The Forgotten Zodiac

Nate was surprised, of course. An entire Wyvern?! Nate recognized it from the descriptions Werr had given once, of Naybrin's dead son. The general details were an exact match; almost like a Drakeling, but smaller, and lacking the giant claws that would have torn Nate's leg off in an instant. But no, he had time to scream at the top of his lungs as his leg bone shattered and blood splattered the floor.

"Open the door, open the door, please!" Marion screeched, kicking at the door to Welk's room, obviously in human form. The door was locked, thanks to the two wanting to be alone. Isslia was sitting beside the door, watching Marion in shock. "This is important! Please, you have to come, they'll kill him!"

The lock slid back and Welk tumbled out, shocked by the shouting. "What?! What?!" he said, blinking in surprise. "What is going on out here?! Who even ARE you?" He stared at her, trying to figure out what the heck she was talking about. "Kill him? Kill who?" he asked quickly, breathing a small tongue of flames out. "What happened? Is the castle being attacked?"

"No, not the castle! Are you stupid?!" Marion hissed at him. "Dmitry! And your friend, what's his name...Nate Furhblast!"

"Nate?" Werr's voice came at that. "Nate is dead."

"No, he's really not! He's downstairs, and they're going to kill him! Do you understand what I'm saying?!" Marion screeched.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Lennon appeared from seemingly nowhere, tapping Marion on the shoulder. He glanced up at Welk. "Shall I silence her for you?"

"NO!" Marion screamed. "Dmitry is being killed! In the dungeons!" She seized Welk by the hand and practically dragged him down the hallway. Lennon followed, his hands behind his back as he easily kept up with Marion's dragging speed. Which was fairly quick, in reality.

Welk threw Werr a horrified look, then pulled his hand from Marion and ran beside her, almost not wanting to get his hopes up but feeling it spark up nevertheless.

He paused to kick Luen's door, already running again as he shouted "Luen! Nate's alive! Move it, man!"

The door slammed open so hard that it made a dent in the wall. Luen stuck his head out, blinking in shock, then pulled back. When he raced out, he was in deer form with Forin on his back. Diana was left with Luna and Naybrin, where she was more than safe. The kirin galloped smoothly down the hallway, racing after the others, his gait similar to that of a horse's. His hooves made sharp clipping noises as they hit the ground, his metal leg holding up perfectly and functioning like his original limb had.

Lennon slowed to a stop, snorting a bit. Nate would be fine, then. He followed at a slower pace this time, knowing that he would have to put Mirage into custody. Then explain her treason to Izan...that would be fun. In the opposite sense, of course.

As they opened the door to the dungeons, where Marion led them, Nate was no longer screaming. He had been torn off the torture table and was locked thoroughly in Mirage's jaws as she bit down on him. There was blood everywhere, none of which was Mirage's.

The wyvern jerked her head around as the others entered the room, smirking and dropping the dragonian on the ground. "Nice of you all to drop by," she hissed, planting a heavy foot down onto Nate's chest. "I'm afraid you're a bit late to the party, though. Your little friends won't last much longer." She grinned, then opened her mouth and turned her head to breathe her sinister fire over Nate.

A black shadow leapt forward and slammed into her, bowling her backwards from the sheer force. There was only person in their group brave enough (or foolish enough) to attack something twice his size.

Cynyr sank his sharp teeth into the ridge on the back of Mirage's head, yanking her skull back and clinging to her scales with his claws. Her fire was shot into the ceiling instead of at Nate, and she proceeded to try and throw him off, both snarling and screeching.

Luen swept in, grabbing Nate by his shirt collar and dragging his friend to where Seria and Lexi were waiting. They fell on him at once, tears dripping down Seria's cheeks at the sight of her friend.

