FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

He careered round the corner of the top floor, skidding at the top of the stairs, launching himself atop the narrow handrail and sliding down at breakneck speed, the smooth material of his study robes accelerating him. He'd have looked much more cool if he wasn't sweating with nerves. No longer paying a moment's thought to the whereabouts of Alexis, or the presence of campus security, who might have something to say about a student heading out into the night of a full moon with a wraith wandering about, he sped back towards the rear doors of the building and the white-misted garden beyond.

"Hey, hot stuff! Where you going?"

His rubber soles squeaked audibly as he half-slowed, half stumbled at the Succubus's melodic voice.

"Wait for me!"

Anar had grabbed the solid black handles on the dark brown, walnut doors, intricately carved with a pattern that may have been very fashionable a few hundred years ago. The scent of strong perfume wafted into his wide nostrils, and he turned to look over his shoulder.

Her elfin face was perfectly shaped, with rosy cheeks and long tumbles of blonde soft hair. Too lovely. Artificial, magically-enhanced beauty. Twinkling eyes of violet, and plump lips of peach ready and willing to kiss your life force away.

Soul-suckers, as Rap would say.

"What's going on? Demons don't rush," she winked, long mascara-coated eyelashes batting.

"I don't have time for this!" he exclaimed, cursing his rotten luck.

Her long, slender tail whipped with curiosity, "You in trouble? You look like trouble, honey."

"My friends are trapped in the garden with a wraith," he said, and yanked open the door.

"The lizards? No, wait! I can help!"

She followed him outside into the freezing night air and the mysterious fog.

He called out for the raptors, cupping his mouth and hollering.

"We need to draw it in, lead it back to its resting place," the lovely succubus advised. "Wraiths are recently departed and need guidance; they're lost in the afterlife." Her words made it sound like they were little lost puppies and not terrifying spectres.

"Considering I don't have a Proton-pack, and I don't know what half the pretty pebbles in my pockets do, I'm open to suggestions!"

The thick, white, cold mist began curling around him again. He tried not to panic, knowing what was coming for him this time.

A warm hand slipped into his, and the fog surrounded them both.

"That was quick! This wraith is hot on your tail. Normally they just wander. It's Warlock, right?"

"Anar," Anar replied distractedly, "people only call me Warlock if they don't like me." He fumbled in his full pockets for his amulet should he need it again.

"Don't go wasting that," the pretty girl tutted as he held it in his hand.

"Too late."

"I'm Meredith, by the way. I saw that little fight you had with Alexis. I'd heard about some funny grey demon having a rivalry with him, but you're not quite what I expected."

"No? Is that good or bad? What am I doing with this wraith, again? Taking it back to its grave?"

Her grip tightened; "I'll help you. It's so nice to see someone caring for their friends in this place. Oop, it's coming..."

Anar closed his eyes. He didn't want to look at it again. He knew it was there from the hollow rasps it was making.

Meredith spoke; "you are dead. Departed from the mortal realm, wandering, lost but not forgotten. There are those who mourn for you, who tend to your resting place. Follow us and find peace." She squeezed his hand again and hissed quietly, "do you have a dark ember?"

"No."

"Ok, do you have some Hellfire? In a vial?"

"No."

"Hmmm, well, do you have a lit brimstone?"

"No."

"Your pockets are full! What DO you have?"

"I've got a Zippo lighter."

"It's a good job no-one's watching this," Meredith complained, "first wandering spirit relocated by Zippo fire. You'll need to open your eyes, too, wimp."

Anar dropped the amulet back and replaced it with the smooth, polished metal rectangle of his matt black Zippo. He flipped the lid and slowly opened his eyes.

The wraith stared at the flame; it was a curious shade of green, though whether this was an effect of the supernatural, or the cheap lighter fluid he'd used, it was hard to tell. The fog retreated back, the burning flame keeping it at bay.

"Where is its resting place?" he asked. This seemed like a vital piece of information that their little plan kind of needed, and it was lacking.

"Do you have a crystal ball?"

"No. Look, I'm not going through all that again. Just assume I don't have the best tool for the job, yeah? What's it for?"

"Contacting the dead, of course."

Anar was losing his fear and getting snappy, now, "the dead is right there! We're contacting it just by talking to it."

Meredith shook her lovely head, "it's confused, in this form. Summoning its spirit in a crystal ball, or a Ouija is different - that gives you its last state of consciousness."

