With the deed done, Sopespian rode back towards the entire army, ready to get them prepared for the real battle.

A soldier rushed up to Peter rashly, thoughts of assassination revolving through his evil mind. Skilled, the King slashed at his neck and beheaded him, wincing a little at the repulsive scene.

"To arms, Telmar! To arms!" ordered Sopespian, who received a loud and confident battle cry from the troops.

"Charge!" he screamed. The first batch of soldiers began their race towards the Narnians, their footsteps eerily in sync. At once the clattering of armor filled the air and the shing of swords could be heard distinctively.

Peter looked at Caspian, who rode on horseback back inside the How. Looking back at the battlefield, Peter clenched his fist, praying that their plan would work.

Once in the How, Caspian rode his way to the front of the tens of Narnians inside.

"Narnians!" signaled Caspian. "Charge!"

With Caspian leading the way, the Narnians sped down the broad tunnel. Muffled hoovebeats and footsteps of the Narnians below could be heard above, and the whole ground seemed to vibrate. A loud horn sounded from underground.

"One, two, three..." counted Peter, his gaze fixed worriedly on soldiers approaching by the second, swallowing hard to soothe the nervous pit churning in his stomach.

"Four, five, six..." Caspian continued, halfway through the dark tunnel below. His heartbeat too, quickened, seemingly exceeding the steady pace of the horse's hoovebeats, perceptibly about to start to his throat.

"Archers to the ready!" commanded Susan. The sound of stretching strings filled the air as the archers readied their bows.

"Seven, eight, nine... Get ready!"

Nothing could very well describe the way all of them felt - the same pulsing heart, the same deep breath to suppress their steaming anxiousness, and perhaps a tint of tremulousness. They, however, acknowledged one thing - it was now or never.

"Now!"

Crash went the pillars holding up the tunnel below upon contact with the Narnian's weapons as they came crumbling down, sending dust and sand into the air. The earth behind the Narnians in the tunnel began to give way, caving in into a huge crater, bringing the Telmarine soldiers and their horses down with it.

"Fire!" shouted Susan. At once the whizz of hundreds of arrows could be heard over the cries of war as they were projected though the air, heading directly for the Telmarines in the pit of slabs of earth and mass of rubble, ending most of their lives.

The Narnians underground sped out of the tunnel onto the battlefield, splitting into two equal groups and circling back around the pit behind them, almost doubling the original number of Narnian soldiers above.

"Lucy...?" mouthed Peter, looking up to meet Susan's gaze as the battle carried on. Scanning the battlefield from above, Susan returned the gaze and shook her head at Peter, worry in her eyes.

Sighing, Peter turned his back to the How, facing the Telmarines just as another unharmed, unused batch of soldiers were sent out onto the field. The Telmarine Army came in numbers so large it would certainly wipe the Narnians out if help did not come soon. They would need more men, more ammunition, more weapons and more magic. Not just any magic, but deep magic, the kind that only the Great Lion could summon.

He raised his sword.

"Back to the How!" he ordered, repeating this a few times to ensure all Narnians heard and obeyed his command.

"Cut off their escape!" Sopespian hollered. With that, catapults were hurled a huge distance towards the ancient stone structure, hitting it squarely once, twice, thrice. The How began to rumble at the continuous blows, until the old structure could bear the force no longer. Debris from the How piled onto it's entrance, cutting off their escape and decending upon the Narnians who made it inside.

At the same moment, a crack and a rustle sounded from above and Susan whipped around to get out of the way of whatever was coming down on her. But it was too late.

Horrified, she struggled to step out of the way of the big tree, losing her footing in the process and falling off the ledge, fearfully embracing the fate gravity had laid out for her.

Trumpkin, fortunately, managed to grab her hand in time, before he swung Susan a little - to his left, then his right and his left again to pick up a steady momentum, then releasing her so that she fell towards a protruding platform not too far down. She screamed at first, but landed with an oof as soon as her legs came into contact with moss and stone. She made her descent to join the others on the battlefield, watching in aversion as the Telmarines were closing in on them with every passing second.

Throwing his crossbow to the ground and drawing his sword, Edmund got into a position to sprint right next to his brother. He found himself shaking slightly; from fear or from exhaustion, he didn't know for sure. All he hoped for was for everything to turn out okay, and that included meeting Amethy and his sister again. He made it sure that he would embrace them in a hug before telling them how brave they'd been.

The four royals exchanged determined glances. Looking back out at the field, they charged.

