The Forgotten Zodiac

The female dragonian was shaking fearfully, her eyes wide from watching him fight. She slowly nodded, her eyes overflowing with tears. She fell to her knees next to him, one hand covering her mouth. She seemed like she didn't want to talk, but when she slowly moved her hand, her lips trembled in effort to speak. Her whole body shook and quivered, as if she still expected bandits to attack, then she slowly leaned forward, her shivering stilling for a moment.

She kissed Nate gently on his lips, feeling the warmth of his breath against her skin, then pulled back and said "You saved me. You...you didn't try to hurt me. You aren't...aren't like..." She wiped some of the tears from her eyes, then said "There's a reason why Vaira is so wary of you. Why she's protective of me. There was...a male dragonian before you." She sniffled, but kept talking in the dragon tongue. "I was a few years younger than I am now. It happened before we fell into Amnairus. I had met a male dragonian I thought was attractive, and he seemed to think the same of me. One night, we went out for a drink. Dragonian's can't drink water, as you must know, so I wasn't concerned about become adled. I never suspected he would put something in my drink and knock my unconscious. When I woke up...I was in his home, far from Vaira." She sobbed quietly for a moment, then said "He hurt me." She gestured vaguely at her body, letting Nate know how the other dragonian had defiled her. "When he finished, he tried to kill me by slashing my throat. Vaira came looking for me by this time, however, and she killed him before he could cut me further. But as a result, I lost the ability to breathe fire." She rubbed her throat miserably, then said "After that, I became fearful of any male dragonians. I just assumed they all wanted to hurt me...again." She sobbed, then said "I met two more that wanted to try and court me, too. But each time, Vaira scared them off. And I was glad for it. I stopped wanting to find a boyfriend and eventually a mate, thinking that...t-that I was...that they wouldn't w-want..." She cried softly, her heart broken, then said "I felt...and still do...that n-nobody would want a broken d-dragonian to love. T-that I wasn't m-meant to love!" She did her best to scoot back from him, crying hard at the horrible memories she had.

There was silence for a long moment. "I...I was engaged to be married to a human woman," Nate said quietly, recounting his tale for Tasia's sake. "She was attacked by a thief that I hadn't tied down properly. Of course, I did my best to save her," He raised his hand up to where he could see it, wincing as he realized that he was able to look directly through his hand, even with all the blood. He had severed the bone of his ring finger, too. "But in the battle, I burned her, and badly...they had to amputate limbs to keep her alive...I kept her close, I loved her with all my heart, but...she killed herself a year later, after saying that she hated me. I thought...for the longest time, I thought that I didn't deserve to be loved, that I only hurt people who love me, and then I make them hate me for it. I thought of myself as a monster. I burned Luen, the wolfling...that still hurts me when I look at his burns."

He looked back at Tasia, smiling weakly from his spot on the ground. He really didn't want to move too much, apparently. "I'm not even sure why I'm telling you this, to be honest. We're similar to each other, I think. I'm a monster who wasn't meant to be loved, and you're a victim who wasn't meant to love." He groaned, straining to sit up. He did so, attempting to crawl forward a bit, but he only collapsed, lying on his front now. He turned his head to look at the human who's face he had crushed under fist. Then he looked back at Tasia. "Y-you don't have to love me. I don't care about that. But I'll still take care of you. I protected you here, I'll always protect you. And I would never dream of hurting you in any way."

It was definitely true. If he had used his flames, the battle would have been much easier; but he wasn't going to risk having another person he cared for marked by his fire. And because of that decision, he was in agony now, but he didn't care. His back was hurting almost to the point where he wanted to scream in pain, but he didn't care. If Seria didn't show up soon, his hand would forever have a hole through it, but he didn't care. He was shaking so badly, it almost looked like he was on the verge of having a seizure, but he really didn't care.

Tasia was safe now. That, he cared about.

Nate, who was lying on his front still, was unable to see the coming threat until a second too late. There was one more bandit; he looked like just a kid, no older than Werr, perhaps. He had been hiding in the trees since the battle began. He ran forward now, grabbing up Nate's fallen sword and charging Tasia. Nate moved suddenly, fueled by his desire to protect Tasia. The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of the Dragonian girl, his own sword stabbed through his chest and protruding from his back. His claws were lodged in the human boy's throat. He tore downward, killing the human almost instantly. He hit the ground the next second, landing on his back again.

