The Forgotten Zodiac

Welk was curled up with his back to the fire, Werr nestled against his warm, fluffy side and Isslia curled in dog form between Welk's paws. Luen was outside, as far as they knew, and not even Allie could rouse him completely from his sorrow. Tasia was curled up on the nearby couch with Ariana, looking equally as sad as the kirin.

"So we're headed for war," Welk said, resting his head on Werr's leg and peering up at his sibling.

"It...seems like it's already here." Werr said softly. "The back line will be stressed. According to what I already know, the Gossain soldiers are vicious. Targeting a single location, forcing soldiers to react, only to move against their retaliation. Either using the initial attack as a diversion, or hitting them from behind...it'll be a bloodbath. Not to mention the Gryphons. Gossain has entire units dedicated to airial attacks. Ophile..."

The wolf snorted, looking very tired. "I've already decided to go. Seria's safe enough in that Realm of Light. Your soldiers need a leader. I'll go aid the generals and get them prepared for the first strike."

"Right. Thanks, Ophile." Werr smiled slightly. "We'll get who we can to a safe place and meet you there."

"What? We're...we're actually going to this war?" Isslia frowned.

"Ophile can direct the generals well enough, but Alastor's people need to know that thier king is ready to fight alongside them. I've been absent too often for too long. We're getting into this."

Welk passed his rough tongue gently over Isslia's head, smoothing her fluffy fur, then grinned and said "Hey, the second I set foot on the battlefield, the enemies will go running for cover! My prowess is unmatched!" He flicked his tail, but they could tell it was a weak effort, as a moment later, he returned his muzzle to Werr's knee, curling his paws closer around Isslia.

"Yes...I'm glad for that." Werr said quietly, scratching Welk behind the ears. "I'm very glad..." He repeated, though he didn't look happy at all.

Because some part of him knew that Veros would meet them on the battlefield. With Cynyr or without, Veros would be there. It would be dangerous. Moreso than anything they had done before...and if Alastor's armies failed her now, destruction unlike anything it had seen before would ensue.

And some part of him knew that the destruction was inevitable.

Welk tilted his head up at the boy, then lifted his own and touched his nose gently to Werr's cheek, exhaling a warm, caring breath against his skin. "It'll be okay, Werr," he said, and a sense of peace and calm filled the human as the lion passed it along their bond. "I promise, it'll all be okay."

"I'm just...worried. I know Nate wouldn't blame us, but...what if we have to kill him?" Werr asked softly, wrapping his arms around Welk's neck. He made sure to keep his voice low, so Tasia wouldn't hear. "I don't know if I can do that...if any of us can do that."

Welk closed his eyes, letting out a slow, quiet breath as he rested his nose against Werr's shoulder, thinking. Then he spoke, quietly and tentatively, into Werr's mind.

Don't even consider the possibility, Dark-Eyes. We're going to get Nate and Cynyr back, both of them, and there's nothing out there that will be able to stop us. So don't even confess the negative, because only the positive is what matters. Now c'mon; we're gonna go flying, you and me, like old times. Okay?

"I...I'm not sure it's safe," Werr replied quietly, swallowing hard. "We can't stray from the others. I feel...I feel like we're on the brink of an attack as it is. We can't just go off doing our own thing anymore. We have to take care not to draw out the attack before we're ready for it..." A lot of them were still recovering from the fall of Castle Alastor. If they were attacked now, they wouldn't stand much of a chance.

Welk was quiet for a moment, looking sad, then gently pressed his forehead to Werr's, which immediately created a strange feeling of bliss within the boy's mind.

Then let me take you flying though our minds. I'm always here for you, Werr. You're mine, and I'm yours, and we'll be best friends forever. Even when we someday have families of our own, you're still going to be my brother and I'm going to be yours.

So let me take you flying, Werr. Where nobody can touch us.

Where we're free.

In the end, Werr knew it was useless trying to argue anymore. He could do nothing but lie back, his head on Lexi's shoulder.

"So...we go to war." Obelisk frowned. "I don't like it. Not one bit..."

"It doesn't sound like we have a choice." Sooth blinked. "I am getting a bit hungry...you look tasty," He nosed Fawn's shoulder.

"I would advise against eating anyone here, unless you like having your head separated from your neck." Obelisk warned softly. "We're very protective of our own."

"Aw. What about the deer?" Sooth blinked.

"Then you would be driven to beg for death before it comes to you. Forin is not someone you want to anger."

"It's not like Forin's here to contest him eating me anyways."

Luen had walked back inside, his expression giving away nothing but a flat, no-nonsense air. He flicked his fluffy tail, rubbing his face lightly with one hand. "When do we leave? Sitting here waiting around isn't going to do anything for us, so we might as well get out of here." His ears, which were flat back against his head, quivered slightly as he turned and stalked out of the room.

Obelisk said nothing, though he let out a little 'tsk' as Luen passed. Sooth turned his head, following the deer with his gaze. He tucked himself low to the ground and followed, as though Luen were prey and he were stalking him. Not that he intended to eat him. He was just curious about the deer. He seemed...upset. Sooth didn't really like that.

