“Nice. Keep looking,” Colin said.
They finished searching the temple, finding a few lanterns and what looked like a small statue. They put all of the gear into their backpacks and then moved on to the biggest barn.
The barn was large and had multiple pens. Some were obviously for horses, while others were smaller and looked like the farmers had kept pigs, chicken and sheep. There was also a pair of skeletons there. They found two daggers and an assortment of ancient tools, a hoe, a scythe and a couple shovels.
“What should we do with the tools?” Stannerios asked.
Jack looked at them. The tools were all high quality, made with ancient metals, and he saw at least one rune on the blade of the hoe. The rest were covered in dust and a bit of rust. He’d have to clean them up later, but they all were valuable. “Remove the handles when you can, break off the rest.”
Satisfied that they’d gotten everything of value, they moved to the next structure. It was empty, so they moved on to the last of the farm buildings. When they opened it, they found it to be filled with tools.
“Yes!” Colin said. “We’ll be able to fill our backpacks with them.”
Something about the setup of the farm was bothering Jack. There was something missing. While the others grabbed tools, Jack wandered around until he spotted a couple leather bags sitting against a corner of the building. Jack lifted one of the bags, it felt light, but when he opened it, it was full of grain. He grinned. He’d heard of bags like these, only he’d never thought of farmers using them. It was genius. “Hey, guys, check this out.”
The others looked at his find skeptically.
“Looks like a normal satchel for carrying seeds. Not exactly worth much. I suppose we can use them to carry more of the tools. I don’t think we could sell it for much,” Colin said.
Jack grinned. “It is a grain satchel, but there is no way we’d sell it. It is not an ordinary satchel.” He opened the satchel and poured out the seeds. The seeds came out and out until there was a massive pile on the floor. That was impossible for such a small satchel to hold.
“Oh, it is a portal satchel,” Colin said. “That’s awesome.”
“What’s a portal satchel?” Stann asked.
“It is magically enhanced. You can carry a significant amount more in it. A mage creates a space somewhere that is far bigger than the satchel. You put your items into the satchel and they stay there until you pull them out. Check what it’s in the other one.”
Stannerios grabbed the second satchel off the wall. He opened it and found cobs of corn. “It is just corn.”
“Yes, but look at the corn,” Colin said with a grin.
Stannerios pulled one of the cobs out.
“What do you notice about it?” Colin said.
“It is normal corn, from what I can see.” Stann smelled. “Smells like normal corn too.”
“The husks are still green!” Lana said.
“Exactly. That is how I know it is a portal satchel. Time isn’t the same inside a portal. That corn is fresh, yet it could be hundreds of years since it was put in there.”
“Crazy,” Stann said. “Is it safe to eat?”
“It should be,” Colin said. “But we’ll probably make lots of money from that corn. It is an ancient variety. How much is there?”
Stannerios put the cob of corn back in the sack and started to root around in the satchel. His whole arm disappeared. “Feels like a lot. I couldn’t touch the bottom.”
“You should put the seeds back in the satchel, Jack. They’re probably valuable too,” Colin said.
Jack looked at the big pile of seeds and sighed. He grabbed one of the shovels they’d found.
“I’ll help,” Lana said as she took the satchel and opened it wide.
Jack shoveled it all back in. “Sure took less time getting it out. Next time I’ll be more careful.”
“This was a really good score,” Colin said. “Between all the tools and the corn and the seeds, we’ll make good money. Heck of a way to start our questing. Let’s get heading back to Darkthorn.”
Colin excitedly walked out of the building.
Suddenly a blur of fur slammed into Colin and he let out a pain-filled cry.
Jack rushed to the door, drawing his sword as he went, but Stannerios beat him to the doorway. The orc went through the door and gave out a battle cry. Jack watched Stann swinging his war hammer.
“You’re blocking the door,” Jack yelled at Stann.
The orc moved out of the way. Jack and Lana rushed out and into the fight.
