Course: A Time Academy Examination

by C.M. Lehsten

Course
A Time Academy Examination

At the Time Academy, students do not study disasters.

They learn how to guide them.

In the Examination known as Course, Professor Elion Calder teaches the redirection of catastrophe already in motion.

The village they observe depends on the river that feeds it.

It waters their fields.
Turns their mills.
Sustains the valley.

But rivers remember older paths.

With careful spellwork, the students begin nudging the water away from the course it has followed for generations.

At first the change is small.

A field dries.
A mill slows.
The valley begins to fracture.

Because the most effective disasters are rarely created.

They are redirected.

106 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2026

About the author

C. M. Lehsten writes stories that will haunt your dreams long after the last page. Author of Festival, and other dark tales, she crafts horror that creeps from the shadows of Western New York—where the mist of Niagara Falls and the forests of Letchworth State Park seem to whisper secrets. Even before she could write, she spun sinister adventures for her imaginary friend, a habit that grew into a lifelong love of chilling storytelling. When not conjuring nightmares, she enjoys spoiling her grandchildren and exploring the woods with her husband of over thirty years—though she suspects some of those woods are better left alone.