The Forgotten Zodiac

Diana was amazed. There were a lot of creatures here, and all of which seemed perfectly fine. One never would have guessed that there had been a fire. She watched in silence as a single large fox padded over and looked up at Ronan, giving a short bark. It didn't do much, but it peered at Diana and Lexi for a moment before turning and darting off, hopping happily every few steps.

"There's so many creatures here...Lexi, do you see it?" Diana said quietly, looking back at the girl, but she looked ahead quickly again, nervous as ever at the sight of Cern.

"Yes, I see it," the older girl answered, gently helping Cern sit down before moving to help Diana off of Ronan's back. The stag immediately started rolling around in the grass, eager to scratch his thick fur. Lexi giggled, then moved to stroke one of the bunnies and flinched when it hopped quickly away from her. These were wild bunnies, quite unlike the ones from the Eternal Garden, and they didn't like being touched by outsiders. Even the does had been really skittish at first, until Ronan had quelled their fears. He was such an odd deer. How he understood everything so clearly...

Diana rolled around in the grass herself, grateful to feel the soft blades tickling her skin. She sat up quickly, though, afraid of getting bugs in her hair. She started laughing when she dared to look at Cern again; he wasn't nearly as terrifying when he had an assortment of birds landing on him. They pecked at his loose shirt, and one of them stole a twig off of his arm. He just sat there, still and silent, watching Diana laugh at him. He didn't seem to think it was very funny.

Lexi walked over and shooed the birds from him, saying quietly "Um...Diana? Please, don't laugh at him. He can't help the way he looks, and nobody should be laughed at for something like that..." She sat down nearby, sighing heavily before laying down in the grass, stroking the soft green strands with her slender fingers. Ronan walked over to Diana and nibbled her hair lightly, never pulling or hurting her. He knew boundaries very well for a simple deer.

Then Lexi looked a bit closer at him. There was something odd about the way his fur fell on his body. She stood up and walked over, gently parting his thick fur as he continued to play with Diana.

Under his fur, he had several harsh scars covering his skin. Scars that reminded Lexi of something held captive for a long, long time. Rope scars.

"I just thought it was funny that the birds liked him..." Diana murmured, giggling again when Ronan played with her hair. "Hey, that's not grass, you silly deer," She beamed regardless, clearly in a happy mood in spite of everything that had happened.

"Lexanna Jura...this place...is not safe," Cern murmured suddenly, standing up again. He lifted his arm and pointed, towards the grove of trees. A horse was grazing there. A warhorse, it looked like. That didn't matter. There was a body on the horse's back. A headless, obviously dead body.

((One that Forin killed. xD))

Lexi followed his point and immediately gasped, stumbling backwards at the sight of the corpse. Shivering, she huddled on the ground, not sure what to think of the sight.

Ronan noticed her unease and looked over to the horse, tilting his head. He walked over and grunted at the horse, which lifted its head wearily. Ronan pushed the corpse off and clearly told the horse to go to Lexi, which it did. He followed it over and nudged Lexi up, towards the animal. He stomped a hoof when she made to get on it, so she knew that wasn't what he wanted. He nibbled at the saddle and Lexi understood, then started taking everything off of the tired horse. Once it was free, it snorted and ran off, into the small forest. Ronan then turned to Diana, nudging her up as well. He danced ever so lightly on his feet, clearly wanting to leave now. He turned and chuffed to his does, who immediately took their fawns and scattered into the forest, save for one young buck that stayed behind at Ronan's call. He then pushed at Lexi until she understood what he wanted. Very carefully, Lexi picked up Diana and set her on the younger buck's back, then looked over at Cern. "What about him?" she asked, fear in her eyes.

Ronan snorted, then looked pointedly at the Scarecrow, as if saying "Well?"

"I...I will not follow. I must...return to master...he needs me." Cern turned away, hobbling back into the caves. "Thank you, though...Lexanna Jura...I will see you again." His voice wafted out of the cave, and that was that.

"I...I kind of feel bad for him. Who's his master?" Diana asked, tilting her head to the side a bit.

"Um...someone far from here, maybe," Lexi said, shrugging half-heartedly. She hadn't lied, of course; the master wasn't near here. But she had promised Obelisk that she wouldn't tell the others about him. If she said 'Obelisk', then that would just cause suspiscion, and she didn't want that. "Let's just get out of here," she said, pulling herself up onto Ronan's back. The stag glanced back at her, then he and the buck leapt into a gallop, racing across the ground and out of the safe valley.

Diana watched as they passed the cliffs that blocked their view of the damage. The morrow grass, the few trees here and there...all of it was black. There was still a haze of smoke that hung towards the south, but other than that, there were dark clouds gathering to the west. Dark, evil looking clouds that clearly carried a heavy load of rain. It was a bit on the late side, but no doubt the ground would appreciate the rain. The sun was setting, too, casting red light on the dark clouds, only adding to their evil look.

"It's so terrible...look at all of it...I liked that grass, but now it's...it's all gone..." Diana murmured, staring out at the land.

