The following morning brought a cold wind into the Forest. The first week of October was strangelly bitter for the deer. Axie shivered as he stood next to his mother. Mazey looked down at the young fawn, "My poor baby.", she said to him as she laid down. The fawn immediately pressed into her belly and settled next to her, keeping as warm as he could. "Shh...", Mazey said softly to her fawn, "It'll all be over soon." She nuzzled the fawn as he slowly drifted to sleep, his body shivering less as he stole some of her warmth.

At this time, Quad approached the two. Mazey looked to her mate sternly, and at once questioned, "What happened with Zephyr?" Quad shook his head, "It's nothing.", he said. The doe stared at him for a moment, "What happened?", she asked again.

Quad shook his head once more, but the doe replied with, "She hasn't been the same since yesterday." "I know, but...", Quad began, but Mazey interrupted, "You've gotta talk to her. Every day she's like this, everything will just get worse and worse."

Quad didn't reply. He couldn't fight her over this. He sighed and began to walk away when the doe asked of him, "What's troubling you, Quad?" He stopped and looked back, "It's nothing.", he said once more, as he walked away.

He had much on his mind. He didn't want to lose his mate or his children, but he was finding it harder and harder to talk to them.

"Hey Quad! Get over here!", a voice came from the Ruins. It was a doe's voice, and Quad looked to see Her standing by the place. Another deer, Yorres, was there too. The stag walked over and then asked, "What's going on?" "Look.", Her said, pointing her snout to the pillar Quad slept on.

There was a strange marking on the pillar, one Quad had never seen before. "That's never been there.", Quad said. He looked at the marking closer.

It was Quad's pictogram.

"That's...", he then began, but Her finished the sentence, "That's your pictogram, Quad. Did you deface the ruins?" "What? No!", the stag exclaimed. Yorres came over, "I'm bored, what's going on here?" "Quad drew his pictogram into the pillar he sleeps on.", Her said. "I did not! I'd never do that!", Quad denied.

He stood on his hind legs and placed a hoof on the pillar. The pictogram was scratched in deep. "I couldn't have...", he said. Her tilted her head, "Okay, Quad, now how are you doing that?", she questioned. The stag looked at her, and then looked back at the pictogram. It was glowing a bright yellow.

Suddenly, a hole appeared in the dug-out part of the ruins. A secret tunnel formed, making a loud sound that echoed through the Forest. The trio looked over to the hole with their eyes wide open. "Quad, how did you...?", Yorres began to question, but Quad immediately walked over without answering.

The hole was small, so Quad had to turn his head to fit his antlers through. He pressed in and then fell down, the hole sealing behind him. "Quad! Quad!!", he could hear Yorres and Her calling from the other side, but the deer was almost in darkness, only illuminating the area with the pictogram above his head.

He was able to stand now, and his antlers gently brushed the rock wall around him. It helped guide him through, and as he walked he saw more of the remains of the Ruins, parts of the structure that no deer had ever seen before.

There was a dim light at the end of the tunnel. Quad followed it until the light became brighter. He soon found himself in a small chamber, a sunbeam in the center of the room somehow split in two and illuminated two figures that stood opposite of each other. The figures were made of stone, and looked like strange gargoyles that sat with forelorn looks upon their faces. They were small, deer-like creatures, but with wings on their backs.

Quad suddenly heard the voices of the Twin Gods talk to him, "Now your final task will begin."

The two creatures immediately began to move, their heads lifting and looking at the newcomer. Their bodies then changed, no longer stone but covered in fur. One of the creatures had antlers and dark brown fur. The other, antlerless, had white fur.

"Seraph.", Michael's voice said, as the brown creature stepped down. "And Cherub.", Auriea's voice replied, when the white creature approached. The two gods spoke in unison now, "These are the last two Talux, and it is your task not only to protect them with your life, but to encourage them to mate."

"Seraph and Cherub.", Quad repeated the names, and the two Talux looked up to him. "Ah so they know their names. Okay, then. You two, mate right now, I won't look.", Quad said, turning around and looking away. "This'll be too easy.", he said to himself. He looked back for a moment. The two had not moved.

"You might as well do it now, there's no one looking.", Quad encouraged them, and looked away again. He waited a little longer this time before looking back. They were still standing there, looking at him curiously. "Oh gods...you two can't understand me, can you?", Quad suddenly questioned. Auriea's voice replied to him, "No, they only know their names and nothing more. They speak their own language - not even Michael and I understand their speech."

