Chapter 2 – A Chase to the Green Hell
He was awoken in the middle of the night by two quick shakes. He blinked in confusion until he remembered he was sleeping in the barracks.
"Florien, it was you that wanted to be woken up, not Rodrik, verdad*?" asked a tired voice in the darkness. Flori immediately realised it was his long-time friend from the castle garrison, the same rank as him.
"Yea Costy, that was me. I have a patrol in the stables tonight," he responded while he rubbed his sleepy eyes.
"Unfortunate for you, my friend. At least that small brown horse might keep you some company. Solo is his name if I remember correctly. When I had a night watch there the previous week that animal hardly slept." said Costen as he ignited a nearby torch. The light revealed his face with a short battle scar on the left side of his face. His fairly long dirty blond hair was completely tousled by the steel helmet he wore during his patrol.
"Fantastic, another pair of eyes always comes in handy," replied Flori while in the process of putting on his chainmail and leather jerkin. "So, you were on watch on the outer gate, right?" Kosten slightly nodded his head.
"Something interesting happened, or nothing as always?"
"A handmaiden wanted to enter into the castle. Apparently, she got drunk in the town and forgot the gate closes after midnight. We charged her what little she had after her time in the pub and let her through. No one else has to know." he smiled at Flori. "Otherwise, it was quiet. Almost a bit too quiet if you ask me." Finally, Kosten handed Flori his helmet.
"Well, I am in need of a warm soup and then a bed. I shall sleep peacefully tonight knowing that our stables are in good hands," he winked while tapping him on the shoulder and promptly made his way to the garrison kitchen. Flori again rubbed his eyes and then went in the opposite way to the stables.
Xxxxx
Once he arrived, he replaced a fellow guard at the post. The inner stables of the castle were indeed a magnificent structure. It had two long rows so he would have to almost constantly move during his duty to patrol it effectively. Many of the horses here belonged to the noble families living in the castle, so their stalls were very spacious. The structure itself was made from black wood and stone, with many royal ornaments carved on them. The rest of the horses mostly belonging to the army lived in the outer stables, which were even bigger, although much smellier.
He went on an inspection tour through the first row with his torch in his right hand, making sure to check every stall for possible intruders or thieves. Flori was careful not to make much sound, otherwise he could wake up its animal inhabitants. He passed the stall of Enara's black mare named Nightwind and got to the end of the first row. A small and still young brownish horse was indeed awake and looking at him curiously, just like Costen predicted. Flori gently petted him, earning himself a joyful neigh from the horse. "Good boy. Wanna help me guard tonight?" Flori smiled. Another neigh.
An hour passed uneventfully, although outside, darkness was still ruling the sky, safe for the sparkle of light produced by the moon and stars. Nothing felt strange about the patrol until the moment he suddenly heard someone running in the distance. Flori was on the other side of the stables, but he could see a glimpse of what looked like a hooded person in the royal section of the stables opening a stall.
Flori froze for a while, wondering if perhaps some noble decided to take a ride in this ungodly hour. He quickly came to his senses, tossed away his torch, and began running towards the supposed thief, but the distance between them was still great. Once the intruder noticed him, he jumped on the horse, not even having the time to saddle him up. "Hold!" screamed Flori, but the horse that carried him was already sprinting away.
Just as he was about to sound the alarm, five soldiers darted out of the nearby backdoor to the keep. "Where did he go?" roared their captain so rapidly Flori barely understood him.
"He is heading for the gate," replied Flori immediately, adrenaline starting to rush through his body. "Quickly we must get on horses."
He opened the door of the stall closest to him and managed to mount a huge brown war horse, although the animal opposed him for a time. The other soldiers were mounting other horses already awakened by the whole commotion, but Flori had a head start and went on the pursuit first. His horse was running more slowly than normally due to his interrupted sleep, but his opponent's horse would hopefully suffer from the same speed limitation.
He made his way through the dark and narrow stone streets of the castle. The thief was not yet in sight, but he certainly had to ride to the gate, as there was no other way of escape from the castle. Flori was a skilled rider, but the combination of no saddle and an unfamiliar horse represented a huge hazard even for him. The horse under him was getting irritated and it was getting tougher to control him.
Once he crossed through the main gate, Flori hurried over the long stony bridge that connected the castle on the rock with the mainland, beneath it a sinister gorge that meant certain death for anyone unfortunate enough to fall to it.
