The Forgotten Zodiac

Dark pulled his hand away, leaving Werr gasping for breath. "It's terrible, isn't it?" he said, a cruel smile on his face. "The pain. The agony. The sheer, mind-numbing anguish. Terrible for you...practically delicious for me." His lips curled back, revealing sharpened, pointed teeth. "Now you're gonna sit here and watch your friend die, then I'm going to hurt you again. And again. And AGAIN, until you can't even lift your head to scream." He curled one clawed hand under Werr's chin and forced him to watch Cynyr fight, keeping enough pain going to equal a migrane.

It didn't take long before Cynyr was on the ground, bleeding from many dark wounds, a thick trickle of blood coming from his mouth. The glow of his eye was dull and shadowy, barely flickering with each slow blink. Light stood over him, looking completely victorious.

((You'd better have a plan for this...-sarcastic-I-know-you-have-a-plan-voice-))

Werr moaned with pain, watching in horror as he drew in gasp after shuddering gasp. He was unable to do a thing but watch, and it was tearing him up inside. He was already limp and struggling to so much as breathe. Tears flowed steadily from his face, his broken lip cracked and bleeding again. "Cynyr..." He whispered. "I-I'm sorry...th-this is my fa-fault..."

((oxo))

The living shadow let out a thin hiss that sounded like a distant wail, straining to lift his head but barely even having the energy to so much as flick his tail. He winced and forced out a small hiss. "Werrrrrr..."

Light grinned deeply, then looked over at Werr and winked once.

And the light blast fell.

It entered the living shadow's chest, causing a strangled gurgle, then silence. Cynyr's head dropped back, falling limp against the ground, black blood seeping from his mouth and wounds. His single yellow eye closed down to a thin slit, which looked right to Werr before closing completely. A small sigh escaped him, somehow getting out past the blood in his throat.

Then there was nothing and he stopped moving.

Light threw back his head and laughed away.

Werr let out a wail of his own, starting to pull weakly against Dark, trying to reach his fallen friend. "Let m-me say goodbye," He moaned, struggling uselessly. "Please..." He quickly fell limp again though, letting out another wail of despair and defeat. There was no hope for him anymore, he realized numbly. It was too late. He would be dragged to Alastor, and the plans would be carried through as easily as they were thought of. And Werr could do nothing but just stand there and stare at the corpse that once was one of his best friends.

Dark smiled and tilted Werr's head back, saying "That was fun, don't you think?" He snorted, then said "Well, I think I need another scream, don't you, Light?"

His brother was methodically stabbing the ground with a dagger.

Dark snorted, then forced another scream out of Werr that nearly rendered him unconscious. The white-clad sibling frowned and pulled his powers back, saying "You should be glad your friend is dead. Now he won't suffer like you will. Besides, he was worthless." He grinned, then moved his hand forward to hurt Werr again.

A shadow fell over them and Dark looked up angrily, then his eyes widened.

A huge light blue dragon plunged down out of the sky, a dragon that was bigger than Zephyr. It landed with a ground-shaking thud, releasing a booming roar that made Dark let go of Werr and clap his hands over his ears. Light did the same, shouting "What the-?!" The dragon swept a huge paw out and flung Light across the ground, resulting in several broken bones that mirrored onto Dark, forcing him to back up, clutching his arms to his body in pain.

The dragon roared again, swinging its tail wide and knocking over more than forty trees. It blew a tongue of blue fire up into the air, moving its head low and snapping at Dark, forcing the twin into retreat.

Werr hit the ground a second after Dark had let go of him. He didn't have the strength to keep standing, he just couldn't do it. Thankfully, he landed on his back, so he had a plain view of the huge dragon head snapping at Dark. The dragon's neck was mere inches above him. He gasped and heaved for breath, and decided to ask, "Ar-are you...h-here to sa-save me, or ea-eat me...f-for disturbing...a na-nap?" He wheezed, struggling to see the sky above for what he figured might be his last time.

Not that it really mattered. Though the snow was gone, it was still freezing cold and the heavy clouds remained. Although he suffered no real physical damage, Werr felt much like someone had stabbed him thirty-seven times in the chest. It was difficult to breathe, much less move. And it still felt like he had a migrane.

Not to mention Cynyr was dead.

Cynyr...

The dragon ignored him for the time being, blowing a breath of fire at Dark and making the twin teleport about madly in order to avoid it. The dragon's mouth closed over him when he next landed, as if the dragon had known exactly where he was going. The dragon reared its head back and flung Dark away, then turned and watched Light.

The black-dressed twin frowned at the dragon for a moment, then suddenly just collapsed and didn't move. Dark, wherever he now was, had obviously landed. Hard.

The dragon snorted, sending a plume of snowflakes out of his nose, then tilted his head down to look at Werr.

The dragon was icy blue in color and his horns swept back across his skull, shaped like long icicle spikes. A gathering of the icicle horns stuck from the end of his tail, like large, majestic snowflakes. He breathed out once, then spoke with a deep voice that was wizened with age and sounded like a rushing waterfall.

"I am Naybrin Ice-Wing. I would ask what you are doing here, but I can see for myself the reasons."

