I have never asked for anything from you since then. But please do this one request from me. Do what you can to live and return here, just as I want your memories to remain in my heart… — Florence Joyce
xxxxxx
“You sure know how to hide well, little lady.”
Amy could only stare wide-eyed at the Telmarine soldier pointing a sword to her face. What in the world? How did they manage to find her there?
But she knew she didn't have to show to the soldier in front of her and also to the other two who were restraining her horse that she was starting to panic. There was no reason for them to know that.
“Good for you for finding me. Not many idiots can do that.”
Okay. It might have been a bad idea to rile the soldiers up like that. But she really wanted to get out of there and head to where Edmund and the rest of the Narnians were. She didn’t have any time to deal with even more nonsense than this battle.
The soldiers looked at each other, evidently pissed off. But soon after, the soldier in front of her looked like he was ready to tear her apart. Then again, she was the last person to easily get intimidated by raging soldiers. She had proven it time and time again when she was here in Narnia before.
As much as she wanted to smile at the scenario playing in front of her, this was no time to play games. She had to get back to the How and help Prince Caspian and the others. She had no idea how things were turning out because of the duel. But if these soldiers were here and had managed to follow her, then something possibly worse must have happened.
'Please be careful, Edmund.' Even in her current situation, she couldn't help but to worry for that young king.
Her lack of reaction to the soldiers' glares must have ticked them off. The next thing she knew, the soldier in front of her raised the sword he was pointing at her face. She immediately pulled the short sword on her right side and stabbed the man on his right thigh. It was the nearest spot she could reach to distract him.
The soldier dropped the sword, just at the same time he keeled and dropped to the ground. Before the dropped sword could be grabbed, she took it and stabbed the screaming soldier before slashing his throat. As soon as the screaming ended, the two soldiers guarding her horse charged towards her as they pulled out their swords.
And yet, the horse started whining and neighing loudly that caught the soldiers' attention. The shorter male stopped and looked behind. Before he could do anything, the horse reared and struck the soldier on the face.
Of course, it caught Amy off-guard. But she also couldn't help smiling at the spectacle. Apparently, the remaining conscious soldier didn't like that and charged towards her again. This time, she was ready. She threw the long sword she used to kill the first soldier to her attacker’s chest. He soon fell with a thud after groaning.
The horse had stopped whining after that. But when Amy looked around, she realized that it wasn’t over yet. There were still soldiers around the area where she was at the moment. If it was more than three, then she knew she would have a hard time dealing with them.
“I have to do something,” she muttered in worry.
Without realizing it, she gripped the item that she had been holding this whole time since she went out of the cave. Her eyes widened as she looked down and lifted her hand where the item was.
“Of course! This is the whole reason why I went here in the first place.”
With that thought, Amy took a deep breath and tried her best to tune in to her surroundings. It was one thing she learned upon receiving the flute from Grandfire a long time ago. It was only then that she’d be able to truly use the power of the flute.
And then, she opened her eyes. Determination could be seen in them.
Before any of the soldiers could stop the young queen from doing something, they were all hit with a force within their chests as soon as a melody resonated from the flute. One by one, the soldiers attempting to attack her fell to the ground while clutching their throats or their chests. It was as if the melody was either choking them or gripping their hearts hard.
Amy continued playing the melody that she recalled playing before. All the while, she tried to sense her surroundings to realize any changes around her. There was one more soldier that tried to charge towards her even as the effect of her playing the flute was eating him. She could see that.
But a growling noise abruptly stopped her from playing, along with a rumbling coming directly from the ground.
“What in the world?” were the only words that Amy could utter as she struggled to keep herself standing despite the rumbling from the ground.
Before she could comprehend what was going on, a large tree root crawled through the ground and fully emerged. It struck the remaining soldier attempting to attack her from behind while she was crouched down!
Of course, the whole scenario surprised her. But only for a short while. The next thing she knew, a loud roar echoed around her that made her feel as if the whole forest rumbled. It was then that she finally made a sense of what had truly transpired for that tree root to move like that.
Feeling relieved and amazed at the realization, Amy stood up and looked up and around.
“Could it be…?” she ventured, almost in a whisper.
She then saw one of the trees nod, as if it heard her whispered question. She smiled and was about to cry. Before she knew it, petals around her started floating and flying around until it formed into what looked like a long-haired lady.
It was a dryad — and she hadn’t seen one in such a long time.
“He has returned, my queen,” the dryad started after bowing once. Amy acknowledged it and smiled.
“That’s what we’ve been aiming for, you know. But I’m glad he did.”
“And the magic coming from the sound of your flute had also allowed the rest of us to hear you and know your predicament,” the dryad continued.
