It had been Lord Sopespian, one of Miraz's commanders. No one had shot him, he'd killed Miraz himself. But the Telmarine army had not been able to see that, and he just wanted to wipe out the Narnians. But the army had no knowledge of that, and soon they were being bombarded with huge stones thrown by huge catapults.

            "Peter! Edmund! We must go! Now!" Zola yelled. They weren't moving away from the thrown stones.

            And soon, the cavalry started galloping towards them.

            "Peter!" Zola yelled again to get his attention. He finally turned. "You'll get tramped if the cavalry arrives!" Caspian had already taken his seat on his horse and galloped inside alongside the centaur that stood next to him. Inside were the rest of the centaurs and a couple other Narnians. Most were already outside, though.

            Instead of moving, Peter started to count to ten, which only confused Zola. But when he got to ten, the ground beneath the horses started to dissolve. Zola knew the ruins were long, and that they were held up by pillars, but she had no idea they were that long. The three watched the cavalry come to an abrupt halt after dozens had already fallen down. Arrows whooshed past them and hit the soldiers who were trying to get up.

            Two horses came galloping from behind them. Edmund got on top of the chestnut–coloured one. Zola saw the familiar shiny black coating of the other one. Her lips formed into a smile. "Finley!" She jumped into the saddle, liking the familiar feel of her horse beneath her.

            Zola hadn't seen Finley since she left him on top of the hill. That felt like ages ago now. She thought Finley would be dead by now — either of hunger because he was lost in the forest, or shot dead by Telmarine soldiers who recognised him.

            Awaiting Peter's signal, Zola steadied her seat. She had always been an exceptional rider, and Finley has always been keen to work for her, only her. Peter raised his sword and yelled. "Charge!"

            Zola kindly asked Finley to gallop with her heels. She unsheathed her sword and charged towards the Telmarines. Caspian and the remaining Narnians arose from the other side. But the fighting hadn't been going in for long when peter yelled again. "Back to the How!"

            The Telmarines realised what they were doing. The catapults were now focused on the entrance, which collapsed moments before the Narnians could enter. The balcony, too, was being hit. A tree fell down, and almost took Susan with it, but Trumpkin caught her before she could fall. She hung from the balcony with only Trumpkin's hand to hold her. He let go of her and she could fall onto a rock merely two feet beneath her.

            The army had surrounded them, so the only way out was through.

            Again Zola had Finley galloping further. At a certain point, she could see from her peripheral vision Caspian, being crowded by three Telmarine soldiers. He was crawling back, but fell down into the hole in the ground.

           "Caspian!" Zola galloped to him as fast as she could. She jumped off of Finley to help him, seeing Lord Sopespian as standing over him with a harpoon. She was about to jump down to slash him with her sword when the roots of the ground sprouted forward, wrapping around him so tightly, his ribs must be broken.

            Caspian saw Zola sitting on the ground above him. He had no idea what happened either, apparently. Zola turned around. Her jaw dropped in disbelief when the trees were actually moving forward, their roots killing Telmarine soldiers. This must've been what Lucy had spoken of.

            A catapult shot a stone that hit a tree. The tree fell to the ground. Another tree, having gotten angry, shot a root so far forward that it destroyed the entire catapult. And that made the Narnians confident in defeating the Telmarines. They charged forward, but the Telmarines fell back into the woods. That forest led to a river, Zola knew.

            The two sides of the forest were connected by a bridge in the middle of the river. On top of that bridge stood Lucy when Zola got out of the forest. With a smile on her face, she unsheathed a small dagger. The commander turned around, but now the Narnians had surrounded them. Beside Lucy came a lion.

            Aslan.

            The soldiers fell silent seeing the lion. Zola saw Lord Sopespian's chest heave into a sigh before he regrouped himself into yelling. "Charge!"

            The soldiers were already hesitant in their charging when Aslan opened his mouth and roared. The river rippled as if listening to his command. The horses stopped and the soldiers that had been wading through the water were looking at each other to see if their fellow soldiers felt it too.

            Felt what, you might ask. Zola didn't know either. All the way from the end of the river, a small ripple started. It became bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until it was a tsunami bigger than Zola had ever seen — not that she'd seen many.

            From the tsunami came the form of a man of at least 20 feet high. The man had a long beard, and looked suspiciously much like Doctor Cornelius. The soldiers didn't know how fast to retreat. Despite them falling back, Zola did not move. The man made of water had captivated her eyes. This was the magic of Narnia she'd been reading about — the magic she'd believed to be dead.

