The Lost Queen
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Eleven: The Battle of Beruna
The sun had risen high over the trees and onto the great valley of Beruna where the battle was to take place. Anna sat astride Bridget next to Peter as they waited with the army for the Witch and her force to arrive. Waiting was the worst of it, Anna thought warily, because all of them knew what they were waiting for.
Battle . . .
Possibly gruesome death . . .
Waiting to die, waiting to live . . .
There was no way to tell whether or not they would survive the next few hours—or minutes, depending on how long the battle would take place—no safe way to be sure that she would survive to see her friends again or if they would be alive for her to see.
Anna's heart pained at the very thought of it, losing her friends . . . losing Peter, who unknowingly held her heart. The very thought of it was more than she could bear.
"You and your friends will be able to save this country from the Witch. You must have faith."
Aslan's voice spoke gently to her as she gripped Bridget's reins. Anna took a deep breath, letting his words wash over her, calming her. They would survive. She had to have faith in that.
Peter's hand suddenly slipped into hers and she jumped, looking at him questioningly as his armoured hand tightened around hers. "There's still time for you to get to the ridge," he reminded her. She gave him a small smile and shook her head.
"Not a chance." Anna smiled towards him, though, and leaned towards him, kissing his cheek. He turned red as she did this and she grinned up at him. "Don't die," she told him cheerfully.
"I won't if you won't," he assured her. Anna nodded in reassurance, erecting her head so that she was looking towards where the Witch's army was on the approach, glancing up as a gryphon flew towards them, circling around the army before landing on Anna's opposite, looking towards the Lady and the High King.
If they survived this, anyway.
"They come, Your Highness," he said, panting for breath as he looked towards the horizon. "In numbers and weapons for greater than our own." The worry in his eyes was evident.
"Numbers do not win a battle," Orieus said darkly. Peter glanced at the general in agreement.
"No," he agreed. "But I bet they help." Anna bit her lip as she heard the sound of a horn coming from ahead. Instantly, her hand went to her sword, gripping the hilt tightly. Bridget let out a soft, worrying neigh as the ground vibrated underneath them.
Anna gulped, her hand trembling slightly as she saw a faint outline on the horizon, growing bigger by the instant. The Witch's army had arrived and all of them were heading towards them.
As the gryphon had already informed them, it was much bigger than they had been expecting. Countless animals and dark creatures were heading towards them, the look in their eyes evident even from the distance; they were ready for the kill. Anna's stomach clenched tightly and she wondered briefly how her father had felt when he had headed off to battle.
Peter drew his sword, holding it up and the sun made it glow, illuminating the blade like a star. The Narnians roared behind them and the sound was welcome to Anna's ears.
The Witch's army moved forward, swarming towards them, destroying everything in their path, everything that they touched.
Bringing his sword down, Peter gave the signal to Edmund, who signalled the gryphons to begin the aerial attack. Moving as one, the gryphons, eagles, and countless other winged animals began the attack, taking to the sky and dropping boulders and debris onto the enemy. The moment that the first boulder hit, they had alerted the enemy to what they were attempting and arrows flew through the air to take them down. Anna felt like crying every time one of them fell, but she didn't.
Stay strong, she told herself firmly. Be brave. Make their deaths worth something. Don't let today end in defeat.
Peter looked to Orieus, who was watching the battle with a grim look on his face. "Are you with me?"
Orieus turned towards the King and gave a small, half-smile. "To the death," he replied.
With a small smile, Peter looked to Anna, who turned her blue eyes towards him once again. It felt like they were back at the tent, when he had been trying so desperately to tell her something, but unable to say the words. And now it was Anna who was unable to find the words that were imprinted in her heart. She turned her head back towards the battle as Peter raised his sword once again and she drew out her own, gripping it tightly.
"For Narnia and for Aslan!" Peter roared. The unicorn he rode reared up before charging into battle. Anna and Orieus moved straight after him with the rest of the Narnian army behind them.
"Stay with me, Bridget," Anna whispered to the mare.
