Anise stared the dark serpent down fiercely. She certainly felt fear, however, she had already committed herself to this. The time to turn away had long since come and passed. She had been naive about it before, but she knew that she had more power than almost everything on the island. She likely even rivaled the Spirits of the Forest. The Lord of Shadow would not fear her so much if that were not true.

This serpent could only be an aspect of Shadow. That would not be enough to beat her, although she would not underestimate its power either. 

Anise remembered a tale she read while growing up in Riverforde Castle. A tale of a hero fighting against a raging water spirit. The power the spirit had put out all fires, tore through all earth, was immune to the effects of air, washed away the beasts of the dark, and brightened in the light of the sun. Even creatures of the water were overwhelmed by the spirit's power. She could not remember how the hero won the battle, but Anise's power certainly was more along the lines of the spirit's than the hero's anyways.

She began to twist the water surrounding the serpent in order to cause it to lose control of its ability to swim properly. A continual whirlpool should make it difficult even for the most powerful of beasts to maintain control. Her interest was not so much in killing the beast as it was in preventing it from harming her, so she could more safely open the coffin containing the Lady of Light. She prepared to fire a jettison of water to give herself some distance from the serpent if needed.