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 Twenty-First
"Well." started James.
Lily could tell by his face that what he was going to say would not be very nice. She did not want to jeopardize the relations between Elianor's father and the King because of Elianor's stupidity and James's habit to stick up for his friends, despite the fact they were more than capable to defend themselves. Even if she appreciated that James had stuck up for her, she could not let him say anything to Elianor.
"Well, there will be a few changes." interrupted Lily, preventing James from saying what he was about to.
Elianor's smug look was more than Bella could stand and she looked away. Lily felt the disbelieving look of James upon her. "First of all, you are not going to train with the wing. Your behavior is far too careless and dangerous. Secondly, neither Bella nor I are going to train you."
At this, every feature on Elianor's face showed her happiness at this news. The riders, on the other hand, seemed shocked beyond imagination. They were starring at Lily, as if wondering if she had gone insane, their mouths slightly opened and eyes as big as plates.
"You... you mean you resign from your position?" stuttered one of the riders.
Lily smiled.
"Of course not! Bella and I will continue to train you; you are not going to get rid of us that easily."
"What a shame," muttered Sir Severus. Unfortunately for him, Lily heard it. She looked straight at him, an evil smile spreading on her face.
"Of course, I cannot let two ladies as skilled as you are," Lily practically spat these words, almost choking on the lies she was telling, "stay untrained. That is why I have decided to let 'experts' take your training in their hands." She looked at the riders.
The riders looked at her with fear. None of them wanted to be charged with that chore.
"And what a better expert than Sir Severus? - Who I am sure would be absolutely delighted to train you." She smirked at Sir Severus; to her delight he looked like someone had just told him he was going to be eaten alive by the Egyptian flesh-eating scarabs Lily had threatened him with a while back. "But he will not be alone; I am sure Sir Lucius would love to help him in fulfill this duty." Sir Lucius's face somewhat similar to Sir Severus's.
"From now on, they will be your trainers. I will give them private lessons so that they will not be disadvantaged by their new duty." Finished the red-haired woman.
Elianor did not look very pleased with Lily's choices.
"Lilyaris!" she stammered spitefully.
"Yes, Lady?" replied Lily coldly.
"I do not think those two will be enough to train us. Being silvers and relatively new in the wing, I think we need a few more."
"So now you say so. All right, who do you have in mind? As long as they are not already busy with something else, they will help you, and I will make the same arrangements with them as I have with Sir Severus and Sir Lucius." Answered Lily cautiously.
"Well, Sir Sirius and Sir Remus" Lady Clelia answered automatically, who had joined them a few minutes before, looking lovingly at the two riders. They, in turn, looked at Lily pleadingly. She bit her lip, not knowing what to do. She did not want to charge them of those two disasters.
"Well, I do not know. They are quite busy." Seeing the stubborn look on Clelia's face, she added quickly, "But I think they will be able to help you. You shall have to ask them when and how often."
Sirius and Remus stared at her in disbelief. She mouthed 'later' to them, then turned to Elianor.
"And you, Lady?"
"Well I choose Sir William."
One of the best looking riders in the wing thought Lily, amused, but she froze as she heard the other half of Elianor's choices.
"And private lessons with Prince James."
Lily was speechless, but she quickly covered her shock.
"Private lessons? I do not see how that will help anything… All right Ladies, I will talk with the riders you have chosen, and will give you my answer tomorrow. For now, you two can do whatever you wish as long as it does not involve something that might be dangerous for you or someone else, understand? If I hear just one single complaint about your behavior, I will not consider your suggestions at all."
The two ladies nodded and left.
Lily turned to the riders, seeing by their faces that she would have a hard job convincing them. She sighed. Why can't everything be simple for once?
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo
"Are you out of your half elf, slave driving mind?" screamed Sirius, after Elianor and Cleia had left. "There is no way I am going to teach those, those… things! I do not think there is another word to describe them!"
Sirs Severus, Lucius, Remus, and William, nodded anxiously in agreement.
"Me too, Lil." said James. "There is no way that I will give Elianor private lessons. I know too well what kind of 'lesson' she has in mind."
"Do you think we like being their trainers!" said Bella. "They are unbearable!"
