[quote]Turning around, Lalna began running down the path the old man showed him, apparently supposed to find a witch? this kept getting weirder and weirder... was it some odd dream? thoughts rushed through his brains alongside his own rushing down a path unknown, where was he? who where these people, a witch, a lady of light? this all didn't make any sense. but as it stood, his only goal was to run towards those woods, and make haste. he needed to protect his only way home.[/quote]

As Lalna dodged around boulders and crevices, skidding down sharp dusty inclines and skirting scraggled trees, he would see the occasional flash and bob of a pale violet light passing between the shadows far ahead. Sometimes he might catch sight of a silhouette or two running alongside the light, down the mountain and deeper into the thickening forest. After awhile it vanished and didn't return.

Lalna was alone in the woods at night.

The lights of the outpost were lost far above and behind him; ahead, the mountain seemed to descend endlessly into the shifting, rustling dark. Something chittered and cackled in the branches above him; Lalna might spot a flap of leathery wings and a monkey's paw. A rat skittered past his ankle and paused to peer up at him with red glowing eyes. It opened its jaws and hissed at him with long jagged teeth.

His foot splashed into a narrow creek that flowed gently down the side of the mountain, shimmering oddly, like the water was filled with flecks of gold. The water followed a safer path down the mountain, avoiding the more treacherous pitfalls and sharp rocks. Lalna would feel eyes all around him, staring, watching. Whether they were malevolent had yet to be seen.

Eventually the ground leveled -- the mountain left behind him -- and the stream forked into two paths. To the left, a bright cloud of fireflies floated and flashed, illuminating the forest in a soft yellow light. In the distance, at the far side of the fireflies, Lalna might make out the dim outline of a white wooden mask hanging on the side of a twisted white tree. The mask was in the stylized shape of a panther's face.

To the right, the stream flowed into the thick darkness of the woods. At the far end, a single candlelight glimmered. In this direction, over the gurgle of water, Lalna could hear the faint music of a woman's voice, singing a familiar hymn to Kall.

[hr][quote]This time even her terrible aim couldn't stop the persimmon's flight. The second rune guided it up with perfect aim to the line. The moment the fruit touched the cord it severed. The persimmon fell to the ground again, but Artemis wasn't looking at it. She was beaming, watching the line fall, bringing the clothes with it. It wasn't quite long enough to reach the ground when it was still attached at the other side. But Artemis was tall with a long reach, and her prizes were well within her range. Artemis ran and plucked clothes from the line. At least now she'd have something better to wear than her heavy, ruined skirts.

Looking around the alley once more she ducked behind some sort of large trash bin. It'd have to do for. Artemis started stripping out of her old clothes and putting her stolen goods on.[/quote]

"[i]What[/i] adventure?" the girl scoffed with a grin; she was perched on the bin behind which Artemis was changing clothes. "So far you managed ta steal food from an old canner and knocked down a clothesline. That's not an adventure, that's [i]easy[/i]." Even though this same child had been obviously impressed by Artemis' runewriting skills, she was much less so with their application -- or at least she fancied herself as more knowledgeable in the proper way to use power with such potential. She shoved her legs into a slightly-too-big pair of overalls and pulled on a warm-looking sweater. "Why not just barge into one of those shops there and demand all their stuff? [i]That'd[/i] be more fun."

A cheer went up among the sailors by the dock; they'd managed to reel in the runaway ship, and several boarded it while others lashed it to the dock. A wide plank was lowered, and a dozen men began moving shipments of gunpowder, spears, swords and shields off the ship and into piles on the dock. Workers throughout the town rushed to make another pile of outgoing trade: bear traps and trigger-nets, crank-powered lights and oil-filled torches. Two boxes of fireworks were added to the outgoing supplies, followed by a crate filled with gemstones that glowed blue between the wooden slats.

