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

=The Master Plan=

It was life itself. Without it, people and animals wouldn't live. Blood. Blood was the key for everything. He reached into one of the many cages that was hidden in a shack behind his home. A soft cry came, as he twisted the animals neck.

A small smile made his lips stretch and crack.

He gathered the blood in a bottle.

Thousands of cages, with his choice of sacrifice. A dragon, a spidren, a griffon and several other immortals were laying in there. He had spent dozens of people's lives just to get these creatures just for their blood. That was all he needed to do his ceremony.

Walking back to his home, he hid the bottle underneath his robes. It wouldn't do any of the children well if they found out what he really did behind the scenes. Granted, Cedar and the Lady knew, but they had sworn to keep their mouths shut.

As soon as he was inside his home, he walked to his table and finished the preparations of his next victim, Neal and Yukimi's baby. She was perfect. Her healing magic and will was just as strong--or stronger--than Cedar's. Her body would regenerate, coursing with the blood of his favorite animal, a dragon. Then, she would be unstoppable. She would have the strenghts of a dragon and a human. Granted, she would be in pain for most of her life, but like Cedar, she'd get over it.

He poured the blood into an urn and mixed it with some herbs. As soon as he was done, he buried it under the ground to keep it cool for a few hours. The next part of the ceremony was draining the child's blood. A few cuts on the wrists and legs and it would be gone soon. Then, he would fill up her body with the immortals blood.

With a huge grin, he realized his dreams were almost coming true. Soon, he would have an army of unstoppable immortal/human hybrids.

He glanced at the list that Cedar had gotten him. Dozens and dozens of noble birthed children with unusually strong healing powers. This would be his army.

He remembered his other experiments. They had gone array quickly. Thousands of children had died at his hand, until he reached Cedar.

There was a strength in her. The same strength that was in people like the Lioness he had heard about or even that Animal Mage and the Protector of the Small. It was like she was touched by some higher power, that she would be something good and powerful as she grew older.

Or at least she would have been if he hadn't met her first. He had perverted her blood with his experiments. He had found that it was best to drain the body then fill it. He found that if a person would sprinkle some of the herbs along her temples, it would make her live a lot longer.

It had worked. First thing he did was prepare the herbs. This would take days to get it settled. Then, he would gather the blood of his choice of immortal. Then, he would kill the child…well, not kill them, but something very close to it.

He grinned. He loved that part.

He especially enjoyed watching her stumble out of the room after the ceremony and having her brother try and heal her wounds. He had gotten blood on him. It was just a small smear, but Cedric had gotten some. It was then that the Master noticed the effects. Whenever Cedar got hurt, Cedric felt the same pain but not as harsh.

===

Talcon watched Cedar walking in the moonlight. His last job was to kill her. He didn't want to. She had been kind to him, much like the Lady, but he did whatever the Master said.

He closed in. His footsteps were amazingly quick and he was on her in a few seconds. She turned just as his claw was about to scratch her. She grabbed his arm and moved it away from her body.

Both of them landed on the ground, Talcon struggling to stab her with his claws, Cedar trying desperately to wriggle out from under him. "DON'T!" she cried out.

"The Master told me--"

"Forget what the Master told you. If you get my blood on you, you'll become a part of me!" She drew up her legs and kicked him in a vital area. She looked around for a weapon, she wasn't really a big hand to hand combat person unless she was a dragon. "If you want to kill me, try not to get my tainted life on you!"

Talcon leapt to his feet. He ran toward her and swiped at her head. She jumped back and stumbled back. The effects of getting beaten up by the master were catching up to her. Her head swam with pain and her eyes became bleary.

Her body couldn't take much more. It was tired from everything she had done. Changing into an immortal, changing back, getting beaten by the Master, running all through the night…She stumbled on her feet and fell back.

Talcon sensed his advantage and jumped on Cedar, his claws ready.

=End Chapter=

Sorry that there's no Alanna, Daine, and Kel in this part of the chapter. Here's Talcon's Tale.

=Talcon=

The cat like creature had never known their parents. He had been shoved in an orphanage their whole entire life, living only among the humans. It was hard. He had only wanted to make friends, but none of the children accepted him, thanks to the murmurs of the adults. Those humans would go out of their way just to hurt him.

Everyone shunned him. Everyone laughed at him.

And so he grew. He grew without love and only with hate. His eyes would blaze at anger every time someone talked to him as they did now.

A gang of adults stood around him, laughing and taunting. He squirmed away, never fighting, until his back was hit with something hard. Turning around, he saw another gang of adults waiting for him.

He fell on his knees and shut his eyes. He would remember them all until he grew up.

Just as the attack was beginning, he felt something cool rush against his arm. Glancing up, he saw a young girl with dark hair and even darker eyes. She held a long staff in her hand, and was fighting her way toward him. "GET AWAY!" she cried out as she rammed a stick in some man's gut.

The crowd started to turn toward her. "GET HER!" They cried.

Talcon knew that this was too much for her to handle. Balling up a hand, Talcon hurled himself into the crowd and began to fight.

When it was over, and many people lay unconscious and bleeding, the beautiful girl extended a hand to Talcon, touching his chin and forcing him to look up into her eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked.

That one act of kindness had opened up his closed heart. He nodded slowly.

She looked over her shoulder at a man hidden in the shadows. He seemed to nod and smile at her. Finally, the girl looked around and whispered, "My name's the Lady. Do you want to come with me?"

=End=