The Forgotten Zodiac

((Cynyr would find her halfway to Alastor, on the back of a walking golden dragon. I think Riordan should come shortly after Luna leaves. So Sooth can make a big rescue and an escape, saving Isslia from certain death. o3o))

Isslia stared at Luna for a long moment, then took off a simple armband. "I've had this for weeks now, my scent is all over it. Hold it by your fingertips to keep the scents fresh." She said quietly. She had no idea what was going on, but Luna sounded...desperate. And she was someone Isslia knew. So...she complied without argument.

((Okey.))

Luna took the armband at once, saying "Just keep calm. I promise, I won't let anything bad happen to you. Trust me." She ran off, then, her long hair flying.

A moment after she had left, Riordan decended the steps, his expression miffed. "Get up," he said to her, gesturing for one of the guards to unlock her door. "Apparently, you're to be executed. It's not really the way we do things normally, but I could care less by now what happens."

"W-what?" Isslia stared at Riordan in shock, but all too quickly snapped out of it when the guard tried to grab her. He managed to catch her arm, and judging from the painful way he held it, Isslia wasn't about to slip away. That didn't stop her struggling, though. "You would execute someone for defending your own people? What kind of twisted, immoral place is this?! I'm a Herrace Citizen, you could do any number of things! Deport me, banish me, but no, you choose to execute me? You'll take my life and for what?!" She shrieked, but it was no good.

"There's a lot more than you think riding on this, child!" Riordan growled, grabbing one of her floppy gray ears and jerking her around to face him. "Things have changed here! I don't like it anymore than you do, but I must do what protects my family! I can't be concerned with the fate of one little girl I don't know. Besides, there's much worse I could have done to you." His tone carried a threat she knew quite well.

Isslia snarled, struggling. She almost got free, too. Almost punched Riordan in the face. But she missed, and was dragged out of reach. "You sick, disgusting excuse for a king...! I'll...I'll..." She spluttered, well aware that she could do literally nothing here. "M-my life isn't worth anything compared to your 'family'. I get it." She went limp and was much easier to pull away, towards the back room. "Goddess only knows how many others you've slain like this..." She muttered, unable to hold back tears any longer.

Riordan watched emotionlessly as she was dragged away, sighing once she was gone. He didn't WANT to kill her; far from it. He wanted a normal trial, one which she would most likely be found innocent in and released from. But he didn't dare go against Veros...at least, not yet...

He stalked off, not even bothering to watch the execution.

*

Isslia was pulled off down the hallways, out into the courtyard, where the executioner was waiting. The cruel axe glinted in the light, but perhaps not as much as the dark glint in his eyes.

Isslia struggled again as she was forced onto her knees in front of the wooden stump that served as a 'chopping block'. She wailed and tried so desperately to get away. One guard wound up holding her hair in order to force her into position.

But none of them expected what happened next. None of them expected a golden dragon to emerge at this very moment, much less from within the castle itself. It left a wake of destruction behind it; it was too large for doors and most of the hallways, so it did what it could and broke its way through. He stormed out into the courtyard, and let out a roar that caused the guards to let go of Isslia and attempt to attack him. Sooth snarled and batted them aside, roaring at the executioner. He dropped his axe, but Isslia had moved; unfortunately, she had been trying to get away from Sooth as much as the executioner was now. The axe came down on her shoulders. Fortunately for her, it had been dropped at the wrong angle and not very hard. Blood spilled forth from the wound, but it was shallow and didn't hit bone.

Didn't matter. It hurt, that's all she could think about. It hurt, and a big gold dragon had ripped the axe out and pulled her up. They were flying away, but the dragon wasn't very good at flying, apparently. He crashed into a building before Isslia passed out.

Sooth picked her up again, this time holding onto the girl a little more firmly. He had to get out of his stupid city! His wings pounded the air and he lifted up again, this time managing to get over the wall before crashing again. Oh well. That was close enough. He started to run on three legs, holding Isslia in one hand. He suddenly felt...tired. After spending so much time starving, he was hardly capable of running any long distances. And this heat was almost unbearable! They didn't call it a desert for nothing...

Sooth had no choice. after he got a good distance away from the city, he plopped down and started licking Isslia's wounds. This poor girl, the wound looked like it hurt. And she reeked of fear. Probably having a nightmare, then.

"Go after her!" Riordan ordered, once he heard the news. "I want both dead! Don't bother returning if the deed isn't finished." He spat the orders and then called to another guard, saying "Bring Luna to me. Now."

She was dragged, ever-difiant, before him.

"I know you were part of that," he growled, stalking in circles around her.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," she said, her head tilted back proudly, her gaze forward.

"Don't play dumb with me," he said, pausing in front of her. "That dragon would never have gotten out on its own. You did something."

"I did nothing at all," she said, her expression still smug.

He lashed out and grabbed her by her throat, shouting "I will not be made a fool of by the likes of you!"

