[color=gray][quote=Talan]"I don't know where the red lantern is but it is possible that it's being kept by a woman I met upon arriving here. If she has it our chances of finding her are slim to none", there was a sullen tone in Talan's voice as this meant there was little to no way to return home. "I don't suppose your people have ways of finding these lanterns?"

"Rhea, before we go we should burn the Kith. It feels wrong to leave it here". Talan glanced back at the body of Tyaelaem to find Simon who, from a guess, appeared to be attempting to start a fire. "Simon, what are you doing?"[/quote]
[quote=Fyair]"Since you're allowing it, I'd be grateful to follow along," he turned his attention again to the tattooed woman, "You're kind to help a fool with self-inflicted damage." The lumbering man grunted and groaned some more as he heaved himself to stand upon the lead heavy weights he called legs. The whole of his being felt like one solid foreign mass under the changes of the lantern.[/quote][/color]

Rhea had only opened her mouth to respond to Talan when the sword in her hand began to spark and sizzle with electricity. She scowled at it and shook it, but at least it wasn't harming her just yet. "The spirits of the dead are active," she informed Talan and Fyair, and she nodded toward Simon. "Don't touch him; he's a soothsayer. He'll possess you and haunt you for the rest of your life. The dead or the forest will kill him eventually -- people like him never last long.

"Fyair, was it? We'll get you functioning again, then we'll see if we can find those lanterns. Talan, we'll need you for that. Both of you hang onto me, quickly. We're going for a ride."

As soon as Talan and Fyair each had a hold on Rhea's arms, she closed her eyes and recited a spell.

[i]"Okilee duma, losurna del anni. Tintar."[/i] A glowing rune appeared on her forehead, and the three of them were lurched into darkness. Talan would be familiar with the sensation of being flung and of falling: he had experienced it before, when Rhea had teleported him from the quicksand to the bridge over the rapids.

The three of them slammed into a stone floor, where the world spun back into focus. Torches burned brightly all around them -- and above was a clear and unobstructed view of a colossal starry sky. At their feet was a weathered sigil burned into the rock; it looked much like the metal platform that Talan had first arrived on.

[i]Rreeeekkkk![/i] purred a beast that was curled up within the torchlight. It flexed its paws and ruffled its brown feathers, staring at them curiously over its sharp curving beak. Behind the gryphon was a small village of makeshift huts, tents and lean-tos, all illuminated brightly with torches and lamps. People were milling about, sharpening weapons and cooking food. Somewhere a flute was playing, and men were laughing. There were no trees in sight: they were on the flat surface at the top of a mountain.

"I need help here!" Rhea called out, holding the lantern above her head. "Mak, get your ass over here!"

The result was a sudden flurry of action. A man in a robe took hold of the green lantern with one hand and laid the other palm over Fyair's fist. Fyair would feel a surge of warmth before his stony grip finally relaxed. The man withdrew the lantern and handed it off to a woman behind him. "This is extraordinary," the man breathed, turning Fyair's hand to see the scales rippling under the skin. The tattoo of an eye on the man's palm -- the same palm he had laid on Fyair's fist to relax it -- was glowing.

Meanwhile, other villagers took the sword and the violet lantern from Rhea, who was only too glad to be rid of them. She sighed and sat down on the ground; her hands were burned and twitching.

The gryphon began staring intently at Talan -- and eventually it got up, towering high as the biggest of horses, and pushed its beak at him. It wanted the monkeybat bones that hung around his neck.

[hr]

[color=gray][quote=Anise]She mustered all of her focus as she threw her will into the spirits around her. She welcomed them to join her. To become friends with her. To help her. She wanted to be a light for the lost souls that had been stuck here so long. She wanted them to feel her determination and be inspired by it. "Shadow, I am not afraid of you. I will become a light in this world. One that you will not put out." Her voice was filled with determination and force. "Come spirits!" She called out. "Help me. I will free you from this prison. This is no place for you to remain forever."[/quote]
[quote=Simon]Simon placed the twigs in a steeple above the fire and placed the bark around the inside of the twigs, it took a few minutes of gently blowing on the fire to get it going but now it was done. Wasn't nearly as simple as the last time but he would take the small victory. Simon knew it was the moment of truth so he picked the flower back up with both hands gently and placed it as close to on top of the steeple as possible.[/quote][/color]

The shadow of Tyaelaem lifted his head to look out toward the trees where Anise had gone. The darkness was gathering there. "Hurry," he whispered to Simon -- and the very fact that he now had a voice was evidence that the burning of the Spirit Flower was working.

[hr]

In the woods, where the darkness surrounded Anise and threatened the light, a single shadow stepped forward. Its form was clearer and its darkness deeper than the rest. It stared at Anise with white shining eyes, staring at her out of the black. It was shaped like a tall old man with rickety armor. His sword was missing from his hip.

While the masses of shadows around him began to lighten and quiver, this one remained black as coal and would not be swayed by her words.

[hr]

Tendrils of smoke wrapped around Tyaelaem's shadow. Now he stood as a mist of a boy's maskless form, glimmering in the smoke of Simon's fire. "Thank you, Lord of Fire," he whispered again. "Soothsayer," he addressed Simon, "focus on me, only me, don't give form to anyone else, it's very important, don't let go. The princess is in danger, I'll save her, I'll rescue her."

Immediately, Tyaelaem's smoky form dashed away into the darkest woods, toward the place where Anise was. Leaves and brush shuddered in his wake.

In Simon's head, the Lady of the Pond laughed quietly. "Haven't you decided to [i]stop[/i] the princess?" she asked him. "Why would you help save her?"

[hr]

Before Anise, the shadow of the old pirate she had slaughtered continued to advance, one step at a time. He did not believe her -- he would not follow her, she whom he had been trying to protect when she had smashed his skull. No, he would not be swayed by her words.

Reus snarled and bolted forward. His great jaws snapped upon the advancing shadow, but the spirit of the dead man simply walked through the wolf, continuing toward Anise. The other shadows did nothing: they stood bleakly, gray and undecided, affected by Anise's offer but bound by the old pirate's distrust. Reus snapped at the dark shadow again, to no effect.

The pirate's dark shadow reached toward Anise's head, to touch her mind and turn her to the will of the Lord of Shadows.

The moment Tyaelaem reached the edge of the blue lantern's light -- the glow of the Lantern of Spirit and of Anise's will -- his own body began to take on a light and substance of its own. He charged easily through the gray flickering shadows, and moment by moment his face, his clothes, his fingers and hair, and finally his bright blue eyes became clear, given power by his own trust in Anise.

He made a quick running leap, and slammed a foot into the dark pirate's head. The pirate's shadow dissipated immediately, but it was not gone for good. "Princess!" he called with a voice just as clear as it ever was. Perhaps she might not recognize his boyish face, staring up at her with admiration and urgency. Smoke swirled inside his bright translucent form. He grabbed for her hand, but his own hand passed through hers. So instead he ran past her, spun around and continued running backwards so he faced her. The gray shadows stepped aside to let Anise pass. "This way, this way, quickly, run! Ride the doggy! Doggy here boy! C'mon doggy, good boy, good horsie! Run from the scary shadow man!"

As he waved his arms, the pirate's shadow was forming again. Reus abandoned it and rushed to Anise's side, though he growled at Tyaelaem at the very idea that he would be frightened of something as silly as a shadow.


[edited for minor continuity errors]