The Forgotten Zodiac

((Little Verolen currently is incapable of speaking at the moment. Resu trying to claw his head off, remember?))

The Phantom twisted and desperately attempted to pull away before the aura enveloped him, too. He let out a scream of his own and thrashed, kicked, flailed, did anything and everything he could to get away. But it was no use. Finally, they stopped screaming at once and collapsed at the same time. Rush glared over his shoulder, then let go of Verolen Jr. He ran forward, pulling the Phantom away from Bermuda and towards a waiting Toroph ((I think that was his name?)).

Verolen sat upright, coughing and struggling to breathe. It was difficult between a nearly collapsed windpipe and all the smoke in the air. "Ber...Bermuda...no...!" He scrambled over to the nereid and dragged him in the opposite direction of the Phantom, tears streaming down his face. "Why...you di-didn't have to...n-not the Spell of Black..."

"Master! Master, I found you!" Lumpy and Gumpy, the two headed dog that Verolen had called last evening, was near Sylas.

"Get the human out of here, Lumpy! Get him as far away as you can, these fires will destroy everything!" Verolen yelled as soon as he could. "Aries! ...ARIES!" He screamed, realizing how bad the smoke and flames had gotten.

Aries emerged from the black, carrying Gabe and an unconscious L'arc. "I'm here! I got out everyone I could, but Versha is in the tree..."

"There's no time! We've got to get out of here. Versha will have to fend for herself, we have to get away from here!" Verolen stood, picking up Bermuda and running for it.

Gabe was murmuring the protection spell under his breath as fast as he could, but each time it shimmered in the heat, crackling and giving way after only a minute or so. Tears of fear streamed down his face as he clung tightly to Aires.

Byrne had spent a while lost in the smoke, coughing as if he was going to choke out his lungs, when he was suddenly lifted from behind by two strong arms. He yelped and strugged, before realizing it was only Israel, with Verdi clinging to his back. The Siren lifted the human out of the fire and into the sky, escaping the smoke as they climbed higher.

Byrne could only stare in shock at the destruction that was happening. "Gods..." he whispered.

He was even more terrified when he realized that most of the others were still down there.

"Aries! Prince! This way!"

How Kendra was able to make herself heard over the crackling of the flames could be determined later. She, Eve, and Manny were currently battling a path through the flames (well, it was mostly Eve, with her Dark Magic) in the direction of the refugee camp.

"This way! Hurry!" Kendra called.

Bermuda silently writhed in Verolen's grip, even though he was unconscious. The strange blue aura slowly started to darken in shade to black, some of it pulling and clinging to Verolen's chest. The nereid seemed to give himself a small shake, his eyes flashing open for a moment.

"No," he whispered, and the aura left Verolen alone. The nereid jerked, gritting his teeth. "L-leave me... it's n-not..." he whimpered and struggled feebly against Verolen. "I c-can't control it... mu-much longer..."

Just as Bermuda got these words out, his eyes flashed, and a new expression stole over him. The shaking, when it started, was so fierce. His eyes rolled back into his skull and he shrieked again.

Verolen nearly dropped Bermuda twice. He grabbed at his cloak and wrapped it around Bermuda, tightly enough to make him easier to carry. Then he sprinted for Kendra and Eve, Aries right behind him.

Lumpy flicked his ears, watching Verolen go. He had been ordered to carry Sylas to safety, hadn't he? He couldn't very well run through the fire. The human was on his back, quite securely (especially with his hands looped around his neck and his hands tucked into Gumpy's slobbering mouth). So, he turned around and promptly ran the other way. Away from the fire, through the trees, over a wide lake. Keep going. Get the human somewhere safe. He found that somewhere in a large clearing. The fire wouldn't reach this far. He ran very far, very fast.

Lumpy and Gumpy deposited Sylas in this clearing. Then he decided to run back to Verolen. Yes, master would be pleased. Sylas was safe, and he was back for more missions. This was perfect. Off he went, leaving an injured Sylas alone in the woods.

Rush found himself very much confused. On one hand, Talos was snapping at him to follow him. On the other, he desperately wanted to go with Verolen and the others. He could help them keep the fires away from the plains. He could apologize to Verolen for trying to rip his head off. He could...

He could go home.

In the end, Rush found himself flying towards Verolen and the others. But the decision alone had taken too long; there were flames everywhere. The canopy was ablaze, the forest floor was lighting, trees burned to a crisp everywhere Rush looked. There was a scream from a nearby tree; Versha! Rush flew to her and dragged her out, then pounded his wings and flew up and out of the way as a tree fell inches away from him. He flew as fast as he could, finally breaching the canopy and breaking for the plains, desperate to get away from the smoke so he could breathe again.

((Master will not be pleased, doggie.))

"Rush! Rush!"

