Eternal || Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia) [2]

Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

POSTED 6/18/22

"Edmund, what did you just think of?"

Edmund winced at his sister's words, wishing that the ground would just swallow him up whole and he'd disappear from the face of the earth.

"Oh, I'm sorry," was all he could say as he ran to the edge of the ship.

With curiosity and anxiety creeping up on all of them, the rest of the crew did the same and looked out into the dark waters. At first, nobody saw anything. So, they were caught off guard when the Dawn Treader shook violently, throwing everyone off balance. Shrieks and yelps came from the crew, most of them falling onto the floor or having to hold onto the rails or nearby barrels to stay upright.

Caspian was one of the firsts to get up, immediately going back to the edge of the ship to get a better view of what had just hit them.

"Look!" he said. "What is that?"

Mary scrambled to her feet next, rushing to stand next to him. Despite the lack of sunlight, it wasn't hard to spot what he'd seen because it was huge: a scaly and spiky green creature that slithered by the surface of the water, another portion of its body peeking out every once in a while except for its head. Mary gulped when the realization that Edmund had just unintentionally conjured a massive and deadly sea serpent sunk in, and there was a chorus of curses from the crew when this dawned on them, too.

"Wait... Eustace," said Mary, mostly to herself. He was still a dragon — a giant, flying, fire-breathing dragon who could be of use in this battle. More than that, perhaps there was a way for her to get closer to this serpent and find a weak spot that they could target. There was hope.

However, Lord Rhoop had different thoughts as he said, "It's too late... it's too late!"

"It's gone under the boat!" a crew member noticed as the serpent's body went deeper into the water and closer to the ship.

"Archers, at the ready," Mary ordered. "Shoot the body first at my command, do you understand?"

The men, although afraid, nodded. While everyone else was busy either preparing their weapons or watching the serpent's movements, Mary sprinted up the stairs and to the head of the ship where Reepicheep was speaking to Eustace who was flying nearby.

"Come on, boy, we can do this!" the mouse was saying, climbing up to sit on his head.

"Mind if I, er, hitch a ride, too?" Mary asked. Eustace turned to her with wide eyes, letting out a growl of protest that she was sure translated to are you serious?

"Of course, Your Majesty!" Reepicheep was all for it. "But what will you do? We're in a bit of a rush to fight it, you see."

"I need to see if the serpent's got any weaknesses — maybe fire, or maybe it's got a vulnerable spot somewhere," Mary explained, trying to seem confident but failing horribly. "There's no better way to find out than flying closer to it, right?"

"I agree! It might be a bit more challenging for you to ride, but if you grab on tightly to one of Eustace's spines over here, you'll be fine!"

"Alright, I got it," Mary said, voice even cracking due to her nerves. She'd ridden a griffin once before and horses all the time, so this shouldn't be that different... right?

"Gael!" Lucy shouted just as Mary was about to get on the dragon's back. Mary spun around to see what was going on. Gael was on one side of the ship opposite to all the others, and right behind her, the serpent emerged from the water and revealed itself in its full form. It was a murky shade of green with blotches of purple here and there, had a head shaped similar to that of a sea horse, and sported enormous, beady eyes. And when it opened its mouth to let out an ear-piercing screech, they found that it was filled with rows of sharp, sword-like teeth.