FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

{{Who ever gets the first post can decide the sex of the dragon. As I am indecisive.}}

Mists slithered through the dank and dusty corridors, eddies in their wake stealing dust and flaking filth. Mold and mildew lay lifelessly on each cobble block, the metronome from the constant dripping water landing gradually on the small piles of slime; gave a shallow echo, rebounding off the thick stone walls. Aged spider weds laden with gloom and dust drifted lazily off the worn stone walls. The gentle gust of stagnant wind, billowing over the flames of decrepit torches, flickering the small flames. Soft foot falls echoed languidly through the forgotten halls, rebounding of statues of long forlorn kings. The figure crept slowly, the light cape floated slowly behind him, webs clung wetly to the somber fabric.

Lucian cursed silently, his tight tunic and his black fur offered little warmth from the dark cold; he felt his bones freezing beneath his skin. Lucian looked around carefully, examining every shadow. He cursed slightly at his luck, he didn't want to be the one who had to come down here. Yet here he was, again another point in his life where he hadn't volunteered and had been picked. That mostly happened to him, now for some reason he had to go down the tombs and find some heirloom for the distant king that had accidentally misplaced it. Lucian experimentally poked a silent statue with his dagger, the steel and silver blade hopefully the bane of any evil beast. The blade etched deeply into the thick layer of mold, it didn't move. Lucian let out a breath, and slowly moved on. He slid his blade back in its sheath.

Lucian moved forward slowly, the corridor seemed to be getting colder and smaller with each step he took. He tried to move closer to the torches, he shrugged, the wooden lights stood on weak loops. Lucian experimentally picked one up, hefting it in his hand, orange light pooled around him, etching out details in the walls. Lucian continued walking, holding the torch higher to peer through the heavy darkness. His feet shuffled slightly on the stones, the slick slime muffling the movement. Lucian placed a hand on the wall to steady himself; he heard something groan in the darkness beyond the next torch. Something wetly slapped against stone. Lucian pulled out his dagger, the slivery metal seeming all too short. The source of the groaning came closer.

A rotting smell emanated from beyond the pool of light; It was quickly followed by a hobbling figure. Rags dotted its body. The hunch in its walk blocked its face. Lucian took a step back, the creature heard him, it shuffled forwards to him, slowly moving closer. The light dimly reflected off the glossy rotting body, a bone stuck out from the pale sickly skin. Another groan croaked from the foul dead creature. Lucian swore. The creature looked up. Large pustules dotted its face, large chunks of flesh were missing, revealing the rows of rotting teeth, maggots crawled beneath the skin of the creature. Lucian smiled grimly, gripping his knife. The creature stumbled forwards, the milky white eyes focused on Lucian, it started to shuffle faster, seeing another meal.

Click

Something sounded beneath the stones, a large panel sank into the floor, he heard clock work whirring away. The floor shot up quickly, the zombie was knocked down by the force, its head stared down at him from the edge. With a sickening crunch the slab pounded into the ceiling, the head landed on the floor with a wet plop, pieces landed around the slab, stringy messes of putrefying meat. The slab slowly slid back down, Lucian gulped. There was an ugly brown stain on the ceiling, foul pulp spread out on the slab face. The trigger stone was still pressed, it was in the dead centre of the slab. Lucian stared at the slab trying to work out a way to bypass it, or disable it. The smooth walls lacked inviting foot holes, and all the clockwork was out of sight.

Lucian examined the decapitated head, the eyes stared around blindly, still looking for him. Lucian grimaced, he walked up behind it. He looked over it, trying to line it up. He kicked it, luckily the skull was still solid enough not to shatter. It landed in a series of wet thuds on the slab, leaving a trail of brown stains and writhing maggots. Lucian smiled, the clockwork hadn't been set off, he wiped his foot on the dusty floor, trying to get rid of the congealed blood. Lucian looked over at the brown patches, he stepped slowly onto one, nothing happened, Lucian breathed a sigh. He stepped onto another, yet again nothing. Lucian jumped two, he didn't see the larger pool of maggots there. Lucian skidded, his arms flailing at his sides for balance. He stopped a short distance beyond where he intended, the worn stone rocked dubiously. Silence echoed through the tight corridor, he caught his breath, his heart hammered in his ears.