Seeing the chimera fly out of the blaze, Israel hurried in his direction to check Rush's condition. Byrne had managed, in this time, to work his way around to Israel's back, so the Siren was able to grab the collar of Rush's shirt and direct him up, towards safety.

Slowly, Bermuda faded into unconsciousness, wondering as he faded out if the spell had worked... and if the war really was going to be over, as his vision had indicated.

((Doggie does not know any better. xD Lumpy did as he was told. He got Sylas somewhere safe.))

Rush flew blindly, struggling to blink the smoke out of his eyes. "We've got to keep the plains safe from the fires!" He called, holding Versha tightly. Verdi looked back at the forest; it was a large circle of black surrounded by fire and flames, by now. He didn't realize that the black was fire, too.

"We made it," Verolen huffed, shaking his head. "We're clear. Where's Sylas?" He looked around warily, frowning. "You alright, Aries?"

"I'm fine. We should get further away, though..." She sighed, hefting L'arc a little higher up into her arms. "Gabe, still got that crown?"

"I thought Versha was going to protect the plains!" Israel said, looking panicked now. "She said her magic could do that! Is it not working?"

"Yes mommy, I have it," Gabe said. The young warlock's hands were burned where he had been holding onto the metal, but he was brave and didn't let go. He looked down at Bermuda, then to Verolen.
"What did he do? Did he cast a bad spell? It looked like his spell went bad, spells aren't supposed to hurt the caster..." Gabe asked.

"D-did she?" Rush looked down at the burning forest, where it met the plains. Indeed, the fire wasn't catching on the grass. "Oh...well...I guess that works. Whatever. Let's find the others, I suppose," He nodded, flying a little lower. "Sorry to scare you. I didn't hear her say anything like that..."

"You didn't really hang around her, so that's understandable." Verdi nodded. "Look, there are the others! Let's go!"

"Good boy," Aries sighed with relief.

Verolen looked up at Gabe, then down at Bermuda. "Let's...stop to rest," He sighed, laying Bermuda down. His cloak was wrapped tightly around the prince still, and it was beginning to look like it was fused to his clothes to restrict his movement. Which, it was.

Verolen sighed and began to explain. "The...Spell of Black is a spell that's supposed to hurt the caster, Gabe. Good becomes evil and evil becomes good. That's...literally what it does. It turns the heart on its head, and the person's good becomes more prevailent than their evil. The thing is, it...affects both the caster and the victim..." He looked down at Bermuda. "So that their evil becomes more prevailent than their good. Bermuda...the Bermuda we know is dead." He said softly. "Replaced with someone evil..."

"Wh...what?"

L'arc came around groggily, just in time to hear Verolen's words. "N...no. That can't be!" he said, staring down at his brother. "I don't... is there something we can do? Verolen, there has to be something!" he said, panic overtaking his features. He turned to the sky, looking for Rush in the hopes that he would know something. "Rush, get down here! We need help!"

((Rush can figure out that Adahre absorbed the spell and forced Bermuda to go unconscious until someone took care of him. :D))

Rush flew down at once, frowning. "What happened back there? I didn't see."

"The...Spell of Black..." Verolen muttered.

"Skies above, you're joking. Tell me you're joking. Bermuda did it?" Rush looked down, then frowned. "Odd...he should have woken up by now. U-unless..." He placed his hands gently on Bermuda's chest. "O-oh gods, Adhare is attacking him! This isn't right, this can't..." He drew his hand back, and a golden tentacle of the Library appeared.

"Wait! Won't that hurt Bermuda?" Aries pulled Rush back, shaking her head.

"I'll be careful! I'm in control of the Library, Aries, it's not rampant anymore. But I've got to get Adhare out of there, even if that means the Library absorbs him. Normally...it wouldn't be possible. But the Senators...forget it," Rush shook his head. There wasn't any time to explain. He placed his hand back on Bermuda's chest, and the tentacle immediately dove in.

Bermuda made a spluttering noise, his eyes flying open. He looked faint and confused one moment, but was hissing the next. "Get your hand off of... augh!"

From the reaction, it was obvious that the being in control of Bermuda's body right now was not Bermuda. He threw his head back against the ground, hissing and snarling as Rush slowly absorbed him.

L'arc watched on in part terror, part awe as Rush acted, hoping that this was the right thing to do, and that they'd get Bermuda back in one piece.

Rush drew himself away, curling up around his hand and shivering. "A-Adhare...h-he's strong...!" He gasped, but the Library was hard at work subduing the spirit. Rush rolled over and over until he bumped into a rock, which he curled up on top of and just laid there for a little while.

"Well. I guess that's that..." Aries frowned. "Is Bermuda okay...?" She looked down at the neirid prince, half expecting him to be dead.

