~By the Lion's Mane: The Call~

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

I woke before dawn, when the light was still gray and the crisp coolness of night still lingered in the air. A light dusting of dew dampened my blanket and my hair. I looked around, squinting at the dusky bundles sleeping around me. Peter, Susan, Edmund, Anduril, Trumpkin... Where was Lucy? I jumped up immediately, grabbing my sword in its sheath. I woke the others, and we set out to look for her.

The dusky grayness was beginning to melt into early dawn when we found her. The clanging of swords and shouting shattered the silence of the forest, and I swung up onto Andy's back. We galloped toward the noise and thundered into a clearing.

Lucy was pressed up against a tree, and Peter was fighting another young man. He had long, dark brown hair and olive skin. He was dressed in Narnian armor, but was attacking Peter with all his might.

I was about to charge into the fight when others arrived. There was a Minotaur, several centaurs, fauns, Dwarfs, and Talking Animals. We were surrounded. Peter's sword was stuck in a tree, but the other young man was also unarmed.

Peter raised a rock to strike him when Lucy shouted, "No, stop!"

They froze, and Peter looked around. In that moment, the other pulled the sword free and held it up, ready to run Peter through. I had already drawn my own, and I stepped forward, ready to protect him.

Peter spoke. "Prince Caspian?" he asked uncertainly, almost disbelieving.

 "Yes. And who are you?" Caspian answered sharply, panting slightly. He spoke in a strange accent, one that was definitely not Narnian.

Before Peter could answer, however, Susan and the others reached us.

"Peter!" Susan cried.

Caspian looked down at the sword he was holding, his expression transforming from one of animosity to one of awe.

"High King Peter," he said breathlessly, as if he couldn't believe it.

Peter nodded, arching an eyebrow wryly. "I believe you called?"

Caspian frowned. "Yes, but... I thought you'd be older," he said, looking him up and down.

Peter raised both of his eyebrows. "Well if you'd like, we can come back in a few years," he answered sarcastically.

"No! It's all right... You're just... not exactly what I expected." Prince Caspian looked at me. I stared back at him defiantly, and his gaze moved to Susan. She stared back, and I saw the corners of her mouth twitch. Hmmm.

 "Neither are you," Edmund contributed, frowning a bit.

Then a Badger across the clearing said, "A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes."

I was about to nod when my attention was caught by a curious sight. A Mouse, who stood about a foot tall, scurried forward. He wore a red feather behind his ear and a rapier was in his paw.

"We have long awaited your return, my liege. Our hearts and swords are at your service," he said to Peter. He looked rather soft and delightfully charming, but I highly doubted he would like it if I pointed that out.

As if to prove my point, Lucy leaned over and whispered to Susan, "He's so cute!"

The Mouse whipped around angrily and demanded to know, "Who said that?!"

Lucy shuffled her feet. "Sorry," she said.

The Mouse immediately looked ashamed at his outburst. "Oh, Your Majesty, with all due respect, I do believe courteous or chivalrous or courageous would be more fitting for a knight of Narnia," he said, putting away his needle of a sword.

A smile tugged at my mouth, but I quickly hid it, making my face stony and expressionless again.

Peter chuckled at the Mouse. "At least some of you can handle a blade," he said pointedly.

Caspian frowned. "Yes indeed. We have been securing weapons for your army, sire."

Peter nodded, turning back to Caspian. "Good. Because we are going to need every sword we can get."

"Well then. You will probably be wanting yours back," Caspian said in his strange accent as he handed back Peter's sword.

Peter took it silently, sliding it into the scabbard with a scrape. I could feel the tension between the two; the air hummed with it. I reluctantly put my own sword away, climbing back onto Andy and following the others.

We rode through the woods to Caspian's camp. I heard Trumpkin telling his friends about us, and I had to chuckle quietly. At last we came to the edge of the woods. A wide, vast meadow spread out in front of us, and a huge mound rose out of the ground. Aslan's How was a mountain of stone and trees and dirt, full of tunnels that ran all through it and under the meadow.

As we entered, centaurs lined the walkway, raising their swords above our heads. I dismounted Anduril and hung back. Susan, Peter, Lucy, and Edmund walked ahead, leaving me and Caspian behind. After waiting a moment, we continued, followed by the Dwarfs and the Badger. I passed a young centaur boy whose father raised his drooping arm up from its former position. I smiled at the familiarity of the Narnian people.

We entered the cool darkness of the tunnels. Everything was a flourish of activity, preparing for battle.

"It may not be what you are used to, but it is defendable," Caspian apologized.

I was about to assure him that it was fine, when Susan called out, "Peter. You may want to see this."

We wandered over to where she was holding a torch up to the tunnel walls. They were covered in carvings and paintings depicting different creatures and scenes from what I assumed to be the Narnian history we had missed. My stomach turned again at this reminder.

"It's us," Susan said, pointing at an etching of the four of them sitting on their thrones in Cair Paravel. I bit my lip when I saw another of a girl with a thick red braid wielding a sword astride her unicorn. They remembered me. I reached out to touch it, amazed that I would have been important enough to have been recorded on these walls for all future Narnians to see.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked softly.

Caspian looked at us. "You don't know?" he asked incredulously.

He took a torch from the wall and led us through the tunnels. As we went, I ran my fingers over a painting of a faun, standing by a lamp post, umbrella in hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Please guys, give me some feedback! I'm updating as frequently as I can, but I'd still love to know what you think, so just take time to write a quick note or Like or Vote or whatever you feel like doing! :)

Thanks for reading!