The Forgotten Zodiac

Forin drew his Death Fist, holding it under Asmodius' nose. "Oh, you'll suffer, alright. Just like I want you to. You'll suffer for the rest of your life," He slammed the blade into the back of the throne, inches from Asmodius' ear. "Oh, how I wish I could make you immortal so you could suffer for an eternity. Just like someone else I know..." He ripped out the blade and slammed it into the chair again. Missing again. "Why do I think you'll suffer more if I just leave you alone?" His furious, crazy expression was quickly melting. He tore his blade out and slammed it in, again and again and again. "Why c-can't I just...why..." More slamming. "Why? Why? Why, why, why?"

A final push and the blade just stuck there, lodged in the crack Forin had created. "Why...?" He whimpered, stumbling away and shuffling towards the door, suddenly acting like a wounded animal. If he had a tail, it would have dragged on the floor behind him. "Why would you take him from me...?"

He shuffled back to the infirmary. He dropped his arms on Luen's body, going limp with his face pressed into the fallen wolfling's chest. Then he cried his heart and soul out before falling unconscious.

The next morning, Seria found him there. She had convinced the healers and doctors to leave Luen's body until Diana could be found, so the girl could hug her dear friend one last time before he was buried.

The red-furred half-cat walked into the room and stilled when she saw Forin. She was a bit scared to be around him, especially after seeing the mutilated guards. It had been so brutal, so unlike him. It had taken a LOT of convincing (and quite a bit of her money) to make the advisors and remaining guards agree not to do anything to the Tartaran in retalliation. She sighed quietly, then slowly moved forward and stopped near him. She gently rested her hand on his shoulder, rubbing quietly. "I wish this didn't happen..." she murmured, knowing he was unconscious. "I'm so sorry, Forin." She moved back and slipped her arms under him, carefully picking him up. He was heavy for her, but not unbearable. She gently laid him down on a separate medical bed, moving his and Luen's beds close together. She moved Forin's hand out so it touched Luen's shoulder, making sure his fingers touched part of the wolfling's skin, near his neck.

Seria sighed and walked out, leaving the suffering Tartaran alone.

Forin eventually woke up. And when he did, he just laid there and stared blankly at the ceiling for a very long time.

Dead. Luen was dead. Diana was close to death, he could feel it in his gut. Forin...he himself felt dead. If Diana died, he might as well just kill himself, because nothing would ever be right in the world again. Ever. He would be a failure as a guardian. He was already a failure as a friend. How much worse could things get?

Finally, Zephyr gathered him, Spy and Jag up so they could leave. Seria decided to stay, to wait for Nate to return after he found Tasia. She somehow sensed he would return here. She said goodbye to them as they mounted Zephyr, then stepped away.

Zephyr didn't say anything to Forin, sensing that the Tartaran wasn't in a talking kind of mood. Instead, the dragon remained silent as Jag tied a few bags onto his thick spikes and climbed on. Then Zephyr rose up and headed into the sky, flying towards Hadaarak Desert. It took a while, but they eventually reached the edge of the desert.

A sweeping, massive expanse of sand and hot sun met their eyes.

Forin said nothing still. Instead, he shoved a shirt of Diana's into Spy's little arms. He took a big sniff, nodding. "I think I might have something...fly around a bit, maybe I can pick her up." He nodded, putting the shirt back in Forin's arms and sniffing the air quickly. Forin just leaned back and let himself be carried towards the already dying Diana. Poor Diana...they might not make it in time...

Which would destroy him from the inside out. Not to mention it would send him right back to Tartarus, where he would probably be imprisoned for his recent crime of the murder of several innocent humans. One or two here and there was ignorable enough, but fifteen in the same cruel manner...not quite so.

Zephyr flew around as Spy had asked, swerving this way and that as he flew over the sands. Jag covered his face with a wing, not really feeling too bad about coming here. In fact, he liked the sweeping sand and burning heat. It was common knowledge that gryphons were natural to the desert places in the land, and Jag was no exception. He liked it here, but of course, he could live anywhere. And that anywhere was wherever Lily was.

Zephyr curved his wings in and flew lower to the ground, trying to help Spy catch the needed scent.

They swooped low over the ground for a terribly long time. Even with the wind whipping past them, the sun was doing a particular member of their group no good at all. Poor Forin was burning up, his pale skin turning redder in patches with each passing hour. His all-black clothing absorbed heat like nothing else, but he didn't seem to be capable of sweating. It was possible that Tartarans were cold-blooded, after all.

Regardless, the sun reached its peak in the sky before Spy squeaked, "I found her! Stopstopstop!" When they landed, he ran around in circles until he found a specific spot. Then he plopped down and nodded. "She's here. Right here. Under the sand."

