Chapter 15 Battles and Magic
Pansy, Draco, and Harry were hardly breathing, the noise becoming louder and more distinct, but worse of all, it was coming closer.
"Whose there!" shouted Harry, stepping slightly ahead of his two treasure hunting friends. "Show yourself!"
"Only if you want to!" added Pansy quickly. Then to herself, "Please don't kill me."
"You're pathetic," Harry insulted under his breath, forcing his eyes to follow the noise he was hearing.
"You don't want to do that," came a dark rusty voice from behind the three students. "Put down your swords."
Spinning around, the three came face to face with a small, rather unpleasant creature, a Black Dwarf, one of Nikabrik's friends.
"What are you doing, following us like that?" half yelled Draco, furious that a little old dwarf just scared forty years off his life. By the look on Pansy and Harry's face, they felt the same way.
You're looking for something, something I'm able to help with."
"And that is?" Harry asked, lowering his sword, although Pansy and Draco were still feebly clutching theirs.
"You're looking for a fabled crown, a crown Aslan Himself wore centuries ago. But, as you three already know, there is only one way to find that gold besides digging up the whole of Narnia."
"Which is?"
"The White Witch's wand."
"Then, dwarf," drawled Draco, now lowering his sword, "how do we find that? Dig up this whole forest?"
"That's one way to do it, but there is a better way."
"Why would you want to help us?" Pansy asked. She was the only one with her sword still fully drawn. "Dwarves don't naturally like helping out."
"Let's just say, we have a common purpose."
"Which is?" Draco spat. This stupid little dwarf was annoying the hell out of him.
"Riches and fame, boy."
"I'm not merely a boy!" Draco raged, drawing his sword. "I'm a Knight of Narnia!"
"Dying now would ruin the happy ending," the dwarf snided.
"What do you want?" Harry asked stiffly.
The dwarf's guarded expression now turned to one of eagerness. He turned his bright eyes to meet Harry's, an iniquitous smile crawling across his features, sending chills to the children.
"Let's just say, I have a little proposition for you."
( )
Miraz, or now rather, King Miraz, walked stiffly to the square that had been staked specifically for this type of combat. The square wasn't very big, but then again, it didn't need to be. As long as the two had room to fight and move about a little, it was large enough. Besides, with the square being a little on the small side, Peter wouldn't have many places to run. And yes, Peter, some stupid king of some stupid country would run, and would lose, and Miraz being merciful, would kill that spoiled rotten king of old and win everything.
"Sire, we know what to do if things are getting out of hand," Glozelle said. He and Sopespian were to watch the battle, and if, by chance or dumb luck the battle looked ill for their king, they were to sabotage the battle by claiming Narnia had cheated. And since they had a Narnian arrow, the plan would work perfectly.
"Good. Don't fail me now," King Miraz ordered as he walked to the square, leaving his two generals in the two far corners.
As Miraz walked to the square, Peter, Edmund, Ron, and Caspian watched. He had brought well over three thousand soldiers with him, all armed and ready for combat.
Peter glanced behind him. The Narnians were also ready for a fight. Battle plans had been drawn up. Not as Plan B but as Plan A. Caspian was sure somehow it would come to another large battle. Narnia would be destroyed if Miraz had his way, and Caspian wasn't going to let that happen.
"Hey," Ron said, bumping into Edmund, "those two generals, they were at Miraz's camp when we went to deliver the challenge."
"They were the ones who got Miraz to agree," Edmund added. "Pete, they've got something up their sleeves."
"Guess that's your job, Ed," Peter grinned. "While I'm battling Miraz, you make sure those two," Peter pointed to the generals Glozelle and Sopespian, "don't commit treachery."
"Ready?" King Caspian asked.
Peter nodded and his three generals followed him to the square. The giant Wimbleweather, the centaur Glenstorm, and the bear Rumpletin, who despite all his warnings, was sucking his paw again, stopped at the closer corner of the square.
"Stop that!" fussed Glenstorm.
"What?" asked Rumpletin.
"You're sucking your paw!"
Rumpletin looked embarrassed and hid his paws behind his back.
Miraz and Peter met at the center of the square. Neither shook hands or exchanged any words, but a hush fell over both armies. It was the unmistakable calm before the storm.
A voice rang out loud enough so the crowd could hear. "This is to be a fair fight, a battle between only two, King Miraz and King Peter."
"High, High King Peter," Peter said under his breath.
"There will be no help from either side and all rules shall be respected."
As the voice stopped and the deadly silence filled the air once again, Miraz sneered at Peter. The two eyed each other, both moving ever so slowly clockwise.
And then it began.
( )
You want to bring the White Witch back!" Harry yelled.
He and the two Slytherins had listened to the dwarf's proposal. It was outrageous.
"There is only one practical way to finding what you seek. We must bring back the witch, and with her gratitude, she will grant us one wish."
"So we just say, 'Hi. Remember us? We just brought you back and now we'd like your wand.' I doubt things will go that well," Draco mocked.
"The White Witch wanted us dead," Pansy reminded. "Why would we want to bring her back?"
"The Queen of Narnia forgives and forgets," the dwarf lied. "She may not have always been good to you humans, but she has always been good to us dwarves."
"That's because you were on her side!"
"And who's side are you on?" the dwarf shot back. "Aslan's? Where is your precious lion now? He's gone. Not here. I haven't seen any lion in my life."
"We have," Draco countered coldly. "Aslan is real and He will help us."
"You believe in fairytells, in fables. What I have to offer you is truth, fact. If you want the goods you must be prepared to pay the cost."
