The Forgotten Zodiac

"Hm? No, I'm not talking to you, lad." Nightlash rolled his eyes. The bad guys, however, seemed to be frozen in shock.

One of them had the guts to break the silence. "Duke Nightlash! Your head is mine!" He shouted, rallying a battlecry from his colleagues. He drew his blade and charged; the guards stood by and watched as Nightlash raised his blade and blocked the attack easily. Really, his sword only looked decorative, with a curved, spider-web steel hilt and gem-embedded blade. It was actually quite the weapon, Nightlash's favored. He was much unlike other dukes in the fact that he preferred to defend himself if he had the means to. And he certainly had the means today.

The fool who had dared to attack was pushed away by Nightlash, and the battle suddenly exploded into being. Cynyr and Nate hadn't been forgotten; several of the shady group went after those two, though the main force of them went for Nightlash and his men.

Airlia, in the meantime, peeked out from between her feathers, shaking her wings slightly to get some of the food off of them. She watched the battle begin for about five seconds, then curled up again, knowing full well that this battle probably would determine her fate as much as it would the others; if Cynyr and this newcomer won, she'd be safe. If they lost, well...very much less so.

((I thought Airlia was in a different room or something. Oh well. :3 ))

Several thoughts raced through Cynyr's head in an instant. "Wait, so this guy is on our side? He's the guy Nate was waiting for? I hope his blade is as fast as his mouth. Wait a second...darn it! Does this mean I have to work with HIM as well as Nate?! Darn it! I hate situations like this... Man." These thoughts ran back in a split second, and Cynyr quickly decided to trust Nightlash (for now) and jump into battle. His only weapons were his teeth, claws and wind powers, but he was a good match for most of the soliders there. He also had the power of intimidation on his side. A huge, snarling, pitch-black panther was not something you saw everyday, so several soldiers froze up for a second when Cynyr charged at them. That was all the panther needed to break through their defenses and kill several of them before they could rally themselves.

((No, the front room is connected to the hallway (in which most of the bad guys are crowded in) which has the room Welk and Werr were in, and the room Nate and Cynyr were in. The doorway to the room Cynyr and stuff are fighting in now is facing the main room, which does explain how Cynyr saw Nightlash.

But yeah, Airlia is in the main room.

Maybe I should edit a post somewhat to explain that much?))

Nate was a very good fighter, though the majority of what he was doing now was disarming his opponents. He would catch his slim blade in their hilts, then using their loose grips to his advantage as he pulled their swords right out of their hands. They would back up, pretty much defenseless. Nate would leave the mesisier work to Cynyr.

Nightlash, however, didn't seem to care how much blood he spilled. If they came at him, he would duck under their attacks and strike from there. He sliced into the leg of one man, who stumbled back, falling right into Cynyr's clutches. Nightlash's men were also making short work of these enemy soldiers.

((Also, if you wanted to play a dark-magic-ified bad guy, maybe now? If not, very well. Later. xD))

((Nah, that's okay. I get it.))

Cynyr was a raging whirlwind of claws and teeth as he tore through one man after another, using his anger to his advantage. He got a few cuts and various shallow wounds on his body, but other than that, he was relatively unharmed. He shoved past several of the few men left and quickly located Airlia, then ran over to her. "Airlia!" he said, screeching to a halt in front of her. "Are you okay?" He transformed into a human and held his hand out to her, accidentally using his left one, with the star-shaped mark on it.

((How about dark-magic bad guy being Cynyr eventually? He does get infected with dark magic. Well, he's already infected, but it takes a while to show. It happened in the fight with Heather. Cynyr got nicked by one of those tendrils. That's all it took.))

((But you are not playing any bad guys and I am playing ALL the bad guys and--wait, that's normally how it works. Huh. Nevermind, then. xD))

Airlia was quick to grab it, tears forming in her eyes. Only understanding what her old masters used to do, she starting pushing her power into Cynyr. It was painful for her, but it increased magic power by remarkable amounts. The mark on Cynyr's hand started glowing once more.

Nate fought on, though he was starting to be outnumbered. With Cynyr off to save Airlia, that left him with the job of defending Welk and Werr.

((Ha ha. ))

"What-?" Cynyr gasped, feeling his mage powers building. "What are you doing?!" he said, not understanding what was going on. He started to feel lightheaded from the power buildup, and he knew that he had to let it out. Now. He glanced around quickly, spotting the soldiers still attacking Nate and Nightlash, then raised his other hand up and released a massive, sweeping blast of wind that bowled all of the soldiers over and flung many of them against the walls, knocking them unconscious. When the blast subsided, Cynyr fell to his knees, panting. He glanced over at Airlia and asked "What...what did you do to me?"

((HEY I WAS THINKING.

