Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize
A/N: Thanks a lot to all of those who reviewed and to Ally Serenity for betaing this chapter
Chapter Fourteen
They quickly headed towards the throne room, slightly worried and wondering what could have happened. When they arrived, the young boy bowed and left them.
They exchanged a glance, and then Lily opened the door and they stepped forward into the room.
All the persons present turned to look at them. Everyone was sitting at a huge table; the King motioned for them to sit down. Four scholars were at one end of the table discussing between themselves with books opened in front of them. King Regis, Queen Dorilys, Sir Albus, Sir Exer, Lady Minerva, and all the counselors, even Sir Cornelius in his pink dress, were there.
Sir Cornelius was fuming when he saw them. Each time he met someone, the person would smile or laugh before bowing before him. He had been called Cornelia all day long and was pretty sure that the soldiers had invented a song. He had heard one of them sing it. This was a real Hell for him.
"Thank you for coming. We have a few matters to discuss with you all. You are aware of the fact that Voldemort will strike in a few days? We are not ready for an attack. As such, we would like to know if you can think of any weak points you may have noticed…"
Bella, Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius thought hard for a while.
After a few minute of silent, Sirius sighed.
"No, I can't think of a thing. His camp is well-protected and well- placed."
"Me too." said Remus.
James gave up as well, followed by Bella.
All eyes were on Lily who hadn't spoken yet. She seemed lost in her thoughts.
In fact she was remembering something she had heard…
Flashback
Lily was lying on the floor. Through the pain and voices in her head she heard
two people speaking.
"Why he is doing that is beyond me!" Said a man.
"Yes, sometimes I wonder why we are here. I mean, why are we following him? All he cares about is his own power!" exclaimed an other.
"Shut up, he may hear you! And you know what will happen next" Man 1 whispered worryingly.
Man 2 remained silent.
"Have you seen Lestrange?" asked Man 1.
"Yes, he is the most scornful and bigheaded man I have ever seen. And it is just because he is a member of the Lord's inner circle!" replied Man 2.
"I will be happy to see him fail the Lord." Added Man 1 with a laugh.
End of Flash back
Lily looked around her, a sad smile slowly forming on her lips. They looked to her with hope in their eyes.
"I may have a plan." She said simply. "Before falling unconscious, I hear two Death Eaters speaking…" She told them what she had heard. "Apparently there is a huge rivalry between some of them. We can exploit that. I found in a book an ancient spell called Zizadis. This spell enhances all feelings; in particular: jealousy, personal ambitions, and selfishness. It will create kind of an internal struggle in Voldemort's army, as the Death Eaters are already a bit resentful. While they will be fighting between them, they will not be attacking us. Moreover, Voldemort's army would be weakened." Explained the young woman.
"That is a good idea," said the King, "Even if I am a bit reluctant to use such a method."
"I do not look forward to doing it," said Lily. "But this spell will give us time to prepare ourselves. Moreover, we are not going to manipulate their minds, we shall just enhance their deepest feelings. If Voldemort had succeeded in gaining the loyalty of his followers, this would not have any effect, but because he prefers to use fear to rule, it gives us a small advantage."
"Good analyses Lilyaris," stated Sir Albus.
"Thank you, Sir." Said Lily, bowing her head.
The King looked at the young red-haired woman thoughtfully.
She is definitively intelligent, she would make a wonderful counselor and the man she loves will have an excellent advisor.
"Lilyaris, how is this spell cast?" asked Sir Exer.
"We will need ten powerful riders, for this spell is quite difficult. There are two parts: you must cast the spell, and then activate it. It will take two days to start its effects, so it must be cast tomorrow or the day after. The ten riders will be put in different places around the camp. I will be able to break the protection that blocks spells for a minute. Before it closes, they shall have to cast the spell on a stone and drop it inside the protective shield. The curse would affect all the people present in the area delimited by the stones. Then someone will have to activate it when I break the shield. The first part could be cast before, but if the second is not done five minutes after, the charm will wear off."
"Alright, do you have any riders in mind?" asked a counselor.
Lily licked her lips, thinking hard. Then she held her hand and muttered "Accio riders' registers".
Instantly two thick books flew in her hands. She started to flip through them, muttering to herself.
Everyone but Sirius, Remus, James and Bella starred at her.
King Regis looked interrogatively at his son.
