James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

"Who is that?" Tarrin asked.

"Brel, the Master of Initiates," Tiella informed him. "Nobody I talked to likes him. Mistress Elsa is firm, but fair. I hear that Brel enjoys punishing people."

"He's a little man that thinks it makes him bigger to put other people down," Walten grunted. "Standing on a man's shoulders may let you see higher, but you're still the same size once you get down."

"Well, that's a problem that will have to wait," Tarrin told them. "None of us are there yet. I'm not even here yet," he said with a smile.

"Tomorrow," Tiella told him. "We were all told about you, Tarrin," she said with a wink.

"Told? Told what?"

"That you'd be in the Noviate," she said. "A Sorcerer came into our class and told us about you. That you'd be in the Novitiate, and that since you're not human, you're not quite like everyone else. He said a few things about how to act around you, and said as long as we don't make you mad, that everything will be just fine."

"Nobody told me they were doing that," he said.

"I guess they want to make sure that nothing bad happens," Walten said. "Tykarthians and Draconians don't like people who aren't human, and the Dals really hate them, because of all the Goblins up in the mountains."

"I'm not a Goblinoid," Tarrin grunted.

"Yes, well, even I think that if someone called you a really bad name, you'd do something to them," Tiella said.

"I would," he affirmed bluntly. "But you know me, Tiella. I would have done it even before this happened to me."

"True," she acceded.

"There's going to be another one," Walten said.

"Another what?"

"We heard about it in our class today. A Selani is going to come and enter the Noviate."

A Selani. One of the Desert Folk, who lived out in the Desert of Swirling Sands to the east of Arkis. That desert, and the Selani that lived there, were the only things keeping the countless legions of the empire of Arak out of the West. The Selani were a hard people, like their desert, and they were regarded the world over as the most lethal adversaries in hand to hand combat in all the world. The Ungaardt were known for their fighting ability, but even the Ungaardt paled in comparison to the Selani. Five hundred years ago, the Emperor of Arak decided to try to invade Arkis. That was when Arkis was a fledgeling nation, made up of Arakites that had fled from the brutal oppression of the Emperor, Zanak XVI. An advance force of Arakite Legions had tried to cross the desert, and were obliterated by the Selani. Angered by the loss, the Emperor ordered his legions to sweep the desert and kill anything that moved. The Selani simply allowed the invaders to come in, let them wander around for about a month to let the heat and blowing sand take their toll, then they wiped out the invaders. The Selani had been angered by the attacks, and after a council of all the clans, they decided to attack Arak.

No nation in the world would have been insane enough to make that decision, but the Selani were beings of high honor. Their honor had been stained by the invasion, and they meant to punish the Emperor for his actions. Nine of the fifteen clans left the desert and fell on the western border of Arak like the a tidal wave of destruction. They laid waste to absolutely everything in their path, but, according to their honor, they killed not one civilian. All who did not raise a weapon to the Selani were allowed free passage to safety. Many simply remained behind the Selani lines, for the Selani advanced so quickly that there was no way they could outrun the advance. These were treated as guests of the Selani, and were given tents to live in and food to eat while the Clans eradicated their Empire. Zanak became so enraged and bewildered at the unstoppable Selani that he took command of the army personally and met them on the plains of Dala Ren. The Selani clans met the elite of the Arakite Legions on that grassy plain, and killed them to the last man. The Emperor himself was captured and taken back to the desert, where not a word was heard from him again. Nobody even knew what fate had befell him at the hands of the Selani.

The Emperor captured, the Selani clans simply withdrew, leaving the throne to the Emperor's eldest son, Zanak XVII. The ruined western marches of the Empire blamed the Empire for their loss, and seceeded, becoming the kingdom of Selas. The Emperor was too busy fighting a sudden war on his eastern frontier, caused by the decimation of the Legion reserves, to attend the matter immediately. But once that war was finished, Zanak set his legions to invade what was once his own empire.

The legions advanced to the border, and found three clans of Selani sitting on the other side waiting for them. The people of the new kingdom had managed to befriend the Selani, and the Selani had had council and decided that a nation between the desert and Arak would be better for all involved. So they simply created one. Zanak, fearful of the lethal ability of the Selani, who were clearly allied with his former subjects, decided to sue for peace instead. Arak recognized the sovereignty of Selas, formal peace treaties were drawn up and signed, and everyone went home. Arak was the largest single nation on the planet, and yet even they were no match for the fighting prowess of the Selani. It is a world-wide relief that the Selani have no interest in conquest. So long as they are left alone, they are quite happy to dwell in their desert in perfect contentment. And all of the Selani's neighbors are more than willing to let that happen.

"I wonder what the Selani will be like," Tarrin mused.

"I heard it's a she," Walten said. "A Clan Princess or some such thing. Some kind of noble."

"Who knows," Tarrin said. "I'll be curious to meet her, though. Well, I need to go to the library for a while. See you two later."

"Have fun," Walten said.

"Just be careful, Tarrin," Tiella said. "Some of the other Novices don't like you. Don't let them bully you into a fight."

"Tiella, dear, don't worry about it. Once I kill a few of them, I think the rest will leave me alone."

" Tarrin !" Tiella gasped.

Tarrin laughed as he stood up. "I'm just teasing you, Tiella," he said with a grin. "See you later."

Tarrin spent several frustrating hours in the library after that. There were lots of books on magic, and magical theory, and many other such things, but most of them were written for people who already had a basic understanding of magic. He did eventually find one that explained the fundamental differences between the four orders of magic, but it wasn't that much of a help. According to the book, there were four distinct orders of magic, each one using a different type of it. There were the Sorcerers, who drew energy from the world around them, it said. From something called the Weave, which the author stated was all around the world. The Wizards, or Mages, drew magic from elsewhere . The book didn't say exactly where that was, but it made it clear that Wizardly magic was not of this world. That concept intrigued him. Priests used Clerical magic, they drew their magical power directly from the Gods themselves, beseeching the God to grant the priest the power to work the magic. Tarrin had seen Clerical magic before, when a priest of Karas came to the village to help stop a strange sickness that had spread through the village. The last order were the Druids. The book was very vague about the Druids, and it stated that they were extremely secluded and reserved. The author stated that they drew their magical power directly from the earth itself, tapping the raw power of nature for the magic to cast their enchantments.

"I did not expect to see you here, dear one," Dolanna's voice called. Tarrin looked up, and saw her standing by the table.

"I've been reading," he said as she seated herself across from him. "Haven't been getting very far, though."