FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Several days passed and Alkali and Xander hadn't heard from the impish creature, and both started to wonder if something had happened in his investigation. Just as they were about to go back to the library once more; however, they received a message from the warlock to meet them down in the slums near the city gates. The note said little more than that, but it was enough to get the both of them excited as they made their way to the location specified. When they got there they saw Draggor standing outside of a bar, his usual mage robes replaced with common street clothes as he waved them over.

"So I made some subtle inquiries on someone that might be able to help us with our little problem," Draggor explained as he motioned for them to step inside. "After talking with a few transmuters they pointed me in the direction of this bar and gave me the description of someone who frequents this establishment that can help us out. Just make sure to keep your eyes open on this one."

When the three entered the establishment Alkali and Xander could see why. Most of the bar's patrons gave them a glance before they hunkered back down over their drinks and tables. It was a place for criminals, one where you would go in order to do something below the eyes of the law. From the sideways looks they got they could tell that they were being sized up, and though they knew they could handle themselves, none of them wanted to end up in a potentially public spectacle. Thankfully it seemed that their prowess was clear and no one bothered with a second glance as they made their way to the bar and ordered a drink.

"Alright, who's the guy?" Alkali asked after downing the strong alcohol in one gulp. "Is he here?"

"Yeah, back table on the left," Draggor replied. "The one with the teeth."

Both Xander and Alkali saw what the demonborn meant as they casually gazed over at the back table where several men were playing cards. One of them was a canine male with a set of saberteeth uncommon in the region, his blue-scaled muzzle turned up in a laugh as he made some sort of joke. "So how is he going to help?" Alkali mused as they turned back to the bar.

"Let's get him alone first," Xander chimed in. "One of us just approach and ask if we could talk to him, something straight-forward that won't arouse suspicion."

"Good idea," Alkali replied as he patted the bard on the back. "Good luck on that."

"Wait a second, why me?" Xander exclaimed.

"You're good at the talking," Alkali merely stated. "Look at how well you did with that researcher in the library."

"Ugh, don't remind me..." Xander said as he grabbed some chips from a bowl on the bar. "Fine, just make sure I don't get stabbed in the back or anything when I get over there."

The dragon finished his own drink and chewed on a chip nervously as he crossed from the bar to the back table. When he got behind the sabre-wolf the conversation between the table immediately stopped and everyone turned up to look at him. "Don't mean to disturb your game guys," Xander apologized sheepishly. "I was just looking to see if I could have a quick word with your associate here."

"If it's a job I'm not interested in the moment," the draconic hybrid replied as he gestured to the large pile of gold and silver. "As you can see I'm in the middle of a rather important business transaction at the moment and I would hate to miss it."

"You're going to need another job after I clean you out, Serathin," one of the lizardman at the table said, which provoked a laugh from the others. "I'm calling your bluff and raising you twenty gold. Perhaps you want to bow out now and talk to your friend here to avoid the embarrassment of losing."

Serathin just shook his head with a grin and leaned over at the table with his cards in his hands. "If you think you can beat this hand you're gonna be the one with your tail between your legs," he stated, though as he turned his head towards one of the other card players his smirk turned to a frown. "Hey, what the hell is this?!"

Before anyone could react the draconic sabrewolf grabbed the wrist of the tiger seated next to him and hoisted his arm up into the air, reaching into the sleeve before he pulled out an ace card and threw it on the table. "You lousy cheat!" Serathin shouted as he pushed the card player into the large male rhino behind him who put him in a headlock, then turned to the lizardman. "He one of yours, Kaylis, huh? Trying to rob us, huh?"

The very next second all hell broke loose as the lizardman took the table and flipped it onto Serathin and the others, people grabbing anything they could to use as a weapon as the tiger broke free from the other gambler's grip and punched him in the face. Alkali and Draggor stood up from their seats and began to move their way to a very confused Xander, only to nearly have a bottle smashed in their face as the violence cascaded throughout the bar. All three quickly ducked down in order to avoid being identified as targets as they tried to make their way back towards the entrance of the bar, but by now complete chaos was all around them as people fought back and forth.

"Xander, what the hell?" Draggor asked when they finally managed to get to the relative safety of the wall.

"It wasn't me!" the dragon shouted as he pointed towards where the main fight was happening. "The hybrid accused the other guy of cheating and then another guy got in on it..."

"Nevermind all that!" Alkali shouted back. "Where is the guy now?"

