That night Silver recounted everything he heard (Except Antione's parents) to Coral and Razor "He thinks You-Know-Who's getting stronger?" the latter asked. He even shivered "And he trusts Infinite? Even though he knows he's a Nocturnus" "Apparently" "Breezie" Coral said. Razor stared at her "How can you be thinking about her right now?" "No, I'm just thinking. Remember what she said at the Piston Pit about Barker. This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Nocturnus. And that must be why Momo hates him too. Puff must have complained about him at home in front of her". She then frowned "Silver, you said Max blamed Windemere?" "Yeah, he thinks she's part Yeti even if she won't admit it" "Of course she won't. Look what happened to Big when Breezie found out about his mother. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth". Silver was beginning to come over to Coral's side after what he's seen these past few months. The Wizarding World was beginning to seem much less perfect of late. Coral checked the clock "Oh, it's too late to practice anything. We'll have to buckle down tomorrow, Silver. You better get some sleep".
As Silver lied completely awake in bed he could hear Antione snoring. He imagined how it must feel to have parents still living but unable to recognize you. He often got sympathy from strangers for being an orphan, but as he listened to Antione, he thought that Antione deserved it more than he did. Lying in the darkness, Silver felt a rush of anger and hate toward the people who had tortured Mr and Mrs D'Coolette. He remembered the jeers of the crowd as Puff's son and his companions had been dragged from the court by the Prelates. He understood how they had felt. Then he remembered the milk-white face of the screaming boy and realized with a jolt that he had died a year later. It was Finitevus, Silver thought, staring up at the canopy of his bed in the darkness, it all came back to Finitevus. He was the one who had torn these families apart, who had ruined all these lives.
Coral and Razor's exams finished early on the day The Third Task was taking place but instead of studying they were determined to help Silver as much as they could "Don't worry about" Coral told him whenever he said he could practice on his own "at least we'll get top marks in Defence Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class". Razor agreed "Good training for when we become Diamond Cutters". He performed the Impedimenta spell on a fly which stopped dead in mid-air.
The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Silver was practicing hexes at every available moment. He felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Striker was right: Silver had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead. Silver had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Coral's that would make his Talisman point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; Coral managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Silver wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx. Coral kept ticking off spells from her list "You're still doing really well. Some of these are bound to come in handy" "Hey, look at this" Razor said staring out the window. Rutan, Rough and Tumble were standing under the shadow of a tree. The latter two were keeping a lookout while Rutan was speaking into his hand "Looks like he's talking into a walkie talkie" "Can't, I told you they don't work in Soleanna" Coral said, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Elias was sending Silver daily letters, like Coral and Razor his main goal was getting Silver through the Task. In every letter he would remind Silver that what was going on outside Soleanna's walls was not his concern nor was it within Silver's power to change it.
If Finitevus is really getting stronger again, my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Locke's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters.
Silver was getting his usual nerves as the Task approached but it was much better than the first two. For one Silver this time was confident he was prepared for what was coming and for another no matter how badly he did the Tournament would finally be over.
One the morning of the Third Task Breakfast was a noisy affair. Silver received a good luck letter from Elias. Coral received her latest copy of the Daily Prophet. Once she read it she spat out the juice she was drinking. "What?" Razor and Silver both asked. Coral stared at the paper "Nothing" "Oh, give it here" Razor grabbed the paper. He read it "Oh, I can't believe that. That complete…" "Breezie?" Silver asked. Razor convincingly smiled "No" "It's about me isn't it" "No". He then heard Rutan from the Raiju table "Hey, Hedgehog, you feeling alright? Not going berserk on us?" "Let me see it". Razor reluctantly handed him the paper.
SILVER THE HEDGEHOG
"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"
The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Breezie the Hedeghog, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Silver the Hedgehog's strange behaviour, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Emerald Championship, or even to attend Soleanna School. Silver, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain from behind his eyes (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Silver storming from the class, claiming that his had was hurting too badly to continue studying.
It is possible, say top experts at Eldorado Zone District Hospital, that Silver's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that his head is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion. "He might even be pretending" said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention". The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Silver the Hedgehog that Locke, Headmaster of Soleanna, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public.
