I hope you all like this chapter! I honestly cried while writing this, so I hope you can also decipher all the emotions.
Reviews:
Seiya-Serena-fan18 - Thank you so much! Well, that will be a hard one, though she will be mad. However, it should be a bit more justified than it was originally seeing as Annabelle literally died at the hand of the White Witch.
bfireworks5 - I hope you're satisfied :)
meangirl8 - Here you go :) And yes, she will in one particular moment, but most of this chapter is actually going to concentrate on everyone's fighting skills.
GG - Well, I fear you do not understand the whole point of my work. I don't hate the Pevensies, God no! I think you should try to reread this story or at least try to read between the lines. Annabelle has an individual relationship with all of them, and she is particularly close to Susan and Edmund. So no, I don't hate them. And I do understand the whole point of Lewis' work. Question is: do you understand the point of my work? All the 'perfections' are there now so that you can literally see the difference at the end of the story. I hope this sort of explains it. And if you think that my story really is so "no-Narnian" or rather 'not Narnian', then just please don't read. I only answer the review because you said that you would like to hear my answer, so here you go.
Guest - Thank you! Here you go :)
X Blue Eyed Demon X - Thank you! I hope you like this chapter as well!
*Annabelle's P.O.V.*
The four of us ran through the castle as the alarm bell sounded through the walls. Caspian lead the way, knowing the quickest way out of the castle, since our element of surprise was gone and we had to get out. We then turned right, where the hallway separated into two separate paths. Caspian immediately ran down the one on the right and Susan followed him, but I stopped as I saw Peter running down the path on the left.
"Where are you going?!" I called, confused and slightly alarmed. Peter, upon hearing my voice, slowed down a little and turned around to look at me.
"Our troops are just outside! Come on!" He called, before starting to run at full speed. By the time he disappeared from my sight by turning sharply to the left behind the corner, Susan and Caspian came back to be by my side, noticing my and Peter's absence.
"What is he doing?!" Susan exclaimed, and I sighed.
"Being an idiot." I responded before following my older brother. I may disagree with him in a huge scale, but I won't leave him here to get himself killed. Susan must have thought the same, seeing as I heard her and Caspian running behind me.
"Now Edmund!" I heard Peter yell as he unsheathed his sword. "Give the signal!" I rounded the corner quickly and stopped for a second, seeing Peter quickly kill two soldiers in the courtyard.
"I'm a bit busy, Pete!" Edmund called, and I looked up, only to see him struggling against a guard on the tower. Susan, Caspian, and I quickly ran toward Peter, but I stopped once we were in the middle of the courtyard and quickly loaded my bow before releasing the arrow, which hit the soldier Edmund was battling with square in the chest, without leaving so much as a scratch on my younger brother. Edmund whipped around in shock, but sent me a thankful look once he saw it was me. I just gave him a small, strained smile, before running towards Peter, Caspian, Susan, only to see Peter starting to spin the wheel that was connected to the chains that lifted up the portcullis, trying to get it open, and Caspian and Susan standing a little at the back, not knowing what to do as they heard the yells from the soldiers ring throughout the entire castle.
"Wait!" I shouted as I stopped in between Caspian and Susan. "It's too late!" I exclaimed to Peter, gesturing at the Telmarine guards, who were running out of the castle and into the courtyard. "We have to call it off while we can!"
"No, I can still do this!" Peter shouted back, not even looking at me as Susan and Caspian also looked at the guards in alarm. "Help me!" I looked back at Peter, before sharing a glance with Caspian and Susan. He won't stop, and we can't let him get himself killed, so I just sighed and ran forward to help him. After a second, Susan and Caspian also ran over to help get the portcullis up. Caspian was on Peter's right, while Susan was on my left as we all struggled to get the portcullis up. I could hear the bridge being lowered, which let me know that Trumpkin and Reepicheep, along with some of the other mice, were succeeding in their job.
"Who exactly are doing this for, Peter?!" I exclaimed angrily, but he just stared at me silently. Was he really doing it for the Narnians, or was he doing it for himself? Was he really trying to set things right, or was he just trying to prove himself a worthy King and man? We could hear all the shouts of the soldiers, who were running out of the castle, toward us. I shared a small, slightly panicked look with Susan. If they get to us before we are finished opening the gate, we won't stand a chance.
I suddenly heard a battle cry, most probably coming from Glenstorm, followed by many yells of the Narnians. That means that Edmund finally succeeded in giving them the signal, and we only had the moment to finish pulling up the portcullis.
"They're charging." I said to my siblings and Caspian, referring to our army. Peter nodded.