"Does it have to be a ball? I've got a pocket full of Rap's blessed crystals right here," he gave his hip a waggle and his pocket clinked as the rocks collided.

Meredith reached into his pocket with her free hand and rifled through.

"Demons don't usually carry around lapis lazuli," she murmured.

"From now on, whatever you think a demon does, assume I don't. And vice versa. That's not a rock!" he yelped as her hand brushed a little too close to his body.

"Well, it was hard, at any rate," she giggled, cheekily.

"Rap's warned me about you lot," he rumbled.

"He's right, too. OK, I'm now going to perform an impromptu spirit summoning using moonstone. Here goes nothing!

The wraith, as awful as it was, seemed calmer and less threatening as a curling wisp of its ethereal form sunk into the smooth milky cabochon in Meredith's perfectly manicured hand.

"Is there anybody there?" she asked.

"I am here," came the reply. "What do you want of me?"

"Your spirit is lost. We only wish to return it home. Where are you, dear? Where do you lie?"

"My mortal remains are in Kensal Green cemetery. I am Grace Hathaway. I am so cold..."

"Come with us." She turned to face Anar, "keep the flame lit. She will follow the moonstone to her headstone."

"Brilliant. Amazing. Now, where is this cemetery? How are we going to walk down the street leading a ghost? Why do these things always happen to me?!"

She smiled, and it lit up her eyes like gems, "I get the feeling you've got a solution. You seem prepared for anything, honey."

He did have a solution. He wasn't happy about it. It wasn't something he wanted to do. OK, it was something he wanted to do, because it would most likely impress Meredith and he'd do anything to look cool in front of her, but it was something he shouldn't do.

"Destroyer!"

A dark shadow appeared; a large head tossed, its long, thick, luxurious mane flowing, hot nostrils snorted. A hoof stamped in the soft soil, leaving a hoofprint the size of a dinner plate, "My lord!

"That's a big horse," Meredith said, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"He's a Nightmare, not a horse," Anar corrected quickly. "Alright, Des, can you take us to Kensal Green cemetery?"

"I don't think travelling by horse is going to be any more inconspicuous..." Meredith doubted.

"Yeah? Just watch," Anar grinned.

They clambered aboard the Nightmare's broad back, Zippo lit and moonstone held aloft.

"Hold on tight!" He held her waist as bat-like wings unfurled with a smooth swoosh.

"It flies?!" Meredith panicked.

"It flies!"

With a bound, Destroyer was spiralling into the night sky, the pale fog of the wraith following behind, looking like a fast-moving cloud to the unsuspecting mortals below.

Chill wind whipped at their eyes, tears springing at the corners from the speed of flight, the rhythmic beating of wings sounding in their ears. The zippo flame trailed behind, a spectral green light leading the lost spirit across the city to the ancient Victorian burial ground.

"The other girls are never going to believe this!" Meredith laughed, "Portia especially, she loves Pegasus and unicorns, she'll do her nut if I say I was on an evil Pegasus! A pity I'm not being marked on this for my assessment, this is worth five merits at least! There's students in the College would give their right arm for a practical experience like this."

"Really? They're mad!"

"Well, yeah, most of what we do is just study and writing, seeing as we can't use a lot of magic. Hey, what are you doing for Hallowe'en? You're missing a trick if you're not hanging out with us. You'd look dead good as a headless horseman."

"You think so? I'm kinda dreading Hallowe'en, actually. I told Lex that I was offering up something better than him to the Dark Lord."

"He hates being called Lex! You're really good at winding him up, you know."

He held her tighter, the bones of her corset digging into his hand. He really liked her, but of course he did; she was a succubus, they were trained in the art of seduction. They flattered, and they flirted, and it was working on him a treat! Her perfume would have been brewed with ingredients specially selected for their heady, enticing notes and musky bases. He wanted to act big, show off, strut and be cool, show her his dragon scale and brag about his natural magic; it was taking all his willpower to resist.

He was very grateful for the feel of Destroyer's muscles beneath him, for the heat coming off his powerful thighs, the steam from his flanks; it kept him focussed, in a way, and reigned in his ego.

Rap was going to have an absolute fit at his midnight adventures. Sure, they'd been stranded in a ghostly fog, but knowing Rap and Rave, they'd probably not even noticed! It would be just Anar's luck that they were absolutely fine, and all this had been unnecessary stress and anxiety.

But it had led to this; having a gorgeous succubus in front of him, laughing at his antics and being impressed with Destroyer and his resourcefulness. This was the best he'd felt in a long time!

