The Forgotten Zodiac

"Sparring 101!" Nate hissed, skipping to the side and smashing his knee into Kage's face. "Never be too hasty to attack an opponent!" He was just talking without thinking, really; he didn't actually want Kage to follow his advice, but he hardly wanted this to be an easy fight. After everything that had happened...he really wanted to beat the living daylights out of something that would actually stand up for itself. Kage just gave him the excuse.

Kage reeled back, shaking his head and pressing a hand to his nose. He growled, pulling his hand away and stalking in a circle around Nate. He lunged again, much quicker, and twisted in a fast circle, lashing out with his thick black tail. He hoped to catch Nate with the sharp metal spike he had fastened to the end of his tail, driving the point down towards the dragonian's legs.

Nate screamed in pain as the weapon cut into the back of his knee; his leg collapsed under him, causing him to topple over. He didn't just hit the ground, though. He rolled, twisting the Dragonian's tail around his leg. With his other foot, he caught Kage's backside and gave a sharp kick; the resulting jerk would most likely cause the Dragonian to panic or stumble forward, which would jerk the spike off of his tail. The last thing Nate wanted was an open wound, especially on the leg. There were so many points that could easily be hit with a fatal wound, particularly one that caused him to bleed to death.

Kage roared as he was forced forward with the kick, hissing sharply as his metal spike was wrenched off. He flicked the tip of his tail around, ignoring the blood that dripped from it. He flared his wings and rose up, turning quick circles in the small space of the grove. He yanked a dagger from his belt, diving at Nate from behind, intending on knifing the other dragonian through.

Nate twisted around, barely avoiding the blade as he climbed to his feet again. However painful it was. He pushed Kage's knife hand away from himself, frowning. This seemed rather unfair...he realized that his earlier anger had gotten him into some trouble, apparently. He would have saved Tasia either way, but he could have at least tried to negotiate...

Fighting against one with weapons, without weapons of one's own, was extremely difficult. Nate swiped upwards with his unhurt knee, catching Kage in the gut this time. "Use your opponents strengths against them, and turn them," He clawed at the fragile leather-like covering between the bones of Kage's wings, intending for Kage's momentum to help him tear right through. "Into weaknesses!"

Kage roared again, feeling the skin of his wings tear easily under Nate's claws. He fell back, coughing as he hit the ground. He bent his wing around and stared at the wound, then growled and staggered upright. "You're going to pay for this...for this wound and for make me lose my prey!" he snarled. "Tasia is my toy and nothing more. Mine. She's already been used once before; why would someone like you want her? Why would you want a tainted being for your girlfriend? I don't understand it and I probably don't care to." He flicked the dagger around, holding it at the ready.

((Also, you should somehow hurt his back so I can set forth a plot curve.))

Nate pulled in a slow breath and adjusted his stance to keep weight off of his injured leg. "Because she loves me even after seeing what I've done to others." He said simply. "I would never allow harm to fall on her, and you intended to do harm. So allow me to show you these things I've done...by doing them to you!" He blasted out a billow of flames at Kage, however foolish it seemed. They were Dragonians, not Dragons. And Dragonians didn't have the fireproof capabilities that actual Dragons had.

But Nate didn't even stop there. He used the flames as a cover to run forward and jump, aiming a high kick at Kage's head.

((ono))

Kage screeched as the sizzling flames licked along his body, ducking back from them. He mananged to get his body to curve back in time to avoid Nate's kick, then threw his tail up as the other dragonian passed over him.

His thick, heavy tail hit Nate solidly on the messed-up part of his spine. Hard.

Kage twisted under and curled his legs up and over, practically sitting on his shoulders, then threw his weight forward and jumped up. He whipped around and whacked Nate's back again, this time with a heavy kick, growling as he did so.

Nate fell to the ground with a tumble, immediately starting to feel the agony shooting up and down his damaged back. He couldn't stop though; if he stayed down, it would be the end of him. His arms and legs felt numb, though, and difficult to move. That had never happened before...but there was no time to worry about himself. He cringed and almost whimpered as he staggered to his feet again.

He staggered forward. One step. Another. Then he fell again, his already injured leg giving out underneath him. He bit back a scream, cursing his own weakness silently.

Kage watched him for a moment, a devilish sneer on his face, then laughed and said "You weak fool! Initiate a fight and you can't even see it through? Ha!" He stalked forward, grinning, then hovered over Nate. He readied his dagger, saying "And after this, I'll have sweet little Tasia all to myself again. How silly, don't you think? You wanted to save her, but now you're going to die. Sad, really." He snorted, then spun his dagger in his hand and arched it down towards the fallen dragonian.

A powerful blast of fire suddenly spun out and slammed into him, igniting him in flames.

He screamed and clawed at the fire, trying desperately to get it off, to do something to make it stop burning him. He flailed desperately, stumbling back as more fire hit him, scalding him and making him drop his dagger. A shape darted forward and snatched the dagger up, then threw it.

It hit Kage squarely in his chest, sinking in up to the hilt.

He gurgled and sank back, falling to the ground. The lithel shape then ran forward and twisted the dagger in his chest, killing him by spearing his heart through. Once he was dead, the shape backed up, quivering fearfully.

Tasia glanced back to Nate, still holding his cloak over her body to cover herself, small tendrils of fire seeping from the corners of her mouth. "N...Nate..." she said softly, collapsing to her knees near him with her arms pressed tightly over her chest.

