The Forgotten Zodiac

((Nice. xD))

Naybrin nodded, then lifted his huge head up and tilted it back, feeling the universe around them. He extended his magic into the surrounding environment, closing his eyes. He searched for the unique sense of Sylas and Leo's life-forces, finally honing in on them. "It's dark..." Naybrin said, digging his claws into the ground. "And they're deep underground. Evil lurks around them. Hostile forces with terrible grudges against your fathers. I believe they're in a mine outside of the town, very far down." He lowered his head and gave it a shake, snorting. "That's all I have," he said, then bent his head down next to Werr and whispered "And I might suggest you send that pretty girl that kissed your cheek some flowers sometime." He chuckled and pulled his head away, smiling.

((Messed up the last stanza there, but nobody cares. : P Also, for the sake of interaction, you can play the Silver Tornado guy/girl to snatch Werr. Use chloroform or something. >:3 You can say no, but it'll be fuuuuunnnnn-nuh~))

Werr blushed again. "She'll be staying at the castle until she wants to leave. I trust it's been returned to its former state," He said, patting Naybrin's paw before leaning against Cynyr again. "Off we go then. The deepest mine around is just outside of town. Let's head there. Are you up for more fighting?" He asked quietly, worried for his friend.

Indeed, deep below the surface of the earth, Sylas was finally stirring. His limbs felt stiff, and he felt dried blood crack on his skin as he shifted. He couldn't move far, though; his legs felt broken and mangled, like someone had crushed them under a mallet. A quick search of his fingers found the very mallet. He couldn't see anything; he just knew that he hurt all over and they were underground. They weren't tied up, though...

"Leo," Sylas nudged the sleeping panther next to him. "Leo, wake up!" He hissed as a faint glow appeared in the distance. A torch, quickly approaching, obviously carried by someone. "Come on, Leo, I can't drag you anywhere..." He murmured, then realized that his friend was chained to the floor. Well...this was problematic.

((Okay, I got dis. And I'll do the switch thing with the sections already.))

"Of course," Cynyr said, flicking his ears. "Nothing can take that away from me." He took panther form and let Werr onto his back, then charged off in the direction Naybrin pointed them in.

*

Leo winced and slowly opened his eyes, but he couldn't see anything. The panther was blindfolded and chained by a back paw and his neck. He struggled up, swaying unsteadily, then spat "Whosere? Sylas? SYLAS? S'you?" He nudged the man, making sure it was him, then flicked his ears up at the approaching footsteps. He growled quietly, then gave Sylas a push, saying "Go on, get moving. I'll be okay. Get out of sight!"

"Th-there's nowhere to go, old friend..." Sylas said quietly after a moment of feeling around. They were in a short tunnel, barely tall enough for anyone to stand in. "Only this way. But I can't just...no, you're right." He sighed and nodded. "I'll know you'll be okay." He murmured, then dragged himself forward with his hands. He felt, pulled, felt, pulled. Too late.

Sylas yelped as he was grabbed by the hair and dragged back to Leo. "Let go! Let me go, you ugly, evil, stinking--" Sylas' voice was muffled for a long moment, and then the scent of blood filled the air. Sylas screeched at the top of his lungs and made several sounds, but apparently unable to form words anymore. The man with the torch caught up, revealing the horrid truth; the first man had cut out Sylas' tongue. Blood poured down the older man's face from his mouth, splashing onto the ground in floods.

"There. That'll shut you up." The man with the knife growled. "And you!" He kicked Leo. "Anything you want to say?"

"Sylas!" Leo shouted, lunging against the chains, then he turned and sank his teeth hard into the attacker's leg, tearing through muscle and bone with a sickening, sharp crack. The man yowled and whipped the knife around, stabbing the panther multipul times to no avail. The attack was so brutal and sudden. Leo's pupils had narrowed to the thinnest of slits as he savaged the man tearing into him until he moved no more. The other man finally hauled off and slammed the panther in the face with the torch, making him screech and reel backwards, his fur on fire. He frantically rubbed his face on the ground and swiped at the flames with his paws, but the damage was done. The fur around his left eye and ear had been burned down to skin, scarred, and his front paws, his fingers, were burned too. He leapt back forward again, however, howling in a truly feral, evil tone. The man jumped out of the way, however, dragging his friend's body with him.

