A Sudden Attack

The wind blowing through the Attic turned the pages of a book on the bedside table.

Annan, still shelving books, glanced over. He got up, went to the bedside table, and closed the notebook whose pages kept fluttering.

"Visit the Southlands at least once in my lifetime" flashed past on a page of reminders.

The journal beside it had fallen open to its final page. Annan scanned the last passage:

[...Beware our natural enemies, those who wield psionic power. Their system is entirely different from ours. Like Spellbreakers, they can resist Spells. They are perceptive and dangerous...]

He set down the journal and placed the Spider Bottle on top to hold it open.

After the strange section of the journal, the writing had grown obscure and difficult to understand.

Annan read slowly. Many words and long sentences took time to think through, and he lacked the knowledge to grasp them at once.

Returning to the wooden crate, Annan continued putting books on the shelves. Horn's father had promised these books to the Library at the banquet, and Victor had passed them on to Annan.

Nearly a hundred books had almost filled the crate. Sorting and shelving them had taken Annan two days. At one Silver Coin per book, the crate was worth more than a Gold Coin.

Unfortunately, most were popular fiction. There were few books on geography or history.

At last, the bookcase was nearly full. Annan pushed the empty crate into a corner and went to the bay window beside his bed.

Dark clouds over the Snow Mountains formed a canopy. They looked closer to Breeze City than they had earlier. He thought Old Zoran's leg would start hurting again soon.

The sounds from the Spinning Mill downstairs were barely audible. Annan still remembered the story of the