School boy | Prince Caspian

03

The pebbles clattered as five sets of feet trod across the shores of a beach. Peter stalked forward, leading the other inland, up towards where the end of a river met the sea. His siblings followed eagerly. Susan and Lucy keeping pace behind him with Edmund and lastly, Otto following up the back. Susan had her bow strung across her chest. A quiver full of red fletched arrows, razor sharp, balanced on her back. Lucy walked confidently alongside her. The small vile and dagger strapped around her waist. Behind them, Edmund strode along with his sword belted at his waist and a small grin on his lips. Otto had managed to tie his school sack to his back and he walked confidently with his spear in hand.

"Is it good to be back?" Otto asked. It had been at whilst since anyone had spoken.

Edmund jumped, caught by surprise at the sudden question. "Yeah", he grinned as he viewed the sunny water and the vibrant green trees. "It is". His expression was full of excitement and joy. Otto felt a pang of jealousy tug at his gut. He wanted to feel like that about somewhere too.

"Over there!" Susan's sudden shout made everybody jump this time. She didn't wait for them to recover before running towards the river. As she moved, one hand tugged off her bow whilst the other strung it with deft precision.

Otto and the others ran after her. As they neared the bank, they could see what she had spotted. On the middle of the clear water was a sodden row boat where two soldiers dressed in chain mail and shiny helmets sat holding a small figure over the water. They were about to drop him in.

Susan's arrow hit the side of the boat. "Drop him!" She shouted. The two soldiers looked up in surprise. They instantly obeyed her order, dropping the smaller person into the water. Instantly Edmund and Peter were sprinting across the bank and diving into the water as Susan fired more arrows at the soldiers.

"Ooh", Otto winced as the arrow hit one soldier in the chest. The other soldier made a wise choice and kept over the side to join his comrade in the water. "That looks painful. Is it always this bloody?"

"Yeah", Lucy sighed as Edmund swam up to the rowboat and climbed inside. She watched as Peter surfaced with the smaller, what Otto could see was a beaded blond man, and began paddling in their direction. "It's amazing here", Lucy's voice was wistful. "The magic, the people. But there are downsides too". Her voice trailed off as Edmund reached the bank with the boat and began wedging it into the sand.

"The downside is always having to fight for peace", Susan muttered as Peter finally walked up shore. He pulled the blond dwarf behind him before dropping him a Lucy's feet so she could cut his bindings. Once he was free, the dwarf pushed himself up onto his feet, coughing out water onto the sand.

Otto backed away to stand behind the dwarf, unsure at what he might do. One hand gripped his spear tightly as the watched the strange little man. He would let the Pevensie children handle this. He had no idea how to talk to a Narnian. The guy was like someone from his books and Otto felt lightheaded with the sudden changes this day have held.

"Drop him?" The dwarf yelled as he pulled his gag off. "Couldn't you have said something better?"

Otto raised an eyebrow at the rude comments. Susan was not so amused. "A simple thank you would suffice".

"They were drowning me very well without your help".

"Well maybe we should have let them", Peter voiced. He fixed the dwarf with a hard stare, daring him to say more.

"Why were they trying to kill you anyway?" Lucy asked.

"They're telmaraines".

"Telmaraines? In narnia?" Edmund spoke up in surprise.