A NEW GENERATION

Presenting chapter 8! This one should really get your adrenaline pumping!


Chapter 8

"Give us the babe," the wolf positioned at the very front commanded Terence, in a deep, throaty, malevolent voice.

Terence narrowed his intensely blue eyes at the brute in contempt. "Over my dead body!"

"Very well, then. That can be arranged." And, so saying, the wolf lunged out at Terence, and the rest of the small pack followed suit. Terence readily sprang at the wolves as well, leaving Puck behind and snatching up a large stick from the ground in his haste.

In no time at all, the young man and the wolves were caught up in a deadly battle with one another. Snarling and snapping, the wolves grappled furiously with Terence, all at the exact same time; and though there were five of them and only one of him, Terence bravely fought his four-legged adversaries off as best he could. He knew he would never leave an innocent child to these furry fiends—not if he could help it.

As he battled for dear life, Terence hollered vehemently to his godson, "Quick, Puck! Run!"

Although Puck couldn't fully understand what had just been said, he clearly understood the urgency in Terence's voice, and the little faun didn't hesitate to flee the opposite direction.

But before he could get very far, one of the wolves slipped away from the fight and quickly intercepted him. Startled by the wolf's abrupt appearance, Puck began to back away, and he stumbled over a root and ended up falling to the ground. Before he had a chance to rise again, the wolf pounced on him and pinned him down to the spot, so that the little faun could not get away. Poor Puck gave out a shrill, piercing wail of utter terror as the wolf began to graze his neck with its sharp claws.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Tumnus appeared! The older faun ran up swiftly and impetuously rammed himself against the wolf with full force, knocking the beast sideways. The wolf gave out an audible grunt as it was slammed against a nearby tree and it struck its head, the force of the harsh blow momentarily knocking the creature senseless.

Tumnus stood squarely between the wolf and Puck, his whole face a vivid shade of scarlet, his bright blue eyes burning like fire with righteous anger.

"Keep your filthy paws off my son!" he shouted irately at the animal.

When the other wolves saw that they now had a new victim, two of them advanced on Tumnus on the spot, while the other two continued to brutally assault Terence. Terence caught notice of Tumnus, but the young man was too busy at the time trying to protect Puck from the wolves, while at the same time keep himself from getting ripped to shreds, to interact with his mate.

The wolf who had been smashed against the tree soon recovered its senses, and it vengefully flew out at the foolish faun responsible for its detriment.

"No!" Tumnus shouted vehemently, picking up a large rock, as well as a stick of his very own. "You get away, you mangy beasts! Get away!" While he thus spoke, he pitched his rock at the wolves as hard as he could, scoring a direct hit on the head of the one he'd decked only a moment before. And then the faun swung his stick at his two remaining opponents with every ounce of his might, and rapped both of them a smarting one at the exact same time.

All three wolves howled with pain and indignation.

While Tumnus and Terence kept the wolves busy, Lucy fled to her son and gathered him into her arms, pulling Puck away from the onslaught. Taking refuge behind a tree at a considerable distance, she clasped Puck protectively against her heart and watched in horrified disbelief as the fight persevered, ever growing in intensity and savagery with every second. The sounds and the sights of the conflict were almost more than Lucy could bear; yet at the same time, she felt just the slightest trace of pride, at having such a courageous faun for a husband.

Tumnus had never considered himself the fighting type, but now, on the behalf of his son, his only child in the world, he fought with the utmost zeal and passion.

Ultimately, Terence succeeded in driving one of his two wolves completely away, but the other continued to thrash him mercilessly until the young man eventually fell his whole length on the forest floor. Just as the wolf moved in to finish him off, however, a stone from Tumnus pelted the animal squarely in the side. Indignant, the wolf promptly disregarded the fallen human and leaped at the faun instead, its hairy face contorted in a hideous scowl.

"Get back! Get back!" Tumnus commanded sharply, swinging his stick about as flagrantly as a sword, and using his own hard hooves as well as stones to defend himself.

At one point, the faun gave one of the wolves such a swift, forceful kick in the face that he nearly fractured the wolf's jawbone; and less than two seconds later, another wolf received an abrupt jolt in the gut that quite stole its breath away.

After what must have been an eternity, the wolves at long last gave ground altogether and slunk off into the woods, one after the other. Tumnus pursued them for a brief time, before finally sliding to a halt and watching them leave, breathing harshly, his chest heaving, perspiration dripping down his face and bare shoulders and chest like rainwater.

When the last wolf had gone, and the howls and yelps had faded completely into the afternoon air, Tumnus then turned and hurtled toward his family. Lucy had ventured out of hiding just as the fight was nearing an end, and she now sank to the soft grass, as if her legs could support her no longer, still clinging fiercely to Puck.

Puck was crying, but he was not hurt—aside from sporting a few light scratches on one side of his neck—and Lucy wept with him.

No sooner had Tumnus reached his wife and son than he threw himself to his knees beside them and engulfed them both in his arms, hugging them with all the strength and love he possessed. He, too, was shedding an abundance of tears, and the only intelligible words he managed to choke out were: "Oh, Puck! Oh, Puck, my boy…my boy!"

"Oh, Tumnus!" Lucy sobbed, burying her head in her beloved husband's neck and covering him with tears and kisses. "Oh, dear, dear Tumnus!"

Miraculously, Tumnus was not gravely injured from his fight. He did bleed a little from a small cut on his face, but the cut did not appear to be deep. Also, a few superficial scratches and welts were scattered across the faun's bare upper body; otherwise, he seemed just fine. And, clearly, he was far more concerned about his son's welfare than he was about his own.

Puck had never been so scared in all his life. Indeed, neither Tumnus nor Lucy had ever been so frightened in all their lives as they had been upon seeing their young son in such grave danger, and all they could do was weep while they huddled close together.

When the flow of tears began to recede, and all three of them managed to calm down somewhat, Tumnus and Lucy suddenly remembered Terence. Simultaneously, they both looked around earnestly for their friend—and gasped.

For Terence lay spread-eagled on the ground on his front, exactly where he'd fallen when the wolves struck him down, and he lay as one dead.


Terence and Puck © unicorn-skydancer08

Tumnus and Lucy © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media

Story © unicorn-skydancer08