Zephyr spread his wings out over the small group, protecting them from the sun. It was hot even in the shade, but at least the heat had dulled. Zephyr kept his wings over the group as he moved over to where Spy was, carefully reaching out a huge paw and brushing the chimera gently to the side. He began pulling at the sand, sinking his thick white claws in deep and then pulled the entire handful out. He dug fast, not giving the sand time to fall back into place. He had to dig in a wide circle to make sure that the spot he needed to dig in wasn't filled back in, but as the minutes passed, he got deeper and deeper into the ground.

Forin waited, his claws digging into his own chest. He couldn't hear it, but he knew Diana was screaming in pain. Screaming, agony, so much pain...he hadn't even had a chance to wash himself off. The blood had long since flaked off of his arms, but it stained his clothes still. And more would stain his clothes again once he got his hands on Cern.

Finally, Diana's screaming was heard as Zephyr dug closer to the rock cave she was held in. Finally, the dragon's claws cut into the rock surface, tearing away chunks at a time until the pocket was reached. Cern jerked his head up; he had bitten off several bits of Diana's arm, chewing on one as Zephyr made it to them. She choked on her sobs, recognizing the dragon.

Zephyr's claws plunged downwards, tearing through the rock and opening it up to bright sunlight. He snarled and stabbed downwards, his sharp claws arching down in graceful-yet-deadly movements. He slid down into the cavern, not having to shrink too much in order to fit. He slammed a paw down in front of Diana, shielding her from the Tartaran, then swiped out at Cern. He flung the deseased creature away, bellowing a deep blast.

Jag leapt in next, in gryphon form, landing near the sobbing girl. He stood over her, tucking her protectively near him, just incase Cern got past Zephyr. Which was unlikely. The huge emerald dragon was doing a good job of keeping the Tartaran on his toes. Wherever Cern moved, the dragon's teeth and claws were waiting, with bursts of fire scattered around.

Cern skittered around, eventually backing into a corner. "You want the girl? By all means, go ahead and have her!" He laughed hysterically, showing Diana's thumb, which was half-eaten and lodged in his teeth. "Here, have this, too!" He pulled the thumb from his mouth, tossing it at Jag.

Forin dropped in last, careful not to break a leg or something. "Cern...you made your final mistake when you took Diana from me." He said darkly, walking forward.

"You made your final mistake when you thought I wasn't expecting you!" Cern screeched with laughter. With a wave of his hand, dark magic cut through the ceiling in several places, pouring sand down onto them in heavy torrents. At the same time, the hole that Zephyr created was blocked off. "I'll bury you all alive!"

Zephyr immediately took his largest size, throwing all of his weight upwards into the ceiling. He threw his wings out and pressed up with all of his mighty, formidable strength, finally breaking through the ceiling and into the open desert. He flung his wings up, throwing the sand off, then sucked in a deep breath and billowed fire all around them. The intense heat swept out, burning the sand and turning it into glass. Zephyr twisted this way and that, forming walls of glass that were so thick a cannon ball that was shot out of a cannon wouldn't break it. The walls blocked the sand, keeping it out and leaving them all open to the bright, harsh sun.

He then swept a claw around and slammed it down over Cern, making sure the thick claws sink in through his shoulder and gut, pinning him hard.

Cern spluttered on the blood that rose in his throat from the attack, still trying to laugh. "So that didn't work..." He squirmed uselessly, more blood rising up in his throat from his movement. "Come on then, you don't want to kill me..."

"And why not?" Forin stalked forward, frowning bitterly.

"You know Michaelis? I was his first victim. W-when he was finished with me, he...th-threw me in the arena. That's how I lost half of me!" He laughed as though it were a hysterical joke. "Then I was summoned...I just lost it. Killed half the population of an entire town and ate whoever was left. They were delicious~! But then my summoner died...I think I ate her on accident, too. But anyways, Michaelis, yes indeed..." He looked over at Forin. "You should know what that means..."

Forin frowned unhappily. "Zephyr...be careful. He has explosives somewhere on him..."

"All over! Hand and feet and throat and lungs and everywhere! And guess what? You'll all go sky high the second it doesn't detect a heartbeat. KABOOM!" He screamed all of the sudden, laughing all the more.

Zephyr pressed down a little harder, flicking his ears. "I am more than capable of withstanding such a blast," he said, glaring at the Tartaran. "We dragons commonly fight each other with our fire, after all, and that is a very, very dangerous thing." He hissed in his throat, a deep, angry sound, then said "Forin, take your mistress. Once she is secure, I'll take Cern and deal with him." He growled again, curling his lips back to show his sharp white teeth.

