The Forgotten Zodiac

Ophile padded ahead, ears perked. He turned himself invisible as he poked further and further ahead, basically scouting out the tunnels for them. Forin's eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness; he felt much more at ease here than before. He sighed with relief and shook his head. Boko was soon crawling along the ceiling above them, his tail hanging slightly, though the bulk of his coils stayed tucked close to the rock.

Ophile reappeared in front of them. "This place is almost maze-like. But I believe I found something of interest. Snider, the man from the Silver Tornado. I'm not sure what he's doing, but he seems to be fawning over a dead Drakeling...just up ahead. Come," He led the way.

Indeed, Snider stood atop the huge scaled beast. It was dead, though it didn't seem to have any injuries on it. The creep was testing scale durability, and wondering if armor could be made from the skin and scales. It would be incredible; armor that could withstand even a dragon's fire! If only the scales were a bit smaller...as they were, they would have to be split in two to be workable. Which was hard enough as it was. Snider had another thing; he had cut off one of many of its horns. A weapon could be crafted from this. It was remarkable; dragon scale and bone weapons were near impossible to come by, and extremely valuable. But with just this one Drakeling here, enough armor could be made for the entire Alastorian army! Or...for what was left of the Silver Tornado.

Cynyr took panther form and moved forward silently, ignoring when Seria tried to grab his tail and pull him back. He simply flicked it out of her reach and kept going, moving quietly. His ears were flicked back and his single eye was dull as he approached the unaware Snider. He leapt a moment later, easily knocking the man forward and onto his chest, pinning him in one swift motion.

Snider let out a screech, slashing at Cynyr with the Drakeling horn, only to have it knocked from his hand. "A-ahh...who are you?!" He demanded, only to see Nate out of the corner of his eye. "Crap...it's you lot, then. Go on then, kill me! You'll be lost forever in these caves. For. Ever."

"Nope." Boko dropped down from the ceiling. "Boko knows this place. We are in southbound caves. There are five primary exits as well as two that are close enough to the surface to be dug out if covered. Northwind caves are connected here, following this tunnel. Boko knows this place. Boko's home, this is. Old home. New home is better." He said nothing of the dead Drakeling, even though he knew exactly who it was. His grandfather, in human terms.

Vaira stepped into the room, bending her head down to stroke Boko's back. Zephyr curled a wing close to his son, brushing Boko's scales gently with it. Cynyr pressed a bit harder onto Snider, growling. "You're going to show us to the final Artifact," he spat. "I've lost too much to leave without it. Now you'd better show us, or so help me..." He ruffled his fur and snarled, and a bolt of wind rippled along his back, filled with magic so that it glowed and illuminated his form.

"You'll do what? Torture me beyond belief? Oh, I welcome that. I specialize in pain, Cynyr, if you believe I cannot take my own medicine, you are quite mistaken..." Snider laughed. "You could always kill me, but that will get you nowhere. You could bribe me with freedom, but I know better than to trust you. You're out of luck here, fool." He sneered, grinning cruelly. "But alas, so am I. As such, I see that I have no other choice..." He pulled something out of his pocket and clamped it around his wrist. A dark black bracelet of some kind, that turned the skin around it a dusky, unhealthy gray. This pallor spread quickly.

"Cynyr, that's one of the Artifacts," Ophile barked, but it was already too late. Snider was still grinning as he breathed his last. With a dark flash and a slight hiss, the bracelet opened and fell off of Snider's wrist.

Cynyr sniffed once at Snider, then snorted to try and dislodge his scent. He stepped off of the corpse and stared at the bracelet, but he didn't touch it, nor did he let the others touch it. He grew very still, as if listening to something, then said "We have to find the other Silver Tornado members. They have the other bracelet we need in order to pick up this one. The bracelets are in two parts, after all." He stepped around the cuff and paused at another cave entrance, staring down into the darkness, then shook his head and moved to another one. Again, he moved on, standing rigid before saying "Come on, this way."

Seria frowned, but followed anyways.

