It's impossible to tell how much time has passed during the time that Anisa has been pursuing that accursed Vartan and her lackeys – and their prisoners, including two of Anisa's own brothers, Gibson and Royce. Wanda the Skeek has stayed by Anisa's side, and Taer the miniature Kujaku has been indispensable in helping them navigate the wilderness – as Anisa has quickly learned that intuitive concepts of direction don't seem to wholly apply here.

Time seems just as malleable. The first day seemed to just go on and on, and Anisa is fairly certain that the blistering sun remained directly overhead for several hours before hastening toward dusk. Sometimes, a "day" has gone by in mere hours instead, and the night is just as unpredictable. The Vartan and her party would head off in one direction, and Taer would take Anisa – against her better judgment – in an entirely different one, and somehow this would let them catch up with the party again.

Although Gibson's and Royce's captors have halted and set up camp several times, they have been unwavering in their diligence in guarding against any incursions Anisa might be tempted to make. Taer has been of some value in procuring seedlings and nuts, and warning them away from poisonous varieties, but it seems that the further they go, the more and more that the plants they encounter turn out to be toxic.

Taer, no doubt considering a single mushroom to be a veritable feast, seems to have never wanted for food, and thusly never thought to warn the others that food would become scarce ahead. It has become increasingly difficult for Anisa to force herself not to sample some of the delectable-looking fruits or vegetables that Taer has marked as verboten.

Now, those "delectable-looking" fruits and vegetables are nowhere to be seen, and neither is the sun. The sky is overcast, and it is perhaps an hourly occurrence that the sky brightens, then darkens in a day/night cycle. The blistering heat of summer has given away to a freakish incidence of winter, and even Taer is caught off-guard by the change of weather. He also seems less and less sure of his decisions as a guide – and the message is all too clear to Anisa: Taer hasn't been this deep into the Basin before. Whatever this weirdness is, it's almost as alien to the miniature Kujaku as to Anisa.

And "alien" this place is. The trees are twisted and gnarled, bent into shapes that at times look more animal than plant-like – sprouting feathers here, or blind eyes there, or even more grotesque mutations. What few animals there are to be seen here are grossly mutated as well, and in very unpleasant ways. Most of them are skittish, keeping well clear of Anisa and her companions.

The exception would be the tree full of birds of paradise that Anisa is presently taking cover nearby, along with Wanda, while Taer shivers and shudders miserably on Anisa's shoulder. The colorful birds chirrup and sing merrily, quite nicely covering up any sounds Anisa might possibly make as she looks down through some thorny bushes at the encampment at the bottom of a short bluff. She can make out a lone figure – a Skreek or Skeek bundled up in furs and leathers – huffing and puffing as he trudges through the snow, toward the encampment. A messenger or courier or contact of some sort, perhaps?

The bitter cold of the air sinks into Anisa's bones, and she's woefully aware of the fact that she simply isn't dressed for this sort of weather. The only visible shelter nearby is a featureless black tower that rises nearby, its base exposed by the eroded bluff – but there are no visible windows or even doors from Anisa's vantage, and no indication as to whether she would be able to still watch her "quarry" from within – or what new hazards might be found inside.

The chirruping from the bird-filled tree nearby grows quiet suddenly, and something nags Anisa about the strangeness of it – the fact that the birds still haven't reacted at all to her presence. She can't help but make another glance at the tree. Then it hits her: so many birds, and not a one of them is hopping from branch to branch, fluttering away, or moving at all for that matter.

As she looks, she can see the truth of it: these aren't birds resting on the branches at all. They're sprouting from the tree itself, like leaves!

Before she has a chance to fully absorb the horrific nature of this, she realizes that the singing and chirruping is dying out entirely. Before her eyes, the colorful plumage of the "birds" begins to give way to autumn colors of browns, reds, yellows and oranges … and the birds dry away into dead husks. A cold wind wafts over the bluff, and with a rattling noise, the dry husks of the bird-leaves begin to pluck away from the branches, fluttering to the ground.

Taer's eyes go wide at the grisly transformation – and he begins to scream.

