Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia were created and written by C.S. Lewis. I own nothing you might recognize. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Yet another drabble for the challenge over at susancaspian on LiveJournal (prompt: war). So much is going on there people! Go and join!

Battle of the Horn

The noise was deafening, but Caspian did not heed it. He was staring at the still body of General Glozelle, unable to wrap him mind around what he had just seen. One moment he was lying on his back, facing the lance that was about to take his life… the next Glozelle had been in the strong grasp of… a tree root? Caspian looked around him, stunned, as he could see a chestnut pass by twenty feet from where he lay, closely followed by a relatively small oak. Of all the tales of Old Narnia that he had heard as a young boy, the one of the Living Trees had always been the hardest to believe. But looking around him now, Caspian could not deny that Narnia held a great many more secrets than he ever could have imagined.

The thoughts shot through his mind in a matter of mere seconds, which was all the time Caspian had. A second tree root, bigger and broader even than the one that had grabbed Glozelle, shot out of the earth towards him. Caspian closed his eyes tightly and raised his arms in a feeble attempt to defend himself. "Stop!" He yelled. His voice broke, but Caspian cared so little he hardly noticed. "I am Prince Caspian; I fight on your side! Don't kill me!"

Nothing happened. Caspian opened one eye to see the root still pointing towards him—if anything it resembled a long, thing and snake-like branch—as if it was hesitating. Then it shot past him, through the earth and towards the towering catapult it pulled down with ease. Caspian shuddered at the thought how easily the branch could have ripped him apart. I have to get out of this!

Scrambling to get up, Caspian snatched his sword from the ground and ran towards the edge of the trench he was in. He had to put away his sword so he could use both his hands for climbing.

After the initial shock of the moving trees, the war had fully resumed again. The sky was thick with arrows flying in various directions, the sounds of clanging swords and the battle cries of the being warriors wielding them. There was too much chaos everywhere for Caspian to see how to battle was going or who seemed to be on the winning hand. He was looking around for a rock or elevated ground where he could have a better view of the grounds when he spotted Queen Susan nearby. She was taking out Telmarines all around her at an impressive rate; her arrows hitting their targets with a precision and accuracy that suprised Caspian, even though he had known she was perhaps the most skilled archer Narnia had ever seen. He noticed with pride the number of bodies on the ground that had been brought down by red feathered arrows. His spirit fell however, when he saw a Telmarine soldier, partly hidden behind a large light-grey rock, aiming a crossbow at the Gentle Queen.

No! His sword was in his hand in to time at all and Caspian charged at the man with an animalistic snarl he didn't know he possessed. The man looked up in fear and shock and aimed his crossbow at Caspian instead. Lunging aside, Caspian avoided the first arrow flying at him. Before the Telmarine had had the time to strap on a second arrow, Caspian jumped over a rock in a giant leap; his word coming down hard and fast, cutting the crossbow in two. A second blow severed the hand the man had raised in defence, and his strangled cry was cut short when the sword struck for the third time; piercing his lower abdomen.

"Not her!" Caspian growled as the man sunk to the ground, and he looked behind him to verify that the Queen was still unharmed. Susan was staring at him; alerted by his cry as he has passed her, and clearly aware of what had just happened. Gratitude was etched on her face, and Caspian felt himself grow just a little under her obvious admiration. "That's twice in one day!" He yelled as he walked towards her.

Susan smiled feebly at him before her lovely expression suddenly changed into an angry snarl and she reached for another arrow. For one wild moment Caspian thought she was going to shoot him, but the arrow flew past his shoulder. Whipping around, Caspian saw a Telmarine not five feet away from him collapse to the ground with an audible sigh; a red feathered arrow sticking from his throat where the armour was thinnest. Caspian wheeled around again to find that Susan was smiling at him with a deliciously smug grin.

"I still think you need the horn more!" She yelled back.