“Does that continue with more items?” Jack asked.
Mal nodded. “Yes. However, sometimes you’ll find powerful items that make it worth losing those bonus points. And sometimes items will give you certain spells or skills that you’ll want to keep even if it decreases your overall mana or health numbers. That is why keeping items, even if you aren’t using them currently, is valuable. To start, you are obviously going to be focused on paying your dues. But after that you will have to make decisions based on your desires. Some questers desire to be rich, others powerful.”
“And some of us want it all,” Nikko said with a wink.
“Yes. But don’t be like Nikko, she’s a little crazy,” Nicole said.
“Yes,” Mal said. “You do need to have balance as a quester.”
“How do you do it?” Jack asked.
Mal frowned. “It isn’t easy, and it is different for everyone. Considering you all are first-year students, you would be more focused on classwork than anyone in our group. I’m a fourth year, I only do a little classwork on advanced studies. I spend more of my time studying scrolls and documents from the Ancient Lands looking for treasure.”
Jack nodded. What Mal was saying matched what he’d learned from Professor Cyr and from Chadwick Deeter.
Colin slapped Jack on the back. “That’s what Jack has me for. I’m the library guy.”
Mal smiled. “A good idea having one member dedicated to research. Going into the Ancient Lands without a plan can be a huge time suck. The place is so vast that you could go years without finding anything special. Sure, you’ll find lots of stuff just by stumbling around, but that isn’t exactly efficient. And speaking of efficient, have you started using portal spells or dragons yet?”
“Not yet, but we will be next trip out… wait, did you say use dragons?”
“Of course. Darkthorn is the premier dragon school in the Empire, and while you mostly see the small dragons around the castle, that doesn’t mean the big ones aren’t around. For a price you can hire a dragon rider to take you out into the Ancient Lands. You can cover a lot of territory that way, if you have the gold. Or if you reach second year, there’s a chance you can be assigned a dragon. They don’t allow first-year students that option, and it is much harder for questers. We don’t have the time for classes that the regular students have. But I’ve heard of a few questing teams that had dragons.”
Jack imagined what it would be like to fly across the Ancient Lands on the back of a dragon. What a scary and exhilarating feeling that must be.
“If you’re all done with your trades, I’d kindly ask that you put your weapons away before dinner is served,” Chef Ramsey said as he entered the room.
Mal smiled. “Worried someone won’t like your main course?”
“I’m more concerned that you’ll trip and damage the table. No one is stupid enough to complain about my cooking, and certainly none of you are wanting to meet the gods this fine evening, especially before dessert is served,” Chef Ramsey said as he walked back towards the kitchen.
Mal turned to Jack. “That is one thing about Darkthorn Academy. Most of the staff aren’t just teachers, or kitchen staff. Most have been students here or fought for the Empire. Chef Ramsey was a well-known mage before he decided he preferred the kitchen to the battlefield. Anyone wanting to attack the Academy would be in for a surprise.”
Jack frowned. “Why would anyone want to attack Darkthorn?”
“There are factions within the Westdrift Empire that aren’t in agreement with the current regime. Darkthorn Academy supplies the Empire with the best dragon forces, not to mention the elite soldiers and military commanders that come out of the Academy. Darkthorn is a very valuable asset for the Empire.”
Politics had never been something that interested Jack, but traveling around the Empire with his grandfather, Jack had learned enough to know Mal was right. There were plenty of different factions with their own agendas within the Empire. Many had localized agendas, wanting to break off from the Empire, while others wanted a stronger empire, an expansionist one that would reclaim some of its old glory. Jack wasn’t sure what they intended to do, much of the Westdrift Empire’s glory and land holdings had been eviscerated by the Great War. The land lost to the Ancient Lands wasn’t going to be reclaimed. To Jack, talking about the great Westdrift Empire and returning it to glory was foolish and a lost cause, but he knew that plenty of people didn’t share his opinions. That people like that would have an interest in Darkthorn Academy had never really occurred to him before.
The rest of the meal was pleasant. The Flaming Fingers of Death were friendly once you got to know them, and they spent the dinner telling stories of their first year as questers and all the mistakes they’d made along with some funny stories. When the dinner was over, they started to exit the private dining room that Chef Ramsey had provided for them. Jack was feeling pretty good about the whole evening. They’d made solid trades with the older questers and had made some new friends.
“Well, what do we have here?” said a voice as Jack and Mal walked out of the private dining room. “You Flamers have new pets?””
“Ethan,” Mal said coolly.
Jack looked at Ethan. He was tall and rugged-looking for a human, and he wore leather armor covered in runes. Behind him stood another man that was obviously his twin. They looked identical except for their eyes and hair, and the fact that Ethan had a small scar along the edge of his eye, His brother had a couple days’ worth of facial hair, while Ethan was clean shaven.
“Who’s your new pet?” Ethan asked Mal as he nodded towards Jack.
“He’s nobody’s pet. He’s the leader of the Menacing Misfits, they’re questers.”
Ethan looked at Jack and laughed. “They’re letting babies become questers now? What are you, kid, twelve?”
Jack smiled. “Sixteen.”
