[quote]Artemis, frozen, finally forced herself to move. She turned on her heel and made short work of swinging herself onto Nura's back as the gryphon bowed for her. It seemed practice and a pair of pants made perfect. As soon as her legs were tight around Nura, one hand gripping the shining armor on the back of her neck, they took off into the crumbling night.[/quote]

The old man watched after her while the village folk gawped at him in trembling disbelief. Less than an hour ago, they had sent their hopes and a handful of riders along with the Lady of Light in order to defeat the Lord of Shadow once and for all -- and now an opposite truth had been posed to them: that the Lady of Light would end up getting them all killed. For a people who had grown up in reverence of the Lady of Light and in hatred of the Dragon, nothing was more confusing or overwhelming than this.

And so, in silence, the people of the Roost looked to their elder leader for a decision -- for his interpretation of the End of Times, which Sun-Child messenger they should believe, who they should fight.

The old man stared out over the valley, toward the billowing cloud of rock-dust that masked the remains of the mountain and the silhouette of bony wings. [b]"All of you, gear up,"[/b] his voice boomed with authority, a voice that the youngest of the riders had never heard. [b]"We'll find our own and the Lady of Light. Bring them all back here."[/b] While the Riders scrambled, the old man only stared out toward the crumbling Mountain -- then at the retreating figure of the [i]Marid[/i] who seemed to stand for the Lords, the Kith and Men in one force against the Dragon. He wanted desperately to believe in the harmony that the Lady of Light had promised. His mouth set in a thin line.

A swarm of armored gryphons swept away into the night toward the Mountain.

--

The billowing clouds of rock-dust rolled over the island and filled the air; Nura flapped above it, chittering, heading eastward once more. The other gryphons had banked off on their mission, the ground and the water had quieted, and the living remains of the Dragon only shook off the pieces of mountain from its ancient joints, barely visible through the dust. Flashes of electricity at the destroyed Mountain illuminated the toxic clouds like lightning. An eerie silence blanketed the island.

Here, there was only the hush of the wind through Nura's feathers.

Water glistened in the breaks in the dust-clouds, flooded valleys and submerged forest. To the southeast, where Artemis had left the Witch's house, a very different black smoke billowed, laced with tongues of fire. The forest here was aflame with the same strange fire that Artemis herself had witnessed while she'd briefly carried the Red Lantern.

Oyagun-Nai, too, was a pillar of smoke on the horizon.

Only the barren ashes of the burned-out waste remained just as they had been before: bleak and undisturbed, clear of smoke or dust. While the aftermath of the Mountain's collapse settled on the northern part of the island, this small graveyard of bony scorched trees was a sanctuary.

At the southern edge of the waste, a tribe of Kith made camp as close to the trees as they dared. They were frightened of the flames at the Witch's house, driven out of their homes by the smoke, and none of their command over the forest could protect them from the Red Lantern's curse. A campfire had been set in the ashes, and sinewy children in masks mulled around it, drawing in the soot with their fingers and shouting, or sharpening weapons, or gathering the wildlife closer to the campsite and away from the fire. Rabbits, deer, raccoons, bat-monkeys, and a chatter of birds all swarmed the woods that bordered the wasteland, in hopes that the fire would burn itself out soon.

Farther north, a great black wolf -- the size of a small house -- swam across the swollen river. He clambered out onto the ashes on the other side and shook a spray of water from his thick dark pelt. Dripping, the wolf continued on its labored way toward the smoke that rose out of Oyagun-Nai -- then paused and looked back with dull eyes.

A moment later, Kep emerged out of the water and sloshed onto the shore in all his waterlogged armor, scowling hatefully. The wolf snorted and continued forward, with the human trailing behind.

To the west, at the top of the tallest burned-out tree, Oseely stood among the branches to watch the smoke over the Witch's house. The dragon-fire was beyond his control; he wasn't used to this helpless feeling.

[hr][quote]She concentrated on the connection she had with the other eggs through the Blue Egg. 

All she needed to do was getting a simple message across. Help. The survival of the Forest depends on all of us.[/quote]

Anise's consciousness sank into the cavernous depths of the Dragon's soul. For what felt like an eternity she floated weightless in starry nothingness. Then, she saw pinpricks of light: violet, red, green. An ancient wisdom filled Anise, and she knew these lights were a part of her, pieces of her being that had been savagely torn from her by her own children. As she reached out to them, fed them power, they pulsed brighter; she could feel each of them faintly, straining against the Lanterns' cages.

Below Anise, something moved. Bone and sinew soared silent on sharp wings; the husk of the Dragon's body flew straight for a brighter star. She yearned for the wind under her wings again, suddenly vehement against the confines of the Egg, the restrictions of Anise's human body. It wasn't enough, could not be enough to recover all that was lost -- and her greatest weapon lay so close.

At this moment, a weakness overcame Anise. She felt energy draining quickly, power rushing away, something profoundly important leaving her. The stars faded, and she returned to the crumbling cavern.

[quote]As soon as she let go of her focus on the Dragon she felt dizziness force her to her knees.

"Lady of Stone," Anise said wearily. "I am here to speak with you on behalf of your sister, the Lady of the Pond." She presented the Lady's Rune to the cave wall. "She says it is time to release the sun. If you do not believe it I understand, but I ask of you to hear out your Mother's case." She made a serious effort to stand up, grabbed the Spirit Egg from the air, and presented it to the rock face. "It is easy to fear retribution, but I swear upon my life she has no desire to destroy the home she built for herself and her children."[/quote]

While Peck and the gryphon-riders took shelter under an upturned slab of rock -- while the cavern shook and crumbled all around them, and sunlight peeked through the fissures in the ceiling, and the tarred skeletal remains of the Dragon shifted and climbed away from their petrified prison -- the floor in front of Anise shifted. A hand, then a head and body crawled out of the rock. In a moment, the stony shape of a young woman emerged with a cocked head and shining emeralds for eyes.

The Lady of Stone stepped forward with a heavy gait and a cruel grin on her cracked face. She stood over Anise, and while the world fell down around them she peered down with an amused glare.

[i]I know you, Anise Sinclair. You think I haven't heard every damn word you've said since you got here? I [/i]am[i] this island. Let me get one thing clear, girlie: you're a fraud. Everything you believe is a lie.[/i] She shrugged, her stony mouth turned in a smirk. [i]Not that it matters. I'm kinda sorry you gotta die like this, but at least you'll be buried alongside your beloved Dragon.[/i]

While she spoke, her voice still somehow clear over the crashing rock, the Blue Egg was fading. Anise would feel it cooling in her hand while the blue light dimmed and became smaller deep within. Soon, the light would be gone completely, and the Egg would be nothing more than a husk.

The wall beside her thrashed and cracked. The skeletal remains of the Dragon -- dripping with deep black oil -- twisted and shifted. Joints moved on their own; claws clenched the stone. With a great heave of the Dragon's bony wing, a cascade of boulders and dust let in the moonlight. The Dragon's great head tore free with a gnash of long bare teeth. Its eyes glowed blue.

While the Lady of Stone gaped in horror, the skeleton wriggled out of the mountain like it was nothing more than a pile of leaves, and the mountain itself collapsed in its wake.

A house-sized boulder plummeted down at her -- but at the last moment, a surge of electric current caught the rock, which exploded with a force of dust and static right above Anise's head. Peck was holding out a flickering sword, staring at her in relief. He looked up at the screech of a gryphon and another flash of bright electricity; an army of gryphons soared overhead, dipping in through the widening fissures in the rock, their riders blasting their way through with electric precision. The rescue squad had arrived.