FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

Aravarys hated stone. It was hard, heavy, and grey. Aravarys hated grey. Grey was a boring color, not the heavy presence of black and not the grand majesty of white. Grey, boring stone was ever present in Aravarys' life. His cell was made of stone, and the humans hadn't given him anything to adorn it with. They hadn't even given him anything to sleep on. The hard stone floor made a poor bed, but Aravarys made do. At least it was cool. His cell was fairly roomy; plenty large enough for him to stretch his wings and walk a bit, if the humans hadn't clamped his wings to his sides.

Aravarys turned and hissed at the metal clamps holding his wings to his body. The plain, silvery clamps were thick and wide, plenty strong enough to prevent him from opening his wings. Gods, I miss flying. That was the first thing the humans took away from him when they captured him. Of course, he had still been learning to fly when the humans caught him. If he had been an adult when the humans came, they would never have caught him.

The first thing Aravarys did when he woke up was check the locks holding the clamps to him. He unsheathed a single, serrated claw and stuck it in the metal collar around the base of his neck. Like his wing clamps, his collar was thick, silvery metal. It had a large hoop attached to the front, so the humans could chain him to walls, to carts they wished him to pull, and to stones they wished him to drag. The lock was embedded in the side of the collar. He jiggled his claw around, but he knew it was pointless. If he had been a bit smaller, his claw might be able to move the pins. As it was, his claws had grown too large to stick into the lock, and all he managed to do was scrape his claw against the metal.

The metal clamps that bound Aravarys were not made of the same metal that the humans used to make their metal claws. This metal was extremely hard. Aravarys had tried to scratch them off when he was younger. He broke several claws, and didn't even manage to scratch the metal. If it had been normal human metal, he could have broken through it easily. The clamps were also resistant to cold. He should have been able to freeze them and break them off with his frost, but when he tried, all he did was freeze off a few scales on his neck. Even when he was barely more than a hatchling, he had been able to freeze and snap the human's metal claws with his frost.

Aravarys walked over to the stream that ran through his cell. It came from a small hole near the ground on one end of his cell, and ran through a narrow channel to a grate on the other end. Near the center, the channel widened and deepened into a basin large enough for him to sink into. Aravarys stepped into the pool and slowly lowered himself into the cold water. The water than ran through his cell was always freezing, but that was okay with Aravarys. He liked it that way. He sighed when the water enveloped the scar crossing his chest. Cold water had always soothed him.

He dunked his head under the water and savored the cold until his lungs started to ache. He reemerged and shook his head, sending droplets flying. He looked around his cell. It looked the same as it always had. Three stone walls, a fourth taken up by a massive sliding door made of the same metal that his collar and wing clamps were made out of, and a few small vents in the roof that let light in. Aravarys knew this cell was one of many holding cells for the draconic slaves of the City. He noticed that there were no beams of light streaming through the vents. Odd. Normally, Aravarys slept soundly until the humans came to wake him up at first light.

He flicked his ears around, listening. He heard heavy, fast footsteps stomping down the corridor. He heard the view windows of other cells being thrown open and closed. Tendrils of icy fear ran down his spine. They are looking for a certain dragon. He jumped out of the pool, splashing water everywhere. He ran to one corner of his cell and shivered against the stone walls. Whenever a human came to his cell before sunrise, it was never good. Punishments and torture were always saved for the night, when they wouldn't be dragging him away from work. He knew that he probably wouldn't be tortured so much if he stopped killing all of his handlers - slave drivers, more like - but they deserved it.

Aravarys shrunk back a little more every time a window was thrown open and then closed. The footsteps were approaching his cell. He hoped, he prayed to the gods that they weren't looking for him. They got closer. And closer. Finally, they threw his window open. Instead of a human face peering in, a large, fiery red eye filled the window. It glanced around his room before locking on his huddled form.

The eye was surrounded by red scales.

It was a dragon's eye.

A dragon was searching the slave cells.

The red dragon didn't close his view door right away. Instead, it looked down at its paws. Aravarys heard keys clinking. He heard a key being tried in the lock, then another, then another.

The dragon was trying to set him free.