Click

Lucian's heart skipped a beat; he jumped again, pulling himself into a dive. He looked down he saw the hair line that was revealed as the slab lifted up. It clipped his shins, spinning him roughly. He landed harshly on his back, Lucian gasped for air, coughing up the dust he had managed to inhale. He stood up slowly, feeling the back of his head for blood. He thanked his stars that there wasn't any. He looked around for his torch. The heavy slam of the slab behind him echoed through his mind. The world was doused in darkness.

"Damn..." Was all Lucian could manage to say, the torch had to of dropped from his hands, when he landed. Lucian fumbled around in the dark; he felt panic gripping his mind. His hand passed over something soft and moving. Lucian half screamed as the cracked vocal cords tried to groan, only succeeding in a gurgling. Lucian sat down, trying to breath in more control, his short jittery breaths came out quickly, sharply. He willed himself to get a grip. He couldn't shake the idea of the creatures coming for him, their musty breath, their sharp claws, their ravenous teeth. Lucian stood up slowly, shaking in the tight darkness. He fumbled in his tunic's pockets, his edgy movements shook the multitudes of vials and their noxious contents. He yanked a spherical potion free from its pocket the liquids mixed slowly. Lucian remembered buying this off a shifty trader, he prayed the gods had been with him that day.

He shook the sphere, the contents collided violently, white sparks lanced within it. Lucian looked at it, panic quickly filled the place of his hope. The white sparks glimmered slightly. He saw something happen inside of the glass. The sparks out lined a serpent head, one of the eyes opened from the smoky creature. Lucian got the odd feeling he was being examined. Misty white light poured out from the potion, Lucian smiled. Looks like the gods were favoring me that day, he thought quietly, he gave thwe orb a rueful smile.

The white light illuminated the tunnel almost as bright as day light, hopefully it would keep back most of the creatures. He held it up as high as he could trying to peer ahead in the darkness. He walked forwards, stepping slowly and carefully. He held out his knife, suddenly wishing he was given something a bit more dramatic than a dagger.

Lucian remembered joining the aptly named heroes guild. Which mainly consisted of a bunch of muscled men that were paid to swing big swords around. He was the guy who would stab the man in the back, and sneak away in the night, rather than fight his way through armies of evil creatures. He didn't consider himself a coward, just practical, since his lithe muscles mostly allowed him to get out of most situations rather than get into them. He was still trying to work out how it was that he had managed to get sent down here. Lucian stepped through a door, peering inside for signs of life, dusty tomes littered the floor. "Must be ah old wizard's room." Lucian muttered to himself, he stepped through, looking for anything he might use, he was accustomed to dabbling in alchemy.

Click

Lucian swore, he turned around, just in time to see a large slab drop down in front of the door. Lucian ran back, he banged his fist weakly against the cold stone. "No. No. NO..." Lucian pounded on the dreary tan colored slab. His sobs were spent unheard, the mocking echo roamed around him.

He gave up sliding down on his back, sitting at the base of it, he looked mournfuly around the room. Lucian sighed when he saw two other doors. Bother looked polished and practically new, just in an unusual pattern etched into the wood. Lucian stood up slowly, he walked over the piles of books. He smiled sadly when he saw that they were in a foreign rune, the symbols seemed to crawl across the page. He hesitantly picked one up, hefting it experimentally in his hands. He threw it at the stone slab. The book shattered in a hail of yellowed pages, landing crinkling on the stone floor. Lucian pulled out his knife, he walked towards the doors, looking at the one next to the worn desk. He readied his throw, tossing the knife so it he held the blade. He pulled his arm back; a thoughtful expression came across his face. He slipped his knife back into the sheath. He picked up another book, leveled his aim against the door. He threw the book. It flew the air, the pages scattered fleeing from the door. The book hovered a few inches in front of the door. Lucian felt the hairs on the back of his neck twitch as magic flooded the room. Lucian dived backwards knowing that whatever was going to happen it wouldn't be good. He pulled his cloak around himself, hiding in the corner.