"Hurry up." He ordered, pushing his strength into opening the portcullis even more. I briefly looked over my shoulder as I heard the guards' yells closer and closer, before concentrating on spinning the wheel. I then heard a roar, most probably coming from a Minotaur, and a slam of metal gates before hearing screams and yells of two humans, which meant that our army was on the bridge already. A short moment after that, the Narnian army charged underneath the portcullis.
*Third Person's P.O.V.*
"FOR NARNIA!" High King Peter yelled after he and Prince Caspian unsheathed their swords. And with that, the four royals ran into battle. Glenstorm ran through he courtyard, killing any Telmarine who came at him. Peter quickly killed one guard and brought down his sword on another within a second. Reepicheep and the mice now joined the rest in the courtyard, and were killing their opponents from below. Caspian ran forward and brought his sword down on one of the guards, killing him instantly. High Queen Annabelle quickly loaded her bow as she walked forward, and shot one of the guards advancing on her. She then had to duck as one of the Telmarine guards ran down the stairs on her left and tried to cut off her head, but she already had another arrow in her hand and quickly stabbed the guard in the leg, causing him to fall down in pain, before she brought her arm back and threw that arrow at another guard's chest. Queen Susan shot her arrows left and right, trying to cover her sister as she tried to kill her way through to Miraz. That was not the plan, seeing as Peter wanted to be the one to bring victory to their army, but the two Queens agreed that their brother is being way too stubborn and prideful, and might get himself killed if he tried to kill the Telmarine, and decided to form their own plan.
Some of the fauns used their abilities and jumped from one tower to another, from the ground to the higher balconies, and killed any guards in their way. King Edmund left his post on one of the towers, and climbed the roof to overlook the battle in the courtyard.
"Archers!" Annabelle and Susan looked up sharply as they heard the yell, and nearly staggered backward as they saw a whole string of the guards with crossbows, running out onto the balcony that rounded the whole courtyard. "Pick your target!" The archers quickly aimed at any Narnian they could see, as Susan and Annabelle got engaged in the battle as they got nearly killed because they were staring at the archers for too long and some of the soldiers advanced on them from behind. Luckily Annabelle heard them from behind just in time to warn her older sister, and the Queens immediately started to block the swords with their bows, trying to find a spare second to load them. Edmund's eyes, however, widened as he saw two archers who were standing next to each other and right below him, aiming at Annabelle and Peter. "Aim!" Without another second of thought, the Just King leaped over the highest point of the roof and slid down with his legs slightly apart, hitting the two archers who were aiming at his siblings with his legs, pushing them over the stone railing and making them fall down with yells of fear, before they hit the ground. High King Peter and High Queen Annabelle both just finished off their opponents, before looking up sharply, seeing the two archers hit the ground. Their eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a split second, before their eyes widened and they both looked up at the balcony in horror, seeing their younger brother there.
"Edmund!" They both yelled, causing the young King's attention to divert to the rest of the archers, who now all aimed their crossbows at him. Edmund then quickly whipped around and ran into the nearest tower, throwing himself onto the floor as the archers started releasing their arrows. He quickly kicked the door closed with his feet, sighing in relief as he saw the arrows embed themselves in the door, but not go through.
Miraz, who was now wearing his robe, meanwhile walked out onto a balcony and looked at the fight below with a smirk. He knew that the 'Magnificent' High King was being a fool for ever trying to take the castle. His eyes then landed on him and his sister, who were now fighting beside each other as Queen Susan fought a couple of feet away, and widened slightly as he saw the skill Peter and Annabelle were fighting with. Perhaps the stories were true; these two are the best warriors in the whole of Narnia. However, he knew that the only reason the High King and High Queen won all their battles was because they worked together, and from what he saw in his bed chambers, those two did not appear to be on good terms at the moment. That gave Miraz the advantage.
Peter's eyes fell on Miraz and anger shot through him, before he started running towards one of the staircases, trying to get to Miraz. Caspian, after quickly defeating his opponent, froze in his tracks as he saw what the High King was doing, and quickly looked around for the High Queen. After a second or two of looking, his eyes fell on Annabelle and Susan fighting back-to-back a couple feet away.
"Annabelle!" He called, making the High Queen look at him after quickly stabbing her opponent in the throat. She and Susan, who was finally able to shoot her opponent, both looked at the Prince questioningly, but he only raised his arm and pointed at something in front of him. The two shared a quick glance and Annabelle quickly shot an arrow at one of the guards advancing on them, before they both followed Caspian's finger. Their eyes widened in alarm; Peter was trying to make his way to Miraz. And from the looks of it, so far he was succeeding. The two sisters shared a worried glance, before they turned in two different ways, having to try and fight off two soldiers who came at them from both sides.
