The Forgotten Zodiac

Cynyr closed the eye on the side of his head under Werr's hand, leaving his empty socket open wide for a moment. Then he pulled his head away from Werr's hand and stared at Marr through his single eye, studying the man closely. He threw Werr a plantive look that clearly said he didn't want to let the doctor close, then sighed lowly and moved his hand away from his shoulder, ignoring the gush of black blood that followed his hand away. The black liquid was thicker than normal human blood, like goo, and it webbed between Cynyr's fingers for a moment as he opened his long-fingered hand. He stared disgustfully at it, then pushed past them both and headed into the castle, not wanting to be in the open anymore. Where everyone could see him.

Once they were inside the dimly lit castle, where he was more comfortable, he just lowered his head in a silent signal that Marr could come forward and work.

Marr had a couple maids standing by with buckets of warm water. He worked quickly, maneuvering around the scales and stitching the skin back together, then applying pressure with a wet towel to stop up the rest of the bleeding. When that was done, he thoroughly cleaned the wound and wrapped it tightly in bandages, but not so tightly that Cynyr couldn't move. When he was done, the water in the buckets was as black as the goo itself. Of course, Marr had been as careful and precise as possible; he really was a skilled doctor, in spite of the fact that he didn't have the benefits of magic.

Werr was having a few discussions with his guards. He returned to Cynyr's side as Marr was tying off the bandages. "Thank you very much, doctor. Cynyr, the, uh...the advisers has objected to you coming into the map room. It's 'not a place for beasts', they said. I tried to object, but they won't have it...you can wait just outside though, okay?

Cynyr immediately snarled and lashed his tail violently from side to side, nearly knocking Marr over in the process. There was a time when he would've been completely indifferent to having to wait here, there, or anywhere else, but that time was long past. He didn't want Werr to go into that room with those people, alone and without one of his two knights with him. And Welk couldn't help not being here at the moment.

"And if I just come in anyways?" he threatened, growling darkly. He loomed over Werr without meaning to, not fully aware of his new height yet. Finally, he backed down, hissing angrily. He instead took up a position near the door, flopping down on the ground and resting his head on his crossed arms, glaring up at Werr with an annoyed look on his face.

"I know, I know." Werr sighed, shaking his head. "But I trust these people. As such, you can too. Okay?" He smiled comfortingly, giving Cynyr another pat on the head before heading through the open door of the map room, where his advisers and head guards were waiting. The room was just short of soundproof; it was a simple room, with a long table. Laid out on the table was a map; the advisers had already set up the colored pebbles that represented their forces and enemy forces. They were waiting, seated and prepared; seven of them, including Hurst and Blackwood. Hurst being his head guard, and Blackwood being the General of his army.

Werr sat down and explained himself. He had seen the destruction of the little town off to the north; Blackwood identified the town as Kurrjaw. Werr ordered that the survivors be tracked down and brought closer to the capital, along with the other villagers on the outlying towns. From there, they needed to send in the foot soldiers and horsemen; not all of them, naturally. They still needed a number of them to remain behind to protect the cities that would be taking in the refugees.

Werr sat back down, listening to the input of his advisers. They didn't offer much; just that they needed to post a few units along the mountain range to be certain no attacks would come from behind. Werr rested his arms on the armrests of his chair as he listened to their conclusion. And that was when it happened.

The bandages around his arms and neck suddenly moved; they bound his arms to the chair and covered his mouth, keeping him from screaming. He had forgotten about the bandages; they had come from Obelisk's room. They had looked fairly clean and normal; but obviously, they were far from it. "Yes, yes. Let's all welcome the feeble king back to his mighty throne," Nightlash's voice came from behind. The advisers all grinned in similar ways, obviously already under control. If Werr wasn't already secured to his chair, he would have bolted for the door already.

"Calm down. I won't hurt you," Nightlash chortled, leaning against the table next to Werr. He drew something from his pocket; it was a small black box, with simple mechanics; a small dial, and a single button. "See this? Obelisk had it sent to me the second you went missing. I turn it to the level I want, push the button..." He turned the dial up a single notch, pressing down on the button for just a moment. Werr jerked in his bindings as pain flashed through him; it was relatively mild, but it was absolutely terrible when he considered it.

"Now then. Obelisk is on his way as we speak, lad. If you want to live to be killed at his hands, I don't suggest stepping out of line. Breathe a word of this to anyone, and..." Nightlash turned the dial up as far as it would go, his thumb hovering over the button. He watched Werr flinch and tense as he made his threats, smirking a bit. "Right. Good boy, glad you understand. Other than that, just do as I say. And remember, boy...Obelisk is watching you. He always has been." Nightlash laughed, then turned to the back door, leaving without another word. The bandages released the chair and Werr's mouth, and things seemingly returned to normal.