Anisa flattens her ears at the small Kujaku's sudden outburst, and clasps a paw over his beak. "Quiet!" She hisses at him. "Pull yourself together! We don't want them to find out where we are!" She says this, all the while trying to keep herself from crying out at the grisly sight. Luckily, the little bird gives the rabbit someone to look after and keep her mind off it.

The Kujaku continues making unpleasant noises for longer than Anisa would like, but at last he runs out of breath. Amazingly, it doesn't seem that he's managed to call undue attention to Anisa's vantage point – Perhaps it's because his shriek sounds very much like any number of jungle birds that inhabit the area, and not totally unlike the sounds made by the "bird tree" before its leaves started expiring. In any case, Anisa's hand over his beak has probably only muffled the noise a negligible amount.

The last of the drying husks flutters to the ground, and Wanda desperately knocks some of the colorful remains off of herself, keeping her mouth tightly shut, and adding no noise to the mix.

"Look," says the Lapi, "don't force me to put you in my backpack while we're here. I need you to stay focused!" The rabbit looks down at the bundled rodent approaching the encampment, trying to make the figure out better. "We need to get closer. Dagh curse this weird place – we can't even count on nightfall to go try a breakout!"

Wanda's breathing sounds very deliberate, as she tries to get control of her own frayed nerves – and not to look at the dried bird-leaves scattered about the ground.

As Anisa ponders the situation, the bundled stranger – perhaps a Skreek, after all, looking too large to be a Skeek – makes it to the fringes of the Vartan's encampment. It looks like the Vartan has been roused by the sounds of the new arrival, and strides purposefully over toward this newcomer.

As it is, the "bird tree" is now quite barren, and Anisa's present location is a bit more exposed than before … though it's hard to weigh whether staying in one place would be the best option, or whether it would be worth risking a move to more cover.

Clapping her paw around the Kujaku's beak to prevent another sudden outburst, Anisa tunes her ears towards the camp, trying to eavesdrop on the pair. "We had probably get a little bit closer and better covered; they might see us now."

"Waits there," the Vartan scrawks to the Skreek, and marches through to the snow toward the prisoners. She kicks one of the figures cowering under a thin blanket, and demands, "Splotch-boy! Hand over book!"

A pained Lapi howl emits from the blanketed figure – a voice Anisa recognizes as Royce's. No book is immediately forthcoming, despite the Vartan's terse request.

Anisa winces, grinding her teeth at the Vartan's attack on her little brother. "That does it! Follow me." Getting down low, the rabbit starts to ease closer to the camp, looking for some ticker cover.

As Anisa is on the edge of a bluff, there is scarce in the way of cover directly closer to the camp. The best she can hope for at this stage – lest she skid directly down the face of the bluff – is to make her way to the right or to the left … a more exposed approach to the right, where the land gradually slopes down to meet the lower dried-out riverbed that forms the "road" the Vartan is traveling on … or else to the left, where Anisa's position will be briefly obscured by the strange black tower, before finding another path down toward the encampment.

"Stubborn bunny!" the Vartan sneers, and waves to a rather dull looking, if muscular, black Rhian, beckoning him closer. "You gives me book now, or I let my pet play with you."

Wanda grits her teeth, hunkering down and scanning for more appropriate cover – cover, that is, that doesn't threaten to animate and do something horrid to them if they get too close.

Anisa fights her urge to charge in, fists swinging, and turns to whisper to Wanda, "I say we go to the tower, then maybe we can set up some sort of surprise."

Wanda eyes the tower warily. "If you say so," she breathes out, very quietly. "I don't like the looks of it … but I can't say I like the looks of anything else here, either, Sugar."

"Neither do I," replies the rabbit, "but what choice do we have? They'll surely see us the other way." The Lapi starts off to the tower, trying her best not to cause a ruckus.

The Kujaku just rests quietly on Anisa's shoulder, too exhausted to make any more fuss. Wanda, quiet as a whisper, follows behind Anisa, tracing her footsteps. More noises of struggle can be heard down below, but not for long – Royce, after all, could not hope to keep the book safe from a large Vartan, as much as Gibson and the others might protest at her foul treatment of him.

