The Forgotten Zodiac

Werr watched him silently for a few long moments, then wrapped his arms around Cynyr as much as he could without hurting either of them. "I forgive you," He said quietly. "But...don't shout at me again, please...I don't like shouting." He settled his temple against Cynyr's shoulder, closing his eyes halfway. All this begged the question; if Werr were to remember everything again, would he remember his childhood? And if so...how badly would that affect the Werr that Cynyr and Welk knew?

Cynyr sighed, gently resting his chin on top of Werr's head again. "I won't," he said quietly, stroking his hand up and down Werr's back in a comforting move. "I'm sorry." He curled his tail around the boy's leg, moving his hand up to gently stroke Werr's hair back from his forehead, repeating the movement several times in a comforting gesture.

Meanwhile, down in the dungeons, Grey was waking up to find his surroundings much different than those he last remembered. Thick chains were cinched around his neck, muzzle, arms, legs and tail, and he even had one going around his middle, keeping his wings flat against his body. He let out a thin snarl from the sides of his mouth and tried to pull loose, only to find that he was too weak to pull free.

Obelisk stood outside the bars. He looked rather...terrifying, being in the dark. Even now, the darkness seemed to swirl around him and flow off of him at the same time. He kept quiet at first, watching the dragon-thing snarl and twist around. "It's useless. Even if you were to break free, I would merely rein you in again. It would be easier just to admit your defeat and answer my questions." He said quietly. "Or...I could force answers out of you. Simple enough, no?" Despite his words and tone, he felt disgusted with himself. He sounded like how he had when he was under control. Evil.

Obelisk shook it off and got to his question. "Who sent you to kill Werr?"

Grey struggled all the more, trying desperately to get loose. "I don't know!" he hissed, twisting his head this way and that on his long neck as he tried to get free. "The last thing I remember was curling up with my father in the Sacred Plains! It was nighttime and we had finished a long day of hunting, then I had meticulously organized all of the new dragons scales we had received. And now I'm here!" He tried hard to pull back again, his green eyes glistening. He had never been far from the Sacred Plains, especially this close to humans. He despised humans, of course, but... "I would never try and kill someone!" he shouted, throwing all of his strength into pushing against the bars. "The last I remember was falling asleep, then...it felt like something touched my head in the night." He growled and snorted fire out through his nose, glaring at Obelisk.

Obelisk listened, nodding quietly after Grey spoke. "And you saw nothing until now?" He questioned. "Why should I believe you? The dragons could be attempting to create some sort of chaos in this realm, perhaps they wish to be rid of humans from the land that was once theirs..." He hissed low. He knew it wasn't true; dragons were generally fairly peaceful, despite the horror tales about them. But he found it hard to believe that Grey was taken under control; at least, not by the same person...

Grey suddenly thrashed around badly, squealing like an injured whale. He went limp seconds later, panting hard, then slowly lifted his head and stared right at Obelisk.

His eyes were black once more.

"Hello there, my old pawn," a voice that wasn't Grey's said. The voice was sinister and dark, creaky and raspy. "I would say it's nice to see you again, but...I would prefer not to lie too badly. You failed me, Obelisk. You should've stayed in the ground, where you belong." The wyvern tilted his head slightly to the side, giving a small smile. "Obelisk, Obelisk, Obelisk..." the creaky voice crooned. "What did you think would happen if you came back? Did the thought of friends go through your mind? Revenge? The heroic grandur of preventing others from suffering how you did?" He snorted out a small chuckle.

Obelisk gritted his teeth. So hard, in fact, that one of them cracked, filling his mouth with the taste of blood as he stared at Grey. So it was him. "No." He said darkly, the air crackling around him. "I care less about these people than I care about a fish on the beach, struggling to reach the tide again. I would care not if you ruled each and every one of them, and caused them them slay the population of the world. I came back for one thing, and one thing alone. I want to die."

It was so. He had lived for too long, he had too many regrets and sorrows.

Death's embrace eluded him and he hated that.

The one thing he truly wanted was to exist no longer.

