FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

My legs ache in pain as we make our way up the muddy road. The creaking of cartwheels echo through the endless forest as they are forced to turn against the mud. The sporadic steps of hamsters, rabbits, ferrets and cats change to the reformed and strengthened footsteps of the guard dogs. Their armor weighs them down into the mud making their footsteps into long strides that cause echoes of groans throughout the dogs. The sky starts to form into gray clouds hiding the hot summer sun from our exhausted bodies.

Eros and I make our way up the convoy of carts towards the front where the majority of the guard dogs march. The carts that the guard dogs pull are covered with swords, shields, spears, and armor made of leather and metal. These carts are filled with the reminder of the dogs that have fallen on grass fields and in thick forests.

With a couple more exhausting steps we make it to the front of the column and see Captain Jedrick and General Jeval leading the guard dogs along the muddy road. Their expressions are filled with exhaustion but in their eyes I can see determination.

"How far do we have left to go?" I ask, finally reaching the side of the general.

The golden retriever gives out a loud groan. "My scouts told me that its pass this hill." He says pointing to the hill slightly rising in front of us.

"They also said that the last two hills we passed." Jedrick says, his body aching and ragged from the ten hour march.

"Well I'm done listening to scouts," the General remarks, his eyebrows twitch with anger. "War has taught me one sure thing; smoke will guide us to our destination."

"So that means we are still nowhere near Kouneli... Dammit, we would've been there by now if we left the convoy behind." Jedrick says.

"We can't let the animals walk through this forest without any sense of protection. The city could have fallen days ago and we are simply marching towards a ruin. Marco suggested that we stayed behind with the rest of animals and I completely agree with it." General Jeval says.

The General pulls out his metal flask. He quickly takes off the cap and takes a swig of liquor before once more placing it on his belt. For a moment I pondered how often he has emptied that flask. Ever since I woke up the general has stunk of liquor and once in a while I can see his feet stumble and his hands lightly shake.

"Well at least we should have armored the rest of the animals." Jedrick says.

"And if we did, those hamsters would be drowning in mud and sweat by now." Eros says

"General!" a guard dog shouts as he runs up to the front of the convoy. His armor looks ragged and his expression is filled with exhaustion. "The hamsters have stopped pulling the carts and refused to continue until they have a break."

"Dammit," the General says as he turns around. "All guard stop!" The convoy instantly comes to a stop. The dogs straighten their lines and puff out their chests. "I want at least one out of ten guard dogs stationed on guard. The rest of you may rest but I want everyone to have their swords and shields in hand." There are sighs of relief as dogs quickly get themselves off the muddy road and onto the wet grass. This causes a ripple effect as animals down the convoy notice the dogs resting and choose to quickly follow suit.

"Guard, get me the scouts and an extra twenty dogs." General Jeval says.

The guard dog's gives a salute and runs down the convoy shouting names. Once in a while a guard dog groans and get back up while heading back to the convoy of carts.

"Are you serious?" Jedrick says, baffled. "I rather trust the road then those scouts."

"I agree," says the general with a smirk. "So you'll be the one leading them."

Eros gives out a loud chuckle. "There you go Jedrick, you can lead the attack to end the siege of Kouneli."

Jedrick gives an annoyed glance as he pays no attention to Eros's comment. "I'll be glad to finally get rid of these extra animals so that I can finally reach Kouneli."

Just then the guard dog returns with the embarrassed scouts who continue looking at the ground trying not to get the attention of the general and twenty guard dogs that have some energy left in their tired bodies.

"I want you to figure out how far this dam city is and what the situation looks like. When you find the city and have a clear understanding of what is going on send back a single guard dog. If the situation changes send back another guard dog to warn us. Do you understand?"

"Understood," Jedrick says to the general. "Scouts with me and this time I'll actually teach you how to properly scout." Jedrick starts heading up the hill with a proud stride that I've not seen him do since Georgos. The rest of the guard dogs shamble along behind him with disappointing expressions.

A sense of sadness fills me when I see them slowly make their way up the hill. "Wouldn't it be better if we gave them some time to recuperate before sending them off?"

"Well technically this is a better option than what we have planned originally. After all, it should have taken us less than eight hours to get to Kouneli. This dam mud road has been slowing us down tremendously. Thanks to this I'm unable to tell how far we have gone and how close we are to the city. If we have the proper scouts we will know what we will be getting ourselves into."

"You trust Jedrick?" Eros asks. "I'm not the kind of person that trusts people I don't like."

