35 - The Suspended Ax
Lucy and Arrow swerved through the air, dispatching harpies left and right. "I'm running out of bolts," she called, glancing at the last few remaining in the crossbow holster attached to Arrow's harness.
"You should go to ground combat, Your Majesty," Arrow called. "I will help Van against the aerial threat."
Squinting into the winter sun, Lucy aimed her crossbow and shot. A wounded harpy shrieked and dropped like a stone onto the castle battlements. Three bolts left. Two. One. She flung the empty crossbow at a harpy and stunned it. One of the castle archers shot it, and the creature plunged away. Lucy drew her short knife and scanned the ground for a good place to land.
Van and the dragon were still battling the harpy queen. The dragon had wrapped its tail around the beast's midsection and was squeezing like a python, while his jaws remained clamped on the beast's wing. The harpy could not angle her short neck to bite back, and her hind claws were trapped by the dragon's tail. The creature howled, and it and the dragon went tumbling toward the ground in a whirl of greens and greys.
"Down!" Lucy called.
Arrow streaked past a tower after them. Dragon and harpy crashed to the earth. The dragon spun away from the harpy queen and onto his feet, still snapping. Van leaped to his feet on the dragon's back and drew something from the many pockets on his coat. "Hold still!" he called, swaying.
The dragon stilled. Lucy watched in shock as Van flung what looked like a pointed throwing star. The tiny missile struck the harpy's breast, and as large as it was, it dropped at once.
"I could have eaten that!" the dragon snarled as Lucy and Arrow landed in the shadow of his wing.
"The menu's not clear yet," Van yelled. "Defend the gate!" He dropped back to his seat behind the yoke. The dragon lumbered forward with a growl of pleasure, its tail lashing and knocking unlucky raiders off their feet.
Arrow crouched and Lucy slipped off his back, knife outstretched, to dispatch an enemy archer aiming at Van. Then she saw the giant approaching.
It stomped toward the castle gate, swinging a double-bladed ax with an ugly, savage grin. Hapless Narnians scattered before it or were trampled. "Van, the giant!" she cried—but he and the dragon were turned away, busy attacking the stream of soldiers trying to get into the castle.
Aslan, Aslan, what do I do? she thought frantically.
Then she remembered her very first battle lesson. Size is nothing, Peter had told her once. Then he'd tapped her knees with the flat of his sword. If your enemy's so big you can't get a vital part right off, go for his legs. Find where he supports his weight. One good blow to the side of a man's knee, and he'll drop.
The backs of the giant's ankles were protected by enormous boots ... but his knees boasted only a ragged pair of linen pants. Big, she thought, wide-eyed. Too right, he's big. "Arrow! His knees!"
The griffin's eyes gleamed, and she knew he understood. They launched into the air once more, arcing low around the giant. The creature gave a hideous roar and swung his ax at the fighters gathered before the gate. Lucy spotted Edmund and Saris among the Narnians, back to back, trying to stem the tide of enemy soldiers pouring toward them.
Occupied with the gate, the giant didn't notice as she and Arrow winged around him. It wasn't the first blow she worried about. It was the second one, after the giant realized his danger.
They neared the giant's legs, and the moment Arrow flew close enough, he stretched out his claws and slashed the back of the giant's knee. The giant roared and swung around with his enormous ax as they passed by. Not deep enough, Lucy thought with frustration. Arrow's claws had hardly slashed the giant's trousers—but at least they'd distracted him from the gate.
The ax blade whooshed past them, skimming a few feather tips from Arrow's wing. They'd have to try again, and now they'd have to avoid the swings of that malicious steel.
Shrieks sounded overhead. From the southwest came a flight of griffins. A dozen of them angled for the cloud of harpies still assaulting the castle from above. Another half dozen flew to Arrow, circling the giant until the creature was batting furiously at them as a human would with flies. Lucy crouched lower onto the saddle. "Now! Bite him!" she cried.
Arrow clung to the giant's leg and slashed his beak through the back of the giant's knee. The giant howled in fury and swung the ax again, but a pair of griffins latched onto his arm and grappled with it until he could find no room to maneuver. He stomped forward, closer to Cair's main gate. His boot smashed into a brace of Narnian soldiers, and they pitched backward like a scatter of pebbles.
"The other leg, the other leg! Get him down!" Lucy shouted.
Arrow launched away to the giant's other knee. Lucy and the griffin swayed crazily as he landed. Arrow sank his beak into the other knee.
The giant wrenched his off hand away from another griffin and swung a fist at them. Slam. With a grunt that stole her breath, Lucy toppled from Arrow's back. The griffin fell away with a shriek, only to come back and clamp his beak to the giant's wrist and dangle like jewelry.
The enormous hand caught Lucy and closed around her, forcing any remaining air from her lungs in a squeeze that shot pain through her ribs. With stars bursting in her vision, she saw the giant rip his weapon arm free of the other griffins and poise the enormous ax over her.
Arrow lost his grip and fell away. Straining to breathe, Lucy looked up at the gleaming steel of the ax as the giant prepared to slice it at her like a man whittling a stick.
- # -
Van saw the ax as Maddoken lunged around after a trio of minotaurs. "Lucy!" He hauled back on the dragon's yoke.
Maddoken protested with an angry hiss.
Van jerked the yoke again. "Lucy!"
The dragon fixed a fury-bright eye on him. Van started to stand, though Underland knew how he'd save her. His every nerve was trained on the hovering ax.
Maddoken saw where he was looking and rumbled, long and loud. "You're lucky I like you, sssssnack." With a flap of his enormous wings, he leaped into the air. The force of the lift shoved Van down onto his back again.
Van snarled, very like a dragon, himself. Maddoken smashed into the giant's nose, claws first, and blasted him with a fireball.
Blinded by smoke and choked by the smell of singed hair, Van hardly had time to duck. The giant roared and swung the ax at them instead. The blade slipped, and its flat slammed into them, knocking Maddoken away. Van reeled, screaming as the dragon's tail slapped his injured knee, and then there was nothing but air around him and beneath him.
The giant, still fighting griffins, staggered and crashed down, and the ground rushed up at Van. This is it, he thought. But he spotted Lucy tumbling free of the giant's fist, and he felt not one instant of regret.
"Ah-ah," Maddoken said, snatching him up in one claw. "I've got harpiesssss to eat."
With an outward gasp of relief, Van climbed back aboard. Below, Lucy was getting to her feet. Already, Arrow had found her. Van shook his head as they winged skyward again. "You are one for a good save, Madd. I might be starting to like you, myself."