It took a few seconds for the three to track their target in the melee, but when they finally did find him he had just bumped into a large, extremely imposing fox man and caused him to spill his drink. They could only watch as in the next second Serathin was picked up by the hem of his cloak and tossed out through the window of the bar and onto the street as the sound of glass shattering filled the air. The three just looked at each other and slowly made their way out, aided by Draggor lighting the clothes of several people in their way on fire to help them move. When they finally reached the now-broken down door of the bar and got outside they found an empty space surrounded by glass and the town guard quickly moving in on their position.

"Damn it, where did he go?" Alkali asked angrily.

"The same place we should be going," Draggor explained as he motioned his head towards the guard heading their direction. "We gotta disappear quick before we're caught up in all this."

"Wait, I think I see him!" Xander exclaimed as he pointed to an alley where he had saw a purple tuft of a tail disappear. They moved as quickly but discreetly as they could towards the alley, trying not to act suspicious as several guards in armor ran past them. Luckily their attention was on the bar brawl that continued to rage behind them, and once they were clear, the three ran as fast as they could into the alley.

When they got a few feet into the side-street they found it empty, which caused them all to look around confused. "I don't get it, I just saw him go down this way," Xander said as he scratched his head.

"You guys are quite persistent," a voice behind them caused them all to turn and see the draconic sabrewolf standing there behind them. "As much as my first instinct was to turn tail and make sure you all never saw me again, I'd have to say that I'm intrigued enough by your persistence to hear you out."

Draggor stepped forward and showed Serathin the emblem on the inside of his coat, one that marked him as a member of the arcana library. "Hey listen, if you're looking into who stole all that stuff from the vault underneath the illusion wing I can say that it wasn't me," the sabrewolf defended himself.

"How do you know about the vault under the illusion wing?" Draggor asked, to which Serathin shrugged. "Well no, it's not about that, I was inquiring about a task that needs a certain touch to it... and I was told by one of my colleagues that you made a special request for an object that isn't exactly legal and can help us with our problem."

"Alright, what's the target?" Serathin asked, the other three looked at each other which caused the draconic sabrewolf to roll his eyes. "Listen, when people talk like that it's usually about some type of job. If it's about the bandits I roll with you'd likely be talking with the leader, but since it's me I assume you want me to take something from someone of importance. Besides, people always try to do that weird double-talk when they want to hire a criminal like somehow that's going to stop you from getting executed if we get caught. So I ask again, what's the target?"

This time it was Alkali who spoke up, pushing past Draggor. "We need to you get a map from the royal vault," he explained. "You can't just steal it, though, otherwise the King is going to know what we're up to, so you somehow have to make a copy."

"Oh, is that all?" Serathin replied with his arms crossed. "You want me to pick you up something from the kitchens as well, maybe roll into King Pandez's bedroom while he sleeps and grab some of his underwear as a memento, too? You guys are insane."

Just as they were about to argue further they were suddenly interrupted by the presence of another in the alleyway. Looking behind Serathin they saw the fox that had thrown the hybrid through the window at the bar, braids waving slightly as the two waved to each other. As Alkali tried to speak again Serathin held up a finger and told him to hold on, then pulled out a leather sack that jingled heavily and began to pull some coins out of it. "Hope the guards didn't give you too much trouble," Serathin stated as he loaded up the fox's hands with gold and silver coins.

"Wait, you were paid to throw him through a window?" Draggor asked, prompting them both to nod.

"It's a rather easy way to escape from a bar brawl after you've taken the pot of coins from the table, or rather floor in this case," Serathin explained as he put the coins away. "I only had a pair of fives, he shouldn't have called my bluff. Oh, and this is Zen Fox by the way, he's from a barbarian tribe and passing through when I asked if he wanted to make some extra money just for giving me a toss."

"I'm quite good at tossing people," the fox replied as he flashed a fangy grin at the other three.

"Man, you'd make a killing in protective detail," Serathin commented before he turned back to the others. "Listen, you guys seem like a hoot, but I'm not staying in the city long and I'd really like to not do anything that would warrant me a performance at the hangman's noose in the town square. Good luck to you, and I hope you find someone else that's crazy enough to do it."

Just as the two started to walk away Xander spoke up. "What if I gave you something for your troubles?" he shouted, which prompted the sabrewolf to turn his head around. "I work for King Pandez as a spy and he's always looking for new people to bring in and help out. You help us out with this and I'll make sure that you not only get immunity from past crimes, but that you also continue your profession as long as you provide the kingdom with information that will help it."

