The Forgotten Zodiac

"Airlia!" Welk called, pausing inches from Lexi and glancing over his shoulder at the Amnairian girl. Lexi gave a soft moan of pain, her head tilting from side to side weakly. She murmured something softly, and Welk knew it was Werr's name. But he couldn't pause to worry over her at the moment; she was protected. Airlia and the others weren't.

So Welk ran to Airlia and extended a hand, pulling the flames toward himself.

Airlia collapsed, a burned mess. These flames weren't like normal ones; they were rampant and devoured anything that got in their way. Welk included.

"Now, my slaves! If they leave this castle, you'll all be punished!" Veros snarled. "I may be unable to harm some of you, but my servants have no such limitations...so prepare to die!" He turned his attention to the door as it creaked open, but it wasn't Lance who stepped in.

It was a Soulless Strider, dragging an injured Lance along behind it.

At the sight of the beast, Diana let out the most terrified scream she had in a long while. Which only caused more of them to emerge, mostly Skinless Striders. Veros didn't look happy at their appearance, either. "Riordan, Ink, stay behind me. These things know not to touch me, but you'll be at risk if you leave my side." He snapped, glaring around at them. "Who summoned these monstrosities here...who?!"

Luen reared fearfully onto his hind legs, giving a sharp squeal as the Striders entered the room and the flames grew higher. He quickly lunged into the fray, combating the flames with his ice. It wouldn't hold forever, he knew, but for now the ice was enough to just barely hold it back. A cooling wave closed over Airlia, soothing her wounds, while a wave of snow billowed over Welk, putting out the flames that had threatened to kill him.

The Striders didn't seem interested in playing around with Luen. They practically swarmed Forin, but they hardly touched him before Diana wailed, "Get away! Get back!" Almost immediately, they shifted away, forming a protective ring around Forin and Diana.

Forin gritted his teeth. "They follow your commands...? Diana, order them to attack the people behind Veros! We need to get out of here, we have to distract him!" Diana looked up at Forin with obvious fear, but she gave the order; instantly, the Things swarmed, leaving Veros no choice but to focus his attention on the Striders. To keep them away from Riordan and Ink quickly turned into his primary goal.

So by the time the last of them fell and his flames died out, Werr and the others were gone. Veros spat a curse and flared his wings, letting out a heavy sigh as he plopped down in the throne.

When Werr opened his eyes, it was to Alastor castle. The Striders had taken them home. A groan from nearby let him know Welk was there, and from the pain in his voice, he wasn't well at all. Voices called out within moments of their landing as guards found them, calling healers to their side.

From the screaming, shouting, hissing and cursing that had broken out nearby, Werr could only deduce that Cynyr had been brought along as well and was now being powerfully restrained by several heavy Striders.

Diana was nearby, quietly giving orders to a few of the Striders. They shuffled off without question or noise. She turned back to Forin and buried her face in his shirt, starting to cry. She didn't want this. Not at all.

Werr tried to sit up, but his limbs screamed at the notion. He laid still instead, focusing on breathing. Forin walked over and looked down at him, still frowning. "Nate is gone."

"I know," Werr rasped, trying very hard not to let the pain get to him.

"Airlia's feathers were mostly burned off."

"Yeah..."

"What happened to 'not playing his game'?" Forin sighed. "Now we've lost one and the rest of us are injured...the only good thing to come out of that was that he swore not to hurt Luna, myself, Diana, and Luen. 'Ever'. Which is a good thing, I suppose, but the rest of you are still vulnerable."

Welk whimpered again, his limbs seemingly locked tight to his body, arms folded over his chest and legs tucked tight with his tail between them. Werr knew the lion had a high pain threshold, but still. Something was wrong for him not to be forcing himself up to check on the others. From what Werr could tell, Welk was using his magic to block their bond, refusing to let the pain flow completely to his bonded. More healers were clustered around him than the others, though at least one was assigned to each person, doing their best to heal them.

Werr sat up when he could, moving closer to Welk. Isslia, as soon as she could, was curled up against Welk's side in dog form.

Forin watched them all with a frown on his face. He started to pace before long. Obelisk was nearby, fixing his own wounds. He didn't let any healers near him; he didn't need it, he would insist. His pain was hardly important compared to the others.

"What's gonna happen now?" Diana asked Luen quietly. "What about Nate? What will we do?"

"I don't know," the kirin answered softly, closing his eyes as if in pain, a small shiver passing through his body. The strange tattoos on his body still had yet to show a single sign of fading. "I don't know..."

Welk suddenly screamed violently as green fire engulfed his body, causing the healers to startle. Werr felt a brief moment of horrible, crushing pain in every inch of his body, as if each cell was burning alive, before one of the healers clasped a hand over Welk's head and the connection was halted. Another touched his forehead, where what looked like red chains sprouted from her fingertip and wrapped snugly around the boy's body, binding the flames back inside him. One of the male healers then lifted him, carrying him inside quickly.

"N-no, Welk..." Werr murmured, struggling to crawl after his friend. Isslia could just stare dully after them as Werr was helped to his feet and half-carried to the castle. Then Isslia felt herself being lifted, and she faded into unconsciousness without hardly a whimper further.

