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⚔️Sea Serpent Attack⚔️
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"A—a sea serpent!" One of the crew cried as the crowd trembled in trepidation.
The gigantic reptile extended its neck, snarling at the little girl cowering in fear. Lucy sprinted to Gael, urging her to flee as the crew positioned their arrows and aimed at it. Before they could launch their attack, a roar interrupted their course of action.
"Eustace!" Charlotte cheered, watching the dragon glide over their heads.
Together, Eustace and Reepicheep unleashed their wrath. Eustace set his incandescent flames on the creature, as Reepicheep pierced his tiny blade through its snout. Unfortunately, they had underestimated the serpent's strength when it hurled Reepicheep away with ease, leaving an isolated Eustace up against the creature of ineffable terror.
"Eustace, hold on!" Reepicheep urged Eustace who clung onto the serpent's swinging head.
With a final swing of the serpent's head, Eustace was flung against a boulder. Eustace roared in anguish, his body going limp from its impact. He met Charlotte's gaze, among all the crew members onboard.
"Get up, Eustace! You've got to get up!"
In that moment, a sudden sensation surged in Eustace's racing heart. The adrenaline rushed through his vessels, igniting his fortitude and desire to emerge victorious. He turned to the beast which towered over him, and tenaciously set the serpent ablaze once more. The serpent screeched as its snout burned with flames, and dived into the waters.
Everyone onboard cheered for Eustace, and he weakly smiled in response. He attempted to lift himself, but in vain, causing Charlotte's smile to drop. "He's injured, we have to help him!"
"Out, creature!" Lord Rhoop bellowed, tossing his sword with a precise aim.
"No! The sword!" Caspian cried out. "My Lord, he fights for us!"
The sword pierced through Eustace's scaly skin, and he roared in agony. The man then reached for the dagger of Queen Jillian hanging by Caspian's waist, contumacious against his claims.
"No— Stop hurting him!" Charlotte reached for the weapon, only to miss its tip by a mere inch.
"Eustace, look out!" Edmund warned, but his attempts were in vain. With another dagger to his back, Eustace flapped his wings, frantically making his escape.
"Eustace!" Lucy cried out. "No, come back!"
"You ninny!" Edmund castigated the man. "You've just lost us our mightiest warrior!"
"We're all doomed, doomed!" Lord Rhoop hollered hysterically, oblivious to Edmund's vitriolic insult. "Turn this ship about!"
Driven by insanity, he shoved others out of his path, knocking them into barrels and crates impetuously. Like a patient from an asylum, he prattled on to himself unsteadily as he staggered towards the steering wheel.
"Stop him! Someone stop him!" Caspian urged the onlooking crew.
The ship rumbled as it swayed irregularly. Everyone on board lost their balances, tumbling all over the main deck. Drinian then marched forward and landed a blow straight at the feeble man's face, trapping him in his darkness.
"Aft crew!" He barked incisively. "To your rowing positions! Oars at double speed!"
The crew immediately scrambled about the vessel like frantic ants, racing to their positions. Time slipped through their fingers like sand, as they scurried to steer the vessel towards their escape route. Reepicheep barked at the crew to put all their backs into rowing, urging them to keep going as their lives depended on it.
Charlotte aided the crew members to their feet, when a stentorian screech haunted her ears. She whipped her head towards the obstreperous sonance, and her face went pale. The serpent's swift swimming motions approached the ship with every passing second, splashing through the waters with all its strength.
"It's gaining on us!" Charlotte warned the crew. "Lucy, we need to get Gael to safety! Now!"
The serpent leapt over the vessel, wrecking its structures. The vessel erupted with tumultuous splashes, almost suffocating the seamen.
Lucy immediately grabbed Gael's hand, leading her indoors in a hurry as Charlotte followed suit. The Queens burst into the artefacts room, and Charlotte immediately headed for the crossbow of Queen Audrey.
"You must stay here, until someone comes and gets you!" Lucy instructed the young girl, before she grabbed Queen Susan's bow and arrows.
