The Shape Shifter

A/n: first fanfic so please don't blame me for how bad it is lol please R n R I could do with the advice…. And thanx for reading it in the first place

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Sarralyn Salmalin, known by her friends as Sarra, stretched before her practice round with her fellow Talmas. At 5 feet and seven inches she was a far cry from the baby who had been told off by her grandmother for shape shifting. At fifteen she had surpassed her five years as a human child and was now permitted to shape shift as much as she wished. In fact often it was required of her as a member of the prestigious group Talma. The group founded 5 years ago when she was ten by her father Numair.

She was snapped out of this reverie by her opponent Samuel of Taroc. A six feet and two inch giant, he stood before her smiling mischievously. He was one of her closest friends.

"Thinking about Johan again?" He enquired with a suspiciously straight face. As one of the few people who knew about her growing feelings for a fellow member of their order, he felt; to her annoyance, that it was his duty to tease her mercilessly about it.

"No," she retorted, "I'm deciding if I can be bothered to thrash you… yet again."

"We'll see who will thrash who, if you're finally ready." With this parting shot he began to shape shift into a massive brown bear; drooling and growling as it swiped at her with one giant clawed paw. She in return changed into an eagle using her speed and agility to peck him in inconvenient areas. Than as her feathers retreated and her face sprouted whickers and fur of a jaguar from the Copper Isles he retaliated by turning into a wolf and attacking her.

This battle continued for ten minutes during which the shapes of numerous birds, a snake, a monkey, a ferret and many others were taken. It finally ended as Samuel was beaten after in an act of desperation took the shape of a hippopotamus on, to which Sarra retaliated by playing her trump card and turning into a 60 feet dragon.

"No fair!" complained Samuel, as he morphed back into his true form "You always cheat by turning into an immortal."

Sarra grinned as she replied, "I can't help it if I retain more skills than you. Besides, what about last week when I beat you as a snow leopard, or do you claim they're immortal too?"

Their banter was interrupted by a small boy; one of the younger members who was being used as a messenger. "When you two are finished you might want to come to the hall. Master Lamiagh wants to speak to you." He reported, before running out to the arena to join a gaggle of preteen boys who were crowded around avidly watching something.

"Probably just a young one who's learnt how to turn into a bird or something." He assured Sarra after seeing her worried glance at the boys. As the founders daughter she felt a lot of responsibility to keep order. It often worried Samuel. No one ought to feel under pressure the whole time. She only seemed to relax around those who knew her well and saw through the distant demeanor so different to her parents; to see an intelligent beauty who sparkled with constant witticisms and laughter.

They arrived at the headquarters of the Talma. A truly amazing building set out to be an office, dormitory, mess hall, and stable all in one. The wood was a shining dark walnut sent over from the Emperor of Carthak as a symbol of appreciation for such an order being founded.

The order of the Talma had begun as a result of Sarra's parents realizing that having a shape shifting child was not as uncommon as they had once thought. Having found a dozen children in Tortall all of different standings and all without training, Numair had decided that a training ground much like the ones for those of Gifted or martial ability.

Now over five years later they had members ranging from ages as young as three years old to the age of eighteen. They stopped at this age for it was recognized that by this age a person had learnt enough control by themselves and were too set in habits for the order to teach them anything. They also had wide diversity of races. Shape shifters from Scanra, Yamani Islands, Copper Isles and Carthak all lived in this school.

They had decided to name it Talma after the Shape Shifter in Old Thak which seemed rather suitable at the time. After all it was the language of magic and what could be more magic than this?

Now walking into the Headquarters, Sarra felt a distinct feeling of unease. Master Lamiagh was the second in command after her own father and he was a strict taskmaster who dealt with serious matters. If he wished to see them it had to be important…

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A/N : sorry for cliffie but want to make sure you'll read the next one hehe… baha warning in next few chapters there will be fluff