Hey everybody!!! First off, I would like to give a big thank you to ilovetoread38 and kutlessgurl90. Both of you have reviewed on nearly every chapter, so thank you very much! :) Also, I'd like to thank anyone who is reading my story. I hope everyone is finding enjoyment in it! Anyways, I will probably only be updating this story once a week now. School work always seems to get in the way, doesn't it??? :P Oh well... it's not like we can avoid it. Okay, well here is chapter 7!!!
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Chapter 7: Come What May
I ducked just in the nick of time, the arrow coming too close for comfort.
"Show yourself!" Edmund screamed, hand on his sword. Five men ran out from amongst the trees. I unsheathed Rhindon and jumped off of Bill, running towards the people, who were Telmarines. Edmund joined me and we fought, Susan staying behind with Telula.
The first man I approached was tall and muscular, his face menacing. He, as well as the others, was fully clad in armor. I had nothing but my tunic and trousers to protect me. He swung at my body, but I blocked. He recoiled and took another stab, but it didn't reach me. I slashed faster than he, and he fell to the ground. I took a two second breather and then Ed yelled, "Behind you!"
I turned and felt a light sting graze my left arm. I barely had time to ready myself when suddenly the man fell, Susan's arrow in his back.
"Thanks, Su," I called out. I then noticed Edmund struggling against two men. I hurried over and helped. The burlier man of the two turned swiftly to face me.
"High King Peter the Magnificent, eh?" he spat. "Well let's see just how magnificent you are!" With that he swung harshly, the blade coming dangerously close to my chest. I blocked just in time, our swords making a sickly screeching noise.
"Where's my sister?" I asked, the anger rising in my voice. I was sure he knew where Lucy was, I could feel it.
"And why should I tell you?" he wondered, venom heavy in his tone. I spun to miss his blow and brought Rhindon down on his weapon. It flew out of his hand.
"Where's my sister?" I repeated. He drew his arms up in surrender. I pressed the dull end of my blade to his shoulder, not creating a cut.
"Head north and you'll find a building. She's there," he answered.
"How do I know that I can trust you?" I questioned. He fell to his knees.
"I give you my word," he said. I let my sword fall from his body, suspicion filling my eyes. Just that quickly his leg stretched out in a kicking motion, and he swiped my feet out from under me. I felt my back hit the hard ground. The man scrambled back to his feet, regaining his grip on his sword. He stomped a foot on my abs, knocking the wind out of me and killing my ribs. I clenched my teeth tightly and tried to replenish my breath without yelling.
"Any last words?" he asked, pressing the flat of his blade to my chest. A vicious grin overtook his face. Then it was replaced with a grimace. His body twisted and he fell to the ground, Edmund's sword in his side. I stared at my brother, amazed.
A simple 'thanks' was all I could muster out. He removed his sword from the dead Telmarine and cleaned it off in the surrounding grass. I sat up painfully; my ribs didn't take very kindly to being stepped upon. Edmund rushed over to me.
"You were brilliant up until that last second!" he declared. I shook my head in disagreement.
"No, Ed, you were the brilliant one. You saved my life. I owe you one," I said. He clapped me on the back.
"Anytime," he added. I was so proud of Edmund. He had fought so well in these past couple days; he had helped save our family numerous times.
"Pete, you're bleeding," he pointed out.
"Huh?" I wondered, looking over my body.
"Your arm," he put in. I glanced at it. Sure enough, there was a red stain beginning to form on my sleeve. I didn't even realize its sting before I saw the deep red liquid trickling down my arm. I rolled up the fabric. The cut wasn't deep; the blade must have just barely penetrated my skin.
"You'll need that taken care of," Telula piped in. I hadn't even noticed that she and Susan had dismounted Avery to stand beside us.
"I'm fine, really," I stated. That was truthful. After what I had gone through yesterday and earlier today, this was nothing. Her violet eyes bore into mine.
"I'll fix it for you, but I'll need something to wrap it with," she stated. Well, I couldn't say no to that; the look in her eyes would make me feel too guilty.