For lack of anything else he could do, Nate struggled to collect as much breath as he could. Then he let out a stream of fire that burst out from the treetops and shot up high, making a beacon for their position. But it faded as quickly as it had come. He laid there limply after that, wondering foggily if he was going to die here. He could feel the venom that lined his blade already starting to work into his system. He had been stupid to leave his blade in reach of anyone other than himself. He had been stupid not to watch the surrounding area for other enemies.

Well, Tasia was still safe...

Luckily, the others had already been trying to locate them, so when Nate shot the fireball, they spotted it and came running. Seria come along at her fastest speed, thinking "If only I had cat form right about now." But she shook that thought off. Stronger powers were what was needed right now, not a cat. She moved forward onto her knees, already running her hands across Nate's body to heal him. She took his hand into hers and touched the tip of a claw to the wound, watching it close. "You fool," she said, though she smiled. "Noble as ever." She touched the wound in his chest and seemed to pull the poison from his body, watching as it formed in her hand like a glistening green ball. She forced it to become smaller and smaller, until it vanished completely. Then she pulled back, watching as Tasia shifted a bit closer. The others had all stuck back against the trees, not quite close enough to hear.

She was smiling, weakly enough, but still a smile. "I believe you," she said softly. "If you were lying, then why would you have gotten hurt so badly to protect me?" She lifted her hands and stared at them, then carefully held the crooked little limbs out towards Nate. "Here," she said, smiling a bit softer. "I don't care if you hurt me. I don't care if it's an accident. If that's what happens when someone loves you, then I want you to burn me right now and cut off my arms and legs. Because my limbs are already ruined." She tilted her head slightly to the side and closed her eyes, smiling gently at him. "I don't care if I lose them," she said softly. "I can barely hold anything and I don't walk well." Her smile widened slightly.

"Even if you cut my soul from my body...I...would still love you."

And she held her twisted little hands out towards him, still smiling away.

Nate took one of her hands into his, pulling it closer to him. For a second, it looked like he actually was going to burn her; but he gently placed his lips on her hand, kissing it tenderly before letting go. "Never," He said with a happy smile, which faded when he tried to sit up again. "This may sound weird, but my back makes me feel so old..." He grimaced, shaking his head.

She shifted back slightly when he kissed her, having expected him to do as she had asked and burn her, but she blushed faintly instead. "...Thank you," she whispered, then carefully moved forward to help him sit up. She gently ran a careful hand down his back, feeling the contours of it and the problems it had, then said "If I could give you my wings, I would." It was a serious thing she said. For a dragonian to give up their wings, especially when they were uninjured such as hers, was a big thing. "Soon long as you would promise me that you wouldn't fly away," she said, gently touching her hand to his back, up under his shirt. She generated a soothing wave of warmth that she had learned how to create not long after her throat had been slashed. Since she couldn't breathe fire, she had to find another way use her flames. She rested her head on Nate's shoulder, looking up at him with her soft, pretty eyes.

"I couldn't take them from you," Nate shook his head with a smile. "Thank you," He murmured though, relaxing quickly as she spread the warmth into his spine. For a long moment, he was content to just sit there comfortably, but Forin interrupted their peace by poking around the dead bodies. He rummaged through pockets until he found something; a small bag, filled with jewelry set with fine diamonds and other precious stones. Aside from that, he put out their campfire and took what appeared to be a couple perfectly cooked fish away from the ashes, taking them back to Luen and Diana, who had hung back so Diana wouldn't have to see even more blood.

Werr cleared his throat, making a motion that indicated that they really needed to leave. He was a little put off by the bodies, too. The said air about the place had changed to something a bit heavier. Forin was able to tell that it was the stench of death. He wouldn't be surprised if this place was burned away after they left. Of course, it would be replaced with new life, just as Resu was going to be replaced by a different gatekeeper.

Tasia leaned forward and gave Nate a soft kiss on his cheek, then looked over when Seria shifted slightly. The half-cat was smiling at them, absolutely no jealously in her towards Tasia. Sure, she liked Nate a great deal, but...they weren't meant to be together. Tasia worked out better than she did, not that Seria was upset or anything. She had Cynyr somewhere out there, after all.

Tasia carefully stood up and helped Nate up as well, keeping close to him. When Zephyr and Vaira landed, both in smaller forms so as not to hit anything, Tasia moved over and explained to Vaira what had happened. Vaira looked upset for a moment, then looked at Nate and let out a deep sigh that she seemed to have been holding for a long time. She bent her head forward and carefully brushed Nate's chest with her snout, sending him a quiet, humble message.

