Yay! My first ff. Note: All the characters mentioned in this chapter were created by Tamora Pierce, and are her property, not mine.

The Final Battle-Cursed Star

10 years from where Kel left off, a star is born, and Chaos released from her cage. Alanna, Daine, Kel, Numair, and all others must win this final battle, else all will be devoured by the Chaos queen.
Daine sat on the bed, mindlessly petting Zek, her marmoset. Suddenly, Numair burst through the door, looking breathless. "What's wrong?" Daine asked, getting up.
"The star," he gasped. "A star has been born." At first, this seemed of no interest to Daine. But slowly, the memory came back to her… She stood in a space where light and sound left, no up and down in site. Mithros, the great sun god, was speaking to Mother Flame, telling her of Chaos's wrongdoings. Father Universe and Mother Flame were condemning Uusoae, the queen of Chaos, to a cage. And Mother Flame, in answer to Uusoae's question of how long, replied,
"Until the next star is born, my daughter." Daine's eyes widened.
"Then she is…"
"Released," finished Numair. -She got keys?- inquired Zek, whom Daine had told about keys.
"In a way," Daine replied. Kitten, who was now old enough to mind speak, began to chatter angrily, for the young dragon had met the Chaos queen, and did not like her. Daine sighed. Sometimes it was annoying that Kitten could mind speak, for she couldn't shut it off. The two humans, marmoset, and dragon, fell silent, wondering what would happen.
Alanna woke up to the sound of her daughters fighting. She looked around to see George was already awake. "I told you it would've been better to have sons," he said to her. She laughed, and slipped out of bed to see what was going on.
"Its mine!"
"Well too bad! I'm older!"
"Who cares? Its still mine!"
"Not any more!"
"Quiet!" erupted a new voice. That was Alanna. For a brief moment the shrieks stopped.
"You're in trouble! You woke Mum up!"
"I did not! You took it from me in the first place!"
"Which is why you should've just handed it over like a nice little girl!" Alanna shook her head, and as she turned away, gave the door a sound push, to make sure it would muffle more of the sound. Suddenly, a light appeared at the corner of her eye. She stopped.
"Who would send a speaking spell this early?" she asked to no one in particular, then listened to it. It was Numair, who was telling her of Chaos's release. "So what?" she asked it. "Chaos should know better then to pick a fight with the Lioness."
"But you don't understand! War is Chaos, and it would only feed her, strengthen her! Fear is Chaos! Every natural reaction we would have to this would be to her advantage!" Alanna felt George approach as he put his hands on her shoulders, listening in.
"Well then, Master Numair, we will just have to have an unnatural approach." She dismissed the spell, and left to tell the king.
King Jonathon listened to everything that had been said during the speaking spell. "Numair is right, Lioness, this isn't a matter to be taken lightly, and we can't have war against her."
"I know that," the stubborn red head replied.
"Well then, what do you mean by an unnatural approach?"
"I don't know, lets see, we can't have war, we can't fear her, we can't panic."
"We also can't sit back and watch," Jonathon reminded her. Alanna rolled her eyes.
"First off, we ought to have a meeting with our neighboring countries." The voice that spoke startled the two. It was Thayet. "That way all of us will be doing what we need to do." Alanna nodded.
"We should have temples built to her, perhaps?" Wyldon appeared from behind Thayet. He too had been listening.
"Hmm.." Alanna said.
"That we'll do," the king said to him. "What hmm?" he asked the Lioness?"
"Nothing," she replied, purple eyes twinkling with mischief. With that said, she headed down the stairs, two at a time.
"I never did get her," Wyldon remarked thoughtfully.
Meanwhile, Kel was practicing her glaive again, and was just going up to tell Alanna something. "Al-"
"Cant talk at the moment-busy." Alanna ran quickly, an idea forming. Kel watched her leave, then went up the stairs, curious. There was much arguing. Kel put a hand on Wyldon's shoulder.
"What is going on? Why is everyone fighting?" Wyldon turned around to see Kel.
"The queen of Chaos has been released, and no one knows what to do," he relied calmly. He saw the question in her eyes, and explained Daine's witnessing of Chaos being held from her usual antics, and how she was to be released. "A new star was born today, and no doubt Chaos thought up a plan while withheld." Kel nodded understanding.
"Do you have any idea of where Alanna went?" she asked everyone. Thayet pointed to the north, and spoke two words. "Balor's Needle." Kel shivered. She wasn't afraid of heights anymore, but she still didn't like that tower. She sighed, and left for it anyway.
Within a couple minutes she was ascending the long, spiraling stair, though the inside one. She didnt have much to think about, so it was a boring climb. With a pant, she finally lifted the trapdoor and poked her head out, to see Alanna doing something strange. She sat near the edge of the tower, eyes closed. Before her a thick dusty book lay open. A stream of purple ran from her into the sky and ground. She watched it slowly fade away, and when it was done, knelt by Alanna. She was staring wordlessly at the ground. Kel gulped, and looked down too, then gasped. "Chaos is now back,"Alanna whispered, for on the ground, a pool of many shifting colors lay.
"Call Daine-she'll know what to do." Kel shook the older woman's arm. Alanna nodded, and slowly went down, leaving Kel to watch the disgusting thing grow larger. Its really happenning. Kel thought. Chaos is really back, and the world is really doomed.

What will they do? Will they be forced to fight if the Lioness does not have a plan? What is her plan anyway? And how will the puddle effect things? Keep reading!