The Forgotten Zodiac

"Silence yourself. I don't care what you think of me and my friends. I do care, however, what you think of the recent deaths around Storaph," Werr got right to the point. "I understand if you don't want to talk, but perhaps I can give you some incentive. I can arrange for your release if I like what I hear and it works out. So you might as well start telling the truth from the get-go. Because if I don't hear the truth...the kittycat with the pretty face might like to have a private word with you."

The thief snorted, then said "I could care less about your dumb pets, kid. Besides, I was figurin' to bust out of here any minute now. Easy for someone of MY caliber. You can't threaten me, boy. But...I might be inclined to tell you a few things. Maybe."

"Will you just out with what you want or do I have to knock your brains out first?" Cynyr spat.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh, kitty-cat, you're a bossy one," the man said. "First off, if you could rustle me up a good cigar, that'd be real sweet of you. Also, I usually run better after my...memory has been refreshed. I've heard-say that a bit of gold usually fixes that problem, so... Gentlemen?"

Cynyr exhaled sharply, then said "What'll it take?"

"50 gold."

"50?! Are you out of your mind?!"

"Alright, alright. 60 it is then."

"WHAT?!"

"And that's per secret I tell ya, cat. And that's cheap. I can easily go up to 100, BUT...because it's the little lordship, I'm goin' cheap on ya."

"I'm not going to get you a cigar. It'll take too long." Werr sighed heavily at the mention of the gold. What he wouldn't give to have Forin back right about now. "Fine." He finally said, counting out the money in front of the thief and placing it in a small leather bag. "I shouldn't have to ask any questions at this point. I already know that Caldir's guard is a suspicious figure. I want to know more." He held the bag out just beyond the thief's reach. He wasn't foolish enough to give it to him before he got his 'secrets'.

The thief sighed, then said "Fair's fair, I suppose. A'right. There's a underground guild led by a shady figure. Dunno who he is. But one of the members is that Dan-whatever guy that's the king's heir's guard. He's in deep with that guild. Practically second-in-command. They're the ones doing all of the killing. Word is they've got an Artifact with 'em. Been usin' it to kill people they didn't like. That's all I got on the mysterious murders. I can tell ya where the entrance to the guild is. Even show you there myself. But...well, that would require more money."

He winked at Werr and held his hand out for the first bag, saying "I believe that's mine now. Also, you can call me Keir. Figure you should know that."

Werr handed over the bag, sighing with annoyance. "Another 50, then. And don't think I'm stupid, I'm not letting you out of here. You'll have to tell me where this entrance is." Werr rummaged through his bag and found more coins, counting out 50 more. On the inside, he was extremely excited. This was what they were here for in the first place. If Keir's information was legitimate, then they were on the right track. Werr paused after preparing the second batch of coins, this time without a bag. He only had one, after all. "I'm not giving these for your name. I didn't ask for that. Now tell me; where's the entrance to this underground guild?"

The thief was busy recounting his first payment. He did it monotonously, slowly, and just to get on their nerves. Once he was satisfied that he had been paid the correct amount, then then went through and made certain that each piece was real and not fake. A real miser for his money, Keir was. Once he was satisfied with that, he eyed Werr and said "Sure, I'll tell ya. Anythin' for the money." He stood up, showing that he was very tall, then said "Follow the castle water drainage pipes. When you come to the third grate, it opens. That's your entrance. Everyone goes in and out at night, I should warn you, so you should be prepared to fight at all times." He closed one eye, leaning against the wall, then said "Of course, there's another way to go about it, one that's more...sneaky. But to do that, you'd require a certain look and the knowledge of a certain password. Which, unfortunately for your wallet, I know. But you can do whatever you like, Captain."

"Tch...I don't have enough gold coins to spare." Werr growled, starting to rummage through his bag again. He came up with a small handful of pearls; Toro's tears, obviously. "This should suffice. Fifteen pearls is worth much more than even 100 pieces of gold, as you should know." He said, pushing over the other 50 gold pieces first. "Tell us this password and the 'look' we should have, and it's all yours."

