The Forgotten Zodiac

Naybrin carefully lowered Cynyr down in the middle if the room, where the ground was slightly raised in a large circle shape.

The living shadow didn't move. Not even a flick of his tail.

Naybrin gently nudged Cynyr's limbs close to him, being surprisingly gentle for one so massive, then turned and made his way outside, where many dragons had gathered. Word had spread quickly that the Alpha dragon had brought a human and a strange creature into the Sacred Plains.

Naybrin addressed them formally, with the wisdom of someone who had lived a very long life. "There is nothing to fear from those I have brought with me. They are my guests, and you will treat them as such. If I hear of any discourteous talk going around or of anyone being rude or threatening towards them, I'll personally have your tails. Am I understood?"

The answer was instant and thunderous; yes.

"Good," Naybrin said, turning back into his cave. "Grey, come in here, please. I have need of your assistance."

The crowd of dragons parted for the one the Alpha spoke to, but the only dragon footsteps Werr heard were Naybrin's. When this 'Grey' being entered the room, Werr was shocked.

It was a human boy, looking almost exactly at Werr's own age. He had black hair that came up to his ears and dark green eyes, with a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. His clothes were a simple black shirt and pants, with no shoes. He glanced over at Werr with a fairly indifferent expression on his face, then said "Humph. A stupid human and a...what even is that?"

He laid eyes on Cynyr and frowned, pushing his glasses further up onto his nose.

"Call it a panther and it might become one," Naybrin said, laying down with a wheezy 'oomph' nearby. "And be nice, Grey. When I told everyone to be courteous, I meant you too."

The boy gave a curt nod and said "Yes, Alpha."

Naybrin thrummed deeply in a pleased purr, then said "I require your skills for the shadow creature. Here." He turned and nudged a stack of the dragon scales over, watching as one skidded out and landed at Grey's feet. "Use that one," the Alpha said, settling back into place.

The teenager grabbed the golden yellow scale and studied it closely, then said "This is one of Fyaia's scales. Alpha, are you sure-"

"Just use it," the ice dragon said, shaking his horned skull.

Grey frowned, but gave a tight nod and did as he was asked, taking the scale into one hand and moved towards a human alchemy table nearby, obviously taken from a castle or something for him.

Werr stared at the human, though he wasn't all too surprised. Nothing could really surprise him at this point. "Wait," He interrupted, somehow making it to his feet in spite of the throbbing and stiffness. He staggered a few steps towards Grey, before he was forced to his knees again. "If...if it's all the s-same, I'd like you to use this scale," He rummaged through his pocket before drawing out the green scale of Zephyr that had been given to him. "A great friend gave this to me, I--" He cut himself off, finding it a bit difficult to breathe for a moment. He coughed, but it did him little good. He stopped talking and focused on breathing instead.

Grey frowned darkly at him and opened his mouth to speak, probably against using the scale, but Naybrin cut him off. "Of course," he said, motioning at Grey to take the emerald scale from Werr. "Whatever you like, little one."

Grey's eyes were narrowed as he walked over to Werr and quite literally snatched the scale from the boy's hands. He turned it this way and that in his...claws. He had claws. That, or his finger nails just so happened to be long and pointed. He snorted, then carefully lifted the scale to his nose and sniffed it. "Hmm. I don't recognize this scale," he said, glaring at Werr. He turned and walked back to the alchemy table, setting the other scale, the yellow one, down on the ground.

Naybrin reached out with one great claw and pulled that scale back to the pile, then said "Don't worry. My son is very good at scale-crafting. He has had years to perfect this art. The potion made from that scale will be as perfect as any made by a master healer." His green eyes looked over at Grey with a proud air in them, then back to Werr. "May I ask how you came about the scale of a dragon?" he asked. "You don't look like the kind of person that could kill a dragon, so I assume you were gifted the scale."

Werr collected his breath again, looking back up at Naybrin. "Yes, as I said...his name is Zephyr Shining-Scales. It's also a gift from him, my ability to talk to you so easily like this. He gave me and my friends scales of his...I'm sure it would please him to know that it was put to good use rather than just having it left in my pocket forever." He looked over at Grey, a puzzled look on his face. "A-are you a Dragonian, then?" He asked, greatly confused. Didn't dragons hate dragonians? And here this boy was, working alongside the biggest dragon Werr had ever seen...

The look Grey shot Werr was a glare that easily could've matched any of Cynyr's. "Dragonian are pitiful, screwed-up attempts of half-dragon humans. They are irrelevant in all cases and are of completely no interest to me." He turned back to his work, his shoulders bent in frustration.

