A Narnia Tale: For King, Queen and Country

Forward

Treat your men like your own beloved sons and they will follow you into the deepest valley.

'Edmund!' a voice tore Erik away from his sleep. Half-naked he walked outside with his sword in one hand and a shirt in the second. The sunlight hit him like a bullet and he rapidly closed his eyes. He felt Peter moving next to him. When he opened his eyes again he saw Susan and Lucy standing in front of a boy. He was barely older than ten, had raven black hear and freckles on his nose. His face was clearly beaten up, a black eye and an old wound on his lip told a silent tale of physical abuse. Erik immediately knew that this was the fourth sibling, Edmund. As soon as he saw the boy all the negative thoughts that he had about him disappeared. He couldn't hold the boy accountable for the betrayal that he had committed. That was the first time Erik knew that he wouldn't mind killing off the witch's horde.

Erik didn't have time to linger however. Aslan had ordered him to move out before noon. The Lion had moved two hundred men under his command, they were led by a Satyr that listened to the name of Kyrus. He walked to the southern part of the camp where the unit was encamped. During his walk Erik ate some of the leftover toast and salad. He looked at his clothes, instead of his old trusted British army uniform he now wore a light blue tunic and brown pants while keeping his army boots. Over his tunic he wore a gambeson, comprised of numerous layers of cloth that offered some basic protection against the most weapons. Over that he wore a mail tunic, pants and a coif. He'd loved to have a solid piece of plate armour to offer the best amount of protection but those were in short supply, even Peter didn't have a suit of full plate armour. On his side hang the sword that Father Christmas gave him and a poleaxe was strapped over his back. An openvisored helmet sat on his head and he carried a kiteshield on his back. And over all of that, he carried a backpack with all the essentials to survive for a week. As soon as he arrived at the southern border of the camp he saw a large group of soldiers sitting in the grass. When he reached the first blokes one of them stood up. 'General Henderson?' the soldier asked. Erik looked at him with a surprised face: 'General?' 'Yes, sir,' the answer came. He couldn't get the surprised look off his face. Confused, he asked where he could find Kyrus. The soldier pointed at a large Satyr with white fur sitting with his back towards him. 'The Scout-Chief is there, sir.' Erik thanked the soldier and walked towards the Satyr. 

When he arrived there the creature looked at him. As soon as the Satyr saw who he was he jumped up and jelled: 'Attention!' the voice had something primitive in it, raw. The face was haired and coloured white. His eyes however where as black as the night. The crown jewel however were the two large horns on his head. They stretched high above his head, making him look taller than he actually was. While Erik was in awe of the horns he forgot that all the soldiers around him stood straight up with heads high. 'Ah, I almost forgot. I am Erik, or, apparently General Henderson. You must be Scout-Chief Kyrus?' 'Yes, sir. We are ready for your orders,' the Satyr pointed at all the soldiers around them. Erik turned around and felt a warm feeling spreading trough his body. He smiled, this was what he was made for. Two hundred Satyrs, Fauns and Dwarfs looked at him, fully armoured and armed to the teeth. Erik took a big breath: 'Men! Women! We are tasked with a very important mission. We will depart for Cair Paravel. Our mission: defend the castle against everything that threatens it, we must hold until relieved! That's all, at ease!' The soldiers relaxed again. 'That's one hell of a mission, general.' Kyrus said next to him. Erik nodded slowly: 'I know. And it has every ingredient to turn out very badly.' Kyrus clearly agreed with him. Ten minutes later they departed to the east. The column stretched out for a good three hundred meters, that included man-pulled carriages that transported spare material and food. Erik walked alongside Kyrus for the majority of the day. They kept south of the Great River that sprang at the Westren mountains and flew into the Great Eastren Ocean, just South of Cair Paravel. The plan was to cross the river around ten kilometres before the sea and then take in positions at Cair Paravel.