Anise heard Simon call out to her and catch up which put a smile on her face that no one would see. "Good." Her tone was somewhat bright and sunny like she was genuinely glad to have the company.

The gurgling of the water told her that they were getting closer to the lake. While she could not see them, she could feel the presences of the spirits around them through the lantern. Most of them were weak, but she could sense one that was stronger and could only guess that it might be Tyaelaem. She let them all feel her warmth and let it be clear to them that she offered friendship and hope.

I wish to be your friend. I wish to help you. I wish for us to help each other. I offer you the comfort of Light in this Darkness. She sent her thoughts and feelings out to the spirits around them. She wanted them to know that she was here, and that there was hope.

As they traveled she barely noticed that within the grasses grew rather plain flowers. Perhaps, had it not been for the Mask of the Hawk, she may not have noticed them at all. She dismissively stated. "Hmm... pretty." Her statement was more absentminded than anything. In fact the Castle Riverforde's garden was much more glorious than this by far, but in this dreary place there even the plainest flower seemed pretty.

When the lantern dimmed she halted suddenly and looked at the lantern with a confused expression. Why had it dimmed? Her question was quickly answered by a passing shadow. She made no sound until the lantern lit up and then she looked at Simon. "What do you think that was?" She sounded more curious than fearful as she felt that with the help of Reus and Simon they could handle most dangers.

She then saw the glint of metal as she faced forwards and decided to investigate. To her this was an odd metal statue, but it was an object worth looking over. She couldn't make heads or tails of it and looked towards the river and walked away to give Simon a chance to look at it. "What a weird statue. Simon, have you seen one before? Seems odd to make one out of metal."

She then saw a shadow on the water, which put her on guard until she saw that it was a boat in the light. She saw a Kith with a frog mask and smiled. Anise liked the Kith, they had been nice to her.

"Where you goin'?"

Anise could tell he thought that they were lost just from the tone of his voice. Anise did a quick curtsy in greeting. "Hello, I'm Anise, friend of Tyaelaem." She lightly touched the rabbit mask hanging from her belt with a twinge of sadness from the loss of her friend. "The Pirates got him. My friend and I must get to the lake, perhaps you could help?" She kept up a friendly tone, hoping that the Frog Kith was as friendly as Tyaelaem was.

The soft gentle breeze tickled the small girl’s face as she buried deeper into the mossy pillow under her head muttering vaguely about some idiot not pulling in the curtains last night, curling up farther she tried to ignore the massive pain slowly throbbing as it made itself known in a rather pronounced way.

”Fuck…”

A rather curt word tumbled out of her mouth as she shifted onto her knees pressing her head into her hands as she sunk slightly into the rotting wood. The strange feeling eclipsed the pain as she whirled around looking at her new strange surroundings the sound of water and strange ticking reaching her ears as well.

”Where in the Seven Lands…Most curious…”

For a moment Grayce was filled with a childlike curiosity as she ran her hand across the inside of the ship’s hull, for a ship to be on land was a marvel in itself but for a tree to have claimed it that was something she hadn’t seen before; even the players stories were limited in such regards. The thought that she was dreaming a new play, a new adventure briefly crossed her mind as she approached the tree before stumbling over a rotten board sending her tumbling forward right down into the strange crevice under the tree stopping inches short of have metal gears scaring her delicate features.

The sight of the moving parts took the small girl’s breath away as she drew her feet back to her chest, she had never seen such wonders but in small toys nothing so extravagant as to bring a whole tree to life, looking up she watched in awe as it spawned the entirety of the tree, small segments branching off into the stems and branches of the white behemoth that towards over the ship the small girl had woken up in. Hearing a small snap of a twig Grayce scrambled to her feet turning to climb back towards the safer part of the shift, the soft white glowing light seemingly to follow her with each movement.

The inside of the ship was littered with small patches of moss and flowers, decaying tools buried under them, soft shimmer’s of metal peeked out of as well, hints of broken weapons and bottles. This scene was so familiar, she had read it somewhere walking around again careful to keep one hand on the giant tree where the mast should have been words slowly started to echo in her mind.

” Get rid of their mast, knock holes in the hull, then get back on board."

"You want us to sink her?"

"No. I want her badly damaged but capable of making it back to port. I want the word to go out that the strange ship with the red falcon ensign top is manned by dangerous, hairy maniacs with axes and is to be avoided at all costs."

"That sounds like us.”

The soft banter of dialogue left her lips easily changing in demeanor as if there were two players instead of one reciting the scene, it was from one of the old plays they no longer told, of pirates and lovers, too risque and not close enough to the sea to be popular, but Grayce had spent hours memorizing every play they owned, practiced them, took time writing and copying them with dreams of being able to craft masterpieces of her own, spinning in a slight circle again she took in her surroundings once more committing it to memory as the soft light caught her eyes again, in time she would write down this strange experience be it a dream or something darker.

Her expression was almost serene no sign of the anxiety and curiosity that tumbled in her stomach like a ranging storm, her first look around told her there was no truly safe passage out of her wooden holdings but there were enough low hanging branches that if so choose to she could climb towards the light and perhaps show her a better way out into her new surroundings, the soft thumping of her heart against her chest betrayed her steel composure as she placed both hands on the base of the trunk looking straight up, it was a long way and she had never been the best climber but she was never one to back down from a challenge or a role, reaching up she grabbed a low branch easily pulling her small body up into the tree a jolt of adrenaline coursing through her as she reached for another this time swinging up slightly to grab a higher branch.

“To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature.”

Another line from a long forgotten play.

It was a short play about a hunter teaching his young child to respect the woods and to always give thanks for the life one takes and that nothing should go to waste.

It was one of Grayce's favorites because her adopted parents taught her the same lessons, memories of the caravan and her climbing it as a small child danced across her mind distracting her enough so her hand missed the next branch slamming her back down into a lower one a slight hiss of pain escaping her lips as she shook her head before reaching back up a steely look of determination glinting in her eyes as she moved closer and closer to the bright light and the top of the tree.

