Legends of Caspian: Battle at the Tower of Death Part 5

Caspian shrank against the black wall as Kyle probed the blackness with his sword. He hit the wall with, casting up sparks. Caspian hugged Mardina to his chest, wishing his sister was somewhere else. He drew his sword and quietly slipped to another part of the wall. He slowly stepped out of the gate's shadow. Suddenly he heard a laugh! Kyle had spotted him in the moon light! Turning he raced away, Kyle in hot pursuit! He leaped onto a wooden platform clutching Mardina. Kyle halted and laughed once more. He yelled something Caspian did not understand. Suddenly, rope connecting to the platform went taut and he and Mardina started to rise. Mardina whimpered. They came to the top of the tower. In the center was pit of inky black water.
Kyle was there.
"Kyle what's going on?" Mardina whimpered.
"Simply a precaution my dear," Kyle said. "Bring her." Caspian fought valiantly but the Black Fighters wrested her from his grip. Kyle encircled a treacherous arm around her waist while holding his sword in one gloved hand.
"Look in the water Caspian," he laughed. Caspian looked and saw a dorsal fin break the surface and a sleek black shape sink below the waves.
Shark!
"Feel like going for a swim?" Kyle chuckled.
"NO! DON'T DO IT!" Mardina screamed. "Don't kill my brother!"
Caspian looked straight at her.
"It's either me, or Kyle. Choose." 

Legends of Caspian: Battle of the Tower of Death Part 4

Caspian tapped the edge of his dagger. A ruby red drop of blood dripped onto his cloak. It was razor sharp. He peered over the battlements as the cavalcade of horses rode into the courtyard, their horseshoes clicking against the stone. The noise disguised the rasping sound as he drew his sword.
"Hello my liege," Kyle cried with a bow. "I am pleased you could make it to my humble party."
"Yes, yes," Gelon grunted dismounting and helping his daughter do the same.
"Where is the Lady Joan?" Kyle asked glancing at the rest of the horsemen.
"Fell sick with a cold, she stayed at the castle and the healers are treating her," Gelon strode past Kyle.
"Well, shall we get on with it?" he walked through an arch. Kyle reached out for Mardina's hand. Giggling she reached back, but suddenly a shining blade crashed between them! Mardina screamed and pulled her hand back quickly. Kyle spun drawing his own sword and striking a blow that would have cut off Caspian's head! But Caspian had pulled Mardina back into the shadows of the gate. He placed a gloved hand over her mouth. She struggled, but soon realized who her assailant was.
"Caspian! Your Rouge!" she gasped.
"More like your Protector," Caspian whispered. "Wait until I tell you what Kyle has planned."
"Kyle is a good man," Mardina squirmed. "He's been courting me-"
"I know, but it's all a falsity." Suddenly a blade shimmered out of the darkness. Kyle was searching for them, a spiked helmet and breastplate over his black robe. Meanwhile, Lydia awoke. She was lying on a bed in a richly furnished room. She got up and found her travelling cloak draped carelessly over a chair. She looked down at herself. She was wearing an expensive silk green dress. Working wuickly, she pulled her daggers out of the cloak and picked the lock of the door. Outside she found a snoring guard, but she escaped him easily. She looked out a window and saw two man dueling. She gasped, and then leaped out the window!