            The man looked at Aslan for reassurance before taking place underneath the bridge. When he rose, he pulled the entire bridge along with him. Lord Sopespian was the only one left standing. The man morphed his brows into one tight knitted flow of water looking at him.

             The waterman made a plunge for it, disappearing into the water along with the bridge. The only way of knowing that what had just happened was real, were the pieces of wood floating in the river.

            While the Narnians had the remaining Telmarine soldiers taking off their weapons and armour. The Pevensies, Caspian and Zola swam to the other end of the river. Before Aslan, they all sank down on one knee.

            "Rise, kings, queens and princesses of Narnia," Edmund, Peter and Susan rose, but Caspian and Zola did not. They weren't Narnia's royalty, so they were not the ones having to rise. "All of them." Aslan added. Caspian and Zola gave each other a look of doubt. But Zola stood up. She supposed she must be the princess Aslan spoke of. Susan was a queen. And if Caspian was the king, she would be the princess.

            It was better that way. Zola did not suppose she would make for a great queen. But a princess's duties she could fulfil. Aslan must've known that.

            "I do not think I'm ready." Caspian confessed.

            "It's for that very reason I know you are." Aslan replied proudly. Caspian rose with his newfound title. It had a nice ring to it, Zola admitted. Caspian X, king of Narnia.

            Behind them, bagpipes came closer. Reepicheep and the other Talking Mice walked in between Peter and Susan's legs. Only Reepicheep wasn't walking, he lay on a stretcher. Zola felt something tug on her heartstrings at the thought of the mouse's death. Lucy ran forward, opening her small vial of curing potion. She dropped a single drop in his mouth.

            They waited a few seconds for a movement. "Oh!" The mouse exclaimed as he moved his head around. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you," His friend helped up from the stretcher. But when he stood upright again, he saw Aslan for the first time. "Oh! Hail, Aslan! It is a great honour to be in—" Reepicheep want to bend, but it appeared he'd lost his tail in the battle. And now, without it, he couldn't find his balance anymore. "I'm completely out of countenance. I must crave your indulgence for appearing in this unseemly fashion. Uh, perhaps a drop more?" He asked Lucy sheepishly.

            "I don't think it does that." Lucy said.

            "You could have a go."

            "Reepicheep." Zola warned him, but she found it to be quite funny, and that was audible in her voice.

            Aslan was amused, too. He laughed. "It becomes you well, small one."

            "All the same, great king," Reepicheep said. "I regret that I must withdraw, for a tail is the honour and glory of a mouse."

            "Perhaps you think too much of your honour, friend."

            Reepicheep started to ramble. "Well, it's not just the honour. It's also great for balance. And— And climbing. And grabbing things."

            A mouse said. "May it please Your High Majesty, we will not bear the shame of wearing an honour denied to our chief." All the mice held their tails up and were ready to cut them off if it were to come to that.

            Again, Aslan laughed. "Not for the sake of your dignity, but for the love of your people." Even before Reepicheep himself could see it, Zola saw his tail growing into the way it always had been.

            Reepicheep felt the familiar weight of his tail coming back. "Woah–oh! Look! Thank you, my liege. I will treasure it always," This time, he was able to bow without issues. "From this day forward it will serve as a great reminder of my huge humility."

            Laughing at Reepicheep's reaction, Aslan asked Lucy. "Now, where is this dear little friend you've told me so much about?"

            Trumpkin heard what he said, his eyes trailed over almost instantly. They didn't exactly appear grateful to be named this way, but he came anyway. He just stood there, staring. Zola gestured to him to get down on one knee, which he did immediately after. Aslan roared, and Trumpkin flinched at the sound that came out of him.

            "Do you see him now?" Lucy asked, slightly mocking.

            Zola laughed at Trumpkin's reaction. He didn't necessarily like it, but otherwise everyone laughed. Zola's laugh had always been contagious. It was one of her best qualities. When she looked at Aslan, and he looked at her, he nodded at her in gratitude. Zola bowed back, nodding, in that strange way of hers.

There's only one chapter left in Prince Caspian I am losing it ! That means we're at 50% of this fic, which also means that in about twice this many chapters, I'll have nothing to write about anymore (No, I won't do the Silver Chair) I'm going to miss it so much. I might even make a Caspian fic, just to stay in the Narnia world. Maybe make it interconnected with this one? Arranged marriage? Enemies to lovers?