There was still no sign of the thief he was chasing. "Damn it, where is he! ", thought Flori in frustration whilst riding as fast as his horse could."He couldn't just vanish, and he didn't have such an early lead over me."
Although it already crossed his mind what would happen if the horse of the royal family was stolen on his watch, he quickly dismissed his fears. He had one task now, to apprehend the hooded man or risk serious trouble.
His luck returned when the guards at the outer gate shouted at him and pointed towards the west. They hadn't managed to close the gate in time but at least they could navigate Flori towards the fugitive.
He spurred the horse to run faster when he found himself out of the castle and finally spotted the escaping man some four hundred meters away. Thankfully for Flori, the almost full moon reduced the otherwise complete darkness a little.
For a good thirty minutes, he pursued him on the dirt road, occasionally passing by farms and small villages. It was cold outside, but it didn't matter as his whole body burned. Some unfortunate fly also ended up in his eye during the chase. Despite it, he managed to slowly close the big gap between them, an enormous task as the man in front of him was evidently a skilled rider too.
When the gap shortened to about thirty meters, he screamed from the depths of his lungs. "Stop the horse, now!"
The fleeing man turned his head in shock that his pursuer got so close. Flori couldn't see his face properly, but he deduced he was rather young. Suddenly, the thief ordered his horse to jump from the road across a wide ditch in a last attempt to escape. He had surprisingly succeeded, be it by a narrow margin. His horse wrestled with the new terrain but soon picked up his speed.
"What a madman," thought Flori, but directed his horse for the big jump anyway. For a moment they flew with the wind. The horse made the jump, almost throwing his rider down in the process. He lost almost all speed and the gap between them again widened.
Riding so fast in the open wilderness was near impossible and much more dangerous than on the road. They both slowed down, looking for occasional holes in the ground, that were hidden in the grass. Flori briefly looked behind him, seeing four of the soldiers that originally chased the man. They were now on horses not that far behind, surely shadowing him the whole time. "They will be a welcomed company."
The chase continued for so long that he lost the notion of time, but the first light was already announcing the morning was close. Both horses were now speed walking rather than running. They crossed a shallow river ford, while tall mountains with snowy tops were observing their chase from far away. Flori guided his warhorse as the animal was carefully stepping over the large river stones.
Only now did he realize where the thief was trying to get. The dark forest was now in front of him, much larger than when he was looking at it from the tower yesterday. After crossing the river, the thief entered it still on his horse, massive trees with thick roots obscuring his location. He hesitated for a moment, even felt fear. The faces of his parents who died in the godforsaken Lamber camp flashed before his eyes. But soon, obligation won in him, forcing him to follow the man.
When he was under the green blanket, he said to himself now or never, and in spite of the fact that the environment was now even more difficult to traverse, he ordered his horse to speed up, squeezing the last drops of the animal's energy. The thief briefly looked behind, clearly panicked by the proximity of his pursuer. This small mistake cost him greatly, as he didn't have time to dodge an unusually low and large tree branch, and the subsequent impact knocked him from the horse as he landed on his back.
Sharply breathing, Flori managed to stop his horse and with surprising agility landed on the ground nearby. He drew his sword with his cold left hand and immediately lunged at the opponent, who had just enough time to get up and draw his own weapon. The stranger blocked four of his first quick attacks, then attempted to respond with a kick on Flori's shin. But Flori skilfully dodged the kick and was about to land a thrust on the undefended left side of his opponent, which would no doubt be the end of the fight. That was at least his plan until he saw his face.
"What... my prince?" Flori whispered as he stopped mid-attack, his face full of pure shock.
Caspian backed up a few steps from him, his sword at the ready, although his hand was shaking. "So this is how low Telmarines have sunk? Their rightful king ordered to be slain by his own soldiers like a wild dog!" shouted the young prince, tears of anger appearing in his chestnut eyes.
"Your grace, there must have been some mistake. We took you for a horse thief." apologized Flori, his sword now lowered just like his embarrassed eyes. Adrenaline was leaving his body as quickly as the whole chase ended.
"The only mistake that happened is that I was foolish enough to trust my uncle. Now I know that power-hungry serpent will go to any lengths possible, including assassinating his family," exclaimed the sixteen-year-old loudly, his sharp voice echoing through the woods.
