Anise didn't have time to even think about being surprised at herself for the force of energy she pulled out from within. She noticed the lanterns flare off in this distance and nearly was blinded by the brightness of her own. As she reached out towards the Witch she recognized that something was blocking the Lantern's power off. The sensation while unpleasant was something she had somewhat expected from someone as powerful as a witch. Worse off, her speech had no positive effect.

[quote]"The Lady of the Pond is an ally of the Lord of Shadow," the Witch shouted factually. "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."[/quote]

Anise shook her head and raised the now-glowing symbol on her hand towards the Witch. "No, I fr-"

She was interrupted when the Witch made another branch smack the mask off of her face causing it to go flying and then wrapped itself around her throat.

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

She struggled as the air began to leave her. Was this it? After all she had been through? This was her end? She didn't want to accept it. She refused to believe that she was going to die here. Suddenly she was dropped onto a lower branch and when she looked to see what was going on, she saw Peck had taken the Witch down. 

[quote]"Hurry and get out of here!" he roared up at her.[/quote]

She nodded once and glanced up at the White Lantern. She had a feeling that this would be her only chance to retrieve this Lantern. She refused to let another one just within her grasp escape her. She reached out with the Lantern towards the branches of the tree. [i]Please, bring me back to the level where the Lantern is.[/i] If they didn't respond, she would climb up as quickly as she could.

She reached for the White Lantern with the assistance of the Blue Lantern in order to see if together they could open the fissure enough for her to grab the White Lantern. When she did, she slammed the side of the Lantern into the metal of the tree trunk in order to weaken the bonds of the Dragon's Egg so they could work in tandem to free each other completely. Her heart pounded with excitement and anticipation.