The Forgotten Zodiac

"Well, not all of us can melt metal with a snap of their fingers," Forin snapped right back. "It's only what I would have done..."

"Well, your methods aren't for me, clearly..." Isslia shook her head.

"Bah, whatever." Forin sighed, stripping the man of his metal armor, peeling the chainmail from his body and tossing the full set to Welk. "You'd be better off wearing that, not melting it," Forin said, but his opinion clearly didn't matter at the moment.

Welk stared at the armor for a long moment, holding it where he could see it, then sighed quietly and said "I'll just use enough to make Isslia comfortable. At least until I can fix her leg up. Then I'll try and put it back together. Somehow." He lit one finger into flames and started carving the armor up, hollowing out just enough to make two thin rods. He shaped them properly, then set Isslia's bones as gently as he could, splinting her leg up tightly with the rods and the ropes. He murmured "Sorry," many times to her, hating causing her pain.

Isslia cried and cried, but she said repeatedly, "It's okay, it's okay." Forin watched dully, wondering what had happened to Diana so far. She was still alive, he could sense that much...but he worried. Oh, did he worry. And when he worried, all sorts of horrible images went through his head...

Finally, once her leg was set, Welk put his hands gently over the break and concentrated. He could remember Cynyr talking about when he had healed Werr, and it didn't seem that hard. He slowly forced his magic into his hands, feeling the rest of his entire body go cold. His arms started to shake from the loss of his magic, from the freezing numbness he felt. But he kept going, and he was able to partially heal Isslia's break. Then his magic shot back into himself and he fell over, gasping for breath and shaking.

((When did Cynyr heal Werr? -forgetful-))

"Ow, ow, ow...that's hot," Isslia whimpered, although it wasn't burning hot. Just an odd tingling sensation. She put her hands over her leg, rubbing it a bit to get rid of the heat. Then she wiggled her big toe; it still hurt enough to make her bark and whimper a bit.

"I still don't think we're going to be moving much," Forin sighed. "If we're staying with her, at any rate. How are we going to get out of here, at any rate?"

((When they were held captive by Dark and Light, way back in book 1.))

"Give m-me a bit to r-rest my wing and I'll f-f-fly us out..." Welk stammered, shaking badly. "I'll...get us out..." He sat up, shivering and rubbing his arms tensely. "We'll g-get out," he said. "We h-have to. We haven't f-found the others y-yet..." He twitched his tail, unconsciously shifting closer to Isslia and curling up next to her, putting his chin on the top of her head.

"We might not be able to," Forin said, looking up at the crack in the earth that they had descended through. "With your injured wing and her hurt leg...I think we're safer down here. We just left a warzone, Welk. I don't know if you realized that or not." He sat down, crossing his legs underneath him. "You two aren't fit for survival out here. The others have Spy. Or at least, someone does...they'll find us eventually."

He said that, but not five minutes later, he was trying to climb up the wall to get out, ranting about how he had to save Diana. Isslia watched, then realized how close Welk was getting to her. She barked, scooting away from him, turning bright red. "No, get away from me! I'm no-not going to do that, I'm not that kind of slave!" She snapped at him, tearing up as she wrapped her arms over her chest.

Welk blinked, staring at her, then said "No, no! Th-that's not what I was doing, I swear! I-I would never do something like that. That's for your first and only true love, and then it's when you're married..." He scooted away, sitting quite a distance away from her. His crimson eyes looked sad at the merest thought of perverted behavior. "I would never..." he said quietly, lowering his head a bit. "Never..."

Isslia watched him for a minute more, then buried her face in her hands, crying again.

"Something tells me it already happened," Forin tutted, watching her. "What's your story?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to never, ever find out!" Isslia snapped at him through her tears.

"As if. We'll find out eventually. Your life isn't on the line for this information. It's not a government secret."

