The Forgotten Zodiac

Welk didn't even nod. He twisted around and raced off with Werr leaned low over his shoulders, hurrying to get there in time to hopefully stop the violent fight from growing any worse.

It was too late for that, however.

Luen was fighting like he didn't care for his own life. Like the wounds he received meant nothing. "You hurt her!" he screamed, sinking his sharp teeth into Bala's leg and pulled her back so hard that she nearly toppled to the side. "You hurt an innocent little girl for no reason other than to hurt someone else! You made Forin cry!" He sounded like he had lost his mind, like he had let himself be completely taken over by the urge to kill her for what she had done. Bala was easily holding her own against him, however, much easier than they thought possible. His wounds stacked up while hers remained sparse. Luen wasn't thinking straight, thus hindering his own fighting abilites. When several of the guards appeared to see what was going on, Bala played out more lies. She stopped fighting completely and let Luen attack her violently, crying out in pain. "Help!" she called, kicking out weakly at Luen, who just snarled and dodged. "He...he's mad!"

The guards reacted instantly to what they thought had happened. They lunged forward and hit Luen with a blast of magic, nearly knocking the injured wolfling unconscious. He yelped and staggered back, stammering "N-no! Don't let her...get away! S-she'll hurt them! She'll hurt them!"

The guards didn't listen to him, contributing his words to those of an insane person's ravings. They took anthro form and jumped in, grabbing him and holding him tightly. He snarled and tried to get away, still fighting to make them see what was so obvious to him. But they didn't listen.

They teleported away, with Luen in tow, in an instant, leaving a few other guards behind to help Bala, who was still playing up the helpless and injured act.

Diana screamed as Forin was teleported away, pressing her face into Seria's shirt as she stared fearfully at Bala.

By now, Welk and Werr were just arriving in front of the throne again. Werr didn't waste time before saying, "Queen Galai, we have disasterous news. I did some investigating and--"

He was cut off as one of the other guards teleported in. "One of our 'guests' attacked Balai," She said quickly, frowning unhappily as she spotted Werr and Welk. "We managed to get him into the dungeons before any serious damage was done."

"What?!" Werr looked over at the other guard, bewildered and angry. "No! Balai was the one who attacked Forin and Diana! Luen was foolish for attacking like that, I agree there, but Balai isn't innocent. Far from it."

"How dare you lie in front of the queen?!" The guard snapped at him, stomping a hoof in his direction.

"Silence!"

Galai's voice echoed in the room, causing instant quiet. Her solid white eyes flickered from the guard to Werr and Welk, seeing the concern on the latter's faces. "Send Bala in here to me," she asked in a much quieter tone. "I wish to speak with her on what has happened."

One of her other guards warped out to deliver the news, and soon enough, Bala was helped in, limping on three legs. She glanced over at Werr as she passed the boy, giving him a light smirk that instantly cemented her lies to him. Then she looked up at the queen and asked "Yes, your majesty?"

"What happened?" Galai asked, frowning. "I hear first of two of our guests being abducted and tortured, then I hear of one of them attacking you. Why is this so?"

"I have no idea, your highness." the head guard said. "I was going about my efforts to search for the being responsible for injuring our guests when that crazed wolfling attacked me for no reason. I have reason to believe he would even have moved on to attack the rest of the city if not for the intervention of the guards. He would've killed me if not for them."

The queen was silent, looking downwards as she thought of what she had just been told.

"You attacked Forin and Diana." Werr glared darkly at her. "Forin wrote the word 'hoof' in his own blood, and Diana had a stab wound that Seria can match to the size of a unicorn horn. Luen most likely found a scent that escaped Welk's nose in Forin's room. You paralyzed Forin, and hurt an innocent girl to the point where she wants to go to Tartarus to escape from you! She refused to tell who did it, most likely because you threatened to hurt her or her friends more if she did. But if we get her in here and ensure her safety, she should be able to confess."

Bala's eyes widened slightly at this and she looked back up to the queen, saying "Your majesty, this is unneeded. Why burden a child with something such as this? She should be left alone with her friends and-"

"She was with her friends!" Welk shouted. "Until you hurt her! If you would've left her and Forin alone, Luen would've be okay too, but now he's in prison for trying to protect Diana!"

