The Forgotten Zodiac

The emerald green dragon lunged a few seconds later, entering into fierce combat with the golden one. Zephyr was a powerful foe, and he clearly had a certain intent in his mind as he attacked.

Sooth could only pray it wasn't murderous intent.

The king was a raging mass of scales, an excellent fighter. He was clearly angry, but he refused to let it overflow or cause him to falter.

Sooth swept to the side, letting Zephyr crash past him. His smaller size was an advantage, maybe. He'd be harder to hit, and Zehpyr was incredibly easy to. He clamped his teeth around the base of Zephyr's tail, lashing his head back and forth to try and dig his teeth in past Zephyr's scales.

Zephyr grunted and immediately lashed his tail from side to side, practically knocking Sooth's teeth out and jarring his hold. The green dragon was quick to settle one of his hind legs against Sooth's body and shove the dragon backwards, ignoring how his teeth tore lines through his scales. Sooth's teeth were small enough, and Zephyr didn't seem too bothered by the injuries.

Sooth took a step back, letting out a bellowing roar. He may have been incapable of flames, but his roar was loud enough to make the ground tremble. It didn't hold the same power as Zephyr's, obviously. For a runt, however, it was impressive. He snaked his head around and clamped down on Zephyr's ear, pulling with a strong jerk of his head.

The sound of flesh tearing was easily heard, and Sooth found himself holding a half of Zephyr's left ear in his teeth. The dragon king roared and turned on the younger dragon, snarling and bounding forward with a few strong leaps. He slapped a paw over Sooth's neck, battering the golden one against the ground and pressing his claws close to his scales, threatening to break the fragile skin beneath them.

Sooth retaliated, clamping his jaws tightly around Zephyr's wrist. This time, he didn't show any signs of letting up, trying to use his powerful jaws to crush the bones underneath. This wasn't a game. He had been told that he would have to fight for his life. He was doing everything in his power to achieve just that. By aiming for areas he knew were weak for himself, he could easily find Zephyr's weak points. As in, the fragile little bones in the space between the arm and the paw.

Zephyr released a roar, feeling the bones snap under the intense pressure. He clawed at Sooth's underbelly with his hind legs, and when the younger dragon let go of him, he threw out a wind and slammed it into the golden dragon's head. It was enough to knock him off-balance long enough for Zephyr's teeth to flash out at his neck.

When the dust settled, it found Zephyr's teeth clamped tightly around Sooth's neck. The golden dragon was still alive, however. Both were panting heavily, Zephyr's sharp teeth making a soft grinding sound as they pressed and scraped against the bright yellow scales against them. Sooth was completely at Zephyr's mercy, now.

Sooth was pinned, but he didn't act like it. He thrashed with tail and legs, putting his claws against Zephyr's jaws to try and keep them apart, doing everything he could to get the larger one off of himself. "Don't, don't, let go of me," He whined. Pathetic. He knew it was weak. He knew he was weak. Some part of him accepted this fate. At least it would finally be over. His existence had so far been nothing but...confusion. And pain. He was born trapped and he was about to die the same way. Fitting, almost.

Zephyr growled, pressing his teeth a bit harder against Sooth's neck before pulling back enough to speak.

"You made fun of humans. Now, you'll live like them."

And he opened his jaws, where red power began to build up in massive, overflowing waves, bubbling and shifting as it formed. When it peaked, Zephyr released the blast like red fire over Sooth.

Sooth screamed. If his roar had been loud, the scream of pain was worse. He shut his eyes so tightly he felt as though the burning feeling filling him inside and out had melted his eyelids together. Zephyr's hold on him seemed to grow stronger by the second, or was he merely growing weaker? He managed to force one eye open, and that was when he saw them. He was surrounded by ghostly figures, dragons of a distant past. One in particular caught Sooth's eye. Naybrin. As Sooth watched, the great dragon lowered his head in a respectful bow towards Zephyr. And one by one, so did the rest of them. As Sooth watched, they seemed to grow larger. Naybrin smiled and winked at him.

And then they were gone. The flames subsided and he found himself feeling weak. Weaker than he ever thought he could feel. He was pinned between Zephyr's two front claws. Had they been that big before? He rolled over and crawled away from the great paw, pushing himself upright again. He looked down at his paws. Pale flesh met his gaze. His golden scales, which he had taken so much pride in, were gone. His brain sent signals to his tail to thrash, to whip around so he could see it, but nothing happened at all. His wings? Those were gone too. The horrible realization struck him harder than Zephyr had.

"What did...you do?" He spoke with a whisper, his throat hoarse from the screaming. "Y-you didn't. You didn't! You can't have...this is an illusion, a hallucination, or a dream..." He stared up at Zephyr, feeling dizzy at once. He was massive! Tears swept down his cheeks in waves as he looked from Zephyr to his hands. "Yo-you turned me into one of them...why, so you could eat me?!"

