‘Mum, Dad, the orc trials begin today. Queen Maia has invited everyone to come along to watch.’
‘Oh, orc trials?’ My mother says, raising an eyebrow.
‘Yeah, they wrestle to see who is the strongest amongst them,’ I explain.
‘I see. I guess we can come along,’ my mother shrugs.
‘I know wrestling isn’t your cup of tea, but you might enjoy it a little?’ I smile.
She nods.
‘I’ll see if the rest of the pack wants to come 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 approaching with a not-too-impressed look. 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 high-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 a large bushy potted plant.
‘Gotcha!’ I say, about to pull her out from hiding, but I trip and fall flat on my face. Quinn bursts into laughter and runs across my back.
I growl and shift into my wolf, giving chase. I lunge and gently tackle her to the ground and shift back. We roll around a few times.
‘You drugged me with fairy dust!’ I growl.
‘It’s your fault for being so naïve,’ she giggles.
I glare at her as we roll around in the vegetable garden.
‘Oh, have you spoken to the flowers lately?’ she asks, laughing even harder.
I blush with embarrassment, remembering Sir Hugo having a good laugh 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 glaring at both of us.
We both nervously laugh and pat down our messy hair. I wrap my arms around Quinn and hug her.
‘Can’t breathe,’ she mumbles.
‘Oh, Nadia. Quinn and I are the best of friends now,’ I say, smiling and continuing to hug Quinn tight. ‘We were just… playing,’
‘Oh, I see. Well, next time you play, can you not do it in my vegetable garden?’ Nadia 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,’ I say, revitalising the garden again.
‘That’s much better,’ Nadia smiles.
‘Are you going to come 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.
‘Let’s go,’ I say, ignoring Alec’s comment.
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 successfully keeps Grim down. Sir Hugo holds Ornak’s arm up high, ‘Ornak wins the round,’ he declares.
We all cheer and applaud. Ornak helps Grim off the ground, and they beat their fists against their chest again 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 orcs compete. Ornak ended up making it to the top five, then lost. He didn’t seem to mind, though. He seemed quite pleased with himself. Zorlag, an eleven-year-old orc, won the final round. The orcs run back into the arena and lift Zorlag and cheer. My mother stands and applauds with the biggest grin on her face.
‘Well, that was quite the show,’ she says.
‘I’m glad 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 garlands 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 Goddesses connect. They celebrate us, and we celebrate them. Legend says that during Midsummer’s eve, it’s possible for Deities 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 Deity. We will have a large fire, sing, and dance around to celebrate the Deities 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 necklaces 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 Island.
‘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 replies.
