The Forgotten Zodiac

When their items were returned to them, Du'uru lowered his head to listen to what the smaller Drakelings had to say. "Very well then. It seems you are free to go. Make haste and follow," The great Drakeling turned around, leading the way back to the exit. He did this so that none would attack the group as they left.

They followed the nearly-white drakeling all the way back to the surface, where Zephyr bowed to him. "Thank you," he said, moving his head up to lick once under the elder's chin in a sign of submission and respect. "We will not bother you again, I swear it." He let the others climb up onto his back, then touched his nose carefully to Du'uru's and thanked him again. A truly respectful, honorable young dragon was Zephyr. He knew every way to deal with drakelings, taught this by Naybrin. The nose touch was a sign that Zephyr saw them as equals, not in rank, but in life and all it had to offer. That they both breathed and bled and loved and angered. "Maka-tei unshi, Du'uru-alna." A formal farewell.

Du'uru just snorted at this, but he stepped aside to allow them to leave, watching as Cynyr joined their ranks. They took off easily, and Du'uru watched them until they were out of sight. Then he turned. "Track them. Secure the youngling above all else, then strike if you have a chance. If you do not see such chance, return here with the youngling unharmed. Go now, before they are too far to track," He snapped his order, snorting slightly as the smaller Drakelings saluted. A party of four burrowed into the sand, eager to obey.

Du'uru, despite being a king of one of the world's most unknown and despised species, upheld honesty above all else. Zephyr and Vaira had stolen from his tribe, and then dared to lie about it. But he was no fool, either; to strike then would have resulted in death for his men and himself. The small ones were stronger than they first appeared, especially together. So he had to resort to sneaking about in order to take back what was theirs.

The Star Palace awaited them, same as usual. Oridanante slept on, just as heavily as before.

When they arrived, the dragons followed everyone underground, where Cynyr dumped out the Artifacts. He stared at them disdainfully, then said "Well, we have them. What do we do now?" He glanced over to Death's cell, noting that he was gone. And Cynyr was glad for it; he didn't need a Titan breathing down his neck while he tried to figure out what to do with the blasted Artifacts. He didn't notice a pair of crimson eyes watching from the shadows of an empty cell, eyes that held a dark, dangerous evil in them.

((So explain to me one last time what they're going to do with the Artifacts and Malice? Like, do I have him just step out and be like "GIMMIE DEM ARTIFACTS IF YOU WANT WERR," or...))

((You could. That would involve forcing Werr to merge the Artifacts in front of the others, and Malice infecting said Artifacts with his magic then and there. I'd prefer that myself, but we should wait a bit. Action then action then action = too much. Action then break for discussion then action = paced, balanced, so on.

The other alternative would be waiting until they start the merging process, and infecting it without their realizing it, then walking out later and bein' all like, 'I'll take those,' And they be all like, 'no wai' and he be like, 'then I keep Werr' and they be like, 'no wai' and a fight ensues involving one of them trying to use the artifacts against Malice but finding that it won't outright destroy him 'cuz of the magic and so on.

If you understood that...props. I'm tired. xD))

"Well...a human has to repair them." Ophile sighed. "That which has been broken can only be repaired in the same way. Obelisk was the one who broke them. As much as we hate to admit it, he is human. That, however, leaves the question...how are we going to fix this thing without going back for Sylas or someone?"

"We have Dark," Forin spoke up.

"I don't know if that'll work, really..."

((I understood it. n-n))

Dark peeked around Nate, whom he had been hiding behind for most of the trip. "I'm a human," he said. "Just an artificial one. But I still have human blood and skin. Not that I want to go anywhere near those things..." He put his head shyly behind Nate again, looking sheepish.

Cynyr frowned at him, then said "We could always try it. And hey, if Dark gets comsumed with evil, we can always kill him."

Dark gave Cynyr a very horrified stare, then clutched tightly to Nate's tail in fear.

"For the last time, the Artifacts aren't evil," Ophile snorted, but shook his head and walked forward. He nudged Dark off of Nate, reassuring him that he wouldn't die. Forin dragged Oridanante off the altar, pulling him to a corner of the room, then setting the Artifacts down on the flat surface, arranging them neatly.

"Cynyr," Forin looked up. "The ring. It's still around your neck."

Cynyr simply stared at Forin for a moment, then calmly pulled the ring off and placed it with the others. He took panther form and sat back, watching as Ophile nudged Dark forward. The little artificial being hesitated and tried to pull away, but he finally stood in front of the altar. "Wh-what do I do now?" he said, frowning down at the pieces that caused so much pain and suffering.

"I...am not sure." Ophile shook his head. "Oridanante should know, but..."

"For goodness sakes, he's asleep still." Nate frowned.

"And will be for a long time." Zela appeared before them. "He failed. He was intended to protect the Artifacts, no matter what. He was supposed to have died permanantly when he suffered those wounds; but Seria healed his wounds and would not allow that. As such, he was put to sleep while the Goddess decides on his fate."

Seria frowned, looking sad at Zela's words, then looked up as Dark said "That's all sad and weepy, sure, but how am I going to fuse these things back together?" He picked up the sword and crown and sort of tapped them against each other, wondering if they would go together if he pushed hard enough. He picked up the necklace and draped it over the crown, frowning, then sighed and put them all down. He stood quietly, his head low and his hands resting on the altar.

