The Forgotten Zodiac

"I said heal her, not make more wounds," Jerod snapped in irritation. "Fine...I suppose we'll be waiting, then. It's not safe to move her, she won't be able to without pain, so..."

"Find something, VCF," Rush snapped at nothing. "Take your time."

"Singing softly in the breeze,

Quiet spirits, please take heed,

Listen now to us in need;

Burn away the darkest creed." Arachne sang quietly. There was a soft rustle in the trees, almost like the leaves themselves had sighed. Everyone was silent for several long moments, until Sylas questioned,

"What was that?" The human frowned, looking around nervously; Aries seemed a bit more at ease, though.

"She nearly died. Death was lingering around, and that might have caused all these wounds to get infected. That would be awful. So I made it leave." Arachne shrugged as though it was the simplest thing.

"That's my creepy, odd little sister." Verolen snorted.

"It... it would have healed her," Bermuda said, looking to Jerod.

"But it would have hurt you, Bermuda," L'arc said, looking just as irritated as the Manakete. "And you're in no shape for that."

Eve shivered as Arachne sang, checking twice over her shoulder before speaking. "So I guess that means we have nothing to worry about now," she murmured.

"Don't jinx us," Byrne cautioned, rapping his fist three times on the nearest tree trunk.

"We have less to worry about now." Sylas fixed her sentence for her. "Skies above, when did everyone turn all supersticious? That's a bit odd. We've never cared about 'death' or 'jinxes' before."

"Just like a human to deny the most basic of thought processes." Bershee tutted.

"Well, I'm sorry for being cautious," Byrne said, scowling a bit as he crossed his arms and glared at no one in particular. "Just being cautious," he repeated.

"Well, the spirits are very real," Eve said, backing up Byrne a bit. "But you can only ward them off by knocking on a Rowan tree," she said, sounding fairly educated on the subject.

"And there aren't any of those in the general area." Sylas rolled his eyes.

"And how would you know?" Bershee tutted.

"I know this place."

"You're a human."

"I was raised in the forest, and my old home is only a mile away from here!" Sylas snapped. "I know this place."

"Only a mile?" Aries blinked. A short pause, and then, "Do you...want to visit it, Sylas? Jemina's...remains?"

Sylas looked down for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't...I don't want her to see what's become of me." He touched his eyepatch, then shook his head again with a very heavy sigh.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Sy," L'arc said. "You've become strong. I'm sure Jemina would be proud of you," he said, suprisingly gently.

Sylas still looked upset and...disappointed. "I couldn't save her, L'arc. Why would she be proud of me? She raised me, and I repayed her by watching as they cut her down..." He stood and walked to a tree, resting his forehead against it in order to hide his shamed tears from his friends.

"Well...we don't have to visit, then," Aries said.

"Are you feeling better, then?" Rush tilted his head at her.

"Not really. I'm done screaming, though." She moved her arms and legs, just to be sure that she could. She smiled up at Gabe, after that. "Good job, son...I'm proud of you."

Gabe trotted over and sat down next to Aries, smiling. "I'm glad I could help you, mommy," he said, looking up as Byrne spoke.

"So, um, shall I pitch the tent? Gather firewood, something?" he asked.

"No. We're leaving the second I can move." Aries insisted. "Just...rest, Gabe. You need to rest so you can heal mommy entirely."

"VCF found a spell that can transfer energy from one person to another," Rush said suddenly. "That will definitely help. Who wants to donate some energy to Gabe?"

"Take mine," Byrne said. "I haven't done much recently, really, I don't mind," he said, looking to Rush. "How's it done?"

Gabe smiled once more at Aries, then turned to Byrne. "Thank you for wanting to help," he said quietly.

"Well, it's surprisingly simple." Rush rummaged around in Aries' bag, withdrawing a rope. He put one end in Byrne's hand, and the other in Gabe's hand. "But don't be too eager, Byrne. This could potentially kill you if you put too much into it. Energy is a fragile thing. Oh, and just so you know, you might pass out for a couple of minutes. I reccomend sitting down now, so you don't hurt yourself on the way down..."

"Mm, okay," Byrne said, seating himself on the ground. He closed his eyes and relaxed, loosening the muscles in his shoulders and back, holding the rope lightly in his hand.

"Thank you," Gabe repeated, holding on to the other end of the rope. He looked up to Rush. "Now what?"

"Now, watch this." Rush put both hands on the rope. "Pull it taut. The second you let it go slack, the spell will stop." When they did so, he started murmuring something or other; blue light spread out from his hands, engulfing the rope entirely, and shifting over their hands. Byrne could feel it start to work first; something pulling, tugging on his insides. Draining him of energy. Gabe felt it next, the pure energy poured into his small being until he was overflowing with magical energy.

Byrne jerked slightly, grimacing a bit at the sensation taking over his body. He gasped, gritting his teeth, and held on to the rope.

Gabe jumped, his eyes opening wide. "Oh!" he exclaimed, a bit shocked at how quickly Byrne's energy come to him. He kept the connection up for about twenty seconds, then the warlocked dropped his end. "That's good, that's good, plenty enough," he said, nodding and looking slightly jittery.

"Good. You alright, Byrne?" Rush asked quickly. He hovered in the air around the human (his legs still weren't loose enough for him to walk normally yet), then dropped a foot down to re-make the powerful healing circle that would channel Gabe's magic into healing Aries' wound the rest of the way.

"Right, then. Thank you a bunch, Rush," Jerod nodded up at the Chimera. "Go on then, Gabe...get to wo--" He stopped short as a bellowed roar came from nearby, as well as several snaps that were obviously from tree trunks.

"No..." Bershee practically froze. "That was a river, it shouldn't have been enough..."

"What? What is it?!" Aries demanded, twisting around to try and see.

"Th-they've summoned...t-the..."

"The Kraken." Rush finished darkly. "Run."

((KRAKEN. I like the way you think.))

Gabe looked incredibly torn between running as Rush said and trying to hurriedly heal Aries completely. He had already stepped into the circle and turned to the page, and looked to Jerod, undecided on what to do.

Byrne stood shakily, lifting his lance. "We're fighting again?" he asked, his voice hoarse and tired-sounding.

L'arc stepped over to Bermuda, slinging the nereid's arm over his shoulder. "Move, move," he ordered quietly, pulling Bermuda deeper into the forest.

((All I had going through my head was, "RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!" xDD))

"Go, go, quickly," Jerod urged desperately.

"No, we're running." Sylas shook his head. "Stay together, guys, this could get bad...if we get split up, meet at the Tree of Fruitbearing!" He called before L'arc and Bermuda could get out of earshot. Bershee seemed frozen in place, but Verolen jerked her out of it and pushed her towards the others. He stayed put, waiting to see if Gabe would be capable of healing Aries in time.

He saw the Kraken's head above the treeline. The mass of tentacles crushed tree and timber alike; the greenery was weak due to a cold and dry winter. It was surging towards them, its target already known.

The magic immediately went to healing the rest of Aries' back. The second it was done, she moved and scrambled towards Gabe, snatching him up in her arms and darting away as quickly as possible. Verolen followed, as did Jerod. Running as quickly as possible, away from the giant octopus that wanted to devour them whole. Jerod couldn't transform while moving, which put them at a disadvantage. There would be no sudden swoop-in of a dragon and flying to safety.

((I bet they miss traveling with Minori. XD))

Gabe yelped a bit as he was whisked off with the others, watching behind them as they outran the giant monster. They caught up with the others quickly enough - Sylas, Quay, and Eve were the farthest ahead, while L'arc and Bermuda were trailing a bit behind them and Byrne was dragging his feet a little.