The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr stared at his own reflection in the blade, feeling strange. Lightheaded. He had lost so much blood last night, the amounts he was losing now was draining him. It was a struggle to draw in breath and darkness clouded the edges of his vision, but he dully realized another thing. Cynyr was fighting. Cynyr was fighting for him. Werr wouldn't let his friend die in vain by just dying here and now. To just let go and fade into nothing would be wonderful at this point. He thought of himself as worthless and he didn't understand why anyone would fight for him, but Cynyr was doing it anyways. Werr forced himself to keep breathing as he searched for another reason to stay alive.

Welk. Welk was a good reason to stay alive. His best friend, the closest one he had ever really had. Who was still alive, anyways. Welk would be sad if he died. He couldn't make his closest friend sad.

Werr moaned as he was pushed into the sitting position from behind, forced to face the fighting. "This'll be fun. They'll kill Cynyr. And then you'll be killed. I'll kill you, if Light can't." Necropolis chuckled, putting his hand under Werr's chin to prop his head up.

A sharp screech suddenly echoed out and Dark fled backwards, clutching the side of his face where Cynyr had sliced him up good with his claws. Light immediately gasped and grabbed the opposite side of his own face, feeling his twin's pain. He struck out at Cynyr again and the two fought for several moments longer, then the fight was won.

Cynyr lunged in a split second and sunk his teeth into Light's right arm, putting one paw up against Light's chest to brace with, then ripped the black-clad being's arm off between his shoulder and elbow.

Light screamed violently, which was matched by his brother as Dark's left arm suddenly ripped away and fell to the ground to match his sibling's maimed state.

Cynyr let go of Light's disembodied arm and attacked again, but the twins were done. They both vanished instantly, leaving everything behind. Cynyr panted raggedly, then turned to Necropolis and lunged forward, landing with his muzzle barely a centimeter away from Necropolis' nose. "Leave. Now." he snarled, his tone dark and dangerous. He moved in front of Werr and slammed a heavy paw into Necropolis, sending him backwards, away from Werr.

"No!" Necropolis snarled, raising a hand. For Cynyr, it was like time momentarily stopped. He caught up with reality mere seconds later, but by then, Necropolis had already gotten to Werr. He had cut open a long gash in Werr's stomach. He had then reached in with his clawed hand and was now tearing into Werr's chest, trying to get a hold on the human's heart. His arm was literally inside Werr, up to his elbow.

Werr spluttered, blood pouring from his mouth in a thick flow. He couldn't breathe. His fading eyesight was barely able to make out the shape of a large dragon landing nearby.

Cynyr whipped around and sunk his sharp teeth into Necropolis' shoulder, dragging the Tartaran backwards, unaware of the dragon that had landed with a booming thud. With the last of his fading strength, he flung the summoned creature far backwards, panting. When Necropolis tried to come forward again, he was halted by Jag and Welk leaping in his way, along with Zephyr's huge snout.

Seria had already reached Werr and had touched each of his wounds gently, closing them all up.

Cynyr didn't notice any of this. Time seemed to move slowly around him. He blinked dully, aware of a throbbing pain in his chest from his broken collarbone and...something more. He glanced down and saw the knife Light had plunged into his chest while they had been fighting. He hadn't been aware of it until now. Everything was slowing down. He shook himself lightly, as if he were uninjured, then slowly turned and limped off into the bushes. He didn't know why he did it. His brain had slowed as well, pushing reason and logic out of his mind. He didn't recognize the others in his near-death state. He didn't feel any pain from his wounds anymore. He felt nothing. All of his common sense had deserted him.

Nobody noticed his disappearance.

Necropolis backed up several paces, then raised his hands in defeat. "Heh, I know when I'm beaten..." He shrugged, listening desperately for any word from Obelisk.

Nothing.

"Welk, Werr needs you," Forin said, stepping behind the half-cat. He suddenly lunged forward, his hand sinking into Necropolis' forehead. The other Tartaran collapsed while Forin brushed some black powder off of his hands. "He'll wake up in five minutes, more or less. Make sure he's tied down, and cover his eyes. He'll be incapable of setting illusions if he cannot see."

