(not decided on)

"I'll be back to get you soon," Kess watched the guard leave. She sighed and leaned her head against the hard rough stone behind her.She closed her eyes to the scared stone but the sharp image of the surroundings she had been in the last week prevailed into her mind. She sighed louder listening to the empty echo that sounded in the dungeon around her. Most of the other prisoners had been executed or moved already, murders, kidnappers and thieves. Some had been made slaves, as was custom in the law, but the old punishments were reemerging. Kess felt a surge of anger and brought her clenched fist down hard on the cold, damp floor. She didn't belong in here with these criminals. They had made freeing slaves illegal, but Kess wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she hadn't helped that girl. Kess stood rigidly, there was no comfort to be had from sleeping on an uneven prison floor. Her eyes drifted to the window on the wall, her only link to the outside world. A tear crawled out her eye. A link through which she couldn't even see the stars at night.
She heard a clang and the heavy footsteps of the jail keeper. Soon he was unlocking the door, a creaking metal sound that sounded as harsh as the prison itself was. Four soldiers stormed in, roughly binding her bruised arms firmly behind her body. Kess winced at the pain but put up little resistance. She had only been fed enough to keep her alive, that meant nothing for the last two days. Kess half snorted, not even a last meal. They pushed her roughly from the cell. She tried to ignore the hurt, broken expressions in the eyes of the other prisoners as she was paraded past them toward the stairs. Kess thought she heard one start singing 'waves of blood', but was forced out into the last corridor before she could be certain. The sun outside was blinding, but that figured, she couldn't easily be burned at the stake if it threatened to rain. the shouts of the crowd were deafening and she was pelted with rotten fruit even before she was loaded into the cart. A cat stood idly and unconcerned on a nearby roof. The wagon lurched and Kess was only kept from falling by the soldier behind her. The wagon bumped down the cobblestone streets advancing at a steady pace toward the square. Kess did her best to ignore the stinging from where the fruit hit her many cuts. She involuntarily searched the crowd for any familiar face. Her eyes settled on one young lady.
Tripplene, that was the girls real name though she might not know it yet. Kess only knew because the unicorn Milandra had told her. Kess was jerked onto a platform that had been erected in the middle of the square. Lord Orcer, the one who had arranged all this, stepped forward and addressed the crowd. Kess heard nothing of it, she was focusing on the girl in the audience. She was easy enough to pin point, few of the others present had honey gold hair. Kess wasn't sure if she was imagining the tears on Tripplene's face. Kess watched as a young man, the son of Lord Orcer at that, came up to her, he said something and Tripplene replied. Kess almost smiled, he hadn't liked what Tripplene had said, and raised his hand to strike her. Kess let out a silent chuckle when the man that had come with her punched the lord's son hard enough to make him fall.
The sharp sound of the fire connecting with the dragon wood served to bring her attention back to what was happening to her. Dragon wood was so named because it is easy to catch fire to. The small inferno was on its way, she could feel it stocking her leg ready to devour her flesh in its burning embrace.
"I completed my task, Tripplene is safe." Kess gasped as the smoke extended its mass-less hands to chock her. The crowd stopped chanting and yelling and the crackle of flames filled her ears. A down draft of wind prompted Kess to look up.
Above her the great silver belly of a dragon cast a shadow briefly saving her the heat of the sun.She breathed in the air it beat down to her. Then her eyes caught sight of the riders, Tripplene and the man she was traveling with. Somewhere she could hear the old song, waves of blood. She gently sang to the words she had learned when she was so much younger. "The seas rage, the stars fade, the wind will lose it's song, come part now as somehow the waves do turn to blood." Trip dropped something to her but she couldn't make out what it was. An echo sounded in her ears, no it wasn't an echo. The people gathered had heard her song and were singing it back. Lord Orcer looked positively enraged. A bitter sweet fragrance bathed the fire. Now Kess knew what Tripplene had dropped. She could feel the wilting petals of the unicorn flower in her hair. The dragon had left, the flames surged inward. Kess' eyes unfocused.A splendid white shape appeared in the fire. Kess stared at the form of Milandra, the immortal unicorn.
"You're time is not come." Kess strength disappeared and she lost conciousness, but not before another dragon pulled her stake from the ground.

"I think she's waking up."
"Of course she is, I don't do half work. That's why you called me remember?"
Kess shut her eyes tighter against the light. Who were these people?
"Kess? Are you OK?" Kess heard an exasperated sigh.
"She almost got burned to death, and she will more than likely have scars for the rest of her life because of the encounter. Sure she's fine!" A strong hand reached down and supported Kess' head. The feel of that hand and the memory of the voice prompted Kess to open her eyes to see if it was who she thought it was. She almost collapsed again.
