The Forgotten Zodiac

"Now see here, kid--" Sylas started to snap at him, but stopped himself when he heard what Dark whispered. "I think I understand a little more than you're aware of. Werr gets his intellect from me. His haywire emotions from his mentally ill mother tend to cloud that a bit, but the point is, I've heard things here and there. I've actually quite recently had a long chat with the one known as Obelisk. He feels more alone than even I can imagine. Cursed to an eternity of life that he cannot withdraw from...well, I don't think you would want to spend much time with your creator, would you? Most of us don't even see our creator until death, but that's beside the point entirely.

"I've been all over the world more than once. I've chased down legends and myths, I've uncovered more truths than most humans could ever dream of. And the reason I tell you this is so you'll believe me when I say that I know of a place you can go. It's perfect for troubled young souls like yourself. How would you like to take a trip with me there? If I'm not mistaken, it's just a couple day's walk from here, and a half day's ride by horse. If we had a dragon take us, it'd be little more than an hour, but it seems all of our dragon companions are a tad busy. So, we can walk or take horses." Sylas stood, offering a hand to Dark. "And before you say a thing, yes, I could be lying and just trying to get you away from here to try and kill you or something. But you'll never know if you don't take a chance and a risk every now and then, right? I'm old anyways, and killing is messy business that I never cared to get into."

Dark glared at Sylas' outstretched hand for a long moment, then pushed his hand away and stood up on his own, keeping his arms wrapped around himself. "Fine," he said quietly, his voice still angry. "I'll go with you. Only because I could care less. We'll take horses. There's a few in Amnairus that don't have horns and wings." He moved to walk past Sylas and paused, then said "And don't call me kid, even though I'm only two-and-a-half years old." Then he kept walking.

"What would you rather be called, then?" Sylas inquired, following suit. He knew Dark's name, he just wondered if the artifcial being had ever thought to be called something different. Dark was the name given to him by Obelisk; Sylas was curious as to whether or not he wanted to keep said name. It didn't really fit him, in Sylas' opinion.

That made Dark stop. He puffed out his cheeks, frowning at the ground, then said "Just...just call me Dark! Calling me 'kid' just reminds me that I'm short!" He practically hissed out the word 'short', pouting at Sylas through his deep black eyes. "'Kid' is just demeaning," he said, turning again and heading towards Amnairus.

"Very well then, Dark. I'll call you what you want to be called. I'm a reasonable man," Sylas shrugged, smiling a little. He wasn't intimidated by Dark much at all, and it showed. "Let's just get those horses and be out of here, yes?"

"Ophile? We need you to make another one of those potions," Werr knocked on the door. He had been directed to this room by Airlia; she seemed a bit frazzled, but she had told him where the wolf was without much complaint.

"Oh? Yes, I figured you would be needing another, so I made a better one. Don't worry about me, though, I'm quite alright..." Ophile said, sounding...more gruff than usual. "But, uh, I should tell you; perhaps you should get your father to finish the process. You had a very twisted image of me, to say the least, and I wouldn't want Zephyr getting caught up in this..."

"What on earth do you mean?" Werr frowned, pushing open the door. Ophile was indeed a wolf again, but he was twice the size as before. Silver runic patterns zig-zagged their way up his legs. There were marks on his forehead and muzzle, as well; his ears were a bit torn like before, but a single tooth of his was now the size of Werr's thumb. Werr yelped and jumped back when Ophile jumped at him, licking his face.

"Thanks a bunch, Werr. I'm huge!" The wolf snorted and chuckled, seeming to be rather excited. "And, might I say, the patterns are quite nice, as well. Now, ah, as I was saying, Zephyr probably won't like being changed around like this, yes? So give that ring to your father and have him bless this," Ophile rummaged around in a drawer before carefully giving Werr a second vial.

"Er...right." Werr nodded a bit, closing the door in quite a hurry. "What the heck have I done?" He wondered aloud, shaking his head in bewilderment.

Cynyr padded along the halls, glancing around in mild concern. Very mild. He turned a corner and spotted Werr, then casually made his way over. "Hey," he said, stopping not too far from him and flicking his tail. "You left the infirmary without me." His voice was more accusing than concerned. "I'm still your knight, if you bothered to remember. I'm suppose to guard you." His ears were firmly set against his head as he spoke, his muscles taunt beneath his thick-furred coat.

"Yes, I know," Werr said, turning to his knight. "I needed to face Naybrin and calm his anger on his own. I'm sorry, but it needed to be done..." He fell silent for a moment, feeling a bit guilty, but then he diverted his attention elsewhere. "Apparently I have to get my father to prepare this potion for Zephyr. If we can't get it done in time, he and his family will be killed. You still have the ring, right?"

Cynyr gave a slight shrug, saying "Maybe." He rather blatently had it, however. On a chain around his neck. He didn't dare put it around his finger again. The slash marks from where he had tried to take it off himself had scarred and he wasn't willing to accumilate anymore. The teddy bear as well was strapped to his back, like a backpack.

Cynyr curled his tail around his legs, sitting calmly and staring at Werr through his single eye.

"Well...come on, then." Werr said quietly. He turned and started towards the stairs. He wasn't going to tell Cynyr how hard it was to get it off of himself; it hadn't clung to his finger like it had for Cynyr, but he had realized how much...better he felt while wearing it. Empowered, almost. He hadn't looked into using it for anything other than Ophile's potion, but he wanted to rather badly. Which was why he didn't take the ring from Cynyr; Oridonante's words rang in his head. 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'.