"Silver can speak Parseltongue," reveals Rutan the Echidna, a Soleanna fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Silver was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a duelling club and set a Gazer on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with Zillas and Yetis too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power".
Parseltongue, the ability to converse with dark creatures, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defence League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "As worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with creatures involved with Dark Magic and are historically associated with evildoers". Similarly "Anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as Zillas and Yetis would appear to have a fondness for violence".
Locke should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Emerald Championship. Some fear that Silver might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening
"I think she's moved on from you, Coral" Silver joked. A lot of the Raijus were laughing behind him. Razor read the paper again "How did she know your head hurt in Divination. Coral, have you found anything". Coral however was staring at thin air with a dream expression. She suddenly rubbed her hands around her head and then held her hand to her mouth. She smiled "I think I have something. Even Striker wouldn't have seen her. But… It'd be illegal. It must be illegal she wasn't on the list. I'll be right back" she dashed out of the Great Hall before Silver or Razor could say anything "Where's she going? We have History of Magic in ten minutes" Silver said. Razor shrugged "She must really hate Breezie to miss an exam class. What're you going to do for it, read again?". Silver nodded, since he was exempt from end of year exams he sat at the back of the class to do more research on spells and hexes that might be useful. However, he never made it to History of Magic because just before the bell Echo appeared "Silver, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast". Silver spat out the egg he was part way through eating thinking he got the time wrong "But the Task isn't till tonight" "I'm aware of that, Silver. The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them. She walked away and Silver gaped at her "She doesn't expect Menthor and Cynthia to come, does she?". Razor shrugged "I don't know. I better go, class is about to start. See you at lunch".
As the Great Hall emptied Silver watched Sonic, Mina and Reynard leave together but Silver didn't follow them. He really didn't want to go into that chamber. He had no family. no family who would turn up to see him risk his life, anyway. But just as he was getting up, thinking that he might as well go up to the library and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Sonic stuck his head out "Come on, Silver, they're waiting for you". Utterly perplexed, Silver got up and approached the door. Surely Menthor, Cynthia and Menniker weren't in there. Sonic held the door for him, nearby was Jules the Hedgehog and his wife Bernadette, she wore a purple dress and had some blonde hair on top of her head. In the corner of the room Reynard was speaking to two wolves in their native language. Mina was doing the same to her mother, Isabella, another Mongoose and the side the Illumina grandmother clearly came from in Silver's opinion. Holding onto Isabella's hand was Melody who waved at Silver who waved back. Then Silver saw them, Mari-An and Ash were standing by the fire beaming at him "Surprise". Mari-An kissed him on the cheek "Thought we'd come and watch you. Rob couldn't make it I'm afraid, he's very busy". Ash shook Silver's hand "Good to see you again, Silver. Rotor would have come but he couldn't get time off. He said you were fantastic against the Stringer". Silver noticed Mina staring at Ash from over her mother's shoulder. She certainly wasn't bothered by his hair. Silver smiled at Mari-An "Thanks for coming. I thought for a second my Aunt and Uncle had come". Mari-An pursed her lips, she refrained from criticizing Menthor and Cynthia in front of Silver, but her eyes always flashed when they were mentioned. Ash looked around the chamber "It's good to be back? Is that knight still around? King Arthur?" "Oh, yeah, he's still here" "And Earthia?". Mari-An laughed "She was here in my time at Soleanna.
She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning". Ash stared at her in amazement "What were you doing at four in the morning?" "Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll" she smiled. Ahs rolled his eyes "Fancy giving us a tour, Silver?" "Uh, yeah, sure". Silver led them to the door when "There you are". Silver looked over and saw Jules glaring at him "Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Sonic's caught you up on points, are you?". Silver didn't understand "What?". Sonic sighed and frowned at his father "Ignore him. He's been angry ever since Breezie's article about the Tournament. You know, when she made out you were the only Soleanna champion". He leaned closer to his father "Something I told him wasn't Silver's fault!". Silver kept walking but then he head "Didn't bother to correct her now, did he!? Still, you'll show him, Sonic. Beaten him once before, haven't you?". Mari-An turned around looking angry "Breezie goes out of her way to cause trouble, Jules! I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry". Jules had no response to this, and Bernadette pulled on his shoulder. He shrugged in Silver's direction in what could be seen as an apology and got back to talking to his son. Silver had a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with Ash and Mari-An, showing them the Sylvania carriage and the Grimm ship. Mari-An was intrigued by the Granifer Giganticus, which had been planted after she had left school, and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Big, a man called Ogg.