"These registers are were Lady Bella and Lilyaris have recorded all of the riders, their abilities, tempers, likes and dislikes, defaults, and qualities. They have also made registers for fighters, healers, elves, fairies…" He explained.
A proud look appeared on Sir Albus' face. Sir Exer looked excited.
"Can I have a look at them?" he asked.
"As soon as I am finished with them," answered Lily.
After a few minutes, she conjured a piece of parchment and started writing on it. She then handed it to the King and gave the registers to Sir Exer. The King read the names written on the paper.
"Hmmm, good choices…. James, Bella, Remus, Sirius, Sir Yvan, Sir Thomas, Sir Frank, Sir Arxes, Sir William, and Sir Ormain. All right, you may warn them. Who will cast the second part of the spell?"
"I do not know, your Majesty; have you somebody you someone in mind? The spell is rather difficult and a strong wizard or witch is needed. Moreover, he or she will have to master it very quickly." Said Lily.
"I believe I can do it, my dear," said someone behind her. She turned and looked at the man who had spoken. She recognized him as Sir Flitwick a famous charms teacher.
Doubt had to be visible on her face, because the little man had a short laugh.
"I am more than willing to help, and casting a charm will not be difficult for me. Moreover, I will not have to fight. I will just have to fly with one of the riders, cast this spell and then come back."
Lily thought for a few seconds before nodding.
"That would be wonderful. Thank you for your help, Sir."
"No need to thank me. Now, could you show me that spell?"
"With pleasure! Here it is: You have to move your wand like that while saying Zizadis, the hard thing is that you have to put in a lot of power to give the spell enough strength to activate all the stones. You will have to cast the spell towards the sky." Explained Lily.
Sir Flitwick seemed thoughtful, then smiled widely, nodded and left the room.
"Did you want to tell us something else, your Majesty?" asked Bella.
"Indeed, but I think these men," he pointed to the three remaining scholars, "will be more skilled than I to explain it."
On of them stood up. Lily recognized him as Sir Herthon.
"A few days ago, the King had asked us to find a way to defeat Voldemort and his army. We have searched through our parchments, books, and manuscripts, for now, we have not found a way to stop him definitively, but a way to stop him for a few months, giving us more time to find a way to defeat him. We are currently translating a book we think may bring us the solution."
"This is all very interesting, Sir," cut James, "But why are you telling us?"
"You see, my Prince," continued an other scholars, "What we have found are the instructions to create a shield on a very large area. This shield would prevent someone from entering or going out or even both, depending on what the person who cast it wanted. If we are able to do it, we would be able to imprison Voldemort and his army, preventing them from attacking us."
"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Bella.
Lily looked thoughtfully at Sir Hernon.
"I suppose there are few drawbacks, are there not?" she asked cautiously, looking at the others.
They looked at her closely before nodding.
"Indeed. Firstly, the shield will only last for five months. Second, we are currently not able to do it." Answered another scholar, Sir Bernard.
"Why, if I may ask?" said Lily.
"This shield is an ancient form of magic. Its inventor had been long forgotten, leaving behind him, this book," he pointed to an old dark blue book. "He called his invention the Golden Gate. Afraid of what might happen if this shield fell in wrong hands, he decided to hide its components. In fact to create this shield we need three things: the Dragon's heart, the Phoenix's tear and the Unicorn's horn."
There was a silence at these words.
"What are these things? I do not think you are speaking of a real dragon's heart or a true unicorn's horn, am I right?" asked Lily.
"Exactly. These are the names the inventor gave to the components. The Dragon's heart is a hollow orb made of ruby and dragon's blood given willingly. The Phoenix's tear is a small vial containing a potion necessary to the shield. And the Unicorn's horn is a staff. We do not know the materials of which it is composed and only know that it is quite long, carved with pictures of unicorns, and had a stone at its end."
At these words all the mouths of the people present in the room were hanging wide open. It took them quite a long time to compose themselves.
"Do you know where these things are hidden?" asked Remus.
"Unfortunately no. The inventor only left these." Said Sir Hernon. He took an old parchment and read it aloud.
The Dragon's Heart, an orb of power, is where everything starts.
Men's blood has been spread for it, and will be, since no jewels,
Even the most beautiful necklace cannot be compared to it.
But its beauty is no match for its power.
But be careful only the person with pure wishes will
Be able to find the solution. Here lies the first key.
Last of his kind
Yet not alive
The Tear lays in his eyes
White as the snow but wild as the storm
Only one man is said to have mounted him.
