Menacing Misfits: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (Darkthorn Academy Book 1)

by Robyn Wideman

  “Jack, you did it!”

  “Huh?” Jack opened his eyes and the stone was glowing.

  “Congratulations,” Cara said. “How’d you do it?”

  “I don’t know. I just kind of relaxed and started thinking about my mother.”

  “Try it again. This time, when I tell you it is working, don’t stop.”

  Jack took a deep breath and relaxed. He started to think about his mother again. It wasn’t long before Cara called out, “It is working. Can you feel the difference in you?”

  Jack thought about the lessons in his book and the way Cara had described looking for his magic. He tried to keep his mind fairly clear and focused on his mother, but at the same time he tried to feel if anything was different. He was using magic; how did that feel? What was different? The more Jack thought about it, the more he realized he did feel different. It wasn’t the ball of magic in his belly like it had been described, but more like a lot of little tingles that went all the way through his body then came together in his belly. He imagined the tingles coming together as a ball of energy.

  “It’s starting to change colors. You finally figured out how to do it! Congratulations, Jack,” Cara said excitedly as she gave him a hug.

  At that moment the door opened and Colin walked in. He saw Cara hugging Jack and he stammered, “Sorry to interrupt.” He turned to leave, but Cara laughed. “You didn’t interrupt anything. Jack just learned to use his magic for the first time.”

  Colin’s face relaxed and he looked at Jack. “Oh, I thought, you know…”

  “I know what you thought, silly boy,” Cara said. She walked over and gave Colin a kiss on the cheek. “You’re kinda cute when you’re jealous. See you boys later.”

  Colin blushed. “Did you see that? She kissed me.”

  “I was sitting right here,” Jack said. “Of course, I saw it.”

  “Ya, but she kissed me. I thought she was going to smack me or something after I said I thought, well, you know.”

  Jack laughed. “Yes. I was sitting right here.”

  “Are you hungry? I’m heading down for some food right now.”

  “I could eat,” Jack said.

  As they went down towards the cafeteria, Colin turned to Jack. “You have to warn me when you’re going to have girls in our room. What if you had been doing something? That would’ve been awkward.”

  “More awkward than what just happened?”

  “Definitely.”

  Jack laughed. “OK. I have another girl coming by tonight after supper.”

  Colin gave him a funny look. “Sure you do, stud.”

  Jack shrugged.

  As they walked into the cafeteria, they spotted Stannerios. They grabbed a couple plates of food and joined him.

  “How’s it going, guys?” Stannerios said between bites of a huge turkey leg.

  “Great. I just caught Jack making magic with a hot girl.”

  Jack rolled his eyes. “But she kissed you.”

  Stannerios looked back and forth at Jack and Colin. “You guys had a girl in your room?”

  “Studying,” Jack said. “She was helping me with my magic studies.”

  “How’d it go?”

  “Good. I actually learned how to activate magic, thank goodness. Professor Logston is a little intense. I was a little worried about what he’d do if I came to class without showing any progress.”

  Colin laughed. “I’ve heard some stories. He’s more than a little intense. You better be studying all the time. If rumors are true, he fails a couple students every year just to prove that his classes aren’t for everyone. I’m glad I don’t have him.”

  Jack nodded. The truth was he wasn’t as worried about that class anymore. He had unlocked his ability to feel his magic, and if what everyone said was right, he’d finally start making progress, and Cara was super helpful. He was more worried about Combat Basics and Healing. His sword work was far behind the rest of the class, and Instructor Brazee, while not as intense as Professor Logston, was pretty strict and by the book. If Jack didn’t improve enough, he’d be failed. And he hadn’t been to a Healing class yet. For some reason it didn’t start until later in the week.

  “You going to eat that?” Stannerios asked.

  “What?” Jack asked.

  “You’ve been staring at your bun for the last two minutes. You think it is poisoned or something?” Colin said.

  “You want me to eat it? Orcs have a high tolerance for poisons.”