Obelisk paused, and then said, "But Cici asked something of me, before releasing me. She asked if I would do everything in my power to put an end to you before it was too late. She asked me if I would fight alongside Werr and his friends. Cici resides within me now, watching me and keeping you out. She struck me a deal; if I do as she requested and end you, she would remove the immortality from my heart and soul and allow me to die. So riddle me this; what do you think I'm going to do? Are you not the being who knows me better than I know myself?"

The darkest of beings lifted Grey's hand and rested it on his muzzle in a mocking, half-interested gesture. "I believe you are going to end me," he said, blinking his black eyes slowly. "Or at least, you think you are going to end me. But you and I both know that's impossible. My powers far exceed yours, worm, far exceed anyone on this entire planet's abilities. How do you think to kill me? I'm all ears, of course. A deity of my standards brushes away no chance to laugh heartily." He blew smoke out, grinning darkly. "I, Malice, fear no one, as you would do well to remember," he purred.

Obelisk paused. Then he smiled. "Oh, you'll fear someone, indeed you will...whether it's me or someone else, I don't know. I would tell you, but...aren't you the all-knowing deity who stands at the end of time? The vastly powerful king of all who lives and dies? If you don't know my plan yet, you're already starting to lose your touch, oh mighty 'lord Malice'." He sneered, then grinned, feeling a trickle of blood slip from his mouth.

"Oh, I already know. I just wanted to hear you say it so I could laugh. It's just a matter of procuring the right...subjects to do my bidding. I'm not ready to start a war between the entire land and the stars just yet. Soon, but...not yet," he said. "I already have two subjects under my wing. I'm working on a few more, and by the time I have them, my power will be absolute." He sighed, then said "I shall retreat for now. By warning, Obelisk, I shall tell you something: shadows sleep in unusual places. Be on the look out, my old pawn." He smiled at the bandaged creature in front of him, then retreated from Grey, leaving the wyvern looking around in confusion. Suddenly, his head started to turn to the side, not of his own will. "What...what's going on?" the lesser dragon said, his voice quickly taking on a scared tone. "Stop. Stop! It...what's happening to me?!" He thrashed against his chains, frantically trying to get the unseen forcing from turning his head on his neck. The chains around his body held him, preventing him from moving. "Father!" the wyvern screamed, feeling pain shoot through his neck.

There was a sharp crack, then the wyvern fell silent.

Malice laughed.

Obelisk watched, unmoving. He felt no remorse or sadness over Grey's death; only jealousy. Which was a very unusual feeling for anyone to have when looking at a chained, murdered Wyvern. Obelisk turned away, starting towards the stairs, pondering his own thoughts on the subject. He wasn't evil. But he was missing a few key aspects of being 'good', that was for certain.

But that was hardly important. His plan...Malice already knew of it. He was certain of that. But if the Artifacts of the Fair Ones were destroyed before they could reach them...

Welk sighed, trotting next Forin's horse.

He, the Tartaran, Jag and Spy had left the town after saying goodbye to Lily. Jag was trotting along in gryphon form, watching Spy as the chimera ran all around the area. He flicked his long tail, then said "So where are we going? Just, into the mountains? Do you know how hard it's going to be to find a dragon up there?"

"We'll stop by the castle first," Forin shook his head. "Werr will remember where exactly the dragons were, and Spy will help us in the right direction. And if Werr doesn't recall, I'll search his memories and find it myself." He glanced down at Welk, then added, "And put it back." Even though that was a lie. He couldn't actually put things back; he merely removed things, putting them back was next to impossible for him. Firstly, he couldn't guarantee that it would land in the right place. Secondly, he could potentially damage the mind in question.

Welk gave Forin a flat glare, then shrugged and said "As long as Werr's okay." He bounced around by Forin's horse, accidentally bumping into Jag. The wing-cat hissed and swiped at Welk, catching a few locks of his blonde fur. Welk yipped and spun around, fixing his crimson eyes on the gryphon. "You really haven't changed much since the last time I saw you," he stated. "You're still mean."

"And glad for it," Jag snorted, rolling his sky-blue eyes.

