The Forgotten Zodiac

"No," Zex shook his head. "You look so much like her. There's no way I'm mistaken here." He looked down again. "But I shouldn't have taken you from your friends. I...I was supposed to take that young girl, Diana. But I..." He sighed, shaking his head. "I failed Veros, and I could very well be punished for this. I'm sorry."

"Why Diana?" she asked, quickly shaking off her shock in order to glare at him. "What more can be done to that poor girl? What are you planning on doing to me, if she was the target?" She crossed her arms, placing one leg across the other in a typical move. She tossed her long silver hair behind her, pulling the sleeve of her shirt up when it fell slightly.

"Nothing," Zex said at once. "I was only supposed to grab her and leave...exactly what I did with you. Am...doing. With you." He corrected himself, then sighed again. "I don't know the full extent of Veros' plans. I really don't. This lantern he gave me is losing power, too..." He looked up at her, then smiled a bit, shown by the way his mask crinkled. "You're not crying anymore. Did my story cheer you up? Even if it was sad, you aren't crying anymore, so it can't be all bad...right?"

((I feel like Kage should say something. xD))

((It'll be disgusting and crude, but okay. xD))

Suddenly, Kage leaned down over the edge of the carriage, his face twisted into a dark gleam. "What's this talk about doing things with others?" he sneered, flicking his long black tail. "Of course she's upset, dunce. She's been kidnapped and I'm around. Can't be good." He cackled, then slid into the carriage, looming over Luna, who glared at him so ferociously that she was clearly daring him to try something; she would fight back with everything she had in her.

"I've never done anything with a 'Goddess' before," he hissed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Kage, stop it," Zex said, pulling on the larger man's arm to keep him from touching Luna. He pushed Kage aside and managed to sit between Kage and Luna. "You won't touch her, Kage. Not while I'm around. And I'm not about to leave her side for anything." He hissed dangerously, not in a mood to be trifled with at the moment. He was a bit too close to Luna for her comfort, but he was pushing Kage away, so it couldn't be all bad.

The dragonian laughed harshly and turned to lean out the window. "You're such a big baby," he purred, grinning over his shoulder. "But fine, fine. I'll let you have your way. I won't go near her." He tossed his matted black hair back and jumped out of the window, soaring alongside the carriage once more.

Luna watched him go, then gave Zex a small push with her foot, saying "You back up too. I get the feeling you won't do anything, but I would rather keep some distance all the same."

"Yes, ma'am," Zex said at once, scooting away as far as he could manage. He held his hands in his lap and sat up straight, staring at the floor. He continued to glance up at Luna for a time, but eventually, he hesitantly cleared his throat to say, "Do you need a drink or anything? I have water and food in my bag. I don't need it myself, a lot of my internal systems are still shut down. I brought it for Diana, but seeing how you...well..." He trailed off, biting his lip.

Luna glared at him, then sighed and sat back against the wall of the carriage. She didn't intend on eating or drinking anything offered from these people; for all she knew, Kage could drug something without Zex's knowing. So she just settled back and stared at him, crossing her arms once more.

Zex seemed to wither in her silence, back to his deadened self. "I really am sorry..." He murmured before quieting again, closing his eyes to hide his shame and sadness. Although honestly, Luna preferred being here herself rather than Diana being here.

"Right. Are we all set for the trip to Kaislun?" Forin questioned. He had done quite a lot of pacing while the others had prepared.

"I think so." Werr nodded with a small sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"Nate just informed me what happened to the guards. I was wondering...thank goodness the advisors were away." Werr mumbled, rubbing his eyes a bit. "It's...messy."

"I knew they had died. But...how?"

"Slit throats, mostly. But some of them were...mangled." Werr looked rather pale, and he leaned against Lexi heavily. She hadn't seen, thank goodness for that.

"Ah...I see." Forin nodded thoughtfully, then frowned. "Werr...what about Carlyle? He was part of the guard force too."

"He went on vacation with Zelana last week, don't you remember?" Werr shook his head. "I've already left a note for them directing them to stay here and keep their heads down. I'm pretty sure that's all we need to do before leaving..."

There was a sudden roar from the coutryard outside, followed by a light thud. If you could call a wyvern landing in your yard 'light'.

"Hello?" Dmitry called, bending his head to let Marion slither off. "It's us." He sniffed around, then said "Sheesh, what happened here? This whole place has gone to rot."

