The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert Read Online
Chapter 39
Savvy blinked and saw snow-white hair swinging before her eyes as Naya took a battle stance.
“Easy there!” Her l!ps curled into a menacing grin as she blocked inga’s attack. Her eyes did not promise her opponent anything good, “You may hurt yourself again! We wouldn’t want that would we?”
The werecat dodged another blow and then kicked Inga’s legs gracefully, making her k!ss the dirty ground. Once again, Savannah admired the beauty with which the cats moved. As if they were dancing and not fighting.
“If we could shift…” the werewolf growled.
“If we could shift, there would be a blood stain in the shape of you!” Naya retorted with a chuckle. “You don’t scare me, wolf girt. The only one I am scared of in this entire compet*ition is the person I side with.”
“Enough!” Celia tried to wriggle out from under Savannah, and the Princess stood up, letting her go. The ginger-haired girl rushed to her friend’s side,
“But…” Inga was about to protest
“Did you hear what she said?” Celia seemed more agitated because of the magic word than anything else. “Sorry, but even Penelope is not worth it for me. So, you are on your own! Besides, I think we have stalled them for long enough!”
Inga relaxed slightly hearing this and nodded. They exchanged glances and charged in the same direction without saying anything else.
“So much for their company!” Naya turned to face the other two women, and Savvy really didn’t know what to expect next.
You side with me?” The Princess raised her brow questioningly.
“Of course, I do!” A laugh followed the reply. “Who else could you and me, two Westerners, join here?
“I could join f0rces with Astrid.” Savvy pointed out, throwing a quick glance at Petra, who still clung to the tree branch as if her life depended on it.
“I hate that one!” Naya scrunched her nose. “And Brigit!” The Princess continued. “Ugh, that one is even worse. You see why you needed me here?” The cat smirked.
“I needed you? Since when?” Now Savannah was interested.
“Since always!” Naya rolled her eyes. “Why do you think I am here? To fight for a man? No, thank you. I like parts more anyway. Although men can be fun sometimes. That depends on the size of their dl-”
“I get it!” Savannah tried to stop her confession. “I still don’t get why, though. And how did you know about the Trials?”
“I received an invitation from Elene. She wanted a werecat of noble blood to compete, and my mother chose me.”
“So, you knew before I even got here?” Savvy gritted her teeth. “Why didn’t you inform us? We are supposed to be in an alliance with the cat packs.”
“We are in an alliance,” Naya confirmed nonchalantly. “That’s the whole point. You didn’t need that information back then. Your brother would flip, and we would have had another war on our hands instead of a new and powerful ally. Who would want that? My mother sent me here to help you get King Kai’s heart and marry him. Or, at the very least, help you win the Trials and get the three wishes. If you had been disqualified, I would have to win this thing myself. Luckily, you didn’t disappoint. The King is really not my type, so thanks for that.”
“You cats have strange ideas about loyalty,” Savvy scoffed; however, she also felt relieved.
“We do what will benefit us all. If King Gideon asked us, we would have told him what we knew. But he didn’t, so….”
That was one convenient way of thinking
“And how exactly has your being here helped me?” Savannah let out a laugh. This was indeed hilarious.
“I had your back and sent information to my mother so that she knew everything was fine. If something wasn’t, I had to report to her, and she would inform King Gideon.” Naya folded her arms on her chest, not bothered with the moral aspect of things.
“That sounds like a very questionable plan!” Savvy chuckled.
“It worked, though!” The werecat snickered. “I was worried when you disappeared for a few days, but after I listened to Beta Lachlan’s conversation with Princess Elene, I knew you were not suffering in the King’s arms. I have to say, you worked faster than I expected. I thought that you two would start seeing each other as more than enemies somewhere closer to the end of the Trials. And look at you two! Mating already, and it’s not even …”
“Mating?” Petra squeaked, and they both turned to look at her. Her l!ps were twitching to keep a straight face, but tears were already on her long lashes. “You and King Kai?”
“‘Sh*t,” Naya mumbled. “I forgot the child was here.”
“That’s not fair!” Petra stomped her hurt foot and winced at the sharp pain. More tears streamed down her cheeks. “Giving him s*e*xy favors so that he helps you is not fair!”
“Wow, wow, wow!” Savvy shook her head at once, choosing her words cautiously now. “No one is giving him s*e*x all favors! Petra, we … we are in love.”
