The Forgotten Zodiac

Zephyr sensed Obelisk's thoughts, then turned to him and said "I'm sorry to ask these things of you, Sharp-Spirit, but I promise I will make it worth your while. Somehow." He turned and leapt into the sky, toting Boko with him as they flew off. It wasn't long before they came up onto the drakeling home, just in time to see Flora be led inside, the two little ones still clutched in her claws.

Zephyr nodded, landing very quietly and folding his wings up. He let Obelisk off, then shrunk down and perched on Boko's head, peering down at the drakeling base. "This will be hard," he said. "But I have faith in your powers, Obelisk. I trust you. And again, if you do this, I swear I'll make it worth your while. I have something special in mind." He stared downwards again, then said "How will we do this?"

"Well," Obelisk said quietly. "With Boko here, perhaps it will be easier. Child," He looked carefully at Boko, who was a bit taller than himself. "Can you locate Du'uru's room from the surface?"

"Yes," Boko nodded eagerly. "But it's pretty deep down..."

"Can you guide us there, then dig down to where he is?"

Boko thought for a long while. "Yes," He said quietly. "I think I can. But he'll be able to smell you, and--"

"Saliva," Obelisk said without hesitation. "That should be enough to smother my own scent, correct?"

"Yes. Yes, it will." Boko said after another pause for thought. "You're a good thinker."

"Thank you." Obelisk smirked a bit, but it was wiped right off of his face when Boko proceeded to practically eat him. When Boko spat Obelisk back out, the human was slimy with saliva. He wiped his eyes and made a small 'hmph' noise, but ignored his displeasure and discomfort. His dignity was unaffected by this. Boko licked his father as well, just to be certain. Then they all started walking, avoiding the main entrances entirely. Obelisk would have ridden on Boko's back, but the Drakeling's spine was still weak from the recent cracking and breaking.

Soon enough, they found the spot, and soon enough, Boko was digging down. Obelisk waited, not wanting to get in the way.

Zephyr chuckled, watching Boko dig and dig and dig, proud of his son for helping so much. He quickly grew serious, though, just waiting for the perfect chance to strike. One way or another, Du'uru's horrible treatment of the drakelings would end today. Yes, there were still some drakelings that stood by their insane king, but Zephyr didn't care. Too many innocent lives were being lost under Du'uru's leadership.

Digging tunnels in the sand was hard. Boko had to fire a lot of sand, making glass that kept the sand from falling back onto his workspace. It was far from easy, and the poor Drakeling's throat was sore by the time he reached rock. He carefully chipped away at it, his claws scraping against the rough surface, trying to get in without making too much noise. He managed to make a hole big enough for Obelisk, and the ancient being dropped down without hesitation.

Du'uru was not there. Obelisk, Zephyr on his shoulder, inched forward; he quickly found that there was a female here. Clearly Du'uru's mate. She was curled around an egg, and sleeping peacefully. Obelisk used his powers to get him to the exit in complete silence. Just through the entrance tunnel, there was another room. Clearly one that Du'uru used often, as a meeting room of sorts. He was there, along with a few others.

"Let these lives gone be a lesson to them," Du'uru growled down at the Dragon children between his paws. "We are not to be taken lightly." There was already bloodshed, that much was clear. Du'uru reached his head down, then up again; he held Lutrez in his mouth for a moment, then attempted to bite down. He only bit down on Obelisk's shadows. Luztrez, limp and unconscious, didn't move. Du'uru seemed awfully confused, and he spat the child out again, frowning.

"Not to be taken lightly, eh?" Zephyr said, and he slipped forward easily and shot to his full height, growling. "How dare you..." he said softly, then his voice gained strength. "How DARE you kidnap innocent children, just to use them in your own sick, twisted purposes! I used to respect you, Du'uru, and I know Naybrin did too. You have lost any right to our trust. And today, I will see you fall." He snarled, knowing Obelisk would protect them well enough.

Du'uru stood at once. "I was making an example from them! I know you harbor those who are traitorous towards me! But now...I suppose I can just deliver your head to the Sacred Plains, and that will be that! I will rule your pathetic excuse for a dragon sanctuary." He bared his teeth at Zephyr, then threw the kids aside; they landed gently onto a soft blanket of shadows, which engulfed them.

Du'uru moved to attack Zephyr, but found that he could not. Again, the shadows stopped him. "You..." Zephyr growled dangerously, finally pinpointing the source of the magic. Obelisk glared at him, frowning.

He hardly even flinched as Du'uru skewered him on a claw, from the side of his neck down to his leg. A strike that would have killed a mortal man in an instant. He clearly felt pain, judging from the twitching and tensing of Obelisk's frame, but he wasn't dead. The only reason he wasn't screaming was thanks to the fact that his lungs had practically been shredded. So, the shadows spoke for him.