Astonished, Aravarys stopped shivering. He stood up straighter. Is this a dream? Aravarys thought. The red dragon didn't stop trying keys and move on. He didn't look through the window and laugh at him before leaving. This isn't happening. This isn't possible. All of his dreams were coming true. Ever since he had been captured, he had hoped for someone to come save him.

Finally, a key fit the lock, and the door slid open. The rust red dragon slid inside of the room and shut the door. He was huge; far bigger than Aravarys himself. His head brushed the top of his cell, his horns leaving small lines in the stone. He was obviously a Coruscaren dragon. Even folded against his body, his wings were enormous. The red dragon rushed over to Aravarys in a few steps, and grabbed his head, jerking it to the side.

"Hrrk! Wha-" Aravarys tried to say.

"No time," the red dragon growled. "Keep your head there, I gotta get these clamps off." Aravarys heard more keys being tried on his collar. He tried to arch his head to see what the red dragon was doing, but the red dragon grabbed his neck.

"Are you deaf? I said, don't move!" the red dragon whispered forcefully. Aravarys only whimpered in response. He heard a key catch in his collar, and it fell off. Soon, his wing bindings clanked against the floor as well. The red dragon sweeped the bindings aside into the basin. Aravarys barely noticed. My wings are free. My wings are free! He flared them out. They were... much larger than he remembered. He smacked them against the roof of his cell and squawked in surprise.

"Good, you can still move them. I hope you can fly, 'cause we gotta go now!"

Chapter 2

Kaleramek attached the keys to a leather loop around his neck as he pounded through the tunnel, occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure the runt was still following him. Breaking into the slave cells had been much easier than he anticipated. There were a few guards, but they were easy enough to dispatch, and all of them had keys. He could only hope that the way out would be just as clear.

"Stop!" Kaleramek heard the young dragon call. He skidded to a stop, wincing when his claws caught on stone.

"Where are you going?" the Glaciaren runt asked.

"Out," Kaleramek growled impatiently.

"... into the courtyard. This way leads straight to the forests." The Glaciaren gestured to a grate on the floor. He heaved the grate out of place, and before Kaleramek could respond, the dragon dove down the hole.

"Get back here!" Kaleramek yelled after him. He ran to the hole that the runt had dropped down. He peered into it and was immediately assaulted by an awful stench. The runt was looking up at him. He pointed with a wing down the tunnel.

"This way!" he said, before disappearing farther into the sewer. Kaleramek looked at the hole the runt had dropped down. He hissed in distaste. Can I even fit through this? He tucked his wings tightly into his body and sucked in his chest, trying to make himself as small as he could. He poked his head through first, wrinkling his snout. The smell seemed to be getting even worse. The runt could squeeze through here comfortably, but did he think about me? Kaleramek thought as his wings scraped painfully against the edges of the hole. He started to worry. His front paws couldn't yet reach the ground, so he couldn't push himself back out of the hole. There probably weren't any guards coming yet. He had waited until right after the guards changed to attack, and nobody was going to be checking their posts until the next guard change. Still, the thought of getting stuck in here while his bounty flew away was disconcerting, to say the least.

Kaleramek sucked in his chest furthur. His back claws scrabbled for purchase. Finally, one claw caught a stone and his chest popped through the hole. He fell to the stone floor of the tunnel, luckily missing the sewage channel in the center of the tunnel. It took him a minute to remember which direction the Glaciaren had told him to go. He ran down the tunnel, trying to catch up with the runt. Moonlight gradually started to light the tunnel and it opened up, like the runt had said, directly into a dense forest. Kaleramek stepped out of the tunnel cautiously, looking for the Glaciaren. He looked back at the tunnel. It opened up at the bottom of an almost sheer rock cliff that he would have to fly to reach the top of. A set of fresh pawprints led from the tunnel exit into the forest. Kaleramek followed them. He wasn't sure why the runt hadn't just taken off and flown away. It was much harder to track a dragon through the sky than it was to track them on the ground.

Not far into the forest, Kaleramek heard something squelching through mud. He ran towards the sound, breaking through branches and brambles. Suddenly, he emerged into a small clearing where the runt was rolling around in mud.

