Susan and Lucy remained draped over Aslan's body, feeling that if they left him, then he was really gone.
As Susan awoke, she looked around and saw that the sun was beginning to rise. She looked over at her younger sister.
"We should go."
She stepped down from the Table and took Lucy's hand.
"I'm so cold," Lucy said quietly.
Susan helped her down and lightly hugged her as they walked away from the sacrificial place. They took one last look at Aslan lying lifeless on the Table.
Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them, and a loud crack rang out.
Lucy turned to look at the Table. "Susan!" she cried.
Susan looked behind them and saw that the Stone Table had cracked in half and Aslan was gone!
"Where's Aslan?" Lucy asked crestfallen.
"What have they done?"
The sun began to rise higher in the sky as a shadow came into view.
It couldn't be…
The shadow blocked out the sun and revealed Aslan alive and well!
"ASLAN!" both girls exclaimed as they ran up to either side of them. Aslan laughed kindly as the both of them buried their faces in his mane.
"But we saw the knife," Susan said. "The Witch…"
"If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the Deep Magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table would crack and even death itself will turn backwards."
"Elaine sent the news that you were dead. She, Peter, and Edmund will have gone to war."
Lucy took out her dagger. "We have to help them."
Aslan put his paw on her hand. "We will, dear one, but not alone. Climb on my back. We have far to go and little time to get there. And you may want to cover your ears."
Susan and Lucy covered their ears as Aslan let out a tremendous roar to let all of creation know that he was alive and he was still the King of Narnia.
Elaine used her staff skillfully against her enemies, remembering everything Killian had taught her. She blocked several attacks towards her and knocked down many creatures that made up the Witch's army.
After much fighting, Elaine swiftly dismounted from her horse and skillfully defeated every opponent that attacked her. In fact, there was not one person who used a staff on the battlefield better than Elaine. She did some impressive maneuvers with the staff that not only looked intimidating, but also saved her life.
Elaine and Peter watched as a phoenix soared through the air and then lit a wall of fire on the ground that separated the two armies. The Narnians all began cheering. However, their victory was short-lived as the White Witch burst through the fire wall.
Now that Elaine could see the Witch up close, she realized what she was wearing around her neck. Aslan's mane! The fire of hatred inside her grew even stronger in a way she didn't even know was possible.
"Fall back!" Peter shouted. "Draw them to the rocks!"
Elaine obeyed his request, and the whole of the army began retreating to a better territory to fight. She whistled for her horse and hopped back on.
She looked ahead of her and saw Peter quickly riding back where the rocks were. Suddenly, his unicorn was shot with an arrow and Peter went flying forward off the unicorn's back.
"Peter!" Elaine screamed. She dismounted from her own horse and ran over to him. "Are you alright?"
She helped him back up, and they looked over to find the Witch getting closer to them.
"Stop!" Peter yelled as Oreius and a rhino charged past him and Elaine.
They watched as the rhino was defeated and Oreius was grabbed by a minotaur. After shaking off the minotaur, Oreius grabbed a sword and went straight for the Witch. There was a bright flash, and Oreius was turned into stone.
The battle continued to rage on, and soon Edmund joined Peter and Elaine in the fighting. The White Witch was a good fighter, even though in Elaine's opinion, she was cheating by using that stupid staff that turned things to stone.
Peter looked around and saw Aslan's army quickly losing ground against the Witch's. Two griffins flew above them, but the Witch just stabbed one and turned the other into stone where it smashed against a rock.
"Edmund!" Peter screamed to his brother. "There's too many! Get out of here! Get the girls, and get them home!"
"You heard him!" Mr. Beaver said, pulling Edmund away. "Let's go!"
"Elaine! Go with him!"
"I am not leaving you to fight them by yourself!" she yelled over the fight she was in with one of the orcs. "I made you a promise!"
As Elaine and Peter continued to fight, they could feel themselves growing weaker. Neither of them knew how long they had been fighting, but it had been too long and they were losing strength.