---

Water lapped around the bound wooden raft, glimmering thickly with the reflections of stars. The little Kith stared at the mask indicated by Anise, then stared past her at Simon, and then finally looked her in the eye again, breathing through his mouth.

"The lake is forbidden," he reminded her loudly, reciting a lesson all Kith knew by heart. "Everybody knows that." He waited, watching her, as if he expected her to remember and change her mind.

When she didn't, the frog kith grinned and steadied the raft with his stick. "Okay. I never broke the rules before, so if we get in trouble it's your fault, okay?" He waved an arm at them both to come forward. "Ya gotta get on. It'll take a hundred years to walk there and you'll probably be eaten by voles anyway. Everybody knows that. And keep quiet." Although he had been nearly shouting, he gave this last bit of advice in a whisper, a hand against the side of his mouth.

"I'm Morlyenaim," he boasted. "But everybody calls me Morly. I'm the river captain. I know everything about the river. I'll get us there safe." He squared his shoulders and stood tall, holding his stick like a staff. "And we won't even get caught I bet -- WAH!"

The raft shifted suddenly. Reus -- who had stepped on a corner of the raft in an attempt to join Anise onboard -- froze immediately.

Morly waved his stick at the big wolf. "No Reus, you're too big! Bad dog!" Reus returned to the shore and sat down with a huff. "Go back to the witch's house! Go home!" Morly continued waving his stick, showing off to Anise how he could boss around the big scary wolf. Reus huffed again with a sulking expression, but he didn't move.

---

The old man gave her a beaming, wrinkled smile, pleased beyond measure at her fine response -- and he cleared his throat and puffed his chest and looked up at the lantern in serious contemplation. He clasped his hands behind his back, and his armor clanked as he paced around the tree, his face turned up toward the red glow. He stumbled and righted himself and continued on as if he'd meant to do that.

In his observations he stepped up and walked across the metal platform. The runes in the metal did not react to the touch of his boots.

"This lantern appears to be attached to that branch," he announced finally, as if it had taken quite a lot of deduction to come up with that conclusion. "But do not fret, my lady, for I -- Sir Jasper Enright Neary, Knight and Guardsman of Gryphon's Roost -- shall never rest until you have all that you desire."

He approached the tree with an air of confidence, grabbed a fold of the twisted bark, and hoisted himself up with a grunt of effort -- but his feet never left the ground. He stepped back and tapped his mouth thoughtfully. "This ticking tree is a tricky one. Possibly evil. But I will conquer it."

He walked around the tree again, and for a moment he was hidden from Artemis' view behind the ticking trunk. When he appeared again, he was clambering laboriously among the branches above.

Something furry and leathery landed on a higher branch and screeched down at the old man. Sir Jasper waved a hand at it -- a creature that looked like a cross between a monkey and a bat, with bared teeth and long claws. "Shoo, I say!" The motion threw the knight off-balance, and he quickly threw his arms around a branch until he was sure he could continue. The monkeybat cackled.

"My lady," he called after a time, finally crouched at the base of the very bough that supported the lantern. "I must request that you stand in such a way that when I free this lantern from its support, you will be prepared to catch it. I do not think its casing will very well survive the fall." He drew a dagger from his belt, and on all fours he inched along the branch, closer to the hanging lantern.

---

The gnarled and twisting trunk of the tree was pocked with handholds and small branches, making Grayce's ascent much less difficult than it might otherwise have been. She would find a wide splintered gap in the roof of the room, where the tree rose past the deck of the ship, and Grayce -- climbing higher -- emerged out of the belly of the ship and into the cool night air.

The sky was vast and deep and encrusted with a galaxy of stars. From here, Grayce could see that she had indeed just climbed out of the hull of a wrecked wooden ship; it was splintered, mossy and overgrown with weeds and flowers, and had been rotting here on the beach for quite a long time -- but the captain's wheel was still intact, and a faded old blue flag rippled at the stern, remnants of the pirates who had once sailed her.

The water that lapped the rocky shore and soaked the ship's rudder was clear and fresh -- the smooth water that stretched out to the horizon was not the sea, but a vast freshwater lake.

Past the shoreline -- where the ship had run aground -- was a dark, thick forest that chittered and rustled with the night-sounds of creatures.

The great white tree stretched high above. If Grayce were to look up, she would find that she was not alone.



Something huge and feathered was perched on a branch high above. It had the beak and the wings of a gigantic white eagle, but the paws and tail of a lion. It wore armor on its head and limbs and had been fitted with a saddle. The gryphon's rider, if there was one, was nowhere to be seen.

The gryphon's tufted tail twitched, and it stared down at Grayce with a bored and curious eye.

Just above its head, the shine of the white lantern glowed through the gaps in the tree's trunk.

Anise listened as Morly explained that the lake was forbidden. However, forbidden or not, she knew what she had to do. She smiled as he stated that he had never broken the rules before and let her get onto the boat.

"I'm Morlyenaim," he boasted. "But everybody calls me Morly. I'm the river captain. I know everything about the river. I'll get us there safe." He squared his shoulders and stood tall, holding his stick like a staff. "And we won't even get caught I bet -- WAH!"

Anise already liked Morly. He was just as fun and exciting to be with as Tyaelaem was even though they had just met. She was just caught off guard by Reus' sudden attempting to climb into the boat. She didn't think that he would try so suddenly. At least he was careful enough not to capsize the boat.

Morly waved his stick at the big wolf. "No Reus, you're too big! Bad dog!" Reus returned to the shore and sat down with a huff. "Go back to the witch's house! Go home!"