Silver asked about the rest of the O'Hedges "How's Hamlin?" "Not good" Ash said. Mari-An sighed "He's very upset. The Ministry wants to keep Mr Puff disappearance quiet, but Hamlin's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr Puff has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Hamlin's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr Puff as the fifth judge tonight. Max is going to be doing it". They returned to the Great Hall for lunch and joined Razor "Mum… Ash? What're you doing here?" "Come to watch Silver do the Task. How was your exam?". Razor shrugged "I couldn't remember all the Goblin names so just made some up". He noticed Mari-An glaring at him "It's fine. They've all got names like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard". Mighty, Ray and Blaze all joined them. Silver felt like he was back at Deerwood and completely forgot about tonight's Task. Coral then arrived "Hi, Mrs O'Hedge" "Hello, Coral" Mari-An said in a strangely cold manner. Silver looked between them and then remembered "Mrs O'Hedge, you don't believe that rubbish from Witch Weekly, do you? Because Coral isn't my girlfriend" "I'm really not" Coral said shaking her hed. "Yeah, she's not" Razor said sternly. Mari-An paused "Oh, no…Of course I didn't" but she was much warmer to Coral after this.
After lunch Silver, Ash, and Mari-An had a walk around the rest of the grounds until the evening feast. Barker and Max had joined the staff table. Barker looked very cheerful but Max, who was next to Windermere, looked very stern and wasn't talking. Windermere herself was staring at her plate with red looking eyes. Big kept glancing along the table at her. Despite there being more courses than usual Silver's nerves were getting the best of him, so he didn't eat much. When the sky outside began to darken Locke rose to his feet immediately silencing the hall "Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Sky Chase field for the third and final task of the Emerald Championship". Locke allowed them to cheer before continuing "Will the champions please follow Mr Barker down to the stadium now". Silver got to his feet, the Shinobis all applauded, the O'Hedges and Coral all wished him good luck. Blaze even kissed him on the cheek. She did it quite confidently compared to how she was at the mere sight of him last year. Silver turned slightly red and followed the other Champions out of the castle. Barker approached him as they walked "Feeling alright, Silver? Confident?" "Yeah" this partly true, he was nervous, but he kept running over all the hexes and spells he had been practicing in his mind as they walked, and the knowledge that he could remember them all made him feel better. They walked onto the Sky Chase field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy. Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Big, Striker, Professor Echo and Chuck came walking into the stadium and approached Barker and the champions. They were wearing large red vests "We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze. If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?" Echo said.
The champions nodded "Off you go, then!" said Barker brightly to the four patrollers. "Good luck, Silver" Big whispered, and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze. Barker held the tip of his cane to his mouth muttered "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands. "Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Emerald Championship is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each, Mr Sonic the Hedgehog and Mr Silver the Hedgehog, both of Soleanna School!". The cheers and applause sent birds from the Deep Woods fluttering into the darkening sky "In second place, with eighty points, Mr Reynard the Wolf, of the Grimm Institute!". More applause "And in third place, Miss Mina Mongoose, of Sylvania Academy!". Silver could just make out the O'Hedges and Coral applauding Mina politely, halfway up the stands. He waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at him. "So…On my whistle, Silver and Sonic!" said Barker "Three…Two…One". He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Silver and Sonic hurried forward into the maze. The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze.
Silver felt almost as though he were underwater again. He held out his right hand "Lumos" and heard Sonic do the same just behind him. After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other "Well, see you" Silver said, and he took the left one, while Sonic took the right. Silver heard Barker's whistle for the second time. Reynard had entered the maze. Silver sped up. His chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned right, and hurried on, holding his hand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight. Barker's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were now inside. Silver kept looking behind him. The old feeling that he was being watched was upon him. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. He reached a second fork. He took of his left glove and held it flat on his palm "Point Me" he whispered. The glove moved like there was a hand inside it, turn around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and he knew that he needed to go northwest for the centre of the maze. The best he could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible. The path ahead was empty too, and when Silver reached a right turn and took it, he again found his way unblocked. Silver didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving him. Surely, he should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring him into a false sense of security. Then he heard movement right behind him. He held out both his hands, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Sonic, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Sonic looked severely shaken.
