Always || Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia) [1]

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

POSTED 6/23/19

A sharp, searing pain on her stomach. That was all Mary felt just as she had finished knocking out the Telmarine soldier before her. She stumbled back with a gasp and looked down, eyes wide as she saw a knife dug right into her stomach.

"Mary!" Caspian and Trumpkin came running towards her, eyes widening when they spotted the knife in her stomach.

For a moment, the pain had faded a way into a dull kind that Mary almost thought she couldn't feel it. She was just staring down at the knife in shock before she glanced at Caspian and Trumpkin.

"It... it doesn't hurt. Why doesn't it hurt anymore? Wait, oh my goodness... I've been stabbed," she started to panic. "Holy — wow. What do I do? Do I take it out? Will it hurt more? Will I die? Oh my —"

"I think you're in shock," Caspian explained, slowly guiding her to sit down against a tree trunk. "Don't remove it. It will only get worse."

Caspian then looked around and searched for the attacker. He barely caught a glimpse of Glozelle in the forest before the man ran away from sight, but another Telmarine soldier still stood there. When he made eye contact with him, he made a run for it as well. Caspian stood up and decided to go after them.

"Stay with her," Caspian ordered Trumpkin. "I'll stop the other Telmarines."

Trumpkin nodded before turning back to Mary.

"Do — do I just wait?" Mary asked anxiously.

"I —" Trumpkin stopped short when the two of them heard a mighty roar.

"Aslan," Mary mumbled knowingly. She felt a sense of respect and couldn't wait to see the one creature that every Narnian loved and revered so much.

Then, they heard shouts from where the river was. From between the trees, they could see the water going wild, creating big waves. No, it was a figure in the water doing that — a river god. Some Telmarines were washed away, but some still managed to escape.

"I'm going to go get help for you," Trumpkin informed Mary. "Just stay here and —"

"No," Mary cut him off. "They need you there."

Trumpkin turned around and saw some of the Telmarines successfully escaping. He looked back at the injured girl, conflicted. He knew she needed help as soon as possible, but she was also right. He needed to assist the other Narnians in preventing the Telmarines from escaping.

"You must be crazy."

Mary tried to laugh but the force caused pain and she winced.

"I can get help later," she said firmly. "When everything's over."

Trumpkin grunted frustratedly when he realized Mary truly was right.

"Don't move, okay?" he reminded her before leaving, running into the thicket of trees and towards the Telmarines trying to escape the clutches of the Narnians who were clearly winning.

Mary let out a shaky sigh and lowered her hands on the knife lodged into her, unsure of what to do. She almost thought about pulling it out but remembered Caspian's words and stopped. The pain was coming back now and she started to sweat and breathe heavily, hoping it would go away.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She looked up in panic and saw two Telmarines running her way but they halted when they saw her sitting there. There was a second where neither of them made a move as they calculated the next best action to take. Then, all eyes landed on Mary's sword that she dropped a few feet away. The two men made a run for the weapon while Mary tried to reach out for it as well. One of the men almost beat her to it but she kicked a leg out to trip him. The other one had shoved her away and her back roughly hit the tree trunk. It knocked the air out of Mary, but with the adrenaline coursing through her, she continued to try and fight them.