The Forgotten Zodiac

Cyprus wrung his hands together, shifting his weight around nervously. "I'm not...human." He muttered, shaking his head. He sighed and pet Ronan for a moment more before moving away. "Ronan, I know you'll do all you can to help these creatures in here. There's a lot of them..." He paused, watching as Werr led Lexi back inside, and Forin carried Diana back to the carriage. "Zela is nearby. Searching for something. Someone, as a matter of fact..."

Indeed, the Guardian of Magic was on the hunt for Naybrin. She had considered telling Werr alone, but...well, she didn't exactly trust the boy. She didn't trust his father, either. But she had to tell Naybrin to take extra care. He had to know what a danger all this was becoming...

She indeed found Naybrin, but it was to a shocking sight.

The great dragon king was solidly unconsious, fastened tightly to the ground by many, many ropes and chains, with loads of humans standing around him.

They were hunters, and a prize like Naybrin had been too great to past up. Poisoned water had done the trick to knock him out; they had created a small pool near a herd of wild sheep, filling the pond with an unscented potion meant to knock large animals out. It had taken over four bottles to do the trick, but here Naybrin was, deeply unconsious and missing more than a few scales, due to the hunters carefully hacking them off.

Judging by the large black pile of fur laying limply in a steel cage near the dragon, Naybrin wasn't the only prize for the hunters. Cynyr had fallen to them and their traps as well, and he looked much worse off.

Zela frowned. This was...well, bad. She couldn't interfere with human business. Naybrin had gotten himself trapped, this wasn't something she could stop...but there was someone. Someone she could bring here immediately. Someone with a lot of power and the abilities needed to take care of the problem. Zela focused, closing her eyes and reaching out with her magic.

With a flash, Cyprus appeared amongst the humans. "Be rid of them, Demigod!" Zela snapped, unheard by the humans.

She immediately put her face into her palm when he screamed at the top of his lungs. Boy, had he changed...

Slowly, a scarred, black-furred head lifted, blinking a single eye slowly at the noise. Cynyr stared as several of the hunters turned to Cyprus, shouting and running to grab him. The panther sighed exhaustedly, not bothering to try and get up. He was exhausted from struggling, after all. Plus having his legs tied together didn't help. But with a soft exhale, he felt his wind powers slowly rise.

With a roar, a dragon made completely out of wind arched down out of the sky, bellowing as it ripped through the hunters. By the time they had given up and run away (or were dead), Cynyr was unconsious.

"Well...that worked, I guess." Zela tutted. "Cyprus, what just happened? That wasn't your magic. Have you lost your mind, you loopy Demigod?" She appeared, standing on Naybrin's head. She started purging the poison from his system, her eyes shut.

"No...just bits of my magic. It's hard to defend myself properly now..." Cyprus shuffled his feet worriedly. "What's going on? Why did you bring me here?"

"Because I thought you would help. Duh." Zela muttered. "Be quiet and let me work."

"Right..." Cyprus murmured, shaking his head. He turned, moving to search the dead bodies. It made him sad, but he searched regardless, eventually finding a small silver key. He used it to unlock Cynyr's cage, dragging the large panther out.

Cynyr shifted a bit at the contact, exhaling softly. He slowly roused back to consciousness, where he immediately began struggling to get loose once again. Once Cyprus untied him, he stood on the first try, ignoring the pain that shot through his joints. It was getting worse and worse, but he masked it well. Not even Werr or Welk or Seria knew the true extent of his pain.

He shook himself, saying "Where are the others?"

((I thought he was unconscious? xD))

"In a cave not far from here," Zela answered, knowing that Cyprus wouldn't be able to. She finished flushing the poison out of the great dragon's system, waiting for him to wake up. "You're welcome. Those poachers would have slayed you. They already started on Naybrin..." She tutted, shaking her head. "Are you okay? You don't seem like it...Cyprus can fix you, you know. He can fix a lot of things."

((Oh. Fixed that post, then. I'm tireeeeed.))

Cynyr snarled at her, saying "Mind your own business. I don't trust him." He turned and leapt into the air, spreading his air wings and heading off.

Naybrin began to stir at this time, mumbling in his sleep. He slowly opened one great green eye, exhaling softly. "Z...Zela..." he said, blinking.

((^ ^ S'okay~))

"First king, you could have gotten yourself killed," Zela immediately went into scolding mode. She sounded like a mother of some kind. "That was horrible! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Skies above..." She sighed, shaking her head. "Look, I don't have any time left. I have to check on the Temple of Stars soon. So pay attention. Cyprus, turn on your memory-thing, in case Naybrin forgets."

"Right." Cyprus nodded. He locked his eyes on Zela, walking a bit closer. His eyes turned blue, staying that color as Zela spoke.

"Your heart-bond with Werr Krow has only gotten worse. You're lucky this is a small wound; whatever injuries you might get are his too. It's called a Blood-Bond. And it's a problem, because now I can't remove it for some reason." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "His wounds will barely put a scratch on you, but you have to be careful. It doesn't matter what distance you are from him, he's probably wondering how he got scratches on his chest right about now. Your life and his are one and the same now. Goddess forbid you proceed to the Soul-bond stage...did you get all that? Should I repeat myself? Any questions?"

