The Forgotten Zodiac

Dark smirked at Spy's cry, saying "Yeah, right." He looked forward at the cave for a moment, then said "Okay. Let's go."

"Finally!" Light whispered, excited. "I thought I would never hear you say that, brother!" He and his sibling joined their powers together, creating an explosion that rocked the cave in front of them. They both moved forward at that, Light smiling at the confused shouts inside the cave, sending another explosion inside, one that was just smoke. He and Dark ran in, easily locating their targets. Dark dropped Spy onto the ground and ran forward, snatching Diana right from Luen's arms. The wolfling let out a sharp bark as the girl was yanked away, jumping to his feet. "Diana!" he shouted, coughing as smoke shot down his lungs.

Spy somehow managed to crawl to a corner, shaking horribly. Diana screamed, awake at once. Werr didn't move, already in the most protective position he could manage for Welk right now. Forin and Nate both reacted quickly; Nate moved in front of Werr and Welk, determined to protect them, as Cynyr wasn't in the cave at the moment. Forin threw himself at Dark, screeching with rage.

Dark blasted Forin backwards with one of the fireless explosions, saying "No no, boy. I have a job to do first." He pulled the syringe out of his pocket and stabbed it into Diana's arm, injecting it in a matter of seconds. "Perfect." he said, pushing the girl away from him. He dodged another attack from Forin, glancing over when he heard a pained yelp from Cynyr ring out. "Got him!" Light called, cackling wildly. He danced backwards, grinning as he avoided blast after blast of Cynyr's magic. The panther was furious and it showed, his lips pulled back into a ferocious snarl even though he was in human form. He and Light lunged around the cave, barely avoiding any of the others. Cynyr tried his hardest not to hit people while Light just ignored them all, not caring if they got in his way or not.

Diana hit the ground hard. Forin swooped in next to her, examining her arm sharply for barely a second. It had swelled a little, and Diana was sobbing horribly and hugging her chest. Forin pushed her back into Luen's arms, his eyes narrow slits of fury. "You would dare mess with my Summoner?" He growled darkly, tugging his cloak off. His shadow claws appeared around his hands for a short moment, but they shattered a moment later, melting away into nothing. Forin glanced over his shoulder at Diana as she let out a wail of pain. How...?

Fine then. Forin snarled. He had little choice. His true form was itching to get out. Forin knew that he wouldn't be capable of controlling it, this time. Perhaps, if Diana (or Luen) had been in mortal danger, but she seemed more or less okay for now. But if he could somehow rein it back in after it did away with these two annoyances...

Forin didn't have time to finish the thought before the transformation occured. He staggered for a moment, before a wide grin spread across his face. He seemed to admire his claws for a second, then he looked up at Dark. "I wonder what color your bones are," He practically purred, licking his lips. "Come at me, fly. I'll deal with you properly."

"No thanks." Dark said. "Not in here, at least. Don't want to hurt your little friends, do you?" He smiled and threw another explosion out, darting outside when he had the chance. Light followed, deciding that he needed the open space to fight in as well. Cynyr followed immediately, enraged, and kicked up a ripping tornado that he leapt into once Light was swept into it.

Dark now started throwing fire explosions out at Forin, smiling grimly. He was no fool, it seemed. Being the calmer of the two twins, he knew that he had to take his fight with Forin seriously.

Forin avoided them. His speed was superior, especially when he used his wings. His smaller form was agile, but the true form was capable of breakneck speeds before even breaking a sweat. He dove in for an attack, grabbing at Dark's leg. He wasn't aiming to claw or even grip. He was aiming to tear bones out of this freak's body, one by one. Even his true form felt at least a little affection for the summoner, it seemed.

Dark warped out of the way, flashing here and there and everywhere he could to avoid Forin's attack. He hated having to warp around without having Light near him. When they were together, their powers fed each other and they had unlimited energy. When they were apart, they had to reply on their own powers alone. Dark growled slightly, then attacked with his light powers, knowing that Forin was from Tartarus and that light attacks hurt him.

Light created a pole out of darkness and clung to it, giggling happily as he hung onto it to avoid getting flung around by the tornado. "What a ride!" he laughed, holding on tightly to the pole.

