"You fell in love with a storm.
Did you really think you would get out unscathed?"
— Nikita Gill
Lily looked twice behind her to see if the dragon was really there and not a fantasy product of her tired mind.
He was. He was still in the same position as before, lying on the ground and occupying almost all the garden of the Orphanage, watching her with his beautiful golden eyes.
I can't believe it - she thought, still stunned - I have a dragon.
When they arrived at her little attic, for the first time in years, she felt a little conscious of her appearance.
She had old and ruined clothes, her bed didn't even seem a bed, little jars and glasses were everywhere for when it rained. Her small and almost empty wardrobe was on the verge of falling as a leg had broken down, and the piles of old books stacked dangerously on a corner of the little room made the room even smaller than it already was.
Arya however, didn't seem to notice, or was kind enough to ignore her situation, she simply looked around showing some interest in the books. She picked up Legends of the Giant War with a little smile on her beautiful face.
"I was there you know" said the elf, eyes looking down as she flipped the old pages with a sad expression "I fought this war".
Lily lifted her head up so fast that it almost made a crack, and looked at her wise eyes that in that moment seemed to be so far away, caught in a distant memory.
"How old are you?" Lily asked curiously "If I can ask"
"Old enough" she replied with a little smile "elves and gryphons live longer than everyone else" she merely explained while turning another page before closing the book and putting it back in its place.
"But we are not here to talk about me" she said, looking back into her eyes. Suddenly the air transformed into one full of tension for the words the elf was going to say.
"Before you make this decision I want you to listen very carefully" said Arya, her voice hard "What you are going to do will be no fun, it will be harder than everything you have ever done. You will have to exercise and train almost every day, and it will be painful. You will need to sacrifice a lot of energy and sleep" she explained "sometimes you will feel that you can't do it any more and that you will want to quit. You will snap a lot with people because you will be continually tired. However, you will have a squad to support you, that will basically become your new family and you will also have a dragon that will be your other half"
Lily nodded, understanding her words. She already knew that going to the Academy was extremely hard, there were sometimes stories coming from the radio about some exercise the students had to do.
"But you have to understand... Sorry what was your name again?" asked Arya with a sheepish smile "I completely forgot to ask you"
"I am Lilith, but you can call me Lily" she said, stretching her hand to shook it.
"Ok Lily" she replied taking the hand "It's a pleasure. Now back to the serious part. There is a possibility that another war is going to start and if you decide to come to the Academy, you will be surely called to arms. Do you understand? You might even go to war and see people and friends die"
Lily looked away for a moment, not responding to the elf immediately and turned away, feeling her green eyes bore holes into her head.
Arya was right. It wasn't an easy choice, and she knew why there was given a possibility of a way out. It was dangerous, and war was a scary thing, she barely knew of it, and she had already suffered from it.
She glanced at the books for a moment and saw her favourite one at the top, Definition of Home. Her hand took it almost involuntarily and opened it, scrolling some broken pages. She stayed silent for a few seconds, her decision already made, but feeling an unexpected heaviness in her heart, a fear to leave something that was known and in a way secure, predictable.
Yes, the life in the Orphanage was dull and empty with nothing new, but the girl knew it could only be described as surviving, not living at the fullest. She had lived for years and years with the wish of going away, to start a new life, and now that finally she was going to have a choice, she was not going to miss the opportunity.
"Ok" she simply said, before she could even think otherwise "I accept"
"Have you thought about it enough? You can have a day if you want" Arya asked, still giving her a chance out "You need to think carefully of what you are going to go against"
"Yes, I have thought of it" Lily said, closing and hugging the book near her heart "And my reply is still yes. I have nothing here, nothing that holds me back, just broken memories. Yes, this place is secure because I know it and what to expect. But I have always waited for an opportunity to leave and you are offering one of a lifetime. I prefer to die for something worth, then stay here and rot" she added, glancing with an arm around, indicating the state of decay and misery she lived.
Lily watched her seriously into her eyes, letting her know how important this decision was for her, how much she needed to go away. She looked into her eyes that suddenly seemed older and wiser. The elf looked back at her, then to the room she had lived for years.
"Pack everything you think is important for you" said the elf "At the Academy you will be given everything you might need, so there is no need to bring unnecessary things. Wear something that can keep you warm. I will wait outside"
And with that Arya walked out making no sound, without adding anything else and not giving her the chance of a second thought.
Lily watched her leave before turning to her room. She looked at the old chair that had served more to kept candles on it then herself. To the old bed and tattered covers that had never really helped her with the cold. She didn't think she would miss the room.
