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

by Robyn Wideman

  “We can worry about maps later,” Talia said. “We should get moving.”

  Talia was right. The sun was starting to get low and they still had a couple hours walking to do. “Let’s go.”

  The rest of the trip back to the Academy went off without a hitch. Once they were back on Academy grounds, Jack started to relax. The trip into the Ancient Lands had been as dangerous and eventful as promised. Things hadn’t been a total disaster, but they could’ve been a lot better too. Colin’s injury had been a hard lesson and they couldn’t afford to learn lessons the hard way. Someone would die if they kept making those kinds of mistakes.

  “Should we go back to the apartment or go see if someone is still at the repository?” Lana asked.

  “Let’s go to the apartment,” Colin said. “I need to lay down. We can deal with the loot in the morning.”

  “Thanks again for the rescue,” Talia said. “See you around.”

  “Join us for breakfast tomorrow,” Jack said.

  Talia nodded. “See you in the morning. I’m going to the repository now.”

  As Talia walked down the hallway towards the repository, they climbed the stairs towards the apartments. When they arrived, there were a few older students there. They looked at the group and gave them a nod. Jack felt like it was a nod of respect. They’d survived their first day in the Ancient Lands. They were questers now.

  Once they were in the apartment, Colin threw his backpack and the gear he’d been carrying into a pile on the floor. The rest followed suit. They’d taken a good amount of stuff, but no one felt like celebrating. They all went to their rooms.

  Jack stripped out of his gear and hit the bed. He passed out at once. He didn’t even notice as Lord Scratches curled up beside him.

  29

  Jack woke to someone shaking him.

  “Wake up, Jack. I need to talk to you.”

  “Colin? Why are you shaking me?”

  “Oh, you’re awake? Good.”

  “Of course I’m awake, you’ve been shaking me. What’s up?”

  Colin looked Jack in the eyes. “I’m leaving the Academy.”

  Jack sat up. “Because of what happened yesterday?”

  Colin nodded. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I’ve been thinking about it the whole time. I screwed up bad, and now I am a detriment to the team. I won’t be able to run ever again; I’ll have balance problems. I won’t make a good fighter. It just isn’t possible with a bad foot.”

  “OK.”

  “OK?”

  “Yes. I think you’re right. You are going to have problems with your foot. You can’t lose two toes and not have problems. But that doesn’t mean you have to leave the Academy.”

  “Jack, if I’m not a quester, then yes it does,” Colin said, tears running down his cheeks. “I’m useless now.”

  “That is the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day,” Jack said.

  Colin wiped his eyes clear. “It is the first thing you’ve heard all day. How can it be the dumbest?”

  “Because nothing else I hear can be dumber,” Jack said. “Colin, we are a team, right?”

  “We were.”

  “What do you think the biggest asset you brought to that team was?”

  Colin paused. He thought about it for a while. “I suppose my knowledge of maps and ancient languages are the assets that are most useful for questing.”

  “Exactly. You don’t need to go out into the Ancient Lands to be useful to the team. You can be our researcher. Finding maps, making new maps, tracking down places where we can get the best loot. You’re by far the best of our group when it comes to that stuff.”

  “But that would leave just the three of you out there. That isn’t a good unit.”

  “What if we asked Talia to join us? I trust her, and she’s a damn good mage. Far better than I am.”

  Colin scratched his head. “You think she’d join us? Even knowing I can’t help in the field?”

  “She’d be joining our team. You are part of that team. It’s her decision to join or not, but you aren’t going anywhere.”

  “But that isn’t your decision either. Stann and Lana have a say in this too.”

  “Right. We should vote on it. Go get cleaned up and we’ll have a group meeting.”

  Colin stood up. “Thank you, Jack, for everything.”

  “Don’t thank me just yet, we haven’t voted. Besides, this means you’ll be doing all the paperwork from now on. That is the worst part of being a quester.”

  “Ya, right,” Colin said as he closed Jack’s door.

