The Forgotten Zodiac

Isslia smiled slightly at her own pulsing light. "It's like my personal little heart." She sighed, then looked up at Cynyr. "So what's a jump? What are we doing?"

"Jumping." Sooth purred.

"I think it's different. Like teleportation, right?" Spy suggested.

"Most likely," Ophile nodded slightly.

Yes, Cynyr snapped, struggling to control his raging temper. When I tell you to, you'll have to jump, or you might not make the teleport. Do you understand me? He turned his single-eyed gaze on everyone there, and they nodded quickly. He turned and began to weave circles and marks into the ground, intricate designs that they had never seen before.

Seeing these marks sent chills down Zephyr's spine. What have you become, Shadow-Step? he thought sadly, staring down at the wind mage and watching him weave the dark marks into the ground.

Isslia watched curiously, not quite knowing what Zephyr knew. Airlia, however, watched in absolute horror as she realized what it was. But all of them were silent as Cynyr worked, until he finished and turned around again.

"Ready," Isslia nodded.

"Jumping time?" Sooth grinned happily. Airlia said nothing, looking down instead. But down was where the dark marks were, so she looked up at Zephyr. She didn't really want to make eye contact. She didn't want to make her tears obvious.

((Airlia's been studying magic, so. Even though I don't know what this is, I figured she would. xD))

((Okey.

Basically, it requires pieces of Cynyr's soul to weave these symbols into the surroundings. It's mere fragments, very thin shreds, of soul, but if he gives too much, he'll die. The power it gives is huge, though, but it's a dark power, banned because of how many people died over it.))

Cynyr finished up the marks and stepped back, patting himself on the chest lightly before turning. Alright, he said, raising one hand. When I tell you, jump. I'll go last to make sure nobody gets left behind. Oh, and you should each take one of these. His lips moved, though no sound came out, and the Wind Wraith formed again. This time, however, it suddenly split apart into a multitude of smaller Wraiths, all floating over to rest on someone's shoulder. Once everyone had a Wraith, Cynyr began to count, waiting for the opportune moment to jump.

((Ah.

Airlia would cry over that.))

When they all jumped, it felt as though they were falling a great distance. A jerk in the chest that usually signaled a sudden fall. Then it felt as though they fell into warm water, where their descent slowed and finally stopped. When Isslia opened her eyes, they were just outside the gate to Kaislun. They probably would have landed somewhere inside if not for Sooth.

"Greetings." Resu said cheerily, looking much like a peacock today. "I couldn't allow you to land inside Kaislun. The golden dragon with you is not permitted beyond this point just yet. You lot, feel free to run on ahead. I'll feed him and prepare him for his trial."

"Food?" Sooth flicked his ears.

"You...promise?" Isslia bit her lip. "Will you call me before he does his trial? I owe him...and if I have to scapegoat for him...I will."

"I will call." Resu waved her off. "Now hurry along. Your king pleads for your presence."

((Basically, I have specific situation for Welk and Isslia seeing each other again. He sees her, calls her name a few times, runs, tacklehugs, flips over, she ends up laying over him, he hugs her tightly, pulls the surprise on her. Short version.))

Cynyr was already bounding ahead in panther form, his tail flicking urgently behind him. Zephyr followed at a lope, not bothering to let those on his back off yet. He figured he might as well carry them inside.

((Oh, okay. :3 I'm all for that. Isslia would probably stick with Cynyr, so.))

Isslia slid off of Zephyr's back and ran after Cynyr, a frown on her face.

The necklace that Cynyr wore worked as a bit of a tracking device, as well. It shone brighter the closer they got to the other half. So naturally, Cynyr easily found his way to the bathhouse. Unfortuantely, Werr's necklace lay at the bottom of the hot springs, glowing brightly. No Werr.

Someone else was there, though. A large black owl, obviously wounded. "They...came from behind," He huffed, soaking in one of the more shallow pools so he wouldn't bleed out. "I tried to stop them, but...th-they took him to the Eye, Cynyr, you must hurry..."

((What these poor saps don't understand is that Cynyr looted some major corpses for their power. He is, to put it lightly, OP now.))

Cynyr sent a Wind Wraith to pick up the necklace, letting the little thing carry it. How dare they, he snarled, and even though he spoke not a word aloud, chills shot down their spines as if the most disturbing, dark, rancid voice had spoken. He turned and pushed Isslia onto his back, saying Hold on, quickly leaping into a gallop. His claws scraped against the ground as he pounded along, his single eye narrowed.

((WELL OKAY THEN. 936))

Isslia held on tight, wrapping her arms around his neck. "What's the eye? Where are we going?" She questioned, fearfully. But her questions were answered as Cynyr approached.

There was a large crowd of Tartarans around the crevise in the earth that made up the Eye. The flames were especially bright today. Werr was tied by his ankles and hanging over the gap, and one of the Tartarans, the little pig-faced bat, was holding a knife to the rope and giving a speech. Werr just looked...annoyed more than scared. He looked wounded too. Blood dripped from his hair, pulled down by gravity. With each drop of blood, the glow of the fires within the Eye burned ever brighter, as though hungry to devour him whole.

And Werr still just looked more miffed than anything else.

Perhaps Werr smiled when he felt the sudden shift in the wind. Perhaps he could sense the dark, seething, evil change in the wind. Perhaps he too felt the odd shiver down his spine, as if Death had just ran a finger down his back, right over his bare skin. The wind kicked up, blowing harder and harder, until it was howling in their ears.