"That is why you are charging us with it!" yelled Sir Lucius, "You are fed up with them, and you can not handle them anymore so you think you can pass the burden to someone else! Sorry but it is not that easy! Sometimes you have to actually work to succeed, Lilyaris!"
Lily and Bella glared at him with eyes so full of anger that they shut him up quite nicely.
"Listen." started Lily in a soft but dangerous voice. "I have never, ever refused to face my duty. But I am confronted with two things: on one hand, the security of the wing. Elianor and Cleia present a danger for the riders, and their careless attitudes have already caused a few accidents. Moreover they are a handicap for the wing and because of them we are losing the wings' competition. On the other hand, we do not want anybody to be in our place and endure those two calamities. What would you do in our position?"
The riders were silent.
"Difficult, is it not? Add the fact that as they consider us as lower beings and do not listen to us. That is why I thought it would be better if they were taught by people they consider worthy. At least they will listen to you. May I add that you will have full powers during the training, the only limit being them staying unharmed."
At this statement, their faces brightened slightly.
"Full powers?" repeated Sir Severus, looking sharply at her.
"Full powers." confirmed Bella, nodding.
Lily decided to take advantage of it.
"Bella or I will not interfere with your methods, as long as Lady Elianor and Lady Cleia remain safe and do not have good reason to complain. I add, also, that if you accept, we may have a chance to win the competition."
This seemed to convince them, as Sirs William, Remus, Sirius, Severus and Lucius nodded. James remained thoughtful. Lily saw that, but decided to talk to him alone, as his situation was different.
"Thank you Sirs, if we win this competition it would be mostly thanks to you. Bella and I will discuss the training schedule with you so that you will not be put at a disadvantage by this... err... special duty." Said Lily.
They nodded in agreement. During this talk, the other riders had sat and were quietly talking or practicing the new body-fight move they had learned in their last class. Lily mouthed 'Derna' to Bella who clapped her hands.
"Well, now that this is fixed, I think it is time to go see Derna and the others."
The riders got up and started to walk towards the training buildings. Lily made a sign to James, asking him to stay behind with her.
Once the others, led by Bella, were gone, Lily and James started to talk.
"James, I would understand if you do not wish to do this." Said Lily quietly.
"I know. But I cannot really refuse. She would be quite offended if I did." He sighed. "On the other hand I do not look forward to these sessions at all. I know what will happen. Training is the last thing she will have in mind."
"I have noticed," was Lily's reply.
"Everybody knows she is ambitious, all she wants is attention and power..."
"And what better way to have that than becoming the Heiress?" finished Lily, disgusted at this new revelation.
"Unfortunately, you are exactly right. She has been after me since I started learning magic - nearly ten years ago, we were only eleven!"
"Well, at least it shows she is determined and persistent..."
"You can say it, a real leech, I cannot get rid of her! I thought that my entrance in the wings would discourage her, but I was obviously wrong."
"Will you give her private lessons?" asked Lily, quietly.
"I have to. But that doesn't mean I will enjoy it. These lessons with Elianor will be a living hell!"
Lily nodded her agreement. James turned to follow Bella and the rest of the riders out of the room, but Lily's sudden exclamation stopped him at the doorway.
"Wait!" Lily called.
James whipped around to come face to face with the redhead. "Yes?"
Blushing at the fact that their faces were mere inches apart, Lily diverted her eyes off of his chocolate brown ones and said, "Well, if you want, you can ask Bella or me for something in return. After all, we owe you one."
James looked at her, stunned.
"You are serious? Whatever I want?"
"Yes, well, as long as it is legal and able to be done in our free time."
James bit his lower lip, thinking hard, then he smiled.
"Well, my dear Lilyaris, as I am going to be obliged to give this pest private lessons, the least you can do is give me some."
"You want private lessons with me?" Lily was a bit startled by this demand. "Not that I mind," she added quickly, "but wouldn't Sir Exer be more qualified to teach you?"
James laughed.
"Lily, Lily, you should have more confidence in your capabilities. You are the best one to help me," he said, smiling.
"Well, if you think so, then it is a deal." She shook his hand firmly. "What do you want me to teach you?"
"Well, I was thinking of horseback riding."
"Why? You are a good rider."
"I am a GOOD rider, yes, but I want to be an EXCELLENT rider." Said James, emphasizing the words good and excellent. His answer made Lily laugh.