  Jack sighed and looked down at Lord Scratches. “And when did you sneak onto my bed?”

  Lord Scratches chirped and wiggled his bum against Jack’s leg.

  “I don’t mind, just don’t be a blanket hog. No one likes a blanket hog, even if it’s a cute dragon.”

  Jack looked out the window. The sun was rising. It was still a little early but he was now fully awake. He got up and got dressed. When he was done, he went and knocked on Lana’s and Stann’s doors. He then went and looked at the pile of stuff they had. Aside from the two magical satchels, there wasn’t much he thought they should keep, only one or two things. The rest they’d sell either to the Academy or in one of the markets in town.

  The others slowly came out of their rooms. Lana looked wide awake and cheerful, while Stann was still wiping the night from his eyes.

  “What’s up?” Stann asked.

  “Group meeting time,” Jack said. “We’re going to vote on whether Colin stays with the group or not. If he stays with the group, he’s going to be our researcher.”

  “Woah, dude. That’s not cool. You can’t throw him out of the group over what happened yesterday. It could’ve happened to any of us,” Stann said.

  “It’s OK, Stann. I was going to leave today, but Jack convinced me that I could still be a valuable member of the team. I won’t go back into the Ancient Lands, at least not for a long while. It is going to take me a long time to adjust. But if you’ll have me, I can still be valuable as a researcher. I’d like that.”

  “I vote yes, you stay as a researcher,” Lana said.

  “Yes. I vote yes, too,” Stann said. “No way you should leave.”

  “I vote yes as well. Colin, you’re now our official researcher. Now for the second vote, I propose we invite Talia to join us.”

  “I don’t know,” Stannerios said. “She’s badass and all, but I don’t really know her.”

  “She’s my friend, and Isaac Dixon hates her,” Jack said.

  “That’s two great references in my book,” Lana said. “I vote yes.”

  “I vote yes,” Colin said. “Stann, a second magic user would be unbelievably valuable. In the Ancient Lands she’s more valuable than I was, even before I became a hyaena’s chew toy.”

  Stann nodded. “If you all think it’s a good idea, I’m OK with it. I trust you guys. I vote yes.”

  “Alright. Is there any other business we need to vote on?” Jack asked.

  “Yes,” Colin said. “We need to agree on how to distribute our earnings.”

  Jack nodded. “I guess so, do we want to wait until we know if Talia will join us first?”

  “I’ll go find her,” Talia said. “She probably has a room here. Chef Ramsey will know which one. The rest of you talk while I get her.”

  “We’ll wait for the girls to get back before talking about how to split things up,” Colin said.

  “How’s your foot?” Stann asked after a few awkward minutes of silence.

  “Lighter,” Colin said.

  Jack groaned.

  “I can laugh about it or cry about it. I’d rather make bad puns,” Colin said.

  “Fair enough,” Jack said. “It isn’t like it is the first time you’ve put your foot into a mouth, usually it is your own and not a wild beast’s.”

  Colin chuckled. “Right?”

  Stann shook his head. “You two are crazy.”

  “Who you calling crazy?�
�� Talia said as she and Lana entered the room.

  “These two,” Stann said, pointing at Jack and Colin. “They’re making foot and toe jokes.”

  “Interesting,” Talia said. “Now what did you guys want? Lana just said you wanted to talk to me.”

  “We’d like you to join our group,” Colin said. “But before you decide, you need to know I won’t be going out into the Ancient Lands with you. I’ll be doing the research in the library, making the maps, all the grunt work that I can do to help you all get better loot.”

  “Intriguing. Who’s in charge when we’re out there? A group needs a leader.”

  “Jack,” Colin, Lana and Stannerios said at the same time.

  “Me? Why me?” Jack said. “You all know more than I do. Lana, you have way more experience in military classes than I do, same with Stann.”

  “This isn’t a military unit,” Lana said. “And my best asset that I bring to the team is I’m a damn good archer. I need to be scouting and focusing on ranged attacks. I don’t want or need the responsibility of leadership. Besides, you are calm under pressure and have good instincts. Being the best fighter isn’t what makes a leader.”