"I suppose that concludes this meeting," Hurst said, standing along with the rest of his advisers. They filed out quickly, while Werr remained sitting, staring at the table, still in shock.

Cynyr, still laying out by the door, lifted his head and growled as the advisors walked out. He even snapped at one and got the edge of his robe in his mouth, ripping a good-sized chunk off of it and scaring the poor man witless. The living shadow smirked as he ran off, then waited for Werr to come out.

After the first minute passed by when the boy should've walked out, Cynyr immediately lurched up and walked inside, glancing around for Werr. Once he spotted the boy, he instantly sensed something was wrong and lumbered over, making a soft crooning sound in his throat. He stepped close and stared at Werr for a moment, then slowly moved his head forward and pressed his snout against the boy's cheek. He made a soft whuff in the back of his throat, a quick, deep little burst of air.

He never asked what was wrong. He simply comforted through his presence alone.

Werr closed his eyes, allowing Cynyr to comfort him. Once again, he set his hand on Cynyr's head, though not going in for a hug. After a few minutes, though, he stood. "I'm...I'm tired and hungry," He said quietly, forcing a smile on his face as he looked back down at Cynyr. "How about we go to the kitchens to see what they have, then go to bed?"

Cynyr snorted softly, then leaned down and, very slowly and carefully, with extreme gentleness, moved one long arm around Werr's waist in a cautious hug. His long, thick-clawed fingers curled lightly around the boy's hip, the claws themselves resting over Werr's abdomen, but there was nothing to fear from the jagged ends.

The living shadow pulled back and nudged Werr with his nose, saying "I'll find out eventually what happened. Also, I'm not hungry." His stomach growled at the words, as if shouting out that he was lying, but the neutral expression remained on his face. "Not. Hungry," he said, flicking his tail. He moved around behind Werr and bumped him forward, saying "Come on, your Majesty."

"Alright," Werr shook his head as he chortled at Cynyr's argument with his stomach. He was grateful that Cynyr hadn't pried. Would Obelisk go after Cynyr if he figured it out on his own? Werr certainly hoped not...Cynyr was no fool, he would indeed figure it out sooner or later. Werr could only hope that it was later. He let the lizard-thing push him along, smiling a little. He led the way to the kitchens; however not-hungry Cynyr was, he couldn't ignore his own hunger.

The living shadow nudged Werr's back, forcing the boy along to the kitchen, where Cynyr's demeanor grew awkward. He moved his snout away from Werr and just seemed to hang around the entrance, nervously shifting from foot to foot. "I-I'll wait out here," he said, his slightly-hissed voice low. He dropped down onto his belly near the door, sighing quietly. He peered up at Werr with his single, pupil-less eye, watching the boy closely.

Werr stepped in, allowing the comforting smells wash over him. Lunch was apparently in the works, but perhaps the kitchen maids had been expecting him, as they pushed a plate into his hands the second he stepped in. They ushered him towards a table off to the side, fetching him a drink and silverware, freshly cleaned. Werr thanked them all before starting to eat; it was just a simple sandwich and a glass of milk, but Werr devoured it quickly. He had actually been hungrier than he had thought; of course, he had outright refused to eat any food from Obelisk.

He left the kitchens not long after, though he grabbed a bit of chicken and an apple off the counter before leaving. He offered them to Cynyr, smiling. "You really should eat something..."

Cynyr frowned at him, then reached up with his snout and delicately took the chicken into his teeth, flipping it up into the air and catching in when it came back down. He swallowed it in one bite, without having to chew. "I can't eat the apple," he said. "It's bad for my system. I'm still hungry, but...my new eating habits aren't the same as my old ones. It's...well, to be quite frank, it's gross. And I don't want you to see them." He sighed, then said "I need a lot of blood in my body now. Like, I could kill a deer and lick up the blood from it while I'm eating it. And this body is so big that I would have to practically eat the whole deer to sustain it. Plus all of the things someone who eats raw meat, like Nate or Tasia, wouldn't normally eat. Eyeballs and stuff like that..." He wouldn't meet Werr's eyes as he spoke, feeling dreadfully embarrased.

Werr once more rested his hand on his friend's head. "I understand. If you need to go hunting, just tell me. I'll just have one of my guards stay close." He nodded, hoping dearly that none of his guards aside from Hurst had been taken over. For all he knew, the maids themselves could be under Obelisk's control. Which would explain why they knew he had been coming...

