Chapter 143


    “Mum, Dad, the orc trials begin today. Queen M has invited everyone toe along to watch,’


    Oh, ore trials?’ My mother says, raising an eyebrow.


    ‘Yeah, they wrestle to see who is the strongest amongst them,’l exin.


    see. I guess we cane along,’ my mother shrugs.


    ‘I know wrestling isn’t your cup of tea, but you might enjoy it a little?’ I smile.


    She nods.


    T’ll see if the rest of the pack wants toe along,’ I say, standing up and leaving the house.


    Everyone who wants to attend meets near the portal.


    “I just have to find Magnus and Alec,” I say to Flint and Josie.


    ‘They were heading towards the river over there not long ago,’ Josie says.


    ‘Thanks,’ I say and ‘Skedaddle Dash’ towards them.


    As I approach, I see them both sitting by the river, talking like best buddies.


    ‘Unbelievable,’ I mutter under my breath.


    They both stop talking and see me approach with a not-too-impressed look on my face. I halt in front of


    Alec and Magnus and cross my arms.


    ‘Hi, babe,’ Magnus says nervously. The scowl on my face intensifies.


    ‘My Queen,’ Alec also says nervously. I’m now scowling at Alec.


    They give each other a guilty look.


    “Honestly, you two are unbelievable. Do you both know that?’ I huff.


    ‘Unbelievably handsome,’ Magnus says with a wink. Alec gives him a hi-five.


    And don’t you encourage his behaviour,’ I say to Alec.


    They both stare down at their hands with obvious guilt.


    ‘Next time you decide to get into a fight with each other, at least be more discreet about it,’ I say, raising


    my hands in defeat. Anyway, are you both ready to return to Moon Crest Castle?’


    As they nod, a pair of beautiful fairy wings in the nearby garden grabs my attention.


    ‘Quinn!’ I growl and give chase after her. She looks back and frets when she sees I’m gaining on her.


    ‘Get back here, you little brat!’ I yell.


    Her wings pick up speed, and I see her scurry and hide behind her cottage. I quietly creep up and


    slowly scan the area, Finally, I see her toes sticking out from behind arge bushy potted nt.


    “Gotcha!’I say, about to pull her out from hiding, but instead, I trip and fall t on my face. Quinn bursts


    intoughter and runs across my back.


    et out a growi and shift into my wolf and give chase. I lunge and gently tackle her to the ground and


    shift back. We roll


    around a few times.


    ‘You drugged me willi fairy dust!’I growl.


    ‘It’s your fault for being so na?ve,’ she giggles.


    re at her as we roll around in the vegetable garden. ‘Oh, have you spoken to the flowerstely?’ she


    asks,ughing even harder. I blush with embarrassment, remembering Sir Hugo having a goodugh


    at my expense from talking to the flowers in the window and being under the effects of fairy dust. ‘I


    thought you would fall for that old nutshell,’ she smiles.


    “You little!


    ‘What’s the meaning of all this?’ Nadia says, hands-on, hip ring at both of us. We both nervously


    mumbles.


    ‘Oh, Nadia. Quinn and I are the best of friends now,’l say, smiling and continuing to hug Quinn tight.


    ‘We were just… ying,’


    *Oh, I see. Well, next time you y, can you not do it in my vegetable garden?’ She says, waving her


    hand around.


    Quinn and I look around at her ruined garden and peer down at our hands with guilt.


    ‘Sorry,’ we both mumble, and I release Quinn from the tight hug.


    ‘Revito Sprouto,” say, revitalising the garden again.


    ‘That’s much better,’ Nadia smiles.


    ‘Are you going toe along and watch the orc trials?’ I ask Nadia.


    ‘I have too much to do, perhaps next time,’ she says.


    ‘Okay, well, have a nice day,’I say and wave goodbye to her. She returns to her cottage, and Quinn


    sticks her tongue out and pulls a face. I return the gesture.


    “You know, they say, if the wind changes, your face will stay that way,’ Alec muses, scaring the


    cauldron out of me.


    Magnus is smirking.


    Theaved, ‘Let’s go,’I say, ignoring Alec’sment.


    We all port through, back to Moon Crest Castle. It didn’t take us long to get there in wolf form. We take


    our seats. Sir Hugo steps into the arena.


    ‘First to fight is Ornak and Grim.’ He announces.


    Two orcs, around nine and ten years old, appear and face each other. They pound their chest with their


    fists as Sir Hugo counts down from three. The orcs spread their feet apart and grip each other’s arms


    firmly. They use all their strength to try and pin each other down. Ornak releases his grip from Grim’s


    arms and sweeps his foot around, making Grim fall back. Grim immediately jumps back up and lunges


    towards Ornak. They roll a few times until Ornak sessfully keeps Grim down. Sir Hugo holds


    Ornak’s arm up high, ‘Ornak wins the round,’ he deres.


    We all cheer and apud. Ornak helps Grim up off the ground, and they beat their fists against their


    chest again but as a


    sign of respect for each other. It was incredibly endearing to watch and know Grim wasn’t upset but


    proud of Ornak.


    Over thirty orcspete. Ornak ended up making it to the top five, then lost. He didn’t seem to mind,


    though. He seemed quite pleased with himself. Zog, an eleven-year-old orc one the final round. TheThis material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    orcs run back into the arena and lift Zog and cheer. My mother stands and apuds with the biggest


    grin on her face,


    “Well, that was quite the show,’ she says.


    I’m d you enjoyed it,’ I smile.


    We wave everyone goodbye as they return home to Wolfwell through the portal.


    *Thank you for inviting us along,’ I say to Maia and hug her.


    “You will have to join us again next week for Midsummer Solstice. Come early so we can make flower


    gands together?’ She says.


    ‘Sure! I would love that. What happens at the Midsummer solstice?’


    ‘It’s the night that the veil between Mysteria and the Gods and Goddess’ connects. They celebrate us,


    and we celebrate them. Legend says that during Midsummer’s eve, it’s possible for a God or Goddess


    to enter through the veil to Mysteria. However, they must return through the veil before the Midsummer


    solstice ends. Otherwise, they are trapped here until the next Midsummer solstice. Although it’s just a


    myth as no one here has actually met a God or Goddess. We will have arge fire, and together we will


    sing and dance around to celebrate the Gods and Goddesses who gave us life. It’s also the night men


    seek out their maiden or mate,’ she says, blushing.


    Oh, I see,’I grin.


    “There will be a maypole, lots of food, wine, Meade and all females will be decorated with crowns of


    flowers, along with nes and bracelets we make from threading flowers together. This will be my


    second time celebrating it. I had never known about it when I lived in the forest,’ she shrugs.


    “Well, we know about it now, and I’m sure it will be so much fun,’ I smile. We hug, and I port back to


    Emerald Ind.


    ‘The midsummer solstice sounds like it will be lots of fun,’ Magnus says.


    ‘I can’t wait!’ I say with excitement.


    ‘I bet you can’t,’ Alec smirks.