Instinctually, Fyair crossed his arm over his face managing to shield the majority of the barrage from his eyes, but left the softer areas of his torso fully exposed. Bits of glass sharded pass his outline and stuck into his ribs, forearm, and thighs. There was no time to care for the pain as the mountain struggled to keep himself from collapsing to his knees under the weakened state of the lantern’s effect. The screech tore through his mind and made his nerves numb, radiating from ears to toes. A low rumble bubbled up in his throat and was denied eruption as he choked on his own breath. All around the world seemed to implode, gathering all its fury in on his center of gravity threatening to bring him to earth all the more. The soldier waged a silent war of mental and spiritual tug-of-war. And, perhaps an ounce of regard mixed in for good measure.

The newcomer’s foolish ignorance alerted him to the ripple effect of the lanterns. It hadn’t occured in his original assumptions that the lamps could interact with one another. The idea they were parts of a large being had gone above and beyond his thought process. He gathered enough strength to finally lower his stance only to be overpowered by the fierce colorful winds. What a hassle. What a colossal mess! Suddenly, Fyair became aware of his transformation--feeling a sense of dread overtake him as he slowly became a true mountain. The stone shell was heavier than any natural material and compressed painfully over his mass. When the oddity of an object manifesting in his hand reached his consciousness, it drew the front of his attention. Overwhelming was all too light a term to describe the clash of actions that had exploded from the simple act of smashing a lantern. Focusing on other thing over another was a near impossible task.

Slowly, vague synapses began to bring the man back to mild awareness as he was given a brief opportunity to examine his current state. His eyes grew wide and wild at the sight of his new armored attire. A quiet whisper in the depths of his mind told him to make a choice. To choose which poison best suited his torment. Then the voice came again; much louder like the growl of an animal giving warning before attack. Decide, the idea screamed into his psyche, The dragon… the lightning… Scales or Illusion. Choose. CHOOSE. Fyair’s scrambled thoughts struggled to grasp anything solid or retain the magnitude of the situation. All he wanted was for it to stop. He wanted the madness to dissipate far away and leave him be. Casting away the sword and purple lantern he chose the dragon, with no more reason than he wanted some peace and quiet.

The glass of the lantern sliced Talan across whatever areas of his body that weren't protected by his crude hide armor. He winced in pain as shards of glass were lodged into mainly his arms. Suddenly and without warning the rabbit child leapt onto Talan and threw him to the ground. The Kith began to strangle Talan, pressing hard onto his neck as Talan struggled to free himself from the rabbit's grasp. His cuts made moving quite painful and so his attempts to free himself from Tyaelaem were ineffective at first. Talan focused all the strength left in him to roll over and carry Tyaelaem with him. Now he was on top of the Kith and with a few swift punches he managed to free his neck from Tyaelaem's grasp. He was going to kill it, Talan was going to kill the rabbit. He was right to be suspicious at first meeting him but now his suspicions were confirmed as he knelt there with his hands tightly gripping the rabbit. It hurt like nothing else, the glass that was planted in his arms cut the tightening muscles of Talan's arms as he squeezed harder trying to kill the damned creature. Eventually the pain faded by the adrenaline. Talan used the magic of the amulet to raise various stones around them. He was going to make sure this thing was dead by the time they moved on from here. Of all the rocks around them, Talan raised one big enough to fill his hand incase he'd have to manually bash this creature's skull in.

Even then she clutched the lantern tightly and glowered at the wolf. In the back of her mind she remembered the ship and the flicker of sunlight. She decided that if she earned the favor of the wolf, she would hold off on destroying this lantern and find that ship. She wanted to learn of its significance about the sun and then she would make her decision then.

The wolf's yellow eyes watched the battle between the light and dark that raged within Anise. The lantern pulsed and colors fought and flickered stormily within it; murderous rage warred against truth and hope. In the end, the remains of Arin's wretched spirit were ripped apart by Anise's strength of resolve. As the princess drew a new breath, the lantern glowed a clean, steady blue.

Behind her, past the silhouettes of trees, lights flashed and swirled in a storm of howling wind borne of the two broken lanterns she'd left behind.

The wolf's snarl twitched and pale fangs flashed, but the princess' glare held steady and clear. For a full minute a growl rumbled deep in the beast's throat, and neither he nor Anise blinked or looked away from the other.

Finally, Reus huffed, quieted, and turned his great head. The glare in his eyes were still defiant and hateful, but he silently admitted his respect for the princess. It was up to her to maintain that fragile trust.

The wolf's eyes narrowed in warning, and like a great sphinx he sank to the ground. His enormous head was level with Anise now, and he sniffed her suspiciously. An ear twitched. He looked away from her, and he stared at the lights that flashed beyond the trees.

"There actually is something that I do wish, I wish that the moody princess could be stopped in a non-fatal fashion. In return of this favour I will offer you a tribute, I will offer you the eye-sight of the Pirate Rhea"

Immediately, all around Anise the shadows seemed to grow darker, more opaque, solid black and moving. The light of the Spirit lantern struggled and seemed to fade as darkness wrapped around the princess and the wolf. Reus growled again and his hackles raised. The air was getting colder. He pushed roughly at Anise with his muzzle, toward his back.

A swarm of something flitted in droves among the shadows, gathering closer as the lantern light dimmed.

"Tyaelaem don't take out the Wolf, he isn't nearly as useful here without information however accurate or corrupt it may be. Go for the pirate the one who is feeding him such extremely contradicting information Ty."

Tyaelaem's head twitched toward Simon; he had heard clearly, but that moment was all Talan needed to get his hands around the Kith's throat. Tyaelaem wrenched and thrashed in shock, and his back slammed into the ground with Talan over him.

he squeezed harder trying to kill the damned creature. Eventually the pain faded by the adrenaline. Talan used the magic of the amulet to raise various stones around them. He was going to make sure this thing was dead by the time they moved on from here. Of all the rocks around them, Talan raised one big enough to fill his hand incase he'd have to manually bash this creature's skull in.

Tyaelaem gagged and gurgled; his body flickered and his limbs thrashed with a speed faster than the eye could see, but Talan's grip was too firm. As long as the Kith's feet were not under him, he couldn't run, couldn't take advantage of the quickness that the rabbit mask gave to him.

Frantic, the Kith scrabbled and scraped sharp nails into Talan's face and arms. And then came the blow of a rock to the head. The rabbit mask cracked like an egg, spattered with blood.