"[i]Hey you![/i]" rose a holler at the other end of the alley. A middle-aged man had spotted the little girl perched on the trash bin. He was dressed all in black, with a black coif and black gloves. His eyes were big and livid. He pulled a gun from a holster behind him and pointed it at the sky. With a [i]bang[/i] and a squeal, a flare exploded green and violet in the sky above them. "[i]Here! Here![/i]" he roared, his voice echoing in the alley.

The girl sat to finish hooking the overalls over her shoulders, grinning knowingly. In the distance, at the edge of the town, came the call of a whippoorwill. Red and golden eyes appeared at the limit of the shadows, where the town's defense mechanisms now lay dormant and still.

Shouts went up throughout the town, and several men and women -- all in black -- rushed toward the site of the flare.

[hr][quote]Slowly, Erin began to back away from the wolf, into the clearing. If she ran, it would probably chase her, but if she could get close enough to the trees before it realized...

She kept eye contact with the beast as she backed away, until she felt she was about halfway to the treeline. This had to be enough for her to have a good chance at getting into the forest and away. The wolf didn't look like it could maneuver the dense trees very well. She took a breath- her only attempt to ready herself before she ran for it.[/quote]

The forest itself seemed to be watching Erin's fate unfold. A breeze shifted through the clearing and ruffled the great wolf's fur, but it didn't move. Its gleaming golden eyes were trained on Erin's every movement. It glanced to the red glowing lantern, then to her face.

"Reus!" the old woman called from behind the cabin. The wolf's ears pricked, and it turned its head -- just in time for Erin to sprint for the edge of the woods. "Reus what's got into you? You're supposed to be looking for that girl and the gryphon."

Reus' ear twitched, and he looked back out to the forest just in time to see Erin disappear into the shadows.

There was no path on this side of the woods; Erin was forced to shove her way through bramble, hanging vines and wide thick bushes, with steep rocks and sudden cliffs to further slow her progress in the pitch-dark woods. The Lantern glowed warm and bright -- so warm that it was just shy of burning her skin -- and the haunting red glow was the only means by which she could hope to see where she was going.

Something cracked and shifted noisily behind her. If Erin chose to turn around, she would see those glowing yellow eyes staring at her from a not-so-far distance, moving slowly toward her. The great wolf seemed to be having no trouble following her, even if it had to traverse around some of the narrower stands of trees and stamp down a few bushes that she had passed under. It was in no hurry, but it was slowly gaining on her.

Ahead, Erin would hear the distinct sound of rushing water. Past a thick stand of bamboo and down a low rocky ledge there flowed a narrow river that sparkled slightly golden under the starlight.

In the middle of the river floated a mossy log, with a boy perched on it. The child was dressed all in faded gray, and wore a white wooden mask shaped like the face of a frog. He paddled his bare feet in the glistening water and stared up at the endless stars.

The wolf moved a little faster now, lowering its head to better follow Erin, intent on catching her before she reached the water.

[hr][quote]When Palla motioned for her to exit the tent, she began to stand. Upon the mention of covering the lantern, Naia quickly grabbed the sheet that had been wound around the man’s legs, wrapping it around the lantern as she began to walk out of the tent.

“Oh, um, my name is Naia, and, er, I’ve been told I can run pretty fast. But if we’re running, maybe you should save the explanations for later?”[/quote]

Naia had barely finished speaking before Palla grabbed her wrist and set off at a run through the village. She pulled Naia along around the bonfire, where the villagers and the gryphons stared at her with big curious eyes. They ran past a duo of armored guards, who saluted to Palla and blinked at Naia in confusion.

The dusty, narrow road led into the woods, where the ground sloped forever downward as they descended the mountain. The path soon forked -- to the right was a well-worn path that wound out around the rocky side of the mountain, and to the left the path was narrower and overgrown, and it plunged into the thick dark of the forest. Palla led down the left path, which would keep them better hidden.

Far to the left, they would notice the occasional flash of a green light moving down the mountain, appearing between the distant trees. Eventually it faded, swallowed up by the darkness.

