Chronicles of Narnia: The Warrior of Narnia (Completed)

Chapter Two: A New Land

Nora sighed as she started to wake up, but she felt awfully cramped for some reason. If her father was pranking her again, she's going to give him a sound prank in return... again. As she blinked opened her cerulean blue eyes, Nora took notice that she was somehow jammed into an abandoned animal den. But she soon spotted a patch of white light coming from the entrance of the animal den.
Unsure of what to make of the situation and decided to take a leap of faith, Nora started carefully crawling through the tunnel-like den. But she was afraid of causing a collapse, so she made sure she didn't accidentally touch any of the caverns nor the top of the den. By the time Nora burst out of the snow-covered den, the sight before her was truly astonishing.
The wind was howling vigorously like a pack of wolves at a full moon. The snow was packed in a thick layer. As Nora looked around, checking her surroundings into the early dawn for any sign of danger. She was somehow in a new land, but she's unsure of what to expect.
Despite the cold weather of the mountains, it's uniquely beautiful around here in Nora's eyes. In the gathering dusk, the icicles glowed like firelight marble, covering most of the snowy forest and the valley. Snow dusted around her and the ground all around her; more crystalline flakes were falling more quickly from the sky. Soon, an incredible mountain range appeared before her in the distance, in height and breadth. Its surfaces were frosted with bright snow from the peaks to the bottoms. The snowy landscape was dotted with sheer cliffs and forests.
Nora was stunned beyond measure and became even more amazed at the stunning sight before her. Thinking she was dreaming, she pinched herself. "Ow!" Nora rubbed her new sore spot on her arm. "Okay. Definitely not dreaming." She soon noticed that in her blanket's was an amber-colored cloak flowing over her, spreading warmth and comfort that's much like as a campfire.
As she started to cautiously explore the woods, she spotted a lamp-post. She walked towards it until she reached it, it was burning brightly in the middle of the wooded clearing. Nora placed her hand on it, feeling instantly warmed up by it.
But she jumped in place when she suddenly heard a tree branch cracking. Nora looked around warily, taking in the scenery carefully. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
As if answering to her questions, she saw a four-legged shadow stepping out of the woods and into the sunlight. The mare is stunning to Nora, nothing like she'd imagined. The lines of her graceful body curved with an elegant, well-balanced precision. Her amber eyes are shining like a pair of topazes. Her coat is well-groomed and is the color of fresh snow. Her mane and tail is the same shade as the white moon. In a sense, the mare looks like a wild Friesian Horse. Though the way she walked, she held herself was with great spirits and curiosity.
"Oh, wow." Nora stepped away from the lamp-post and started walking towards the mare. "You're so beautiful."
"Why thank you," replied the Mare, with a unique accent.
Nora let out a startled yelp and partially fell down into the snow, which caused the Mare to let out an amused laugh at the sight. "You can talk?!"
"But of course." The Mare tilted her head at the young girl. "All creatures here speak the same language as you."
"And where is 'here' exactly?" Nora asked the Mare warily, whilst getting up from her earlier tumble and brushing off the snow from her clothes.
The Mare smiled at her. "From the Lamp-Post to all the way to Cair Paravel is Narnia."
"Narnia." When Nora said the name, she felt a warm tingle going through her and there's something pleasant about that name.
"And my name is Amaya," said the Mare. "What are you called, young one?"
"I'm Nora Archer," She replied.
The Mare considered her for a long moment, and then spoke again. "Tell me, Nora Archer, are you a Daughter of Eve?"
"A Daughter of Eve?" Her voice was quietly thoughtful, before her Biblical knowledge came back to her, and she soon understood what the horse was asking and raised a voice a bit. "Yes, I am. But I'm usually called a human."
"Human, then," Amaya said. "And your land is called Earth?"
Nora eyed the Mare oddly before she answered her question. "It is."
"Do you have any siblings?" Amaya asked, rather than responding to Nora's curiosity.
"No," replied Nora. "I'm an only child of my family."
Amaya gazed at her very keenly, intelligence and understanding shining in her eyes. "Please forgive me. But I have a reason for my questions. You see, Narnia is stricken by the curse of an evil witch, and we have suffered an endless winter for one hundred years." Nora has to give the Narnians credit of surviving the winter. "But there is a prophecy that states that when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit on the thrones of Cair Paravel, while the Warrior of Narnia will stand by their side. The witch's reign will end, and winter will be broken."
"And where is Cair Paravel?" Nora asked, her curiosity being shown to the Mare.
"It is by the sea," Amaya replied. "The White Witch seeks to overtake it, furthering her control over Narnia and its people."
"She sounds awful," Nora whispered, shivering instinctively in fear.
"She is," Amaya told her. "But now that you have come here, you and the Four Siblings can defeat her and save us."
Unsure of what to make of it, Nora hummed thoughtfully. "We can try. That's if the four siblings ever come here."
