Artemis ran long after fire burned her lungs and her legs ached with overuse. The Lantern was heavy in her hand, searingly hot – but it did not burn her. Its red glow was the only reason she'd yet to break her ankle running across the uneven forest floor. But at last, her footing faltered and a stray root was higher than she could get her weary feet. She fell to the floor in a tumble, scraping and bruising herself. The Lantern flew out of her hand, colliding with a nearby tree and falling to the ground a short distance away from her.The pain snapped Artemis out of the panicked haze she'd been in since she'd encountered that enormous demon. Hissing in pain, she pulled her aching limbs in to herself, trying to sit upright. Her blood glinted in the Lantern's light.

She looked up from her arms to eye the odd Lantern. Her mind flashed back to the way it'd erupted in furious flames, spurred on by her attack. 

[color=darkturquoise]"<And beware the trapped jinn, with his scorching fury,>"[/color] she murmurred in a language she hadn't spoken in a lifetime. It was a line from a nursery rhyme she'd whispered to her brother so many nights when he'd refused to sleep. The memory surfaced unbidden. But the pain that shot through her at it was a reminder Artemis needed of who she was. And who she was not.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she couldn't stop the way her hand trembled as she reached out to grab the Lantern. Artemis lifted it, eyeing the way the leaves beneath it had been scorched black. The glass casing was still hot to the touch, hot enough to burn. And yet she held it against her naked skin and did not feel pain. She looked down at the steady, pulsing light, and wondered if there wasn't such a creature trapped inside. Waiting to be released.