Isslia fell silent, wiping her eyes. It was a very long time before she spoke again. "Fine...I'll tell you. I don't like it, but...okay. I...I lived on a farm for eight years of my life. We lived in Herrace for that time...I miss it. Herrace was amazing, everything that Bulliete isn't. But...the queen became wrapped up in some stupid idea that the Goddess was evil and all those who follow her or anyone related to her would be put to death. My family had to flee, and we fled into Bulliete. My father got the rites of ownership and the collars...we spent four years building a new farm, a-and...

"Poachers came. In the dead of the night. They cut my collar and dragged me off. The very next morning, I was sold off. It all happened so fast..." Isslia shivered. "The man I was sold to...h-he was good to me, at first. Proper food, a warm bed...it was nice. But then...I don't know what happened. He came into my room one night, a-and....I tried to fight back, but h-he tied me down and tore my clothes and I couldn't do anything to stop him. Nothing, nothing at all. It was horrible...

"I didn't do anything for him after that. I did even less when he started whipping me. I don't call myself stubborn, but...I can be defiant when I need to. He defiled me two more times, a-and I...I stopped eating. I just didn't move. That was when he dragged me off and resold me for profit. I was brought before Izan himself...he asked me if I was interested in going to the Informant Academy...I jumped on that chance. I wanted very much to go. To just...get away from everything...and I learned. I learned so, so much. I loved every second of it, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

"And then I was given to you...you kind of know the rest of it, I guess. I'm sorry...for making assumptions. I just..." Isslia trailed off, looking down and fiddling with the hem of her robe.

"You've just had it rough in the past, and don't want that to happen again." Forin finished for her. "It's not uncommon. We can understand that. Right?" He looked pointedly at Welk, raising an eyebrow.

Welk was staring at Isslia, tears dripping down his cheeks. He realized they were staring at him and he turned away, wiping his tears frantically. "Sorry..." he said, slowly turning back. "That just...it must've been hard. I'm so sorry for you." He suddenly swept a hand over the rocks on the ground angrily, snarling "If I ever see the people that took you away from your family, or the man that did that to you, or...or anyone else like that...I'll kill them. ...Ow." He held his hand close, watching blood ooze from the cuts the rocks had made, then suddenly sank his sharp teeth heavily into his palm, feeling the blood gush around his fingers. He scooted close to Isslia and took her hand, pressing his bloody one into hers in the same move that he had once done for Werr. Binding them together.

"I promise you," he said quietly, staring into her eyes. "I will never, ever let that happen to you again. I...I really...like you, okay? And if that's what you want, then I'll never touch you or get close to you again. Whatever you want, I'll do it for you." His warm, fiery blood twisted through her fingers as he said "I will always protect you," then pulled away.

His blood quietly burned off of her hand, never hurting her at all.

Isslia watched, then looked up at Welk with a curious look in her eyes. Then she looked down again. "I'm not saying you have to stay away from me...and I don't mind you touching. You were just...getting too close. I got scared. I'm sorry..."

Forin watched for a few minutes more, then got back to trying to climb up the wall.

Welk gave a very slight nod, saying "I never want you to feel upset or sacred. I just...I'm a very loving person...I like to be near people. You know, I want to show people I care for them, and I do it through touch." He sighed, then said "I would never hurt you." He hesitated, then slowly leaned forward and gently brushed a strand of her hair back, staring into her eyes. "Like that one night," he said. "Where I sat next to you and groomed your fur. That's what I mean."

Isslia looked down. "I-I was falling asleep then, I wasn't thinking..." She said sheepishly, but nodded. "I...I think I understand. I'm sorry, again...I just don't want--eek!" She cut herself off as there was a loud clatter. She yelped and looked at the rock that had fallen near her. Forin was about halfway up, clutching the rock wall for dear life; he had slipped a bit and nearly fallen entirely, but he had caught himself. Luckily.

"Sorry!" Forin said, not moving much. "I lost my place..."

Welk stared up at him, then looked back at Isslia, as if he wanted to say something, then just trailed off and stood up, saying "I would never hurt you. I'm not that kind of guy." Then he trotted over to the rock wall and took lion form, standing on his back legs and peering up at Forin. "You're really just going to leave us here?" he said, tilting his head to the side.