Luen headed off for a back room, shutting the door behind him and locking it. He stripped off his shirt, pausing to glance at the strange blue-black tattoos that still covered his figure. He frowned, turning his head to look away and catching sight of himself in the room's mirror.

A werewolf stared back at him, grinning away darkly.

The kirin blinked sharply, staring fearfully at the monster in the mirror. When he had become diseased with the werewolf sickness, it had nearly cost him everything, and he had never felt exactly the same since...like he was tainted, like something still lurked within him, waiting. He had no desire to become such a beast again.

You have no choice. The werewolf's voice was scratchy and dark, projected through a raspy, sickened throat. You can never truly be free. You are mine and mine alone.

"No...I'm not," he answered, but his own voice came out weak and timid. Suddenly, the marks on his body were alive, turned into wolfish tattoos that spiraled up and down his skin, tearing into him with their sharp teeth. He collapsed backwards on the ground, clutching his head as the werewolf laughed and laughed and tore its claws through his mind...

And suddenly, it all vanished. Luen was left alone, his own image in the mirror once again, the tattoos on his skin curled in small square-ish marks.

He hated being alone, he decided instantly, as he pressed his forehead to the side of the nearby bed and wept.

Airana had slipped away from her mother. Tasia was asleep on the couch in the other room; no one had noticed the baby's escape. Except, of course, for Sooth. To the untamed dragon, the toddler looked like a walking ham leg. He forgot about watching Luen and dropped his head near the baby, curious. Ariana grinned and pet his nose, used to being around dragons and the like by now. She hadn't spent much time away from her mother; this was quite the adventure for her.

Sooth opened his mouth, picking up the baby in his mouth. She squealed in excitement, unaware of the fact that Sooth was seriously considering simply swallowing. He was eying the door at the moment, wondering if he would be stopped before he could bite down.

Luckily, Zephyr turned the corner at that moment, in human form, munching quite happily on a small loaf of bread that he had located in the kitchen. He froze, eyes going wide at the sight before him. The reaction to the situation was instant and over in a matter of two seconds.

Suddenly, Ariana was gently deposited on the floor, where she cooed and headed off to find someone else to play with. Suddenly, Sooth found himself completely and utterly immobilized, unable to even hope to move. Suddenly, Zephyr was standing quietly on Sooth's shoulders, arms crossed and eyes closed.

"You must surely be the dumbest excuse for one of my own people that I have ever met."

His voice was cold, as cold as ice, and when he opened his eyes and caught Sooth's gaze, it was like looking into a fiery inferno of power unlike anything the world had to offer. It was dark and vile, and it seemed to stare into Sooth's very soul, his being, everything he was.

"You and I. Outside. Now," the king said, disappearing from the golden dragon's back and reappearing just to the side of his head. Sooth could instantly move. "Move quickly and don't even let a thought of escape cross your mind," Zephyr replied, his voice hard and angry. "Or I will end you on the spot. Walk, quietly and calmly."

Sooth was tense and walked like his knees no longer existed. Stiff and solemn. He nosed his way out into the street, turning up the road and crossing into a field under Zephyr's instruction. "It's her fault," He hissed. "She walked up to me! She was awake when I said I was hungry. She should have known to stay away from me." He spat hotly, not happy about being ordered around. It wasn't his fault. He ate when he was hungry. Otherwise, he couldn't survive. He had eaten people before.

"She is a mere infant, unaware of the danger you apparently possess to her," the king replied, taking dragon form and shaking his head. "Your past is of no concern to me, but the moment you attempt to lay tooth on any being in this group, your life will be forfeit. Had you even paused to picture what would've happened to you had you eaten that child?"

The air immediately grew darker and fouler.

"I would not have stopped with the most vile methods of torture known to our kind, followed by your immediate death," he snarled. "Now, Sooth, I am going to test you, and I am going to make it very, very hard on you. If you value your life, I suggest you summon any wit you might have and use it, for if you fail, I will have no choice but to consume your soul."

And he struck a stance that was obviously a fighting one.

Sooth backed up, fear in his every motion. "Wh-wha...this is...you can't..." He stammered, recoiling and taking on the best defensive stance he could muster. "They're just ants to us! Why would you defend them?" He hissed furiously, his tail lashing behind him. "This doesn't make any sense!"

Zephyr tilted his head back regally, glaring down at the gold-colored dragon.

"Because without them, I would've died long ago, alone and infuriated. They have given dragons a future outside of the Great Plains, where we are accepted, not as beasts to be slaughtered for our scales, but as beings worthy of recognition and friendship. Without them, I would never have found Vaira and my son Boko, would never have become the second king in all history of dragons existing upon this planet, would never have become half the dragon I am today. So I will defend them, and valiantly, if I must, on my title as King and my status as a dragon."

"Tch..." Sooth swallowed hard, glaring up at the larger dragon. "I was only gonna eat the kid..." He made no move to attack, hardly moving an inch. But from the way his eyes flicked from side to side, he was searching for an escape. Maybe he could just get away from these people...and this dragon. He had first introduced himself as king of the dragons, but honestly, Sooth didn't buy it. He had been his own king for the longest time. He ate what he wanted whenever he could. Who was Zephyr to stop him?