I don't own any of the Tamora Pierce characters.

=Immortal Light=

=(Day After the King's Ball, Afternoon)=

"Merric?"

Kel knocked on the door quietly before shoving it open. She stared at her good friend for a few seconds before she entered the room. He was laying on his bed with a folded towel covering his eyes. His arm was still in a sling, and his leg was bandaged poorly. "It's boring here," he muttered to Kel. "There's nothing to do."

"What happened to that girl you were chasing a few weeks ago?" Kel smirked and found a chair. She plopped it next to his bed and sat down.

Merric removed the towel from his head and glared at his comrade. "Her girlfriend didn't like me much."

Kel laughed. She couldn't help it; it had been a long time since she could just sit and relax. Finally, after she sobered up she noticed that the bandages on his leg needed to be rewrapped. Kel stood and looked for more cloth. "I was called to the palace."

"What for?"

"That girl who attacked yo--" Kel stopped herself before she could finish. She glanced apologetically to Merric. "Alanna captured her. She may know where Neal's kid is."

Merric tried to sit up. "They have her?" His voice was tinged with a slight bit of rage. "What are they going to do?"

"They won't say. Apparently, she's become sick, but that's all they'll tell me." Kel hesitated. She calmed her nerves and said, "I'm thinking of leaving Neal here."

"He'll kill you if you do."

"I know, but…" Kel found some spun cloth and sat on Merric's bed. She undid the bandage and began to rewrap his leg. "He's not the same. He's going to attack her the second he sees her."

"What makes you think that he's just going to stay here when he finds out that that girl's over there?"

Kel sighed. She didn't want to admit that she had no clue how to make him stay.

===

"We rode into the Dragon's layer. What we saw…" Alanna stared at George, her eyes flashed with anger and sadness. "The Wild Dragons had slaves of children. There was no child older than 15. Kids who looked as if they never ate…never even saw food…"

=Flashback=

They stared at the children before them. Most of them were barely clothed in rags or paper and every other one was chained to an animal. Other children were tied to wooden posts with cuts along their forearms, their blood draining into pails.

Neal was silent. He was the first to dismount and run to the children. Alanna could feel his magic growing--he was ready to heal them.

Alanna darted toward her squire and pulled him back. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"I'm not leaving them here to die. They need to be healed!"

Alanna felt like doing the same thing, but years of experience had taught her better. "I'm not either, but we need to form a plan first. If we get killed, these children have no one else!"

Neal stared at her for a second. She could tell that he was clinching his teeth and debating whether or not to listen to his mentor. But he had no choice.

They slithered around the camp and found the majority of the gang members watching a white haired child, dancing with two swords. Alanna bit her lip knowing what needed to be done. The men cried out, "Cedar the Demon. Dance for us, child!"

Neal shook with anger. "The nerve of those guy--"

Alanna grabbed Neal's shoulder and directed him back to the kids. "Get the children."

"What?"

"The gang is getting distracted by that girl, Cedar. This is the perfect time to get all the other children without them knowing." Alanna started down to the other children.

"What about Cedar?"

Alanna glanced at her squire. "We'll cross that bridge later."

=End Flashback=

George held his wife in his arms. "So you and Neal rescued all those children. We all heard about that back here."

"Yes, we did. Neal did a great job healing…he even taught me a thing or two, and boy did he boast about that. But, when we went back for Cedar…"

=Flashback=

"I said come here, Demon." One of the bigger burlier men stood up. He looked as if he had sucked booze all day long. Cedar backed away holding her swords up in a defense. The man lunged at her and she swung her blade quickly, slicing his large body.

"Get her!" someone else cried. The men started coming toward her as Alanna and Neal watched in horror. Men surrounded her from all around her so that she could no longer back away. Suddenly, the little girl lunged, her blades flying around her. Blood spilled and splashed about her as she cried out.

"She can't be human," she heard her squire's voice after a few minutes. "There has to be 11 or 12 men around her!"

"But look, at her. Her skin is changing."

"That's because she's a demon." A child stood behind Alanna and Neal, shivering in the coat that Neal had made her wear. "They did something to her. They took her blood."

"Who's they?"