"Always, my lady," Bridget replied as they charged towards the approaching enemy. For a moment, everything seemed quiet, the calm before the storm. And then, as the first two opponents struck, everything was as it was before, the enemies striking.
Anna gripped her sword tightly as she swung it, plunging it into the first opponent that met it. When there were that many enemies heading towards her, there was only one thing that she could think of to do and that was to strike anything that came near her.
She had lost sight of Peter in the midst of the battle, though she looked for him. Even in the midst of battle, she tried to keep her lookout for her best friend. For one instant, she saw him being swarmed by enemies and in that instant, she was distracted.
"My lady!" Bridget cried out in warning and Anna looked around to see a Minotaur swinging his deadly axe towards the Lady and mare. Anna grimaced as she ducked, Bridget moving away just in time, but the axe grazed her shoulder. Fighting the urge to cry out, Anna moved her sword to strike the Minotaur in the weakest spot she could find, its neck.
Yanking her sword out, Anna grasped her arm where she was bleeding slightly, but ignored it as she urged Bridget towards where Peter was still swarmed, fighting off everything that came near him. Frantic, Anna grabbed a fallen sword off the ground and threw it towards a Minotaur that had Peter close to death. It implanted itself in his neck just as they reached Peter and he sent her a grateful look.
But there was no time for thanks as so many of the Witch's army swarmed the King and Lady. Anna grunted as a winged gremlin took a shot towards her, narrowly missing her, but nearly knocking her off of Bridget as she heard the mystical and beautiful cry of the phoenix.
"Peter!" Anna called and he glanced up, a relieved look crossing his face as they struck down the last of the enemies that had surrounded them just before the phoenix took a dive towards the ground. It was a beautiful sight as the phoenix flew like lighting across the battlefield, leaving a roaring flaming wall in her path and cutting off the Witch from our side of the battlefield.
"Yes!" Anna grinned in triumph, but she had spoken too soon. A chill swept over her and freezing winds swept through the fiery wall before it was taken down completely.
"Fall back!" Peter shouted as the enemies swarmed through the broken wall. "Draw them to the rocks!" Orieus signalled the retreat with a blow on his horn and Anna turned with Bridget, staying alongside Peter as they raced towards the ridge.
They were almost to the rocks when Anna realised that Peter was no longer next to her and she whirled around, searching for him. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was lying on the ground, the unicorn right next to him.
With a gasp, she turned Bridget around. "Hurry, hurry," she whispered, fear striking her heart as they reached Peter and she jumped off of Bridget, racing towards Peter, turning him over. Relief surged through her as she realised that he was all right. "Peter, come on, you have to get up!" she shouted to him, her voice tense and strained from both exhausted and panic.
Peter winced as he got to his feet, but his eyes widened. "Stop!" he yelled to someone behind her. Anna barely had time to look to see Orieus racing past them, heading straight towards the Witch. There was no time to run to him and help as he swung towards her, trying to take her down, but her wand touched his side and tears swarmed down Anna's cheeks as he was turned to stone.
And that was all the time they had before enemies started swarming around them, attempting to destroy the last bit of hope that Narnia had left and end the rebellion. There was no time to get to Bridget as she reared up, taking down what enemies she could, but separating herself from her rider.
Anna herself was with Peter, back to back as they fended off enemies, both of them defending the other. If they were going to die, then they were going to die together.
The second wave had already arrived, but they were doing no better than they had before they arrived. Too many of them were falling and their numbers were slowly dwindling. Anna caught sight of Edmund as he battled through the field, a determined look on his face.
"Edmund!" Peter shouted, his face filled with despair as both he and Anna fought off the enemies. "There's too many of them! Get out of here! Get the girls and get them home!" His brother hesitated at the order, but Beaver grabbed his hand and tugged him away.
Despair filled through Anna; they were losing. They had gone through all of this and for what? To lose right when it mattered most? Anna plunged her sword into another opponent, striking at whatever came close when Peter grabbed her arm.
