THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE BBC
PART 20
RECONCILIATION
PREVIOUSLY: After escaping the Stone Table and returning to his mistress the White Witch, who, along with Ginarrbrik and Edmund, have given up from now futile hunt, Snowstorm is almost killed by the enraged Witch as punishment for his failure to kill Peter, Susan, and Lucy, and his cowardly withdrawal from the battle. However, he is spared at the last moment when the Witch orders him to gather the faithful for the war against Aslan. Afterwards the Witch tries to murder Edmund to prevent the prophecy from coming true, but he is saved by Aslan's troops who take him to the Stone Table. The Witch and Ginarrbrik narrowly escape them, and the Witch plots something evil for Edmund, gleefully claiming that even Aslan has no power to deny her "right" of something.
Back at the Stone Table, Peter, Lucy and Susan, whose previous dress after it was torn in yesterday's attack had been replaced with the golden one with the white accents on the sleeves and bodice, slept the night in the pavilion.
And when the morning began to dawn, the female Dwarfs, Dryads, Naiads and the salukis started preparing the breakfast for the children, bringing to the pavilion's wooden table bowls of fruit and grapes, three silver plates filled with eggs, butter, and toast, three goblets and a pitcher of wine, three cups, a sugar bowl, and a pot of steaming tea.
As the children were slowly waking up in their respective beds, with Peter and Susan being the first ones up while Lucy was still sleeping in very comfortable pile of cushions, Mrs. Beaver stepped inside while carrying in her clawed paws a golden tray with three golden goblets.
"Good morning, my dears. I brought you all some milk." Mrs. Beaver said, helding the tray towards the children.
"Thank you, Mrs. Beaver." Susan thanked as she took two goblets from the tray and handed one for Peter, before turning to Lucy. "Lucy, wake up. Some milk."
Waking up to Susan gently shaking her, Lucy blinked sleepily before she slowly sat up on her bed. She let out a tired yawn and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before taking the goblet from Susan's hand, thanking her older sister for it with a nod. Susan acknowledged it with the smile before she took the last goblet from the tray.
As the children drink their milks, Mrs. Beaver waited patiently until they were finished before she broke the news to them.
"Son of Adam, Daughters of Eve, your brother has come back!" she told them.
The news that they brother had been brought back immediately caught the three children's attentions, and they looked at Mrs. Beaver with the mixed feelings of surprise, relief, delight and excitement!
"When?!" Lucy asked, happy to hear that their brother was in the camp.
"The rescue party brought him in the camp late last night!" Mrs. Beaver told them.
"Where is he now?!" Peter asked urgently.
"He is with Aslan at the Stone Table." Mrs. Beaver said, sounding very serious when she said those words.
Peter, Susan and Lucy exchanged worried glances with each other, realizing that Aslan must be personally confronting Edmund about his selfish actions and bad choices of late.
"Oh, dear." Susan said worriedly.
The three children quickly ran out of the pavilion and looked up to the Stone Table.
There they saw Aslan's and their brother's silhouetted figures standing against the light of the dawn rising from the east. Edmund's head hung down on his shoulders in apparent shame and they saw Aslan moving his lips as he spoke to Edmund, but they couldn't hear what he said.
They also saw Flamestorm standing motionlessly at the feet of the Stone Table's hill while witnessing the conversation between the Great Lion and their brother.
Each one of the children had their own reactions of seeing Edmund again: Lucy's mouth fell instantly open as she smiled widely with joy at seeing her brother again.
Susan smiled nearly as widely as Lucy did, though her mouth did not hung open like hers, as she was deeply relieved to see Edmund back and alive, safe and sound.
Peter, however, though he himself was relieved to see his brother back, stared stoically as the mixed emotions raced through his head, leaving him torn between whether he should welcome him back with open arms, or be angry at him for what he had put them and himself through.
"EDMUND!" Lucy shouted, unable to help herself before she was already running ahead towards the Stone Table, followed by Susan and Peter.
Lucy calling his name made Edmund, Aslan and Flamestorm to turn from each other and towards the rest of the children.
But when Lucy reached to the feet of the hill and was about to climb up, Flamestorm galloped up to her and, bending down, he gently caught her in his strong arms, preventing Lucy from going to the top of the Stone Table's hill, making Lucy to look up at the Centaur in confusion while Susan and Peter stopped behind her, looking questionably at him.
"My apologizes, but Aslan has requested privacy with your brother." Flamestorm simply explained to them before letting go of Lucy.
Without saying anything about this, the three of them and Flamestorm then looked back up at Aslan and Edmund.
However, when Edmund saw his siblings again since the beavers' and met their gazes fixed on him, especially Peter's stonefaced stare, he immediately turned away from them and lowered his eyes down, too ashamed to even look at his family.
Aslan, however, looked like he was already finished with Edmund here, before drawing his's attention back to him with a low growl. And when Edmund looked back at him, the Great Lion nodded his head towards his family, wordlessly encouraging him to go and try to reconcile with them.
Having no words to say back, Edmund reluctantly obliged before he walked alongside Aslan down the hill towards his family, hands nervously behind his back and eyes downcast, until the two of them stood in front of Lucy, Susan and Peter.