They glared at each other for a moment, then Galai spoke. "I wish to speak with Diana Harelt." she said. "Her and her summon. Alone, perhaps with one person to give her comfort. None of you, Grehi, Bala, and knight, are allow in the room." Welk frowned, but turned away nonetheless, saying "Let's go get Diana, Werr."

Bala's expression gave away no hint of the anger burning inside of her. She knew that if Diana told, it would be all over for her deception.

"She'll want Luen," Werr said quietly before moving off obediently with Welk. They ran into Seria and Diana at the entrance of the castle, already on their way. "Queen Galai would like to speak with you, Diana. We'll go and get Forin, he's still in the springs with Nate and Cynyr..." He climbed onto Welk's back for perhaps the hundreth time that day, and they started off towards the springs. They were quick to explain the situation to the other two, and they were off in mere minutes. Back into the castle.

Werr was growing wearier by the minute, but he was good at hiding it. He knew he needed to sleep somewhere, but he was also aware of how serious the situation had become. And he knew the heavy decision that Diana had to make. Luen could be condemned to a life of prison if she didn't fess up, but if she told, then there was a good chance that her and her friends could be killed. It would be an obvious choice for Werr, but Diana was weak-willed, young and traumatized.

They set Forin down next to where Diana was sitting now, then they were forced to leave the two of them with Galai.

Galai said nothing for a long moment, simply watching Diana, then asked "Dear heart, I have a serious question I need you to answer. Who is the person that hurt you and your summon? Please, little one, I can assure you that you and all of your friends will remain safe if you speak. If you don't, however, I must assume that the ice mage is, in fact, mad and condemn him to spending the rest of his life in our prisions here." She spoke softly and gently, her six golden wings fanned lightly. "You're safe in here," the queen said. "Tell me. Who hurt you? Where there more than one involved? If there is more than one, I must make sure to catch the appropriate amount of people. If there is only one, then when we catch them, you won't have to fear for all of your friends' safety. Please...tell me, dear heart."

Forin, who was awake again, said nothing. He had been blindfolded at the time, though he was fairly certain he knew who it was. The voice was a dead giveaway. But Diana needed to say it without prompting. So he said nothing, just focusing on getting enough breath into his lungs to keep himself conscious.

Diana moved her hand into Forin's, shaking terribly. She just didn't know what to do... "There was just one..." She said, her voice very, very small. She felt vulnerable, weak, undefended. With Forin on the edge of unconsciousness again and Luen in a cell somewhere, she felt as though everything around her was primed to attack. She thought long and hard about it, rocking back and forth on her heels. "...i-it was Bala..." She said ever so quietly, flinching and tensing as though she expected to be run through with a unicorn horn any second.

Galai sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, then said "Of course. Thank you for telling me this, little one. I understand your friend's actions much more now." She snapped her fingers and summoned her guards, giving them orders to find and capture Bala immediately at any cost and allow Diana's friends to reenter. Seria came into the room and moved over to them, holding her arms out to Diana to pick her up.

The door suddenly opened to emit Bala, who trotted forward angrily. "What is the meaning of this?!" she snapped. "Your majesty, you dare accuse me of hurting that girl and her summon? I would never!"

"Bala, your lies are as plain as the suffering you've caused Diana." the queen said. She dropped her voice a bit and said "I knew you hated Tartarans ever since your sister was killed by one, but to go so far as to hurt one who did nothing to you and his summoner? I'm ashamed of you."

Bala broke at that moment, screaming and flinging her head back. "They all have to pay for what they did to her!" she shouted. "All Tartarans are guilty of her murder! Every last one of them! And all of her friends must die for being friends with her and, in turn, the Tartaran! Starting with the wolfling who is friends with both of them and who dared to attack me!"

Galai snapped her fingers and Bala was instantly bound from horn to hoof. "Bala, I didn't want to have to do this to you, but since you have shown me the true extent of your hatred, there is no other option." the queen said. "For crimes against guests of Amnairus, for showing outright hatred of your brother race, for kidnapping, and for attempted murder of non-Amnairian beings, I sentence you to immediate death."

