I am VERY VERY VERY sorry that I have not been updating for so long but I had three summer camps all tightly packed together and all the days that I haven't been at camp or at home packing (which is about…five days roughly?) I have been trying to write something. I'll update everything else soon but I'm going to focus on this story more.

Anyway, enjoy! :D

~CampHB

~Chapter 6: Capture~

The sky was clear, and a slight breeze blew through the dry air. I stumbled over a large rock in my path and almost felt until one of the centaurs pulled me up. I was tired, hot, and hungry. We'd been walking nonstop since we made the decision to go downstream. Suddenly the front pulled to a halt.

"What happened?" somebody called. "Why've we stopped?"

There was the sound of running feet and panting breath. A short Dwarf ran into the safety of our midst.

"Firepounder! What news?" Caspian greeted the Dwarf.

"My lord," Firepounder gasped, "I have spotted the Telmarine camp ahead. They are very close and they have men of numbers greater than ours. I—"

The Dwarf was cut off abruptly and stood stock-still before finally teetering toward the ground. A dark arrow sprouted out of his back, blood starting to soak his tunic.

The High King took a step back and drew out his sword.

"We are under attack," he announced. "Steady your weapons and try to move back from where we came quietly."

There was silence for a couple of seconds. We couldn't hear anything but our own breathing.

"Over there!" A loud cry rang through the forest. "The barbarians are over there!"

The sound of pounding horses followed the voice. Telmarine soldiers arrived. They carried spears, crossbows, javelins, and swords.

Around me rushed confusion. Dwarves immediately sprang to action, whipping out hunting knives. Talking animals bared their teeth in warning. Their fur rippled as they flexed their muscles.

Telmarines in dark armor circled us, some on horses, some on foot. Menacing stares reached us.

"Charge!" a commander shouted.

"To arms, Narnia!" Peter yelled with the same intensity.

Soldiers mingled with Narnia's mythical creatures and fought ferociously. Everything burst into chaos.

I clumsily pulled out my steel weapon. I still couldn't hold it correctly, much less fight with it. A soldier headed toward me, his sword spinning around wickedly. His gaze locked with mine as he drew closer. Hatred filled his eyes.

I can't do this! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! Fear and panic washed over me. I couldn't do this. It was too hard. I was going to die.

'Do not be afraid, child.' The same soothing voice from that morning spoke. 'Hold your weapon steady.'

How do I know if—?

'Faith. Have faith.' Peace swept through my soul and immediately my hands stopped shaking. They raised up my sword and held them perfectly in the position that Gareth had tried so hard to teach me.

The soldier was closer now. Dread rose up again but it was calmed by another wave of peace. His lips curled into a cruel sneer. Normally I would have been afraid, but I wasn't. Not now. I was confident.

Our blades clashed. He withdrew and slashed again, only to meet open air. He swung around, confused as I stabbed my sword into his side. The Telmarine had a surprised look on his face before crumpling to the ground, dead.

I pulled out my weapon, the sudden pump of adrenaline gone. It was covered in dark, sticky blood. I gaped. Had I just killed a person? A human like me? My head began to feel a little dizzy and the world seemed to spin the slightest bit.

There was a movement behind me. I turned around. A Telmarine had his sword raised up and was bringing it down. The blade was aimed right from my neck to chop my head off from the rest of my body.

I could do nothing, just open my mouth in silent horror. It was as if everything happened in slow motion. The man's eyes suddenly bulged out. Blood spurted out of his mouth as he fell face-forward. I scrambled out of the way just in time, grabbing my sword.

Caspian withdrew his weapon quickly and looked at me. "This is not time for staring or for watching people die for you. If you want to live, fight."

His words stung, but I pushed down the rising retorts.

"Made your first kill, I guess?" he asked.

I nodded.

Surprisingly, he smiled dryly. "I had the same feeling," Caspian admitted. "But you'll get used to it. This is life, after all."

I nodded again and he ran back into the fighting.

I can do this. Focus. Focus!

Everything was now in a different perspective. I singled out a lone soldier, looking around to help his fellow Telmarines. My vision seemed to zoom in on him as I walked closer. At the last moment, he realized he had been caught off guard and swung his arm back to defend himself, but I pierced his armor and cut into his heart. He fell to the ground with the rest of the dead.

Don't look. Don't look… It took all my willpower not to stare and gag as I retracted my blade from his chest.

While all the disorder and turmoil took place, almost none of us became conscious to what else was happening before it was almost too late.

"We have to retreat! There's too many of them and too less of us!" Susan yelled loudly.

In a matter of minutes, reinforcements for the black-clad soldiers had arrived. Troops two or three times our size marched closer.

"We can't!" Peter shouted back, determined.

"We have to! Unless you want a bloody massacre and everyone killed!" screamed Susan.

"Su's right, Peter. We can't have everyone killed," Edmund agreed.

"But we can't," he insisted.

For the first time, Gareth agreed with Peter. "We shouldn't. The High King makes the decisions, anyway."

There was a large rock a little far back where almost no one was fighting near. The Pevensie siblings looked at each other before all dashing for the safety of the boulder. With a shrug, Caspian and Gareth ran along. I joined them.

We all gathered behind the huge stone.

"Retreat! I'm telling you we need to retreat!" Susan was arguing with Peter.

"No! We shouldn't anyways. That would expose that we are weak and unorganized!"

"You're so—so…prideful! You don't care if anyone else gets hurt! It's all about your reputation!"

"Wait, stop! Please…" Lucy's feeble attempts to break up the family spat didn't affect it at all.

"STOP!" Caspian roared.

That caught their attention.

"We need to figure this out in an orderly manner. Those who would like to retreat, please raise your hands."

