✲⋅*♚ ,∴°

𝕭𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐈: 𝖂𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝖂𝐀𝐑

𝕮𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝕰𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧: ice and water

THEY HURRIED TOWARDS THE RIVER, all their tiredness forgotten with the words of Father Christmas fresh in their ears. But despite their fast pace, it was still too late. The water was flowing free, finally released from the cold winter winds that had turned it into ice. There was only a small path of ice left to cross, right beneath the frozen waterfall and that too was about to break away. And despite the fact that the ice was melting, the water would still be freezing cold. Trying to swim through might freeze their limbs and drag them to the bottom...

All her previous joy upon seeing the change the Kings and Queens had brought vanished in that moment. The crossing was dangerous now and despite knowing it wasn't her fault, Ashara hated the fact that she couldn't protect the Pevensies from this.

"We need to cross, now!" Peter said as he took Lucy's hand, ready to help her down to the river.

"Don't beavers make dams?" The young girl protested.

"I'm not that fast, dear," Mr. Beaver replied.

"Come on," Ashara said, leading them to a small path that seemed safe enough to take them down the cliffside.

"Wait!" Susan interrupted her. "Will you just think about this for a minute!"

Peter turned to look at her. "We don't have a minute."

"I'm just trying to be realistic," she said, looking as though she'd been slapped in the face.

"No, you're trying to be smart," Peter snapped, impatient. "As usual."

Ashara caught the tired glance Lucy sent her and barely managed to contain her smile. The young girl kept on being caught up in the fights of her older siblings. Though Ashara shared their concerns and understood both Peter's hurry and Susan's fear.

Far in the distance the sharp howling of a wolf sounded and her heart skipped a beat. For a moment they all stood frozen in fear, realising they truly didn't have another option than to cross as soon as possible. And so she pushed her worries aside and led them down the path she'd seen, her hand never far from the hilt of her sword.

The ground was slippery from the melting snow, forcing her to seek support by the wall of rocks on her left as she made her way down. One time, when her foot slipped, she thought she could feel Peter's hand on her back, supporting her. But the feeling was gone before she could be sure and she didn't dare look over her shoulder to confirm it.

Finally they reached the ice, or what was left of it. Taking a deep breath Ashara stepped forward, only to stumble back immediately when a crack appeared beneath her weight, cold water spraying on her boots.

"Wait, maybe I should go first," Mr. Beaver offered.

She nodded at him, watching as he stepped onto the ice. It creaked with every step he took, until eventually a crack appeared.

"You've been sneaking second helpings, haven't you?" Mrs. Beaver chuckled nervously.

"Well, you never know which meal is gonna be your last," he called back. "Especially with your cooking."

Using his tail to find a safe path across, he slowly made his way forward, leaving a trail for them to follow. Peter went first, still holding on tightly to Lucy's hand, helping her step on the slippery ice. Susan followed and Ashara closed the rear.

The ice creaked and broke. Cold water came spilling through the cracks and soaked their feet. Lucy shrieked in fear when her feet slipped into the cold water, but Peter was quick enough to pull her back onto the ice.

They tried to balance themselves the best they could as they made the way across. It went painfully slow and the never ending howls in the distance didn't help in trying to keep her focus on where she placed her feet.

"If mum knew what we were doing," Susan mumbled as she stumbled over the cracks.

"Mom's not here!" Peter said sharply, throwing her a look.

They were spared another verbal fight between the siblings when ice came falling down from the waterfall on their left. Ashara looked up, her stomach tightening when she saw the pack of wolves had finally caught up to them. Some of them ran across the waterfall to cut off their path, while others made their way down the cliff to sneak up from behind.

"Faster!" Ashara urged.

But it was useless.

They managed to get about halfway when Maugrim jumped in front of their path, cutting off their escape. She turned around but behind them the wolves had gathered as well. They were trapped.

Mr. Beaver snarled at the wolves but one of them jumped forward and pushed him down, trapping the poor beaver beneath his paw.

"No!" Mrs. Beaver cried out.

Ashara unsheathed her sword, causing Peter to do the same. She stood with her back to him, her gaze focused on the wolves behind them, making sure they wouldn't suddenly attack. But their resistance only seemed to amuse Maugrim.

