Chapter Fourteen – Shake, Battle and Roll:

//Human pride sings a vengeful song//

Buffy and the others watched as the two Telmarines – Gozelle and Sopespian – rode over to where the Telmarine armed forces were, to call them into battle. The few soldiers that had been left behind were sacrificed as they attacked the grouping and were effortlessly done away with. Edmund pulled out a sword and handed it to Buffy – who decided it was so much better not to know where he had hidden it – as the first wave of Telmarines charged at them.

She became aware that Peter had said something to Caspian and realised that the scheme was being put into motion. She saw Caspian climb onto his horse and wait for Peter’s indication, she wished she had more time to take pleasure in the fact that they seemed to have put aside their differences for the moment and were working as a cohesive team.

When the Telmarine Calvary reached a specified position on the battlefield, Peter nodded to Caspian, who in turn rode off into the How to where the rest of their plan was waiting impatiently. Buffy turned her concentration in the direction of the soldiers riding towards them, tuning out Peter who was counting down and Susan who was – even from a distance – effortlessly heard barking orders to the archers.

Her slayer side was hankering for the exchange of blows, to experience the adrenaline rush, to show her rightful self and not have to keep secret her nature from anyone. However she knew that she would have to delay, that divergence from the strategy would obliterate any chance they might have of victory – no matter how slight that chance was.

And then it happened, completely as they had intended. The ground opened up and swallowed the Telmarine Calvary, allowing the archers to complete their task. She watched as the falling soldiers tried to claw their way out from the pit and the few of them that in fact managed it were speedily dispatched as Caspian and his Narnian troops emerged into the light and circled back around them – cutting off all means of escape.

The remainder of the Telmarine forces – a rather large remainder – started to press forward towards them and their base of operations. Peter surveyed them and then looked around at his own forces before calling for the draw back to the How.

As the Narnians started to withdraw the Telmarines began to unleash rocks using their trebuchets at the How. Hitting the stone construction, knocking down fragments which not only blocked the entry way but in point of fact killed some of the Narnians, crushing them underneath the rubble. After a momentary scare involving Susan, Peter called for the charge and led the way with his weapon drawn. Buffy simply followed anxious to get into the skirmish and be of use.

The encounter raged all around her and she revelled in it. She whirled; thrust and parried her way through at least a half dozen Telmarines before she had managed to even take a look around at the escalating situation. She pushed past it all – trepidation for her friends and allies… for Peter – and kept on fighting, all that existed was her and her enemy.

A Telmarine came out of nowhere and swung at her, stumbling forward and gaping as she flipped herself up into the air and sailed over his head before stabbing him and kicking his wounded body to the ground. Spinning around with poise, without missing a beat, she kicked another one out of her way and moved herself further into the multitude.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a group of Telmarine’s ganging up on Caspian and pushing him into the pit, but recognizing that the Prince was more than competent in defending himself she continued her own campaign. Pounding her way through the militia, she was feeling better than she had in months. Buffy roundhouse kicked an additional Telmarine out of her way; however this time instead of him simply flying through the air and crashing excruciatingly to the ground, something caught him mid-air.

It was an enormous tree root, which basically crushed the man and Buffy found herself powerless to do anything but look intently at the sight… until she was yet again targeted by another Telmarine soldier. As she was dispatching with the aggravation, she thought about what she had just witnessed. Lucy had told her that the trees used to dance – long ago – but she had one way or another forgotten to mention their ass-kicking capabilities.

From somewhere in close proximity, she heard Peter exclaim “For Aslan” and saw the greater part of the Narnian troops sprint past her position. However she did not join them, contented to circumvent – and play with – with a couple of Telmarines who were anxious not to be overpowered by a mere slip of a girl.

When she was done, she looked up to see the Telmarines were in complete withdrawal and like her companions she followed them through the wooded area, smelling the blood in the air – so to speak. They ended up at the river, the ford at which a few days earlier they had spotted them constructing the bridge.

She watched as the Telmarines started to traverse the river, several across the bridge and others daring to endure the river. They all abruptly paused and she was able to see that across the river on the opposite side of the bridge, Lucy stood, very much alone and armed only with a dagger. Within seconds a colossal lion – which Buffy could only presuppose was Aslan – joined the young girl’s side.

Turning her concentration to the leader of this rag-tag bunch of rabble, Sopespian, she saw as his expression changed from one of astonishment at the sight of Aslan to the customary one of Telmarine self-importance. When he called “Charge” to his remaining soldiers, she was forced to choke back a laugh at his foolhardiness.

His army had barely taken a couple of steps when Aslan roared, causing them all to immobilize once more in their tracks. Around them the water of the river began to perform extraordinarily, rising and falling and rippling as it rushed past them. All of a sudden a sizeable percentage shot straight up into the air and took the form of a man made of water – a River God.

The majority of the Telmarine soldiers ran and/or jumped for their lives at the glimpse of its imposing and yet fear-provoking form. All apart from for Sopespian and some of his dedicated followers, who idiotically stayed put in the centre of the bridge. The water being/River God tore the bridge from its moorings and lifted it far above the ground into the air, eradicating it of all but Sopespian.

The foolish idiot swung his sword at the being made out of water, as its mouth came down and closed over him – in a manner of speaking eating him alive. It was then that the remaining Telmarines surrendered to Caspian, the Narnians and to Aslan, not one of them prepared to share the providence of their leader.

As the Telmarines came out of the water, they each half-heartedly surrendered their weapons and were led away to a out of the ordinary holding place that one of the fauns thought up. No one really cared enough to ask him what it was, just as long as no one was treated appallingly. Buffy was supervising the weapon deposits, paying no attention to Peter’s request to come with him to meet Aslan.

Surreptitiously she watched as the four of them – Caspian, Susan, Peter and Edmund – knelt down in front of the lion. Aslan turned his head and looked in her direction and she speedily turned away. She was exceptionally ill at ease with the examination from the large lion and pretended to be much more interested in completing her current task.

Out of the blue she heard Edmund yell, “Buffy! Get yourself over here.”

She looked over at them again and noticed that this time they were all looking at her and Lucy was beckoning. She mumbled “Shit” under her breath and began to cross the river towards them. When she made it to the other side, she looked him in the eye and said, “You summoned?”

“in more ways than one,” Aslan greeted her. “Welcome to Narnia, Vampire Slayer. I trust that you have enjoyed your time here.”

Buffy blushed under Peter’s and Aslan’s gazes, “No one should enjoy war.”

“No... No one should,” Aslan agreed. “But sometimes out of the darkness comes a new ray of light.”

“And every now and then all that comes is more darkness, death and blood,” she replied.

No more words were exchanged because Reepicheep’s men marched up transporting their leader. Lucy rushed to the side of her mouse friend and gave him a droplet of her special cordial to heal his wounds and make him whole again. He jumped up and thanked Lucy abundantly, causing Buffy to tune him out.

Seeing her attention was diverted, Peter leaned over to her, “You know we have something to talk about…”

“Do we?”

“Buffy…”

She looked at him, “What?”

“Sometimes I just want to…”

Buffy turned her attention back to the others surrounding the lion in time to hear him ask Lucy about her DLF – and pay no heed to Peter’s incensed mumbling. Poor old Trumpkin looked frightened to death as he shuffled forward and bowed in deference to Aslan. The great lion roared, causing Trumpkin to shudder and Lucy to laugh cheerfully.

“Do you see him now?”

End Part

Lyrics:

Creed – What If