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TWENTY - TWO | THE BATTLE COMMENCES

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THERE WAS A FIRE INSIDE ANGELINA MURPHY THAT WAS BURNING!

It was refusing to extinguish, the burning desire to fight in the bloodbath of Beruna engulfing her as she gripped her sword in her hand and charged into battle along her Narnian allies. The cries of anger were deafening as swords clashed against swords and cries of pain infiltrated the arena; it was so loud that Angelina could hardly hear her own grunts as she swung her sword through one of the Telmarines on the opposing side.

Had you told Angelina a month ago that she would be an active participant of bloodshed she would never have believed you.

Yet here she was fighting for her life, fighting for the freedom of her friends and family and avenging those who had fallen before her. And she hated to admit it but the more blood that she shed, the more foes that fell, the more hungry for blood Angelina became. It was sickening, a wicked grin taking over Angelinas face as she charged at another telmarine holding a bow and arrow that was aimed at Peter across the field, disarming him before plunging her sword through his heart and watching his body drop to the floor.

It was sickening, ghastly even but somehow it comforted the girl as if there was something within her feeding off the blood she shed. She couldn't be enjoying this, this shouldn't be fun to her. It was supposed to be sorrowful. Sorrowful but needed.

Nobody should enjoy a bloodbath.

Though for some reason, Angelina was.

A sign that Angelina was changing, though perhaps not for the better.

"Duck!"

Too caught up in her thoughts, Angelina almost failed to dodge the shield that had been thrown her way like a frisbee in the wind. She had been pulled towards someone, Angelina sighing in relief as her mind began to clear of the absurd thoughts that plagued her. Focusing on her surroundings, she turned to thank whoever saved her.

"Stay focused!" Peter shouted at her as a group of Telmarines began to surround the two, waiting for the right moment to strike. "We need to buy more time!"

"You trust me right?" Angelina asked the Magnificent King, Peter looking at the girl with confusion before nodding his head.

"Promise it wont result in our deaths?"

Angelina didn't answer.

In swift thinking Angelina, who stood back to back with Peter, quickly linked her arms with him while still back to back and screamed at him to spin. In confusion Peter dropped his sword and did so quickly, watching in distress as Angelina kicked her feet and smacked every single telmarine surrounding them in the face with force, resulting in them falling unconscious to the floor. Peter and Angelina shared a laugh, the thrill of the recklessness fulfilling them as they glanced at the unconscious ring around them.

"That was so crazy, I can't believe that worked!"

"Crazy!" Peter agreed as he hunched over and took a few seconds to catch his breath. "But brilliant!"

It was a surreal experience, the two who days ago could never get along with each other now were laughing like old friends reminiscing over old times. It was heart-warming to see, even if odd in the current circumstances for it was as if the world was healing again.

Peter had come to Narnia expecting everything to be as it was, to have everything handed to him on a silver platter and for Narnians to be at his feet worshipping him but really it had been farther from the truth. He had to work to be seen by the Narnians, to work to prove that he was in fact The High King from the Golden Age of Narnia and his intentions were good. Of course he made mistakes on the the way, large mistakes that weighed heavy on the Narnians, but he was only human. He couldn't be expected to be perfect. King or not he was entitled to be wrong on occasion.

And Peter was dead set that he was wrong about her.

His initial reaction had been that she was an angry, harmless maiden who could wield a bow. She was spiteful, sassy and honestly a pain in his behind that he needed to put in place immediately. Upon becoming aware of her condition he only began to resent her more, though perhaps for selfish reasons. He was sure that if he could rid of the enchantress, if he couple imprison and contain the threat that the Narnians would respect him and worship him again. But he was wrong, the Narnians would never do that.

Because Angelina was so much more than the 'warrior'.

The human girl was more than she initially looked. She was smart and funny, resourceful and considerate and she was kinder than anyone that Peter had ever known, even matching his younger sister in that retrospect. Above all she was resilient, compassionate and she would do anything to help anyone despite how mistreated she had been. But above all, something that Peter had noticed more than anything was that she never gave up.

Angelina always looked towards a better future and held hope.

He began to think that in some ways, Angelina would have been a better suit for the throne than Peter ever was.

Perhaps Aslan had been right in protecting her and Peter should have trusted the Great Lions judgement.

Picking his sword up quickly from the ground upon seeing a tree root start snatching weapons from the arena and throwing them back towards the Telmarines, Peter turned to Angelina and gave her a genuine smile. Despite a mere half an hour ago he'd been worried about dying at the hands of Miraz, Peter now had no regrets about anything that was about to take place. One of the most important parts about being a King was to trust, believe and protect your country from harm no matter the consequence on himself. He had fought many battles, many wars where he let his ego take over and thrived in the applause of his followers but after a while it all became about the applause and being the perfect King. Peter had forgotten the importance of seeing his own flaws and learning from them.

Maybe he forgot his spirit and that was the reason Aslan wouldn't show himself too him.

Peter was no longer the High King Aslan had wanted him to be.

But Peter was determined to change that!

"For Aslan!"

A roar of cheers erupted over the battlefield as the Narnians charged into battle, the pure magnitude of their army being strong enough to force the Telmarines to begin retreating towards Beruna so that they didn't get caught in the crossfire. Angelina tried not to count the amount of lifeless bodies that laid in her way as she followed the retreating Telmarines alongside the Narnian army. Though the fight excited her and something deep inside of her was enjoying all this, she also felt pity. So many soldiers laying down their lives, some willingly and some not. She remembered vividly hearing about the amount of men who used to get drafted into the Telmarine army by the tyrant Miraz after The Enchantress resurfaced ten years ago. Perhaps some of these men had no choice in the fight, needing purely to put food on their table or fighting in order to ensure they weren't killed for resisting.

