The Forgotten Zodiac

Naybrin shook his head slowly, crooning the low dragon-song of mourning. He wrapped his arms around Werr, resting his chin on his dark-haired head.

"Woe to Dark-Eyes, to Fire-Heart and Shadow-Step,

woe to Soft-Touch, Noble-Wing, and yet,

Silver-Tongue and Shadow-Heart will join them,

in the long cruel dark end,

with Echo-Song and Golden-Flower waiting just 'round the bend,

Ice-Wing he doth pray,

and hope it naught doth come true,

for we will be waiting,

just waiting for you."

He was silent after the soft melody, closing his eyes and sighing out his anguish.

They heard the screams almost before they saw the place.

Welk's head jerked backwards, lifting high on his reptillian neck. Those were screams he would recognize from anywhere, screams that seemed to sound like no other, for they were very rare. To procure screaming from this person was almost as hard as getting him to cry.

"Cynyr!" Welk screeched, plunging downwards towards the building and crashing right through the roof.

What he saw made his heart clench with freezing cold fear.

Cynyr was hanging by his wrists, which had been nailed to the ceiling, his chest and stomach cut open and most of his insides strung out. His other eye had been ripped from his head and he was covered in blood, and the only reason he was still alive was thanks to the various syringes seen sticking out of his neck and arms.

He screamed again, which was one of the worst sounds they had heard in their entire lives. Cynyr's screams were the most heart-wrenching of sounds...

Werr stumbled forward, looking around for someone to hit. There was no one. Werr took the ladder that had been propped up on the wall, as well as a hammer that had been on a shelf, then climbed up and pried the nails out. When Cynyr collapsed into Welk's arms, Werr moved forward and pried the syringes out. He threw them against the wall, one by one.

"I thought you wanted to keep us here...I thought you wanted us to see your 'dastardly plan'!" Werr screamed. "Now Lexi is dead," He threw another. "My father is dead," Another. "EVERYONE'S DEAD!"

"Yes...I wanted to make a Heartless Strider for you. They can be controlled by a multitude of hosts. Diana Hartlet is the perfect subject, but Galai wouldn't have that..." Remor replied thoughtfully, speaking from nowhere at all. Of course, this was his mind. He was in control."You're right. Lexanna is dead. I was going to make her a perfect world...one without annoying people, pesky pests...I would have shaved off the top layer of this land to reveal something new and brilliant. But Obelisk hates me. Imagine that, my own powers, turning against me...and you, too!" Remor snorted. "I guess I'll just have to show him his place before I carry out what I wanted. Even without Lexi to inhabit my new world...I'm done with this one. I can...hmm...keep Diana alive. I'll repopulate using her. And when she's old and infirmed, then I can make her a Heartless Strider..."

"Galai and Titus would never allow it!" Werr yelled.

"Galai and Titus are unaware of the seed of contempt I've sown in their own children. There are few I haven't reached, but...I'll get them soon. Kaislun will be ripped apart in a civil war. Amnairians against Tartarans. And all because the Tartaran big-boy Dulce was killed by a traitorous Amnairian-loving Forin. I've been working on that bit for awhile...it was beautiful. Lexi watched the fight with me. You should have seen it. Too bad."

((You have no idea how much my loathing of Remor has gone up. Like, over 9.

...Million.))

Welk screamed and set the room on fire, watching with tears flowing down his face as Seria screamed and wailed and frantically tried to close Cynyr's wounds, but it was far too late. Blood spurted from his mouth in heavy waves, and when Welk stumbled backwards in fear, he tripped over the remains of the panther's tail, discarded on the floor. It had been pulled off; not cut off, like Welk's had been. Pulled and torn right from Cynyr's body.

Welk sobbed and watched Werr cradle their sibling's head, hardly able to stand seeing Cynyr struggle.

The panther gasped and convulsed violently, trying hard to breathe around the blood filling his throat. He was obviously trying to say something, but couldn't get it out. Finally, he managed to sputter, ever so softly, "I...I'm...sc...sca...scared..."

His hand clutched Werr's very weakly. His other was held by Seria.