"What are you doing!" Kaleramek hissed. The smaller dragon shot up and looked at him nervously.

"Um, I'm trying to cover my scales. With mud," the Glaciaren said.

"I can see that, but why!" Kaleramek growled.

"To make it harder to see my scales against the sky. It's the full moon tonight, and it'll be easier to get away if nobody knows we are gone."

Kaleramek considered that for a moment. Like most Glaciaren dragons, the runt's scales were shades of white and blue. He would stand out in the night sky like a Coruscaren would stand out in a snowfield.

"Alright, but finish up quickly. I want to get out of here as soon as possible." As the runt finished covering his scales, Kaleramek looked him over. He was small for an adolescent Glaciaren. The icicle-like spines that circled his face right behind his ears were flattened against his head. As Kaleramek looked closer, he noticed the scars that covered his body. Some were old and faded, and others were obviously fresh. He grimaced. Who would do this to a hatchling?

When the runt was done, he climbed out of the mud and stretched his wings. He looked at them with a mixture of joy and nervousness.

"Can you fly?" Kaleramek asked.

"I... don't know. I think so, but... I haven't really had a chance to try for a while. I've been in those clamps for... well, I'm not really sure how long." He stretched out his pale-blue wings and flapped them a few times. Air buffeted the ground below him.

"Well? Take off if you can," Kaleramek said.

Chapter 3

Aravarys was overjoyed and terrified at the same time. He was free! He didn't have to work for the humans anymore. He could go wherever he wanted. He could fly! But, could he? Aravarys flared his wings and looked back at them. He hadn't been able to use his wings since before he was captured... how many years ago? He couldn't have been much older than a hatchling when he was captured. Now, he was not too far off from adulthood. Oh, gods, what if I can't fly and this red dragon leaves me behind? Then the humans will capture me and kill me and-

"Well? Take off if you can," the red dragon said. Aravarys took a deep breath. Calm down. Relax. You can do this. He looked up. The trees above the clearing he was in opened up to the night sky. Plenty of room for him to take off. If his wings were strong enough. Aravarys leaned back onto his hind paws. He prepared to leap, gathering all of his strength into his hind legs. He unsheathed the claws in his paws to get a better grip on the earth beneath him, and unfurled his wings to prepare to catch the air beneath them. Then, he lept into the air.

Aravarys frantically beat his wings. He shot upwards faster than he had expected. He squawked in surprise as his wings caught the air and carried him up. He looked back at his wings in awe, and saw the trees behind them shooting down. He broke through the treetops and gasped. The sky was a sea of tiny pinpricks of light. The tops of the trees were a massive, rolling lake of green leaves. Aravarys craned his neck back to look at the City. It looked far bigger than it did from the ground; an ugly grey blotch on the surrounding land. It seemed to keep going and going and-

His train of thought was interrupted when the red dragon burst through the treetops behind him and blocked his view of the town.

"Follow me!" the red dragon shouted. He wheeled away from the settlement and flew North, towards the mountains. He shot forward ahead of Aravarys. Aravarys beat his wings as hard as he could, savoring the weightless feeling of flight. He looked down, watching the trees pass beneath him. Whenever the humans had made him go towards the mountains to fetch something for them, the trip took ages. Now, the ground was shooting past him. Flying was much faster than running. When he looked up again, the red dragon was much further ahead of him. He seemed to be way faster than Aravarys. And he isn't even beating his wings! Aravarys beat his wings harder, trying to catch up. Suddenly, the wind caught his wings and began to carry him after the red dragon. He panicked and flailed a bit. The wind left him just as quickly and he began to plummet downwards. Terror overwhelmed him as he struggled to regain control. Aravarys folded his wings in then extended them, evening them out. He managed to stop his descent and start to rise again. The red dragon was still pulling away. Maybe... is he using the wind? Aravarys began to rise slowly, feeling for the wind that had picked him up. When he felt it fill his wings, instead of panicking, he allowed it to carry him forward. The ground started to fly by beneath him. He beat his wings a bit, and he accelerated even more. Before long, he was near the red dragon and nearly bursting with pride. I am keeping up with a Coruscaren on my first flight in years! Aravarys thought. The red dragon promptly shattered that pride.