He has now joined the stars
But one thing remains here
For us to remember.
There, he stands and guards.
1.1 The Unicorn's horn is the key. I have hidden it where no one can see it. The …
"We haven't the sequel. That is the only clue we have to the whereabouts of the Dragon's Heart, the Phoenix's tear and the Unicorn's horn. We have tried to decrypt the first part, but we have not succeeded. It is not coded; if we read one word every three, two, four, five, or whatever number of words, it does not either. We have tried to read it by columns, but that did not work either… It is a mystery to us as are the two others." Sighed Sir Hernon.
"May I have a look at it?" asked Lily.
After having studied her closely, Sir Hernon handed her the parchment.
She read it twice, oblivious of the fact that everyone was starring at her. She frowned, but then a small smile appeared on her face. She looked up.
"Excuse me, but does any of you know something called the blood necklace?" she asked.
"Yes," answered the prince, a bit confused. "That necklace is part of the crown's jewels. Why?"
"Could you show it to us?" said Lily
The Prince looked at his father, who nodded. He stood and left the room. He returned a few minutes later bringing a small box.
He put it on the table, held his wand up, and muttered a few words.
The box opened and revealed one of the most splendid things people present had ever seen. The necklace was composed of a thin chain made of golden and silver wires interlaced. On it were placed small rubies and emeralds. But the thing that caught the attention was a big ruby in the center. It was nearly as big as a fit and hollow.
"May I present you the Dragon's Heart." said Lily, pointing to the big ruby.
Everyone starred at her, unbelieving.
"How?" Sir Albus finally said.
"Read this text once more. But read only the first word of the first line, the second of the second line and so forth. It says 'The blood necklace is the solution'." Explained Lily, amused by their faces.
Everyone looked at her with amazement. Sir Albus had a small smile on the lips, looking with pride at his ancient student. She was really different from the nineteen-year-old girl he had found in the forest.
"Amazing!" muttered Sir Hernon. "Really amazing, have you any ideas about the two others?" he asked, looking hopefully at her. It was a bit funny to see this old and wise man asked for a young woman's advise.
"The second is quite clear. It talks about an animal white and wild, surely kind of a horse, as it can be mounted. Then it says it has joined the stars so it must talk about a constellation. The only one I can think of is the Pegasus."
"Exactly! The Pegasus!" exclaimed Sir Hernon. "But how can the tear be in his eye? There has not been a Pegasus in the Kingdom for centuries!"
"I think the text designates a statue," cut in Bella.
"I do not know of any Pegasus statue," said thoughtfully the King.
Lily was smiling.
"I don't think nobles would know it." She said. "But the commoners know a cave they call the Pegasus cave, due to the fact that a huge Pegasus is carved on the wall. If I recall correctly, the eyes are made of a sort of crystal. Nobody had been able to take them out, as I think there has been a strong charm put on them."
Silence followed her words.
"So we just have to go there and take it." Said Sirius.
"Not exactly. The place has strong shields. I remember that I did not like to go there because it was like I had something that was trying to cut my head in twice. As I am part-elf, it will be more painful for you and I do not think you will be able to enter. You would have to break the charms and shields that are on the place. Moreover, I think you should replace the vial. Commoners love to go there, it is like their private place where nobles cannot get. They need it."
Everybody nodded, understandingly.
"And for the last part," added Lily "There are not enough things to allow us to guess. Where does this come from?"
"We found this in the royal library; it was stuck in a book. Apparently it has been taken from another book. The only clue we have is this mark." Sir Bernard said, while pointing to something on the parchment. Indeed there were two runes interlaced together.
"I have never seen this before," said Prince James after a while. Everyone agreed. Suddenly Bella noticed how pale her friend had become. Lily was as white as a ghost and seemed stunned. Her eyes were wide opened.
Flash back
"Mum, can I read this book?" asked a thirteen-year-old redhead, looking at a big green book.
"Show me it," said the woman.
The girl handed her the book. It was thick with a strange mark on the cover. The mother frowned.
"I am sorry darling, but this book is not for one so young as you."
"But mum…"
"Lilyaris, I want you to promise me something," said the woman, kneeling near her daughter and looking straight in her eyes.
"What mum?"
"Promise you will not read any books with this mark before you are old enough. This is very important."
The little girl remained silent, and then spoke.
"I promise, mum."
