Return to Narnia

Chapter 13

The five of them stood in the professor's library and watched as he slowly lowered the crystal into the greenly coloured liquid in a glass on the desk. And nothing seemed to happen.

'Why is nothing changing?' Peter asked frustrated.

Edmund looked back onto the recipe for the potion in the book. 'It says it will take about a day for it to fully work...'

'What?!' Peter yelled.

'That means the crystal will still be in power when the Manchez's armies hit our shores...' Caspian uttered, a certain amount of fear and sadness in his tone.

'I think it might work better that way...'

Peter looked confused at his older sister. 'Why is that?'

'Because they believe the crystal, and the woman wearing it, is their secret weapon. She is their secret weapon, and by the time they want to use that secret weapon, she will powerless. Their siege will come to an end.'

Edmund nodded. 'She has a point.'

Peter nodded. 'Alright. We prepare for battle, continue as planned. Dad's insight has given us an advantage, and we need to use it. We ride for the camp tonight.'

Edmund, Caspian and Susan nodded.

'And what am I supposed to do while all of this is going on?

'We need you here, Lucy.' Caspian's words had a warmth to them. 'There is a small chance that Manchez might try to take the castle, with men hidden in the forest. There are men and creatures ready to defend the castle, but someone needs to lead them. And you have a better instinct for this than you know yet yourself. And not even Peter or myself fighting alongside our army can motivate our soldiers as you can, Lucy. We need you to protect our home.'

Lucy smiled with pride. 'You can count on me.'

'And all of Narnia will as well.'

It was already dark out when Peter, Edmund, Susan and Caspian reached the battle camp with their personal guard. Their generals debriefed them quickly on the status of their armies, and the boats coming in from the sea. By their estimates, Manchez's men would reach the shore by 7 in the morning, and they had to be ready for the attack.

By 5, the camp was awake and alive. People and creatures dressed for battle, sharpening their weapons one last time. Griffins returning from their scouting missions, and the monarchs providing last minute orders to their generals and captains. Everyone was jittery and nervous. Sure, they had a large army, and the kings and queens of old had won battles unexpectedly twice before. But either way, war is a messy business, and the army was more than aware of that.

As they prepared, the sky became lighter, and outlines of warships approaching the beach. The battle was approaching.

Lucy paced through the throne room as the sun rose in the sky. She didn't know what was happening at the beach, and worried about the blood which would darken the sea to which she was named Queen. Come morning, she had gone to the Professor's library and saw how the crystal was slowly cracking. But she knew her brothers and sister would not be safe until that crystal was broken. And all she could do, was wait, while miles away the people she loved were fighting for their lives.