Indeed though, Werr did need Welk. He was hugging his chest and stomach where Necropolis' arms had been, trapped in hysteria. His breath came in short, quick gasps and he was still horribly pale, but it no longer had anything to do with physical wounds. The entire ordeal had been traumatizing.

Welk twisted around in an instant and fled to Werr's side, taking human form and scooping him up into his arms. "Werr!" he said, hugging the boy tightly. "Oh Werr, I'm so sorry!" He nuzzled the boy, sending a wave of warmth out into his friend's body. He latched onto one of the boy's hands, leaning his right leg up to support Werr's head as he gently took both of the boy's hands into his own. He rubbed them softly, his ears flicked back, and bent his head to press it to Werr's forehead.

Jag came forward and picked up the chain around Werr's neck, then pulled hard on the part attached to the tree. It didn't so much as budge no matter how hard he pulled on it. Zephyr had to break it, carefully taking the edge of the chain in his mouth and giving it a sharp tug. It broke free and Seria unwrapped it from around Werr's neck.

How Cynyr had broken his chain when he had been in such a weakened state was a mystery, especially since Jag, who was at full strength, had been unable to so much as crack it.

Jag walked over and bound up Necropolis with the chains, wrapping a piece of cloth tightly around his eyes.

As soon as the chain was off, Werr pulled himself from Welk's grip, staggering as far away as he could - which was barely four steps (which was surprising considering how much blood he had lost) - before sinking to his knees in the snow, hugging himself still. He sobbed loudly, dryly, unable to control himself.

"Well, we've saved Werr, mostly...at least he's alive. Where's Cynyr?" Nate frowned, looking around.

Necropolis jerked awake merely seconds after the knots were finished on the cloth. "Oh, fun. How'd you figure it out?" He snorted, not moving, though he was obviously a little scared now. If only a little.

"Just a guess. I remembered seeing you in Tartarus. You would always wear goggles to protect your eyes from the glowing. I figured it had something to do with you not wanting to lose your powers. After all...what's a Tartaran without their special talents?" Forin tutted.

Seria sighed, then moved over and touched his forehead, casting a soothing glow over him and bringing up some of his gentler memories to help counteract the bad ones he was having. Welk scurried over again, not about to give up on comforting the boy. He hugged him tightly once again, this time not about to let go. "Werr." he said firmly. "Stop. Freaking. Out. You're <i>safe.</i> I promise you right now, as your guard, knight, and friend, that I'll never let anyone take you away again, even if I should lose my own life in the process."

Jag tightened Necropolis' chains just to be rude, making absolutely certain that his wrists were bound behind his back and his legs were locked together. There was no way for him to move, and if he tried to, he would just fall over. The gryphon then tightened the binding around his eyes and wrapped another strip of cloth around that one, making certain that the Tartaran's vision was obscured.

Zephyr shrunk down to his middle size (at eye-level with Nate, in other words), carefully sniffing the ground for any traces of Cynyr. He lifted his head and tilted his snout in the direction the half-cat had gone in. "Something's wrong." he said, flicking his long ears up in that direction. "It reeks of...death."

"H-his...he wa-was...inside me..." Werr said, his voice trembling and barely louder than a whisper. He didn't break away again though, moving his hands to clutch Welk's shirt, dropping his head onto his friend's shoulder. It took several moments for him to get control of his breath again, and several more to stop shaking. He didn't move after that, focusing on breathing deeply and assuring himself that Welk really was Welk, not an illusion or hallucination.

"I get it, I get it. I'm not moving from this spot." Necropolis growled at them. "You people are downright cruel when it comes to people you don't like, aren't you?"

"I haven't heard any final breaths..." Forin frowned, marching towards the bushes where Cynyr had fallen. He didn't pause or hesitate after spotting the half-cat. He grabbed Cynyr under the arms and dragged him out, calling for Seria.