The girls sped towards the main deck, horrified at the scene before them. The serpent had its body coiled around the vessel, sending a variety of seamen sliding across the floors. Caspian hijacked the wheel, as his eyes desperately scanned their surroundings. He caught sight of sharp rocks ahead of the ship, prompting a possible solution.
"Ed! Ed! We ram the serpent, smash him on the rocks!"
"Steer her to port! I'll keep it on the prow! Char!" Edmund gestured with his head. "Cover me!"
Charlotte positioned her crossbow, shielding Edmund from the attacks. Together, they manoeuvred through the chaotic crew and rolling crates and barrels. Once Edmund cautiously steadied his balance, he shone his torch, capturing the serpent's attention. The sea creature was lured towards the rays, positioned right where they targeted it.
"Try and kill me, come on, you incompetent twit!" Edmund provoked the creature, with his sword out. "Come on, I'm here!"
The creature revealed its fangs, and immediately attacked the dragon's head, damaging its structures. Edmund leaned back, steering clear of its teeth, as Lucy and Caspian cried out for him.
Charlotte immediately raised her crossbow, firing at the serpent in tears. The serpent screeched as her arrows penetrated its abdomen, yet writhed them off with ease. She paused when she heard Edmund's voice taunting the creature once more, her tears speaking of overwhelming joy that he was alive.
"I'm still here!"
Lucy then aimed and let an arrow loose, which pierced the serpent's eye. It shrieked in agony, losing its senses momentarily as it landed at their most ideal targeted angle.
"Brace yourselves!" Caspian warned, as the ship collided with the creature, enmeshing it against the rocks.
Edmund tumbled onto the main deck of the ship, grunting as he landed on the hard floors. Caspian rushed to his aid, pulling him to his feet.
The serpent manoeuvred around the vessel in an indignant search of the culprit who provoked it. Edmund stood frozen the moment their gazes found each other. It locked its functional eye on Edmund, its pupil constricting as it inspected his identity. A lightning streak struck from the cumulonimbus clouds, enabling the serpent a crystal clear view of his features. Caspian's eyes darted between them, before shortly predicting the danger before him.
"Move!" Caspian shoved Edmund out of its way, as it dived towards the ship. He immediately grabbed his sword and sliced a piece of the serpent's skin. The serpent shrieked in anguish, and retaliated by attacking the mast of the vessel.
"Caspian!" Charlotte pointed out hastily, catching the two Kings' attention. They watched the serpent's skin sublime into thin green mists, gradually disintegrating.
"We can beat this," Caspian suggested with reignited optimism. "It's nothing more than mists when it's dead."
"We have to get it closer," Edmund proposed astutely, immediately springing on his feet. "Lead it to me, at the top, away from everyone's safety. I'll slay it there."
"All hands to the main deck!" Drinian ordered immediately at the Just King's proposal.
"Ready the harpoons!" Caspian added, turning to Edmund. "Be careful, Ed."
"I will."
"Wait, Ed, I'll come with!" Charlotte trailed after him as they all dispersed.
"No, Char," Edmund halted her with his palm, "Cass needs all the help he can get down here."
"You can't go up there alone! It almost killed you once!" Charlotte insisted, dissuading him against his proposed task. "You've gone mad! Even Reep didn't stand a chance against it!"
"A risk I'm willing to take to protect my family," Edmund's pertinacious words kept him marching onward without meeting her eyes.
Charlotte shook her head, repudiating his adamance. It was, perhaps, another attempt yet at proving himself laudable, just like his attempt at enlistment back on Earth.
"Then who'll protect you?" She questioned rhetorically. "Your family needs you!"
"I'm well aware of that, I know what I'm doing," he dismissed, increasingly petulant with her persistence.
"Do you really?" Charlotte pestered him, planting herself in his path.
"Bloody hell, we're in a sinking ship running out of time, this is hardly the time to argue!" He shoved his way past her shoulder.
"Then let me help you!"
"I can't lose you, Char!" He chided her with a stricter tone, barely glancing over his shoulder. "Or Cass or Lu! Who knows how long Eustace can survive out th—"
She forcefully yanked on his armour, restraining him efficaciously.
