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 Nineteen
Lily fell on the ground, still holding the staff firmly in her hand. Immediately all the team rushed to her side. She was barely breathing. Her lips were blue and she was shivering. They tried to approach her, but something stopped them. The staff was glowing. For a minute nothing happened. Then the glow around the staff faded out. Immediately they found themselves able to go closer. Bahir was rummaging through his packets while Gerim was raising his wand and muttering the Enervate spell.
James kneeled near her and tried to take the staff away, since it was apparently what had made her faint. But Lily's hand was tightly clutching the handle. She unconsciously tightened her grips on it, preventing James from taking it. He gave up; even unconscious she didn't forget her duties.
She's incredible… She never gives up… I never thought a girl could be that determined, I have always believed they were weak and only interested in clothes, looks, perfumes, and what man they would marry, like Cleia and Elianor… Well except Bella. Well, she's not a normal girl either…
His thoughts were interrupted as Lily woke up.
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When the two women had touched her head, Lily had thought a fire had been lit in it. It was a bit painful, and yet she liked the feeling. She found herself fainting. Blackness surrounded her, and then she ended up again in front of the two women.
"Welcome, Lilyaris," said the dark-haired, Athenesa.
Lily stood there, too stunned to speak.
"Approach, Pure." Said Diavera. "We haven't much time left. You must learn a few things about your destiny. Listen carefully. Sometimes time comes to a decisive cross. Humans, normal humans, cannot choose between the two paths, they are not open-minded enough, and that is why it has been decided that this choice will be given to someone, a person, named the Pure. You are the Pure. Soon the time will come to the cross and you shall have to choose."
Lily seemed to recover.
"Why me?"
"It is your destiny."
"Why?"
"Why do you breath? Why did you find Amaris? We cannot control it; it is fate, destiny, we have to submit to it and try to fulfill our duties." Answered the dark-haired woman.
Lily slowly nodded, understanding.
"You must go back to your friends, Pure. Knowledge about the staff had been given to you. Only you will be able to use it." Said Diavera.
With that, the two women disappeared and Lily opened her eyes. She met the concerned faces of her friends. She smiled, to reassure them. Even if she felt fine, she drank the potion Bahir gave her.
"How are you Lil?" asked Derna, worried.
"Physically, fine, mentally, it's another story. But I'll get better"
Derna nodded. Nobody talked for a moment.
"Well, what about getting out of these caves?" said Lily, breaking the silence.
"Excellent idea, my fair rider." Answered James. "The only problem is how?"
Lily smiled.
"Take my hand. Everyone, take the hand of someone, we must be in contact."
They did as she said. Then she held the staff. She knew how to do it. She sent her mind and her power in the staff, and then gave the order. "Transport us to the first cave."
In a flash, they disappeared.
They were surrounding by colors; twirling, swirling, sparkling. Suddenly they were back to the real world and found themselves in the first cave where the dragons were waiting for them.
"That was amazing!" exclaimed Nathael.
"Yes… " Lily wasn't able to continue.
LILY!
Maris!
The silver dragon landed near her rider.
I was so worried…
You didn't have to…
From what I see in your mind, I was right to worry…
Maris!
Sorry, but if I do not look myself, I will not get to know what happened, for I know you would not tell me.
I hate it when you are right…
And that is why you love me
Lily laughed.
She turned and saw that James was having a similar conversation with Tharis. At a moment, he blushed.
I wonder what Tharis could have said to make him blush… thought Lily.
Earas and Jahas had approached their riders and were talking with them.
After a few minutes, they calmed down and resumed their walk. They left the cave and arrived in the canyon.
There, Bahir, Gerim, Mundungus and Xoal apparated to the castle. Nathael climbed on Amaris with Lily, Quentin on Tharis with James. Orthon mounted Jahas with Kermal. The four dragons, one silver, one golden, one steel, one black, rose in the air and disappeared.
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They appeared above the army and landed on the center place, causing quite a commotion since nobody had ever seen steel and black dragon. Moreover, these two dragons were ridden by commoners. The King, his wife, and his counselors were here. The Queen hugged James. Slightly embarrassed, the young man pulled away, but not before having hugged his mother. She had tears in her eyes, but James saw pride and love too. The same scene was happening with each team's members since they were all around twenty. Their parents had been warned and brought there. Only Lily was left in the back with her dragon. She looked with envy at her friends, petting Amaris. Seeing it, Sir Albus and Praïn along with Sir Exer approached her.
