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P E T E R
"He was my best mate!" I hear Mr Beaver cry as we exited the tunnel.
I stare in shock at the creatures scattered over the ground, turned to stone.
"What happened here?" I asked.
"This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch." An unfamiliar voice spoke.
Mrs Beaver lets out a scream in shock at the sight of a Fox that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, standing on the rocks.
"Take one more step, traitor. And I'll chew you to splinters!" Mr Beaver threatens as his Wife tries to hold him back.
"Relax!" The Fox says, unfazed as he leaps off the rocks, "I'm one of the good guys."
"Yeah? Well, you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones." The Beaver accuses.
The Fox lets out a sigh, "An unfortunate family resemblance." He explains, "But we can argue breeding later. Right now, we have to move."
The distant howls of the wolves could be heard, signalling that they were closing in on us, and fast.
Panic had started to set in as I soon start to realise that there's no way we could outrun the wolves even if we ran now, "What do you have in mind?"
The Fox takes a look around his surroundings and by the look on his face, he has quickly came to the same conclusion as I did.
"Up the tree, quickly." He instructs, nodding towards a large tree that stood behind us.
I drag Lucy behind me, quickly guiding her up the tree. Her feet slipped a couple of times, slowing us down a little, but she manages up the tree safely. Next up was Susan and then the Beavers, and lastly, me.
"Evening, gents." The Fox greeted just as I settled on a brunch, "Did we lose something?"
"Don't patronise me! I know where your allegiance lies." The leader of the pack growled, "We're looking for some humans."
"Humans? Here in Narnia?" The Fox lets out a laugh as if what he had heard was completely impossible, "Now, that's a valuable bit of information, don't you think?"
Lucy gasps at the sound of a whine and I clap my hand over her mouth just in time to silence it.
I look down to see the Fox in the clutches of a wolf. My heart beats out of my chest as I watched the scene before me unfold helplessly.
"Where are they?" The leader demanded.
"North." The Fox lies, "They went North."
"Smell them out!" Maugrim orders his pack.
They toss the Fox aside, like he was nothing more than rubbish.
Just as they were about to move out, Lucy squirm under my grip and ice from the tree falls to the ground.
"What is that?" The pack turns back around.
My heart beats out of my chest as I watched the wolves get closer to us with nowhere for us to run.
Out of nowhere, an arrow flies past the Fox and lands in front of the wolf, just missing him. The Wolf rears back in shock as the arrow bursts into flames, creating a barrier between them and the injured Fox, as well as us.
"Enough, Maugrim!" A firm voice commands.
The Wolf scoffs, "Have you not learnt from the last time you tried to help these creatures, Archer?"
"Whoever said I was helping them?" The voice replies.
I'm soon able to match a face to the voice as a figure emerges leaps off from a tree nearby.
The voice belonged to a girl, not much younger than I was. Her auburn hair fell just below her shoulders and the clothes she was wearing were clearly not made for winter this cold. The only thing that did anything to keep her warm was a cloak draped around her shoulders.
But the thing that stood out most about her was her eyes as she looked up at us, which were a burning shade of orange.
"Our Queen needs you, Maugrim." She informs, "I'll take care of things from here."
The Wolf narrows his eyes at the Archer, "If I find out you're trying to help these people, I'll have your head."
The Archer offers the wolf a mock salute, "Yes, Sir."
Eyeing the Archer suspiciously, the wolves began to take there leave one after another.
As soon as the wolves were out of sight, the girl rushes to the Fox's side.
"Fox, are you alright?" She asks, her voice now filled with concern.
The Fox groans as he gets to his feet, "Nothing that would kill me." He replies with a bow, "I appreciate your assistance, dear Phoenix."
"Phoenix?" Mrs Beaver exclaims in bewilderment, "She can't be, she works for the Witch!"
"Well, you're not wrong." The girl shrugs, "But I'd like to think there's more to me than just that."
"There is, indeed." The Fox says before turning to address the Beavers, "The Archer can be trusted, for she is the one who has been providing us with all the information we need on the Witch's army."
"Your Brother," The girl speaks, to me this time, "Is his name Edmund?"
Susan and I exchanged a glance, "That's him! Do you know where he is?" Susan asks.
"I do." She replies, "He's being held prisoner in the Witch's castle."
"Alright, let's go then. We have to get him!" I say, my legs moving before I could even comprehend, even though I didn't know which direction to go.
"No, you can't." The Archer stops me with an outstretched hand, "It's too dangerous."
"What are we supposed to do then?" Susan questions, "You can't expect us to just sit around while our Brother's life is in danger."
"You don't have a choice. The Witch is using your brother as bait. If you go, you'll only be walking right into her trap." The Archer reasons.
I let out a sigh, "Then what do you suggest we do?"
"Nothing." She answers, earning a confused looks from Susan and I, "Let me handle this."
"You?" Susan scoffs, "Just because you have the Fox's trust doesn't mean you have ours!"
The Archer raises a brow at Susan, unfazed by her sudden outburst, "Trust me or not, right now I'm the best bet that you have if you plan on getting your Brother back." She then turns on her heels, "Now, if you'll excuse me. I should get going."
"Stay safe, great Warrior." The Fox says, bidding his goodbye, "Narnia needs you."
"And you too, Fox." The Archer stops just before she leaves turning to look at us one last time, "I assure you that I'll do everything in my power to get your Brother back to you."
The girl looks at me, eyes filled with so much sincerity that I had no doubt that she would do exactly what she had promised.