From the journal of Madeline Le Torneau: “I hope I never again know the shame of walking through the Warrior Wing covered in splattered egg.”

  “I will demonstrate,” Professor Walcotte said, brandishing her scepter for all to see. “Think - there should be no speaking - about the object you want to create. Ignore everything else but the wells if the wells help you focus. Focus is the key. I’d expect none of you to feel any different at the start, as I mentioned, we usually take several lessons to grow in this exercise, but alas we do not have the luxury of time. In place of time, I brought eggs.”

  Madeline eyed the eggs warily. She’d never been hit by an egg before and intended to keep it that way.

  “What you’re looking for is a feeling of energy to start bleeding into every part of you. As absolute beginners, you’ll likely feel the way you feel after a particularly good sleep. You’ll feel the uncontrollable need to move, to dance, to speak, this is a sign that the Energy magic is working within you. While I don’t expect you to be able to control these feelings at the start, I do expect you to try. Remember to stay focused.”

  Professor Walcotte took an egg from the pile and handed it to a confused looking Hayden with no further instruction. Then, she waved her scepter and Madeline looked closer. There seemed to be - maybe - a shimmering rectangle distorting the air in front of her. Madeline squinted and adjusted her position in the grass to try and confirm the rectangle to no avail.

  “Throw the egg, Hayden,” Professor Walcotte ordered. “Now, please, we don’t have all day.”

  After an initial moment of hesitation, Hayden reared back and chucked the egg right at Professor Walcotte’s face. The egg smashed into the shield right where Madeline believed the rectangle to be. Neither yolk nor shell penetrated the force shield and when Walcotte waved her scepter again releasing the shield, the broken egg fell to the grass.

  “That’s what should happen. I cannot say this enough time, remember to focus and relax. Allow the energy inside and through you. Alright then, grab hold of your talismans.”

  Madeline clutched onto the etched copper glove and tried to follow the instructions she’d been given. The first time she tried, she felt like the biggest idiot in the entire Academy. The longer this went on, the more her mind wandered to Lawrence and the Death Dealers and how she was here in this stupid courtyard trying to avoid getting blasted by an egg when she should be advancing her plan for revenge on her parents' killer. The metal object she’d paid for with detention had been stowed safely in her wardrobe, not that anyone would know what it was for if accidentally stumbled upon.

  Only the sound of a cracking egg and Willow’s shrill shriek snapped her focus back into place. Professor Walcotte had moved on from Willow with an uncaring trip to the egg crate and grabbed another handful, making her way to one of the boys.

  Madeline tried to focus, to feel the magic, gripping her talisman so hard it left a mark on the inside of her hand. She felt no energy in any part of her, no urge to move around or to talk or fidget or anything else. A loud grunt came from the boy which could only mean one thing. Egg.

  Talia was next on Professor Walcotte’s hit list and Madeline redoubled her efforts to conjure the force shield, straining so hard a vein in her neck started throbbing. Madeline worked hard, clearing her mind, willing herself to form the shield.

  Come on, come on, feel something.

  Her thoughts drifted back to the wells. To what Professor Herbert said about her raw talent. If any of that was true, why couldn’t she get it to manifest? She had to kick Lawrence from her mind, but how?

  Yet, deep in the recesses of her consciousness, a nagging feeling she couldn’t quite remove tugged at her. She’d jumped so quickly onto Professor Lawrence…

  From all her digging - and there had been a lot - investigation records, searching down clue after clue, she had very little in the way of concrete evidence except the type of weapon used in the murder: a long, thin dagger. When one of the clues took her on a crash course with the long since disgraced investigator of the murder, she found out a little more. Still, no name.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Talia squealed and swore and wiped the egg off her face, not even attempting to clean the yolk on her once pristine outfit. The look on her face could be mistaken as nothing other then pure disgust and perhaps a little disappointment.

  The description she’d been given by former Inspector Bray loosely matched Professor Lawrence, but the description in and of itself was remarkably general. Bray believed the murderer to be a tall woman and judging by the strands of hair found on her parents body, the killer had dark hair. That’s all.