Anise found it quite amusing to watch the theatrics happen between Morly and Reus. Reus stubbornly stood his ground as he was told to go back to the witch's house. Anise didn't like the sound of witch, but remained quiet while she thought of a solution. He probably ran away from the witch and that's why he chose to follow her after they met the last time. "Reus, could you follow from the shore?" She gently as possible connected to his mind using the lantern to get a clear response from him. She also wanted to know anything else he might have to say about Morly.

She faced Morly and brightly said. "Thank you, Morly, I won't let you get into trouble because of us."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at the knight's back. Enthusiastic old codger, wasn't he? But then she paused when she watched him clamber up onto the platform – and the metal remained dull and lifeless. Scrunching her eyebrows together, she glanced up at him and then down to the metal again. Why wasn't it glowing like it did for her? She watched as he climbed up the tree, idly wondering at the sight of a rusty old knight scooting his way along the branches. All the while she took in his words, desperate for any clues to explain her new situation.

"Please be careful up there, Sir Neary," she called. He was the only resource she had. Wouldn't that just be grand if he fell and injured himself when she still had no clue as to where she was? "Have you ever seen such a tree before?"

Her eyes widened when he waved away some bizarre bat-monkey creature.

So chimeras were commonplace, based on his reaction. Ticking trees were not, but not so out of the ordinary as to be wonders. The runes did not glow for him.

Artemis looked back to the man when he called for her to stand under the lantern. She eyed the platform warily. But… he had a point. Gathering herself and clutching her staff just a bit tighter, she stepped up. Sure enough, the runes came to life, their glow mingling with the lantern's crimson light. Artemis stepped forward, trying not to look hesitant, until she was standing under the lantern, arms held out to catch it. Her staff sat upright, leaning against her shoulder.

"I'm ready."

Reus snorted and flicked an ear, glaring stubbornly at Anise -- but he finally sat on the shore with an irritable huff. Anise would once again get the feeling that he highly objected to having his mind probed by the lantern, but this time he allowed her just enough access to assure her of Morly's trustworthiness. The young kith perpetually traversed the length of the river; Reus had never seen him on shore. Morly transported supplies and passengers for Kith and Pirate alike, declaring the river to be a neutral zone, and so was left on his own.

Morly pushed away from the shore with his stick. "As long as we're on the river we're safe. Everybody knows that. But once we cross the witch's barrier at the lake, she'll come running. We just gotta be quick. I'm the quickest, though."

As the raft began to float downstream, Reus stood and began to follow along on the shore. He lowered his head and flicked an ear, peering across at Anise, and willingly communicated with the Lantern.

The last time the wolf had seen the witch, she had been leading Simon away from the red Lantern where the boy had first appeared. Reus would have liked to blame Simon for the witch's disappearance, but his investigations had proven differently.

The witch was gone, as far as he knew. Arin -- the murderer whose corpse had provided the blue lantern to Anise's possession now -- had maliciously destroyed the source of the witch's power and protection. The witch, unknowing, had led Simon into her house -- and then the wild trees had broken into the house and snatched both Simon and the witch away into the forest. Reus had searched for her -- but had found Anise, Randold and Hania instead.

But Simon was here, alive. Perhaps the witch was alive somewhere, too.

The raft was picking up speed, and Reus broke into a trot to keep up.

"So yer lookin' for the pirate ship, huh?" Morly called over the sound of the rushing water. "There's lotsa neat things on the ship, I heard. Maybe even a dragon egg. How're you plannin' to get past the gryphons, then? They like to sit on the mast. Everybody knows that."

---

"Hm?" Sir Neary hummed as he scooted along the branch, knife in-hand. "Oh yes, my lady, I certainly know a thing or two about these ticking trees! They were created by the first artificers, centuries ago, in order to keep the dragon eggs in a weakened state. The clockwork enchantments suck power from the egg continuously, so it may do no more harm." He paused, huffing, and wiped his brow with a gauntleted hand. "The eggs must be kept trapped and separate, or risk the end of this world as we know it. This tree is a very important prison." He put the knife to the glimmering thread that held the lantern.

"But the situation has changed." He sawed at the thread. His voice had changed to an airy hiss. "There's an alternative plan."

The thread snapped and the lantern plummeted.

The tree clanged and clattered, broken with a metallic clamor inside the hollow trunk.

In the same instant, the glowing metal floor dropped out from under Artemis, and she -- with the Lantern glowing steadily red -- fell into the gaping cool abyss below.

As she fell, the form of Sir Neary vanished. In his place was a dark shadow with hollow gray eyes, watching her fall.

Artemis would hear the rushing rapids before she splashed into cold foamy water. The rapids whisked her away down a sloping dark passage, twisting and turning and dropping, and the Lantern tumbled after her.

The speed of the water slowed by degrees, and Artemis dropped, finally, into deep water.

When she raised her head to the surface, she would draw a breath of fresh night air. She had ended up in a narrow river that cut through the forest. Stars glimmered overhead.

There were voices approaching, and a bright blue light that moved along the water toward her.

"So yer lookin' for the pirate ship, huh?" a child's voice said in the distance. There were at least two people aboard a raft, coming closer. It would pass her by within a few moments. "There's lotsa neat things on the ship, I heard. Maybe even a dragon egg. How're you plannin' to get past the gryphons, then? They like to sit on the mast. Everybody knows that."

The red Lantern lay on the river floor, beneath Artemis.

"As long as we're on the river we're safe. Everybody knows that. But once we cross the witch's barrier at the lake, she'll come running. We just gotta be quick. I'm the quickest, though."

Anise nodded as Morly explained how the river was safe, but the sound of witch was a bit unnerving. "That's good the river's safe. How long should it take for us to get there? How quick will the witch take to come?"

She felt a bit of a rush as soon as the boat started to pick up speed. There was no way that they were far from their destination. This left her feeling eager to return the Lady of the Pond to her home and get to her next objective: the remaining lanterns. She knew there was one at the pirate ship, and if she made it there safely then she could get right to work on returning the forest to its natural state.