It was only then that Amy was able to heave a sigh of relief — only this one was sure would last long. It truly meant one thing.
Aslan had finally come back. Lucy did it!
But her happiness didn’t last long. She knew she had to go back to the battlefield and assure the Narnians’ victory for herself.
With that thought, she faced the dryad and looked up to the tree that she knew was looking at her. It must have been the tree that had saved her from that last soldier earlier.
“I should be going back now,” she declared and headed towards the horse that she rode on earlier.
Both the dryad and the tree nodded once at her before she rode off. She had to return there, to where her friends and subjects were.
To where Edmund was.
xxxxxx
A lot had happened since the Narnians followed the retreating Telmarine soldiers to the riverbank. With Lord Sospepian’s orders, the enemy soldiers were about to cross using the bridge built there. Then they all saw Lucy step forward together with Aslan on the other side.
Of course, it came as a surprise. But most of all, the Narnians were relieved… But it didn’t last long. The Telmarines still charged towards the other end of the bridge.
That is, until Aslan roared to the approaching soldiers, forcing them to halt to a stop. Soon after, a rumbling noise slowly started to resonate around until they noticed that the water began receding. It was as if… a force was “pulling” the water away from them.
But such a phenomenon could only happen if—
“Look there!” someone pointed out with an excited scream.
Before the two groups of soldiers and warriors was a figure of an old man formed by the water. And with a roar, the said entity slowly hurled towards the soldiers on the bridge. Everything went by so fast from the moment that Aslan’s roar had, in fact, summoned a river god up until the entity itself had wiped out the Telmarines on the bridge.
Nothing was left between the two sides of the river. Just flowing water carrying what remained of the bridge that was supposed to connect the two sides.
When all the chaos from that event had slowly subsided, Edmund looked around the area after acknowledging both Lucy and Aslan. But just as it was earlier, he still couldn’t find the one he was looking for. Once again, worry started filling him up.
“Where is she?”
That question remained unanswered even after reaching the other side of the bridge where the youngest Pevensie and Aslan were. The other Narnians assisted in securing the weapons that the surviving Telmarines had surrendered. Even after the rest of the Pevensie siblings, along with Caspian, had greeted Aslan, Edmund couldn’t see any sign of Amy anywhere.
Did something happen to her? Where could she be?
“There’s no need to worry anymore. She’ll be alright,” Aslan said all of a sudden.
The Just King faced the lion who was only looking at him with calm eyes before nodding. But for him, it still wasn’t enough. He had to see it for himself that Amy was okay. That she wasn’t hurt.
That she was alive, most of all.
Not long after that, he heard footsteps of a horse approaching. He tried listening to where it could possibly come from, until his head turned to the direction of the forest where Lucy and Aslan arrived earlier. Moments later, a person wearing a cloak and riding a black horse emerged from the forest.
His heart skipped a beat at the sight of the approaching figure. Of course, he knew who it was. He would never mistake that form for anything else.
‘She’s here!’ he thought over and over as the cloaked figure finally stopped the horse and dismounted it.
Slowly, the new arrival removed the hood of the cloak that covered the face. Amy finally revealed herself to the others and bowed to Aslan as soon as she saw him.
“You’ve made it here, young lady,” Aslan said, which only made Amy smile before nodding.
It was the signal that Edmund took to finally approach Amy who had just turned to his direction. She smiled as she placed a hand on the horse that she rode on — possibly to calm it down. And for some reason, his heart won’t stop beating fast. Especially now that he stopped in front of Amy whose smile widened the moment she was within her reach.
“I made it back. Sorry it took so long,” she started before she took something out of the pocket of her dress.
His eyes widened at the sight of a rectangular wooden box that she pulled out from there. He knew what it was. And it also meant that, at one point, she had also used it to fight.
“I was able to use it around the same time that the trees had come to life again,” she continued before looking at Edmund. “At least, the result wasn’t as brutal as the last time I used this flute.”
“You’re not hurt, are you?” Edmund finally managed to ask even as his heart won’t stop beating fast.
Amy smiled and shook her head. It was enough as a confirmation before he took some more steps closer towards her. Before he could even stop himself, he pulled her to a tight embrace.
Of course, it would be a shock not just to Amy, but also to the others who were watching the entire interaction. But Edmund could care less. For him, he wanted to assure himself that she was there. That she made it back unharmed. She made it back and smiled again for him.
He didn’t know why it mattered so much to him before. But at the moment, as he continued to embrace her tight even with such an audience, he was doing this to fully convince himself that he had finally found the real answer that he was looking for.
“I’m glad you’re back…” Edmund could only whisper those words as he relished this moment that Amy was in his arms like this.
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