Knight School: A Mystic Brats Novel Vol. 1

Change is the only thing that’s constant in life. That... and dread. Ever since Eddie disappeared things have only spiraled for me. My once-promising career as an agent has been downgraded to babysitting children. No, not children. Something worse. Teenagers. I am their reluctant instructor at the Knight Academy or as my students have affectionately dubbed it — Knight School.

Today, the headmaster has asked me to lead the class expedition to the Isle of Fairies. Mary’s old home. It was the place where we fell in love all those years ago. I wish things would have turned out differently, that we were still together. But things have a way of always changing for the worse. There’s that word again. Change.

“Pardon?”

“I said we need to change directions,” Mary stated. “I know you hate the sound of my voice, but Headmaster Arnold asked us to lead this expedition together. Believe me, Kirk, this wasn’t my first choice of how to spend the holiday.”

“Duly noted,” I replied. “Which way do you recommend?”

“We’ll portal through an archway up that hill,” Mary pointed ahead. “It should bring us right to the kingdom, where father will greet us.”

“Your father?” I sighed.

“Don’t worry,” Mary smiled. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you again.”

“Of course,” I said. “Why wouldn’t he? I’m incredibly charming.”

“I don’t know,” said Mary. “Maybe it would be because you broke his daughter’s heart.”

“And here I was thinking he’d be mad at you,” I said.

“Why would my father be mad at me?” said Mary.

“Because you lost the most distinguished man on earth,” I sneered. “If you can’t find happiness with me, there is absolutely no hope for your romantic endeavors.”

“Bloody hell, you have an ego.”

“Isn’t that what made you fall in love with me?” I asked.

“It’s also what made me break-up with you,” said Mary. “Tell Julie, to lead the class towards the archway.”

Mary marched ahead as I waited for Ms. Brooks and the rest of my students to catch up. Ms. Brooks slowly approached me with Mr. Gardner, Ms. Roman, and Mr. Dickenson following not too far behind.

“Why is Ms. Markson walking to the archway?” Ms. Brooks asked. “That’s not part of the planned route.”

“It is now,” I replied. “We’ll be taking the archway to the kingdom. Please alert the rest of the class to the plan, Ms. Brooks.”

“I thought archway magic could only be used every so often,” Mr. Gardner spoke up.

“It depends on who built that certain archway,” Ms. Roman chirped in. “My mother built hers near the Academy, which is why it only opens at certain times. The Markson Fairies built this one, so if the right mystic activates it, the portal can open at any time.”

“Excellent, Ms. Roman,” I said. “You might just start having an A average in my class if you keep this up.”

Ms. Roman beamed at my praise. Mr. Tyson, who had finally caught up with us, grinned at her beauty. “I take it your mother doesn’t quite like visitors much, huh?”

“Try not at all,” Ms. Roman smiled.

“I think that I could grow on her,” said Mr. Tyson.

“She would eat you alive, Kevin,” Nara giggled. “But, fortunately, you have grown on me.”

“Really?” Mr. Tyson smiled.

“Exceptionally so,” Nara leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek.

I wasn’t sure if it was the way that the sunlight was shining on Mr. Gardner’s face, but it was almost as if I saw a twinge of jealousy overtake him. Ms. Brooks walked over to her friends and gently kissed Mr. Gardner on the cheek. His face flushed with a relief of some sort as the twinge seemingly vanished.

“Hurry, everyone,” I said. “Ms. Markson won’t wait forever. Trust me on that.” There was a little taste of bitterness which left my mouth unintentionally. I needed to be careful about that.

By the time we reached the archway, Mary had already removed her thick and heavy jacket. This allowed her beautiful silver wings to spread out and glisten in the snow-covered ground. Mary turned back her head and smiled at the awestruck students, before returning her attention to the archway. She took out two small leather pouches from her pant pockets, inside was a golden, grainy substance which started to sparkle as Mary breathed warmly on it.

Mary took a pinch of this dust and sprinkled it inside the runes carved on the archway. Then, her wings started to flutter as they carried her up higher and higher around the archway as she hummed a hypnotizing tune. Golden energy started to swarm inside the archway’s center. At this moment, I could see Mary’s true beauty as only another mystical being could. Mary, like myself, has to constantly keep herself contained in the Knight Academy, but here she was free to be the real her. The beautiful creature within that was always dying to show itself. God, I wanted to grab Mary and kiss her with every ounce of passion I had. Though, that was no longer a possibility. I had long made my choice with Mary, a choice that I could never take back.

I soon joined my class in entering the glowing archway. When we emerged on the other side, it was like entering another world. A familiar one to ours, but different in its own way... Gone was the four feet of snow, replaced with beautiful, bright, green colors and lavish, two-story, treehouses. Fairies of all shapes and sizes flew about, glittering with their own different sparkles. Beneath us was a large, blue, carpet, encompassing a massive pathway to the greatest treehouse of all the Markson Clan — the king’s palace. Which served as not only a place of great riches but a sacred trove of knowledge that only the fairies could access. If a human or even any other mystical being tried to retain the Markson Clan’s secrets... it wouldn’t be pretty.

