The Forgotten Zodiac

Lexi slowly took a trembling step forward, her legs aching from the bite wounds in her skin. Some were pretty deep, with good-sized parts of her flesh missing, making it hard to walk properly. She hesitated, then quietly knocked on the door, her voice rasping softly up out of her throat. "Um...W-Werr? A-are...you okay? I...I wanted to talk to you...about a few th-things..."

Inside, Cynyr flicked an ear back to hear Lexi's words a bit better, but other than that, he was completely silent.

"If...if you don't want to talk right now...I-I'll come back later," she said softly. "I just...need to make sure of something..." She trailed off, her voice going even quieter.

Werr hesitated for a long moment, then stood. He walked to the door and opened it, smiling gently at Lexi as he stepped out of the room, deciding to let Cynyr keep his peace. He left Welk in the room, too.

Werr immediately noticed her legs. "Oh...were you attacked? Do you need help getting to the healers?" He questioned, looking worried at once. "We can talk on the way. I'll listen. Ophile," He looked towards the door of his room. Ophile materialized at once.

"Yes, I can follow." The wolf dipped his head. Of course, Werr knew that he and Lexi would both be vulnerable. Having Ophile was comforting, and the wolf would be excellent for fighting off a Thing or two.

"Good. Now here, Lexi, ride on my back. I'll take you straight there." Werr stooped, smiling up at her still.

"Wh-what?" she said, blinking her long black lashes in shock. "W-Werr, I couldn't-" She meant to protest and tried to step back, but a sharp twinge of pain from her wounds made her cry out softly and stumble. She leaned against him for a moment, catching her breath, then, after a moment of hesitation, slowly settled herself against his back, letting him pick her up gently. Blush exploded along her cheeks, but she pressed the majority of her face into his shoulder so nobody could see it, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck.

Werr started off steadily. His wounds had been healed, and even though he was exhausted, he still pressed onwards. "So," He said, glancing behind him with that smile still on his face. "What did you want to ask me about? I'm here, and I can answer." He checked behind them both, double-checking to see if Ophile was following. Which, he was. He didn't seem to be paying attention, though, which was purposeful. He was focusing on their surroundings, instead.

"W-well..." she said quietly, feeling like her entire face was red at this point. "I-I just...um..." She crossed her legs a bit in nerves, feeling like she was too heavy for him, which she wasn't in the slightest. She was little and thin, and easy for him to carry. She tried again to get her words together, knowing she was far too shy. She remembered her father forcing her to learn how to act, and though she didn't like remembering him, she brought up those skills and made herself talk quietly, without stammering. "I just wanted to know if what you said was true. You know...that you loved me. You were tired when you said it, so..." she said softly, looking away from him.

Lexi's heart had sank at first. She had fretted that he hadn't meant his words, and that he would retract them. But when he admitted it again, her fear had burst apart, to be replaced with her own feelings. Tears started dripping down her cheeks, and she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and murmuring "Oh, Werr...I love you too. Actually...I think I loved you from the moment I saw you. You were handsome, and so kind to me...and that kindness made you even more handsome, I think. It took awhile, but now...I'm certain of it. I love you..." She kissed his cheek, very softly, keeping her eyes closed as tears dripped down her cheeks.

"But I don't care if bad things happen..." she said quietly. "I wouldn't even have stayed at your castle if not for you. So long as you were there, I wanted to be there. I wanted to be close, to hear your words, to help you accomplish the things you wanted to do. All I want is to help you...to live by your side. I just...want you close..." She slowly dried her tears, resting her head weakly against his shoulder again. "I love you, Werr," she said softly, twinning her fingers gently into his shirt.

Lexi let Werr carry her over to the bench, and she slid down and sat quietly, letting the healer work. She pulled up the edge of her dress, showing that she was wearing simple shorts underneath, and watched as the bandages fell away, revealing the gaping wounds in her slender legs. She teared up a bit just staring at the bloody spots, and it made her feel sick seeing all the dried blood on her legs. She looked up at Werr, her soft brown eyes wide and framed by her long black lashes.

Lexi slowly stood up, testing her weight, then took one of the healer's hands into both of hers and said "Thank you very much for helping me. I appreciate it greatly." She let go then, turning her gaze to Werr. She looked down, then shyly slid her hand into his, fidgiting a bit at the touch. But he could see that it made her happy, even if she did blush a lot. She tilted her head a bit to the side, saying "It's alright if I stay close, yes? I...would prefer not to leave your side..."

Lexi screamed as he fell limp, falling to her knees next to him. She glanced behind them and screamed all the louder, unable to do anything as the last reminants of the Things all struck at once. Lexi's screams were cut off as they grabbed her, forming a dark puddle underneath her. To her shock, she felt herself be dragged down into this mass of shadows, pulled into who-knows-where. A moment later, she too was unconscious, carted away by the Things.

And she wasn't the only one.

They let out where was obviously (to anyone who had seen it before) underneath the Eye of Ka'ael. The Eternal Flame had somehow been lowered, casting bright light everywhere. Too bright for Obelisk's searching shadows to reach into. Obelisk had said there were five; but there were at least 20 of them down here, and they seemed to be arguing over something. The rifts they were opening kept failing, obviously.

Diana and Luen were here. Toroph, his whimpering echoing around the quiet cave, was obviously here somewhere, although his immediate location wasn't obvious.

When Lexi opened her eyes, she found herself laying on the ground, a thick shackle around her neck. She managed to sit up, finding another shackle around her right ankle. She whimpered, glancing down at herself and realizing that her dress had been torn away during the attack, revealing a good part of her stomach and legs. Feeling terribly exposed, she wrapped her arms around herself, glancing around. She could see Luen near Diana, with the kirin's single hand brutally nailed to the wall with multipule nails, some of which were embedded into his fingers as well, just for the heck of it. Another chain was wrapped tightly around his neck, forcing him to stand up or else choke to death. Blood trickled lightly from the corner of his mouth, but he was doing alright, other than that.

To Lexi's shock, Tasia was sitting not too far from her, her arms and legs wrapped protectively around her belly. The poor girl was sobbing into her arms, scared beyond her wits' end. She seemed the least injured out of all of them, with simply a chain around her wrist signaling her captivity.

"Tasia?" Lexi called softly, wanting only to comfort the scared older girl.

Tasia turned sharply, and Lexi gasped. The right side of the dragonian's face was clawed up and bleeding heavily, with blood dripping from her nose.

Diana seemed to be unconscious, but Luen knew that she was just making up an excuse to keep her eyes shut. Her own hands were nailed down, but on the floor in front of her, forcing her to either be on her hands and knees, or lay in a bowing position. She was going with the latter for now.

It was easy for Lexi to see where Toroph was. Namly because he was underneath her. He had been shoved down a crack in the rock floor, with more rocks thrown on top of him. Only his arm and part of his face was visible, and his weak crying echoed up to where Lexi was. Spy was nearby as well, the poor little Chimera. Tied up and hung upside-down from the wall. He was limp and had dried blood caking most of his fur.

One of the guards was nearby, clearly less...alive. The unmoving unicorn was literally being eaten by the Things that weren't working on the portal. And Nate...poor Nate. It didn't take long of watching before Lexi figured out what they were doing to him. He was pinned to the wall by one, and from the broken syringe on the floor, they had injected something into him. They were taking turn peeling strips from his chest. It didn't bleed; underneath his skin and scales, the muscle, sinew and tissue looked the same as the Striders standing around him.

They were turning him into one of them.