"Here is your brother." Aslan told them, before he gently nudged Edmund forward and towards his family with his muzzle.
"What is done is done." Aslan then said, looking at the children solemnly, especially Peter, as if sensing his conflicted emotions and uncertainty about how to approach Edmund after all this. "There is no need to speak to Edmund about what is past."
Aslan and Flamestorm then backed away, allowing the children some privacy.
Edmund then turned back to his family, though still not meeting their eyes, and took a moment to muster some courage to say his next words.
"Uh... I... I'm... uh... I-I'm... Ugh... I'm sorry." he said quietly.
Lucy did not hesitate to bolt forward and rush into her brother's arms, hugging him tight.
"Oh, Edmund!" Lucy cried the tears of joy that he was back with them again.
Though surprised by this but unable to hold back his emotions, Edmund hugged his little sister back, glad that at least she was forgiving him everything, including all the mean things he had done and said to her previously.
Susan then stepped forward, gently touching Edmund's shoulder with her hand. Edmund then broke the hug with Lucy and turned to his big sister, before the two shared a warm hug as Susan too forgave Edmund about everything.
"Welcome back, Ed." Susan said as she and Edmund broke the hug, to which Edmund simply nodded his head gratefully.
Now Edmund turned to Peter as he stepped forward to meet him, and his expression hadn't changed at all as he stared at Edmund with his stony eyes.
Edmund lowered his eyes down again under Peter's gaze, having known that trying to reconcile with his elder brother would be both awkward and even difficult, until he at least tried, at Aslan's urging, and cleared his throat.
"H-Hello, Peter." Edmund said awkwardly.
Peter then walked to him until the two brothers were standing almost face-to-face with each other, and Edmund braced himself for the harsh lecture of his lifetime.
However, he was caught off guard when Peter suddenly embraced him with the hug, and hugged him almost as tightly as Lucy did.
Edmund was taken aback by his brother's unexpected act that he at first didn't know how to react to it, until he finally gave in and hugged his brother back, overwhelmed with good emotions and relief that he has been forgiven and welcomed back with open arms by his entire family, that the tears of joy ran down from his eyes.
The brothers then broke up from their hug before looking at one another with the smiles, before Peter held out his hand towards Edmund and he gladly and without hesitation took it, shaking them and solidifying their reconciliation.
"Are you alright, Edmund?" Peter asked.
"I'm a little tired." Edmund said, so exhausted from everything he has went through that he could just collapse to the ground.
"Come. Let's get you somesleep." Peter said, resting his arm over Edmund's shoulders before leading him towards the pavilion along with Susan and Lucy.
Aslan watched them go with the proud look on his face while Flamestorm watched them solemnly.
When the children reached to the pavilion, Peter instantly turned to the Dryads, Naiads, female Dwarfs and salukis.
"Excuse me, ladies?" Peter called to them.
The Dwarfs, Nymphs and salukis instantly lined up before the children. "Yes, my lord?" one of the salukis said with the light bow of her head.
"I have a small favor to ask of you." Peter said. " My brother needs some peace and quiet after everything he's been through, so can you please move the breakfast outside the pavilion? And can you also make some breakfast for him too after he has rested?"
"Including some water for washing himself with?" Lucy requested, noting how filthy Edmund actually looked like.
"And the proper clothing too?" Susan requested, noting that Edmund's English clothes were both soiled and torn in many places.
"Breakfast outside the pavilion, breakfast for the other Son of Adam, water for washing and the proper clothing?" saluki listed before nodding her head. "As you wish."
"Thank you." Peter thanked gratefully.
Edmund gave his siblings a moved and grateful smile for their care of him, even if he still felt that he didn't deserve their caretaking after everything.
One of the Naiads went to fetch water from the stream while the Dryads and Dwarfs went about fulfilling Peter, Susan and Lucy's requests, before the salukis came to Edmund and gently took him into their care from his siblings.
"Come with us, Son of Adam. There's nothing to fear." one of the salukis said kindly.
"We'll show you where you can rest." another saluki said.
"Thank you." Edmund said gratefully and allowed salukis to lead him into the pavilion.
But before they could get through the flaps of the pavilion...
"Edmund?" Peter called, causing Edmund and the salukis to stop before the former looked over his shoulder at his big brother to hear what he had to say to him.
"Try not to wonder off again, okay?" Peter said with the light chuckle.
"Edmund smiled back, before he continued inside the pavilion along with the salukis.
###
After a few hours, Edmund stepped out of the pavilion, well rested, washed clean and dressed in Narnian clothes: a white tunic, blue leather waist coat, grayi pants and brown boots, and the first thing he saw were Susan and Lucy with the beavers, sitting on the comfortable pillows at a table on a reddish brown cloth spread on the lawn, eating breakfast, while they were served and entertained by Dryads and Naiads who played soft, soothing and relaxing music on their harps.
"Good morning, Ed." Lucy, who was the first one to notice Edmund, wished.
Susan, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver then turned to look at Edmund too. "Good morning, Edmund." they all wished.
"Morning." Edmund said back as he slowly walked up to him.
"Did you rest well, son?" Mr. Beaver asked, holding a beer mug in his clawed paw, to which Edmund wordlessly responded with the nod.