Two hyaenas were attacking Colin, one had his foot and was yanking on it while the other was trying to bite his face. Another pair of the beasts were snapping at Stann while they dodged his war hammer. Jack spotted another couple of hyaenas off to his right, and a few more circling around waiting for them to get further away from the building. There was at least a dozen of the beasts.
“Lana, defensive archer position,” Jack yelled.
“Got it,” she said as she drew her bow and started firing at the hyaenas off to the right.
Jack rushed towards Colin and lit the fire spell on Morgun Rog—the sword lit up with heavy flames and Jack swung at the hyaenas closest to Colin’s face. The blow hit the neck of the beast and sliced it open.
The beast yelped and jumped backwards. Lord Scratches flew at the face of the beast and started slashing at its eyes.
Jack turned and swung his sword at the hyaena holding Colin by the foot. The hyaena didn’t let go. Instead, it bit down harder and took the end of Colin’s boot off. It ran off.
Hearing a sickening thud, Jack turned to see Stannerios’s war hammer smash into the head of the second hyaena he’d been fighting. The other was already on the ground.
Looking to his right, Jack could see that Lana had killed two hyaenas and that several others were wounded and running away with arrows sticking out of their sides.
Colin groaned in pain and Jack turned to tend to him.
“You OK? I’ll heal you. You’ll be fine.”
Colin shook his head. “I’m afraid you can’t heal all of me.”
Jack checked Colin’s neck for wounds. There was one cut along his neck, but it was small. “It’s only a small wound, not much more than a scratch.” Jack put his hand on the wound and closed his eyes. He let his magic flow into the wound. He pictured the skin closing and healing itself. He lifted his hand and was glad to see the wound wasn’t bleeding anymore. “There. You might not even get a scar.”
“Jack, the other one didn’t just bite my boot.”
Jack frowned, he could hear the pain and fear in Colin’s voice. He inspected the foot and found it was bleeding profusely, and Colin’s foot was missing his big toe and the one next to it. Jack grabbed a piece of clean cloth from his backpack and wrapped it around the missing toes. He held it tight while using his magic to close the wound. Using magic, it wasn’t challenging to close small wounds. But a missing toe was no small wound.
“How bad is it?” Colin said. “And no lying.”
“OK. You are missing two toes. You’re bleeding really bad and the wound is too big for me to heal just using magic.”
“Please don’t let me die from losing a toe. That would be embarrassing.”
Jack smiled. Colin was putting on a brave face, but Jack could tell how much pain he was in. “I’m going to use my sword to cauterize the wound. That will stop the bleeding.”
“And my toes?”
“In the belly of a hyaena,” Jack said. He felt it best to be honest and not sugarcoat the situation by giving Colin false hope. His foot would never be the same again.
Colin grimaced. “Alright, then. Let’s get it over with.”
Jack used more magic to numb Colin’s foot. He picked up Morgun Rog and lit the sword. “Close your eyes.”
“Are you kidding? I’m watching this. I’m not coming out of this without a great story at least, and that means I need to see everything you do.”
Jack looked at Lana, who just shrugged.
Stannerios dropped his war hammer and held Colin’s leg. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t move.”
Jack brought the tip of his flaming sword to the foot as he removed the cloth. The skin sizzled as the magic blade hit the wound. Jack held it there for a second.
“Yikes, that is hot!” Colin yelled.
Jack removed the sword and was happy to see the wound cauterized and no longer bleeding. Using more magic, Jack cooled the skin and numbed it even more. Colin still needed to walk home.
Colin was pale, but he was keeping it together. He looked at Stannerios. “Help me up.”
“Take a few minutes,” Lana said.
Colin shook his head. “I’m going to be walking slow. If I take too long to get started, we’re going to be in the Ancient Lands after dark. We don’t want that. Help me up.”
Stannerios looked at Jack. He grabbed one of Colin’s arms and together they lifted their friend.
Jack turned to Lana. “Could you grab two of the shovel and hoe handles we dismantled and a couple of the broken pieces?”
