The Forgotten Zodiac

"There you are," Werr approached, his voice quiet. "Father."

"Just 'dad' is fine," Sylas chortled, smiling happily at the sight of his son. "How can I help you, Werr?"

"You can come with us. We're tracking down Leo."

"Oh?" Sylas blinked at them. "And for...what purpose?"

"We suspect he may know where Cynyr is." Werr explained bluntly. "We need Cynyr back..."

"Right. Your friend. That's alright then," He looked up at the Divine with a small smile. "I'll be back, but my son calls for my assistance. I wasn't there for most of his life, I have an obligation to help him now."

The Divine snorted, lifting its head and giving its long jaws a few snaps to show annoyance. Then it bent its head around and nipped ever so lightly at Sylas' back and shoulders, shocking everyone there with the display. "Return safely, Sylas Rowe," the giant said, then twisted to the side and plunged off of the bridge, into the darkness below.

Sylas waved at it, then turned to the others. "Riding an entire dragon? Remarkable." He smiled, looking at Werr. "A pet of yours?"

"No," Werr said quickly. "A friend. Don't call her a pet, you'll be eaten before dawn. Her name is Vaira."

"Right, good to know..."

Vaira had curled her lip angrily at Sylas' words, but she seemed a bit more calm when Werr spoke. She brought her head around and pushed her nose at Sylas, spitting "Rediculous human," at him. He, of course, only heard a snarl, but the point got through. She laid down on her belly and let them all on, though she snapped at Sylas as he climbed on. She then rose up and walked to the Eternal Garden, breathing in the scent of the garden...and a gryphon.

Jag was laying in one of the beautiful meadows, Lily at his side. Upon finding the gates locked, he had trekked back to the garden and warped Lily to him, where they were now sleeping quietly in the tranquil forest. They seemed happier in the lush green garden than in Amnairus, so the group just left them there.

Vaira headed out of the garden and took flight, following Sylas' directions.

"He won't be happy about me showing you his hideout," Sylas commented, though they flew onwards. "Isn't this dangerous, anyways? The dragonkind want your head, I was told, Werr. Obviously you have the side of this dragon, but...one against the hundreds that exist!"

"I know. But these issues go further than my life. The lives of hundreds, even thousands are at stake..." Werr muttered. They flew onwards, with few more comments from Sylas.

Vaira flew low to the ground, in a bit smaller form than usual so as to avoid any possible dragons. Whenever a dragon flew overhead, she would land and hide behind something, waiting for the dragon to fly away. The entire land wasn't safe for them, at this point. At least one dragon flew by every thirty minutes. The most dragons the entire land had ever seen in years and years. "Where are we going?" she said, and Tasia translated to Sylas.

"Keep flying due south. You should see a town after about twenty more minutes of flight. It's an older, run down city with a lot of abandoned houses. Most of the houses were left behind due to the floods that happen every couple of years. It's right on the river." Sylas explained.

"Tirattle." Werr snorted. "Of course he chooses there to hide...old, rundown, plenty of hiding places. Keep going, Vaira."

Vaira nodded once to Werr, then continued flying until they reached the town. She landed on the outskirts and let everyone off, then shrunk down to her smallest size and ruffled her scales. She ducked into Tasia's hands, letting the girl tuck her lovingly into her pocket, then the group headed into the city, led by Sylas. He took them to a bar, of course, that was tucked into the more run-down part of the already run-down city. The lights were on and music was playing, with cigar smoke puffing out of the windows. Two men staggered out, painfully obviously drunk beyond their wits, and they wolf whistled when they saw the girls in the group. Tasia clung tightly to Nate, looking about to cry, while Seria curled her lip in anger. When they walked by and one made to pinch the healer, she hauled off and broke his nose with a ferocious punch that sent him and his companion fleeting for their lives.

Sylas laughed at this, grinning widely. "I like your healer. She's fiesty."

"Shut up," Werr rolled his eyes, continuing into the bar. He boldly went straight for the bartender, who eyed him with a small frown.

"And what do I owe the honor of having his majestic cowardice in my humble little bar?" The bartender frowned at him. "I would be cautious, your 'majesty'. There are all numbers of people who would like your head on a silver platter 'round here."

"That's not very likely to happen," Nate snorted. "You'll be mopping blood off the floors if anyone makes the wrong move."

"Now, now, there's no need to speak in such manners. Barkeep, we're looking for Leo. Has he been around here lately?" Sylas interrupted.

"He's in the back," The bartender jabbed with his thumb, frowning at them all.

They made their way towards the back of the bar, past the rowdy people already there, to a familiar (for several different reasons) figure kicked-back in a chair.

Leo blew a thick plume of smoke from his cigar up at them and said "Hey, hey. It's my good friend Sylas and his bratty little kid. What's up?" Though a drink sat on the table next to him, he didn't seem as drunk as Werr and Tasia had seen him before. Seria was staring hard at him, shocked into silence due to how eerily close to Cynyr he looked. That was one of the reasons why he was a familiar figure; when they first walked up, Seria had thought it was Cynyr resting calmly in the chair. They had the same agile figure, judging yellow eyes, and jet-black hair, ears and tail. Though Leo didn't have the hundreds of scars, save for a small one over his left eye and the right corner of his mouth.

"Where is Cynyr?" Werr demanded.

"Son, did no one ever teach you manners?" Sylas snorted, plopping down in the other chair at the table. "We're looking for your son. Werr needs his assistance and the Artifact that he has is incredibly important. Do you have any idea where he may be?"

"And would you please tell us?" Nate added respectfully.

Leo was silent for a long time, quietly smoking his cigar and occasionally taking a drink from his mug. Finally, he decided to speak.