"Are you hungry, dear?" Mrs. Beaver then asked.
To Edmund that was a rhetorical question, because the last time he had eaten was back in the Witch's House two nights ago, and the bread offered to him then was dry and stale.
"Hungry like a wolf!" Edmund said.
Susan winced slightly at the mention of the word "wolf", because her ysterday's experience with the wolves had left her a bit shaken.
"Come sit next to me, Ed." Lucy invited, gesturing to the empty pillow next to her.
Edmund obliged with the nod and went to sit on the pillow next to Lucy.
"Where's Peter?" Edmund asked, seeing that Peter wasn't sitting at the table with them and looked to the left and right.
"Peter's over there." Mr. Beaver said, pointing his claw towards the pavilion.
Looking over, Edmund noticed Peter standing outside the flaps, holding a goblet in his right hand as he watched the Narnians around the camp preparing for battle, while his left hand was fumbling the hilt of his sword.
Edmund frowned, not only because of him having not noticed him standing right there after coming out of the pavilion, but also because Peter now looked a lot more worried and burdened than before.
"What's wrong with Peter?" Edmund asked, concerned.
"He's been acting like that all morning." Susan told him.
"And for the reason!" Mr. Beaver said aloud with the proud voice. "Your brother is a knight now!"
Edmund frowned at Mr. Beaver. "A knight?" he repeated, puzzled.
"Your brother saved your sisters from the Witch's wolves by killing their captain, Maugrim, in single combat, and was knighted by Aslan himself for that. He's now known as Sir Peter Wolf's Bane." Mr. Beaver explained proudly.
Edmund frowned a little more, not sure if he should be happy and proud of his brother or a little jealous of his new knighthood, though he was quick to reminded himself that after all he'd done, he probably wouldn't deserve the same honor for himself.
"But along with being a knight comes with the great responsibility." Mrs. Beaver added.
"Exactly. And as you can see, Edmund, your brother does not take such responsibility lightly." Mr. Beaver added.
"Definitely not." Lucy agreed, knowing that their big brother has now a lots of responsibilities on his shoulders that exceeded his original responsibility of taking care of the three of them.
The female Dwarves then brought Edmund his breakfast, a silver plate of eggs, butter and toast, while the Dryad poured some wine from the pitcher into Edmund's goblet. Edmund politely thanked them, with the Dwarfs and Dryad bowing to him in response before they left him to enjoy his breakfast with his siblings and the beavers.
Giving in to his hunger and thirst, Edmund then turned to his breakfast. At first Edmund drank a little of the wine, and despite its initially stinging taste, he took a great liking of it and took two more goblet-full of it until Susan told him to stop, warning him not to drink too much of wine. Edmund then took a toast with the butter and took a bite of it, and he immediately liked it, because it tasted at least ten times better than the bread the Witch's Dwarf servant had offered him, and quickly wolfed it and couple more toasts down.
Lucy smiled at Edmund as he was chowing down his fourth toast already.
"You're lucky that Narnia's not going to run out of toast very soon, Ed." Lucy joked.
Edmund smiled at her joke with his mouth full.
"I'm sure they'll back something up for us when we go." Susan said while eating.
Lucy was about to scoop the last of the eggs from her plate into her mouth, until she stopped stopped upon hearing what Susan just said and looked up at her in confusion.
"Go where?" she asked.
"Back to the lamppost, of course." Susan said.
Edmund and the beavers - with Mr. Beaver almost choking on his sip after hearing what Susan said - stopped eating and turned to Susan with the frowns written over their faces. Even Peter, overhearing what Susan had just said, turned to look at his sister.
Susan shiftened in her pillow under of her siblings' and the beavers' gazes.
"Well, I just thought that... Now that we got Edmund back, we can finally go back to the wardrobe and go home. Well equipped, we should be home in a couple of days." Susan said, explaining herself.
"But we can't just leave, Susan!" Lucy protested instantly, before looking at Susan like pleading her to reconsider. "These people need us. All four of us."
"Lucy, it's too dangerous to stay here. You and Peter almost drowned in that flood at the lake! I almost got eaten by that wolf! Edmund was almost killed! And furthermore, it's a war here!" Susan said, trying to dissuade Lucy from doing what she had dedicated herself to do back in the beavers' hideout that night.
"We only came here to get Edmund back, not to fight a war that wasn't even ours in the first place!" Susan added strictly.
Peter knew all too well that Susan was only thinking of what she thought was best for them, and wanted so badly to agree with her. But he couldn't. Ever since his conversation with Aslan, his victory over the wolf and his knighting, things had completely changed for Peter.
"I'm afraid it's our war now, Susan." Peter said gravely as he came over to them and sat down at the table next to Edmund.
Susan frowned at her brother, who from her opinion sounded disturbingly so much different and, like Lucy, fully into this war stuff than what he did two nights ago.
"Aslan didn't rescue Edmund so we could just abandon Narnia." Peter told his siblings. "I think it would be fair towards him if we stay and do our part."
"Does "doing our part" include getting ourselves killed for a world we're not even from in the first place?" Susan asked dead seriously.