Lana ran back into the farm’s storage room.
“One walking stick is enough,” Colin said.
“This will help more than a walking stick,” Jack said as Lana handed him the pieces. Jack grabbed another piece of cloth from his back and put the two shovel handles together. He wrapped the cloth around one end of the two sticks. He then cut the broken piece into a smaller chunk. Then he notched the two handles near the other end and fit the broken piece in between the two. They fit nicely into the notches. He handed the roughly made crutch to Colin. “This will help you keep the weight off your toes better. You’ll move faster with a crutch.”
Colin tried the crutch. It stayed together. He tried a couple tentative steps before he got a rhythm. “OK. Let’s go home.”
28
They walked in silence. Stannerios took the lead, while Jack stayed at Colin’s side, ready to help him if he stumbled. Lana took the rear; she had her bow out and was ready for any hyaenas or other creatures that might attack them.
“We should go back to the farm,” Colin said.
“Go back, what for?” Jack asked.
“Well, that was the territory of a pack of vicious hyaenas. The chances of another group of predators being in that same territory is unlikely. We could stay overnight and then go north towards the city we saw on the map. Although I would like to look at the maps room first, I’ll bet there are better maps for that region. I just didn’t have time to look for one before we left. A better map would tell us where to search for ancient loot. We also should spend some time in the library and research the different temples and churches we might find in different regions. I wasn’t sure how valuable some of the stuff we got from the temple was. It would help to know more. And some of those tools we grabbed, I could tell what kind of metal they were. Some ancient metals are more valuable than others. We could’ve been pickier. Although if we keep the satchels that becomes less of a problem.”
Colin was almost babbling, but Jack knew it was to keep his mind focused on something other than his injury.
“I think I’m going to ask Master Horton for a refund on my boots. You think the academy has a thirty-day money-back policy?”
“I’m not sure,” Jack said. “But we can ask. I definitely think it’s worth a shot.”
After that, things went back to being quiet. Colin seemed deep in his own thoughts, and the others weren’t talking either.
They were back to the first estate they’d searched when they heard a fight going on.
Stannerios looked back at Jack. “Should I check it out?”
“Be careful,” Jack said.
Stannerios ran ahead and stopped behind a large boulder. He signaled for Jack to join him.
Jack looked at Lord Scratches. “Stay with Colin, protect him.”
Lord Scratches chirped in protest but jumped from Jack’s shoulder and flew into the air, circling around Colin’s head.
Jack ran over and looked where Stann was pointing. By the side of the house were a pair of archers firing arrows at a girl who was throwing fireballs back at them. Jack spotted another archer making his way to flank her, and then another pair of warriors trying to sneak up behind her. She’d spotted all the archers, but the two warriors were out of her view.
“Scavengers or bandits.” Stannerios said.
Jack looked closer at the female mage. He recognized her when she popped her head out to throw more fireballs. “That’s Talia. She’s in my magic class.”
“We should help her, then,” Stannerios said.
Lana joined them. “What’s going on?”
Jack looked the situation over and decided what he thought was the best plan of action. “Lana, you and I can take out those archers. Stann, you get to Talia before those bandits sneak up on her. Good?”
“Good,” Stannerios said, before taking off at a sprint.
“I’ll take the one on her right,” Lana said. “He’s the most dangerous.”
Jack stood up and pointed his sword at the two archers by the edge of the building. He triggered the ice spell and fired at the archers. The first shot missed the target and crashed into the building right beside the head of one of the archers.
“Damn it,” Jack swore under his breath before firing another ice shard at the bandit who was now lining his own bow up with Jack.
Talia, seeing that she had help, stepped out from her hiding spot and started throwing fireballs with both hands.
Jack’s ice shard hit the first bandit, and then Talia’s fireball slammed into the second archer. Jack turned to look for the third archer, but he was down. Lana had taken him out. A clash of metal on metal sounded out. Stann had gotten to the two sneaks. Jack ran over to see if he needed help but both men were down before he got there.