Bala wailed and struggled against her bonds, but in the next instant, Galai had raised her hand and had struck the winged unicorn down with her own hand, taking back the life energy she had first used to create her.

Silence followed after.

Diana recoiled away from Seria, curling up next to Forin and putting her head on his chest. She closed her eyes tightly as Bala was killed, shaking all the more as more guards came in to remove Bala's corpse. She was afraid of every one of them by now, though she didn't cry. Not a sob escaped her lips.

"Thank you, queen Galai..." Forin moaned softly. "I can...rest in peace now..."

Well, that did it. Diana burst into tears. "No!" She wailed. "Don't die, Forin, I forbid you to die!" She wrapped her arms around him, feeling him cough weakly.

"N-not dying..." He said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Just...resting..."

He was lying.

((I decided to be realistic. Galai's presence, however dimmed down it is, is rather seriously damaging to his already greatly weakened body/magic. Also, I've decided that Titus would have to remove the light magic from his system, thus giving him an opportunity to plant the insane-ness seed.

So get his butt to Tartarus. xD

Alsoalso, Forin will be able to return to Amnarius after he's 'better' (with insane-ness seed), where his state of mind slowly decays until he releases a blast of magic that knocks him (and whoever's close to him at the time) unconscious. Thus, getting them stuck in his head where they must find said seed buried in Forin's memories, and get rid of it.

Also, the 'seed' is a form of the being that scares him the mostest.

Thus, Obelisk. (No Dark Magic there, just scary and tough.)))

Cynyr, who was standing near the door in human form, snorted and said "He's dying, Diana. Someone has to take him to Tartaran. I'm assuming that he needs to reabsorb some of the shadow from that place. He's gotten too much of the light from Amnairus in him."

"So...who's going to take him?" Welk asked. "Normally, I guess that'd be Luen, but he's...busy." He pursed his lips, frowning.

Cynyr sighed and said "I'll take him."

"What?!" Welk shouted. "No! Y-you can't go!"

"I'll be fine, Welk." the panther said. "Tartarus can't hurt me. I've been through worse in my life." He walked over and picked up Diana, ignoring her struggles, then held her at arms-length and said firmly "Stop it. Bala's dead and gone. Nobody in this group would ever hurt you, so shut up and let me take care of your friend before he dies. Seria's nice; I should know." He handed her to Seria, who held her tightly and comforted her gently. Cynyr then turned, taking one of Forin's arms and looping it over his shoulder, then picked him up and twisted his body under the Tartaran so Forin ended up on Cynyr's back. The panther stood up, wrapping Forin's arms around his neck and holding onto the Tartaran's legs so he wouldn't fall off. The wind mage then walked over to Welk and nuzzled him gently, then sidled over and briefly touched his forehead to Werr's.

And with that, he turned and made his way all the way out to the gate, where he disappeared through it on his way to the fork in the road that separated Amnairus from Tartarus.

Diana sobbed into Seria's shirt, at a loss of what else to do. Forin had never lied to her before, she was so confused and hurt...

The light bridge, in the place between worlds, cut straight into Amnarius without a change of height or slope. Tartarus' bridge, however, had unsurprising changes to it; instead of gentle notes playing with each footfall, the bridge crackled and snapped at Cynyr. Instead of a straight walk into Tartarus, the bridge fell into a downward spiral, tightly wound around and around until it stood straight again, somewhere at the bottom. As Cynyr approached, the smooth bridge spiral shifted, making stairs out of what would have otherwise been a deadly slide.

The straight portion of the bridge, deep down below, did indeed lead straight into Tartarus. The bridge melted away and was replaced with a gravel path. The darkness of the place between worlds smeared with the red sky of Tartarus until there was nothing but the crimson hue. It was as if this world had four suns standing at the four corners of it, locked in eternal sunset. But it was hardly pretty. A more accurate description would be, 'it was as if this world had four suns, and someone had come along and slain them all, leaving their blood spread across the sky'.

