The Forgotten Zodiac

"Just Byrne? You're not a human prince?" Bershee chortled at Byrne. She looked around at the others.

"I'm Arachne, Verolen's little sister." She smiled and waved a bit.

"Rush. A freakish thing that doesn't like being messed with."

"I'm Sylas. Just a human who was raised by trees."

"Nice to meet you all," Bershee greeted cheerfully. She looked towards Jerod and Aries; he spoke first, of course.

"I'm Jerod, a Manakete from the mountains."

"Aries. Someone else who doesn't like being messed with." She tutted.

"Oh. Well okay then. Worry not, I'm not here to 'mess with' people. I want to help." Bershee shrugged.

Quay gave Bershee a small, shy wave and ducked behind Eve. She laughed lightly. "Right, I'm Eve, and this is Quay," she introduced herself last. She then smiled at Bershee. "I'm the one who you talked to on the stone."

"I see. Well then, it's very nice to meet you all," Bershee said quietly, smiling a bit. "I'm not used to being around so many people, so do excuse any rudeness on my part."

"Oh, you'll be fine." Verolen snorted. "These are nice people. And especially now that they know you're on our side, they'll treat you nice. I would go with you, but...I need to go back with Bermuda. I just can't hang around. I need rest, and I can't get that where you're all going."

Bermuda looked slightly relieved when he heard that he wasn't going back alone, then asked "How are Verolen and I going to get to the Manakete Palace? I can't--" he said, trailing off.

"Can't teleport?" Jerod thought for a moment. "Well...Gabe isn't quite experienced enough to do such a high level spell yet. So that leaves us with one option. I can carry you there myself, and make it back to the others in time to set sail with them."

"Flying?" Verolen blinked nervously. "I...I dunno..."

"Oh, for the love of...Verolen! If you're going back with Bermuda, you're going to fly. Here, we have rope; we can tie you securely to Jerod's back. Okay?" Aries snorted. "I'm really tired of these irrational fears. You'd think, after...what is it, 96 years? You'd think after a long time of living, you'd man up a little after awhile...I can understand Sylas, but for you..."

"Right. I think I can manage if I'm tied," Verolen nodded thoughtfully, ignoring Aries' chiding. "Oh, Sylas! Here, take this." He handed the pearl to the human. "It lets you breathe in salt water. It's amazing. Don't lose it, Bershee gave it to me."

"Yes, well..." Bershee snorted. "Do you need swimming lessons too, human?"

"Er...I suppose I wouldn't mind them..." Sylas said thoughtfully, not noticing Verolen's desperate signing to not do it.

Bermuda laughed softly under his breath as he watched Verolen's antics, but suddenly, the expression was wiped off his face.

L'arc, who had been keeping an eye on the Oceanid Prince, was the first to followed his silent, terrified gaze to the river. He yelled out a warning, then grabbed Bermuda just in time to pull him out of the way of a stunning spell.

"Naiads!" he shouted. "Soldiers, coming from the river!"

And, true to his words, about twenty figures were emerging from the water, wielding bows, spell books, and knives.

"Give us the Prince," said one, who appeared to be a leader, "and we'll leave the rest of you relatively unharmed."

"Over my dead body!" Aries drew her foil immediately. She was quick enough to get around their weapons, yes, but he fear was fighting in the water. She would be at a disadvantage, as would everyone else. Aside from Bershee and Bermuda, obviously.

"Get me a bow, Aries." Sylas said with a dark look on his face. "Just get me one of those bows."

"Right...we need to draw them away from the water," Rush said quietly, flapping his wings heavily and lifting off into the air. His legs and arms were still awfully stiff, but he had managed to loosen up his wing joints enough to fly.

L'arc pulled Bermuda to the back of the friendly lines, then stood by him in order to protect him as a last line of defense. The Oceanid Prince looked as though he had actually been stunned, and regarded the scene in front of him with terror.

Rush was gone in a matter of seconds. The Library needed to be warmed up before he could release it in a controlled manner, of course. So he had backed up, to lie in wait.

"Get Bermuda back with Rush," Aries hissed at L'arc. "Sylas, go with them. Byrne, get Arachne and yourself somewhere safe. I'm depending on you to keep her safe. Got it?"

"Understood," Sylas nodded, grabbing L'arc and Bermuda and pulling them back, deeper into the forest.

Bershee, exhausted as she was, returned to her more squid-like form, in spite of still being on land. Her long tentacles were able to grab onto one of the soldiers, flinging him back against a tree on the other side of the river.

"But Aries, I can fight!" Byrne protested, drawing his lance and leveling it at the nearest Naiad. Before he could lunge, though, a burst of white-hot lightning sent the enemy reeling.