At some point, there gonna come to Storaph Palace and find the real bad guy and poor controlled king Asmodius, blahblahblah. But somewhere in the palace, maybe they could find a light-magic artifact thingy?))

Nightlash's men took care of the remaining soldiers. Nate lowered his guard as the duke's men approached him warily; he had been fighting with them, but Nate still wore the seal of Storaph on his shirt. Nate dropped his sword and raised his hands in submission. "I hold no allegiance to Storaph or King Asmodius. Please refrain from cutting my head off."

"Relax, he's fine," Nightlash waved at them, walking over to look at Airlia curiously, though he kept his distance, not wanting to be rude. Most unusual...a girl with wings?

Airlia released Cynyr's hand quickly. "I-I'm sorry, I pushed out too much!" She stammered, plopping down on her rear again and covering her head like she expected Cynyr to hit her. When he didn't, she looked up at him and spied the look of bewilderment on her master's face. "You don't...know? Oh...I never got a chance to explain. I-I'm an amplifier of magicks, of all shapes and sizes. I can't use spells on my own and I can't fight, but...I have a lot of magic power inside me, that I can give to my master through that seal." She pointed to the star-shaped mark on Cynyr's hand. "And...that's all I know. I dunno where I came from, why I'm like this, but...it's how I am..."

((That sounds neat! OH. And they can eventually use that thingy to help free Cynyr from the dark magic. Maybe. Or it can somehow react to the dark magic inside on him and let them know he's got it. Yeah. That works nicely.))

Cynyr took in a shaky breath, then said "O-okay. Just...just don't do that again unless I give you permission. I was just reaching for your hand to help you up." He panted for a moment, then stood up, once again offering his hand to the girl. "Come on." he said gruffly. "We've gotta get out of here." He helped her up, then let go of her hand and went back into the room with the others. He glared hard at Nightlash and Nate, then jerked his head at Welk and Werr, saying "Let's get them out of here." He walked over and scooped Welk up into his arms, noticing the alarming way the younger half-cat's head dropped backwards. His whole body was limp, and if not for the faint rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, Cynyr would've assumed he was dead.

((Or both? Haha. Maybe Werr should be the only one who's able to operate it, 'cuz it was designed to give non-mages a bit of power? Bwahaha.))

Airlia nodded hastily. "Y-yes master, I won't do it again unless you say so!" She followed, prodding Werr nervously. Werr seemed to be in worse condition, his breath coming in rasped gasps, twitching every so often despite the fact that he was very much unconscious. Airlia looked up as Nate stepped forward, checking Werr's pulse.

Nate didn't say a word before scooping Werr up, carefully carrying him into the main room.

"Leaving so soon?" Nightlash looked at them curiously. "I thought you might at least like to know who it was that attacked you, but I suppose Nate can fill you in on that bit. You should consider yourselves lucky he took interest in you; Nate saved my life once. Though, I suppose that dept is repaid now," He looked at Nate with a small smile.

"It is. Thank you." Nate dipped his head.

"Wonderful. I hate being in dept. So, Cynyr, where to next?" Nightlash looked at the half-cat, his smile growing wider. "Back to the forest? I really wouldn't suggest that, with Welk and Werr in such conditions..."

((Both is good. And YES, I like Werr. I luvs him.))

Cynyr glared at Nightlash, wishing so badly that he could refuse both his and Nate's help, but knowing that he and the others couldn't make it without it. He bit back several nasty retorts he had worked up and swallowed his pride long enough to answer the young man. "I know a place that we'll be safe at. It's in a forest, but not the one from before. It's time we left this area completely." His broken tail had healed enough to be taken out of the splint by now, due to the half-cat's fast healing abilites. He paused and set Welk down, then let his tail out of the splint. Once that was done, he picked Welk back up and wrapped his tail around Airlia's hand so he could led her along better. His tail hurt, but it would hold. "Let's go." he said, quickly making his way outside. "I hope you can get some horses or something, because it's a long way to the place."

((Haha. Funny, Cynyr doesn't even care that Nightlash mysteriously knows all of their names. xDD Werr would be freaking out, if he were awake.))

Nate followed, as silent as ever. Airlia held on gently, knowing how sensitive Cynyr's tail was. At least, now she knew."Sounds good enough to me. I was going to suggest an area close by where your friends can get medical attention, but I suppose that's alright. Wherever you prefer." Nightlash followed them outside. There were actually a large amount of horses already outside, along with a small carriage tethered to two.

"We can use this," Nightlash approached the wooden contraption. It was currently weighed down with bows and other assorted weapons, but Nightlash started unloading that, dumping it onto the ground. His men were still inside; they'd clean up here and return to their headquarters for duty. They'd be taking these weapons with them, naturally, but they were going to have to do it without the carriage.