"Has anyone seen Sylas? Or Gumpy? He's gotta be somewhere here..." Verolen frowned, blowing hard on the dog whistle a couple times. There was a howl for a response, somewhere nearby. "Ah, good...he'll be back soon, then. I hope Sylas isn't too hurt. That throw may have very well broken his back..." That wasn't all he was concerned about, clearly. He kept glancing down at Bermuda, the worry obvious in his gaze.

Hesitantly, and fearing the worst, L'arc reached over and gently touched the vein in Bermuda's neck, feeling for a pulse.

He nearly fell over and sobbed.

"He's... he's alive," he breathed. He turned his gaze to Verolen. "Will he be okay? I-if he survived that? Will he be all right?" he asked, clearly worried.

"I'm not sure." Verolen said softly. "If Rush was so desperate to drag out Adhare...then the spirit absorbed the effects of the Spell of Black. If Rush is okay, then...well, I hope Bermuda is too..." He sighed heavily.

"I'm back!" Lumpy approached happily, while Gumpy chewed on a stick (though still inevitably dragged along due to the fact that he was attached). "I got the human somewhere safe. Here I am."

"...What?" Verolen blinked. "L-Lumpy, where's Sylas? Where is he?"

"I crossed a river and passed a lake and dropped him off in a clearing. And then I heard the whistle, so I came." He nodded happily. "Oh, I think the Turning Year effects are about to wear off..."

L'arc lifted his gaze from Bermuda to Rush, checking on the chimera, before he heard mention of Sylas' name. "You what?" he asked, his face losing what little color it had regained upon hearing that Bermuda would be all right. He looked to Verolen, wide eyed.

"We..." he looked back to the dog. "We need Sylas HERE," he emphasized.

Lumpy just tilted his head. "I wasn't told that," He blinked, then barked. He barked a few more times, then quieted.

"We're too far away from the forest for the Turning Year to last very long. It's okay, Lumpy, it's...not your fault. I should have told you where to take him..." Verolen groaned, pacing. "Okay. We're going to the camp. We're going to take Bermuda, Rush, and everyone else there. Then you and I can take Fredrick the horse and hunt down Sylas." Verolen sighed, speaking to L'arc. "Lumpy will lead us there. But first thing's first," He stooped and picked up Bermuda again, sighing heavily.

"I'm coming with you," L'arc said with a nod. He lifted one of the Chimera's too-heavy arms and slung it over his shoulder.
"Help me out, Aries," he said.

Gabe wiggled out of his mother's arms, still holding the crown. He headed in the direction that the others were going, in the direction of the human camp.

"I'm...still awake," Rush groaned, putting his feet on the ground. He still clearly required help walking, though. His breath hitched here and there, and he was sweating terribly. But with him in Aries and L'arc's arms, Bermuda in Verolen's arms, Versha carried by Manny, and everyone else walking, it didn't take long before they reached the human camp.

Most druids, as Verolen predicted, made their place just outside the human camp. There were many trees there, probably sleeping still. Many of the awake Druids hurried forward at the sight of Versha, though. They took her from Manny and carried her off, probably to treat her many burn wounds. Rush crawled away from Aries and L'arc, curling up on another rock. Verolen handed Bermuda over to Eve and Kendra.

"I'm trusting you two to watch over him, okay? We're going to go save Sylas." He said quietly. "Let's go ask for Fredrick, L'arc."

"You can count on us," Eve was quick to say, giving Verolen a nod. Kendra bowed her head, saying, "Place any worries far from your mind, my prince. We will keep close."

L'arc looked considerably more reassured, before turning back and gazing at the rising smoke. He dreaded going back, but he would.

After all, it was for Sylas. And though L'arc had not expressed the sentiment at the same time Sylas had eariler, the Prince... no, King, would be willing any day to trade his life for his best friend's.

"I'm coming, Verolen," he said.

"You better be." Verolen grunted, then looked back and smiled a bit. "I don't want to explain to Sylas that his best friend chickened out on him. Yo, Tobias! We need your horse!"

After a few minutes of bargaining and chatter with the human 'mayor' of 'Tinyville', Verolen and L'arc were pounding towards the forest with Fredrick underneath them. Off they went along the treeline, hunting down a break in the flames. They finally found one, and Lumpy led the way into the forest.

L'arc held his sleeve over his mouth, letting Verolen do the steering of the horse, for L'arc feared that the heat and smoke might cause him to pass out again. He'd taken the time to change out of the coronation gown and take up his sword once again, but he really wasn't in fighting shape.

He could only hope that the Phantom wouldn't find them.

((HE TOTALLY SHOULD AND BE AN AWKWARD STRANGE HERO MAYBE HE FOUND SYLAS AND IS BRINGING HIM TO SAFETY :D))