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

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

[quote]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."[/quote]
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.

[b]"Nope,"[/b] he said with his mouth full.

[quote]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? [/quote]
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]I'm Anise Sinclair, Princess of Riverforde.[/i]

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.

[quote]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.[/quote]
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.

[quote]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.[/quote]
Artemis would have the uncomfortable feeling of someone else's thought being shoved into her mind. [i]What are you?[/i]  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.