"Please...don't hurt her. She's been through enough. If you have to love her, please...let it last. I can already sense that she's become enamoured with you. I had given up hope for her to find anyone willing to overlook what happened to her." A single, great tear slid from her majestic eye. "Don't hurt her, I...beg of you."

Then she pulled back and turned away, watching as Tasia moved back over to Nate with a smile.

Nate dipped his head as a sign of compliance. He had already given Tasia his word. He wouldn't hurt her. As monstrous as he could ever be, no harm would befall her at his hand or flame. "Alright, we should get out of here," He said, taking Tasia gently by the hand again. He cast a glance over at Seria, a smile that was truly happy. "We have a world to save, to put it in Werr's terms."

"Cynyr comes first, though," Werr put in, already starting towards the slope that led towards the exit of the Eternal Gardens.

Tasia leaned in and gave Nate another kiss, a delicate, soft one on his cheek, then willingly followed him wherever he chose to go.

Welk followed at the back of the group, looking nervous. He jumped at nearly every sound, his fur constantly fluffed out. He glanced around, then suddenly broke into a run and moved ahead of the rest of the group, darting in and out of the bushes. At times, he was so silent that they forgot he was there, which was odd behaviour for him. He was usually so talkative and expressive.

Werr watched Welk, looking puzzled and perhaps a little distressed at Welk's quietness. They moved on regardless, through the tunnels; Forin led them this time, Cici acting as their beacon of light to walk by. It wasn't long at all until they broke out of the tunnels and back into the world. Soft grass awaited them as they made their way down the mountain. Spy couldn't really contain himself once they got close enough to the green blanket; he ran forward and rolled around in the grass, giggling with joy.

His giggles stopped when he bumped into something. When he looked at what he had hit, the poor Chimera screamed and bolted back up the mountain, running and jumping into Lily's arms. "What happened?" She asked, stroking Spy's fur gently as he clung to her, trembling.

"It's one of the twin-guys! Over there, over there!" He yelled, pointing. "It's Light!"

((I'm going to switch them around. I like Dark more anyways, so I would rather have him be found by them than crazy Light.))

Jag immediately growled and stepped in front of Lily, spreading his wings to the sides incase he had to jump forward and block an attack.

Welk carefully picked his way forward to where the twin lay motionless, then slowly lifted a paw and poked him.

Nothing.

"Is he...dead?" he asked fearfully. He was mostly scared at the thought of coming up on another corpse. He was still upset at seeing Resu's body, after all. He extended his claws and poked Dark again, then leapt back when he got a response.

A weak moan and a slight shift of one arm was all Welk got in reply to poking the twin. The half-cat glanced back at the others and said "What do we do with him?"

((Don't forget to change Spy's yelling, then. :T))

"Kill him," Forin said flatly, hanging back with Luen and Diana. "He's one of our enemies, is he not? He seems like he's in pain, at that. Just kill him now, put him out of his misery and be done with it. As an added bonus, we'll be getting rid of Light at the same time. That's two less people to concern ourselves with."

"What happened to him, though?" Werr questioned, frowning in confusion. Nate started examining the surrounding area. There was a good bit of torn up grass, and blood...and the grass was burnt in a line.

"Looks like he picked a fight with a dragon..." Nate frowned, looking around cautiously.

Zephyr snorted and said "Nobody look at me. I would remember this."

Vaira shook her head, then bent forward and carefully sniffed the area. Her eyes widened, then she moved her head around and whispered to Zephyr. His slitted eyes widened as well, then he bent his head forward and took in the scent of the area too. "It can't be..." he whispered, breathing a bit deeper, as if to make sure of what he was smelling. "Naybrin? He's...alive?"

"Who?" Welk said, looking up at Zephyr.

"A very, very important dragon," the forest-green creature answered. He flicked his ear in awe, then said "There's another scent around here that's also very familiar, but...I can't place it."

"Well, we don't have time to go question this dragon. We're just going to have to keep moving. But...what are we going to do about Dark?" Werr questioned, frowning unhappily. "Should we just leave him here? No, he might recover and just come and attack us...b-but we need to go..."

"Just slit his throat and be done with it." Forin snorted.

Welk swallowed, then stepped back when Luen suddenly walked forward after passing Diana to Forin. The wolfling formed a blade of sharp ice and moved forward, holding the blade tightly in his hand. Welk blinked and took human form, grabbing Luen's tail and giving it a careful tug. "Hey, what're you doing?" he asked, already knowing the answer but unable to believe that Luen could possibly be the one to do it.