Tyaelaem suddenly went still. The blue glow of his eyes snuffed out.

Beneath the mask was a boy no more than twelve years old -- as human as Talan himself -- hollow eyes wide and mouth open in shock.

But Simon would see something else through the eyes of the fox: a new shadow stood up out of the child's corpse, with the same shape and height as the dead boy.

All of the shadows that wandered the forest were the souls of the dead, who were never permitted to move on from this world. The flowers had the power to summon them.

Fyair’s scrambled thoughts struggled to grasp anything solid or retain the magnitude of the situation. All he wanted was for it to stop. He wanted the madness to dissipate far away and leave him be. Casting away the sword and purple lantern he chose the dragon, with no more reason than he wanted some peace and quiet.

Rhea -- who had been shielding her face from the wind and light -- saw the flash of the violet lantern and her comrade's sword being cast away, and she dove for them and snatched them up. A jolt of electricity sparked all around her, and her face and hands for a flicker of a moment appeared as bone and sinew, an illusion of the lantern she held. She pressed the tattoo of her palm against the shell of the violet egg within the lantern, and the purple glow flickered and dimmed while she shook in pain. The egg would only be quieted temporarily.

"Talan!" she called out, pushing herself to her feet using the electric sword. Her tattooed hand had been burned an angry red. "Retreat to the village, we need to repair this before it starts hatching." She held up the violet lantern, which was only barely contained within the shattering iron casing. She peered across at Fyair -- she didn't have enough power to contain the green lantern as well.

Fyair, meanwhile, was engulfed in shattering pain. His bones felt like they were being crushed, and his hand was frozen around the green lantern no matter how much he might try to let go of it.

The winds died down and dissipated. The stone around Fyair crumbled into rubble at his feet, and he could move again. The glow of the green lantern calmed, but the egg inside was now hot, and the cracks in the iron casing were slowly widening.

Scales shimmered just beneath Fyair's skin. His bones and his grip were strong as stone. The mountainous man had become impenetrable through the dragon's protection.

Anise made eye contact with the wolf for what seemed to be forever, but even then she didn't back down. Finally Reus seemed to concede to her, but even then she felt she couldn't relax. Begrudgingly, she seemed to have earned its respect. He glanced over at the flashing lights that came from the clearing where everyone else was and Anise didn't follow his gaze. She knew that there were only enemies over there that would impede her and she trusted Tyaelaem to be able to escape himself. Then the shadows seemed to wrap around Reus, her, and the blue lantern and Reus shoved her behind him.

She moved behind him, but first she quickly grabbed one of the white wooden masks that were on the statues, something told her that she would be needing one of these. She wanted to make use of everything she had to free those stuck here even if they were likely to try and kill her while she did so. She knew she couldn't trust anyone; she felt even Reus would turn against her if she showed weakness. She watched the shadows while she put the mask on.

"Once this is over," she said to Reus. "I want to find a crashed ship, can you take me there?"

This darkness, these shadows. They were so thick that even the lantern dimmed. Something felt off about them, but then again everything about this forest was off in some way. She glanced at the lantern. She felt she had to make a decision about these shadows and act fast as they were closing around her and even affecting the lantern. She closed her eyes for a few moments thinking about her next course of action: she could wait to see what these shadows were doing, or she could break the lantern in the hope that it would free her of the darkness.

She sighed, even though she resolved to wait she felt she this was the best course of action. "Here goes." She raised the lantern above her head and brought it down onto a nearby rock as hard as possible to break the egg free.

Simon had never actually watched anyone die before, let alone been killed by another. The whole length of time that he worked with his father he had never seen anyone pass away, his father would usually know when it was coming and would send him to a different room. However Simon could always feel when they had passed away, he could sort of sense when the spirit had left the body and transitioned to a different plain. This was the most horrible thing that he has witnessed, and the worst part was that it was partially his fault for speaking to the rabbit.

As much as he had never liked Tyaelaem to begin with he was starting to slightly warm up to him, but only slightly. It was like that feeling when slowly realize that your enemy could more than likely be a friend in disguise. While Simon stood hanging onto the branch completely dumbfounded one tear found its way to the corner of his eye and managed to break free. The one tear had rolled all the way down Simons cheek until it became heavy and left his chin falling down to the ground landing on Tyaelaems hand that was completely lifeless unlike the bodies previous personality. Simon had slowly began the descent down the tree that Tyaelaem had brought him upon. When he was halfway down the tree he noticed that there was a shadow that had been standing over where the lifeless body had been lying on the ground, half looking over it and half protecting it. Simon felt this way because no other shadows had ventured near the body since it remained motionless.

When Simon got to the base of the tree he briskly made it over to the body and touched his hand and though it hadn't nearly been that long it was ice cold to the touch. He had gotten a much closer look at the face that he had always wondered what was underneath of the mask but never thought it would be in this fashion. Simon sat down and pulled the childish figure into his arms, Simon had began to wonder how his father had went through having to see people die back at his apothecary shop. This was only one but it had shook Simon to his very core. When Simon had a few moments to regain his composure he noticed that the shadow had still been where it had been since his untimely demise. Simon looked over to the shadow and whispered as loud as he could manage his voice to go "I'm sorry Tyael". That was when he remembered seeing a flower in the crook of a tree and figured that he would seek their significant use since most of the flowers that seemed to stick out had had a special benefit. He wasn't completely sure about what it was going to be but he decided to just go for it.

Right before he had tried to draw upon the power of this new flower he figured he would try one more thing before hand. Simon looked upwards and took a deep breathe. Lord of Shadows! The evil that has done this needs to be brought Justice, the princess Anise needs to see the accurate events that have just occurred. Grant me this wish and I shall owe you a favour." Simon now sat next to Tyaelaems body and a shadow that he assumed was his also. He had brought the flower into both of his cupped hands and wondered what sort of thing that he would have to do to 'active' this flowers abilities.

As the horrific, all consuming pain invaded his every fiber and very soul, the knight unleashed an agonizing roar. No matter how loud and earth shattering his scream, it was unable to match the lantern's punishment. There followed a metallic taste as he was certain his vocal cords hadn't been able withstand the strain, but his throat was the least of his worries.

Over almost as quick as it began, the winds disappeared and the pressure started to dissolve away from his body. Fyair's massive chest heaved, his shaken uneven breath the aftermath of pure and real suffering. He wobbled and wavered, exhausted beyond his limits by the traumatic event. The lids of his glazed eyes felt heavy as darkness closed in around his senses. With the last of his strength he teetered and tottered on his unstable standing before finally giving in as his massive form toppled backwards.