  “I agree with Lana,” Stann said. “My best asset is that I’m a fighter, and a damage taker. I should be the one going into a room first, taking the most risks. I’m a weapon, just point me in the right direction.”

  Jack turned to Colin.

  Colin nodded. “They’re both right. They have specific roles and they know and trust you. Talia, no offense, but we just don’t know you yet.”

  “None taken. I’m fine with Jack being leader. I just have one more question for you before I join.”

  Colin frowned. “Ok, what is it?”

  “Are you going to be able to toe the line?” Talia said with a grin.

  “Oh gods. She’s like the rest of you,” Stann said.

  Colin grinned. “Yes, I will.”

  “In that case, I’m in.”

  “Excellent,” Jack said. “The next order of business is how to distribute our loot. Colin, you had an idea on how we should do that?”

  “Yes. I think we should divide it equally, except if we find items that will help one of us, then we can keep those. If a person finds an item, they get first dibs, after that, anyone can grab it. After that, it gets sold, unless we think it is something worth keeping,” Colin said.

  “Makes sense to me,” Talia said.

  “Agreed,” Lana said.

  “Same,” Stann said.

  “Agreed, but we should focus on putting at least half of everything towards what we owe the Academy. Making money is great, but if we don’t make our quota we’ll be gone. I don’t want to wait until the last minute and have to do something crazy out of desperation,” Jack said.

  “I think we all agree to that,” Colin said. “Let’s take our stuff to the repository now.”

  “Hold on, I’ll be right back,” Talia said.

  She left and within two minutes was back with her stuff she’d gotten the day before. “I went to the repository last night but there was no one there. Since I’m part of your team now, my findings are part of the group’s.”

  Jack looked at her bundle. There were lots of ancient weapons in it.

  “OK. Let’s decide what to keep. Jack, you found the satchels, obviously you’ll want to keep one.”

  “Yes, and we should keep them both. They will make carrying loot much easier.”

  Talia picked up one of the satchels and looked inside. “Portal satchel?”

  Jack nodded.

  “Good score. These are hard to find, and very useful. Speaking of useful, below that pile of weapons is a shield. You should take that, Stann. If you are our melee specialist, that should be yours. It is magical. I just haven’t had time to figure out what it does, but I’ll bet it would be useful for you.”

  Stann grabbed the shield; it was dusty and rusty, like much of the other stuff they had. “It is nice and light. I like it.”

  “You can feel the magic in weapons?” Jack asked Talia.

  “Not all the time, but I have a spell that illuminates magical items. Watch.” She waved her hand and everything in the pile with magic started to glow, there were three swords and two daggers that contained magic, along with a pair of gauntlets.

  “Separate all the magical items,” Colin said. “We’ll want to inspect all of them closely before taking them in.”

  “Who is your mentor for questing?” Lana asked.

  “Chadwick Deeter,” Jack said.

  “Oh good, he’s mine, too. That will make things easier. He will tell us what our magical items can do. He might not get all of them right, but he’s got a good eye for this stuff,” Talia said.

  “We should also clean up everything,” Lana said. “I’ll bet all of the ancient weapons will get a better price after Jack cleans and sharpens them.”

  “Good point,” Colin said. “No point having a tinker’s apprentice and not putting him to use.”

  “I’ll go get more cleaning supplies,” Lana said. “We’re going to need lots of vinegar and hollinger leaf.”

  “Stann and Talia, why don’t you go see Chadwick and see if he has a tub for weapons cleaning. Something big.”

  “I need to go talk to Professor Cyr,” Jack said. “I’ll meet you all back here.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Colin asked.

  Jack grinned. “Start making us a better map.”

  …

  Jack knocked on Professor Cyr’s door.

  “Come in.”

  Jack entered the office and Professor Cyr smiled. “Hello, Jack, glad to see you survived your first day as a quester.”

