Madeline choked. Be it from the dryness of her mouth, the flames that engulfed her or the vileness of the memory, she didn’t know.

  The voices from beyond the flame spoke again in unison. “Rise, initiate, and take your first steps!”

  Pressing her bare foot against the stone and lifting herself upward with the waterfall of flames mere inches away took every bit of remaining strength Madeline possessed. Living through her most traumatic memory in vivid detail threatened to break more than her spirit.

  She swayed in place.

  Digging deep inside her very soul, she ignored everything but her task. “I will not be denied,” Madeline croaked, words passing up and through her throat like a rusted knife hacking into flesh.

  Once she took her steps forward, breaking through the wall of flames, the masked women waved their scepters and the flames dissipated.

  “This concludes the initiation ritual,” they said as one. “Madeline Le Torneau, welcome.”

  The woman in the middle walked quickly to a swaying Madeline, grabbing her arms with soft hands. They were tentative against Madeline’s skin, almost fearful.

  “Oh, yes,” the woman said, as if realizing something she’d forgotten. She removed the mask, revealing a much younger face than expected. This woman couldn’t have been more than a decade older than Madeline, fifteen years at the absolute most, but no signs of aging could be found on her face. A classically beautiful woman, feminine features including long lashes, full lips and shaped eyebrows met Madeline’s gaze.

  The tall woman on the left also rushed to Madeline, with a long black robe in her hands. She wrapped it around Madeline, and tied it tight. She put the hood up, seemingly understanding that with the fire gone, so had the heat. Inexplicably, Madeline shivered. This woman also removed her mask, revealing less feminine yet more stern features. The intensity of her eyes made Madeline look away briefly.

  “Are you well, dear?” the greying woman had her mask off as well, revealing a kindly face that matched her hair. “I’ve long argued this is too intense a ritual for initiates. Alas, I lose that argument every time.”

  The woman in the middle held her eyes closed for a second longer than was normal, drawing her lips tight together. She interjected before the conversation could go any further. “This isn’t the time, Celeste. Are you well, Madeline?”

  “Yes,” Madeline managed to say. “Who are you?”

  The woman in the middle waved her hand, dismissing the question. “There will be plenty of time for introductions later. Celeste, would you take her to our Wing? Her dorm should be set up by now. From the sounds of it, we’ve got one more initiate coming through.”

  One more? So she was the ninth, then.

  “Of course, Carolina.” Celeste turned to Madeline and gently steered her to the exit of the initiation room, stopping only to force Madeline into a pair of flimsy slippers for the walk.

  Celeste didn’t let Madeline free the entire walk, she seemed to be concerned Madeline would stumble over her own two feet or worse. They moved slowly. Madeline let herself be guided. And she let the old woman talk.

  “They told us this group is exceptionally strong in the affinities, and from what I’ve seen, I agree. Great things will be expected of you, Madeline. I haven’t seen a flame like yours…,” Celeste frowned, “Ever, come to think of it. Perhaps only Carolina’s flame was close but yours was an order of magnitude larger, still. When I saw it, I thought we casted the wrong spell,” Celeste chuckled.

  Madeline, of course, had no idea what the woman was talking about.

  “Ah, you’re confused. You must not know much of our ways, but I suppose as a Grinnrocker you wouldn’t. It’s quite simple. The size of the flame in your initiation is a direct reflection of your potential in the affinity. Yours was overwhelming. Yes, you could become very strong indeed. As strong as Saku Eleven, maybe, and it was said he could burn flames so hot they burned blue and violet. It’s said his initiation flame burned so strongly, he was completely engulfed by it.”

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  She paused as if deciding on whether or not to tell Madeline something. “So were you, Madeline.”

  “Oh,” was all Madeline could manage.

  Celeste waved the conversation away. “None of that matters now. Now, we need to get you to your room, into your new clothes and stuffed full of food. You may bathe after you eat. I will not have you falling over from hunger, I know how much energy that ceremony takes. Do as I say. Understand?”

  Madeline nodded, which placated Celeste. The older woman outright refused to remove her hand from Madeline’s arm. Or stop talking.

  “Term begins two days from now, tomorrow is the opening address from the Prime. But first, remember this. Each affinity has their own rituals and we guard our secrets with all our might. This is important. Trust no-one except for us.”

