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

by Robyn Wideman

  “You didn’t know your mother well, did you? Colin told me a little bit of your story.”

  “No, she died when I was pretty young. I knew she’d been in the Westdrift Empire Army, but I hadn’t known she’d been a Darkthorn student or that she was a quester like us until recently. My grandfather Ramy didn’t talk about her much, and when he did, it wasn’t about her as a warrior. It was the little things like her loving to sing to me, or the way she smiled at his jokes.”

  “What about your father?”

  “I know even less about him. Aside from the fact he was dwarven. Ramy didn’t know much about him, or didn’t share what he knew, other than they were together in the army.”

  “That must be tough, growing up without parents.”

  Jack shrugged. “I had my grandparents until my grandmother passed on. Then it was just me and Ramy. He was a good person and I liked living with him. We travelled all over Westdrift. Going from village to village, city to city.”

  “A lonely life.”

  Yes, it had been a lonely life. Jack hadn’t really noticed it then, but now looking back he realized how alone he’d been. His only real friend had been Ramy. “It was what it was.” He flipped the page of the book and found the spell he was looking for. “Here we go. Energy gauge.”

  Talia started reading aloud. “Energy gauge allows both the spell caster and the recipients to see both the percentage remaining of their health and mana levels along with the total mana and health numbers based on the Unified Mages Guide. When a user is wearing either health- or mana-increasing gear, the numbers will reflect the change. This is a passive spell with a seventy-two-hour duration.” She paused for a moment. “Jack, this is a sweet spell. This will help you with knowing who to heal, and it will help us as well. It will make taking health and mana potions way more efficient, we won’t have to waste any. All of Master Horton’s potions are rated using the Unified Mages Guide, and I believe that is what Chadwick Deeter uses to measure the magic of weapons he collects. We’ll be able to gauge the gear we find before we sell it. Makes upgrading our gear easier too.”

  Jack nodded. The spell didn’t do everything, but it was certainly something he could see using every day. Having real data on how healthy his team was would make healing them easier. “Let’s try it and see what happens,” Jack said.

  Talia nodded. “You do it first. It was your mother’s spell, after all.”

  Jack smiled and cast the spell. It wasn’t a difficult spell to cast. Many of the passive spells that he was learning only required reading the spell and then learning the proper visualization. The caster either had enough mana to make the spell work or they didn’t. Active spells where he had to adjust the amount of mana used were far trickier. He imagined being able to see numbers out of the corner of his eye when he looked up, and he also imagined Talia being able to do the same.

  When he finished casting the spell. Jack tried looking up and to the left. He spotted what looked like a page of info in glowing writing. It included his name, class and set of four numbers. Two were red and two were blue. The red was health and of those numbers one was a percentage. The same happened with the blue.

  “It worked.” Talia said excitedly. She then took of a pair of rings. “Ha, this is so awesome. My base health is fifty points and I am at ninety-seven percent. My base mana is 64 and I’m at 100%. What are your numbers?”

  Jack removed his bracers so that he could get an accurate base measurement. “60 points health and I’m at 94%. 61 mana and 49%.” All the practice with Instructor Brazee and then Professor Cyr had lowered his mana a lot. He wondered how long it would take to go back to 100%.

  “Interesting. Being half dwarven gives you a higher health base. I wonder what everyone else’s is? I’m going to get them.” She ran into the bedroom section and knocked on all their doors.

  Colin came out first. “I’m trying to get some reading done. What’s going on?”

  Lana and Stann’s doors opened at about the same time, which Jack appreciated. He wouldn’t have to explain it twice.”

  Before he could explain, Talia started. “Jack’s new spell measures health and mana. It also allows us to see it too. Jack hit them with your magic.” She turned back to the rest of the team. “Look up and left once Jack is done.”

  Jack repeated the spell, this time focusing on the three of them that didn’t have it yet.

  “Cool. What scale is this?”

  “Unified Mages Guide,” Talia said.