"But that down, boy," he grinned as he slowly stalked up towards the Son of Adam. "Someone could get hurt."

"Don't worry about me, run him through!" Mr. Beaver shouted, but was punished for it when the wolf pressed his claws down further into his stomach. He cried out and the sound made her wince.

Maugrim kept walking towards them, forcing them to stumble backwards, right to the claws and teeth of the wolves waiting at their back. Ashara planted her feet on the ice, her sword pointed at the wolf closest to her, but she knew she couldn't do much against all of them. Still, she would make sure she'd take at least one of them with her.

"Leave now, while you can and your brother leaves with you," Maugrim said, though nothing about his tone suggested he would actually let them leave.

Still, that didn't matter to the fearful Susan. "Stop, Peter," she begged, "maybe we should listen to him!"

Maugrim chuckled. "Smart girl."

Peter threw a look over his shoulder, his blue eyes meeting her brown ones. She shook her head at him, her face hardening. "Don't," she muttered.

And despite the many things still left unsaid between them, he trusted her in that moment and she knew he wouldn't accept Maugrim's offer. They'd fight and try to give the two sisters the chance to escape.

Maugrim snarled at them. "Oh come on, this isn't your war. All my Queen wants is for you to take your family and go. Do you really think this Watcher can protect you? Did she mention she failed to defeat my Queen before?"

She gritted her teeth, unwilling to give in to his taunts. She had no doubts about her skills and knew she could kill him if she wanted to. But if she were to give into that desire, the other wolves would descend upon the rest of their company. She'd never be able to kill them all before one of the Pevensies was slaughtered...

"Look, just because some man in a red coat hands you a sword it doesn't make you a hero!" Susan said, panicked. "Just drop it!"

Peter looked at her, his blue eyes hard as the ice they were standing on.

"No, Peter!" Mr. Beaver shouted once again. "Narnia needs you! Gut him while you still have a chance!"

Ashara took a small step backwards so her back was touching his, making him look at her once again. "It's your decision," she whispered softly, her words only meant for him. "I'm with you no matter what you choose."

He opened his mouth, only to close it again, the choice seemed impossible to make. She could feel the way his muscles tensed as he held the sword, the tool he'd been given to protect his family and yet did not know how to use. Ashara wanted to teach him, she wanted to see him hold it with confidence, just as she wished to see Susan use her fear as an arrow aimed at her enemies, just as she wished to see Lucy protect herself with the courage she already possessed. She wished to give the Pevensies the family reunion she'd been denied. But she'd be unable to do any of that if Peter did not make a decision soon.

"What's it gonna be, Son of Adam?" Maugrim growled. "I won't wait forever and neither will the river."

One the wolves snarled at her and she took a step forward, the point of her sword so close that it forced the beast back if it didn't want to be cut.

"Peter!" Lucy cried out, fear filling her voice.

Ashara turned around, eyes wide as she felt the tremble that went through the ice. A crack appeared in the waterfall, breaking it right in two. Water came bursting through the fracture, searching for every possible way to freedom it could. The cold spray rained down on them, soaking their coats. They were out of time.

Peter looked around frantically and then suddenly called out: "Hold on to me!"

Lucy and Susan both took a tight grip of his fur coat as he raised his sword above his head. Then, with the help of his sisters, he brought it down, burying it deep into the ice.

Only then did she realise what he was planning, but she wasn't the only one. As the waterfall cracked and shook, one of the four wolves in front of her saw his chance and jumped. Without hesitation she moved in front of the Pevensies and raised her blade as his claws slashed at her arm and at that exact moment, with an almighty crack, the ice shattered and water came falling down upon them like a tidal wave.

Far in the distance she could hear someone shouting her name, but the water pulled her down and everything became silent. It felt as though a rock was dropped on her body, stone cold and heavy. She was thrown around like a doll, unable to tell up from down as the waterfall toyed with her. It was only because of her endless training that she'd kept a firm grip on her sword but her arm was aching from where the wolf's claws had met her skin and she almost let go. Her lungs burned as she fought against the instinct to open her mouth. There would be no air waiting for her, only water.