Deep in her thoughts, she didn't see them at first. She then found herself hugged by the elf-chief. She was startled at first and didn't respond, but then she hugged him back.
They pulled away.
"We are extremely proud of you Lilyaris," said Sir Albus, before hugging her. He was followed by Sir Exer.
"Thank you." Answered Lily, her eyes shining.
"Come Lily, we are going to meet in the throne room to listen to your story." Explained Sir Exer.
Lily nodded, and after a last thought to Amaris, she followed the three men. They arrived first in the room and waited for the others to come. They talked quietly about the new dragons and other things…
James's POV
James was still embarrassed by what Tharis had told him. He knew he had blushed and to add to this, he knew that Lily had looked at him at that moment. The ride back was uneventful.
As soon as he climbed off, his mother engulfed him in a hug. Even if he was a bit embarrassed, he was happy to be back and alive. He hugged her back.
He then approached his father. Despite the protocol, the King hugged his son tightly.
"I am very proud of you James, and I am most relieved to see you. I was worried for you, as was everybody."
"Thank you father. We found the staff and brought it back;"
"Marvelous! Where is it?"
"Lily kept it…" said James, turning to find Lily. He didn't see her.
"If you are looking for Lily, she left a few minutes ago with Albus, Exer, and Praïn." stated the King.
"Why…" asked James.
"I think the scene was quite uncomfortable for her." Explained Queen Dorilys who had listened to her husband and son's discussion.
James bit his lower lip. It was true; she had nobody besides Albus, Exer, and Praïn waiting for her, realized the prince.
General POV
Once the reunion was finished, they headed towards the castle.
They found Lily and the three sitting and talking quietly at the big table. They sat down, and the meeting started.
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Lily took the staff from her bag and placed it on the table. There was a collective gasp. Everyone, besides the members of the team, was looking at it in awe, as the staff was a pure wonder…
Lily clapped her hands to attract their attention.
"Well, I think you must be curious to hear what happened. We arrived at the canyon…." She started to tell their story, helped by the others. When they arrived at the dragon part, there were whispers. Lily explained them everything about these new species of dragons. Then she told them about the maze, and the fight. Finally she arrived at the staff's discovery and the appearance of the two women.
"… Then they disappeared. We used the staff to return to the first cave. There we left it with the dragons and came back here."
Finished Lily.
All the people present starred at the team, what they had done was incredible! They shifted, uncomfortable under the gazes.
Finally sir Albus spoke.
"This is truly amazing! You have showed courage and intelligence beyond our hopes."
"Thank you Sir," said Derna.
"Yes, thank you, but now it is your turn. What happened while we were gone?" asked James
Sir Albus smiled along with the counselors, the King, and the Queen.
"Well, first we sent another team to retrieve the Phoenix's Tear. You were right Lily, a lot of protections had been placed to prevent wizards from approaching it. It took them three hours to enter. They took the vial and replaced it by a crystal. Before leaving, they replaced the protections. So now we have all the elements to create the Golden Gate."
Sir Exer continued.
"We are also happy to announce to you that the Zizadis spell is a success. From the last report of the spies, the Dark Lord's army is separated in two sides, which are fighting each other. Voldemort had lost at least a third of his army, nearly half of his Vampires and Hydrias, and a quarter of his Basiliks."
Lily smiled at these news.
"Wonderful!" exclaimed Kermal.
"When do you think we will be able to create the Gate?" asked Lily.
"Well, I think our scholars need three more days to plan everything. We have still five days before the spell wears out."
Lily nodded.
"Apparently you are the only one who can hold the staff, so you shall have to create the Gate." Announced Sir Exer. "You will have to meet the scholars in order to learn how to do it."
At this, Lily was amused to see the look on Sir Cornelius's face. The man had lost most of his power, due to his behavior and his prejudices. Apparently, knowing that a female who wasn't even noble was the only person able to hold the most powerful staff ever created was not pleasing him, as well as the thought of commoners being able to link with dragons.
Then they continued to talk about other things, such as the common Dragons.
Before leaving, Lily agreed with Sir Albus to meet the scholars in three days.
The team got up and exited the room, leaving the King and his counselors discussing problems that did not involve them. They separated, each of them heading to his or her quarters. Lily and James walked silently to the Lions quarters where they knew Bella, Sirius and Remus would be waiting for them.
"James?…" started Lily.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier."
James smiled.
"It's true it's not every time I am yelled at by the person whose life I saved." He said jokingly.
"Well, thank you, but I overreacted. You should not have jumped in front of the dagger. I heal better than you, thank to my elf-part and you are more important than me."
