Lily Wong Ch. 6

Chapter 6

The Parrot's Challenge

The giant parrot spread its wings and used them like parachutes as it dropped down to the ground. A single flap created a gust of wind that nearly blew Lily off her feet, literally. Seeing it standing right in front of her, Lily realized that the bird was even bigger than she remembered. It could easily eclipse a three-story building.

"I see you've brought company," the giant parrot said, giving the whole gang a glance. "I suppose it just proves that heroes have to have companions."

Lily said nothing. To be honest, the way the bird towered over her and looked down on her was intimidating. But she soon swallowed her fears, steeled her nerves and glared back at it.

"Parrot!" she shouted. "I've come to -!"

The parrot cut her off and said, "I know why you are here. You are here for this, are you not?"

It held a wing to its pile of treasure. A small blue light shined from it and flew out, stopping just beside the parrot's head.

"This . . . card case is what you seek," the parrot said.

Lily, however, shook her head and boldly declared, "Wrong, Parrot!"

The card case was definitely what Lily and the others had come for, but that was not all they needed to take back. Lily was sure that among the junk the parrot collected were objects that were invaluable to their owners, precious and prized possessions to their hearts.

"We're here to take back EVERYTHING you've stolen!"

"Oh?" went the parrot, tilting its head one side. "You're greedier than I thought, Hero of the Sapphire Bracelet. How amusing. Very well! I am in a generous mood. I am willing to wager ALL my treasures in this duel."

"They're NOT your treasures," Lily grumbled, but the parrot acted like it didn't hear.

"But for this duel to work, you too must wager something!"

Lily figured as much. It happened all the time on TV shows. When two people challenge each other to some kind of supernatural game, both sides always needed to bet something.

"What is it you want?" she asked the parrot. 

"YOUR SHOES!"

"Of course, my shoes," said Lily. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me," said the parrot. "I want your shoes!"

"My . . . shoes? Not my priceless magic bracelet or magic broomstick, but my cheap, retail store-bought shoes?"

"That bracelet is indeed valuable," the parrot said. "However, it is enchanted so that only the chosen one can even touch it. Because of that, needless to say, the bracelet is worthless to me. However, it would be amusing to see how you go around the school without your shoes. Now that is worth something."

"You just like being mean to people!" Viv shouted accusingly.

"Yes, so what?" said the parrot, beak turned up.

Viv's face turned red.

"Alright," Lily said. "If I lose, you can have my shoes. But if I win, you return everything you ever stole!"

"Agreed!" shouted the parrot. "Then let the game begin!"

Lines of bright blue light spread from beneath the parrot's feet and traced shapes across the ground, becoming what could only be a magic circle.

"Within this circle, all of us are bound by a magic contract," the parrot explained. "A magic contract is unbreakable and will force even myself to keep my promises. The game is simple. You and I each will wear a ribbon around our heads. The one who snatches the other person's ribbon first is the winner."

As the parrot spoke, two feathers flew out from its neck. One flew up to the parrot's head while the other drifted over to Lily. Bright light flashed from the feathers and they transformed into large, long blue ribbons. The parrot's ribbon tied itself around the parrot's head while Lily tied hers herself.

"The detective wannabe will signal the game's start," the parrot decided.

"Hey, I'm not a detective wannabe," Oliver argued. "I AM a detective!"

Despite his dismay, he approached Lily and the parrot, and cleared his voice. "Ahem! On this side, we have Lily Wong. On the other, we have a giant, talking parrot! They will compete for all the stuff that was stolen from everyone at Bluestone Academy. First person to snatch the other's ribbon wins. Challengers, are you ready?"

The giant parrot bowed down low and spread its wings. "Ready," it said while glaring straight at Lily.

As Lily glared back, she held out her hand and called out, "Broomstick!"

In a flash of light, the broomstick appeared in front of her. She grabbed it and prepared to fly.

"Ready," she said.

Oliver looked from one challenger to the other and then held his hand high over his head.

"On your marks," he said. "Get ready . . . START!"

He swung his hand down in a chop and both Lily and the parrot kicked off. 