  “I was just thinking.” Jack said. “I think Professor Logston is the least of my problems. Anyways, I should get going.” Jack flipped the bun to Stannerios. “Let me know if it is poisoned.”

  Stannerios sniffed the bun, shrugged, and took a big bite. “Where you going?”

  “He’s got a big date,” Colin said while raising both eyebrows.

  Jack shook his head. Guys were so immature.

  When he got to his room, he found Lana sitting in the hallway with Lord Scratches on her lap.

  “Hey,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind. I knocked on your door and he squawked. I opened the door and you weren’t there. He came out and sat with me while I waited.”

  “I don’t mind at all. I hope you weren’t waiting long.” Jack watched as Lord Scratches made googly eyes at the elven girl. He wondered why Lord Scratches was so enamored with Lana yet disliked Cara so much. He was a strange beast.

  Lana pointed to a pile of stuff beside her. “I brought everything you said.”

  Jack smiled. “Perfect. Let’s get started.”

  Once they were in the room, Jack examined the box of stuff. Everything they needed was inside it.

  “As long as the box doesn’t leak it will work perfectly,” Jack said.

  “I got it from Master Horton. He seemed to know exactly what we’re doing, and he assured me that it would work.”

  Jack pulled out the two jugs of vinegar and poured them into the box. He was pleasantly surprised when nothing dripped out. Next, he added the baking soda and hollinger leaf. “Vinegar and baking soda are a great way of removing rust from normal weapons, but it doesn’t always work on ancient weapons. Many of them aren’t traditional steel or iron. They’re magic-enhanced metals. The hollinger leaf does something to the vinegar and baking soda that makes it work on most ancient weapons. Occasionally we’d run across a weapon that didn’t react to the mixture, but for the most part it is the best thing for ancient weapons.”

  “Interesting,” Lana said. “I’ve never heard of that.”

  “Most haven’t. It’s an old tinker trick,” Jack said as he took his short sword and put it into the mixture. It started to bubble profusely.

  “The nice thing about dealing with ancient blades is when they do react to the mixture it doesn’t take long at all. You don’t have to soak them overnight or longer like regular steel.”

  Once the bubbles stopped, Jack pulled out his blade and wiped it down with one of the rags Lana had brought. The rust seemed to just wipe off, leaving an almost white metal and a gold and silver handle.

  “Wow. That is beautiful,” Lana said.

  “A lot of the ancient blades were like this. They were works of art, along with being some of the finest blades ever made. We lost a lot of the technology and techniques of the old masters during the Great War.”

  Lana pulled out her blade. It had a thick crust of rust over it and the handle almost looked like it was covered in corral.

  “Put it in,” Jack said.

  Lana put the blade into the water and it started to bubble. She grinned at Jack. “This is so fun.”

  The bubbles stopped and Lana looked over at Jack for confirmation. He nodded and she pulled the sword out. Below the rust was a dark black blade.

  “What the heck?” Lana said.

  Jack grinned. “You are so lucky. That is an obsidian sword. I’ve only ever seen obsidian daggers.”

  Lana kept wiping it off. The handle was bone, and at one time it had obviously been highly p
olished. It would need a little more restoration than the rest of the weapon, but it would be a work of art when they were done, not to mention one of the sharpest weapons ever.

  “It’s really light now that all the junk is off of it.”

  “It must’ve been covered in some sort of metal dust, and then over time the dust rusted,” Jack said.

  “What do we do now?” Lana asked.

  Jack pulled out his grandfather’s magical whetstone. “Now we sharpen them.”

  He showed her how to properly use a whetstone.

  As they worked, Jack thought about the fact his grandfather’s whetstone was magical. They had used the whetstone to prove that Jack had some magical abilities. Maybe if he transferred energy into it the way he did the practice stone from Magic Basics, it would work for him the way it had for his grandfather. Jack relaxed and focused on his magic, sending it towards his hand. The whetstone got warmer. After a few minutes, Jack checked the blade. It was almost as sharp as any his grandfather had worked on. The magic whetstone worked perfectly for him.

  “You’re already done?” Lana asked. “I thought this was supposed to take a lot longer.”