"T-Tasia!" Nate gasped, shaking as the pain lanced through his body all the more now that there was no longer a reason to push it away. He did what he could, though; he reached out his hand and took hers, looking up at her sadly. "I-I'm sorry for what I said..." He murmured. "I thought they would kill you if you objected to my punishment, s-so I had to say what I did. I...I had to keep you safe..." He sighed with relief and squeezed her hand gently, joyful that he was finally able to explain himself to her. "Y-you blew fire, though...? Yo-your throat is...okay?"

She carefully reached up and felt her throat, wondering about it herself. "I...I just..." she murmured. "...I wanted to protect you. Because...I love you. I couldn't let you go." She leaned forward, pressing her face against his neck. "I love you," she whispered, moving her head up to kiss him. She was shaking badly and he could feel it, due to their closeness. Her lips touched his, soft and gentle, though her jaw quivered weakly. "Are you...okay?" she asked softly, keeping her face close to his.

Nate was shaking almost as much, though more out of pain than anything. "No," He replied glumly, shaking his head as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm not...I-I'm hurt. My back...I can barely move. P-please, take me back to Seria...I know you probably hate th-the castle now, but...Seria is there..."

Tasia nodded, then carefully slid her arms around Nate and picked him up. She was very light and slender, so it was hard on her, but she did her best to hold him up. She nuzzled him briefly, then turned and helped him out of the grove. Once they were clear of the trees, she held him close and took off carefully from the ground, flapping her strong wings hard as she headed back towards the castle. She really didn't want to go back, but Nate needed it, so she made herself fly there.

The sun was starting to sink as the castle came into view. Nate was threatening to fall unconscious as they landed, but his mind churned with terrible thoughts. What if Seria couldn't heal his back? He couldn't help but to visualize himself in a wheelchair, unable to help his friends or fight any longer. It was the worse-case scenario to him.

But really, it was the only scenario. Nate knew in a dark corner of his mind that Seria wouldn't be able to help him aside from easing the pain. He knew that the doctors had told him he was dangerously close to losing his ability to walk. He knew it all, yet he had dismissed their warnings.

Tasia landed, panting from the effort. She carried him into the castle, already following Seria's scent to the female half-cat. Seria was sitting in the library, reading a book. She glanced up when Tasia stumbled in, instantly standing up. "What happened?!" the healer said, running over and helping Tasia lower Nate to the ground.

Tasia wordlessly shook her head, not wanting to speak.

Seria looked down at Nate, already moving her hands around to his back.

Nate pushed himself onto his side so Seria could reach with ease, closing his eyes as she ran her delicate fingers along his back. His spine was much worse than the last time Seria checked; a combination of daily work and the recent fight had jarred it to where the interlocking bones zig-zagged all up and down his entire spine, locked in place by pressure. To fix it now would require intensive surgery, and an ability that Seria didn't have anymore; the power to regrow bone.

At this point, Nate needed an entirely new spine. To fix it herself, Seria would have to cut out his spine and force it to regrow; a task that only incredibly skilled healers could even dream of.

She sighed deeply, then generated spells that would dull and ease his pain. "Nate...I'm so sorry, but..." she started. "...there's nothing I can do."

Tasia clasped her hands over her mouth and sobbed quietly, pressing her wings tightly around herself.

Seria finally seemed to notice the girl's clothing, or lack-there-of, and how it was now just Nate's cloak and asked "Tasia, what happened to your outfit?"

She shook her head again, still not wishing to speak yet.

Seria sighed again, then said "Nate, I'm afriad there's nothing I can do for you except dull pain. As for your problem...the only thing I can think of is taking you to the Divine healers in Amnairus. They were able to help Forin so long ago, so I think they might be able to help you. I...can't think of anything else."

Tasia leaned in close to Nate and hugged him, gently and long, holding him close.

((That was actually what I had thought of. xD Back to Amnarius!))

Nate was quiet, allowing Tasia to hug him. "I...it's...it's okay, Seria...don't worry. I'll be okay, really..." He murmured softly in Tasia's ear next."Just so long as you're safe..." Then he fell unconscious, going limp in her arms.

Back in Alastor, Werr was doing better. He was sitting up in his bed now, reading a book quietly; right up until a jet black wolf trotted in, an elderly woman following along behind. Her hair was thin and white, pulled back in a short braid behind her head. Her face was wrinkled naturally, and she moved slowly, supporting herself with a cane.

"Cynyr, wake up," Ophile said gently, running his large tongue over the side of the half-cat's face. "It's getting to be evening. I brought the fortune teller," He sat back, looking up as the woman slowly moved over to them. "If you wanted to question her before she examines your king and friend, I suggest you do it now."

((Also, I had another idea for ol' Kage. What if, because Kage is dead now, they take his nice black wings and tail for Nate? The Divine healers can transplant those parts to Nate, easily.))

The panther winced and slowly opened his eyes, blinking blurrily as the wolf woke him. He slowly sat his injured body up against the pillows and stroked Ophile's head, rubbing the wolf's ears. He listened as he spoke, sitting quietly, then turned to face the woman. "What do you intend on doing to my friend?" he asked, giving a weak flick of his broken tail. It was more of a flop, but the point remined. He reached out and rested his hand on Werr's shoulder, holding tight to him. "I...just want him to remember," he said softly, glancing over to the corner of the room he had been avoiding for hours.

Welk was curled up there with a blanket around his shoulders, currently passed-out from exhaustion. He had gone in intervals of crying and raging and just plan craziness, where he sat there and muttered things to himself over and over, as if planning something or trying to plan something.