The time finally came, the time to travel North. The time to go to war.

All thrill for battle has vanished through the years. The expectation, the longing for a chance at glory, it's all over. Not out of desire but out of necessity I get on my horse, wave farewell to Lucy, and leave Cair Paravel.

Travelling with an army is a slow and boring endeavour, but with everything that needs to be transported (livestock, grain, weapons, tents, and other supplies), all the soldiers who walk on foot and all the stops we need to make, it takes us twice if not thrice the time it would have taken a single ridder to cover the distance.

As we make camp the fourth night at the height of the Great River, and before dinner is served, I take Peter aside to talk.

"I leave tomorrow," I state. The shadow of my departure looming since this morning. He does not want me to go alone, preoccupied I might run into trouble if I go unescorted by my assortment of guards, but right now what he wants does not matter. I have a job to do. And wether I want the job or not is irrelevant.

"I know," he does not look very happy about it. To be honest, neither am I. I would much rather stay with the army and take care of things at the muster, but somebody has to do this. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather send someone to inform him?" he asks, but he knows it is useless.

I scoff. "He barely listens to me, you think he'll listen to someone else? No, it has to be me,"

"Then I shall go with you," he says with a pained expression, taking my hands.

We addressed this when we started planning. and then again the day before we left the castle. We felt comfortable with the numbers we had, even if we were to be battling giants, but having an advantage would be nice. After all, even with all the planning, strategies, war machines, weapons and numbers, battling giants is no easy feat. So, it was agreed upon and established, once reaching this point of the journey, I would go West in the hopes of recruiting our fire-breathing ally and he'd continue East.

I shake my head at him kindly and place a hand on his cheek.

"You cannot. We've discussed this how many times? The army needs its leader, you need to stay," I move my hand down to his shoulder. "I will go and bring Firestream. I'll take one of the winged horses and be back before you even have a chance to miss me,"

"Not possible, I miss you already," He places his hands around my waist and so I place my hands around his neck and then we kiss for about one glorious minute.

"Too bad, I'm still going," I reply before going back to kiss him.

"I'm starting to think we could make do without him," he parts for a second before continuing his assault.

"Oh, I'm sure we could. But I'd rather be sure," I say between kisses, only this time I pull away before he can convince me to stay. "Come on, let's have dinner. I am starving and I'd rather get some sleep while I still can,"

He doesn't try to convince me again and the next morning, bright and early after having some breakfast, I mount my winged friend and ride off to the west, leaving behind Peter and the army and the safety they provide.

The sun was setting and the wind was growing colder when I gave another set of instructions to Firestream.

"Just up ahead!" I shout to him over the wind. "Past those mountains, to the left!" I instruct, looking at the distant peaks.

He sways left, soaring through a cold damp clouds, making me grateful for the leather armour I opted for. It is a lucky thing we're in the middle of summer, winter nights are painfully cold for flying on a dragon.

After settling the matter of me going to find Firestream, I left with my winged pal Dehlios early the next morning. Two nights later, for the winds were not in our favour, we had reached his mountain and, after some conversation, a few promises and something to eat, we got on our way to the muster the very next morning.

Firestream took less convincing this time. All I had to promise was someone to guard his treasure while he was off. That and some food for winter. A fair trade if you ask me. Two soldiers and some livestock in exchange for a dragon? I'd make that bargain any day.

As we approach the point of reunion when we fly over the town of New Castle (they lacked creativity with that one) of which Derrick was in charge of and lost to the Ettins. There I spot some light. Torches and large fires burning underneath our feet in the giant camp the Ettins had made for themselves in what remains of the once picturesque town. They're moving an awful lot, they must be dancing or something.

"How many do you reckon?" I shout to Firestream, who had begun to climb in altitude in an effort to hide behind the few clouds in the nightly sky as I stared at our foe.

"Two, maybe three dozens," Firestream replies once he is high enough. Dehlios struggling to keep up.

"Can you take them on?" I ask.

"Not without a distraction,"

Hmm, it seems like a perfectly good opportunity to me, they're just sitting there, eating dinner. If we could take care of them and retake New Castle, we'd be one step closer to cleaning out the North. But if Firestream says he can't do it on his own...

"Let's just get to camp. We'll figure out what to do then,"

Firestream obliges and begins the descent, however, as we emerge from the clouds I notice the giants are no longer moving around the fire but heading east and carrying their torches in the direction our camp is supposed to be located.

"Stop!" I shout and he abruptly heeds my command. I nearly lose hold of him. "There's something wrong,"

I look more carefully and make out the smaller dots of fire I missed the first time, as many as there are large ones, heading towards the wood and being pursued by the larger ones.

Narnians being chased by Ettins.

"Dehlios!" I shout to my other winged friend and he appears from my right. "Go to the camp and inform The King the Ettins are on the move,"

Dehlios nods and dives down rapidly, disappearing from my sight in search for our camp.

"Is this part of the plan?" Firestream asks.

