[quote]If she could project her emotions and thoughts into other creatures perhaps she had the power to make them believe something that wasn't true. She had no doubt that she could make this work.[/quote]

Deep within the Lantern, the Dragon howled. A piercing ringing filled Anise's ears and shot through her skull, tinted violet. She'd attempted to move a missing limb -- and the Dragon snarled with phantom pain.

A storm of claws and feathers rushed up at Anise and whisked her into the air, long talons clamped tight around her. The raft shrank far below her, and great wings flapped higher, banked and turned back toward the broken ship. For a short while, Anise had a view of the island that she'd only seen in the Dragon's dreams: in the darkness and through the hawk mask's eyes, the red Lantern sparked bright not far away; the green and violet Lanterns shone together atop a far-off mountain.

The gryphon dove suddenly and dropped Anise a few feet above the ship's deck. As soon as Anise hit the deck, the pirate slammed a foot down on the Lantern.

[b]"That's a pretty glowy thing you got there."[/b] He grinned down at her, leaning his weight on the Lantern. He was armored to the teeth in mismatched and dented iron and leather, carved with runes and painted with crude drawings of flowers and birds -- as if a child had used his armor as a canvas. Behind him, the gryphon sat down and stared steadily at Anise.

[b]"Where do you think a squirrel like this got a pretty sort of thing like that?"[/b] the pirate asked the gryphon without taking his eyes off the Lantern.

[hr]

[quote]She focused her blue gaze on the witch. When she spoke, her voice was a little less slick, a little less composed. Artemis wanted to kick herself at how her voice seemed to quake ever so slightly, as though she were some lost child. 

"Where am I?"[/quote]

The Witch pumped water into a kettle and watched Artemis out of the corner of her eye, grinning faintly.

[b]"You're in my house,"[/b] she stated factually, as if this weren't the most obvious answer. The kettle clattered onto a grate and with a wave of her hand a little flame huffed to life beneath it. She gestured with the same hand at a chair that was laden heavily with a stack of books -- the only reason it had survived the tree-attack. [b]"Just throw all that stuff on the floor. It's not like it's not all ruined anyway. Sit down, sit down."[/b] She completely ignored the fact that Artemis had yet to cross the threshold, and instead assumed the girl was just a bit dense.

The kettle whistled, the Witch filled a cup, and she pushed aside a ferocious stuffed monkeybat and placed the cup and saucer before Artemis. Tea leaves floated freely in the cup. It smelled like ginger and chocolate.

[b]"If you're looking for a more specific answer, you're in the Forest, which is adjacent to the Mountains, which borders the Wasteland, which is all packed up on the Island, which is surrounded by nothing but water for the entirety of the rest of this forsaken nameless world as far as anyone knows."[/b] She poured another cup for herself. [b]"I know where you come from, and I know you can't go back. I'm sorry but you're stuck here with the rest of us."[/b]

The Witch righted a stool and sat down to sip her tea under a broken dead branch that invaded through the kitchen window. [b]"But it isn't bad, once you get used to the man-eating trees and blood-rats. There's a tin of biscuits beside you there, help yourself. When you're done we'll get you cleaned up. I think I have an extra set of boots, and you can pick from the armor closet. The boys leave their trash here every time they get a new enchantment, like I have a use for worn-out chainmail."[/b]

She took another thoughtful sip. The Witch rarely had anyone to talk to besides Reus, who'd gone missing and showed no signs of returning. Her eyes were drawn to the bright red Lantern. [b]"So tell me where you're from, Artemis,"[/b] she said pleasantly. [b]"I bet you're from someplace perfectly normal, where there's sensible physics and civilization and sunlight."[/b]