The Zodiacs | by Lastlegolife | Chapter 1: The Spirit of the Horned Bull

The young girls laughed hysterically and pointed at the television screen. Neora stuck her head out of the kitchen door when they called and claimed she was missing the best part of the show. She promised to be there shortly after fixing herself a treat. She returned to the counter table and continued to make herself a tofu sandwich.

The air outside picked up slightly causing her to look out of the window at the swaying trees. The night seemed to get darker as the wind calmed down suddenly.

Neora shut the curtains, picked up her snack, and headed into the main room at the front. The girls were all piled on top of a large couch watching Monty Python: The Holy Grail. On the table before them were several open sodas, chips of every kind, along with pretzels and cans of cheese whiz laid out within arms reach. Neora sat near her friend on the far end.

After a few minutes, she realized that they had run out of napkins and left for the kitchen to get more. The wind outside picked up again. Neora heard trees bending and cracking outside. The walls groaned against the pressure causing her to stop and stare at the closed curtains for a few moments in silence. Suddenly, she heard screams coming from the front of the house. Neora ran to her friends as quickly as she could, prepared for the worst. When she got there the girls were clustered together on one side of the couch pointing at the front door.

Neora looked and gasped.

The front of the house seemed to melt away revealing nothing but blackness as far as the eye could see. Everyone's heads snapped up to the upper floor as doors all over the house slammed shut and locked themselves.

A tall, thin double-door materialized in place of the wall. It glowed with colorful pictures of stained glass embedded into it. Along the length of both doors were two men in turbans standing on their tip-toes with their legs in the air, a fearsome look in their eye. In between them was a larger portrait of a cloaked man. Only his misty blue eyes were visible. At the very bottom were pictures of armed rebels waiting to fight.

The girls scrambled off of the couch and backed away from the door.

"Do any of you know black magic?" Neora whispered.

Her friends shook their heads. "Not much. White magic is more common here."

The double doors creaked and opened slowly. A hand-full of gruff looking men stepped out first. Behind them was very tall man of nearly seven feet. His eyes were a smokey blue and he kept his body hid under a dark cloak. Finally two men wearing turbans came flying into the room sitting cross-legged on top of individual cloud.

There was no doubt that these were the people responsible for the feelings that stabbed at her heart. The dreams that tormented her in the night, the sudden arousal of fear in her stomach. It was all warning signs. It was the fear of the others being taken away, pushed closer, and contained in one area. She couldn't pin point where it was and she didn't want to find it but now they had found her and they were going to take her there.

"Does anyone know a protection spell or something useful then?"

Before anyone could answer, the ruff looking men started slowly toward them. The women gasped with fear.

The cloaked man had a deep voice and a tone that could make the bravest man shiver. "Which one of you is Neoranyui Fuagua?"

No one spoke nor made a move.

"Very well then."

The girls cowered back into a wall as the men moved in closer. They eyed each one, debating on who they should take first.

Neora knew she could just blast her way through, but she feared for the lives of her friends. All she could do was stand back and watch as the men grabbed four of her comrades and dragged them away kicking and screaming over to the tall man. They examined their foreheads and lifted the back of their shirts. Four times they did it and four times they came up with nothing. The men pushed them aside and gave them each a quick prick with a needle.

The girls fell asleep instantly.

Neora felt fear rise in the pit of her stomach when they grabbed her cousins, Mallisa and Izabelle, and started to drag them away. Two more men came over collect her as well. As they reached out Neora gave them both a palm to the chest and sent them sliding backwards onto the ground. Everyone stopped to look at her. The leader of the group grinned under his cloak.

"Pleasure to meet you Neoranyui." The tall man said. "I take it you don't plan to come quietly. I can respect that but you will be leaving with us."

Neora did not respond, her expression was serious and she glared at him with angry.

The ruff men charged toward her.

With lightening speed, Neora back-flipped her way across the room to meet them. Her legs wrapped around one mans head, pushing him to the ground, and snapped his neck. Before the others could come at her, she hopped up and slugged them all in their jaw, shattering a few. Each blow was deadly for deep within her lay the power of Earth and strength, one of the many gifts from her birth that she enjoyed.

Three men managed to grab the young girl. In the confusion of their pulling, she slipped through their fingers and bolted for a side door. It would not budge even after she kicked it.

The men caught up with her. Neora elbowed one in his chin and kicked the feet out from under another. Two more came at her. She pushed the one she had elbowed into them and they all fell in a heap on the floor.

Neora ran to a nearby window. It was as black as ever outside. Just as she was about to open it, something non-human ran up to the glass and started beating on it. Neora jumped back in surprise and thought better of it.

Neora picked up a small table and hurdled it at her assaliants who were closing in behind her. With luck and good reflexes, they caught it and held it over them for a few seconds out of surprise. Neora ran towards them and used the table as a step ladder to grab onto the second floor above them. Although she looked like she weighed no more than 115 pounds, she felt much heavier and the men collapsed under her weight.

The cloaked man and the men on clouds hadn't made a move and watched her fight with amusement.

Neora managed to get her footing and climbed over the banister to the second story. She tried the doors but those were locked too. Something moved in the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw the men on clouds floating towards her. Each had a long, gold chain which they lassoed over their heads with ease.

Neora snorted.

"The spirit of the bull god." The cloaked man muttered. "The Taurus."

One man threw his chain and missed. The other threw his and missed as well. Neora waited, anticipating their moves. They circled around her and threw them again. There was no time for this. She held out her palm and cast a spell. Her hand glowed as red as fire but fizzed out within a few seconds. Shocked Neora stared at her hand in disbelief.

*My magic is gone.*

The cloaked man below laughed to himself.

As she turned to glare at him, a chain wrapped around her arm. Angry, Neora gave it a yank. The flying man nearly fell off his cloud and fought to stay balanced. He dropped the chain. Neora dragged it in and viciously threw it at her enemy. She managed to strike one in the head. The wound bled freely. He cried out and held it.

The cloaked man was now bored.

He walked over the Mallisa and pulled her arm causing her to scream in pain. Neora stopped and looked downstairs. The cloaked man turned his gaze up to her, his hands still gripped firmly around her wrist and elbow. Neora forgot about her attackers and ran up to the banister. The cloaked man went to Izabelle took her arm and pulled it from the socket. Izabelle screamed and began to cry.

"No!" Neora cried, her eyes wide with worry.

"Quietly, or shall I snap it off?" His face was serious.

One of the men on clouds managed to get the chain around her neck. Neora grabbed at it. Before she could get a good grip, they pulled her forward over the banister. There was enough slack so that her neck did not snap nor did she choke when she fell onto the couch below. The gruff men, bruised and beaten, grabbed her and dragged her over to the tall man.

Neora kicked a few in their knees. They lifted the bangs in front her forehead. There was a faint out-lining of a tattooed symbol centered there. They turned her over and lifted her shirt up. There lay a tattooed picture of a black bull on the small of her back with a jewel in its forehead. Characters from an ancient language accompanied it.

"Finally." She heard one of them say. "Something to calm her?"

"Yes."

Neora looked at her friends laying in the corner through the crowd of bodies. She hoped they were all right. She felt a prick in her side and winched. Seconds later, she was unconscious........