"You can only ever wish to kill me, Du'uru. I am Obelisk, lord of darkness and keeper of shadow. The immortal, the undying. Heck...I don't even WANT to die anymore. That time has passed. So I suggest you stop trying. Ugh...hurry up, Zephyr, he might try to eat me..." Du'uru stared in shock, then shook his claws so that Obelisk slid off, hitting the ground with a disgusting splat. It was a good thing the children were unconscious. Seeing a man practically ripped in half, standing up again...unpleasant, it was.

Zephyr thundered a horrible scream and slammed into Du'uru, upon which the battle of kings began. "You are nothing more than a murderer of your own people!" Zephyr shouted, kicking out and catching the sand king with his claws. "And you would kill CHILDREN?! Even I would never go so low as to steal and kill innocent little ones!" He sank his teeth into Du'uru's hide, feeling blows land on his own body as well. This was a fight during which he didn't want Obelisk's help. If he couldn't win this on his own, then he was not fit for the rule Naybrin had granted him.

Obelisk didn't care too much. He focused his attention on the drakelings currently attempting to enter the room, to help their precious king; he was keeping them contained. Obelisk realized with an alarming wobble that he was losing blood fast. He set to work on healing himself, finishing the painful task in a few moments. His lungs started to work again, and he was quick to cough up the blood that had pooled in them.

Obelisk watched the struggle after that. It was clear that Du'uru was stronger than Zephyr. He had the brawn, but he clearly lacked the brain...

"Entertaining, isn't it?" A cloud of purple mist formed next to him, shifting and taking the form of someone who appeared human. She cooed at Obelisk in a voice that Zephyr had heard before. "It's fun to watch them war with each other...it's so pointless. Oh, a child!" She exclaimed happily as Boko slid in behind Obelisk. She petted him happily, but he recoiled, wanting to watch the fighting. He was scared...that much was obvious. If father lost...

The two kings fought and struggled against each other, and Zephyr rapidly began to lose. The emerald dragon roared and screamed as Du'uru locked his jaws around his neck, thrashing violently in effor to free himself. He blew fire as soon as he pulled away, knowing that was one of the few things that drakelings were weak against for dragons. But his fire was dimming too, so weak he was getting.

If he was going to win this, he had to outsmart the other king.

He started keeping his distance, leaping around the cave, staying light on his toes. Waiting for the perfect moment to use his agility to his advantage. He glanced up, seeing how unstable several of the ceiling's large rocks were, then wondered what would happen if a heavy drakeling rammed into the wall.

He was determined to find out.

Du'uru was not without fire of his own, though he knew it wasn't effective against Zephyr. He approached slowly, confident that he had all but won. An ugly smirk was on his face as he spoke again. "Giving up already? Running away like the coward you always were, and always will be? Pathetic...I should have let up a little, I suppose...I'll go easy on you until your death," He grinned cruelly, catching Zephyr's arm with his claws, easily tearing through the scales. "Well, I'm satisfied you aren't cheating by using that man...hm...why don't you?" He bared his teeth in disgust.

"Because...I will...never... become a cheating, lying, disgusting, worthless worm like you," Zephyr snarled, braceing himself as Du'uru immediately threw him to the side out of anger. Zephyr crashed into the side of the wall, shaking his head and scattering blood. He glanced up, seeing many of the thick, bone-crushing rocks shift and move, then slowly staggered up, his legs shaking. "It's people like you that make this world a terrible place," Zephyr spat, blood trickling from his mouth. "And I will not allow you to ruin it anymore."

Du'uru snarled dangerously, then let out a blast of fire. It was more of a distraction than anything; the great Sand King charged forward, teeth aimed at Zephyr's neck, ready to tear him to shreds. There was cheering from the Drakelings behind the transparent curtain; they had given up on trying to break through, and were now just watching.

"Disgusting, writhing creatures," Yemara's ghostly form made a face of disappointment. "This is awfully boring..."

"Shoo," Obelisk waved a hand at her, leaning against the wall. He had indeed lost a massive amount of blood, but he wasn't in danger of passing out or anything. There would just be some...interesting scars left behind.

For Zephyr, everything suddenly seemed to move in slow motion. He smiled softly, his muzzle curling into the delicate move as blood dripped through the contures of his scales. He spread his wings and leaped neatly out of the way, spinning in midair in order to avoid the charging drakeling.

Du'uru hit the wall with a bone-jarring thud, like a truck driving at full speed hitting the world's biggest, heaviest brick wall.

Immediately, several of the huge rocks in the ceiling came loose, falling down to crush and pin parts of the drakeling's body beneath them. A wing, his tail, a leg. Crushed and mangled.

