Chains of Never Ending Agony [:Jadis:]

[edmundpevensie]

Edmund slowly walked the two steps that led to the giant platform atop the hill. The sun was almost gone and it wouldn't be long until Jadis got here. Ed couldn't see Evelyn or Cain anywhere in sight. Good, it was best they didn't follow him or see what he was up to. The conversation he had had with them was now all a blur. He couldn't remember what he had told them or what had been said. Something about Kasim... that was right. They were enemies with that stuck up jerk. It was a good thing he'd sent them to Cair Paravel then. He needed to make sure Indira was safe.

It was then he remembered, this was the first place he had met the young Magus. Drawn his sword on her actually. He gave out a small laugh. Who would have guessed he would have fallen so hard and fast for the girl. Now it was likely he'd never seen her again. Her breathtaking smile, transfixing eyes, the image of her swam before him and he quickly shook it from his mind. He wanted so much to think about her, for the thought of her to comfort him, but if he wanted so much as a hope to live through tonight and save his brother and sister, he couldn't be distracted. Even if it was by the young maiden he loved.

Edmund's heart stopped and his voice caught in his throat. Never before had he really admitted to himself that he was actually in love. Sure, he really liked her, far beyond the normal capacity of friendship, but could this feeling really be what all the older people adorned as love? It wasn't a feeling he was so sure about, for it both felt absolutely wonderful and treacherous at the same time. It both made him feel light and carefree just by thinking about her, and threatened to tear him from the inside and push him to the brink of insanity at the thought of never seeing her again.

Edmund shook his head once again. He couldn't let this distract him, Jadis would have his head in minutes. Instead he took out his sword out and placed the tip on the ground in front of him and knelt down on one knee. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said a prayer to Aslan.

"Dear Aslan," he murmured to himself, knowing that though the words were inaudible to anyone around him had they been standing there, "Please make sure my family is safe. Whether it's my time to enter Your country, I trust Your decision. Please, look after my brother and sisters and give me the strength and courage to do what I must tonight. May Your will be done."

It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he realized tears had begun to fall. He hesitated a moment, allowing them to continue for a few seconds before wiping them away and finding the will to hold them back. In times like this, he couldn't waste time with crying. He could do that later, when this was all over, as now was not the time to waste emotion with tears. Edmund was no fool to say he wasn't scared. In fact, he was scared beyond all recognition, but he couldn't let that feeling overthrow him now. He had to do what he must to get through this night, or have a hope of saving his siblings.

Slowly he stood up, not bothering to sheath his sword as he knew he would definitely need it when the witch decided to arrive. He took several deep breaths to compose himself before making his way around the stone table, glancing at the runes carved in the edge. He had never thought about learning the ancient script. Perhaps,if by some miracle he lived through the night, he would have to think about learning it. If nothing else, then to find out what exactly the words around the table spoke of.

Once on the other side of the platform, he looked out on the landscape before him. Narnia was such a beautiful country that held so much life and potential. It was treacherous that one like Jadis would ruin such a fine jewel compared to any world. Yes, though Edmund hadn't been to any other world besides his own, he loved Narnia and didn't mind in the slightest really of ever having to return to Earth. Narnia was his home now. It went without saying and he would gladly give his life up to know it was now safe.

Blinking back a final tears, he turned around in the direction of the stone table, with his back to the world of Narnia, sword tightly in his hand. It was as though his stance were protecting the world and all it meant itself. His eyes had turned hard as he waited for Jadis to come and do her deed here at this haunting place. It was then Edmund realized why she had chosen the Stone Table--how could he have been so blind? His mind had been so jumbled with other thoughts it was only then he truly realized where he was. He had been condemned to die here three years before. Edmund swallowed taking a deep breath. Looks like his deeds had finally caught up with him. Only now Edmund wouldn't let anyone take his place. He would face his nightmare, knowing whatever happened, Aslan would protect his family and Narnia.

[Jadis]

Timing is everything. Timing and location. Jadis had shown her mastery of that concept on any number of occasions: the Final Battle of Charn, her conquest of Narnia after that wretched tree of protection finally died (and yet they still never suspected she might return…fools), the Battle of Beruna (which would have worked if that blasted Lion had stayed dead!). This was no different. Getting to the Stone Table, being so near the heart of Narnia and even nearer to Cair Paravel, had been no easy task; a number had lost their lives during her passage, but surely when the sprinkling of statues and dead bodies were found and the rumors started it would be to her own advantage. Nothing worked better than fear and intimidation, though brute force never hurt much either. So in truth she was winning on a number of levels: frighten the common Narnians and rid herself of some of them, rid herself of one of the blasted kings, and all in the location of her choice. How terribly, wonderfully fitting it all was.