"All right, you win, I will teach you. When do you want to train?"
"What do you think of every three days?"
"Deal."
They remained silent for a few minutes. Then James, bowed deeply before Lily.
"O Goddess of the wing, could you give me the honor of escorting you?"
"With pleasure, my Prince." replied Lily, playing along and taking the arm James offered her. They headed towards the training buildings, joking and laughing.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo
Two weeks had passed since these events and life in the wing was now better. The wing had regained the points the two silvers had made them loose. To be honest, during the first days, Lily and Bella had to endure the complaints of the riders who had to support the two ladies. Sir Severus was particularly enraged when they decided to use their changing appearance charms on him, claiming afterwards that they were training. The sight of Sir Severus walking in the camp with long purple hair with yellow stripes, green skin, and red robes had been hilarious and Lily had had a hard time restraining herself from laughing in front of him as he was yelling at the two ladies, his visage a strange mix of green and red. Sirius and Remus were letting their anger out by fighting, as well as Sir William. Sir Lucius was having a hard time too and the other riders were careful not to anger him.
James, even if he was the one with the most difficult task, was the least affected by this. He was careful to always schedule his sessions with Lily after the session with Elianor. Lily seemed to always cheer him up.
Slowly, James's twenty-first birthday was approaching. As Voldemort was blocked under the Gate, a huge feast had been planned. It would last for three long days. On the first one, there would be a competition. There would be different categories. For the dragon-riders, there would be: magic duel, race, circuit, fencing and archery. For the horse-riders, there would be fencing, archery, race and circuit; and for fighting, there would be body-fight, fencing, archery, knife throwing, and magic duels. You were able to sign up for every category you wanted to enter, making the day sure to be interesting and full of tired competitors. On the second day, there would be some demonstrations, and then on the night of the third day, there would be a huge ball. This would take place in two weeks, and everyone was training harder to single out during the competition or the demonstrations.
At first nobody had wanted to enter the dragon-riders' contest, thinking that it was useless, as Lily and Bella were going to win everything. Nobody even thought they could fail, and it was common knowledge that they were the best riders, even if they didn't know it themselves. To everybody's relief though, they announced that they would enter only two competitions each in the dragon-rider series. Bella had chosen the race, whereas Lily had decided to enter the circuit, but both had signed for magic duel. To add to this, Lily had decided to enter the race and the circuit for horse-riders, whereas Bella only entered the circuit. Then after a lot of talking, Derna had managed to convince Lily to sign for the normal fencing's competition.
Lily made the Lions enter for a demonstration. For this, they had worked harder, to present something perfect. Lily was really enjoying her training session with James. She really appreciated his company, and he always had something to lighten her mood. Sometimes, Bella, Sirius, or Remus would join them, but most of the time it was only the two of them.
She knew that Elianor had signed for the race, the circuit and the dragon-rider magic duel. The young woman had been gloating since she had entered these, saying she was sure to win since she had been trained by the prince and that he had complemented her countless times about her skills. Evidently nobody believed her, as it was common knowledge that James was less than thrilled to even say he gave her private lessons.
For now, Lily was enjoying herself. She was in the biggest paddock, waiting for James. She was teaching a new movement to the horses and to her pleasure they were learning it quite easily. Waving her hand, a pure child's voice started to fill the atmosphere. The horses started to move, coordinated. Actually, dance would be a better word to describe what they were doing. Lily looked at them with pride. It had been hard but she had managed it, the show she wanted to do at the demonstration was ready. She started to direct them, unaware of her surroundings, completely immersed in the music. James found her like that. He was about to call out to her, when he noticed the music, then the horses and finally Lily. Seeing her so deeply concentrated he remained silent, watching the two horses dancing. It was really captivating; they seemed to float above the ground, barely touching, and their movements perfectly coordinated with the music. Lily's soft voice was directing them, praising and encouraging them. Finally, the music faded out. Lily had a wide smile on her face. She was startled when she heard someone applauding. She turned and was relieved to see it was James.
"That was marvelous!" exclaimed James.
"Do you really think so?" asked Lily
"Absolutely! Are you going to present as a demonstration?"