Werr shook off his thoughts, smiling again at Cynyr as he started to eat the apple. "I, in the meantime, would rather enjoy some quiet time in the castle library before I head off to bed," He said, already heading in that direction.

Cynyr snorted and said "Grehi, if you think I'm leaving you alone in this castle, then I think you hit your head somewhere and need to see a doctor. I refuse to leave." He lurched up and fell into step with the boy, his tail shifting from side to side as he walked. He automatically kept to the incoming side of the hall, making sure he was the one near any people they passed. He didn't know his way around the castle, so he commonly had to have Werr tell him which ways to go. Within the second wrong turn, Cynyr let Werr lead the way, instead choosing to just keep by his side like a protective shield. When they got to the library, Cynyr nudged the door open with his muzzle and stepped in, sniffing all around before letting Werr come inside.

Werr smiled at Cynyr's sudden over-protectiveness. He definitely appreciated it, though it was a little late for anything of the sort. He really wished he had demanded that Cynyr be allowed into the war room; the once-panther would have torn Nightlash to shreds upon sight, most likely. But there was no point in mulling over the past.

Werr seemed to be doing two projects at once; he first got down a massive book that was apparently a census around the time he had been born. He was hoping that at least one of the names would be familiar. Perhaps seeing it might strike a memory recall, he thought. As for the other project, he was obviously refreshing his memory on the kingdom's past. Those who do not know their history are bound to repeat it, he figured.

Werr plopped down in the large plush seat once he had his books.

Seated on Zephyr's back with most of the others, the fake Werr tensed as they approached the castle. Unbeknownst to them, it was mostly empty (aside from a nasty surprise). All of them were none the wiser to the fact that Obelisk had already left the castle.

"Might I suggest smashing through the roof?" Nate called to Zephyr over the wind of their speedy descent, eager to be finished with Obelisk once and for all.

Zephyr hummed a resounding, deep note, then plunged downwards and threw his full-sized weight into the roof of the castle. Vaira followed behind, slamming her tail back and forth as she followed Zephyr down, demolishing the walls and leaving enough space in the throne room for both her and the emerald dragon to stand without having to shrink their sizes.

The two dragons landed with booming, earth-shaking thuds, teeth bared incase of attack.

Welk was quick to scramble off of Zephyr's back, his crimson eyes darting about the room. The real Werr was the only thing on his mind, and he wanted to know if the boy was being kept here. If he was...

Welk steeled himself and released a quick burst of flames from his mouth, not wanting to be hasty and potentially get Werr hurt. Though the poor half-cat had no idea that the real Werr wasn't here.

"Oh, finally!" A cold, unpleasant voice reached them moments after the dragons landed. Cern was seated in the main throne, his legs hanging over the side and his head propped up on his hand as though he were bored. The flames hadn't gotten close to him at all. He smiled up at them with his torn-up mouth, licking his lips. Surprisingly, King Asmodius and Princess Holly were seated nearby, tied back-to-back while a guillotine-styled blade hung dangerously over their heads. Nate tensed at once upon seeing this, his own teeth bared.

But there was something else. Something stirred in the shadows of the room; they were big, too. They seemed to be a bit like dragons, but...not. They had two pairs of wings, even larger claws than usual, and no hind legs. On the end of their tails were sharp spike-like objects. They were colored oddly, too; each of their scales seemed to have a different hue or shade of a particular color; one was green, the other blue.

They slid around the throne and the royalty, then suddenly launched themselves forward with a high-pitched screeching sound; they were fast, and to make matters worse, they both went after Zephyr, who was bearing the most people at the moment. They were unlike anything any of them had seen before; but Zephyr and Vaira would be able to identify them as some of the worst beasts of all, hated more than Dragonians, even; Drakelings. Not even true drakes, these creatures were sorry mixes between a Drake and a Dragon. No one had seen any for hundreds of years, yet here were two.

Clawing and biting at Zephyr, their teeth and claws able to rip through even the thickest of scales.

Zephyr let out a pained dragon squeal that sounded like a hurt dolphin or whale, then suddenly twisted around and snapped everyone on his back into his mouth, as gently as possible. He let them all go on the ground, and as soon as they were out of the way, he released a thundering scream and jerked his head around, sinking his teeth into one of the drakelings. He ripped it off of his back, lashing his tail around and slamming it into a wall, bringing it down.

Vaira roared and lunged forward, grabbing onto the other drakeling and pulling hard on it, trying to get it off of Zephyr's body.

((Also, these things are remarkably difficult for anyone not Naybrin-sized to kill. I suggest bringing the roof/castle down on them, in a bit.))