"Here," Susan cut in. She ripped a small strip from the hem of her dress and handed it to Telula. She took it and told me to hold out my arm. I obeyed, and she wrapped it around tightly. The pressure stopped the bleeding and she tied it into a knot.
"There you go, sir," she said, patting my shoulder with a warm smile. Edmund snickered, earning another nudge in the side from my elbow.
"Sorry, Pete. It gets better every time!" he exclaimed quietly. Telula must've noticed our small ordeal.
"Did I do something wrong, sir?" she asked. I shook my head. Edmund pretended to cough to hide his laughter.
"Someone has a crush," he taunted in my ear. I let a grin escape my lips as I nudged him again. Telula did appear to be overly friendly to me, which was slightly embarrassing. I heard Susan sigh as she watched this all play out. She would never understand Ed and me. But then again, that probably wasn't a bad thing. Edmund grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. Now back to reality.
"That man told me Lucy was in a building to the north, should we believe him?" I wondered.
"I don't know. It could be a trap, but then again it's the only lead we've got," Susan stated. I pondered that for a moment.
"We have to go. It's worth a try. We'll take anything dealt to us. Let's not forget we have Aslan on our side," I declared. How true that statement was.
"Well then we have no time to waste," Edmund said. I fully agreed. I mounted Bill while the others mounted their own horses. I took the lead, ready to face anything to save my sister. So we rode. And rode. And rode some more. I was beginning to wonder if this really was a trap we were falling for. None of this was making sense. I woke up this morning to find that Lucy was missing. We searched and I found her, and she was like an utterly different person! She tries to kill me and then runs off without an explanation! So we search some more and get attacked in an ambush! What was going on? Was this supposed to be happening to us? I let out a deep sigh. Don't lose your faith, Peter, I silently reminded myself. We had to be getting close to this 'building' unless of course it was all a lie. But I couldn't allow myself to think that way. We were onto something and we were going to find Lucy… somehow.
"How much farther north until we stop?" Susan wondered.
"I don't know, Su. I'm willing to go as far as I can," I answered.
"But what if there's no building?" she retorted.
"Then we'll just have to take that chance. Don't lose your faith," I said. That shut Susan up. We rode for nearly a half hour longer, and then I saw it. Through the trees, barely visible, was a square-shaped speck. It had to be at least a mile or so away, but something was there. I told my siblings and Telula what I saw and I bade Bill to go faster. As we approached the structure I began to worry about what we would find. Would Lucy be normal? Would she still be so… violent? Would she even be there? I took a breath to calm myself; I had to have a clear mind for the time being so I could think proficiently.
A few minutes later we could see the building's full size… if you could call it a building. It was more like a small fortress. The structure of it, though, wasn't exactly what I had imagined. It was, as I have previously said, small; it wasn't even a third of the size of Cair Paravel. The outside stones appeared to be falling apart, as if it had been there for ages. Based on the exterior appearance, I wasn't quite sure what to expect on the inside. But I wasn't afraid. We could face whatever this was, as long as we stuck together and trusted in the Great Lion. I hopped off of Bill and the others joined me. I stared at my steed.
"Stay here. Whatever you hear or see, don't come," I commanded. I didn't want anything to happen to him or the other horses. Bill nodded in understanding. Though he was an animal of the Calormene sorts and not Narnian, he was still very intelligent.
"Are we ready?" I wondered.
"Yes," Edmund declared, stepping up next to me. You could hear the confidence resounding in his voice. I knew he was prepared for whatever we would encounter today. He had matured so much in these past few years in Narnia; I was so proud of him. The girls came up behind us. I turned to look at them.
"Telula, I believe you should stay back with the horses. If anything should happen to you, I couldn't live with myself," I explained. She looked at me with pleading eyes but nodded anyway. I felt bad that I was restricting her from this, but I wasn't going to risk this stranger's life. I wasn't even comfortable with my siblings coming with me into the building, but there was no way I could change their minds. Plus, Lucy was just as much their sister as she was mine.
"Shall we start moving?" I questioned.
"Yes," the two answered in unison.
