AN: Well. I am officially dead over this I know. I took a hiatus without telling you guys.

I really had to re-assess my writing style. I'd complied some pretty serious critiques over this story and when I really looked back at it, I must admit I winced. Plot holes, bad character dialogue, (not so much that the words didn't fit the characters but awkward wording etc.) and, most common of all, problems with tense. Past, present, it all blurred together some how. So, I put the story on hold, fixed my plot, and developed my writing style. Or at least that's what I hope I accomplished. So, without further comment, I'll leave you with a new chapter, hopefully much better than my previous work.

Disclaimer: None of Tamora Pierce's characters , settings or books belong to me. My character's do however, so hands off.

The Lioness raced across the hall before the first screams began and nearly collided with Numair. His face was lined with worry, but still held that ironclad confidence that she trusted in.

" Numair. Situation. Who is he?" Alanna's words were curt, to the point. Her eyes burned with anger and determination. She wasn't about to let whomever it was scare her new found friends and get away with it.

" Hagen Hadensra." Numair grimaced. " Inar Hadensra's psychopathic bastard son." Numair growled and clutched his staff until his knuckles turned white. " I would really like to know how escaped prison though. He was held in a mage cell for Mithros' sake. I placed the wards on his prison cell! They would have held me! Something's not right here and I intend to find out what!" He turned his head, searching the crowd for his son.

"Already here Pa." Garian raced up to his father, Tris followed not far behind him. "Who is this maniac?" he asked angrily. " And how'd he get here from Tortall? I thought our was the only vessel that survived that storm." His eyes narrowed angrily.

" It was." Tris said behind him. " Yours was the only one in that part of the ocean, and believe me I checked. He must have arrived today or last night. For the record I doubt he would have needed a vessel, isn't he riding a flying horse-thing?"

Alanna shook her head. " Hurrocks can't fly that far without land. They'd need a ship to rest on. Maybe they arrived before us-" she started to say, but was cut off by Tris shaking her head.

" Anyone would have mentioned something this strange pretty early on. Flying horses are a myth here, not reality. As it is, I'm having trouble believing I'm awake."

" We'll just have to ask Mr. Girly-hair ourselves won't we?" quipped Briar when he raced up with Daja. " Sorry for the late arrival- the entire crowd's moving the other way."

The group looked around, not very surprised to see the ballroom almost completely devoid of guests. Only the guards, a pocketful of mages, themselves and the duke remained.

" Yes Briar, I do believe we shall." growled Numair. " And what in Mithros' name he's doing here." He raised his staff and barked out harsh words in a language that no one understood. Large chains appeared out of nowhere and bound the legs of the hurrock, dragging him downwards. The man jumped free, stalking forward, his face twisted with anger.

" Salmalin." he snarled in a thick Scanran accent. " I should have known. We heard the Lioness was on your little expedition but you, " he smiled crazily, his eyes lit with a psychotic glow. " you are even better."

Yelling loudly the Scanran mage threw the fire from his palms at Numair, his aim sloppy with his excitement. Numair reached out a hand to deflect it, only to stare as it hovered and flew towards Daja. He shouted in alarm, sure the girl would be badly burned. Instead, she cradled the fire in her palms and glared at Hagen.

" You pompous sod. You really tried to use such sloppy magic against us?" staring at Numair she raised her eyebrows. " Is this the all-powerful mage criminal you were telling us about? He's about as good at magic as a drunken goat."

Numair growled under his breathe. " It was more a question of the people trying to break him out that we were worried about, not him. His powers are actually painfully weak."

Hagen roared and swept a wave of fire at the whole group, only to have Daja suck it up again.

" You really don't learn do you?" She asked sarcastically. Flicking her fingers one by one, she sent little balls of fire to hover in a circle around his head. " You will answer our questions now, or my little friends here are going to move in closer."

Hagen began to sweat. His hands curled into fists and his eyes became even more crazed. " You'll never scare me girl. I have friends. Powerful friends. They let me come here to kill the Lioness, they gave me a hurrock. They told me I could kill as many people as I wanted. They'll save me. You'll see. You'll all die!" Cackling wildly to himself, he stared into space.

Briar sighed heavily. " Great. Looks like we'll get nothing from him. In that case..." Briar stormed up to the silver-haired freak, clasped his fists together and brought them down on his head. " We should probably put him out of his misery." The man sank to the ground as his eyes rolled up into his head.

" Briar!" scolded Tris, her hands on her hips, her eyes and voice disapproving.

" What?" Briar asked defensively. " I didn't kill him! I just put him to sleep for a bit. He was clearly not going to be of any help to us, the crazy, and he probably would have ended up hurting himself or us! Come on coppercurls!"

Numair glanced at the Lioness with a concerned look on his face. " This may have seemed easy but what I'm mostly worried about is who is he talking about." Sighing he pinched the bridge of his nose in thought. " I wish I could travel someday and not interrupt some plot against my life. It would be so relaxing. Well. Lets get him somewhere we can keep and eye on him and meet up later."

The duke rested a hand on Numair's shoulder, his face grim. " We'll meet in one of my conference rooms in an hour. I have a lot of questions."

AN: I know it's short but hopefully it's better written than my previous work. If not, please let me know. Comments and critiques are loved, and flaming will be met by sarcasm attacks , just FYI. Thanks to any old fans who are reading this, and a big welcome to new readers as well. I'm hoping to update every two weeks or so at least, so feel free to hit me over the head with blunt instruments should I not comply. Thanks.

MOQ