Lily and the parrot zoomed up into the air, circling around each other a couple of times before the parrot threw his head out, beak wide open.

"Whoa!" Lily cried out. She pulled away just in time to avoid getting her head chomped off and then reached out to snatch the parrot's ribbon off its immense head. But the parrot did a mighty wing flap and made a wind gust that pushed Lily further away. 

"Eek!" She shrieked as she went spinning and spinning several feet. Even when she finally pulled her broom to a stop, the world just kept on spinning around her. 

"Lily, duck!"

Upon hearing Viv yell, Lily dropped down, just as a huge, dark shape soared over her. She flew down low, close to the ground and turned around to see the parrot looking back at her while going, "Tch!"

"That was close," she said. Had she been a second slower, she would have lost her ribbon and the game. She wanted to thank Viv for the assist, but that would have to wait until later.

The parrot turned around and zoomed down at Lily. Lily swooped straight up and the parrot twisted to turn Ninety-Degrees after her. Glancing back, Lily saw the bird had caught up and was right at her tail. It had its beak wide open to snap down on her broom. But before it could do that, Lily swung her right shoulder down and spun away.

She jerked to a stop and then zoomed at the bird, aiming to grab one end of the bird's ribbon to yank it off. But the parrot saw her attack coming and lurched backward as Lily flew by.

Down below, Oliver, Eddie and Viv watched as Lily and the parrot zigzagged around each other, each trying and failing to grab the other's ribbon.

"Not good," Oliver said, watching the dance between girl and bird through a pair of black binoculars. He had dug them out from the parrot's treasure pile. "Lily's starting to get exhausted. She's really out of breath, as if she just ran a marathon."

"What? How come?" asked Eddie. "Isn't the broomstick doing most of the moving?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say it's because the broom's moving by taking Lily's energy. And the more it moves around, the more energy it takes."

"Now that you mention it," said Viv, "when we messed around with the bracelet before, Lily suddenly got really dizzy."

"That just proves it, then," said Oliver. "For that bracelet to work its magic, it takes energy from Lily. And by the looks of things, she's running out of that energy. Fast."

"What do we do?" Eddie cried out. "She's going to lose at this rate! Look! I don't even play that much sports, but even I can tell that she's getting really sluggish and slow."

Indeed, up close to the tree tops, Lily had slowed down a lot, barely matching a drifting balloon. The parrot, however, was as fast as always, and swooped in. Lily narrowly pulled away in time, with one end of her ribbon just a centimeter or two away from the parrot's beak. She tried to flee, but the parrot chased after her keeping close at her tail.

"But what can we do?" asked Viv. "This is a battle between the two of them. There's no way we can just jump in and help!"

Oliver tapped his chin thoughtfully. And then, it hit him.

"No, wait!" he said. "That's not true! We actually CAN jump in and help."

The twins looked at him and blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Remember when Viv cried out that warning?" Oliver said. "That's clearly giving outside help. But the parrot never cried foul. It didn't even say a peep."

"Isn't it just because it was too focused on nabbing Lily's ribbon?" Eddie asked.

"Could be," Oliver admitted. "But I think it's more because giving or getting outside help isn't against the rules."

"Could there really be such a big loophole? Kind of too convenient, don't you think?" said Viv.

"But it's one we can't just leave alone," said Oliver.

"I still don't see what we can do, though," said Viv. "None of us got magic powers. And I don't think us shouting, 'Look out!' is going to do much either."

"I got that part covered," said Oliver. "Come on. Help me out!"

And then he went diving into the pile of stolen treasure, sifting through them while looking for something.

Eddie and Viv exchanged looks and then glanced up at their friend who was doing her best to dodge the giant parrot's snapping beak. The parrot had Lily cornered by a cluster of branches and leaves where two trees met.

"What are we looking for?" Eddie asked as he and his sister joined Oliver.

Oliver replied, "If my memory's right, there should be . . ."

As Oliver and the twins searched through the parrot's ill-gotten wealth, Lily had just about reached her limit. A waterfall of sweat cascaded down her face as she heaved in and out. Her heart threatened to break out of her ribcage with a rapid beating.