The drakelings let out their own high-pitched screams. The one Vaira was pulling on quickly turned and lashed out at her, while the other barreled into Zephyr from behind. One lucky thing about these monsters was the fact that they didn't have fire, so they could really only focus on one target at once (unless, of course, when dealing with smaller things; like the others in the group). Cici, however, had already been hit by the sharp tails; she was lying amongst the rubble, whimpering softly as golden blood leaked from her arms and stomach. His wounds weren't too serious, but she had several broken bones and couldn't move.

Nate, once he had his bearings, immediately ran towards the king and princess. He screeched to a halt when Cern's tendrils of darkness materialized again, slamming down inches in front of him. "Ah-ah-ah~!" Cern giggled, shaking his head. "No, no, and definitely not. I've occupied your dragon friends, why don't you play a little game with me while they're busy? It's called...'let me murder you in order to save the king and bratty princess'! Nate, you get to be the murderer today, good for you. Let me see, you have three choices."

His tendrils swooped down and grabbed up three of them before anything could be done. Seria, Tasia and Diana (though Forin had gotten mixed up in the crossfire, and was now engulfed in the goop while somehow managing to keep Diana's face out of it. "You get to pick one of these people to kill. The other two...er, three, go free, along with your king and princess. Or...king Asmodius and princess Diana will die in the stead of your dear friends!"

Nate froze, instantly torn. He wouldn't dare lay a finger on Tasia or Seria...but was killing Forin or Diana worth saving a controlled king and princess? But the latter had admitted him to be raised with the soldiers in the training camp. If not for that, he would have long since died. On the other hand, Diana was just an innocent, helpless girl who was now sobbing hysterically as she tried to keep the goop away from Forin's mouth so he could breathe. Forin...he was the one Nate cared least for here, but Diana needed him desperately...

((Okay.))

"No!" Luen wailed in terror. "No, let them go!" He flung a hand out desperately, encasing the entire room in ice and snow, but when that had no effect other than making Welk extremely uncomfortable and cold, he came up with another idea. "Me!" he said, taking a quick step forward. "Kill me instead. Please. I'll let you do whatever you want to me, just please, please, don't hurt them! In fact...I'll take out my powers, here and now, and give them to you if you'll just let them go. Then I'll have no way of defending myself."

"Luen!" Welk shouted, horrified at the wolfling's offer.

"Shut up!" Luen snapped at him in such a dangerous tone that Welk was instantly silenced. "I don't care what happens to me. I just can't bare the thought of any of them being hurt." He held out one hand, trying to ignore the fighting of the dragons in the background. White, sparkling tendrils started curling around his hand, signalling that he was gathered magic energy there. "Surely you'd like to experiment on an ice mage wolfling?" he asked, hefting his hand higher and showing Cern the glowing ball that was forming there.

All of the magic in his body, in his entire being. His status as an ice mage.

Forming there in his hand.

"Just let them go and I'll hand this and myself over," he pleaded, his emerald eyes bright.

"L-Luen, no!" Nate screeched at him.

Cern, however, swung his legs around so that he could stand, and stand he did. He surrounded Luen with what was left of his tendrils, cutting him off from the others. He stalked forward and inspected Luen, grinning madly, as usual. "Perfect," He purred, snatching up the orb and dropping it into his bag unceremoniously. He then grabbed Luen with his one arm, running his tongue along the wolfling's cheek in a disgusting way of checking to make sure Luen had given up all of his magic (although he was probably tasting the wolfling in the process).

"Alright, then. It's a deal. I won't hurt them," He said, keeping his arm around Luen. "Gravity will!" He screeched with laughter and threw all four of them into the air (and apparently forgetting that Tasia had wings). He vanished with a flash of utter darkness, leaving with both the dark tendrils and Luen.

Nate darted forward, catching Seria before she hit the ground. He trusted Tasia to catch herself with her wings, and Seria could heal whatever wounds Forin gained from this. The Tartaran, however, had fallen unconscious, nearly suffocated by the goo. He dropped like a rock, unable to do a thing about the fact that he promptly landed on Diana's legs. The bones shattered between their contact with the ground and the force of Forin landing on them. A cascade of tears slid from her face as she let out short, breathy screams that were cut off by sheer horror as a smaller (tiny in comparison to the others, only about as tall as Welk in cat form) drakeling slid from the shadows, attracted by her screaming and tears. It didn't seem to be as intent on harm as the larger ones. It grabbed Forin in its jaws, revealing that it didn't even have teeth yet. It pulled the Tartaran off of Diana, promptly turning to her face and starting to lick up her tears.