  “Ah. Excellent, this will make gauging the effects of new weapons and gear on health easier. We won’t have to wait for Chadwick to inspect it to know if it is an upgrade. Humans have a base health rating and mana rating of 50. Orcs are 70 health 45 mana. Elven folk are 55 in both.” Colin looked at Jack. “Dwarven are 70 health 43 mana. Half-bloods would have unique ratings.

  “74 and 100%, 47 mana and 100%” Stann said.

  “56 and 97%, 56 mana and 100%” Lana said.

  “And I’m 48 and 96%, 57 mana and 100%,” Colin said.

  Lana looked at Colin. “How come your mana is higher than mine?”

  “Mana grows with use. I do some magic. You obviously don’t use your mana enough. You don’t use it with your archery and fighting?”

  Lana frowned. “Those are second-year techniques. I haven’t learned them yet.”

  “Go see Instructor Brazee. Now that you’re a quester, he’ll show you them.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Stann said. “I only use one orc magic spell. I need to improve my mana use too.”

  Colin nodded. “Mana isn’t as important for warriors as health, but learn to use it to improve your fighting.” He looked at Jack. “How much health and mana do you have?”

  “60 health, 61 mana.”

  “Interesting. Being half dwarven helps your health numbers, and didn’t affect your mana too much. Considering you’ve only been using magic for a couple months, that is a solid number.”

  “I’ll say,” Talia said. “I’ve been doing magic for years and I only have 64 sixty-four mana.”

  “You’re still the strongest magic user,” Stann said.

  “Of course, but I’ll have to work harder. Can’t have a lowly healer catching me,” Talia said with a wink.

  “Since we’re all here, we never discussed when you should go out again. You don’t want to do a trip tomorrow, do you?”

  Jack shook his head. “I need to practice these new spells. I want to do a few more team training sessions as well. It’s one thing to walk around doing it, but another when trying to cast spells. I want practice.”

  “And I want to go to a few classes and see Instructor Brazee,” Lana said. “I’d like to go back to normal classes next year if I can. I don’t want to fall too far behind.”

  “OK,” Colin said. “That is good. It gives me more time to finish making the first map and doing research. How about we plan for two more training days and then the next trip?”

  Jack nodded. “Sounds good.” Hopefully, after a few more days of training together and learning, they would be far better prepared than they’d been the first trip. Jack didn’t want to see anyone getting hurt. They needed to be better. Much better.

  32

  After taking two days to train and attend classes, the Misfits headed back out into the Ancient Lands. Jack now felt far more comfortable with his own abilities to contribute as healer. Hopefully they wouldn’t need his new skills too much, but he was prepared.

  “You think we’ll run into those hyaenas again?” Stann said, looking over his shoulder as they walked in formation. They’d gotten good at keeping their triangle and were now more comfortable conversing despite the formation.

  “I don’t know, but we’ll be ready for them this time,” Jack said. He’d been thinking about the encounter with the hyaenas and how they’d failed that test. He was determined the next test of their abilities would be vastly different.

  “I hope we do,” Stann said, patting his new crossbow. “I wa
nt to make up for last time.”

  “We all do,” Lana said. “That wasn’t exactly our finest moment. Certainly not an auspicious start for the Misfits.”

  “Hey, speak for yourselves. I had nothing to do with that boondoggie,” Talia said.

  Jack groaned. “That was a terrible pun. Hyaenas aren’t in the dog family. Besides, you were busy being surrounded by bandits on your first trip so it isn’t like you did much better than us.”

  “I thought it was funny,” Stann said.

  “That’s because orcs are terrible at naming animals. Aardwolves aren’t wolves. Therefore they aren’t related to dogs, so doggie puns don’t count.”

  “Whatever, you’re just jealous you didn’t think of it,” Talia said.

  Jack smiled. Talia was already fitting in well on the team.

  They were almost to the farm when Lord Scratches landed on Jack’s shoulder.