Quad let out a sigh. "Great.", he said. He looked down at the two creatures, and then walked off, calling their names. The two looked and saw he was leaving, and then they followed behind, unsure where they were being led to.

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

The opening formed as Quad pressed upon it from behind. Her and Yorres were still standing there, "Quad!", Her exclaimed. The stag came out from the hole, shaking his fur to remove the dirt that had collected upon it. "What happened down there?", Yorres questioned. Quad simply looked back, as the two Talux exited the tunnel. "Wha?", Her questioned at once, and Quad answered, "Michael and Auriea entrusted me to protect these creatures."

"They're winged! I've never seen anything like them before!", Yorres exclaimed. Quad nodded, "I'm sure we'll learn more about them in time. I bet they're hungry." "You think so?", Her asked. Quad smiled, "Well I would be if I was stuck in a tunnel for a long time. Cherub, Seraph, come.", he said and walked off again. The two followed again.

"What a strange event.", Yorres stated. "I hope Quad knows what he's doing.", Her replied.

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

The two creatures slept in the Old Oak. They were exhausted, their bodies easily wore out. Quad sat by the front just like when he guarded Christine. He watched them sleep, curious as to why they didn't sleep side-by-side.

"This is much more challenging than I expected.", he said to himself. He looked out toward the Pond. A small group of deer had gathered there, all laughing and dancing. Quad wanted to go to them, but he couldn't leave Cherub and Seraph alone. He sighed and rested his head, his eyes fixed on the two creatures. They breathed very quietly, their eyes gently closed. He wondered what they were dreaming of.

He didn't realize he drifted to sleep as well. He caught himself, sitting up suddenly. The light was different, he noticed this right away. He had slept.

The deer immediately looked to the two creatures. They still slumbered, though their bodies had shifted just a little. Quad relaxed for the moment.

"What are they, father?", a doe's voice asked from the entrance. Quad turned to see Zephyr standing there. "They are called Cherub and Seraph, the last two Talux creatures.", the stag said. "May I...?", Zephyr began, but Quad stopped her, "I don't want them to get hurt."

"Hurt?", Zephyr questioned suddenly, "You're talking to your daughter here!" "I know, but I don't want to take any chances.", Quad said. He saw that his child was deeply troubled by the way Quad was acting. "Listen, it's nothing about you. I just...", Quad sighed, "I just don't want to mess this up." "For once could you not think about yourself?", Zephyr questioned then. "The Twin Gods entrusted me with this. I'm not going to let anything happen to these two. And that means no one can come near them.", Quad snapped at her.

"How can you be so cold?", Zephyr questioned, turning and walking away. "Zeph, wait.", Quad sighed, but his daughter did not want anything else to do with him. "I hate you! I never want to see you again!", Zephyr shouted at him, and ran off.

"Zephyr...my Zephyr...", Quad said. He did not understand what was going on. He did not know if there was any way to fix the situation.

"I've lost my Zephyr."

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

Zephyr walked aimlessly through the Forest. A few deer came up to greet her, but she ignored them as she walked past. "How rude!", one fawn exclaimed.

The doe walked until she didn't recognize the area. She looked around - the trees were much different, and even the air smelled odd. A slight breeze made the air colder than normal.

"Hello?", she called. There was no answer aside from a crow that flew off and cawed. Something rustled a bush nearby. This startled the doe, and she backed away, questioning, "Who's there?"

Then something sent a shiver down her spine. "Such anger...", a voice came from the shadows of the trees, "Such beautiful anger..."

A shadow rushed out from the trees, knocking the doe down. She gasped in shock, looking up to see a black, slender creature staring down at her - a stoat. "Wha...?", she tried to say, but her voice was giving in. "Shhh...", the stoat said to her, "Just let the infection take you over."

Zephyr's body became wrapped in the substance the stoat was made of. She tried to cry in pain, but she couldn't make a sound now. She struggled, but when enough of her was covered, she relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.

The doe's eyes opened, her pupil black now. She stood and stretched. "Good, good.", the black stoat said, "You may proceed to infect the others." The infected doe grunted, her eyes dark with hatred and anger. She turned and ran back to the Forest, her body covered in a substance that none of the deer had ever encountered.

"Their ignorance will be their downfall," the stoat said to herself, "and once the Forest is overrun, the last of the Talux will come out of hiding."

The creature smiled, "The prophecy will at last be fulfilled..."

To Be Continued...