Tyaelaem grinned a slow grin, motionless while Simon retrieved his glasses -- and then he placed his mask over his face again, hiding his glowing blue eyes from sight.

[color=#92C7C7]"The Lady of the Pond is the Spirit of the Waters -- just like the Sparrow King is the Spirit of the Forest. You met the Sparrow King, I think, yes? Glowy little person with horns?"[/color] Tyaelaem curled his fingers on his masked forehead like little horns and grinned. [color=#92C7C7]"The Lady of the Pond is his sister, you could say, really, Sirrah. Then there's the Spirits of the Wind, Rock, Shadow and Fire. We were chased by the Spirit of the Shadow for a little while, nasty trickster he is -- but you're a Soothsayer, he would like you I think. Maybe he was looking for you. You've been using his flowers and calling his ghosts -- the Fox is the mask of doors and shadows -- sure he's interested I think, I bet."[/color] He pointed with a thin finger at the mask on Simon's head and the flower in his hand.

At that moment, Rhea turned her glowing eyes toward Tyaelaem and Simon. She picked up a shard of rock and flung it -- speeding like an arrow -- straight at Tyaelaem's masked head.

Tyaelaem suddenly grabbed Simon, and in a blur of disorienting movement, suddenly both Tyaelaem and Simon were sitting high on the bough of a tree, harmlessly out of range of Rhea's attacks. The wood creaked and the thick green leaves rustled all around them. From this height, the star-encrusted sky was clear and deep above them.

Tyaelaem scampered like a cat along the tree branch, leaving Simon sitting near the trunk, and he leaned over to peer down at Rhea, Talan and Fyair.

With that last attack, Rhea's eyes returned to their normal dark hue, the power having been spent uselessly attacking the rabbit. She looked between Talan and Fyair -- and to the latter she cast a distrustful glare, though unwilling just yet to fight him for the Lanterns and for her fallen comrade's sword.

[color=#806D7E]"In order to explain the Lanterns I have to tell you the old legend."[/color] Her voice was irritated and impatient; there was no time for a story, not while so many of the Lanterns were so close, and the Kith were already involved. [color=#806D7E]"Centuries ago there was a powerful god or demigod or something that's just called the Dragon. All I know is it was in a prison somewhere. It had enough power to summon a ship from your world, full of airship pirates who were my ancestors. Those pirates had no idea what was going on, because they stupidly released the Dragon thinking it would help them get home again. Instead the world went permanently dark and the pirates were forced to fight for survival.

"After a couple hundred years of learning rune magic, a band of warlocks managed to defeat the Dragon and sealed it into the five Lanterns. The Lanterns were hung from mechanical trees that were meant to keep them asleep -- but something must've happened to the trees, because the Lanterns summoned you people, just like the Dragon summoned my ancestors. This is the Dragon trying to make another attempt at escape, by repeating history. I'm telling you that if the Lantern seals are broken and the Dragon escapes again, there'll be no surviving it. That princess is delusional; there is no way back."[/color]

[color=#92C7C7]"LIES!"[/color] Tyaelaem hollered from the tree above. [color=#92C7C7]"The Dragon was always the benevolent god, everything was warm and bright under its rule, until the PIRATES arrived and decided to take our home for themselves. The Dragon tried to send the evil Pirates [i]back[/i] to where they came from, so the greedy Pirates locked away the Dragon in the Lanterns, and trapping the Dragon CAUSED the forever-dark! The Pirates killed our people, destroyed our forests, and trapped and tortured the spirits and fairies for their power -- but the Pirates were too stupid and weak to use the Lanterns' power like they wanted, so they hid the Lanterns away and made up STORIES about evil gods."[/color]

[color=#806D7E]"You Kith are people just like us!"[/color] Rhea called toward the dark treetops where Tyaelaem's voice echoed. [color=#806D7E]"You're Pirates who've been tempted and brainwashed by those masks! You won't admit it!"[/color]

[color=#92C7C7]"We are the children of the forest."[/color] Tyaelaem's voice had turned to a violent hiss that whispered throughout the woods. His blue eyes glowed through the holes in his mask. [color=#92C7C7]"We were here first, and we will be here long after the Pirates are gone. We will restore the Dragon to his rightful place, the Dragon will send you pillagers back to where you came from, the light will be restored and we will take back what is ours."[/color] Tyaelaem's words conflicted with his ongoing desire to see Anise's kingdom, to visit faraway places and distant kingdoms -- but he still believed in the Dragon and in the rights of his people, especially in the face of a dirty Pirate. [color=#92C7C7]"The Pirates tell you you're stuck here forever. I'm telling you the Dragon will send you home. The Lanterns have done nothing but [i]protect[/i] you, because that is the nature of the Dragon."[/color] He addressed Talan and Fyair, and he looked over his shoulder at Simon. Surely, they would see the truth.

Meanwhile, Anise would be able to hear the shouting match between Rhea and Tyaelaem -- Tyaelaem's voice, especially, echoed in the shadows of the forest all around her.

Those shadows were moving. Something shifted between the trees and in the branches, and Anise would have the distinct feeling of being watched, but without the nightstick to guide her all she would see is darkness -- and the glimmer of the blue Lantern shining on the ground ahead.

There was a corpse lying beside the lantern: it was Arin, the boy she had chased into the woods not so long ago. His eyes were wide, gray and vacant in death, and his cold hand still clutched the lantern. There was no mark on Arin's body, and no discernible reason he had died suddenly.

The tree that stood just next to Arin's corpse was white and dead, and covered in runes just like the one that the Lantern had first hung from -- only this one made no sound, and the gears and springs inside had rusted long ago.

Fireflies flashed overhead. In the light of the fireflies and the glow of the lantern, Anise might see ancient mossy statues standing broken among thick weeds and vines; the statues were of small, thin people -- most of them chipped or missing limbs -- and each statue wore a white wooden mask.

A pair of big yellow eyes stared down at Anise. The beast's hot breath smelled familiarly like rotten flesh.

The huge black wolf had found her again; it stood close to the glow of the blue lantern, its yellow teeth flashing.