"Mean is a very harsh word," Spy spoke up, running back to Jag. "Jag is not as mean as Forin is. He's just selective with the people he's nice to. Forin is only nice to Diana because she's his summoner."

"Indeed. But I was nice to Luen as well. Or have you forgotten him again already?" Forin said bitterly, frowning.

There was silence for a long moment, then Jag spoke again. "Yes, actually," he said. "You can't blame me. He was always so quiet and meek that I never paid him much attention. I forgot he was there a lot. He struck me as...timid and easily scared. Which makes me wonder how you and him became friends, because you're very...harsh." He shrugged his furry shoulders, flaring his blue-jay wings slightly. "Why and how you care for someone that's not your summoner, I'll never know," he said. "But I'm not judging you or saying it's wrong. I'm just a tad confused is all." He ruffled his crest, then watched a bird dart by overhead.

"Diana liked him." Forin said quietly. "He was like an older brother to her. He made her smile, he made her laugh...and if we can't get her back, neither of them will ever smile or laugh again. Diana is already close to that point, Cern's had her for almost twenty four hours by now...I'm surprised he hasn't killed her yet. Relieved, but surprised."

Things were quiet again. Forin pushed his horse into a gallop again.

It was nearing midnight before the castle came into view; Forin hadn't allowed them to stop for the evening. He pulled the horse to a stop at the gates, sliding off. Of course, swords were pointed in their direction, but they were put away when the guards saw Welk. "Sir Welk," One of them said, glancing at the other. "You return at a bad time. Something happened to the king a few days ago..."

Welk's eyes widened slightly and he blinked a few times, just staring at the guard.

Then he lunged past the guards, knocking them both over, and raced into the castle. He had a sinking feeling in his chest, his heart pounding with worry. Not Werr. Not his best friend. He was suppose to be safe here.

Welk charged up to Werr's bedroom and threw the doors open with a resounding clack, his eyes darting to the two figures in the room.

Cynyr jerked his head up and met Welk's eyes with his single one, shock written all over his face. "W...Welk?" he said, not expecting the half-cat to have returned so soon.

"What happened?" Welk said, moving forward at once, only to stop short when he saw Cynyr's broken limbs. "...What happened?!" he repeated, much louder and more fearful.

"We were attacked-" Cynyr started, but Welk cut him off.

"Are you okay?!"

"It's just a few-"

"What happened to Werr?!"

"It was a-"

"Are you in pain?!"

"I am but-"

"Is the attacker still here?!"

"He's down-"

"Where are you hurt?!"

"Welk, if you would-"

"This is SO bad."

"WELK!"

The lion half-cat flinched sharply at his older brother's voice, quickly focusing on him. "Calm. Down," Cynyr said. "Don't freak out."

Welk slowly took a deep breath, closing his eyes and flicking his ears back.

Werr opened his eyes at the shouting, promptly pulling the covers up over his head and starting to cry. Of course, he didn't recognize the new half-cat. He just knew that all of the sudden there was shouting again, and shouting was bad.

And then things got worse. Obelisk stepped in behind Welk. "Oh, you." He said quietly, half-expecting to be attacked with a torrent of flames. Not that it would affect him much. And then the unexpected happened. Werr pulled off the covers from his face, holding a hand out to Obelisk.

"Cynyr's shouting again," He whimpered, unable to move due to the pain his injuries would cause. "Make him stop, Obelisk..."

Welk whipped around, fixing his gaze on Obelisk. One second later, every single strand of fur on Welk's entire body was bristled out and the cat had done the only thing he could think of at the moment.

Hidden under the bed.

"What the freaking heck?!" he shouted, digging his claws into the floor.

Cynyr sighed, then gently brushed his hand against Werr's cheek and said "I wasn't shouting because I was mad, Werr. It was just to get that half-cat's attention so he wouldn't hurt himself. See? I'm not shouting now. I only shouted so he could hear me. It's okay." He turned his gaze up towards Obelisk, saying "Maybe you should wait outside. Don't want Welk to set you on fire."