((Bunny~~~~))

Keir's eyes lit up, then he said "Heck, for that I'd turn in my best friend. If I hadn't already done that before. I'll tell you whatever you want, Captian." He checked over the coins first, then tucked them into his pocket and said "You'll need to look the part of an assassin or thief to get in. Dark clothes, a hood, a long sword or knife and a small symbol that you can hold up that's in the shape of a bloody sword." He reached into a new pocket and pulled out the little metal symbol, showing them what it looked like. "After you show them that, they'll ask for a password. It's 'Fool's Crest'. Just say that and you'll be let in. The password changes everyday, however. By midnight tonight, it won't be the same." He held his hand out for the pearls, then said "If there's anything else you need to know, I suggest you ask now, while these pearls still have their effect."

((Trinny~~~))

"Got it. We'll go right away." Werr said, almost dropping the pearls into Keir's hands. "Wait, how do we get our hands on an emblem like that? Give me that one," He held his hand out expectantly. "And you'll get your pearls. Simple enough, isn't it?" He smiled, rattling the pearls in his other hand.

"Hey, members of my family died gettin' me this emblem!" he spat. Two seconds later, the tiny sword was sitting in Werr's hand. "I didn't like them anyways," Keir said, grinning as he counted out the pearls and again made sure they were real. "Despite one being my own dear mother, but...hey, blood isn't everythin'." He winked at them and gave a small wave, saying "Pleasure doing business with ya, your lordship. Hope to do more with ya sometime." He chuckled, pocketing his new money and pearls and grinning widely.

"Yes, I'm sure we'll meet again someday. Try not to kill anyone on your way out." Werr growled, standing and again stepping back to Cynyr and Seria. "Alright. We know what we have to do now. But we can't wait until night. For all we know, they have Nate, Luen and Ophile down there. Let's go." He slid onto Cynyr's back yet again, prepared for the ride off. They'd have to look for some of the garb described, but that was the easy part.

Outside, the pain was rousing Nate from his sleep. Sleep...why was he asleep? Nate jerked awake, gasping with pain. His leg was broken, that was easy to tell. Why was he outside? Nate laid there for several long minutes before putting it together. The cooks. They put something in the food, but why? How? Nate pushed himself upright, flapping his wings experimentally. Nothing broken there. He got a bit of lift, hovering above the ground with heavy flaps. He looked around, only seeing a guard or two meant to patrol the grounds. Guards...if the cooks put him to sleep, were the guards in on it too? Nate flew back up to the window, lucky to not be spotted yet.

Ophile, Luen, both of them were gone. Nate knew at once how serious this was. Where was Werr and Cynyr? Where on earth did those two go? And Seria. Oh, if anyone hurt Seria, they'd be roasted alive. They may not be partners, but Nate still felt close to the healer. And he didn't like it when his friends were hurt.

Voices suddenly came from the hall. "I don't have anything to get. Seria, make sure you don't leave anything valuable behind. I don't trust that thief to leave our stuff alone. If you come with us, can I trust that you won't get hurt?"

"Yes. You'll be protecting me, of course."

"Try 'duh'. Anyways, go get your stuff. Me and Werr will head for the shops and see if we can't rustle up some proper clothes."

"Alright. Be careful."

A few moments later, Seria walked in, her gaze thoughtful and a bit distant.

Nate tried to open the window, finding at once that it was locked. He was about to rap on the window when a net dropped over him. He dropped like a rock, his wings pinned. When he landed, he definitely felt something else snap, and pain lanced up his arm like a sword. Two breaks in a single day...Nate struggled against the net, screeching at the top of his lungs. A glance down at his arms revealed the sick truth; his arm wasn't broken, but several branches of the bush had skewered his arm and broken off there. He broke the other two and rolled out of the bush, still stuck fast in the net. He blew fire at the guards who tried to come near, somehow managing to get his wings out of the net and take off again, flying unsteadily up to the window.

"Seria!" He shouted, banging on the window until it shattered. But Seria...was already gone.

Arrows thudded into his wings next. Nate glided to the ground, unable to keep himself up any longer. The guards fell on him in an instant.

