The Forgotten Zodiac

Nate turned. "It was I. You would have been much worse off if you happened to get an infection overnight, and the innkeeper was kind enough to provide the bandages, and the water to clean your wounds with. Why do you ask?" He said, blinking at Luen curiously.

"I simply wanted to know." the ice mage replied, carefully sitting down in a chair nearby. "I got hungry and decided to come down to get something to eat, then just thought it the right time to ask. Pardon me if it was not." He curled his fluffy tail around into his lap and began stroking it, having to pause once in a while to pull up his baggy overshirt. The gold chain around his neck tinkled occasionally as he moved.

"Naturally. Knowledge is important." Nate shrugged, then looked down at his empty mug. He looked into the kitchen, where the innkeeper was working on more papers. "Miss, may I please get another mug of brew, and could you set us up with another plate of food?" He asked, smiling politely.

"Of course, dear, hang on a tick," She called back, smiling brightly in return.

"There you are. Dinner is on the way." Nate smiled slightly at Luen. "You seem nervous." He said lightly, examining Luen carefully for his reactions. "There's no need to be. Then again, you're in the presence of the very thing that caused your sister to abandon you..."

Luen shrugged slightly, giving Nate a cautious stare. "Yes, I suppose I'm a bit on edge." he said. "I'm not used to settings such as these, and I'm just waiting for them to change."

"Change? How?" Seria asked, giving him a curious look.

"It's obvious that I'm the weakest member of this...group." the wolfling said. "Eventually you all will get tired of me and leave me behind, where I'll get found by my sister and killed by her hand or discovered by wild animals and torn apart. I'm expecting either situation to happen by the end of the week." He sounded so normal as he spoke, as if he were talking about nothing more than the weather or something simple, not his own death.

Nate quietly pondered his words. "There was a small discussion of whether you should stay with us or not," Nate said thoughtfully as Luen's food was brought out, and he was handed a second mug. "I don't believe they came to a conclusion. I doubt we would leave you in the wilderness though, so you can rule out the wild animals, at the very least."

Luen nodded slightly, then stood up and walked over to the table to eat. He only ate about half of what he was given and then seemed to be finished. He pushed his plate away and stood up, glancing around. "Do you think I could go out for a moment?" he asked. "I should find a place to train for a while or else my powers will dull. As my only means of defense, I must keep them sharp." He held up a white-clawed finger and let a tiny cascade of pretty little snowflakes plume up from the tip of his claw. "I would understand if you were to say no." he said. "It would seem suspicious that the person you met a few hours earlier would ask to go out at night by himself."

Nate blinked at him for a moment, then sighed. "I guess I can't keep you, but I would advise not showing off like that. Find somewhere quiet and alone to train. Mages are illegial here in Alastor." He shrugged, turning back to his drink. "Go on then. Oh, and don't worry about seeming suspicious. Seria here is very good at picking up on lies, so I'll just ask a couple questions when you get back."

Luen nodded, then turned to walk out. "Wait." Seria called, getting up and walking over to him. "I'll come with you." she said, standing near him.

"Really? Why?" he asked, confused by her actions.

"To help make sure you stay safe." she answered. "And to watch you train. I would enjoy seeing your power levels. That might help us determine if you should stay with us or not."

"Oh." Luen said, brightening a bit at her words. He had thought he had done something wrong. "Well, that's alright. I would enjoy the company." He smiled slightly, then looked over at Nate and asked "Would you care to join us or not? I might as well ask before I leave."

"Sure, why not. I don't think I have very much say in who comes and who stays, but I can certainly vouch for you if I think you can be a help to us." Nate stood and chugged what was left of his brew, leaving two bronze coins on the counter before moving to follow Luen and Seria. "Welk and Werr went to bed already, I believe, so let's just leave them be."

((I was going to have him stay behind, but if you're thinking what I'm thinking, it'll be more fun if he goes with. :I))

Luen nodded, then walked out of the inn and paused outside, glancing around. His tilted his head back slightly and breathed in the scent of the air, then said "There's an abandoned building that way. That would be perfect for me to train for a moment in." He pointed towards the northern part of the town and started walking in that direction.

Seria followed behind him, once again on high alert.

((I'm probably not, so you should tell.))

((Luen's stalky sister follows trail to inn. Werr and Welk are allooonnnneeee nao. 8D))

Nate followed along behind, looking about curiously. He didn't know this town very well, and the fact that it had used to be the capital city...it was all rather interesting. What really peaked Nate's intrest was the fact that if there was a castle in any sort of town, there was usually some sort of dungeon or jail. Perhaps it had been destroyed?

((We can just ignore them after this post if we'll be switching to that.

Also, the jail is a network of catacombs under the chapel. Just so yah know. Though I shouldn't say too much. xD))

((I hadn't thought of that. Hmmmmm.))

When they made it to the building, Luen carefully opened the door and peeked inside, then walked in. "Nobody's here." he said, turning to watch as Seria and Nate took spots by the wall. "Right then. I guess I'll start." he said, then turned and walked to the center of the room. For about two minutes, all he did was cast small spells that barely conjured up more then a burst of snowflakes or some icicles.

Then he began using his real power.

He spun in a quick circle and shot ice from his hands in all directions, neatly avoiding Nate and Seria, then he murmured a soft chant and slammed his right hand down on the ground, his other held out behind him.

Instantly, the room was filled with ice.

