[quote]"You're concerned for my safety, at the hands of the Lord of Shadow?" Her perfect lips formed an amused smile. "He is powerless against me. The water is unaffected by darkness; it flows in light, it flows in pure shadow. He could send the dead into my waves and they can gather at the bottom of the lake for eternity for all I care. He cannot threaten me, no matter how angry he might be. The Lord of Flame could boil me, The Lord of the Breeze could suck the lake dry; the Lady of the Stone could dam my rivers, and the Lord of the Wood could fill the lake with forests til their roots have devoured it -- but the Lord of Shadow is nothing. Keep that in mind, Lady of Light, as you discover the power I've drawn into your hand."[/quote]

Anise nodded still uncertain. She was fully aware that the Lady of the Pond held extraordinary power, but the Lord of Shadow had been gathering power for millennia. She certainly preferred caution over arrogance, but perhaps the Lady was right in that the Lord of Shadow couldn't harm her. She decided to accept her response.

[quote]"Touch a circle in the surface of a bowl of water, and I will appear to you," she told Anise. "Should you have need of me, Lady of Light." With that, she dissipated in a shimmer of faint fog, and then there was nothing but the lap of the sparkling water of the lake.[/quote]

Anise smiled again brightly and genuinely. "Thank you." Now she knew the Lady respected her position which left her with a stronger feeling of confidence than she had before. She turned to face Peck whom had remained silent behind her.

[quote]Peck released a breath he'd been holding, and he wiped sweat from his brow. "Well. That went okay I guess? We gotta do that again, huh? The Lady of the Stone?" He was not at all happy about this. "She's probably down in the old caverns under the mountain. That's a forbidden place, where the Dragon used to be sealed up. Haunted, too." He shifted from foot to foot, hoping Anise would just forget about the whole thing but knowing very well she was determined to keep going.[/quote]

Anise clasped her hands together letting the Lantern of Flight hang in front of her. The mixture of white and blue light flickered over her mixing energetically in a dance around her body. The sound of a haunted cavern sounded about as pleasant as taking a walk through the Forest just for fun. Even so with this recent success, Anise felt even more eager for more.

[quote]"It'll take at least half a day to walk there. Wish I hadn't sent my gryphon away, we could --"[/quote]

She noticed the tendril of darkness approaching his leg far too late to warn him. As he disappeared into the shades before her she reached out reactively to try and grab his hand but even that was too slow. She would have to have faith in the rune of protection she gave him to keep him safe from the dangers presented by the Lord of Shadow and his minions. She had absolute faith that she had enough power to match him and that inexperience and doubt had been her biggest problem with her last confrontation with him.

She fiercely reached out towards the shades with the power of Spirit to usurp the Lord of Shadow's control over them. She was not going to let Peck die, but first she needed to tear through the Lord of Shadow's ranks. "I'll not let you take him, Lord of Shadow! That is my friend! My comrade!"

She knew the only reason he would take such an action would be because he feared her power or at least the potential she held to bring back the Dragon. "I am the new Lady of Light. I am the Dragon's Herald. I am the Guardian of this Forest! You make a poor king to allow your kingdom to fall this far." She pointed towards the shades before her. [i]"Release Peck!"[/i]