However long he was unconscious, it allowed a minimal amount of regain to bring the mountain back to life. He groaned and grabbed at his temples with one hand. What a pain in the ass. Never again would he make such a rash decision to satisfy his deadly curiosity. Fyair frowned as he glanced the skin of his hand and down to his wrist and forearm where he glared at the hidden scales. "What on earth?" He flexed his fingers and muscles, watching intensely as the odd things rippled beneath the surface. His head and hand fell to the side with an agitated sigh. Perhaps he deserved to be trapped in this strange forest--deserved to be assigned to this odd asylum.

Talan knelt next to the body of the dead Kith. His arms and face were scratched and covered in small cuts and scraps yet his sullen look was not caused by the pain. The sight of the dead Kith sent Talan back into his memories, memories of that fateful day. Before him was a sizable encampment, it was set ablaze with the fires illuminating the night sky. Talan could hear the screams of the dying and those about to be slain by the blades of his enemies. The smell of burning bodies filled the air as tears began to form in his eyes. Suddenly and as softly as an evening breeze Talan heard a voice call out to him. "Dreza nil dar vothsi zei...", It was a woman's voice, her words echoed across the plains and seemed to linger before fading into nothingness. The voice vanished as quickly as it arrived but Talan could still hear it as those were the last words he'd ever hear from his mother. "Monah...frilan zei", Talan whispered but those three little words were enough to push him over the edge. Tears began to roll down his cheeks before collecting at his chin where they plummeted to the ground. Though his cries were almost silent Talan was releasing years of pain that after this would only increase. He had failed, he failed himself and his promise to his mother and only now did he realize how far he had fallen. Talan began to loose control, so many emotions, so many thoughts racing through his mind that tortured him until his silent cries became vocal sobs. He laid his head on the ground as he continued to mourn, never having been able to do so before.

When he was done Talan got up to his feet but held his head low as he walked over to where his spear lay. Once his weapon was back in his possession Talan walked over to Rhea. His eyes were red from his tears and made him look as if he was a dead man walking. He spoke but his words were cold and emotionless, "This lantern is lost, we must find the others before it's too late".

She watched the shadows while she put the mask on.

"Once this is over," she said to Reus. "I want to find a crashed ship, can you take me there?"

She closed her eyes for a few moments thinking about her next course of action: she could wait to see what these shadows were doing, or she could break the lantern in the hope that it would free her of the darkness.

"Here goes." She raised the lantern above her head and brought it down onto a nearby rock as hard as possible to break the egg free.

The sleek, narrow mask she had plucked from the lichen-green statue happened to be that of the hawk: the Mask of Sight. Although the forest remained dark, every shape and outline was suddenly sharper -- every twitch and tremble of movement was clear and pronounced and vivid. What was more, she would discover a new understanding of the terrain and her exact location compared to where she had been. She knew that she had first arrived high among the mountains, and had since traveled down into a valley full of trees and plants higher and more monstrous than those on the mountain had been. She had a sense that the land here was vast but surrounded by water, and that the stream she had traveled down not long ago -- the river that cut through the valley -- ran freely to the ocean.

Reus growled low in response to her question -- he was far too distracted by the immediate threat to properly acknowledge her request. He could do little against shadows. His teeth were meant for rending flesh, and there was none among the darkness. As threatening as he made himself appear, there was nothing he could do.

The princess made her choice and the glass of the lantern shattered; the iron casing twisted. A brightness of blue light flashed; wind rushed around her and pushed against the darkness.

The Lantern of Spirit was directly linked to Anise's mind. Once it had been broken and the power was freed, Anise would immediately be able to sense the minds around her. She could feel the strength of their resolve. When faced with a mind that was weaker than her own, she could reach out and bend it to her will.

She would feel the mind of Reus beside her. He was far more intelligent than any beast had a right to be, and his resolve against the shadows was currently equal to hers.

Surrounding her were several dozen weak minds, all being controlled by the Lord of Shadows. The shadows were the broken souls of the dead, turned to darkness and shadow by the power of the Lord. The Lord's mind was powerful, murderous and vengeful, determined to maintain his control over the forest. If Anise wished to influence the spirits around her, she would have to overpower the Lord's hold on them.

Also present was the mind of Simon. He was feeding the Lord of Shadows, fueling the Lord's strength.

And then, suddenly, Simon's mind weakened considerably, and the Lord's strength wavered and became uncertain and distracted.

Simon looked over to the shadow and whispered as loud as he could manage his voice to go "I'm sorry Tyael".

Right before he had tried to draw upon the power of this new flower he figured he would try one more thing before hand. "Lord of Shadows! The evil that has done this needs to be brought Justice, the princess Anise needs to see the accurate events that have just occurred. Grant me this wish and I shall owe you a favour." He had brought the flower into both of his cupped hands and wondered what sort of thing that he would have to do to 'active' this flowers abilities.

Through the eyes of Simon's mask, the darkness roiled and undulated. The Lady of the Pond whispered to Simon:

He says you have not yet paid the price of your previous wish, she said with a smile. He sees no reason to grant you this, if you make a habit of going back on your promises. If you will not take the pirate's eyes, then he will take yours instead.

Meanwhile, Tyaelaem's spirit flickered and moved closer. His blue eyes shone -- though the rest of his translucent body was little more than a shadow -- visible only to Simon through the eyes of the fox mask. Tyaelaem pointed to the flower in Simon's hands, and he made a motion to represent fire.

Simon had set the spirit flowers aflame once before, at the side of the creek when the monkeybats had attacked. The spirits had been given physical form in the shape of smoke.

With the last of his strength he teetered and tottered on his unstable standing before finally giving in as his massive form toppled backwards.

However long he was unconscious, it allowed a minimal amount of regain to bring the mountain back to life. Fyair frowned as he glanced the skin of his hand and down to his wrist and forearm where he glared at the hidden scales. "What on earth?" He flexed his fingers and muscles, watching intensely as the odd things rippled beneath the surface. His head and hand fell to the side with an agitated sigh. Perhaps he deserved to be trapped in this strange forest--deserved to be assigned to this odd asylum.

From where Fyair lay among the weeds and rocks -- bathed in the green light of the broken Lantern -- he had a view of the rustling leaves and the starry sky beyond them.

Big shining eyes stared down at him from a tree branch. The owl hooted low and shifted on its perch, blinking down at the prone giant and the lantern he held.