Forin backed up rapidly, snarling with annoyance. "Hold still, and I'll make it as painful as possible, you little bug!" He stretched out his hands, taking in a deep breath before performing his next move. His true self really was vastly powerful.

He started removing the oxygen from the air around all of them, grinning as he did so, holding his breath.

Dark puffed out his cheeks angrily in mid-growl as he quickly held his breath, knowing that Forin could outlast him. "Dang it." he thought. "Now what?" He clenched his teeth in anger, then threw Light a message. "Brother, get over here!" he snapped. "Come on, you know what to do!"

"I know, I know!" Light replied, lunging off of his pole as the tornado around him vanished due to Forin sucking the air out of the surrounding area.

"Forin!" Cynyr shouted, then immediately gasped as he found himself unable to breathe. He barely managed to get enough air to fill his lung, already feeling lightheaded. He clamped his mouth shut, already sinking to his knees as his lungs ached. He wouldn't have lasted much longer if not for the fact that Light warped to his twin's side and they both created an explosion so big that it not only threw Cynyr and Forin backwards, but also collapsed part of the cave, causing screams and cries to echo out as people narrowly avoided falling stones.

Zephyr reappeared at this time, having heard the sounds of distress. He landed with a thud and darted inside the cave, lung in just in time to prevent Welk, Werr and Nate from being crushed by a huge rock.

Forin didn't even glance back at the cave. He was quick to get back in action, but he froze halfway to Dark and Light. Diana had let out a scream. She hadn't been curling up against Luen, so when she thought that Luen had pulled her entirely out of the way, her foot had actually still been in danger of being crushed. And it had been crushed. Thus, the scream.

Forin's eye twitched dangerously. He blasted forward again, grabbing both Light and Dark by their faces. "I'll rip you apart!" He roared at them, throwing Light on the ground and turning his focus on Dark. His hand started sinking into the freak's neck, Forin attempting to tear out Dark's spine itself.

Dark's eyes widened, then smiled. His entire form suddenly turned mushy and gooey, revealing a thick clay dummy with the word 'loser' drawn into the forehead. "Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that." Dark's voice echoed out from the air. "Like I would let myself be caught by the likes of you. Light, we're leaving; we've accomplished our mission."

Light grinned darkly, then disappeared into thin air. "Coming, brother." he trilled, and then one last explosion rang out, directed right at the cave, which buckled entirely and collapsed in on itself.

Zephyr acted in an instant, throwing his wings out and snatching everyone up into them, pushing everyone under his belly as he took his largest size. Then even the dragon was covered by the rubble as the cave collapsed, swallowing them up.

When the dust cleared, Dark and Light had vanished, leaving a trashed cavern behind.

Forin shrieked in rage, throwing the dummy on the ground and squashing its face with his foot. He spend a good five minutes doing that before he flew over to the cave. He stood where the entrance once was, then started moving rocks. About halfway through, he reverted back to his normal form. Then he had to pause every few rocks, clutching his head. He looked exhausted and worn before his hands found Zephyr's muzzle. He started pushing rocks away, trying to get it to where Zephyr could move again.

The rocks suddenly shifted as Zephyr stirred slightly, letting out a wheezy moan as he pushed against the rocks covering his body. When Cynyr got up and helped Forin move the rocks, they managed to clear enough for Zephyr to finally break free and knock the rocks from his body, shaking his horned head slightly. His scales had protected him form severe damage, but that didn't mean he wasn't hurt. He grunted in pain when he was able to lever himself up further, glancing around to see that he had several deep (for his body size) cuts all over him and that one of the rocks had cut right through the membrane of his right wing, leaving a gaping hole, along with another rock that had fallen hard enough to break the bone at his shoulder of that same wing. His huge pupils had narrowed to feral slits with the pain as he panted, a low snarl leaving his mouth.

The others were all okay and alive, aside from several cuts and scrapes and Diana's foot. Zephyr's belly was right over them, which would just barely have brushed against Welk's head if he would've been standing. Nate would've had to crouch down in order to move about. Zephyr hadn't be able to give them anymore room, or else risk leaving them open to more rocks. The forest green dragon flared his wings, feeling his injured one flail uselessly, then lunged up into the sky in a jump that carried him away from the others. He landed out in the snow, away from the broken cave, then curled up, panting and bleeding into the snow.

