His Majesty, Her Grace - Prince Caspian Love Story

Chapter 17 - The Battle Pt. 1

Althea's POV

"Treachery!" The Terlmarine Lord shouts. "They shot him! They murdered our king!" He grabs the sword and retreats with the other two men.

All hell breaks loose. Caspian pulls me into his arms as Peter yells something, but I don't hear him.

Caspian eyes are locked onto me. Then his lips are against mine. Everything around us fades away to nothing. Thunder roars in my heart and I feel as if I've been struck by lightning. He pulls me tighter, deepening the kiss. With one arm still wrapped firmly around me, he moves his hand to hold the back of my head. He tastes like sweet rain and midnight as his fingers tangle in my hair.

My heart aches from the exhilaration when we pull away. We don't speak a word to each other because everything has just been said. He turns and mounts his horse, waiting for Peter's signal. The yells of Telmarine soldiers fill my ears and large cement balls start to fly across the field from their catapults. The ground shakes with their impact as I move to stand next to Peter. Dirt and dust fly everywhere but none of us even flinch. Adrenaline rushes over my senses as the Telmarine calvary starts to charge at the How. Caspians horse nervously side steps as they get closer. Susan yells something behind me but I can't hear anything because of the ringing in my ears. Peter turns to give Caspian the signal. I glance back, watching as he and Glenstorm disappear into the How.

The ground vibrates from both the Telmarines on top and the Narnians charging through the tunnels underneath me.

"One." Peter starts to count next to me.

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

"Six."

"Take your aim!" Susan yells louder this time.

"Eight."

"Nine."

"Get ready!" Peter shouts.

The ground in front of us collapses, all the calvary becoming trapped in a huge hole. The archers take advantage of their confusion and arrows start raining down onto them, only causing more chaos.

"Charge!" Peter starts sprinting full speed. I'm right behind him, heading into the thick of the battle. Peter quickly becomes overwhelmed and I do my best to take half of the men surrounding him. Two large bears show up helping us shake them off. Caspian catches my eye as he bursts out of the ground across the field, surrounding the calvary that's trying to run back. I focus my attention on the vulnerable men who are trying to climb out of the hole. I mercilessly kick one in the face and he goes sprawling backward. Trufflehunter flies by me tackling another one. I hear screeches above me and the are Griffins fly above carrying archers in their arms.

Without warning something slams into my back. I trip and fall forward, my dagger slipping out of my grasp. I flip over onto my back and a Telmarine is standing over me. He swipes his sword at me but I roll to the side, just barely evading him. I land a solid kick on his ankle causing him to cry out and fall forward on top of me. We roll around fighting for dominance and he's winning. He pins me to the ground by my wrists then pulls me back up before slamming me down again. My head pounds but I muster all the strength I can and push him up, flipping him into the hole behind me. It takes me a few seconds to recover but when I do I quickly grab my dagger.

"Back to the How!" I hear Peter yell in the distance and all the Narnians start to retreat. I don't see Caspian anywhere so I start to follow everyone else. The catapults start firing again, this time aimed for the How. I don't see what happens because an arrow flies past my head. A Telmarine soldier stands far out in front of me, shooting all the Narnians running towards him that are trying to retreat. I sprint at him as fast as I can and he starts to panic and tries to fire another arrow at me. I slide down, the arrow whizzing past where I was just standing, and throw the dagger. It sticks out of his thigh and he falls back. I jog the rest of the few feet to him and pull it out, kicking his crossbow away too. I leave him crying and whining on the ground and keep running to the How.

I manage to just reach Peter before the entrance caves in. Trees on the archers' ledge creak and fall over, sending Susan careening off the edge. Trumpkin grabs a hold of her hand in time and lowers her to a small ledge. We have no choice but to turn around and fight now. Caspian is behind me when I turn around, making my heart skip a beat even in the heat of the battle. He's breathing heavily but doesn't seem to be hurt. He comes and stands beside me, on my left. Susan has climbed down the rubble and stands on my right, drawing an arrow.

We bravely charge back into battle, our only choice is to win. I unsheathe both knives and cover my friends, taking out any Telmarine that tries to strike them from behind. I catch sight of Trumpkin who's getting pummeled but I can't get over to him because I'm helping Peter. Caspian is nearby and has just defeated two Telmarines.

"Caspian!" I yell as loud as I can. He hears me and sees me motioning at Trumpkin. He flips his small dagger around and throws it like I taught him saving Trumpkin just in time. The marching of more Telmarines, more than we can handle, drowns everything out. The massive hole is right behind me and I don't have enough time to react before a gloved fist makes contact with my face. I fall backward over a dead Telmarine and the man starts to come at me again.

"Althea!" I hear Caspian shout but there's no way he can get to me in time. Peter notices and tries to help me, but he's too busy being bombarded with other Telmarines.

"Ed!" Peter tries to get Edmund to help too but his situation is the same.

The soldier points his sword at me forcing me to back away. The ground underneath my hands collapses making me fall backward and to the bottom of the hole.

The impact with the ground stuns me. I gasp for air and black dots dance around my vision. I feel like I'm going to blackout. My hands are empty so I must have dropped my knives. I roll onto my side looking around for them. I desperately search, if I can't find them, I'm dead. I see one and start to crawl towards it when someone screams at me. I flip over onto my back again, looking up. Glozelle is yelling and charging full speed at me with a spear. Fear grips my body and I can't move.

Caspian comes out of nowhere and deflects the attack. Glozelle starts to stagger backward when what looks to be a tree root, shoots out of the ground. It wraps around his torso and yanks him back, up into the ground. Caspian and I are equally as stunned by what just happened.

"Are you okay?" He asks. I nod, my head feeling fuzzy and the left side of my face throbbing. He pulls me up causing me to cringe because my body still hurts from the fall. He gives me a worried look and supports the majority of my weight, holding me upright.

"I'm fine, but I could only find one of my daggers." He picks up the one by his foot and easily finds the second.

"Are you sure?" He asks again, starting to lead us out.

"Yes," I say, trying to sound strong but failing. We haul ourselves out, his arm remaining firmly around my waist to steady me.

Hope rushes over me as I see that the trees are alive again. And they have turned to battle in our favor.
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I hope you guys enjoyed! Should I post the second part early??
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