The roar that followed only shook more rocks loose. A particularly large one landed on Du'uru's head, silencing him instantly. Blood seeped out from the crack between the rock above and the floor below.

"Oh, dear. You killed my pawn," Yemara floated over, alighting on the rock and peering down at the mess. She looked up at Zephyr with a small smirk. "Now I need another one. Another pet to manipulate the mind of..." She floated up towards him, only to be deterred by Obelisk's powers.

"Don't let her touch you, Zephyr, she'll break into your mind and manipulate you. Just like she did for Du'uru." Obelisk growled. 

"Hmph! You're no fun. Doesn't matter, though. I still have my plans. You've done nothing but stopped me from going after a certain other Demigod..." She tutted, turning away and starting to fade. "I'll get to him eventually. Tah for now~!"

((It's okay. It's partly my fault, for not waking up on time regularly...I'll try hard tomorrow. I have indeed been missing my time with you, and not just being away from it, but actually missing it. Like, wishing I had more. If that makes sense. .3.

I forgive you. How could I stay mad? I was never mad to begin with, one way or another. And ^ ^ I will try to think of those things, and thank you very much for them angels. I will remember that you're praying for me, and hopefully, that will make it better...))

Zephyr snarled after her, then looked sadly down to the pile of rocks that were now Du'uru's final resting place. He sighed, closing his eyes, then gently breathed out a burst of sacred flames. Flames that were usually saved for the death of royalty, or a close family member. Du'uru had lost all of his rights to this sacred spirit fire, but Zephyr was so kind that he did it for the fallen drakeling anyways. Slowly, Du'uru's body melted away under the beautiful, crackling green fire, fading into dust. Then there was a tiny silver crystal left behind, with a teardrop shaped green center. Zephyr picked it up, then limped heavily out with the others, going outside, where the other drakelings were gathered. None of them dared to so much as snarl at Zephyr; because now, they were all officially prisoners of war. Whatever Zephyr deemed to do with them would be final.

((n_n Mmmm~ -huggles-))

((-hugs tight and doesn't let go-))

Obelisk followed, staggering a bit; Boko helped support him, following his father without hesitation. "Papa...what now?" He whimpered, but Obelisk quieted him and insisted that Zephyr would explain when the time was right. Right now, they had to be careful with what they said or did; it could be the difference between a revolt or a peaceful acceptance of what just happened.

((:3 -on nom bunny tail-))

Zephyr kept walking, pausing to pick up Shiya and Lutrez while hoping he would have time later to comfort his son. The drakelings crept behind him, looking at each other in concern and fear. What would become of them? Du'uru had told them terrible things about Zephyr. That he was a violent, vicious leader.

The wounded dragon slowly dragged himself up onto the large rock that overlooked the sandy village. He panted for a moment, then lifted his head and spoke.

"Du'uru is dead. It's the not words any of you wanted to hear, and...it wasn't what I wanted to do. In the end, he killed himself. Not just with the fight, but in his rule of his people. No leader, no matter what, should treat their people with such disrespect. The lives of the children. Of the mothers and fathers."

He was quiet for a moment, then lifted the small crystal that held Du'uru's essence. The spirit of his scales was inside the tiny crystal, and by all rights, it belonged to Zephyr, as the winning king. But with a small breath of fire over it, he blessed it and held it out to Du'uru's family. "I will not keep this," he said softly. "It belongs to those who loved him, despite his actions."

He sighed, then said "I also claim no right to the rule of the drakeling people. I will help in selecting a new leader for you, but I will not impose my ideals and thoughts upon your home. This is the place where the drakelings live, and I will not squander it. But I cannot allow the murder of eggs and children to go on. And if anyone would defy this, step forward now and meet my teeth and claws." He snarled softly, and was pleased when nobody moved.

"Children are the life of the people," he said softly. "If you squander this...if you crush it out...you will have no future."

He closed his eyes, and they saw a single, great tear slipped out, splattering harmlessly on the rocks below. "Warriors," he said, looking up at the drakelings. "Some of your families are in the Sacred Plains. I will not hold them there, neither will I deny you the right to come see them until the matter of a new leader is settled. From now on, I want the gap between dragon and drakeling to be bridged. I will not hold anger towards allowing drakelings into the home of dragons, so long as you would behave, of course. What I want...is a world where our two kinds can live in peace. Where the thought of a dragon adopting a baby drakeling, or vice versa, isn't met with fury and ostrisizing. I want us to live as one. If a dragon wanted to live among the drakelings, then why not? If the drakelings wanted to live in the Sacred Plains with the dragons, then why not? I want peace between our kinds. I want one world.

"That...is what I want."

He went silence, lowering his head wearily.