Legends of Caspian: Battle of the Tower of Death Part 3

David didn't have to drop his weapon. His arm had a thick cut in it, but it was also so muscular that he was much less effected then anyone else.
"You'll pay for this," he growled. "If you dare-"
"Don't worry I won't harm a hair on her pretty head," Kyle laughed, "At least, if I feel like it later." He swung his dagger and aimed it at Luke who was sneaking into the shadows. "Come back here rouge or her head will rolling in the gutter!" Luke slunk back and reluctantly threw his bow and arrows in front of Kyle.
"Very good," Kyle murmured. "Very very good," he said squeezing Lydia. Her eyes narrowed and she strained, trying to escape his crushing embrace. Kyle eyes flickered down to her. She looked terrified, and angry. Kyle laughed and turned her so that her head lay in his dark armor covered chest. She strained harder, but Kyle's arms were stronger then chains. Luke and David barely dared to move, for fear of Lydia being impaled, though Kyle did seem quite distracted. Suddenly a dagger crashed into the wall spraying shards of stone in Luke's face. He screamed and clutched at his eye. Lydia lay on the floor her eyes closed, obviously she was unconscious. Kyle dangled a dagger over her neck.
"Should I kill you both? No I'll present you to Gelon at the feast," he said. "But what should I do with you?" He glanced down at Lydia.
"You knocked her out!" David fumed.
"Don't worry it was quite painless, pressure point that causes the victim to lapse into sleep," Kyle snarled. He yelled loudly for more fighters and soon they were surrounded by black robes and trussed up. Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Lydia being hauled away by two black fighters. Meanwhile, Caspian laying in a small grove in the wall above the main gate. Originally a decorative dragon had sat there, but now it lay shattered behind the wall. Suddenly he heard voices! Peering over the wall carefully, he saw a group of horses approaching. Mardina road saddle side on a pure white horse. Gelon rode on a snorting black horse along with a torch bearing guards. The guests for Kyle's party were coming.

Legends of Caspian: Battle at the Tower of Death Part 2

Luke shivered in place of concealment. Up ahead of him, guards patrolled the dark walls, their deadly spears and crossbows clanking against their dark armor. They seemed nervous. Luke shivered again. What if they saw the robbers before the attack began? He glanced up on the tower watching for the signal. The plan was supposed to be that Caspian would light a torch on the top of the tower when he had secured Kyle, but he had been standing flat against the wall for almost an hour and nothing had cast light on the dreary tower. Then he heard murmurs and harsh voices coming his way.
"Don't worry Lieutenant," a raspy voice commanded, "As soon as Mardina steps into Kyle's room we'll have her. The Captain wants her here tonight, for the... celebration."
Harsh laughter rang out. Luke gasped and smoothed himself against the wall as they walked by. Then he breathed out and gripping his bow he ran to the gate. Peering through the bars he knocked against one, then twice more. A shape materialized from the wall.
"David!" he whispered. "The Black Fighters want to capture Mardina! I'm sure Caspian knows and is preparing to rescue her."
"The fool!" David seethed, "He's put this whole mission in jeopardy!"
"You and your sister will have to capture Kyle."
Working quickly, Luke picked the lock of the gate and it swung open, allowing David and Lydia to slip in.
"How do we know where to find Kyle?"
"I believe you won''t have too my dear."
Suddenly a gleaming sword blade swung out of the blackness and smacked into David unprotected arm as a metal hand grabbed Lydia's shoulder! She screamed, but she was pulled into the metal coated arm of Kyle. He held a needle sharp dagger to her throat.
"Drop you weapons and she dies."

Legends of Caspian: Battle of the Tower of Death Part 1

Caspian crept through a dark corridor, Maximilian by his side. A torch blazed around the corner and rough laughs broke out. A shrill scream rose and then suddenly faded. Caspian halted.

"Is this the way Maximilian?"

"Way this is," Maximilian whispered back, "Sure I am." 

"Kyle's room is this way?"

"Yes." 

Caspian crept forward. They soon left the bleak corridor and came to a wider one. This one had red tapestries hanging from the black walls. At the end it opened into a wide hall, but silence reigned. No one was there. 

"All the better for us," Caspian thought. Maximilian motioned to a door and held up his finger for quiet. 

"Listen Caspian must," he hissed. Caspian softly put his ear to the door. 

"-things ready?"

"Yes my captain, the feast preparations are ready, but my captain, the men are uneasy. They do not think the plan is good."

"Good? Hah. It's foul proof."

"Mardina really will marry you?" 

"Yes. The girl is foolish. She fell for me as soon as I showed my supposed interest in her."

"Hmm, and then after you marry her the throne will be yours?" 

"Yes, tonight I will ask Mardina to marry me. If she doesn't say yes then we'll have to... encourage her a little. Then at the wedding feast Gelon will have an unfortunate accident with the food. We will say he choked, but my agents actually will have slipped some of the most deadly venom known to man in his food." 

"No," Caspian whispered. 

"Isn't the medallion enough?"

"The medallion says I have rule, but it doesn't say how I have rule. This way there willbe a reason to convince King John and the people."

"Very good sir, I must leave to make final preparations."

