Ana found Tristan near where Garreth and he had encountered the female shadowspawn.  The dwarf was rushing forward, swinging his axe at the lithe female, only to have her dance back and weave away from his swings with a madwoman's laughter, taunting him but making no physical counter-attacks.<br/><br/>"Ana?" Tristan asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?  We need to get back to Lauralana... the boat's under attack..."<br/><br/>The thing in the fog approached Lauralana unhurriedly.  To lesser eyes, it might have seemed as if the figure was becoming clear as it moved through the fog, but Lauralana could see that it was actually the fog condescending into a man-like form.  It, no he... even with her shield she could feel the intense masculinity of the thing before her as he stepped into view before her.<br/><br/>He was large, nearly a foot taller than Lauralana and broad.  His body's musculature was like a sculptor's masterwork, unnatural in its absolute perfection.  He wore no clothes, exposing all of him to her view.  His arms and legs and torso were covered by a smooth covering of scales, small and tightly fitted like that of a snake, by pearly white in color.  And as the light struck them, it glittered and shattered into swirls of ever-shifting color that drew the eye and held it.  The nails on his fingertips were golden, as were the hooves that his powerful legs ended in.  His face was elongated, with a snout like that of some beast and golden tusks rising from pale lips.  A pair of horns, spiraled like those of a ram topped his head.  A mane of snowy white fur began on his head and cascaded down his back, from which a set of equally pale bat-like wings extended.  More snowy fur covered the frame, while the thin membranes were the same hypnotic pearlessence as his scales.  The glimmer of gold shown from the tiny hooked claws at the joint and ends.  From the apex of his thighs extended the undisguised proof of his maleness, his pale organ glistening and ready.  And from it a musky scent swept over her, like a hot wind laced with raw lust.  He smelled of sex and sweat and spend.  The sheer majesty of the being before her could belong to nothing mortal.  The Shadow himself was not only alive, but standing before her.