The Forgotten Zodiac

Yuule, Du'uru's mate, took the crystal into her mouth. She tucked it into the small pouch meant for carrying infants and eggs, then stepped forward. She ran her muzzle along Zephyr's neck, and draped her tail across his claws. A sign that meant respect and the desire to no longer fight. "This is what most of us want. Du'uru...manipulated the majority of us through fear for our families lives. But there's no longer a need for that..."

"The first need wasn't a very good one in the first place," Another piped up, his head low.

"Well...I believe we can handle the rest alone. You've done much already, Zephyr," Yuule murmured, eying his wounds. "You require rest and healing. Would you allow us to help you, or would you rather return to your home for that?"

Zephyr exhaled, gently touching her muzzle with his own in a sign of respect, then said "I wanted to breech the gap between us. I will live by example. Yes, I would gladly accept your help, as...as I doubt I could make it back without following Du'uru a-as well..." His eyes fluttered and he stumbled, trying to keep his hold on the rocks, but it was clear that he was through. He slipped into unconsciousness and fell from the rocks, landing with a harsh thud on the sand below. No amount of nudging or lick could rouse the king. His body needed to rest.

"Papa, Papa," Boko whimpered, nuzzling his father fearfully. Yuule and another Drakeling carefully picked up Zephyr and moved him into one of the nesting rooms, where it was the warmest and calmest. Obelisk dragged himself into the room, quick to start healing Zephyr while Boko snuggled down for the night.

Yuule eyed Obelisk curiously. "You...are the undying one. I have heard much about you...Du'uru did not recognize you."

"His bad." Obelisk shrugged, turning away. "I'm not hurt."

"Well, I suppose I should just...leave you be," She turned away, leaving the room. She returned not long after with a large pile of food. After that, they were left alone.

Zephyr slept for a long time, regaining his strength, and it was many hours before he stirred again. And even then, it was only for a moment. He woke for a few minutes in order to eat a bit and get a drink, then he passed out again. He was a very sick dragon, sick from the loss of so much blood in only a few days. So mostly he slept, unless Boko was able to push and tug and nudge at him long enough to get him up for a drink, which was important. But mostly, Zephyr slept.

Shiya and Lutrez were both escorted into the room, having woken since the incident with Du'uru.

"Shiya! Lutrez!" Boko wailed at once, running and practically tackling his friends. He nuzzled them eagerly, and led them over to where Zephyr was sleeping. "Papa is very tired, but he'll take us back home soon. Look, this man is here," He said, smiling and nuzzling Obelisk. He blinked at the child, then sighed.

"My name is Obelisk, small one." He said with a small smile.

"Ob-blah-lisk?" Boko tilted his head to the side.

"Just...call me Lennon. Can you say Lennon?" Obelisk smiled a bit, referring to the alias that he had taken up for work.

"Lemon! Yes!" Boko nodded eagerly. "Lemon here helped us, and he protected me."

"Your father did most of the work."

"You still helped." Boko purred and nuzzled him, then nuzzled Shiya. "I was afraid they would kill you...they nearly killed you, Lutrez. I was really scared..."

"I hurt," The boy whimpered, looking exhausted and weak. He was holding his wings at awkward angles, implying that they were broken. His arm was missing a large chunk of skin; Du'uru's claws had taken it right off. But the wound had been cauterized, so it wasn't bleeding, but he was being extremely careful with the aching wound.

Shiya cried into Boko's scales, still very much afraid of her surroundings. "I want to go home," she sobbed, peering up at Boko through watery purple eyes. "It's scary here, I don't like it." She pressed into his scales, whimpering over and over.

Zephyr stirred a bit at the crying, slowly opening his eyes. "Boko...?" he questioned softly, shifting a bit and clenching his claws in the soft dirt below him. "Where are you?"

"I know, I know," Boko murmured to her, licking her muzzle. He nudged her closer to Zephyr, so he could keep his front curled around Shiya while he put his tail on Zephyr's claws. "Here, Papa. I'm right here." He cooed.

