With each step down the cleared path, fireflies flickered and went out, until everything was dark save for the lantern's red glow on the shivering leaves. Artemis might see the fireflies in the distance, moving away in either direction, disappearing in the hollows and shadows.
An owl chuckled. Water gurgled somewhere in the weeds to her left. Ahead, the chopping sound paused.
A tree to her right shifted and creaked in a way a tree had no right to move on its own.
Ahead, there was a light: a steady, pale yellow glow at the center of a grassy, circular clearing. The boundary of the clearing was clearly marked by a ring of iron plates set into the ground, as if the iron were responsible for keeping the trees at bay. Artemis' path ended abruptly at the ring of iron. Runes had been carved into the metal, just like the ones in the platform on which she had first appeared -- and which had dropped her into the water without notice.
chop. chop. chop.
At the center of the grassy clearing was a wooden cottage. A dead tree was wrapped around it, branches thrust into the windows and roots encircling the foundation, as if the tree had been in the middle of attacking the cottage when it died. The cause of its death was clear enough: a burn mark in the trunk, in the shape of a rune.
The source of the yellow light was a cluster of glowing, jellylike fruit that had been hung from one of the dead tree's high branches.
"I. Am. Too. Old. For. This." an old woman huffed with each chop of the axe. A branch cracked dropped with a satisfying crash to the ground. The old woman -- with a bandage on her head, a coarse brown dress and a weathered axe in her hands -- scooched around on the cottage roof to get a better angle, and continued chopping at the tree that had invaded her house.
Something moved in the woods just beyond the iron barrier. Artemis would see a flash of a white mask and a thin, childlike figure hiding quickly behind a boulder.
The Dragon was not pleased. Anise would feel nothing but hollow emptiness within the Lantern as she was once again ignored. Her thoughts and her attempts to communicate were lost in the abyss, and instead there was only the echo of her own mind -- as well as a lingering residue of Arin's murderous thoughts. The boy had held the Lantern far longer, and had made a fine impression.
"I'm okay," Morly huffed grumpily, puffing his cheeks. "I have a thick head."
The dragonfire inferno, meanwhile, did not spread. It remained a steady and controlled barrier, bright and fierce. It seemed it would burn for days.
Morly shoved his weight against the pole, and the raft was once again in motion. The moon-sparkled water glided past, and the dragonfire was left behind.
Reus walked along the shore, following. His face was still an ugly patchwork of skin and tufts of singed fur, and one eye was still half-swollen, but he moved easily and without pain.
Morly stood still with the pole in his hands, and the water once again took them along at a quickening pace, far faster than the current should have allowed. The masks each had their own powers, and Morly's was no different.
"Why are girls stupid?" he said finally, unable to contain his complaints. "They just ruin everything!"
The raft passed between high sheer cliffs, and Reus was forced to stop; there was no longer a shore to run on. The wolf circled for a moment before he splashed into the water and paddled after them -- much slower, but he would not lose his way.
The moon glowed bright, high between the cliffs. The calm water echoed against the rock. So did Morly's voice.
"They steal stuff and go running off and they say they're gonna come back with glowfruits and they never do!" Somehow, his experiences with Anise and the fire-girl had strongly reminded him of the last time he'd spoken to someone of the opposite gender -- and none of it had ever ended well.
The raft stopped suddenly.
Just in front of them, on either side of the river, a rune had been carved into the cliff.
Just beyond the runes, the water was wide and open, shimmering in the moonlight. They'd reached the edge of the lake.
From here, through the sharp eyes of the hawk mask, Anise could clearly see a huge shipwreck in the distance, shattered against the rocks of an island in the middle of the lake. It was overgrown with vines, moss and flowers. An enormous white tree grew out of the middle of the ship. Its branches were barren and dead. An armored, saddled gryphon was perched on one of the higher branches.
"If we cross this barrier the witch will get us," Morly whined loudly. Whatever pep talk Anise had given him before had been completely erased by his more recent experiences. "I don't get why we're even doing this. This is stupid. I'm not doing it. I'm not. You can borrow my raft if you have to but I'm not gonna be gryphon food, okay?"
A part of him just wanted to show off, but mostly the sight of the expanse of water had scared him. Morly put down the pole and immediately stepped off the edge of the raft, onto the water. He stood easily on the water's surface, his arms folded in refusal. "I'm the river master and peacekeeper," he informed her. "That barrier is war."