"So yer lookin' for the pirate ship, huh?" Morly called over the sound of the rushing water. "There's lotsa neat things on the ship, I heard. Maybe even a dragon egg. How're you plannin' to get past the gryphons, then? They like to sit on the mast. Everybody knows that."

Anise opened mouth and then closed it to think a bit. So they were called gryphons? Like the fairy tale monsters? "Do you know any way to calm them and maybe keep them from hurting my and my friends?" She felt she could actually calm them down with the help of the Spirit Egg, but she wanted to have another option available just in case that wouldn't work. "I don't want to have to fight them if I can help it."

She the suddenly thought up an idea as the Lantern passed her thoughts. She concentrated on the egg within the lantern itself and tried to make contact with it. Hello, I'm Anise Sinclair, Princess of Riverforde. I want to help bring the forest back into its proper balance, and there are going to be gryphons in my near future. Can you help me? If the lantern held an egg within it that meant she was carrying a living thing, and this egg seemed to be beyond normal conventions. Thus she thought perhaps she could communicate with it on some level.

Artemis scrunched her eyebrows together and tilted her head to the side as she tried to make sense of his words. Dragon… eggs? Tree prisons? But her thoughts halted when the old knight's voice turned chilling as the night wind. She stood a little straighter, the hairs on the back of her neck bristling. Since waking up she'd felt confusion, nervousness, frustration… but for the first time she felt a very real trickle of fear trailing up her spine.

And then the ground left her. Artemis could only look up to see the haunting grey eyes of the shade – pulled from the darkest corners of her childhood tales – drift farther away as she fell.

She wasn't prepared for the water. It stunned her with a gasp – that she immediately regretted when water rushed into her lungs. Flailing for some sort of hold on the situation, Artemis spluttered and coughed, desperate for air. She was helpless to the currents as they pulled her along. All she could think was that this was how she died. All her life, her pain, her mistakes had lead to this one, confusing, unimportant end.

I want my brother.

The thought suffocated her more than the water did, unbidden and more powerful than it'd been in so long. She did not deserve her brother. But at least she would see him again.

She couldn't do much when she found herself dropped down again, but the water she met was calm and languid. Breaking the stillness of the river, she flailed and coughed some more, blind to everything but the fear in her heart and fire in her lungs. Artemis managed to keep her head above water long enough to cough out most of the water from her lungs. Her eyes watered from the pain, but then it was difficult to tell since water was just about everywhere. Water and voices. As Artemis returned to her senses, she felt more thoughtless panic bubble up inside of her. She didn't have time to register any more than her desperate need to hide, protect yourself, there are hungry shadows here and you don't understand.

I want my brother.

The thought echoed in her head again, sadder and softer, but still desperate. Artemis breathed out ragged gasps as she tried to shove the thought down. Frantic, she looked around for some sort of escape. The voices – accompanied by an eerie blue light – were almost upon her. Soon their owners would see her.

A red glow below her drew her eye then. Artemis looked from the glow to the river's edge, where a brush of reeds grew, to the blue light. Making her decision, she sucked in as much air as her pained lungs could hold, and dove. The river was dark and murky, but not terribly deep. Soon enough Artemis found the lantern and pulled at the heavy shawl pinned around her waist. (The scarf tied at her wrist had slipped away in the rapids, as had the feathers pinned to her hair. The marking painted on her skin were a dripping, ugly mess. She hadn't spent an hour in this world, and already it was dismantling her piece by piece.) Scooping the Lantern up, she wrapped the shawl around it, hoping the fabric would be enough to stifle the crimson light it emitted. Then with all the force she could muster, she kicked off of the river's floor towards the edge, where she remembered the reeds growing.

When Artemis surfaced among the brush – as quietly as she could – the boat was already passing over where she'd landed. She clamped her free hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her pained breaths and pushed herself further into the plants. The swaddled Lantern was held close against her stomach, under the water's surface. Artemis was too focused on the thundering in her heart and the fire in her lungs to notice anything else that might've stalked the shore.

Just as Anise finished her thought, she barely had time to wait for a response when she saw in the water a red glow. However, it was briefly as it went out before she could inspect it more closely. She reached out with the Spirit lantern probing for whomever or whatever was there. There was only one thing that she thought could make such an odd red light: another Lantern.

She decided to take the initiative. "Hello? I saw your light. My name is Anise. What is yours?" Her nerves spiked with anticipation as she prepared to duel in a battle of wills with the Spirit lantern.

Anise nodded as Morly explained how the river was safe, but the sound of witch was a bit unnerving. "That's good the river's safe. How long should it take for us to get there? How quick will the witch take to come?"

Morly sniffed and gave the river bottom a solid poke with his stick. "I dunno. The river's kinda mad. Somebody set the woods on fire and then used the river ta put it out, and a buncha dead critters drownded. I fixed it, but she's still mad. It's okay."

Morly sat down and splashed a hand in the rushing water, as if petting it. "The witch lady shows up right behind you when yer not lookin," was all he would say about that.

So they were called gryphons? Like the fairy tale monsters? "Do you know any way to calm them and maybe keep them from hurting my and my friends?" She felt she could actually calm them down with the help of the Spirit Egg, but she wanted to have another option available just in case that wouldn't work. "I don't want to have to fight them if I can help it."

Morly stared up at her through the eyes of his frog mask, and it was unclear what expression he was giving her. After a moment he grabbed a bag beside him and rummaged in it, and drew out a disgusting-looking fruit -- warty and sickly brown and squishy in all the wrong places. He crossed his legs and bit into the fruit with a squelch.

"Nope," he said with his mouth full.

She concentrated on the egg within the lantern itself and tried to make contact with it. Hello, I'm Anise Sinclair, Princess of Riverforde. I want to help bring the forest back into its proper balance, and there are going to be gryphons in my near future. Can you help me?