"Now you're starting to sound like Snowstorm back at the lake." Lucy scolded, recalling how that owl tried to convince them not to fight for a world they "don't belong to".
"We just have to make sure it doesn't." Peter simply said to Susan. "But as long as we stick together and will never separate from each other again, we can do this... I think."
"YOU THINK?!" Susan exclaimed in disbelief when she heard that even Peter wasn't sure if they would make it out of this war alive.
"Are you two even listening to yourselves?" Susan exclaimed to both Peter and Lucy in particular. "Haven't we already had our share of dangers and life-threatening situations?"
Susan then turned towards Edmund for support.
"Edmund. Help me out of here. Haven't you suffered enough already after everything you've been through? What do you think we are supposed to do?"
Edmund had sat silent throughout the whole conversation, listening to his siblings' opinions: Lucy's dedication to helping Narnia, Peter's feeling that it is a right thing to do, and Susan's reluctance of them being part of the coming battle. And when it came to him to say his own opinion, he knew exactly what he was going to say.
"What we must do." Edmund said quietly, but with grave and serious voice.
His siblings (and the beavers) looked at him in surprise as Edmund had never been so serious about anything before... until now.
"I've seen what the White Witch can do." Edmund said, looking alternately at his siblings and the beavers while recalling every time he had seen the Witch using her wand to turn poor creatures and animals into stone. "I've seen what she has done to Mr. Tumnus... To that party of animals in the woods... To those Trees that blocked her way to the Lake... And to a lot of other people we ran into on our way here."
Lucy looked horrified after Edmund confirmed the fate that had befallen poor Mr. Tumnus, while the beavers, Peter and even Susan grimaced at the revelation of the tragic fates Mr. Fox, his companions, Blossom and those Trees had met (even if Blossom and those Trees willingly sacrificed themselves to delay the Witch's hunt of them). Edmund grimaced too upon recalling the fates of those swallows, frogs and the otter family at the river bank.
Edmund then looked over their heads at the Narnians all around the camp.
"And the same fate awaits all of them, because I've helped her do it." Edmund said, knowing that it was because of him the Witch had got a wind of the Narnians' plans to fight back, before he lowered his eyes to the table in shame again.
After the moment, Edmund looked up at his siblings again, determination written over his face. "We can't leave these people behind to suffer for it. I can't leave them. They saved my life, even though they had every reason not to. I owe them at least that."
Peter smiled at his brother, proud of that he had finally begun to think of others more than himself, before he nodded him with newfound respect.
Lucy smiled at him too, before she took her brother's hand into hers and squeezing it affirmatively, solidifying that she will be with him.
The beavers too looked at Edmund with the pride, before taking each others paws and leaned against each other happily.
Susan, however, looked down upon realizing that she had lost this argument now that all of her siblings were dedicated themselves to fight to save Narnia.
After a long quiet moment, Susan let out a defeated sigh before standing up from her spot.
"I supposed that's it then." she said to them before she stormed off.
Her siblings and the the beavers looked after her, confused and worried, as Susan walked towards the pavilion.
"Susan?" Lucy called after her worriedly.
"Where are you going?" Peter called after her as well, confused of her behavior.
"You're not seriously planning on leaving all by yourself, are you?" Mr. Beaver called after her suspiciously. "That's a very bad idea!"
Without saying a word to them, however, Susan disappeared through the flaps into the pavilion.
Peter, Edmund, Lucy and the beavers looked at each other with great concern of Susan's behavior, as Mr. Beaver's words hit them like the knife. They couldn't believe it if Susan was really planning to just return to the lamppost and through the wardrobe to their own world without them just because she couldn't convince them to return home with her.
They feared that, contrary to Peter's words of them having to stick together to survive this battle, they would be separated again just now that they were all together again.
"Peter! We can't just let her go alone." Lucy said to her brother worriedly.
Peter nodded in agreement and was just about to get up from his seat to follow their sister to the pavilion to talk to her, hoping to get her to change her mind.
However, they were all surprised when Susan came out of the pavilion smiling at them while carrying in her hands her bow and quiver of arrows instead of the packings as they had thought.
"Well? What are we waiting for then? Let's get started." Susan told them.
Her siblings and the beavers looked at her in puzzlement.
"Started of what?" Edmund asked from her.
"To get in some practice, silly. We cannot go to war unprepared." Susan told him.
The rest of the children then exchanged a relieved and utterly delightful glances both with Susan and each other for her decision to stay by her siblings' side to fight for Narnia... and they also couldn't help but agree with her that they all definitely needed practice if they were gonna be any help for Narnians in the coming battle.
"Then what are you waiting for?!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed, before he started to hurriedly shoo the children off the table and towards the pavilion. "Off you go, children! Shoo! Shoo! Get your stuff and head immediately to the practice grounds! Shoo! Shoo!"
No needing to be told twice, giggling/chuckling with amusement and eager to get to practice, Peter, Edmund and Lucy jumped up from their seats and hurried to get their weapons from Father Christmas - even though Edmund was forced to get himself the weapons from the camp's armory - before heading to the camp's practice ground.
###
In the forest, not far from the camp was a small clearing that was chosen as the practice ground where the creatures of Aslan's army were practicing for the coming battle against the Witch.