"Let me get this straight," Serathin clarified as he held out his hand. "You want me to steal information from King Pandez, and in return I get to make a living stealing information for King Pandez?" When Xander nodded it caused the sabrewolf to break out into a laugh and clapped his hands. "Oh, I love it! I'm in, but I'm going to hold you to that promise, dragon."

"We're going to need to be quick about this," Draggor insisted. "I have a plan."

"I think I can guess what your plan is," Serathin replied with a wink. "Meet me tomorrow morning, we have logistics we will have to go through. Oh, and Zen Fox gets to come along too."

"What, why?" Alkali asked, to which Serathin just shrugged and turned to walk out of the alley.

A few minutes later Serathin and Zen Fox sat in the back room of an inn, this one far nicer than the bar they had just left previously. "Thank you for not telling them the reason why I would want to come along," the barbarian fox stated.

"Don't worry about it," Serathin replied as Zen tore into the leg of deer he had been served. "We find a way to tag along and make sure that item of yours gets back to Ka'Le, and hopefully your tribe is there too, and in exchange I get the pleasure of your company to cover my back."

"I don't understand this," Zen stated after a particularly large swallow. "Why don't you just return it and see if you can't get them to stop coming after you?"

Serathin chuckled and took a drink from his glass, then put it down with a sigh. "I told you these aren't exactly the forgiving types," he stated. "Maybe with some protection from the king I might get to shake them off, but for now we'll go along with those three and see if we can't get some answers for you. I just can't believe that these guys really think we're in the dark about all this, I mean do they honestly think that we don't know that they want to steal the map for Ka'Le?"

*******************************************************************

The next night the sun had just set, the castle grounds were as still as the night air save for the guards doing their usual routines. However two of them were clearly not dressed in armor as they made their way down the stairs of the castle into the sub-floors. The darkness quickly encroached the two cloaked figures as they made their way down, the only light coming from their torches as their footsteps echoed on the stone stairs. When they made it down to the bottom, though, the flame was snuffed as more magical means of light was implemented in the hallway they walked down.

At the end of that hallway was a lone guard, one who sat with an armed heavy crossbow pointed down the corridor and with a heavy steel door behind him. When the bat saw the two approach he put down the book he had been reading and looked up at his two guests. "So what business do you have down in the vault today?" The male bat asked before he looked up at the two and recognized them. "Oh Xander, how are you tonight?"

"Oh I'm just fine, Issac," Xander replied as he set the unlit torch against the side of the wall. "I am escorting someone down here to have them look at the map, they need to reference something on the edges to confirm its authenticity."

The bat adjusted his glasses and brushed his hand against the orange tuft of fur around his neck before he looked down at the parchment spread out before him. After a few minutes of searching he looked back up with a concerned look on his face. "I'm sorry Xander, but I don't have anyone visiting the vault at this time that's been cleared by King Pandez," he stated as he showed the dragon the list. "Concerning the nature of what's inside only authorized personnel are allowed inside."

"I think you'll find that I'd be one of those people," the other figure replied as they took down their cloak, the black-furred vixen staring down at him as the bat's jaw dropped slightly in shock. "Or does the head of the arcana library no longer hold the weight that it used to?"

"Miss Serina!" the bat squeaked as he stood up. "I'm so sorry, if I had known it was you... I mean... of course you can go back and take a look. Unfortunately no one is allowed to take anything out of the vault, even those who are working on it."

"This is perfectly fine Issac," the female fox replied with a grin. "I only need but a minute with it for my verification, I promise we'll be in and out."

As Issac turned around and began to open the vault door Xander and the fox gave each other a look, then stared ahead as the sound of heavy steel on stone filled the air. Once the vault was properly opened they were escorted inside and the portal was closed behind them. Inside the two looked around at the treasures contained within, mostly coinage for the kingdom treasury as well as important artifacts and relics either given by other kingdoms or gifted by its citizens. As they walked forward the vixen eyed up several of the smaller treasures, but a stern look from the dragon next to her prompted her to stare ahead as they reached their destination. In its own separate room was the map, placed on a wooden pedestal and surrounded by thick glass.

"You didn't say it would be under lock and key," the female fox said under her breath at Xander.

"Give me a second," Xander shot back before he went up to the bat. "Hey Issac, what's up with the extra security here?"

"Oh, that's under orders of King Pandez," Issac explained. "Only he has the key, would you like me to go and get it for you, Miss Serina?"

The fox turned back to the bat and gave him a soft smile. "That will not be necessary my friend," she said before she once more motioned for Xander to come up close. "I can pick the lock, but you need to keep him distracted for a few minutes."