The door creaked open, but Maximilian had already vanished behind a suit of armor, and Caspian underneath a tapestry. A man with a large beard exited the chamber and walked down to the big hall. When he had vanished, Maximilian and Caspian crept out of their hiding places. Caspian strode back towards the hall. 

"Going where?" Maximilian hissed. "In room Kyle is, hall he is not."

"My family is in danger Maximilian. I can't stand by and watch them die."

"Do what to stop Kyle?"

"I'm going to kidnap Mardina." 

Legends of Caspian: An Army

Lydia pulled the bandage hard. It firmly, and clearly painfully for Master Tage, wrapped around his arm.
"Ouch!" Tage growled.
"Sorry," Lydia said.
"I'll live through it," Master Tage growled. "This place is going to be full of fire when the rest of Gelon's fleet arrives. Back up the river!" HE stood and pulled several cords, twisted a knob carefully and the ship veered into the river. It raced up, casting foam.
"My band should be around here," Mark said. "They escaped up the river."
"Looked to me like they were all dead," Caspian said glancing up from where he was cleaning his sword.
"No, what you saw was the distraction force. None of them escaped," Mark said sadly, "They sacrificed themselves for their their brethren." Caspian stopped and looked back in horror. "
Brave souls," he said solemnly. No one said anything until they found a canoe drifting in the water. The robbers had lost their paddles. Soon they had picked up more, ten canoes, fifty robbers dressed in dark green jerkins. Maximilian peered out from a hatch underneath the ship.
"Took a sleep. Happen anything?"

Caspian peered at the tower.
The Tower of Death.
Surrounding him were the remains of Mark's band. Maximilian peered at the tower.
"Bigger army we need," he pointed out.
"Yes, but this is all we have," Caspian said drawing his swore with a rasping noise.
"Here's the plan. Me and Luke are going to sneak in using that side door Maximilian told us about. I'll give the signal, a torch on the south wall, once I find out where Kyle's room is, and then Mark will lead these... men," Caspian was still very unsure about working with thieves, "Through the side door."
"If we fail?"
"Then Kyle becomes lord."

Legends of Caspian: Rage of the Sea Part 2

Swish thud! Arrows bolted down from the sky like rain as the Vindication turned it's wrath on the bobbing Clipper. Caspian rushed Lydia to cover as more arrows fell. David ducked in with them, plucking two arrows out of his bulky frame as if they were mere splinters.
"They've got us pinned," he growled snapping the shafts in two. "Tage was hit, I think. We're without a pilot."
"Where's Luke!" Caspian asked looked around wildly. Then he saw Luke positioned uncomfortably underneath the giant crossbow on the nose of the drifting clipper! He was trying to put a large clunky looking arrow onto the crossbow's string. He finally succeeded, and desperately trying to aim fired the arrow at the Vindication! It shot above the archer's heads to their audible laughter as they readied for another deathly salvo of arrows into the Clipper. Caspian tensed.
"David, see if you can get to Master Tage and get him to get us out of here," he said.
"But Lydia-" David began.
"Your sister's fine! But she won't be if we don't get out of here now!" As he said this Luke fired a second arrow! It shot through the air and collided with one of the archer platforms! The archers panicked, and suddenly in a fiery explosion the platform burst to pieces, throwing scraps of wood and archers over the side and into the murky depths of the lake. Caspian cheered, and Luke fired another, erupting the second archer platform. One more to go. Already the archers were scrambling off the platform madly trying to escape certain doom.
KA-POW!  
No more archer platform. The ships was burning, but the slaves who manned the oars were cheering.
"Archers!" Sir John yelled, "Stop the ship now, or you all die!"
A commotion broke out, Apparently the sailors were refusing to listen to the archers, but a well aimed warning shot by Luke proved a miraculous solver. The sails were lowered and several anchors thrown overboard. Luke kept a well aimed explosive arrow on the now obsolete Vindication. The archers quickly complied with the demands of Sir John. They released the slaves onto other boats, which quickly were rowed assure where the exultant coal black natives of Africa let out a lusty cheer of approval. The archers had given their weapons to the slaves, and when the archers were forced to go ashore, they quickly ran back to Lord Gelon, under pain of death if they returned! Luke then proceeded to blow the Vindication to smithereens.
"They'll be back," Master Tag scowled later as Lydia dressed his arm. "Be sure of it."