Deeper in the forest, he would hear the low growl of a wolf and the echo of Anise's voice.

Talan got up to his feet but held his head low as he walked over to where his spear lay. Once his weapon was back in his possession Talan walked over to Rhea. His eyes were red from his tears and made him look as if he was a dead man walking. He spoke but his words were cold and emotionless, "This lantern is lost, we must find the others before it's too late".

Rhea held up the violet lantern, her expression solemn but not at all moved by the death of the Kith. She couldn't understand what had bothered Talan about getting rid of that vermin, but she didn't pry and didn't much care. She shone the light over Tyaelaem's corpse, and thought for a moment of taking the rabbit mask and the canteen of healing water -- but she didn't want to risk drawing the fury of the forest spirits.

"There are two lanterns unaccounted for," she explained to Talan gravely. "A red one and a white one, if the myths are true."

A blue flash of light sparked deep in the woods, and the Violet and Green Lanterns glowed brightly. The Blue Lantern had been broken.

Rhea looked over at Fyair, who no longer posed a threat from his place on the ground -- but now the mountainous man had been bound to the Green Lantern, and was a dangerous presence.

"If you have changed your mind," she called to Fyair gravely, "I'll allow you to follow us willingly to the settlement. Our mages may be able to remove that curse and seal the Lantern. It's your choice." She saw Fyair as a potential asset to the pirates' cause -- to further the development of civilization and to fight back the forest and the Kith. But if that princess came back for him, he might be an equally threatening adversary. It appeared that, for now, he had not chosen a side.

The new power Anise had discovered from freeing the essence of Spirit and wearing the Hawk was a sudden and surprising change to her senses. She could see better than before, and she could sense the minds around her. She had no time to be affected by the confusion that these new feelings and senses brought her. She had to sink or swim here. She felt that she could affect the minds of the spirits floating around her if she could defeat the Lord of these Shadows.

She felt a fresh spurt of energy as adrenaline struck. She felt quite confident that she could actually do it. She mustered all of her focus as she threw her will into the spirits around her. She welcomed them to join her. To become friends with her. To help her. She wanted to be a light for the lost souls that had been stuck here so long. She wanted them to feel her determination and be inspired by it.

"Shadow, I am not afraid of you. I will become a light in this world. One that you will not put out." Her voice was filled with determination and force. She believed that the dragon was actually a force for good and that the Shadow that is here corrupted the dragon forcing those stuck here to seal it away and survive in the darkness. If she could cleanse this darkness and bring back the light perhaps then she could go home.

"Come spirits!" She called out. "Help me. I will free you from this prison. This is no place for you to remain forever."

She glanced at Reus whom clearly only knew to look threatening here. She could tell that he could not offer any defense against the shades. She knew that she was the one that would need to protect him here, and she could not fail in that.

Simon had almost immediately regret asking the Lord of Shadows for another favour so close, he was the "Lord of Shadows" instead of the Lord of Generosity so Simon either had two choices to make; one take the pirates eyes or lose his own. As bad as having shitty vision was he would take it over no vision at all. If only Talan would have acted a little bit sooner or well wouldn't have performed his actions at all he would have saved himself this small pain in the ass. The only thing was how he was going to take the vision of the pirate, taking the physical approach probably wouldn't help to much since she was probably more physically gifted than him but Rhea would also have Talans assistance who he already showed his allegiance to.

"Yeah Pond Princess I know it was a foolish thing to do! Ugh! Why didn't you stop me anyway, you knew it was going to end up being a horrible decision"

Simon honestly didn't know how much longer that he could look at the shadow embodiment of Tyaelaem, to be honest it made him quite sad especially how it had happened. If he hadn't spoken to him maybe this wouldn't have happened, he would still be here with him. However if he was around he probably would be having this kind of morale dilemma, given how their relationship had started. The biggest reason was because that his story seemed a little bit more plausible than the pirates representation of how the past events had unfolded. As he continued to look at Tyaelaem and feel sadness he barely noticed that he was making a symbol for a fire with his hands and pointing to the flower that was grasping. He wanted to smack himself in the forehead for not thinking of that, seemed to be a fairly common trend so far. However Simon really wasn't to sure of how he was going to get a fire started this time and to be completely honest the first time had been a fluke given that he blacked out when the fire had been started.

Simon went and collected some moss and bark from a tree and placed them in a small circle along with some twigs. That was when Simon sat down with two rocks and was determined to get something going. He had struck the rocks together multiple times to no prevail when he had gotten angry and thrown one of the rocks at a nearby tree. After taking a moment to take a breather and collect himself he walked over to where he had thrown the rock and looked around for it. When he got there he seen something out of the corner of his eye, it looked like the casing from one of the lanterns that Anise had shattered. He wondered if this would be just the item that he had needed to start a fire since it was metal and could possibly create a spark. For some strange reason had a slight feeling that this was the correct action to take. He had carefully taking the metal casing back to the small area where he had collected his moss, bark and twigs.

He placed the casing at an angle so that the distance between it and the hopefully flammable materials would be minimal. Simon struck the rock against the metal casing once and a single spark came off it but no fire, the second time Simon thought he would strike it a little bit harder hoping to create a few more so he put a little bit more of a swing on it. This time a few sparks but still not enough, Simon was getting annoyed again and brought the rock above his head and slammed it as hard as he could. This probably wasn't the smartest idea since the fair sized rock shattered into tons of small less efficient rocks but thankfully one of the sparks had caught enough to catch the moss on fire. Simon placed the twigs in a steeple above the fire and placed the bark around the inside of the twigs, it took a few minutes of gently blowing on the fire to get it going but now it was done. Wasn't nearly as simple as the last time but he would take the small victory.

Simon knew it was the moment of truth so he picked the flower back up with both hands gently and placed it as close to on top of the steeple as possible. He had sat there thinking now about how he was going to take the pirates eyes so he wouldn't have to bear that shitty burden from such a hasty mistake.

@Mokley

Two lanterns remained, at least that's what Rhea had told him. The red lantern he had seen before, back when Talan had first arrived in this forest a red lantern greeted him along with a woman he had not seen since then. "I don't know where the red lantern is but it is possible that it's being kept by a woman I met upon arriving here. If she has it our chances of finding her are slim to none", there was a sullen tone in Talan's voice as this meant there was little to no way to return home. "I don't suppose your people have ways of finding these lanterns?", Talan prayed that Rhea would say yes and that finding the red and white lanterns was as simple a task as fetching wood. Of course there was the issue of Fyair. The lantern had transformed him into a beast and now Rhea was offering to take him to her village. "Are you sure that's wise? He may not have his mind later, if he were to attack the village..", Talan was all to wary about letting the abomination follow. If what happened to his clan were to be the fate of Rhea's people it would be a sight all too familiar.

