I'm back again!! Hah. Not really. Well, yes I'm back, but not hah. Now I've probably got you all confused. Ah well. Here's all the before chappie junk. Then to the fic!!

Go reviewers!!! Whoo!!! 5 reviews!!

Ice-Otter (cool fic, by the way!!)

6-a opal

Ana- (twice) and yeah- I know about that stuff. This chapter will have more describing and will be longer.

Person- Err…Did you mean "update" soon??

There you are. And today I remembered to write a disclaimer!!! For the other chapters, refer to this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Tamora Pierce or anyone else owns. Especially Bill Gates' fortune. Boy, do I wish I could have that….Anyways, all rights reserved for Kalea, Nerina and Tallys.

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Time passed. A year went by as changes happened- both in the girls, and all of Tortall. Things got bad- bandits long withheld by the Queens' Riders grew restless. Neighboring countries were unsettled and ready for war. The land also wanted something- water grew dirty, earthquakes shook the land, and forests grew sparser. The land needed something. A certain something lost 13 years before…..

 "It's the Domination Jewel!!" the young King exclaimed as he slammed his fist into the table. "We need it!!"

"But you know it's gone," said his wife, Shinkokami (A/N: umm, what's her name again??), gently. "That isn't what we need now to stop the rebels."

"We need something we can quickly, easily," said the King's Champion, a young Lady Knight called Protector of the Small.

"I know," muttered the King, Roald of Conté. "But we must have something to stop these rebels from tearing apart the country!!"

That was the other thing. Rebels- people not happy with the King's endless - but not too helpful – work were ravaging through Tortall. Killing, destroying, and leaving a wake of terror behind them, thinking this would make the King do something.

Meanwhile, the Three were enjoying their power, and trying to ignore the state their falling country was in.

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Nerina was fully enjoying her new power. Not only could she stay underwater for long periods of time, she could mold herself into water, and could form water currents to carry her. She spent more and more time in the water as time went on, and her mother grew harsher and harsher more easily.

She sat in a chair in the kitchen, miserably staring out the window at the beckoning river next to her house. It was early morning, and now she was waiting for her mother to serve her the hot breakfast in the oven across the room. Nerina's long black hair swung in front of her face, as she peered through it at her mother.

"WHAT ARE YOU SITTING THERE FOR?!?!?! DO SOMETHING!!!! GET ME SOME MORE FIREWOOD!!!!" her mother bellowed at the frightened Nerina. Nerina scurried out the door to the shed. She ran into the woods. "I wish I weren't so shy," she mumbled, kicking a stick away. "Whenever I try, I get shy again."

Suddenly she stopped. Were those hoofbeats?? They were moving awfully fast if they were….Nerina didn't stop to listen to any more- she knew danger when she heard it- and ran to the shed. Slamming the door behind her, she leaned against the wood and listened. Closing her eyes, she heard galloping hoofbeats, rattling past her, just feet away from the shed. They passed her, thankfully. But what about her mother and father? She did love them- and her father was much more loving than her mother. She shrank down beside the wood. "I can't," she murmured.

Her whole body shook awake as the air filled with a scream. Her mother. Nerina twitched, and her clenched hands hit the sides of the small room. Oops. No. Another scream- her father. Nerina buried her head in her hands. "Please let them be alright…Please…Please…"

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Kalea sat next to the fire, smile on face, her young sister Nissi bouncing in her lap. They both loved Granha- the large Bazhir holiday that honored old ancestors. Feasting and dancing went all day and night, and fun was had by all.

Over the last year Kalea had learned more about her power- she could now shape and control the flames, among other things. Now, looking quickly around to make sure no one was looking, she made a small lizard out of a piece of the roaring fire and sent it up Nissi's outstretched leg. Nissi giggled madly and swatted playfully at it, looking on wide-eyed as it jumped up to float around her head, then disappeared. Nissi giggled again, and ran off to dance with her older brother, Kori.

Kalea stood up and brushed herself off. Out of the corner of her eyes, a flash of yellow sparkled. She closed her eyes. Not again. She turned and opened her eyes.

There was her mother. Dancing with her hands over her head, in her skimpiest outfit. Her yellow Gift sparkling around her. Flirting with the young male visitors from the North.

