FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Fallon tilted his wings and dived down toward the city. The wind roared in his ears as he plummeted from the sky like an ebony arrow until his wings shot out and ripped backward to slow his descent. He landed on his hinds first before bouncing to a stop in the center of the city at a designated landing zone, squared off and out of the way.

Stepping out of the flattened and claw-marred area, he was immediately greeted by many friendly faces of all different colors, some of them bending their necks respectfully to him and others simply nodding his way. Either way, Fallon wore a genuine smile and continued about his path through the crowd.

The market area was one of the largest and most thriving districts, located in the heart of the city next alongside a large river. It catered to vendors from all over, housing wares and merchandise from other clans as well as Fallon's own. There were small shops, stalls, and tents, as well as large buildings dedicated to the busiest of stores, taverns, and inns. The sights, smells, and sounds were all unique to the area: perfect representations of a flourishing city.

Fallon usually only ever came here to show face and browse a little, but today he was here to pick up some school supplies for Ruari. His son would be starting school before too long, and he didn't want him to have any excuse not to go! He could hardly believe how quickly Ruari had grown.

It was only a few years ago that Fallon would watch him and Raegan play together. Ruari was so small then, but his older sister made sure to take care of him. They'd often wrestle around until they tired out and started reading together. Thinking about it brought a smile to Fallon's face.

With a sturdy, leather satchel at his side, Fallon picked through and found all of the items Ruari would need, though he was really just restocking his son's supply. He chuckled to himself as he thought about how many scrolls he saw scattered around Ruari's desk.

If Ruari needed anything for school, it was something to keep him organized!

After that was all said and done, Fallon carefully took off into the skies at another designated area and held the heavy satchel against his flank. He tilted a wing and angled himself toward his mother's home to check on her and the Northern dragonet.

He hoped that they were both getting along well. He knew how much his mother disliked Northerners, much like his brother, Dorian, but she shared the same tolerance that Fallon did. Fallon knew he couldn't blame every single Northerner for his father's death--and for his brother's, who he had never met--no matter how much it had hurt him. He wished Dorian felt the same.

Fallon touched down just outside his mother's home and walked up the steps before gently tapping his talons on the door. She answered not long after, baring a soft smile at seeing her son.

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise," she said and stepped aside so Fallon could enter. "Do come in."

"Hello, Mother," Fallon greeted and nudged her snout with his own. He walked inside and looked around, expecting to see the white dragonet somewhere, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. Instead, he found himself remembering distant memories of when he was younger, when he used to live here with his parents. "Is the dragonet around?"

"Keira is in your old room," she answered. "But if you're looking to talk to her, I'd advise against it. She doesn't say much."

Fallon nodded but continued anyway. He poked his head into his old room, though there wasn't much left in it anymore. He had taken mostly everything with him when he moved away.

Keira was curled up and seeming to be asleep, but two crimson eyes opened and stared at Fallon cautiously. He gave her a friendly smile and stepped inside. The room seemed much smaller than what he remembered.

"Hello, Keira," he said softly. "Are you holding up alright?"

The slight bob of her head was her only response. Fallon sat sejant in front of her and tried to look as friendly as he could. He imagined that being a Northerner didn't give her much respite in the city. It looked like she stayed in the dusty, cramped room all day.

"My name is Fallon," he said. "I'm Evelyn's son."

She acknowledged him with a terse grunt and turned her head away. Fallon's expression softened. She looked so miserable... He wished he could have done more for her. He didn't want to see anyone suffering like this, Northerner or not.

"I have to go now, Keira. I'll see you again soon," he said and slowly stepped away, almost hoping that she'd say something--but she did not.

He sighed as he walked out. "She looks so pathetic," Fallon said to his mother. "Is she eating?"

She hesitantly nodded with the shrug of her wings. "Not very much, but she is eating and drinking just fine. She just mopes around all day, but sometimes she flies up to the cliff overhead."

