Elva Rackthorn and the Tears of Azrael
Elva Rackthorn (14 years old, magical prodigy) has a simple quest: find the mythic Tears of Azrael and heal her mother. Except, there's the small matter of her highly illegal demon familiar, her worsening panic attacks, and the malicious forces also searching for the Tears. Plus the everyday stress of life in a new city, at a new school, with new friends. Alright, finding the Tears might be harder than Elva thought./// Elva, fourteen years old and frightfully skilled at sigilmancy, the rune-based magic of her kingdom, has only one goal: to find a way to heal her mother.The complications: (1) Elva's father banned her from studying sigilmancy after an experiment gone awry three years ago that ravaged her mother's mind (2) In a life-saving but highly-illegal move Elva has bound a demon boy as her familiar And (3) she's being exiled to the capital for "proper schooling," far away from her carefully hidden stash of sigilmancy books and the manor she has always called home.And Nyx-- the curious and snarky demon who now lives in her mindscape-- isn't the only secret Elva is bringing with her: she also has panic attacks that keep getting worse and a mysterious letter from her mother detailing a quest for the mythic Tears of Azrael. If it were up to Elva, all her time would go to finding the Tears that might be a way to heal her mother-- but suddenly she has friends dragging her to masquerade balls, an aunt and uncle who actually want to spend time with her, and a demon living in her mindscape pestering her to take care of her mental and emotional wellbeing. Her exile is beginning to feel like home.So when that home is threatened by sinister forces also collecting the Tears and by Elva's own mistakes, she will have to try a new approach to save the day-she'll need to share her secrets, trust her friends, and even risk her chance to save her mother in order to protect her new home.β¦