"Finally caught up, have you? I was wondering when you would quit messing around," he snorted impatiently. The red dragon started to speed up again. Aravarys beat his wings harder, but the red dragon kept accelerating away.

"Wait! Please... I can't go any faster," Aravarys whimpered. The red dragon peered over his wings at him.

"... Ah, to Hells with it. Very well, I'll keep this pace. Can't have you dropping out of the sky before we get to the mountains. Don't expect me to slow down any more, though," the red dragon said.

As Aravarys began to get used to the sensations of flight and relax, a grin flickered across his muzzle. It slowly grew into a beaming smile. The joy of flight began to overwhelm him. How had he been living before now? In chains, he thought. Even the thought of his recent enslavement could not dampen his mood. The feeling of power, of freedom, that overwhelmed him... he could not remember anything like it. If he hadn't been struggling to keep up with another dragon, he would have flown in a loop. If that was even possible. I gotta try that later. By now, the mud that caked his scales had dried off and crumbled away, but they were far enough from the settlement that Aravarys didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him. He didn't have to worry about anyone catching him. Imprisoning him. Nobody would ever, ever, imprison him again.

They flew for what seemed to Aravarys like hours. The mountains - if they had a name, Aravarys didn't know it - slowly loomed in the distance. They gradually took over the sky, until they were the only thing he could see. The mountains were massive. Even though the two dragons were flying well above the treeline, the mountains towered above them. Aravarys had never seen anything half so tall. The jagged, steep slopes seemed to keep going up and up. Aravarys couldn't see the tops of the mountains. They were hidden behind clouds. Snow covered the mountains a fair ways down from the clouds, but ther-

SNOW! THERE'S SNOW ON THE MOUNTAINS!

"Hey, red dragon!" Aravarys called.

"What?" the Coruscaren called back.

"Can we go up to the snow?"

"You'll get to spend as much time in the snow as you want. Right now, though, we're going to the bottom of the mountains."

Aravarys tried to smother his disappointment. He wondered why they were going to the bottom of the mountains. If they flew to the top, the humans would never be able to catch them. Also, there would be snow. Well, I'll find out soon enough, Aravarys thought as the red dragon started lazily spiraling down to the ground.

They landed at the base of the mountains. The red dragon started back into the forest. Aravarys scrambled to keep up with him. He ran up alongside the Coruscaren and smiled up at him.

"So, where are we going?" Aravarys asked.

"To meet someone," the red dragon said curtly.

Aravarys scowled. The dragon hadn't even looked at him. He didn't know why he had to be so rude. He fell back a little. Why had this big, red dragon rescued him, if he was just going to be mean? Aravarys couldn't stay mad for long, though. The slight breeze through the trees carried with it a pleasant scent of pine needles and soil. He ran back up alongside the Coruscaren again.

"What's your name?" Aravarys asked.

The red dragon stopped and looked at Aravarys. He cocked his head slightly. Aravarys looked back at him. He thought he saw a glimmer of sadness in the bigger dragon's eyes, but it was gone just as fast. The red dragon sighed. With the sigh, he seemed to deflate a bit.

"... I guess it couldn't hurt for you to know. My name is Kaleramek," Kaleramek said with none of his former gruffness. "Let's keep going. I want to get this over with before dawn."

"Okay!" Aravarys said happily. He was glad that the red dra- Kaleramek wasn't being mean anymore. He also couldn't wait to watch a sunrise again.

They kept walking through the forest. Aravarys was simply happy that he was free. The air seemed fresher, the grass and leaves more green. Even his own scales looked more... well, white. He felt better than he had in as long as he could remember. Suddenly, a branch broke ahead of them. Aravarys' ears flicked up. More branches broke, leaves crunched. The sounds didn't sound like they were coming from prey. Ahead of them, a dragon the color of ice emerged from the forest. Aravarys quickly darted behind Kaleramek. It's another Glaciaren! Is this who Kaleramek wanted to meet?