Susan, Edmund, Lucy, and Caspian raised their hands. It was final. Majority rules.

"Fine." Peter seemed angry. "Fine. We'll retreat then. But we need someone to hold them off so we can be sure that we'll all be safe. And I'm doing it."

"No! Peter!" Lucy's eyes were wild. "You can't! You'll be killed!"

"Peter!" A few moments before, Susan seemed furious at her older brother, but now she begged him not to go.

Peter was going to stay behind for the sake of us all. For our lives. Our lives. Why couldn't I be more like him? As annoying as he could be, he had qualities that made him a natural-born leader—qualities I wished I had: bravery, courage, confidence…

A small thought tugged at my mind. Stay. Stay and fight. Fight.

"I'll stay," I blurted.

They stared at me as if I was crazy. Disbelief was written on Susan's face while adoration was displayed on Lucy's. Edmund seemed surprised while Gareth, Caspian, and Peter had 'No' clearly explained as well as a hint of amusement.

"You don't need me anyway," I added quickly.

"Now, look, Tarah—" Of course Peter had to oppose me.

"Shut up, okay? You know I'm that I'm no help. You don't need me." It hurt to say those words because I knew I was a letdown to them. I was a burden, a mess they didn't need and were better without.

Edmund saw the determined look on my face and immediately stopped himself from saying whatever he was going to say.

"Wait. May I…" Caspian glanced at me. "I need to talk to her first."

He needs to talk to me? Now what?

Edmund nodded. I noted the slight look of disappointment flash across Susan's face.

Caspian drew me to a corner where the others couldn't hear us. He looked a little confused.

"Tarah, I…" The prince looked straight into my eyes.

What's wrong with him? What's he trying to get across?

He took a deep breath before speaking again. "Tarah, you don't have to do this. You don't have to feel left out or anything. Let Peter do it. He's experienced."

"No."

"But why do want to do this? You barely know this place."

He was right. This was my first time here. But why? Why did I insist so hard to fight for them? I didn't even know the answer myself. A strand of hair fell across my face.

"I-I just have to. That's all I know. And besides, there's this…" …this voice. This voice that edges me on and won't give up on me…

"Listen to me." Caspian laid a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to do this but if you want to, then it's your choice. Your decision. If you die you will be honored because you are a foreigner, an alien who barely knew this country and was willing to sacrifice yourself."

I didn't say anything.

"There's something else too," the Telmarine prince confessed. "I-I really like you. I know we've only met but there's something about you that I feel close to. That I feel drawn to. Just don't die and do your best to survive."

What?

He brushed the loose strand away and tucked it behind my ear and then walked back to his allies. I followed him, speechless.

"May Aslan be with you," he simply stated.

No one else said anything. I bit my lip before running out into the opening again. Was I ready to do this? Was I ready to lay my life down for the rest of them? What did they do for me anyway?

I shook my head, clearing it of thoughts. Around me lay bodies scattered on the forest floor. It was devastating to see these once-peaceful woods littered by corpses in such a short time.

"Narnia! Retreat!" I ordered. Surprisingly the beasts obeyed my command. They began to draw back deeper into the woods.

As they were receding, I ran forward into the enemy ranks. So this was how my life was going to end. Killed by brutal men and trampled on the ground.

"Wait! Tarah!"

The High King ran down with his weapon raised.

"Peter? What are you doing?"

"I can't let you die, can I? As High King it is my duty to protect Narnia and its creatures and people." He smiled wanly and then stepped into the enemy ranks, ready to kill.

I attacked a younger soldier and blocked and parried for a couple of moments before driving my sword into his chest and then pulling it out. Immediately another warrior took his place and fought me.

At first it seemed like we might actually survive, but after about five more minutes, all hope was lost. There were so many reinforcements that Peter and I were forced to stand back-to-back to fight the numerous men. I felt his muscles tense as an armored boy edged closer.

Archers and soldiers on foot closed in on us, making me feel the slightest bit claustrophobic. Suddenly a large horse reared up on its hind legs, kicking Peter in the chest. The blow sent him flying to a nearby tree, cracking his head on the trunk.

"Peter!"

In that small moment of distraction, a soldier knocked my sword out of my hand and raised his weapon, about to plunge it deep into my heart.

I'm going to die. I'm going to DIE!

"Wait!" The voice rang out crisp and clear. The weapon was still poised centimeters away from my chest, but they stopped.

A middle-aged man with gray-streaked brown hair halted his horse to a stop.

"Lord Sopespian," the soldier about to kill me inclined his head towards the man.

Lord Sopespian let his eyes sweep around us, taking in what had happened here.

"I heard that a little uprising had happened here. Was it only these two?"

"No, my lord. There were dozens more. Some were the barbarians, some were humans. Prince Caspian was among the mob."

"Caspian?" Sopespian raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, my lord."

"I will inform Miraz of this. Take the two prisoners and bring them to the castle. They may be of help of the whereabouts of their hiding."

The Telmarine soldier hauled me to my feet and roughly twisted my wrists together, binding them with coarse rope. Another guard violently jerked Peter so that he stood up. A large gash on his forehead was bleeding freely. Our eyes locked and I was overwhelmed by the anger and rage that was pouring out of them.

As we walked to the soldiers' horses, we passed by the lord's horse. He glowered down at Peter and me. As I went by, a flicker of confusion danced on Sopespian's face.

We were thrown onto the horses; Peter was on a speckled gray stallion and I was on a black steed. The rider slapped the horses' behinds and we were off—to somewhere where anything could happen to us. Anything.

I know this kind of sucked, but I did my best. With three month break from writing, I'm still a little shaky. I hope you enjoyed at least a little bit of it and enjoyed it! ;)

~CampHB