She tried to move, desperately searching for the way back to the surface. Her feet met something hard as she moved and through her aching eyes she could spot the lifeless corpse of the wolf she'd killed.

The wound his claws had left on her arm ached, despite her pain though, she tried to focus on the magic within her and almost as if it had been waiting for her to call upon it, the light came rushing to the surface. The marks drawn on her skin lit up with warm golden light, illuminating her surroundings. The light revealed the bottom beneath her and with determination fueling her, she started swimming up, to the daylight that awaited her.

But her body kept being dragged down to the bottom, made heavy by her cloak of grey fur. Moving as fast as she could she undid the laces holding the cloak together. Her fingers were aching, her head spinning but she pushed through and when she finally managed to get the last knot undone, her cloak floating away in the icy water.

She swam as fast as her heavy body would carry her, dark spots dancing in front of her eyes and just when she thought she might faint and the water would win after all, her head broke through the surface. Air filled her lungs, causing her to cough.

Almost immediately though, the current pulled her back down again. Cold water filled her mouth as she kicked wildly to reach the surface again, but a dark shape to her right made her falter. It didn't look like the wolf she'd seen before...

Biting her tongue to focus she told the light to expand, forming a cage of golden rays around her and when the rays reached the shape, she realised with a startled beat of her heart it was Lucy.

The girl's eyes were wide with fear of the cold and dark water that surrounded her. As Ashara swam closer however, the golden light caught her attention and the fear seemed to slowly fade from her gaze. Instead she seemed to brace herself against the current and tried to swim towards Ashara.

She reached out her hand and managed to take a hold of Lucy's arm, pulling the girl towards her, careful not to hit her with her sword she was still holding in her other hand. In a cocoon of golden light, the two girls swam to the surface.

As they broke through the water, the golden light disappeared and instead the sunlight greeted them, as both girls coughed to try and fill their lungs with air.

"Lucy!" A girl's voice called out, panicked.

Blinking against the bright light Ashara tried to get a grasp on her bearings. The shout had come from her right and when she looked, she saw the two eldest Pevensies standing on the shore, looking out over the river with fearful eyes.

"We're almost there," Ashara muttered tiredly to the girl in her arms.

Together they tried to swim towards the shore and finally the Pevensies noticed them. She could hear their relieved laughs as they hurried towards the river to help the two get ashore. Susan took Lucy from Ashara's arms and helped her out of the water.

Ashara placed her sword on the riverbank and was about to pull herself up when a hand landed on her arm to help. The familiar rush of the Deep Magic swirled within her. The golden light rushed to the surface, wrapping itself around Peter Pevensie's hand as he held her arm. Though, this time, he didn't let go and instead pulled her to safety.

She looked up to him and for a moment she let herself enjoy the pleasant warmth of the golden string tying them together. Then she got to her feet and he let her go, making her shiver from the cold. But he didn't step away from her and instead knelt down to pick up her sword and handed the blade back to her.

"Thank you," he said, "for saving Lucy."

She smiled and took the sword, putting it back into the sheath. "You did good too, with the sword."

It looked as though he wanted to reply but he got distracted by something on her right arm. "You're bleeding," he said, concerned.

She looked down at where her tunic was ripped where the wolf had clawed her arm open. She winced as she carefully tried to pull away the cloth to inspect the damage. "It's not too deep," she murmured. "I just need to make sure it's kept clean."

Peter opened his mouth but before he could speak, Lucy interrupted him by darting towards Ashara and hugging her tightly.

The Watcher smiled fondly and wrapped her arms around her small body. "It's okay," she said so softly that only Lucy could hear it. "I will always protect you and your siblings."

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Ah I've been so excited to write this chapter!

I wanted to get a little action in there with Ashara finally showing the Pevensies she takes protecting them very seriously. I know it's not exactly original to have the oc save Lucy but I thought the idea was fun. So I decided my version of it with Ashara fighting off one of the wolves. I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this and please don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts!

Also the much needed conversation between Ashara and Peter is near! I can't wait to write these two awkward love birds talking about what the hell is going on between them ;)

Thank you all so much for your continued support on this story!

xx Nelly