From the journal of Madeline Le Torneau: “I know it doesn’t make sense, but I swear the air outside the Academy smelled different. Maybe I was just cooped up too long.”

  The horses pulled the carriages at a steady pace consistent with their smooth gait. Inside the carriage, the students chatted amongst themselves while Madeline watched everything she could, taking in the ride to the city with an alertness born from years watching her back. She couldn’t help but be alert despite the lack of imminent danger, an old habit deeply ingrained and one not soon forgotten.

  She’d always admired the thatch-work of the roofs in the city, it made every building look unique in colouring and age. They passed a cobbler’s shop, a tailor, a locksmith and then a butcher’s shop before a blacksmith promising top quality wares caught her eye, the plumes of smoke erupting from the stacks in the roof signaling the smith had no shortage of customers.

  “Madeline? You listening?” Deacon prodded.

  “No,” she admitted. “Sorry, the city is a bit overwhelming.”

  Hayden nodded beside her. “It’s a lot to take in,” she agreed.

  “We were just discussing the shield challenge Professor Walcotte gave us. You know, the one with Professor Reese?”

  “What about it?”

  Deacon scratched his beard, reshaping it with a hand. “I was saying that I think I’m screwed. For some reason, I can’t get the hang of holding the shield. I can create it just fine, but holding it in place is a struggle, especially when Professor Walcotte throws things at it. Reese is going to destroy me.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Hayden assured him. “Concentration is the key. Isn’t that right, Maddy?”

  “What are you asking me for? I don’t know.”

  Deacon frowned. “Sure you do, your shield is the best in the class except maybe Talia. Stefan is pretty good and so is Feddy, but neither of them are here. Come on, give us a tip.”

  The second year girl leaned over, listening.

  “Ask her,” Madeline said, nodding toward the girl.

  “My name is Brandi,” she said stiffly. Brandi wore the standard garb of the Warrior, similar to Madeline and Hayden, except for the red bandana she had around her ears, pushing her straightened dirty blonde hair back. Judging by the relative roundness of Brandi’s face, she enjoyed a sweet with every meal.

  “Okay, then. What tips do you have, Brandi?”

  Deacon smiled. “Now, now, let’s all play nice. Brandi? Who won your year?”

  Brandi twirled a lock of hair and sighed. “Forrest won our year, but it wasn’t too exciting. We didn’t have Professor Reese trying to break our shields, like, basically, we just had Hutton. I was almost last, shields are tough for me also, it’s not just you Deac.”

  “Well, go on then Madeline, share your secrets,” Deacon poked.

  Madeline shook her head. “Guys, I don’t have secrets. I listen to what Walcotte tells me to do then apply it. She says your ability to focus and concentrate on hold it is more important then the thing trying to break the shield. So I do that. I ignore whatever’s coming at me and I just focus on the shield.”

  “How?” Hayden asked. “It’s so chaotic when she tries to break it.”

  “Hayden, you’re nearly as good as me, better some days. Why are you asking? I should be learning from you.”

  “We all can learn from each other,” Hayden responded.

  “Truth is, there’s no secret. I just block everything else out.”

  “Aren’t you scared?” Deacon asked. “I mean, a fireball is coming at you, the shield has to hold or else you get blasted.”

  Madeline nearly barked a laugh. A fireball to the face would likely be an improvement on some of the things she’d endured over the years - not the least of which was cradling her parent’s dead bodies - which could very well have explained her ability to stare down whatever was thrown at the shield. “Whatever happens, happens,” was all she said.

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  “Maddy,” Hayden whispered. “Are all you Grinnrockers so nihilistic? You shouldn’t say things like that.”

  “Maybe that’s the secret to the whole thing, not caring if you get hit or not.”

  Madeline expected Deacon to react like Brandi, with an eye roll and a long look outside at the passing buildings. But he looked thoughtful, as if he could find a nugget of wisdom amongst her angst. She moved to protest against taking anything serious from the things she said but she thought better of it; ideas came from anywhere and if her half-hearted attempt at brushing them off helped Deacon become a better caster, then so be it.

  The carriage rolled to a stop not long after they stopped talking and Madeline exited onto the cobblestone street, hit with a roar of sounds from vendors hocking their wares undoubtedly aware that the students were free of the Academy for the weekend with stipend money in their pockets. Madeline said a quick goodbye to Hayden and Deacon and Brandi, she supposed, then hared off in the direction of the Center Raccoon, a pub she’d arranged a meeting with former Inspector Bray. She’d missed the last one during her incapacitation but she didn’t intend on missing this one.