The tall bronze gate was open, naturally, ranting entrance into Tartarus itself. There were no clouds or fluffy grass here. The buildings seemed to be little more than caves, the ground nothing but rock. Where Amnarians were capable of feasting on all kinds of food, it was hard to see where any livestock - or even water - would be kept here. There were several deep wells dotting the area here and there, and there were actually goats capable of being heard somewhere off in the distance.

As Cynyr entered Tartarus, it was as though someone had set off a silent alarm. And silent it was, stiffly so, though eyes of yellow and red glinted from cave after cave. A massive bat - supposedly someone's true form - landed nearby. It took one look at them and laughed, breaking the silence. "Ha! Look at what the kitty's dragging in! Forin Dulce, on death's door!" He hopped closer, daring to shove his nose towards them to smell. He let out a shriek and flapped his wings to jump back quickly, shouting, "He smells like Amnarius! They both do!"

Cynyr snorted, curling up the edges of his ripped-up face into a grin. "Believe it, bat-boy," he spat. "And if you don't shove off, I'll personally make sure you smell like Amnairus too. Only you won't come back alive." He stalked in, fitting in rather nicely with the grim settings of Tartarus. He flicked his tail at the bat when he passed it, hitting it with a small blast of wind that bowled him over. He headed right towards the bleak, black castle looming in the distance, not caring that he had single-handedly caught the gaze of almost every Tartaran there. A large spider skittered close, staring with wide red eyes at him. Cynyr snarled at it and sent it scurrying for cover. He smirked and continued towards the castle, carefully hefting Forin a bit higher on his back.

Cynyr was stopped again at the gate to the castle. It was indeed constructed of black stone, though it didn't give off the same feel as Storaph Palace did. While it was still dark and evil-looking, there was still a sort of peaceful awe that the looming towers created. As evil as it was, it remained oddly beautiful in its own way. The gate looked to be pure silver, glinting in the harsh red glow from the sky above.

Pacing in front of the gate were several wolves, eyes burning as red as the suns. Two grays and one black, as well as several others drawing near as Cynyr stopped. They blocked Cynyr's passage, though they didn't seem mad or grumpy. A little surprised, perhaps; hardly ever had any of them seen a non-Tartaran here, strolling around so confidently. "State your business," The black one ordered, peering up at them suspiciously. "Oh, nevermind. It's bloody obvious. Just know that it would be unwise to try anything," It tutted, then turned and pushed the gate open for him.

"Likewise, fuzzy," the panther said, heading inside without so much hesitating. The inside of the castle had relatively the same sort of layout as the Amnairus caslte, only this one was much darker and foreboding. Nevertheless, Cynyr found his way to the thick silver doors of the throne room, noting how the design of The Eye of Ka'ael was in the center of the door, similar to how the Amnairians had their mark, except the Tartaran one was much simpler.

Again, the panther was stopped by guards. A one-eyed dark grey one trotted over, glaring up at him. "Halt right where you stand," he growled. "What do you think you're doing here, punk?"

"Taking this Tartaran to a place where he can be healed," Cynyr answered, his ears flicking back against his head. "Move it or lose it, grandpa."

The wolf jerked his head back and snarled deeply, saying "You're going to regret that, cat,"

"Calm yourselves." Titus was clearly not like Galai at all. He did not confine himself to his throneroom, clearly, as he approached now from the other end of the hall. A young maid was scurrying along behind him with a tall stack of large books balanced in one hand, a tray with tea and crackers in the other.

At first glance, one would say that Titus was the exact opposite of the Amnarian queen. And they would be right. He stood tall over Cynyr and the wolf, though he wasn't as tall as Obelisk. He was handsome, too, though his eyes were an unusual silver and his teeth clicked when he talked. Black hair flowed behind him, small wisps of shadowy vapor wafting off as the ends were shifted by a draft. His black and silver kingly garb was adorned by the mark of Tartarus, naturally.

Small black, leathery wings adorned his wrists and ankles, while a pair sat atop his head. There was a set of four on his back, though those were much larger than even Galai's. Naturally, he had them folded behind him. The only other item of importance was his crown, sitting ajar on his head; it was crafted of fine silver, shaped like bones, with small black gems set on the front.