Boko climbed back up onto the ceiling, making small squeaking sounds that echoed along the walls. He stopped at an intersection, watching as Cynyr walked in one direction. "No, no, no, not that way!" He hissed. "That is food storage. Small half-cat will be shredded. Here, Boko lead," He crawled to the other cave, sniffing around before dropping to the ground again, skittering forward.

Zephyr and Vaira followed their son closely, making sure he was well guarded. Cynyr slouched along at the back now, looking miffed. He paused at once point and gave himself a small shake, making his bag shift a bit. Welk squeaked at the movement and Cynyr glanced back, into his bag. He nuzzled the bear softly, then bounded forward and followed closely, not about to be left behind. Inside the orb, the tiny silver figure that was Welk opened his crimson eyes and slowly uncurled himself, floating through the air in a manner that was reminicnt of a delicate, fragile silver fish swimming through unseen water. He touched the edges of his prison, slowly running his tiny fingers over the glass. He frowned, then pressed a bit harder. Nothing happened and he sighed despondantly, then looked down at his fingers. He had tiny hints of claws at the tips of his fingers. He stared at them for a moment, then looked back to the glass and slowly began to scrape his claws over it.

Boko led them diligently, avoiding nests, feeding grounds, and passing Drakelings. Finally, they reached what appeared to be a smaller hole. One tunnel that was still being dug out by the large drakelings, but the younger ones had made it their playplace. Before the humans had marched in, anyways. It was just a little cave; well, little compared to the rest of the tunnels. light came from within. A roaring fire, with food over it and everything. Boko backed up at this point, letting Cynyr take the lead again. He slipped up into Vaira's pouch, suddenly scared. There were at least twenty well armed humans in that one tunnel. One of which was Ina, a white bracelet clamped around her wrist.

"So..." She was saying as the others came into earshot. "Let me get this straight. The king of Alastor has been dead for almost a week, and you're just now figuring it out?" She snarled at them. "Who is king now?" She growled at who was obviously the messenger.

"Sylas Rowe, formerly Sylas Krow...the boy's father. Previously the son of a high-ranking citizen of the Grittle country..." The messenger stammered.

"So he knows how government works." Ina swore loudly, then sighed. "Alright. We need new plans..."

Cynyr slipped forward, his ears pressed back angrily. He didn't waste words on idle banter and he didn't alert them to his presence. He gathered his powers, then flung them out, knocking over many of the men before lunging forward and slamming headfirst into Ina, knocking her off of her perch.

Zephyr followed him quickly, roaring and rearing up onto his hind legs, breathing a tongue of fire out.

Ina screeched, but somehow managed to wiggle out of Cynyr's grip before he could so much as rake his claws over her. She backed up to the very corner of the cave, her eyes flicking to the back tunnel; an escape route. But Cynyr stood in her way. She quickly spun around, holding something over the fire. A white bracelet, which gleamed in the glowing light of the flames. "Don't move!" She spat. "Or I drop this. I know you need it, little punk. I still know exactly what you're up to..."

Cynyr snarled at her, then smiled and said "I don't think so."

Ina was tackled from behind by a lethal red-furred shape that sent the bracelet in her hands flying. Seria snarled and raked at Ina's figure, spitting and snarling with all of the rage of a wild tiger. Cynyr lunged upwards and caught the bracelet neatly in his jaws, falling back down nimbly.

Zephyr and Vaira lunged around the room, ploughing into the men and combatting their weapons with their teeth, claws and fire.

Ina wasn't going to go down without a fight. She screamed in pain, but pushed the healer off of herself, sending Seria backwards, towards the cooking fires. Ophile darted in before Seria landed, smothering the flames under his pelt. Or trying to, at least. He yowled in pain as his fur caught fire, rolling away from the heat and nearly crushing Seria in the process. He shook himself desperately, winding up barreling into at least three of the soldiers and catching their clothes on fire. Ophile writhed, having no way of putting the fire out on his own.

