The Forgotten Zodiac

"I'm glad you think so," Forin chortled, then was unable to cover up a final yelp as Zelana finished bleeding him out. He pulled his arm back and used some water from the pond to clean up a bit of the blood. He couldn't do very much, though; his other arm was still awfully stiff, and it didn't want to move much. He tried, though. Stubborn man.

Zelana chirped, washing her beak free of his blood in the river, then scooped water into her hands and washed his wound thouroughly, making sure it was clean and clear. Then she tore part of the hem from her skirt and wrapped it very tightly around the wound, making sure it was covered.

Then she nudged Forin into the cold river.

It was shallow to the point where he could sit on the bottom and have his body from his chest up above the water. Before he could protest, Zelana silenced him. "You're growing a fever and I still need to rest a bit more," she said, folding her wings and curling her long tail around her legs. "The fire won't catch up for a while. I must rest before I can carry you anywhere else, and you need to break that fever before it sets in too badly. So soak your head in that cold water."

"Right..." Forin sighed after a moment, unstrapping Vorpal from his side and setting him close to the bank. He sank into the water, digging his feet in so the slow tide wouldn't snatch him away. He laid back in the water so that his head (but not his face) was submerged, as well as his chest and legs. It was cold, bitingly so, but Forin sighed and made himself relax in the water.

Zelana laid down on the bank and closed her eyes, quietly dozing off. She trusted that Forin would wake her when they were ready to move again.

Vorpal watched Forin quietly, then said "I fear I should warn you, Master Forin...I can sense Luen from here. As he is my creator, his life-essence is tied to my senses. I cannot tell where he is, but I can feel his heartbeat and physical state." He hesitated, then said "Something is very wrong. I can feel a substantial muscular intensity growing through him, along with a mental-pattern change." After a moment of silence, he said "In other words, I can sense his body growing and his thoughts are turning quite violent."

"Violent...that's not like Luen." Forin muttered, opening his eyes a bit. "Something must have happened. We have to find him, and soon..." He sighed, readjusting his feet's hold on the bank. He still felt awful, and now he felt like something was pushing against his chest. Something other than the water. It was hard to breathe...Forin climbed out of the water at once, breathing deeply. Could the infection have already gotten past his arm? Skies above, it hurt...he slid out of the water and laid down next to Zelana, shivering. He hadn't broken his fever at all, and he felt worse than before. He crawled back to the water to take a drink, and only wound up vomiting the few bits of food that had been left in his stomach. He moaned and laid back down, feeling much like a pile of garbage or something of the sort.

Vorpal whimpered, then said "We must get you to that healer, and soon, Master Forin. We must!" He hummed loudly with his protest, then said "Wake, gryphon woman! Wake and take my master where he can be healed, at once!"

Zelana woke instantly, squawking in fear. "What, what?" she said, glancing from side to side quickly. "Who?"

"Get up!" Vorpal shrieked, humming loudly. "We must move onwards! Forin is weak and I won't allow him to die!"

Zelana blinked at the weapon, then said "Fine. I don't really know where to go, though." She bent and nudged Forin onto her back, starting to walk again.

Forin held on, shivering again. "Her name is Zelana, Vorpal..." He muttered. "And keep going towards the mountains. At the very least, we should get away from the fire..." He jerked as he heard screaming in the distance; he realized that they were passing the area with the traps. So that was their plan. Set the forest on fire to drive out the archers, and trap them when they tried to run. Brutal, but effective.

She nodded, then kept going in the direction he said, trying desperately to avoid the approaching flames while ignoring the distant screams.

*

Ronan lifted his elegant head to the flames, snorting to drive the smoke from his lungs, then turned and nudged Diana closer to Lexi, clearly meaning for them to start running.

Lexi gripped Diana's hand tightly in her own, turning obediantly in the direction the great deer pushed her in. She coughed from the smoke and flames, watching as Ronan's herd gathered around him, completely trusting whatever he did.

Diana trembled with terror, but she was fairly confident that she could run fast enough to keep up with the herd. Her main concerns were whether or not the fire would catch them regardless of how quickly they ran -- and whether or not Lexi could keep up. She meant no offense towards the older girl, of course, but it didn't seem like she'd be able to run quickly for very long. She hadn't exactly seen Lexi exersicizing or anything of the sort, after all. But...some part of Diana knew that if Lexi slowed too much, Ronan would carry her to safety. It would be okay.

Lexi did her best to keep up, fueled by her desire to outrun the flames. She glanced behind herself at the flames, her soft brown eyes widening at the sight of them, then turned and didn't look back again. Ronan nudged her again, easily keeping stride with the girls. A young fawn stumbled, immediately bleating for its mother, who doubled back, nudging the little one gently to get her up again.