She started to grab what she wanted and stuffed it inside a small dirty bag she had managed to save some times ago. Lily put inside two books: Definition of Home and Legends of the Giant War, a small little puppet that looked vaguely like a bunny that had kept her company when she was little, and the small clock that kept her company in the so many sleepless nights, not wanting to leave it behind. It would be surely put into the trash can like everything else she had owned.
She then lifted the bed and took the pendant her father give to her that refigured a little black dragon curled on himself, having hid it in fear of having it stolen. Children liked shiny things, just like the housekeepers.
The irony - she thought, putting it around her neck, thinking of the one awaiting her outside.
She went in search for something to wear as Arya said, but in the end she found only an over size hoodie and a pair of jeans. She changed and then without looking back, went out, snapping hard the door behind her, closing a life she never wanted.
She managed to quickly pass all the stairs without encounter anyone, children or housekeepers, until a cracked voice stopped her on the last one.
"So you are going away?" asked Madam Spite, coming out from the shadow. She had waited for her it seemed, surely for some last kind words of departure.
Lily looked behind, the older woman was looking at her with loathing in her eyes.
"Yes" she simply said.
"Well, let's hope you don't think that if things go wrong I would ever take you back again, after all the times you tried to run away" said the old housekeeper, looking down at her as if she was some sort of disgusting insect, the way she had always looked at her.
"No, I won't" Lily replied resolutely and headed towards the back exit that would bring her to her dragon.
Her dragon. Just thinking of that was enough to put a smile on her face. She put the hand on the knob, but then stopped. Grabbing a little courage and sighting heavily, she looked back.
"Thank you for giving me a shelter and food, I know a lot of people aren't this lucky. And I am sorry for the trouble I caused" Lily said to the other woman, who simply looked back at her with nothing in her face.
Without waiting for an answer she went outside, closing the door and her old, without meaning, life spent there.
Now it was time for another chapter. Now it was time to start writing her own story.
On the backyard, the dragon was now on his feet, waiting for her, and Arya was settling down the saddle of the gryphon. Lily went toward them, looking at the beast with a stupid grin on her face.
It quickly wiped away when she noted no saddle on his back. How would she ride? Hopefully not without a saddle. She didn't want an early death, it didn't seem a good way to start an adventure.
"You will do the ride with me and Calien to the Academy" said Arya, replying to her unspoken question, and Lily felt a little of delusion "It's too dangerous for you to ride without a saddle, you could fall from his back and, you know, the landing wouldn't be so nice"
"I wouldn't let you fall!" exclaimed outraged the dragon in her head.
Lily laughed a little at the glare the dragon sent to the elf.
"Wait a few more moments that I try to fix this thing" said the elf while trying to do something on the clearly annoyed gryphon.
Lily nodded even if Arya couldn't see her, and turned to face the enormous creature. Now that she was a little past the shock, she took time to savour his beauty. His scaled were so dark that seemed to devour the light of the sun and his tail finished with a pointed tip that she didn't doubt could cause a lot of damage. And his eyes looked like liquid gold. Then there his size. He was really really big.
"Are all dragons big as you?" Lily asked at him.
"No, only a few are like me. The rest are all smaller" he responded and tried to make himself even bigger to show himself. She smiled at his obvious demonstration of ego.
"I didn't even present" she said "My name is Lilith, but you can call me Lily"
"It's a pleasure Lilith" he said and lowered his head, so she could touch his face with her hands "I have a name, but humans can't say it. You can give me one"
She run her hand on his scaled face, feeling the hardness of it. They seemed to be even harder than steel, and she wondered if spears and arrows could even scratch them.
Probably not.
"I would like to, but I will need time to think about it" she replied "I would like to give you a nice name"
He hummed and went a little closer, shutting his eyes and letting her run her fingers on his face. They stayed like that for a few minutes, enjoying the presence of each other, until it was finally time to go.
Arya made her wear another coat made of fur because what Lily had wasn't enough, and made her climb up in the front, so the elf could immediately catch her in case she would slip.
"Now the flight will take only a few hours, because ironically we are quite near the Academy, even if we searched you for almost a week" said Arya, taking the reins.
"Are you ready?" she asked at the other girl on her ear.
Lily simply nodded while trying to shallow the lump in the throat, suddenly feeling afraid. She wasn't exactly afraid of heights, but flying was a completely different thing, and she didn't know what to expect from it.
"Good. Now if you need to throw up... don't throw up" said the elf.
Then with a big kick, they were in the air.