Where normally Anise would feel a resistance or a noise of thoughts, within the egg was a deep and vast space. She would have the feeling she was asking her questions of a mountain or the sky -- that her insignificant voice would go unheard. If she persisted, all she would find was an echo of her own thoughts. I'm Anise Sinclair, Princess of Riverforde.

Suddenly Anise would feel a flash of red, and at the edge of her mind she felt the pull of a distant fire. She knew instinctively that the red Lantern had just surged with energy, broken from the confines of its mechanical tree, and was coming closer.

When Artemis surfaced among the brush – as quietly as she could – the boat was already passing over where she'd landed. She clamped her free hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her pained breaths and pushed herself further into the plants. The swaddled Lantern was held close against her stomach, under the water's surface. Artemis was too focused on the thundering in her heart and the fire in her lungs to notice anything else that might've stalked the shore.

The red Lantern glowed brighter as the blue light approached; the swaddled light was warm, almost hot in her arms. Soft trickles of steam rose up as the soaked cloth dried against the Lantern's heat.

Meanwhile, on the shore behind her, something huge and silent approached: a towering wolf the size of an elephant, ragged and black with glowing yellow eyes, slowed down as he caught wind of her scent.

Reus stepped forward cautiously, his paws making no sound on the shore -- but it was clear that this new stranger was no threat to him or to the princess. The dark wolf slipped along the treeline unnoticed, then stepped closer and closer until he was standing directly behind Artemis.

The great wolf stared down at her, ears perked.

She reached out with the Spirit lantern probing for whomever or whatever was there. She decided to take the initiative. "Hello? I saw your light. My name is Anise. What is yours?" Her nerves spiked with anticipation as she prepared to duel in a battle of wills with the Spirit lantern.

Artemis would have the uncomfortable feeling of someone else's thought being shoved into her mind. What are you? Whatever it was was searching her thoughts and memories -- and Artemis would have the distinct feeling that this thing was poised to destroy her if it was displeased with what it found.

It was no wonder Reus hated it when Anise pointed the blue Lantern's power at him.

The red Lantern was getting hotter, but it would not burn her.

Anise, meanwhile, would find a frightened yet determined presence in the reeds -- but the blue Lantern didn't linger long on the stranger. The memory of fire -- bright infernos like the one she had narrowly escaped not long ago -- filled Anise with a thrill of anticipation. She felt a strong urge to move toward the red Lantern despite the water that flowed between them. Limitless destructive power was just within her grasp. She just had to reach out and take it.

Meanwhile, Morly had stood up and jammed his stick in the river bottom, holding the raft in place while the water flowed on. He was still chewing on a bite of the fruit, and he didn't particularly see what the fuss was about.

Anise didn't care for the lack of clear response about the witch, but was definitely disturbed by the mention of her appearing behind her to surprise her. However, she felt confident with her new senses brought through the lantern that even if the witch did appear suddenly behind her, the surprise would be very much so lessened. Her disappointment grew further when Morly said that there was no way to peaceably deal with the griffons.

The vastness of what she felt when she turned her senses into the lantern left her feeling a awed and nearly overwhelmed by the power that she held. Then the flash of red interrupted any further thoughts she might have had about the lantern as her attention shifted to the individual hiding the light of their lantern. She sensed the person was frightened and yet determined, something she felt she could relate to perfectly. After all she felt the same feelings when she first arrived in this forest.

The lantern hooked onto the lantern that the other individual held and Anise saw flashes of fire not unlike the fire that happened not that long ago. The fire that this river put out. Anise could feel the raw power, the destruction that she could reap with that lantern. Beneath her hawk mask she wore a crazed grin very much like when she was in her murderous craze. That darkness she thought she defeated came back to her with a new level of determination.

The temptation to destroy whomever held the red lantern: the Lantern of Fire and take it for herself was very strong. All she had to do was use the power she held now in order to do so. Anise then gripped the Spirit Lantern tighter as she braced herself against the hunger for power and destruction.

Do you not want it? She felt the presence of Dark Anise returning. Poking, prodding, tempting. With this power you could do whatever you want. Why don't you just take it?

Anise closed her eyes and slowed her breaths. No. I will not let you consume me.

Dark Anise glowered dubiously in the dark corners of Anise's mind. Oh? But I am all consuming. You'll succumb to me yet. There will come a time where you'll need me. Why not take advantage of me now? You could use the... firepower to destroy the griffons as the pirate ship.

Anise put up her defenses harder than ever before. No. I have friends. Anise thought of the spirit of Tyaelaem that was still following from a distance. She thought of Reus whom chose to defend her against the Lord of Shadow despite his own lack of power. I am not alone. I am a protector, not a destroyer. I am a light in a dark cold place. She reopened her eyes with a fierce determination. I am the Lady of Light and I will protect those that cannot protect themselves. I will help those lost in the darkness and as soon as I find a way to return home I will guide the lost ones back to where they belong. Those dead and living. She projected this determination through the lantern as if to make a point that she was bound and determined to make her wishes a reality and in order to cleanse the darkness in her thoughts.

There was something… invasive. Something was in her mind that had no right to be there. That was all Artemis could understand as the grip of her hand over her mouth grew painfully tight. Her muscles were tensing involuntarily, as though that in some way would help her fight off this alien force. She was curling in on herself and all she wanted was this thing out outoutoutoutoutOUT! The steady warmth of the lantern in her arms grounded her, and she clung to it like a lifeline. Artemis yanked her hand from her mouth and slammed it onto the river bank in a vain attempt to steady herself.

But she didn't feel the muddy shore. Instead of water-slick dirt and scratching reeds, Artemis' hand met something large. And warm. And furry. The memory of the strange force invading her mind faded as her eyes widened. Breath caught in her throat, she slowly turned to look over her shoulder. There behind her stood an enormous black wolf, with glowing golden eyes. Her hand lay on its paw.

