13

A TRUE SACRIFICE

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Alex didn't even watch as Jadis took down two griffins that tried to attack her, one with her sword and another with her wand which sent the stone beast into the ground and break into a pile of rubble. Instead, the knight continued to kick, hit or even slash using her axe at anyone who ran her way and ignored the Witch's orders not to harm her.

The girl was so caught up in the battle that she hadn't realised how close Edmund was until Peter started to shout over at him, "Edmund! There's too many! Get out of here! Get the girls and get them home!"

"Peter!" Alex shouted as another minotaur ran his way with his blade ready to attack the unsuspecting boy, instead, the beast was met with the blade of her axe. It still wasn't enough to take him down, so Peter was left to deal with the consequences as Alex set eyes on a much bigger opponent.

The White Witch herself.

"I have been waiting years for this moment," Alexandra shouted over the noise of destruction at Jadis as she neared her, blood still dripping from her shoulder and leaking through the plates in her armour, "For the split second that I could finally think for myself! And now that I can, I'm taking you down with me."

Jadis just smiled and raised her weapon, not expecting that the girl would actually fight back. But she did. Alex fought with every ounce of anger and frustration that she had been saving up for the past 98 years under her reign.

"How did you break the bond, child?" the ruler as she blocked an attack from the smaller girl.

"There's only one thing that can melt ice," there was another slash of the blade as she attempted to shatter the crystal wand, "Fire."

The Witch audibly snarled and used the wand to hit the girl's leg from out beneath her, "I think you forget, child, that I am the Queen and you..." a wicked grin spread out on her face, "Are nothing."

The very tip of the wand pressed against the armour that covered Alex's chest. It was the same thing that she had done all those years ago. The blue magic poured out of the weapon and started to spread over the rest of the armour, encasing it in pure Regal power. But taking in too much too quickly was everything but good. It was lethal.

A loud scream cut through the air and caught much attention, especially Peter's. As the girl continued to cry in pain whilst the Witch moved on to continue her pursuit of killing the oldest Pevensie.

As Alex finally stood to her feet, pulling off her metal armour in the process so she could move more freely in her body. She could already feel the ice from the wand start to stiffen within her, freezing her bones and muscles turn her into a statue. She briefly pictured herself, as a stone statue, in Jadis' castle.

"Edmund, no!" she yelled out as she witnessed the Pevensie boy jump down with a battle cry to catch Jadis' attention.

As the woman faced the dark-haired boy, she thrust the crystal wand forward. But she missed. Edmund twisted his boy and raised his weapon one more time before slashing it down with every inch of might in his body; successfully shattering the crystal form.

And just like that, 98 years of Alexandra's life had been reversed. The years she spent under the Witch's spell had come to an end, she was her own person after so long of being this lifeless person that she didn't recognise. An audible gasp left her lips, a happy one, as she felt something within her change. There was finally freedom. All the pain from the Regal magic seemed to subdue as she focused all her attention on Edmund who looked just as surprised as everyone else.

Alex should have known what would happen next. It was the same thing that had been happening to her for her whole lifetime in Narnia. She should have remembered that with a win, there was a loss.

The White Witch propelled the tip of the blade into Edmund's stomach and brought the boy to his knees with a groan.

"Edmund!" Peter and Alex cried out at the same time as they watched the boy fall to the ground, tears in their eyes.

But if they wanted to avenge their fallen friend, they needed to fight. Peter ran towards the Witch, much to Alexandra's dismay, as the girl opened her palm and let the axe fly into her hand before turning to her friend. Alex managed to run to the wounded boy's side and kneel next to his injured body, even hearing his winces and cries.

"Edmund?" her voice tremored as she felt her glare switch between the boy in her arms and the one taking on the Witch.

"You need t-to," he winced out loudly as all of their attention was directed to the cliffside as a rumbling was felt below them and a loud roaring was heard.

Aslan let one more mightly roar leave his lips as the second wave of Peter's army behind him, the ones that he had saved from the Ice Castle with his roar, behind the two Pevensie girls at the front. They overlooked the sea of fallen soldiers in shock but also with hope. They were there to help and that was what they were going to do; even if they died in the process.

"They aren't gonna make it in time," Edmund whispered out as the blood started to rise into the back of his throat and turn his words into laboured coughs, "Y-you need to do it and you need to do it now, I don't know what you have planned but it will work."

"It has to work," she smiled down to him and kissed the top of his head, "Hang in there until your sisters can make it. It was nice knowing you, Edmund Pevensie."

Edmund's brows knitted together in confusion as he pieced it all together, but it was all too late. Alexandra Dawson's plan was already in motion and nothing, not even her own will, could stop her.

