[color=gray][quote=Anise]She walked up to Arin's body while keeping her eyes on the wolf. "I think I'll call you Reus, you look like a Reus." She pried the fingers of Arin to free the lantern from his grip. She wouldn't let the wolf eat her, no way.[/quote][/color]

The great wolf lifted its chin and glared down at her, bright yellow eyes studying her. Waiting.

The blue lantern, gripped in the princess' thin hand, began to dim.

Images flashed through Anise's mind: she was small, standing in a desert town with a pair of shears in her fist; she was stabbing a dog ruthlessly, and burying the remains before her mother could see; she was older, and saw groups of other young men, and a deep desire to slit their throats overwhelmed her; she was running through the forest with a blue lantern in her hand, murderously chasing after . . . herself?

These were Arin's memories, Arin's dark emotions and desires. They flooded through Anise like demons, whispering terrible things. [i]Kill, they always hated you, they don't deserve to live. Slit their throats, stab them, let their corpses rot.[/i]

The blue Lantern had sucked Arin's dark soul out of his body, killing him. And now, the Lantern had a grip on Anise's mind, forcing the stored memories into it.

Arin's will had not been strong enough to resist the Lantern's hold -- he had been too obsessed with his bloody fantasies, too hopeless in his own survival to understand what was happening until it had been too late.

Among Arin's memories of tortured animals and breaking quarry stones under the hot sun . . . were flickers of something else. A shadow of wings over a sea of trees. A mountain, with a great stone hidden at its summit. A pirate ship stranded on the rocks of an island. A forest full of masked faces. The sun flickering.

Reus narrowed his eyes, and watched with a low quiet growl.

[color=gray][quote=Simon]Quickly before his arms could get tired Simon took his left hand and swiftly placed the fox mask from on top his head to over his eyes since he felt like it would give him a little bit more courage while he tried to avoid tumbling out the tree.

Simon was thinking of how he would be able to stop Anise from breaking anymore of these eggs without ... Well without having to kill her.[/quote][/color]

It would take Simon's eyes a moment to adjust to the shade of green that he saw through the eyes of the fox mask -- the mask of doors and shadows, as Tyaelaem had called it. Through the eyes of the mask, Simon could see clearer and farther than he had before -- but what was more, he could see things that had not been there before.

On the bark of a tree behind Talan, a keyhole glimmered brightly.

Simon could see a shining path through the woods, lit up clearly by shimmering flowers and flashing fireflies.

He saw clearly that there was a grove of ghost flowers nestled in the crook of another tree.

He saw dark shapes moving between the trees -- the ghosts themselves, walking the line between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Simon had the distinct feeling that he need only summon them, and they would obey his every wish. The mask assured him of this.

Below, he could see the pirate and Talan and Fyair.

The Lady of the Pond whispered in his ear. [i]My brother, the Lord of Shadows, he watches you fondly. Simon. What is your wish?[/i]

[color=gray][quote=Talan]"You've gotten me this far, I trust you know what you're doing". Talan would side with the pirate and help her ensure the eggs stay in captivity. He'd have to hope Rhea would be able to fix the darkness over the world later. As for the man that stood before them with the lantern on his belt, "That lantern you carry, you alone are incapable of protecting it. I've seen what this place can do an nd you alone won't last long. You can stay with us, help us make sure the dragon sleeps. Or you can stand aside alone in the darkness".[/quote][/color]

Rhea's expression remained stony, but she let out a relieved breath. So Talan would remain by her side. She had done well to put her trust in him.

She stepped forward until she stood beside him. In the corner of her eye, she noticed the blue light had dimmed and gone out in the darkness of the forest. "Keep your guard up," she told Talan. Her eyes turned to Fyair, and she saw there a look she didn't like at all.

Rhea stepped to the side, slowly, so that she and Talan might easier surround Fyair if it came to a fight. The eye in the palm of her hand began to glow again.

[color=gray][quote=Fyair]"Two out of three," he called back to the tribesman then grinned at the tattooed lady, "Those are good odds, yeah? For whoever is right and whoever is wrong." Fyair then lifted the green lantern high above his head and without hesitation threw the thing to the ground with all his impressive might.[/quote][/color]

[b]SMASH

WOOSH

BOOM[/b]

A green brightness blinded them all. Shattered glass shot in all directions, scraping bloody gashes over Talan, Fyair and Rhea. Wind rushed all around; the air was yanked from their lungs. A high-pitched screech rang in their ears.

[i]SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE[/i]

Elsewhere in the forest, Reus lifted his great head and looked out toward the brilliant light, ears pricked.

From above, Simon would see the shadows gather around Fyair.

The violet lantern -- which had been previously broken at the bottom of the waterfall -- added its brilliance to the the light. Green and violet winds swirled all around Fyair. His legs became immobile as stone encased his feet, his knees, his thighs. A flickering vision of golden armor flashed on his chest and arms. Tendrils of stone snaked around his chest, around his throat. He could feel the hilt of the sword in his hand, but there seemed to be nothing there but a flash of gold and a spark of lightning. The winds swept all around, the screech reached a higher pitch, the light swelled.

The green was the Lantern of Scales. The violet was the Lantern of Illusion. Now that they were set loose together, they were free to break each other's prison. Their iron casings cracked.

Tyaelaem suddenly jumped and landed hard on Talan's back among the calamity, and he clamped a hand around the man's throat.

Simon could see all of this from his perch, and the green and violet glowing winds whipped around him. The paths were still clear, as were the shadows, the ghost flowers and the keyhole. The Lord of Shadows promised him safety in the darkness. The Lady of the Pond laughed in his ear.