"Yes. First I wanted to ride them, but as I had trained Angel and Devil and only you and I are able to mount him, I decided against that idea."
"Why didn't you ask me?" asked James, looking a bit crestfallen at the thought Lily hadn't asked him to help.
Lily blushed.
"Well, I did not want to bother you. You were already busy with Elianor and the training. I did not want to add another thing for you to have to do." Lily was truly embarrassed.
"Helping you is never a burden, Lil." he said with a smile. Lily looked away, still blushing.
"Alright, here you go, I am going to show you what I have already taught them, and then we will work on the second part."
They mounted their horses and Lily taught James the movements that the horses had already learned. Once it was finished, they continued to work, creating new movements, and new patterns...
James couldn't help comparing the two silvers: On the one hand Elianor, full of herself, who thought she was always right, who refused to listen to someone else, who took everything for granted and acted like she was the Queen. On the other hand, there was Lily, with little or no self-confidence, who, despite her skill, was always ready to learn or to listen to the others' suggestions.
They could not be more different.
Elianor, with her pompous manners, her scorn for the others, her behavior in general, was the complete opposite of Lily. As much as James hated to be with Elianor, he liked to be with Lily. He looked at her, concentrated on her movements, completely focused on what she was doing and oblivious to her surroundings.
Sure, Elianor was physically more beautiful, but Lily was pretty in another way. She had an aura around her, which made people love her instantly. James snapped out of his thoughts, and concentrated on his work.
At the end of the session, they agreed to meet more often to get their show ready for the celebration. The two weeks passed quickly. Lily soon found that the next day would be the competitions. She had taken great care of Angel and Amaris' trappings as well as the mare and the dragon. She and Bella were nervous, even if their friends kept saying they were no match for anyone. They slept well and woke up early, and then prepared themselves for the upcoming competition.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo
Lily and Bella were among the last to arrive where the competition was taking place. They saw James, Remus and Sirius waving and headed towards them.
"So, Ladies? Ready?" James grinned.
They smiled at each other and Bella was about to answer when she was interrupted by a voice they all knew too well.
"Of course we are ready James!" exclaimed Elianor "It is so nice of you to ask us."
"Since when are we on a first name basis?" Lily heard James mutter.
Audibly for everyone, his tone of voice changed considerably into what one would call insufferable polite mixed with anguish and disgust. "Please excuse me, my Lady, but I was talking to Bella and Lily."
"Oh, sorry," said Elianor, not looking sorry at all. "It is just that I heard the word 'ladies', and because there is only Lady Bella with you, I assumed you were talking to me." The insult to Lily was blatantly obvious. James clenched his teeth. Then he relaxed, turned to Lily, completely ignoring Elianor, who was not at all pleased that she got snubbed.
"I believe it is a normal fight first for you, correct?"
"Yes, I still do not know how Derna managed to make me sign for this trial." sighed Lily.
Her friends hid their smiles at her lack of acknowledgement of her abilities.
"You should go prepare, Lil, it is about to start."
"Thank you, wish me luck!" she said, as she ran to get ready.
She heard a few calls of 'good luck' as she walked into the fighting arena. She looked at her first opponent - a tall man who looked like he really knew how to use a sword. She sighed; it was not going to be easy.
Two hours later, the fencing's competition was finished. Lily ended ninth, a result that pleased her. She had lost in her match against Derna, but everyone agreed that it had been the most exciting and interesting match of the competition.
Her friends congratulated her, and then she headed towards the stables: The horse-back-riding's competition would start as soon as the knife throwing finished. She prepared Angel and went to her quarters to change. For fencing, she had worn brown leather clothes as it protected her better. But for riding, she had prepared another outfit. She came back wearing a white leather sleeveless tunic, a pair of white trousers, also in leather, and a silver belt.
She equipped Angel, putting protectors on her legs to prevent injuries and headed towards the departure of the circuit. She had decided to enter the circuit with Angel, but signed for the race with another horse, one she had been training with Hagrid's agreement. It was a three-year old stallion. He had quite a temper, which matched his color, red; his mane and his tail black. Lily had called him Tiger. He was quite fast, but lacked a bit of endurance.
She joined James who mounted Devil, and Bella who mounted Flame, on the starting line. Before, she had warmed Angel up a bit, and saw that James, Bella and a few other riders had done so too.