((I hope you realize that this honestly isn't going to end well. He'll go crazy. Most people do when they lose so much power or strength in one go.))

((Aye. That's why Zephyr won't keep him like this for very long. Just enough for him to learn a lesson.))

"Your form will return when you understand your place," Zephyr replied. "When you understand that the true world does not revolve around yourself, and that the past is meant to stay such. Change is who we are; it's what makes us better people. Once you understand that, you'll become normal again. Now, stand tall, Sooth."

He shifted to his own human form, crossing his arms neatly.

((Aw, but he could be the next big bad guy. "You turned me into this! Don't try and act innocent...I'll do it!" And then Zephyr moves to stop him and he pushes the button to blow up something really big and it's scary. o0o))

Sooth, breathing heavily. stared at Zephyr for a long moment, opening and closing his mouth. "Y-you're one of them, too! You...turned me into a morsel!" He hissed, backing away. He stumbled back in a puddle, and as the ripples faded, he was able to look at himself in the water. He was clothed in white clothes with a lovely gold trim, dressed in the finest silk. His hair was a long golden blond, that swept behind him easily. He was quite handsome, but he could only see a weak, pathetic human.

He plopped down and dropped his head into his arms, whimpering at his plight. "L-look at what you've done to me, I'm horrid! Ugly!"

((Nah. It doesn't work out to more than basically making him the world's biggest baby/brat, when Zephyr basically just told him how to get his form back, good as new. xD))

"I don't seem to think of it that way," he answered. "Neither did our predecessor. Naybrin himself had a human form, and he was quite in-love with it. Dragons have survived as long as we have because we have been able to adapt, Sooth, and until you can acknowledge the changes this world - your world - has had, then I cannot allow you to remain with us, nor alive, especially if you are going to be a threat to other lives."

((8I But it could have been so glorious...

A'ight, whateves. x3))

Sooth didn't respond, turning his back on the dragon. He cried there, heartbroken over his loss. He had owned such strength and power before, and Zephyr had taken that away from him. He had been able to fly and roar and so much more before, and now he was a useless lump of meat and bones and he hated it. But there was nothing at all that he could do about it, was there? Not a thing...

((On a different note: I miss Naybrin. p_p ))

Zephyr stared down at Sooth for a moment, then merely closed his eyes and headed back towards the house, blood still dripping heavily from his half a left ear.

*

Vorpal was tired.

How long had it been since he had been abducted from Forin's side? Since he had been replaced with a false blade? Since Forin's memories had been tampered with and altered so his spirit-blade companion had never existed?

Heck, Vorpal even missed Luen at this point...

Veros seemed...excited. Vorpal was almost finished soaking in the blood tank. Just a few more minutes, and all should work splendidly. "Cynyr, look at this. The hilt is almost glowing. Such a powerful imp...he'll do perfectly. What do you think?" He looked at the twisted demonic beast Cynyr had become. Any simpleton could see that Veros himself was acting...strangely. He seemed hyper, giggly, inconsistent. But anyone who knew better could tell that he was mad. Furious. Angry beyond anger. He had been since Riordan's escape.

The demon was simply standing nearby, breathing heavily and staring at the blood in the tank. There was no trace of Cynyr left other than the scars lacing the spindly body. The demon had eaten him alive, down to the last remnant of the half-cat. Now the creature dipped its muzzle forward and swallowed several mouthfuls of the blood from the tank (there was still more than enough left, of course), appearing pleased once it had finished getting a drink.

Veros stroked the demon's head happily, brushing back his fur. "There's a good monster." He smiled brightly, then turned his attention back to the blood pool. He suddenly stuck his hand in it, pulling out the sword. "All finished? Yes? Very good." He was able to hold it, and his grip was almost painful for the weapon. Nearly crushing. "Come, Cynyr. You remember what must be done."

Vorpal's form flickered weakly as he tried to shift, wanting to get away, but he was far too drained, too exhausted. Without Forin, his strength was practically nothing. He was too weak to protest as 'Cynyr' eagerly shuffled forward and clamped his jaws down around Vorpal's blade. Somehow, this was enough to cause Vorpal to shift to his imp form, and with a sharp wail, he was crushed to pieces beneath the powerful jaws.

Blood spurted and splattered across the ground, along with scattered bits and pieces of the imp's silver coating. The demon crunched away happily on the imp's corpse as the silver immediately formed on his own body. With a sigh, the two forms immediately began to meld together, the demon sinking into a sleep of which he would not rouse and Vorpal's absorbed power beginning to shape a human figure out of the monster.

((So is Vorpal dead?))

Veros watched, mostly. He did help the process along; nudging back stray bits of silver, helping form the face, pressing his hand against the making of a new one to help it learn. Every detail, down to the wrinkles on the palm of the new form's hand, was thoroughly inspected by Veros. He glared at the figure before him for a long while before nodding in satisfaction. "Carry on. The face. Shape the face."