The Faerie Curses

Chapter Three: The Fighting Ring

I could see the Gathering Tree now, a knarled oak the size of a tall building that stood proudly in front of me. I grinned and began to slowly descend towards the frost covered ground until I was at the base. Roots the size of a small house stuck out from the ground, and I approached the trunk carefully. I knocked six times on the bark, and a piece of it swung open.

A faerie from Summer Academy glared at me. She looked just like all of the other Summer Fae; tanned skin, sparkly eyes and an outfit chiefly made of leaves and flowers.

"Ugh, the winter prodigy," she muttered in disgust.

"I'm not the one wearing a short skirt made of rose pedals," I retorted as I brushed past her and into the Gathering Tree.

It had been the hideout of the Final Year fae students for decades, and each year its secrets were passed on to the next class from both academies. When you're sixteen its your last year of training, so you become a Final Year. Once you turn seventeen, you're no longer a teenager, but an adult, and you leave the academies.

I didn't go to The Gathering Tree that often, I was usually busy with my training or on different tasks, so I received lots of stares of surprise as I entered. Bottles were strung everywhere, filled with masses of fireflies to offer light. The tree was crowded tonight; hoards of faeries were there, some talking as they drank glasses of nectar (a drink that gave you surreal daydreams) and others dancing in romantic circles as a group of Summer Faeries played their flutes in the corner.

I hated the music of the Summer Faeries; it was induced with magic, so anything they played would hypnotize you into dancing for hours. Sometimes they use it to lure unsuspecting humans, but the academies have forbidden it so there aren't that many incidents anymore. I still felt it pull at my feet, though, but I gritted my teeth and kept walking past the Fae that continued to dance, even though they had started to complain that their feet were hurting. I decided that I didn't feel like a glass of nectar tonight either, I tried not to drink it usually. It dulled all of my instincts and senses.

I was headed for a much more violent activity than drinking or dancing. I was heading for the fighting ring. I could already see that there was a big audience surrounding the ring tonight, and as I approached I plunged into a large crowd of faeries that were chanting and cheering as massive knight from Summer Academy threw a winter caster to the ground.

"Take that, snow girl!" he bellowed, and threw his hands in the air as the summer fae shrieked victoriously.

I was caught in the tide of teenage faeries, their voices rising into the air as their wings flapped furiously in their excitement. I was nearly blown across the room by the aura of magic surrounding them, radiating off of their bodies as their emotions clashed and slammed into each other. It was almost sickening, and I clenched my jaw and watched as the winter caster girl struggled to hobble out of the ring, defeated.

She disappeared into the crowds in shame, and all eyes traveled up to the winner. He leaned against the ring's boundary, his lips twisted into a grin that desired blood. I took in his big, bulky muscles and his large torso, studying him like a piece of art. I analyzed every angle of him very carefully. He was strong, but I could tell by his boastful bellowing that he was arrogant. Dumb.

"Hey, you made it!" Noel exclaimed loudly, his voice rising above the music floating over the crowd as he appeared next to me.

I smirked. "Well, I was in the mood for a fight."

A devilish grin surfaced on Noel's face.

"Finally, I've needed someone to take on bonehead over there," he said, gesturing to the summer knight, who was flexing his muscles for a group of giggling fae girls.