As we followed the carpet, fairies sprinkled us with their enchanted dust. So much so that Mr. Dickenson started sneezing repeatedly. “Can’t they go a little lighter on the fairy dust, Mr. Louis? This crap is messing with m-m-my — AHHCHOO!” Hunks of yellow snot shot out of Mr. Dickenson’s nose, right on the back of Ms. Roman’s hair.

“Eeewww!” she cried. Ms. Roman turned to face Mr. Dickenson, her eyes glowing pink, a sure sign that her magic was about to activate. “You imbecilic clod! Do you have any idea how long it takes me to get my hair just right?” Before he could do more than stutter, Ms. Roman continued her rant. “No, you don’t! All you do is objectify women, like your little tech toys, and now we’re of so little worth that you have to play a prank like — like — a toddling infant!”

“I would never play a prank on you, gorgeous,” said Mr. Dickenson, trying his best not to stutter nervously.

“What about when you placed a webcam in my shower?” Ms. Roman snapped back.

“He put what in our shower?” asked an angered Ms. Brooks.

“Should we intervene?” Mary asked me.

“Only after the first shed of blood,” I replied. “I want to see how Ms. Brooks handles this.”

“Why on earth?” asked Mary.

“Think of it as a test to see how capable Ms. Brooks is in my stead,” I said with the air of someone commenting on the weather.

Mary looked at me as if I was a very solvable puzzle. “You’re amused by this, aren’t you?”

“I merely wish to enlighten my students, so they can reach their full potential,” I said, calmly.

“And if they cause an international incident?” asked Mary.

“Then I won’t be asked to chaperone another field trip,” I smiled. “Oh, the horror. What shall I do with all of that free time?”

“You are so insufferable,” glared Mary.

“...It was for purely analytical purposes only,” Mr. Dickenson continued.

“How is watching my girlfriend in the shower analytical,” said Mr. Tyson.

“Or mine,” said Mr. Gardner.

“I only watched Nara,” said Mr. Dickenson. “I deleted all the other footage, I swear! The only ones that were saved were Nara’s...”

“WHAT?” Ms. Roman, at that moment, unleashed a wave of pure sonic energy at Mr. Dickenson. Which threw Mr. Dickenson two feet back, landing firmly on his behind. Mr. Tyson tried placing his hand on Ms. Roman’s shoulder to calm her down but was failing miserably. The fairies flying above us flew to safety, knowing the magical eruption was about to happen.

“Alright,” I turned to Mary. “This may be problematic.”

“You daft, bastard!” Mary shouted. “I told you we needed to use the inhibitor on her!”

“I don’t believe in taking away an innocent girl’s magic,” I snapped back. “The archway caused a magical imbalance!”

“Oh, so this is my fault,” glared Mary.

“Not entirely,” I said. “I was worried about this from the start! The last time Ms. Roman crossed through an archway, Ocron used her blood to do it. Making a deadly connection between Ms. Roman and not just that one — but every archway on earth!”

“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” shouted Mary.

“Remember Tabitha?” I said.

“...Oh, shit,” Mary’s expression turned from fury to fear.

“Mr. Gardner,” I yelled at my favorite student as Ms. Roman levitated into the air raised by the pure potency of her sonic waves. “We need to reset Ms. Roman’s magic!”

“How can I help?” Mr. Gardner shouted back.

“I need you to phase your hand through Ms. Roman’s heart to calm her down,” I shouted.

“How in the hell am I supposed to do that?” he replied.

“Mr. Louis is a Dragon Master,” Mr. Tyson shockingly spoke up. “He can channel her magic and his to allow you to put her in a calmed sleep! It’s the only way to save her!”

“WE NEED TO ACT NOW!” I shouted. “MR. GARDNER — ARE YOU WITH ME!” Ms. Roman’s sonic waves were increasing in sound, and at any moment all of our eardrums would burst with blood.

“YES!” Mr. Gardner shouted. “LEAD THE WAY!”

Mary picked Mr. Gardner up as she flew to the floating Ms. Roman. I, meanwhile, summoned dragon fire from my hands, using the flames to propel me skyward. Mary ensured that Mr. Gardner and I were facing opposite sides of Ms. Roman. Mary guided his hand on to Ms. Roman’s chest as I placed one hand on her head and the other on her back. It took all of my concentration, but I was in, channeling Ms. Roman’s magic. Mr. Gardner’s hand phased through into her heart and I prayed that I wasn’t wrong about noticing the two teen’s emotional connection. Ms. Roman’s sonic waves died down, and her eyes resumed their normal color as the first person she saw was Mr. Gardner. For a brief moment, she smiled weakly and said: “I knew it would be you...”

I landed with Ms. Roman gently on the ground as Mary did with Mr. Gardner. Ms. Brooks shared a look with her boyfriend. Something uneasy being silently felt by both.

“I should have known they would send you.”

Everyone turned to see a tall, golden-skinned, male fairy with dark-colored wings flying towards us.

“Humans always do send the worst of their kind,” he said bitterly.

“Hello, King Myrion,” I said. “Good to see you too.”