"Could this be true?" It certainly added up. Lord Protector's son Nirian being almost eight year ago and healthy*. The fact Prince Caspian was rarely seen in the public lately. As a low-born, he knew mostly just things Enara had told him. Granted, she was an excellent source. Even after going through these indicators, it still sounded like madness to him. "How is Miraz planning to explain the missing heir to the Council of Lords? "
"I wasn't aware," retorted Florien sharply after thinking about the possibilities. "Please, his grace shouldn't shout so loudly, four soldiers may still be behind us, and even discounting them, we are in a dangerous place," suggested Flori, now looking around for possible dangers.
"How do I know you are not one of Miraze's minions?" uttered Caspian while spitting on the ground, shivering from the shock he endured that day.
"My loyalty doesn't belong to your uncle. If that were the case, his grace wouldn't be speaking to me anymore." Flori looked straight into his eyes with all seriousness. "I overstepped. Now he will snap."
To his surprise, the prince noticeably calmed down, perhaps seeing his provocative, yet truthful reasoning. "We should find our horses," said the prince with urgency.
As soon as they sheathed their swords and started looking for them, they heard the unmistakable sounds of hoofs, and perilously, someone screaming orders. The four soldiers followed them, even to the forest.
"Run!" urged Caspian as he sprinted away from the voices deeper into the green hell.
"No time to look for our freaking horses now. I could stay and redirect the soldiers away, but... that would mean leaving the prince at the mercy of the forest. And possibly to whatever it was that killed his parents." After a short curse, he set out running towards Caspian." I will make things right."
Xxxxx
He was swiftly making his way through the forest, occasionally checking if the soldiers weren't too close to them, but sadly it was at last morning and they could partially see their footprints in the mud, just like he was following after the quicker Caspian. However, the ground suddenly started to be more solid, and footsteps less and less visible. He almost thought he had lost the prince, but then heard a majestic sound of a horn nearby, most probably calling for help.
Promptly following the sound, Flori soon arrived at the shocking scene. Under a mighty ancient tree, Caspian was barely holding his own in a fight against two small but evidently skillful and strong attackers, his horn lying on the forest ground. Not much taller than children, both creatures had some sort of war hammer, and both had a long beard, one being black like coal while the other one blond.
Caspian was constantly being pushed back, but he suddenly managed to leap forward and cut the blond one's arm. The black beard roared and, in a few seconds scored a hit of his own, as his hammer struck Caspian's leg hard. The prince fell to the ground with a curse but somehow managed to avoid another hit aimed at his head, rolling off to the side.
Flori, finally close enough to engage, attacked the surprised black beard with all energy left in him. Using a combination of two quick offensive techniques, he came close to killing the little man, but his opponent was smart enough to retreat to his blond friend and join forces.
Caspian was now sitting on the ground in pain, holding his right knee, and unable to stand. Flori assumed a position in front of him, ready to defend. It was his duty after all. He swore an oath to protect the royal family.
Just when the dwarves regrouped and prepared to challenge Flori again, tree soldiers interrupted their fight, emerging behind a small mound. Two men and a woman. They were all wearing only light black leather armour and no helmets, most likely not anticipating that a night assassination would result in a fight. He didn't recognize any of them. "They certainly aren't from the castle garrison," deduced Florien. Luckily for the dwarves, none of them had a spear, which would be a devastating weapon against them.
Once the soldiers, maybe better described as assassins absorbed the situation before them and caught their breaths, a tall middle-aged captain, stepped forward. "You gave us a run for our money my prince, splendid indeed," said the captain in a voice that indicated there wasn't anything splendid about it.
The large captain then looked at Flori and pointed to the two little men. "And who the hell are those things? Came to join the party?" The dwarves were now standing close to the large tree, in their minds probably preparing for a last stand against six Telmarines, not yet understanding they were here primarily to kill Caspian.
"These attacked us both when I was trying to get the prince," replied Flori hastily. The second part was a lie, but he hoped they would believe he is also affiliated with Miraz and that they would attack the creatures first, whilst he and Caspian may try to somehow escape in the mess.
"Your uncle just wants to talk. My prince has my word. Once we dispose of these abominaciones*, we will take you to his custody. You can't walk anyway," reasoned the captain, pointing his sword towards Caspians's wounded leg.
"I was in his custody my whole life. Do you think me a fool?" retorted Caspian, trying again to stand up but falling down, groaning. "You are not even part of my uncle's guard. He hired some filthy asesinos* to cut me down!" he screamed, his anger now returning.