In short order – and keeping well clear of a rose-bush sporting flowers with unblinking eyes at the heart of each blossom – Anisa makes her way behind the large and quite featureless black cylinder. Its base is partially exposed, below, by the erosion of the bluff, and it extends a considerable distance upward – It's unclear whether it is a true cylinder, or whether it may taper off at the top, making it especially hard to judge its ultimate height. In any case, the cylinder bears no sign of sigil, or door, or window, or seam of any sort, seemingly just a single column of obsidian rising from the snow-crusted earth.

As the giant Rhian steps up alongside the Vartan, the hippogryph fingers a pendant hanging around the equine's neck. "You smart kid, read lots. Ever read old human legends? Read about werewolves and monsters? Read about Beast Lands?" she asks of Royce, grinning sadistically now that she has the Artifact Book. "You behave better in future, or you learn truth about them."

Anisa gets an uneasy feeling from the giant pillar-like structure, but buries the emotion to take cover behind it. "Okay you two, I need suggestions. All I can think of is to do a rush, since they've never seemed to take the time to bed down, but I don't know how well that'd do since we're outnumbered-" The rabbit cuts herself short, listening to the Vartan and noticing the pendant. "What is she babbling about? And what is that around his neck?" The rabbit peers harder at the pendant, trying to get a better look at it and the Rhian in general.

It's hard to see with the Vartan's claw in the way, but it's shiny – maybe metal? – and vaguely shaped like a Rhian's head in profile, with a glowing blue gem in the place of an eye. Come to think of it … the big Jupani (or small Titanian) that stands around dully near the tower also has something shiny around his neck, with a speck of blue light as well.

As Anisa closes on the structure, despite her misgivings, and while she strains for a better look at the pendant, she is struck by a nagging sensation and a vague indication out of the corner of her eye … that the column isn't quite as featureless as it first appeared.

The rabbit turns her head to get a better look at whatever it is, visibly startled at the sudden realization.

"It's glowing," Wanda whispers, as if she spies what Anisa was looking at, amongst the party … but then Anisa catches that Wanda is looking at Anisa – or, more directly, at the pendant around Anisa's neck. As for the features on the column … they seem to elude close examination, something that Anisa can only see out of the corner of her eye … but it appears that there's a seam … a seam that outlines … a doorway?

Looking down at her pendant, Anisa's ears shoot upwards in alarm, and she grabs the crystal in her paw. "Wait a minute … is this it? Is this the center?" She looks Taer in askance. "Have we arrived?"

Taer blinks, snapping out of his stupor. "N-no," he twitters quietly. "That wouldst be impossible." He looks dumbly up at the black spire, still trying to gather his wits. "Oh. It is one of the Black Ttowers. They … they are arranged … around the Center … I think." He shakes his head, as if trying to clear it.

"What do they do?" The rabbit looks at the small peacock confusedly. "Are they some kind of watchtower?"

Handing the metal-clad book to the recently arrived Skreek, the Vartan says, "Take book to Secretariat immediately; tell him we wait for bunny."

The Skreek slips the book into his bag, and bows, saying, "At once, Kakkura!" The rodent begins to jog off down the path he came without waiting for a reply.

"Wait a minute," Anisa says, catching herself. "You think? Have you ever actually been to the Center?"

Taer shakes his head, giving Anisa a somewhat embarrassed look. "Nay, milady. The land warps and twists in these parts. I understand the lay of the land, how to untie its knots, but I have not trod this actual ground before."

The rabbit look annoyed at the wee-one, but then perks an ear as the Skreek takes off, and turns to watch him. "Dagh! Should we try and follow him? We can't let him get that book to Vandringar!"

"We might be able to catch him," Wanda whispers, "if Taer here can figure out how to get us around that encampment without getting discovered. But then, of course, that means leaving Gibson and the rest behind. The question is – what happens if Vandringar gets the book?"

Once the Skreek has left, the Vartan – named Kakkura, apparently – whacks the dumb-looking Rhian behind the ear and points towards the similarly dim-looking Jupani. "Go wait over there! No fight! No mess pants! Just stand!" she bellows at it.

Taer shakes his head again, then twitters, "I can help thee find him … but from this point on, thou mayest have trouble doubling back."

"I don't know," Anisa bites her lip, "it seemed to only have information in it, but there's no telling what it's full of." The rabbit thinks a bit, then stares at the Vartan's henchmen. "Wait a minute. Look at her lackeys. Do they look … strange to you?" The rabbit scratches an ear in thought. "What was it that Royce was talking about earlier? Devolution?" She looks to the Mouse. "You think maybe they did that to these guys?"