Xander nodded and went back to the guard, putting his arm around him and telling him about the new material he was crafting for his latest performance as they walked out of the room. Once they were clear of eyeshot the fox sighed and reached into the inner pocket of her cloak, pulling out a set of shiny metal implements. After a brief scan to make sure there were no other traps on it she slowly inserted the lockpicks into the keyhole just underneath the glass. With one eye on the guard and dragon talking and the other one on her task she still quickly moved the tumblers into place, and as soon as she heard the click she put the tools away and took off her cloak.

"Are you okay, Miss Serina?" a voice behind her caused her to turn around and see the guard watching her as she took her cloak off.

"Oh yes, just a bit stuffy in here is all," the vixen replied as she put her cloak on the ground. "I don't suppose I could trouble you for a glass of water?"

The guard nodded eagerly and moved away from the doorway, and as soon as he was out of sight again she pulled off the glass and set it aside. Once the map was exposed she took the cloak and completely covered the vallum, then pressed the fabric hard against it for a few seconds before she pulled it off again. After a slight adjustment to the map to make sure it was in the same position as it had been before she placed the glass back on top and heard a click of the cover re-locking into place. Just as she draped the cloak over her arm she saw Xander and Issac, a glass of water in the bat's hand that he eagerly offered her.

"Thank you so much my dear," the vixen said as she took it and drank it down before handing the empty glass to him. "In any case I do believe I have the answer that I seek and I think it's time to get out of your hair before you get into any trouble. Don't you agree, Xander?"

"Of course," Xander replied, the two walking back out of the door that Issac unlocked for them before the dragon once again wrapped his arm around the bat's shoulders. "Now I know you know how important secrecy is for this whole thing, so I don't think I have to tell you how important it is to keep our visit here a secret, right?" When the bat nodded enthusiastically Xander smiled and patted him on the back. "Thank you Issac, it was good to see you again."

"You too, sir!" Issac chimed back as Xander and the vixen walked back to the stairwell. "Good bye, Miss Serina!"

The two turned back once again and gave the guard a warm smile before they moved forward again, their faces falling into a serious expression as they made their way back up the stairs. Once they arrived in the castle proper Xander guided them towards the nearest washroom, both of them breathing sighs of relief once they were inside and confirmed no one else was there. "You sure you want to do this now?" Xander asked as the vixen brought up her hands and clasped her fingers around an innocuous gold ring on one of them.

"The sooner the better," the female fox replied as she appeared to brace herself. "Better to run into someone as myself then come across anyone who actually knows Serina and gets curious, or even worse, Serina herself. I really do not enjoy this part though..."

After a few deep breaths the vixen pulled the ring off her finger and almost instantly silver stripes began to appear on the black fur. Serathin groaned and held his stomach as the transmutation magic of the ring dissipated, his mouth opening wide as his eye teeth grew back into his normal saber-teeth. Blue scale and purple fur replaced the otherwise monochromatic coloration of the fox he had masqueraded as and once more he grimaced as the draconic horns and wings sprouted from his transforming body. After a final minute the last of the vulpine features were replaced with the mixture of canine and draconic as Serathin huffed a few more times while he braced himself against the wash basin.

"That looked painful," Xander commented as Serathin splashed his face.

"That's because it is," the hybrid shot back as he stood back up and patted his cloak. "Let's get back to the ferret and demon, we have what we came here for."

Almost an hour later the five were gathered around the table in Alkali's workshop, all of them looking down at the blank white fabric that lined the inside. "So uh, what are we looking at?" Draggor asked as he crossed his arms.

"This is the item you requested," Serathin boasted. "Thanks to Xander's access and my little trinket that was well worth the money, I must admit, what you're looking at right now is a copy of the map to Ka'Le."

"I do hope there is more to it than that," Alkali said, scratching his head.

"Oh ye of little faith," Serathin replied with a grin before he took out a bottle filled with a clear liquid and a sponge. After he wetted the sponge he dabbed it over the surface of the cloak, and after a few seconds lines began to form on the otherwise white canvas. The others watched in fascination as the map slowly appeared on the cloak, which Serathin ripped off of it and placed it on the table. "One map of Ka'Le copied with no one being the wiser."

"Amazing," Draggor stated as he leaned down and traced his fingers over some of the names of the city emblazoned on it. "Some of these names even my patron hasn't heard of, and he's older than most kingdoms. Luckily for us magical runes are universal and unchanging, and from what's marked here I can identify several areas specifically marked out as wellsprings of certain magical power. With a little deciphering I can translate this old map into a modern day one and we can figure out how to get to Ka'Le."