Cynyr stood and walked after him, his steps completely silent behind the boy. For all Werr knew, he could've left and the human would've been none the wiser. But he was most certainly there and he was following the human. Near stalking him, but he wouldn't attack, of course. More than one Amnairian gave him a wary side-ways glance as the two walked past. Cynyr just shot them a glare and they ran off.

Werr eventually started asking around, finding that his father was preparing to leave. He was quick to move along to the stables, finding Sylas there with Dark as they chose their steeds. "Father," Werr announced his presence.

"Ah, Werr. I was going to head out with Dark here to a place I've been only once before." Sylas smiled. "How can I help you?"

"We need you to enchant this," Werr explained the process, then turned around, half-expecting Cynyr to not be there. He smiled at his friend. "You don't have to hold onto the ring, you know," He sighed a bit, his eyes trailing down to Cynyr's hand. "But my dad needs it now...just for a couple minutes."

Cynyr's eye held no emotion other than quiet calmness. Not calm as in peaceful, however. Calm as in steadfast and emotionless. He shrugged and said "It's my choice whether I keep it or not, isn't it? It's around my neck and, as soon as Sylas is finished, it's going back around my neck." His gaze grew meaningful when he said this, looking pointedly at Werr. He took human form and stood, pulling the necklace with the ring on it off of his neck and collecting the whole thing into one hand. Not the hand with the newly sealed scars on it, of course. That hand he folded up and put against his shoulder, walking forward to drop the ring into Sylas' hand.

Werr sighed and nodded. "Of course."

Sylas took the ring and put it on. "It might not be quite as effective. You know that, right?" He said quietly.

"You saw Zephyr. I know your memory." Werr tutted.

His father smiled a bit and closed his eyes. Within a matter of seconds, the vial started to glow. "Here you are," Sylas held the liquid back out to Werr. "Should be good enough. If not...well, this thing is rather powerful, isn't it?" He smiled down at the ring as he took it off with no hesitation. "Here you are, Cynyr. Guard it well, good knight." He dropped it back into Cynyr's waiting hand, smiling still.

Cynyr closed his fingers over the ring and practically snatched the item away, shoved it down into his pocket and twitching his tail. He wasn't clingy to the ring, far from it. He was merely protecting anyone else from it. He backed up and took panther form again, scuffing a paw along the ground.

The bear tied to his back seemed to sigh, though it was so faint that nobody heard it.

"There you are, son." Sylas handed the vial to Werr, who thanked him quietly and turned away. "Ah, Werr...don't forget to walk with your chin up. It's unbecoming of a king to walk with their eyes on the ground."

Werr just continued walking, rolling his eyes while Sylas smirked. "Right then," The older one smiled down at Dark. "Shall we be off?"

"Zephyr," Werr called, heading into the courtyard. "Zephyr, we have the potion. You'll be a dragon again in no time," He said, almost worried that the once-dragon had already died or something. But no, there he was, still well within Boko's grip. The Drakeling snapped at him when he approached, though, causing Werr to hesitate and frown.

Zephyr was still leaning against his son, breathing softly and doing his best to remain conscious. A dragon's spirit couldn't reside in a human's body for long. Their natural fiery magic would slowly consume the weak form and destroy it from the inside out, like Zephyr's was doing to him. He needed to be returned to dragon form; and very soon.

Cynyr stalked forward and growled in Boko's face, saying "If you don't want your dad to die, then step aside, pipsqueak."

((By the way, I might be on later in the morning tomorrow, 'cuz we played reeeaaaallllyyy late tonight. :c))

Boko hissed at them, but moved his front aside after glaring at Cynyr for a long moment. "You fix him," He practically demanded, unfurling most of his coils until Zephyr could be seen by them. "No!" He snapped at Cynyr when the half-cat attempted to move forward. "Werr do it. He weak, Boko can eat him if he tries anything."

"Seriously? Just...no," Werr said. "We're not going to hurt him, Boko. Cynyr stays close to me, or your dad doesn't get fixed."

Boko flared up at that, and it looked like he might attack Werr for a moment, but finally he saw reason and relaxed. He tucked his head close to Zephyr, though. Just in case.

((That's okay.))

Cynyr raised his ears a little more at that, glanced over towards Werr for a moment before both of them moved forward. Cynyr took human form and knelt down next to Zephyr, slipping an arm behind the dragon-human's shoulders and lifting him slightly, enough for Werr to give him the potion. Once Zephyr swallowed, Cynyr carefully set him down and backed up, wondering when it would take effect.

Werr watched, stepping back as well. He was a little scared, wondering if the same twisted effect that happened to Ophile would happen to Zephyr. Ophile was terrifying now, and Werr felt guilty about that. He could only watch, however, as Zephyr went limp. The process seemed painful at first, but it only took a matter of a minute before he started rapidly changing. Before long, Zephyr in all of his previous glory was lying before them.

"Papa!" Boko wailed, nuzzling up to his father's stomach.

There were some differences in the emerald dragon's appearance, though they weren't extreme like Ophile's. His horns were now ridged and grooved with thick bone and he was bigger than he had been before. That was all, really. Sylas had been practically perfect in his work. His size had increased quite a bit for a dragon. He now more resembled the size of an Elder dragon, rather than the 1,000-year youngling he was. He slowly blinked open his eyes, still looking exhausted. "What happened?" he whispered, his voice creaky and soft.