Lexi let go of Diana's hand and quickly helped the baby stand, then they resumed their course. Ronan led them along to a shallow outcropping of rocks and boulders, where there was a crevasse torn between two large rocks. He nudged the girls towards it, watching as his does followed.

Heading into the heart of underground tunnels.

Diana pressed close to one of the does, not wanting to get lost or left behind. They were much safer in here; it was damp and cool, and the tunnel had a draft running through it. Which meant they had a steady supply of oxygen. The fire would pass them by without hesitation.

So, once Diana came to the conclusion that they were more or less safe, she started crying. Forin had to be out in the fields somewhere. Same with Luen, and Luna...they could all be devoured by the flames, for all she knew. It was absolutely horrible. Diana reached out to Forin with her magic, feeling the link between them. She couldn't use it to communicate, she couldn't remember how, but it was still there. He was still alive.

Lexi panted for a moment, then looked up as Ronan quietly slid in. He had to turn his head to the side to allow his large antlers to get through, but there was more than enough room past the initial doorway. He snorted, blowing a lungful of smoke out of his soft nose, then began leading the way down into the tunnels. The herd bunched close, making sure the girls were included, right in the middle.

Lexi picked Diana up and carried her for a little while, holding her close. "It's okay, I'm sure everyone else is fine," she soothed, stroking Diana's hair softly.

Diana clung to her tightly, crying herself out. When she was finished, she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "D-do you have more of those roots...? I'm hungry..." She asked quietly, slipping out of Lexi's grip and looking around as her eyes adjusted to the gloom. It was really dark, and the jagged edges of the wall started to look like monstrous teeth before long.

"Yes, I have several right here," Lexi said, pulling her carry-sack from her shoulder and opening it. She pulled a root out and gave a sharp twist of its two knobby ends, popping it open along its invisible seam and handing it to Diana. She popped open another and ate it quietly, glancing around. Ronan led onwards, until Lexi realized that she was starting to be able to see things. The stag finally stopped and glanced back at the girls, then moved forward, into a cavern.

It was an underground lake, with glowing blue stones lining the bottom.

The deer herd immediately fanned out along the banks, grazing on the soft, tender grasses that grew on the ground.

Diana darted forward at once and drank deeply from the pool, bringing the water up to her mouth with the shell of the root, holding the stringy stuff in one hand. The root was good and tasted okay, but Diana still felt like she needed...well, more. Protein was important, and their diet over the past couple of days had consisted of sweetroot and water. Both of which had no meaty substance to it at all.

So of course, Diana grew excited when she saw a large number of tiny fish, darting around near the rocks and feeding on algae. It was unfortunate, though; they had no way to cook the fish, and even though there were a lot of them, they were too small to provide much more than a mouthful.

Disheartened, Diana stuck her feet into the water, feeling very tired all of the sudden.

Lexi sighed, sitting down next to Diana and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. There was silence in the cave for a long time, then something beneath the water's edge moved. It wasn't a fish; it was something Welk would've recognized if he had been there.

Water pixies.

They uncurled themselves from their little stones under the water, which made the stones stop glowing. They stretched, fluttering tiny transparent wings, then flew over to the two girls and chirped in tiny voices at them. Most of them flew over to Ronan, who flicked his ears up at them. They hung from his antlers, squealing and giggling.

Diana watched quietly, pulling her feet out of the water and curling close to Lexi. She wasn't too frightened, but...well, creatures that she didn't know had a tendency to be dangerous. Therefore, she was a little intimidated. She would be more frightened if they were bigger creatures, though. Thank goodness they were tiny.

The pixies giggled and fluttered around, a few coming over to poke at Lexi and Diana. All of them were a pretty, soft color. The females were turquoise and the males were a darker blue. The females were more interested in the two human girls while the males were squeaking away to Ronan, who would grunt and snort in reply. Lexi held her hand up and several pixies landed on her fingers, either sitting quietly or hanging and giggling.

A little one, no more than a child, hovered in front of Diana and chirped questioningly.

"Hi..." Diana said softly, watching the little creature nervously. Would it attack them? Snap at them? They seemed docile enough, but plenty of things seemed docile until you made them angry. Like Ophile. Diana had witnessed Ophile fighting before. Feirce and protective, that wolf...oh, how she hoped he hadn't perished in the fire...the thought of fighting burnt and broken wolf remains was terrifying. She started crying again, though she tried her very hardest to stifle herself.

The pixie immediately squeaked and fluttered closer, putting her tiny hands on Diana's cheeks and pressing her forehead to the girl's nose, humming a soft, beautiful melody to her. Her hands were so small that they could literally hold one of Diana's tears in them. She sang quietly, her tiny voice reached high, dainty notes.

Lexi watched her in amazement, then gently brushed the pixies off of her fingers and pulled Diana into her arms, saying "Don't cry, Diana. It's okay..."