"That Lantern you have is very important," Palla told her without turning her eyes from the faint path that led down through the sloping woods. "Inside that Lantern is a powerful part of an ancient god -- and it's attached itself to you. It will obey you. You're what we call a Sun Child. You're from another place, aren't you?"

Before Naia could answer, Palla stopped suddenly, her sword drawn. She yelped in surprise; a tree branch lashed out of the darkness, wrapped around Palla like a whip and yanked her high into the air.

Roots lunged up out of the dirt, wrapped themselves around her ankles and threw Naia face-first into the ground. Overhead, monkeys laughed and screeched, flapping their bat-wings with excitement.

"Hand over the Lantern," a child's voice demanded. He stepped out of the forest, barefoot and dressed in threadbare gray clothes, wearing a white wooden fox-mask that covered the top half of his face. He grinned. "The trees obey me, you don't have a chance."

The violet Lantern glowed steadily, and Naia could feel its warmth on her skin. She would know, instinctively, that it offered her the power to bring anything she imagined into reality. A power roiled within the Lantern -- the power to make dreams come to life. All she had to do was imagine.

High above, Palla's sword sparked with electricity. She hacked at the branches that held her, determined to get free.

[hr][quote]Anise felt certain that the urgency of the situation got across to him. She faced the old man again. "With or without your help, I must save him. I must do it by myself, but that doesn't mean I can't get help from others before I arrive." Again, she paused. "Even if the answer is 'no', I thank you for your consideration."[/quote]

The old man squinted at her with sharp eyes. He folded his hands behind his back, lifting his chin, studying her and her posture and her words carefully.

"Peck's got hisself in a position again, eh?" His face wrinkled as he grinned. "Caught by Shadow. And you're the Lady of Light that's gon' save him, issat right? With your two Lanterns and your high attitude, hah? You think a third Lantern's gonna make all the difference, eh?" He paced a little, and his eyes never left her. "One step closer ta letting that Dragon out, ya mean. I know who you are."

Behind him, a small crowd was gathering; by now it had spread throughout the Roost that the girl claiming herself the Lady of Light had come by Palla's escort, and was looking for the two Lanterns that had been left in the Roost's care.

The old man glanced back at them, then stepped forward. "I know that you know we don't think highly of that Dragon. You release that damn thing you kill us all. But Peck is our responsibility, an' I believe you when you tell me what's happened to him." He tried to stare her down -- and Anise might see, in the light of the blue lantern, that his left eye had a rune carved into the pupil. He was looking deep into her soul, searching for even the slightest twitch of dishonesty or ill intention.

He stepped even closer, intimidating for his feebleness, and he hummed under his breath. "The Lantern of Scales and the Lantern of Dreams are not here," he said in a low, final voice. "They have their own bearers now, with their own fates. You have more than enough power, with your Lanterns and your runes and your Pond-Lady's blessing. It is impressive, I will admit." He was uncertain; there was, definitely, an odd source of light in her chest -- something even she couldn't see. He couldn't tell its nature, whether it meant harm or healing.

After a long moment, the old man straightened and stepped back with a sigh; he'd finished his analysis, and it wasn't a result he'd been expecting.

"I refuse to call you the Lady of Light," he told her flatly. "At least not until you've proven it. You're not a spirit of the forest by any means -- you're just as human as any of us. But you mean well, and you're possibly the most powerful person on this island." She'd defeated the Witch in battle, which automatically made this Lady of Light the enemy of the Pirates -- but circumstances had changed.

"My riders will go with you." Five gryphon-riders stepped forward, already armored and armed with bows and spears. "I'll send word to Peck's brother, as well, to meet you at the mountain. Riders." He looked to the armored soldiers awaiting command. "Follow her lead as long as her orders ring true. If she deviates from our laws, remember Peck's rescue is your objective." The riders voiced their understanding. The old man took another step back and folded his arms. "We expect to have Peck back in one piece." He gestured with his head. "Git moving."