"Riordan, stop!" Zex made it to the room just in time, breathing heavily. "We need her alive!" He tugged on his arms, trying to make him let go of Luna. "You can't hurt her, y-you can't--"

"Says who?" Lance stalked into the room, grinning. "He can hurt her. We need her alive, not unharmed. Veros didn't say anything about hurting her. He didn't say anything about not hurting you, either. Have you seen our newest friend, Zex? Of course not, you care more about that stupid girl than you care about us. Oh, Relic~! Come over this way, you brainless corpse. The worm is over here." She grabbed Zex by the back of the neck and dragged him away from Riordan. "Carry on, kingy-dude. We'll keep this pest occupied."

There was a sickly wheeze and Relic - poor Relic, the raptorix who was never able to truly die, who had long deserved his final demise - dragged himself in. He was even more eroded and decayed than ever, having been used by the original Malice as a pawn, then discarded, forced to wander endlessly until Veros had picked him up. Now, half-skeleton in places, he made a dangerous, mindless, disgusting drone, only able to do his master's bidding.

"What...what is that...? What is that?!" Zex struggled, but Lance held his arms behind his back.

"Your new best friend. Remember how Veros said we couldn't die unless he let us? Did you realize he meant it literally? No matter what wounds you get...no matter what pain you feel, you'll still be alive. So...Relic. Attack Zex." Lance grinned, throwing the younger boy towards the Raptorix. "Make him scream with agony."

Relic, who was unable to refuse commands even if he wanted to, immediately gathered himself and leapt at the boy, sickle-claws bared and ready to tear his skin to pieces. He slammed into Zex, sinking his claws into his stomach and his teeth into his shoulder. His movements were jerky and weak, but still extremely painful.

Zex struggled furiously, trying desperately to fight back, to get Relic away, but the monstrosity attacking him was much too strong. He had a fairly high pain tolerance, but even he let out an unearthly wail as clothes and skin alike were torn. Even if he didn't bleed as freely as truly living people, it was clear he still felt pain. It was so very clear. Especially when Relic literally tore out one of his ribs and threw it aside. That was when he started screaming.

Even worse was when Relic began literally eating him alive, half-starved. He didn't know what he was doing was wrong, and if he were in his right mind, he would never be doing something this horrendous. But he wasn't, and so he tore into Zex like he was his dinner.

Which he sort of was, right now.

Riordan finally noticed what was going on and shouted "Oi! Get him off already! Honestly, this is my throne room!"

Zex only screamed all the more, making anything hard to hear. After a few crucial moments (and several more bites taken out of the undead boy), Lance kicked Relic. "Off. Stop now." She ordered, then grinned at Riordan. "Her turn, then?" She offered, grabbing Zex by the back of his collar and starting to drag his twitching reanimated corpse towards the door. She would take him downstairs to Veros in a bit. "You could just lock her up to keep her from causing more trouble, but...that's no fun, is it?"

Riordan glared at her, then realized that Luna was limp in his hands. He pulled back, only to see that she had tears streaming from her eyes, her expression one of utter shock. She had seen Zex be mauled and eaten from with her own eyes, and it wasn't a pleasant experiance. Riordan waved a hand in front of her face, only to get no response. He shook his head, then turned to a guard and said "Take her down into the dungeons. I don't want her roaming around anymore."

They complied, and Luna disappeared.

Lance shrugged and ordered Relic to follow, dragging Zex towards the stairs. She'd drop the half-dead beast off with Kage before going downstairs, naturally. But perhaps it would be more fun to put Zex somewhere else...

"I can smell it, we're getting close!" Spy squeaked. Zephyr had already flown a great distance; they were almost halfway to Gossain at this point.

"What on earth is that?" Ophile frowned as they passed an odd shape in the sand. It almost blended in with the colors around it, but the sunlight caught on it and made it glint oddly.

"We missed her, she's behind us now!" Spy squeaked. "She's back there, Zephyr, turn around!"

Zephyr quickly wheeled about, straining his large wings to turn. He swept around with supreme agility, curving towards the odd thing on the ground. Cynyr, who was perched on his shoulders, leapt off and used his air wing power to shoot towards the ground. He landed and approached in panther form, his tail flicking. He spotted the girl in the golden dragon's paws and moved closer, looking anxious.

Sooth stood at once, hissing dangerously as he backed away from Cynyr. "No, no, no, stay away," He snapped at Cynyr, growling. "She's already hurt, what more could you people do to her?!"

"No..." Isslia said softly. "I know him..."

"You do? You sure?" Sooth blinked, frowning. "I promised that I'd keep you safe. This feels dangerous..." He glared at the dragon above. "He's huge..."

"I know them, Sooth. It's okay." Isslia pushed herself upright, climbing out of his hand to walk the few steps to meet Cynyr. "Hi..." She smiled weakly, blood dripping down her fingers. The movement had opened up the wound again. Sooth wasn't very good at saliva healing.

Cynyr immediately shifted forms and pressed forward, snapping the girl up in his arms and holding her tight. He jerked his head up, ignoring the dragon for the time being in order to get Isslia taken care of. The words Now would be a good time for that staff formed in front of Airlai. He looked down at Isslia again, kneeling lightly in the sand and holding her gently. When Welk had 'died', they had developed an unusual bond, brought to each other through their mutual grieving.