Hey Hey Hey!

Chapter 8. W-O-W.

I just reread my first chapter, and I remembered I hadnt really thought about getting past the first three chapters or maybe four. But here we are, at chapter eight.

A big thank you to all reviewers, but you guys can do better.

I don't own TP or anything to do with Break Away.

On and on and on the story goes!

Ahhh runnign out of lyrics!!

I'll spread my wings and

I'll learn how to fly,

Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye,

I gotta take a risk,

Take a chance,

Make a change,

And Breakaway.

Cecile's POV

If I thought things had moved fast before, it was no comparison to what happened to now. The King and Queen left to rally the Knights, Squires, and soldiers who were leaving to Fort Mastiff. Alanna, Kel, and Neal were among them, leaving me alone.

A woman came in and sat with me. I knew her well. Veralidaine Sarasri, father of two of my young friends: Sarralyn and Rikash.

She didn't seem frightened of me, so I let some of my tensed muscles relax.

"So this is what you look like?" Daine asked me.

"You've seen it before." I said, my voice thick and throaty.

"Well, I am sure I have. But I haven't seen the true you." Daine gave me a skeptical look.



"Truth to tell, mistress, I haven't seen the true me, neither." I said, letting my lilt come back a little.

"What does that mean?" Daine asked.

"Well, when I was a babe I changed a lot of times. My eyes, my nose, small things. I have no idea what I really look like." I told her, my eyes holding hers so she would know I spoke the truth.

"Oh, well don't you just, know? Know that this form or that form is your true form?"

"Well, it ain;t that simple. It ain't like this nose goes with those eyes. I just .. mix around colors and textures and stuff…" I felt my cheeks burn and glanced down at the ground. It was down-right embarrassing to not be able to explain my own self!

"Oh." She looked blank for a moment, before continuing. "You know, whne I was younger and just learning how to control my magic, I didn't really know myself, either. I was lost in the Magic, but I got help. Now I know how to keep my sould away from the sould of my magic. Maybe…maybe you can do that too?" I gaped at Daine.

"You was lost? Didn't them animals attack you then?" My lilt had come back in full blow because of the pressure and my new façade.

"Some of them did." Daine persisted, taking my hand and looking me straight in the eyes. "But some helped me. They just couldn't help much, because I didn't know how to control myself. But, when I did, they helped me a lot." I frowned a bit.

"So ya' think if I leanr to control tha' magic, I can see meself right?" I was so confused. I was sure I had controlled my magic down to it's finer points, but what if I hadn't? "But I already did. So what's this gotta do with me?"

"Well, if you let some of our mages look at you we will be able to tell if you really have controlled it. And then we should be able to let you come back to your original form. And maybe you'll be recognizeable as someone's child. Perhaps someone important's child." Daine looked at me. I am not sure, but I think a tear dripped form my eye at that moment.

"I wanna." I whispered.

"Good." Daine sighed, leaning back in her chair. "You were easy. I thought you would be a bit harder. I am getting quite old." Daine looked quite satisfied.

"Uh… is that why you came?" I asked, a little hurt.

"Oh, I wanted to talk to you, too. And because of course we have been friends for a time. I know how hard this is to get around, but you really are quite brave."Daine clasped my hand again, and I smiled.

"Naw. Not brave. That's for Knights and sissies. I just be along for the ride." I smiled shakily up at her.

"Then you are strapped in pretty darn tight." She said to me.



"As Mithros wills," I whispered. She nodded, and we fell into companionable silence.

I am not sure at what time we fell asleep, but I do remember waking to an empty room, with almost no lighting but for one or two torches. It was dark outside, night. I jerked to standing, and nearly fell my knees hurt so bad. I walked stiffly to the door, and opened one of the great wooden doors. Walking out, I found a sleeping maid sitting outside of the double doors. So, they were watching me. Interesting.

I walked by the maid, and walked around aimlissly for a while. It seemed as though everyone had been departed to Mastiff, for no one but me waslked the halls. Turning a corner, a man grabbed me by the waist and put a hand over my mouth. A cloth layed on his hand, and before I could stop myself, I gasped and got a lung fill of far too sickly-sweet potion. I was out before I could raise a hand to stop him.

King Jonathon's POV

It seemed that all of the nations that wanted Tortall off the map had decided to attack simultaneously. Scanra of course was full out attacking our northern boarder, but also the Copper Isles (This is before Aly settled it) and Carthak were invading. Though Kadar was Emporer, many peoples in Carthak were still in an anti-Tortall setting, meaning many people were attacking. It was horror.

"Jon!" Thayet called out. Jon ran to her and hugged her feircely. "Jon, we have to go! There aren't enough soldiers!"

