The Forgotten Zodiac

Luen, who was seated behind Forin, gently moved his metal arm around the Tartaran and stroked Diana's cheek, saying "Everything will be okay, Diana. I promise." He opened his mouth to say more, only to be cut off as a loud screech echoed out. He and everyone else looked up in shock as Zephyr flared his wings, calling "Be careful! There are Screechers inbound!"

"Scree-what?" was all Welk managed to get out before the air was filled with the screaming cries of what seemed like a hundred glowing bats. They were colored like hot lava, with large wings and long tails mixed with stubby, clawed hind legs. The screamed through their blunted muzzles, baring sharp teeth and blinking through their glowing yellow-white eyes.

They didn't seem that intent upon attacking; they were fairly calm creatures naturally, and were only passing by. Werr tucked his head closer to Welk's mane, trying to avoid getting clipped by the passing bat-things. What on earth were screechers, anyway? Werr had never seen them before! And none of his books had mentioned them...

((That's because explorers use pens to write down their findings and pens are shiny. xDD))

((XD))

They seemed peaceful enough, up until one suddenly turned its head sharply and gave a questioning squeak. With a sharp screech, one of them plunged from the group and lashed out, sinking its claws into a particularly shiny piece of material and jerking back hard on it.

The problem was that the 'shiny piece of material' was Luen's metal arm.

The kirin cried out in pain as the limb was instantly severed from his arm, the small clamps and magical bonds that attached it to his skin ripping free and leaving blood to drip from his torn skin. The force was enough to drag him sideways, nearly causing him to fall from Zephyr's back. He clung frantically to a large spike with his single arm, feeling his fingers already slipping.

"Luen!" Forin grabbed at the Kirin's fingers to try and keep him from falling, but it was no use. Luen plummeted groundward like a rock. Diana let out a scream that made her throat raw. Thankfully, Nate noticed the missing person in time; he stood and ran off the edge of Zephyr's back, locking his wings behind him in a sharp nosedive downward. He tackled Luen mid-air, and wrestled for control of their fall. When he got a handle on their descent, he soared upwards again, pounding after Zephyr and the swarm of screechers.

"Luen's fine, Diana, look!" Forin yelled over the noise of wing and beast, trying to get her to stop screaming. She finally did, though her breath was shaky and fearful after that.

((Remember what Remor said about Heartless Striders? She may not be 'heartless', she doesn't have the corruption involved anymore, but she's still basically a commander of striders. And her scream will attract any and all Striders still around, whether or not they're in earshot. Thus we have our abrupt rescue from Veros. o3o))

The kirin clung tightly to Nate with his single arm, his breathing quick and fearful. His right shoulder jerked and twitched from the pain, and he could only stare in hopeless loss as the bat carrying his metal limb flew off.

Welk's eyes tracked the critter as it flew, and even as his wings shifted and his body tensed, Werr knew what was going to happen.

With a powerful beat of his wings that sent them flying like a bullet, Welk blasted off after the bat and tore the piece from its mouth with perfect precision. The bat blinked, stunned, then screamed and tore after its prize, beating it's huge wings quickly. Within seconds, the air was filled with hundreds of screaming bats, all angry at being denied what they deemed 'theirs'.

((Ah, okay.))

"I thin-think that wa-was a bad idea!" Werr called over the screeching sounds, but he took the arm from Welk and managed to pin it between himself and the lion's back, keeping it away from the deranged bats. "Fly, fly faster!"

"Zephyr! Isn't there something you can do to make them stop?!" Nate caught up with the dragon, heaving Luen back onto his back.

"I-I suppose I can try," Zephyr said, then hit himself with a paw. "Ah, I keep forgetting that Naybrin gave me power..." He rose up, beating his wings quickly to stay aloft, and immediately answered the sweeping calls of the bats in a voice louder than all of theirs combined. They all froze, casting odd looks at each other, trying to figure out how this strange creature that was not a screecher was speaking to them.

Zephyr called out again, warning them away, and after a moment, one's nerve finally broke. It darted away and was followed by another, then another, until they were fleeing in droves. Those on the dragon's back watched in shock, all mostly still and quiet, until one fleeting bat went haywire and accidentally slammed into Nate's head. There was a quick, shocked tussle where Nate finally managed to fling the bad free, but not before something slipped from its underbelly and fell into the dragonian's lap, dislodged from the brief struggle.

Nate glared after the bats, then relaxed. Until he noticed the thing in his lap. He picked it up and held it towards the fleeing bats. "HEY! Don't leave this here, you nasty little--" He cut himself off with an angry sigh as he realized they were already out of earshot. He brought the thing up to his face; it was a baby version of the things, with big, fearful eyes.

The next couple of seconds was filled with Nate's own shrieks as the little thing clamped its tiny teeth down on his nose.