Annabelle didn't have time to load her bow as the soldier's sword clashed down on her, so she locked it with her bow, holding it in both of her hands. Seeing the shock in the Telmarine's eyes, because the bow didn't even crack as the sword came down on it, she used the extra second to her advantage and kicked him in the stomach, making him stagger backwards as he bent over in pain. Still holding the bow in both of her hands, she swung it to the left, hitting the soldier hard in the face with the right edge, making him loose his balance and use the wall next to him to keep himself on his feet, but that was enough time for Annabelle to take out an arrow and stab him in the side of his neck, making him die within a few seconds from blood loss. She then whipped around as she heard a roar of pain and a crash, only to see one of the satyrs, Tyrus, fall onto the ground all the way from the balcony Miraz was standing on after hitting a stone staircse. In a fit of anger, her eyes flashed gold.
Suddenly, one of the archers standing behind General Glozelle dropped his crossbow and his hand shot up to his throat, as he started choking. The other archers, Glozelle, and Miraz all looked at him in alarm, shock, and confusion as blood started to pour out of his mouth. Within a second, the archer dropped to his knees as he choked on his own blood, before falling down on the cement floor of the balcony. Dead. The other three men looked at each other in alarm before looking back at the courtyard. Miraz's eyes then fell on High Queen Annabelle, and widened as he saw her eyes glowing. Suddenly, the arrow she was still holding in her hand levitated out of it, and rose high in the air, before shooting towards them in an immense speed. The men didn't even have a second to react, when the arrow embedded itself in the other archer's forehead, making him drop dead instantly. Now seeing what the powerful sorceress is capable of, Miraz and Glozelle quickly dropped to their knees to cover themselves behind the stone railing of the balcony. Perhaps they have underestimated the High Queen.
"Close the gates!" Miraz ordered as they still sat against the railing, and Glozelle quickly nodded, standing up slowly to make sure he wouldn't get in Annabelle's line of view. Then, seeing High Queen Annabelle engaged in a fight with another soldier, he quickly gave the signal.
King Edmund, having just escaped the archers, ran out through one of the many doors, before immediately closing them behind him. He then turned around, and became painfully aware that he ended up on one of the towers after looking over the railing and seeing the water at least 35 feet beneath him. He then whipped around and leaned against the railing as he heard pounding on the door, which was blocked only by his electrical torch, which was in the lock. At the same moment, two of the other guards broke down the doors to the control room, and advanced at Trumpkin, who was the one left on guard after he and the other Narnians lowered the bridge. He immediately loaded his bow and shot one of the Telmarines, but didn't have enough time to load his bow again and was pushed off of the edge of the railing, where he was standing, after getting slapped with a shield in the face, causing him to fall down on one of the soldiers in the courtyard and hit the ground, landing on his head, his skull cracking. The Telmarine who pushed him off then quickly grabbed an ax and started to slash it against the chain that held a heavy stone in a metal cage, which was used to hold the portcullis once it was pulled up. After one or two slashes, the stone fell down on the ground a few inches from where Trumpkin was lying. One of the Minotaurs, Asterius, noticed what happened, and his eyes immediately fell on the portcullis, which was falling down quickly as the wheel spun, so he ran over to stand underneath it and hold it up as it fell onto his shoulders.
High King Peter's eyes widened as he saw Asterius struggling. High Queen Annabelle and Queen Susan reunited in the middle of the courtyard and looked around in horror, knowing that if they won't get out within the next minute, they will all die.
"Peter!" Annabelle shouted, bringing her hard and alarmed gaze onto her older brother, which seemed to finally snap him out of his prideful state.
"FALL BACK!" He yelled, and started to make his way down the staircase he was on, killing some of the guards along the way. Prince Caspian, hearing the call, immediately finished off his opponent and raced towards the stable, where Doctor Cornelius was waiting. "Retreat, now!" Peter continued to yell as he killed some of the Telmarines. "Quickly! Get them out of here!" He shouted to Glenstorm, pointing his sword at Susan and Annabelle. Glenstorm nodded as he galloped towards the two Queens, but Annabelle knew that having two people on his back would only slow him down, so she quickly pushed Susan forward.
"Get out of here!" She yelled, and Susan looked at her in shock.
"No, I won't leave you!"
"I'll be fine." Annabelle assured, though she didn't know if she really was going to be. Either way, she looked at Glenstorm. "Get her out of here!" Knowing that the High Queen's word was on the very top of the statuses, the centaur nodded and held out his hand to Susan. The Gentle Queen reluctantly held out her hand as well, and grabbed Gelnstorm's, pulling herself up on his back. Once she was seated safely, she whipped around to look at Peter.
"Caspian and Annabelle!" She shouted, and that was when Peter noticed that Annabelle wasn't with Susan.