"His grace is right," said the captain, expecting his little ruse wouldn't work. "I am filthy after that endless horse chase. And tired. I promise I will make it quick, for the sake of us both. You won't feel a thing." he sneered at Caspian. Then he looked at Flori, studying him more carefully. "Step aside soldier," he commanded.
Something dark and selfish in Flori almost made him step aside. "I don't have a chance against three soldiers." He fell into some sort of a trance, barely listening to what the captain was saying to convince him. The time around him almost stopped, but after he was out of it, he found himself firmly standing his ground.
"You can't say I didn't try, Bucko*. Hmm... now that I think about it, my lord wouldn't want any witnesses either way," he declared maliciously. "Kill the dwarves," he commanded to the two soldiers with him and started speed walking towards Flori, both his free fist and jaw clenched, piercing him with fiery eyes.
"This is it. All my training will now be put to use. All for this short moment. I will either save the prince or die with honour. Either way, I will make my father proud." He cleared his mind and aimed his sword at the approaching man.
The captain didn't stop his pace and tried to outflank Flori with a surprising dodge from the right side. His blade was blocked, but he stayed on the offensive, pushing Flori toward the injured prince. After a few dangerous thrusts towards Flori's chest, the captain managed to kick him to the gut. Despite this, he managed to cover all the attacks even off balance.
Simultaneously, one-on-one duels were being fought between the two soldiers and the dwarves. The bearded warriors were surprisingly quick and deadly with their hammers, and the soldiers had some problems with blocking their low attacks against their non-armoured legs. The song of steel replaced the usual song of birds in the forest.
Although Flori's renowned defence seemed to be holding so far, he sensed that more initiative from him needed to be taken, otherwise the incapacitated Caspian might get killed. With a scream, he carried out a few counterattacks to gain speed and momentum and then performed a lunge forward, his right foot anchoring him. His opponent was surprised but tilted away in the nick of time, only suffering a small wound on his arm.
After a few retaliatory strikes, the captain backed away for a bit. Behind them, steel still clanked, but one soldier was lying motionless on the ground, his female colleague trying to keep the creatures at bay with difficulty. However, the captain's frustrated and angry eyes were fixated solely on Flori. "For you, there will be no quick death. I will personally see to it," roared the older fighter and plunged into attack.
This time, his attacks were even swifter and Flori was slashed two times on his side, but thankfully, he was the only one here with chainmail and decent guard armour. He successfully attempted to kick the captain right in the knee, but his victory was short-lived as the more experienced opponent wounded his exposed leg just below his thigh, striking the gap in his steel-reinforced trousers.
Flori panted and staggered a bit, but didn't feel much pain due to the adrenaline. He managed to deflect a number of quick slashes, his emotions dangerously close to fear. Then, the captain pulled out his ace. Faking an attack, his hand quickly changed direction completely and Flori's left side was now undefended. He thought it was all over for him.
Just when his life flashed before him, something crashed into the captain from the right side. Caspian had somehow managed to stand up and used his arm and body to knock the oblivious soldier to the ground, as he was focusing only on Flori in his rage. Caspian went down with him with an agonizing howl, as his leg was now certainly done for.
The captain quickly rolled onto his side and began searching for his blade, but the prince was quicker. Caspian didn't hesitate even for a second and with a hateful roar, he stabbed his assassin in the neck. He held it there for a bit while still in his fight trance, his hand quickly turned red as he watched the life of his victim slowly fade from his hateful eyes.
It all happened so quickly Flori didn't have any time to react. He now hobbled to the kneeling lad, vigorously shaking his shoulder. "Get up... we must go," exhaled Flori, his chest went up and down as he was gasping for air due to the shortage of oxygen. The prince didn't react to him in any way, still looking at his bloody deed. "It was probably his first kill, damn it all." He himself was still shocked by the fact that his defence had failed him. Flori cursed himself for complaining about nothing ever happening to Enara. "Oh, how I need her. She would know what to do." He looked around frantically.
Sometime during their fight with the captain, the fourth soldier arrived on the battlefield, assisting his only remaining associate with the dwarves. It proved to be successful as he soon knocked out the blond dwarf unconscious with a hit to his head. Upon seeing, the ferocious black beard it began running in the direction of the large tree, opening a hidden door. "My prince, we must go!" "What am I even trying to accomplish? He can't run with that leg wound anyway."
