༄ 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 (𝘗𝘊) ༄

Chapter 22: The Battle of Beruna (Part 1)

I was going to make the Battle about 1 chapter (maybe 1 1/2), but one of my readers asked for something specific so I ended up turning it into two chapters instead (more on that in the next chapter). This one is a tad shorter than I would've liked because of this, but it shouldn't be too bad. The next is nearly twice as long because I combined two chapters. To stretch it out, I once again watched the scene and tried to break it down as accurately as possible (this went from 700 something to 1500+).

𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍𑁍

The Telmarines continued throwing catapults but thus far, it appeared no one was hurt. Peter and Edmund stood and watched the Telmarine cavalry charged forward. Caspian waited anxiously atop his horse for the signal and Glenstorm stood nearby, ready to charge.

After a few more paces from the cavalry, Peter looked back at them. Knowing that was the signal, Caspian turned towards the How and rode inside, Glenstorm not far behind him. They would rally the Narnians within the How and travel underground. When the time was right, they would surround the charging Telmarines from behind.

This part had to be timed carefully. A centaur from underground blew a horn and that was when the countdown started. It was meant to signal to those of us outside how close they were. At some point, someone had measured the distance to the trap doors we had set up, but I wasn't sure when that had been. But the signal also told us exactly how long it would take before the ground beneath the Telmarines came crashing down. I counted silently in my head while listening for Susan's instructions.

"Take your aim!" Susan ordered. At her command, everyone selected a target and raised their bows.
"Stay with them!" I shouted as they grew closer.

At the count of ten, Peter shouted "Get ready!" without turning his gaze from the oncoming army.

I then focused my attention on the Telmarine I was watching, keeping my bow at the right angle to hit him when the signal was given. Shortly after Peter's order, the ground between them and the oncoming army began to give way. Many of them were at the spot where the ground collapsed and fell into the pit. Others managed to pull their horses back in time, stopping them at the edge. They tried to correct their startled horses, get them under control and go around it. But their horses weren't cooperating well enough to do so before the next order was issued.

"Now!" Susan shouted and with the familiar 'thwack' several arrows were released from their bows.

I watched as my arrow soared through the air and then found its target. Several other Telmarines collapsed after being hit with the onslaught of arrows. Some arrows were struck by the boulders, but most of them hit their mark. Edmund mounted a moving horse and Peter ordered "charge!" Then the Narnians moved in.

It was just after this that Caspian appeared from underground. He led one group of Narnians, flanking them from the back left. Glenstorm led another group, flanking the Telmarines on the right side as well. A third group led by another centaur came from directly behind the Telmarines. Together they surrounded the cavalry from behind and the rest attacked from the front. The plan was to force the Telmarines to fight on two fronts, which was very difficult for any army to do.

As the two sides collided, the archers had to be more careful about their aim. Susan, Trumpkin, and I were leading the charge. We fired a lot more arrows than the others, having more experience and better aim. I could sense that some were afraid of accidentally hitting someone on our side.

The battle erupted and chaos ensued. That's the only way I could describe it. I could hear the clanking of every blade as they hit a shield or another blade. People were yelling and shouting, crying out in pain. Wimblewheather easily picked up and threw the Telmarines around, effectively stopping them from fighting back. I saw Edmund riding around the pit with a crossbow while Peter and Caspian fought with their swords. They were my primary concern and I knew I had to keep an eye on them as the battle continued. It made it harder to focus on what I really needed to do.

But eventually, I was able to tune out all the fighting and began aiming again. I didn't shoot as frequently as the other two in order to keep my focus on the three royals. It was harder to protect them from so far away, but I could watch their backs and try to shoot any Telmarines who might attack from behind. I didn't bother watching my arrows land this time because I knew they would hit their mark.

The fight against the cavalry was going well. From my point of view, we were winning. However, most of those engaged in the battle had forgotten about the rest of the army waiting in reserve. I watched as Peter dispatched a Telmarine and then momentarily stopping fighting to gaze across the battlefield. The rest of the Telmarine army began to march forward.

Caspian—who had also stopped fighting—glanced at the approaching army and raised his sword to signal the gryphons. They flew over the field, carrying dwarfs with bows and arrows. A few shot at the ones in the pit as they flew overhead, but most were focusing their attention on the infantry. The gryphons were able to avoid the catapults being thrown as they were large. But when the Telmarines brought forward something I hadn't seen before, the gryphons didn't stand a chance. The weapon fired many large cross-bolts at once and many of them were unable to avoid them. They fell to the ground, some falling amongst the Telmarines ranks.

Peter watched all this from his position on the battlefield. I shot down a few approaching Telmarines while he was distracted. But after the gryphons were shot down, he turned his attention towards the How. I knew he was looking at Susan and me. We both quickly scanned the tree line and I saw Susan shake her head no. I double-checked before copying her actions, signaling to Peter that there was no sign of Lucy. Or Aslan for that matter.

After noting our observations, he turned back to survey the fighting and the approaching army. He had a decision to make. Our plan was to hold off the Telmarines long enough for Lucy to return with Aslan. But now we were engaged in a battle and they were nowhere in sight. I hadn't been told of a plan after this so I wondered what exactly Peter would do.

"Back to the How!" he called out, raising his sword.

At his order, all the Narnians withdrew from their battles and fled towards Aslan's How. The archers began to shoot more actively, trying to keep the Telmarines from following. Hopefully, it would provide enough time for our army to retreat safely inside the How. The Telmarines would likely follow, but it was a trap as we knew all the secret passageways.

However, the Telmarines quickly picked up on the plan. The catapults were moved a little closer and sped up, allowing the boulders to be thrown much further. They crashed into the ground nearby, catching several Narnians in the process. Many hit the How as well, causing it to shake and many of the archers stumbled.

"Brace yourselves!" Susan ordered as Aslan's How shook once more.

Trumpkin and I continued to fire as the Narnians fled. However, a boulder struck the archway and threw the stone into the entryway of the How. I watched as Peter halted and watched as a catapult destroyed the entrance. It collapsed on top of a few Narnians and sealed it off. If anyone remained inside, they were trapped and it cut off our escape.

The impact from this blow—and the others—caused the tree behind Susan and me to shake loose. It began to fall and forced us to move out of the way to avoid falling with it. However, with all the other archers lined up along the edge, there wasn't much room for us to move anywhere. As the tree fell, it took part of the ledge with it, dragging Susan and me down.

We both went over the edge but I managed to grab a hold of something—I didn't pay much attention to figure out what—to stop my fall. A glance over confirmed that Susan was also relatively safe. Trumpkin had seen her falling and reached out to grab her arm, but he couldn't hold her for long. I could see the strain it had on him. There was a piece of the ledge that had shifted and she was swung a bit in that direction. In the process, Trumpkin lost his grip and she fell onto the ledge below. She called out as she fell and grunted a little from the impact when she landed. But Susan was safe and could climb down the rest of the way to solid ground.

However, my situation was more perilous than I realized. I had been paying attention to what was happening with Susan and didn't realize my grip was beginning to slip. I didn't have a safe place to land. The ground was much further below and it would be impossible for me to survive without injury. That injury would keep me from fighting and leave the royals without protection.

My grip slipped even more and Trumpkin realized my predicament. He rolled over to try and grab my hand. But it was too late and my grip finally slipped. Whatever I was holding onto fell with me. There was only one thing I could do as I waited for my body to impact the ground.