[quote=Simon]What are you talking about you weird rabbit? What is a spirit weed and what is a soothsayer?[/quote]
Tyaelaem shifted from foot to foot, taut as a wire. The forest hushed around them, and the stream gurgled and sparkled as it flowed. The green light of the lantern had disappeared into the darkness. "Spirit weed grows in starlight, and eats the souls of the dead," the Kith spoke quickly, and he glanced around the forest. "A soothsayer is someone who has a strong connection with vagrant souls and is able to release spirits from the spirit weed -- among other things." He smiled warily, and he hopped and flitted away to stand close to Anise. He felt safe with the princess. Simon's presence made him uneasy.

[quote=Simon]"We should go look for that child with the green lantern since it seemed to have some affect on those weird things that attacked us earlier"[/quote]
[quote=Anise]She then looked back at the torch-bearer who spoke mentioning how the lantern had and effect on the creatures. "I saw him go that way." She gestured down the path he took. "We should leave quickly. I don't want him to get hurt." . . . She started down the path. . . . She had a limp as she walked thanks to the injuries she got from the creature attacking her leg. Her whole body hurt and she hoped that she could keep going under all this stress.[/quote]
"Please drink some of this, Your Highness," Tyaelaem offered, hopping backwards in front of Anise and holding out the canteen full of water from the grotto. "It will help your injuries, Your Highness, and you'll feel very refreshed." He shook the canteen in front of her and grinned hopefully. But soon his mouth turned down in worry, and he leaned closer to whisper, [i]"I think these people might be pirates in disguise and we should be careful and leave them as soon as we can."[/i]

Soon after Anise, Simon and Tyaelaem had begun their pursuit of Kituo, a scuffle and a muffled cry sounded suddenly behind them: something heavy hit the ground, and a red-feathered arrow quivered in the bark of a tree. In the branches above, a cacophony of monkeybats screeched: [i]eeeEEE! eeeEEE! eeeEEE![/i] The white wolf-mask lay still in the grass. Talan was gone.

"PIRATES!" Tyaelaem cried over the screeching, and he grabbed Anise's hand -- and the moment he did, the world went dark for Anise. While Tyaelaem touched her, she could no longer see in the dark. The rabbit-boy yanked her along through the woods. Simon would be forced to run if he wished to follow them by the light of his torch, while the monkeybats sounded their alarm and shadows moved among the night-dark trees.

The path ahead was winding, and led them around great ancient trees and boulders coated in bright green moss; the path itself had long ago been carefully laid with flat stones. In the thick green foliage were old statues, obscured by moss and roots and blooming flowers. As they fled deeper, the screech of the monkeybats dimmed and disappeared behind them, leaving only a peaceful silence. Ahead, Kituo's lantern light glowed.

[quote=Kituo] "I know where some 'monkeybats' were" . . . "Never mind. I'll be on my way." He tried to tuck the lantern under his shirt to prevent the man from seeing it as he walked to move past him.[/quote]
The old man squinted at Kituo, and seemed to foggily realize that the boy was holding a source of light in the vast darkness of the forest he was so accustomed to. He tipped his head at the green light that glowed through Kituo's bulging shirt. "Well hey now what've you got there? Well I might think that's a summoning lantern if I didn't know better. But how could you have that? It's impossible. Come, come, let me see." He stepped forward, his eyes on the light, and he stretched out a hand to touch it. As he came closer, Kituo might see a few more details regarding his person, such as the black tattoo on his palm that resembled an eye. The armor that he wore was etched with runes and sigils, and each piece of armor had a very different arrangement of them. A battered old sword hung at his waist, and an iron pendant hung around his neck.