Nate was, in short, mangled. His arm was snapped nearly in two, hanging by only muscle and a bit of skin. His bone stuck out in a painful position. His leg was in a similar state, though much worse off, as it was like that in several spots. His other leg was just chewed on, but it still looked excruciatingly painful. Nate's chest had endured a number of bite marks, and a rib entirely had been torn out (and was currently lodged between Mirage's teeth). His face was scratched up; the only thing that didn't seem too injured was his left arm, which had been inside Mirage's mouth for most of the time. He stared blearily up at the ceiling, but his eyes moved as Seria entered his vision. Then Luen, next to her. It was a struggle, but he managed to tweak the sides of his mouth into a small, weak smile. "Hi," He rasped, his voice barely audible. "Nice to see you..."

Luen clenched his teeth in his mouth, tears dripping down his cheeks from his brilliant emerald eyes. He finally just fell to his knees, moving a hand out as if to touch the dragonian. He couldn't bring himself to do it in the end, and he instead covered his eyes with an arm.

Seria and Lexi were working non-stop, and Seria didn't have time to stop and mentor Lexi. The younger girl was going solely on instinct at this point, pressing her heal staff to Nate's chest for an all-over heal while Seria flew through one wound at a time, her sharp fangs showing as she gritted her teeth, working as quickly as she could.

Nate slowly reached his less-injured hand up, putting it on Luen's arm and tugging as much as he could. "Don't be that way, I want to see you..." Nate half-growled, suddenly twisting harshly and pressing his bloodied face against Luen's leg. "I'm almost dead...can I just...see you?"

While Cynyr dealt with Mirage, Marion was slamming on the door that the armored man and Dmitry were in. "Dmitry, Dmitry! Hold on, I'm trying to get in," She wailed, looking desperately at the others. Forin stepped forward, drawing Vorpal out. He slammed the tip of his blade into the lock, twisting sharply and smiling when the door let out a sharp crack, the lock broken. After that, it was just a matter of opening the door.

Luen broke at that, wrapping his arms around Nate and holding him close, his body shaking with sobs.

((I put that with the other sentence, and now they have opened the door.))

The man that had taken Dmitry into the room was gone, leaving a gruesome scene behind.

Dmitry was laying on the ground, and for all they knew, he was dead. He looked like he had been through some sort of shredder; his chest was torn open in a deep gouge and he had been beat so violently that a few of his organs had shattered. He had a major break in each limb and several fractures all over, and blood gushed from his mouth, nose, and even from the corners of his eyes. One leg was attached by a bit of broken bone, and blood was splattered everywhere. His eyes, which were open (but lifelessly dull), were shot full of blood.

Forin took one look at the boy and looked back at Seria. "Forget Nate, he'll survive for a few more minutes. Seria, this kid looks dead! He hasn't died yet, I would tell, but..."

"DMITRY!" Marion shrieked at the sight of him, hurrying in at once and kneeling next to him. She snapped her fingers, conjuring a small orb that emitted light, to Forin's surprise. It floated in the air above them, and Marion stared down at her dear friend. "Dmitry, Dmitry...hold on, please, don't leave me..." She whimpered, returning to snake form and nosing the boy on the cheek, ignoring the blood. "Please, please, stay with me. Listen to me, Dmitry, you have to stay here...focus on the light, that's my light. Mine. Stay with my light, don't go to the other one. Please..." She moaned and wailed with sadness, shaking her head this way and that.

Dmitry didn't move at all. He was completely limp. Finally, however, there was the faintest twitch of his eyelids. But that was all.

Seria entered the room and immediatly gasped, then turned quickly and told Lexi to stay and work on Nate. Dmitry's state was worse than the dragonian's, and Seria didn't want the girl to be traumatized. So Lexi stayed with Nate while Seria went in to help Dmitry, siliently wishing Airlia were here. Now's when I need her energy powers, she thought, but shook her head. She just had to make do with what she had.

And she had not been a Divine Healer for nothing.

With a single touch, wounds healed. With a slight stroke, tears closed. She shoved a rag towards Marion and said "Start cleaning as much blood as you can off of him. I need to see what I'm working with."

Blood dripped in long trails down Dmitry's cheeks, from his eyes. Like he was crying blood.

