Wide, cinematic digital painting blending fantasy academy energy with subtle Arizona Coyotes–inspired desert motifs. Foreground: A teenage girl with shoulder-length rust-colored hair (Yote), wearing a forest-green hoodie with faint rune patterns glowing along the seams. She stands at the entrance of a sprawling, modern-meets-mystical academy campus built into a desert mesa. The building architecture mixes sandstone, arcane towers, and sleek metallic accents. Midground: A stylized school crest shaped like a scorpion silhouette carved into stone, surrounded by drifting green magical energy. Students in forest green and black uniforms walk across the courtyard in small groups. Background: A dramatic desert sky at golden hour with streaks of orange, dusty rose, and deep green, evoking the Coyotes’ classic palette without using logos. Subtle hints of saguaros, desert cliffs, and a far-off rune-lit observatory tie the world together. Overall mood: Mythic, warm, and competitive. Magical runes glowing softly on the ground. Slight movement in the air, like desert winds swirling arcane particles. No text overlay. Wide cinematic composition. Painterly realism.
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Arizona Coyotes deserve a massive tribute in Arcane

ByTC Marti

The Arizona Coyotes may have been the most unique team in NHL history, paving the way for a tribute in Arcane Elemental Academy.

When you have a main character named Yote, you know there’s gotta be a method to the madness. I mean, I don’t even think there’s anyone in America named Yote and if there is, I’d like to meet them.

Anyway, the name’s a play on ‘Yotes, which was the shortened, colloquial version of the Coyotes’ nickname. But that was just one of a few nods to the Coyotes in my young adult fantasy series. Throughout Book I, The Arcane Prophecy, you’ll find a plethora more references to the Coyotes and even a few other hockey teams.

Enter the Scorpii Venom

The Arcane Prophecy by TC MartiAt Arcane Elemental Academy, there are 32 schools competing for students, meaning students may, at any time, switch schools if they don’t feel like one is catering well enough to them.

Each of the 32 schools contains a color scheme based on the NHL’s 32 franchises, or a variation of them to create a few more unique color combos.

Scorpii’s colors are forest green and black, picked because they’re reminiscent of the Coyotes’ jerseys. I also named the school Yote ultimately chooses, Scorpii, because Scorpions was the runner-up to Coyotes. And finally, it’s one reason why Yote’s wearing a forest green hoodie on The Arcane Prophecy’s cover.

Scorpii’s nickname, the Venom, plays a dual role. Scorpions store venom, but Venom was also a potential nickname in the early voting stages for Utah, so there’s a (very) distant link to the Mammoth lurking in the shadows.

A tribute to former Arizona Coyotes greats

In what might be the biggest plot twist I’ve ever written, there’s a massive tribute to Shane Doan toward The Arcane Prophecy’s pre-climax phase. NHL fans who double up as readers of libertarian academy fantasy will know where I’m going with this one in about two seconds. But even if you aren’t well-versed in Coyotes lore, don’t sweat. A simple lookup will tell you all you need to know.

A few of those Coyotes greats, like Doan, also played for the original Winnipeg Jets. And that’s one of a few reasons I named Yote’s sister Jett, in case you were wondering when you click through to The Arcane Prophecy’s sample that I got up and ready to roll for you.

Meet Yote and Jett, and get a gist on The Arcane Prophecy’s rune-based magical system. You’ll also find out exactly why Yote’s about to attend a school so many hours away from her home. And that school becomes a character in and of itself. Check out Chapters I-III of The Arcane Prophecy now.

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