Wanda scrutinizes the thugs, venturing quietly, "They look normal enough – if terribly dimwitted. Maybe it was just devolution of the mind, and not the body? Maybe they want everyone to be really, really stupid… "

Taer twitters, "Whatever thou dost choose, thou wouldst best act swiftly. That longstrider, even though he not be as tall as the tallest of thee, is moving at considerable pace. If thou shalt stay and rescue thy comrades, pursue and capture the book, or wait and watch for more, now is the time to choose thy way."

"She was talking about the Wild Lands, and look at those pendants around their necks." Anisa points the jewelry out. "I bet those are how they do it. Maybe if we rush them, and get those off, they'll turn back to normal, then that feather duster will be down two lunks."

Wanda's brow furrows, looking uncertain. "Maybe. They are right below us, on the other side of this tower. Maybe a well-placed rock. Or in their case … a couple of boulders."

Once the Rhian has returned to his post, with his tail between his legs and head turned down like a scolded child, the Vartan opens a pouch at her side and removes an egg-shaped object which she dangles from one hand, and something disk-shaped with several sliding parts, which she manipulates with her thumb while studying the dangling egg.

Anisa says, "That might work, and if we have to charge them, we can try and hit the pendants first. Maybe Taer can fly down and slip them off their necks?" Anisa watches the Vartan, and peers at the object. "What's that she's doing now?"

Taer frowns. "Stealing those talismans off of them mayest well strain my obligation to the High Mother not to get involved in thy quarrels directly. If thou didst free the talismans from their necks, mayhap I could justify alighting upon them to take them away afore they could take them up once again … but to directly attack them, nay, that wouldst press my honor too strongly."

Wanda scowls. "This 'non-interference' arrangement is really tiresome. This is a life and death situation we're facing here," she whispers harshly. The Skeek then looks back to Anisa and shakes her head. "Listen, Sugar," she says. "If you think we should take those talismans, I'm fairly sure I can swipe at least one of them, possibly two, if I don't slip on my way down the bluff."

The Lapi shrugs, nevertheless scowling herself. "We can't make him do what he doesn't want to do. Besides, there's two of them, and two of us. As long as we can avoid Kakkura – or whatever her name is – we might stand a chance." She looks to Wanda. "We'll slip down, grab the talismans, then use this as our rallying point. If we're lucky, we may end up with two more allies. Agreed?"

"Ah, well, two of them right here," Wanda corrects. "We've still got the rest of the gang guarding the rest of our sorry bunch in the camp. I predict that we're going to draw their attention. Do we have a plan on what to do once we tuck our tails and run back up here again?"

Taer frowns. "Know thee well, once this turns to fisticuffs, I will be obliged to take my leave of thee."

Wanda frowns at the little Kujaku. "May well be, but I suppose there isn't any way we could rescue our friends without offending your sensibilities, now could we?"

Anisa glares at Taer, for once feeling in tune with Wanda. "Fine, you do that. We've heard you remind us several times, and quite frankly I don't care anymore." She turns back to the camp. "I'm not letting them hurt my brothers anymore. I've had enough of it." She turns to the column, and presses her paw against it. "Maybe we can get the group out, and get them inside this. It looks like it might open up." The Lapi gently presses against the pillar.

"The shortest path occurs in under two hours," the Vartan tells her men while packing away the artifacts she was studying. "We move then. Be ready!"

To Anisa's surprise, she doesn't feel the cold smooth touch of stone, but rather … of empty air. The surprise throws her off-balance, as she stumbles through the black wall … and into a dark interior. At once, the sound of the Vartan's voice outside silences, along with all the other noises of the outside world.

Anisa's fur stands on end as she falls into the pillar, and she quickly scrambles to her feet. "Wanda? Taer?" She widens her eyes as far as they'll go, trying to see in the inky darkness.

It takes a moment for Anisa's eyes to adjust to the interior. Yes, there's a faint light, but it is coming from several diminutive sources. Strange sigils glowing no more brightly than foxfire, illuminating panels that seem to be slick, hard, cold and black, as of smooth obsidian. Anisa is standing upon a platform, with numerous crystalline pedestals rising up along its perimeter … and just past them, there is a steep drop, illuminated here and there by points at descending intervals … and stacked one atop another are dozens … scores … more … of glassy pods, containing large arthropods. No … large monsters … large … Observers.