He had a small burn on his arm "Plasmas! They're enormous. I only just got away!" he shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the Plasmas, Silver hurried off again. Then, as he turned a corner, he saw a rabbit Prelate limping toward him. Twelve feet tall, its metal hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Silver could hear its rattling breath; he felt clammy coldness stealing over him but knew what he had to do. He summoned the happiest thought he could, concentrated with all his might on the thought of getting out of the maze and celebrating with Razor and Coral, raised his right hand and cried "Expecto Patronum!". A cyan Nightmare erupted from the end of Silver's hand and galloped toward the Prelate, which fell back and tripped over its own ears. Silver had never seen a Prelate stumble. "Hang on!" he shouted, advancing in the wake of his cyan Patronus "You're a Mimic Ghost! Riddikulus!". The glowing parts of the Prelates body started flashing different colours like a disco. Silver laughed and the shapeshifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. The Nightmare faded from sight. Silver wished it could have stayed; he could have used some company. But he moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, his hands held high once more. Left, right, left again. Twice he found himself facing dead ends. He did the Four-Point Spell again and found that he was going too far east. He turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of him. Silver approached it cautiously. This looked like some kind of enchantment. He wondered whether he might be able to blast it out of the way "Reducto!" he said. The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. He supposed he should have known better; the Reductor Curse was for solid objects. What would happen if he walked through the mist? Was it worth chancing it, or should he double back? He was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence "Mina?" Silver yelled. There was silence. He stared all around him. What had happened to her? Her scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. He took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist. The world turned upside down.
Silver was hanging from the ground, with his quills on end. Threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. It felt as though his feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below him the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if he tried to move one of his feet, he would fall away from Mobius completely. "Think" he told himself, as all the blood rushed to his head, think. But not one of the spells he had practiced had been designed to combat a sudden reversal of ground and sky. Did he dare move his foot? He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He had two choices, try and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued and disqualified from the task. He shut his eyes, so he wouldn't be able to see the view of endless space below him, and pulled his right foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling. Immediately, the world righted itself. Silver fell forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. He felt temporarily limp with shock. He took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at him in the moonlight. He paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Mina. He was sure it had been her who had screamed. What had she met? Was she all right? There was no sign of red sparks, did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble that she couldn't perform the spell. Silver took the right fork with a feeling of increasing unease.
But at the same time, he couldn't help thinking, One champion down. The cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as though Mina was no longer in the running. He'd got this far, hadn't he? What if he actually managed to win? Fleetingly, and for the first time since he'd found himself champion, he saw again that image of himself, raising the Emerald Cup appearing in front of the waiting crowd. He met nothing for ten minutes but kept running into dead ends. Twice he took the same wrong turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his light waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then he rounded another corner and found himself facing a Plasma. Sonic was right, it was enormous. Ten feet tall at least. The light in Silver's hand disappeared "Stupefy!". The spell hit the Plasma and just went right through it doing no damage. The Plasma spat a fireball from it's mouth. Silver jumped out of the way "Impedimenta!" he yelled. The spell went through it again. Silver staggered back a few paces and fell over "AGUAMENTI!". A jet of water flew out of Silver's hand and hit the Plasma. It turned to steam on contact and the Plasma shrieked in pain "IMPREDIMENTA!". Now in its weakened state the spell managed to hit it, it froze and fell over. Panting, Silver pushed himself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction. The Impediment Curse was not permanent; the Plasma would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment. He took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing himself to stop, heart hammering, he performed the Four Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest. He had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when he heard something in the path running parallel to his own that made him stop dead.