Forin stumbled forward, assuring himself that Diana was still alive before he passed out in front of them. Diana wailed all the more at this, putting her arms on his chest and crying into them, unsure of whether or not he was okay. He didn't seem too injured...she, on the other hand, wasn't crying just about Forin. Her foot was a swollen, blue and bent mess. And her chest ached horribly, it had since the injection. It was only getting worse, at that.

Nate went after Zephyr, inspecting his friend's wounds. "Much worse would have happened, had you not acted in time. Thank you." He said quietly, putting his hand on an uninjured part of Zephyr's leg, concerned for his friend. Seria would be able to heal him completely though, of that he was certain.

Seria shook dust off of herself and moved forward, making Luen hold Diana close as the female half-cat placed both of her hands on Diana's foot, gently soothing the pain and repairing the bones. Not even a scratch was left behind.

Cynyr walked out towards Nate, watching Zephyr with a suspicious look on his face. The way Zephyr was acting reminded him of a hurt wild animal; ferocious and dangerous. Zephyr suddenly whipped his head around towards Nate, his large mouth open in a snarl. Cynyr grabbed Nate by the back of his shirt and yanked the dragonian backwards, causing Zephyr to snap his jaws shut inches away from them. Cynyr pulled Nate backwards a few feet, to a safer distance away from the dragon, who growled threateningly at them. "You idiot." Cynyr said to Nate, letting go of the dragonian. "You almost had your whole head taken off. If you find an injured bear out in the woods, are you just going to run up and start petting it? I think not." His tone lowered into a calmer one. "Sit down and wait for him to come to you."

Zephyr snarled, his pupils still angry thin black slits.

"Forin, wh-what happened to Forin?" Diana sniffled, buring her face in Luen's shirt.

"Let go of me!" Nate snapped, pulling away from Cynyr. "He's not a bear, he's my friend! I can talk to him," He frowned, though he sat down in the snow regardless. Cynyr did have a point; Zephyr's primal instincts must have taken control of his logical side. Nate could do nothing but wait, though. "Back off then, I'll take care of him."

"Forin..." Luen started, holding the girl close. "He was just protecting us." he said. "He'll be okay, don't worry." He nuzzled her, breathing a calming icy breath down the back of her neck.

Cynyr's ears flattened in an instant. "Fine. Be that way." he spat, turning and stalking off. "Next time, I'll let the dragon bite your head off."

Zephyr kept his head turned away from Nate, hot dragon blood dripping from his wounds. He shifted slightly, giving Nate a slight growl, then mostly ignored him for several long minutes. They sat there for a long time before anything happened. Finally, Zephyr slowly lifted his uninjured wing in a silent signal that he wanted Nate to come close.

"I kno-know, but why is he sleeping?" Diana whimpered. "Forin never sleeps."

Nate approached cautiously, stopping within arm's length of Zephyr. "Should I fetch Seria? She'll have you patched up in no time..." He said quietly, though Zephyr would be able to notice that he did seem a bit tense now. Of course, it was natural instinct for dragons to hate his kind, so if Zephyr's logical mind had fallen to his instincts, well...it would end badly for him.

"He's unconscious." Luen said. "His body is letting him sleep so he'll feel better." Seria moved forward and placed her hands on either side of Forin's head, generating a spell that would work to replenish his energy.

Zephyr just growled in reply, still partially ignoring Nate. A large drop of steaming blood leaked from his wing and he titled his head around, licking the drop away. He turned away again, letting even more time pass, then let out a deep breath that he seemed to have been holding. "I...was a fool." he said softly, his long ears tilted back. "I let my pain overpower my logical mind. I could've...when you...if Cynyr hadn't..." He closed his eyes, breathing out another deep breath.

"I know. It's fine. I should have been more careful..." Nate shook his head. "Seria!" He called over his shoulder. "Zephyr needs help!" He turned back to his dragon friend, nodding again. "Really, it'll be okay." He said again, though he didn't get any closer to Zephyr.