[quote]When the force of the current had calmed some, Naia removed the roof of the boat to reveal the sky above them.[/quote]

During the tumult -- while the water hissed and roared against the walls of Naia's ark -- somehow Palla and the little Kith boy ended up clinging to one another for safety, their eyes squeezed shut against the violent shifts and bangs along the swirling waves and barrier trees. The boat tossed and lurched, slammed and spun.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, everything grew quiet. Naia had removed the roof, and only then did Palla and the boy open their eyes to stare up at the sky, clouded by dust and billows of debris. The only sound was the quiet lapping of ripples against the sides of the boat, and the occasional crack of a stone falling in the distance.

The boy wrenched away from Palla in disgust, stumbled back, and turned around to peer up at two blue fiery dots that seemed very different from stars.

Palla shifted to her feet, unsteady on the rocking boat. [b]"The others will wonder what happened. [i]I[/i] wonder what the hell just happened --"[/b]

[b]"Uh, guys?"[/b] The Kith boy straightened his arm and pointed up at the two blue dots in the dusty sky. They moved together, slow and fluid, like eyes. When Pallas squinted, she could make out a dark, enormous shape half-hidden behind the dust-clouds. She could make out a long neck, bony wings, a skeletal and serpentine tail; a lizardlike colossus as tall as a mountain. The creature rummaged in the ruinous rubble of the mountain, and slowly drew out something small and glowing-white between its talons.

[b]"The Dragon,"[/b] Palla breathed. She glanced to Naia and swallowed. [b]"The Dragon is the ancient god of this island,"[/b] she explained. [b]"It was supposed to have been sealed away forever."[/b]

While she watched, the Dragon raised the little white-glowing Lanter up to its bony jaws and swallowed it whole. Sparks of energy rippled along the Dragon's skeletal frame, and leather grew between the black bones of its wings. The Dragon was so distant, so huge, that all this was completely silent to those watching from the boat.

Both Kith and Pirate stared in fascination -- until the Dragon's bright blue eyes spotted them.

The Dragon turned toward Naia's boat, raised its head, and focused its attention entirely on her. The new wings stretched and tested the wind, preparing to take flight.

Palla gasped, put her fingers to her lips, and blew a piercing whistle to call her gryphon. [b]"Naia, it wants the Lantern,"[/b] she said quickly, pressing her hands against Naia's arm. [b]"You mustn't let it have the Lantern. Promise me."[/b]

The gryphon lighted on the edge of the boat, which lilted deeply with the added weight, and flapped precariously. The light of the violet Lantern illuminated its runed armor and frayed tawny feathers. [b]"Take the gryphon, his name is Goldquill,"[/b] said Palla. [b]"Go alone -- go! The Dragon has its sights on you. We'll get to higher ground, don't worry about us. Hurry!"[/b]

[hr][quote]The person standing before him wasn't Artemis. It was the girl she'd abandoned with her family. Still grieving. Still in pain. She couldn't keep from holding her halting breath as she looked up at Oseely. 

Still waiting for answers.[/quote]

For a moment, Oseely only stood staring out at the vision of the Dragon's moving black bones, and the brief spark of the Lantern of Flight before it disappeared into what remained of the creature's gullet. His fingers curled against the ashen bark.

Finally he turned his head, peered back at Artemis out of the corner of his eye. He shifted on the branch and turned his back on the Dragon to face Artemis. With steady eyes he studied her, his mouth set to a grim line.

[b]"It's probable that the Dragon could have attached a link to your bloodline,"[/b] he said, gentle but firm. [b]"Used that link to draw power. Maybe you resisted or you were immune. That bloodline link would've made it easier to summon you over anyone else. The cause is the same, the effect is different."[/b]

Oseely dropped lightly to the ground, but didn't approach. The moonlight shifted in and out of the moving clouds of dust; the burned-out wasteland undulated in the passing shadows, haunting and alive at the same time. [b]"That link -- that same link -- probably still exists. You could give in to it -- or it could be your advantage."[/b]

He waited while she processed this -- grieved, fought, whatever she needed to do. During this time he noted the mask, the glowing stone she'd picked up, the pocketwatch, the lightning-staff -- and the slight sparkle of a green rune on the back of her hand.

[b]"Those people's spirits are what powers the Dragon -- and the Lanterns. Your family, your brother, might be dead, technically. But here, as long as the Lord of Shadow's in charge, the dead never really die."[/b] He tilted his head a little in thought, while in the distance behind him, dark leathery wings shifted in the smog. [b]"Your link is with the fire Lantern, right? That'd be the same part of the Dragon that took your family. I'll bet their spirits are still in that Lantern. All you'd have to do is crack it open."[/b] He gestured to the pocketwatch. [b]"Looks like ya already found the machine that can do it."[/b]

[hr][quote]Wake up, we have much work to do, Princess.[/quote]

Anise would wake to find herself sheltered by a lamplit tent. She lay in a bed of furs, with bandages wrapped around her head. Her old clothes had been removed and replaced with a blue smock-dress. She was barefoot, though soft shoes had been found and set on the floor for her.

The inside of the tent was stacked with books; the oil lamp burned atop one of these stacks. At first glance, something shadowy shimmered at a corner. It took the shape of the old man she'd killed in the woods so long ago, grinning at her -- but he faded when Peck scrambled forward, having just noticed that Anise had opened her eyes.

[b]"Hey, you're back."[/b] He grinned a little, uncertain. [b]"Don't move fast, you're okay, you're at the Roost. There's nothing to be done right now."[/b]

When he was sure she could handle sitting up, he handed her a cup of cold water. Outside the tent, people were running and gryphons were huffing and scratching; murmurs of voices mentioned [i]dragon[/i] and [i]lantern[/i] in rough and hateful voices.

[b]"The white Lantern is with the Dragon now,"[/b] Peck informed Anise. [b]"Everyone sees this as a bad omen, but we know the Dragon's return will be a good thing, right? Just three more Lanterns -- is that how it works? -- and the sun can come back."[/b] He offered her a smile. [b]"You did it. Too bad Pirates are hard-headed and hard-convinced."[/b]