"What are you doing!?" yelled Sonic's voice "What the hell d'you think you're doing!?". And then Silver heard Reynard's voice "Petrificus Totalus!". Horrified, Silver began sprinting up his path, trying to find a way into Sonic's. He didn't understand, the Champions weren't allowed to go after each other. What the hell was Reynard doing? He turned a corner and saw Sonic jerking and twitching on the ground trying to break free of the body bind. Reynard standing over him. Silver pulled himself up and raised his hand at Reynard just as Reynard looked up. Reynard turned and began to run. "Stupefy!" Silver yelled. The spell hit Reynard in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown in the grass. Silver dashed over to Sonic, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face. "Are you all right?" Silver said roughly, grabbing Sonic's arm. "Yeah" panted Sonic. He stretched his arms "Yeah. I don't believe it. He crept up behind me…I heard him, I turned around, and he attacked me" Sonic got up. He was still shaking. He and Silver looked down at Reynard "I can't believe this. I thought he was all right" Silver said, staring at Reynard. "So did I" said Sonic. "Did you hear Mina scream earlier?" said Silver. Sonic nodded "Yeah. You don't think he got her too?" "I don't know" said Silver slowly. "Should we leave him here?" Sonic muttered. Silver shook his head "No. I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him. Don't wanna risk a Plasma getting him". Sonic hesitantly raised his right hand which had the crystal ring on the wrist and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Reynard, marking the spot where he lay.
Silver and Sonic stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them. Then Sonic said "Well…I s'pose we'd better go on" "Yeah, right". It was an odd moment. He and Sonic had been briefly united against Reynard, now the fact that they were opponents came back to Silver. The two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Silver turned left, and Sonic right. Sonic's footsteps soon died away. Silver moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure he was moving in the right direction. It was between him and Sonic now. His desire to reach the cup first was now burning stronger than ever, but he could hardly believe what he'd just seen Reynard do. He remembered Reynard at the World Cup, he willingly lost a game because he knew he couldn't win. Now he's attacking people over a school Tournament? Reynard surely couldn't have wanted the Emerald Cup that badly. Silver sped up. Every so often he hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made him feel sure he was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as he strode down a long, straight path, he saw movement once again, and his beam of light hit an extraordinary creature, one which he had only seen in picture form, in his Monster Book of Monsters. It was a female centaur. The bottom half was a Mobani horse, and the top was possibly a wolf with white hair. She wore a blue dress and held a longbow in her hands. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Silver as he approached. He raised his hand, hesitating. She stood blocking the path in front of Silver. Then she spoke, in a warm voice "I am Ginny, Traveller. You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me" "So…So will you move, please?" said Silver, knowing what the answer was going to be. She paced back and fourth ensuring that Silver could not quickly slip past "No. Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess, I let you pass. Answer wrongly, I attack. Remain silent, I will let you walk away from me unscathed". Silver's stomach slipped several notches. It was Coral who was good at this sort of thing, not him. He weighed his chances. If the riddle was too hard, he could keep silent, get away from the centaur unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to the centre. Silver took a deep breath "Okay. Can I hear the riddle?". Ginny sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited:
First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"
Silver gaped at her "Could I have it again, more slowly?" he asked tentatively. She blinked at him, smiled, and repeated the poem. "All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?" Silver asked. She merely smiled her mysterious smile. Silver took that for a yes. Silver cast his mind around. There were plenty of animals he wouldn't want to kiss; his immediate thought was a plasma, but something told him that wasn't the answer. He'd have to try and work out the clues "A person in disguise" Silver muttered, staring at her "Who lies…Uh…That'd be an imposter. No, that's not my guess! A-a spy? I'll come back to that. Could you give me the next clue again, please?". She repeated the next lines of the poem. Silver tried to think "The last thing to mend. No idea. Middle of middle. Could I have the last bit again?". She gave him the last four lines "The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word. Er…That'd be…Er…Hang on…'Er'! Er's a sound!". Ginny smiled at him. "Spy… Er. Spy… Er" said Silver, pacing up and down "I got it" "Hold on". Ginny raised her bow and readied it with an arrow pointing at Silver's head. Silver was sure there was some kind of magic that would make it not be fatal, but he still gulped "Uh…A creature I wouldn't want to kiss…A spider. A Mobani Spider!". Ginny smiled more broadly and lowered her bow. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass. "Thanks!" said Silver, and, amazed at his own brilliance, he dashed forward. He had to be close now, he had to be. His glove was telling him he was bang on course; as long as he didn't meet anything too horrible, he might have a chance. Silver broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead "Point Me!" he whispered again to his glove, and it spun around and pointed him to the right-hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light ahead. The Emerald Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of him. Sonic was going to get there first. Sonic was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and Silver knew he would never catch up, Sonic was much taller, had much longer legs. Then Silver saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with his own; it was moving so fast Sonic was about to run into it, and Sonic, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it "Sonic!" Silver bellowed "On your left!".