"Ah, Kaleramek, you're back," the dragon said coldly. "I trust you've brought him with you."

"Yeah. The slave cells were easy to get into. I don't know why you didn't just get him yourself," Kaleramek said. He looked back at Aravarys, who was still hiding behind him, and flicked his tail forward. "Come on, get out here."

Aravarys walked forward towards the dragon. A mixture of confusion and disgust rippled through the strange dragon's face.

"Who is this?" the dragon asked.

"I'm Aravarys," Aravarys said, confused.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'who is this'?" Kaleramek asked angrily.

"I mean, you brought me the wrong dragon!"

Chapter 4

"What do you mean, the wrong dragon?" Kaleramek asked.

"I mean, that's not my son!" the Glaciaren said. He started pacing around Kaleramek and Aravarys, glowering at them. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted a Coruscaren. Imbeciles, fools, all of you!" he snapped. "I should have just gone myself."

Aravarys looked up at Kaleramek. His face was impassive, but his eyes were burning. His claws were dug into the dirt, and his tail was slowly scything the grass behind him.

"... Uh, i-is-" Aravarys stammered.

"QUIET!" roared the Glaciaren. Aravarys shrunk back, but kept speaking.

"Is your s-son a young Glaciaren?" he asked.

The Glaciaren stared daggers at Aravarys. His eyes narrowed. "Of course he is. Thorolos, Prince of the Glaciarens. What else would he be?" the Glaciaren sneered. Wait, Prince? That means that this is King... well, King of the Glaciarens! Aravarys thought. He knew that you needed to show respect before a king. He racked his brain, trying to remember the way his parents taught him to bow. He crossed his front paws, folded his wings tightly into his body, curled his tail around his back leg, and dipped the front of his body down, looking into the dirt. Kaleramek looked at him like he had sprouted another pair of wings.

"I, uh, I might know where he- the Prince- is, Your Majesty," Aravarys said. "The City doesn't have many Glaciaren slaves."

The Glaciaren seemed surprised that this slave dragon knew how to bow to royalty, or a rough approximation of the gesture, at least. He appraised Aravarys, considering.

"Kaleramek, do you still want your agreed-upon pay?"

"Of course."

"Bring my son back here by sunset, and it's yours."

"Done," Kaleramek said. The Glaciaren turned around and strode into the forest. "Come on. We're wasting daylight," Kaleramek said.

"W-wait, 'we're'? I'm going too?" Aravarys said.

"Yeah, you're coming with me. You do know where this prince is, right?"

"I think so," Aravarys said.

"Then let's go." He strode into the forest where they came from.

"Wait!" Aravarys squaked, running catch up. "I... I have to go back?" he stammered. So soon after I got out?

"Hey, I'm not too pleased about it myself, either. Besides, it's your fault I'm in this mess in the first place. So, is this prince's cell deeper than yours was?"

"Yeah, but-"

Kaleramek stopped walking, and looked at Aravarys. "Look, it's not like I particularly need your help," he said sharply. He pointed with one of his wings towards the mountains. "The snowfields are that way, I think."

"No! No, it's okay. I can do this." Aravarys puffed out his chest. "Besides, you couldn't find your way back to that tunnel without me."

Kaleramek rolled his eyes and began walking away. Aravarys bounded to catch up.

When they reached the clearing, the sun was still just below the horizon. They faced away from the mountains, toward the City. Kaleramek gestured with one of his wings for him to take off. Aravarys lept into the air. The shot of height he got from every pump of his wings was a little less surprising each time. He rose as the sun lit the forest below him. He had seen sunrises and sunsets before, but never from the sky. He faltered slightly, but righted himself. The view was indescribable. In front of him, Kaleramek shot from the forest. His blood-red scales shone in the sun. His massive wings carried him up. Suddenly, he shot forward.

Uh... air current? Aravarys thought. He pumped his wings, flying to where Kaleramek had been. His wings caught the wind, and he shot forward, just like Kaleramek had. Yes! The wind carried him forward, towards Kaleramek, towards the City, towards the giant ball of fire that was rising over the horizon.