She blushed when the words left her mouth. It was the first time she said that out loud to someone else, the first time she claimed him as hers. Her confession slowly sunk in and Petra’s expression changed to a more understanding one.
“Are you mates?” The pink-haired girl asked, and Naya snorted, but Savannah jabbed her with her elbow.
“Not exactly,” she cleared her throat. “You know what, we need to move if we ever want to get to the Forgotten City.”
“So, you stay here and wait for help.” The werecat smiled at Petra, clearly intending to leave her behind.
“No,” Savannah shook her head. “I gave my word that I’d take care of her.”
“For real?” Naya looked at her in disbelief. “Why?”
“Long story.” Savannah returned to Petra and helped her to wrap her arm around her neck for support.
“Let’s go.”
“Unbelievable!” The cat murmured to herself and took the tree branch away from the pink-haired girl, throwing it away. “Come here! It will be faster that way!”
They practically carried Petra for a while, but since there were two of them now, it was much faster.
“At least we don’t have to worry about any attacks anymore.” The werecat tried to look for something positive in the situation. “Inga and Celia are long gone. What did you say to Celia again?”
“Claghtern,” Savannah replied, seeing the walls of the Forgotten City from a distance. They weren’t as destroyed as she imagined. In fact, they seemed very tall and well built.
“What is it?” Naya asked.
“I wish I knew!” The Princess chuckled. “It proved so helpful!”
“It’s a monastery deep in the Northern mountains,” Petra informed them. “Women spend their life there in prayers to Fenrir. They only eat food they grow themselves and are never allowed to marry anyone. Even if they meet their mate, however unlikely if one lives in Claghtern, they have to reject them. It’s pure life. They also train to be warriors and are considered elite here. They say that Fenrir gives them his blessing, and they are the strongest among lycan females. Almost invincible.”
“Warrior nuns!” Naya snorted, “That’s a first!” “They are more like priestesses,” Petra tried to explain. “It’s an honorable position.”
“If it’s that honourable, why did one mention of the place make Cella disappear?” Savvy chuckled.
“Because she isn’t the nun type?” The werecat sniggered, and they both snorted, trying to suppress laughs.
The Morr family gave an oath long ago that each firstborn daughter would join Claghtern” the pink-haired werewolf continued explaining. “Cella had to join them last year. Evelyn says it’s one of the reasons why she is in . First, it postpones the Inevitable. And second, if she or one of her friends wins, they could use one of the three wishes to free Cella from her obligations.”
“Funny!” Savannah giggled. “If she thinks someone like Penelope would waste a wish on her, she doesn’t know her friend well.”
They reached the city walls, but there was no entrance in sight.
Savannah knew she had already lost too much time, but it wasn’t hopeless yet. She was confident in her own strength and knew she could still catch up, but not while carrying Petra.
Savvy and Naya exchanged concerned glances.
“To hell with you!” The werecat sighed. “Just go already. I will look after her UNTIL her foot is healed. After that, she is on her own.”
“You can leave me now,” Petra realized they were talking about her. “I will just wait here until everything is over. I am not really a warrior.”
“You are now,” Savvy looked her in the eye, reacting fast. “Life has thrown you into this, and now you have to do the best you can. Your leg will heal soon, and then you will show what you are capable of.”
“What’s the point if there isn’t even a prize anymore?” The she-wolf pouted her l!ps. “According to your own mentor, the point is your pride and reputation. She put her life into bringing
you here. Are you going to just sit and wait until someone arrives to save you?” Savannah taunted. “Or are
you going to at least try?”
have time to wait for the outcome. She had already done enough.!
“You get to make one now. It’s on you,” the Western Princess said. “Naya will stay with you until your knee is healed, and I have to go now. But I really hope to see you fight, Petra. Not for Kai, not for any man. For you. You are just as strong as Everybody else here. Even if you don’t go far until you try, you know you are doing the best you can. Whatever you decide to do next-best of luck to you.”
Savannah nodded at Naya, and the werecat gave her a supportive smirk. “I’ll find you later by your scent,” she promised, waving the Lycaness goodbye.
Savannah was running for some time down the wall, realising there was no entrance to the city. Just the tall fence and no doors, no gates, no holes … nothing!
Annoyed, she decided to simply climb the wall, not to lose any more time.
