༄ 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 (𝘗𝘊) ༄

Prologue

Sequel to The Phoenix Archer which you may want to read first to understand the characters better, but you don't have to.

For this story, I have the children at the following ages:
Ana — 15
Lucy — 11
Edmund — 15
Susan — 17
Peter — 19
Caspian — 19
**I'm saying that Edmund and Peter both had two birthdays before their return. Assuming it wasn't exactly a year (a little over) it's plausible. Their ages seem to make more sense that way.

NOTE: I've had a few people be confused by this so I figured I should say... This is NOT a love story. If you're looking for that, you'll have to look elsewhere. However, people still really like the story and you might as well (without the romance).

𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍

Crash! Another boulder hit the castle ramparts and rubble went everywhere. Some Narnians were injured by the blast while the archers were knocked off and fell to their deaths. Ana shuddered, feeling hopeless and having no idea how to defend against this enemy. Their weaponry greatly overpowered their own. They had yet to breach the castle walls but each catapult they launched made it that much easier. One more good hit and soon they would be inside and the Narnians would have nowhere to run.

With the disappearance of the royals, Narnia entered the Dark Age. Ana had been doing her best to protect the castle while the Kings and Queens were away. It was difficult though. At first, there were minor tiffs and battles when the Kings refused to speak with nobles. But soon they began to realize that there was no one on the throne and Narnia was ripe for the taking. Ana sent word to Archenland—knowing they had a claim to their throne—and they agreed to rule and help protect their ally.

But eventually, Archenland couldn't rule both Kingdoms. Narnia would have to defend their country on their own. It became too dangerous and they couldn't risk both Kingdoms. So when the Archenlanders left, Narnia's weakened army was all that was left. Ana hoped it would be enough as most of their enemies hadn't made a move since they called on their allies. She was greatly mistaken.

Calormen's threat was quashed as well as several other invaders. The Narnians rallied like never before, fallen beasts and Narnians alike defended the Kingdom. And it was enough. For awhile. But in the year 1998, several centuries after Their Majesties disappeared, a new threat arrived. Telmarines.

Their country, Telmar, suffered a terrible famine and the Telmarines were driven from their country. All three of the Kingdoms—Archenland, Narnia, and Calormen—were all battling through the Dark Age and the Telmarines realized they could overpower the Narnian's disorganized forces. Conquering Narnia would allow their people to recover from the famine as well as allow them to restore Narnia's prosperity.

First, they migrated east, through the Western Wilds and into Narnia's boundaries following the Great River. They entered Narnia at the Great Waterfall and continued towards Beaversdam. Any troops Ana sent out were immediately killed and they besieged Beaversdam and made it their capital. From there they began to take control of Narnian mainlands and worked their way to the castle. Ana did not know the fate of the Narnians that had lived in those areas.

She knew they would lose when the second attack came. Ana didn't want to believe it, but something in her soul told her they couldn't win this one. They weren't meant to. But she kept on a brave face and planned strategies with the others. Several of her former commanders and generals had died and she was always searching for new ones but had not found any at the time of the invasion. Their forces were severely weakened. The Telmarines were culturally militaristic and the Narnia Army was no match for them.