“Sixteen,” Ethan replied while shaking his head. “A first-year student leading a questing group. What is this school coming to?” Ethan looked at the rest of the group as they came out of the private dining room. “My, what a diverse group, too. A dwarf, an orc, a female elf and a human girl.”
Ethan’s brother grinned. “At least the girls are hot.”
“They aren’t your type, Keelan. They have brains,” Mal said.
Keelan stepped forward and snapped at Mal. “Dirty fae, don’t you dare tell me my type. Maybe I’m their type.”
“I don’t think so,” Talia said.
Keelan looked at Talia and smirked. “Are you sure? I think you and I could have a lot of fun.”
“Shouldn’t you two be off stealing things?” Christine said.
Ethan grinned. “Why, is that an accusation? Are you calling us thieves?”
“I’m just saying the Ravagers have a convenient history of taking treasures after other questers do all the hard work,” Christine said.
“That is because the Ravagers don’t waste time on junk,” a third man said, stepping up beside Ethan and Keelan. “Hello, Mal, long time.”
“Not long enough, Regan,” Mal said.
Jack looked at Regan. He was tall; not as tall or as muscular as the twins, but while they had a look of bulky muscles, Regan had a hard, wiry look. He had a deep tan and dark black hair, with eyes that were almost as dark. While the twins looked like musclebound warriors, Regan had a more predator look to him. Something about him screamed danger.
Regan laughed. “That isn’t nice. You aren’t still angry about that little mix-up in the east valley last year, are you?”
“The one where you lied to us and sent us into a trap with fifty orcs? I may still have some hard feelings,” Mal said.
Regan chuckled. “That was a simple mistake. I got my temples mixed up, that is all. Why don’t you introduce me to your new friends?”
Mal looked at Jack. “Jack, this is Regan Vorga. Leader of Regan’s Ravagers.”
Regan looked over the group. Jack felt like the man was scanning them, assessing the
m for weakness and strength. Finally, Regan nodded. “Always interesting to meet another group of questers.”
Jack reached out his hand. “Likewise.”
Regan looked down at Jack’s hand and smiled. “I’m sorry, the extent of my courtesy is a polite hello, as is the custom here. But I don’t shake hands with baby questers. I don’t like getting friendly with victims.”
“Who you calling a victim?” Talia said.
Regan laughed. “Do you know the mortality rate of first-year students in the Ancient Lands?”
“Especially ones that cross you, right, Regan?” Mal said.
“Anyone that crosses me has a low mortality rate, Mal. Perhaps you should keep that in mind.” Regan turned and started to walk away.
Keelan turned to follow Regan while Ethan blew a kiss at Talia.
Stann obviously didn’t like the gesture and stepped up so that he was inches away from Ethan and looking down at him. As big and muscular as Ethan was, Stann was bigger and even more muscular.
Ethan just grinned. “Aw, someone’s sweet on the sorceress. Isn’t that cute.” He then took a slow step back and turned to join his Ravager companions. He turned and looked at Stann. “Be seeing you again, big boy.”
“Looking forward to it,” Stann said.
When the Ravagers were gone, Jack turned to Mal. “Friendly group.”
“Friendly as rattlesnakes,” Mal said.
“And deadlier,” Nicole said.
“What’s their deal?” Talia asked.
“They’re questers, but they hardly ever are at the Academy. They stay out in the Ancient Lands all the time. They have a reputation for being vicious, and for snaking out treasures from fellow questers.”
“They steal from fellow questers?” Jack asked.
“They’ve never been caught. But I believe it has happened, more than once. And they have been spotted sneaking into dungeons and other treasure locations behind other questing teams. They let the other questers clear the levels and then they swoop in and take the treasure. It isn’t against any rules, but it is shady at best.”
“Not only that, but there have been other questers that complained about them to the Academy. Those questers disappeared. And these weren’t newbie questers either, but fourth-year questers with lots of experience. I’m telling you those Ravagers are dangerous. If you see them out in the Ancient Lands, watch your back,” Mal said. “They might be jerks, but they are also skilled and have been questing for a couple years. They are not a threat to take lightly.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jack said. “Thanks again for agreeing to meet with us and for trading with us. I hope we can do it again some time.”
Mal nodded. “A pleasure.”
Jack and the rest of the Misfits returned to the apartment.
Stann was still worked up after his encounter with Ethan. “I’d like to smash him in his smug face.”
“No fighting with other questers, especially on Academy grounds,” Colin said. “You could get us all thrown out if you did.”
“It would be worth it,” Stann growled.
Talia went over and hugged him.
“What are you doing?” Stann asked.
“Calming you down,” Talia said. “Is it working yet?”
Stann looked confused. He looked at Jack.
Jack mouthed the word “no.”
“No?” Stann said.
“Then I will just have to keep doing it until it works.”
Stann thought about it for a moment and then grinned at Jack as he finally understood why Jack had him say no.
“We definitely have to be careful,” Lana said as she rolled her eyes at Stann and Talia. “Those Ravagers seem like the type to carry a grudge over any slight.”