She mounted the mare. Angel was becoming quite impatient and Lily had some troubles restraining her. Only she knew that the circuit would be long, since the participants were not allowed to know the different obstacles they would have to face.
A herald ordered the participants to gather on the starting line. A commentator started to present the different riders and their horse. James, Bella and Lily were last ones.
"And then, we have these last three competitors, last but most certainly not least. May I present you Lady Arabella, as charming as ever, mounting her mare Flame. Prince James, riding his stallion Devil who fully deserves his name and finally, one of the favorites, Lilyaris. She rides her mare, Angel. They are now about to start."
The herald raised his arm, and the riders tensed. He brought it down sharply to signal the beginning of the race, all the riders shot off.
Lily did not let Angel lead the race, and instead placed herself in third position. Devil was leading and Flame was just behind him. Lily smiled. Bella and she both knew that being leader in an unknown circuit was a great disadvantage. The leader was the first one to discover the traps. And those who followed him closely were often spared. Moreover, Lily, guessing the circuit would be quite long, did not want to tire Angel too soon.
They crossed a river, climbed a hill, up and down, entered a forest where they had to jump over several obstacles, dodged all sort of projectiles, from stones to arrows or fireballs. They had had to cross all different types of land: sand, rock, grass, and forest. Finally, a panel showed them they were one kilometer away from the finishing line. Bella started to accelerate and caught up with James, but despite her effort, she did not manage to outride the stallion. Lily decided to wait until the five hundred meters panel before letting Angel reach her full speed. Slowly, she urged the mare to gain more and more speed. The only drawback was that Angel did not at all appreciate being restrained. As soon as they passed the five hundred meters panel, Lily give up all control on the mare except to direct her.
Angel accelerated violently, making Lily lose her balance for a few seconds. She grabbed the silver mane and whispered encouraging words in Angel's ears, urging her to accelerate and show them what she was capable of. Indeed, in a few strides she was even with Bella. Seeing the flying mare, Bella gave Lily thumbs-up and encouraged her as she passed next to her. Angel made her strides longer and increased her speed; she was soon just behind Devil. The finishing line came into view- the last part was a straight line.
Lily leaned on Angel's neck, completely abandoning her control. The mare did not need more encouragement, the sight of the stallion and of the finishing line was enough to make her accelerate again.
James's POV
James was happy. He had been leading the race since the beginning. As he caught sight of the finishing line he could not help smiling. The victory was his.
Suddenly he heard a horse coming behind him. He turned and saw Lily.
Immediately he urged Devil to accelerate, but the stallion was now tired from the race. Leading had asked him great effort. Angel quickly arrived at his level. He admitted it was something special to see how the mare was focused on the finishing, her ears pointing forwards, showing that she really enjoyed the race. Muscles could be see at work under her skin- the perfect ideal of a horse seemed to be flying in slow motion.
But what caught James's eye was Lily. She was leaning on Angel's neck, and her red hair, which she had originally put in a bun, was now flying behind her. She was engulfed in Angel's mane. Red and Silver. The sun was reflecting on the silver coat of the mare making it shimmer. They stayed side by side for a few seconds before Angel gained more speed. The mare's hooves were barely touching the ground. James made a bow to Lily who was looking at him. She bowed back then moved a little on Angel's back.
It had a surprising effect. The mare lengthened her strides and Lily laughed as she took the lead and headed towards the finishing line that was now fifty meters away. Her crystal laugh echoed in James's ears. He could not take his eyes off of Lily. He didn't even notice when he crossed the finishing line. He was recalling Lily's face when she passed near him, her careless look, and the pure joy that was illuminating her features. Her laugh was still ringing through his head.
He shook his head, trying to push those thoughts away, but to no avail. He sighed, what was happening? As he was trying to understand it, he heard someone talking to him.
"You were maaaaaarvellous!" the voice was saying. He cringed, recognizing it.
"Thank you, Lady Elianor." James grumbled.
She smiled at him, showing perfect white teeth. As James was desperately racking his brain to find a way to get rid of her, someone tapped his shoulder lightly. He turned and was relieved to see Bella.
"Come James! We have to take care of Devil and Flame before the race, I want to see Lily! It is Tiger's first race!"
