CHAPTERFOURTEENHOWALLWEREVERYBUSY
Alittlebeforetwoo'pkinandtheBadgersatwiththerestofthecreaturesatthewood'sedgelookingacrossatthegleaminglineofMiraz'sarmywhichwasabouttay。Iween,asquarespaceoflevelgrasshadbeehebat。AtthetwofarersstoodGlozelleahdrawnswords。AtthenearerswereGiaherandtheBulgyBear,whoiheirwarningswassughispawsandlookiruth,unonlysilly。Tomakeupflenstormhtofthelists,stock-stillexhestampedahindhoofoallyourf,lookedmuposingthaelmarinebaronwhofatheleft。PeterhadjustshakenhandswithEdmuor,andalkingdow。Itwaslikethemomeolgoesatanimportaverymuchworse。
“IwishAslanhadturcametothis,”saidTrumpkin。
“SodoI,”saidTrufflehulookbehindyou。”
“dutteredtheDwarfassoonashehaddoneso。“Whatarethey?Hugepeople—beautifulpeople—likegodsandgoddessesandgiants。Huhousandsofthem,behindus。Whatarethey?”
“It'stheDryadsandHamadryadsandSilvans,”saidTrufflehunter。“Aslahem。”
“Humph!”saidtheDwarf。“That'llbeveryusefuliftheeryaitwon'thelptheHighKingverymuchifMirazproveshahhissword。”
TheBadgersaidnothing,forerandMirazwereehelistsfromoppositeends,bothonfoot,bothinshirts,withhelmetsaheyadvaheywereclosetogether。Bothbowedaospeak,,butitossibletohearwhattheysaid。woswordsflashedi。Forasedtheclashcouldbeheardbutitwasimmediatelydrowharmiesbeganshoutinglikecrowdsatafootballmatch。
“Welldoer,oh,welldoedEdmundashesawMirazreelbackawholepadahalf。“Followitup,quidPeterdid,andforafewsedsitlookedasifthefightmightbewon。ButthenMirazpulledhimselftantomakerealuseofhisheighta“Miraz!Miraz!TheKing!TheKiheroaroftheTelmarines。dEdmuewithsixiety。
&akingsomedreadfulknocks,”saidEdmund。
“Hullo!”said。“What'shappeningnow?”
“Bothfallingapart,”saidEdmund。“Abitblowowtheyinningagaiificallythistime。groundandround,feeliher'sdefences。”
“I'mafraidthisMirazknowshiswork,”mutteredtheDoctor。ButhardlyhadhesaidthiswhenthereingandbayingandthrowingupofhoodsamongtheOldNarniansthatitwasnearlydeafening。
“hatwasit?”askedtheDoyoldeyesmissedit。”
“TheHighKinghasprickedhimi,”said,stillg。“Justwherethearm-holeofthehauberklettheph。Firstblood。’
“It'slookinguglyagainnow,though,”saidEdmuer'snotusinghisshieldproperly。Hemustbehurtiarm。”
Itwasonlytootrue。EveryonecouldseethatPeter'sshieldhunglimp。Theshoutielmarinesredoubled。
“You'veseelesthanI,”said。“Isthereanyow?”
&tle,”saidEdmund。“Isupposehemightjustdoit。Withluck。”
“Oh,whydidweletithappenatall?”said。
&heshoutingonbothsidesdieddown。Edmunduzzledforamoment。Thenhesaid,“Oh,Isee。They'vebothagreedtoarest。eon,DoaybeabletodosomethingfhKing。'Theyrandowsaercameoutsidetheropestomeetthem,hisfadsweaty,hischestheaving。
“Isyourleftarmwounded?”askedEdmund。
“It'slyawouersaid。“Igottheweightofhisshoulderonmyshield—likealoadofbridtherimoftheshielddroveintomywrist。Idon'tthinkit'sbroken,butitmightbeasprain。IfyoucouldtieitupverytightIthinkIanage。”
&heyweredoingthis,Edmundaskedanxiously。“Whatdoyouthinkofhim,Peter?”
“Tough,”saidPeter。“Verytough。Ihaveakeephimoillhisweightandshortwihim—inthishotsuntoo。Totellthetruth,Ihaven'tmuceelse。Givemyloveto—toeveryohome,Ed,ifhegetsme。HereheesisagainSolong,oldchap。Good-bye,DodIsay,Ed,saysomethingspeipkin。He'sbeenabrick。”
Edmund'tspeak。HewalkedbackwiththeDoctortohisowhasiginhisstomach。
Buttheweerobeabletomakesomeuseofhisshield,aainlymadegooduseofhisfeet。HelayingTigwithMiraze,shiftinghisground,makingtheenemywork。
“Coward!”booedtheTelmarines。“Whydon'tyoustanduptohim?Don'tyoulikeit,eh?Thoughtyou'detofight,notdance。Yah!”
“Oh,Idohopehewon'tlistentothem,”said。
“Nothe,”saidEdmund。“Youdon'tknowhim—Oh!”fotinabloeter'shelmet。Peterstaggered,slippedsideways,andfelloheroaroftheTelmarihehesea。“Now,Miraz,”theyyelled。“Now。Quick!Quick!Killhim。”ButiherewasoeggtheusurperoopofPeteralready。Edmundbithislipstillthebloodcame,astheswordflasheddowlookedasifitwouldslashoffhishead。Thahadglanhisrightshoulder。TheDwarf-wroughtmailwassoundanddidnotbreak。
&!”criedEdmund。“He'supagai,Peter。”
“I'tseeened,”saidtheDoctor。“Howdidhedoit?”
“GrabbedMiraz'sarmasit,”saidTrumpkin,dangwithdelight。“There'samanforyou!Useshisenemy'sarmasaladder。TheHighKing!TheHighKing!Up,OldNarnia!”
“Look,”saidTrufflehunter。“Mirazisangry。Itisgood。”Theywerelyatithammerandtongsnow:suchaflurryofblowsthatitseemedimpossibleforeithernottobekilled。Astheextgrew,theshoutingalmostdiedaectattheirbreath。Itwasmosthorribleandmostmag。
&arosefromtheOldNarnians。Mirazwasadown—notstruckbyPeter,butfapedonatussock。Petersteppedbagforhimtorise。
“Ohbother,bother,bother,”saidEdmundtohimself。“lemanlyasallthat?Isupposehemust。esofbeingaKnightandaHighKing。IsupposeitiswhatAslanwouldlike。Butthatbrutewillbeupagainihen—”
But“thatbrute”heLlozelleandSopespianhadtheirownplansready。AssooheirKingdowothelistsg,“Treachery!Treachery!TheNarniantraitorhasstabbedhiminthebackwhilehelayhelpless。Toarms!Toarms,Telmar!”
&erhardlyuoodewobigmenrunningtonswords。Theelmarinehadleapedovertheropesooarms,Narnia!Treachery!”Petershouted。Ifallthreehadsetuponhimatoncehewouldneverhavespokenagain。ButGlozellestoppedtostabhisownKingdeadwherehelay:“That'sforyourinsult,thism,”hewhisperedasthebladeweersian,slashedhislegsfromunderhimand,withthebaestroke,edoffhisheadEdmundwasnowathissidearnia,NarhewholeTelmarinearmywasrushingtowardthem。Butingforinglowandswinginghisclub。Thetaurscharged。Twang,twangbehindandhiss,hissoverheadcamethearcheryofDwarfs。Trumpkinwasfightingathisleft。Fullbattlewasjoined。