"Ettinsmoor? Is that what we're calling it now?" Imira asked.
"Better than 'the northern lands the Ettins inhabit' don't you think?" Peter asked in return.
"I suppose it's catchy," she agreed. "So what do we do now?"
Peter looked around the room...
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"War it is then," Imira said and went to Dehlios.
"But I guarantee," she said once on the saddle, "this will be the last time you see the sun set,"
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It wasn't long after the parlay that the battle began.
Impetuous and short-sighted the Ettins made the first move.
They advanced towards the hills with their wooden clubs, their long-range bows and their deadly slings.
Shields would be useless against them, but the Narnians weren't defenceless: Imira had thought things through.
They had discussed strategy for days and days, so after her quick flight on Dehlios, she knew just how she wanted to play it.
She hanf approached the enemy from the west and revealed her position late in the afternoon, placing her army on the hills and asking for parlay. That had not been a thoughtless choice, but a deliberate one. She was waiting for an ally: the sun.
With her last words, she had planted the seed of fear in her enemy. The fear of not seeing another day.
Imira had warned them: the fight was today. But whether it happened under the sun or the moon, that was up to them. Whether they wanted to make the first move now or allow the Narnians to make it, that was up to them.
Imira had given them a choice and for this, the Ettins thought her foolish. Not only had she revealed her position, numbers, weapons, and plan, but most importantly, and as far as the Ettins could see, she had revealed she had no dragon with her (for surely if she had one she would have gone to parlay with him or at least have him on display for intimidation atop a hill).
For the Ettins, the choice was simple: the fight would be now and it would be under their terms.
If only they had realized Imira had given them no choice at all.
The Ettins attacked just as the sun was beginning to set.
Given how quickly things had moved, they weren't properly prepared. They had no helmets, no spiked boots (except for Thunderrun), no shields, and no armour.