End of Flashback
"Is there something wrong, Lily?" she asked quietly.
Sir Albus' head snapped towards them. Seeing Lily, he frowned.
"What happened, Lilyaris?"
"He cannot be… No it is impossible…" Lily was muttering, apparently lost in her thoughts.
Bella shook her slightly and carefully as Lily had a tendency to react violently when she was surprised or startled.
"Lil, what's wrong?" she asked, a bit worried by her friend's behavior.
Lily looked at her.
"Halthor Ewster" whispered the young woman.
There was a silence, again.
"Who?" asked Sirius, a bit puzzled by Lily's face.
"Halthor Ewster." repeated Lily, more calmly, apparently composing herself.
"Who is he?" asked Sir Exer.
"He was a genius, a brilliant mind, one of the brightest men ever. One of my ancestors was part of his inner circle. His inventions helped the kingdom greatly and made it progress. However, in his last years, he began to change. He started to make searches in the Dark Arts. It corrupted him. After a while, he was no longer the wise man he had been; he was a corrupted man who was ready to do anything to get what he wanted. He changed his name and became Rhetwas. This now evil man was killed after a few years by a young and powerful wizard: Sir Gryffindor."
There were a few gasps. Lily continued her story
"As he had at one time been a member of his circle, my ancestor was chased too. But before disappearing, he took with him the books of Halthor Ewster. He only took the books Halthor had written when he was still on the good side. All of his inventions and ideas were written there. Knowing that it was too dangerous to let this be known, my ancestor kept them with him. They had been given to his descendants, and they are now in the Evans dominions."
Everybody starred at her, incredulous.
"Oh my," finally said Remus, "You are full of surprises, my dear Lilyaris."
Lily had a small smile.
"I shall take that as a compliment, Sir Remus."
"So you think that the book from which this page has been taken might be there?" asked a counselor.
"It is highly probable, Sir." answered Lily.
"Could you bring them here?" Asked another counselor.
Sir Albus looked at Lily, worried. Going back to where her sister lived would not do her any good. Lily bit her low lip before nodding slowly.
"I think you should be escorted my dear, there may be a lot of books, and Amaris might not be able to carry all of them." Said Sir Albus.
Lily looked at him, relieved, and nodded.
"I'll come!" said Bella, immediately volunteering.
"Me too," said Sirius, Remus, and James together.
The counselors smiled.
"Alright, go then," said the King, with a small smile, "But don not be too long."
"We will not, your Majesty," said Lily with a blank face. She stood up, bowed and left, followed by the others.
Once they had left, everyone turned to look at Sir Albus. Worry was visible on his face.
"What is wrong Albus?" asked Lady Minerva.
"I am worried for Lily."
"Why? She is just going to see her sister." Replied a counselor.
"That is the problem," said Sir Albus.
He told them what Lily's life had been with her sister.
At the end, all the counselors were a bit shocked. How could someone treat one of their relatives like that?
"Was there something that could have been done?" said Lady Minerva.
"No, there was no proof," answered the King. The Queen looked at the door, hoping everything would be all right for red-haired woman she had started to respect and admire.
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤
The five friends flew in silence. Lily was lost in her thoughts. Bella was looking at her, eyes full of sorrow; she knew what her life had been there. The three boys were confused.
Bella said Darais.
Yes?
Tharis, Mneris and Yoris are asking me what is going on.
Hmmm, I think we should tell them a few things so they will understand what might happen. Tell them, but order them to not tell Lily that I told them that. If she wants to talk about it to them, she will.
Alright.
There was a long silence.
Yoris is telling me that Remus will not say a thing. He, Tharis, and Mneris are asking me if they can burn them a bit, and James and Sirius asked if they can hex them.
They'd better not do anything or Lily will skin them alive!
Alright
A few minutes before they arrived near the dominions Bella was contacted by Amaris.
Bella?
Yes Maris?
Lily wants to thank you for telling the others, she says she would not have been able to do it for a long, long time."
Bella was surprised Lily knew. She looked at her friend, who waved at her.
She is very welcome. To be truthful, I was a bit frightened by what her reaction might be when she found out that I had told them.
Maris made a mental laugh.
She cannot be really angry with you…
They arrived at the dominion.
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤
They landed in a meadow and climbed off. They asked their dragons to stay there, and then they walked towards the entrance.
Lily was dreading the meeting, but she gathered her courage and shook the bell. She heard footsteps coming. Her whole body tensed.
