Peters eyes went wide as he swung around to face Edmund, who had his sword in his hand but was still leaning heavily against the tree.
Edmunds eyes went wide when he saw the dragon heading straight for him, as did Peter's. "Ed look out!" He cried, running towards him.
Edmund too tried to run from the dragons path, but he only managed to get a little way from the tree before he collapsed, crying out as his ankle once again twisted in a way it definitely should not go.
He would've painfully hit the floor if it hadn't of been for the dragon, who grabbed him around the waist and wasted no time in flying off with him.
"Edmund!" Peter screamed, trying to jump and grab Edmund's leg, but he only ended up face down on the ground, groaning slightly.
"Peter!"
His head snapping up at the raw fear in his brothers voice, and Peter could only watch as the dragon and his brother got further away. "I'll find you!" He screamed as loud as he could. "I promise!"
And with that the dragon disappeared behind a huge cliff face, leaving Peter alone, his heart hammering in his chest, his fear for his brother being the only thing he felt.
Edmund groaned quietly as he woke, unsure of exactly why he was waking up... he had no memory of ever falling asleep.
He lay there for a moment, eyes closed before it all came back to him. The hike. His ankle. The dragon. The fear. The pain.
His eyes snapped open quickly and he glanced around, his heart beginning to pound in his chest.
It looked as though he was laying on the floor of a cave, a small amount of light shining through from the far away entrance, water dripping from the ceiling and landing on his head, causing him to shiver everytime it happened.
Although it took him a while to realise that he was only seeing all of this out of one of his eyes, his right to be precise, out of the other one though, all he could see was red.
Swallowing hard he reached up and placed a hand to his face, hissing in pain when his fingers touched what seemed to be a huge cut going diagonally across his face, and although the cut itself had missed his eye, the wound was bleeding a lot, and Edmund eventually realised that the blood had dripped down and into his eyes, causing much more pain than he would've liked.
Thinking fast Edmund wiped his sleeve over his eyes, blinking fast to get his tears going, and he eventually managed to clear his vision enough to see, but he could still see a faint trace of red as well, causing him to shudder.
After a short while of just laying there trying to calm himself, he told himself that wherever that dragon was now, he wouldn't be there for long, which meant he could be back here at any minute, and then Edmund would be as good as dead.
So taking a deep breath he shifted slightly, only for his eyes to go wide and for his mouth to open in a silent scream, pain flaring from his ribs.
Choking back a sob, he realised that when the dragon had grabbed him around his waist he must've squeezed much harder than Edmund remembered, which could've also explained why he was unconscious a moment before... the dragon had gripped him so tightly he could hardly breathe. The very thought of this made him cringe, and he found himself glad that he couldn't remember it.
But the fact now that he wouldn't be able to escape made him panick. He couldn't move because of his (quite possibly) broken ribs, and he definitely could not walk with his ankle, leaving him alone and in a lot of danger and pain.
Unable to keep back a sob any longer, Edmund carefully curled himself into a ball, making him smaller and less of a target for if the dragon were to come back, which he knew it would, it was only a matter of time now.
He lay there for goodness knows how long, before all light from the entrance faded, and Edmunds heart stopped beating.
He hardly even breathed as he lay there, trembling hard when he heard the dragon take a step forward from where it had been standing in the entrance to the cave.
Curling himself further into a ball, Edmund squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could, trying his hardest not to make a sound despite the urge to eiteher start crying for help or just simply start crying.
The footsteps got louder and closer, and Edmund knew by this point that he was probably the dragons dinner, and this made him gag, a sick feeling settling in the pit of his stomach to go with his pounding heart.
Edmund had no idea how close the dragon was seeming as he'd closed his eyes and had his back to the creature, but he knew it couldn't of been anymore than a few steps away, when a noise from outside the cave caused it to stop dead.
Edmund frowned deeply at this, unsure of what the noise was... but if he was honest, if it got the dragons attention away from him, then he couldn't care less what it was.
Actually it did seem to get the dragons attention, for two seconds later, after the noise repeated itself, he turned and from what Edmund could hear, apparently left the cave, the light returning and shining through the entrance once it was gone.
Edmund swallowed hard once he believed he was alone, tears rolling steadily down his cheeks as he lay there, unsure of just how he was going to get himself out of this one.
But infact, it wasn't him that was going to do that.
Edmund froze when a completely different sound reached his ears, it sounded like footsteps, but quieter and smaller, almost like it belonged to some small animal or something... or a human.
"Ed."
Edmund's eyes snapped open when someone fell to their knees beside him, and he almost cried out in relief when he found himself staring at Peter, who looked in a total panick.