Naybrin sighed, then said "Though he is loath to admit it, he is, in fact...a...sort of dragonian. Though you've probably never seen one quite like him. Anyways...Shining-Scales, you said? As in Shining-Scales-Of-The-Forest? Ah, I remember him. He wasn't born here, in the Sacred Plains, and I wonder if he knows where this place is. All dragons are born with the natural instinct on how to get here, as here is where most are conceived. This is a sort of 'mating grounds' for our kind, along with a place to live and prosper. And I am its leader." He flicked his ears, then said "So tell me, young human; how did you and your friend come to be attacked by those two beings, back when I found you?"

Werr let out a heavy sigh. "Are you aware of a man named Obelisk? He's...an immortal tyrant that is currently trying to overthrow...well, pretty much the entire world. He's a freak who seeks pure chaos. Er...my friends and I, Cynyr included, have been trying to take him down before he gets too powerful..." Werr swallowed hard, coughing once or twice more before continuing. "I need to get back to Alastor Palace, as soon as possible. I-I've been away from my kingdom for far too long..."

Naybrin nodded once, gravely, then said "I am aware of Obelisk. I simply paid him no mind. As you may imagine, I am...old. Very much so. I never chose to explore far away from the Sacred Plains. This is why the dragons of the world are so 'few' to human lore. We stayed here, where we felt safe. Perhaps, if we were involved from the start...things would've been different. But we weren't."

He watched Grey work at his alchemy table for a moment, then said "You see, I have existed since the dawn of your earth itself. I was there when the first morning sun broke over what you now call the Alastorian Mountain Range. I lived before most others, and I outlive all others. I was...the first. I am the oldest dragon alive. I have seen many things and done many things. And skies above, I am BORED." He smiled down at Werr, then let the smile fade and said "In all seriousness, I would like to make a request."

"Father!" Grey suddenly snapped, jerking his head up and staring at the great creature through his glasses. "You are of higher stature than him! You should not be making a 'request' of a human-"

"That is enough out of you, child!" Naybrin thundered, silencing Grey instantly. "Return to your work and speak not again until you are finished. Am I understood?"

Grey meekly bobbed his head once.

"Good," Naybrin said, then turned back to Werr. "My request is that you allow me to come with you, at least to carry you where you need to go. I've lived in safety my entire life and I should like, for once...to roam free. Even at the risk of my life."

Werr blinked up at the dragon in surprise. "Y-yes, of course." He nodded quickly. He smiled a bit. "That would actually be wonderful, seeing how I don't think I can quite walk yet...it would be my honor, though. As for Obelisk...I just...well, be careful." Werr shook his head. "Like I said, Obelisk is immortal. It's all we can do to seal him away...and, uh, I'm kind of...a magnet for trouble. He wants me dead, and I'm pretty sure he'll do whatever it takes at this point. I was taken from my friends a-and they were left with a perfect clone of me. I'm not sure how, but...I dunno." He sighed heavily.

In truth, he was terrified. If the group mistook him as a fake, he'd might as well chop off his own head...

The dragon looked pleased, then glanced over when Grey straightened from his place at the alchemy table. "It's done," he said, lifting a glass bottle and holding it where they could see it.

The bottle contained a thick, shimmering green liquid that sparkled in the light, like the scales of a dragon. Obviously colored after the scale it was made from, it had a sort of magical air about it. A thin plume of clear, whtie smoke drifted out of the top of the narrow bottle top, wafting up from the boiling substance. It clearly was something rare and powerful.

Grey wordlessly moved towards Cynyr, the bottle held carefully in one hand, his intent clear. He gingerly set the bottle down nearby and studied Cynyr for a moment, then moved his hand forward and forced one of the living shadow's eyes open.

The yellow orb inside was still and motionless.

Grey let the lid fall and picked up the bottle of dragon-scale potion, pushing Cynyr's tail out of the way as he sat down near the creature's head.

Werr moved over to Cynyr as well, rolling his friend onto his back and gently running his hands over the lizard-thing's chest scales. He checked to make sure his heart was still beating. It was, but just barely. Only just. Werr nodded at Grey, closing his eyes. He trusted these people, to be honest, but he was scared of losing Cynyr.

Grey's green eyes flicked up at Werr's face, then back down to what he was doing.

Cynyr was motionless, with his chest barely rising and falling with each slow, labored breath. Grey reached out and curled one hand around Cynyr's head, tilting the reptilian skull back slightly until the jaws fell open lightly. He moved the potion up and tilted it, pouring the contents down the living shadow's throat. Grey quickly emptied the bottle into Cynyr's mouth and clamped his jaws shut with both hands, forcing the lizard-thing to swallow if he wanted to keep breathing. The once-panther shuddered and gave a weak cough, then curled closer to Werr.

The thin stream of black blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth stopped a few moments later and his breathing seemed to deepen and grow fuller. His wounds were healing, right in front of Werr's eyes.

