The Witch's eyes never wavered, and neither did her expression or her squared stance -- even as Artemis laughed uncontrollably, and gave her explanation, and turned her back with the Lantern in-hand. But when the Witch spoke again, the defensive edge was gone from her firm voice, replaced with a guarded question.

[b]"In order to bring you here, Artemis --"[/b] she called to the young woman's retreating back, [b]"you and the others -- the Dragon reached into other worlds and slowly sucked the life out of whatever it found there. For years it's been drawing power from the dead and dying. Now you kids are popping up everywhere. You might fool a Kith, girl, but there have been no strangers on this island in centuries."[/b]

For a moment she glared, but finally huffed a sigh. [b]"Come on, then, come back."[/b] With an awkward scramble and her skirt bunched in one hand, the Witch lowered herself off the roof. She stood bent over for a moment to catch her breath, and straightened. [b]"I'll believe you've got your right mind, at least. So come in and have some tea, if there are any cups that haven't been smashed."[/b]

She grumbled and hiked over tree roots and upturned grass, around to the door of the cottage that had been left agape. Inside was a complete wreck of torn books, broken dishes, scattered dried herbs, a busted clock, jars leaking strange liquids, and a dead tuft-tailed rat in a cage -- it had been stabbed a day ago, the blood was dry. In the corner beside the window, a crude iron bird was perched on the back of a chair.

While the Witch rummaged in the shattered cabinets for usable cups, outside across the barrier two masked children were watching, surrounded by fireflies. They'd come out of hiding, now that the Witch couldn't see them: a skinny boy in a white wooden cat mask, perched precisely on a thin bough, and a smaller girl with shaggy blond hair, hiding half-behind the trunk, staring through the eyes of a white mouse mask. The boy pointed at Artemis and said something to the girl, who craned her neck to see.

[hr]

The lake glimmered with a golden sheen in the blue moonlight, softened by the light of the Lantern. The raft cast shining ripples across the surface.

The gryphon had spotted her at a distance, and watched each of Anise's movements closely. It was white as the tree it was perched in, its lion's tail twitching beneath the bough. The creature was harnessed and saddled, with armored haunches and tended talons.

With Anise's guidance, the raft glided closer to the mossy, broken wreck that had once been a proud galleon. Remnants of a black flag still hung in tatters at the stern, where old windows gaped cold and empty. Vines and flowers and dead white roots had claimed the ship, tearing open the hull, where Anise could see through gaping jagged holes to the rotted boxes and hammocks still inside.

The white tree grew twisting out of the center of the wreck, covered in splintered dead branches, its veiny boughs reaching up into the starry sky. The tree seemed to be glowing slightly from within. The tree was softly ticking.

The gryphon suddenly decided that Anise was getting too close. It shifted its wings and tossed its beak.

[b]"SKRAAK!"[/b]

A moment later, a pirate rushed across the deck of the decaying ship and jumped up onto the railing to see the intruder for himself. He was well-armored in rune-engraved iron and leather.

Immediately upon spotting Anise's mask, the pirate withdrew his sword and leveled it at her. A bright shock of lightning flashed in an arc that would have killed Anise instantly were it not for the blue Lantern. The dragon's egg flashed, and the lightning diverted into the water just beside the raft. The lake flashed and sizzled briefly. Fish floated to the surface.

While the pirate lowered his sword in surprise, the gryphon whipped open its wings and dove for Anise, its talons stretched wide.