  She’d put together the other pieces on her own. But that feeling nagged…

  Professor Walcotte made her way back to the crate and then came to speak with Madeline who chastised herself for allowing her thoughts to completely wander.

  “Madeline,” the Professor said. “I see no evidence of a shield being created. True or false?”

  Madeline clenched her jaw. She despised failure. “True, Professor.”

  Walcotte shook her head in disappointment. “After the flame you conjured in the entrance ritual I expected more. What is the problem?”

  “I’m having a hard time focusing, Professor,” Madeline admitted, assuming truth to cause less friction with the stern Walcotte then a lie would and even more than that, she did want to learn how to use the magic. “My mind won’t stop wandering.”

  Professor Walcotte shook her head again. “Yes, well. Take me through why the mind is wandering? What is more important than learning how to become a Warrior?”

  This information Madeline had to keep to herself. She had to lie. “Nothing specific, just a bunch of different things. I’m sorry, Professor.”

  “Yes, well,” Professor Walcotte repeated. “Wandering where? To a boy? To your family? The mind doesn't wander to nothing. Identify the distraction and eliminate it. Sorry won’t stop your friends from getting maimed or worse, will it? Here’s what I’d like for you to try and if it works, continue with it and if not we’ll try something else. Think of a happy memory or a happy thought, a visualization of sorts. Have that be the first and only thing in your mind every time you grip your talisman to cast, focus on its details, the smell of the memory, the setting, the people involved. Then, let your subconscious take over while you’re visualizing. Your subconscious knows what you’re supposed to be doing today, yes?”

  “Yes, Professor. Create a force shield,” Madeline said in a meek voice.

  Walcotte nodded. “Yes. When you’re deep in the details, try to feel the energy through your body then once you feel it, cast. Understand?”

  Madeline focused on the Professor’s words. Despite her harsh tones and her expectation of being obeyed, Walcotte genuinely seemed to take her teaching deadly seriously. And if what Professor Herbert said about Walcotte’s power level was true, then there would be fewer better people in the whole castle to learn from. So, Madeline tried to build out a positive place in her mind, a place where her parents were alive and things were good, she had a normal childhood-, no that wasn’t working; they were dead and she stood over the burnt corpse of their murderer having fried them to a crisp with a powerful fireball. The acrid scent filled her nostrils and she imagined what the corpse looked like, how she felt seeing the ruined murderer, how wide her smile would be after she triumphed.

  “Ready, Professor.”

  “I don’t think so, but we’ll see,” Professor Walcotte held the egg and walked back five paces.

  Madeline visualized the details now crystallizing in her mind, following the Professor’s instructions as best she could, opening her subconscious to the flows of energy. She hoped to feel a boost of some kind, a tapping of her foot or the urge to run among the grass but if anything all the concentration had the opposite effect.

  Professor Walcotte reared back in an exaggerated motion and Madeline furiously attempted to cast the shield, swinging the talisman back and forth holding back a scream of frustration. Walcotte launched.

  The egg seemed to travel in slow motion.

  Come on you son of a bitch, Madeline begged.

  The egg hit her square in the forehead, cracking and spilling yellow and white yolk down her face. She spat and tried to ignore the grossness of the eggs contents. The eyes of the other students drifted to her, flickering over the aftermath of yet another failed cast. Madeline’s cheeks grew hot with embarrassment.

  Professor Walcotte said nothing, only shook her head and walked away in disappointment.

  The lesson only ended when Professor Walcotte ran out of eggs. It took over an hour. Exhausting the crate was a shameful experience for the entire class as not a single person managed to generate a lick of anything except the embarrassment of ending up covered in egg yolk.

  Madeline got hit six more times until her clothing had so much yellow covering it she could have easily been confused as someone from the Sensory affinity instead of the red of her Energy affinity.

  A quick glance around showed she shared her humiliation with the rest of the class. Stefan couldn’t quite wipe yolk out of his hair, and one of the other boys had taken an egg directly to the chest, which happened to be the egg that caused him the least problems.

  Among the yolk covered girls, only Talia thought she’d felt something magical yet that feeling turned into nothing tangible. Willow and Hayden and none of the boys generated any wisps of magic.

  The walk to the showers was humiliating.