Werr watched, tears brimming in his eyes. Joyful, relieved tears of happiness, though. His first in awhile. He stuck close to Cynyr, keeping his hand on his friend's head. "It's working," He said with relief, a smile creeping onto his face. "C-Cynyr? Can you hear me?"

The living shadow sighed, then slowly opened his eyes. His single yellow eye shifted slightly, then moved to look up at Werr. He opened his mouth and slowly managed to speak. In his actual voice, though it was still tinted with slight hissing. "Werr...? W-what...happened?" he rasped, trying to lift his head. He couldn't manage, however, and instead pressed his snout carefully against Werr's body. "I'm so...t-tired..." he whispered, closing his eyes. His orb-less socket was bleak and empty without the eyeball inside it anymore, so he was really only closing one eye.

"Y-you were almost killed by Light," Werr replied shakily. "I...all I can remember is agony and horror, a-and then we were saved..." He looked up at Naybrin curiously. "How...how did you find me?" He asked, frowning slightly. "You said you never really left this place too much before...and I don't think my screaming was loud enough to reach here..."

The first dragon smiled and said "I had just been to visit some of the dragons living away from the Sacred Plains." He lifted his head slightly and closed his ancient eyes, saying "When you get to be my ripe old age, you get to know how things work. How to do certain things that humans like you, no offense, couldn't begin to fathom. When I got closer to you and your captors, it became easy to sense, hear and smell what was happening. I simply decided to intervene and prevent you and your friend from dying." He flicked his ears, then said "I see the potion worked."

Grey nodded, having already backed away to leave Werr alone with his friend. "Of course," he said. "My abiltiy is absolute."

Naybrin nodded, then said "Anyways, once this Cynyr is recovered enough from the potion, we will head to Alastor Palace. I know where everything in this entire land is; I was alive when each was built."

"Thank you," Werr said, looking down. "We were complete strangers, yet you decided to stop and help us anyways. I-if you hadn't, Cynyr would be dead and I would have been...imprisoned and tortured until I too were dead." He looked up at Grey. "Thank you, too..." He looked down again, wrapping his arms around Cynyr and shifting to lay down next to the once-panther. He was exhausted too, to be honest. He probably should have asked for a different place to sleep, but it didn't cross his mind, how disrespectful this was. Falling asleep in Naybrin's personal chambers! Any knowledgeable person wouldn't even dare.

But Werr passed out a few moments later regardless, blissfully ignorant.

Grey didn't say anything, simply kept his gaze securely turned down at the ground.

Naybrin smiled at Werr as the boy fell asleep, then said "Grey, you are free to leave if you want. I won't keep you here."

Grey snorted, then transformed and left the room. The footsteps that walked out were those of a dragon and not a human.

Naybrin tilted his ears back, then bent his head around and gently licked one of the skulls in the room with him. It was big, but not nearly as big as his own. "What would you think, my dear Fyaia?" he asked softly, breathing in the faint, dusty scent of the skull. "If you saw me now, with this human here in our home? Oh, how I miss you...my mate..." He licked the skull once more, then settled for watching the pair sleep, not minding that the two were sleeping in his cavern. He was a kind dragon, considering how old he must've been. Thousands upon thousands of years old.

Werr dreamed of dragons and caves, of Cynyr, alive and well. But his sleep was disturbed twice due to the dull pain that had gathered around his neck. It didn't really get worse, but it wasn't getting better. It made it a little difficult to breath now and then, but he managed to make it through the night without suffocating.

He stirred again a little while after dawn. He climbed to his feet, rubbing the base of his neck in mild annoyance. He walked out quietly, looking up at the overcast sky. He kept his hand around his neck, realizing that there were still bandages there, and there were still some around his wrists and up his arms to his elbows. Might as well just leave them there; that woman had said something about the needles 'setting', hadn't she? He definitely didn't want said needles moving around, so...might as well leave the bandages where they were.

Naybrin lifted his head slightly and watched Werr move, then carefully stood up and walked to the entrance. He glanced up at the sky, then looked down at the boy standing next to him. He could sense many things about this particular human, but he asked no questions. Instead, he said "Would you like to see this land for what it is? From the view of a dragon?" He tilted his head back at Cynyr and said "He'll sleep for a while longer. Don't worry." He moved one hand down and offered it to the boy, tilting his head slightly to the side. The shortest of his huge claws was longer than Werr himself, the tips pointed dangerously.

Werr smiled happily, nodding at once. He climbed onto Naybrin's hand, sitting down so he wouldn't have the risk of falling or anything of the sort. "Alright, I'm ready," He said, looking up at the sharp point on Naybrin's claws. How easy would it be, for him to be run through with such things? Probably easier than blowing fire for any dragon. He trusted Naybrin, though; was that a mistake?

No, he decided. Naybrin had saved his life. Besides, he had trusted plenty others before without much thought, why would now be any different?