The High Queen Book Two

Chapter 16 - The Power of Narnia

"My dear, you've been through so much. Do you really think a little battle will end it all?" Aslan laughs at his daughter's Solum face. "You don't have long to act in order to save your people again. Once I'm gone, time will play on as normal." Tilly nods, hearing her father's words but not understanding why he's here. "You are the daughter of Narnia and have the power of Aslan and Jadis. Act like it!" He roars, taking the young Queen by surprise. He's never yelled at her before, but she heard his message. Loud and clear.

Opening her eyes again, Aslan is gone, but Tilly can feel the magic of Narnia return to her body, filling her up and coursing through her veins. As her people are about to reach the crumbling How Tilly opens her mouth at lets out a roar mighty enough to best Aslan.

"Stop!" Tilly bellows across the field, so loud those closest to her cover their ears in pain, and the Telmarines behind them fall to their knees. Every Narnian freezes dead in their tracks, almost as if their feet were glued to the ground, as the last of the large rocks bang into the How, destroying the entrance and making it impossible to enter and exit. Many soldiers on the ground, near the now sealed opening, glance at Tilly in thanks and gratitude for still having their lives. But it's not over yet, as Susan falls from her platform but luckily lands on the outcrop below unharmed; Edmund gallops over to his girl, reaching out his arm for her to grab and takes them back to the others.

"Where did that come from?" Peter asks, referring to the near roar Tilly let out.

"You'll see soon!" She yells, not having time to explain as Sopespian and his army march towards the group of five.

Lucy gallops fiercely deeper into the forest, still having a single guard on her back. She's tried to shake him, but the Telmarine soldier is stuck to her like glue. When all hope seems lost as the guard nips at her heels, when she plummets to the uneven ground below, a ferocious roar rings in the forest before a flurry of golden fury flies over the top of the fallen Queen talking to the Telmarine. Quickly dusting herself off as she stands, she frowns at the giant cat before quickly realising it's exactly who she's looking for.

"Aslan," She cries in joy, dashing forward and engulfing her little body in his large mane. The big cat chuckles deeply at the young Queen he saw so long ago. "I knew it was you, but the others didn't believe me," Lucy says solemnly.

"And why would that stop you from coming to me?" He questions, looking quizzically at the ashamed girl.

I'm sorry. I was too scared to come alone." She answers sadly. "Why wouldn't you show yourself? Why couldn't you come roaring in and save us like last time?"

"Things never happen the same way twice, dear one." The Great Lion answers the young girl who's lived more of a life than many ever will. The troubled girl bites her lip before asking the question plaguing her mind.

"If I'd come earlier, would everyone who died... could I have stopped that?" Aslan sighed heavily, not wanting to put much weight on a child but knowing she'd see straight through a lie.

"We can never know what would have happened, Lucy." He answers, letting the young Queens mind rest. "But what will happen is another matter entirely."

"You mean you'll help?"

"Of course. As will you," Aslan smiles kindly, but his toothy grin falters, seeing the doubt grow in Lucy's eyes.

"I wish I was braver."

"If you were any braver, you would be a lioness," Aslan says lightly, making her giggle. "Now, I think your friends have slept long enough, don't you?" Aslan roars into the sky; it's loud as thunder and echoes through the awakening trees.

The Narnians fight tooth and nail against the Telmarines, but no matter how many they seem to sleigh, more keep coming. Waves of them descend on the battlefield, marching towards Tilly and Edmund. The King takes care of the soldiers surrounding him while Tilly feels a great power awaken inside her. Narnia. Looking at Ed, Tilly draws her second sword with a snowflake on it; now wielding both swords, Tilly sprints forward to the approaching army, confusing and terrifying not only her boyfriend but everyone around her. Pointing the tip of her icy sword out in front, the end barely touches the shield of the first soldier, but that's all it takes for the whole wave to turn to stone. Smiling to herself, Tilly yells out, stabbing her sword with a lion on the hilt into the ground beneath her feet, and suddenly it starts to rumble gently under the roots and trees, fighting back against the Telmarine men. Pulling her sword from the dirt, the soldier fled back towards Sopespian, who was awestruck and horrified at this new development.

"Narnia!" She bellows, talking to the land, aiming her sword toward the evil man glaring her down, and it follows its Queen's orders, attacking the men and taking down the catapults. Sopespian shudders as his army crumbles and chooses to take the fight to the river.

"To Beruna!" He commands, rushing away on his horse, but Tilly spots him. As Peter cries out for Aslan, taking their army on the attack, Tilly holds her hand to the ground, and a root pops up.

"Take me to him." She commands the land, and it follows through, quickly carrying her across the field, trampling Telmarines everywhere, until they reach the edge of the water, where it places the High Queen on her feet, leaving the rest up to her.

Tilly stands between both armies, protecting her people as Lucy and Aslan appear on the other side of the bridge. Sopespian glances back between both sides, weighing his options before deciding the lion and little girl would be the easiest to handle.

"Charge!" He and hundreds of his men run across the bridge or into the water, swords raised, ready to attack when living an almighty roar; Aslan shakes the land, ripples the water, and freezes the man in their places. The river water pulls away, gathering at one end, slowly creating a water creature, terrifying the leftover Telmarines into rushing back to shore and surrendering their weapons. Soon enough, Sopespian is the last one on the bridge, and many choose to take their chance in the water than before the mighty water giant.

"Sopespian!" Tilly shrieks as she follows after the Lord onto the bridge, despite the River God fast approaching and the protests of her family and friends.

"Come to finish me off?" He goads.

"Well, you all did such a bad job at killing me; I thought I'd show you how it's done!" She screams, swinging her sword at the Lord, knocking him off his horse. Tilly grabs the reins and pushes the horse to stand with the Narnians.

"I can see the fear in your heart at facing me, High Queen." Sopespian mocks harshly, but the young girl only shakes her head.

"I'm not afraid of you. Nor am I plagued by what you did to me!" While it was a lie, the Lord had no way of knowing that. "You failed Sopespian, and now you will die." The frightened Lord looks around, seeing he has no time left to escape, but that means neither does the Queen, so he smirks evilly.

"If I'm dying, I'm taking you with me!" He shouts, seeing the giant water monster tower over them. Tilly looks into the eyes of the River God, and he nods his head in respect to the Queen, and she does the same back. She is a part of Narnia, and it is a part of her.

"The difference here, Sopespian, is that I'm a Narnian. And not only that, but I am the Daughter of Narnia. So, it won't hurt me," she mutters as the water god cries out, engulfing the two in his mouth before dissipating into the choppy water, which carries off the remanence of the bridge.

"Tilly!" Edmund cries, looking into the water but doesn't see her girlfriend, as do the rest of his family, but quickly they realise Aslan is with them and can help. Rushing to look up at the Great Lion, they nearly miss the blonde girl walking out of the water beside the golden cat, not a single spot of her wet.

How the mystery of the Daughter of Narnia shall live on forever beside the name of the Great Lion Aslan.