The Forgotten Princess: A Narnia Story

Chapter 13: Run

Chaos. Complete and utter chaos.

Hundreds of Telmarines rush at me with their weapons drawn, I stand no chance. Holding onto any hope I have left of staying alive, I sprint through the crowd before anyone can reach me.

I'm crying again. Not at the loss of my father, but at myself. I caused this. This is all my fault. But most of all, I'm crying for my innocent baby brother.

Once I get to Aslan's How, I rush to Susan.

"Where is my sword?" I say hysterically.

She holds my shoulders, trying to calm me down. "In the tent, move quickly!"

I run off and find myself frantically rummaging through my things, tearing my space apart.

I'm going to die.

At this thought, I finally find it. I strap my armour on and head back to Aslan's How, where all hell has broken loose.

Telmarine soldiers are everywhere. They're fighting Narnians left and right, showing no mercy. I see Caspian fighting off two Telmarines successfully, but then I notice something. I haven't seen Lucy for hours.

Quietly slipping away from the battle, I run through the woods looking for her. Surely it doesn't take this long to find Aslan.

My mind is elsewhere when I abruptly run into a Telmarine soldier. Without thinking, I run my sword into him and he screams. I pull it out and stand over his body for a few seconds.

"Are you mad?" a small voice says.

I look around, but see no one.

"Ahem," it says, "Down here."

It's a mouse. A Narnian mouse. I've seen him around camp, but never spoken to him before.

"Sorry," I say.

"Don't apologize to me," he says, crawling up onto my shoulder, "You have a battle to win."

"I can't win this," I say, "They're all trying to kill me."

"Melanie," the mouse says, "Of course you can do this. You gave the Narnians a voice. If it weren't for you and Caspian, who knows what we'd all be doing right now?"

I sigh. "I don't know."

The mouse tugs my ear. "Exactly! I'm Reepicheep, by the way."

"Thank you, Reepicheep." I smile.

***

Once again, I'm going to spare you all the useless details of this battle and skip straight to the important ones. I started off strong, barely getting a scratch on me. Reepicheep is more powerful than he seems. He's killed more soldiers than I have! (Of course, I've only killed two people in my whole life, but you get what I mean.)

I hear a loud cry and whip my head around to see Peter fighting General Glozelle.

"Leave him alone!" I shout, "He's good."

Peter looks at me, confused.

"Just trust me!" I shout.

He hesitates then nods in understanding.

"Take care of my brother," I say to Glozelle.

The battle is dwindling. The Narnians don't look like they stand a chance, but then something incredible happens. The trees - yes, trees - come to life. The Telmarines stop fighting, gaping at the unfolding events.

Everything happens at once. Telmarines are being killed by trees, swallowed up by the river, and any left over are killed by the Narnians.

"How did this happen?" I ask, awestruck.

A badger called Trufflehunter appears at my side. "I think I know. There's only one creature that can do this."

"Little help?" a voice squeaks.

"Reepicheep!" I scoop him off the ground. "What happened to your tail?"

"Someone sliced it off," he crosses his tiny arms.

I bite some fabric off my sleeve and tie a knot at the end of his bleeding tail. (Or rather, what was left of it.)

"All better?" I ask.

"It'll take some getting used to, but I'll manage," Reepicheep says, "Thank you."

He hops out of my hand and scurries away. I smile after him and shift my gaze upwards. I see Edmund with a bloody nose, but he's smiling as if it were Christmas morning. He opens his arms.

"We won," he laughs, "Narnia is back!"

Tears of joy fill my eyes and I rush into his arms. "We did it," I say.

Peter, Susan, and Caspian join our hug as the Narnians rejoice. They were free. We were all free.

"Wait," I pull back, "Where's Lucy?"

Susan glances around us. "Last time I saw her she was still looking for Aslan."

I'm about to send a search party when I hear a mighty roar. It shakes the ground and I almost fall over. I slowly turn around and nearly faint.

Lucy is back, but she isn't alone. She's riding the back of a magnificent lion, unlike any creature I've ever seen.

"Aslan," I breathe.

The lion nods his giant head gracefully. "I've waited many years to meet you two."

I can't believe this. Aslan wanted to meet me and my cousin. All these years I had been reading about him, dreaming of meeting him one day. Now it's finally happening.

"Where is Reepicheep?" Aslan says in his bellowing voice. His is enchanting like the White Witch, but less deceptive.

"Right here, my lord," Reepicheep bows respectfully.

Aslan breathes on his fragment of a tail and I watch as it miraculously grows back. I can't believe what I'm seeing.

"Pevensies," Aslan smiles, "I missed you dearly."

They all rush up to him and hug his mane. My heart is racing, not knowing what to say to such a significant creature in Narnian history. The Pevensies quickly catch up with Aslan and I look at the rest of the Narnians, who are all kneeling with awe.

"Caspian," Aslan says gently, "Come."

Caspian stands up and approaches the lion. They converse quietly. I try to listen, but I can barely hear over the sound of my heartbeat.

"Everything alright?" Edmund puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Y-yeah." I stutter.

"Aslan isn't as intimidating as he looks," he explains, "He's very nurturing."

"Does he know I caused all this?" I ask nervously.

Edmund laughs. "Aslan knows everything. And stop blaming yourself, everything that happened this week was supposed to happen. It's all part of a big plan." I rest my head on his shoulder. "Besides, if you hadn't been born, our army wouldn't have gotten the help it needed. Remember what I said about you being important?"

I do remember. I remember every detail about that night.

"Melanie?" Aslan's voice saying my name sends chills down my spine.

Edmund nudges me. "I think someone wants to see you."

I lift my head off his shoulder and take a step backwards, not breaking eye contact.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"Nothing," I say, "Everything's starting to make sense now."

Before I can hear his response, I turn around and go to see Aslan.