"Ugh!" she groaned while hovering near a wall of leaves. Her hands and feet felt so heavy. And the world around her just kept spinning even when she wasn't moving. She was not going to last much longer and the parrot could see that.

"It looks like this is it," it said. "You put up a good fight, but it was not good enough. Prepare to say good-bye to your shoes!"

"No!"

Everything looked like it was moving in slow motion. The parrot pulled its head back and then sprung at Lily. Lily leaned away, but she couldn't get far away enough. The parrot's beak closed down around an end of Lily's ribbon like a pair of scissors. And then -

"Gah!"

"Squawk!"

Both girl and parrot yelped and broke away from each other, startled by the by loud, eardrum-splitting heavy-metal music that suddenly pierced the night air. They went flying back too far and crashed into tree branches at either side of the clearing.

Where'd that come from? Lily wondered as she shook herself free. 

She happened to glance down and spotted the others waving to her. Eddie held a round, black speaker box over his head while Oliver waved around his smartphone. 

Her friends had come to her rescue again, Lily realized.

With gratitude, she waved back, but then frowned when she noticed how they kept pointing at her and then their heads as if they were trying to tell her something.

They cried out, "Lily! Your ribbon! Your ribbon!"

"My ribbon?"

Lily reached up to touch her forehead. With a jolt, she realized something dreadful: she was no longer wearing her ribbon.

The ribbon! Where is it? She looked around frantically and quickly spotted the long, strip of silk hanging from a tree branch. The ribbon must have got caught on it when she crashed over there earlier.

"Accursed noise!"

Hearing an angry shout, Lily turned around to see the parrot shake itself free. Behind the giant bird was also a ribbon caught on a tree branch.

Noticing Lily's gaze was elsewhere, the parrot turned, spotted the ribbon and looked back. It saw the ribbon behind the girl and now had to make a choice, the same choice that Lily was going to have to make:

Do I get back my ribbon, or go for the other one?

For Lily, the choice was clear. She was not going to last long either way, tired as she was. This game had to end now.

The parrot squint its eyes at Lily. It probably realized what she was thinking and quickly turned to get back its ribbon. But mustering all her remaining power, Lily urged the broom to fly and zoomed past the parrot. She closed in on the ribbon in an instant, but the parrot was just fast enough to stop her in her tracks by snapping its beak on the brush end of her broom.

With a grunt, the parrot tried to tug Lily away from its ribbon. But Lily stubbornly pushed on while stretching her hand out as far as she could.

"Grr!" she went. "Come on. Come on! REACH!"

The tips of her fingers managed to brush against the edge of the ribbon. But the parrot proved itself stronger and yanked Lily away. She was tossed away and just barely managed to stop herself from hitting the ground.

She looked up in horror as the parrot soared over her head towards her ribbon. Once more, it opened its beak to pluck the stream of silk. But then -

"Squawk!"

Down the ground, Oliver ran around the clearing and held his phone up. The phone's flashlight shined on the parrot's eye, startling it.

"Lily, NOW!"

Oliver's voice snapped Lily out of it and she once more mustered all her energy for one more push. She urged the broomstick to launch her back into the air, shooting straight for the parrot's ribbon.

Meanwhile, the parrot recovered from Oliver's surprise light attack, shook its head furiously and beat its wings hard.

"Yikes!"

The parrot's wing beat blew a burst of wind that pushed Oliver into some bushes. With nothing to get in its way, the parrot once more reached out to snatch Lily's ribbon. Lily was almost at the parrot's ribbon, but the parrot was also close to Lily's.

Lily's hand stretched out while the parrot's neck stretched out. 

Lily's fingers closed around the parrot's ribbon while the parrot's beak closed around Lily's ribbon.

And then -

The whole clearing was bathed by a flash of blue light, too bright for Lily to handle. She closed her eyes shut while holding her arm up over them.

"Huh?"

Feeling something moving in her hand, Lily slowly opened one eye and glanced up. Both eyes flew open and she unfurled her fingers. Laying on the palm of her hand was a small, black rectangle made of leather. It was Eddie's card case.

Lily had won the battle.

<== Chapter 5