"You are right" he turned to Elianor who was shooting daggers through her eyes at Bella. "Sorry, Lady, but I must go."
She smiled forcefully.
"Of course," she said, and then left.
James sighed in relief.
"Thank you so much Bella, that was close."
"You are welcome. But we have to hurry, the race is in twenty minutes."
"Let us go then!"
The two of them headed towards the stables, climbed off their mounts, and took care of the horses themselves, as there were not a great lot of people able to approach them. Once finished, they hurried to Sir Albus' side to have a good view of the race.
Not surprisingly, Lily was the winner.
They ran to congratulate her. They found her embracing the young stallion, murmuring sweet words in his ears while petting him. Bella and James grinned at each other. Only Lily could be so attached to an animal.
"You were fantastic Lily!" said Bella hugging her friend. Lily hugged Bella back gratefully.
"Thank you, Bella, but Tiger did the most."
"Yes, maybe, but he had a wonderful rider." Replied James.
The sweet smile she gave him made him felt a bit strange, but he soon dismissed this feeling.
The last category of trials was about to start.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo
General POV
The next two competitions were fencing and archery. Lily and the others watched the riders' moves carefully, trying to find ideas for training, in Lily and Bella's case. One of the fencers was simply amazing, and Lily made a mental note to speak with him.
Then Bella and Sirius left the group, as they had to ready themselves for the race.
The commentator presented each of the contestants. Elianor had entered it as well. She was wearing a magnificent light blue dress, beautifully ornate. She was stunning, and would have been admired if she had been in a ball. But here, in a competition, these clothes only made her ridiculous.
The race began. It was a long distance, but without obstacles. Elianor was quickly distanced by the other riders. The winner of the race was unsurprising: Bella, Sirius was third, and by a lucky break, Elianor managed to end fourteenth.
Then it was the circuit contest. Lily and James, as well as Remus, headed towards the starting line.
There was a difference with the horse-riding circuit. The participants passed the circuit one by one, and gained points for each obstacle.
The circuit was quite difficult, but Lily finished it easily. It was clear to the spectators that she did it effortlessly. She was, of course, declared winner- much to Elianor's displeasure. She had only ended sixteenth. James was second. He congratulated Lily and hugged her. Lily was startled at first but hugged him back after a second. As soon as he pulled away, she found herself engulfed in Bella's hug.
"If you strangle me I will not be able to participate in the duel," she said, choking.
Immediately, Bella released her.
"Sorry Lil, it is just that I am really happy!"
"Thank you, Bella, but we should prepare; the duels are about to start. Who is your first opponent?"
"Sir Peter."
"Oh no, Bella! Peter? You will never make it out alive... oh, wait, I forgot. You are smarter than a stick; you will be fine." said Lily grinning to her friends.
Bella smacked Lily playfully and, laughing, they headed to the fighting area. The competition passed quickly. Soon only eight riders were still in the competition: Lily, Bella, James, Sirius, Yvan, Nars, Lorn, and surprisingly, Elianor. Giving a closer look to her past opponents, Lily saw that they had been all weak. Her father must have had arranged it she thought, amused.
The following matches were Elianor versus Nars, James vs Bella, Sirius vs Lorn, and Lily vs Yvan. The winners were Elianor, James, Sirius and Lily. James had managed to trick Bella. She had congratulated him, happy for him. Nars and Lorn really hadn't the level of the others, even if Elianor had trouble defeating her opponent. The next fight would oppose James to Sirius and Lily to Elianor. James and Sirius had a close fight but finally James managed to pass through Sirius's shield and knock him out.
"And now the last fight which will determinate the opponent of Prince James. On the one hand Lady Elianor, well known in the wing for her, err... special behavior. She mounts her dragon Vaniris." Polite applause could be heard "On the other hand, the one you have all been waiting for, the favorite of this competition. I am sure you have all guessed who I am speaking of… the silver lady with the golden heart, welcome Lilyaris!"
Cheers erupted everywhere as Lily rose in the sky. She waved to the crowd, smiling, then turned and faced Elianor who was smirking at her. She bowed and raised her wand. As soon as the herald dropped his arm, Lily cast a disarming spell on the young woman. Elianor barely managed to dodge it. She cast a stunning spell back to Lily. Amaris dove on her right.