Ice had twisted out of his hands and had covered the inside of the building with ice and snow, leaving a ring of deadly ice spikes sticking up out of the walls, floor and ceiling in many places. Luen then leapt up and began weaving and jumping between the blade-sharp spikes, casting viscious ice attacks that would have killed a group of over twenty men at once. Luen crouched on a ice spike, then leapt high and flipped forward, landing neatly on his feet. He stood up quickly and threw his arms to his sides, which caused ice to come forth and hover at the tips of his fingers. He twisted in ever-quickening circles, the ice followed his hands in long, frozen trails. It seemed like wherever he moved the ice hovering over his hands, the ice stayed there, leaving long arches and tendrils through the building as he leapt around. He called out a different spell and transformed into a wolf, running as fast as he could over the open, snow-covered floor. Ice formed under his paws, and he suddenly ran straight up into an arch, the ice forming beneath his paws as he moved. All kinds and sizes of deadly spikes were left behind, and the second that he touched back down, all of those spikes fell down, crashing into the ground with such force that the floor broke in several spots. Luen transformed back into a human, panting, then he sighed and lifted his hands. Slowly, all of the ice in the room turned into snowflakes and melted.

He was extremely powerful.

((Hmmmm.))

((I have a knack for thinking of things no one else does. xD

HMM. INTERESTING. 8I Haha.))

Nate watched, careful to follow every movement. Luen was fast, and surprisingly strong. For someone who was so weak physically to be this strong magically...at the end of Luen's performance, even he looked impressed. "Who did you train under?" He asked curiously, interested to know if Luen taught himself or not. Mages were powerful, more powerful than he was, Nate knew that well. Given Luen's element, though...Nate was doing several mental calculations at once while waiting for an answer. If the conditions were right, Luen could easily overpower him.

Nate shook off such thoughts. Luen was with them, or so he said.

((It's awesome.))

Luen had to take a moment to regain his breath, but he eventually smiled. "I trained myself." he said. "My tutors were ancient books I discovered in various libraries across the land. I would have liked to have had a real teacher at some point, but it seems that that was not meant to be. I don't know. I've always thought of myself as a little powerful."

"A little?" Seria said. "Try a lot. That was amazing!"

"Really?" Luen said, his smile widening a bit. "Well...thank you, that means a lot to me. Even though a few of those spells were a bit weak. I haven't used them in my human form for several years."

Seria blinked and exchanged a look with Nate. If those were weak ice spells, then what did strong ones look like?

((Haha. Anytime you're ready. If we were going to do that. We don't have to. xD))

"Interesting...indeed, your power far surpasses any mage I know." Nate said (though it wasn't saying much, because the only other mage he knew of was Cynyr), wondering how much more powerful he could get. Then his thoughts trailed to Airlia. If Airlia could give Luen more power...of course, Nate didn't realize that Airlia could only put power into her master, but it was still quite the thought. Luen would become vastly more powerful easily.

((I had a different way for her to come back later, once they get to the battlefield.))

Luen smiled, blushing faintly. "T-thanks." he said, walking over. "That was all I really needed to do. We can return to the inn now." He flicked his tail once, then lifted his hand and made a pretty little fountain of snowflakes shoot up from his palm and fingers. "I'm still fairly tired." he said, rubbing his eyes with his other hand. He smiled at them again, then walked out of the building, heading back to the inn.

Seria moved to follow and paused near Nate, where she whispered "We're keeping him around. I think his power is deinitely worth it. So what if he's physically weak? His magic skills were extremely impressive."

((Ohkay, but when we get to the next town, it'll be my turn to have fun again. >:]))

"Yes, I agree," Nate responded quietly as he followed. "What he lacks in strength, I can easily cover. I'm curious as to how he survived so long without being killed, though..." He thought about it. Luen had said he was a servant of King Asmodius. That made two of them, though Nate was better off in the regards that he served the real, good-hearted Asmodius and not the corrupted one that sat on the throne these days.

Nate rolled over the possibilities in his head once more, of what had happened to the king. Replacements, blackmail and threats, possession...Nate was thinking about it when he decided to ask Luen. "Hey," He said, pulling ahead and tapping the wolfling on the shoulder. "Did you ever see King Asmodius directly? Was he usually with someone, or did he ever look ill or troubled?"

((Okey-dokey. >: D ))

Luen jumped slightly when he was touched, then he turned his head and gave Nate a slightly fearful look. "Well, he did look a bit sickened the few times I've seen him." he answered. "You see, a long while ago, he put up a black veil in front of his throne, so no one could see him whilst they spoke to him. I've only seen him about four times in the entire span of my working for him, actually." He shrugged, not knowing what else to say to Nate.

((Oh yeah, I can't remember if I ever got a definitive answer from you. Did you want to play poor puppet-ly King Asmodius? ouo He wouldn't be infected with Dark Magic (unless you want that to happen).))

"I see..." Nate frowned slightly, then shook it off. "Sorry if I seem nosy. I wish to know what's happened to my king, and...well..." He sighed, scratching his arm absentmindedly. "It's fine. I didn't expect you to be able to tell much." He snapped back into his usual, untroubled demeanor. It was quite odd, how he just switched moods like that. Perhaps dragons were the same way, or perhaps Nate was just odd like that.

((You can be him. I've got enough characters to worry about for the moment. XD ))

Luen nodded, then cautiously shifted to the side, moving a step away from Nate. Being near the man clearly frightened the teenager to some extent. When they made it back to the inn, Luen looked a bit calmer, though still somewhat nervous. Whether that was just his nature or something else entirely, however, was yet to be discovered. He walked around the room with a child-like innocence and curiosity for a moment, staring at various things the room held.