The platform seems to be suspended above the hollow interior of the black tower – a single open chamber, lined with these strange pods, extending both upward and downward … and where it goes downward, it extends far deeper than the bottom of the bluff outside.

The rabbit's jaw drops, and for a brief moment she stares dumbfounded at the scene before her. Snapping out of it, the rabbit looks down to her pendant, and holds it in her paw as she approaches the panels.

The pendant glows visibly, and where the Lapi walks, the sigils and other illuminations flare up more brightly with her passing. Yes, they definitely react to its presence. But more than that, she is struck by a sense of familiarity. She has seen these symbols before. And as this realization strikes her, she is also struck with an inexplicable understanding for the purpose of this place. It floods in on her suddenly …

These towers were created long ago, by an ancient people, the Zeku, long since died out, but aware of an even more ancient culture that had once called the Basin home – a culture free from morality, coldly manipulating living beings and dutifully studying their various sufferings. This older culture – known to the Zeku only as the Lords of the Center – had long since destroyed itself, after warping the nature of the world they lived in, almost beyond repair.

The land in the Basin had been warped, such that time and space seemed to follow only a very twisted logic, and living things grew into horrific forms. This blotch upon the earth threatened to spread, perhaps to engulf the entire world, but the Zeku committed themselves to contain it. Toward this end, they created the Towers, forming a boundary to seal off this blight, and entrap its horrors to the best of their ability. Also created were the Observers, to monitor the towers and maintain them – and, in times of need, to come forth in great numbers to stop those who might try to revive the evils of the Lords of the Center.

Over time, the mechanisms that made the Observers possible have declined – Only one Observer still roams, maintaining the land, and the only way that the others can be revived, is if there is a sapient being, attuned to the power of the crystals, who can direct them with his or her thoughts.

This structure is one of those towers – and it houses an army of Observers, in hibernation, that should they be needed, they may be called forth, to battle against those who would awaken the curse of the Center.

As the realization dawns over Anisa, it takes her off guard slightly, but not for long. Remembering her dream, and her encounter with the first Observer, the rabbit's confidence increases, and she steps forwards to the panel, studying it. "Um … hello? Observers?"

Throughout the chamber, a multitude of red orbs begin to glow faintly. Not all of them alight – Anisa is filled with the realization that, over so great a time, the majority of them have fallen prey to the ages, and have not survived their hibernation. Nonetheless, at least a score of them listen to Anisa intently, awakening dimly from their slumber.

Anisa cracks a slight grin, her nervousness dissipating as the red orbs flare into existence. "Observers," she says in a calm voice, "the threat that the Lords of the Center created is beginning again, and I need your help." The Lapi says a silent prayer to the First Ones in her mind, hoping her strategy works.

The Observers seem to be very present of Anisa's words, and their eyes glow balefully, full of anger instilled within them for those who would awaken the accursed Lords … hungry for some hint as to who might pose this threat.

The Lapi blinks, startled at the sudden feeling of wrath from the Observers, but definitely not disappointed. "Outside of this tower there is a small group of them and they've taken my friends and family captive. Not only that, but they force others in their group to fight for them." The rabbit takes a deep breath. "It is the Vartan and her cronies that must be stopped. If you can help me, please, I beg you! Don't hurt the Lapis, or the female Skeek, but the others are definitely guilty. If it is in your power, please stop the raiders, but also don't hurt the ones with the pendants around their necks – they can't help themselves." The rabbit's heart pounds inside her chest, hoping she's not asking too much. "Are you capable of doing this?"

There is some apparent mulling over this from the Observers. Anisa is struck with the realization that, although these things seem to collectively have some sort of intelligence, or something approaching it … they are not truly alive. Rather, they are some sort of sophisticated … automaton.

Anisa feels probing within her thoughts – easily enough blocked, she senses, if she so cares to do so – as if searching for visual images of that which Anisa describes. Anisa's ears, meanwhile, echo with an ominous sound that grows in volume … the clicking of countless claws, in anticipation – eager anticipation? – of their use. Having seen the size of those claws, Anisa can all too readily imagine just what they're capable of doing.