The Nightmare clipped in his wings, and they descended into a mass of headstones. The cemetery grounds had a larger footprint than the whole entire Infernal and Divine Colleges combined. Some of the stone here was magnificent - gleaming marble mausoleums amid precisely carved figures of angels and warriors, both human and anthro animal, a reminder that death was the great equaliser.

He trotted quietly, his hooves sinking into soft silty earth. Some visitors would no doubt be a little confused how these had appeared from nowhere overnight.

At intervals, atop the metal railings that kept the graves within, there were glittering shards; wards to keep evil at bay. If Anar were a fully-fledged demon who had passed through the Abyssal Gate, he would not have been able to enter this place. There would have been a holy barrier to prevent him doing so. It was no secret what dark forces could achieve with the spirits of the deceased, with the spiritual energy of ghosts and spectres.

Angelic guardians and white mages were the Infernal student's opposition, the enemy, the do-gooders. There could be one on watch even now, as they stood side-by-side at the shiny newly-laid headstone of Grace, watching her spirit in the form of the thick, white misty fog, sink down into her final resting place to finally be at peace.

Trees swayed gently on the horizon. An owl hooted, gently. In the far distance, faint howls could be heard from other wolf-folk of the non-were variety.

Anar shut off his Zippo with a metallic clink and turned to climb back on destroyer's back.

Meredith turned to face him, her hand resting on his chest. "It's such a lovely night," she purred, "to be alone with you. I'm so glad I could have joined you on this little adventure. There's no rush to get back, just stay with me a while."

Anar's ears drooped. His mouth muscles twitched, but he couldn't find the words he wanted.

Destroyer was scratching his hind leg, and was of no use whatsoever.

"Your aroma is so... unusual," she sniffed at his neck, her hand making its way inside his robe, rubbing at him.

He gulped, "I don't wanna have my soul eaten," he mumbled. "Rap'll kill me."

She snorted a tiny laugh; "only a nibble! I promise..." her violet eyes were locked onto his, drawing him in.

Luscious lips parted and his body gave in the fight, locking his lips onto her plump lipstick-coated pillowy ones.

It somehow seemed fitting, for someone whose life was as bizarre as his, for his first kiss to be with a student succubus.

It was passionate, and sloppy, and probably would have lasted longer if Destroyer hadn't finally clocked what was going on and literally poked his nose in. His velvet, whiskery muzzle snorted, unimpressed.

"You taste amazing!! Wow, what is that? I'm tingling," she eyed him hungrily.

"Err, err, I, err, we better get back, Meredith, yeah?" he jumped back on the Nightmare, holding a hand out, for her to follow.

She whipped out a small compact and tidied up her smeared lips with a flourish, looking perfect once more. "Portia is REALLY not going to like me after this!"

The College gardens on this side looked a lot less freaky now that a wraith wasn't wandering around them. The trees were still a bit gnarly, and the mossy yellow clumps sickly, but it was just a garden that students occasionally trampled over and dropped litter on.

The werewolves weren't here.

Rap and Rave weren't here.

However, there was a glow coming from Anar's room's window, so someone was at home or Alexis had broken in and was raiding his stash of Mars bars.

Destroyer vanished in the magical way he did. Anar didn't understand it, but he didn't understand a lot of things so what was new? What mattered was that Destroyer was only a call away.

Meredith held his hand as they walked back inside. It was very late now, late enough for everyone to be back in rooms.

A security guard walked towards them from the arcade, their face stern at first until they recognised the aardvark and smiled, "you're up late! Your nice friend was looking for you, seemed rather worried. You'd better let them know you're ok," he winked, his jackal snout twitching with humour as he gave them a knowing look. "Hope you've had a nice evening."

"Um" had it been nice? It ended nicely, at any rate.

"I better go..." Meredith said, swinging their hands and pouting.

"Yeah. Goodnight. I'll, er, I'll see you around?"

"Mmmmmaybe," she grinned, sweetly, blowing him a kiss as she practically skipped away.

He didn't remember climbing all the stairs. He didn't remember opening the door. Even the sound of Rap squawking at the worry he'd had at losing him after the nasty fog had gone, and Rave almost freezing to death because he refused to put a jumper on, and his blessed crystals all being missing mysteriously, was all just an out-of-body experience.

He tipped the many contents of his pockets out onto his desk, threw off his cloak and shuffled out of his demonic attire in a happy daze, curling up under his blanket and promptly snoring like a freight train.

For now, at least, things were looking up.