Seria jerked her head up in that direction when she heard Forin calling for her, quickly scrambling up and running over. She gasped and put her hands over her mouth when she saw Cynyr, tears budding in her eyes. "Is he...?" she asked, reaching down to bury one hand into his soft fur. No, he was still alive. But barely. She quickly ran a hand down his entire body, feeling all of his injuries. So many! And some so bad... She placed a hand around the knife in his chest and used her other hand to pull it free, sealing the wound behind her hand. Then she moved on to his other wounds around his body, leaving his broken collarbone for last, since it didn't bleed. Finally, she moved up to that one, gently placing her hands over his furry neck and concentrating. The bone slowly repaired. It didn't take long for the healer to figure out how he had broken it. The single snapped chain made it obvious.

"You always were stubborn..." she murmured, gently stroking her free hand down his head.

"Can we move him? We need to get to some shelter. I sense a storm coming, and I doubt it'll be gentle snowflakes and nice winter weather." Forin frowned. "More like ice and temperatures so cold that you'd freeze to death within five seconds of exposure. Obelisk has started manipulating the weather even more. It'll be very hard to go anywhere if we don't move now." Sure, they had Nate, Zephyr and Welk, all of whom were natural heat sources. And they had Luen, who was immune to the cold.
But then there was himself and Diana, Seria and Cynyr, Werr, Luna, Vidia, Lily, Jag and Spy, all of whom could easily be snatched away by the elements.
A cold death was a very unpleasant one.

Zephyr pushed his head forward and carefully nudged Cynyr once, then pulled back and rose into his biggest size. He gently picked the panther up into his hand-like paws, trying to be careful not to bump him or hurt him. He didn't lift him up all the way yet. Seria leaned over his claws and gave the unconscious panther a once-over, then looked up at Zephyr and said "Can you carry one more in your paws?"

"Easily." he answered.

She nodded, then went over to Welk and spoke to him. He looked aghast at first, but as she explained, he slowly seemed to relent. He carefully stood up, helping Werr up as well, then led the boy over to the dragon and helped him climb on. "Werr, you have to stay with Cynyr for a little while." he said. "Don't worry; I'll be close by, okay?" He leaned forward and hugged him tightly, then took both of the boy's hands and placed them on Cynyr's furry body, making sure the boy knew his other friend was right there and that he could hold onto him. Then Welk retreated, looking upset.

Werr curled up in Zephyr's paws, clinging to Cynyr. He had no doubts that it was actually him. Cynyr, who had fought for him. Kept him warm overnight. Cynyr and Welk, who cared about him despite his uselessness. Cici was chirping away in the back of his head, but he ignored her for now.

"So...what are we going to do about him?" Nate asked, nudging Necropolis with his foot.

"Ohh, don't leave me to die of the cold," Necropolis whined, though it was painfully obvious that he was trying to fool them into doing so. His grin gave him away. "Well, it's not like you're going to take me with you, is it? Either way, I'll be alone."

"I would ask you where your summoner is, but it seems clear enough to me." Forin snorted.

"Oh? Ohh, guess. I dare you. Come on then, guess! It'll be fu-un~!"

"Who?" Welk asked, clueless as always.

Luna sighed, then moved over to Vidia and embraced the girl gently. "Is it not obvious?" she said in her sweet voice. "Lady Vidia is his summoner."

Welk's jaw dropped open and he stared from the girl to Necropolis, shocked. "What do we do with him, then?" he asked. "Necropolis works for Obelisk. He hurt Werr! I'm not staying anywhere near him." He pouted angrily, sorely tempted to kick the summoned creature, then looked up when Luna spoke again. "Here is where we part ways." she said. "Vidia, Necropolis and myself shall stay behind. I can teach Vidia to better control her summoned creature. I myself was summoned many a time by several males across this land. I know how summons work. Currently, I am here of my own will. None have claimed me as of yet. I figured out how to escape from my world without the use of a summon quite some time ago. I shall stay behind and care for Vidia. I will continute to guide you all to where you must go through your minds, though I will only speak to Welk and Werr, though I may deign to answer someone else once in a while."

Vidia tembled a bit. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't know he would hurt anyone, he was with me in the cell for a little while, but then he left...I didn't know he was being bad, I-I..."

"It's fine." Nate raised a hand.