"I know," Lexi said quietly, brushing her hair aside and a few stray tears as well. "It's a tragedy to all the land. But you know, they say that everything always grows back twice as beautiful after a fire." She smiled weakly, then clung to Ronan's neck as he leapt over a fallen tree with ease, followed right behind by the younger buck. They seemed to know exactly where they were going.

Diana clung on tightly, easily keeping her hold on the deer. As mentioned before, she had ridden Luen many times before, so staying on the deer was a piece of cake. "Where are we going?" She asked, watching the path they were following. They were running along the side of the mountain, following a trail that looked like it had been carved not by people, but by the feet of many animals over the course of many years.

"I don't know," Lexi said, clinging tightly to Ronan's antlers. "I just hope it's somewhere safe..." She lowered her head, resting the side of her face against the stag's thick neck. Onwards he ran, finally stopping quite a while later. He walked slowly, with hesitating steps, towards a large cave with a river running into it.

Ronan stopped a small distance away from it and bayed a great, long bugle that rung though the air like a blast from a trumpet.

A moment later, none other than Welk peeked around the edge of the cave, looking around in confusion.

Ronan had brought the girls to their friends.

Ophile was the first to dart out, smelling Lexi's scent. He paused at the sight of the deer, and the sight of Diana. He turned and padded back inside, stopping in front of the carriage. "Forin, Diana has returned," He said solemnly, watching as the Tartaran practically fell out of the carriage and ran for the entrance.

"Diana!" He called.

"Forin, Forin!" the girl wailed, slipping off the deer's back and running into the arms of her dear summoner. He hugged her tightly, stroking her hair back and kissing her on the forehead.

"I was so worried..."

"I thought you had burned to death!" Diana wailed and cried, clinging to Forin desperately.

"Oh, Diana..." Forin sighed, hugging her tight. Werr was the next to poke his head out of the cave, and he was quick to hurry over to Lexi.

"Oh...you're alive. Thank the goddess..." He sighed with utter relief, moving to help her down.

She fell into his arms, pressing close and nearly crying against his neck. She felt frail and skinny to him; since she had that unique talent of sensing the aura of people, she had been sensing all of the chaotic, harsh energy of the battlefield. It was too much for her fragility. She just fell limp in his arms, nuzzling close and praying that he never let go. "Werr..." she whimpered, looking up at him. She needed him desperately; he was, quite literally, her whole world.

"It's okay...I've got you now." Werr murmured, hugging her gently. He looked up at Ronan, dipping his head. "Thank you, very much..."

"Ronan!" Cyprus slid to a stop in front of the deer. "Ronan, you have no idea how good it is to see you again," He beamed, petting the deer's neck. "What happened? Why are you so late?"

The stag shook his head, then answered the demigod in a deep, resounding voice that, while powerful, was delivered very slowly and delicately, as if he wasn't sure of the words.

"I am fine, god of life. We were waylaid by the finding of these two girls, and by the fire. Even I cannot out-run the flames." He closed his eyes, then looked up as Malu'urim bounded out, growling. "You!" he growled, approaching the stag with fur bristled. "Where have you been, wild stag? Only now do you choose to appear!"

Ronan said nothing for a long moment, then said "The Ghost pack was trailing us. I took my herd, plus these young two-leggers, into the Glowing Caves to escape them, but...they followed us in. And while I was heading back, I caught the scent of a strange, unnatural...thing. It smelled of both a deer, a wolf and...one of the night-killers. But the poison obviously hadn't taken root yet."

"And you let a night-killer LIVE?!" Malu'urim thundered, snarling savagely. "You know the destruction a were-beast causes! Pain, death and sorrow!"

Ronan said nothing.

"A deer, a wolf and a night-killer..." Cyprus looked down. "Malu'urim, that must have been Luen, their friend. Seria told me he was once a wolf. Ronan, you were wise to move on. Luen will return to us soon enough, I believe..." He murmured, scratching the back of his neck. "Did you see anything else? Anything odd? I sense some odd...aura hanging off of that girl," He eyed Lexi nervously. "Did she touch anything strange?"

The stag lifted his head and spoke very slowly. "There was...something. It followed us nearly everywhere. Built like a human raven-startler and cloaked in dark essence. It was an unnatural hand that built that creature. It called itself Cern, I know that." He pawed the ground lightly, then said "I fear I cannot stay long..."

"Liar," Malu'urim spat, turning back to his pack and barking "We're leaving."

"Raven-startler...a scarecrow? A moving, living scarecrow named Cern...that dark essence would definitely cause the aura, but it just seems...so unnatural. And a little familiar." Cyprus looked down at Malu'urim, then sighed. "Please don't be angry, Wolf-Watcher. You can leave. There's...well, just...stay safe." He rubbed his arm, then reached down and scratched Malu'urim behind the ears.

The great wolf immediately barked and moved away, saying "Do not degrade me to the level of a common dog by petting me! I will not be made tame to human hands by the likes of anyone." He shook his thick gray fur, then softened a bit and said "We have survived for many long years, Cyprus. None shall kill us quite so easily." He hesitated, then very carefully bent his head and pressed against Cyprus' leg for a moment before pulling away and barking orders to his pack.

Ronan watched him quietly, apparently only speaking when he had to.