  “Hyaenas?” Jack asked.

  Lord Scratches chirped twice.

  “How many?”

  The dragon tapped its foot on his shoulder six times.

  “Six hyaenas,” Jack said. He then rubbed the back of Lord’s head. “Good job, little buddy.” He then cast a passive healing and mana spell on the group. They were all nearly at a hundred percent, but it didn’t hurt to practice.

  “I have movement on the left flank,” Lana said.

  “Same on the right, in the tree line,” Talia said.

  Ahead of them was a portion of the trail where the trees were thick on both sides. Jack had a hunch this was where the beasts would attack.

  “Everyone, hold fire. Wait for my signal,” Jack said. “Just keep walking like we don’t see them.”

  They kept going straight forward. Jack spotted movement in the trees ahead. He was now sure this was where the attack would come. He started to count down in his head as they approached the trees. Five, four, three…

  Two hyaenas burst out of the trees, heading towards Stann from the left side, another from the right.

  Jack waited another second before yelling, “Now!”

  Stann raised his crossbow and fired at one of the hyaenas on the left. He then dropped to one knee. Jack had his sword out and fired an ice shard at the one on the right. As the beast dropped, Jack swiveled around to see where the rest of the hyaenas were, but Lana had shot down one on the left flank. He turned back to the right in time to see a pair of fireballs take out the two hyaenas on the right. Up front he saw Stann taking out the last hyaena with his war hammer.

  “Clear,” Talia said.

  “Clear,” Lana repeated.

  “Clear,” Stann said.

  Jack looked at Lord Scratches. “See if there are any more.”

  The dragon flew off into the trees.

  “That went really well,” Stann said.

  “Agreed,” Talia said.

  It had gone well, but they’d had advance warning from Lord Scratches, and it had been out in the open. The hyaenas had used the tree lines to hide but they’d still attacked on open ground. If Lord Scratches hadn’t spotted them it might’ve been a more challenging fight. Regardless, they’d worked as a team and it had gone flawlessly. There wasn’t anything to complain about. “Let’s keep moving.”

  “You want to set up camp at the farm?” Lana asked.

  Jack shook his head. “We made good time walking here. We still have lots of daylight left. If we keep heading west, we can check one or two of the locations Colin suggested. If they don’t pan out or offer a better place to sleep, we come back.”

  Lord Scratches came back and sat on Jack’s shoulder. He obviously hadn’t seen any more hyaenas.

  Lana came over and rubbed his head. “Good job, Lord, you are a fantastic scout.”

  Lord Scratches purred his approval of her affection.

  Jack waited a minute before giving the command to keep moving. He felt weird giving orders, but he understood the purpose of having one person in charge. He wasn’t the leader because he was the best at it. He was the leader because they all were better at other tasks and needed him to step up and make their lives easier. He wasn’t being put above anyone, just doing the tasks needed to be a better teammate. When he looked at it that way, he was far more comfortable with leading. Besides, Colin had done most of the hard work, making the map and finding potential sites to search. He just had to keep them pointed in the right direction, and between the compass he’d bought and Lord Scratches, that was not difficult.

  They walked another hour before Jack had them stop so he could check the map.

  “What’s wrong?” Lana asked.

  “According to Colin’s notes there should be a temple of Chante somewhere close to here. But I don’t see any signs of it.”

  Lana looked at Jack’s map. “Where is it supposed to be?”

  “Between us and that big hill,” Jack said.

  Lana smiled. “I think I know the problem.”

  Jack sighed. “I’m reading the map wrong, aren’t I?”

  “No. Your directions were perfect. Take a closer look at the hill.”

  Studying the hill, Jack wondered what Lana was seeing. It wasn’t a huge hill, and it kind of stood out, being the only hill around, and its shape reminded Jack of an anthill. He looked closer—an anthill wasn’t the right description, there were too many edges that made it look like a layered cake covered in vines and small shrubs. Then it hit Jack like Stann’s war hammer on an enemy’s skull. The hill was the temple. It had just been covered with enough vegetation to hide its true nature. “Oh. I can’t believe I missed that.”