He approached loftily, as though visits were a normal thing. Like he had expected all of this. "There will be no roughhousing in the castle. Save it for the arena tomorrow." He tutted, closing the book he had been glancing over while walking. Another thing that he differed from Galai in was power. He made no attempt to reign it in, and it flowed off of him in massive waves with even the tiniest movement. He swept past Cynyr and the wolf, pushing open the door to his throne room. "Come along then, ground-treader. I'm sure whatever business you have for me is important. Perhaps even...deathly so." He chortled.

Cynyr glared at him, making no attempt to hide it. He figured that in this dark world, it was better that he didn't back down very much. He would be respectful of the king, obviously, but that was it. And even then, those who knew Cynyr understood how much 'respect' that was. He moved after Titus and into the throne room, still carrying Forin on his back. "It is important, actually," he said, snorting softly through his nose-holes. "I brought this Tartaran with me to be healed. I assume you can do that here. I don't like him, far from it, but I'm not going to just let him die." He stopped in the middle of the room, watching Titus carefully.

"Interesting," Titus said with a blank expression on his pale face as he pulled Forin off of Cynyr's back with one hand. Titus himself looked somewhat...dead. Those who didn't know him might have described him as a vampire. "So, even though you hate this child of mine, you bothered yourself to drag him here to be healed. Why is that, exactly?" He questioned, moving over to the throne and setting Forin on it to inspect him. He ran his pale fingers along the Tartaran's chest, trailing upwards. He paused over Forin's throat, and again on his lips before pulling away. "I'll be honest with you, I'm not inclined to repair something that is not worthy of it. You are aware that this is not actually Forin Dulce. As strong as he may seem, he's little more than a knot of discarded emotions that clung to a discarded form. I'm not certain how he achieved this," He traced the mark on Forin's forehead with a single claw. "But regardless of that, he is of little use to me. So do explain why it is of such urgency that he needs to be repaired."

"Because," Cynyr stated. "Because he's important, apparently, to the protection of some of my other friends. Because he's a being and he's alive, even if he's just..." And he imitated Titus' voice in a sarcastic way. "...knot of discarded emotions that clung to a discarded form." He shook his head and said "I don't care. Even if someone is just that, emotions in a form nobody wants, they're still a person. You don't have the right to let him die just because he isn't of use to you. That's not right and, frankly, if that's how you rule your kingdom, I'm surprised Galai ever took you to be her mate." He was well aware that what he was saying could potentially backfire on him, but he didn't care. "You asked for my explanation and I gave it." he said, folding his arms over his chest and staring up at the king.

Titus blinked at him for a moment in mild surprise, then laughed. "You cheeky little ground-treaders. Waltzing around as though the place belongs to you. Galai may tolerate it, but she is far from myself in almost every aspect. If that wasn't obvious enough. As for whether or not I have the rights to let him die, my children are not like you ground-treaders. I gave him life, he was foolish enough to allow that to be damaged. It may seem harsh to you, but if one of my children are too weak or too foolish to continue on in life, then theirs is done. What do you ground-treaders call that, Natural Selection?" He snorted. "For that matter, he is a traitor. To have locked lips with an Amnarian who was not his mate, that is a serious crime indeed - one that Galai mustn't know of, or her child Luna will be punished. And Forin will be slain just the same, as is in our laws. So to be honest with you, I've done him a great favor by not killing him the moment I found this fact.

"However...he is an active Guardian. One of so few who are ever called upon these days." He sighed, thinking. "I would ask for your opinion, but you have made it very clear that you despise me. How about this...I'll strike you a small deal.

"I will heal Forin Dulce. But his life will be restricted to that of his summoner's; when she dies, he will also. Her wounds would be his within a matter of moments. Or...I can heal him completely. He would continue to live on, even after his mortal summoner expires. But for this to happen, the members of your group who believe him to be worth something - excluding his summoner, obviously - must perform a task to prove their belief. If they fail, he will die." Titus plucked Forin up by the back of the collar, sitting on his throne and setting Forin on the floor. "Since he is clearly incapable of answering, you should give one for him."