The Forgotten Zodiac

"No problem." Rush chortled, lifting up into the air again. "I'm going to see if Aries, Gabe and Jerod need any help. You lot should be safe, but do you want me to put up another wall first?"

Sylas nodded weakly, wiping blood off his cheek. "He would have killed me, whether he got Bermuda or not...I could tell from the way he was holding the knife..." He whimpered a bit, then shook it off and straightened himself out. "B-but I'm fine. Thank you, L'arc..."

L'arc nodded, holding onto Sylas's arm to help support him. "You're alright," he murmured again. "You got a weapon? There might be more naiads coming. I think I can hold them off," he said, watching as Rush headed off.

"I'll help," Byrne said. He had been helping Arachne and Bermuda climb into the tree, so they could be pretty well out of harm's way.

"No, I don't have anything...I should have grabbed Quay's bow." Sylas sighed, but then shook his head to shake off the last bit of panic he had felt. "I think I'm good for now," He nodded. "But we'd be better off hiding, L'arc..."

L'arc nodded, looking around. "I think... I'd blend in quite nicely as a tree," he said, smiling a bit and nodding again to himself. "Think it'd fool them?"

"Probably. And if they try to climb you, you can drop me on their heads," Sylas said jokingly, taking a step back so L'arc could transform.

"Right," L'arc said, nodding and laughing a bit under his breath. He drew in a deep breath and let it out, closing his eyes as his form grew steadily upwards.

And upwards.

Soon enough, the large Cypress tree stood before Sylas, waiting for him to climb up.

Sylas was quick to scramble up, finding it easy. Of course he did. He had spent most of his childhood climbing trees. If he hadn't been able to climb them now, well...that would be pretty bad.

But he sat up in L'arc's branches, tempted to fall asleep.

Bermuda looked over from his perch in the tree next to L'arc, watching as Byrne followed Sylas up into L'arc's branches as well. He had his lance out and ready, just in case.

"Think the others are holding up all right?" the human asked, looking to the others. Bermuda had closed his eyes, and rested against the tree trunk.

"Probably. I don't see any sign of the Library, so..." Sylas said thoughtfully, peering out towards the river. "We're most likely in the clear, but let's wait here..." He wiped his eyes and face again, shaking his head a bit with a small sigh.

"Why didn't I see this coming? I should have predicted this..." Bermuda murmured, his voice sounding distant and detached. "I should have been able to stop all of this... but now... I can't do anything..."

((Bermuda feels like being angsty.))

"Calm down, Bermuda," Sylas chided gently. "It's not the end of the world. And no one has died. Look, here they come," He pointed towards the treeline, from which Aries, Gabe, Jerod, Eve, and Rush were emerging. Except, Aries was being carried by Eve and Jerod, stretched out and dragged between them like a rag doll. There wasn't anything else they could do; a heavy Naiad blade was lodged between her shoulders, dangerously close to her spine.

Gabe was frantically turning the pages of his tome, looking for the strongest healing spells he could find and use sucessfully. "Circle! Rush, I need a circle!" he was yelling at the top of his lungs, looking near tears as he watched blood leak from his mother's wound.

"Quay? Jerod? Anyone, I need a circle, now!" he demanded.

((No. She can't die. She is L'arc's last retainer. No.))

((Of course not. xDD Sorry for short post.))

"Gotcha covered," Rush stomped. Immediately, rock flipped up onto hard ground; Jerod showed rush what to make, and the chimera pushed the rock into the right shapes. "There you go. Quickly, move quickly."

"P...pull the sword out," Gabe said, then immediately setting into the spell. He murmured the words in a shaky rhythm, his eyes darting from the book too his mother's back in a nervous manner. He held the word of release on the tip of his tongue as the others extracted the blade from Aries's back, then unleashed the spell.

((Thank goodness.))

((Also, what did you mean by 'retainer'? .3.))

Aries screamed; she was still conscious, after all. So the tearing of the knife from her back...well, it was painful. She held still, though, trying desperately not to writhe in pain as the spell stopped the bleeding and partially healed over her wound. But as the spell faded, there was still obviously damage, still obviously pain. At least she wasn't in danger of dying anymore, though.

((Oh, it's like, councilmember. Advisor. Most trusted allies and closest companions that you can trust to do anything for you. Usually noble by birth, or at least higher-ups in society. Jerod and Reetah are Minori's retainers.))

Gabe let out a small whimper. "Sh-should I try again?" he asked, looking up at Jerod. "Will it do more if I go a second time? I don't want mommy to be hurting..."

((Oh, okay. xD I get it now.))

"Do-don't wear yourself out..." Aries groaned, curling up where she was. "Mommy will be fine..."

"It'll drain you too much to do that again, Gabe. I'm worried you might hurt yourself." Jerod shook his head. "You can do it again in a little bit, when I'm sure you won't run low on magic. Understand?" He peered up into the tree where Bermuda was. "Are you capable of healing without a staff, Bermuda?"

"Y...yes, I think I can still do that..." Bermuda said, climbing down from the tree.

((Sorry, short. Sister just got home.))

((Das fine.))

"Good..." Jerod nodded, smiling a bit. Rush was examining a wound on him; an arrow, lodged in his leg. He didn't complain, he made no sounds of pain, and he didn't even wince as Rush eased the arrowhead out and stopped up the bleeding with a rag.

"You'll be fine. I don't think it hit an artery. Sit," Rush ordered, and Jerod did so carefully. Rush was a pretty good field medic, even though he didn't have the magic for healing.

Bermuda nodded a bit as he dropped to the ground, going over to Aries and placing his hand gently on her back.

"Hold it!" The command came from L'arc, who had shifted suddenly back into humanoid form, dropping Byrne and Sylas in the process. "Bermuda, you're not intending to use Sacrifice, are you?"

The nereid pursed his lips and said nothing. L'arc hurried over and grabbed Bermuda's wrist, pulling him away from Aries.

"I'm sorry, but you've got enough wounds of your own without taking Aries's onto yourself. Sorry, no," he said, dragging Bermuda back a pace. "Can't Quay use any healing magic?"

"The... gallr of healing takes two singers," the selkie offered from where he stood near Rush. "Can't..."