Chapter 17
A Community Event
Williyar and his rival participate in a local festival, performing aerial acrobatics. They entertain the crowds, their funny fights now a spectacle of skill and camaraderie.
The village green was a riot of color and sound. Bunting, strung between ancient oaks, fluttered like captured rainbows, and the air buzzed with the happy din of a thousand conversations. Children, their faces smudged with jam and excitement, chased each other through a maze of stalls selling everything from hand-knitted socks to suspiciously wobbly jams. The annual Summer Fair was in full swing, and for the first time, Williyar felt a flicker of genuine anticipation, rather than the usual knot of dread, in his stomach.
Beside him, perched on the edge of a hay bale, was his rival, the boisterous Badr. Gone was the sneer, replaced by a grin that stretched from ear to ear, revealing a missing front tooth that Williyar had once, during a particularly spirited aerial joust, been responsible for. Badr nudged Williyar with a shoulder that felt surprisingly solid, devoid of its usual aggressive intent. "Ready for this, eh, Williyar? Think the old folks have ever seen anything like it?"
Williyar adjusted his spectacles, a nervous habit he hadn't quite managed to shake, even with the wings now feeling like a natural, albeit still slightly surprising, extension of his back. "I... I hope so, Badr. It's a lot of people." He smoothed down the front of his plain tunic, wishing he had something a little more… flamboyant. The inventor, with a twinkle in his eye and a flurry of diagrams Williyar barely understood, had assured him that today’s performance was all about flair.
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