The Call To The Old - An Edmund Pevensie fanfiction

Chapter six

Three months later.

As time passed, the girl grew both stronger and braver; she worked with Trumpkin to develop her skills at sword fighting, and Trufflehunter helped her with various other skills, such as making his famous soup. She had grown quite close to the Narnians that she was living with, with the exception of Nikabrik, whose bursts of anger made Talia hesitant to get any closer to him. She enjoyed his company sometimes; his sarcasm and pessimism often made her laugh. Overall, the four had a good time together, living in their small yet cozy, hollowed out tree. And Talia had become an exceptionally good sword fighter, perhaps even rivalling Trumpkin in skill. But Talia couldn't help but wonder that the Narnians were holding something from her, something big- she noticed how the three would often speak in hushed tones around her or end a conversation at soon as she walked into the room. It worried Talia, but she didn't want to push it, after all she was living there for free.

"Is that all you've got?" the young girl shouted at her opponent.

"You're worried about the wrong person." the redheaded dwarf retorted back, before bringing his sword back to take another swing at the girl- who quickly blocked it.

"You might need to learn some new skills old man." Talia laughed, swinging her sword back in attack.

"Old man? Old man?" Trumpkin questioned also with a laugh, he too blocking his opponent, "I may be old, but I still run circles around you."

"Oh really?" she smirked, "want to bet?" dropping her sword.

Trumpkin took control of the situation, drawing his sword to Talia's throat, "never drop your weapon."

"Woah there, calm down little man." she joked, which only made him push his sword closer to her skin, "okay, okay you win." she said, throwing up her hands in defense, and Trumpkin took his weapon away.

A sudden crash was heard from the nearby trees. "We should get back." Trumpkin declared, "don't want the Telmarines to find us."

The girl nodded, and the pair returned to their home in the tree. Before she closed the door, she turned around, and could have sworn she saw a white horse scurry past. She shrugged it off, closing the door behind her, and settled down for bed. Before climbing onto her bed, Talia heard more noise coming from outside, "What on earth is going on out there?" she questioned grabbing her sword.

"Where are you going?" Trufflehunter queried.

"To see if everything's alright outside." she answered.

"No." Nikabrik interjected, "If we get caught-"

"I wouldn't let that happen." the girl declared. She had grown in confidence now and trusted her ability to defend herself.

She creaked open the door, with her three friends standing behind her. She opened it only slightly, just so she could see what or who was outside. But Trumpkin grew impatient and shoved the door open fully- he and Nikabrik rushed outside.

"- he's seen us." she heard Nikabrik state.

Talia left the house only to see Trumpkin with his sword raised at a young man, who must have fallen onto the floor. She grabbed her sword, also, and went to aid her friend. But before she could get any closer, she heard the sounds of horses and soldiers approaching.

"Take care of him" Trumpkin ordered Nikabrik, he turned to Talia, motioning for her to follow him.

The pair shot off towards the oncoming danger.

Talia was met with an angry mob of Telmarine soldiers, mounted on storming horses. Luckily, they did not recognise her. She saw the evil in their eyes and knew that they would spare no mercy on her or her friends, so she wouldn't either. She raised her sword, and with a war cry rushed towards the attackers, with Trumpkin at her side. As she had practiced, she cut and sliced her sword through the air, and many fell at her will. They were good fighters, though, and used their height to their advantage- a brutish man, dragged his weapon down Talia's arm, splitting it open. The storm didn't help. It rained down upon them, fogging their view. But she went on, until there was no man left- they had either ran away in surrender or had perished. Talia looked to her right, to see if Trumpkin was still with her, but there was no one there. She called his name, but no one responded. The girl turned over all the bodies, to check if he was one, but he was not there. She called his name again. No response. Not even a sound, although Talia could've sworn, she had heard a horn or something in the distance.