A dark figure watched from the shadows, smiling away at the dragonian's capture. He was hauled off to the same place where the other two were, where nobody would find him. Soon, everything would fall into place and his rule would be set. For now, though, he had questioning to attend to. Plus a few more murders. Murder was always fun. He turned and walked off, smiling away.

*

Jag tugged again on the bars of his cage, not letting up on his relentless yanking on the iron.

He and Diana were still being held hostage in the strange cells. Frankly, Jag was beginning to doubt a rescue at all, and he was really doubting that they would live for much longer. He let go of the bars and paced around in circles for a moment, then came back around and fastened his beak around the bars, pulling as hard as he could. The most that happened was that part of his black beak chipped.

Diana had calmed down, for the most part. The man had returned with a dress for her, which he insisted that she either change into or go naked. So Diana now wore what appeared to be a small wedding dress, a beautiful white color that would soon be stained with red. It was a bit large on the sleeves and train, but it fit her well enough. Not that it mattered. They were informed that the preparations would begin within the hour.

Diana was shaking, jumping at every single noise there was. She watched Jag gnaw on the bars, sighing when his beak chipped. "Just stop..." She said quietly, reaching out to him again. "It's okay...I can..I can be strong. If I'm g-going to die...I'll go with a smile. Go to mom and dad, right?" Her hand shook terribly, although not as bad as her voice alone.

Jag stuck his pink tongue into the gap in his beak, then sighed and took human form, sliding close to the bars and reaching his arm through to hold Diana's hand. "Don't give up," he said sternly. "What would happen to your friends if you died? Luen? I think he'd probably cry forever or kill himself. You mean too much to him. Don't. Give. Up. Never give up. I haven't! I have too much to live for. Lily...our baby... I'll never give that up." He flattened his crest, then said "We'll get out. You just have to believe it. I don't know how yet, but we'll get out." He nodded to her, trying to keep the doubt out of his eyes. He was determined to get out, however impossible it seemed. He'd been that way since he was young.

"I don't know..." Diana looked down. "I'm scared...I--" She jumped and pulled back when the door opened again.

"Everyone ready?" The man practially purred. There were two larger men next to him, brawny humans who would easily overpower Jag in a heartbeat. "You're first, Gryphon. And then you, young miss Diana. Soon, you will beg for death. And we will give it to you." He said, looking at Diana with a terrifying hunger in his eyes while the larger humans unlocked Jag's door, already starting to drag him out.

Jag snarled at them, struggling as much as he was able to. He refused to give up or make it easier for them, fighting them the entire way. He screeched and took gryphon form, kicking out at them and snapping with his sharp beak, fighting with his wings by flapping them as hard as he possible could. One of the men threw a rope bridle around his beak, cutting off his screech in mid-release and making it a bit easier to drag him along.

They carried him up the stairs and into a different room. Dim lighting, candles everywhere. Others stood around what appeared to be an altar of some kind. They tied Jag down to the altar and threw a strange white sheet over him; it was a simple procedure. They used a spell to tear open Jag's mind; there was nothing he could do. What he saw, they saw. Lily, Amnairus, their unborn child...the children in the village they lived in, too. It was far from painless, someone tearing into your mind and memories as though they were paper. Every dirty little secret Jag had was revealed to them, though they passed up everything that didn't involve a young girl or boy. In a matter of instant, they knew not only where a number of girls and boys lived, but also what Diana feared. What she hated most. They would use this and more to make Diana beg to die. Of course they would. They were sadistic creeps worshipping a crooked 'god'.

Finally, they finished. Jag was dragged back down much easier than before. They didn't take Diana just yet, but it was clear that they were planning on coming back.

The gryphon lay there, panting raggedly. He had lost his hold on gryphon form, laying limply in human form. His jaw trembled through violent gasps for air, his body shaking. His eyes were wide and fillled with fear, tears leaking from their sky-blue depths. "Lily..." he gasped, shaking harder at her name. He hated crying, but he knew that these people having seen his memories was a very bad thing. He tried weakly to struggle, to fight, to do something to get free. But there was nothing he could do.