Anisa sets her ears back in nervousness, squeezing her eyes shut and allowing the Observers to probe her Lapine brain. Her rabbit instincts flare up at the sound of the terrible claws, but she fights them back.

The collective Presence that Anisa senses probes her mind, dredges up her memories … of Kakkura … of the Skreek courier … of Vandringar.

Lead us, Anisa hears a voice say, in her own mind, in her own voice, and we will destroy those who intrude upon this domain.

"L-lead… you?" The rabbit is taken off guard by this, not realizing the Observers need any help. "What should I do?"

Give us our instruction. We have not a creative mind. We do as we are told, the collective voice seems to say to her. Instruct us as we are to do.

Anisa isn't sure what to make of this at first, but then the memory of Royce being kicked by Kakkura speeds back into her mind, and she realizes that she must. "Fine then." The Lapi nods, her brow furrowed in determination. "Take me out of here."

The clacking of claws increases in volume to a deafening crescendo. Foxfires light up all throughout the chamber, until it seems as if bathed in Procession-light on a clear night. The glassy domes start to swivel, then split and part … as the ancient guardians scramble forth from their stone cocoons. Platforms of obsidian rise and fall, loading the Observers onto them, then moving them downward … and Anisa's own platform begins to move … as she briefly feels tentacles brushing against her cheek … and then feels strong pincers firmly but delicately lifting her up off of her feet from behind!

Anisa lets out a small squeak of alarm, but soon realizes that it's the Observers lifting her up. They seem fairly literal, which means she may have to be careful. "Alright then, out we go! Don't attack until I say so!"

Sure enough, Anisa finds herself hefted upon the back of an Observer. She is soon awash in a mass of scuttling chitinous legs and snapping pincers, many of them closing uncomfortably close to her, such that she might well worry if they could accidentally decapitate her in their frenzy … but then, a moment later, she is outside, and she realizes that it is now night – though it is not so cold as before, and she can smell the aromas of spring thaw. She can also hear screams and shouts, as the multitude of Observers pours forth. She briefly feels a tingling sensation – and a dim awareness of other Black Towers around the Center … similarly disgorging their armies of guardians.

Spotting the white Lapi atop one of the monsters, Kakkura stops her own panicked flight. "Hide with prisoners!" she scrawks to her scattered troops. "They our shields, hurry!" The Vartan doesn't follow her own advice though, swooping towards Anisa and the Tower.

The rabbit fights to keep from being overwhelmed at all that takes place in her mind, but still manages to keep her mind on the task at hand. "Find the Vartan, and capture her and her followers. If the followers are wearing anything around their necks, then remove it and restrain them." She says the commands out loud, although she gets the feeling that all she need do is think them. "The Lapi, female Skeek, and small Kujaku aren't to be harmed, but protected. Now go!"

The sense Anisa gets from the Observers is that they seem to have trouble grasping the concept of "capturing" or "restraining". They seem to know well enough how to delicately handle something inanimate and yielding … but as for the concept of applying just enough force to restrain something that is resisting, without crushing it utterly … they seem to have some trouble with this.

Dodging to one side, the Vartan heads towards one of the fallen pendant-bearers – the Rhian, which was knocked aside as the Observers began to emerge.

It's hard to tell just how many of the Observers are actually out here – far less than seemed to be stored originally in the Black Tower, but still a very fearsome force. Perhaps a dozen? A score? Even just one of them should seem quite capable of annihilating the Vartan and her entire group of lackeys, without suffering so much as a scratch.

Anisa thinks hard to convey the command in a way the Observers will understand. "Destroy the pendants on their necks, and only the pendants, then move on! Protect the Lapis and don't hurt them!" The Lapi sees the Vartan making a bee-line, and gets her machete to the ready. "You want me, you pillow stuffing reject?" she yells, "Come and get me!"

It seems very difficult indeed for Anisa to convey such a delicate operation as to destroy the pendants and only the pendants. Something in the back of Anisa's mind suggests that, as noble as the Zeku were in wishing to contain the horrors of the Center, they were nonetheless a very violent people … and these Observers may be a stronger force than a single Lapi can hope to safely harness for very long at all.

