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 Eighteen
Lily found herself in front of something that looked a lot like… a maze?
She looked at the others who looked a bit surprised too. Getting out of the maze wouldn't be that hard with a bit of magical help.
"Well, it's not going to be hard," said James, voicing her thoughts.
"No," said Xaol, "Let's go."
They entered the maze. Immediately, the two scholars cast a directing spell. A blue arrow appeared in front of them, indicating the path to follow.
They were walking for a few minutes and nothing had happened. James and Lily were leading, being the ones who had more chance to block any type of attack. Suddenly they heard a struggling noise. They turned and saw their friends in a rather difficult situation…
A Devil Snare had captured them. Their friends were struggling to escape from it, but the more they struggled the more the plant tightened its grips. James and Lily did not waste a second. They immediately cast Incendio spells at the plant, but it didn't seem to be affected by the curse at all. James cursed, which was very unlike him.
"It must be immune to spells…"
"Apparently, we are going to use the good old fashion method," said Lily unsheathing her sword. James did the same and they started to release their friends from the plant. They managed to do it quite fast, and soon their friends were trying to catch their breath.
"Thank you!" said Derna.
"You're welcome." said Lily, looking closely for the first time to her surroundings. Her partners did the same. There was a silence, only broken by Kermal.
"Well, apparently it will not be as easy as we thought…"
Indeed, they had just noticed the plants of which the maze was composed: there were all dangerous plants, and the majority was venomous.
"Indeed", said Mundungus. "Well, standing here won't help us, I suggest that we continue."
"As if we could go back," muttered Nathael.
"But we're going to have to be extremely careful." Continued the scholar. "Bahir, Gerim, be ready to operate."
The two healers nodded, looking in their bags.
"Enough talks," said Derna, "Let us go, we do not have all day…"
Mundungus and Xoal seemed a bit shocked by her words, but James and Lily laughed.
"Alright Derna, lead the way…"
"Oh no! I give you the pleasure!" said the warrior, curtsying mockingly.
"Thank you, my dearest Derna." said James, teasingly.
"Your welcome your Majesty," replied she, "I mean you have the great honor to lead our dear team…"
"And to be the first to die if we fall in a trap." finished the prince, smiling.
Derna didn't reply, but everyone could see a huge smile.
James and Lily sheathed their swords and resumed their walk. They had a few other encounters with deadly plants: one nearly ate Quentin, and another threw little poisonous stings and Bahir and Gerim were barely able to reanimate Mundungus, Nathael, and Orthon who had been hit by some. They met a flower that spread a powder which made them hallucinate, making them believed they were facing Death Eaters instead of friends. Kermal and Derna nearly beheaded Xoal and Bahir. Lily had to knock them unconscious so that the healers could give them an antidote. They had encountered Whomping Willows, mermaythis, a plant that hypnotizes you by its songs and makes you take care of them until your death, and so forth. To add to this nightmare, they quickly discovered that the maze did not stay still, but that the plants were continuously transforming it. That's why they kept on ended in dead-ends. Lily was starting to be fed up with this trial… If only they could hold the plants still for a few minutes… They had tried to freeze, and fire them, to no avail. In fact the curses had bounced back and it had earned them a few burns along with the pleasure of being frozen.
"Lily, behind you!" yelled James.
Lily turned and saw a big red flower with little white dots. It could have been a beautiful flower if you had not seen the big hole with sharp teeth, the horrendous smell, and the moving liana with thorns as long as Lily's hand. Slightly angered by this, she unsheathed her sword and swung it. The flower was soon on the ground, but instead of dying, new roots appeared and in a few seconds a new flower was standing before her. The plant threw a liana and caught Lily's leg. She winced in pain. Fortunately, the thorns had not had time to grow to their original length. Not wanting to be a flower's meal, she raised her sword and in few moves the flower was ripped in pieces.
Lily put immediately her hand on her leg and healed herself.
Suddenly she heard a scream. She had been so caught up in her little meeting with the ugly flower, an Ammonitea, that she hadn't noticed that her friends had kept on walking. She cursed and ran, worried about what could have made the others scream.
When she reached them, she fully understood why.