"Yes it is true Jedrick and I don't commonly see eye to eye and more than often he chooses to hold his tongue in silence, but I know that he would never turn his back to me or to the guard dogs around him. He would stand above the corpses of his guards surrounded by an endless hoard of northern beasts and still scream the words of our God without a hesitation or a quiver in his voice. He would still stand even if his belly was cut open and his organs spilled beneath him."

"You're telling me you have seen him do such heroic deeds." Eros says, sarcastic.

"When I came to the city to become the new general of Georgos I was given three captains to give my commands to; Vixel, Hannah, and Jedrick. I had never seen those dogs before and I didn't care to find out more about them. This was a city in the middle of the wetlands, the newest part to the kingdom of Zao. The wetlands were the last piece in the search to find the ends of Zao. Surrounded by mountain and gifted with fertile land. Its forests are thin and short, compared to the giant trees of the North. A place safe from danger turns guard dogs into weak animals with gray fur and dull eyes. These captains spend their days dealing with thieves or riffraff and surely that is what I expected from them. They would relax beneath the shade of walls and drink the plentiful amount of terrible ale, telling funny stories to the guard dogs around them. Except Jedrick, he was different. At first I thought he was like me, just came from the freezing North or the blazing heat of the South and had too many nightmares to enjoy the green grass, but no matter how many years past he still acted as if he was marching an army across the northern mountains. I would start my mornings with a glass of ale and he would start by sharpening his sword. I would spend my days walking along the streets of Georgos telling great heroic stories to the intrigue young guard dogs around me. Jedrick spent his days fixing up walls and making sure that every station guard dogs stood there with a straight back and a fierce look. And at night as I would fall asleep right when the sun dips beneath the forest, he would spend his time reading Grimsson's law deep into the night as if trying to find a hidden secret within its pages."

General once more takes a swig of his flask, but this time wincing slightly from its taste.

"He kept his guard up even when he was stuck in the middle of the wetlands." Eros says. "Truth be told, I don't know if I could keep my guard up at such a peaceful place, but that still doesn't explain him being so heroic."

"Many people in this world can mistake heroism for a willingness to die in battle. I know deep down he hated Georgos. I could see the look he gave the city was that not of a dog finally finding a place to sleep, but of a hamster held in a very small cage. He is the type of dog ho would rather die with a sword in his gut then a belly full of ale."

"Why?" I asked horrified to the thought of an animal wishing to die on the battlefield. "I've already been on two battlefields and one of them left me with the blood of my father covering my hands."

"A battlefield sometimes is the most comforting thing to a dog. They're trained all their lives to be at that very spot. With their swords drenched in blood and their shield cracked under force of metal and wood. Standing beside their friends and family, ready to face off the things they have dreamt and feared in their whole lives. I believe that Jedrick has almost no experience in battle, thus he thirsts for it even in a city like Georgos. I could even believe that he has never seen a battle before coming to the city."

"Then how could he be a captain." I ask. "A though captains had to have great experience in battle?"

"That is true in the north and maybe even in the South, but in the wetlands you could be a captain merely because your father was a very well recognize general and if some rumors are true a large pouch of gold does help."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Eros says with a frown. "You screamed at his face that he was a great captain."

"Compared to a captain from a northern city Jedrick would be considered no better than a regular guard dog. But compared to the fat bellied and old or young guard dogs of Georgos... Jedrick is well-informed; he has spent his time memorizing Grimsson's law and kept his body well fit for battle. Though I know many of the guard dogs do not like him because of his constant demand for their hardest efforts. They still recognize him as a dog still sharp on his feet. He may not be as well trained as a Wolf Hunter or scale Hunter and not as well experience as a northern captain, but he is the best I have."

The golden retriever said these words as if they were written in an ancient book of law. Could these guard dogs truly be so weak willed? Two times I've seen these dogs fight and both times I've been impressed. In Georgos they were able to carve their way through the enemy. In the endless forest they were able to attack the enemy camp with an organized furry. These dogs have astonished me with her bravery and yet they are not the best of Zao.

"General Jeval!" A beagle runs up to us and falls to his knees exhausted. His legs quickly sink into the mud as he tries to regain his breath. The dog very thin frame makes his armor look overly bulky on his body.

"Oh great, more good news," the general says sarcastically as one of his hands combs through his fur. "So what's the problem with the convoy?"

"No general... I'm from the Scouts." The guard dog says he gets back onto his feet. Confused, we quickly realize the guard dogs didn't run to us from the convoy. Our gaze carries up the muddy road to the top of the hill and we see guard dogs standing at the top staring off. The sun itself has started lowering towards the hill trying to bring light through the gray fog but it is quickly hindered by its thickness.