Before anything could be done there was another matter to take care of. The body of the Kith, it needed to be dealt with. By Talan's traditions the body should be burned to ensure its spirit passes on. "Rhea, before we go we should burn the Kith. It feels wrong to leave it here". Talan glanced back at the body of Tyaelaem to find Simon who, from a guess, appeared to be attempting to start a fire. "Simon, what are you doing?", while Talan was okay with the idea of starting a fire he was wary of how it was done since last time it summoned spirits and a myriad of other pests.

"Yeah-yeah. Hoo-hoo to you, too, beast," Fyair addressed the gawking bird and the lantern clinked and claddered in his permanent grip as he attempted to wave up at the feathery stalker. He stared at the lamp as owlishly as the creature above upon him. His fingers... Hell, the whole of his hand felt numb and useless despite the urge of his brain to his appendage to open wide. Dropping the accursed thing just wasn't possible. For a silent moment, he even wondered then contemplated if he could break the bones and remove it by pure force alone. Though, as if on cue, the scales made themselves known and rippled beneath his knuckles. No, also not an option. The owl hooted and he glared pass the lantern up into the branches, "Laugh all you want."

His ears perked at the distant echo of the little princess and finally made an effort to move. Be it the simple crane of his neck to spy into the dark, thick woods. He signed. That girl was more hassle than anything if she were out playing with unfriendly creatures. The mountain waited for a scream of help or even the sickening crunch of bones, but the only sound that came was the voice of a mature woman and lifted his head in the direction of the invite.

The sore knight groaned like the low rumble of distant thunder as he forced his stiff and painful body into a sit. "Ugh... My lady, this feels like a curse! I should learn gambling is a sin," despite the agony, he chuckled and allowed a friendly grin under brows pinched together by pain, "You did give fair warning." Fyair's grayed eyes tracked the warrior's movements to a younger lad he was just now noticing near a corpse he was also seeing for the first time. Did his lantern play a part in murder? Not that he felt responsible, clearly breaking ancient objects had consequences. Wrong place, wrong time for the dead boy then.

"Since you're allowing it, I'd be grateful to follow along," he turned his attention again to the tattooed woman, "You're kind to help a fool with self-inflicted damage." The lumbering man grunted and groaned some more as he heaved himself to stand upon the lead heavy weights he called legs. The whole of his being felt like one solid foreign mass under the changes of the lantern. Gravity seemed like more of a threat than anything in his present state. Wary if he lifted his foot to take a step, the ground would find his back again like a crude cradled. None of others seemed to be in much of a hurry, so he opted to wait. Not wait as much as gather the courage to trust his new form to corporate properly and avoid any more embarrassment than he already suffered. He was useless to his princess as a shaking mountain, hoping if said mages had a cure, he might be able to find her again. Seeing if she wasn't eaten first or continued to play hide and seek. An oath was an oath until death.

"I don't know where the red lantern is but it is possible that it's being kept by a woman I met upon arriving here. If she has it our chances of finding her are slim to none", there was a sullen tone in Talan's voice as this meant there was little to no way to return home. "I don't suppose your people have ways of finding these lanterns?"

"Rhea, before we go we should burn the Kith. It feels wrong to leave it here". Talan glanced back at the body of Tyaelaem to find Simon who, from a guess, appeared to be attempting to start a fire. "Simon, what are you doing?"

"Since you're allowing it, I'd be grateful to follow along," he turned his attention again to the tattooed woman, "You're kind to help a fool with self-inflicted damage." The lumbering man grunted and groaned some more as he heaved himself to stand upon the lead heavy weights he called legs. The whole of his being felt like one solid foreign mass under the changes of the lantern.

Rhea had only opened her mouth to respond to Talan when the sword in her hand began to spark and sizzle with electricity. She scowled at it and shook it, but at least it wasn't harming her just yet. "The spirits of the dead are active," she informed Talan and Fyair, and she nodded toward Simon. "Don't touch him; he's a soothsayer. He'll possess you and haunt you for the rest of your life. The dead or the forest will kill him eventually -- people like him never last long.

"Fyair, was it? We'll get you functioning again, then we'll see if we can find those lanterns. Talan, we'll need you for that. Both of you hang onto me, quickly. We're going for a ride."

As soon as Talan and Fyair each had a hold on Rhea's arms, she closed her eyes and recited a spell.

"Okilee duma, losurna del anni. Tintar." A glowing rune appeared on her forehead, and the three of them were lurched into darkness. Talan would be familiar with the sensation of being flung and of falling: he had experienced it before, when Rhea had teleported him from the quicksand to the bridge over the rapids.

The three of them slammed into a stone floor, where the world spun back into focus. Torches burned brightly all around them -- and above was a clear and unobstructed view of a colossal starry sky. At their feet was a weathered sigil burned into the rock; it looked much like the metal platform that Talan had first arrived on.

Rreeeekkkk! purred a beast that was curled up within the torchlight. It flexed its paws and ruffled its brown feathers, staring at them curiously over its sharp curving beak. Behind the gryphon was a small village of makeshift huts, tents and lean-tos, all illuminated brightly with torches and lamps. People were milling about, sharpening weapons and cooking food. Somewhere a flute was playing, and men were laughing. There were no trees in sight: they were on the flat surface at the top of a mountain.

"I need help here!" Rhea called out, holding the lantern above her head. "Mak, get your ass over here!"

The result was a sudden flurry of action. A man in a robe took hold of the green lantern with one hand and laid the other palm over Fyair's fist. Fyair would feel a surge of warmth before his stony grip finally relaxed. The man withdrew the lantern and handed it off to a woman behind him. "This is extraordinary," the man breathed, turning Fyair's hand to see the scales rippling under the skin. The tattoo of an eye on the man's palm -- the same palm he had laid on Fyair's fist to relax it -- was glowing.

Meanwhile, other villagers took the sword and the violet lantern from Rhea, who was only too glad to be rid of them. She sighed and sat down on the ground; her hands were burned and twitching.

The gryphon began staring intently at Talan -- and eventually it got up, towering high as the biggest of horses, and pushed its beak at him. It wanted the monkeybat bones that hung around his neck.