"Good God," Kalea muttered.

"Hey," a voice said next to her. Kalea turned quickly to find her brother, Denian. "What's up?"

"I was just going to get more water from the well," Kalea made up. "Dancing makes you thirsty, huh??" She laughed nervously.

Denian raised an eyebrow. "Whatever."

Kalea smiled weakly and walked over in the direction of the well. She lowered the bucket. When it came up she grabbed the tin cup on the ground and took a deep drink. Swinging it down, Kalea let go too early, and it clattered into the well. "Dammit!!"

Swearing at herself, Kalea climbed over the side of the well. Levering herself down with the uneven rocks on the side, she slowly made her way into the well.

Kalea reached the bottom of the shallow well. Dropping herself in with a shallow splash, she noticed how low the water in the well was. "Well, that drought's definitely coming…"  

Finding the dipper, she stopped- noises came pouring in from above. Screams. Horses whinnying. Sounds of weapons clashing…A fight!! Kalea's eyes widened, then closed. She'd wait the fight out here, with her tribe's hard warriors they would win easily.

Kalea crouched down further into the clear water. "Shaman Sildia will crucify me for dirtying the water," she thought ruefully. "I'll just say I had to-"

She stopped. The sounds stopped. The fighting must be over, Kalea thought. She started to stand up, and was about to yell, "Bloody Hawk!!" the name of her tribe and their war-cry, when she stopped. Those victory cries weren't her tribes… "What?" she whispered. "No, we couldn't have lost….We couldn't have…."

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Tallys had grown too- in her power and mind. She now fully communicated with the plants (especially trees) in her forest all the time. She could hold regular conversations and control all plant life in her part of the vast northern Tortallian forest.

Today Tallys was having fun – it was the last day of the week, Sun's Day, the day of the week dedicated to the great Gods and Goddesses. Every Sun's Day, Tallys and her family had a small party in honor of the Gods. They baked lots of food, and danced to her father's marvelous fiddle playing. Tallys danced around and around with her older brother, Fletcher, a lazy boy, unless he was having fun. Fletcher whirled her around, then danced her to the food table. He picked up a small cake and jammed it in his mouth, then went on dancing with Wren, Tallys' only other sibling, an older sister. Tallys laughed and spun around her mum, hands clapping above her head. On God's Day, their family had a special tradition of everyone being a god or goddess- Papa was Mithros, her mother was the Great Mother Goddess, Wren was Shakith the Seer, Fletcher was the Smith God, and Tallys was unwillingly called the Graveyard Hag.

Just then her father, "Mithros," stopped playing. Wren, Fletcher, Tallys and her mum stopped dancing. "Sabia- Goddess-" he said. "Do you hear…"

Tallys listened. She could hear nothing, but everyone always had told her she had bad hearing. Tree sisters, she called out. What do you hear??

The trees were frightened. Danger…Danger…Coming…

Tallys' ma didn't stop to listen any longer. "Wren, Fletcher, under the bed. Tallys, squeeze into this closet." Her children hurried to do what she said- they had never heard her like this. Her voice was short and harsh, yet she seemed scared of something. They had never seen or heard her scared. "Terek, honey, grab the sling,"

Then she spoke no more. With a crash, Tallys heard the door some off it's hinges. Her mother screamed something inaudible, and her father too. It sounded like "Tortall!!"

With more slams and voices, Tallys got very confused. What was happening?? Where were Mama and Papa?? What happened to Wren and Fletcher??

The last thing Tallys remembered was heat coming into the closet from the blazing fire across the room. It was hot, very hot. That was all she remembered. Then she slipped into a dark bliss.

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Whoo, this is a long chapter for me. I usually write around two and a half pages- this is bordering 4. Sorry about the cliffie- I promise I'll write more next weekend.

By the way- I get to go on a fake little happy bonding trip to Yosemite with all my classmates. Yeah, it could be fun, but not with all my preppy classmates. They make me sick – "OMG there might be dirt there!!!!" Not really, but that's how my friends and I make fun of them. Hah. Anyways, review so I'll feel all warm and fuzzy when I see all those reviews when I get back!!! That was repetitive, wasn't it?? Ah well.

REVIEW!!!!!

Heehee. Anyways, see ya' later.

~ladyknight