𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 ✯ 𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑒 ✓

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

Peter's gaze wandered over the courtyard one last time, paying special attention to the shadows beyond the archways that surrounded the courtyard but it was eerily silent.

'We go forth with the plan,' Peter said, his voice a bit louder than those of the girls as he gave the order.

While still keeping a keen eye on their surroundings, Edmund closed the secret door again and then the six of them sprinted over the courtyard, through a part of the castle, and down over the inconsistent levels of the cliff towards the stone bridge that led all the way over the gaping chasm. During the night, the sharp rocks at the bottom of it weren't visible but they were all too aware of the deadly fall as the bridge only had a low railing that reached till their knees.

Their hasted footsteps echoed through the darkness but the hollow sounds cut off as soon as they reached the closed, iron-wrought gate. Apart from only a key, it was also locked with a pair of metal bars resting horizontally in their stands at this side of the gate; making it unable to open as the vast metal blocked every possible movement.

With the three of them though, Peter, Edmund and Alexander managed to lift the metal bars out of their stands and they dropped it to the ground. Rosaleen and Lucy shot inside the guardroom next to the gate to retrieve the keys and even there, they weren't met with any resistance; only with the silence of an unoccupied room.

'This is going too easy,' Lucy said as her eyes nervously shot through the area while Rosaleen grabbed the keys that dangled near the window. In the far distance, beyond the dark glass, they could see the apple trees of the orchard and the black poplar trees of the forest in which the rest of their army hid.

'What if the Reflections knew we'd be coming and it's all a trap?' Lucy continued as they walked back onto the stone bridge.

'I agree with you, Lucy,' Rosaleen said, handing the keys over to Peter who opened the last lock of the gate. 'But we have to take back Cair Paravel, we cannot give up without even trying.'

The gate opened with an awfully high screech and Alexander released the messenger falcon that would fly towards King Lune, Seren and the rest of their troops, signalling that the gate was open. However, before the falcon could soar higher up into the air, the bird was shot out of the night sky with a silver beam of light that originated from behind the company.

They all whirled around on their heels as the falcon crashed down with a dying caw into the dark abyss. A shiver rolled down their spines as the Reflections stepped out of the shadows at the end of the bridge and in the window of one the watchtowers, Estrella appeared, overlooking everything from a safe distance.

The Reflections' skin had morphed perfectly together with the darkness until their muscles rolled under their dark scales and the silver colour flowed back into them. Their eyes glowed like the stars above as their mouths simultaneously dropped open in a menacing manner and their loud cries shot through the nightly air.

The bridge shook under the intensity of the cries and the humans at the other side of the bridge had to clasp their hands over their ears. Their eardrums threatened to rip apart as the pressure of the screeches on them built up and up, but Rosaleen sank to her knees with a gasp as well when the scars on her back scorched white-hot and Peter's hand shot towards his chest where he could feel the echo of the whip's burn.

Susan saw her friend collapsing from out of the corner of her eyes and she reacted just in time when at the end of the bridge, one of the Reflection's fingertips lit up like shining stars. A silver beam shot out of them and Susan pulled Rosaleen out of its course.

The beam crackled like lightning as it rocketed past them, right between the bars of the gate behind them until it collided with an apple tree. The tree erupted with an explosive roar of blue flames that turned orange as soon as they had engulfed all of the trunk, branches and leaves, and the stone bridge stopped shaking as the creatures cut off their torturing screeches.