Such of skills included archery, practice duels in the form of swordplay and fighting in the loose formations of shields and spears, while the veteran creatures served as the trainers.
It was mostly Fauns, Satyrs, Dwarfs, Dryads, Naiads and Wood Gods and the war-like animals like the leopards, dogs, bears, stags, bulls and goats who were practicing, but also a less war-like animals like foxes, badgers, rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs and Mr. Beaver, who were all capable to use weapons in their anthropomorphic forms.
Susan herself was at the archery range, instructed by the Dwarf archer while Lucy observed from the next of her sister.
"Very well, daughter of Eve. Remember this when you are about to shoot with the bow. You must keep the arm you're holding the bow with as straight as possible while using the other hand to pull back both the string and the arrow. Pull both as close to your face as possible to aim better. Then take a deep breath and adjust your aim before releasing your arrow." the Dwarf demonstrated.
The Dwarf then demonstrated by turning to the targets and raising his own small bow before pulling the string and arrow closer to his own face, aiming for the center of the target for a moment before releasing the arrow into flight. The Dwarf's arrow hit the center of the target rather easily, making Lucy gasp and Susan gap in amazement.
"Now you try." the Dwarf said, gesturing Susan to give it a try.
Breathing tensely while following the Dwarf's instructions, Susan put one of her arrows into her bow's string and leveled her bow up. She pulled the string and the bow back and closer of her face before taking the aim at the target. Then she took a deep breath and adjusted her aim before releasing her arrow... only to miss the target entirely.
She tried again, again, and again, but not one of the arrows she shot hit the target, but instead flew straight past it or got stuck in the ground in front of it or next to it.
Susan sighed in disappointment, while the Dwarf only nodded his head understandably.
"Again." he told to Susan. "With a lot of work and practice, your aim will improve itself with each try."
Elsewhere, where the creatures and animals were practicing the swordfighting, Flamestorm had taken Peter and Edmund under his wings to teach the boys the proper swordfighting.
Both boys stood side by side, holding a sword in both hands, while they listened carefully Flamestorm as the Centaur stood before the brothers while holding a long two-handed sword in his hand.
"I observed your skill with the sword in your duel against the wolf, Son of Adam. Beginner's luck, I say, or the wolf was merely toying with you on purpose. But you won't be fighting only wolves with claws. You'll be fighting the Witch's warriors who can use a sword." Flamestorm told them.
"Just holding a sword is not enough, but also mastering its use, both the speed of your hand and the alertness of your senses. In fact, that whether you live or die depends largely on how well you know how to use your sword, and how quickly you can react to your opponent's movements and attacks." Flamestorm added.
Flamestorm then demonstrated his own skills with the sword by swinging it swiftly and in a well-controlled manner to the left and right, aiming only its tip straight ahead in a huge lateral arch. And since the blade got probably a reach of six feet, the tip of the Centaur's sword just barely missed the boys' faces, making them both to jump back, startled.
Flamestorm continued to demonstrate his skills by lifting his sword over his head while rearing up on his hind legs and flailed his hooves in the air like hammering an opponent in front of him, before he grabbed from his sword's hilt with both hands and brought it hard down, cleaving the empty air between the boys as he landed back down.
Peter and Edmund were both amazed at Flamestorm's skills but also slightly terrified by his ferocity and the length of his swordplay, and they were glad that he, as well as all the Centaurs, were on their side.
"A mere sword blade is not the only weapon of a Narnian warrior." Flamestorm explained.
Flamestorm then began to teach the boys the basic swordsmanship moves in various forms of attack and defense, which he showed them at first at a slow pace, requiring the boys to imitate him. After a while, he started repeating both the same old and brand new moves at a faster pace while the boys tried their best to keep up with him.
Two days later.
The children's exercises continued.
At the archery range, following the Dwarf's instructions again, Susan leveled her bow up and pulled the string tight while aiming at the target. After a moment, she released the arrow to flight, this time sticking her arrow in the edge of the target. Susan frowned at this, but kept trying as Lucy handed her another arrow.
Elsewhere, Peter and Edmund were put to battle each other with the swords and shields, with the Flamestorm observing the two princes' progress.
The Centaur wasn't exactly pleased with how the duel was going: Edmund was pushing Peter back as he swung his sword at his brother with wild but uncontrolled swings, while Peter's own strikes were negligible and he was almost on the defensive.
"Prince Peter. You're holding back too much. Try go harder with your attacks to force your opponent back." Centaur told Peter, before he turned to Edmund. "Prince Edmund. Your attacks are too sloppy and uncontrollable. You need to focus instead of attacking blindly or you will let your guard down in battle."
Taking the Centaur's words to heart, the boys did as they were instructed: Peter stopped holding back too much and use more force in his attacks, wile Edmund started to focus his attacks more carefully by seeking the weak spots in his brother's defense before aiming his attacks there.
Flamestorm also put the two to fight other creatures several times to test what they have learned and to introduce them to their opponents in their own elements so they can predict their opponents' movements and prepare to counter them.
It didn't go well at first from either.
