༄ 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒙 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 (𝑽𝑫𝑻) ༄

Chapter 20: Battling the Great Serpent

The ramming forced the serpent's body to unwind from the ship. Now they had space to move around and men hurried to find some sort of weapon. As Ana searched for her bow, she noticed Edmund's unconscious form near the base of the mast. He must've fallen all the way from the top with hardly anything to stop his descent. Caspian was already by his side, but she rushed over for fear of him having serious injuries. Her weapon was forgotten.

Caspian shook Edmund a little, hoping to wake him. It took a few tries, but he did open his eyes. Both breathed a sigh of relief that he was alive. When Edmund tried to stand, Caspian helped him to his feet and helped to steady him. Though Ana was concerned about a potential concussion, she was glad he was up and moving.

Their reprieve was over, however, as the serpent returned. They hadn't killed it. The creature moved towards the boat again. It appeared to be very angry. Ana could see that its right eye was foggy, having been blinded in the fight. Whether it was from Eustace's fire or her arrow, it was hard to say. But then the serpent's body began to glow a yellowish-gold and split down the center into a cobra-like frill. Each side had several centipede-like legs with claws.

Edmund spun around, seemingly disoriented as he searched for the creature. Caspian had walked away, but Ana was still by his side when the serpent began searching for its next target. Shaking its centipede legs, it found the two of them. It stared Ana and Edmund down as if deciding which one it wanted. Just like in Ana's dream, it wanted to kill her. Both were now being targeted by the serpent.

Edmund stood rooted to the spot, almost entranced by it. Ana's gaze flicked from him to the serpent. She noticed the exact moment it decided to strike and started to push Edmund out of the way.

"Move!" Caspian shouted and something hard collided with her.

A moment later, Ana realized three bodies tumbled to the ground. Edmund was thrown the furthest, having been shoved by two people. Caspian was quick to move though, grabbing a blade and cutting off one of the serpent's legs. It screeched and moved off the deck, but didn't dive back into the water. They all watched as the leg quickly disintegrated into the mist.

"We can beat this," Caspian realized.

The serpent was a manifestation of a person's fear. The Green Mist simply fed off of it and made it seem stronger than it was. Like it was an actual living, breathing creature instead of something created by Edmund's mind. All three realized this and knew how to turn the battle in their favor.

The serpent pulled at the mast, trying to drag the ship into the sea.
"We have to get it closer!" Edmund announced, rising to his feet.
"All hands to the main deck!" Drinian commanded.
"Ready the harpoons!" Caspian ordered, also standing.
"I want everybody up here!" The Captain shouted to his men. In order to make this work, they would need everyone.

As the serpent continued to pull, Edmund swung on one of the broken ropes leading to the lookout tower. He climbed up what was left of the rope ladder and the crew scrambled across the deck. Ana went in search of her bow again as they armed themselves with harpoons. She found it buried under some pieces of wood and tattered pieces of canvas. She was only mildly surprised it was still intact. It was infused with magic after all.

Several of the crew had found the harpoons. While Ana might've been able to throw one of them, she doubted she'd be much help in pulling the creature. So she stayed out of the way as the men waited for their orders.

"Ready?" Caspian asked, ready to throw one of the harpoons.
"Aye sir!" someone answered.
"Now!"

The harpoons were released, embedding themselves in the serpent's chest. It screeched in pain and tried to wriggle away, pulling the ship with it. The Dawn Treader started to tilt on its port side a bit as the serpent resisted.