  “Missed what?” Stann asked.

  “The hill is the temple. It is just covered in vegetation,” Lana said.

  Stann squinted at the temple, trying to envision it without vegetation. “I guess it could be a temple.”

  “Let’s go find out,” Jack said.

  When they got close enough, they could see that the hill was indeed a stone building.

  “Definitely a temple,” Stann said.

  “You don’t say,” Talia said.

  “Now how do we get in?” Lana said.

  “We search for an opening, if this was a temple of Chante it was meant as a holy place for people to enter and pray. There will be a main opening somewhere,” Talia said.

  “You a Chante follower?” Stann asked.

  Talia shrugged. “I’m interested in all the gods, especially those who don’t require singular devotion. A mage or sorceress can gain additional magic with the blessing of a god. Lana’s amulet of Krysha is a good example of what a god’s token can do.”

  Jack wasn’t sure about the gods, he didn’t know enough about them to feel confident in forming an opinion as to which were the best, but Talia had a good point. With her amulet, Lana had higher health and mana, not to mention a slight increase in strength and dexterity. The slight increases by themselves were not significant, but every little bit added up. But the conversation was getting off point. They didn’t need a lesson in the gods. They needed a way into the temple.

  “Lord Scratches, could you find the opening, please?”

  The little dragon looked at Jack and then flew into the air. He did circles around the temple, starting at the top and then working his way around going lower each circle, until finally stopping and hovering in the air on the south side of the vegetation-covered temple.

  Stann started the team towards the south side. When they got there, they saw a wide set of stairs that climbed halfway up the temple and then went into it.

  “See,” Talia said. “I told you there would be a large main entrance.”

  “Let’s go see what it has in it,” Stann said.

  Jack could hear the excitement in the orc’s voice. It was interesting, when they’d first met, Jack had thought Stannerios was a little timid and shy for such a large and powerful person, but it was only in the Academy and talking to people where he was shy and awkward, especially cute girls like Talia and Lana. Out here, about to delve into an ancient t
emple in search of treasure, that was his element. It made Jack comfortable knowing his teammate was confident and wanting to surge forward. “Lead the way, Stann.”

  As they walked up the stairs, Jack drew his sword.

  Six feet into the temple they came to a pair of massive doors. Each was easily twelve feet high and six feet wide. One of the doors was partially opened. Stann put down his war hammer and pushed it even further open. He then picked up his hammer and pulled his shield off of his back. He raised his shield and carefully went into the temple.

  Jack followed right behind the big orc.

  As they entered the room, Jack was pleasantly surprised to see that the upper walls of the room had small openings that let an ample amount of light into the room. At the far side of the room was a pair of large statues, and it seemed that several of the openings had been designed to shine light directly on them. There was nothing else of interest that Jack could see, so he pushed Stann towards the statues. Behind him, he could hear the girls coming into the room.

  The statues were of two women. One had her hands in the air and a beam of light from the openings was hitting her hands. It almost made it look like the ray of light was coming from her hands and not the sun outside. It was an impressive feat of engineering, and made Jack wonder how long it had taken to arrange all the openings so that rays of light were hitting the hands, and how many holes at different locations it would take to keep this constant. The ancients certainly were marvels of engineering, among the many talents that had been lost during the Great War. The second statue was of a woman holding a sword, and like the first statue, there were rays of light, but these landed on her sword.

  Talia stepped forward and looked at the statues. “This isn’t just a temple of Chante. This second statue is Chaunte.”

  “Sound the same to me,” Stann said.

  “They’re supposed to sound similar, not the same. Chaunte is the daughter of Chante. This is a temple of sun and fire. The daughter is a goddess of fire.”

  Jack took back what he’d said about not needing a lesson in the gods. “Aside from the statues, I don’t see anything.”