Landing next to the still recovering Rhian, Kakkura yanks off his pendant – the glowing gem immediately switching from green to red – and commands, "Kill that white doe!" before fleeing towards the prisoners.

One of the Observers very carefully but awkwardly brings its pincers toward the Jupani lackey, and the pendant dangling around its neck, as he gapes back dumbly at his attacker.

It's a noble attempt on the Observer's part – a very delicate operation for such large claws – but nonetheless, while it does succeed in destroying the pendant … it very delicately snips off the Jupani's head as well. (Fortunately, the Observer's claw is so large that Anisa is not able to see the full extent of the violence imposed upon the Jupani's head.) Oops, echoes a sensation in Anisa's head, most certainly translated into words the Zeku would probably not use.

Meanwhile, the Rhian that the Vartan reached seems to be rather disturbed now that his pendant has been yanked away. His mouth begins to froth with foam, and he lets out a loud and bestial whinny.

Anisa blinks as Kakkura yanks off the talisman, lowering her machete in anticipation. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the Jupani's fate, and winces. She turns her attention back to the Rhian, and sets her ears back; this she did not expect. "Okay, new plan. Attack the Vartan, she's your target. Chase her off, nab her, whatever – just stop her! If her lackeys get in the way, stop them as well!"

"But," she quickly adds, "do not harm the Lapis or the Skeek, that is imperative!"

Writhing now, the black Rhian appears to get even bigger! Muscles bulge grotesquely as it hunches over, its forearms becoming like talons. Opening its mouth wider than any Rhian should, it roars horribly from between wicked looking fangs!

This latest order from Anisa seems to be less delicate and more within the range of abilities of the Observers. Several reddish orbs scan the night sky for the Vartan, emitting red searchlights that scan this way and that. Anisa can see that, in the distance, other red "searchlights" are doing likewise – from the general direction of the other towers.

Anisa's ears go back, her eyes wide as the former horse transforms. "Quick! Some of you, stop that Rhian! Don't hold back on the lackeys now!"

With a leap that would put a Lapi to shame, the monstrous Rhian lands heavily onto the back of a nearby Observer … and then leaps onto Anisa's! It lunges at the doe, and she can feel the heat of his breath … followed by a splash of blood as the Observer's tail comes crashing down on the beast!

In the confusion and chaos, Anisa can make out several Lapi shouts. It sounds like a fight is going on, not only involving the Observers. Unfortunately, she can't make out the location of Gibson and the others at the moment – not amidst this confused swell of chitinous bodies.

The rabbit lets out a squeal of panic as the blood hits her, quickly dropping to the Observer's back and trying desperately to scrub the blood out of her fur. Her ears snap her back to reality, however, and on unsteady legs she stands back up, swiveling her ears and trying to pinpoint the shouts. Unable to do so, she falls back down onto the Observer's back, and says loudly into its ear – or where its ear should be, anyway – "Quick, take me to where the Lapis are at! And fast!"

The Observer's tail obediently keeps the Rhian "stopped" – that is, pinned and impaled, pressed against the Observer's back, behind Anisa. The once-Rhian, now transformed into a hideous monster only barely recognizable as anything remotely like a horse, froths and foams, shrieks and whinnies, struggling to reach Anisa, even though his body is ruined and torn asunder in ways that are best not to describe in detail – and which will haunt Anisa's dreams for years to come. The smell of blood and the sense of carnage presses at her deepest Lapi instincts, making her strain to keep control of her wits, rather than to just obey the urge to bolt and run in fear. Still, Anisa is no ordinary Lapi. For now, she has control of herself … for now.

The monstrosity lurches forward, the other Observers parting way to let it by, even as they search about for the minions of Kakkura – and every now and then, dispatch them with a considerable amount of overkill. Anisa gets a fleeting glimpse of a Lapi … Kurtis? … turning to look in horror at the approaching Observer – then, bolting into the wilderness!

The doe battles hard to keep the writhing Rhian behind her from her thoughts, and keep her instincts from taking control. She wraps her arms around part of the Observer's head, squeezing tight to keep her mind straight. "Kurtis! Wait!!" She curses under her breath as the other rabbit bolts. Biting her lip, the doe shakes her head in frustration. "Here, you finish up here. Get rid of all the Vartan's troops, then stay here and wait for me. I'll be back." The rabbit slides down off of the creature's back, and starts off after Kurtis.