---

She mustered all of her focus as she threw her will into the spirits around her. She welcomed them to join her. To become friends with her. To help her. She wanted to be a light for the lost souls that had been stuck here so long. She wanted them to feel her determination and be inspired by it. "Shadow, I am not afraid of you. I will become a light in this world. One that you will not put out." Her voice was filled with determination and force. "Come spirits!" She called out. "Help me. I will free you from this prison. This is no place for you to remain forever."

Simon placed the twigs in a steeple above the fire and placed the bark around the inside of the twigs, it took a few minutes of gently blowing on the fire to get it going but now it was done. Wasn't nearly as simple as the last time but he would take the small victory. Simon knew it was the moment of truth so he picked the flower back up with both hands gently and placed it as close to on top of the steeple as possible.

The shadow of Tyaelaem lifted his head to look out toward the trees where Anise had gone. The darkness was gathering there. "Hurry," he whispered to Simon -- and the very fact that he now had a voice was evidence that the burning of the Spirit Flower was working.

---

In the woods, where the darkness surrounded Anise and threatened the light, a single shadow stepped forward. Its form was clearer and its darkness deeper than the rest. It stared at Anise with white shining eyes, staring at her out of the black. It was shaped like a tall old man with rickety armor. His sword was missing from his hip.

While the masses of shadows around him began to lighten and quiver, this one remained black as coal and would not be swayed by her words.

---

Tendrils of smoke wrapped around Tyaelaem's shadow. Now he stood as a mist of a boy's maskless form, glimmering in the smoke of Simon's fire. "Thank you, Lord of Fire," he whispered again. "Soothsayer," he addressed Simon, "focus on me, only me, don't give form to anyone else, it's very important, don't let go. The princess is in danger, I'll save her, I'll rescue her."

Immediately, Tyaelaem's smoky form dashed away into the darkest woods, toward the place where Anise was. Leaves and brush shuddered in his wake.

In Simon's head, the Lady of the Pond laughed quietly. "Haven't you decided to stop the princess?" she asked him. "Why would you help save her?"

---

Before Anise, the shadow of the old pirate she had slaughtered continued to advance, one step at a time. He did not believe her -- he would not follow her, she whom he had been trying to protect when she had smashed his skull. No, he would not be swayed by her words.

Reus snarled and bolted forward. His great jaws snapped upon the advancing shadow, but the spirit of the dead man simply walked through the wolf, continuing toward Anise. The other shadows did nothing: they stood bleakly, gray and undecided, affected by Anise's offer but bound by the old pirate's distrust. Reus snapped at the dark shadow again, to no effect.

The pirate's dark shadow reached toward Anise's head, to touch her mind and turn her to the will of the Lord of Shadows.

The moment Tyaelaem reached the edge of the blue lantern's light -- the glow of the Lantern of Spirit and of Anise's will -- his own body began to take on a light and substance of its own. He charged easily through the gray flickering shadows, and moment by moment his face, his clothes, his fingers and hair, and finally his bright blue eyes became clear, given power by his own trust in Anise.

He made a quick running leap, and slammed a foot into the dark pirate's head. The pirate's shadow dissipated immediately, but it was not gone for good. "Princess!" he called with a voice just as clear as it ever was. Perhaps she might not recognize his boyish face, staring up at her with admiration and urgency. Smoke swirled inside his bright translucent form. He grabbed for her hand, but his own hand passed through hers. So instead he ran past her, spun around and continued running backwards so he faced her. The gray shadows stepped aside to let Anise pass. "This way, this way, quickly, run! Ride the doggy! Doggy here boy! C'mon doggy, good boy, good horsie! Run from the scary shadow man!"

As he waved his arms, the pirate's shadow was forming again. Reus abandoned it and rushed to Anise's side, though he growled at Tyaelaem at the very idea that he would be frightened of something as silly as a shadow.

[edited for minor continuity errors]

Anise stood her ground against the oppressive shadow as Reus valiantly defended her against one in particular. Somehow, she recognized who it was: the old man that she murdered. While it had been in all the spirits she felt she had a hard time picking who each one was, but now that he had presented himself so she could identify who it was. This could only be another challenge. It reached out towards her, an action that she felt actually wasn't a friendly one.

She stood her ground against him. Suddenly, from out of nowhere someone popped up from nowhere and kicked the old man's face causing him to dissipate.

"Princess!" he called with a voice just as clear as it ever was. Perhaps she might not recognize his boyish face, staring up at her with admiration and urgency. Smoke swirled inside his bright translucent form. He grabbed for her hand, but his own hand passed through hers. So instead he ran past her, spun around and continued running backwards so he faced her. The gray shadows stepped aside to let Anise pass. "This way, this way, quickly, run! Ride the doggy! Doggy here boy! C'mon doggy, good boy, good horsie! Run from the scary shadow man!"

She immediately recognized him as Tyaelaem and her heart soared. However, she couldn't agree with his sentiment to run. "Thank you, Tyaelaem." Her voice was gentle and light. "I can't run from this." She faced the reforming shade and again projected her will towards it and its grey compatriots. She had been to the dark side of this forest, and she wouldn't fall to it again, but she also wouldn't run away from it either. She wondered why Tyaelaem was without his mask, but had to deal with one thing at a time here.

She took a step towards the old pirate and held her arms out in a show of her affection. She projected her regret for her actions towards the spirit. "I'm sorry that I killed you." She paused. "You must be angry. I forgive your anger and mistrust. I can't let you possess me, or harm me, but please join me. Watch me." She dropped her arms and took a step towards the dark spirit. Now she projected only determination. "I'll prove to you that I have changed. I will become the Light that this forest needs. This Darkness has gone on too long, wouldn't you agree? No one should live in this." She took another step towards the spirit and spoke with even more force. "And no one should have to stay in this darkness after death."

She threw her frustration out towards the forest and the darkness. Anise felt confident that the whole place was listening. "I am Princess Anise Sinclair!" She declared out towards the darkness. "I have made friends with Tyaelaem the Rabbit! I have been accepted by Reus the Great Wolf! The Spirit of the Lantern has chosen me! I will protect those that have been forced into the darkness, through life and death! I will find a way to free those that wish to be free of this forest and help them find their way out! Those in life and in death!"