Peter was first put to fight against the black bull, whose attacks with the broadsword were heavier and stronger and put Peter easily into defensive, until he was knocked off his feet to the ground when the bull rammed his head against his shield.
Edmund was put to fight against the Dwarf who, despite being half of his size, proved to be quite fierce fighter and tough opponent, much to Edmund's surprise. Edmund managed to hold his own just a moment before the Dwarf caught him off guard by sweeping his legs from under, knocking him down.
Peter was then put to fight against the Faun who, however, also gave him a hard time when he sent a quick slashes at Peter with his sword and backed him away with the athletic leaps, quick spins and hard kicks with his hooves.
Edmund was then put to fight against the goat, who quickly got the upper hand over the boy by kicking with his hooved legs and repeatedly ramming his head against Edmund's shield, backing him away.
Peter was then put to fight against the Satyr, and though he wasn't as swift and athletic as the Faun, Satyr's attacks were way more wilder, not the mention that he used his longer coiled horns as an attacking weapons too.
Edmund was then put to fight against the brown bear, who didn't need any weapons because his large size, brute strength and claws fitted fine as the fierce weapons both in the normal bear form and in the anthropomorphic form. As the bear charged at him, Edmund soon found himself in a tight bear hug as the bear tackled them both down to the ground.
Peter was then put to fight the leopard, who was even more athletic and faster than the Faun, but much more ferocious in his attacks. By repeatedly launching quick attacks at Peter from different angles without giving him a chance to recover and prepare for the next attack, the leopard managed to overwhelm Peter almost immediately after their duel began.
Edmund was then put to fight against the stag that easily prevented him from getting closer to fight him, not only because of his long staff that acted as a spear, but also because of him swinging his huge antlers from side to side in a menacing manner, giving Edmund no chance to get through his defenses.
Disappointed, Flamestorm shook his head at the boys' poor success, but unwilling to give up, he continued with faith and determination to train the boys to fight.
The Centaur was at least glad and proud that the boys, despite their failings, bruises and sore spots, were unwilling to give up and were there for each other, supporting and encouraging one another to keep going, which strengtened his own patience and motivation to train them.
He continued to put the boys to fight either each other or other creatures and animals so long until they started to get the hang of this were capable to hold their own little longer.
Other two days later.
The children, while continuing the training, were starting to make a good progress, even if they still had so much to learn.
At the archery range, Susan once again leveled her bow up and took the aim at the target before releasing the arrow, which this time stuck in the edge of the third ring of the target.
Both Lucy and the Dwarf archer, smiled at the Susan's increasing progress in archery, even though the latter frowned again with the belief that she could do better than this.
"Father Christmas told me to know my arrow and it won't easily miss." Susan said to herself. "Is it because I don't trust my arrow enough or because I don't trust myself enough?"
Lucy looked up at Susan with the sly sideways look, before she drew out her own dagger from her belt.
"Wanna bet?" she asked as she turned to the target and, after taking a moment to aim her throw, threw her dagger at it.
Much to the other archers' surprise and Susan's shock, Lucy's dagger stuck the bullseye, and even with the first try, causing the other archers to cheer up at the youngest Pevensie and clap their hands/paws at her, praising her for her success. Lucy smiled at all of them before curtseying, while Susan stared at her little sister with the annoyed look.
Lucy then turned to face Susan, crossing her arms in a posing manner.
"Nope! It's just you." Lucy said with the grin.
"Show off." Susan scoffed.
Back with Peter and Edmund's training, Flamestorm had brought with him the finest of the Unicorns and the saddled brown stallion with the white marking in his forehead.
Today he was going to teach Peter and Edmund riding the horse.
"One more thing about Unicorns and horses before we start." Flamestorm said. "Unicorns are noble and honorable creatures that even the King of Narnia wouldn't think of riding except in great need. And the same goes with the horses. While all horses, both Non-Talking and Talking Horses, can be used as a steed, the Talking Horses can only be used as such in times of great need, such as war."
"And... what about with the Centaurs?" Edmund asked innocently, though trying to sound as polite with his question as possible. "Can Centaurs act as steeds too?"
Flamestorm frowned at Edmund very hard, making Edmund gulp nervously as if he had managed to unintentionally offend their teacher. Flamestorm then walked up to Edmund and leaned down towards him.
"Prince Edmund. We Centaurs are not steeds, and no one who values his life would dare to put a saddle on one. And if you're ever allowed to ride a Centaur, which is possible though a very rare opportunity, you must always ride one bareback." Flamestorm said.
"Got it." Edmund nodded quickly.
Flamestorm then backed away and gestured with his hand towards the waiting Unicorn and horse.
"Prince Peter." Flamestorm said, gesturing Peter towards Unicorn. "Prince Edmund." he said then, gesturing Edmund towards the horse.
Peter walked up towards the waiting Unicorn with the slow pace while marveling such of beautiful and magnificent creature with the pearl-white coat and a shiny horn in his forehead, while the Unicorn looked back at him with the intellicent eyes.
The Unicorn, unlike Edmund's horse, had no saddle in his back, which told Peter that like the Centaurs, neither the Unicorns wouldn't allow themselves to be saddled, which meant that he needed to ride him bareback.