They had, once again, ended in a dead end, but the bad thing was that this dead-end was where a Deathapclysia was growing… The Deathapclysia was a huge tree; when you first saw it, you may even not notice it. Big mistake. It was probably one of the most deadly plants that had ever exited, and in Lily's mind a completely useless one. It had long lianas, which were extremely quick. On them there were thorns. They were not poisonous, but the plant used them to pomp the energy of its victims. It grabbed any living being who passed a bit too close. The thorns penetrated the skin and then sucked all the person's energy. Then the lifeless body was dropped on the ground where other plants would use it. The plant had another ability, which made it particularly deadly: The liana acted like a chameleon and was extremely difficult to spot. This allowed it to take its victim by surprise. The liana had caught all of Lily's friends. They were now hanging in the air, weakening before her very eyes. Lily saw that Quentin, as well as most of the others, was very pale. Derna looked at the young woman and mouthed, "help".
She approached the tree, becoming angrier…
Suddenly, she heard a sound on her right and before she could react she felt something entered her skin. Immediately she felt her energy decrease. That was the last straw. Lily was now definitively mad; she had not had a good time since they had entered this maze, and now she was literally boiling. She looked on her right and saw James. His black hair was contrasting a lot with his now white skin, making him looking nearly dead if it hadn't been for his breathing. Seeing her friend in this state made something brake inside Lily.
"ENOUGH!" she yelled, her green eyes blazing full of anger. She could feel power inside her body, a power she didn't know she possessed. It was an old and primitive power, probably related to her elf part, thought Lily. She turned to look at the plant. Her eyes fell on the trunk. To her surprise she could look inside of it and see the energy circulating from her friends to the roots and the leaves. With all her might she tried to reverse the circulation, even if she knew it wasn't possible, but she had to do something. To her amazement, it functioned. Instead of leaving them, the energy was coming back to her comrades' bodies. It was draining for her: she had to fight the plant, which was trying to stop her. Quickly, colors came back to the others' cheeks, and they opened their eyes and looked around.
"Cut the liana," Lily managed to say.
They obeyed, and soon were free and out of danger. In a last effort, Lily sent a wave of energy inside the plant, which paralyzed it for a few seconds. It was enough for her to free herself and get away. As soon she was out of the lianas' reach, she fell on the ground, drained of nearly all her energy. She saw her friends rush to her side. James helped her sit up, and supported her. Bahir was looking for something in his bag. He handed her a small vial.
"Strengthening Potion," he said.
Lily took it gratefully, but she was to weak to even bring it to her lips. James took it from her and made her drink, while holding her up.
As soon she had drunk it, she felt all her strength coming back to her.
"Thank you," she said to Bahir. He smiled at her.
"No need, we would have died if it had not been for you."
"Yes," added Xoal, "how did you done that? I felt my energy coming back…" he looked at her quizzically.
"I do not really know," answered Lily. "I was looking at James who was slowly weakening, when I felt this power well up inside of me. I think it was elf primitive power. I found myself being able to see inside the plant, able to see the energy's circulation. I fought with the Deathaplysia and I won. I reversed the energy's circulation. That is why you felt your energy coming back."
They looked at her strangely.
"What?" asked Lily, uncomfortable.
They looked at each other.
"Sorry to bother you, but could you explain me why you are looking at me like that?" she said.
They didn't answer. Lily shrugged and realized that James was still holding her, she shifted a bit.
"Hmm James?" she asked not looking at him.
"Yes?"
"Could you let me go? I'm fine now."
"Oh, sorry..." mumbled the prince, releasing her. She got up.
"Well what about continuing this wonderful walk?" she said.
"Why not?" answered Derna "I mean what could be more entertaining than a walk in a maze made up of deadly plants?" she added, while their resumed their walk.
"Finding a sphinx in the middle of a maze made of deadly plants," replied Kermal.
"Good one." said Derna, "That would be worse."
"Then look in front of you," answered the man.
She looked up.
"Oh no…."
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In fact they had apparently arrived at the center of the maze. It was a large circle of grass with two things in its center. Firstly, a sphinx, which was not a good thing. They weren't reputed to be very nice towards humans, in fact they were said to be quite strange. The second thing, was crystal stone.
Lily was puzzled by the stone. It was something really powerful, she could sense it, but she couldn't say what it was. For a moment she thought of making an about-turn, but before she could warn the others, the sphinx had noticed them.
This is just getting better and better, Lily thought sarcastically.
Welcome strangers said the creature, eyeing them.
Well, maybe this isn't going to be that bad… hoped Lily.