Cynyr appeared on a glistening pedestal of wind, and for only a moment, Werr could swear there were demonic black horns sprouting from the panther's brow, with skeletal wings tearing free from his shoulder blades, single eye burning crimson. But then the boy blinked, and the odd vision was gone.

Wind Wraiths were everywhere, see-thru Golems were stomping across the ground, spiraling skeletons were creaking and lurching back and forth. A huge dragon even tore up through the ground, bellowing rage. One of the Wraiths swept to Werr and knocked the bat aside, moving up to free Werr, cradling him gently.

Cynyr had created an entire army in mere seconds.

"Just in time," Werr relaxed and smiled, surprisingly not showing any signs of being injured until he was set down next to Cynyr. Then he staggered and sank to his knees, coughing, blood starting to run down his face. The wound was on his head, a cut and a nice bruise right on his hairline. Someone had clawed at his cheek, and there was a bite mark on his arm. But he was well enough to stand again when his coughing fit was over, albeit wincing. "Hey...Isslia."

"Hi," She blinked at him. "Rumor has it you went stir-crazy after..."

"Yeah. I did, kinda. I'm better now, though." He shrugged. "Good job getting her, Cynyr." He turned to watch the fighting, which was already dissapating. The only one really hurt at this point was the bat, who was being thrown from wraith to wraith like a toy. The rest of the Tartarans had fled, many with painful wounds they would not soon forget.

"...weren't you scared?" Isslia stared at the Eye.

"I was. But I saw Zee down there. He said something about, 'this isn't where you're supposed to die, human king', and he just sort of floated there, ready to catch me. After that I was just angry that the stupid bat was taking so long to cut the rope." Werr shrugged. "I've never been in a situation that I haven't been saved from." He smiled and corrected himself. "Yet. And I don't think that will come any time soon."

"What about the necklace?"

"Triggered that as soon as I was grabbed from behind." Werr nodded. "The Tartaran saw and tried cutting it off to stop the signal, but it was too late for that. He threw it in the springs, though, Cynyr. Did you--" He stopped as a mini-wraith floated up and put it back on his neck. "Ah. Thank you."

Are you okay? came Cynyr's insistent voice as he poked and nudged at Werr, shoving his nose against the boy's chest and neck and legs, checking him all over for other wounds. On each one that he located, he didn't hesitated to press his nose to it (he flinched each time, not yet used to the feeling of his new, whole face) and channel wind magic into it, pulling back as the tiny little bursts of wind worked like needles with thread, gently and painlessly closing up the wounds until there was only a tiny, thin white line left behind.

Werr smiled slighly, then started coughing again. "I'm fine, Cynyr," He pushed his friend off when he was done. "Really, I am."

"Not trying to act tough, are you?" Airlia smiled slightly as she ran her fingers over his bruise, whisking it away. "I remember that wound...you bandaged it up and tried to stitch it yourself, remember? It could have killed you if we didn't find it in time."

"Yeah...I remember. That was stupid of me."

"That's not the only stupid thing about you," Zee grinned, poking his head over the edge of the Eye. "You're welcome, by the way."

"Yeah...thanks." Werr shook his head with a small smile.

Cynyr glared at Zee for a moment, but said nothing to him. He didn't feel the need to speak to a large demonic soul-eater. Instead, he turned to Werr, saying Come on, let's go back to the house. I don't like it here. He nudged under Werr's arm, taking his sleeve in his teeth and pulling him up. Once he was standing, Cynyr pushed under his legs in the same manner that Welk used, starting off towards the castle again.

Werr held on tight, reaching behind him and picking up Isslia, who had taken animal form. He was surprised to find that she was a bit bigger than before; no longer was she the size of a puppy. She had grown quite a bit.

Regardless, he held onto her and Cynyr as the panther half-cat raced up towards the castle.

At the castle, Cynyr paused to let them off of his back. He looked up at Werr, meeting his eyes with a significant glance, then looked down to Isslia and touched her shoulder gently with his nose. We have something to show you, he said softly, his ears flicking back against his head, but not in an angry way. In a rare calm, loving sort of way.

Isslia blinked at him, then nodded, tranforming back into her human form. "Okay..." She murmured. Werr pulled open the door for her, and led the way to the room Welk was in. He hoped the half-cat would smell Isslia coming or something; he didn't want to call out to Welk, or he'd ruin the surprise, after all.

As he hoped, Welk did indeed sense Isslia's approach. A fluffy blonde ear flicked and a sensitive nose twitched, and the light that had filled partly in when Werr had been near him now filled completely.

He was returned to normal at last.

"Isslia," the lion said softly, turning his head with a quick jerk. "Isslia." He staggered up and moved towards the door, throwing it open. He spilled out into the hallway, a floppy mess of a lion, and looked around rapidly, his mouth partly open.

He was also facing the wrong way, a fact that made Cynyr smile when he saw the younger half-cat.

Isslia stopped. She stared. She started to cry and laugh at the same time. Even from behind, she recognized who it was, and she started to run forward. She practically tackled him. The two of them tumbled together until Isslia landed underneath Welk, hugging him around his neck and weeping.

"I guess that means the other half of his soul is back," Werr smiled a bit. "Good job, Cynyr..."

Cynyr gave a subtle purr, putting his head under Werr's hand gently.

Welk was overwhelmed, hugging her so tightly, yet gently, as always. "Isslia, Isslia!" he exclaimed, still a tad unsteady. He managed to pull her upright, holding her tightly and kissing her forehead repeatedly. "Isslia, Isslia..." All he seemed able to do was say her name over and over, though he still didn't quite remember why.