Finally, at the top, an impressive view of the former northern capital unfolded before her eyes. It was a huge circular labyrinth with thousands of branches, and Savvy had no idea how people lived here in ancient times. It looked like a big trap, and it did not help that now it was lit by the red light of the sunset.
She was happy to acknowledge that Princess Elene had shown them the correct map before this challenge. At least the parts she could see from here matched now. She knew where she was and where she had to get. The shire where she was supposed to light a torch was in the very center of the maze, the only building tall enough to tower over everything else,
Savannah felt vibrations before they reached her feet and jumped down moments before sharp metallic sparks grew out of the wall top. Once again, she landed on a stone tile and felt something was off. The tile had a small crescent sign on it, and it was the last thing she noticed before arrows with silver tips started flying left and right.
Not wasting time, Savannah ran as fast as she could and felt another click under her feet, realizing that the tiles were triggering weapons. However, this time she was shocked when a wall appeared from the ground, cutting her way to escape and creating a dead end.
“What the…” She grunted, realizing she would have to go back by the road she came here. She looked at the tiles and noticed small signs on almost each of them. She saw crescents, circles, diamonds, triangles, flowers, suns, stars and many others. By now, it was safe to a*s*sume that a crescent was a no-go.
She measured the distance to a tile that was supposed to change the walls and noticed a diamond on.
Not thinking twice, Savannah stepped on the closest diamond tile, and a wall beside her moved. A different wall… which meant that the maze was changing all the time.
Her knowledge of the map wasn’t going to help much now, which only made her grit her teeth.
Savvy was sure that some of the tiles were safe and decided to try one to check, carefully stretching her leg to reach it. The floor under her dropped, and she grasped the ground next to her, trying not to fall
down. If she originally stood where that pressed tile was, she would be at the bottom of what looked like a bottomless pit.
Her hands were slipping, and she realized that the walls were sleek and shiny, a mixture of metals connected together in intricate patterns.
Silver and bronze.
Silver for the wolves and bronze for the bears. Of course… That made sense as these metals weakened the species.
A shadow covered Savannah’s face, and she lifted her head to see Brigit towering over her. The white bear had no emotions on her face, and Savvy didn’t like it.
“Hi!” She tried to f0rce a smile. “Give a girl a hand, will you?”
“I am sorry.” Brigit shook her head.
Her boot was inches away from Savvy’s fingers.
“Come on!” The Princess threw her head back. “You aren’t that bad, Brigit! Why do you keep doing these things? You could have already been in your mate’s arms instead of all this!”
The white bear’s eyes glistened again. Exactly like during her finding out about Aspen.
“I know your mate!” Savvy continued, trying to help her situation. “He is a great guy! He would devote his whole life to making you happy. He has one flaw, though – a very annoying sister, but does it matter really? When it’s true love, and you are true mates.”
Their eyes locked, and Brigit’s lips trembled just for a second before she pulled on a cold and indifferent expression.
“I wish it could be different!” The werebear muttered and stood on Savannah’s fingers. She was bringing more and more weight until the Princess screamed in pain and let go of the last thing holding her from the fall.
Savvy landed at the bottom of the metal pit. Silver wasn’t affecting lycans too much, but there was so much of it around that she couldn’t help but feel weaker. Besides that, she could feel something else in the air… Something unhealthy.
The pit was deep and impossible to climb up. There was nothing at the bottom that could help her as well.
“Brigit!” Savannah screamed, but the white bear was nowhere in sight. Sadly, getting out of here without help wasn’t an option.
She hated waiting. It was the one thing she despised the most. However, now she was f0rced into this position and prayed that Naya would soon catch up with her thanks to her scent.
The remaining sun rays falling from above were Savvy’s only source of light now, so when it suddenly got dark, hope rose in her chest. She looked up and saw… one red eye gleaming in the darkness…
“Hey there, Princess!” Bjorn said…
Kai knew this wouldn’t be an easy conversation. No love was lost between him and Gideon Stormhold, the King of the Western Lycan Kingdom. And also, Savannah’s older brother.
The Northerner was impressed by the size of the army Gideon brought with him, considering that it was on short notice.
Kai considered many opening phrases, but nothing seemed good enough to use in the given situation. So, he went with the most obvious choice.
“Welcome to the Northern Lycan Kingdo…” Gideon punched him hard.