We ran quickly through the halls, trying to remain undetected by the increasing number of guards. They were searching for us and we knew we couldn't fight them all off. The Prince diverged from our current hall—likely a way out—but Peter continued forward. Peter's actions caused the rest of us to stop, unsure what to do. Susan looked from Caspian to her brother, conflicted by the need to follow orders and saving the lives of our troops.

"Peter!" she said.
"Our troops are just outside, come on!" Peter shouted.

The two royals exchanged a look before following after the High King. I knew now that this plan was indeed suicidal. We had a chance when the Telmarines didn't realize we were here but now our forces were going to be greatly outmatched. They already had far greater numbers than the Narnians we could rally and we only brought a third of those with us. Peter needed to call this off while he still had the chance before our troops were senselessly killed in this failed attack. But I couldn't tell him that so I could only begrudgingly follow after them. If it wasn't for my promise to Lucy and my duty, there was a high chance I wouldn't have followed.

Peter reached the courtyard before us and ended up engaging in a duel with two Telmarines. He quickly dispatched them—with no help from us—and shouted up to his brother. "Now, Ed! Now! Signal the troops!" he ordered before running towards the gate.
"I'm a bit busy Pete!" Edmund replied.

At his words, I glanced up and saw that Edmund was fighting a Telmarine. He was pinned against the side of the turret. With their close proximity, I couldn't take the risk that I would hurt Edmund rather than the guard. Especially at night when it was hard to distinguish who was who. I wanted to help, but I couldn't figure out how and the royals' disagreement distracted me.

"Peter, it's too late. We have to call it off while we still can," Susan tried to explain.
"No! I can still do this," Peter argued, struggling to turn the wheel and open the gate. "Help me!"

The three of us exchanged another look, one of confusion and worry. Then the Prince sheathed his sword as he and Susan rushed to help Peter. I watched Edmund struggle for a moment longer before running over to help them as well.
"Exactly who are you doing this for, Peter?" Susan asked him.

He never answered her though and I could see Telmarines rushing to flood the courtyard. Without help from our troops, I didn't see how any of us could get out alive. Although we were all skilled at fighting, four people versus a hundred men wasn't possible.

I glanced to check on Edmund's status and watched him struggling to get his torch lit. For some reason, it wasn't working and he was anxiously trying to get it to light up—or however, it worked. It was foreign to me. The army charging at us only made it worse as he knew this was all pointless if he couldn't signal our troops. Relief flooded his face as it finally flicked on. He flashed it into the night and the three made one final rotation to open the gate.

The Telmarines were growing closer. Asterius, the minotaur, charged through first with the rest of the Narnians close behind. Peter and Caspian both turned quickly and drew their swords. Susan and I both withdrew arrows from our quivers and prepared for a battle. At Peter's battle cry the Narnian army collided with the Telmarines.

Susan and I started the battle side-by-side. We couldn't always shoot fast enough so we sometimes used our arrows to stab or slice at the Telmarines. But as the fighting raged on, we ended up drifting away from each other. I knew it was dangerous to look around for her whilst in the middle of a battle, but I had to keep an eye on all the royals. So I tried to sneak glances in between bouts—preferring to let the Telmarines come to me rather than me going to them—and managed to locate everyone but Edmund. Last I had seen, he was on the roof and I could only assume he was safe.

I heard clattering and the sound of several footsteps marching. Searching for the sound, I noticed Telmarines archers lining the parapets inside the castle. The commands "archers!" and "pick a target!" were shouted as I tried to evaluate a plan of attack. I would only get a few down before I was targeted. They aimed and I quickly tried to figure out if any of the royals were in the line of fire—although I wanted to save them all, I had to make a choice—and quickly discovered one had his crossbow trained on Peter. I barely had time to process such a fact before the man crashed over the edge, screaming as he fell to his death.

"Edmund!" I cried, realizing he had spotted the threat as I had.
"Ed!" Peter warned at the same time.