He died a moment later, and they were struck with the knowledge that he had died in complete and utter terror. It was not like the others had died, because Cynyr never openly showed his emotions that much.

He had died in fear.

Werr watched for a long moment, then threw more things at the wall. "I'm," He threw a chair. "Going," He threw a corner table. "To," He threw the nails. "Kill you!" He screamed at the wall, having nothing else to throw.

"Oh boy...the five stages of loss. You didn't go through denial at all, and you skipped through depression rather quickly, didn't you? Next, perhaps, you'll be begging to have them back. 'Take me instead, I'll take their place, just let them live!' Pah."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Werr yelled at him.

"No."

Welk, who had been sobbing with his arms wrapped around Cynyr's corpse, suddenly lifted his head slowly. Werr, Seria and Naybrin could only shiver at the look in his eyes. It was a demonic sort of look, filled with a hatred and anger that Werr knew should never belong on Welk's face.

"...Get out."

Instantly, there was silence. A powerful magic aura was surrounding them, exuded from Welk, blocking out Remor's voice for a little while.

Welk lifted Cynyr's body and hugged it close, whispering "He w-was afraid...h-he...h-he's n-never a-afraid. C-Cynyr's n-never afraid...n-not of a-anything...he...h-he..." He tilted Cynyr's head back, studying his brother's face, then slowly reached up and stroked his thumb over his scarred cheek, murmuring "He...he w-was c-crying..." He wiped away the small trails of water that had dripped down Cynyr's pale, lifeless cheeks, then pulled the corpse close again and cried.

Werr sat down slowly, unsure of what to do now. He knew one thing, they wouldn't be making it out of here alive. Obelisk had turned against them, Remor had all the power here...there was just no way. No way out. Werr cried, burying his face in his arms and crying. He moved one hand, picking up Cynyr's stiff tail, crying only harder as he looked down at it.

No way out.

It was a long time before they could bear to leave.

They buried Cynyr first. They took his body well away from the sick, twisted building that had stolen his childhood and laid him to rest in a field, under a tree. Something inside Seria seemed to have died, too. She looked utterly lifeless, her expression frightfully blank and dead. She flopped down on the ground next to the grave, not even looking up as Welk burned Cynyr's name into a heavy rock Naybrin set at the head. Seria laid quietly against the stone, one arm wrapped around it and the other resting over where Cynyr's head would lay. Tears dripped down her cheeks, but she didn't cry out loud. That was almost more scary and heartbreaking than if she did. Welk also didn't seem willing to move; he just sat by, rocking himself back and forth again, his eyes fixed on the ground. Naybrin stood by the tree, his head lowered in silent prayer.

Werr leaned back against the tree. He didn't seem too willing to move; until, of course, an arrow of shadow thudded into the tree, very close to his ear. He rolled away, getting back on his feet quickly in time to see shadows crawling up Seria's legs, literally turning them to stone. "NO!" Werr screamed, pulling and tugging at Seria desperately, but she was firmly glued in place already.

"I must...release you..." Obelisk rasped from the shadows under the tree. "I must bring her to Cynyr..."

"Stop it, stop it," Werr sobbed, stumbling back and falling into Naybrin's arms as the stone-spell crawled further up Seria.

Seria watched, not struggling or doing a single thing to stop it as the stone-crawl reached her hips. She merely rested herself against the stone, tears still dripping from her eyes. "Obelisk..." she murmured, and tears cascaded in a storm down her cheeks. Realization had dawned on her. "So...that's what...you're doing..." She moved her hand back and rested it in the shadows, stroking them only once before her hand was stone. She smiled, then turned to Welk and Werr, meaning to speak. "He's help-"

It was too late. The stone reached her mouth then, and only a moment later, took her completely.

Welk wailed and plunged backwards, then scrambled up and grabbed Werr so ferociously about his waist, clinging to him tighter than he ever had before. "No!" he cried. "Not Werr, not me! Not Naybrin! You already took Cynyr and Isslia and Lexi and Nate and Seria and our dads! Don't take them, please, don't leave me alone, I can't be alone, I WON'T be alone, I can't survive alone! I need Werr, don't take him, please, I can't leave him, I won't live without him!" He was growing frantic, and he was trembling from fear.