She took a deep breath in and let it out in a show of her determination and stared at the old pirate's spirit to wait for its response. She prepared herself mentally for the worst and readied herself against any attacks that might come from him. "Sir, what is your name? Join me and I will do everything I can to find a way to free you from this darkness." She extended her hand to the old man's spirit in a display of friendship. She understood his mistrust of her, but refused to let that cause her to back down. She truly wanted to turn a new page.

A few moment after Simon placed the flower into the fire he thought it might have worked since it gave a burst of purple smoke into the air and Simon heard a all to familiar voice. It was the voice of a departed mask wielding boy. He told him to hurry up. He didn't know why he should hurry in this direction but he was going to assume it was the direction of Anise. Whom might be in some sort of peril because of well ... his hastily made choice. Speaking of choices he had to figure out how he was going to take the sight of the Pirate Rhae when he looked over at them and noticed that she was chanting some words and than glowed before vanishing into thin air. As he sat there perplexed at to what just happened he thought to himself, that he now had no idea how he was going to get retribution for the promise he made with the Shadow Lord. As shitty as his vision is he didn't really want to give it up completely.

This was when his Simons woeful thoughts had been broken up when he heard a voice giving him instructions.

"focus on me, only me, don't give form to anyone else, it's very important, don't let go. The princess is in danger, I'll save her, I'll rescue her."

Simon walked over and picked up another flower holding it cupped in both hands left over right. He sat with his legs crossed and took a deep breathe and right before he started to focus he heard another voice chirp in his ear.

"Haven't you decided to stop the princess? ... Why would you help save her?"

Yes he may have made a quick decision about Anise being the negative force at that split moment in time but the stories that he heard a few moments later and the events that had transpired after that didn't help build a strong case for the Pirates side. He put his head down and tried to focus all of his power on connecting with Tyaelaems psyche.

Simon was now having visions of running through a forest and coming upon some shadows and than he noticed Anise and the wolf from when he was with that crazy old lady. He just have been on the same wave length as Tyaelaem since he was able to see what his spirit had been doing. He just observed and focused all his might since that was the masked child had asked him to. Simon followed orders mainly because he had been giving him the more sound information. While Simons mind was completely focused on "helping" Tyaelaem his body had an agenda of its own apparently because it was picking petals off of the same flower that he had used to summon Tyaelaem and putting them into the burning fire one by one.

Through Tyaelaem's eyes and ears, Simon would see and hear it all:

She threw her frustration out towards the forest and the darkness. Anise felt confident that the whole place was listening. "I am Princess Anise Sinclair!" She declared out towards the darkness. "I have made friends with Tyaelaem the Rabbit! I have been accepted by Reus the Great Wolf! The Spirit of the Lantern has chosen me! I will protect those that have been forced into the darkness, through life and death! I will find a way to free those that wish to be free of this forest and help them find their way out! Those in life and in death!"

She took a deep breath in and let it out in a show of her determination and stared at the old pirate's spirit to wait for its response. She prepared herself mentally for the worst and readied herself against any attacks that might come from him. "Sir, what is your name? Join me and I will do everything I can to find a way to free you from this darkness." She extended her hand to the old man's spirit in a display of friendship.

Simon felt a tightness in his chest, like a hot string attached to his beating heart -- the other end was tied to Tyaelaem's heart, giving him light and life as long as the fire burned, as long as Simon's concentration remained intact. Simon could see and hear everything that Tyaelaem saw and heard. Now, he saw Reus towering above him and he saw Anise's back as she faced the shadow army alone.

The blue lantern grew brighter and brighter, like a small sun, as Anise's will and desire filled it. The gray shadows all stepped back, shimmering weakly in the strength of the light.

The greater dark -- the shadow of the man whose blood coated Anise's hands -- did not change. He stood tall and dark and empty as a bottomless chasm, and he stared at Anise's outstretched hand, and he chuckled.

Deep laughter echoed among the trees. Shadows sprinted among the branches above and slithered in the grass below.

FOOLISH CHILD

The voice rumbled in Anise's and Simon's heads.

Tendrils of dark wound out of the man's dark form, and he grew slowly taller, larger, darker, swallowing the light.

DARKNESS IS THE ONLY FREEDOM

Tyaelaem tried to shout, but no sound came. His form flickered. He jumped and sprinted to Anise's side in a mute panic, blinking in and out of existence.

In Simon's head, the Lady of the Pond whispered: I serve the Lord of Shadow -- and so do you, my love! Her power controlled Simon's body; of its own accord, his hand destroyed the ghost flower in the fire. In doing so, the Lord of Shadow was allowed to feed upon the string of power that connected Simon to Tyaelaem. Simon quickly grew weaker, his energy draining as the Lord of Shadow sucked it dry.

Simon would soon realize that every ounce of life was about to be drunk from him. The Lord of Shadow intended to allow Simon to die in order to destroy Anise and claim the Lantern. The Lady of the Pond rendered Simon's body paralyzed and helpless as sacrifice; she controlled the flow of his blood as she controlled the water. Simon felt his energy and his consciousness being pulled forcefully out of him. His body grew colder.

Tyaelaem had dimmed to little more than a shadow.

The boy looked between Anise and the tendriled Lord of Shadow -- and in a last desperate act, Tyaelaem leaped forward and laid his hands on the blue Lantern.

An explosion of force and blinding brightness flung Anise back, crashing and sprawling into Reus.

The string of power surged and snapped, and Simon was hit all at once with a sledgehammer of bright energy that knocked him on his back. He was again conscious in his own mind, and warmth returned to his body. The Lady of the Pond had gone quiet, and the stone around his neck was no longer glowing.

When the light dimmed again to the Lantern's usual blue glow, Tyaelaem and the shadows were gone and the clearing was empty and quiet -- except for a boy in strange clothes, sprawled in the grass at Anise's feet.

Anise felt cold disappointment as she heard the shade's response.

FOOLISH CHILD

This was not the old man speaking. It couldn't be. This could only be the one behind the darkness of this forest. Anise grit her teeth in bitter frustration. She now realized the dire situation she was in, and now it was too late to escape.

DARKNESS IS THE ONLY FREEDOM

Darkness fought against the light of the lantern and Anise struggled to keep the light up. Her will and her will alone could only do so much. This darkness oppressed her heavily. She watched as Tyaelaem struggled to help her and desperately blinked back and forth out of existence.

"No! This isn't freedom!" She called out against the darkness righteously. "This is oppression! Imprisonment!"

