The Star Whorl (The Totality Cycles Book 1) Read Free Page B

called
up an old glyph-puzzle game that had amused him when he was younger. It was no
longer amusing, but it would pass the time until he arrived home.     
         Once I’m there, I’ll
worry about finding something else to do, he thought. It was just a delay
in the inevitable, but any delay was better than none.
     
    Whorl Five
     
         Kreceno’Tiv brooded as he
took a seat and dug into his carry-pack. This was the first turn of his last
term in Secondus, his and Ro-Becilo’Ran’s and all those in who had come to
Secondus in the same term-level as they. And this was the third to last lecture
before the end of the Secondus attendance time. The previous turn had been
whiled away with only semi-interesting pursuits at Ro-Becilo’Ran’s domicive,
and then they had begun discussing their return to Secondus. Fortunately, the
despair of the Mji’Hive seemed to not quite invade the graceful building-complex
that encompassed the Secondus sub-Hives, where he had spent five previous orbises.
During that time he had learned rudimentary and intermediate glyphs and other,
associated subjects, mathematics and sciences, herstory and lost arts,
sociology and the study of xenthropology. The despair was held at bay, for
there was purpose and the need to strive in the academic institute, the goal
being to reach Tertius. He watched as those around him took out their
view-glyphographics and readied themselves to learn. The Proctor came in, and
the pupils about him quieted, turning their attention forward.
         “This is Intermediate
Physiology,” the Proctor said, a Pavtalar-marked male with silvering on his
wing-nets that did not quite fit into his elytra-pace anymore, as happened with
age. “I am Proctor Pavtalar Gib’Zal. We will focus first on the female Genii
and the neutral male, then the physiological changes males undergo for each
feminine Genus.”
         Kreceno’Tiv took glyph-notes
on his view-glyphographic, watching his scrawl turn into neat columns of
glyphs.
         “At the beginning of our
recorded herstory, there were forty-one distinctly identifiable Genii in
existence. Presently, we have seventeen known Genii. Five are the descendants
of the Malkia. The twelve others are here on Gu’Anin and Gu’Ushad, our first
colony. Can anyone tell us what these twelve non-Malkia Genii are?”
         Many indicator glyphs
appeared, and he chose one pupil. “The present Genii are the Polista, the
Vespa, the Ropali, the Gotra, the Lisso, the Xantho, the Abispa, the Pavtala,
the Scelipo, the Diamma, the Tiphi and the Thynnu,” the male pupil, unknown to
him, answered.
         Proctor Gib’Zal indicated
assent. “Yes, that is correct. There are others, of course, as we all know. But
the remnants of the Malkia Genii, which includes the five Genii who subscribed
to their ranks, do not count themselves among the rest of us, and live in
isolation.”
         This was all common
knowledge, and many did not take glyph-notes on this, but Kreceno’Tiv did, just
for completeness. It would be easier to cross-reference later. He always felt a
little sad knowing that entire Genii had been wiped out throughout their
herstory, that unknown potentials of his people were lost forever. Then he
began to wonder. Though he knew of all the current non-Malkia Genii, there were
certain ones he had never seen. The Tiphi, the Diamma, the Xantho, the Abispa,
the Scelipo. Why had he never seen anyone of those Genii anywhere? Were those
omissions just in An’Siija, or on all of Gu’Anin? Were they all on Gu’Ushad? And
why had he never noticed before?
         “There are many families
within each Genus,” Proctor Gib’Zal continued. “Girl children, as you know, are
born with the Genus of their mothers, though variations can give rise to new
families, and if the differences are great and breed true, new Genii.”
         The Proctor began detailing
the characteristics and colors of each Genus, and