Another demon.

A strangled sort of yelp escaped her lips and Artemis swung blindly with the only weapon she had: the glowing red Lantern. Not pausing in her movement. She scrambled up onto the shore and dashed under the wolf's legs. Her heavy, sodden skirts made her clumsy and slower than she cared for, but all she could think was she had to escape.

Anise put up her defenses harder than ever before. No. I have friends. Anise thought of the spirit of Tyaelaem that was still following from a distance. She thought of Reus whom chose to defend her against the Lord of Shadow despite his own lack of power. I am not alone. I am a protector, not a destroyer. I am a light in a dark cold place. She reopened her eyes with a fierce determination. I am the Lady of Light and I will protect those that cannot protect themselves. I will help those lost in the darkness and as soon as I find a way to return home I will guide the lost ones back to where they belong. Those dead and living. She projected this determination through the lantern as if to make a point that she was bound and determined to make her wishes a reality and in order to cleanse the darkness in her thoughts.

The emptiness stared back at her. The Dragon's spirit was still and dark -- but she had its attention.

The Lantern's blue light shifted to violet, then red, then green, then blue again.

Meanwhile, Morly leaned on his stick and had his fingers jammed under his mask to scratch his nose. He stopped suddenly, and he stared into the woods on the dark shore opposite Reus; gray shimmering forms stepped out of the forest shadows. Four, then ten, then a dozen human-shaped forms flickered closer to the edge of the water. Their gray shapes sometimes darkened, then flashed gray, and then were black as coal. They were coming closer.

Something in the back of Morly's mind connected the color-changing Lantern to the ghosts that were after them now.

"Hey lady," he spoke up in warning, never taking his eyes off the approaching spirits. "Hey lady, whatever you're doin', you should prolly not do it I think, okay?"

And then -- in response to Anise's declaration -- the Dragon spoke. Its voice rumbled in her chest and trembled in her bones. The Lantern flashed white.

A strangled sort of yelp escaped her lips and Artemis swung blindly with the only weapon she had: the glowing red Lantern. Not pausing in her movement. She scrambled up onto the shore and dashed under the wolf's legs. Her heavy, sodden skirts made her clumsy and slower than she cared for, but all she could think was she had to escape.

In the moment Artemis chose to use the Lantern as a weapon, several things happened all at once:

Reus' jaws opened wide in a yellowed snarl.

The cloth around the Lantern caught fire.

Roaring, white-hot flames exploded out of the Lantern and filled Reus' open mouth, billowed over his face, ignited his fur. The light of the fire illuminated the water and the raft, brighter than even the blue Lantern. The wolf made no sound, scraping frantically with his paws at the fire that engulfed his face -- and Artemis scrambled clumsily between his feet, unseen and unharmed.

Reus -- his entire head crackling and bright with grotesque flame -- finally threw himself into the river. The splashing waves threatened to capsize the raft, and Morly struggled with the stick to keep them afloat.

The spirits on the opposite shore flickered and disappeared.

Anise's focus was so strong on the lantern and the other lantern that she hardly heard what Morly suggested. She did not notice the presence of the spirits approaching from the dark side of the river. Before her she saw the colors of the blue lantern shift from violet to red to green to blue again. She then felt the dragon speak with a shaking of her bones. The force of the presence nearly brought her to her knees.

WHY?

Anise's response came bravely against the fearsome Dragon's imposing presence. With everything that I have been through in this Forest I have gone through fear, madness, and death. I have even caused some of it. I met with two different groups, the Kith and the Pirates as the Kith call them. The Pirates believe you to be a destroyer and something meant to be separated and sealed away into the lanterns. The Kith believe you are a bringer of light and a protector of the forest. I have been attacked by one of the spirits that rules over this land, one that controlled dark spirits in attempt to end me before my friends saved me.

With your help, I can now see that there are spirits of the dead still lost here wandering aimlessly with no will left to themselves. Is that not a sad thing? Is it not sad to wither away without a chance of finding peace? To lose your very own self? One would be foolish to believe that everything in this forest was well. There is constant darkness and death brings a new form of suffering.

You ask me why I wish to be a protector? I shall tell you why. I want to bring peace to the spirits that have been here for too long. There are people here that have no real home to speak of and struggle day to day to survive. There ar- She stopped mid-thought as the real reason dawned upon her as she revisited every memory she had of this place from when she arrived to now. She remembered with every raw emotion the struggle she had been through to make it to this point and the people that helped her get here. She then spoke and thought the true reason why she wished what she did so strongly. "No, the reason is... I love this forest and I simply want to do everything I can to make everything better for everyone." As she spoke this she felt several tears roll down her cheeks as pure emotion rolled through her like a storm.

She felt the boat rock as the waves from Reus hit them, and she looked over to see the wolf having leaped into the water in a blaze of fire. She could barely keep her balance from the rocking, but as far as she was concerned her balance didn't matter. The cried out as the water hissed from the fire touching it and the fire itself began to die out. She jumped off the ship as far as she could reach and struggled her way over to Reus with no regard for her own safety. She did everything she could to splash water into the fire and put it out and after several tries she managed to put the powerful flame out. Anise then did everything she could to help him back onto shore and when they made it she embraced him making sure to not aggravate the burns and spoke soothingly to him to calm him down. Much of what she said was repeated. She recognized that her lack of knowledge of medicinal arts would not help him, but even so she wanted to do everything she could to help her friend and protector feel better.

Artemis ran long after fire burned her lungs and her legs ached with overuse. The Lantern was heavy in her hand, searingly hot – but it did not burn her. Its red glow was the only reason she'd yet to break her ankle running across the uneven forest floor. But at last, her footing faltered and a stray root was higher than she could get her weary feet. She fell to the floor in a tumble, scraping and bruising herself. The Lantern flew out of her hand, colliding with a nearby tree and falling to the ground a short distance away from her.The pain snapped Artemis out of the panicked haze she'd been in since she'd encountered that enormous demon. Hissing in pain, she pulled her aching limbs in to herself, trying to sit upright. Her blood glinted in the Lantern's light.

