The Trials

completion.

Nancy finally woke up after I repeatedly shook her. "Nancy! You're finally awake!"

I tackled her in a hug. She hugged back, but she looked a bit disoriented. I pulled away and remembered the good news I meant to share with her. I reached into my shirt pocket and pulled out two marble medallions. "Look what I've found!"

Nancy smiled. "Nice job, Lemay! I've found something as well!"

She muttered something else under her breath, but I didn't question her. Nancy revealed... two marble medallions? I gave her a perplexed look. "How the heck did you get those? You were unconscious for like 20 minutes!"

"Oh. Uh-umm..." she stammered. "They just appeared when I woke up!"

"Alright. Let's go!"

I decided not to question her.

We were on our way back to Nars Academy feeling proud of ourselves. "You know what, Bennett?" I told Nancy. "You're pretty okay!"

She chuckled. "You're okay too, Cass. I'm glad I had you as my partner."

I grinned. "I'm glad I had you too. Even though there were a lot of times where you were infuriating and annoying."

"We'll, I can say the same about you!" Nancy retorted.

I laughed. I felt so great. We walked and talked along the way, when we heard a loud growl coming from somewhere. I turned around and found a man sitting by a tree and a very big dog next to him. I tapped Nance on the shoulder. "Hey, there's a man sitting there."

My partner studied him and his dog. "Maybe we should go and talk to him."

I smacked her unhurt arm. "Are you CRAZY? Haven't you learned not to talk to strangers in the woods? We don't want a repeat of Leal."

Nancy rolled her eyes. "C'mon Cassandra! We've completed the trials! We can't be in much danger anymore!"

She walked towards the man, and I sighed and followed her, my sword ready.

"Hello!" Nancy said cheerfully. "We saw you sitting over here, so we wanted to know if you were alright."

The man turned around. I got a good look at his face. He was about 30-something, and he had messy red hair and a shaggy beard.

His eyes were a startling blue. He had a kind of evil look in his eyes, but Nance was completely oblivious to that. I eyed his dog. It was a giant Labrador Retriever. It had big, brown, sad eyes, and was awfully skinny. It looked like it hadn't eaten in days. I crouched down to it. "Hey there. You're so cute!"

It's tail started wagging. I decided that it was a harmless, friendly dog. The man finally spoke. "My name is Jonathan Temblay! And you are?" 

"Oh." Nancy started. "I'm-"

"Her name is Maria! And I am Eliza!" I quickly interrupted my friend.

I shot her a look that said, Don't you DARE give any information to this man! She shot a look back. It said, RELAX! He seems trustworthy! I rolled my eyes and turned back to Jonathan. He said, "And this here," he pointed to the dog, "is Alex. What brings you guys to these woods?"

He glanced at Nancy's hands. "Oh. You've completed The Trials, eh? I've had some people who've completed them pass me by. They always stop to check on me and Alex here. They never make it past me alive, of course."

My eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Jonathan laughed. It was hard to tell, though. It sounded like he was trying to cough something up. He finally stopped and grinned evilly, revealing yellow, crooked teeth. "You see ladies, I've been stuck in the forest for years, with no escape. I have no food, no water. Poor Alex here doesn't have any resources either. But, every time a pair completes The Trials and comes across me, I have no choice but to kill them and eat them. Isn't that right, boy?"

The dog, Alex, made a low rumbling noise. I was paralyzed by fear. "I'm sorry. Did you say EAT them? You're a cannibal??" I choked out.

"Yes, Cassandra Lemay. You and Nancy Bennett here will make a great feast for me and Alex."

Nancy looked infuriated. "How could I have fallen for this again? We WILL kill you Jonathan, and no one who completes The Trials will have to deal with you anymore."

Jonathan laughed that horrible laugh again.

"No one had EVER defeated me, girls, but I like your confidence."

"We'll see about that." I said.

I charged at Jonathan with my sword, but I got knocked aside by the dog. It had grown three times in size and its eyes were no longer sad. They were cold and menacing. Nancy slashed at the dog with her claws, and it made a huge cut in its chest, but it healed almost immediately. "You can't beat my dog here. I kidnapped him when he was a pup, and he has been under my control ever since. So unless you kill me, you will never be able to harm Alex," said Jonathan.

Oh my God. This man was a lunatic. He imprisoned an innocent puppy who was probably lost if he was lurking in the woods. Anger bubbled inside of me and I charged at him. The dog tried to stop me, but Nancy jumped on his back and clawed and clawed at its neck. It roared and tried to push her off his back. Nancy looked guilty because technically, the dog was innocent. Anyway, I charged at Jonathan and stabbed my sword into his chest. He wailed in pain and got sucked into my sword. Looks like the power didn't wear off yet. I turned back to Nancy and Alex. Alex was now back to normal size, and his eyes looked happier. I wonder how long it had been since his eyes looked joyful. "Well, Cass. There's another body for your magic sword. And look! Alex likes us."

The Labrador licked Nancy and prodded over to me. I bent down and pet him, and he ran off into the woods, probably going to look for town. I started to scold Nancy, but I stopped myself. I mean, I couldn't really blame her for being lenient with meeting people in the woods. "C'mon Nance. Let's go back."

We found the borders of the forest. We had finally arrived at Nars Academy, and Charles was waiting there for us. We held up our medallions, and he nodded in approval. "Congratulations ladies. Follow me to my office."

Nancy and I sat down at his desk, and he sat on the chair across from us.

"Now. You can't show anyone what those medallions look like or what the challenges are. It will only make The Trials a bit easier."

We nodded. "Go to your dorms and take those medallions with you. You will keep them tomorrow morning, and you will meet me in the Sorcery area of the school. Bring the medallions with you."

"Yes, sir," Nancy said.

Charles gave us a warm smile. "Now off you go. You deserve some rest."

Nancy and I walked out of his office. "Well, Nance, we did it,"

She put her hands on my shoulders. "Yes we did, Cass. I'll see you tomorrow."

I waved and she ran off to who-knows-where. I turned and walked back to my dorm, my spirits higher than ever.