"Greetings, my lord. I am Pearl." Unicorn named Pearl said with the soft and warm voice, as he bowed his head to him.
"Hello, Pearl. I'm Peter." Peter said politely.
Peter then reached out to Pearl with his hand and the Unicorn allowed Peter to touch him. A smile spread across Peter's face as he gently stroked the Unicorn's neck and felt his sleek white fur and bushy mane in the palm of his hand and between his fingers.
"Have you ever ridden before, my lord?" Pearl asked as he turned to Peter.
"No. Honestly, I'm not. I'm just a boy." Peter said honestly.
"Then it is a good time to learn." Pearl said, before he went down on his knees, so that it would be easy for Peter to climb on his back.
Pearl then turned to look at Peter and nodded his head towards his back, beckoning Peter to climb on.
Peter looked at the Unicorn's offered white back with uncertain, before he turned to look at him.
"Are you sure about this?" Peter asked, remembering Flamestorm's words that no one would think of riding a Unicorn except in the great need. "We're not going in the battle yet."
Pearl nodded his head with the gentle snort. "No, but there is still a war here, which can be classified as a great need to ride with my kind. Besides, it would be an honor to carry Son of Adam in my back when he rides to battle."
Pearl then nodded his head towards his back again, and swallowing the lump in his throat, Peter carefully climbed on the Unicorn's back and grabbed tight from his mane as Pearl stood up from the ground, with Peter on his back.
Edmund, meanwhile, walked over to the horse who was patiently waiting for him in his place. When he finally got to him, Edmund prepared to climb onto his back. And since he was already used to being on a horse's back after riding Pegasus to the camp, Edmund didn't hesitate much to mount a horse unlike Peter did to mount his Unicorn.
But as he got atop a horse, the horse suddenly started moving on his own forward before Edmund had time to even adjust himself comfortably on the saddle, causing him to wobble unsteadily.
"Wow! Easy there, horsie!" Edmund called as he took the support from the horse's back to prevent himself from falling.
The horse suddenly stopped still and stomped his hooves to the ground in annoyed manner, before looking over his shoulder at Edmund.
"Excuse me, my lord, but my name is Philip." the horse said.
"Oh! S-Sorry." Edmund apologized awkwardly.
After getting on their respective steeds, Peter and Edmund turned to Flamestorm who beckoned the boys to follow him as he led them on the ride into the woods.
"Riding a Unicorn and a Talking Horse is not the same as riding a Non-Talking Horse when you are the one directing the horse's course. In this case, it's no longer just up to the rider alone, but about both the rider and his steed, because your steed is free to navigate his own path without the rider's need to turn the horse's course via the reins. That's why riding a Unicorn and a Talking Horse is all about mutual respect and unanimous teamwork between both rider and horse." Flamestorm instructed as they walked in the forest.
"And today our purpose is to build mutual respect and unanimous teamwork between you and your steeds, so that you can both ride as one without problems even in dire situations." he added.
Two more days later, one more time.
For a whole week, the children had made a very good progress in their exercises. They had become stronger both physically and in confidence and their skills were growing and improving every moment.
At the archery range, Susan once more leveled her bow up and pulled the string tight, taking the aim at the target. Breathing deeply and adjusting her aim a bit, she released the arrow, which this time stuck in the center of the target... even if not a bullseye.
Susan repeated the same thing by shooting at least three more arrows one after the other, and much to Lucy's, Dwarf's and the other archers' astonishment, none of Susan's arrows missed but hit straight to the center of the target.
The other archers started to cheer and clap their hands/paws at Susan, praising her for her success to hit the center of the target at long last, to which Lucy joined in too, clapping and praising her big sister, causing Susan to blush a little.
"Well done, Daughter of Eve!" the Dwarf archer praised, proud of her.
Even Susan couldn't help but be proud of herself and her accomplishment.
Their attentions are then drawn to the thundering gallop of hooves and turn around to see Peter, Edmund and Flamestorm galloping out of the forest, each one holding a sword in a hand, while Flamestorm was holding a two swords.
During of their training of the horse riding, Peter and Pearl had managed to form a strong bond with each other via the mutual respect that helped them to ride as one: Peter used gentle ways to tell/guide Pearl where to ride and Pearl, when galloping, made sure that Peter wouldn't fall off his back even at high speed. Edmund and Philip too, despite their initially rocky start, had became a fast friends, with Edmund holding a great amount of respect towards his steed, which in turn had helped Philip to take liking of the boy.
The three of them rode in the center of the practice ground, where Peter and Edmund both began to circle Flamestorm, who galloped around in between of the two boys.
"All right, my princes! Sword point up like I showed you!" Flamestorm instructed.
Edmund held his sword high and pointed it towards Flamestorm, smiling. "Enemies of Narnia! Bow down or taste steel!" he said dramatically.
As a result of him acting dramatically, Flamestorm unexpectedly whipped around towards Edmund and slashed at him with his right sword.
Edmund dropped the drama and swiftly blocked Flamestorm's sword with his own, before the Centaur slashed at Edmund with his left sword. Edmund quickly moved his sword in Flamestorm's sword's way, blocking it, until Flamestorm swung his right sword at Edmund again.