"I know. We are going to help." I told her.

"What?" Thayet looked me right in the eye.

"Roudn up the Queen's Riders, and any of the Own who are left." I pushed her lightly, and she smiled and ran off. I shook my head. How could she be happy going off fighting? What if I los… no, no thinking about that.

An hour later all that were left were ready, and we were about to set off for New Hope, a fort Keladry of Mindelan first built for a village to house refugees, but now a thriving and aspiring town of middle size. Just as we set off at a light trot, me leading and Thayet at my right with Myles to her right, A runner came from the Palace.

"HELP!" He screamed. "A … A… A ATTACK! AN ATTACK ON TH' PALACE!" He screamed, and dropped dead from lack of air. He must have run from the opposite side of the palace! Many soldiers rushed over to try to help, but I screamed for them to stop. We had to think about the maids, clerks, and servants left in the palace!



"Head back! Back to the Palace!" I yelled, and all those stopped for a moment to eye me, then ran back into the palace. This day just keeps geting worse and worse…

Cecile's POV

I awoke for the second time on a chair. This time it was much more unconfortable, seeing as I was tied to it. Not remembering how I had gotten here, I struggled, but then lay limp. What could I do? A man walked in then.

"Good. You are awake." He reached out and touched my cheek. "You are a pretty thing." They had forgotten to tie my mouth shut. Mistake number one. I turned my head and bit him. Hard. "Youch!" He screamed, and ran from my small prison , slamming the door e had come threw hard. My room was shut to blackness.

"HELP!HELP!HELP!" I screamed. I tried to kick off the ropes holding me to the chair. The ropes were sucuring my ankles, my waist, my elbows, and all they way up to my chin. There they stopped. Mistake number two: the ropes weren't that tight. I quickly calmed down, and forced my being smaller, skinnier, but taller. When I was almost too skinny to be human, I wiggled out of the web of ropes. Once out, I changed myself back into what I thought may be right. But it was dark, so I wasn't sure.

Trying the door, I found it was locked. Of course, nothing could be that simple in this. I tried looking at my hand, btu it was too dark. I shuddered, and closed my eyes. This was gonna hurt!

Forcing my hand as skinny as it could go, it became wide as a cooking pan that I used to use when I was a maid. When I was a maid. That seemed like it was a forever ago away, but really it was about…a week? Maybe two… I am not sure. Sticking my hand threw the tiny crack between the door and the wall, I brought it around, feeling for a knob on the other side. Upon finding it, I moved it. It made a small "click"-ing sound, and then the door opened. It didn't even creak. Someone had been preparing for this!

Outside of my prison, an empty hallway waited, echoing silence across distances unknown. It was an icredibly long hallway. No other ones led off of this one, and it didn't seem to end. Making a quick decision, I took the left side. Right just never seemed right anymore.

I trotted along, not saying anything. At first the running was easy, seeing as I was in pretty good shape. But then it got harder, and I started to slow. The air itself seemed to drag me down, but not only this! It was also leaching away my magic, the one thing that kept me looking like I did. I tried to put up barracades as I have before, but whatever spell this was just leached those away, too. And the more I put up, the more tired I became. Soon I was walking, my hands held above my head to try and stop what ever was happening. I hoped the hall would end soon. But it didn't. it still seemed to stretch to the ever-more, and by now I was struggling to walk. My magic was almost gone, pulled to some unkown force by an unknown spell.



Crawling, I still moved forward. I noticed things changing very subtely. My arms were taking on a much more brown appearance, my hair curling like little C's. I felt myself getting thinner, and my hair changed to dark brown, then black. I wondered if this was my actual appearance. I didn't have the strength to wonder for long, because the spell was making evrything turn to mud. The air in the hallway, the air in lungs, my legs seemed to try to plow through mud. I kept struggling forward, until, finally, as I thought I was about to collapse, I reached the end. I put up my hand and touched a wall that marked the dead end.

"Shoot," I whispered. "Shoulda taken the right one." And I blacked out.

Mua hahahahahaha. Cliffy.

I promise you, all shall be revealed (including why I picked Breakaway, because the kyrics had basically nothing to do with this chapter) in the next chapter.

Not only the next chapter…THE LAST CHAPTER!!

Yes, yes, I know, very sad…but hopefully with this one finished I can take at least one of my other stories and start UPDATING! And I have a new story (already all written on paper) at school that I will start when Earth's Last, Tortall's First is over.

See, now I am handling everything in small gulps. I can do it!

See you all next chapter.

Oh, and did you realize the Ceci was talking as though everything had already happened? Called the past tense. You will see why, too, next chapter!