"Why have they stopped on the hill, are the enemy marching towards us," Eros askes.

"No we are not under attack...sir." The guard dog says which makes Eros ears slightly twitch. "The reason we stopped was because Kouneli is right over the hill."

"You're telling me were just a couple miles away from the city," the General says.

"Yes sir."

"So..." The general says waiting for a response, but the guard dog just looks at him puzzled. "How does the city look?" The golden retriever shouts at the dog sending him falling back onto the mud.

"Sorry general, I, I didn't mean to offend." The guard dog says with a stutter.

"Sorry, I've been on edge lately." General Jeval gives out a long sigh and raises his hand towards the fallen dog "Come on up and tell me your findings."

The guard dog slowly grips the general's hand and with one quick pull the beagle is back on his feet. "Well general the city has been attacked."

General Jeval once more gives out a long sigh "how bad?"

"Well sir, the walls are completely destroyed, there are huge gashes along it and all the towers on the east side have crumbled. Though surprisingly the city itself looks untouched by any damage, there is no black smoke coming from the city and the building themselves look intact, but the weirdest part is that there is a single banners of Zao placed on it."

"I didn't know there was a banner of Zao." I said surprised.

"A banner of Zao means there is somebody important from the capital is in Kouneli." He slowly strokes his muzzle in deep thought. He looks back at the caravan for a moment staring at the animals lying on the grass. "How does the field around the city look like?"

"It looks like a battlefield, there are corpses all over the ground and off in the distance you can see some of the larger weapons of the enemy. There appears to be animals walking around amongst the corpses grabbing bodies and piling them together. Captain Jedrick believes these animals are rabbits taking care of the battlefield."

General turns his head around and once more stairs at the beagle. "Tell Jedrick to go to the city and tell them we are coming. Make sure he gets a full understanding of the situation they are in. If any issues occur I want the fastest animal he can find to warn us. You understand?"

"Yes sir," the guard dog says as he gives the general a salute. The guard dog once more makes his way up the hill towards the rest of the Scouts.

"Shouldn't you have sent a different dog?" Eros asks. "That beagle looks so weak that the wind could push him over."

The general gives a deep laugh to Eros's comment. "He will need to work out his muscles if he wants to get stronger. I should probably make him into a Scout. Then at least he can grow some leg muscles." He leaves the muddy road and steps onto the wet grass. He walks with his back straight as if a great burden has been released from his shoulders, though he is still weighed down by his heavy armor. "Break time is over; I want everyone back on the carts and ready to leave right away."

Guard dogs quickly get back to their feet though there are echoes of grumbles throughout the crowd as they head back to their carts. The rest of the animals are even slower to making their way to the convoy but in the end they return back to their spots slowly sinking into the muddy road. Once everyone is set the general shouts his command and once more the convoy lurches forward, but this time we move at a slow pace up the hill. Luckily the hill wasn't too steep and for some reason the mud seems to hold better beneath our feet.

As we crest over the hill the sun tries to glimpse through to us, though its brightness is heavily hindered by the thick gray clouds covering it. For the first time I look at the city of Kouneli and see only white. Its walls are pure white as if covered in snow. Where the wall was destroyed the gray body made of stone shines dully amidst the white walls. The city sits beside the river though the wall encircles the city completely leaving only a small port standing outside of its destroyed walls and battered gates. The city is as well painted white but I can see markings on the building's walls and even roofs. Right in the center of the large city a forest of trees that bear no leaves sit and right in the middle of that forest stand a massive tree that is far beyond the height of the city walls.

The city itself looks almost peaceful as if lazily enjoying the summer rain, but the grass that lies beyond the walls tells a very different story. Grass has been ravaged turning the field into muddy terrain. The ground is filled with corpses that slowly have sunken into the mud, making it look like as if Zao herself is calling them to join her once again. There are sparse groups of rabbits in their brown cloaks dragging bodies towards large dog up halls.

I stop for a moment to look at the battlefield. No different than the others I've come across. Desolated corpses, armor glinting with the sun's rays and soaked in the blood of the person who wears it. And the smell of blood, oh God that smell of blood. It is a smell that I swear I'll never get used to no matter how many battlefields I come across or how many times I have to thrust my sword into a creatures gut. I feel a nudge at the back of my head and turn to see Eros standing behind me. I realize I am standing still while the convoy is moving its way down the hill towards the city. Without saying a word I turn back to the road and continue down the path while my eyes linger on the battlefield.