"Yeah, I know where he is. As I told you, Werr, and the little lady..." He threw Tasia a look. "...I've been watching the both of you for some time now. Why? I couldn't tell you if I tried. But I have been, and here's how." He reached into his cloak and pulled out the biggest pearl they had ever seen. It fit in Leo's entire hand. "This has been embued with magic properties, so I can tune it to...certain things. Cynyr being one of them, because he's related to me. Sadly." He snorted heavily through his nose, then closed his eyes and concentrated. The pearl began to glow in soft waves of light, flashing slowly through the colors of the rainbow. "His current state is...not pretty," he said after a moment. "Lots of blood and anger. Your words cut deep inside him, Werr." He didn't move from his position to look at Werr or anything. "He's in Delbrenhiem," he reported, then tucked the pearl back into his inner pocket.

Seria's eyes widened and she said "That was my home town. I lived there with my father, before he died."

"Congratulations," Leodhaius said dryly, putting his cigar to his mouth again.

"I will regret those words for the rest of my life, most likely," Werr sighed heavily. "We'll leave, then."

"Delbrenhiem it is. Thanks, old friend. And, eh...don't tell the Silver Tornado we came here, but you already knew that..." Sylas smiled a bit at his friend, standing and stretching. He stopped and looked up as someone suddenly jumped on a chair, announcing something loudly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it would appear that there is a wanted man among us!" It was Snider, holding up a wanted poster with Sylas' face on it. Of course, Sylas wasn't a crook; the poster was probably hand made, but it had the wanted effect. Pretty much everyone with a weapon drew it, all of them looking around for the person in question.

Sylas, in the meantime, was climbing out the window.

Leo smirked and downed the last of the contents of his mug, then stood up and cracked his knuckles, saying "Well, time to put on a show. Ya'll best get out of here; things are about to get really, really messy. Just how I like 'em." He grinned, then immediately threw on the best acting skills the group had ever seen.

"Never seen 'im!" Leo shouted, stalking forward and faking a perfect drunken stumble. He grabbed onto someone nearby and leaned against them for a moment, then pushed away and lurched his way over to Snider. He pushed him off of the chair and pulled the picture out of his hands, glaring at the drawing. "Hey! Hey, hey! This, this is my  buddy, here. This is my FRIEND! But he's not here to party with me. Shame, shame!" He flailed the picture around and said "Good times with this'un! Yep." He squinted over at Snider and said "Hey, I know ya'll too. I always though yer was ugly. Ugly, ugly, ugly. In fact..." He jumped up on top of a table and gestured wildly at the crowd of onlookers. "I'll put gold behind my non-ugliness! First man to beat me gets two-hundred gold, right SMACK in his hand! Who's up?"

The reaction was instant.

Every person there went for him, but he was obvoiusly much more than a match for them, as good deal of which were solidly drunk. Within minutes, it became an all-out brawl.

Nate was quick to pull both Tasia and Werr into his grip, wrapping his wings around them at once. Obelisk, wrapped in his usual cloak, just stood up straight and watched as the few fighters around him moved away instantly. He cut his way through the crowd, avoided as much as possible thanks to his freakish build, though the fighting didn't stop. Nate followed close behind him, dragging Werr and Tasia along with him.

Once everyone was out and safe, Seria did a quick head count. Herself, Nate and Tasia, Werr, Obelisk, Vaira, and Sylas, who met up with them once they had exited the building. Leo actually paused during the fight and strode out, leaning against the door and leaving the people inside to continued fighting without him. "I'm not comin'," he said. "I just wanted to tell Sylas 'bye. And that I'm sorry." He looked over in Sylas' direction, his gave soft and plantive, then shrugged and headed back inside, not about to give up a good brawl.

Though he had plans they didn't even know of yet.

"Let's get out of here," Sylas nodded after Leo was back inside. "The place may or may not combust randomly, so...we should scram." He looked towards Tasia, who still had Vaira in her pocket. "To Delbrenheim?"

"Right..." Werr sighed heavily as he watched the fighting going on just inside the door.

((I think we should skip to someone else for a bit. So we have a little bit of pacing, at least.))

((Mmk.))

Vaira crawled out of Tasia's pocket and sat on her shoulder instead, turning her nose away from Sylas. She was still sore towards him, but premitted him to climb up on her back with the others when they left the town.

*

Malice was sitting on his throne, tapping an elegant claw against the stone.

He was still in Welk's stolen body, of course. Still with the dark black hair and pale, pale skin. The only thing 'the same' about Welk's body now was his shape and crimson eyes. That was all, though. Malice had made Welk's body his own.

The demon lord was currently staring into a large black orb, watching Werr and his friends as they flew onwards. "They must be stopped," he growled, glaring at Werr through the glass. "They progress far too quickly on their path." He brooded for a moment longer, then waved a hand and called "Kiraki! Come forward, child."

Kiraki, who had been fiddling with the hem of her dress in the corner, jumped as Malice suddenly spoke. "My lord," She walked forward calmly, giving him a small bow. "What shall I do to stop them?" She asked, glancing at the orb. "I...I doubt I will be able to do much, even...I'm not skilled in ways of combat, as you very well know." She said quietly, unsure of what would happen next and whether or not she should run away. She was holding onto Sir Two-Foot, of course, holding him behind her back.

Welk, inside the stuffed bear, had lasped into complete and utter silence since he had stopped crying. He hadn't made any noise for several days now, and it was getting worrysome. He couldn't die, but there were worse things than death.

"I want you to go and do anything in your power to slow them down," Malice said. "Kill one of them. I know you have the power to do that, at least. Take their powers and kill one of the weaker ones. The female dragonian or the healer. Werr would be ideal, of course, but... Hmph. Go for one you think you possibly could kill. Don't fail in your mission or don't bother coming back." He tapped his chin, watching her thoughtfully.