  “Barely.”

  Professor Cyr’s smiled disappeared. “Tell me about it.”

  “We went in and went west. We found an estate that had nothing but some empty bottles. Then we kept going until we found an old ancient farm with a temple. We found all sorts of stuff there. Lots of farm equipment like hoes and shovels, nothing too exciting, but then we found a couple portal satchels, one filled with seeds and the other with fresh heads of corn.”

  “A good find,” Professor Cyr said.

  “Yes, but that’s when things went sideways. Colin went outside and was attacked by a pack of hyaenas. We defeated the beasts, but Colin lost a couple toes. After that we were coming home and we found Talia fighting off a group of bandits. We defeated them and now she’s part of our team.”

  “Aside from the unfortunate fact that Colin is missing toes, I would call that a good day. I’m sensing you don’t agree.”

  “No, it wasn’t. Colin losing his toes isn’t a small thing. It is bad, and it could’ve been much worse. We were lucky, not good.”

  “Sometimes luck is what keeps us alive,” Professor Cyr said. “There are plenty of times your mother and I were in situations where we were glad to be lucky enough to survive.”

  “And now they’ve voted me leader,” Jack said.

  “Ah. That is what’s really bothering you, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. I’ve never been a leader. What if we fail and then it is my fault? What if I don’t know what to do?”

  “Jack, you all are young. There are going to be plenty of times when no one in your group knows what to do. That is natural. A leader’s job isn’t about making the right decision every time; that would be nice, but it doesn’t always work that way. A leader needs to keep the team focused, give them direction, make the hard decisions even when he knows he might not be right.”

  “But I have no training.”

  “No training? How many fights have you been in? Fifty? A hundred?”

  “Maybe a hundred, but those were all fist fights,” Jack said.

  “Yes, but that is training. When you go into a fight, are you aware of your surroundings? Do you know which of your opponents is the most dangerous?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you know all that during your first fight?”

  Jack shook
his head.

  “You’re saying you learned how to change the way you thought about fighting the more you did it? That experience made you a better fighter?”

  “I suppose.”

  “Jack you have more fighting experience than anyone on your team, probably anyone in your class. You are the only one that grew up an outsider everywhere you went. Your grandfather loved you, but he never gave you a real home, and that gave you a lot of life experience that others take a lifetime to acquire, if they ever do. You know the strengths and weaknesses of your team. If your teammates have skills that you don’t, then delegate. I think you are well qualified to become a team leader along with being a healer.”

  Jack frowned at the mention of being a healer.

  Professor Cyr sighed. “I see you still don’t see yourself as a healer.”

  “Healer is such a passive role. I don’t think I want to be like that. I want to fight with my friends, not watch.”

  Professor Cyr broke out into laughter. She laughed so hard she started to cry.

  Jack got annoyed. “What is so funny?”

  “You, or rather me, I suppose. After all, I am your healing instructor and apparently I’ve done a horrid job of explaining the role of a healer. Jack, what has Ramy told you of your mother’s fighting skills?”

  “That she was a Great Warrior.”

  “An accurate description, I can assure you,” Professor Cyr said. “Now what if I told you she was also a healer?”

  “But she was a warrior, you just said.”

  “I said she was a Great Warrior. But she was also a healer. You need to stop thinking of a healer the way you used to. The healers you met before coming to Darkthorn are not the same as the healers here, especially the ones who become questers.”

  “I don’t understand the difference,” Jack admitted.

  “Let’s make things a little simpler. We’ll call one healers and the other warrior healers. A healer uses magic to heal the body, the mind and the soul. A warrior healer uses magic to defeat the enemy. That can mean healing his companions, boosting their mana, cast warding spells, but it can also mean casting spells that take health away, reduce an enemy mage’s mana. Good warrior healers do all that, and they certainly fight. There is nothing passive about the role of a good warrior healer, even if some of their spells are passive in nature. A warrior healer gets his hands dirty with the blood of his enemies.”