The portal opened. To her relief, she saw Rohal.
"Mistress Lily!" exclaimed the young man. He hugged her tightly. She hugged him back.
"Good to see you Rohal. How are you?"
He darkened.
"Not doing so well to tell the truth, but I'm used to 'them' now." He said 'them' with a look of disgust on his face.
"Are they still as bad as I remembered?"
"Worse. I barely manage to keep them away from the horses. Once, Sir Vernon wanted to train a horse himself. The horse bit him. You can imagine what happened next. I managed to save the horse, but he is traumatized."
"Which one was it?"
"Woody,"
"Oh my, he was so promising!"
"I know. But what happened to you? You disappeared during the dragon season two years ago!"
"Yes, I lived in a shack for the two weeks because I did not want to be with 'them' for two weeks. But I linked with a dragon and became a rider, and that is why I did not come back."
"You are a dragon-rider? That's marvelous, Mistress! You should have heard Lady Petunia when she found that you disappeared; I swear you could have heard her shouts kilometers away!"
"I can imagine," said Lily with a smile. "I came with a few friends, you may remember them…" She pointed to Bella and the boys.
Rohal's eyes widened then he bowed deeply.
"My Prince, Sirs, Lady, I am sorry to have made you wait…"
"No need Rohal," said Bella kindly, seeing the young man's embarrassment.
"In fact, we came here because we need to take something. Lily remembered that it was here, so we came to bring it to the castle." Said Remus.
Rohal only nodded, stunned to talk to one of the close friends of the Prince.
"Could you guide us to the library, Rohal?" asked Lily "Is it still here?"
"Yes. But it must be dusty since you were the only one who went in there."
"Thank you." said Lily smiling to her old friend.
"Come this way, we may be able to avoid Lady Petunia." Said Rohal.
He guided them to a big door.
"Here is the library."
"Thank you so much!"
"My pleasure, Mistress."
They entered the room. Dust had accumulated, as apparently no one had entered the room for a long time.
"Here they are." Said Lily. She took about ten books from a shelf and handed them to her friends.
"Good, now we need to get out of here as fast as we can."
Unfortunately, things were not that easy.
As they headed towards the portal, Lily felt someone grab her arm brutally, then slap her hard on her face. She looked up and saw Vernon glaring murderously at her.
"What were you thinking you little lazy ingrate? Leaving like that! Who knows what you have done, probably selling yourself! We took you in, fed you, dressed you! And what did you do to thank us? You left us! And you thought you could come back! I'll show you!" He lifted his hand, ready to hit her again.
Lily was stunned, she couldn't move. She readied herself for the blow. But nothing came. She looked up and saw that Bella had grabbed Vernon's hand.
"Never hit her again, Understood?" she growled, her eyes throwing daggers to the man.
"Who do you think you are? Another bitch; probably a friend of this worthless piece of dirt!"
"I'm Sorry" James said suddenly, looking angrily to Vernon. "May I present to you Lady Bella, and my friends Sir Remus, and Sir Sirius." He continued pointing to his friends.
"And let me introduce to you Prince James, heir of the throne of Erkanswald. I see you already know Lilyaris. We are all members of the Lions wing sent here on mission." Added Remus, smirking as the man paled and started to stutter.
"I am sorry, your Majesty, I did not mean to…" he choked.
"I saw." Cut coldly James. "We have finished our mission here and…"
"LILYARIS! How can you come back after having disappeared like that? Showing no gratitude for all we have done for you!" shrieked a tall blond woman, before grabbing Lily and shaking and slapping her hard again. Lily fell on the ground, unable to do anything.
"Answer me when I speak!"
"SILENCE!" shouted James. "Never. Hurt. Her. Again." He said threateningly.
"Be silent Petunia." Said Vernon before muttering some thing in her ear. She paled then started to apologize.
The four friends eyed them spitefully, before looking concerned at Lily who was still laying on the floor.
"Bella, call the dragons. Remus, Sirius, gather the books, I'll take care of her." Said James.
They nodded and he approached Lily. He put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed, but then relaxed when she saw it was him.
"Get up Lil, we're leaving."
She nodded and stood up shakily, with James helping her. He put one arm around her waist and helped her walk. After a few seconds she pulled away, having recollected from the shock. Then the dragons landed near them. She climbed on Amaris. They then left without looking at the two people standing behind them, mouths wide open.
