Celian

The War Schools are based on the original battlemage schools from the ancient Spartans, made for discipline, control and efficiency. Battlemages are the only ones who wield nether magic, which is destructive and aggressive by nature, all over the world they are saught after for military or other protective measures. Having younglings with control issues in a place where there are at any time at least a dozen people who can throw a protective shield around them while calming them down is definitely helpful. Yes, it means locking them up in a boarding school till they are safe for the world. The tournament mentioned is a process to determine a new headmaster, either after he died, was deemed unfit or got challenged by someone. This tournament was officially called in an Sean Chapman escalated it; he won and was headmaster for about twenty years, he recently died of natural causes. Would be nice if Damien got some help with that, otherwise it would make him a big liability. Well it's mostly Kellen who got (once again since the magic-vanishing incident) confirmed that he is still a battlemage, just somewhat without active magic. Yes, they were not nice to her, and she's still young and inexperienced enough to seriously self-doubt herself. Oh, that could get interesting, don't you think? Kellen screwing Atlas like he does with countless guys during a job, Damien blowing up in jealousy... muhahahaha...

~Damien~ Damien watched as Nora began rummaging through the file box. Peterson and Woolsey had probably agreed on an idea and ignored anything that might contradict it; Peterson was exactly the type for that, his ego bigger than the moon. Kellen and Atlas both stared into the void, and speaking of voids, they had to take a closer look at this magical-appearing void comment. The negative reverberation of a magical effect? Hopefully Palmer in person would have a few better explanations

Well, I'll take that 😅 Most of my characters start off as either made by a template or inspired by someone, but then develope all by themselves. Nathan was in the beginning roughly based on my younger sister (studied jurisdiction, lots of child-like traits even 30+ (plushies!!)), but he went other ways than I thought.

We wil see, I would say. We just started this journey. ❤️

Maybe...? And maybe not. I mean, I mostly wanted to point out they are still alive, just not capable of contributing to the case.

Detectives Peterson and Woolsey are not dead, just for now severely incapacitated. Imagine coma or the like. You mean the Gray Bastards are involved? Or the detectives were involved with them? - No need to answer that, just keep the theories coming, I love that 😃

Indeed imcompetent or racist, maybe hiding there progress to claim some heroic acts, maybe they are in on what's happening or on someones paylist? We will have to wait and see. The others do want to solve the case, that's right. I'm a bit afraid in the end he might come off as covered in a bit too much of cliché, but we will see, I guess. I like him, but neither he nor Kellen are easy to write (that's why this is third person, I couldn't get this down in first person at all). Different ways of interpretation for sure we will learn more about him soon. Oh she wants to help, I mean, why else did she become a cop? Points above might be a reason why she was shut out.

~Kellen~ Gruffins had barely closed the door behind herself when Miss Tollerton stood up. With pursed lips, she took her bag from a chair and cast a cool glance around the room. “If you find anything interesting, let me know. I have other duties to attend to.” “Of course.” Kellen nodded politely and made a face as she left the door open behind her. “Pretty frosty, this Madame ICE,” Diaz remarked, grimacing as well. On the other hand, Kellen didn’t mind if the team wasn’t

Now you two made me wonder what tics I gave Nathan I'm not aware of... 😬 Talking to his plushies? The gloves for protecting everyone else? Hyperromantic fanboy mode?

@drsawzall Oh! 😅 No, Kellen is not eternalized on the MID Quincefield website.

I honestly wouldn't have called Nathan meticulous or fussy. He's tidy and worried and when it comes to his magic anxious. Damien on the other hand... yes that's OCD. They do have anxiousness in regard to their own magic in common, as well as having unintentionally killed when the magic awoke. (More on that for Damien later on.) I don't know how detailed it will get when it comes to battlemages and the War School, whether Kellen and Damien will have the first talk about it already next chapter or the one after.

Not that I'm aware of 🤔 I would say no. Why?

Kellen - what? Whatever it is, keep it in mind.

Not gonna lie, I did notice the absence of a comment from you... Glad you found it in time!

Our druid Atlas Diaz is more than happy to help with a case, but for the others? Yeah, no, they would prefer to be somewhere else. Let's see about that. But of course we will get some of that. Some of it next chapter, how about that? Can't tell you everything on the first chapter, can I? Earth and water magic (like the specialization-evolution of an elementalist-mage) would be the basic answer. Individually added are for example talents for animal or plant care, water reading or ways to glimpse into the past. Their fire/air counterpart ar shamans. And no, neither is bound to any form of religion. Those two names just became the commonly used ones. Oh yes! ❤️

True that. And it contains a hint or two...