***

The remaining Telmarine soldier had no intention of dropping his pursue on the two helpless girls. Or perhaps, not so helpless. Lucy, being skilled at horseriding, steered Destier at top speed through the thick woods and litter of roots and leaves on the ground, digging her heels into the sides of the horse in an attempt for him to pick up speed.

Amethy, on the other hand, annoyed at the persistent soldier, made an attempt to hurl another knife at him. It missed, but she was close. The failed attempt nevertheless bought the soldier some time as he released an arrow from his crossbow, propelling it towards them.

"A little to your right, Lucy!" instructed Amethy. Lucy did as told and Destier swerved to the right. Amethy let out a breath of relief as the arrow shot past their ears, at least, that was until she slipped off the horse, a result of the sudden movement.

"Amethy!" screamed Lucy, registering the feeling of Amethy's back leaving her touch.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I guess you'll have to go alone after all," she said, drawing her sword, not sparing a glance back at the Queen while she was busy clambering to her feet, her glare fixed on the soldier. Lucy, being left with not much of a choice, rode off deeper into the woods, leaving Amethy to duel with the soldier by herself. But she knew she had to do it, she was the only hope left in finding Aslan.

There's that again. Hope. It's getting on my nerves.

"Come down and fight like a man!" Amethy shouted. Nonetheless, the peabrained Telmarine picked up speed with his horse, practically charging at Amethy.

Amethy leapt and swung her sword at him, making use of the momentum she gained the moment her feet left the ground. Wounding him in the arm, Amethy felt a surge of adrenaline bubble within her, her energy suddenly building up. She sent a few more blows at the man, but it was obvious that he stood a better chance against her on his horse. Amethy contemplated whether or not to claim the life of the horse, but what difference will there be between the Telmarines and herself if she did so? These horses were the most innocent, merely following the rider's directions. It would be doing them injustice if she ever laid a finger on them intentionally.

When all hope was lost, a glass-shattering roar came from behind her. She heard the winnying of Destier and the scream of Lucy, before a golden blur shot over her head, whipping up a gust of wind that ruffled her hair as it went. The golden figure proceeded to knock the petrified soldier off his horse effortlessly.

Amethy slumped down into the earth beneath her, partly in relief and partly abashed by how noble, and how terrible the creature in front of her looked - just as they described it.

Unaffected unlike her, Lucy came skipping up behind her.

"Aslan!" she cheered, running up to embrace the Lion, draping her arms over his neck and stroking his soft mane. "I knew it was you. The whole time, I knew it! But the others wouldn't believe me," she finished rather sadly.

"And why would that stop you from coming to me?" questioned Aslan.

"I'm so sorry. I was too scared to come alone. Why haven't you shown yourself? I thought you'd come roaring in to save us like last time."

"Things never happen the same way twice, dear one," Aslan replied. And then when, he gazed at Amethy, she immediately curtseyed so low that she nearly lost her balance. "I see you've brought a friend."

"Oh yes! Her name is Amethy," Lucy told him excitedly, standing up and pulling Amethy towards her so that they both plopped down in a heap beside Aslan, who chuckled so heartily that it warmed their hearts. Once their laughter died down, the mood grew serious as silence suspended between them, the only thing they heard in their ears being the rustling of leaves.

"If we had come earlier... everyone who had died... could we have stopped that?" wondered Amethy.

"We can never know what would have happened. But what will happen is another matter entirely," declared Aslan, his voice rich with determination.

"You'll help?" asked Lucy.

"Of course, as will you two."

"Oh, I wish I was braver," Lucy sighed.

"If you were any braver, you'd would be a lioness!" laughed Aslan. Getting up on all fours, Aslan shook his mane and stretched his neck. "Now, I think your friends have slept long enough, don't you?"

Still, though they had already expected it, the ferocious roar of Aslan let out startled them a fair bit, making them jump and cover their ears at its volume. All at once the rustling of leaves augmented all about them. Having seen it all before, Lucy anticipated for the tress to begin taking on their human forms - slender women with a soft voice and flowy hair, jolly old men who had warts all over his face but his eyes ever so merry and kind and playful boys and dancing girls and a whole joyful crowd all around her. But that didn't come, for the tress now behaved like human but still looked like trees as their arms were still long, woody branches, their hair still shone a bright green and their legs were similarly thick and extended roots. These tree, though, were able to move - or more correctly, wade - over the Earth and towards Beruna, tossing their heads and raining down showers of fresh leaves as they went, leaving a huge patch of clearing behind them.

***

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E.