The Forgotten Zodiac

Forin reached after Luen, though it was no use. "LUEN!" He screamed, clearly not seeing properly. All he saw were people dragging his dear friend off. The one he was enduring all this pain for, so the kirin wouldn't have to...he had to save Luen...!

Forin twisted himself around, punching Dulce in the chest. But this time, something was different. His arm was red and black, pointed into a spike. Dulce snarled and fell off of Forin, pushing himself away. He knew corruption when he saw it. So did about half of the crowd. Utter silence overcame the stadium as Forin staggered to his feet and stumbled forward, falling onto Dulce and hitting him with the spike. Again. And again. And again.

Dulce's screams of panic and pain were cut short, but Forin didn't stop his attack. He thrust his spike-arm into Dulce's gut, his stomach, his head. The deed was done, but Forin couldn't stop. There was no cheering. When Drew, a large black owl, lightly hit Forin with one wing, the Tartaran finally stopped. Then he did something completely unexpected; he grabbed Dulce's limp hand and forced the claws into his arm, just above the corruption at his elbow. He did the same with Dulce's other hand, then kicked his own arm until it broke in that spot. From there, it was just a few long moments of tugging before his arm came off, corruption and all. His disembodied arm returned to normal after it was disconnected, and Forin was left to put his forehead to the black rock ground and scream.

He screamed and screamed until Titus approached, picking up the torn-off arm with a small sigh. "Naminai can reattach this, thankfully...Forin, stop--" He stopped when he looked down at the Tartaran; he was crawling to his feet, holding his bloody stump and staggering towards Luen and those who had bound him and dragged him away.

"Le-let go..." Forin whispered, not recognizing the Tartarans through the despair in his eyes. Or perhaps he was just blinded by exhaustion. "Get away...from him..." He stumbled closer, collapsing next to Luen while he struggled to retain his consciousness. He might not wake up... "Luen...te-tell Diana...I love her..." He wheezed before dropping into a gracious, deep unconsciousness.

"Why are you crying, Lexi?" Remor tutted. He had just given her a grand tour of the castle he lived in. Beautiful, large, and 'all to themselves'. She couldn't move, but she could still cry. He mopped up her tears with a handkerchief that he happened to have. "There, there..." He gently stroked her cheek with his knuckles, hugging her tightly from behind. "I'm here. I'll always be here, just as I always have been. And now, you're with me. I'll protect you. I'll take care of you. Forever." He smiled, and had to mop up more tears a moment later.

"There it is," Werr pointed ahead, to the rift of plains that they had been in. They easily found the white table among the amber grass and fall-seasoned trees. A quick descent later, and everyone climbed off of the firey dragon. "Should we...start digging?" Werr suggested, not sure what else to do.

((Yech, Remor. Would he do anything to her while she's like that?))

Welk lunged forward as soon as everyone was off, beginning to tear up the ground in a frenzie. It was sad to see him so utterly upset, and Werr knew he would act the same (or perhaps even worse) if he was the one missing.

"ISSLIA!" Welk shouted as loudly as he could, tearing his claws through the ground. "Where are you?! ISSLIA!"

((Not that I can think of. He's already done enough by freezing her up. xD))

"Welk, calm down," Werr pleaded desperately, but that was pretty much useless.

"Use your nose, Welk!" Fawn insisted. "Pick up her scent and follow it. You should be able to locate at least part of a trail..." Indeed, if Welk would only turn to his senses, he would find the exact spot that the ground had swallowed Isslia. Digging there for a short while would reveal a rocky tunnel. Isslia wasn't directly there, but finding her would be easy; the sharp rocks she had landed on had obviously hurt her. There was a trail of blood leading off in one direction, bloody footprints that were splattered in such a way that it was easy to assume that she had been running.

((True.))

Welk found the spot and tore the ground up, shifting back to lion form in order to follow the trail better. "Isslia!" he cried, plunging off after the footprints.