Now he remembered, Peter had promised he'd find him, and as usual, he'd kept that promise.
"You - You found me." Edmund whispered, a soft smile spread across his face which he quickly got rid of because of the way it pulled the cut on his face.
"Of course I did Ed." Peter answered quietly, looking rather alarmed at the deep cut. "I promised you I would, and I kept that promise."
Edmund nodded a little before wincing. "I tried to get out of here." He explained, trying not to move his mouth too much. "Truly I did, but I couldn't. My - My ribs feel broken and there was no way I could've walked with my ankle the way it is."
"It's okay Ed, it's alright." Peter replied gently. "I know. I'll get you out of here, and I'm going to do it know, before that dragon comes back."
Edmund swallowed hard as Peter slipped one arm under his knees and the other under his shoulders, bracing himself and causing Peter's face to fall. "I'm so sorry." He whispered, before lifting Edmund into his arms and managing to stand, despite his brother being fifteen years old.
Edmund let out an agonising cry of pain before quickly burying his face against Peter's neck, despite the pain that caused him. He at once felt safe because of this, his arms wrapping around Peter's neck too.
Peter swallowed hard as he felt warm blood coat his skin, but he tried his hardest to ignore it as he practically ran for the caves entrance.
Edmund buried his face further against Peter's neck, determined to make himself feel as safe as possible seeming as his heart was still pounding and he felt on the edge of a panick attack.
Peter hurried out of the cave, blinking in the sudden light before glancing quickly around and hurrying away, reaching the woods after about five minutes before sitting Edmund gently against a tree.
Edmund winced as he was placed down, allowing his head to fall back against the trunk, sighing quietly before coughing a few times, which only caused him even more pain.
"We can't stay here for long." Peter explained gently. "We need to get you back to Cair Paravel, and far enough away from that dragon."
Edmund nodded slowly. "Yeah." He murmered. "Sounds like a good idea." There was silence for a little while before he spoke again. "You know, of all the things that could've happened, almost becoming a dragons dinner had to be one of them." He found it easier to joke about it now that he was out of danger and with his brother, and even Peter managed a small smirk.
"But it could only happen to you." He muttered, already rummaging through his bag to find a cloth and some of the water they brought. "How's the cut on your face feeling?"
"Its painful." Edmund replied. "Very painful, the blood dripped into my eye too, but I think I managed to get most of it out."
Peter nodded and sighed. "I'll clean the cut and then we'll wash your eye out alright?" He said calmly, although his heart was pounding.
"Yeah." Was all Edmund replied with, nodding his head a little before sighing.
Peter glanced sympathetically up at him as he wet a cloth before raising it towards Edmund's face. "This is probably gonna hurt." He mumbled.
"Probably?" Edmund said, raising an eyebrow and trying to keep the mood light.
But Peter only sighed sadly before pressing the cloth to the cut, swallowing hard when Edmund winced. "Sorry." He murmered, hastily but gently cleaning the wound.
Once he was finished he set about washing Edmund's eye out, which was easier said than done. "Gone?" Peter asked after a while, sitting Edmund carefully back against the tree.
Edmund blinked the water from his eyes before taking a deep breath. "I think so yeah." He breathed, giving his brother a grateful smile. "Thanks."
Peter returned the smile, but swallowed hard seconds later, tears appearing in his eyes. "I - I thought I'd lost you this time." He whispered. "Even when I saw you laying in that cave, you were so still. I - I thought-"
"You thought the dragon had already got to me." Edmund finished with a sigh, giving Peter a sympathetic look.
Peter took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah." He breathed, voice quiet and choked.
"I'm alright Peter." Edmund said gently, placing a hand on his brothers shoulder. "I'm fine, you saved me and I'm fine."
Peter took another deep breath and nodded slowly, giving Edmund a watery smile. "Yeah." He breathed. "But we do need to get you back to Cair."
Edmund nodded. "That sounds good to me." He breathed. "I'm exhausted."
Peter gave him a sad smile but set about packing away the water and the cloth he'd used, and was about to reach forward to help Edmund to his feet when there was an almighty crash from behind him.
Peter watched in alarm as Edmund's eyes went insanely wide and his grip on Peter's shoulder got a lot tighter, so much so that Peter couldn't help but wince.
Turning around quickly, he couldn't say he was surprised to come face to face with the dragon, stood only a short way away, and it was clear that it had spotted them.
Taking a deep breath Peter drew his sword, standing in front of Edmund, determined to protect him no matter what. There was no way the dragon was just going to leave them alone, so Peter would have to kill it if there was any chance of survival.
