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THE PIRATES are an unexpected but welcome turn of events.
Two months of being confined to the ship doing boring, repetitive chores every day has left me desperate to break up my dull schedule. And what's more exciting than battling pirates?
The rest of the crew, however, doesn't seem to share my sentiments. And after two days of facing off the Terebinthian ship, I concede to agree with them. The never-ending arrow volleys back and forth quickly becomes rather insipid. The real excitement begins when they make their last, desperate attack: sending a boarding party in a rowboat under the cover of night to take our ship. This, of course, sows chaos on the third day of the battle.
The alarm bell pulls me from my restless sleep like a surge of electricity through my bones. On deck, the men on watch can be heard shouting and doing their best to keep the pirates at bay. It takes less than a second for the Narnians belowdecks to leap from their hammocks and storm the weapons store, arming themselves before charging onto the main deck.
Reepicheep races between my feet with a raging battle cry, clambering up the hatch ladder and launching himself into the fray. When my own feet hit the main deck, I draw my sword and follow the mouse into battle.
Drinian shouts orders from the quarterdeck, directing us to take cover from incoming arrows while keeping a watchful eye on the battle below. Because not only do we have to deal with a dozen men armed to the teeth, but deadly projectiles raining from the sky as well.
"Brace!" Drinian cries. The familiar whistle of arrows cutting through the air reaches my attuned ears and I quickly leap in to help a man caught in battle with a pirate.
My sword meets that of the pirate's as I quickly force him to retreat. "Find cover!" I shout at Mesithis, lifting my blade to thrust forward again. My opponent retreats again, shedding my sword.
With wide eyes and panting breaths, the young Telmarine hesitates. Then he sees the scales armouring my skin and dashes for the bulwark, throwing himself against it as arrows pepper the Dawn Treader. They thud into the hull and the deck planks, thankfully missing any living targets on board.
Across the ship, a body falls from the forecastle as Tavros throws one of the invaders overboard.
The pirate in front of me sneers and parries my attack, trying to advance and force my back against the bulwark. But a quick feint and transverse and I catch an opening in his guard, landing a clean thrust through the leather armour on his abdomen. His eyes bulge as he stiffens, and Mesithis lifts his own sword to slash his throat open.
I exchange a brief glance with him before rejoining the fight, scanning the ship for Caspian. I find him with Drinian on the quarterdeck, fighting his way down the staircase. Quickly, I reach down and pull a knife from the dead pirate's belt, drawing it back over my shoulder and throwing it at the king's assailant. It sinks into his back, eliciting a cry of pain and the opening Caspian needs to cut him down.
