Hey all! Here's the second chapter, hope ya like it! R/R, flame if ya want, but constructive criticism is welcome. Should I make Ellimere have a special past? She never seemed to play that big of a part in the books, so maybe I could give her a special role. Hmmmm………..

-Ancelstirre-

Lirael woke with a yelp of pain, quickly smothered by a small white paw. Mogget had dug his claws into Lirael's back, jerking her awake.

"Quiet!" Mogget hissed, with mild amusement at the pain he had caused. "Do you want to wake up everybody else?"

Lirael was very nervous now. She found herself being very jumpy around Mogget, now that he was unbound. "What do you want?" she whispered exasperatedly.

"I'm not going to tell you if you speak to me like that," Mogget spoke slyly. "Ask me nicely."

"I will not!" hissed Lirael indignantly.

"Okay then, just don't say I didn't warn you." Mogget stalked off, despite Lirael's protests.

Lirael shrugged it off and tried not to think of it. She looked down at her hand as a glint of gold caught her eye. Where there had once been just a stump, there was a golden hand, made with powerful Charter Magic. She knew at once that Sam had made it for her. Curiously she examined it, some of the marks familiar to her, but most she did not recognize. She could feel that it had many magical powers that would only be awoken when the time had come for her to use them. Making a mental note to thank Sam for it, she drifted off into sleep, entirely forgetting about Mogget.

Yrael contemplated what his next plan would be.

"If she even says one thing against me, I will tell my sister to deal with her," Yrael thought to himself. "But what good would that do?" another voice inside his head asked. "I'd only annoy her, and what if she did not oblige? I would be bound again, though not to the Abhorsens, but to my sister. I would be on the brink of Life and Death, not having any identity of myself. No, I will wait." With that the small cat jumped in to the river and caught some fish for his breakfast.

He looked down into the river, searching for some more food, when suddenly the face of Kibeth appeared in the reflection of the river. It was all Yrael could do not to jump back in surprise.

"So, Yrael," the figure spoke. It had a voice like one calling down to someone at the bottom of a deep well. A well. Yrael suppressed a shudder. He did not want to think about wells right now. "I see they have freed you. They trust you too easily."

"Are you forgetting that I saved you all?" asked Yrael slyly.

"Of course not," the dog sighed, "I will be forever grateful to you."

"Then stop bothering me! How dare you scare all the fish away!" hissed Yrael.

Kibeth sighed and took a deep breath. This was going to take all her strength and willpower to talk to Yrael as if he were a friend. She remembered this same speech long ago, how she hated making it, but knowing it had to be done then, and now.

*****FLASHBACK*****

-The Beginning-

They had done it. The Seven had finally done it. Orannis was bound, and forever she would remain in the hemispheres. Or so they hoped.

"The reign of Free Magic must end," the mystical voice of Ranna said with determination.

"I agree, it must be stopped," the strong, commanding voice of Saraneth boomed.

"We will create a new kind of magic, one that will bind the Free Magic and that will be endless and have no beginning or end," Mosrael's harsh voice sounded.

"Of course it will have a Beginning, which is now," trilled the talkative Dyrim, "Though in years to come, it may not seem to be so. This bound magic will have one source. It shall be called 'The Charter'." Made of many symbols, all intertwined with each other. There will be many, many lesser symbols, with Master marks that only the true Charter Mages can use."

"I will preserve our spirits in these seven bells," said Belgaer, the craftsman of the group. "We will forever be used to banish the Dead. In the wrong hands, though, we will be used to free the Dead from Death itself, causing great destruction."

"What about me?" Crackled a terrible voice, full of Free Magic. "Don't I get a bell named after me? After all, it was I who made Orannis stop, I who conned her in to coming here. What will you pay me with?"

"You have hindered more than you have helped, Yrael," boomed Mosrael. "If you would like a bell named after you, you must give of yourself to the Charter. You will still be who you are, but a piece of you will always be servant to the Charter."

Yrael gave up his innocent and pleading voice in an instant, bright green eyes flashing. "Never!" hissed Yrael. "I swear I will have my revenge on all of you! You will fear the name Yrael!"

Suddenly, Belgaer shifted and a giant ring could be seen behind his back. "A small invention of mine, Yrael," Belgaer said cunningly. "You won't like the results." With that, he threw the ring over Yrael's neck. Yrael advanced towards him, then stopped. Something was happening to him. He seemed to swell, then suddenly got smaller and smaller and shrunk in on himself. Soon the great Yrael was nothing but a small house cat with a red leather collar. The ring displayed great power, thus showing the expertise of Belgaer.

