Damian Crowley: Part 3

[Jack Napier]

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The Lesson
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“Did you see the way those goblins kept slipping and falling?” laughed Damian.

“Did you see the way you dropped after that over-sized house-pet mauled you?” squawked Ka, obviously unimpressed with her young protégé’s bragging. “You need to focus. You need to be quicker and smarter in a fight. All the power in the world means nothing if you’re bleeding out on the ground,” She paused and looked at him before continuing. “What are you playing with there?”

“You’re gonna love this,” said Damian from behind a smile. “I just flex my wrist a little and in a flash I can deliver an electric handshake with this wand.”

A subtle “click” and “thwip” instantly brought a wand of Shocking Grasp out of his sleeve and into his hand.

“Not bad, huh? My dagger’s in the other one,” he boasted while taking a moment to reset his spring-loaded wrist sheath.

“Not bad, but not great either,” crowed Ka. “You’re going to need better tricks than that if you are to survive with the company you keep… and for that, you’ll need a better understanding of magic. Have you tried reading those scrolls you have?”

“I like the parts about the command words that make stuff happen. What more do you need to read from a scroll?” quipped Damian, producing a few scrolls from their case.

“Indulge me. Look at the text there… see how it shifts and glows?” instructed Ka.

“It’s kind of hard to look at for a while. Hurts the eyes, and… huh?”

“What is it?” the bird inquired as she ruffled her black wings.

“It’s getting clearer! I can read every word! How ‘bout that? Woah! Wizards sure are wordy…” His eyes were faintly glowing blue as he looked up from the paper.

“Take a look around. What else can you see?” questioned Ka.

Damian couldn’t help but be reminded of school. He imagined the raven wearing tiny spectacles much like those of his mother and other teachers would wear while lecturing him on something or other. He dismissed this humorous thought for fear that the bird might peck his eyes out for not focusing on the lesson.

“My ring is seems to have an aura around it, as does my sleeve covering the wand. It’s a lot like the writing on the scrolls.” He finally said after doing a quick scan of his surroundings.

“You can read and detect magic now. Put these abilities to good use and you may live to see your full potential. If you don’t understand magic, how are you ever to master it?”

With this rhetorical question, Damian felt the lesson was finished.

“Thanks, Ka… say, is it time for recess yet?” he asked timidly.

“Recess..?” said the Raven, titling her head curiously.

“I wanna go play…” the man childishly and playfully pleaded.

Ka cawed loudly and flew off in search of something to eat. She’d need her strength if she was to continue putting up with this boy who was no-doubt on his way to see if girls glow with magic.