"Everything's fine. Nothing to be concerned about." Obelisk said, forming a small group of shadows into a cup. He fearlessly reached into Zephyr's mouth and dragged the cup against one of the great dragon's teeth, getting a good bit of saliva. He poured it on Lutrez's arm, taking care not to hurt the small dragon.

Zephyr shifted slightly, seeming to breathe a little easier with the location of his son known. He slowly managed to get up, half limping, half dragging himself to the small, clear waterfall pool in the corner of the cave. He lapped slowly at the water, then paused and stared into the depths for a moment before plunging his head below the surface, pulling it out a moment later. The cool water had felt good when it soaked into his scales. He moved back to the others and laid down, falling back asleep for a few more hours.

Shiya nuzzled into Boko, shivering with fear.

Boko kept nuzzling and licking Shiya. "Are you hurt? Are you hurting, Shiya? Don't be scared, don't cry, please..." He murmured to her, over and over and over again. Obelisk soaked a rag in Zephyr's saliva, wrapping it around Lutrez's arm, in order to keep the infection out.

"I can't do anything for your wings," He said quietly. "Not if you don't mind pain."

"F-fix it, please..." He whimpered. He immediately regretted his words when the shadows popped the bones back into place. He moaned and cried and whimpered, but Obelisk made him hold still until he was finished.

"Ohhh, it's okay, Lutrez...Lemon is good at fixing things. He fixed daddy." Boko crooned, finding it hard to comfort both of his friends at once.

Shiya clung to Boko like a baby monkey clinging to its mother, sniffling and whimpering when he moved around.

A few more hours passed. When Zephyr woke again, he stayed awake. Having recovered enough to get up, he decided they needed to go home and let the others know of what had happened. "Come on, little ones. Let's say goodbye to the drakelings," he soothed, picking up Obelisk and placing him on his back before lowering his head and herding the younglings out of the room. He carried Lutrez, as he was the youngest.

Lutrez was passed out one way or another, unable to walk much. "I did what I could for his arm. Your saliva is potent, but I don't think it's enough to regrow his flesh." Obelisk said, looking down at the little dragon. It pained him to see someone so young hurting so. He had a son, after all.

Zephyr closed his eyes, then said "There's only one that could ever heal something like that, but he's far, far away from us now. Lutrez will bear a scar of this terrible war, a sign to both of our people of the price the youngest pay for our idiocy." He sighed, then gently planted a soft lick on Lutrez's head, almost like apologizing for what he had lost. "At least he didn't lose his entire arm," he said softly before stepping out into the sunlight.

Zephyr nodded exhaustedly, then said "As soon as we get back, though, I have something for you and your wife." He lifted off, flapping his wings steady, yet slowly, as they headed back to the Sacred Plains.

Vaira was waiting there, of course, with the other two dragon mothers.

They rushed Zephyr as soon as he landed. Salana swept Lutrez into her claws and Shiya's dark red father, Aldun, picked her up and held her close. "Darling, darling," he soothed, licking her and letting her cry against him.

"Daddy..." she said tearfully, sniffling and heaving against him. "Mother...?"

"She's fine," he said softly, licking and kissing all over her. "Come on, let's go to her." He trotted off at once, taking his beloved only daughter with him.

Salana was weeping and thanking Zephyr over and over again for saving her little boy. Lutrez started to stir, and the second he realized where he was, he wailed and cried and tucked himself close to his mother. She returned to her nest swiftly, needing time alone with her child.

"Fawn...where's Fawn?" He looked up at Vaira expectantly. When he got his answer, Boko volunteered to take Obelisk up to her; she was back at the king's cave, of course. She was too intimidated by Vaira to let her carry her anywhere, after all. But Obelisk didn't like what he saw when they returned to the cave. Fawn was lying on the floor, unmoving even when Obelisk gently called her name. He ran forward the second Boko set him down. He lifted her easily, checking for breathing, a pulse, anything; she still had a pulse, but her breathing was dreadfully faint. Obelisk was quick to look around for the syringe. He spied it -- under Boko's feet.

"Oops. I brokeded something." Boko blinked, wiping his foot against the ground.