Edmund clashed his sword against Flamestorm's, blocking it, before Edmund saw the opening in his defense and quickly aimed his next blow at the Centaur's bare chest. However, Flamestorm was quick to block the blow with his left sword, before he moved Edmund's sword aside and swung his right sword at him.
"AHH!" Edmund gasped and tried to lean back as far as he could to avoid being hit, but he was far too close to fully dodge Flamestorm's sword.
However, Peter came to the rescue by riding Pearl from behind his brother's backs, and clashed Rhindon against Flamestorm's sword before it could hit Edmund. Peter then rode around the Centaur from his right and tried to strike him in the back, though Flamestorm was quick to turn around and block Peter's sword with his left own.
After exchanging couple blows with Peter, Flamestorm attempted to slash Peter from above with his right sword, though Peter quickly blocked it by holding Rhindon up sideways before attempting to go around of the Centaur's defense and strike him in his right side, but Flamestorm was quick to move his left sword in the way to block it.
However, he was almost caught off-guard when Peter told Pearl to halt and go around Flamestorm's defense from his left before attempting to slash him in the back again, though the Centaur was quick to block it with his left sword again, and once again tried to slash Peter from above with his right sword, which Peter blocked with his own.
"Charge!" Edmund's voice cried as he and Philip galloped onward and towards the Centaur, before the former swung his sword at him.
Flamestorm turned around to meet him and first blocked Edmund's first blow with his right and the second blow with his left sword.
But before Flamestorm could counterattack, Peter attacked from his right side and clashed his blade against the Centaur's left one, preventing him from slashing Edmund with it.
Peter and Edmund then worked together against Flamestorm, circling him counterclockwise with Peter and Pearl on Flamestorm's right and Edmund and Philip on his left, depending on the Centaur's own movements, while landing several blows and blocking the Centaur's attacks almost simultaneously.
And while Flamestorm managed to hold his own against these two with relative ease, the brothers kept pushing him back... or more likely squeezing him between of them, reducing the Centaur's needed space to move.
Had this been a real battle, Flamestorm would have fought much harder and even wilder like a cornered horse, and thus would've got easily out of the blockade.
Peter and Edmund then winked their eyes not just to each other but also to Pearl and Philip, sharing the exact same thoughts and the developed strategy to win the fight.
Peter and Edmund both traded one last blows with Flamestorm before... "HYAH!" the brothers cried out simultaneously all of the sudden, signaling Pearl and Philip to make a sharp turns around to clockwise direction, with Peter moving behind of Flamestorm's back and Edmund to the front side of him.
This caught Flamestorm off guard and before he could do anything, Peter swung Rhindon against his right sword with a powerful swing while Edmund simultaneusly swung his against Flamestorm's left sword, knocking the Centaur's both swords off balance.
And then Peter struck Flamestorm in the back with the flat side of Rhindon, while Edmund stabbed his own sword between the Centaur's left arm and side without hurting him.
The finishing blow!
Every onlooker's eyes widened upon seeing this, surprised, as Flamestorm was the seasoned veteran and was considered by many to be the best swordsman among them... and yet he got outsmarted and defeated by the two princes with not as much skill or experience as he does!
Even Peter and Edmund were surprised of having miraculously bested Flamestorm in two-on-one combat, even if this was just a test battle and the Centaur had most likely been easy on them.
However, despite his defeat, Flamestorm calmly lowered his swords and gave both boys a small smile, that was filled with absolute pride.
"Good, my princes! Very good!" the Centaur said praisingly.
Taken aback by the praise from usually stoic and strict Centaur, Peter and Edmund drew their swords back and moved along with their steeds to stand side by side in front of their teacher.
"You have both done well! You have learned how to use a sword and ride as one with your steeds surprisingly fast only within a one week. And with how you used strategy against me and won, you'be proven to be a capable warriors even in such of your age." Flamestorm said, commenting proudly the result of the boys' hard work.
"Well, we were lucky to have a very good teacher." Peter said humbly, to which Edmund nodded in agreement, both crediting Flamestorm for his teachings.
He and Peter, and Edmund, shared a smiles with each other. "I am proud to hear that, as I am proud of you both." Flamestorm said with the light bow of his head.
Both Peter and Edmund exchanged looks with each other, feeling rather proud with themselves and each other, while both Pearl and Philip neighed at them happily over their shoulders, proud of their riders as well.
Susan, Lucy and all the other onlookers around began to cheer and clap their hands/paws at Peter and Edmund, congratulating and praising them for their accomplishment.
"Now." Flamestorm then said, loudly enough to cut all the cheering and clapping short as his expression returned back to his usual stoic and strict one. "Again! And much harder this time!" he said, insisting that they do this again and much harder than last time.
Peter and Edmund obliged, both all too eager to continue their training, before they both raised their swords and braced themselves for another round.
Flamestorm raised both of his swords, before he bolted into a full gallop towards the two princes, who encouraged their steeds to charge forward. Pearl and Phillip happily obliged and charged forward, while the girls and everybody else watched on the fight from the sidelines.
The three met in middle of the practice ground and the air was again filled with the battle-cries and the clatter of swords as they circled each other while trading blows.
TO BE CONTINUED...