He shook his head, sending small crystals floating down, then said "You both clearly require assistance, but the real question is if the rest of the tribe will give it." He bent his head close, where Werr could see the infinite depths of his green eyes. "You have no other option, so I suggest you both come quickly," he said, his breath blowing frostily over the boy's body.

Werr hesitated a few moments, breathing hard before speaking. He was confused, though. "Both...?" He coughed once or twice, struggling to so much as tilt his head back to look at Cynyr. "He's alre-already gone...and I...I-I can har-hardly move, much less f-follow anyone..." He whimpered pathetically, going limp again. His voice rasped painfully against his throat, hoarse from all of his forced screaming.

Naybrin snorted and said "So quick to assume, are we?" He tilted his head around and carefully fitted his mouth around Cynyr's limp body, lifting it carefully from the ground and placing it near Werr. He then nudged Werr until the boy was right up against the reptilian form, saying "Humans. Always judging things by sight."

Once Werr was so close to Cynyr, he realized the living shadow was still breathing.

It was excruciatingly faint and labored, but he was breathing nonetheless. Blood was still dripping from his mouth, unslowed by death, in which the flow would've stopped completely.

Hanging on. Just barely.

"My best guess is that he diverted all of his magic to his heart at the last second," Naybrin said. "Which is odd, because I've never seen a creature such as this, much less one that had magic. It seems like...well, that the magic was there, but it belonged to something else. That this form couldn't use it externally." He sniffed, then said "Wind magic, by the scent of it. He used all of it to basically put a barrier around his heart and keep it beating. Needless to say, it will run out soon if he doesn't get help."

Werr put a hand on Cynyr's side, ever so gently, just enough to where he could feel the breathing. "Th-thank goodness...Cynyr, you..." He almost laughed, but it turned to a dry sob. He lay there trembling for a long moment, then looked up at the dragon. "Naybrin...I know how...how dis-disrespectful it is to ask, b-but you ca-can see our conditions r-right now...pl-please, carry u-us to your tribe..."

The ice dragon studied him for a moment, then said "If I were a younger dragon, I probably would've bitten your head off for that. But I am old, dreadfully so. Between you and me..." He bent his head forward, a young look coming into his large eyes. "...I've always wanted to see what carrying a human on my back felt like."  He smiled for the first time, his lips crinkling back into a rather nice smile. He lifted a hand and, ever so carefully, picked Werr up. He set the boy down on his back, between the large blue spikes, and said "Do let me know if you encounter any problems." He ducked a hand and picked up Cynyr much more carefully, then opened his huge wings and took off, rising rapidly up into the sky. He was so much bigger than Zephyr, who could be in his largest form and still be called 'small' against this dragon's sheer size.

It was all Werr could do to just hold on. And hold on he did, for dear life. Even though his hands ached (and bruises were forming on his wrists underneath the bandages), his other choice was to fall to his death. So naturally, he endured this small twinge of pain. And small it was, but it still hurt...Werr pretty much despised all pain at this point.

Back in Amnarius, the fake Werr was looking desperately for Welk. He wanted to apologize, and he wanted to make sure his dear friend hadn't given up on life. He had spend the night in the castle, but had finally decided that his friends were more important than anything. That, and they really needed to get a move on. Staying in Amnarius was great, but their own world was dying now...

Werr found poor Welk up in a tree. Of course, he had used Spy; the chimera was running around at the base of the tree now, shouting his usual, "I FOUND HIM!"

Werr approached the tree a little more tactfully. "W-Welk?" He said quietly, looking up into the branches, hoping to spot the half-cat. "Welk, please, I...I'm sorry, for what I said yesterday..."

There was a sudden shift in the branches as Welk nearly fell out, and Werr caught sight of a hacked up little lion tail in the branches. Then it disappeared, along with Welk, as the half-cat climbed a bit higher. Suddenly, all of the leaves on the tree in the part were Welk was burned away, revealing the half-cat completely.

He looked ragged and heartbroken, like he had spent his night in the actual tree. He was on-fire, but of course, it wasn't hurting him. The fire mage seemed to calm down as he lit his body on fire and watched the flames circle around and around him. He didn't say anything. Just remained eerily quiet. He kept the heat out of the fire so he didn't burn the tree he was sitting on.

Werr looked up, his own expression that of defeat and heartache. "W-Welk, we can get Cynyr back," Werr called up hopelessly. "Cici is a light fairy, she'll be able to do something...the others are getting ready to head out right now, I...are...are you going to come with us?" Werr asked, his voice shaking. If Welk didn't come, he would fall apart and that would be that.

Welk was quiet for a moment longer, then suddenly stood up and crouched for a moment, then lunged out of the tree. He landed perfectly on his feet near Werr, then stood up and turned in a split second.

He hugged Werr tightly, his ears flicked back against his head, then took lion form and padded off towards the gate, twitching the tip of his hacked-up tail. "You'd have to be pretty stupid to think I wouldn't come with you," he called back, flicking his tail in a runic pattern and leaving sparks behind. "Luckily, you're not stupid, are you?" He stalked Spy for a moment, pouncing and grabbing the little chimera in his paws, then let him go and rolled around on the ground for a moment, itching his fur. "Never let me spend all night in a tree ever again," he said, rubbing all over the ground. "I feel like I've got fleas, but I know, FOR A FACT, that I don't."