  The entrance ritual of the Energy Warriors included burning your clothes and leaving the past in the past and this largely applied to the self-expression of the students beyond a touch of makeup, maybe a wrist band or a specific hat. Not so in the city.

  She passed a collection of people wearing colours that would make even the most daring seamstress rethink her choices - they must be artists of some sort, musicians or authors or painters - men and women wearing the muted professional garb and defeated expressions of the salaryman, others doing their daily grocery shop with straw baskets, still more wore the curved conical hats and long robes of Senatorum and Madeline figured they’d come to the city for research purposes, she even saw one other with the upside down triangles on his face, and he nodded in her direction to which she nodded back.

  She found the Center Raccoon on the next corner, an unremarkable establishment that looked like any other, a fading thatched roof and a hanging sign that depicted two small raccoons on either side of a larger one in the middle. The door creaked as she swung it open which from what she knew about the former Inspector and his establishment suggestions, sounded about right. She found Bray at the empty bar, making conversation with the pudgy brunette bartender who laughed at whatever words came out of his mouth while she poured his next drink. Bray looked far worse in the months since she’d last seen him, bags under his eyes expanding and darkening, thin hair even thinner and he seemed to be hunched over even further as he sipped on the beverage with a slight tremor in his hands.

  She took the seat two over from him.

  He took a second sip of his drink before acknowledging her presence. “So, you went with the Grinnrock shtick, huh?” Even his voice sounded worse then she remembered, deeper and more raspy.

  “Told you I would. It’s in my lineage, just made sense.”

  “And I told you nobody knew who you were. It’s distraction for distraction's sake, not for any purpose. Who cares if your great grandmother was from there? Nobody remembers.”

  “And I disagree,” Madeline argued.

  “Yeah, well. You’re wrong. Figured you’d forgotten about me when you didn’t show last time.”

  Madeline looked straight ahead, wishing there was more activity in the common room of the Raccoon. If anyone followed her, they wouldn’t have a hard time picking her out among the sparse patrons and relative lack of noise. “Had an issue,” she responded.

  Bray coughed. “Yeah, I heard about it. Going to take more than that to take you out. You’re made of stronger stuff…well, you used to be, anyway. Hardly recognized you with that expensive cloak and those new boots.”

  Madeline ground her teeth. Even now, the old fuck didn’t miss a damn thing. The guilt from her new station would never completely go away but in this case she literally had no other options but to wear the Academy provided clothing.

  “You must be slipping then,” she shot back. “You also look like shit.”

  “I’m dying, girl.”

  “You’ve been saying that for five years.”

  Bray stared ahead, drinking quickly and calling over the bartender from the other side of the room for another.

  Madeline waited for Bray to order his next round and pay with loose coins from somewhere in his ratty overcoat. He had to dig into a half dozen pockets before finding enough.

  “You want something, dear?” the bartender said sweetly once she served Bray his fresh mug.

  “Just one, then. Thank you,” Madeline said, and they completed the transaction, the bartender leaving to seat new patrons at one of the empty tables.

  The drink tasted bitter and also somehow aged, it might have been a week away from turning.

  Bray pulled out a soft leather dossier and slid it across the bar to her. “Don’t mind the stains on the papers inside it, it’s just coffee. I spoke to Inspector Godin. Never did feel the need to research your parents history, was always more focused on catching their killer. I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t good at detective work.”

  Madeline palmed the paper and stuck it into her cloak pocket smoothly. “You’re helping no-one by feeling sorry for yourself, Bray. You failed me. There’s only one way to pay that debt and you know that. So enough of this. What’s inside here?”

  Bray shook his head, grumbling words Madeline couldn’t hear. But, forcing out the words with difficulty, he continued. “Not sure what you were looking for, maybe some closure after all these years, but if you want my advice, girl, you’d throw those papers into the fire there without looking at it and move on.”

  “Why?” Madeline quizzed.

  “Sounds like your parents had it coming.”

  Order of the Storm Crow

  by CorazonTenebres

  Perfect for fans of Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb, Joe Abercrombie, and Naomi Novik—Storm Crow’s Call delivers tactical fantasy, found family, and a heroine who refuses to break.

  Order of the Storm Crow is a tale of tactical warfare, found family, and a heroine who refuses to be broken. If you like sharp banter, brutal melees, and a protagonist who turns every setback into a weapon, this is your next obsession.

  What to expect

  Epic adventures, compelling characters, and a story that keeps you coming back for more.

  Don't miss out on this incredible story!