Suddenly, Ophile was drenched in warm, wet saliva. Zephyr shook his head, pulling his tongue back into his mouth, and said "That took care of the fire and the burns will heal a bit, though your fur won't grow back from where it's been burned. Stay safe!" He leapt to the side, then flew high and thuded down in front of Ina. He roared right in her face, snapping his jaws shut on one of her hands.

Ophile shook himself off and got back to fighting, keeping the soldiers away from Seria. Surprisingly, even Diana had gotten her hands on a bow and was helping by incapacitating the enemies while Forin went in for the kill.

Ina screeched, then let out a full scream as she jerked back, finding her arm completely severed from halfway down her forearm. Adrenaline surged through her, though; she clutched her bleeding stump and darted away, ducking into the escape tunnel. She was too fast for them to follow; the little tunnels were long and winding, and had tons of branches.

But before long, the deed was done. Ophile laid down on his side, breathing heavily. His fur still smoked slightly; his burns weren't too bad, but it was painful to move. So he laid down to wait for Seria.

Zephyr, her missing arm hanging from his mouth, shrugged and flipped the limb up into the air, snapping it into his jaws and swallowing, licking his lips afterward.

Seria panted, then took human form and ran over to Ophile, bending down next to him and beginning to heal his burns. Cynyr took human form as well, flicking his black hair back and adjusting the bracelet on his arm. He crossed his arms angrily, not waiting for the others as he stalked back the way they had came in order to retrieve the other bracelet.

"We did it...right?" Ophile nosed Seria's hands, looking up as Diana came over to stroke him behind the ears. "Good. We have to return to the Temple of the Stars, then. And get out of here, before--" He cut short as a ground shaking roar blasted through the caves. "We're...found out." He finished dully as a Drakeling the size of Zephyr came around the corner. They were trapped in the little cave; this became evident when a younger Drakeling, his long body filling the escape hole completely, raked his claws against the ceiling of the escape route and caused it to collapse. His hissing could still be heard from the other side, so if they managed to get through the rock, they'd be faced with the young (but older than Boko) Drakeling.

"Poopy," Boko squeaked.

Zephyr threw his head back in alarm, his eyes widening. Vaira curled close around Boko, snarling and baring her teeth in a display of anger. Zephyr growled at the larger drakeling, but quickly closed his mouth and spoke. "Greetings, claw-brother," he said formally, standing lightly on one foreleg. "I bid you heed of my words. I and my family were brought here on urgent business for Naybrin, the great king. I understand the people that dwelled here used drakeling territory; we have removed them. I beg pass of you, that I may return my family to the surface and that we may leave." He curled his tail through his legs in a gesture of submission, though his ears remained up and he didn't lower any other part of his body, showing that he was ready to defend if he needed to.

The Drakeling looked thoughtful. "I smell the death, Dragon. We only just discovered the corpse of Geul. Sad day it is, this day. But as you took our vengance for us...I will listen. But," He drew himself up to his full height. "On two conditions. One, if I see or smell you around our homes again, we will show little mercy to you and your tiny friends. Second...we caught their scent in the nursery and nests. We will not take chances in the protection of our young; you and your small friends will be searched for eggs and hatchlings."

He didn't wait for a response before snapping orders at two smaller Drakelings that had followed him. They crawled forward obediently. One started to roughly nose the members of their group, searching for scent or sight of eggs or hatchlings. The other moved towards Vaira, looking at her pouch suspiciously. The huge Drakeling's claws clicked against the ground as he tapped them impatiently. This was Du'uru, the Great Sand King. His tan, almost white, scales shone brightly in the light of the dying fire.

Vaira snapped at the drakeling, snarling protectively. Zephyr turned his head to the drakeling looking at her and said "Please, don't bother her. I wouldn't want her to tear your head from your shoulders for getting too close to her baby. I'm sure that mother drakelings are the same in protecting their offspring." Vaira snapped at the drakeling again, then shoved her nose into her pouch and proceeded to lick Boko several times, warning him not to come out very quietly. "Stay inside, my angel," she murmured, glaring at the other drakeling again.

The others in the group turned over their things for searching, making sure nothing was left unsearched. They wanted to get out just as much as the dragons, after all.