"What does it look like?" Luen said, turning a soft green gaze on the half-cat. "I don't want to. Far from it. But he's hurt anyways, plus he's bound to Obelisk. He's trapped. I don't know if he likes working for that monster or not, but either way...this is the only way he and his brother can be free."

He lifted his blade right when Dark regained consciousness and blinked his white eyes open. He winced and tilted his head back, catching sight of the blade hovering over his neck. He slowly looked up and caught Luen's eye.

Tears formed in Dark's eyes, sliding down his cheeks, then he nodded once, slowly.

Luen stabbed the blade down and a soft gurgle was heard, followed by a distant, ringing scream.

The twins were no more.

Werr turned away, trembling a bit. He reminded himself of all the others that had faced death at the twins' hands; this was for their sake. No longer would others suffer because of them. "Zephyr," He said quietly. "Take us to Storaph Palace, please. We need to put an end to this war...once and for all."

The real Werr had fallen asleep on the dragon's back. He jerked awake now, but didn't quite open his eyes yet. He had no idea where he was...his entire body still throbbed from the pain that the needles had caused, and the image of a dead Cynyr stuck in the back of his skull. He slowly opened his eyes, deciding to get a look at where he was.

They were still flying, high up in the air, but they were now nearing a cluster of mountains all topped with snow. Naybrin flew, unfalteringly, towards a wide space between two of the mountains. When they passed through and the snow cleared from their vision, Werr was astonished.

Dragons.

It seemed like there had to have been hundreds of them, all sorts of colors and sizes. On the inside of this massive mountain range, the huge 'land' behind it was a springtime meadow. Flowers, butterflies, deer, anything Spring would have. The land seemed to go on for thousands of miles, safely hidden in this valley.

Naybrin was greeted in the air by several smaller dragons, all who called out 'hello' or 'good day', always ending in 'my lord' or 'your majesty'. Naybrin flew down and landed with a thud in a calm part of the meadow, folding his wings and turning his head to carefully take the back of Werr's shirt between two large, sharp teeth, lifting the boy off and down to the ground.

Naybrin appeared to be the biggest dragon there, and was obviously respected by all of the other dragons.

Werr staggered once his feet hit the ground. He looked up at Naybrin, offering a smile before he sank to his knees, arms wrapped around his chest. His legs were still numb. This was better than trying to walk and winding up on his face in the grass. "Th-thank you," He said with a smile. "So...what now?" He questioned, turning his head this way and that as he looked at all the dragons. So many of them...he had thought that most of them were dead, what with all the famed dragon hunters around. But it turns out, they had been thriving here...it was incredible.

He looked back up when he remembered why they were here. "What can I do to help Cynyr?" He asked at once, a determined light in his eyes.

Naybrin carefully held up his hand, which he was still holding Cynyr in, revealing that long tendrils of black blood were dripping down the dragon's icy light blue scales. "You allow us to help him," the huge dragon said. "There's nothing you can do but be a comforting presense. Now come; follow-...wait, you cannot." He moved a great hand down and let Werr climb on, careful to keep the boy and the living shadow separate from each other. He didn't think Werr would like seeing Cynyr as he currently looked, what with his body so deathly limp. He moved forward, walking expertly on his hind legs. Dragons were easily able to walk on both four legs and two, if they so desired. He headed towards a cave of utterly gigantic poportions dug into the side of the mountain range, moving inside. The cave was obviously made for someone Naybrin's side to fit easily inside.

When they got further in, the cave expanded out, revealing a cavern of epic size, big enough to hold over twenty dragons Naybrin's size. It was filled with thousands of years' worth of gems and jewels, crowns, necklaces, precious stones, anything that sparkled and had worth. Included several thousands of years' worth of shed dragons scales, along with the skulls of dragons that had died.

It was a sacred room; the room for the Alpha dragon. The leader.

"Welcome to my den," Naybrin said, gently lowering Werr to the ground once more.

Werr looked up at the ceiling of the cave, then down at the gems and gold. He sank to his knees again, but he ignored everything else after that. Cynyr was more important than all the diamonds in the world. And indeed, he hadn't liked the way Cynyr was looking right now. At all.

Werr looked on the verge of tears, truth be told. He didn't care where he was (though he probably would later), he just knew that Cynyr was the only person he knew here. And Cynyr was on death's door right now. Of course, he was almost used to being around people he didn't know, but the people that he did know were miles away. And with a carbon copy of himself, which could potentially even hurt the people he knew and cared for.