She looked up from her arms to eye the odd Lantern. Her mind flashed back to the way it'd erupted in furious flames, spurred on by her attack.

"<And beware the trapped jinn, with his scorching fury,>" she murmurred in a language she hadn't spoken in a lifetime. It was a line from a nursery rhyme she'd whispered to her brother so many nights when he'd refused to sleep. The memory surfaced unbidden. But the pain that shot through her at it was a reminder Artemis needed of who she was. And who she was not.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she couldn't stop the way her hand trembled as she reached out to grab the Lantern. Artemis lifted it, eyeing the way the leaves beneath it had been scorched black. The glass casing was still hot to the touch, hot enough to burn. And yet she held it against her naked skin and did not feel pain. She looked down at the steady, pulsing light, and wondered if there wasn't such a creature trapped inside. Waiting to be released.

The Dragon was unmoved. Anise would feel the cold emptiness again -- the expanse of indifference that stretched on inside the egg -- but it took what she said into consideration. It still wanted the red Lantern, wanted that fire and destruction, because it belonged to the Dragon. There was no such thing as sadness or empathy -- not yet.

Reus struggled to push his head and forelegs onto the shore of the river, assisted by Anise, but laid down immediately. His face was a horrific mess of charred fur and burned-away flesh. One eye was fused shut, the other only squinted. He breathed, though, and every indication was that he would recover.

Morly beached the raft alongside Anise, and for the first time in years he stepped off onto solid ground. He shifted his weight a little, unsteadily standing on a surface that wasn't constantly moving, then dragged a jug off the raft and laid it down in the gravel beside Anise. "Here's shiny water from the firefly grotto," he explained, pointing at the jug. "That'll heal him right up." The kith patted Reus gently on the head. "I'll go get the scaredy lady okay? Somebody already burneded the forest once."

The little boy wobbled unsteadily across the brush and into the forest, staring around him through the eyes of his white frog mask. "Hey fire lady!" he hollered, his hands cupped over his mouth. "Are you a Pirate? It's okay if you are, ya know, I'm a neutral party." He'd heard the witch call him that once before, and he wasn't sure what that meant but he assumed it was good. "I'm Morlyenaim the Riverkeeper, but everybody calls me Morly, what's your name?"

Anise's tears of concern flowed down her cheeks as she gently pet Reus. The damage caused to him was horrific, but she was glad that it wasn't any worse. She nodded as Morly placed a jug next to her and explained that it was the healing water. She gently started administering it to heal Reus' wounds. "It's alright, Reus. It's going to be OK."

In the back of her mind she thought about her interaction with the Dragon. Something about it seemed off. Incomplete and intent only on its goals. The coldness of it made her believe that it operated only on rationality, not emotion. After she finished applying the water to Reus she took the lantern into her hands and stared at it. Dragon, I do believe what the Kith believe, but I also believe that something happened a long time ago that caused the Pirates to grow to hate and fear you. I do wish to return you to a whole being from your current shattered self. I want to help you. I know that there is a part of you very close, and I know that soon there will be another. If I can I will try to convince the holder of the red lantern to relinquish it to you, but I do not want my comrades like Reus to come to anymore harm from it. All I ask is for your assistance in getting to the next lantern as there are gryphons guarding it.

Anise rubbed Reus' belly after she finished applying the healing waters. "Just rest." She soothingly stated. "I don't want you to push yourself too hard. I need my friends to be well." She cared very much for the well-being of Reus. She then stood up and watched Morly call out to the scared holder of the red lantern. She turned her head towards where the poor girl ran off, mixed feelings in her heart. She felt that the red lantern was a very dangerous thing, not that the Spirit lantern was any less dangerous, but that the direct damage that fire could cause was terrifying. Never before had Anise seen such a color of fire. She did not want that harm to come to her or her friends ever again, but she also didn't want a scared and lost lantern holder wandering around to cause another fire by accident or otherwise. Then there was the fact that she didn't want anyone, stranger or otherwise, to come to harm from the dangers of the Forest, especially one that was new to the Forest.

She held her tongue and waited for the lantern holder to respond to Morly's calls and hoped that things would go well for everyone.

Artemis jolted to attention when a voice called out through the forest. The Lantern tumbled to the floor, scorching more fallen leaves black, and she hurried to lift it. She wasn't really keen to start a blazing fire right next to her. In a forest. A highly flammable forest. Clutching the Lantern to herself, she tried to make herself small as the voice went on. Her legs tensed, ready to take off and run again – away from the people and the wolves and the demons.

The marid.

She wanted to laugh at that. Wasn't that just a bitch of a joke? The girl who'd taken their name and styled herself as their channel to man, and now she was dropped in a world full of them. A giggle was beginning to claw its way up her throat. Or maybe it was hysteria.

Clamping her hand back over her mouth, Artemis bit her lip in an attempt to quiet herself. Focus, she had to focus. What was this stranger saying? Pirates? What sort of name was Morlyanem…mien. Whatever. Her heart was still pounding in her throat, a frantic beat like running feet against the ground. Gods, she wanted to run. But run where? And into what other sort of monstrosity this blasted forest had to offer? The voice didn't seem hostile… but neither had that rusted knight. So basically, either she ran off again into some terrible creature, or she stayed and walked into the arms of a potentially terrible creature. Fantastic.

Her frenzied mind whirled again and again through her laughably limited options. All the while, the Lantern's steady light cast the forest in red dye. The Lantern… it was something she had, at least. She thought back to that terrible flame cast on the wolf. Maybe she shouldn't have had it at all.