The female that managed to hold firm against two dwarf opponents cautiously stepped towards them. She was in her late twenties, Flori guessed. "If she is half as swift as Enara, I am doomed." His wound below the thigh started to bleed and he was utterly exhausted. He noticed her long dark hair dined in braids and a tattoo* on the right side of her neck, shining on her olive skin. Her mildly slanted eyes were calculating Flori's willingness to fight another opponent. They stared at each other like two hungry tigers.
Suddenly, the other soldier who was in the process of tying up the unconscious dwarf shouted a warning and pointed out towards the large tree. The black-bearded dwarf stood there again, loading a bolt into his small crossbow. And what was even worse, multiple creatures from some old legends suddenly appeared in the trees, attracted either by the sounds of the horn, battle, or both. There were two other dwarves, a monumental taurus standing on two legs and holding a large axe, a man with the legs of a goat holding a bow, and a large badger. They were closer to him and Caspian than to the soldiers.
The anxious voice of the fourth soldier echoed through the woods, as he lifted the dwarf prisoner over his shoulder. "Fall back Kailani. To the horses!" addressing his female colleague. She looked at the creatures, her mouth opened in disbelief. The first shot from the crossbow whistled near the girl's ear. First, it was a few faltering steps back, then she finally started running towards the horses. "Trumpkin!" cried the dwarf with the crossbow and chased after the soldiers.
Flori's resolve wasn't much stronger than that of the soldiers. When the large horned beast began running towards him, his sharp axe at the ready, he forgot his duty and honor ever existed. "I am not dying in this darned place." He boosted himself up with his sword and staggered somewhere into the forest. "I am so sorry Caspian." The immense guilt was devouring him, but his survival instincts kicked in again.
The monsters were following him. Twice, he stumbled to the ground due to his wounded leg. The lower part of his trousers was now soaked in blood. "It will not be long before they catch me and then..." Finally, some prospect of hope, a tall stoney slope laid before him, bellow a swift flow, possibly the Great River or one of her tributaries. The river's currents looked very rough. Besides, he didn't know if it wasn't too shallow.
His decision-making was abruptly ended by a sharp pain in the lower back. With his shaky hand, he felt an arrow that was sticking out from him. His armour tempered the damage a bit, but Flori guessed it was a serious wound. " Now or never." That was his last thought when he jumped from the slope down.
As I promised, there was a lot of action in this chapter, and it was fun writing it. In the next chapter, the consequences of Caspian's and Flori's disappearance will hit both Miraz and Enara.
A few words about Caspian. He obviously had a very rough childhood, losing both his mother and father very early. Miraz mostly tried to shield him from other lords, shaping him in his own image to be his heir. That changed when Miraze's son was born, so Caspian needed to be killed. Needless to say, this all had a big effect on him, and he is not exactly mentally stable right now. Only time will tell how his story will progress.
Notes*:
Verdad: "Right?" from Spanish.
Miraze's son: I changed the time his son was born to a seven and a half years ago before the story starts. I think attempting to kill Caspian the night your wife gives birth to a son is incredibly stupid. Not just bc its so obvious, but infants in medieval times really didn't have a high life expectancy, so Miraz could easily end up without any heir.
Abominaciones: Abominations in Spanish, addressing the old Narnians. Telmarines believe they are demons.
Asesinos: Assassins and murderers from Spanish. A profession that is looked down upon by most Telmarines.
Bucko: A slang word for a friend. Originated from Buccaneer. Indicates the pirate origin of Telmarines.
Tattoo: Tattoos are not uncommon in Telmarine society, especially in the army. The traditional art can be attributed to the Polynesians from Tahiti, which make up a part of the Telmarine ancestry.
Character Summary:
Florien Kastelo – Telmarine soldier, currently guardsman, Age 18, short brown hair, tall, left-handed.
Prince Caspian – Son of King Caspian IX, Age 16, longer brown hair, chestnut eyes.
Costen Weidheim – Telmarine soldier, friend of Flori, Age 20, short battle scar on the left side of his face, longer dirty blond hair.
Trumpkin – A dwarf, old Narnian, blond hair and long beard.
Nikabrik - A dwarf, old Narnian, black hair and long beard.
Unnamed captain – Led the assassination attempt on Caspian, Age 41, deceased.
Kailani – Took part in the assassination attempt, Age 24, long dark hair dined in braids, a tattoo on the right side of the neck, olive skin, mildly slanted eyes.
Unnamed fourth soldier - Took part in the assassination attempt, Age 29, ginger hair.