  “My whetstone is magical.”

  “Then it is true tinkers use magic. My mother always said so, but my father insisted they were just skilled craftsmen. She’s going to tease him to no end when she finds this out.”

  “I’ve never done it with magic until just now, but it sure does make a difference. Would you like me to sharpen your blade too?”

  “Hell yes,” Lana said as she passed him her sword. “I can practice sharpening later. I want this sword as sharp as possible.”

  Jack checked the obsidian blade. It was already sharp, but he knew from experience he could make it even sharper. Even sharper than his own blade. He went through the same steps. Each time he called on his own magic he was finding it easier. It seemed strange that relaxing was the trick, when for so long he’d been so focused on trying harder. Perhaps that had been the problem all along. He’d been trying too hard. He’d been tense and on edge trying to force the magic out, when what he’d needed to do was relax and coax it out. Jack wondered if it was different for everyone, as the description in the books and how Cara had described it hadn’t really worked for him.

  When he was done sharpening the obsidian blade it felt perfect. He handed it back to Lana.

  She examined the blade. “Wow. My grandmother could shave her chin whiskers with this blade. I’ve never had a blade this sharp before.” She then frowned. “I bet Instructor Brazee will chide me for not sharpening my own blade. I’ll sharpen my old sword for proof that I can sharpen a weapon on my own. But this is awesome. I can’t wait to show this off. I bet this would cut through any leather armor with ease.”

  Colin walked into the room with Stannerios. “See, I told you he was jok— Oh. You aren’t alone.”

  Stannerios walked in behind Colin and laughed. “You owe me five coppers.”

  Lana frowned at Jack.

  He shook his head. “My idiot friends think having a girl in my room means something weird is going on. I told them we were working on our weapons but I guess they had to see for themselves.”

  “Hey. Are those ancient weapons?” Stannerios said as he pointed at their swords. “Those look sweet.”

  Colin came over and immediately started inspecting Jack’s sword. “You both got ancient blades? That is so lucky. I’ve had two tries now and I only got a regular blade.”

  “Jack picked them,” Lana said. “He’s got a talent for it.”

  Colin groaned. “Damn it. It isn’t fair. I have a roommate who can find ancient blades and I end up in a different class.” He then pointed his finger at Jack. “You should’ve told me.”

  Jack shrugged. “I didn’t know they’d be giving us a chance to find ancient weapons. Besides, it was mostly luck. We were the last team to pick.”

  “Everyone in your class picked before you. Oh, that is funny,” Colin said. “I wish I was in your class just so I could see those rich twerps who missed out on those swords turn green with envy.”

  Jack laughed. “I’m not worried about what any of my classmates think. What I’m worried about is what Instructor Brazee will think. I need all the extra credit I can get.”

  Stannerios put his hand out. “May I?”

  Jack handed him the short sword.

  Stannerios spun the dagger around on his hand, flipped it in the air and then through his fingers. Watching such a big, powerful person handle the blade with such dexterity was impressive. Before handing it back, he rubbed his finger along the edge of the blade.

  “A beautiful weapon and you’ve done an incredible job restoring it, but it isn’t a warrior’s blade.”

  Jack frowned. “It isn’t?”

  “No, I mean, a warrior could use it. Certainly, it is a good length for a dwarven warrior, but it is actually a mage’s weapon. I can feel the magic in it.”

  “Bonus,” Colin said excitedly. “That is perfect for you, Jack. I wonder what kind of mage originally had this blade?”

  “Dwarven,” Stannerios said confidently.

  Jack looked at the big orc in surprise. “How can you tell?”

  Stannerios shrugged. “It isn’t hard to figure out. Dwarves, halflings and elven folk are the ones who prefer short swords and daggers. It is too heavy to be a halfling or elven blade, and the ancient dwarves were masters of forging pewter blades. White blades have high antimony and copper ratios. Lana’s blade is obsidian, and fairly lightweight, which would indicate that a human blacksmith from the northern provinces was involved, but I suspect that it was made for an elf. The lightweight double-edged curved blades were elven design.”