Obelisk was left to collect Lexi, while Forin gathered Luna into his arms.

The castle was just as warm and inviting as ever, especially in the royal infirmary. The beds were large and plush, the light was dimmed to the perfect amount for resting, and the decor was far from dull. It was quiet as they were placed in the beds, those who needed to be.

But Forin didn't linger. There was news to be delivered. He arrived at his destination not long after; it was late, so Tasia would be sleeping in her room with the baby. There was absolutely no time to waste. In the time that it took for Tasia to wake up, the Titan in Nate's body could easily waltz in and trick the unknowing woman into following him. Unacceptable. Thus, Forin began rapping rapidly on the door, well aware of the fact that Diana had followed him and was currently hiding under his cloak.

He heard soft, quiet movement from within as a figure moved toward the door. If he didn't know better, he could've thought it was a mouse or maybe even a small bird. But Tasia was the one that opened the door, her soft pink hair falling gently around her shoulders, one twisted, feeble little hand folded and level with her chest.

"Forin?" she questioned softly, immediately glancing around, as if waiting for Nate to appear next. "What is it?"

"It's about Nate." Forin was just as blunt as ever. "I'm afraid he was...taken. And if you see him again anytime soon, I suggest you treat him as though he were an enemy. The Titan Veros is controlling him. Don't let him fool you, alright? If you see Nate, get your child and get away as fast as you can. He...shouldn't come here, but if he does, I want you to know not to listen to a word he says."

Tasia blinked in shock, not moving even as Arianna woke and began to cry from inside the room. Forin could see it in her blue-green eyes; she did not believe him. That, or she refused to. Slowly, she stepped away from the door and moved over to the baby's cradle, lifting Arianna and holding her daughter close, bouncing her lightly, eyes fixed at a place on the floor. She stroked Arianna's head, her wings tucked tight against her back.

Forin immediately felt sorry for her. "We'll...we'll get him back. I just don't want him to hurt you, Tasia. I didn't want to give him any chance to fool you into thinking he's Nate. He's not. I'll...be going now. I still have to tell Jag and Lily..." He slowly shut the door, cursing his own inability to understand the emotional pain of others. He probably shouldn't have put it so bluntly...

A scream echoed down the hallways, catching their attention. Luen, who always followed at Forin's side, tilted his head lightly at the sound. "Cynyr," he said, wondering over the panther's plight. He had been pulled off to the dungeons by the Striders, and it was clear that the wind mage wasn't well in the mind at all. "Should we...visit him?" the kirin asked, tilting his elegant head at Forin.

"No. Not yet," Forin decided almost at once. "We have to tell Jag and Lily. Then we can visit." He approached the room in question, knocking rapidly. Lily answered the door, not surprisingly.

"Is Jag awake? We need to speak with you both. It's about our friend, Nate." Forin said softly, not wanting to wake up their sleeping baby, too.

"Oh...Jag, wake up," She called, and when he didn't respond, she ran her fingers through his feathery hair and kissed his cheek until he stirred. "Hey, wake up. Forin needs to speak with us," She said gently.

The gryphon gave a small grunt of annoyance at being woken (not directed at Lily, obviously, just in general) and sat up, his sky-blue hair messy as if fingers had been ran through it recently, and as he cast a small, low smile at Lily, that might've been the case. He yawned and stood, walking forward to look at those gathered by the door. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and they could see the tribal tattoos that sprawled across his tan skin. Luen blinked; they were similar to his own newly-gained ones.

"What do you want?" the gryphon asked, blinking his bright blue eyes at them as he flicked his tail, the stubs that remained of his wings twitching lightly.

"It's about Nate. He's currently being...possessed. And if you see him here, I highly suggest getting away. Attacking would be pretty much futile; it's a Titan, so..." Forin sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and wondering if he should have broken the news a little more gently.

"Oh...oh no, did you tell Tasia?" Lily looked horrified.

"Yeah, I--"

"I should go comfort her," She was quick to hurry out of the room, worry in her every step.

"I...probably should have told her a little more gently..." Forin sighed. "I don't understand how else to say these sorts of things, though..."

"You did what you could in the only way you knew how. You can't be blamed for it," the gryphon said, his crest feathers flicking open lightly on his head. "She'll be sad however you tell her. Just imagine if someone had to tell Luna the same about you, or Lily about me, or any one of us. There's no easy way to do it. In all reality, it's good having someone around who's willing to be blunt." He moved a clawed hand out and gave Forin's forehead a single light tap, making Luen smile, then said "Need anything else?"

Forin snorted. Mostly because he knew that Luna wouldn't sit down and cry. She'd hunt him down and try to beat the Titan out of him. "No, I don't think so," He answered Jag's question. "I didn't see sense in beating around the bush. Why would I try to make it sound nice when an awful thing has happened?"

"Can I have some of your feathers?" Diana asked suddenly, looking up at Jag. "They're a very nice color...I'm making something special. Can I please just have one or two?"