This is my novel for NaNoWriMo 2005. Chapters are passkey protected. If you want to read, send an email or NaNo mail and I'll give you the passkey.

Three out of the four races on Sayimor live in harmony. Human society is extremely stratified, with class distinctions meaning everything in how people are viewed. The Merfolk prefer to stick close to their salty oceans, with very few living among humans. The lizard-like Chamoda stick to the rainforests, with only those of Shaman and shapeshifting lines daring to venture to live among humans. A fortress separates human territory from the mountains, where dragons live and criminals are exiled. No one banished beyond the mountains comes back, and dragons have never flown into human territory.

Dasacic Academy is located in the city of Cabhia, right at the edge of a great expanse of desert known simply as the Waste. It is a school for the children of the rich and influential, including those from non-human races.

As a new school term begins, a variety of students enter. Friends and enemies both are defined as they tackle the challenges of schoolwork and growing up –– and begin to wonder about what really lies in the Waste...