Jadis slowly climbed the hill leading to the Stone Table, her wand in one hand, and High King Peter’s sword in the other. She was quite pleased indeed with her small trophy, and the opportunity to use the weapon to bring about the demise of its former owner’s own brother was simply too tempting to pass up. She was sure the little king would not be terribly pleased to see it employed as such, but, after all, he wouldn’t have long to fret over it. Nor would his brother and younger sister, for that matter. She was confident she could take the last ruler on easily; the two kings had been her only real concern, and thus far they weren’t proving any wiser than the last time she had met them…perhaps worse even.

The last rays of the day’s light silhouetted her tall form as she came to top of the hill, glinting off the sword and refracting in every direction through the crystal of her wand in a way that would have been beautiful if each small glitter didn’t hold a promise of instantaneous death. She smiled, cold and triumphant, as she climbed the last stairs for there waiting for her was the king, foolishly showing some measure of confidence, or at least a willingness to fight a battle he knew he was doomed to loss. ”So you decided to come, did you, little king?” She looked around, obviously mocking him. ”With no housecat or brother to defend you? Oh, no, that’s right. Your Lion isn’t coming to help you this time. And your brother-,” she paused to regard the High King’s sword as if just admiring the detail work before letting her eyes fall back on Edmund, ”…is indisposed for the foreseeable future.”

She let the sword fall back to her side, her expression turning from cruel taunting to cold and almost business-like. ”Now, Edmund. I am a little disappointed. Did you honestly think by all this you could save anyone at all? Wouldn’t it be merciful to let your siblings die quickly rather than slowly rotting away in a cell? No one can find them, let alone help them, and even if they did escape, my pet Aphine will find them. You are dooming them to a much worse fate, boy. Not that it matters anymore: you made your choice and I don’t intend to let you back out of it.” Her wand, though held casually at her side, stayed trained on the king as she lifted the sword and swung it in a graceful arc as though it was a child’s baton, bringing it to rest pointed directly at Edmund’s heart.

[edmundpevensie]

Edmund spun around at the sound of the White Witch’s voice, his face stoic and sword immediately drawn in front of him. There was no need for introductions. Her cruel mockery struck that from the meeting before it had even begun. Ed would have been a fool to admit he wasn’t scared. Beads of sweat rolled down the back of his neck and his hands shook slightly while gripping the sword. He was holding it in a way that his knuckles were begging to fade white. Despite his fear he did not let it show to the White Witch, though from an observer’s perspective that might have been a better idea. Jadis’s biggest fault was her pride and overconfidence. Throwing her into a fit of these mixed emotions might have given him the slighter edge. Unfortunately he wasn’t thinking that way. His only thoughts now were protecting Narnia and his siblings.

The sight of Peter’s sword through his mind into a blinded rage. His entire body twitched, and for a moment the best thought in the world would have been to drop his sword and grab her throat, his muscular hands gently wrapping around her oversized neck and squeezing until she was dead. Her death would have never haunted his subconscious. Her existence taunted him enough. But a voice in his head kept him from doing the stupid thing. He internally growled to himself, hating her obvious edge over him in this battle. In his younger years he would have complained about the fairness of the situation. But three years in Narnia, nay that simple time he had spent in Narnia before meeting Aslan, reminded him with icy passion that fair was far from reality.

He focused his mind back upon the witch, and his brother’s sword. He remembered the last time they met, she had used Peter’s sword in an attempt to kill him as well. Unfortunately there were no kindly Dryads to help. No nyads, no fauns, no satyrs. Yes, he may have been a fool to come alone. But he was not a coward. He didn’t need to hold anyone’s siblings hostage to call someone out. He didn’t need to control through fear and force. Love was what kept him and his siblings on the throne. Love kept Narnia beautiful.

And with his love of his siblings, for Susan and for Lucy, for Peter, he would fight her here alone until one was no longer left standing. He kept his faith high and his mind on the task at hand. Who cared what Jadis said? Her overtly long monologue were only there to torment him and stimulate her own pride. His lips curled upward into a small smile, finding humor in a most serious situation. He almost felt pity for her, despite knowing very well she probably would take his life before the next rise of the sun. His grin was gone as quickly as it came though, once Jadis’s wand was swung in a deadly arc in his direction. Edmund didn’t move until the last possible second when he brought the flat blade of his sword around to clash with hers in midair. The blaring clang of metal on metal signaled the start of their battle.

