Lile was jumping around in water flipping her fins. The audience above gasped. They all held their breaths. Dmitri was looking as pale as a ghost. His heart reached out to his wife, but she couldn't listen to him. There were too many spells around the segment. Ed and Cora choked on their words. Was this Adrianna's end? So soon? This is how the competition was supposed to end?
Isidorus looked at the sea and kept waiting for Adrianna to come out of it. There were smiles on the faces of some ministry people while the others knew that this was the end. The wizard kingdom would now fall into the hands of the most vicious power. Vikra had won.
Every person in the audience was quiet. It was as if they all knew what was going to happen to them in the next few days. For Isidorus it was the worst thing that could happen. His last chance to save his world had failed.
Meanwhile Lile started talking to Zephyr who was in her cell. Just before coming to the competition, Zephyr had contacted Lile. He had visited her house. He knew that her family was a follower of Vikra and that they had been secretly supporting him. He had told her that he would help her in defeating Adrianna on one condition.
"What is it?" Lile's father had asked.
"I will be crowned as the king of the wizard kingdom and we won't go for the crown. We would create another crown and bury the existing one," he said very clearly.
Lile's father smiled viciously. "Okay. But what if you betray us?"
"There is no chance that I will betray you, but there are a lot of chances that you would betray me," replied Zephyr. He knew about their nefarious nature.
Lile's father nodded. Zephyr wasn't an idiot that he was talking to. "Okay. Tell us how you can help us."
Zephyr said, "I will be staying in my house and will enter Lile's cell. From there I will be able to help her. Together our magic should be enough for Adrianna. She won't be able to defeat both of us."
"Why from your house? Why not ours?" he asked.
"So that you stab me once Lile wins? Haha, no! I would do it from my house."
"But you need another person to also go in a trance to enter their cell?"
"Not necessarily. Both Adrianna and me cane enter anyone's mind and stay there as long as we like and that person would never come to know unless we want it."
Lile's father was shocked and his eyes became wide. He knew that Zephyr was a direct descendent of Vikra and hence very powerful. What he didn't know was that Zephyr was capable of much more. The only person that even came near him to magic and powers was Adrianna. Ziu was also nothing in front of them.
Lile's father did not ask questions because it was of no importance now. He didn't want to complicate things any further. A bond was made, which would break after the competition was finished.
When it was announced that the final stage would be fought in four different terrains, it was Zephyr's idea to get into the desert first. However, he didn't know that Adrianna would be so powerful. His combined magic with Lile couldn't be of any match to Adrianna's. It was his idea to go to the turbulent sea waters.
"Should I come to my original form?" she asked Zephyr. She was laughing along with him.
"Sure, why not? Our mission is accomplished. However, it would be better if you stay in this form in order to swim the turbulent sea fast. Let's go to the center now," he replied rejoicing with her.
"Okay! I love this body anyway. How did you know this spell Zephyr?" she asked as she started swimming towards the center, away from the sun.
Zephyr sighed. "You don't know a lot of things about me or Adrianna. We both are cousins and at the epitome of our genes. If Adrianna was a little different I wouldn't have minded marrying her and ruling this world with her but she is already marked and I hate the fact that she could even challenge me."
"Zephyr, you are one sneaky bastard! If anyone comes to know what we have done, they would disqualify me." Lile laughed as she swam slowly now. She had won the kingdom and wasn't bothered about the competition. Once she would reach the shore, Zephyr would come out of her cell and he would claim the throne.
"No one can know because only four or five people can perform this magic and out of those two are here. Oh sorry, one is dead. Only one is here."
Lile started laughing again. He was really a cunning boy.
"Will you marry me?" she asked with a giggle.
"No. I can only marry someone as smart as Adrianna or else I would destroy you soon in the marriage," he answered coldly.
Lile felt a stab in her heart. "She is no more!"
"I will wait for more like her," he replied, though in his heart he knew that she was the only one of her kind. He hated Dmitri all the more.
The ministry people started leaving one by one. Those who knew that now it was hopeless to think that she would come back. Adrianna was lost in the sea forever. They wouldn't be able to find her body too. Dmitri had become numb with pain. Ed had tears running out of his eyes. For Cora, it was a huge loss. She had just started getting close to Adrianna.
Lile could see the shore only a few miles away. She increased her pace. "Well, if you want, I am always there Zephyr," she said. The shore was a few kilometers away now and she thought that she should change back to her shape.
Suddenly from the opposite side, she saw a large whale coming towards them. "Whale!" she shouted. Zephyr became alert.
She looked at the mammal emerging in front and as it emerged, she saw Adrianna standing on it and riding it. She had her wand pointed towards her.