"Welk!" Seria called. "Welk, wait for us! We need to stay together!"

He ignored her, as she wasn't the one who could control him.

Cynyr growled out a sigh, then grabbed Werr's shoulder and gave him a careful push after Welk, saying "He's your best friend. You get him." He followed right after, one hand clutching Seria's.

"Right..." Werr blinked, sighing a bit. "Welk! Come back, we have to stick together!" He cried out, his voice bouncing around the cave. "We-elk!" He called, turning around and about, glaring at the doom and gloom of the cave. The walls had handprints and Isslia's bloody footprints were only getting thicker with blood as they slowed. Eventually, he came to a fork in the 'road'. Werr followed the trail, but it went slightly into one cave...then looped around and went another way. Werr looked down the cave that Isslia hadn't gone down, and immediately stopped.

He found himself staring at a monster. It had elongated arms and legs, and stood upon them like an animal would, but it was still clearly human. Or...used to be. A Soulless Strider. Werr backed up several paces, terrified, but it didn't even look at him with its black, dead eyes. It walked right past him, then lowered its head and smelled the blood trail. It started following it.

"Welk...Welk! Get Isslia away, get her out now!" He yelled down the cave, realizing at once that the Strider had targeted the owner of the blood. What would the freak do to Isslia...?

Welk suddenly appeared behind Werr, stumbling into the boy and causing them both to fall over. "What the heck?!" Welk gasped, peering down at the boy in the dim light. "Werr? How did you get- oh nevermind! Just come on!" He pulled Werr up and shoved under his legs, getting him onto his back, then plunged off down the cave, calling for Isslia and following her footsteps as fast as he could. Werr could hear the desperation in his voice. He was scared and Werr could feel it.

Werr held on tightly as they raced down the cave. He couldn't see the Strider anymore...but they definitely didn't pass it...what was going on? Welk immediately stopped when they heard a small whimper and a cry; they started running faster. Of course they would.

Isslia was leaning up against a wall, a nice blood puddle on the floor that showed that she had definitely been sitting here for awhile. But the puddle was only getting larger as the Soulless Strider was bent over her, its teeth impossibly clamped around her side, crushing her ribcage. She squirmed and struggled, flopping over onto her side and trying desperately to get away. Her bloodshot eyes fell on Welk and Werr, and she reached out to them desperately.

"Welk..." She spluttered breathlessly. "He-help...me..."

"GET OFF HER!" Welk screamed, spreading his wings and using them to tump Werr gently off of his back as he slammed into the Strider, closing his powerful jaws over its throat. It released Isslia to try and get him, but it was far too late. Welk dragged it off into the darkness, where his dear friends couldn't see the monster that he became when he was this angry.

When he stepped out of the shadows again, he was covered in the black blood of the Strider. "Isslia," he said desperately, running over to her and licking the blood from her face.

"Welk...Weelk..." Isslia moaned, clinging to him desperately. Werr moved forward and inspected her wounds; aside from the bite marks and broken ribs, she had deep cuts and holes in her back, points of sharp rocks dug painfully into her flesh and bleeding profusely. Her head was bleeding too, but that didn't matter quite as much; she didn't seem to have a concussion, but...she definitely wouldn't survive if they couldn't find a way to heal her. Blood transfusions only went so far.

Isslia sobbed weakly into Welk's fur, then kissed him desperately on his furry lips. "I ca-can't get that taste ou-out of my mouth..." She whispered, trembling terribly. "I was so scared...s-so scared..."

He shifted to human form, holding her close and kissing her softly. When she pulled back, he cuddled her to his chest, trying to stem her bleeding by pressing his hands over her wounds. "You'll be okay," he said quickly, his panicked eyes looking desperately to Werr for guidance, for comfort, for the special compassion and love that only Werr could give him. "Seria!" he then cried, tilting his head back and wailing the red-furred half-cat's name. "Seria, we need you! Seria!"