  “I see. I will,” Madeline said, still not up to forming full, coherent sentences. Lord, she was tired. The exhaustion of the day hit her like a sack full of bricks, energy levels deteriorating with every step.

  “And here we are,” Celeste said proudly. Madeline would need help finding this wing of the castle again. “You can only access beyond this statue,” she pointed to a ten foot tall copper statue of a man casually tossing a fireball in the air, “with your talisman. You have it?”

  Madeline took the talisman out of her robe pocket and showed Celeste.

  “Good. Keep it on you at all times, if you must lose everything else in your possession, do not lose your talisman. Your talisman is your unique identifier. Getting a new one is possible, but you’ll need to go to Hutton and that’s a whole thing. Come on, this way.”

  They passed the threshold together into the Energy Warrior common area to a blast of activity. Madeline tried to take in as much as she could despite her weakened state.

  “Watch out,” Celeste said, pulling Madeline to the side, dodging a flying black and red trunk that had clearly gotten away from another student. “Dineen, you better get yourself under control!”

  “Yes, Miss Herbert!” the shaggy haired Dineen called as he raced after the floating wooden trunk. “Sorry, Miss Herbert!”

  Celeste smiled wryly at Madeline. “First day. Initiate dorms are to the back, overlooking our practice grounds. Our practice grounds are open to anyone of any affinity, so make use of that if you wish. There are four girls and six boys in your age group, the rooms were designed for three but the big dorm was open so you’ll be with the rest of the girls. The boys will have separate dorms.”

  The two of them walked past comfortable looking chairs and couches, all black and tinged with the fire red accents of the Warriors. The stone walls were home to incredibly detailed portraits of men and women in action sequences. One particularly beautiful woman looked to be holding a force field against a dozen enemies. Another faced down a charge of Rotspawn with only his scepter.

  A clique of students had their books out and they looked like they were trying to study, or at least pretending to try. None of them looked at their books nor wrote, instead they were captivated by the story that a blue eyed, reedy boy with black rimmed glasses was telling. One girl in particular fluttered her long lashes at him and played with her dark hair, wrapping it around her finger in repeated loops.

  Celeste alternated greeting students with a wave and barking instructions to those who had already found a way to misbehave, stopping to scold a well-fed boy named Edward who came in plainclothes instead of his provided attire. “Professionalism, Edward,” she said, “in everything you do. That is the expectation. We are crafting Warriors in this affinity, not hoodlums.”

  “Yes, Professor Herbert,” came the reply and Edward hustled off to change before Celeste could expand upon her thesis statement.

  The first year quarters turned out to be up two flights of stairs, the temperature falling with each successive flight. Celeste appeared not to notice. Madeline sure did, teeth chattering against her will by time they reached the girls dormitory.

  “Here, dear. Yours is that bed there. You’ll find everything you need in the wardrobe next to the bed. Remember, change quickly then head downstairs to eat until you feel like throwing up every bite. Then you may bathe, and turn in. Understand?”

  “Yes, Celeste,” Madeline answered then noticing the look on the elder woman’s face quickly corrected herself. “Er, yes Miss Herbert.”

  “Excellent. And Madeline? You did well today. Be proud of yourself.”

  “Thank you,” Madeline answered, feeling only hunger and exhaustion rather then pride. Professor Herbert left, leaving Madeline to plunk herself down on the bed Celeste pointed to, the one closest to the fireplace.

  Madeline had failed her acceptance to the Death affinity, this was a simple fact. Now, she’d have to make the best of things. Somehow. But, first things first.

  She found the strength to stand up from the comfortable mattress and open the wardrobe. Madeline whistled softly when she took in its contents and began thumbing her way through everything. Rows of shirts and pants, more socks and underwear then days of the week, two sets of boots, two heavy cloaks, two light cloaks, several scarves, both summer and winter hats, there seemed to be no end.

  Pulling open the drawers at the bottom, Madeline discovered soaps, perfumes, makeup, black hair dye and more. Nodding her head in appreciation of the respect the Academy showed to the Grinnrock culture, she picked up the tincture of makeup and unscrewed the cap. High quality black. Doing her upside-down triangles would be much easier with this product.

  As her back was turned, inspecting her new items, she heard two voices at the door. She ignored it. Not her business. One of the voices belonged to an older woman Madeline didn’t know, the woman quickly making an exit, but the other she recognized right away.

  Talia.