Jag was holding Diana's severed thumb, spawning a bag of ice and putting the digit inside. He hoped Seria could reattach it once they got back to her.

Forin walked back over to Jag, looking glum. Diana hid behind the Grypon, peeking out at Forin in terror. She screamed when he got closer, scrambling away, holding her bleeding hand and arm to her chest. "Get away!" She wailed, shaking her head.

Forin stopped. He just...froze. For a long time, it didn't even look like he was breathing. "What...what did Cern do to you?" He said softly, grief written all over his face. He took another step forward. "Diana..."

"No! Stay back!"

"Diana, I'm not--"

Diana fell onto her back in a pile of sand. Then she just laid there and sobbed, the sand stinging her open wounds. Forin sank to his knees, staring at her.

Cern, for once, stopped laughing. "Good luck getting her back to normal. I don't think even I could repair that kind of damage. Her mind was very, very fun to mold and mess with. Very fun, indeed~!"

Zephyr glanced back at them in shock, watching as Jag tucked the ice bag into his bigger bag and took gryphon form, shielding Diana behind him. He motioned at Forin to keep his distance for the time being, then bent his head and comfortingly ran his beak over the girl's body. He held her up with a front bird leg, his claws wrapping around her shoulder.

Zephyr pressed harder onto Cern, hissing "If you don't want to die, I suggest you fix her. I have ways to torture you, Tartaran, ways that I've engulfed others over my span of a thousand years." He pressed his huge mind in on Cern's, growling "How would you like to get lost for eternity in the fierce mind of a dragon?" He started pulling the Tartaran's mind into his, which was possible due to the fact that he was so much bigger and stronger. Cern was trapped, his consciousness threatening to become lost in over a thousand years' worth of memories. Not only of Zephyr's memories, of course.

The dragon had absorbed others before, as well.

Diana curled into Jag's grip, clearly still clingy. But with Forin no longer her dear friend, she didn't know who she should be clinging to, really...

Cern laughed all the more. "I just said, I can't do it! Besides, how am I supposed to even try if you're going to trap me in your mind for all of eternity?" He giggled. "Go ahead, trap me. Torture me! KILL ME! IT'LL GET YOU NOWHERE, YOU BIG UGLY DRAGON!" He screeched at the top of his lungs for no real reason other than to have the satisfaction of screaming.

Zephyr reared up onto his long back legs and brought his front leg down, crushing Cern's legs beneath his weight. "If you can shape the images, then you can put them back!" the dragon thundered, closing his mouth over Cern. He whipped his head back and forth, tossing the creature around in his jaws, then spat him out and held him down again. "You'll try. And you'll succeed. If not, I'll pull you so far into my mind and assult your memories with my own so much that pain will be the only sense left intact. You will not die, but nor will you live. You will suffer for an eternity, your worse memories and mine, along with every sensation those memories hold. And not just those memories either. Every person I've ever taken as well." He snarled, hissing. "If you succeed, I might be swayed to let you go."

"Let me go?" Cern suddenly turned serious again. "Let me go back to my master? My poor, dying master...ever since Obelisk was destroyed, Gurushi has been slowly rotting away...kind of like me," His voice caught a distant air as he ignored the saliva and pain from broken bones, closing his eyes halfway for a moment. "I can't find her, either. I lost her. I should probably look for her..." He pushed on Zephyr's paw with his single hand, frowning. "Stop, let go! Get off, get off, GET OFF!" It apparently didn't even register with him that both of his legs were broken now. For that matter, he seemed to have forgotten things.

Forin watched with a frown on his face. "Cern..." He quickly realized what it was. He had heard rumors about Tartaran's powers backfiring on them. It was a 'punishment' that Titus used from time to time. Perhaps that's what had caused his insanity...and apparent forgetfulness.

"Stop screaming...please..." A soft murmur came from the corner of the room. It was none other than Gurushi, apparently. She - indeed, Gurushi was a girl - was the same woman who had put the needles in Werr's arms and neck, causing the pain-on-command not so long ago. She was in a terrible condition, apparently; she was bundled up in black sheets like a caterpillar in a cocoon, her breathing slow and obviously pained. It was a wonder they hadn't noticed her until now; her dreadfully pale face showing quite clearly through the gloom.

Zephyr glanced over at her, stopping in pulling Cern's mind into his. He flicked his ears, watching Gurushi for a moment, then looked back to Cern and said "Yes. If you fix Diana's mind, then I'll let you go. In fact...depending on how well you do, I might be convinced to part with a scale or two. It would certainly help her condition, if used by the right hands." He turned his head at Gurushi, watching her breathe for a moment. "Your agreement, please," he said, turning back to Cern. "Quickly, while she still draws breath."