Sylas kept facing forward, not wanting to choke on the blood pouring into and out of his mouth. His shoulder still had an arrowhead lodged in it, though, which made keeping himself upright impossible. He laid on his side, watching as things went dark again as the man moved away again. He couldn't talk anymore. His one strength, his seemingly magical way of talking out of any situation...gone. Completely gone. Sylas would have cried, but he knew not all hope was lost; repairing a muscle like a tongue was a cakewalk for the Divine Healers on Amnairus.

But to even get to them, they had to get out of here alive.

"Right...so how do we get in?" Werr blinked at the tunnel that awaited them. "Maybe...maybe I should wait out here...I'll go back to Naybrin. I can hardly walk anyways," He said with a weak smile. "You should be able to get them out, right?"

Cynyr turned his head up at Werr, then said "Alright. But I swear if anything happens to you..." He let Werr off of his back, then looked up at him and gently rested his head against the boy for a moment. "Stay safe," he said quietly, taking human form for a moment. "I don't know what I would do without you." He hugged the boy lightly, then pulled his mask off and slid it onto Werr's face. Then he took panther form again and turned, vanishing into the mines, barely even leaving a puff of dust behind.

Werr felt the cold metal against his face, and closed his eyes for a long moment. He'd take good care of Cynyr's mask, obviously. He quickly debated with himself about whether or not he should return to Naybrin; he decided to wait out here instead. He slowly sat down against the wooden support beams of the entrance, closing his eyes to wait.

The place wasn't too overrun with the people; there were only a few. There was yelling echoing through the caves further in; someone screaming about his leg. Things were completely pitch-black, making it hard enough to see, even for Cynyr.

((Cynyr's mask is metal now. It just covers the eyes (eye, in Cynyr's case), 'member?))

Cynyr picked his way along slowly, completely hidden in the darkness. He headed towards the voices, creeping along quietly, nothing more than a shadow. Down into the mines he went, deep, deep down, until he knew that if he got lost, he would never find his way back out. Finally, he saw a bit of light up ahead, which enhanced his vision greatly. He crept closer, soon able to peer around the corner and spot he and Werr's fathers. He moved into position, shifting his weight from side to side, then roared and leapt forward.

Leo jerked his head up, gasping at the sudden sound. "Cynyr?!" he said, blinking sharply as he son lunged in and sank his teeth into the bandit's neck, ripping him to shreds. He used his powers to slice another in half, swiping his claws along a different one.

((Now I do. xD Edited.))

"Ahh! We're under attack!" A third bandit shrieked, throwing a knife at Cynyr, but he was felled in a matter of seconds. Just like all the others. Sylas lifted his head to watch, but had to back up quickly as one of the men nearly fell on top of him. Sylas was quick to search the man's pockets; he came up with the key. Within a minute, Leo was free from his metal bonds.

Cynyr yelped as the knife dug into his shoulder, dropping down onto one leg. He took human form and staggered up, clutching his shoulder for a moment before ripping the knife out. He then turned to his father and Sylas, trotting forward and kneeling beside them. "Come on," he said, watching his father take human form and stand up. "Let's get out of here." They both bent down and put their arms under Sylas, carefully helping him up.

Sylas made a few sounds indicating pain, but before long, the light of the entrance was visible again. Sylas was okay with being dragged; he was glad that Cynyr hadn't asked why yet. He couldn't exactly respond...rocks scattered underfoot as he was pulled along. It hurt, even more so now that they were out of danger. He started to wince with every step the others took. He really needed to stop and rest. Perhaps if Seria were here, it'd be easier. But they had to make do with what they had.

Leo finally just picked Sylas up, figuring they needed to move quickly. Cynyr moved ahead, leading them along for a long time, until he suddenly froze. His nose twitched a few times as he breathed in a scent, one that made his blood run cold.

Blood. And lots of it.

"Werr!" he shouted, racing ahead as fast as his legs would take him. He ran as fast as he could to the mine entrance, his heart pounding.

A figure stood in front of Werr, badly burned and breathing heavily. He took one look at Cynyr and attempted to flee; the silver glint around his neck was obvious enough. Blood flowed down from where Werr stood. He would have collapsed by now, but the lance he had been attacked with was driven straight through his chest and into the rock wall behind him. He gurgled as Cynyr came into his fading sight, blood spilling increasingly as he tried to move, reaching out to his friend with shaking hands.

Sylas wordlessly let go of Cynyr and leaned against Leo, knowing all too well the dismal truth.