Her eyes softened as Peter let out a cry of pain with a sword now holding him into the ground that he lay on. She looked up to see Aslan only halfway down the side of the cliff and there was no way that he would be able to make it in time before the Queen plunged her second weapon into the boy's chest.

With a deep breath, she took the future, and her life, into her own hands.

The white-haired girl let the sword that she took from the grass and punctured her own stomach. A pained cry left her lips, it echoed on the White Witches lips, too. The Witch stumbled back from Peter and dropped her own weapon as she watched Aslan near her and finally tackle her backwards so she couldn't inflict any more harm.

The lion knew that if he finished of the sorceress then he would also finish off Alexandra and he couldn't do that. He couldn't shorten an already shortening life, not when she had made the ultimate sacrife. Instead, he was going to hold down Jadis until he could see the life leave her eyes.

Peter felt as if the world around him was moving too fast for him to focus but he was sure that he heard Aslan, "It is finished."

"Peter!" his two sisters cried as they wrapped him in a tight hug until they noticed something missing, or more specifically someone.

"Where's Edmund?" Susan nearly felt tears spring to her eyes as the worst thought possible dawned over her stiff figure.

Peter turned and ran to where he last saw his brother's body amongst the granite and grass as he still gasped for air despite his life-threatening wound. However, that wasn't all. Ginarrbrik stood over their brother with a much smaller axe to finish what his leader had started.

"Edmund!" Susan screamed as she prepared an arrow on her bow, watching as it would glide through the air with a whistle before hitting the dwarf in the chest and sending him backwards.

The three Pevensie siblings sprinted to their brother; Susan took Edmund's head into her lap and unbuckled his helmet, Lucy prepared her cordial and Peter looked down with guilt covering his face.

The youngest of the four placed a single drop of her healing cordial to her dying brother's lips in hopes that even the simplest of gifts could scare off death. And against all odds, even after his whole body had gone rigid, the boy started to cough and breathe once more. Peter pulled his younger sibling into a tight hug as Edmund tried to grasp what had happened.

Peter had never been so thankful to see his brother in his life. In fact, he had no idea what would've happened if his brother had died; how he would tell his mother, be there for his sisters but even how he would live the rest of his life without his brother.

"When are you finally going to learn to do as you're told?" Peter laughed out with tears in his eyes.

"Where's Alex?" were the first words to leave Edmund's lips after his deep breaths of life, then it dawned on him.

Peter had seen the girl recently, but in battle, things can change within a second. The Witch no longer plagued the land, but none of them even thought to question why. It all had happened so quick and after witnessing his brother getting fatally wounded, his mind was purely occupied by troubled thoughts of losing another relative.

"The Witch-" he breathed out before jumping to his feet where he was joined by all three of his siblings on the hunt for the girl that he so desperately wanted to see. No the girl that he needed to see. The four Pevensie's ran through the series of rocks and bodies until they saw a group of Narnian's surrounding something, maybe even someone, within the rocks.

They started to run.

"T-Tell-" she whimpered out as the blood started to fill her mouth and run down her cheek, Mr Tumnus caressed her hair to comfort her in her final moments, "T-Tell-" her coughs cut her off with pained cries as her chest rapidly fell up and down, "T-Tell Peter that I-"

A wheeze of a final breath left her bloodied lips. Out of respect, Tumnus closed her eyes that stared at the sky above them lifelessly.

And just like that, she was gone.

"Alex!" Peter cried as the Narnians moved out of his way. Instantly he was at her side where he had to take in the view of her pale frame, bloodied body and her overall inanimate state. His gloved hand went out to touch her skin that still held some sort of warmth, "Alex?"

Susan brushed her hazel locks behind her ears before kneeling on the other side on the girl where her fingers pressed gently to her neck as if the girl would crumble under her touch. Edmund and Lucy now stood behind Peter where they watched the scene unfold.

Susan pulled her fingers away from the lifeless girl's neck after looking for a pulse. There was hesitation before the Pevensie looked up to her older brother. "She's gone," Susan sobbed.

"No-" he muttered and gripped onto Alex's hand and looked for himself to try and find a pulse on her wrist but he couldn't. There wasn't one.

All four children and whatever remained of their army around them stared at the deceased body of Alexandra Dawson to pay their respects to the fallen fighter. It was tragic. Alex had spent all her years thinking that she wouldn't be of use to the cause of defeating the White Witch, but in the end, she had been the one to take her down at the expense of her own life.

His finger slipped past her wrist as he started to hold her hand and hold it to his lips, pressing one final kiss to her bruised knuckles before she was gone forever. Beside him, his three siblings sobbed between them. But none of them felt for Alex the way that Peter did, not even close. They were too young to love, but it was the closest thing to it.

"Peter-" Lucy whimpered and wiped her eyes as she stared down at Alex in shock as they all stood witness to a miracle, a true miracle.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

I've had this chapter written for weeks