[quote]She finally focused her gaze on the Witch all while pulling out any Light she could find within herself out. "I am the Lady of the Light." She projected her voice towards the Witch. "I have been acknowledged so by the Lady of the Pond. I am here to free this Forest of this perpetual darkness and to bring balance back. I need the power of the Dragon and the assistance of the other Lords and Ladies in order to accomplish this task. I will not be deterred."[/quote]

To Anise, her own voice boomed through the starry emptiness that lay deep within the Lantern. There was a deep power in it -- a power that filled her chest and made her senses come alive. Through the eyes of the hawk mask she saw the other Lanterns grow brighter: the green atop the mountain, the violet in the forest at its base, the red in the woods behind her. The blue Lantern in her grasp flared brighter than all of them.

The white Lantern within the tree pushed its light through the fissure in the metal. The tree began to splinter and crack, and the fissure widened; the white and blue Lanterns, together, could force the opening to widen.

The symbol on the back of Anise's hand began to glow again. The lake below her shimmered and roiled, bright with sparks of gold.

To Peck, Anise's voice -- echoing in his head -- caused him to nearly lose his grip on the branch. He clung tightly, and he stared with wide eyes at the tattered princess in the grip of a branch, illuminated in the Lantern's brightness.

But Anise would feel a block when it came to the Witch: she wore several runes on her person that prevented the blue Lantern from penetrating her mind. She stood firmly on the deck of the ship, staring up at Anise with an expression of anger and pity.

[b]"The Lady of the Pond is an ally of the Lord of Shadow,"[/b] the Witch shouted factually. [b]"The Dragon is a trickster and a demon. You are in no way the Lady of Light, who died centuries ago and can never return. You're a silly girl who's been at the wrong end of a bad joke for too long."[/b]

The Witch held up an iron sigil, and a second tree branch flung Anise's mask off her face and into the lake before it tightened around her throat.

[b]"I'm sorry,"[/b] the Witch sighed, no less determined. [b]"You've been brainwashed so badly by now that it's too dangerous to let you live."[/b]

The branch around Anise's throat cut off her air. The blue Lantern flashed even brighter; the lake churned angrily.

Peck threw himself out of the tree and tackled the surprised Witch to the deck.

The tree suddenly released Anise and dropped her onto a wide lower branch, safe and alive.

While the Witch was dazed, Peck pinned her down with a knee, grabbed her iron sigil and flung it into the lake. He frowned up at Anise, craning his neck to see her illuminated form against the stars. [b]"Hurry and get out of here!"[/b] he roared up at her.

[hr]

The gryphon had warbled and nuzzled Artemis in response to her attentions, and would have been content to have spent the night being pet -- but then she ran off to the Witch's house, and the gryphon trotted hopefully after her. It stared in the window while she scavenged for a weapon and armor, and it was already hopping excitedly when she emerged again better prepared than before. It chirped and waggled its tail and flared its wings, happy beyond measure at the idea of playtime.

And then, the staff was spinning in the air and the gryphon turned its back on her and dropped its hindquarters like a cat ready to pounce, wings stretched. Artemis would have a split second to act before it launched itself high into the starry sky.

The gryphon flapped to catch the breeze, snapped its beak to catch the spinning staff, and soared gracefully over the moonlit trees.

From this height, the geography of most of the island could be seen. A bright blue light pulsed at the center of a gold-shimmering lake a few miles from the Witch's house; a pinprick of green light flashed atop the lone mountain; a dimmer violet light shone among the trees at the mountain's base; and below, the light of the red Lantern sifted through the holes in the roof. Downstream from the lake, a great swath of the forest was black and burnt, all dead and empty save for a single small fire that burned at its center.

The pirate had been in the middle of a new death threat for the pair of Kith when the silhouette of his gryphon caught his eye. He ran toward the scene, stumbling over the repaired saddle, and he stopped with his head tilted upward in rage. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled, high-pitched -- but a glowing fruit burst its juices all over his face, and the kith skittered away toward the top of the tree, laughing, eager to climb closer to the gryphon in flight.

[hr]

The deer-masked girl and the sparrow-boy jumped aside at Aslynn's armed approach; they didn't dare come near as the ropes were cut -- at least until they had time to assess their new opponent.

The little armored boy rushed to Aslynn's side and clung to her feverishly, gulping back a sob. He'd been taught to be brave and to stand his ground -- and now that he had Aslynn beside him he wiped his eyes and glared in adorable ferociousness as the two masked children.

The deer-girl stood straighter, with the poise of a practiced dancer. She had a long sharpened staff in one hand. She stared at Aslynn through the dark hollow eyes of her mask, and she noted the violet lantern and the expert grip of the sword.

[b]"You're right,"[/b] she said smoothly, taunting. [b]"We don't usually tie them up. We kill them."[/b]

She spun the staff with deadly ease, and launched an attack on Aslynn, prepared to drive the sharpened wood through Aslynn's heart -- but Aslynn had the skill to avoid being attacked, and to attack in return. The deer-girl was an equal match, blow-for-blow -- but at the mere touch of iron, either by the sword or by the lantern, she would back off, burned terribly by the touch.

Meanwhile, the sparrow-masked boy stood behind, spinning a rock in a sling over his head, waiting for the right moment to launch it at Aslynn.

The violet Lantern's glow brightened like a small sun, in response to something that was happening elsewhere. Aslynn would feel a rush of energy coursing through her -- and she would know, instinctively, that anything she imagined was at her fingertips.

She only had to dream it.