Naybrin blinked woozily, then said "Oh...I see. I didn't mean to let it progress this far...I'm sorry, Zela. You know I didn't mean to cause such a problem, for you or for Werr." He sighed heavily, then said "A Soul-bond...oh dear." He carefully stood up, snorting a few times and staggering before righting himself. He stretched his wings, flicking his tail lightly before sitting down, curling his tail around his legs.

((Haha, I didn't read it before you left. xD

ARE YOU GOING TO SACRIFICE NAYBRIN?! D: ))

"You're lucky that poison can't transfer. The amount of poison that you took in would have killed Werr instantly." Zela snorted, shaking her head. "Stop the records, Cyprus, I think Naybrin is awake enough now."

"Okay," The Demigod blinked, his eyes returning to its shifting pattern.

"Now then. I have to leave. If you have any questions, ask Cyprus. I think he knows more about the bonds than I do." Zela said, vanishing. "Don't get yourself killed, Naybrin. You'll condemn us all." She left without explaining what she meant in the slightest.

((Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuway. -roll roll roll-))

Naybrin watched her go, then shook himself again and said "We should return to the others, yes? I wouldn't like to keep them in fear of what has become of me any longer." He stood up and bent his head, taking the edge of Cyprus' shirt into his large teeth. He picked him up and placed him on his back, then turned and started walking, too tired to fly.

Cyprus crawled forward, sitting on Naybrin's head. "A Blood-bond, huh? That's pretty dangerous...but Zela's right, there's nothing we can do to break it. Not without...ending both of your lives." He murmured, shaking his head. He curled up next to Naybrin's horn, clinging on for dear life. "I don't want that. Goodness, no..."

"Well..." Naybrin said, walking casually along. "There is...one way. But it is a way I hope never happens." He sighed, then said "Mostly because it requires death in one of the worst ways and forms." He shook his wings, then said "No matter. I don't see it happening anytime soon." He shrugged, walking along with carefully placed steps.

"No, no, anything but that," Cyprus whimpered. "I don't want that. I...I don't want Werr to suffer, b-but...you'll take good care of him before you even start to consider doing that, right?" He watched as they approached the cave. Cynyr was already there, obviously. Cyprus sighed and looked down at the thought of the panther. "I can help him...why doesn't he trust me? Hundreds of people who have never, ever seen me before...they trust me, just from what they read out of my book. Why...why not him? I only want to help..."

Naybrin hummed and watched Cynyr discreetly as the panther was greeted by his brothers and wife, with all due enthusiasm. The dragon king smiled as Welk began happily rubbing all over his brother's sides, purring and getting his mane all messed up. "Well, you can hardly blame him for his wariness," Naybrin said, laying down quietly. "He has improved on his feelings, but one will always carry the fear of abuse with them after they have experianced it. He is no exception. He knows you carry great power, and he does not trust you for it. If you were to use your powers on him, he knows he would have to be in a position that, to him, portrays weakness. He cannot bear to submit to another. That is why when he attaches to someone, he attaches strongly and powerfully. For then, that person truly means something to him. They would be a fool to not value something like that. A knight that would truly lay down their very life...so you may live."

"I...see. So I have to gain his trust first?" Cyprus tilted his head to the side, mostly understanding what Naybrin was saying. He, too, feared things of that sort. He was no stranger to the bite of a cold steel blade. "But how can I do that if he doesn't understand me? No one really understands me...even if they can hear me, sometimes I wonder if they really know what I'm saying..." He sighed, looking downcast. "I must seem like a baby to them. I can't talk, and I'm often helpless in this big world of theirs..."

"And I'm old and possibly long-gone senile! But I don't let that stop me, do I?" Naybrin said with a smile and a laugh. "And before they could understand me, they had to drink dragon blood. Blood, of all things! Perhaps you just need to find that one thing that breeches the boundaries, hmm? Who am I to say?" He showed off long white fangs, then bent his head to blow Werr's hair back with a sharp gust from his nose.

"Naybrin," Werr smiled, pushing up against the great dragon's muzzle. "We were going to look for you if you weren't back by sunrise. It's so good to see you..."

"I guess..." Cyprus sighed. "Are you going to tell him? About the Blood-Bond? I think you should. He'll know to be careful, too...but then, if you get hit in the chest hard enough, he'll figure out pretty quickly...and then he'll be dead. Might as well tell him..." The Demigod stayed on Naybrin's head, looking away still.

"Yes, it's good to see you too," Naybrin said, giving his head a slight shake to make Cyprus hush. "In fact...I have something to tell you. It's about our bond, you see... It is no longer a mere emotion bond, a Heart-bond. It is now a Blood-bond."

Welk's ears perked immediately.

"Basically..." Naybrin said. "...our bond has strengthed in a good and bad way. The good is that we are ever closer because of it. The bad is that whatever wounds one of us receives, the other does too. This isn't serious for something on you. I can take that. But if I, who is so much bigger than you, were to receive many horrible wounds...there is a good chance you'll die."

Welk, who was watching from the corner of his eye and listening intently, blinked and fixed Werr with his powerful gaze.