Obelisk would have been mad (rather, furious), but Fawn was still alive. "Stay with me, Fawn...can you hear me? Y-you should have used the syringe, what were you thinking?" He murmured, reaching into her throat with his shadows and dragging out the blockage of blood and mucus. She coughed at once and heaved, looking up at him and letting out a raspy whimper. "It's okay, I've got you..." He was quick to hug her tightly, closing his eyes. "We need to get home, and quickly..." Her breathing was still obviously troubled and uneasy, and her pulse was weaker than normal.

Zephyr followed Obelisk into the cave, watching in concern. He frowned, then said "Obelisk, now is the time for me to give what I wished you to have." He turned without hesitating and fastened his teeth into one of his large, beautiful, glimmering emerald scales and didn't hesitate to rip it loose from his body, ignoring the splatter of blood. He pushed it into Obelisk's hand, saying "None of us dragons are skilled enough to concoct the potion, though...only those of Grey's lineague were gifted with the perfect art, and they rarely told others. It was a great loss, really... But perhaps you could figure it out? Grey's old alchemy table is still here." He pointed towards the back of the cave, past all of the treasure and ancient dragon skulls, to the dusty set used by Naybrin's son.

"I am a being of many years and many misfortunes. I studied for many years in a healing school, under a dragon by the name of Yash. I failed thrice, but...perhaps I can make something of the knowledge that I - rather, Remor - gained." Obelisk said quietly. "I'll use what I can." He said quietly, lifting Fawn and setting her in a chair of shadows which floated smoothly after him as he stood and walked to the table. When he was there, he was quick to open up what appeared to be a wooden case there. Cylanders, empty syringes, and a lot of powdered chemicals in small glass bottles. Obelisk inspected several of them; a lot of them looked sealed. After careful consideration, he pulled out the unsealed ones, though he made sure they were still good. He looked at what all he had; purified water, some ground root of some kind, flakes of dried dragon saliva, and...what looked like picked fish. Obelisk wrinkled his nose and set that one aside, figuring it was just a snack.

There were a few others, too, but not much else. Obelisk glanced up at Zephyr. "How often did Grey make the potion? How often did he use this set?" He questioned before flicking his hand a certain way. A shadow started scrubbing the dust and dirt off of the instruments, moving quickly so Obelisk could start as soon as possible.

"Not often, from what I remember. Naybrin might know more. Grey was his son, after all," Zephyr said. "But I can remember it being used a few times. There was a dragon who had his leg and tail crushed in a rockslide, one who was infected with a terrible disease, a female that started to have complications in her egg-birth, a youngling that hatched sickly... Not too many times that I can remember, but enough, I suppose." He tilted his head forward and studied the contents of the table, then said "I know the potion had a unique appearance and smell once he was done. It was foggy-white, tinted the color of the scale used, and it wafted smoke and bubbled. It also had a special smell, though I can't really explain it well. Perhaps oaky with a bit of spice to it? I'm not sure."

"Hm. I would have preferred a number, but..." Obelisk frowned, looking at the chemicals. "The ones that have the most missing from the bottle would be the ones he used the most. In fact," He picked up the crushed root, frowning. "This bottle looks newer than the others. It's been replaced, likely more than once. I can safely guess that this was used the most of," He set it aside, inspecting the other bottles. He came up with average amounts, though he realized that he had no way of measuring how much exactly he had to use, or know if there was anything he was missing. It was...irritating. Fawn started coughing again, which only renewed Obelisk's vigor. Obviously, he needed some water to get things started. Most potions had a base of water, or a water solution.

Zephyr watched him, then said "I remember Grey creating a sort of boiling mixture that was strong enough to melt the scale down, magic and all. It would've had to be potent to do that..." He thought it over, looking at the supplies on the table, then said "Oh! I see. You need one of the perishble things." He turned and limped out of the cave, speaking quickly to one of the dragons outside. She ran off and returned soon with a large burning stone in her mouth, which she set down inside before moving away.

"A fresh rock from the volcano," Zephyr said, placing a paw on the burning chunk of cooling lava. "Allow me to clip off as much as you need."