"Take caution, Luna. She doesn't seem to have any control over her powers at all. She could hurt you on accident." Forin snorted a bit. He clearly didn't have the restrictions Welk did, as he lifted a leg and kicked Necropolis in the gut. "You should also return Cici to Werr, as well. There will be little point in any of this if we don't have Cici when we get there, obviously."

"I...I'm sorry..." Vidia took a step back at Forin's words, knowing that there were plenty of people before that she had hurt, whether intentionally or not. That was why she had been locked up and punished, or so she thought.

Luna nodded once, then turned and walked over to Zephyr, carefully reached into his paws and strapping Cici to Werr's back. Then she walked back to Vidia and took the girl's hand, saying "Do not worry for me. I shall be fine. But first, I hold a question for several of you." She looked over at Nate and Luen, ignoring Forin completely. "Perhaps could you allow me some information from you before we leave? I can only contact those of whom I have taken information from, after all."

Luen looked down, standing meekly nearby in human form, then looked up and said "I will. If...if it betters this mission and our chance at success, I'll allow it." He gulped, looking nervous as Luna brightened and walked over to him, taking her human form in the process. She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned forward, delicately kissing him. He closed his eyes in fear, barely holding back a whimper but still letting her do what she wanted. She pulled back mere moments later, saying "Thank you. You are a sweet little wolfling."

He blushed and looked down, quickly running off to hide behind Zephyr.

Forin eyed her unhappily. "Very well then." He sighed. "But you should know that I will be branded as a traitor for this. Not that I care, I barely spend any time back home, but regardless...you can take my information if you need to. But not Diana's. She knows nothing of use to you anyways." He walked a little closer, a glare buried in his eyes. "Don't dig too deep. You might have a heart attack."

Nate, in the meantime, started helping the others climb onto Zephyr for the trip.

Luna looked up in shock at him, then smiled slightly. "I would not dream of taking any information from your summoner. I shall leave her be." she said, taking a step closer to him. "I will only take what information is needed." she said, stopping in front of him. She looked up at him and smiled a bit more, saying "Do not worry. I will not intrude. I will admit, though, that you are probably the grumpiest person I will have ever done this to." She reached up and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, tilting her head slightly to the side as she watched him. She leaned forward and carefully touched her lips to his in a soft kiss. She pressed a little as she took in some information about him, then pulled back, smiling. "Not too hard to do." she said. "I could have taken more if I wanted, but I value the safety of minds. Though I admit..." She pulled back from him, her tail curled around her legs. "...you tasted the best out of everyone else so far." She smiled at him gently, then walked back to Vidia without another glance.

Necropolis laughed away as they kissed, though it was a bit wheezy after Forin's kick. "Grumpy I may be, but I have my reasons. As I hope you didn't see." Forin scoffed, turning back to Zephyr. "Let's get a move on. That storm will have us in its clutches soon."

"Oh, bye-bye, heroic freaks and traitor to all of Tartarus." Necropolis squirmed, falling onto his side with a giggle. "I'll just be here, freezing to death as I refuse to do what this annoying girl tells me to."

"That guy is so weird." Spy whispered to Jag.

Luna looked down at Necropolis for a moment, then surprised everyone by hauling off and punching him as hard as she could in the stomach.

Which was actually really, really hard.

"You silence yourself this moment, demon." she ordered. "Forin is no traitor to his race, nor I to mine. I understand you do not know how divines are born." She smiled briefly. "You will learn in time. For now, you are going to listen to your summoner or I will make you listen to her. There are several force-commands that a summoner can use and I know them all. If you do not come along willingly I will tell Vidia those commands and you will be forced to obey her." She grabbed the short Tartaran by the collar of his shirt and picked him up, barely sparing him another moment. She took her true form and moved over to Vidia, touching the girl's shoulder with one hand. "Come now, Dear One." she said, wrapping an arm and one wing around the girl's shoulders. In a flash of light, all three vanished.

Jag shook his chest and tilted his head back to brush his beak through Spy's fur, saying "Don't worry about it. Just hang on tight, okay snack? I don't want to lose you if that storm catches up to us."