Colin frowned. “Perhaps we should wait before you guys go back out. Let things blow over a little.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Jack said. “I was thinking we should spend at least a week or two here going to classes and practicing with our new skills before we head back out.”
Talia let go of Stann and shook her head. “One week. We aren’t letting those clowns think we’re afraid of them. Jerks like that smell fear. If they think we’re afraid they will definitely come after us.”
Stann nodded. “I agree with Talia.”
“A week could work,” Colin said.
“A week it is,” Jack said, finalizing the discussion.
34
The week of training had gone by fast. Jack spent most of his time working with Professor Cyr and with Instructor Brazee; when he wasn’t with them, he was practicing what they’d taught him. Lord Scratches occasionally joined Jack in training but for the most part either spectated or went off to the dragon castle. As a group they also spent an hour a day working on fighting and travelling together, including using Talia’s new ability to use portal spells.
The portal spells were going to be a game changer. So far, they’d only covered a tiny fraction of the lands closest to the Academy. Now that they had the ability to travel to their own portal circles, they would be able to increase the distance they traveled exponentially.
“You ready?” Talia asked as she looked at Jack.
Jack cleared his head. He’d been thinking about the Ravagers. No one had seen them all week. Had they just forgotten about them and gone off to do their own thing, or were they out there waiting for Jack and the rest of the Misfits to make a mistake? Worrying about the Ravagers was a mistake, Jack decided right then. He couldn’t lead out of fear. They needed to be focused out there, ready for anything, not paranoid about another group of questers. “Let’s go.”
Talia opened the portal and they walked through into the circle they’d made at the temple.
Stann, being the first through the portal, looked around and gave the all-clear sign. “Just like we left it.”
Jack smiled. Portal magic was awesome. They’d just done nearly a full day’s walking in a second. “OK. Let’s get moving. We have a lot of walking to do today.” The plan was to cover as much ground as they could, heading west and north. As usual, Colin had upgraded their map and had marked several sites that could potentially have a large number of ancient artifacts; this time he’d used library records and map room records to narrow down the search based on how many other questers had already asked about the maps and records. Hopefully, this new strategy would reduce the amount of areas they’d search that had already been picked over by other questers over the years.
Stann led the way, and Jack followed. Thanks to his new necklace, and more practice, Jack had increased his casting radius. Now he was able to be a dozen steps away from the others for group spells. It was nearly double what he’d first been able to do.
“You should send Lord Scratches out,” Lana said after they’d been walking for an hour.
Jack looked around. The land had started to change from the forests and ancient farmlands towards desert. There were more hills and gullies that limited their line of sight. Having an extra set of eyes in the sky was a good idea. He turned to Lord Scratches. “You heard the lady.”
Lord Scratches chirped at Jack.
Jack frowned. “Hey, watch the tone.”
Lord Scratches swung his tail around so that it smacked Jack in the back of the head. He then flew off into the sky.
Behind him, Talia started laughing. “I don’t think Lord liked your tone either.”
Jack sighed. Much of the training he received had said to be firm with his familiar, but the more time he spent around the small dragon the more Jack realized he was smarter and more independent than he’d given him credit for. “You’re right.”
“My father worked with a lot of dragon riders. One of the pieces of advice that he gave me about dragons was that what we learn at the Academy about dragons isn’t as important as what the dragon rider learns about his individual dragon. Dragons have their own personalities, and what works for some dragons doesn’t work with others,” Lana said.
That ma
de sense to Jack. Perhaps he needed to worry less about following the rules and more about learning how to interact with his own dragon. As far as he knew, he was the only living person to have a sellkirk dragon for a familiar, and they’d only ever found two historical references to mages having one.
“He’s probably confused,” Stann said. “We call him Lord Scratches, but treat him like a scout.”
“You think I need to change his name?” Jack asked.
“No. I think you need to change the way you talk to him. He always responds well when you ask him to do things. It’s only when you tell him what to do that he gets sassy.”
“When did you get so smart?” Jack asked.
“When he realized that shit doesn’t just apply to dragons,” Talia said.
Jack chuckled softly to himself.
“I can hear you chuckling,” Talia said.
“Sorry,” Jack said.
They travelled another two hours before Lord Scratches came back to Jack.
“You see something, Lord?” Jack asked.
Lord chirped a yes.
“Where?”
Lord Scratches climbed down Jack’s side and started picking at his pocket.
Jack raised an eyebrow. That pocket contained the map. He pulled it out. “You know where we are?”
Lord tapped a claw on the map. It was a little farther south than Jack had anticipated. He hadn’t been using his compass enough. “OK. Where is the trouble?”
Lord Scratches tapped the map again, this time he was tapping on a spot to the west of them.
“What’s the problem?” Stann asked.
“Trouble ahead,” Jack said.
“Can we go around?” Stann asked.
“Not sure,” Jack said. On the map, the place they were headed was northwest of their current location. To get there directly they’d have to go through the trouble spot.
“Lord, what kind of trouble are we talking about?” Lana asked. “Wild animals?”
Lord Scratches shook his head no.
“Dead things?”
Lord Scratches shook his head no.
Menacing Misfits: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (Darkthorn Academy Book 1) Page 32