Naybrin lifted his head from where he was sitting on Werr's shoulder, then quickly headed off to go and greet the two, as well as fill them in on what had happened. He had forgotten that they had meant to visit before their wedding.

Werr listened to the explanation for a few minutes, then found himself bumping into Forin. "Sorry."

"We can't both pace in the same spot," Forin snorted, but Werr knew he wasn't upset or anything.

"Right. Sorry." Werr moved aside and Forin went back to pacing while Werr sat down in his throne. There was an obvious air of unease about the group; Luna, while certainly not the most vocal of the group, was obviously missing. Diana felt it most of all; Luen and Forin kept her company, certainly, but she was still distant and almost scared of the others. Especially the dragons. She didn't remember them.

Lexi gently kissed Werr's forehead, glancing over to where Naybrin was sweeping his wings open and closed, a sign that he was upset. She knew he hated the fact that Werr was poisoned, same as she hated it, but...something else was upsetting the great dragon. Something he was keeping from everyone, including Werr.

"-would suggest that you stay at home," he was saying to Dmitry, who looked agahst at the news he was receiving.

"Since when have we ever objected to a little danger?" Marion snorted. "We owe this kingdom a great deal, I'm not passing up a chance to help repay that debt." She was always known for being a bit stubborn, but more surprising was her next sentence. "We'll stay here. Clean up the guard force's bodies and wait on Carlyle and Zelana. We'll take them to Dashal, the town we live in. It'll be safe there." She nodded firmly.

Dmitry nodded, saying "They surely won't come back, but if they do, we'll be ready for them. We know not to engage them in any sort of fighting, so we'll do our best to make sure everyone gets out safely." He bobbed his head, looking over at the others. "So you're going to leave?" he asked. "What about Luna?"

Werr sighed. "We're stopping by Kaislun to see if Galai or Titus can do anything about the poison. Even if they can, we're...going to Gossain immediately after our visit to Kaislun. They'll have taken Luna there."

"How do you know that?" Forin frowned.

"Obelisk put a shadow tracker on their carriage. They went straight for the trade road. The only place that leads to is Gossain. Even if they stop halfway there, we'll know. But that's highly unlikely...those people wore the symbol of Gossain quite plainly on their clothing. It's...a lure. They want us to know where they are and where they're going. That's why they haven't done anything about the tracker, and they boldly showed off where they were from. The poison is a lure, and in case that wasn't enough, they took Luna to drive you lot into action, as well. I am...deeply concerned as to what is waiting for us in Gossain, but we have so little choice."

Naybrin shook his head, sighing. "Well, whether we want to or not, we need to get moving. We will help no one by just sitting here." He flared his wings, giving them a few light flaps to stretch them, then bent his head around and nuzzled Werr and Lexi. "Come," he said, slowly bending down to lay on his stomach. "We should begin. Kaislun has many things waiting for us."

"Right. Let's be off, then." Werr stood, grabbing his bag and pulling Lexi to his side. He kissed her on the cheek, closing his eyes and leaning against her. "I'm sorry," He murmured. "I'm sorry, Lexi. I had to take it...I had to take the poison. I couldn't let you be hurt more..."

"I...I know that, but..." she murmured, trying not to cry again. "...if you die, where will I go? What will I be without you? I...I'll be nothing..." She pressed her forehead to his neck, not wanting to let go. He helped her up onto Naybrin's great back, letting her settle on right behind him. The others climbed up onto him or Zephyr, and a moment later, the two dragons lifted off, bound for the combined world of Amnairus and Tartarus.

"I don't know. I honestly...don't know." Werr sighed, closing his eyes.

"Queen Galai," Airlia landed before the throne, giving a small bow. She held out what she had brought; it was a white staff with a shining yellow stone locked inside the cage-like design in the thick wood head. "I...found this in Naminai's belongings. It seems to be a channel for magic. From what I've read about it, it can turn any giving source of magic into strong healing magic. I...I was wondering if I could keep it, rather than put it in the armory with the other staffs. It seems...special."

Galai looked up from where she had been talking with the Divine, who had tripled in size over time. The queen sighed, saying "Do as you will. I'm sure your dear mentor wouldn't have said no. You're growing to be a good healer, Airlia."

For it seemed that old age had finally taken Namanai, who had passed away only a few days before.

The queen closed her eyes for a moment, sighing. The death of any Divine Healer was hard, but Namanai had long since earned her final sleep.