"I do not agree on that point."
"You are the throne's heir! Your life was endangered enough by the fact you were part of this mission!"
"I chose to come!"
"Something I do not understand, even now." Replied Lily.
James stopped, turned and faced her. He grabbed one of her hands.
"You are my friend, Lil." He said, looking straight in her eyes.
"So?" she said returning his look.
"Friends protect each other. It is like that, even if you do not like it."
"I can protect myself…" replied Lily.
"The truth is that you do not want people to be harmed because of you."
She looked down, silent.
"But Lily, If people want to protect you, you cannot stop them; they will protect you whether you like it or not. People can't help wanting to help you, it is something about you; your aura, perhaps."
"I would get rid of it if it means that people would stop trying to help me," said Lily.
"Unfortunately, my fair Lilyaris, that is impossible." replied James dramatically.
"Unfortunately, my fair prince." Answered Lily curtsying. "May I ask something my fair sir?"
"I can not refuse anything to such a charming lady"
"Something I am not. But would you be kind enough to release my hand?"
Immediately, he dropped her hand, realizing he had been holding it for a while. He blushed a little. But luckily for him the sun fell half an hour before, so it was too dark for Lily to notice.
They arrived to the quarters, and entered. Immediately, all discussions died. Everything was silent. Suddenly shouts could be heard, and Lily and James found themselves laying on the floor, under three overjoyed riders.
"LILY! JAMES!"
Remus, Sirius and Bella were hugging their friends tightly, nearly strangling them.
"You're alive!" shouted Sirius.
"Yes… But if you do not calm down and get off of me… I do not think I will stay that way for long!" managed to choked James. The same went for Lily.
Everybody laughed at this. Sirius got up and helped James while Bella was doing the same for Lily. They dusted themselves.
"Now what happened! What did you do? What did you see? Have you found the staff? How is it?" they were flooded by questions, coming from everyone. They smiled at each other.
"SILENCE!" shouted Lily. But they kept on asking them questions.
"If you do not shut up now, I am going to call my dogs." Said Lily lowly.
Surprisingly everyone went silent.
"Better. Now sit somewhere, because it is quite a long story." Said James
They obeyed, and Lily and James started to tell them what had happened. The friends were hanging to their every word. They gasped a few times, and even laughed at some events.
When James and Lily finished their story, their friends starred at them. They waved their hands in front of them. No reaction. Lily raised her wand.
"Fanfaria"
Immediately very loud sounds erupted in the room. The riders jumped, startled.
"Well, enough about us, what have you done?"
Bella told her she had found them eating glumly in the morning. It had taken all her will not to send them the Haelfleawas to cheer them. Finally after having threatened them with a fate worse than everything they could imagine if they didn't at least concentrate on their work, along with threatening them to make them face Lily's wrath when she returned and found they didn't train, she managed to make them work.
Lily laughed.
"Am I that scary?" she said battling her eyelashes.
"When you do that, yes." replied Sirius.
All the riders broke into fits of laughter, not only because of Sirius's comment.
At this moment, Lily noticed what time it was.
"What! This late! Everyone to bed! Training tomorrow!"
Groans erupted, but most of the riders had smiles on their face.
"I know you love me; thank you. Now go to sleep!"
They left slowly.
Only Remus, Sirius and Bella stayed with them.
"I'm happy you are safe Lil." Said Bella.
"Me too Bella, me too. Come on, I'm deadly tired." Yawned Lily.
The two young women left to their own quarters. James watched them until they disappeared.
Remus and Sirius noticed it. Sirius was about to say something, but a look from Remus silenced him.
"Come James, I'm scared of what they might invent for tomorrow." Said Remus.
James nodded, still looking where the girls had disappeared, a strange look on his face, and followed his friend to their quarters.
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The following day the Lions woke up for their daily race. The circuit had become longer since the first day, and that meant they had to run faster to finish it in an hour. A usual training day followed. Circuit training, wandless fight, flying, and magic that Lily had added to the training a month ago. The Lions had slowly become the strongest wing thanks to this training; other trainers had even started to copy it. They often came to see the two silvers to ask for advice. The Lions were pitied for the training they had to endure, but also envied for their strength. Three days after her return, Lily met with the scholars in who she recognized Sir Hernon and Sir Bernard. They explained her how to create the Golden gate. The method was quite difficult, but Lily was confident.
She had a meeting with the King and the counselors.
"No, Sir Albus, I do not think a diversion will be useful."
"But, it will prevent you from being attacked during the creation of the Gate!" cut a counselor.