  “Who are you and what have you done with my friend Stannerios?” Colin said.

  “What?” Stannerios said.

  “That is the most you’ve ever spoken at once,” Jack said.

  Again, Stannerios shrugged, his powerful shoulders coming up to his ears. “Orcs learn about weapons and how they are made. Ancient orc blades are the best, but yours are OK.”

  Jack eyed his blade. It was more than just OK. If it was truly a dwarven mage blade then it was even rarer and more valuable than he’d thought. He had really been lucky to pick it out of the pile.

  “Yes, I don’t think you have to worry about Instructor Brazee being impressed. These blades look brand new, yet they are hundreds of years old. There is no doubting your restoration skills,” Lana said.

  Jack smiled. It was basically the only real skill he had, but he was going to enjoy the praise while it lasted. Weapons maintenance was only a small part of one of his classes. Everything else was going to be hard work, but for now it felt good to have a skill that his friends admired.

  19

  “Damn it, Vance. Keep your familiar under control.”

  Jack sighed. Things were back to normal after his one success in combat class. It was the second day of Intro to Dragons and he had no idea how to keep Lord Scratches under control. The minidras seemed content to cause chaos, working his way around the classroom inspecting every student and finally Dragon Keeper Clifton’s desk.

  “Sorry, Miss Clifton,” Jack replied. While she taught many of the dragon classes, Miss Clifton didn’t like to be called a professor. She preferred to be called by her official title of Dragon Keeper, or simply as Miss Clifton. She had even suggested they could call her Cassidy when none of the professors were around, but Jack didn’t want to accidently say her name in front of the professors, so he simply stuck with Miss Clifton. He didn’t need to do anything else to annoy her—Lord Scratches was doing that well enough for both of them.

  Lord Scratches returned to Jack and took a position on top of the desk. He crawled on top of Jack’s notebook and curled up into a ball. Jack sighed again, he would have to forgo taking notes for the rest of the class, but at least Lord Scratches wasn’t causing mischief while he slept.

  “As I was saying before being interrupted, dr
agons are far smarter than most people assume. Once a dragon rider bonds with a dragon and is able to communicate with their dragon, they realize just how intelligent the creatures are. Depending on the dragon, this can compare to having a really well-trained dog, or the smartest person you know. Now, your assignment for this week is to study one of the dragons on the lists I gave you earlier. I’m sure you’ll all be happy to know that no one else in the class has the same list, so nobody will be able to borrow your notes. I expect a well-researched paper, class dismissed.”

  As the class started to leave, Miss Clifton spoke again. “Mister Vance, you can stay.”

  Jack braced himself for another lecture. He headed to her desk. “Yes, Miss Clifton?”

  “I’m modifying your assignment. I expect you to research Lord Scratches.”

  “Oh,” Jack said.

  “Is that a problem?”

  “Well, no, but I’ve already started researching him. I took out a book from the library that is supposed to have every breed of minidras. I can’t find any that are like Lord Scratches.”

  Dragon Keeper Clifton looked over at Jack’s desk where Lord Scratches was still curled up in a ball sleeping. “Well, I agree that Lord Scratches certainly doesn’t act like most minidras. Perhaps you need to broaden your search.”

  Jack frowned. “Broaden my search? But what else could he be besides a minidras?”

  “Have you not been paying attention in class? What have I told you about dragons?”

  Jack thought about all the different things he’d learned about dragons so far. The only thing that popped into his brain was the last thing she’d said that class. “That there is a large variance in intelligence between breeds of dragons?”

  “Yes, and that isn’t the only thing that varies. There are dragons as big as houses, and there are dragons the size of minidras.”

  Jack looked over at Lord Scratches. “Are you saying he’s a dragon?”

  “I’m not saying anything. It is your assignment to learn about your familiar. I simply suggested that you broaden your search. Now take Lord Scratches before my next class arrives and he disturbs that group as well.”

  “OK. Come on, Lord. Time to go,” Jack said.