She reached her hand out towards Tyaelaem whom then suddenly leaped at the lantern and laid his hands on it. Suddenly an explosion of force and light threw her back into Reus. Somehow, she barely managed to keep a hold of the lantern which steadily dimmed back to its normal blue glow. Anise glanced around and saw that the spirits and Tyaelaem were gone. She glanced at the lantern and worriedly asked. "Is Tyaelaem in there?"

She had realized during the darkness' attack Tyaelaem was actually a spirit, meaning the boy was dead. She could only hope that his last act to save her gave him the peace he deserved. She glanced around again and noticed an new person laying on the ground. The clothing he wore was unlike any clothing she had ever seen. She knelt to get a closer look at him. This poor soul had been brought here, summoned by the lantern.

Anise checked to see if he had any injuries and smiled when she saw that physically he looked alright. She glanced over to Reus and smiled at him. "We're alright now." She walked over to him and embraced him by wrapping her arms around his neck gently. "Thank you for being there with me. I don't know if I could have made it without you or Tyaelaem being there." She let get and faced the newcomer. "I have a promise to keep for myself. I need to help those that are stuck in this forest." She slowly looked out towards the forest. "New... and old."

She then waited for the newcomer to wake up. She adjusted her hawk mask so she didn't startle him when he did.

It wasn't long until Chris stirred. Being transported from one world to another was quite jarring. Though he didn't recall going to sleep the hard ground and rustling of leaves in the wind alerted him to a change in scenery. He heard a voice that was unfamiliar to him. Opening his eyes he was greeted by a forest, a rather dense one at that. Silently confused, Chris sat up to get his barrings. Before him was a young girl who appeared to have been waiting for him to wake. "Who are you? Where am I?" As far as he could recall there weren't any large forests nearby where he lived.

Taking a second to observe the forest a bit more he straightened his glasses which had leaned to one side when he landed. Aside from trees the figure of a large wolf caught his attention. Even if it wasn't ready to pounce that particular detail didn't register. "Oh god." Scrambling to his feet he grabbed Anise and pulled her away from Reus. Had she not noticed it? It wasn't exactly hiding. By now a million and one questions were going through Chris' head. Very few of them had anything resembling an answer.

Anise smiled when the man woke up. That was a good sign. He sat upright and confusedly scanned his surroundings.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

She bowed her head slightly. "I am Anise. I'm afraid I don't know where here is, but it i-" As she spoke he suddenly scrambled to his feet and grabbed her cutting her off from what she was saying. She glanced around startled before realizing that the cause of his fear was Reus. Anise could empathize with with his reaction, as when she first saw Reus she ended up running away blinded by fear.

She calmly took his hand to calm him down and get his attention on her. "Don't worry, Reus won't hurt you." She suspected under the right circumstances the large wolf might, but these were not those circumstances. She kept her newborn senses up to feel the spirits around her. "There are a few things I need to let you know right now." Her tone had gone from calm to serious. "This forest is different from any place you've ever been. I know this because it's different from any forest I know. Every living person here, so far as I know aren't natives and have been stuck here... I'm trying to find a way out of here. I also want to protect newcomers like yourself from the dangers of this forest."

She pulled away from him and stepped up to Reus' side. She stared at him for a moment before speaking again. "There are things in this forest that you would count as not normal. For example, this night has been eternal and Reus is an exceptional wolf." She looked out towards the Dark with the recent incident still fresh in her mind. She would have to get more powerful to contest with the Lord of Shadow's power. Courage and willpower alone could only do so much. She had to get stronger in order to prevent any more of her friends from coming to a dead end.

She then faced Reus and smiled at him. "Reus, I am going to need to get stronger if I am to bring Light back to this forest. We were barely able to fend off the Darkness this time. Can you help me? I can't rely on the power of this lantern alone. I need to find my own."

The Tyaelaem spirit that Simon had taken control of had made it to Anise who he was slightly excited to see. He was guessing that she would be less excited to see the spirit that he was 'inside' of seeing as he was a lifeline during their earlier moments in this forest. As he was viewing her with the wolf that he had briefly met in the past but couldn't bring the name to his tongue since it seemed like ages since he seen it. As Simon was viewing this he could feel a slight oddness in his human body, almost like he attached to the spirit since when he came upon this scenario it seemed like his heart began to race while making no movements.

FOOLISH CHILD ... DARKNESS IS THE ONLY FREEDOM

This echoed through his skull as if someone was yelling through a megaphone placed right against his ear. Just a few moments after the deep booming voice stopped echoing inside his cranium he heard another voice, a familiar voice that he recognized however this time it had a different tone. Simon could no longer see through Tyaelaems sight but instead it seemed he lost control of his hands since they had reached into the fire pulling out the ghost flower and smashed it into the ground followed by flinging dirt over its remains.

I serve the Lord of Shadow -- and so do you, my love.

He felt like he was being squeezed empty of all his blood and emotions. He started to feel cold and trapped as if someone was closing him inside of a freezer. He couldn't even move a single muscle at this point in time, he was just laying on the ground hazily looking off into the distance. He thought for sure that this would be his few final moments. Such a miserable way to go, completely useless to an entity that he ultimately regrets calling upon. As all these thoughts ran frantic through Simons mind the thoughts slowly started to fade and his eyes became heavy and started to close.

Simon had managed to make his mouth move enough to get out a faint Goodbye World Everything went to black and his mind followed an extremely small string forward through the forest until he was at the location of Tyaelaems spirit, Anise, the wolf. When suddenly he saw Tyaelaems spirit grab the lantern that was in Anises hands and the string disconnected and a blue pulse erupted from the lantern towards Simon following the reverse path that his mind followed to that plain. When the pulse made contract with Simons lifeless body it had launched him backwards landing on his back next to Tyaelaems still lifeless body.

His body slowly started to warm up and regain control of his own movements. As he looked towards the sky he noticed that his vision in his right eye was completely black. Nothing what-so-ever, no light no dark no nothing. He went to move his hand to his eye to see if something was blocking it or something but the recent 'experience' had left his movements a little bit slower. As if he hasn't used them in months. He placed his hand on his eye and noticed that his hand was messed up too. He looked at his hands with his left eye and noticed that they were both quite burned. He wanted to get up and go to Anise since she had the lantern that allowed him to escape his almost untimely demise, however his legs didn't seem ready for that at this exact moment. Simon noticed that the necklace was no longer glowing and something instantly clued in that it was why he had lost control of his body so he slowly and gently had taken off the necklace and placed it on the ground. Simon lay on his back blind in one eye and swore at the top of his lungs!