Edmund took a step back away from the attack, both hands on his sword and using the advantage of focusing on one blade than having to work with two separate blades with two hands. In addition, he had to be extra cautious of both her wand and Peter’s sword. Keeping his focus on the battle, he curved his blade through the air in two might blows, the first aimed right at her stomach before bringing it around to slice at her neck. The chances of actually hitting target, he knew were slim due to her skill, but he had mastered the sword quite well in three years, and couldn’t let his guard down for one second.

[Jadis]

Jadis watched every twitch of every muscle carefully, trying pr piece together what he was planning on doing next. She kept her wand pointed at him, despite the fact she had no intention of using it. That is, unless the fool of a pseudo-king tried to escape. She certainly couldn’t have that. So instead she was prepped to… ahem, impede any planned getaway. At least if he chose to die a coward it would be fast. But it seemed the boy was more focused on fighting, as though he actually thought he could win. How funny. Well, it at least made her job a lot easier: she focused almost entirely on the sword in one of her hands and paid little heed to the wand in the other.

She moved out of the way of his first aim at her stomach, though had to admit he had improved since his last pathetic attempt at battling her. Good. She didn’t want this to be too dull. She brought her sword - well, Peter’s, but now it was hers - heavily against his sword. The child would have had a considerable amount of leverage, and quite an upper hand in this battle, if it weren’t for the fact that Jadis was not exactly human and her strength reflected that. She used the crossed blades to shove against the young king. With any luck the boy would lose his balance, maybe save her a little effort to take him down.

Jadis didn’t wait to see what would come of that, though. As soon as she pushed off against him, she swung her sword in a wide arc that would could have cut any unlucky person in half. Well, why not test just how lucky he was?


((OOC: Wow, that looks pretty pathetic next to the other posts... >.<;;; ))

[edmundpevensie]

Edmund was ready for the push, ready for anything that Jadis threw at him. The problem was she was still twice his size and even more times as strong. This would not be easy. The wind got knocked out of him as the force of her swords pushed him away from her and forced him back, suddenly meeting something just as strong against his back, the Stone Table. Both his stomach and back ached from the double impact, but he didn’t have time to think about that. Jadis was bringing her sword in a deadly slice through the air at his head. Gritting his teeth, he waited until the last possible moment before using the table as a base and rolling to the side so her steel bashed into the stone.

He was a hair second too late. As the blade came crashing down it grazed his shirt, cleanly ripping the fabric away. The speed of the steel rubbing his shirt severely burned his flesh and he bit his tongue to hold down a cry. This wasn’t the time to be worried about injury. He quickly pulled his arm away, just enough so his shirt wasn’t going to get pinned to the stone with the sword, that close to Jadis. That would have been bad. Sure, it would have given him an opportune moment to gut her with his steel blade, but she still had the wand in her hand and he was in no mood to be turned into a garden gnome.

Ed stumbled away from Jadis, ripping off the sleeve of his shirt so it wouldn’t distract him or get caught on anything, while trying to get over what had just happened all while keeping his guard up. He was in no true danger, no real damage, but the battle had already begun and he was already mildly sore. He wasn’t going to last through the night against her. The easy choice would have been to give up—let Jadis win and end the agony. But Edmund had long since learned the easy path was hardly ever the right path—the just path. This was one of those times.

Hardly seconds had passed since Jadis brought her sword down to kill him, but time seemed to slow down in battle. Thoughts seemed to zip by at superhuman speed, even faster than when there was more time to think. Edmund gritted his teeth and aimed a nasty blow at her, swiping through the air in the opposite way than she had just gone, horizontal. With any luck, which was highly unlikely, he would cut her clean in half just like she had almost done to him.

[Jadis]

Well, Edmund had a little luck at least. Jadis saw his blade coming, but the effort of wrenching her own - or rather, Peter’s - sword from the stone delayed her. Chips of the ancient monument fell to the ground as she pulled the blade free and took a step back. She couldn’t stop the annoying little king’s sword from nicking her arm though. A fresh fire burned in her eyes at the indignation. How dare he! With a murderous glare, she pressed forward all the harder. She would push the little whelp right off the side of this wretched mount! She’d run him through for what he’d done! The arrogant little son of filth!

She put as much force as she could behind ever blow she dealt him, though each only lasted a moment. If she could get him worn and distracted enough… Then she would go in for the kill. Not that it would be hard with this little one. He was hardly worth her effort. But the fact remained that he was one of the pesky rulers that stood between her and the throne that she, not they, was destined to sit in. Narnia was hers, not theirs. And she would see to it that it was returned to its proper owner.

Jadis kept up her endless attack, coming from one way, then another. She made sure to never attack from one direction twice in a row. Nor to use all of her strength in one strike. She’d save her worst for last…


((OOC: I am so sorry that's so short! My muse does not like me tonight. >.<))