"Do you think Serina could do the same?" Alkali asked.

"Of course," Draggor replied. "Better than myself in all likelihood. The second they believe the map to be real they're going to know the location quite quickly."

"Then it sounds like we've got to leave now," Xander determined, the others looking at him. "Right now we've got the advantage, but that disappears once they validate the map and assemble an expedition team. It's easy enough for me to slip away, I'll just inform the king that I'm following a lead in a neighboring city, and for Alkali as well. What about you Draggor, still think you can get away from your duties at the arcana library?"

"I can use a similar excuse to yours, Xander," Draggor confirmed. "Plus I have about a decade of vacation time saved up that they've been nagging on me to use, no time like the present."

Just as the three were about to start discussing their travel plans they heard a clearing of the throat from the hybrid that caused them all to look up at him. "Zen and I talked about it and we would like to tag along on this little quest of yours," Serathin explained. "It's not everyday one has the chance to loot what I could only imagine to be untouched ruins, and ancient city usually means ancient traps that I'm sure you could use my expertise on."

"Alright, alright," Alkali said before he looked at the fox. "What about you, Zen?"

There was a moment of pause from the male, staring intensely at the ferret. "... I'm a barbarian, I do what I want."

"Fair enough," Alkali replied. The five continued to discuss the logistics of their mission while the demonborn began to decipher the runes on the map. Finally they decided to set out in the morning at dawn when most of the city was still asleep, attempting to garner as little attention as possible. Once a meeting point was set they all went their separate ways to prepare for the trip, though once again they gathered what they needed as stealthily as they could to prevent any arousal of suspicion. For most it was weapons and armor and essential equipment, deciding to properly outfit themselves for a longer journey at the next town.

The next morning the sun rose once again over the capital, light just beginning to touch the roofs of the stone buildings as the city began to awoke. At an inn and stable just outside the gates of the thick wall that surrounded it; however, the five gathered together on the road next to the building's wall. Xander the Blue opted for drab robes to try and cover his identity as he stopped his horse next to Zen, who wore his traditional furs and leathers as he combed the longer fur of his chin. On the other side was Draggor and Serathin on their own horses, the demonborn wearing his mage robes while Serathin opted for simple traveler's garb as he adjusted the sword strapped to his side. That only left Alkali, the ferret striding up to them a few minutes later in black chain armor covered by a similarly colored cloak.

"Hey Alkali, I think you forgot something," Draggon noted. "Where's your horse?"

The ferret just smirked and held his gauntlet-covered hand up, the air around the five growing pitch dark for a second. When the light returned it brought with it a midnight-black horse with a mane of pure fire. "You can't use your nightmare, Alkali!" Xander rebuked as the others just looked at the creature with a mixture of awe, fear, and curiosity. "We're trying to be inconspicuous here!"

"But I wanna!" Alkali said as he hopped up on his mount. "He is my trusty steed."

"He's something alright," Serathin commented as he stared at the fiery eyes of the demonic horse.

"It's going to get us attention!" Xander tried to reason. "What if King Pandez starts looking for us? The devil horse that's on fire is kind of a dead giveaway there's a dark paladin around!"

"Nonsense, he can disguise himself," Alkali shot back as he patted his creature on the head, the fires of his mane and tail turning to bright red as the otherworldly shine of the black horsehair became muted like the real thing. "You see? I can still have my mount and no one will be the wiser."

"It's eyes are still on fire," the barbarian pointed out as the disguised nightmare shook its head. "Plus it still has fangs, which are not standard on most horses."

"It'll be fine," Alkali dismissed.

"Does it have a name?" Serathin asked.

"Chestnut," Alkali quickly answered.

"Can we just go already?" Draggor interrupted. "The clock is now ticking and the longer we stay here, the closer we are to where our stories of why we left are slowly becoming unraveled. I'd like to at least be clear of the capital lands before that happens."

Everyone else grew quiet as they nodded in agreement, then set out down the stone road. The sound of five sets of hooves thundered in their ears as they set off, leaving a trail of dust behind. With map in hand they set off towards the first stop in their destination, a small trading down named Tarecona south of the capital where they would get their supplies and allow Draggor to translate the next part of the map. The only thing on any of their minds as the sun slowly rose behind them, though, was if any of the few eyes that were open in the city were pointed in their direction...