"Werr! WERR!!" Cynyr screamed, lunging forward. He used his wind powers and snapped the ends of the lance off, pulling Werr into his arms, tears already forming in his eyes. "No, you can't leave me," he said. "Do you hear me?! You can't leave me! You can't leave me!!" He threw his head back and wailed, knowing far too well that there was nothing they could do. "DON'T LEAVE ME!!" he screamed, his powers arching skyward and exploding out into a wild tornado that tore at the surroundings, ripping things apart until he had nothing left to put out and everything dwindled.

He held Werr close and sobbed, wailing incoherently.

Tears leaked from Werr's eyes as he fell limp in Cynyr's arms. He reached up weakly and touched his hand to Cynyr's face, feeling the ripped and burned skin. "Save Welk..." He murmured, leaning his head forward and pressing his face into Cynyr's shirt. "For...me..." He raised his other hand, forcing his staff into Cynyr's hand. Then his hand slid down, his eyes closed, and then...nothing.

The King of Alastor was dead.

Cynyr stared down at the limp, lifeless body of his best friend, tears pouring down his cheeks, catching in his scars. "Don't...go..." he said, his voice so full of sadness that it made even Leo's heart ache for his child. But the panther didn't move; he held Sylas close, slowly sinking to the ground.

Cynyr wailed endlessly, closing his eyes as tears poured out. He lowered his head, his body racked with sobs, then slowly glanced around for the familiar teddy bear he knew Werr had had.

It was gone. Stolen.

His cries redoubled.

Werr. Dead. It couldn't be so. Sylas sank to the ground with Leo, feeling...numb. His heart, shattered into a million pieces. Werr was gone...dead. His son, his flesh and blood, the only son he would probably ever have...the son he had wronged, he now had no chance to make amends with. And it was his fault, too! If only he had followed Werr properly rather than try to take shortcuts...Sylas began to cry. The sun beat down on them from above, and songs echoed tauntingly up from the town; parents and children rejoicing their sudden good health, oblivious to the misery above.

"Cynyr! Cynyr, listen to me!" Werr shrieked at the top of his lungs, but it was no use. It had all happened so fast, Werr was just realizing that he had, in a way, witnessed his own death. Malice...Malice had come from nowhere, a clone in tow. Stupid clones...it had only taken seconds; Werr now stood on a different plane entirely; the others couldn't see him. They couldn't feel him, nor sense him in any way, shape or form. Not even Naybrin would be able to. Werr was crying, weeping as he tried to get Cynyr's attention. "I'm not dead! You have to save me!" He didn't know when Malice was going to take him away. He didn't want to go. Werr hugged Cynyr tightly, watching in dismay as his hands passed through Cynyr as though his friend was nothing more than smoke.

((This saves us the explanation of 'Naybrin's feelings are so strong that Werr felt them from miles and miles away'. xD))

Cynyr had not even the faintest idea that Werr was there. Werr could only watch as his friend suffered in a way that was truly the purest form of agony. The panther finally slowly set Werr's body down, then doubled over, digging his claws into the ground as he wailed, crying the hardest he had ever cried in his life. It was hurting him, but he didn't care. He didn't care anymore. He cried so hard and so full of pain that it started to make him physically sick. He coughed weakly, still crying as he pressed his forehead to the ground.

Then came the beating of distant wings, and a moment later, Naybrin landed.

"Cynyr? Skies above, lad, what are you doing to yourself?" the dragon said scoldingly, then caught the scent of blood and peered down at the lifeless little body next to the mage. The dragon didn't say anything for a long moment. He was utterly silent, staring for the longest time before suddenly sinking his claws deep into the earth and thowing his head back, releasing a loud, echoing roar that was filled to the brim with heartache. He sank down onto his haunches, tilting his head back further as he screamed to the sky, which only sent Cynyr further into his own sorrow. Naybrin's sadness was mixed with a powerful, terrible, all-consuming rage. He knew instantly that Malice was the cause of the 'death', and he vowed to end Malice.

But for now, all he could do was scream.

The anger and sadness hit Werr, the living Werr, like a solid brick wall. It was too much. He collapsed then and there, writhing on the ground, overcome by the weight of the great dragon's sorrow. Werr somehow managed to bring himself onto all fours, crawling away from the scene. The anger attempted to summon up energy deep within him, but no, the powerful misery extinguished it repeatedly. Werr could hardly even cry anymore. He just weakly crawled away, curling up in an alley. Still stuck on the second plane, waiting for Malice to come and take him away.