The lives of these few would fall heavy on Angelinas conscience for the rest of her life, even if what she was doing was right.

Led by Sopespian, the Telmarine army continued to retreat towards the bride and starcrossing at the bottom of the hill. Some of them held fear in their eyes, some held determination but the vast majority still had anger pulsing through their veins at the reality of the situation. Regardless of whether they had surrender or not yet, the Telmarines had almost certainly lost. Without the Lord Protector ruling them, they were fighting blind. Even if Sopespian had initiated the fight, he was no ruler to them. Whether he lived or died made no difference to Miraz' army. All the cared about was their reputation. Were they to fall to the Narnian army then the whole of Telmar would be put to shame.

The army couldn't imagine that Aslan would be merciful.

"Halt!"

Sopespian stopped the army in their tracks as they stood at the start of the bridge, a single figure stood alone across the bay. She smiled sweetly before pulling out her dagger, the Young Pevensie girl holding her stance before the Great Lion stepped out behind her. Cheers erupted from the Narnian army, Angelina heart feeling full as she finally got to see the great Lion in person.

Of course she had met Aslan on occurrence when the Enchantress took over but seeing him in person was overwhelming for Angelina like meeting an old friend for the First time in forever. Everyone just stood to stare at Aslan, watching his mane move softly due to the wind, the Stoic seriousness that overtook his features and the fire within his eyes that burned. They were glaring at Sopespian, challenging him to charge although Angelina knew that'd be his last mistake.

Angelina just hoped Aslan would never give her that look, for that look alone would probably kill her.

But he didn't take the hint.

The Telmarine army charged towards Lucy and Aslan and Angelina thought she felt time slow. As the great lion roared the girl felt the fire within her extinguish, her arm burning in pain as she felt the energy leave her body. It was surreal, unexpected but suddenly she felt everything stop.

She could hear her laughter ringing in her ears, she could feel the darkness looming around her before consuming her being. Angelina tried to cry out but her mouth couldn't move, it was as if she was frozen in time and being held back by a force more powerful than her own. It frightened her too her core.

It couldn't be her.

For that Angelina was certain for her deal with Pandora had been set on stone and despite not trusting the Enchantress on most instances, she knew this wasn't just a trick to take over. This was different. It was as if there was something within her crying to get out, feeding on her fear and feeding on her blood until it consumed every part of Angelina. She had very suffered this way before and yet she was forced to suffer silently, telling herself in her head that everything would be okay even if she wasn't entirely sure.

That was until she lifted her arm.

Upon lifting her burning hand and arm time seemed to resume, Aslans roar filling her ears again as the water within the river began to act strangely. A faint green mist, almost unseen to the human eye, glowed around one of Angelina's fingers before a River god shot up from the river. It was new and exciting but equally frightening at the same time. Angelina felt as if she were trapped in a nightmare, shaking trembling, terrier, afraid and scared. Questions plagued her mind upon pulling her had behind her back, watching the mist disburse.

Had she done that?

Had she called upon the river god?

Was this a part of the deal?

Angelina didn't know the answers.

Amidst her mental battle the river-god lifted up the bridge and everyone watched in glee as the soldiers fell off. Sopespian stands alone on the bridge in the rivergod's hands, his hands trembling as he swung his sword wildly at he water before it came crashing down on him. As far as the Telmarines were aware it was over as they climbed out of the water, handing their swords to the Narnians.

Narnia was finally free again.

"Rise, Kings and Queens of Narnia. " Aslan finally spoke for the first time, the sound of his asserting voice bringing relief to Angelinas ears as she watched from afar as Peter, Susan and Edmund rose at her words. Caspian however stayed kneeled, his eyes trained on the ground below him as he refused to rise at the Great Lions words. "All of you."

"I do not think I am ready." Caspian replied as he kept his eyes trained on the ground.

"It's for that very reason I know that you are." Aslan replied, Caspian smiling as he rose from the ground and a sense of pride filled him. "Though I don't imagine you'll be doing things alone."

Caspian chuckled as he nodded and followed his gaze to Angelina, the young girl staying back in hopes of not interrupting the reunion of the Great rulers. As far as she was aware she had no business approaching the lion here, for she held little importance compared to the royals of Narnia and in her head she didn't deserve to be in Aslans presence.

"You may speak child!" Aslan assured her as he raised his paw and ushered her over, Angelina moving slowly though still keeping her hand behind her back.

"You're real!" Angelina muttered as she placed a hand on him, feeling a sense of home as she felt his soft mane slip through her fingers. "I almost thought I'd made you up!"

"Yes child, it is my honour to finally greet you face to face." Aslan replied as he bowed his head at her. "You have done me proud."

"I have so many questions."

"And there will be answers. Worry not," Aslan muttered to her. "there is still a little time to discuss them."

Angelina nodded as she stood back and joined the Pevensies and Caspian, a small smile settling on her face as she felt a familiar pair of arms ,evidently belonging to the Just King, wrap around her waist and she finally felt safe. Everything at that moment seemed perfect as for the every first time in her life Angelina felt normal.

Though Angelina was soon to learn that this normality wouldn't last forever.