Fallon frowned. "Does she go into the city at all? It'd help if she didn't feel alone."

"Fallon, dear... She can't go into the city on her own or even with me. All it takes is one angry dragon to tear her apart. She's a Northerner; she'd be eaten alive."

He grimaced and nodded, not quite wanting to believe it himself. Most of the city hated northerners almost as much as Dorian because the war had affected them one way or another. There were too many lost lives. "I'll think of something if it's not escorting her myself," he replied. He smiled at her and nuzzled her again. "Thank you, Mother. I appreciate you taking care of her."

His mother smiled back and followed him to the door. "Take care, Fallon."

Fallon said his farewell and took off again, taking to the sky in a few powerful wing beats. He flew toward his home on the southern side of the city. Finally, he could go home to his family and spend some time with them!

It felt like it had been ages since he could be with his wife and son. It had been even longer since he last saw his daughter, who was staying with her husband in an allied clan. He missed them dearly and wished he could spend every waking moment with them, but sadly his duty as a leader kept him too busy. Now with the war finally settling, maybe he could finally find some time. It'd be nice to take a family trip to the coast to see Raegan together, too!

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of silver that sliced through the sky down toward the city. He recognized the dragon as Metzger, his best scout and the fastest flier he had ever known. Fallon was still physically at his prime, but he still could never hope to be as fast as that young drake was.

But then the shining silver shape suddenly lurched around and sped toward Fallon. Metzger had probably recognized his leader's black scales, so it must have been an urgent message that needed to be directly delivered to him. Fallon gulped, realizing that something could potentially be wrong. His mind darted from problem to problem, wondering what could possibly bring him ill news. Did he find out something about the attack?

Before he could finish his trail of thoughts, Metzger was calling out to him. His silver wings flared out as he came to a sudden stop next to Fallon.

"Sir! Fallon!"

Between the wind and the flapping of their wings, it would be difficult to hear his report. Fallon pointed down to the ground and the young drake nodded. They both dropped to an almost empty street in one of the common districts. A few curious eyes fixated on them.

Fallon folded his wings and turned toward the breathless scout who could hardly stand still. "What is it, Metzger? Have you news of the attack?"

He shook his head and gulped. He looked almost terrified while he fidgeted around on his talons, and his wings shifted nervously at his sides. "N-no... It's uhm... It's..." He glanced away and gritted his teeth hard as if he had to force out his next words. "It's your d-daughter..."

A dreadful feeling crept into Fallon's mind as he stared at Metzger. His talons tightened and dug into the ground. He watched the young drake's expression shift, telling Fallon what happened before he even spoke.

"She was k-killed, sir."

Fallon winced and quickly turned his head away, pinching his eyes shut as tears threatened to spill. He bared his teeth and growled viciously. "Raegan..." He held back a whimper and snarled before swiping at the ground with his claws and stamping his talons down. "Killed?"

Metzger shrunk back and nodded, fear lit in his wide eyes. "The other clan is investigating, b-but they believe it was an a-accident..."

Rage swelled in Fallon's mind. His heart thundered in his chest as he tried to hold back the mixture of feelings welling inside him. He couldn't believe that his own daughter could be dead... He refused to believe it. He saw her face in his mind, her bright, loving, cheerful face with a kind smile.

"Where... Where is her body?" He tried his best to remain as calm as he could. He had dealt with plenty of deaths before--his father, his brother he had never met, a good friend... But none of them had ever been his daughter--his precious daughter. It didn't feel real. How could Raegan really be dead?

"They're trying to f-find it. She was in a cave when it had collapsed unexpectedly and buried her..."

Fallon grimaced and tried to shake his thoughts away, but they were impossible to subdue. He snorted indignantly and suddenly took off.

"S-sir!" Metzger called out, left in the backdraft of Fallon's wings. Fallon flew recklessly over rooftops and roared his anger and sadness into the uncaring sky before he nearly crashed down in front of his home. He tried to calm himself before he walked inside, but by now his tears were flowing freely.