"Like that, Jerod?" Gabe asked, grinning at his mentor. Pleased enough with the performance of the spell, Gabe quickly turned to a marked page and rattled off the protection spell, giving his friends the edge.

"Exactly. Again," Jerod ordered, looking ready to transform the moment things got hairy. But he was older; transformations took a lot out of him. He didn't want to do it unless he really had to.

"But Bynre, she'll get killed sitting here! We can't heal her, so unless you want her losing another foot, get her out of here!" Aries snarled at him as one of the Naiads dragged themselves from the water to attack.

"All right, all right," Byrne said, picking Arachne up with one arm and running off into the woods. "Watch yourself, and don't get hurt!" he called to the others as he disappeared. A few soldiers chased after him, but they weren't anything that he, Sylas, and L'arc combined couldn't handle.

Quay had drawn out his bow and was firing at a rapid pace, though he was working at low accuracy. Gabe moved closer to him, watching his back as he prepared more spells.

((QUAY HAD A BOW

936))

Aries ducked around strike after strike, trying not to get hit. One single cut would cause pain, which would slow her down. These few were good, though; the second Aries had two soldiers on her, she would have been dead if not for Gabe's protection spell. Either that, or she would have lost a leg. But she fought valiantly in light of that.

A few soldiers, indeed. But Sylas had no bow (no one had thought to give his back before leaving the palace), Byrne was helping Arachne and had his hands full with her, and L'arc was no match for this many soldiers alone. So Sylas didn't think twice about continuing to run, hoping Rush would figure out something to do when they got there.

((OF COURSE. HE IS AN ARCHER AFTER ALL.))

L'arc was muttering under his breath as he half-led, half-dragged Bermuda through the dense underbrush. The nereid clung tightly to L'arc's arm, so the druid knew he wouldn't be seperated from the group, but at the same time Bermuda prevented him from drawing his sword.

"They're right behind us!" Byrne yelled.

((HE SHOULD HAVE GIVEN IT TO SYLAS.))

"We know! Don't waste your breath, keep running!" Sylas called back over his shoulder. He found himself tripping a moment later; his missing eye made it difficult to discern distance sometimes, especially in high-pressure situations like this one. So his foot had snagged on a root. He was quick to tear himself free, up and charging off again -- but it was too late for that. Slimy hands grabbed him from behind.

"Stop!" The voice of the man behind him boomed, ignoring Sylas' struggles and clamping a clammy hand over the human's mouth to cut off his screaming. Sylas tensed as a knife was pressed against his neck. "Stop running, or I'll slit his throat!"

((POR QUE? XD))

Naturally, the others all halted, Bermuda clinging unsteadily to L'arc for support and Byrne still holding Arachne in his arms.

((Sorry, so short.))

((BECAUSE

SYLAS

CAN HIT THINGS AND NOT MISS

QUAY IS DUMB.))

Sylas squirmed, pushing the man's knife away, but the Naiad only put an arm around his throat and thrust the tip of the knife against his cheek, digging in painfully. He started to drag Sylas backwards, but the human reacted badly to this. He started screaming at the top of his lungs, his eyes fixed on his friend. A desperate cry that was full of pleading to not be taken away from his dear friends again.

L'arc could not just stand there. Jerking away from Bermuda, he drew his sword in a flash a dark growl curling the edges of his mouth and a shadow crossing over his face. "Put him down!" he said, and at his words, vines sprang from the ground, wrapping around the neck of the man holding Sylas. "Now!"

The man swiped the blade along Sylas' cheek, causing a rush of blood to flow forth, but it was a minor injury. Before the Naiad could do anything worse, vines grabbed his arm. Sylas felt the relaxed grip, and squirmed free, rushing desperately back to L'arc.

He felt a rumble behind him, and looked back; a wall of rock came up between him and the Naiads who had been catching up. Sylas stumbled forward and fell onto L'arc, trying very hard not to cry.

"Misery to those who harm friends of the forest within their own realm. Don't you know better?" Rush's voice came from nowhere, booming around the trees, from the very ground itself. The Naiads started panicking, whipping around and trying desperately to find the source of the voice. "I see you," Rush hissed from below them, and the ground opened up, nearly swallowing one whole; they all ran for it, charging back to the river.

Rush lowered the rock wall and climbed out of the hole he had made, laughing hysterically.

L'arc grinned at the chimera, nodding his approval. "Nice one, Rush," he said. "That ought to keep them out of our hair for a good while."

The forest prince then turned to Sylas. "You okay, there?" he asked, concerned. Bermuda had started trying to climb into the nearest tree, wanting to hide.