It seemed Edmund read his mind, for two seconds later he felt him grab hold of his leg, his eyes wide. "Don't you dare." He choked, panick and worry in his voice. "It will kill you!"
Peter swallowed hard and stared at the dragon, who seemed to be staring past him and right at Edmund. "I don't think it's me it wants to kill." He murmered, and he felt Edmund's hand slip from his leg.
"Please don't Peter." Edmund choked. "If it wants me, let it have me, I don't want you risking your life."
Peter fought the urge to start arguing with him, and instead just shook his head. "I won't let it have you." He snapped, before running at the dragon, sword pointed towards its neck.
Edmund watched in utter fear as Peter ran at the dragon, his heart skipping a beat when at the last minute, it dodged out of the way, sending Peter running straight past it.
He stopped and swung around as quickly as he could, but the dragon was already running at Edmund, causing Peter's eyes to go wide.
Edmund tried to stand, but cried out in pain and collapsed again, unable to do anything but just wait.
Sure enough, two seconds later the dragon grabbed him around the waist and attempted to fly off with him again, but somehow Edmund managed to grab the tree and hang on... but his fingers were slipping.
"Edmund!"
Edmund winced at the raw fear in Peter's voice, but screamed in agony when the dragon gave him a harsh tug, but still he held on, no matter how much pain it caused him.
He saw, out the corner of his eye Peter running at the dragon, sword raised, but the dragon wasn't giving up yet.
Before he'd even known what had happened, he felt a searing pain rip through his lower stomach, causing his eyes to go wide and for him to let out a pain filled cry.
The dragon had pierced his stomach with one of its claws, and now Edmund no longer had any strength.
Whilst the claw hadn't pierced anything important, it still hurt like hell, not to mention the blood he could feel seeping into his tunic, and he knew without being told that it had gone in deep... and it was still in his stomach.
He continued to scream, and let out a sob when the sound of metal piercing flesh reached his ears and the dragon let out a deafening roar, dropping Edmund to the floor before trying to fly off, but it didn't get far before it crashed back to the ground and went still... it was dead.
Edmund swallowed hard and just lay there, groaning in pain as he reached up and placed his hand over the wound. bad idea he thought, letting his arm drop back to his side.
Peter was beside him in a second, kneeling at his side and gasping when he spotted the wound. "Ed." He choked.
"I - I'm okay." Edmund whispered.
"Okay?! You're bleeding Edmund." Peter exclaimed.
"It's not too bad." Edmund replied. "Trust me, I know what too bad feels like, this isn't it, and it's my lower stomach, I'm not going to die unless I bleed out."
Fear filled Peter's eyes when Edmund said this, and Edmund saw. "Which is gonna take a long while Peter." He added hastily. "It's only a small wound."
Peter took a deep breath before taking off his tunic and his shirt, pulling his tunic back on before tying his shirt around Edmund's stomach, causing his younger brother to wince and let out a quiet groan. "I know, I know." Peter soothed, brushing the hair from Edmund's eyes. "But it should slow the bleeding until I can get you home."
Edmund nodded slowly and took a deep breath, wincing slightly before sighing.
"Brace yourself." Peter warned him, slipping an arm under his shoulders and the other under his knees, before lifting him off the ground and standing.
Edmund let out a quiet whimper, biting his lip against a scream as he buried his face against Peter's neck. "I can - can walk you know." He whispered. "You can't carry me the whole way back."
Peter raised an eyebrow as he began walking. "Don't be ridiculous Ed." He muttered. "There's no way you can walk and you know it, plus, I'm quite capable of carrying you back."
Edmund swallowed hard but decided not to argue. He was exhausted from everything that had happened over the past... however long it had been, not to mention the amount of pain he was in, and the fear he felt at feeling blood slowly seep from his stomach. All he wanted to do was sleep.
But the second he closed his eyes, Peter gave him a rough shake. "Don't you dare fall asleep." He muttered as Edmund's eyes flickered open to meet his. "Just stay awake, promise me you'll stay awake."
Edmund swallowed thickly, but sighed anyway. "I'll try." He whispered, head resting limply against Peter's shoulder, moving back and forth a little everytime Peter took a step.
Peter's eyes were filled with nothing but panick and tears, and it broke Edmund's heart to see. Peter had always been the protective sort, had always been worried when his siblings no more than grazed their knee, but seeing him so upset still broke Edmund, no matter how many times he'd seen the look.
"Just - just keep talking to me." Peter said quickly.
"About - About what?" Edmund whisperd, his voice weak.
"Anything." Peter whispered. "What do you wanna do for your birthday?"