"The man who stays in the shadows. He leads all those men. He gave them all that drink and said that they could do anything with her."

Another child, a boy who was wrapped in a blanket, stood forward and said, "She use to protect us. She made us feel better from our ouchies."

Neal glanced at Alanna. "She had to have been a healer."

"They took her because she took care of us all the time. Then she became mean. We don't like her anymore."

Alanna had turned around then. She looked for the girl with white hair, but she was already gone…a pile of men lay dead.

=End Flashback=

"It doesn't make sense, George. She fought like something I've never seen. But, when I fought her, she fell so easily."

George stared at his wife thoughtfully as his mind began to work quickly. He started to tap his chin with his index finger. "Maybe it's a trap. She's after something."

"That's what I was thinking. But, what's she after?"

=(Night)=

Numair exited the dungeon and stared at Daine, Alanna, and Jon. "You're right, Magelet. There's something in her blood. It's like she's no longer human. I wonder what's going on with her."

Daine peered past Numair and into the dimly lit dungeon. "It's dragon's blood. But who would want to mix human and dragon blood?"

Numair shrugged. "I don't remember reading anything like this in my studies." Suddenly, Numair cocked his head. He looked as if he were trying to recall something, but just couldn't remember.

"Did you try to see into her mind?" Jon asked.

"It's impossible, Jon. There seems to be something blocking it. Almost like chaos… I also think she has magic." Numair was only half listening to the king. Daine saw that in his eyes. He's already trying to figure out if he ever heard of blood mixing.

"She does," Alanna supplied. "She has healing magic. Could that have anything to do with it?"

"It just means that the reason she's still alive after the blood mix is because she healed her body quickly."

Daine shivered slightly, and moved toward the jail cell. Their captive, Cedar, was in the fetal position near the back of the chamber. Her skin had become pale and her eyes had grown haunted. Suddenly, Cedar looked up and caught Daine's eyes.

She hated seeing anything caged. Even if it was an evil person.

"Your that animal girl, aren't you," Cedar said through trembling teeth.

They look like fangs…Daine shook her head. What am I thinking?

"Yes." Daine walked up to the bars and stared at the shaking mass. Something else seemed funny. Is her skin changing? She couldn't tell because Cedar had slid further into the dark. Daine pressed herself against the bars, and changed her eyes to see.

"Daine, get away from there." She felt Numair's large hands pull her away from the bars. She remembered to change her eyes back to a human's before getting blinded by the fire light that lit the halls. "Don't go near her, Magelet. We don't know what she's capable of."

"Numair, there's something wrong with her." Daine's thoughts were drowned out by the king's own worries.

"Numair, do you mind coming with me for a second?" Jon asked. "I believe I've heard of this before."

"Not at all." Numair grinned at Daine which only meant I'll see you tonight.

Daine grinned back, and was about to follow them out, until she heard a soft whimper. Daine turned around and stared at the girl. Numair halted as well. "Be careful, Magelet. We don't know what that girl is capable of."

"I will…"

"I'll stay with her just in case," Alanna muttered and leaned against a nearby wall. Daine nodded her thanks to the elder girl.

After the men left, Daine walked up to the bars and stared at Cedar. "You know where Neal's child is, don't you." Daine stated. Daine glanced at Alanna quickly wondering if the elder girl knew about that information. If Alanna didn't, she gave no sign.

"So what if I do?" Cedar muttered. She was trying to merge into the darkness.

"You could try telling me where the girl is. It'll probably get you a lesser punishment if you talk." Daine pressed herself closer to the bars. Something was happening in the cell, but Daine couldn't see what. She was about to change her eyes once again, when she felt a swift rush of air.

Daine sprang back with a slight scream as something flew at her from the cell. Alanna was already by her side with her sword drawn. Both of them stared at the creature before them.

"Goddess, what is that?"

Daine couldn't speak. It was Cedar, that much they could see, but her skin had changed into a deep green/blue color and her eyes were now slits. She hissed at Alanna and Daine, revealing sharp fangs, but her body still resembled that of a humans…

The bars bent under her weight, and Cedar took advantage. She fell back and jumped at the bars. They bent more, just enough room for her to escape.

"Damn!" Alanna hissed.

=End Chapter=