"Well, it's not like she can climb, and I doubt you'll be willing to leave her here alone. And with that injured wing of yours, flying will be near impossible." Forin grumbled, shifting to the left a little bit  and causing a cascade of pebbles to fall. "Sorry," He said quietly, falling still again. He could possibly fall if he moved too quickly. "I have to get to Diana, though. She's in danger, and as her summoner, it's my duty to find and protect her. Don't worry, I won't forget about you two. The second I find her, I'll turn around and find some way to help you out of here."

Welk looked down for a moment, then looked back up and seemed about to say something. He cut off with a shake of his head, saying "I'll probably find a way out. If that happens, I'll leave ya a sign of which way we went. If not...we'll be here." He stared up at Forin for a long moment, then said, very quietly, "Don't forget us...okay?" He pushed off and walked away, curling up on the ground a short distance from Isslia. He wanted to curl up around her and keep her warm, but now that he knew her past, he wasn't about to go near her unless she specifically said otherwise. He knew it would get cold at night and he was worried about her freezing. Especially since he couldn't cast fire spells for the following day. That magic healing had been really hard.

"Of course not." Forin shook his head, smiling a bit. He finally found another foothold and started climbing again, more careful than before. Before too long, he made it to the top and pulled himself over. "I'm off, then. If you hear soldiers, I suggest hiding yourself and that body. See you later," He called down, then was gone.

"Oh...bye," Isslia stared up at the hole above them, then sighed. The sky was growing red, which meant it was getting to be sunset.

"Does it hurt?" A woman was standing in front of Werr, who was tied to a tree. She was holding a syringe, which had clear liquid in it that was already half gone, injected into Werr's arm. The king drooped, barely able to hold himself upright. If not for the ropes, he would have fallen over by now. And he would be screaming, but the gag in his mouth was an obstruction to that.

"Oh, come now." The woman chortled, grabbing his face and pushing him upright again. She dug her claws into his cheeks, causing Werr to writhe and squirm in pain. The injection had upped his sensitivity; her nails felt like claws, and she had been punching him in the chest earlier. His ribs felt shattered, though it couldn't possibly be so. She had only hit him three times, and not very hard. "Hmm, I wonder..." She murmured, drawing a knife from her belt and eying Werr's hand. "If needles feel like knives, what does a knife feel like?"

Hooves over ground sounded, then something white darted past, around the tree and to Werr's side. It spun on its forelegs, lashing out with its back legs.

Luen kicked the woman solidly, but not too hard. Just enough to throw her to the side and break her arm. He could've killed her, but he chose not to. He pawed the ground, fixing the woman with his antlers. "I'm not afraid to kill you," he said, ice trailing over the ground from his hooves. He exhaled, a burst of icy frost echoing from his muzzle.

"What the--?!" The woman screeched, cursing loudly. Werr said something that might have been, 'how did you find me?' or 'I'm so glad you're here', but it didn't quite translate through the gag.

The woman stood, brandishing her knife and her needle. "You want some of this too, pretty pony?" She cackled, clearly not quite...there...in the head. She charged, attempting to catch Luen with the needle. This was how she dispatched her prey; she was a good scout for the Herrace's side, but she had a bad habit of attacking at the wrong time. She had already lost one knife to a certain Tartaran, who had taken the wound in stride and had just run off with the knife still in his arm. (Little did she know that he was tough enough to climb an entire rock wall with the same knife still in his arm, but that was beside the point.)

Luen lunged to the side and rapped her with his sturdy antlers, knocking her to the ground and standing over her. He pressed his tines dangerously to her neck, saying "You're cornered." He hesitated, knowing what he should do, but he just stepped back, saying "Go away. Go on. This was your only warning." He shoved her away and turned to Werr, lifting a hoof and striking the ropes to break them. He caught Werr gently with his neck, saying quietly "I have you, it's okay."