A flash of blue light with a crack that sounded like thunder rang out across the battlefield, causing Elaine and Peter to turn their heads. They saw Edmund fighting the Witch, and he had just broken her magical staff. No longer was she able to turn anyone into stone.
The White Witch knocked Edmund's sword out of his hands and then stabbed him in the gut with the broken staff.
"EDMUND!" Peter and Elaine screamed.
Edmund gasped and collapsed onto the ground. All of Peter's strength and then some returned in a matter of seconds, and he took out every attacker that came his way as he fought his way to his brother's murderer.
Elaine ran over to Edmund and tried to stop the blood spilling from the large wound. When one of the creatures came to attack her, she skillfully defended herself and Edmund from the attacker. She wielded her staff in a way that would make Killian and Aslan equally proud.
"Just hang on, Edmund!" Elaine said firmly.
She caught glimpses of Peter battling the White Witch furiously in between her own fights. For someone who never seemed to really lift a finger, the Witch was an extremely talented fighter even without her magical staff. As her and Peter's swords clanged together, it was hard to tell who was going to win.
Elaine's heart nearly stopped when she heard a loud growl.
No. It wasn't possible...
She looked up to the cliff to find Aslan, alive and well as he gave out a tremendous roar that reached to her very core and filled her with a kind of hope that she had never experienced before.
She didn't know how he could be alive, but she didn't care at all. In Narnia, anything was possible.
Elaine gasped and smiled as she saw hundreds of Narnians come behind Aslan with Susan and Lucy in front. They all ran onto the battlefield and the tables quickly began turning in their favor.
The White Witch was now furious at Aslan's return, and she showed it as she resumed her fight with Peter. Her movements were sharper and more intense in such a way that Peter could not hold her off for long.
The Witch knocked his feet out from under him making him lose his sword, and she jammed her own sword into his armor which must've grazed his skin because he screamed in pain.
"Peter!" Elaine cried.
When he tried to get up, he found that he was pinned to the ground. He defended himself with his shield, but the Witch knocked that out of his grasp as well. She held her sword up for the killing blow, but before she could deliver it, Aslan ran to her and pounced on her, knocking her several feet away.
Elaine watched with disgust, yet at the same time relief as Aslan defeated her once and for all.
Aslan turned and looked at Peter. "It is finished."
Relief washed over her. The battle was over and they had won. Against all odds, they had won the right to Narnia and the prophecy was fulfilled. But they were not in the clear yet.
"Peter!" Lucy and Susan called.
Lucy ran up and hugged her brother while Susan nervously looked around.
"Where's Edmund?" she asked.
"Over here!" Elaine called. The three siblings ran over to the youngest brother in a panic. Elaine's hands were covered in blood from her attempts to stop the bleeding.
"Edmund!" Lucy screamed.
Susan took out an arrow and shot an approaching dwarf that Elaine had not noticed. Then she took off Edmund's helmet and rested his head in her lap. Lucy sat on the other side of him and took out her cordial. She gently tilted the bottle and allowed one drop to enter Edmund's mouth.
Edmund went limp.
Elaine's heart went out to her friends as she looked at their sobbing faces. She couldn't begin to understand how they felt. She considered Edmund a friend, but they all shared a bond that she didn't know.
Suddenly, Edmund coughed and his eyes opened. Everyone smiled and laughed with relief that their brother and friend was alive.
Peter took Edmund in his arms and pulled him into a tight hug. Elaine smiled at the sign of affection. She had never once seen Peter so thankful for his brother, and it was amazing to see just how much their bond had strengthened in their time here.
"When are you going to learn to do as you're told?" Peter laughed.
Edmund smiled and Lucy and Susan joined in on the group hug. Elaine watched with overwhelming happiness that the siblings were now finally getting along and realizing how important they all were to one another.
When they broke away from each other, they all turned to look at Aslan. He breathed on one of the statues the Witch had created and immediately, the stone began to melt away and the creature returned to his living state.
Lucy stood up and looked at her cordial. With a smile to the others, she ran off and began healing everyone else who had been wounded during the battle.
"Elaine," Edmund said. She turned to look at him. "Thank you."
"Of course."