Isslia soon started going limp, and muttered things about being tired. Werr stood and moved towards the tunnels they had come from; "Seria, quickly!" He called, unaware of the trouble that was currently being caused. That was, until he heard the scream.

There were more than just one Soulless Strider lurking about down here. There were at least three surrounding the other group, and they had one target; Malice. They whispered words that were lost without translation, trying desperately to get the boy away from Fawn. She, however, was stronger than her thin, frail form let on; her soul, like Welk's, was a little more advanced. She had transformed into a huge snake, curling around Malice protectively, but the Striders were not amused. They struck with anger and fury, digging their arm-spikes into Fawn's coils.

Malice screamed and ducked his head away from the Striders, obviously very afraid. This was his mother they were hurting, and he couldn't help her. At least, until a small shadow brushed his cheek and he realized that his powers were leaking out without his knowing. He glanced up as Cynyr leapt over Fawn's head in panther form, slamming into one of the Striders and mauling it to death. Before it died, though, it managed to rake its claws down his face and shoulder, right over his empty eye. He yowled, then chomped down into its neck, killing it.

Malice watched in horror, then grew angry and clenched his hand into a fist, pointing it at the remaining Striders. His shadows arched outwards at once, wrapping around the creatures and crushing them.

The Striders shrieked, not expecting such an attack. One of them managed to crawl over Fawn's coil and reach out towards Malice. The two locked eyes for a split second, and Malice could see desperation in its dull eyes. It almost had Malice, but the shadows threw it against a wall and squeezed the remaining life out of it before it could touch the boy.

Fawn relaxed and transformed again, returning to normal. She hugged her boy tightly, kissing him on the forehead and making sure he wasn't hurt. She was bleeding from her sides, but she didn't care.

"Seria!" Werr panted, having ran here. "Isslia is losing way too much blood, you've got to help," He looked around at the Striders, then shook his head in concern. "We've got to get out of here..."

Seria blinked at him, then shifted forms and moved off in the direction Werr had came from, running as fast as she could.

By the time she got there, however, she was too late.

Welk was holding Isslia as tight as he dared, rocking back and forth weakly with her in his arms, sobbing. She was utterly limp in his grip, not moving at all.

Seria didn't have to get close to know she was gone.

"You are not allowed to die!" Leodhaius shouted, shaking Sylas roughly. "Do you understand me?! SYLAS! YOU CAN'T GO! SYLAS! SYLAS!" He threw his head back and screamed out one of the worst notes they had ever heard in their lives, a gut-wrenching sound indeed.

Welk leaned into Werr, sobbing softly. Cynyr moved forward stiffly, sitting down next to them and gently putting his hand on Welk's shoulder. The half-cat immediately shifted so he was between his two older brothers, crying as though his heart and soul would be broken forever.

Leo stared down at the still body of his friend, saying nothing for a long time. Then he slowly and deliberately folded Sylas' hands over his chest, then quietly curled up around his body, settling his head against his cold side. No matter what they did, then, they were unable to get him to move. "I'm finished," he said weakly. "I'm not moving until I die right here. I don't care. He was all I had left."

Cynyr and Welk stared at their father, then Cynyr slowly transformed into a panther and walked over, slowly nuzzling his father. "I...I'm sorry," he said quietly. "...Dad."

Then he turned to help his brothers and wife.

Seria shuffled over to her, looking pale and drawn. She was very, very upset, the same as everyone else, but she was also exhausted from all of her previous healing. She fixed Fawn up as best as she could, then shuffled back to Cynyr, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kept walking slowly with her. One of Welk's hands was held tightly in his other, and the blonde half-cat was being carefully pulled along by his siblings. His left hand was in Cynyr's and his right was in Werr's, thought they hardly needed it. He had his head resting against Werr's shoulder, still crying on and on, as if he could never stop.

Naybrin, who was walking just behind them, moved his hand up and gently brushed his claws through Welk's tail, watching as the half-cat flicked it down where he couldn't touch it again.