"Ah! You'd better not have fleas, you touched me!" Spy squealed at once, starting to roll and squrim on his back in the grass. "I hate fleas!" He wailed, sniffing himself desperately to check for the bugs. Once he was satisfied, he trotted off again, tail waving in the air behind him as he located Jag and Lily's scents.

"Got it," Werr smiled a bit, shaking his head. Of course not, he wasn't stupid...he shook his head, smiling again. "Come on then, let's go. The others are probably waiting on us, by now! They all move so quickly..."

Welk smiled, then moved over and rubbed his head against Werr's leg, purring softly. He paused and sat down to scratch behind his ear with a back leg, then trotted back up and rubbed his head against Werr's leg again. He lit only his tail on fire, creating a long sort of fire-tail for himself just for the heck of it. He glanced back at it and frowned, then said "I miss my old tail." He sighed, then glanced up when they neared the others.

They were dressed in their original outfits again, though some had made changes to their attire.

Luen was dressed in all-white again, but instead of a one-size-too-big shirt, he was now wearing a long cloak that fell down to just past his hips. It covered his arms, though his tail could still be seen under the edge.

Seria had swapped out her original outfit for a tight brown leather one. A tank-top and elbow length fingerless gloves adorned her upper half, while tight brown leggings and knee-high boots decorated the lower half of her body. Her healer bag was slung around her shoulder, her long red hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She smiled as they approached, giving a gentle wave.

Werr smiled back at Seria, waving back. He himself had a new outfit on; it wasn't anything too fancy, but one of his gifts had been a tough, scaled chestplate of sorts. He was wearing it under a simple, white button-up shirt, with a plain brown vest over that. He had matching brown pants and boots. It was certainly better than wearing any royal clothes; those who didn't look twice at him would just think he was little more than a commoner.

"Time to go?" Nate asked. He was back in his usual black getup, but his clothes had been thoroughly cleaned and repaired, and the mark of Storaph on his cloak had been replaced with the emblem of Amnarius. He didn't seem to mind too much. "We're all ready, except for Forin..." He grinned, jabbing his thumb back at the Tartaran.

Forin was now wearing a crisp black suit and white gloves, his cloak modified to look more like a cape than anything. "Shut up, half-dragon!" He hissed at Nate's remark, still trying to fix the tie that was a mess around his neck. "Diana wants me to wear this, so I will! Besides, it's made of a particularly flexible material, so my movement isn't restricted at all. And even if it was, I could still move faster than you, mister back-injury."

"Hey, watch it, you little punk," Nate growled.

Surprisingly, Forin sighed. "Right. Sorry." He snorted, not really sounding sorry. But he had stopped and apologized. It was a start, no?

Luen shook his head at their bickering, then helped Forin adjust his tie. One frontwards lock of the wolfling's hair had remained in a braid Diana had put there, tied with an icy blue feather Jag had spawned at the girl's request. The ice mage smiled, his ears tucked back against his head, then turned and picked up Diana, settling her gently against his hip.

Welk took human form, brushing off the long black jacket he was wearing. His original red tank-top was on underneath the jacket, which was unzipped all the way, and the jacket itself had red and orange flames decorating the edges of the sleeves and back. His jeans were black with a similar flame design, and the entire outfit in general just seemed like something Welk would wear.

The amnairians had crafted them all new outfits, and Welk had Cynyr's tucked down safely into his bag. He hadn't wanted to tell them that Cynyr couldn't wear the clothing now.

Jag shook his crest feathers, fluffing them up over his head. His outfit hadn't changed much, except that he had swapped out his tank-top for a dark blue short-sleeved shirt and jeans. His silver cuffs were still there on his wrists, except now he had a head circlet that matched and rested nicely on his forehead, just under his blue bangs.

Tasia was hiding behind Nate, looking sheepish in her new clothes. Hers was a magenta shirt and short skirt, with sandals on her feet. Her light pink hair was pulled back into a short ponytail and she had been given earrings shaped like dragon scales. She was very pretty, but she herself didn't feel like that. After living with a dragon almost all of her life, she had forgotten that there was such a thing as someone calling her 'pretty'. She just felt awkward, like she didn't belong in the group.

"Are the rest of you ready, then?" Cici asked from behind them. She was wearing a short dress, her long hair tied back in a long ponytail. She had a sort of half-armor on; she had golden bracers and the upper part of her dress was armored. In spite of how feeble it looked, it was made of the same material as Werr's chestplate; it could actually withstand most blunt-force attacks, and prevent cuts on the protected area. It did nothing but get the blade stuck in the event of a stab attack, though.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here," Nate replied, double-checking to make sure he had his new shield. It was strapped to his back, of course; it was actually rather light, but Cici had promised before that it would never break. He trusted her well enough. "Come now, Tasia, why are you so shy all of the sudden?" He questioned, turning to take her twisted hand with a smile. "Let's go, all of us. We've got yet another world to save."