"Go with Edmund," he said fiercely. She shook her head.
"No, not without you," she said stubbornly. He opened his mouth to argue but something strange caught her eyes and Anna turned around to see Edmund and the Witch. The glint had been him destroying her wand, preventing her from turning anyone else into stone. But it also left him open to attack, as she drove the broken wand with its sharp end into his stomach.
"EDMUND!" Peter howled as his brother fell, driving his sword into a Minotaur before hurling towards the Witch in rage. Anna would've gone to help him had she not fallen prey to some wolves and gremlins at that same moment.
Even as she fought desperately against them, she had the oddest sensation of hope surging through her. Anna would've looked around for what had caused that, but she was too busy trying to stay alive.
But everyone fighting looked up when they all heard the most unlikely sound: the roar of a lion.
Anna spun around towards where it had come from, her blue eyes widening when she saw Aslan atop of the cliff, the almighty roar coming from him as Susan and Lucy and so many other creatures swarmed around him, hurrying to join them.
Unable to believe the turn of events, Anna returned to her battle, a renewed sense of victory washing over her. Just as she downed her last attacker, she heard Peter's yell and turned.
Her best friend was under attack by the Witch, a sword pinning him to the ground and the Witch herself was holding a sword at his throat. Anna let out a roar of fury as she ran towards him, her sword ready as she held it high, ready to defend Peter when Aslan appeared out of nowhere and tackled the Witch, sending her flying away from Peter.
Anna raced to Peter's side and pulled the sword free before hurling her arms around his neck tightly. He held her tightly, gripping her hair tightly as he kissed her forehead tenderly. For a moment, neither one of them moved or even breathed. They just held on to one another.
"Peter!"
Both of them looked around to see Susan and Lucy running towards them and Anna, blushing, pulled away from Peter as they got to their feet, Lucy hugging her older brother tightly. Susan, however, looked towards where Aslan was standing, over the Witch's prone body, and Anna followed her gaze.
The Witch was dead.
An odd sense of relief washed over Anna, followed by one of dread as Susan looked at her and Peter. "Where's Edmund?"
Anna felt the blood drain from her face as she looked towards where Edmund had fallen and as one, all four of them ran towards the spot. A dwarf was raising an axe to finish Edmund off when Susan drew an arrow and fired, hitting the dwarf in the heart.
Edmund was breathing heavily and unsteadily as they arrived. Susan pulled her little brother's head into her lap as Anna and Peter knelt down beside him, Peter's face filled with grief. Lucy was pulling her cordial out and carefully navigated a drop to fall into Edmund's mouth.
The younger brother moistened his lips as the juice found its way into his system. Anna could only watch helplessly, hoping, praying that it would work, that Father Christmas's words had run true. Her hands were trembling as they covered her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Come on, please work," she whispered. For a moment, it seemed that they'd gotten there too late; that Edmund was beyond saving. But then, he gave a small, tiny cough before blinking up at them, his eyes clear and lucid.
Susan let out a laugh of relief and Anna fell back slightly. Peter grabbed Edmund, yanking him into a tight hug of relief. "When are you gonna learn to do are your told?" he demanded.
Everyone laughed as they piled on to one another, pulling Anna into the hug as well as they rejoiced in the happenings. They had gone to battle and all of them were safe and alive.
Nothing could have spoiled Anna's mood as they held on to one another while Aslan unfroze the statues that the Witch's wand had created and Lucy hurried to heal the wounded with her cordial.
But something happened that day to make it even better. Just as Edmund and Susan left to help Lucy with the wounded, Peter pulled Anna into his arms, holding her close, his hands sweeping through her hair.
"Peter?" Anna whispered, not understanding what was going on. Not until he drew her lips against his, pulling her into a kiss that she had not been expecting, nor had she expected the rush of emotions that swirled through her, almost overwhelming her. "Peter?" she asked again when he pulled back, staring up at him in astonishment.
"I love you," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. Anna couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face at his admission.
"I love you, too," she whispered.