[quote]"There is no home anymore, my lady," the old man croaked, shuffling his armored knees uselessly in the grass.[/quote]

Those were not words that Anise wanted to hear. She did not want to hear them again. Ever. Her fear and her panic rose and she felt her hope slipping away. No, she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let this man take her hope away. She'd have to take it back! She raised the night stick with tears rolling down her face. Her vision blurred and she swung down on his head again. That was for her hope. Again. That one was for her fear. Again. That was for her frustration. She kept swinging until the old man no longer moved and then she fell to her knees.

She simply stared at the old man's body panting heavily. Something in the back of her head told her she had done something horrible, and yet she didn't feel badly for what she did. She then remembered he had a weapon. A sword. Her father had one just like it. She pushed the old man onto his back so she could get a good grip on the handle and remove it from his grasp. With it, she could save Randold. Yes, save him. That's what she needed to do.

Once she had pulled the sword out of the man's hands, she removed the scabbard and belt from his waist. After all, carrying a sword in your hands all the time was silly. She put the belt on as tight as she could and made sure the scabbard was put on, hopefully, correctly. She turned to face the old man's body one last time and spit on it. "I will get home. You won't stop me." She noticed that the young man she had come to help had run off, but this time she wouldn't pursue. If he wanted to run away from them there was nothing she could do to stop him.

She finally looked over to Tyaelaem and saw him cowering from something. She glanced over to where he was looking and yet she saw nothing. She looked back at him with a look of concern. By now she could believe that this forest had dangers she couldn't see which really worried her. "Tyaelaem." She wanted to get his attention. "What is it?" Her voice contained both stress and concern. She wanted to help her friend out, she wanted to help all of her friends out.

She looked quickly towards where Randold was being carried. While she couldn't see the group carrying him, she knew they were headed towards the purple light. Fear was something that either caused the senses to go haywire, or sharpen. Anise could feel her fear was only serving to sharpen her senses.