School boy | Prince Caspian

04

After Otto was knighted, the group continued onwards inland. The dwarf, who had introduced himself as Trumpkin, leading the way.

They took the boat Edmund had taken from the soldiers and rowed up river. Peter and Otto did the rowing whilst Trunpkin explained what had been happening in the past hundreds of years. He told of the arrival of the telmarines and their conquering of Narnia. The current change in politics which had led the current prince to flee and join with the narnian people in a bid to take back his throne.

Otto thought that the whole thing sounded like one of those wild fantasy stories from the copy of grims fairytales that his mother would read to him as a young child. Those stories had always had a dark and twisted side to them. Betrayal, murder, revenge. He wondered which when the dark side of the story would turn up. "Are we aiming to join this prince and help him take back his throne?" He asked the Pevensies.

Peter huffed as he gave the oar a huge tug. "Yes. That was what we were summoned for, so that is what Aslan must want us to do".

"I miss Aslan", Lucy voiced softly from behind them.

After a few hours of rowing, Trumpkin gestured towards the forested bank. "Let's get out there. The cliff will be upon us soon and it's easier to walk along them and meet the army as they come round the pass". This seemed agreeable and Peter and Otto began to steer the boat towards the shore.

Trumpkin was out onto the pebbles first. Susan and Edmund jumping out to help him tie the boat to a nearby tree as Peter and Otto tucked the oars under the seats. The two oldest boys soon set their feet upon the pebbled shore and began helping to pull the boat more safely inland. Nobody noticed as Lucy began walking away from the group.

"Hello there", she called. Everyone turned to see who she was talking to. A large black bear was snuffling along the ground a short distance away. Otto frowned and quickly reached into the boat to grab his spear. He didn't know what it was like in Narnia, but most bears weren't friendly.

"It's alright", Lucy continued speaking as she approached the bear. "We're friends". The bear noticed her and grunted, standing up on its hind legs. Otto took a few steps away from the boat, spear gripped in his hands. The bear was a big one, easily twice Lucy's height but she didn't seem afraid.

Trumpkin looked up and froze. "Don't move your majesty!" He yelled. Lucy turned to look at him. The noise seemed to kickstart something in the bear. It fell back onto all four paws and began running towards Lucy.

"Lucy!" Susan screamed as she drew her bow. Lucy began running towards them but the bear was faster.

"Don't you touch her!" Susan called. Lucy shrieked as she tripped and fell. The bear gaining on her.

"Shoot! Susan shoot!" Edmund and Peter were yelling, too far away to do anything.

As the bear reared up with a roar, Lucy screamed. A arrow shrunk into its shoulder and the bear roared in pain. It threatened to swipe at Lucy with one massive claw when a spear sank into its chest and it slumped over onto the pebbles, dead. Whimpering, Lucy scrambled around the see who had saved her.

Susan was still standing there, arrow still notched. She turned to stare at Trunpkin. The dwarf was standing next to the boat, holding and empty bow in his grip. Everyone then turned their gazes to where Otto was stood, empty handed. He had thrown the spear like a Javelin and it had landed with a fearsome accuracy. If he had missed, he would have very likely struck Lucy. But his aim had been true and confident.

Quietly, he jogged over to where Lucy was lying and helped her to her feet. Once she was steady, Otto crossed to the corpse of the bear and pulled the spear out with some effort. He had to tug at it a few times before it came free. It was sticky with blood and he grimaced at it.