"I can't lose you either!"
Edmund paused, forced to meet Charlotte's lachrymose eyes. He sighed, his vexation disintegrating as soon as he focused on her. He tucked the wet strands of her locks behind her ear, keen to capture a final full view of her comely features. His fingers softly grazed past her cheek, gently pulling her face closer.
"Better me than you," he insisted, planting a soft kiss on her forehead, "no matter what happens, know that you've always been the only Queen for me, Charlotte."
Seeing that she was too dumbfounded by his intimate gesture to respond, he bolted and leapt off the ship. Grabbing onto a rope, he swung and began his ascent.
Charlotte blinked back her tears, begrudgingly aligning her crossbow with Caspian and Lucy.
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Meanwhile, Eustace glided through the nebulous clouds as he bled profusely. He forced his eyes open against his heavy eyelids, in fear of succumbing to his injuries if he ever let them shut. Upon his arrival on a vacant shore, he gave way to his exhaustion. His weakened wings drooped to his sides, weighing him down.
Soft paws treaded through the sand from his peripheral vision. He caught a glimpse of a lion standing a few metres away. It dawned on Eustace in a split second that he was in the presence of the great Aslan — the same entity whom his cousins and friends had been mentioning throughout their voyage. Perturbation rose in him, not of being eaten by it, but of it.
Eustace then scratched away at his dragon skin, but his claws failed to liberate him from the chains within. Aslan was silent, watching him struggle with his inner turmoil. After several failed attempts, Eustace ceased fighting his circumstances, cognisant that he was powerless.
Aslan put his claws forward, clawing once at the sand. With a single scratch, Eustace's skin was torn with scratch marks. He roared in pain, only to find that the pain was alleviated soon after. Aslan repeated his action, and Eustace winced, yet again sensing relief in the aftermath. Over time, his energy depleted, sending him into unconsciousness.
What felt like minutes later, Eustace's eyes fluttered open in a strange land. His head spun from the bizarre dream, and he hoisted himself up, startled as he gazed upon his human hands. He examined his ribs and his back, baffled that his injuries had miraculously vanished.
No, it couldn't've been a dream.
He noticed the sword of Lord Rhoop lying by his side, and the dagger of Queen Jillian. He grabbed the two weapons and surveyed his surroundings, recalling Edmund's words on completing their quest.
"I'll make you proud, cousin," he murmured to himself, "for Narnia, and for Aslan."
He embarked on his search for Aslan's table, his mind filled with distress for his family and friends who were up against a gigantic creature on an island with no escape. Walking soon turned into jogging, and then into sprinting. When pressed for time in resolving a malediction, even precious minutes felt like hours wasted.
"Aslan, you could show me the right path at a time like this," he huffed in desperation, "I could really use some guidance here."
He raised his arm, fleetingly blinded by the sun's rays, as he witnessed a certain pathway outlined by the streaks of lights. He stared at the miraculous phenomenon unfolding before him, bewildered at the fact that Aslan did hear his pleas and responded in the most subtle way possible.
He immediately followed the route, and not long after, he caught sight of a table with the six Narnian swords laid on it in the middle. He slowed down, examining its contents. Before he could place the sword, a splash of belching green mists surrounded him. Voices of his past self echoed in his mind, drowning his focus.
What are you doing? It's not real!
Give up, Eustace!
Stop this fairytale nonsense!
"No!" He refuted, utilising the sword and dagger in slicing the mists. "Aslan's conveyed the truth to me!"
He marched onwards, pushing on resiliently through the mists. He could not let his family, or Caspian, or Charlotte, or Reepicheep down. They'd been through so much on their adventure together for him to simply abandon them in their darkest moments. His arm reached forward, striving with all his might to break through the arduous barriers of the mists.
Just a little further...
*****
A/N: Omg we're left with 5 chapters + Epilogue 🥹
Honestly, so much is happening in this final battle that I ended up splitting them into 2 chapters 💀