What are you doing on my territory? Death is awaiting the ones who are stupid enough to defy me
Apparently not.
"We are profoundly sorry to have entered your territory, we only want to leave this maze." Started James.
The sphinx looked at him sharply.
What are eleven humans doing here?
"We are trying to find the Unicorn's Horn to save our country." Answered the prince.
You are here for the staff. Well you shall have to pass my test to continue.
"What do we have to do?" said Kermal.
You have to prove that you deserve the staff; you shall have to prove your intelligence by answering three questions. I will graciously give you one minute to answer. If you answer wrong you will have to give me something.
"What?" asked Quentin, a bit nervous.
Your life. Stated the sphinx, as if it was evident.
There was a silence. Then Lily spoke.
"Alright, ask your questions."
You are sure elf child?
Lily only nodded, followed by the others.
All right. An hourglass appeared.
This will show you the time you have to answer. Now, listen.
Untouchable
Unstoppable
I rule, on earth,
Your life; from your birth
To your death, you follow my law
I cannot be slow
I just pass, regular
I have not been broken so far.
Sand started to flow. The eleven members of the team were thinking as fast as they could, trying to answer… The sphinx was looking at them smugly, apparently sure that they weren't going to find the solution.
"Time is flying away humans…."
Unstoppable… Lily looked at the hourglass, panicking, the time was nearly over… They needed more time…. Time? TIME!
"Time!" she shouted.
The sphinx looked at her, apparently angry by her answer.
"Correct." he said reluctantly.
They cheered. Derna hugged Lily.
"You are the best, Lil!"
They calmed down quickly and looked at the sphinx, waiting for his next question.
Congratulations humans, but you have two more to guess… This is the second
Invisible
Invincible
No ordinary weapons can harm me
But one word will kill me.
Once again the sand started to flow. Lily's mind was racing, but she hadn't any idea… Xoal looked at them, hesitantly.
"I have an idea, but I am not really sure… "
"Say it!" yelled James, seeing the time was nearly over.
"The silence," said Xoal.
For a few seconds, only the sound of sand flowing could be heard.
"Good answer," the sphinx said at last. He did not seem pleased at all to see humans answer his questions correctly.
They congratulated Xoal. Finally the sphinx asked his last question:
Dark Twin, somber copy
I follow you
You may not notice me
But I'm always behind you
Sun creates me
And Night kills me
Sand began to flow…. Nobody spoke… Sand was flowing…. Silence…. Lily looked at the grains' fall. Time was approaching to an end and so far, nobody had spoken...
As the last grains were falling, the sphinx spoke contemptuously.
Well, you…
"SHADOW" Quentin yelled suddenly.
The sphinx's expression fell. Contempt had been replaced by disbelief.
…You… you…you won said the sphinx glumly.
If they had not been in a cave, their joyous shouts would have been heard miles away. Quentin found himself hugged by everyone. Finally they turned to look at the sphinx.
"We have won, now you have to let us pass."
Indeed, but there is no need to resume your walk. It is impossible to exit this maze.
They were shocked, they had done all this for nothing?
"But how can we find the staff?" asked Lily.
As you have answered my questions, I must help you reach the next test. said the sphinx, it was clear that he didn't like it at all.
This stone he pointed to the crystal stone will transport you to your next trial. You just have to touch it
Then the sphinx left them.
There was an awkward silence…
"Well, Let's go," said Derna. She approached the stone, put her hand on it. The stone glowed and Derna disappeared in a flash. Her friends looked warily, but followed her. Lily was again the last to go. She touched the stone, slightly worried about what was waiting for them…
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She found herself landing on something quite soft. She looked at it and quickly got up, a rosy color on her cheeks. She had landed on James.
"Sorry James,"
"Anytime, Lil." he said, smiling.
"Well, where are we?" asked the young woman.
"Don't know, "answered James.
They looked around them. The place was desert.
Lily frowned.
"Where are the others?" she asked, scanning her surroundings.
"They should be here… " said James.
"Yes, but they are not, what happened? I am worried; something is not right in this place…"
"I understand, I have this… feeling, as well." Replied James.
Before Lily could answer, they heard struggling noises.
Lily sighed.
"Well, I think the question 'where' is answered."
"It seems so, but I think we should go help them."
"Alright, Let's go…"
They ran towards the noises.