((She was in snake form. o3o))

Marion immediately transformed, mopping up as much blood as possible. There were wounds that were bleeding too quickly for her to do anything with, though..."Oh, Dmitry...what did he do to you? Where did he go? I'll kill him myself..." She whimpered, trying very hard not to cry.

"The door was locked from the inside," Forin said, glaring around the room carefully. "Vorpal, can you sense anyone?"

((Oops. 936 Fixed it.))

The demonic weapon was quiet, humming loudly for a moment, then said "No, master Forin. I cannot sense anyone other than those in this room and outside. No enemy presences detected." He mulled over his thoughts for a moment, then started with "If you ask me, I would've-"

"Nobody wants to know what YOU could've thought up," Cynyr said, poking his head into the room. "I've subdued Mirage, but she's still in wyvern form, so I can't drag her anywhere. Just thought I'd let you know why all the screams of rage have stopped." He pulled back, flicking his tail smoothly.

"Oh, good." Forin snorted. "Is Nate okay?"

"For now," Werr replied to that one. "He's still in a bad shape, though..."

"Well, it's better than dead. Which is what we've had for a day now, and we didn't like that too much." Forin shrugged.

"Excuse me," Lennon appeared behind Cynyr. "If you need it, I can restrain to wyvern to her human form. Personally, though, I would just chain her up and have a word with Izan...as for the injured two, I suggest getting them into a sterile area, so they don't get infections."

((Church time.))

Cynyr jumped at the man's voice, then said "Chaining sounds perfect. I'll get the others out of here." He turned away and walked over to Nate, giving Luen a small touch to let him know to back off. Once the shaking kirin relented, Cynyr took panther form and carefully pulled Nate up onto his back. Lexi ran alongside him, still healing as many of Nate's injuries as she could. She was looking tired already, and Werr knew she would be weak for a while afterwards. Luen also scrambled after them, but not before taking deer form and allowing Forin up onto his bony back.

((-snuggle-))

"I'll get the chains." Lennon shrugged, moving off to restrain the female wyvern.

The infirmary was waiting for them. The older man had taken the afternoon off, leaving the young woman in charge of preparing beds for the injured two. Once Dmitry had been well enough to move, Marion had carried him there by herself. She settled him down on a bed and wrapped herself around him, still moaning and crying over her fallen master.

Nate was unconscious. He wasn't dead, that was easy to tell from the way he clung desperately to the bedsheets, but he had suffered a lot of damage in a short amount of time. He was better off than Dmitry was, but that wasn't saying much. The unconscious man who had been here before...was gone. His bed had been remade and everything.

Seria barked out orders like a professional, which she was, and she got the remaining staff there moving at their top speed. She made Forin take Luen out, which was a struggle (albeit a slight one), then leaned over Nate and worked on him for several minutes, sweat dripping down the side of her head. She pulled back after a moment, gently kissing his forehead and murmuring "You'll be okay..." Once she was finished with him and could let him rest, she hustled over to Dmitry and finished up any of his remaining wounds. When she was finished, she paused to slowly stroke Marion's reptillian head, saying "He'll live. He's very weak, but he'll live." She pulled away, leaving them alone.

After a few minutes of resting, tears started to drip down Dmitry's cheeks as he cried unconsciously.

"Shh, don't cry," Marion murmured, wiping his tears with her scales. "Please, Dmitry...I'm here. No more tears." She said gently, starting to sing him a song in their language. Sweet, smooth and gentle.

"Can we return and visit with Nate?" Diana asked quietly, shifting her weight from side to side. Forin hadn't been able to make Luen go far; they were waiting out in the hallway.

"Yes, please!" Luen said, fidgeting around his friends and rubbing the place where his metal arm attached to his shoulder in a nervous tell. "Let's go see him, please?" he said, nearly begging.

Seria stepped out of the room, saying "He's asleep right now. Let him rest for a while and then you'll be able to see him."

Luen deflated a bit at that, sighing, then said "Oh...okay..." He looked upset, but he was willing to wait for Nate to be awake. Though he still refused to leave the general vicsinity.