The Heart Of Gold: Book 1 (A Narnia Fanfiction)

Chapter 18: Ashes.

Aslan along with Hamish and the girls  galloped towards the Witch's castle, now soft and melted. Ice had been falling from the decaying structures in the form of blobs.

Lucy swallowed in fear.

Aslan dug his claws into the dirt, tending his muscles while the kids behind him, braced for the impact.

All of a sudden, he leapt, sailing over the castle wall, causing the girls to scream.

                                          ***

Peter galloped at full speed, leading a wedge of centaurs against the now, disorganised black army.

Swords on both sides, met with a cacophonous 'clang!' as Peter's army fought against the witch's one.

Creatures of both sides fell and perished, but the deadly war continued. Anna and her team, kept on shooting arrows on the enemy, inflicting pain. She never missed. It was somehow one of her qualities. She often used her magic to enchant her bows to cause fire at a  particular place or break a piece of land, leading to fall of many minotaurs and dwarves on the witch's side.

The battle raged on with Peter's army having the upper hand.

From her vantage point, Anna could see the witch send in, her infantry. She signaled the rest of the archers, and immediately set the tip of their arrows on fire. They pulled their arrows and released them.

A hail of fire fell from the cliff towards the infantry, strafing it and cutting off the witch's troops.

Peter's army cheered.

But then, the Witch drove her chariot right through, disintegrating the fire. Her army poured in, with all its power, ferociously.

Peter's face blanched. There was no way they could face her whole army. They would definitely lose. So, he did the one thing he could try and do.

Run.

"Retreat to the rocks!!" He yelled, riding to safety, along with his troops.

On his way, he passed Oreius, who rode in the opposite direction, in full speed, towards the direction of the witch, herself, infracting Peter's strict orders.

He leapt over the polar bears, swinging at her. She ducked and with a thrust of her wand, he was turned into stone.

                                           ***

Hamish, Susan and Lucy rolled off Aslan's back and looked around. Luckily, the ground was still in one piece and a stone centaur stood in the middle.

"I don't think anything is broken." Susan touched the ground, checking for cracks.

Then she looked up to see, a giant towering her, and took a step back. It was turned to stone. Lucy looked mortified as she looked at the courtyard full of animals which had fallen victim to the witch.

Hamish looked at Aslan confused, "What are we doing?"

Aslan said nothing and walked upto the stone unicorn. He leaned forward and exhaled on its face.

A warm glow spread over the unicorn's body, moving across his frozen body like a fire.

The rest, gaped, astounded as all the  creatures which were turned to stone, beside them, came to life. The stone tiger on which Edmund had, rather carelessly, doodled glasses and a moustache, stretched itself awake. Nearby, two dogs giggled on seeing his face.

"What? What?" He asked, looking at them.

Aslan roared in the middle of the courtyard.

"Leave no corner unsearched! Today, all the prisoners of the witch go free!" He declared in a kingly manner.