He stumbled through the door way and greeted the first wooden object he found by smashing it into a million pieces. He let out a somber wail and sniffed and sobbed before smashing a table as he entered the living area. With his fangs bared and his claws outstretched, he destroyed one of their two bookshelves, leaving books, scrolls, and wooden pieces scattered across their stone floor. His tail lashed and knocked over a glass ornament.

Before he could let his rage out on another piece of furniture, his mate grabbed his forearm and held him back.

"FALLON! What in the blazes are you doing!?" Mara yelled at him and gripped his arm tightly to stop him. He could feel her claws digging into his scales and he could see the fire in her eyes. Smoke puffed out of her nostrils.

Fallon took heavy breaths and hissed before pulling his arm away. He looked away from her, suddenly realizing what a wreck he was. He growled softly before eliciting a quiet whimper and burying his head into his wife's shoulder.

She cooed to him and wrapped her wings around him as she comforted him with tender strokes. He could feel her heart fluttering too. "Fallon..."

"She's dead, Mara... our little one..." he sobbed. Sorrow spilled from him, his overwhelming grief pouring out. My little Raegan...

"D-dad?" Ruari asked, peeking his head around the corner.

Fallon glanced over at his son--his only child now--and felt a stabbing pain in his chest. The look on his face was mixed with fear, confusion, and worry. Fallon stretched out a wing for him, wanting nothing more than to comfort his son. What if I lost him too?

"Ruari..." Fallon said softly. "Come here, please..."

* * *

Keira looked over the city from the top of the cliff just outside Evelyn's home. It was her favorite place to be. Not only was in secluded, but from here, she could see the wide expanse the city covered, stretching from one end of the horizon to the other. Overhead, the afternoon's warm sun cast down its rays amidst a sea of deep-blue sky.

The area Evelyn lived in was quiet and peaceful. From up on the cliff, Keira could see all of the colorful dragons flying around, going from one place to the other. Stone buildings cluttered around the center of the city while wooden once were scattered around in, most of them hiding in the pine trees. There were about only six houses that Keira could see below her, Evelyn's neighbors. It was a lot like what her village had been. But off in the distance, she couldn't count how many stone buildings there were. She'd never seen anything like it, though she never traveled very far from her home.

Her dad had said that there was an enormous city huddled against the giant, towering mountain that Keira lived close to. It wasn't the only mountain in the North, but it was certainly the largest, and the city wrapped around it and climbed far up into the clouds. Thousands upon thousands of dragons lived there, at the capital of the North. Her father used to live there before he married her mother and moved to the quiet village near the base of the mountain.

As the brisk wind picked up, Keira inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh before settling her head down against her talons. She could smell the cool, piney scent of the forest behind her, bringing back vivid memories of her home.

It was just a small cottage near the outskirts of the town. She would often play outside in the snow with her friends that would come out to visit her. They had such a wide area to play in, and she remembered all of the times they would wrestle; she was always the winner. Her friends admitted that she was the best fighter out of all of them, and Keira knew she was stronger too--she was always stronger and faster, and yet... she couldn't save any of them.

She ran away.

After two weeks of living here, she still couldn't escape her thoughts. She wanted to let them go so she could move on, but she knew she never would. They were a part of her now, and she couldn't shake away her sadness. Her entire world was just... so bleak.

With another sullen sigh, she stood up and stretched out before hopping off the cliff and gliding down to the house beneath it. She opened and closed the sliding door as quietly as she could, hoping to maybe sneak in if Evelyn was home and slip past her to her room.

But Evelyn was right there in the living area, resting on her bed. Keira kept her head down and didn't make eye contact as she walked by, even though she still expected Evelyn to stop her and try to spark a conversation. To her genuine surprise, the old dragon didn't say a single word. No 'hello, what are you doing, have you eaten,' or even a snide remark as per usual.