The man pulled over to the side of the road, the gravel crunching loudly beneath the tires. A good distance down the road, a cheerful sign proclaimed “Welcome to Barlow Bay!” and he stared at it. The car's AC was blowing cold air in his direction, but that wasn't why he was shivering. He shouldn't be here. His twelve-year-long search, after learning that Patrick was still alive, had ended in disaster. Now, six years later, Sean was dead, but what did that matter? Some of his men we

~Kellen~ The city smelled like burnt toast. The thought had occurred to Kellen already last night, but only now, as he crossed the hotel parking lot, did he find the right comparison. Maybe it was the bad breakfast, he wasn't so sure. The rental car beeped and he slid into the driver's seat; the heat inside was already oppressive in the early morning. But he didn't have time to air out the car, so he turned on the air conditioning and typed the address of the Barlow Bay Police Depar

Special Inspector Kellen McAdams could do with a break, but duty is calling him to Barlow Bay, where mummified corpses of illegal immigrants are causing some headaches. With a battlemage scared of himself and a bubbly druid as supports, this should hopefully be an easy one… Even on good days Damien is a neurotic bundle of nerves. He might be a freelancer for the Barlow Bay Police Department, but getting called in makes for a decidedly bad day. And a frustrated SI and an overly sexy druid are not exactly helping…

Well we don't know how Britney is thinking really about him. He declared him free to fuck for raping Henry, but other than that? Maybe there is talk about selling him going on, maybe he is too good in bed... Or everyone is just having other problems right now than thinking about him. Though that might change if he goes and seeks trouble. Especially Alice, but also Carolyn, will not find it funny if it comes to their attention that he's harassing Frank. And Dante is right, who will believe Flynn now? After he raped Henry because the boy supposedly looked at the women's underware too long, he's now accusing Dante of kissing Frank? Like, for real? You are right, she won't. She cares too much, even without one of her daughters marrying him. You will be right for the future, my friend, a lot right even. Even now Alice is more successful than she (wants to) realize(s). Frank is stubborn, but not stupid. He might have heard the plan of Alice becoming his guardian and moving away, but regardless, apart Alice Dante is his only ally (we know Tom loves him like a little brother, but unlike Dante, Tom is not involved in the inner family happenings). Frank needs allies if he ever wants to really grow. And probably he realized that his behaviour/reaction has consequences and Dante will not forgive him simply over time.

I honestly never thought of that 😅 in hindsight that would be an interesting twist with some enamored girl crashing into this chaos and giving Carolyn a huge headache. This small community of farms sticks together. Carolyn will do what's neccessary. Plus, Matthew's mom was her best friend... That sounds like a peaceful dream... How about I tell you someone will fall off the stairs in the future? ❤️

Fire is definitely something that needs a lot of respect. I grew up with big fires for certain occasions and a fireplace in the house, but still. It's an incredible force. They will. I'm honestly not sure if it will ever be stated to clearly but we lost three slaves to the explosion/fire. This society is not big on love, that's true, or one stable partner. Women take the man they want and have a child with him if they wish so. That's it. The northern part, where this takes place, is a bit different, although they also don't give too much for a loving relationship. Alice was in love with Valentine and would have been happy to marry him. Is she opposed to marrying Matthew because of missing feelings or because she's as free-spirited as normal in this society? Is it the pressure behind it? Does she even know? Will we ever know? He wasn't there when it happened, he was staying with Matthew that evening. So it's not the trauma of the fire itself, but more the loss and guilt for not being there.

"Before you do anything else, take a shower," Henry muttered sleepily. "You smell." Dante blinked at him and blinked again before grunting. "What?" "You smell like smoke and sweat and I don't know what." Dante hadn't even necessarily meant that. He felt like he'd had a horrible nightmare and was now trying to find his way back to reality, but something was off. He had put Tom, whose laughing fit was close to a breakdown, under a cold shower to sober up- dressed as he was. Fortunat

Violet's passive magical talent got a bit neglected, but of course it will come up again. ❤️

That's life. (And just between you and me, I don't like it when crime/thriller authors bend over backwards to provide every little detailed answer; it gets ridiculous fast.) This team is growing and changing as are the dynamics within. There are at least six more stories planned for in my notes and in the end our three POV characters are supposed to have their personal happy end. Next in line is a kind of spin-off, but I want to shed some light on Kellen before he comes back to Quincefield with an assist-job. ❤️