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A nightmarish scene awaited them. Their friends were facing a small army of dark creatures: Lily spotted at least twenty Vampires, a few mountain Trolls, several Black Basilisks, and some other creatures that she did not know, but seemed rather deadly… On one side there was a muddy river. Lily spotted a Piranha, which meant the river was full of them as they always lived in huge groups… On the ground, she saw sangswias. One was about to catch onto Derna's leg.
"Derna!" she yelled "At your feet!" Sangswias were big slugs. They approached and stuck themselves on their victims. Then they sucked their magic or their energy…
Derna looked at the sangswia and smashed it.
Lily immediately joined the fight, followed closely by James. She unsheathed her sword, and started to help vampires lose their heads. She saw that Mundungus and Xoal had put a magical shield around them and Bahir and Gerim. It reassured Lily, these four could defend themselves and were quite good at it, but they had not been trained to fight. She quickly focused on the fight, and she felt a knife brush her shoulder. She turned and saw a Vampire. Apparently he was the leader, since he had a numerous amount of scars, but also wore a silver necklace. He bowed mockingly at Lily. With a cold smirk, Lily bowed too. The two adversaries approached. Soon a circle was created around them. Lily got into position.
"Ready to die?" she asked. "Oh, sorry! You are already dead!" she continued with fake innocence.
"Laugh, elf-child, I am not the one going to die." Answered the vampire.
"I would not be so sure," said Lily.
The Vampire lunged at her; she blocked his attack and countered it. She quickly realized that she was facing a sword-master; not Shearan master, but a master nonetheless. During the first few minutes, she studied the vampire's style. After the first round they stepped back.
"You are quite good, elf-child…"
"You are as well, vampire"
" I've a name you know."
"Me too, but I do not think we have been properly introduced."
"Ashdow"
"Well, Ashdow, I am Lilyaris."
"Lilyaris…" The eyes of the vampire widened, then he smirked darkly. "This fight is getting more and more interesting."
"If you say so… Shall we continue?"
"With pleasure."
They bowed again and resumed their fight.
Lily was quite impressed by the vampire's skills. But as their swords met with a huge bang, Lily fell on the ground, rolled, got up, jumped, and dived her sword into the vampire's body. Her move had been so quick that it hadn't given time for Ashdow to react. Before he turned to dust, he looked at her.
"It has been an honor to meet you, Lilyaris the Pure." Then all that remained of him were ashes on the ground.
The other dark creatures that had been cheering for their chief yelled in anger and attacked. But their leader's defeat had demoralized them. Lily was fighting a particularly strong troll. Her fight with Ashdow had tired her a bit. She took a few steps back. When she suddenly felt something behind her. She turned and found James's face at a few centimeters from hers.
"Fancy meeting you here," she said.
"Is it not?"
They turned back to their opponents, fighting back to back. Lily had to admit that James had really improved in a few days. His swordplay was good. Even if he was not a match for her, he was good, and with more training he would perhaps outdo her. She quickly filled the troll as she pulled out his sword from the troll's body she sensed something coming on her right. She immediately threw one of the knives she had hidden in her sleeve. She turned and saw a cloud of dust where a vampire once stood.
The fight ended quickly with the defeat of the dark side. The team gathered.
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Bahir, healing a quite big cut on Orthon's arm."
"I do not know; there must be an exit or a passage, we just have to find it." Answered James. Suddenly he seemed to spot something behind Lily.
He rushed to her and pushed her. She fell on the ground. Lily immediately got up and turned to yelled at him. But her words died in her mouth as soon as she saw him…
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James was on the floor, a dagger stuck in his right side, wincing in pain. Bahir and Gerim rushed to his side, while Kermal threw one of his knives to the vampire who had thrown the dagger. He exploded with a soft sound. They pulled out the dagger. Gerim raised his wand and muttered a few words. They waited, but nothing happened. James was starting to lose blood.
"Why is it not healing?" said Lily, who was holding James's hand.
"I don't know…" Bahir was panicking.
"It is the dagger," said Xoal. "It is a shadow dagger!" he added.
The ones that knew what that meant, gasped. Derna, Kermal, Quentin, Orthon and Nathael were completely confused.
"What is a shadow dagger?" asked Derna.
"The injuries provoked by a shadow dagger cannot be healed by magic." Explained Mundungus, darkly.
"What can we do?" said Kermal.