"Excuse me Sir, but a diversion might protect me but it might also make some death Eaters leave the perimeter created by the gate, and I do not want to take that risk."
"If you go alone, it will be most dangerous. You will be defenseless during most of the creation."
"I know, Sir. But that is a risk I am willing to take."
"Lilyaris," said Sir Albus. "You know perfectly I will not allow you to do this without protection. If you do not want a diversion, at least take a few riders with you; they will be there only as your defense." The old wizard proposed.
Lily thought about it for a few minutes, and then sighed.
"All right, you have won. But who?"
"Well, what about Sirs Sirius, Remus, Prince James, Lady Bella, as well Mistress Derna and Master Kermal?"
"Not fair Sir, you know perfectly well that they will want to come anyway. I have no choice!"
"Good! They' will be warned. When are you going to do it?"
"Tomorrow. I do not want to waste time. We must take advantage of the fact Voldemort is still weakened by the Zizadis charm."
"Alright, Lily."
They discussed minor details of the plan.
The next day, Lily prepared herself. She met with her friends who would accompany her. The night before, Sir Albus had given her the components needed for the Gate. They climbed onto their dragons, and flew towards Lord Voldemort's army. They landed on a nearby hill. Lily conjured a table on which she placed the Dragon's Heart, The Phoenix's Tear and the Unicorn's horn. Then she opened the vial. She dropped five drops of the crystal liquid on the orb. The liquid entered the orb, and as soon as it met the blood inside, there was a blinding flash. When the light faded, they saw that the blood had become translucent and was swirling in the orb. Then Lily took a silver dagger, and with a quick movement made a small cut in her arm. She let a few drops of her blood fall on the Moonstone and on the orb before healing it. If the mix between the blood and the tears had produced a blinding flash, it was nothing compared to the light the orb emitted when Lily's blood met the liquid in the orb. Slowly, they were able to see again. The orb was shining brightly like a little sun. James, Remus, Sirius, Bella, Kermal and Derna had their mouths wide open in shock.
Not looking at them, only focused on the orb, Lily sent her mind in the orb and became part of it. The second part involved guiding the orb to delimit the area that would be under the Gate. She had to do it without being noticed, which was quite difficult as the orb was quite visible… She started to guide it. Twice she was nearly discovered by a Death Eater but she managed to finish it successfully. Then she came back to her body, which had been standing still while her mind was away.
Once she was back, she took the staff and pointed it to the orb. The Moon stone began to glow brighter and brighter. Soon it was as bright as the orb. She raised it, making the orb rise too. In her mind she pictured the place where she had to place the orb: far above Voldemort's army's center. As soon as she was done she threw the orb there with a quick movement of the staff.
She mentally saw the orb placing right where it had to be placed.
Smiling, she concentrated on her inner power, channeling it out of her body, into the staff. The stone glowed brighter if it was possible. She opened her mouth and pronounced the incantation:
From the power of the blood
From the strength of the mind
Here I stand
Heart pure and kind
Dragon Heart, strength and courage
Phoenix Tear, innocence and purity
Unicorn's Horn, invention of the sage
Three, here reunited to stop our enemy.
Stop from leaving
But not entering
Golden Gate, created from the Light
I conjure you with all my might.
For a minute nothing happened, and then suddenly the sky seemed to be ripped in pieces. The orb exploded, and a golden rain started to fall. A dome started to form, starting from the ground and rising slowly into the air. It was splendid. Finally the dome was finished. The gold color started to change from gold to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and then to purple. With a last flash, it finally became transparent like glass.
The glow of the moonstone faded little by little. Sighting, feeling deadly tired, Lily looked at her friends. She managed to give a weak smile to reassure them. They were looking at the Gate, amazed.
"That was incredible…" whispered Derna.
The others only nodded. Lily walked to Amaris, concentrating on her walk to prevent herself from falling. She felt suddenly a strong arm holding her, helping her walk. She looked up and saw James.
She smiled thankfully at him, he smiled back.
"Thank you James, I am exhausted!"
"I can tell…"
"What about going back?" said Bella, seeing the tired looks of her friends.
"Wonderful idea." Said Remus.
Lily only nodded, half asleep.
They rose in the air and appeared back to the castle.
Lily's mind was a bit confused from exhaustion. She remembered being hugged and congratulated, then being carried to her room and put in her bed. Before falling in a deep sleep, she caught the black messy hair of James, leaving the room. I'll have to thank him tomorrow, she thought sleepily.
Then, she fell asleep.