Artemis gritted her teeth and pressed her eyes shut. Then, before she could reconsider, she pushed herself to shaky legs. One hand trailed along the rough tree bark at her back, the other clutching the Lantern's cast iron loop at the top. Artemis stepped out from behind the tree to face this new stranger. This marid.

It was a child – a young boy in a frog mask. Artemis' eyebrows pressed together and she didn't have to fake her confusion. Or her fear, or her exhaustion, and hells, it would've been easier to say she stood there before him naked in her turmoil, but she had the feeling admitting that would mean she was truly lost.

So, she did what Artemis did best. She crafted a character. Artemis stood before him, soaking wet and shivering. She'd lost her boots somewhere between the river and the woods, so her feet were bare against the forest floor. Dirt and flecks of blood coated them, as well as up her arms and face. Pale smears of her paint were scattered across her skin, dripping away with the water. Her bright blue eyes shown violet in the Lantern's glow and her silver hair mimicked the stars above. Artemis stumbled a moment, steadying herself against the tree again. When she was no long in danger of falling over, she brought that hand across her body to clasp her arm. She curled a bit behind this makeshift shield, warily eyeing the boy. Her eyes flicked from him to the girl sitting on the shore – with the wolf. She felt her heart rate spike at the sight. If going with the boy meant going back to them… even if the wolf wasn't as dangerous as it seemed, it likely wasn't going to welcome her after she'd seared half its face off. Artemis looked back to the boy and tried to swallow around the lump in her throat. She started shaking her head in a slow, halting motion. Then she opened her mouth to speak in a frail voice.

"<I… I don't understand. I'm sorry.>" She wrapped her native language around herself like a heavy cloak, a familiar weight pressing itself on her shoulders. She didn't know if she was strong enough to move under it. Tightening her grip around the Lantern's warmth, Artemis did her best to steady her breathing as she looked at the child in the mask. "Pirate?" She thickened her accent, the one her tutors had stripped her of long ago, and strangled the word with her memories of home.

Artemis didn't miss the irony of using honesty as a disguise. But she supposed it was unrecognizable on her by now – and as good a disguise as any.

Anise stood between the newly returned lantern bearer and Reus. The red light of the stranger's lantern clashed with the blue light of Anise's lantern. She could feel her shattered lantern's desire to join with the Fire Lantern. The sensation was so strong that she had a hard time telling which feelings were hers and which ones were the Dragon's. She cleared her throat in order to help her clear her own thoughts, but to no avail.

Anise did not reach out with the Spirit Lantern's power to connect with the stranger's mind for fear of the Dragon attempting to do something through the connection. The lady seemed just as confused as she was when she first arrived in the Forest. Anise still felt mixed feelings. "Y-You won't hurt Reus again, will you?" She lifted the hawk mask off of her face and let it rest on the top of her head. The change in the clarity of her vision disoriented her for a brief moment.

The sixteen year-old's dress was in tatters barely covering anything that needed to be covered, total strips missing from the bottom. She wore a belt that was tightened all the way to the max and had an empty sword scabbard on it. Tied to the belt opposite of the scabbard was a rabbit mask. Her shoulder-length brown hair had twigs and knots in it from getting snagged. Her feet were bare and raw from the constant use. Her expression was one of cautious worry.

@c3p-0h

"<I… I don't understand. I'm sorry.>" She wrapped her native language around herself like a heavy cloak, a familiar weight pressing itself on her shoulders. She didn't know if she was strong enough to move under it. Tightening her grip around the Lantern's warmth, Artemis did her best to steady her breathing as she looked at the child in the mask. "Pirate?"

While the fire lady made herself known, Morly wobbled back and forth as if he were standing on the deck of a ship, his hand stuffed up under his mask to scratch his nose.

"You talk weird," he informed her. "Piiieee-rate! They're the ones with iron and armor and magic scribbles. Everybody knows that. Where'd you come from that you talk like a batmonkey?" It was an honest, innocent question.

Meanwhile, the healing water was working; even as Anise soaked Reus' fur in it, the wounds began to heal slowly. The wolf remained still and compliant until Anise stood up to address the newcomer; he then lifted his head and grabbed the water jug in a comical hug between his paws, tipped it, and lapped up mouthfuls of the water as it flowed.

"Y-You won't hurt Reus again, will you?" She lifted the hawk mask off of her face and let it rest on the top of her head. The change in the clarity of her vision disoriented her for a brief moment.

Morly twisted around to see Anise, and his jaw dropped to see that she'd taken off her mask. He quickly looked between Anise and the fire lady, wondering if there was some social rule about masks that he didn't know about. Finally he decided to follow Anise's lead, and he, too, shoved his mask up on top of his head.

The little blond boy was certainly near eight years old, with sleepy brown eyes and a perpetually bored expression.

Behind him, Reus finished his drink and sat up straighter; the wolf's face looked much less alarming now, though it would take awhile for the fur to grow back on those patches of burned skin. He huffed, gave Artemis an annoyed look, and shook the water out of his fur in a torrential spray.

Morly sniffed, still squinting at Artemis. "I think you gotta be careful with that thingy, 'cause you almost caused another forest fire, and that one made the river super mad, and you're gonna get in trouble with the witch, and if you're not careful -- UWAAAH!"

Suddenly, Morly was dangling upside-down in the air, held aloft by the mossy root of a tree. His mask fell into the grass below.

"LEMME GO!"

The root threw him up into the leaves, where he was caught expertly by a branch curled around his waist.

"WHOOAAA GAAAAAHHH BAD TREE! BAD! LET GO! I'M KITH! KITH! FRIEND! WHERE'S MY MASK! AAAHH! LEGGO! DON'T EAT ME! NOT FOOD! BAD!" Morly smacked the branch with his feet and fists.

The trunk of the tree slit itself open like a vertical mouth, revealing bones and fragments from a number of small creatures that had previously been devoured.

Reus only continued to groom his soaked fur.