[h3]The Inn[/h3][hr]
Randold? Rhea's expression twisted in confusion. Surely she meant Talan? And then she remembered the big bearded guy who had refused to speak a word, who had dropped into a sinkhole of the Sparrow King's making. The pirate was about to say as much when she was interrupted:

[quote=Anise]"You can't have it! The Lantern is my way home."[/quote]

The violet lantern on the table pulsed twice, then brightened rapidly, growing brighter and brighter until Anise and Rhea were forced to shut their eyes.

The truth of the violet Lantern was this: it alone had the ability to create in the real world whatever the bearer desired -- but it could only bring to life one thought at a time. The Inn had been built by the violet Lantern because Robin had required warmth and food. Now, it recognized Anise as its bearer, and saw that she required something very different.

And so, the inn disappeared.

When the bright violet light faded, Anise and Rhea stood in the dark woods, surrounded by rocks and trees with the starry sky above. The inn had completely vanished, without even a broken twig to mark its passing, as if it had never been there at all.

A cool breeze swirled by them, carrying with it the sound of the waterfall. Not too far along the creek was the orange glow of a campfire. In the grass nearby was the violet Lantern, and the green Lantern rested on a boulder at the edge of the clearing.

A blue light glowed in the woods, not far in the distance. It might be familiar to Anise as the same blue glow that she had woken under so long ago.

But the most curious thing -- more curious than the sudden disappearance of a fully furnished house -- was that a man was now lying at Anise's feet. He was unconscious, at least for the moment, but very much alive.


[h3]Talan's Camp[/h3][hr]
Tyaelaem grinned enigmatically -- and because his eyes were hidden in the hollows of his mask, it was unclear where he was looking or what he was seeing. It was likely that he took pleasure in Simon's enormous hatred, and was eager to see if the older boy would finally snap.

He gestured to Talan that he had no problem with the skinning and cooking of the rabbit -- the beasts of the forest eat one another, after all -- but would not partake, himself.

"The right question," he said after Talan had asked about the inn, "is what is it [i]not[/i]? The Pirates didn't make it, the Kith didn't make it, and it wasn't there before your bridge-boat crashed in the creek. So the only conclusion is that this big house doesn't belong." In other words, he had no idea what that thing was in the woods. He'd never seen anything like it -- the most advanced structures he'd seen were the ruins of the far gully, and they didn't compare to the strong warmth of the inn.

And then, suddenly, a violet light flashed brilliantly through the windows of the inn, lighting up the surrounding trees like a small sun -- and then, in a blink, the entire inn vanished. All that was left were the woods and the grass, the green and the violet Lanterns, and two figures standing silhouetted in their light. The inn itself was completely gone, as if it had never been there.

"Ah, see!" Tyaelaem said triumphantly. "Never belonged, left as quick as it came." He looked between Talan and Simon again, as if disappearing houses was a commonplace occurrence. "So, the Princess tells me she wants to go home to Riverforde. Do you want the same?" He leaned forward on his knees eagerly, still with that knowing grin.

[h3]The Woods[/h3][hr]
Adam awoke with a headache, after having blacked out suddenly -- it was unclear how much time had passed.

He was lying face-down in the grass, illuminated softly by a blue glow. It was night, and the leaves above rustled in the cool breeze. Occasionally he could hear the distant sound of voices carried on the wind.

As he oriented himself, he would find that the source of the blue glow was an old iron lantern with odd symbols etched into the metal. At its heart was a glass orb, inside which was something that appeared to be an egg, which was glowing as bright as a strong blue flame.

Attached to the lantern was a hand, curled around its handle. The hand belonged to a corpse: a young man lay dead, crumpled as if he had been struck down suddenly, though there were no wounds. His gold-colored eyes stared emptily. This was all that was left of [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/66349-lantern/ooc?page=6#post-2085671]Arin[/url].

Not too far away, in a clearing visible through the trees, was a green and a violet light. This was where the voices were coming from.