"I'll take care of them!" He yelled back, running forward to the Narnians and directing them towards the exit. "Retreat, now! Get out!"
Asterius growled in pain from the effort of trying to hold the portcullis up, just as Glenstorm, with Queen Susan on his back, ran out from the courtyard, along with some of the other Narnians. At the same time, the Telmarines who were after Edmund were finally able to break down the doors, and unsheathed their swords, pointing them at the King. Edmund gasped and tried to back away, only to hit the stone railing of the tower. He then took a step back and looked down for a second, before sending the Telmarines a small smirk and falling back off the edge. The guards immediately rushed forward, only to jump back as a gryphon swooped up, carrying King Edmund on its back. Meanwhile, Caspian and his professor rode out of the stables on two horses, with Caspian holding the reigns of another one for Peter. They stopped however, to stare at Miraz, who was still standing on his balcony, not worrying about High Queen Annabelle anymore, seeing as she was caught up in the very middle of the battle now; 7 soldiers against her. Caspian stared at his uncle with hatred clear in his eyes, before urging his horse to gallop towards Peter.
"Give the signal." Miraz ordered, and Glozelle stared at him in disbelief.
"My people are down there."
"Retreat! Retreat, now!" High King Peter yelled as he grabbed onto the saddle of the horse Caspian was holding for him. Lord Miraz, seeing that the royals were about to escape, snatched General Glozelle's crossbow out of his hands and aimed at Asterius.
"Shoot!" He barked, before releasing the arrow, which embedded itself in the Minotaur's hip. Peter ran alongside the horse he was holding onto, before kicking one of the soldiers out of his way and pulling himself up on the horse. Miraz then loaded the crossbow again, and released the arrow.
Annabelle just killed the last out of the seven guards who were attacking her, when she felt a burning pain in her left arm, which made her yelp. She looked down, only to see a deep gash from the arrow that Miraz shot at her. The arrow itself just grazed her skin, but the gash was deep and she was loosing a lot of blood.
"Annabelle!" Caspian's voice rang in her ears, and she looked up, only to see him, Peter, and Doctor Cornelius galloping on three horses, with Caspian's hand outstretched towards her. Trying to ignore the pain, the High Queen grabbed her bow with her right arm instead, and stretched out her left one to Caspian, who grabbed it and pulled her up onto his horse, settling her down behind him. She quickly grabbed her bow with her left arm once again, and wrapped her right arm around the Prince's waist tightly so that she wouldn't fall off, seeing as they were galloping at full speed.
All the archers were now releasing their arrows, shooting the Narnians, and sometimes even some of their own, in the process. Asterius was now groaning in immense pain, but still pushed the portcullis higher up so that the royals could make it out. Because he still had faith that High Queen Annabelle the Majestic will save his kind, even if he dies. However, after one or two more seconds of holding the portcullis up, Asterius couldn't hold on any longer and dropped onto the ground with the portcullis crushing his spine. Caspian, Annabelle, and Professor Cornelius all made it across the bridge, when suddenly the High Queen's eyes widened as she hard the yells of her people.
*Annabelle's P.O.V.*
"Stop!" I ordered, and Caspian gave me a slightly confused glance but obeyed anyway, stopping his horse and turning around. What we saw made my heart break. Asterius was lying dead under the portcullis, and more than half of our army was trapped inside the Telmarine castle's walls. Peter noticed me staring, and turned around as Reepicheep and his mice made it out by running underneath the small space between the ground and Asterius's body.
The Narnian's were holding onto the gate, their faces filled with terror as the arrows continued to fly through the air. One of the fauns even tried to climb up, but it was useless. They were trapped. Peter looked back at me with horror painted all over his face, and a tear slid down my cheek as I looked at Susan, who looked at me with tears in her eyes. I saw Glenstorm give a slow nod, and looked back, only to see his son, Rainstorm, also trapped with the other Narnians. Rainstorm gave his father a nod as well, before turning around and charging once more. Suddenly I noticed something.
"Peter! The bridge!" I yelled, and my older brother looked at me with tears in my eyes. Reepicheep quickly jumped before the bridge was raised too high, and Peter glanced at the Narnians one more time before urging the horse to gallop so that he could get out before it was too late. The few of us who stayed, waited for him to catch up before also turning around and riding out through the castle gates as the Narnians yelled.
"Leave us!"
"We will die for Aslan!"
"We will die for the Kings and Queens!"
"We will die for the High Queen!"
The last yell only made more tears spill out of my eyes. They still had faith in me, but what if I fail? They die for nothing?! I pressed me cheek against the Caspian's back, trying to ignore the pain in the chest and my arm. I could feel Caspian's hand on top of mine, which was wrapped around his waist, but there was only one thought in my head.
We failed.