"You are forever bound, a slave of whomever may find you," said Belgaer softly. "A Charter Mage who wields the bells will bind you to his or her will. Be grateful this binding did not cost you your life," he said forcefully, as Yrael looked ready to pounce.

**Years later, the first Abhorsen did find Yrael, and bound him to her will. But that's a completely different story, not to be told right now.**

Yrael dealt with, The Seven formed a diamond. They were ready for the ceremony, the one that would lead to the great Charter.

"I am Ranna. I give of myself to the Charter." The sweet, soft sound of her voice faded away as Ranna became part of the endless flow of the Charter.

"I am Mosrael. I give of myself to the Charter." Mosrael then became part of the Charter, along with Ranna.

"I am Kibeth. I am a loyal servant of the Charter. I am a servant now, and I will always until The End." Kibeth did not join the Charter as the others had. They wanted her to, but could not break the diamond to protest.

Each of the Seven in turn gave him or herself to the Charter. All of them, that is, until the last one, called Astarael.

"I am Astarael," her commanding voice boomed. I do not belong to the Charter, nor am I an enemy of it. I stand by my brother, Yrael."

The Ceremony was over. Only Kibeth and Astarael remained, or what was left of them after they gave most of themselves to the Charter.

The two stared at each other for the longest time. Finally, Kibeth turned and left without a word.

They never saw each other again until that day when Lirael and Sam walked the depths of the well. But that would not happen for many years to come.

*****PRESENT*****

-Ancelstirre-

As Kibeth looked up from the river, she realized that Yrael had had the same flashback. He looked at her expectantly. She was surprised; he had never stared at her that way before, never given her more than a passing glance or a quick glare.

"Well," Kibeth sharply inhaled. "It's time. Do you want to be bound to the Charter like the rest of us? Or do you still swear to be an enemy of the Charter?"

Yrael seemed to be having a struggle with his inner self. Kibeth knew this, though she could not read the depths of those phosphorescent green eyes. Kibeth stood there for a long time, waiting. She could wait, though.

I have been a servant of good for so long, Yrael thought to himself, while another part of him thought that he had not been a servant, but a slave, that I have become a softie. Is that such a bad thing, though? another part of him said. If I have a bell of my own, the name Yrael will forever be remembered, just as I told Kibeth and the others in The Beginning. People will respect me and will fear my name. But, another voice in his head said, whatever happened to ultimate destruction of the Abhorsens? Don't you want revenge on them for keeping you as a slave? All in all, the good points outweighed the bad. Yrael had come to his decision.

"I will. I will give of myself to the Charter. Being a servant of the Abhorsens for all these years has not been in vain. I understand the flow of marks now. I give a piece of myself to the Charter, and will be a loyal servant to it." Yrael said this in all seriousness, and Kibeth could see this.

"So let it be," whispered Kibeth.

When Lirael and Sabriel woke up, they would find an eighth bell on their bandoliers. If they dared to look in The Book of the Dead, they would find a new passage. True, the passages in the book were always changing, but there was something new now. A new bell. Here is what was written:

The Eighth bell, Yrael, came into being after the second binding of Orannis. Yrael is swung in a waving, rolling motion above the head, and then below the waist. It grants swiftness of movement to the wielder, while making all around the wielder slower. It also grants the power to hide from the Dead, for a short while. Beware, in the inexperienced hand, the wielder will banish themselves beyond the Eighth Gate, where they will forever remain gazing at the stars, until it is their time to pass beyond the Ninth Gate.

Mogget looked down, expecting to see the image of the Dog, but the apparition was gone. Mogget shuddered, but knew he had not been dreaming. He felt that part of himself that used to be Free Magic that was now servant to the Charter. He briefly wondered if he would regret his decision, then decided against thinking about it.

"The time will come," Mogget muttered to himself, "the time will come."

So….did ya like it? I hope ya did! lol R/R so I can decide whether to continue this or not. Flame all ya want, I wanna know if you hate it. If you don't like it, I have another idea that involves what some ppl have done with the HP fics, rewriting the stories almost, to fit what the author wanted to happen. I'll do that one anyways even if you ppl do like this one! Remember to tell me if you want ellimere to have a special past…lol ttyl!

Sammy-Jo