[quote]"There is a beast within the water. I believe it is the protector of the Lady of Light's prison." She faced the Lake. "I will overcome it like I have everything else." She concentrated on the Rune of Light and created motes of light to send them ahead to lead the way towards the stone coffin. Then she fully submerged herself and used the Rune of Water to propel herself swiftly towards the Lady of Light's prison.

She was prepared to defend herself against the serpent of the Lake with all of her power.[/quote]

Peck splashed after her but stopped knee-deep, watching the shimmer of small lights and Anise's silhouette speeding underneath the gentle waves.

Something dark moved below.

Doreli warbled deep in his throat, tufted tail swishing -- then lifted his eagle-eyes when the Dragon's howl rumbled across the stars.

Peck buried his hands in the gryphon's feathers; his eyes were on the swift shadow beneath the water. "Everything's going to be fine," he told Doreli -- and himself. "Everything's going to be just fine."

Cold water bubbled swiftly in Anise's wake. The lights that led the way shone on swaying dark weeds and clear white sand, stones and scuttling things and darting fishes. The sandy floor dropped out suddenly, and Anise was floating above a long dark depth of rock and blackness.

The lights led down into pressured silence. Jagged stone cast frightful shadows as she passed. Down, and down.

A single sound broke the stillness -- the shift of water, slithering, behind and below her.

Ahead -- nestled comfortably in a bed of floating green and blooming weeds, the stone coffin glowed dimly with a faint light from within.

Darkness suddenly blotted out the scene, and Anise's lights could no longer penetrate it. The serpent had surged up between her and the coffin; its presence was so dark that no light could make out its true shape.

White eyes opened, staring, penetrating. Three, then a dozen, then a hundred eyes opening and blinking and staring through Anise out of the dark, like an eerie constellation at the bottom of the Lake.

Jaws opened, and infinite rows of sharp misshapen teeth welcomed her in. Silent.

[quote]"I want it dead! So… so come out. And I'll help you kill it."[/quote]

The great black wolf snapped and yowled quietly under his breath, snarling a warning, this time at Artemis' foolishness. The light of the red Lantern gleamed on his bared teeth and shone in furious eyes.

Ahead of Artemis, the light outlined the shapes of other great beasts ahead of her: an ear, a flash of an eye, a sheen of fang, all as huge and powerful as the wolf that clawed the ground behind her.

Trees cracked and groaned in the wake of the monsters that advanced on her now.

Reus, in comparison, would stand no chance against them both.

[i]HELP ME?[/i]

The voice whispered like a breeze through the leaves, everywhere and nowhere at once. Everything grew slowly darker; the shadows encroached on the edge of the Lantern's light, thick and palpable.

[i]THE KITH OBEY ME. THE TREES OBEY ME. THE WATER OBEYS ME. THE GROUND YOU STAND ON ... OBEYS ME.[/i]

The great mountain lion stepped forward into the Lantern's light. The bear was just behind, eyes flashing yellow. They were careful of the Lantern's power -- but intent on claiming it from Artemis' feeble grip.

[i]WHAT USE HAVE I FOR YOU, SUN-CHILD, AGAINST A DRAGON HALF-FORMED?[/i]

The mountain lion, with paws each as big as Artemis herself, launched at her with claws and teeth.

[i]SEEMS TO ME, IT'S ONLY THE LANTERN I NEED.[/i]