James and his friends were looking at the fight a bit bored, the end being really predictable. James compared the two dragons. Despite the fact they were two silvers, they did not have a lot of things in common. Vaniris was a slim and elegant dragon, perfect for shows, but not for fighting. Amaris was quite the opposite. Training had given the silver muscles and strength, and she was graceful and natural in her moves. She was beautiful, but it was obvious that she was not defenseless.
Lily was rapidly bored by the fight.
All right, Maris, I want to end this quickly to prevent her from being ridiculed.
She deserves it.
Maris.
Alright, alright.
The silver dragon dove suddenly. Without thinking, Elianor chased her. She was so focused on the silver dragon that she did not saw the curse coming to her. She was hit by the stunning spell. Indeed, Lily had cast an illusion of herself and Amaris diving, and an invisibility spell on their real selves.
It ended the match. Fuming, Elianor flew away.
It was now the final fight: James vs. Lily. The ones who had seen their fight at the New riders' tournament was waiting impatiently for this fight- both had vastly improved, and it was sure to be greatly entertaining and full of surprises.
They bowed to each other and readied themselves. The first thing Lily did was casting a repelling charm on herself and Maris, as shields were forbidden. They exchanged numerous hexes and curses, but didn't seem able to hit the other. James smiled at his friend. He really liked dueling with her; it was always challenging. She smiled back. James could nearly hear the wheels as they turned in her head. He looked closely at her, trying to find an opening but did not see one. He looked again at Lily. She was concentrated, focused. Suddenly he saw her grinning.
uh oh, that's not good. he thought.
In fact Lily had found a solution to her problem.
Ready Maris?
Ready!
Let's win this fight.
Lily raised her wand and saw James tense up. She grinned. She pointed the wand at herself.
"Multiplica." Immediately there were five Lilys and five Amarises. Of course, four were illusions. But unless you knew the counter charm, you could not tell which one was real. They lunged at James. Only the real Lily could cast spells, but she had made the illusions able to reflect spells. So she was casting spells on the illusions, which in turn were reflecting them on James.
He didn't know where to look. He dove towards one of the five Lilys, but found himself passing through her. While doing this he had allowed the real Lily to cast a stunning spell on him. Only his reflexes allowed him to dodge it at the last second. The illusion he had passed through had disappeared. Only four Lilys remained in the sky. Before he could think, one of them speeded towards him. He dodged on the right only to find himself face to face with another one. He rose and saw one other waiting for him. While James was playing hide and seek with the three remaining illusion, the real Lily had risen above him.
Time to end this, Maris.
Here we go the dragon answered playfully.
She laughed quietly. The dragon closed her wings and fell at full speed towards the ground. James dodging an illusion when he heard something coming to him. He looked up and saw Lily falling. She passed by mere millimeters on his right, grabbing his wand. Then Amaris rose again in the air.
Loud cheers erupted in the crowd. Lily approached James, smiling.
"I believe this is yours?" she handed him his wand.
"Yes, thank you Lil, and congratulations. That was an amazing fight."
Lily smiled. "Thank you. It was a wonderful fight."
They landed next to each other.
You were perfect Maris, as usual said Lily, embracing her dragon.
You too Lil, now, go, I think your friends are waiting for you.
They can wait a few minutes. You deserve more attention than I give you.
Don't say that Lil, I love you as you are, I could not have found a better rider!
Thank you Maris, I love you too
Lily leaned a bit on Maris's neck before joining her friends.
"You were wonderful, Lily!" exclaimed Sirius.
"Yes, you will have to teach us that charm!" said Bella and James.
"Thanks, I will teach you later."
They talked for a few minutes, and then headed to the wing quarters, as it was nearly dinnertime.
Once they had eaten, the wing congratulated the winners with a grand party at headquarters. Elianor and Cleia were absent much to everyone's pleasure.
It ended late at night. Lily went to bed, happy, and thinking about the day's events. Her elation at winning her contests and doing her best in the fight against Derna, washed away almost all memories of anything else. Her last conscious thought, however, was a memory.
Lily remembered how she had felt all warm inside when James had hugged her, and the way time slowed down. A smile played upon her lips, and she fell into a contented slumber.