Talia walked up to Jack. “Thank you. I thought I was in real trouble there for a while.”
“What happened?” Jack asked.
“I found a battle site a few miles north of here. Found a good bunch of ancient weapons and was taking them back towards Darkthorn when they ambushed me. I escaped but they followed me and trapped me here. It is hard running with a big bundle of weapons on your back, and I wasn’t leaving empty-handed.” Talia pointed to a bundle of swords and other weapons that were tied in a burlap sack.
Colin hobbled up. “Everyone OK?”
Talia looked around. “The four of you are all questers now? I didn’t expect that.”
“We had a saboteur among us,” Colin said bitterly.
Talia raised an eyebrow and looked at Jack.
“Cara Dale pretended to be our friend, but she fed us tainted cake right before our last study sessions for our Ethics class. We all ended up failing.”
“If I’d known you were hanging out with Cara, I would’ve warned you. She’s one of Isaac’s minions, they’ve been on-again off-again lovers for a few years. She’ll do anything for him, and it doesn’t bother her in the least. She’s almost as bad as Isaac, just not as ambitious.”
“And how did you end up out here?” Jack asked, wanting to get off the topic of Cara. Colin was having a bad enough day without being reminded of the girl he’d been infatuated with.
“Basically the same as you, the test wand I used for my Spell Caster class was tampered with. I can’t prove it was Isaac, but it was Isaac.”
“You are out here alone?” Lana asked.
Tara shrugged. “I didn’t see a choice. I’d failed and I wasn’t going home. I don’t have many friends at the Academy, and none of them failed. So I thought going solo was better than going home.”
“Impressive,” Stann said. “Crazy, but impressive.”
Talia looked at Stann. “Thanks for the help, but watch who you’re calling crazy.”
Stann grinned at Jack. “Your friend is a wild one.”
Talia’s eyes narrowed.
Jack took charge of the conversation before
it could go sideways. “I don’t know if you’ve met any of my friends, but this is Colin, Lana and Stannerios, or Stann for short. We’re on our way back to the Academy now if you’d like to join us. Strength in numbers and all that.”
Talia looked the group over. She stopped at Colin. “What happened to you?”
“I got overexcited and wasn’t aware of my surroundings. Ended up having my toes eaten by a hyaena. It could’ve been worse, the second one was trying to chew on my neck,” Colin said.
“That sucks,” Talia said. “But if you guys survived a pack of hyaenas on your first day and the only wound you got was losing a couple toes, you’ve done well. The mortality rate for questers on the first day is high.”
“I would say the same about surviving a bandit attack,” Colin said.
“Which would be impressive if I’d done it on my own,” Talia said. “But yes, I would like to walk back with you. And since you all saved me, you can take whatever gear the bandits had worth taking.”
“Thank you,” Colin said. He turned to the group. “You heard her, check the bodies and let’s keep moving. We still don’t want to be out here after dark.”
While Jack had felt weird checking the body of the priest they’d found, he somehow felt less conflicted about checking the bandits, even though they’d just died. They had been trying to kill his friend, he owed them no respect.
Walking over to the man he’d killed, Jack looked down at him. He’d never killed a man before. He felt a tinge of sadness, but not guilt. Looking through the man’s pockets he found a few gold pieces. The man had a plethora of weapons on him, knives, a sword and his bow, but they were all modern weapons. Nothing that would bring real value from any of the markets. He left the weapons where they were. He went to join the others, but then remembered the cold storage room. He went down into it and grabbed all the bottles and carefully put them into the magical satchel. Coming back out, he found the others looking at a small map.
Colin showed him the map. “Talia found it on one of the bandits. It is mostly the areas around here, but it has more details than the map I got from the Academy. I think I’ll have to make a new map combining the details from this map and the Academy map, along with any more we can find. The better maps we have, the less time we’ll waste while exploring.”
Menacing Misfits: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (Darkthorn Academy Book 1) Page 23