Anisa feels momentarily dizzy as she gets off of the Observer's back, and moves her own feet, for the briefest instant feeling the sensation as something alien, as if having a multitude of chitinous appendages would have been more natural. She stumbles briefly in the slushy melting snow, but regains her footing, making her way through the poorly lit wilderness, occasionally illuminated by scanning beams of red.

The doe fights to keep her mind from going hazy, and tries to track the direction Kurtis took. "Kurtis? Spencer? Gibson? Dagh take it all, where are you? Wanda?" The Lapi uses her radar ears to scan around, keeping her machete high.

Something heavy drops out of a nearby tree with a groan off to Anisa's left, and the distinct smell of burnt feathers accompanies it.

Anisa skids to a halt, and turns to face the smell, keeping her machete at the ready. She slowly makes her way over to it, the smell of blood on her own fur adding to her uneasiness.

In the distance, there's a flash of bluish light … a magical explosion? Anisa's connection to the Observers is fading, as the crystal about her neck slowly dims, but she briefly feels a sensation that the Observers have encountered the enemies encamped about the Center. With an alien sense that she can only interpret as satisfaction, they are engaging them, fulfilling their ultimate purpose.

Kakkura pulls herself upright, holding her own sword in her right hand. All of the feathers on her left side appear to have been burned away, and her entire left wing is gone. "Murderer!" the Vartan spits. "You set loose killer machines!"

"You call me murderer?" Anisa's fears disappear, replaced only by anger. "You are the ones that attacked us! You are the ones that took my brothers hostage and threatened them!" She grits her teeth, and raises her machete in a fighting stance. "And you are the one that wants to take over the world! You had no problem sending that Rhian to his death, did you?" The rabbit stops a few paces from the Vartan, glaring at her in intense fury.

"Captured in fair fight!" the Vartan counters angrily. "We not kill them! We want to rule, not kill! No one should die by nightmare claws!" Kakkura scrawks … apparently not counting her own Rhian-monster in the same league as an Observer.

"People aren't goods to be taken in a fight! So you didn't want to kill me when you sent that Rhian after me? Could have fooled me!" Anisa replies. "I don't want any killing either, but when you threaten my friends, my family, my home… " She trails off, setting her ears back. "You can stop this now by surrendering, and I'll call the Observers off. Or we can keep going – take your choice."

The Vartan actually seems to think it over for a moment, then laughs. "Surrender? I dead already! Monsters stop when I kill you!" she shouts. She steps forward unsteadily, her balance off from having only one wing left, and strikes at Anisa with her sword.

Anisa leaps backwards in reflex, just enough far enough to give herself the advantage of distance, bringing her machete up to block the blow. "They've already been given their purpose, and won't stop until I tell them to! Kill me, and there's nothing to call them off!" Then, reflexively, she springs forward, hacking with her machete with all her strength, and striking the hippogryph right in the chest.

With a startled squawk, Kakkura falls back from the blow, dropping her own sword to clutch at the gushing wound. A few steps backwards, and she's up against the trunk of the tree she fell from moments before, and begins to slide down it to the ground. "Guhh… ," she hisses. "Beat me … heh … but when monsters done with my people … really think they just let yours go?" The Vartan grins and stares up at the Lapi … and stares … and clearly isn't going to close her eyes on her own power ever again at that point.

Shouts and explosions can be heard, more distantly. Clearly, there must have been some sort of encampment not all that far away … and a full-fledged battle is raging now. The Observers seem to be more erratic in their movements, mowing down trees (or what passes for them in this warped land) in their search for more targets. Anisa seems to have totally lost mental contact with the automatons.

"Anisa!" calls out a familiar voice. Gibson! "Anisa, is that you?"

Anisa just stares into the vacant eyes of her enemy for several minutes, the anger she felt lingering for a bit, then slowly giving way to a shocked numbness at what she just did, at what she caused back at the camp. Slowly, her mind starts to come back to normal at the sound of her brother's voice, and her legs buckle as she collapses onto the ground in a sobbing mess of blood and fur.