Beyond the Horn

CHAPTER 5: KARA

Kara was exhausted by the time the sun was high in the sky.

They'd been walking for at least four hours straight. No stopping, other than bathroom breaks. Maybe the Pevensies were used to this kind of physical exertion, but Kara certainly was not. She was sure she was going to die.

For the first hour or so there'd been circulations of conversation, most of which Kara shared with Edmund. He was an intriguing person, and he fascinated her, to say the least; maybe because he seemed so kind and gentlemanly one minute, and then sarcastic and mischievous the next.

Peter hardly spoke to anyone, only marching ahead with his face set in a determined and focused look. Annaliese walked at a slower pace, between Susan and Lucy. She seemed to grow accustomed to the constancy of walking much faster than Kara, who was groaning and wishing she could sit down after the first hour.

Around the third hour she'd jumped on Edmund's back with no warning and, setting her chin on his shoulder, gasped breathlessly, "I can't take much more. You have to remove this agonizing torture from me."

Edmund had laughed, but he shifted his grip on her legs and hefted her higher. He'd been carrying her since then, his strong arms never faltering or loosening their grasp. Seriously, how strong was this guy? She was nearly asleep by now, the warm sun shining in her face and putting her in a strange, dreamlike trance.

"What's that noise?" Annaliese suddenly said into the quiet silence.

"It's water!" Lucy beamed. "We must be near a river! Come on!" she hurried in the direction of the sound, and everyone else quickly followed.

"Are your limbs in full working usage now?" Edmund asked Kara with a cheeky smile.

"I suppose so. Thank you for the ride." Kara slid off his back and raced him through the trees to the source of the sound.

They reached a small beach, and Kara breathed in the fresh wind blowing small, rapid waves onto the sand. But they all saw something that immediately made her turn cold.

Two soldiers in silver armor were standing in a small wooden boat, holding a dwarf, gagged and tied with ropes, and were about to throw him overboard into the water.

Susan stood straight and tall and fired an arrow into the side of the boat as everyone else ran to her at a full-out sprint. "Drop him!" she commanded in a very queenly tone.

The dwarf tried to say something around the gag, eyes wide with terror. The soldiers looked at each other, then indeed dropped him. Right into the water.

Edmund and Peter both threw their weapons in the sand and then broke into a sprint as Susan shot another arrow that pierced one of the soldier's armor. He toppled over the side of the boat. The other one jumped into the river and they could see him swimming away as fast as he could.

In the meanwhile Peter dove into the water, emerging a few seconds later with the soaked, wriggling dwarf. Edmund plunged in to retrieve the boat. Now they had a way to travel without walking! Kara wanted to squeal for joy. She grew solemn, however, when Peter gently set the dwarf on the ground, and Lucy dropped to her knees to cut the ropes from the dwarf's wrists. Edmund hurried back to join them after dragging the boat onto the beach. Water dripped from his dark hair and clothes, and Kara tried not to stare at him even as her eyes kept gravitating toward the handsome boy.

Coughing, the dwarf rolled to his side and ripped the gag from his mouth. Now that he was up close Kara could see he had blond hair almost reaching his waist, and a long beard to boot. He was wearing a belt with straps clearly meant for a weapon of some kind.

The dwarf wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and, throwing the gag to the sand, growled out, "Drop him?!" he glared up at Susan. "That's the best you could come with!"

"A simple thank you would suffice!" Susan sounded offended.

"They were doing just fine drowning me without your help," the dwarf pointed vaguely to the water.

"Why were they trying to kill you anyway?" Lucy asked in her sweet voice.

"They're Telmarines. It's what they do."

"What are Telmarines?" Kara asked. Annaliese clearly wanted to know the same thing but was too shy in the presence of a stranger to ask.

"Why are there Telmarines in Narnia?" Edmund questioned incredulously. Kara huffed in frustration. No one ever gave her the answers she wanted!

"Where have you been for the last hundred years?" the dwarf grumbled.

"It's a bit of a long story," Lucy laughed weakly.

The dwarf's eyes fell on the sword Susan passed to Peter, and Kara watched realization cross his face. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he groaned. Looking up at Peter with a bit more respect, he said, "You're it? You're the Kings and Queens of Old?"

"High King Peter, the Magnificent," Peter said, stepping forward and extending his hand.

"You probably could have left off the last bit," Susan glanced at her brother with the slightest roll of her eyes.

"Probably," the dwarf said, chuckling wryly.

"You might be surprised," Peter replied off-handedly, suddenly offering the sword to the dwarf.

"Oh, you don't want to do that, boy," the dwarf smirked slightly.

"Not me." Peter turned to Edmund. "Him."

Edmund, having retrieved his own sword, gave a small smile and bent into a fighting position, his hands grasping the sword's hilt tighter. Kara gaped at him. They were going to duel?

Kara felt Annaliese grab her arm. "Are they seriously going to fight?" she asked in a panicked whisper.

"I think so. Maybe this is the only way the dwarf will believe they are who they say they are." It was the only thing that made sense to Kara.

The dwarf took Peter's sword from the young king's hands and nearly dropped it, the blade's point poking into the sand. Was Kara the only one who thought he looked like he was bluffing?

She was right, anyway—for with a quick swing of the sword the dwarf set the duel into motion. Edmund barely dodged the blade in time. The dwarf thwacked the sword at him again, then caught Edmund's nose hard with his elbow.

"Edmund!" Kara and Lucy exclaimed in unison as the boy jerked back with a wince of pain.

"Oh, you alright?" the dwarf taunted, and in reply Edmund scooted away from the sword and smacked the dwarf's back with his own blade, making Lucy laugh.

Edmund was grinning now, as if he really enjoyed doing this. The dwarf came at him again, but Edmund met every strike with his own sword, backing him up further until suddenly Peter's sword flew from the dwarf's hand, leaving Edmund triumphant.

Kara was wide-eyed, shocked into stillness. Who was this boy? Who were these people? She felt as if she'd merely scratched the surface in knowing them. Edmund had just fought with incredible swordsman skills—and he hadn't used one for two years!

The dwarf fell to his knees. "Beards and bedsteads," he gasped. "I guess that horn did something after all."

Susan immediately exclaimed, "What horn?"