[color=gray][quote=Anise]she lunged at the pirate with her sword aiming directly for the girl's heart. No one else around her mattered at this time, just stopping this threat. Ending this danger. Killing this monster that would dare get in her way.[/quote][/color]
Rhea's eyes flashed bright yellow, and the eye tattooed to her palm glowed the same color, bright against the dark of her skin and the billows of her robes. She did not move to dodge Anise's blow, but instead planted her feet, waiting for the blade to come down --

[color=gray][quote=Talan]he kept out of the darkness and threw his spear to land between her and Rhea. "Stop this, NOW!", he roared at the princess and her allies. "Unless you want these rocks to pierce your skull you will let her speak!" With his free hand Talan took off his mask and grinned at Rhea before saying, "What happened to you? I lost you after we went over the falls"[/quote][/color]

The spear planted into the earth between them, and Rhea's glowing eyes narrowed, her fingers curling around the magic in her palm. It wasn't something she could simply will away; the spell had been cast, and it must be released. 

The moment Talan removed the mask, everything seemed much darker; he could no longer see the shapes in the trees, and where he had been able to discern the depths of the forest all he could see now was black.

Rhea turned her yellow eyes toward Talan, glanced at the mask in his hand, the floating stones and the grin on his face, and she offered a thin bright smirk. She hid her shock: he shouldn't be able to wear the mask while wearing the iron pendant at all, let alone work both magicks at once -- but she had known from the start that there was something unique about Talan. If he could, indeed, wield the strengths of the forest and of the Runes together, he could be the most powerful weapon any of them had known.

"I'll tell you all about it later, pretty boy," she said while she marched forward, and she yanked the wooden spear out of the ground with her glowing hand. The spear itself began to emit the same faint yellow glow. "Right now there's a rabbit that needs skinning."

It hadn't escaped Rhea that the hideous little Kith was manipulating the [i]princess[/i] in possession of the lantern. There was no need to spill more blood than was necessary.

[quote=Fyair]the massive man fed his curiosity into his lantern to study the thing in better detail. It was an odd piece for sure. Looked old and by no means held any kind of fire he had even seen. He shook the object up and down, tapped its glass, and put it up to his ear in a series of tests. Although, with all the shouting and talking, it was almost impossible to prove or disprove the egg theory.[/quote]
The iron casing of the violet Lantern indeed appeared to be very old, but had resisted any trace of rust; it was etched all over with small ornate runes that were very similar to those tattooed into Rhea's skin. The egg inside glowed from deep within, with a living warmth that very gently brightened and softened as if breathing. The shell of the egg -- thick as stone -- was etched with a single rune that glowed brighter than the rest.

Shaking the Lantern did nothing, but tapping the glass caused the light of the egg to pulse gently with each tap. When he put the warm glass against his ear, he might hear a faint swishing sound -- like something moving slowly in thick liquid. There was something alive inside.

[color=gray][quote=Anise]"Retreat with me towards the blue light while they're distracted. With a witch on their side we stand no chance to win."[/quote][/color]
[quote=Fyair]He glared at the boy for a short moment, noting that of all the people in the area, the little rabbit had been the only real antagonist. “Lady, if magic brought you here and magic will allow you to leave… Isn’t a witch a better resource than a handful of colorful lamps?” [/quote]
At this moment, Rhea threw the glowing spear with the speed of an arrow. The wooden spear sped through the air, ripped Anise's skirt, and for a moment it appeared the spear should have pierced Tyaelaem through the heart -- but instead the spear struck the ground, and Tyaelaem had vanished. The grass around the spear withered and turned black, and the spear lost its glow.

Rhea was not surprised; the Kith had their own powers, after all. She turned her glowing eyes on Fyair. "The Lanterns must be separated," she urged him, and she extended her other hand to him, so he might give her the violet Lantern. She looked over at Talan. "Take that Lantern from her," she told him, indicating Anise. "Before she gets us all killed."

[quote=Simon]This was the moment that Simon gotten extremely distracted himself, for the first time in a long time he heard quite an angeletic voice singing softly hopefully just on the inside of his head.[/quote]
Suddenly Tyaelaem was standing next to Simon, placidly watching the scene between the Pirate and the Princess.

"I know you don't like me, sirrah," he trilled easily without looking at Simon, "but I see you've found the Lady of the Pond. I see she likes you. I have long ears, I hear her singing to you, yes. A good friend of the Kith, the Lady."

The voice in Simon's head laughed quietly, and continued singing.

Tyaelaem went on: "You see, the monkeybat-boy," he pointed at Talan, "he can use Pirate magic and Kith magic all at the same time. Who's to say you can't too? The necklace there you've got, it's pirate-forged, like the Lantern, it's a prison but don't break it. Gentle, fragile! But what do you think might happen if you put on the Fox, yeah? What would happen if you gave the nice Lady a drink of the healing waters of the old grotto?"

Tyaelaem showed Simon his water cask -- the same one that he had filled down in the cave when he had first met Anise.

The voice in Simon's head whispered: [i]"Water . . ."[/i]

Tyaelaem hooked a thumb under the edge of his mask, and he lifted it up just enough so he could peek under it, so Simon would see the bright blue of Tyaelaem's eye. He grinned, and held out the cask of healing water.