"Mr. Prince," Drooled the demon, "I have paid the price for greed. Dealing with worse than I has made me what you see." The lich stuttered when he said this, pained to recall the deed. Once again, the same thorn made Rumpelstiltskin bleed. "The degradation to my body may have left my mind free, but in order to make magic on this scale, I have a need for a life force, a will… The kind of spark that starts a seed: Small and bright, packed in tight, with all the power of a tree. Do I look as though I have that kind of power left in me? If I killed you in the process, what kind of deal would that be? I do not wish your death. This you must believe, by your heart, I mean your aura, if you know what that word means. It is a bright one... Though not the brightest I have seen. You will not die, you will not sleep, but more of something in between. I will use your vitae, Spiritus ichor, you may not like what you perceive, but from this force, from this chakra, I will fashion you a thing. It will show you to your desert. It will show you to the queen. It indicates the brightest aura, anywhere from here to sea, and of them all, we know that the strongest one is she."