Keira curled up on her bed and covered her head with a wing to try and escape the world again. There was nowhere else for her to go or anything that she could do. A part of her desperately wanted to go and explore the city, but she feared what would happen if someone would see her. Evelyn had already told her plenty of terrible things.

Another part of her wanted nothing to do with living. What was the point anymore? She had nothing to look forward to besides one grueling day after the other, a constant battle with herself and her thoughts. Maybe things would change when she could leave... Maybe she should leave sooner than she was supposed to. The whole point of this was for her recovery, right? She felt plenty well enough to leave... Her body didn't ache anymore at least.

But she still had nowhere else to go. Here she was fed and had a place to sleep, but the wilderness was unpredictable. She was still much too young to be living in the wild on her own, and she had no idea how far away from the North she was. Chances were that she wouldn't even make it before a Southern dragon killed her or worse.

She figured that she could find a city somewhere that she could live in. She remembered her father speaking about a city east of their village, but they were never kind words. Maybe she could find the city built into the mountain, but she would probably be eaten up there too. There were plenty of other cities, sure, but she had no idea where. Most likely she would be better off by herself in the wilderness anyway.

But the only things she knew about survival were what her father told her. If she had had more time with him, maybe she would know what to do...

"Keira?" Evelyn said, stepping two paws into her room.

Keira kept her wing hiding her face. She didn't want Evelyn to see her crying. With a low grunt she gave her acknowledgment.

Evelyn stepped further into her room and then lay down beside the dragonet. Keira tried to ignore the fact that their tails were almost brushing together with how close the elder was. She had never been this close to her before, as if she'd been scared of touching a Northern dragonet this entire time.

"I... I wanted to apologize for the way I've... treated you," Evelyn said hesitantly. "It's not your fault that you're here and I doubt you wish to be here anyway."

Keira shifted and pulled her wing away, staring up at Evelyn inquiringly. She sniffled and wiped her eyes before turning her head away. "What brought this on?"

Evelyn sighed and looked away too. "I understand what it feels like to lose the ones you love dearly," she began. "I lost my oldest son a long time ago in a clan war, and I lost my husband just a year ago. And just today, I found out that my granddaughter is dead too..."

Keira scoffed and frowned angrily. "You don't know what it's like to lose everything," she half-growled.She didn't lose her parents, her friends, her home, or her entire community!

Evelyn fell silent for a moment. "At one time I did, just like you, but for a different reason. My parents abandoned me when I was just a youngling and left me out in the wilderness. I was too young and oblivious to know how to get back to my village, and I only knew the bare basics of survival. I wandered around for what had felt like ages, starving and exhausted. It wasn't until some kind stranger saved me that I could begin to wonder why. Why didn't my parents love me anymore? Why did they have to throw me away? Why was I alive?"

Keira winced and thought deeply about what Evelyn said. Maybe she does understand... At least she knew why she was alone... At least her father had loved her.

The old dragoness chuckled hoarsely and continued, "The stranger turned out to become my husband. At the time he was just a couple years older than I was, and little did I know that he was the clan leader's only son." She nuzzled Keira and almost startled her. "Because I fought to keep on living, I turned out to have a wonderful life with a family of my own. Everyone goes through some hardships, some more than others, but what makes us strong is the ability to keep going."

Keira looked at Evelyn thoughtfully for a moment, and then nodded. She set her head back down on her talons and let what Evelyn said sink in. Still, all she could see was darkness ahead of her. Her future still looked bleak but... there was a tiny shred of light that she wanted to hold onto. If she could just reach out and grasp it, maybe everything would turn out alright.

"Would you like to see the city sometime before you go? I can't promise that it will be a pleasant experience for you, but I'll protect you. I may look old on the outside, but I still know how to use my magic."

Keira let a small smile curl her lips and nodded eagerly. "I... I would like to."

Evelyn nuzzled the dragonet again and stood up. "Good. For now, I will tend to some dinner." She walked out of Keira's room, leaving her in a strange mood.

Am I... happy?

* * *