The Phoenix Archer ∞ Peter Pevensie

i. | T W O

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P E T E R

"He was my best mate!" I hear Mr Beaver cry as we exited the tunnel.

I stare in shock at the creatures scattered over the ground, turned to stone.

"What happened here?" I asked.

"This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch." An unfamiliar voice spoke.

Mrs Beaver lets out a scream in shock at the sight of a Fox that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, standing on the rocks.

"Take one more step, traitor. And I'll chew you to splinters!" Mr Beaver threatens as his Wife tries to hold him back.

"Relax!" The Fox says, unfazed as he leaps off the rocks, "I'm one of the good guys."

"Yeah? Well, you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones." The Beaver accuses.

The Fox lets out a sigh, "An unfortunate family resemblance." He explains, "But we can argue breeding later. Right now, we have to move."

The distant howls of the wolves could be heard, signalling that they were closing in on us, and fast.

Panic had started to set in as I soon start to realise that there's no way we could outrun the wolves even if we ran now, "What do you have in mind?"

The Fox takes a look around his surroundings and by the look on his face, he has quickly came to the same conclusion as I did.

"Up the tree, quickly." He instructs, nodding towards a large tree that stood behind us.

I drag Lucy behind me, quickly guiding her up the tree. Her feet slipped a couple of times, slowing us down a little, but she manages up the tree safely. Next up was Susan and then the Beavers, and lastly, me.

"Evening, gents." The Fox greeted just as I settled on a brunch, "Did we lose something?"

"Don't patronise me! I know where your allegiance lies." The leader of the pack growled, "We're looking for some humans."

"Humans? Here in Narnia?" The Fox lets out a laugh as if what he had heard was completely impossible, "Now, that's a valuable bit of information, don't you think?"

Lucy gasps at the sound of a whine and I clap my hand over her mouth just in time to silence it.

I look down to see the Fox in the clutches of a wolf. My heart beats out of my chest as I watched the scene before me unfold helplessly.

"Where are they?" The leader demanded.

"North." The Fox lies, "They went North."

"Smell them out!" Maugrim orders his pack.

They toss the Fox aside, like he was nothing more than rubbish.

Just as they were about to move out, Lucy squirm under my grip and ice from the tree falls to the ground.

"What is that?" The pack turns back around.