Throughout his mage training, Alexio Sopholus has learned to follow and trust in the mage code of honor. When he returns to the Forest of Allund as its guardian, he knows his duties will test him. What he doesn’t know is that an exiled Amazon warrior is now living in his hut, and an imminent invasion from a dangerous horde is on the horizon. Alexio must choose where to intervene in the war and where to withdraw and uphold the mage code, but he soon discovers he is stronger than he ever thought possible, and he becomes a threat to enemy forces. As his enemies make complex tactical maneuvers, Alexio must decide how far he is willing to go to protect those he loves.
Young Mage Alexio Sopholus returns home after ten years away at the Mage Academy. Although short and slight of build due to childhood sickness, he has found academic acclaim through his studies. Upon arrival in his home of Korpolis, he reacquaints himself with his old human friends of his former home. His only desire is to take up the position of forest caretaker left to him by his deceased master. The Forest of Allund is a place filled with equal parts myth, mystery, and fear. Many who enter the forest are never seen again. There, to his surprise, he meets a wandering Amazon, but most importantly, his large and intelligent animal friends reside there. They all help him guard the forest against outside intruders. Soon the nature of the forces that govern and protect this place is made evident to him as he finds new sources of knowledge and power.
Although he only seeks peace and quiet, he is soon thrust into a war with a new barbarian tribe, the Zilar. They seek total domination of all the lands and are not above using naked force, slavery, genocide, and brutal repression to get their way. Alexio is forced to fight them directly using all the powers at his command. Initially successful in his efforts he finds his victories have only made him the object of intrigue by his leaders who fear his power and his popularity. His efforts at protecting the land are met with suspicion, fear, and betrayal by his own leaders.
Seeing the destruction, deceit, and betrayal around him, Alexio is forced to conclude that all the principles of philosophy, behavior, ethics, and morality are all but useless when someone has you at the point of a spear. To protect himself and his friends he must wage war. It will be a war without pity, mercy, and against the laws of both Gods and Men. It may also make him an outcast in his own land.
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Wilbur Arron
Wilbur Arron is the pseudonym of a retired professional engineer, project manager, and government official who has spent over 40 years in various engineering fields throughout the Southeast United States. In this time he has worked mostly on environmental issues, but also promulgated government regulation, performed forensics investigations, and investigated and corrected manufacturing problems.
Besides his technical background, Wilbur Arron is also an amateur historian with his major work on ancient history. This has given him insight on how the principles of science and engineering developed over the ages. He is familiar with both Greek and Roman history from 1500 BCE until 500 AD. He has also studied European history and the history of the Far East. Now in his late 60s, he has witness the major technical events occurring since the early 1960s and has taken part in a few of them. His first work in computer modeling was done using Fortran IV, and an IBM 360 on loan from NASA; then having data sent out on the Arpa-net. He was an early user of both desk top publishing and word processing platforms.