Both shouts drew Edmund's attention to the remaining archers. They all turned towards him and I saw him dive for a doorway. He disappeared out of sight as cross-bolts flew by. I could only assume he hadn't been injured by the onslaught of arrows.

After that, I knew I had to be ready to get the royals away from the fight—though I could guess they would fight me—and decided to be ready to transform at any moment. So I resulted in using my bow to knock the Telmarines out rather than kill them. I only killed if they attacked or tried to kill one of the royals.

The fight dragged on for who knew how long when I suddenly heard Peter call for a retreat. I quickly sought him out, although I knew it was too late. Even if we managed to escape, too many others wouldn't make it. I just wanted to know what had caused him to order the retreat after we were already in it.

The High King came down from a set of steps leading partially up to a balcony overlooking the courtyard. On the balcony were Miraz and a few heavily armed guards, clearly there for support. But this didn't explain Peter's order and I could only watch as his eyes found Glenstorm. Then he turned his attention to Susan, who was watching the two of us—we were in closer proximity to each other than her—and I only frowned. It was my way of telling her there was no way I was leaving until the four of them were safe. I would rather die beside my fellow Narnians than flee and fail to protect the royals.

"Get them out of here!" I heard Peter order and saw him point his sword at both Susan and me.

Glenstorm ran towards Susan and she reached up to him. He lifted her onto his back and moved towards me. I shook my head and instead moved further into the fray to make it harder for him to grab me. He would risk the Queen's life if he did so and I noticed he choose to run towards the castle gate. Susan looked back as she was led away.

"Caspian!" she called.
"I'll find him!" Peter answered while fighting off as many Telmarines as possible.

As Glenstorm ran towards the gate, I realized why we had to flee now. The Telmarines had cut to portcullis and Asterius was the only thing preventing the gate from closing. I became desperate, trying to dispatch as many Telmarines as possible so the Narnians could run. Since I could fly, I knew I could make it out so I wasn't worried about my life. There were still two royals inside the gate—one unaccounted for—and I frantically searched for the Prince. I hoped Edmund had made it out. It was driving me crazy having the royals split up where I couldn't keep track of them.

I heard hoofbeats over the roar of the fighting and immediately found the source. Caspian emerged from the stables with his Professor. Both sat atop horses and in his hands, Caspian held the reins of a third horse. I saw the Prince look back at Peter and exchange a look. In the next moment, he was running towards them while Caspian lead the horses towards the gate.  I finally fought my way towards it, repeating the order to retreat all the way.

"Now!" someone cried and arrows came flying all around us. Many Narnians were hit as they ran for the gate. Asterius took one to the leg and he faltered a bit. But it only made his resolve grow and he forced himself to hold it open wider. Caspian, Cornelius, and Peter—now atop the third horse—all made it through the gate and I allowed myself to feel only slightly relieved. A few more Narnians followed, but then Asterius was hit with a few more bolts and he collapsed. The gate fell on him, providing just enough of a gap for Reepicheep and his mice friends to fit through. However, the rest of the Narnians were trapped inside.

Many Narnians had escaped but many more were left behind, including me. I made eye contact with Peter through the gate and I noticed the beginnings of tears in his eyes. Tears for me or the Narnians left behind? I didn't have the answer to that. He hesitated about leaving and some Narnians tried to scale the gate and cross to the other side. But they were shot down before they could make it.

Glenstorm—who still had Susan on his back—bowed his head and I saw a centaur inside nod. I realized it was one of his sons and they were saying goodbye. Everyone locked inside knew it was the end for them. Peter sent me one last look before he forced his horse to jump the drawbridge.

As it closed, I turned to face the Telmarines. Narnians were falling left and right, on either side of me. It was going to be a pileup at the gate. I knew I should transform, but I couldn't leave them. Not like this. So I decided to try and make one last stand. It was a futile effort, but at least we would go down fighting. We would fight until our last breath, trying to take as many of their men with us. I would fight by their side, even if it meant I had to die. I had failed to protect them once before but at least this time I would go down with them.