CHAPTERTHIRTEEANVARD
Byabouteleveno'clopanywasohemargiththemountai。dShastarhtattherearwiththeGiaelyinfrontofthem。LudEdmundandPeridahtheirplaleandthoughLucesaid,“Butwhereishisgooseess?”Edmundoi,andthat'sgoodnewsenough。Leave>
Shastatoldostofhisadventuresandexplaihehadlearnedallhisridingfromahorseanddidn'treallyknowhowtousethereins。structedhimiellinghimallabouttheirsecretsailingfromTashbaan。
“AheQueenSusan?”
“AtCairParavel,”said。“She'snotlikeLuow,who'sasgoodasaman,oratanyrateasgoodasaboy。QueenSusanismorelikeanrown-uplady。Shedoesn'tridethsheisaarcher。”
Thehillsidepathwhichtheywerefollowingbearrowerallthetimeandthedrophthaeeper。AtlasttheyweregoinginsiheedgeofapredShastashudderedtothinkthathehaddohesamelastnightwithoutknowingit。“Butofcourse,”hethought,“Iwasquitesafe。ThatiswhytheLioo。Hewasbetweeheedgeallthetime。”
&hweandsouthawayfromthedtherewerethickwoodsonbothsidesofitaeeplyupandupiherewouldhavebeenasplehetopifitwereopengroundbutamongallthosetreesyoucouldseenothing—only,everynowandthen,somehugepinnacleofrockabovethetree-tops,awowheelinghighupintheblueair。
“Theysmellbattle,”said,pointingatthebirds。“Theyknowweafeedforthem。”
Shastadidn'tlikethisatall。
&heyhadcrossedthehepassandeagooddeallowertheyreachedmroundaacouldseeallArd,blueandhazy,spreadoutbelowhimahought)ahibeyondit。Butthesun,stwobeforeitset,wasinhiseyesandheakethingsoutdistinctly。
&hearmyhaltedaiherewasagreatdeal。Awholedetaterous-lookingTalkiswhomShastahadnotnoticedbeforealyofthed(leopards,pahelike)wentpaddingandgrowliheirpositiohegiantswereorderedtht,aheretheyalltookoffsomethingtheyhadbeengontheirbadsatdownforamomeasawthatwhattheyhadbeengaingonwerepairsofboots:horrid,heavy,spikedbootstotheirkheysleclubsovertheirshouldersaheirbattleposition。Thearchers,withQueeherearandyoucouldfirstseethembendingtheirbowsawangtwaedthestrings。Andwhereveryoulookedyoucouldseepeopletighteninggirths,puttis,drawingswords,andthrowingcloakstotheground。Therewashardlyanytalkingnow。Itwasverysolemnandverydreadful。“I'minforitnow—Ireallyaminforitnow,”thoughtShasta。Thenthereoisesfarahead:thesoundofmaingahud-thud-thud
“Batteringram,”whispered。“They'rebatterie。”
Evenlookedquiteseriousnow。
“Whydoesn'tKion?”hesaid。“I'standthiswaitingabout。Chillytoo。”
Shastanodded:hopinghedidn'tlhte。
&atlast!Onthemoventhebaiheyhadtoppedlenow,ahemthewholesesudde;alittle,malewithitsgatetowardthem。Nomoat,uateshutacullisdowheycouldsee,likelittlewhitedots,thefacesofthedefenders。Downbelow,aboutfiftyoftheenes,dismoueadilyswingirunkagaie。Butatohesged。ThemainbulkofRabadash'smereadytoassaultthegate。ButnowhehadseentheNarnianssweepingdowhereisnodoubtthoseenesareworaioShastaonlyasedbeforeawholeliheenemywereain,wheelingrouhem,swingingtowardthem。
Andno。Thegrouwrewlesseverymomeer。Allswordsoutnow,allshieldsuptothenose,allprayerssaid,allteethched。Shastawasdreadfullyfrightesuddeohishead,“Ifyoufunkthis,you'llfuleallyourlife。Nowornever。”
Butwhenatlastthetwolihehadreallyverylittlerideaofeherewasafrightful';andanappallingnoise。Hisswordwaskofhishaysoon。Andhe'dgledsomehow。Thenhefoundhimselfslipping。Thenaspearcamestraightathimaoavoiditherhtoffhishorse,bashedhisleftkerriblyagainstsomeoneelse'sarmor,aisodescribethebattlefromShasta'spointofview;heuoolittleofthefightingeneralandevenofhisownpartiwayItellyoueakeyousomemilesawaytowheretheHermitoftheSouthernMarchsatgazingihpoolbehespreadihBreeandHwinandAravisbesidehim。
ForitwasinthispoolthattheHermitlookedwheoknoasgoingonintheworldoutsidethegreenwallse。There,asinamirror,hecouldsee,attimes,whatwasgoingosofcitiesfarfarthersouththanTashbaan,orswereputtingintoRedhaveeSevenIsles,orwhatrobbersorwildbeastsstirredierweeeandTelmar。Andallthisdayhehadhardlylefthispool,eveordrihatgreateveinArd。AravisandtheHazedintoittoo。Theycouldseeitool:insteadthetreearevealeddcoloredshapesmoving,alwaysmoving,itheycouldseenothiheHermitdfromtimetotimehetoldthemwhathesaw。AlittlewhilebeforeShastarodeintohisfirstbattle,theHermithadbegunspeakihis:
&wleswheelinginthegapbyStormnessHead。Oofalltheeagles。Hewouldulewasathand。IseehimeeringdowAnvardaotheeast,behindStormness。Ah—IseenowwhatRabadashandhismenhavebeensobusyatallday。Theyhavefelledatreeandtheyarenowingoutofthewitasaram。Theyhavelearhingfromthefailureoflastnight'sassult。Hewouldhavebeenwiserifhehadsethismentomakiittakestooloient。Foolthatheis!HeoughttohaveriddenbacktoTashbaanassootackfailed,forhisendedonspeedandsurprise。Ningtheirramintoposition。KingLune'smeinghardfromthewalls。Fiveeneshavefallen:butnotmanywill。Theyhavetheirshieldsabovetheirheads。Rabadashisgivinghisordersnow。Withhimarehismosttrustedlords,fiersfromtheeasternprovinseetheirfaces。Thereisofunt,andAzrooh,andChlamash,andIlgamuthofthetwistedlip,andatallTarkaanwithabeard—”
“BytheMane,myoldmasterAnradin!”saidBree。
“S-s-sly”saidAravis。