"Nothing. Potions and plants will not help with a wound like this one, spells are useless…" answered Gerim.
"Then he is going to die!" shouted Nathael.
"Do you think I do not know this?" replied Gerim angrily.
A single tear rolled on Lily's cheek as she looked at James. He was quickly weakening from the loss of blood.
She didn't want to lose him. She made a decision then. She knew this would weaken her a lot, but she had to do it. She focused on her inner power, and then put her hand on the wound. To heal something, she had to project herself in the wound and heal it with her own energy.
She sent herself inside of James' wound. It was serious; the dagger had damaged several vessels and there was an internal hemorrhage. She first blocked the blood loss, then took care of the vessels. It was like needlework. When she was done, she slowly made her way out, repairing all the damages done. Finally she reached the skin. She closed the wound and made it heal. She went back to her own body. As soon as she was back, she felt really tired. James opened his eyes and looked at Lily.
"Did I stop it?" were his first words.
Lily may be exhausted, but this made her mad.
"Did you stop it! Idiot, you could have died!"
James shrugged. His carelessness increased her anger.
"Why did you save me? If I had not been here, you would not be alive anymore! What were you thinking!"
"I..."
"You are the heir! Your life is more important than mine!"
She was suddenly silenced as James put his forefinger on her lips.
"I couldn't let you be hurt, I had to stop it." She looked at him, his dark eyes was definitively serious.
"I am not worth it. You mustn't endanger your life for me, I am able to heal myself, it is slow and difficult, but I can do it. You cannot." she finally said.
"I had to protect you. What are friends for?"
"I can protect myself."
James was about to reply, when Mundungus cut him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Lily is right. You are the heir, so you mustn't endanger yourself like that. It is only thanks to Lily's powers that you are alive now… A shadow dagger's wound is in general, mortal."
Lily sent him an "I-told-you-so" look. There was silence, broken eventually by Lily.
"Bahir, is there a bit of your Strengthening potion left?"
He handed her the vial. A few seconds later, she had recovered part of her strengths.
"Well," said Derna "What do we do?"
At that moment a red path appeared on the ground.
They looked at each other.
"Let's follow the path," finally said Kermal.
The path lead them to a silver door, which opened when they approached it. After an instant of hesitation, they entered.
Several torches lighted the room. In the center laid a crystal box. They came close to it. Inside they saw what they had been looking for. The Unicorn's Horn.
The staff was made of ivory. Little unicorns were carved on its handle, along with a few runes. At the end, there was a moonstone, fixed to the handle with platinum and silver wires. The moonstone was stunning. It was translucent, and yet seemed to contain all the rainbow's colors. The colors were swirling; it was beautiful. James tried to open the box, but the moment he touched the box it was hit by a little electricity lightning. The others tried too, but none managed to touch the box without being hit. At last, Lily tried. To her great surprise, she was not hit, and opened the box. She looked at the others.
"Go on Lil, apparently you are the only who can." Said Derna.
She breathed and grabbed the staff. At first nothing happened, but then the staff started to glow and a shield appeared around her. Her friends tried to enter it, to no avail. Two balls appeared, one was white gold and silver, the other was red and black. They became bigger and bigger. Then without a sound two women were standing in front of her. One was dressed in red and black with long red hair. Her eyes were huge and dark with little sparks. She had a sword at her right side. The other one could have been her twin if it had not been for her long wavy black hair. She also had deep dark green eyes instead of black and was dressed in white and silver.
They turned to look at Lily.
"We meet at last, Pure," said the Dark-haired one. Her voice was musical.
"The choice is coming," said the red-haired. "You will have to choose between us. Me, Diavera, or my sister Athenesa."
"Good and evil." muttered Mundungus.
Athenesa looked at him.
"No, it is more complicated. We are two paths, two futures. A choice will have to be made."
"How can I make this choice? Someone else must be a better judge." Said Lily.
"The choice is to be made by the Pure. We will choose two people to represent us when the time comes." Explained Diavera.
"When? Where?" asked Lily.
"You will know." Was Athenesa's only reply.
The two women put their hands on Lily's head. They glowed. After a few seconds, they stepped back, faded out, and disappeared.
Lily looked at her friends; they were shocked. She managed to smile weakly, then she felt everything become blurry. She fell on the ground, unconscious, still holding tightly onto the staff in her hand.