"If we do bring her back," Pansy began hesitantly, "what will she do to us? How will we get her wand?"
With a small chuckle, the dwarf replied, "You need only ask."
"How would we bring her back?"
"Oh," said a new voice, "it would be easy, my dear, oh so too easy."
The children spun around, this time to face a hag. The hag looked very similar to the one the boys helped kill the day they met King Caspian.
"Circle, circle!" the hag cried.
The dwarf drew a circle, bending the grass in a perfect "O".
"Blue smoke! Blue smoke!"
Instantly, the dwarf and hag began chanting in a language the children had never heard before. As they chanted, their voices grew louder, and the dwarf pulled something out of his pocket. It looked like dirt or powder, and as he rubbed it between his fingers a blue smoke started to appear where the dirt or powder fell.
"Blood!" squealed the hag. "Blood from an innocent!"
"A drop of blood will do the trick," the dwarf said, as he slowly drew his small dagger.
"Whose blood?" Pansy asked in a small voice.
"Yours."
The dwarf seized Pansy, held out her hand and with his dagger, made a cut that drew blood. He held her bleeding hand over the circle. As the blood touched the ground, the blue smoke became thicker and thicker.
"Queen of old! Queen of new! We have a request of you. Queen of ash! Queen of snow! Tell us where to go. Queen of splendor! Queen of great! We ask and then we wait! Oh, great Queen of Narnia, White Witch of long ago, come back to us! Come back to us and bring with you gold!"
As the hag finished the song, it threw dust into the air, and then everything became cold.
Pansy was gasped, letting her breath float softly away, when she saw ice form between two trees. As the ice thickened, a silhouette began to appear. As the figure became more prominent, it was clear who was looking back at them.
The White Witch, the fake queen of Narnia.
"Daughter of Eve," sounded a sweet voice. It sent chills down every spine and flooded Draco's mind with memories. "Do not be afraid. Give me your hand, my dear princess."
The dwarf pushed Pansy closer to the wall of ice and the witch within.
"Stop!" Harry yelled, jumping in front of Pansy. "Leave us! You're dead!"
"I am a witch, am I not, Son of Adam," the witch reasoned. "There are always ways of bringing a witch back."
Harry stood frozen in front of the witch, his blood turning cold the longer he looked into her eyes.
"Give me her hand so I can be brought back."
"Never!" he croaked.
As Harry tried to yell his answer, he involuntarily stepped backwards, bumping into Pansy and causing her to fall.
"Don't waste time!" the witch demanded. "Bring me back and you shall have your reward."
Harry tried to say something, but all that came out was gibberish.
As he tried to say something, anything, Harry felt pain in his right hand. Looking down, he saw a slice on his hand and fresh blood slowly oozing out of the wound.
"Good, good," cooed the witch as Harry was pushed slowly forward by the dwarf. "Just a little closer."
"Harry!" yelled a voice, but it sounded so far away, so distant, that it couldn't be important. The only thing important was in front of him, the White Witch. His blood would set her free. He could almost feel her outstretched hand.
"Stop!"
Again the voice was so far away, so insignificant. Her eyes watched him. Her smile welcomed him as an old friend, but her eyes, they were cold and dark.
And then, the spell broke.
Harry found himself beside Pansy, thrown back into reality.
"Aslan beat you once, He can do it again," Draco quietly threatened.
"You play with me, dear boy. My dear, dear boy."
"I'm not merely a boy!" he yelled, raising his sword. "I'm a fricking Knight of Narnia!" And as his last syllable ended, he pushed his sword into the witch's stomach, driving it as far as it would go. He heard her scream and felt her fear.
"I'll give you whatever you seek!" she tried.
But Draco didn't listen. He avoided her eyes and stabbed the witch again, this time in her heart.
"I'm a queen!" the witch cried. "I'm the Queen of Narnia!"
"You're the Queen of the Damned," Draco said evenly, and then with a small grin, he stabbed the witch once more.
The wall of ice erupted, throwing Draco backwards. He watched as the ice wall shattered, pieces of ice flying through the air and turning to dust. He watched as the wind took it and blew it away.
"What happened," Pansy asked weakly, her eyes still a little blurry and her face as pale as snow.
"What did you do!" screamed the hag. "What did you do!"
Without hesitation, Draco beheaded the hag with one swift movement, then stabbed the dwarf. Within seconds, the two traitors lay dead on the ground, their blood on Draco's sword.
"What did you do?" Pansy asked, a little frightened. "Why did you kill them?"
Draco cleaned off his sword, thinking of what just happened.
"The witch," Harry began, "She was right there. She, she talked to me, made me feel…"
"Lost" Pansy completed. "Lost and never wanting to be found."
"Get up," ordered Draco, trying to clear his head. "I know where to find the Maugrim's treasure."
"Where?"
"I'll never forget that tree. We were tied up right over there," Draco answered, pointing to three trees only a stone throw away.
"How do you know those are the right trees?" Pansy asked irritably. "We're in a bloody forest!"
"The witch told me. I don't think she meant to, but she made me feel something, something I felt the first time I heard Aslan's name. I kept thinking of Him, and I remembered not to look into her eyes. Somehow, I know where the crown is because I know where she died. She died right by the trees."
"You're not making any sense," grumbled Harry.
"I know. It's just a feeling."
"Where is it?" Pansy asked, looking at her hand.
"By the Bridge of Beruna!"
What is Draco talking about? Will they find Maugrim's Treasure at the Bridge of Beruna? Find out in chapter 16.
Courtesy of both C. S. Lewis and JKR