Edmund frowned. "That's over a month away!" He said, sounding shocked.
"What. do. you. want. to. do. for. your. birthday." Peter muttered, putting emphasis on each word. "Just talk to me, keep your eyes open. What do you want to do?"
Edmund sighed but began talking anyway.
He lasted perhaps half an hour before he began to feel extremely lightheaded, causing his words to slurr and his eyes to droop.
"Edmund Pevensie don't you dare fall asleep." Peter practically growled. "We're nearly home, just ten more minutes, come on, you can do it."
Edmund groaned slightly, forcing his eyes to stay open, but it was hard. With every step Peter took, it aggravated his wound, spilling more blood and soaking the shirt and his stomach. Whilst he knew he was far from losing enough blood to kill him, it was still enough for him to just pass out, but he knew he couldn't do that, no with Peter in the state he was in now. "Per - perhaps a chocolate cake?" Edmund murmered eventually.
Peter took a deep breath, his pace quickening. "Sounds like a good idea." He said with a nod. "Susan'll probably make it, she always does."
Edmund nodded a little before moaning painfully. "It hurts." He choked, and that was the first time that day he had let a tear fall from his eye in sight of his brother.
"I - I know Ed." Peter murmered gently. "But we're nearly home, you'll be healed in no time."
Edmund swallowed hard, burying his face against Peter's neck again and taking a deep breath, which only caused him to wince.
Peter walked for another ten minutes exactly, before they reached the castle, causing him to let out a sigh of relief.
Lucky for them, it seemed Susan and Lucy had decided to take a walk in the gardens, and the second they saw there brothers they ran over. "What happened?!" Susan asked quickly as Peter lay Edmund in the grass, getting a groan from his brother.
"We ran into a dragon." Peter murmered, setting about pulling Edmund's shirt off, followed by his shirt that he'd tied around his brothers waist. Taking a close look at the wound he swallowed hard, whilst it was only small Edmund was still losing blood, and this made him panick. "He needs the coridal." He choked.
"I left it in my room." Lucy murmered.
"Well go and get it!" Peter choked. "And hurry!"
Lucy didn't hesitate as she ran off, Peter watching her until she disappeared inside before turning back to his brother. "You'll be alright Ed." He whispered. "Just stay awake."
"I - I'm 'wake." Edmund murmered, before shivering slightly.
Susan swallowed hard and removed her cloak, draping it over her brother in a hope to keep him warm.
Peter pushed it up so it wasn't covering the wound, before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry Ed." He whispered, before placing both hands to the wound and pushing down as hard as he dared.
Edmund's eyes went wide and he let out a heartbreaking cry, two tears slipping down his cheeks as he did, before he tried to move away from Peter.
"Ed shh." Susan soothed, taking Edmund's head and placing it in her lap. "It's gonna be alright, Peter just doesn't want you to lose anymore blood okay?"
Edmund blinked up at her before nodding, but he looked terrified.
Susan shook her head. "You're not losing enough at the moment to die okay?" She told him quickly. "But the more blood you lose, the weaker you'll be over the next few days, Peter's just trying to stop you from bleeding too much. Everythings fine, I promise."
When Edmund didn't look too sure Peter sighed. "Ed look at me." He choked, trying not to throw up at the feeling of his brothers blood between his fingers. "You're going to be fine, you told me yourself that it wasn't bad, and - and it's not, not really, you'll live and that's the most important thing. Just keep your eyes open okay? stay awake for me, you can do that? Lucy's gonna be here any minute."
Edmund blinked at him before nodding, forcing his eyes to stay open despite the urge he felt to just go to sleep... or pass out.
The three waited in silence for perhaps five minutes before Lucy arrived, kneeling beside her brother and undoing her coridal.
Edmund stared at her and opened his mouth a tiny bit, allowing Lucy to let one drop of cordial fall between his lips.
Peter watched with baited breath as Edmund's eyes closed and he relaxed completely, going utterly still.
But he felt the wound heal under his hands, watched the swelling go down on his ankle, and he had no doubt that his ribs healed too, and this caused him to sigh in relief.
They waited for Edmund to wake up again, before Peter helped him to sit up and pulled him in to a gentle hug. "See." He whispered in his ear. "I told you everything was gonna be okay."
Edmund swallowed hard and buried his face against Peter's chest. "Thank you." He whispered, tears stinging his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Peter, relaxing into his embrace.
"Just make a deal with me Ed." Peter said, a smirk growing on his face. "No more dragons for the time being."
Edmund chuckled and shook his head. "No." He whispered weakly. "No more dragons."
Another 5k words one shot for you all, hope you liked it :)
