Becoming a Lioness (Book 2)

Chapter 32 Black Beard

I watched in silence as Edmund raised his hand to Trumpkin and motioned for him to get ready. A few seconds later the rest of Black Beards crew entered the room, dragging Peter by under his arms.

I gasped as he came into a ray of light that tumbled through a crack in the roof of the cave. He looked limp in the Pirates hands and his shirt was ripped open, revealing the large gash across his torso. Dried blood gathered with the sweat on his face and made it glisten in the light. His bottom lip was busted on the right corner and my breath caught in my throat at the sight of the cut on his forehead.

I tried to take a breath and ended up choking, gripping Edmunds arm with wide eyes as I began to feel the room close in around me. I distantly heard him to tell me to focus before shouting 'now'! The troops tore out from either side of the tunnel and immediately clashed with the Pirates, but the noises sounded like i was hearing it through a muffled telephone.

Lucy tugged me towards her, and we began making our way through the battle in front of us. I quickly withdrew my dagger as a Pirate rushed towards us. I swiftly dodged his sword, ducking behind him and slashing my blade across his upper arm. He let a loud cry of surprise and pain, stumbling backwards before regaining his balance and rushing back at me.

Before I could react though, Caspian stepped in front of me and plunged his sword deep into the Pirates chest. I stared at him with wide eyes. "Go!" He shoved me into Lucy, glancing at us one last time before dashing back into the fight.

We hurried towards Peter who was laying against the stone. His chest heaved up and down with each breath he took and I was so focused on getting to him I almost didn't see the slain pirate that fell in front of my feet. Lucy and I gasped simultaneously, hopping  over him and continuing on our way.

One of our soldiers shot an arrow into the chest of the pirate who was guarding Peter and he fell backwards, revealing our target. I dropped to my knees in front of him, timidly running my hand down his battered face.

"We have to keep moving!" Lucy exclaimed, looking around in every direction as we lifted him up as quickly as possible, hurrying towards the tunnels. We staggered under his weight, yet somehow we managed to make our way out of the fighting.

"Maggie." Peter mumbled, leaning his face into the crook of my neck. I forced myself to focus on getting out safely, and whispered soothing words to him. We reached the end of the tunnel quickly and sighed in relief as we saw the mouth of the cave.

"Hey!" We spun around at the sound of a pirate calling to us. "Going somewhere?"

"Yes, and with my prisoner." I froze at the sound of the heavy accent. I swallowed the lump in my throat before turning around and finding myself face to face with Black Beard himself.