"Exactly. Hold that stance, and then remember what the Artifacts looked like before. Merge them together. Envision them coming together as one." Zela said quietly.

"He didn't know what it looked like before." Ophile interjected.

"He did not? Well then. Let me show you." She reached out a hand and placed her hand on Dark's head. The image burst into Dark's mind; all of them went into the bracelets, which would change to be a pair of gauntlets. What they did was still unknown, but it was obvious that they would be powerful. Zela waved her hand over the artifacts. "Merely move the power here," She picked up the bracelets and placed them in Dark's hands. "Into here."

Then she vanished, her job done.

Dark blinked, then slowly closed his eyes and dipped his head, concentrating as hard as he could. He did his best to pull the power from the other Artifacts into the bracelets, keeping his eyes closed tight. He suddenly felt lightheaded and gave a short gasp, wincing and keeping his eyes closed. His legs felt like they wouldn't hold him, but he stood strongly enough and put as much power as he felt he had into it.

"Is...is it working?" Ophile watched curiously, then yelped and turned away when there was a bright shining light that erupted from the altar. When it faded, the artifacts were still there, but the bracelets had formed themselves into gauntlets; silver in color, encrusted with different colored gems and an odd squiggly mark on the palms of the gloves. The Fairy Queen's mark.

"I guess that means it worked." Nate nodded, looking over Dark's shoulders. "They look...odd." They were definitely powerful, though. Even Nate could feel the huge magical potential in the gloves.

Dark quivered, feeling exhausted. He sank back into Nate, passing out a moment later with a whimper. Cynyr stepped forward and lifted the gauntlets, staring critically at them before turning. "We have the Artifacts as one, now," he said softly. "Now we just need to find Malice and make him pay, using the power in these things."

"And how, may I ask, do you intend to use them?"

They all froze, then whirled when they heard the dark, twisted voice. Malice himself stepped out of the shadows he had been hiding him, his face twisted into a sneer. Needless to say, much freaking out went on. Luen squeaked in a high-pitched deer tone of fear, taking his animal form and throwing his head back while Luna grabbed Forin's hand, shaking. Cynyr snarled and growled at the demonic lord, his ears flat back against his head.

Ophile was quick to grab up the Artifact, darting over to Cynyr and pushing them into the half-cat's hands. He then moved to stand in front of Seria with Nate, his fur bristling at the sight of Malice. "We'll take you down, Malice! Thanks for coming here, now we don't have to track you down!" Nate snarled.

"Don't be so hasty. He wouldn't have come here without reason." Ophile growled.

Malice was smiling, his grin stretching wider and wider until it was from ear to ear in length. Sharp teeth gleamed as he opened his mouth to speak. "I am here to trade," he crooned, his voice low and velvety, as if he already had everything he wanted right in his hands. "I want those gauntlets, simply put. And I have something that you can't refuse." He bent slightly, moving one arm back and dipping it into the shadows, taking hold of something and pulling it out of the shadowy ground itself.

Werr.

Malice held Werr close to him, grinning at the stunned looks on the others' faces. "Surprised, eh?" he said. "You should be. The one you though died was a clone, nothing more. All part of my master plan, you see. If you want Werr back alive and well, you'll hand over the gauntlets. If not, then I'll be forced to do things a bit...bloodiliy." He smiled down at Werr, keeping his gaze on the others.

Cynyr was just staring, his mouth open in shock and his heart pounding painfully in his chest.

Werr looked dully over at the others, instantly aware of who they were. He moved his good hand, using it to grab at Malice's cloak, shifting closer to the dark lord. "Malice..." He murmured softly, not wanting to be here at all. He scratched at the bandages on his broken arm, not wanting Cynyr to see. Not wanting him to see how little he had endured before giving up.

"How..." Ophile growled, snapping out of his shock quickly. "How on earth do you expect us to believe that? That could be a clone, for all we know! We're not going to hand over the Artifacts for that!"

Malice never stopped grinning. "I do believe I have one thing that will alert your panther to the truth," he said, pulling something out of his cloak.

Cynyr's mask.

The panther's eyes widened in horror as that last little piece came together in his mind. How he had given Werr the mask before the boy had been 'killed'. Then how he had returned to find Werr dead and the mask gone. He watched in shock as Malice slid the mask onto Werr's face, grinning. "There now, much better, eh?" he said, gently stroking Werr's hand back.

One by one, tears began dripping down Cynyr's cheeks.

Werr pulled the mask off and looked down at it in his hands, feeling the cold metal with his fingers. "I...I don't want it." He murmured. "This is Cynyr's...I can't have it." He gently set it on the ground, looking up as Nate spoke.

"Cynyr, just strike Malice down and be done with it!" The Dragonian snapped. "You'll save Werr at the same time, just do it!"

"You don't want to do that," Malice said silkily, moving one hand around Werr's shoulders gently. Suddenly, his claws were at the boy's throat. "One move to put those gauntlets on, and the little king gets his head taken off," he said, still smiling. "Not that I have a problem with that at all. I hate the child as much as you lot love him." His grip on Werr's good arm was tight and painful as he pulled the boy up next to him, his claws still pressing against his throat. "He would've died the moment he entered my cells if he hadn't been needed," Malice said, smiling. "Now...about those gauntlets..."