Nate eyed the weaponry curiously. "You didn't have to bring the entire armory."

"You made it sound so urgent in your letter, Nate, how could I not? And here it turns out you just wanted to save a bunch of kids. Plus one mage, and an angel girl, I suppose...it was pretty urgent after all, huh?" Nightlash smiled.

((He's tired and sore right now. Give him time, he'll get paranoid soon. XD ))

Cynyr growled, his ears back. "We're kind of wanted, if you hadn't noticed." he hissed. "If we take them to a medical facility, we'll just get taken captive again." He clenched his teeth together tightly in his mouth, then said "I know...someone...who can help them both. After we get them to the place, I'll go get her." He hadn't spoken to her in a long time. He hoped she would remember him. He put Welk in the carriage once Nightlash cleared it out, then helped Airlia in. His attitude to her had changed quite a bit since they had first met. Almost like he had accepted the fact that he was stuck with her. Once she was inside, he transformed into a panther and said "I'll lead the way. You guys follow."

((And I'm going to bring in my third OC soon, which is a female half-cat. She used to be friends with Cynyr.))

((Hahaha.))

Nate gently put Werr into the carriage, noting that the boy's breathing had calmed at least a little bit. He was still spasming every few minutes, but he supposed that was due to the amount of electricity that had run through the poor kid. Nate climbed into the driver's seat, frowning ever so slightly.

"I'm a duke, in case you hadn't noticed." Nightlash rolled his eyes. "But I'd like to have a word with you, Cynyr, before you go anywhere. I'm a busy man, after all, I can't accompany you to this place of yours. So, if it's all the same, I should just talk with you now, while I still can."

Cynyr glared furiously at him, his tail flipping and twitching around behind him. He wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible, and he felt extremely angry for some reason. Finally, he growled "What is it?" through clenched teeth. He was on edge and twitchy, jumping at nearly every sound he heard.

"Firstly, I wanted to ask what you'll do now. Where will you go? Being a fugitive, you can't stay in one place for long. That, and I understand Werr has things he wants to do. Mysteries he wants to solve. Not that he can do them if he dies in that condition, but...regardless, I'd like you to pass this on to him. If he survives." Nightlash said, digging in his bag for a moment before pulling out a bulky letter with his seal on it. On the front read, 'To Werr, from Duke Nightlash'. On the back, over the wax insignia, 'If the seal is broken, your friends opened this before giving it to you. Find new friends.'

"I trust you'll get it to him?" Nightlash asked, smiling again.

Cynyr transformed into a human and took the letter, snarling when he saw the writing over the seal on the back. Several nasty names that he wanted to call Nightlash came to his mind, but he held them back, which was quite hard for him. "Yes." he growled, his voice seething with hatred. "I'll give it to him." He put the letter in the carriage, then turned back into a panther, his slitted yellow eyes narrowed at Nightlash. "You can go now." he said flatly, obviously wanted him to leave as soon as possible.

"Thank you." Nightlash smiled slightly, dipping his head. "Onwards, then, I suppose. Farewell, Cynyr. Good luck in your travels." He turned and walked towards a pure white horse standing at the front of the line of horses. Nightlash climbed on, the horse lurching into motion and trotting away, the dawn sun lighting the undramatic departure.

Cynyr glared after him, then turned to Nate and asked "How can you stand to be around that without throwing up? Jeez..." He didn't wait for an answer, and instead moved into a canter, calling "Come on, let's go!" over his shoulder. He led the way, bounding along beside the horses and calling out directions to Nate. They traveled for a long time, until they were far away from the terrible place where they had been held captive. Cynyr led them to what looked like an abandoned fortress, hidden deep inside a forest. The fortress was big, but parts of it were falling down, and vines grew all along the walls. Other than that, it looked safe and fairly stable. A perfect hiding place.

"My," Nate blinked up at the fortress in surprise. "Curious...I've never seen anything like this before, and I've traveled through these very woods many times."

"Well, we did go a little off the beaten path," Airlia pointed out, staring up at the place in awe. "It looks great! Almost like a castle." She smiled before turning to check on Welk and Werr. Werr was still unconscious, and Airlia guessed that he would be for awhile. Welk, though?

Airlia gently brushed her wing against Welk's cheek for no real reason, trying to see if he would react.

"Yeah, well...the creators of this place tried to keep themselves a secret." Cynyr answered, stalking over to the carriage and turning back into a human. He watched Airlia brush her wing against Welk's cheek, then sighed when there was no reaction from the unconscious half-cat. "Let's get them inside." Cynyr said, leaning inside and scooping up Welk. "Nate, get Werr. And watch what you're doing; I still don't trust you. Come on, Airlia." He held his tail out to her, letting her know she could hold onto it again as they walked.