Sonic looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Silver saw Sonic's ring fly off his wrist as a gigantic purple minotaur stepped into the path and began to bear down upon Sonic. "Stupefy!" Silver yelled; the spell hit the Minotaur, but for all the good it did, he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the Minotaur roared, turned around, and charged at Silver instead. "Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!" but it was no use. The Minotaur was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. Silver had one horrifying glimpse of his yellow eyes and large a large club. It grabbed Silver with it's free hand and began to squeeze. Silver for a moment he was in excruciating pain. He could hear Sonic yelling "Stupefy!" too, but his spell had no more effect than Silver's. Silver raised his free hand as the Minotaur was read to hit him and shouted "Expelliarmus!". It worked, the Disarming Spell made the Minotaur drop him, but that meant that Silver fell twelve feet onto his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath him. Without pausing to think, he aimed high at the Minotaur's neck and shouted "Stupefy!" just as Sonic yelled the same thing. The two spells combined and did what one alone had not: The Minotaur keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path. "Silver!" he heard Sonic shouting. Sonic ran over to him "You all right? Did it fall on you?" "No" Silver called back, panting. He looked down at his leg. It was bleeding freely. He tried to get up, but his leg was shaking badly and did not want to support his weight. He leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around. Sonic was standing feet from the Emerald Cup, which was gleaming behind him "Take it, then" Silver panted to Sonic. Silver didn't know why he hadn't already "Go on, take it. You're there". But Sonic didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Silver. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Silver saw the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Sonic looked around at Silver again, who was now holding onto the hedge to support himself. Sonic took a deep breath "You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here" "That's not how it's supposed to work" Silver said. He felt angry; his leg was very painful, he was aching all over from trying to throw off the Minotaur, and after all his efforts, Sonic had beaten him to it, just as he'd beaten Silver to ask Amy to the ball "The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you; I'm not going to win any races on this leg".
Sonic took a few paces nearer to the Stunned Minotaur, away from the cup, shaking his head "No" he said. "Stop being noble" said Silver irritably "Just take it, then we can get out of here". Sonic watched Silver steadying himself, holding tight to the hedge "You told me about the dragons. I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming." "I had help on that too" Silver snapped. He was trying to clean the blood of his leg "You helped me with the egg. We're square" "I had help on the egg in the first place" said Sonic. "We're still square" said Silver, testing his leg gingerly; it shook violently as he put weight on it; he had sprained his ankle when the Minotaur had dropped him. Sonic shook his head "You should've got more points on the second task. You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that" "I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!" said Silver bitterly "Just take the cup!" "No" said Sonic. He stepped over the Minotaur's leg to join Silver, who stared at him. Sonic was serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory Yagyu House hadn't had in centuries "Go on" Sonic said. He looked as though this was costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his face was set, his arms were folded, he seemed decided. Silver looked from Sonic to the cup. For one shining moment, he saw himself emerging from the maze, holding it. He saw himself holding the Emerald Cup aloft, heard the roar of the crowd, saw Amy's face shining with admiration, more clearly than he had ever seen it before and then the picture faded, and he found himself staring at Sonic's shadowy, stubborn face "Both of us" Silver said. Sonic's eyes widened "What?" "We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Soleanna victory. We'll tie for it". Sonic unfolded his arms and stared at him "You-You sure?" "Yeah. Yeah, we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together". For a moment, Sonic looked as though he couldn't believe his ears; then his face split in a grin "You're on. Come here". He grabbed Silver's arm below the shoulder and helped Silver limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles "On three, right? One…Two…Three". He and Sonic both grasped a handle. Instantly, Silver felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the Emerald Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling colour, Sonic at his side.
