Magic(Mar.EraxNarnia)[Sirius Black]

Eight Friends of the Dwarf

(There's mention of blood at the end of the chapter.)

Maya's POV

King Peter was right. We had to go. We began walking and soon started running towards the exit. Once we were out of the gate, I raised my arm and thought the counter-spell to the levitation charm and the gate came flying down. I did the opposite with the bridge when we got to the other side to block other Telmarines from coming out.

I glanced behind me and there were no Narnians at the gate. The Telmarines were no longer shooting their arrows. There were no more survivors. I stared at my feet to take a breath before I raised my head to see how many people were walking in front of me. There were quite many. Thank Merlin there were quite many. If only there were all. If only I could save more. Even one more would be great. What if the blond king next to me was dead because he came to help me? ''I'm sorry.'' He knew what I meant. I was sorry that I made him have to fight instead of leaving because I didn't follow his orders.

As soon as those words left my mouth, Peter's eyes were filled with pain. I was sure he knew that pain better than me. Having to live with the thoughts that if you had done better, people would be alive now, was something he had already learnt. I expected him to say nothing and never talk to me again, but to my surprise he shook his head and answered. ''You shouldn't. You stayed back to save people. That was very brave.''

It was my turn to shake my head. ''I could only save seven.'' I said slowly. Now that my adrenaline was back to its normal levels, I felt the exhaustion from the battle.

''You did everything you could and you saved more than seven. You made the door levitate so we could get out, you lowered the bridge when it began going up, you stayed behind to heal people and then closed the gate and raised the bridge once we got out.''

He looked like he had more things to say, but I interrupted him. ''You could have been dead because you came back for me when I didn't follow your orders.''

''But I'm not... Having to live with the thoughts that people are dead because you were not good enough are always going to be there. But the thing is, we were good enough. You can't not have losses in battles, Maya, and thanks to you half of the people that are here are alive. Think of that.'' He said in a wise tone like the older man he once was. How could he be so kind? I was feeling horrible with myself even after his comforting words. I couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I could only see guilt. Some of those soldiers had a spouse and children in the How. What am I going to say to them? How am I going to look at them in the eye and tell them how the Telmarines killed them? How many were our losses? There would have been more if I hadn't done the magic I did, but at the moment, that didn't make me feel better. Some people wouldn't come back.

When we reached the How, queen Lucy was waiting for us at the entrance and used a potion to heal a blond dwarf that I couldn't. King Peter and I had walked to the front to ask for prince Caspian's opinion on what Miraz would do next. They would attack, he said. I had to get ready. Hexing and jinxing people wouldn't be enough, I had to fight like they did. I had to set aside my exhaustion and lack of sleep and learn how to use a sword. Once we got in the How, I walked up to the tall centaur. ''Hi.'' I greeted with a small smile. The centaur nodded at me and I continued. ''I know this isn't the right time and of course you can decline if you want. I was hoping you could teach me swordfight. I know learning it the last minute isn't great, but it could be better than nothing.'' The centaur smiled proudly at me and nodded.

''It would be my pleasure, ally of Narnia.''

The title he used alone made me smile broadly. ''Thank you!'' I have never meant those two words more than I did then. We scheduled our lesson for a little later so we could take some rest. Everybody's legs and arms were sore from fighting and everybody needed sleep, which we couldn't have. I was looking around for Trufflehunter, the kind badger I was so eager to see. I finally spotted him talking to a dwarf with long black hair and beard that was freckled with grey. The badger saw me and instantly looked happier.