Amaya tossed her head whilst sniffing the air, and trotted closer to Nora. "Get on my back. Hurry." Nora hesitated, unsure of how to mount a horse bareback. Amaya raised her left hoof and helped Nora to slide onto Amaya's back. Nora couldn't believe that she was about to ride a horse bareback for the first time. She tangled one of her hands into the mare's mane and struggled to calm her rapidly beating heart with deep breaths.
"What's going on?" Nora asked her nervously.
"The Secret Police," Amaya told her, starting forward, looking around warily. "The White Witch must've know you're here, if she's sent her wolves out on the hunt."
The howl of the wolves could be heard.
The mare took off.
"Ahhhh!" She cried out as Amaya had quickly picked up speed. Nora began to slip to the right, so she clamped her legs. Then, she began to slip to the left, so clamped harder. She was bouncing around so much, the girl's hair flowed behind her.
The pace didn't slow, and it felt as if every muscle in her body was beginning pounded and jostled. The trees and bushes flew past them. The ground disappeared briefly as the mare had jumped over a log. She tightened her grip when she felt herself sliding forward.
Nora remembered seeing riders finding balance on their horses during the past horse shows that she had seen. She realized that the horse's galloping wasn't jarring, it was graceful. The problem was that she was fighting against the movement, fighting against the rhythm. She slowly started to relax on the mare's back. She slowly sat up, but she kept her hands entwined in Amaya's mane. Then, she instinctively allowed her sore legs to relax, making them long and pressing her heels down that felt better.
"Keep going!" Nora cried out when she suddenly saw the pack of wolves had started running through the woods and started chasing them with snarling jaws and angry eyes.
"They're faster than I thought," Amaya said, increasing her frantic pace. "We may not be able to outrun them. We may have to fight."
Knowing that she has little choice to do anything about it, Nora replied determinedly, "Fine by me."
They ran in silence for a few moments that seemed to last an eternity. The only sounds Nora heard were Amaya's hoof beats on the hard-packed snow, and his own frantic heartbeat pounding in his ears. Suddenly, Amaya slammed to a halt, and Nora was thrown up on her neck. Looking forward, she saw a large gray wolf blocking their path.
"Give me the girl," The wolf growled, as the rest of his pack surrounded them slowly. "Turn over the Daughter of Eve, and we let you live."
"You're not going to touch her, Maugrim," Amaya said to the wolf. But in a lower voice, she told Nora. "Stay on my back, no matter what happens."
Nora nodded, too terrified to do anything else, and Amaya rolled her eyes back to look at the wolves advancing on them. Suddenly, without any warning, Amaya lashed out, catching one of the wolves squarely in the stomach with his massive back hooves. Even as the wolf flew backward to slam into a tree, Amaya whirled around and reared, bringing his weight down on another wolf's head.
Nora clung desperately to Amaya as the mare turned into a fearless protector, using her hooves and teeth in a decidedly deadly manner. But it wasn't enough. Slowly, she was being worn down by the wolves' relentless attacks.
I have to help her! Nora thought, desperately. As if in answer to her silent despair, the tree they were under suddenly groaned and a large branch dropped directly into her lap.
Not stopping to think about her sudden good fortune, Nora seized the thick branch with both hands and swung with all his might at a wolf that lunged at Amaya's hindquarters. The wolf yelped in pain as Nora's makeshift weapon connected solidly with its face, and fell back, barring several new wounds.
"You'll pay for that, human." The wolf readied itself to spring again. But at that moment, Amaya suddenly launched herself out of the circle the pack had formed, and raced away. Not daring to let go of her weapon, Nora tucked the branch close to her body as she gripped a chunk of Amaya's mane in her hand, the wind stinging her face as they ran.
"The pack," Amaya gasped, doubling her pace. "Are they following us?"
Nora glanced over her shoulder, looking for any sudden flashes of gray on white. "I don't see them."
"Good." Amaya snorted in relief. "But we better keep our guard up. Just in case." Her voice trailed off as she veered sharply to the right, a move that nearly unseated Nora. For a few more seconds, they ran along a trail, then Nora heard the splashing of water. "The rivers and streams are thawing." They galloped along the river. "If they were still frozen, I couldn't do this, but the flowing water will wash away our scent tracks."
"That's smart," Nora said breathlessly, unable to think of anything else to say.
Suddenly, Amaya leapt out of the river and onto the bank, her pace slowing from a frantic gallop to a steady trot, following the curve of a rock face looming on their right side. Up ahead, Nora thought she saw a dark area, and her suspicions were confirmed when Amaya swerved into a well-hidden cave entrance. She stopped when they reached the back, her sides heaving as she gasped for breath.
"We can rest here," Amaya said as Nora slowly slid off her back and the mare laid down on the ground.
"Are they going to find us?" Nora peered warily at the entrance of the cave, fearing that she would hear the distant howl of wolves.
"Not for a while," Amaya said, wearily. "It will take them some time to pick up our trail. We will be long gone from here."
"Thank you," Nora whispered. "For saving me back there, thank you."
"You're welcome." Amaya watched as Nora admired the beauty of the landscape all around them in the shadows of the cave. "And welcome to Narnia, Brave Filly."