"Not that I'm aware,"

"I'd say they're distracted. Shall I burn them?" he asks as the horde of Ettins gets half-way to the wood.

"Not yet," Narnians went into the Ettin encampment, perhaps this is part of Peter's plan. Lure them into the wood where they have less mobility and attack. We discussed such strategies back at Cair. If this is his plan, I'd hate to wreck it. Best to await further instructions. And, hey, if it's not part of the plan, we've already given him a heads up. If he needs help, he'll ask for it.

Wow, I've really come a long way. The old me would have agreed to the burning of our enemies without question.

It takes him a while, long enough for the giants to reach the edge of the wood, but, at last, Dehlios returns.

"The King has set a trap, lured them into the woods. Two battalions wait for them. He said not to interfere until you hear the bow of the horn three times," Dehlios says, panting.

"Very well, then we wait,"

High in the clouds, we cannot see what the plan consists of, but I'm assuming it's got something to do with the giant ballistae we order constructed.

Firestream lowers to flying just above the tree canopy and starts circling the area, like a bird of prey waiting for the wounded creature to die, while Dehlios circles in the other direction. Ever so faint screams and cries reach us, but as soon as they come they are gone, dampened by the bowing winds.

Time becomes unbearably slow as we wait for the moment to spring into action. If the trees were a little less thick, perhaps we'd be able to see something. It is not until the Ettins start fleeing that we hear the three blows.

"Charge!"

A considerably smaller number of giants exit the wood as Firestream, Dehlios and I give chase to them.

Firestream waits until they are a good distance away from the trees before raining in the fire. Chaos ensues amongst the already alarmed Ettins as they begin to catch fire. One by one they succumb to the flames, the smell of burning flesh attacking my sense of smell every time Firestream dives. Dehlios does his part as well, galloping on the Ettin's heads with such speed they can't even react properly before he's up in the air again and diving for another victim to trample.

One of the giants tries to come at Firestream from the side while my friend's busy burning the others and manages to destabilize him with a slap of his hand. The fire stops as Firestream bats his wings in an effort to stop himself from falling. The giant laughs as Firestream struggles and, before I can back down and before he can see it coming, I get up on the dragon, lance in hand. "First you burn him, then I kill him. Fling me on my signal and try not to burn me," I say to him and begin to climb up his back.

Climbing a destabilized dragon whose about to face a giant, easier said than done.

Firestream turns and spews fire on him as I reach the top of his head. Even though the fire is directed at him, I can feel the heat painfully on my skin. The giant raises an arm in an attempt to shield his face from the flames and, before he can see me coming and before I can change my mind, I begin running towards the fire and the giant.

"Now!" I shout at Firestream as I reach his nose.

The fire stops and he propells me through the air towards the giant, who, too preocupied with keeping himself alive, does not hear a thing. As soon as the fire is gone, the giant lowers his arm and opens his eyes, but it is too late.

Add Firestream propelling me to my running momentum and you have me jumping with speed and strength aiming for one of the giant's eyes. He does not see me coming until it's too late. Too slow to react and too confused to do anything, the giant only manages half a cry before I drive my lance through his eye and all the way into his brain. Dead in that instant, he begins to tumble. A fall from this height would be very painful, I must get off.

"Dehlios!"

I catch the pegasus's attention and, trusting he'll catch me, I jump off the giant's face.

I free fall for a couple of seconds before Dehlios gets to me. Oh, I am definitely over my fear of heights now. Once on his saddle, he soars back up triumphantly.

"Wait, my lance," I say, pointing to the weapon poking from the Ettin's eye.

He dives down and flies just low enough for me to retrieve it before soaring back up.

The burning, trampling and eye-stabbing continues all the way to New Castle until only a handful of Ettins remain alive, running for their lives and shrieking in terror.

Firestream roars and they cry a little more.

"Shall I go after them?" he asks. His voice strained and his flying now tired.

"Let them go and spread the tale of the mighty Firestream," I reply with a smile. Separating too much from the army is not a good idea. Even if we have won, I'd rather not push our luck.

"Mighty old," he huffs, but otherwise he seems pleased with himself and we fly back to the edge of the wood.

As soon as Dehlios lands the cheering begins.

"Well done, boys," I compliment the dragon and pat the pegasus on the neck before getting off the saddle and addressing the adoring crowd. I did not miss the carnage, but this, the adoration, it never gets old.

I scan the mass and spot Peter fairly easily, smiling and cheering like the rest. Humans stand out amongst this crowd. I smile and try not to look as if I'm enjoying myself too much as I make my way towards him. From the darkness behind him appears Derrick, arms crossed and nodding approvingly, and from Derrick's right... oh, you have got to be joking.

AND THAT'S IT FOR THIS CHAPTER! I'D SAY SOME BADASS GIANT-SLAYING WAS IN ORDER. WHO DO YOU THINK IMIRA SAW AT THE END? ALL QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.

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