"Okay," I said, stepping in front of them, leading the way. I kept my hand on Rhindon as we rounded the side of the building, looking for an entrance. Nothing was going to potentially harm my siblings as long as I had anything to do with it.
"Look, a window," Susan whispered. My eyes glanced in the direction of her voice. Sure enough, there was a see-through block of glass about four feet above her head.
"Edmund, get down and let me stand on your back. I'm the tallest, so I might be able to see something," I pointed out. Edmund did so and I carefully stepped on his back. Even though he was strong, I still tried not to put all my weight on him. I reached my hands up and onto the windowsill and pushed myself up to the point where I could see. There was no doubt in my mind that my eyes must have gotten wide. This didn't seem possible, and I had seen many things since my time in Narnia. Inside were at least thirty soldiers, of the Calormene and Telmarine races, and no doubt there were more around here somewhere. What?! Since when did Calormen and Telmar have an alliance? I brushed off the thought as my eyes scanned the room, searching for one target. And there she was.
Sitting in the corner of the dark room was a girl in a bluish-gray dress with medium-length brown hair. Lucy. She didn't look disturbed at all to be sitting there with all the soldiers passing her by. In fact, she was sitting there smiling as the men crossed her path. Then something briefly caught my eye. In the corner opposite of Lucy there was a door. An entrance. The thing we had been waiting for. I lowered myself and jumped off of Ed's back.
"She's in there, but so is a substantial group of Calormene and Telmarine soldiers. My guess is that there are about thirty of them; unfortunately that makes ten each. I don't know how Lucy will be acting either, so be precautious. There is a door on the east side of the building; it's the only entrance I see. We'll have to use it. Be prepared for anything, but you don't have to go in. I'll go alone if I must," I explained. And I would. Aslan would help me through this demented trial.
"No way, Pete. We didn't come all this way just to hang you out to dry," Edmund stated. Susan nodded in agreement. I sighed, secretly wishing I was going alone. I wasn't going to let anyone hurt my siblings, though, not a chance.
"All right, thank you. But I must ask of both of you, please stay safe. Don't worry about my fate. If something happens, something happens. As soon as things get ugly, if they do, I want you to leave. I'll fight as long as I possibly can to save Lucy and you both," I declared. Edmund stared at me.
"We won't leave you, Peter. You mean as much to us as we do to you. You're high king for goodness sakes! If we were to abandon you, that would leave Susan in charge. Goodness knows she wouldn't be able to handle that," Edmund put in. He threw a glance at our sister, who glared back at him. I watched and gave a chuckle as Su smacked his arm. "But seriously, Pete, we're not going to leave," he added. I nodded. I should've known I couldn't change their minds.
I let in a deep breath and took a step forward, making as little noise as possible. I barely heard the two as they followed behind me. My heart nearly stopped as I stepped on a twig and it made a cracking noise. I paused, but then realized it was ridiculous because no one in there could possibly hear that sound. Breathe, Peter, I silently scolded myself.
We turned the corner and I faintly saw the handle of the door. I kept my body close to the building, just in case anyone would be exiting the structure. My arm was now inches from the door as I reached for the knob. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Half startled, I turned to look.
"Peter, are you sure you want to do this?" Susan questioned. I nodded.
"Yes, Su. We're not going to abandon our youngest sibling," I declared. A look of understanding fell upon her features. Her hand fell of my shoulder and I grasped the doorknob. I turned it and it seemed as if everything began moving in slow motion. The sound thundered in my ears and the small amount of light coming from the cracked open door felt like it could blind my eyes. I pulled it open enough to peek an eye in.
A Calormene was standing about five feet away, and the rest of the men were pacing the middle of the large room. I reported what I had seen back to my siblings. Susan began stringing an arrow while Edmund unsheathed his sword. I did the same with Rhindon, never taking my other hand off of the knob. Edmund nodded his head towards me, as if he was telling me to go in. I heard my heart beat louder and louder, and then I opened the door completely.
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A/N: So... what do you think is going to happen??? Hmmm...... :) Okay, well I hope you all have a wonderful week! Please review!