Chapter 5

In the extensive snowfields to the north of the Claws mountains, a hatchling bounded through the snow as the sun set. The tiny white hatchling loved the snow. It was his most favoritest thing in the whole wide world. Of course, his whole wide world was always covered in snow. It was very cold in the snow, but he didn't mind. He was made for the cold. And it had just stopped snowing. Fresh snow is best snow! the hatchling thought.

He bounded away from their cave. His parents didn't like him wandering off, but he could always sneak away while Father was hunting and Mother was sleeping. He hated being inside. It was hot and stuffy and dry and it didn't have any snow to jump in. And the floor was stone. He hated walking on stone. It was hard and it hurt to walk on and he couldn't crunch his paws into stone like he could with snow. Snow was great to walk on. And jump into. It was cold and soft and wet and it crunched under his paws and he could burrow into it and it smelled wonderful. Nothing beat the smell of a fresh snowfall. He had tried to extol the virtues of snow to his parents for ages, but they never listened. They never let him sleep outside. His parents had a pile of furs inside their cave, but it was too hot. He liked lying in the snow. After a fresh snowfall, it was just as soft as the furs, and it was cold. Wonderfully, refreshingly cold.

When he got tired from bounding through the snow, he flopped down, sending up a small puff of powder. Fresh powdery snow. He stuck his muzzle into the snow and inhaled sharply. ACK! He jumped up onto his haunches and covered his nose with his forepaws. He scrunched up his muzzle and flared the spines behind his head in pain.

"Snow bit me!" He giggled. He dropped into the snow and began to roll around.

Snow, snow, snow, snowsnowsnow! He knew that Mother wouldn't wake up for hours. He had pretended to fall asleep, and as soon as Mother had dozed off, he had snuck off into the snow.

Crunch.

The hatchling jumped up. Uh oh, the hatchling thought. He turned around slowly. Father had landed behind him with his fresh kill. Father beamed down at him, his bright blue eyes filled with love.

"What are you doing out here, little one?" Father asked cheerily.

"Playin' in the snow!" the hatchling said happily, forgetting he wasn't supposed to be out in the snow alone.

"Does your mother know?" Father asked.

"... No?" the hatchling said quietly. Father didn't mind him sneaking off, but he would be very angry if he lied.

"Then it will be our little secret," Father whispered. "Let me drop this off in the cave, and then we can play in the snow together," he said, gesturing at his prey. The hatchling noticed it for the first time. It was a seal! Seals were always tasty. They were juicy and fatty and delicious. The hatchling's stomach growled loudly. He realized that he was quite hungry.

"Eat first?" The hatchling suggested hopefully. Father smiled.

"Sure. Let's go back to the cave to-"

"No! Eat out here!"

"But what about your mother? Won't she want some?" Father asked.

"Yeah! Get Mother and then eat out here!" the hatchling shouted before bounding back up to their cave.

The hatchling bounded full tilt into the cave. He bounded right up to his mother sleeping on the furs and jumped up onto her.

"MOTHER! FATHER IS BACK! HE HAS SEAL!" the hatchling yelled, kneading his mother's side. Mother always woke too slowly.

"Mmmphmphm," Mother grumbled, rolling into the furs.

"WAKE! UP!" the hatchling yelled, trying to get his mother to comprehend that there were better things to be doing right now than sleeping. Father climbed into the cave and put down the seal. He gently took the hatchling in his jaws and laid him down beside his mother.

"Quiet, little one. Your mother is tired, and you are too. Try to get some sleep, okay?" Father said. The hatchling noticed his eyelids were refusing to stay open.

"I'm not tired, you are," the hatchling whined, trying to stand up. His legs, however, refused to lift him.

"I know you didn't get any sleep before your little soiree in the snow. It's late. Get some rest," Father said.

"Wha'ssa sorey?" the hatchling mumbled as he was falling asleep.

"Don't worry about it, little one," Father said as he walked over to the furs. He lay down, gently curling around him. He rested his head on his paws, looking at the hatchling.

"Good night," his father whispered.

"G'nigh," the hatchling replied.

The hatchling drifted off between the warmth of his mother, his father, and the furs.