The Call (Lucy/Caspian)

Chapter 21

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There were too many of them. Lucy had lost count of how many lives she had taken, and her entire body began to ache from the strenuous effort it took to stay alive. She had healed as many wounded as she could find, but it was not an effective method. Searching out wounded took time, and she realized that Caspian needed every working hand he could get. After reviving close to five hundred narnians, she pulled off of the healing task, and switched back to fighting. Lucy quickly glanced up to the sky overhead while plunging her bloody sword into an unarmored man's chest. She quickly thought of the distance the sun hung in, while easily killing three more men, and from the destination the sun was in the sky, it had been close to two hours since she had jumped off of her horse and had begun fighting. They were still holding ground, but it was by the skin of their teeth. Though Narnia was considered one of the smaller countries, they were known to be vicious and were very well trained for battle. But it was complete chaos, and it was only by the Lions mane that they had not all lost and died yet. Vartan was nowhere to be found, and when she had started started fighting again, Caspian warned her to stay close to him, making sure she would not be alone if she had to face him. With Caspian being so close, there were many times she and him had worked as a team to kill a number of men at once. Peter and Edmund stayed nearby as well, never getting further than fifty yards.
The supply of enemy soldiers seemed to never run out, and Lucy's entire body screamed as she constantly used every muscle to throw hard sword swings and to block opponents. She also clenched her muscles to keep her agile, opposed to being loose and flimsy. Her hope began to fade as her sword became harder and harder to hold and swing. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. She did know why she felt like this, however. In the Golden Age, she had been trained for full day battles, having built up enough endurance to where she could fight easily for hours, but now she had lived the past three years in England sitting around and studying. Even though her entire body screamed, she had to admit that she had missed gripping a shimmering sword hilt in her hand, the feel of a brisk ocean breeze against her skin, a little swordplay, and an unknown fate staring her in the face. She would not let her hope fade, everyone needed someone to be strong and positive, even when all hope seemed lost. But that still would not stop her from crying out in her mind.

    'Oh Aslan, I do not know how much longer we can hold them off.' Lucy found herself thinking as she crossed blades with yet another enemy. Every time she impacted her blade against her opponent, her entire body screamed in protest, she was too exhausted. She had to be careful though, the man she faced was well over six feet tall and as beefy as they come.

And I do not know how much longer I can endure this.

"What did you say?" Her opponent asked curiously with a smirk as he easily blocked off one of her swings. Had she spoken aloud? She silently scolded herself for giving her weakness away and blocked her opponents next strike to her chest, and it took everything she had, and then more. She knew she could not beat him with her strength, as faded as it was, so she decided on a new strategy, speed and agility. She knew she had the advantage at only five feet four inches and one hundred and thirty pounds, versus her opponent who had to weigh at least two hundred and fifty pounds. After barely blocking his blow to her chest, she struck her gore filled sword just below his left bicep, satisfied after hearing the vibrating ring metal displayed when impacting human flesh, and left a clean, a foot long, four inch deep gash. She waited for him to take the bait.
When he grunted and instinctively raised his hand and sword on his left arm in attempt to comfort it, Lucy struck again. She dove her blade straight through his elbow, one of the most sensitive places in the human body, and when he screamed in pain, she quickly silenced it by throwing her sword straight through his neck. It sickened her when she heard his neck bone completely snap from her blade, and his eyes bulged in consequence, and apparent shock was evident on his face. She quickly yanked the sword out of his beefy neck, and she walked away before she had to listen to him choking and gargling on his own blood. She turned away, expecting to see Caspian nearby easily fending off a number of enemy troops, but when she turned, she completely froze.
      Vartan had finally come out of hiding, and his only target was Caspian. They faced each other, Vartan grinning wickedly, and a dark unmistakeable anger evident in Caspian's expression. The air around them seemed icy and sharp as they prepared to fight each other to the death. Each armies continued to fight, but every mind was only on their leader and who he was facing.