It quickly let go, finding that this was not its mother, and began to cry in ernest, giving small, pitiful squeaks and frightened chitters. Luen, who was still holding tight to Nate, frowned and slowly risked moving his pale hand close to it. It curiously sniffed at his fingers, finally extending a bright purple tongue and licking him once before leaping up onto Nate's chest, holding on tightly and biting the top of his shirt almost as if holding on tight. Luckily, it's teeth didn't catch hold on his skin, though it didn't seem to want to let go anytime soon.

Nate rubbed his nose with disgruntled unhappiness. He plucked at the baby thing until he finally made it let go of his collar; he directed it to latch onto the pocket flap of his breast pocket, which allowed him to slip the rest of the thing's body into said pocket. It fit snugly, its little claws dug tightly into his shirt. "There. Now stop being such a brat." He snapped, rubbing his nose again, which was bleeding ever so slightly.

It peeped softly, its small cries ceasing as it settled into the odd new pouch, still biting down hard on the edge of the pocket. Luen gave a small smile, looking up as Welk swept closer, allowing Werr to hold the metal arm out to the kirin, who took it gratefully. "Thank you," he said, holding it close.

"No problem," Welk said, arching back off to the side as Zephyr resumed flight.

"Do you need help reattaching it?" Forin questioned, taking the arm and quickly getting to work.

"How much further do we have to go?" Diana asked, pouting a bit.

"Not much further. Just hold on."

"My lord. The throne room is prepared for your magnificent show." Lance bowed low.

"Show? This is not a show, slave. This is not an example of power, either. This is a very delicate process that will not be interrupted." Veros stood, frowning. "And neither you nor Kage will interrupt it. Is that understood? When the time comes, I will call on you. But until then, you stay by the doors and guard the exits."

"But...who will--"

"Zex will assist me with the finer points. He, unlike you, is not the type to cause more trouble than necissary." The Titan hissed. "Which is what I want. Chaos is not something I want. My plans will be carried out in an orderly fashion, and there is nothing any can do to stop it. Now fetch Riordan. I'm sure by now he'll be questioning what we've done to his throne room."

Cynyr, who was slouching about in the corner, vanished at these words, off to retrieve Riordan. The king approached soon after, the panther walking silently at his heels, making sure he stayed close.

"You called?" the king said flatly, blinking up at Veros. He did not bow, merely because he felt extremely odd bowing to what, in appearance, was his brother.

"Yes. I'd like you to know that my plans will be proceeding very soon. Your brother will be returned to you all the sooner we begin, at that. And I shall be returned to power...it's quite exciting. Please be aware that I may have to...scratch this body a bit to get out of it. Nothing fatal. Hardly any more than a common housecat's claws could cause." Veros smiled curtly. "Do you remember your part of the plan?"

"Yes, I do," he answered, keeping his gaze turned forward, straight at Veros. "Don't worry. I know what I'm meant to do." He gave a light incline of his head, keeping his gaze up at the Titan.

"Very good. Don't look so glum! Your brother will be returned to you soon, and your armies will march with renewed vigor towards Alastor. They'll be destroyed, and you'll have your promised land. I don't care if I have to take you, Valley and your brother up and drop you in Kaislun myself. Which I will do, if it comes to that. I have always been loyal to humans that do me service, Riordan, and today is no different." Veros put Ink's hand gently on the king's shoulder. "If nothing else, this day, I will leave Ink's body for another."

Riordan glanced down at the hand resting on his shoulder, his gaze utterly neutral. "Thank you," he said quietly. "I would appreciate that. You've done much for us, and it would be wrong of me to doubt your word any longer." He lifted a hand and touched his forehead lightly, moving his fingers away after a second, which was a sign of respect toward the Titan.

"You are a very wise human. As is your brother, though his consciousness may be limited. Come now. There isn't much time left for us to prepare ourselves." Veros' smile only grew wider. He passed Riordan and headed up the stairs, a smile on his face.

"Alright, Werr, we're approaching Gossain. I suggest we approach a little more sneakily than we usually do," Nate said, frowning a bit.

"Yeah. That's probably wise..." Werr sighed a bit. "Try to avoid saying my name once we're in, these people should know who I am. At least, those who pay attention will know."

Zephyr landed not far from the city, not wanting to be spotted. He allowed the others to dismount from his back, looking up as Welk soared in for his own landing. He alighted gracefully on the ground, folding his long wings in and letting Werr slide gently from his back before he switched forms, reverting to his human one. He stood, quiet and sullen, by the king's side, his gaze already turned in the direction of Gossain.

"We may have to conseal you, Werr," Airlia said, pulling a simple cowl from her bag. "Just linger in the middle of us and it should be harder to spot you." She smiled a bit and watched him put it on. "There. That's a little better, I guess. Zephyr, you need to be in a smaller form. Hide in Nate's pocket or something?"

"That's already filled," Nate chuckled, rubbing the baby Screecher's head with his finger. "I think it's a girl. Not sure what I'm gonna do with it, but...it's still young. I can't just throw it out..."