"I have to release you...Zephyr is here, Naybrin..." Obelisk whispered, the stone-crawl starting on Naybrin, next. Werr screamed, tearing out of Welk's grip and sobbing against Naybrin.

"No, no, no, you can't! Don't take him away!" Werr wailed.

"He's tired. He can't survive like this." Obelisk replied dully.

"Killing him won't help that! Obelisk, stop, Obelisk, don't, you can't...you can't..." Werr wailed, then crawled back to Welk before the stone-crawl could take him, too. He threw his arms around his dear friend and sobbed. "Get us away from here, Welk, take us away..."

Welk shifted to dragon form at once, then moved to grab Naybrin. The dragon, however, quickly pushed his claws away. "It's too late," he said creakily, shaking his head. He pointed to his legs, where the stone-crawl was already creeping up to his ankles. "I can't risk you getting it too," he murmured, his green eyes full of sorrow. "I'm sorry."

Welk screeched and slammed his tail into the ground, raging to the sky. "This...isn't...FAIR!" he bellowed, lashing his tail out again and again in anger.

Naybrin watched him sadly, then held his arms out to them and said "I can at least take one last hug, can't I? Just whatever you do, don't touch my legs."

Welk shifted forms, slowly shuffling over and wrapping his arms around the ancient dragon's frail human form.

Werr clung to Naybrin for as long as he could, then finally stepped away before it was too late. Tears streamed down his face. "Go-goodbye, Naybrin...goodbye..." He whimpered, then slowly turned away, his head hanging. "I'm so...so sorry...this happened...we never should have come to Bulliete..." He sobbed pathetically. Uselessly.

Naybrin reached out and gently rested his hand on Werr's shoulder, saying "Don't be so hard on yourself, Dark-Eyes. You did a good thing, coming here. You wanted to help people. A cause like that can never be blamed." He stroked Werr's hair back lightly, then said "Go with young Fire-Heart and hope that we all meet again very soon. Pray that we do not suffer in our final moments." He sighed, then quietly curled up on the ground, resigned to his fate.

Welk released a loud moan, then transformed again and picked up Werr, holding him close to his warm chest as he took off, arching off into the sky. He didn't care where he was going; all he cared about was getting away from there.

((I thought you'd have Welk caught, too. xD Well, there's just him to kill, and then Werr will throw himself into the void, where it'll be hard for Obelisk to fish him out. That's why they'll have to take Werr's corpse and show it to the soldiers.))

Werr went utterly and completely limp in Welk's hands. He knew the answer already, but...he wanted to know what Welk was thinking. "Do you think...we'll die, too? I don't want to die...Welk..." He felt like a pathetic baby, weeping like this...he was miserable and heartbroken, and he just couldn't bring himself to do...well, much of anything, really.

((;3; Boo.))

"I don't want to die either," Welk answered, his tone deeply upset and worried. "But I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Hear me? You...I love you too much to let you suffer. I won't let you die. I...I already lost Isslia. And she...she was going to be my wife someday, I could feel it. I was gaining her trust, and taking care of her, and...and..." He trailed off, not really knowing what else to say. He pressed his nose to Werr's cheek, murmuring "I just want...our lives back. Werr..." Tears bloomed in his eyes. "...I just want to go home," he whispered, his tone so sad and soft.

Werr sighed heavily. "I...I...me too..." He sighed heavily, still limp in Welk's arms. He closed his eyes. He didn't really want to sleep, but...he didn't have much of a choice. He dozed off, exhausted from a long day of loss and grief. He just...couldn't take it. He fell asleep in his dear friend's arms, knowing he would be taken care of. To the best of Welk's abilities, after all...

What woke him was Welk screaming and roaring in pain.

Apparently, several large creatures made of shadows were attacking them. Welk lashed his tail out, catching one off-balance and making it fall from the sky, but another one dodged in and sank sharp teeth into his long neck. Welk screeched and kicked it aside, but the damage was done. Each bite on his body left a very-slowly-growing black spot. Some sort of visible poison.

He already had four bites.

He cupped his claws over Werr and raced off, slowly pulling ahead of the creatures.