"Vincent," she cried joyfully. Vincent was her father's adopted uncle, but more than that he was the wizard of Malthra.
"Calm down, child, you've been getting into plenty of trouble since I last saw you."
"I've missed you."
Vincent chuckled, "After all that time you spent locked in the dungeon, a unicorn's company would be missed." Kess smiled, unicorns were vain and fussy, and always trying to make others think themselves ugly. Milandra was one of the few that were different but then she was one of the true unicorns. Kess' sore eyes took in her surroundings. The floor was made of pearl cobblestones, smooth and delicate. There were odd standards hanging from the cavern-like ceiling and what looked like seats beneath most of them.The walls appeared to be filled with water, no they must have been under water. But where did that put this place? Some droplets of water landed on her face. She turned her head to look at the other of the previous speakers. It was a Sorrel, she had been waving her long black hair around and the moisture on the ends had gotten water on Kess. She dived into the pool, giving Kess a momentary glance at her green and blue tail. Her humanoid half reappeared, the small green scales and rough skin glistening.
Vincent smiled at her, Sorrels liked to be left alone most of the time but this one was different. "Kess, meet Andrea, one of the Sorrel healers, and an old friend of mine."
Andrea propped herself on the edge of her pool and extended a wet, webbed hand to Kess, "nice to meet you, can I go home now, Vincent?"
"She can be a little impatient, and behind you," Vincent gestured to one of the many seats, the only one that was occupied, " is Sayal."
Kess turned, expecting to see some beautiful girl, possibly the one that owned this place, instead she saw only a black and silver cat.
"Sayal, please come introduce yourself better," the wizard got up and helped Kess into one of the chairs. Sayal got up and pranced across the floor toward them, her tail held erect with the tip twitching. Even as Kess watched her approach with hazy eyes the cat started to get bigger and walk on her hind feet. The now more or less half human-cat picked up a sleeveless, black coat with a single button in front. She did up that button and evidently considered herself adequately clothed.
Her purr of a voice broke the air before her, "as you may have noticed I'm an imp."
Kess nodded a new wave of vertigo hit her and she wavered in her chair.
"I would like to go now, Vincent," Andrea was angrily splashing around. Sayal jumped out of the way of the water.
"Splash higher, fish tail, you're making me hungry."
"I heard imps can't swim any better than cats, shall we test the theory?"
Vincent moved in between them."You both know better, and no you can't leave just yet. I have a mission for you."
A fury of water erupted from the pool,"Not happening, Vincent. I know too much about the missions you set people on."
"What else are you going to do fish tail?"
Andrea bit her lip and stared angrily at Sayal.
I won't go!"
Vincent raised an eyebrow at her,"So, are you going to go to the Sorrel's annual party?"
Andrea's gaze returned to the water.
"That's what I thought, once Kess' head clears, I want you three to go to Cestile, that's south of Malthra."
"We know that Vincent."
"You may, Andrea, but that doesn't mean Kess does."
"And what of whisker face," Andrea reared her upper body from the water.
"Sayal lives there when she isn't running errands for me."
Sayal pulled a small root out of a bag on the floor. She rubbed some of it off into her paws and blew the dust into Kess' face. Her head immediately settled.
"Kess, when you get there you will meet a young man named..."
"Why aren't you telling me all this? I have just as much right as she does t know and more because I'm being forced to go." Vincent turned one of his best don't-mess-with-me looks at Andrea. Andrea immediately plunged beneath the water. Vincent turned back to Kess.
"He has been given instructions to enlist your help on a mission, I want you to go with him. If you need any help, Sayal will assist you." Kess nodded and Vincent started a transferance spell. Kess prepared herself for the quezy feeling that followed a transfer but it didn't come. Vincent, however, was gone. She looked to Sayal for an explanation.
"Vincent was in the middle of something when you got caught now he has to conclude that buisness."
"Then how do we get to Cestile?" As if summoned by her words, two hippocampuses broke the surface of one of the other pools.
Andrea whistled from her own pool,"speak of Milandra."
A small figure flew off the top of one hippocampus' head and came straight for Kess. Kess immediately recognized her old acquaintance.
"Miena!"
The Swamp Rayz made an elegant bow in mid air."One and the same, Vincent asked me to escort you as far as Cestil." Miena's green skin almost matched Andrea's but was far too olive colored.
"I see you've dyed your hair." Miena waved her short rather purple hair around.
"I did and it seems you've adopted a new hair style as well."
Kess cocked her head to one side, and looked at Sayal. Sayal pulled a small mirror from her bag. Kess looked in horror at the short hairs clinging to her scalp.
"After I cut the burnt bits off, there wasn't enough long to make up for the short." Kess ran her hand through the two inch long hair. "It will grow back, and besides you don't look that bad."