The Race
Day came quickly. They had come to low hills, each rolling a little higher then the last. The mountains before Archanland towered above them far closer then they had been.
They watched with foreboding as dark storm clouds came down and gathered in the skies above them. Slowly, deathly, the snow began to fall. It came more and more thickly, filling the air until it became hard to breathe. The centaurs turned in a circle and clasped each other's hands for the air was so thick with snow they could barely see each other.
"This is the witch's doing, I'll wage you," Flavis said, shouting over the wind that was beginning to rise.
Lucy felt that the wind cut right through her and Edmund, who sat behind her on Martin, wrapped her in his coat to try to keep her warm.
The snow came harder, driving into every corner of their clothing and trickling down their backs. It made white breastplates on their coats and crowned them with snowy berets. The centaurs could feel the level of the snow rising on their legs and the beavers, Treve and Shard, huddled and the space between the centaurs and were completely covered with a heavy blanket of white.
How long it went on like this, none of them knew, it could have been hours or only a few minutes, but each time the storm seemed to tire, it attacked again with renewed vigor. At last with a sigh, as if it were unbearably weary, the wind ceased to blow and the clouds, now spent, began to rise.
It was almost as if someone was lifting the corners of a heavy blanket that had been thrown over them and they began to be able to see farther and farther, until again the mountains before Archanland came into view.
The centaurs shifted and heavy moulds of snow fell in pieces from the humans on their backs. The place between them erupted and Shard, the two beavers and Treve fought their way to the surface. It was not damp snow, but very dry and hard packed by the insurmountable force of the wind.
"We must continue on, friends," Martin said, "I have no doubt that that was some last ditch attempt by the witch to keep us from reaching our goal. I have little doubt that she has more in store for us."
Almost as soon as he finished talking, they heard the wolves again.
Looking behind them, they saw the wolves rippling out of the woods like liquid silver. They were coming fast, very fast over the snow, hard packed by the blizzard. It was not strong enough to support a centaur, but to the wolves, it was like a floor of marble.
"They're awfully close," Lucy said.
"By Aslan's grace we can out run them!" Equus exclaimed, turning and bounding through the snow, much like a deer bounds over a brook in the woods. Martin picked up Treve and Mr. Beaver and greatly ruffled the latter's dignity by tucking him under his arm. Flavis scooped up Mrs. Beaver and they dashed after the grey centaur.
"Wheeeee!" Mrs. Beaver shrieked in delight as Flavis gathered speed and passed Martin.
Peter glanced back and saw the wolves, streaking low to the ground towards them, they were now very close.
"Shall I draw my sword?" he asked.
"No," Martin panted. "It would not aid anyone if you chopped off Equus' head."
"Maybe we can slow them down!" Ergo flapped off Equus's should, "Come on boys let's show them!"
The three hawks soared into the air, circled once, then drove straight for the wolves. The wolves slackened their pace and some stopped entirely for a moment. The gap widened between them and the centaurs. The hawks flipped into the air again, then dashed on the wolves that seemed to be getting too far ahead.
The centaurs plunged on, snow flying in great sheets from their churning legs. They were very near their destination now. Time wore on. Their breathing came faster and their steps slower.
"Where's the pass?" Flavis yelled. Treve writhed loose from Martin's grip, dropped to the ground and almost was trampled by Martin's hoofs, but the next moment Treve streaked to the beginning of the pass, "Over here!" he called and the centaurs thundered after him up the path. A minute later, they came out on the ridge and looked down at the wolves. They were safe, they were in Archanland. The wolves dared not follow.
"Ergo, Jafa, Elah!" Martin bellowed at them, "Come now!"
The three hawks flapped away from the wolves and soared high into the air.
"What are they doing?" Martin asked incredulously as the hawks did a series of flips and rolls in the air.
"Victory rolls," Flavis said, "Why do hawks always show off?"
Elah, Jafa and Ergo plummeted down and landed on the ground before Martin.
"We sure did it, didn't we?" Elah fluffed up his feathers.
"We sure did!" Jafa said.
"Oh come off it!" Flavis laughed, "Let's get going."
"By all means," Mr. Beaver said. "But put me down first!"
"I beg your pardon," Martin said, setting him neatly down on the snow. Flavis put Mrs. Beaver down next to him.
"Wasn't that fun!" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed. "It was splendid! Mr. Flavis is so fast!"
"Excuse me sirs," a gruff voice came from near the ground, "have you seen-Treve!"
A badger was standing on his hind paws peering at Treve.
"Your parent's are half sick with worry!" the badger exclaimed, "You must go home at once! There have been search parties looking for you for two days!"
"Really…Oh," for the first time Treve realized the consequences of his going to Narnia. "woops," he added in a whisper.
"I'll go and call off the search parties," the badger said, beginning to lumber back into the woods.
"Wait! Lumberfoot!" Treve called after him, "my parent's..they're not too worried?"
"They're worried out of their minds," Lumberfoot retorted.
"Well," Martin said, "Lead the way to your house, Treve."
With tail drooping, Treve turned around slowly and started down the pass. He found himself quite a bit ahead of the others and he turned, waiting for them.
Shard was the first to reach him. Treve, who was almost scared of the white wolf, half wondered if he should trot back and walk with the others.
"What's eating you?" Shard asked, "You seem down."
"I am," Treve said and glanced sideways at Shard, "I shouldn't have gone, should I?"
"No," Shard said calmly, "you should not have, you are only a young pup and I'm sure your parent's didn't want you to go."
"They never said anything," Treve began.
"It was an unspoken command." Shard said, "In the Police we were taught to obey orders; if we disobeyed we were insubordinate. Anyone who did that was punished. You deserve a punishment. You did a harebrained act. It turned out all right in the end, but it could have been disastrous for you. It could have been dangerous for the rest of us too and you made your parents worry. Those two areas were where you were being selfish."
"I only wanted to know what it would be like to be a hero," Treve said in a small voice.
"Did you find out?" Shard asked.
"No."
"You did," Shard corrected him.
"I did Sir?"
"Yes, when you yapped those signals," Shard said.
"I wasn't being very heroic then," Treve said, "only scared to death."
"Do you know what heroic things are?" Shard asked.
"Saving someone?" Treve asked.
"Sort of, not strictly," Shard asked. "What do you think a hero is?"
"Someone who does heroic things?" Treve suggested.
"Not exactly. You are usually a hero when you least expect it and most often you are and don't know it. A hero is somecreature that is scared to death, yet does it anyway. Being a hero is giving your all for someone else, no matter what the consequences, that's being selfless. When you called out those signals, you weren't thinking of yourself.
"Most creatures aren't heroes, even if they think they are. They just don't have the stuff it takes. A hero is a rare kind of person and they don't grow on trees. A real hero is humble and in their humility is their strength.
"A hero can be anyone, but not everyone. A hero isn't born a hero, he has to learn over his life, like fine steel on a forge. Like I said before, heroes don't even realize they are doing it. "
"You mean I was a hero?" Treve gasped.
"Yes," Shard said, "but you still deserve a good thrashing."
The End (For now)
A/N: Well, here we are at the end! Thanks for sticking with us this long. Although, come to think of it, we're really not even at the end of the beginning. If you are interested, we will be posting the sequel to The Wardrobe soon. It will be The Witch.
~Rose
I hope you've enjoied reading this as much as I have writing it! I've certainly had enough intrest! Over 750 hits from 20 countries! That's exciting!
~Psyche
PS: Don't go away!