The was a flash, then silence, all sound had been drained from the room. Lucian breather slowly, he smelt burning papyrus. He looked over his cape, a small pile of glowing cinders slowly burned its way into the stone floor. Lucian winced, glade had had thrown the book and not his knife. He stood up slowly, he tasted the metallic scent of spent magic, he hoped it had been used up. Lucian picked up another book, throwing it at the other door. The book landed with a dull thud, spilling a couple of worn pages. Lucian smiled, walking towards the door in the corner; a dragon had been etched into it. The red mahogany wood brought the carving to life. Lucian reached out carefully, still tasting no magic in the air. He gripped the handle. Nothing. He opened the door, expecting the creatures in the dark to be waiting on the other side. Well light corridor extending farther down, doors dotted the sides.

Lucian sighed; who ever had made this place had wanted him to continue along here. He walked slowly; he fumbled in his tunic again, pulling out a magnifying glass. A large eye with a series of complicated diagrams covered the glass. Lucian looked through it. Nothing showed up, Lucian had been expecting that the enchantment would find some traps but nothing showed. Lucian walked carefully, his steps echoed slightly. The torches flickered in an unseen wind, the door behind Lucian slammed. He nearly leapt out of his skin, his heart skimmed over its beats. Lucian saw the walls moving past him, he felt his legs pumping quickly. Lucian felt panic gripping his body, stifling his control.

Lucian forced his legs to stop, his lungs burned as they craved air, his legs seized. Lucian swore, his leg muscle jarred. He fell, his leg collapsing under him, Lucian landed harshly on the floor. His chin slammed into the stone.

Lucian rolled onto his side, he groaned his tongue took the brunt of the blow saving his teeth. Lucian sat up, pulling himself to sit along the wall, he rested his head against the hard stone. Lucian sighed reaching down, he felt along his legs, feeling for anything out of place. He pressed against the inside of his legs, they felt fine. He pressed his left calf, pushing on the muscle, he felt nothing out of place. Lucian placed his hand on his right leg. Pain spasmed from the bruised muscled. "Buggar... Damnable Loki..." Lucian cursed gods that came to mind, he prayed to any that nothing would find him like this, he knew that he' d be dead meat if anything found him. Lucian cursed his damnable luck, he desperately massaged through the pain. At the very least nothing was broken.

Lucian stood up slowly, leaning against the wall, he hobbled forwards. The pain forced him to stop, he knew that the limb would start swelling, he padded his pockets again. Trying to find where he put the numbing potion. He felt a depressing moistness in the pocket, sharp shards of glass layered the pocket. Lucian swore again, that was the last one he had. Lucian moved slowly, keeping his leg off the floor. He winced as he stumbled, his leg sending jarring pain up his limb.

Lucian walked slowly down the corridor. He felt himself slipping down the wall, his skin felt cold and clammy. He could smell the sickly sweat on him, plastering his tunic to himself. He reached up, loosening the cords fastening his cape. It billowed slightly before collapsing on the cold stone floor. Lucian felt heat burning on his chest, his eyes felt heavy, paining him to keep them open. He felt shudders running up his body, sending his bruised muscles into spasms. Lucian breathed raggedly, he looked around the corridor searching for anything that was looking for an easy meal. Nothing, silence accompanied his sharp breathing. Lucian grunted against the throbbing pain in his leg. Lucian took a step farther, the tile beneath him slid down.

Click

Lucian swore, he heard the undeniable sound of air being cut behind him. Lucian let himself drop, a row of crossbow bolts speed down the corridor, they landed somewhere in the distance. Lucian looked behind him, several hole dotted the walls, black ovals shot small darts from them. The clattering hail blocked out the torches behind them, the hail hit the sides of the corridor. Lucian swore, he tried to roll into the middle. The dart rain passed by him, he felt sharp twinges in his shoulders, his leg had gone numb. Lucian cursed, black feathers stuck out from his arms.

Lucian gripped one, the feathers tufted in his fist. Lucian yanked it, black tarry slime coated his hand. Lucian swore, poison, he prayed it would be quick. Lucian stood up slowly. Lucian leaned heavily against the wall, his breathing becoming shallow, he wondered what poison head been used. He felt along his arm, the multiple black feathers stuck out unevenly. Lucian brushed his hand down his arm, sweeping away the darts, the darts landed softly on the floor. He moved to his other arm, sweeping away the black feathers; the thick black slime layered his hands. Lucian tried to rub some off on his leather trousers. The ugly black smear spread out behind his hands. Lucian cursed, trying to rub it out some more, managing to spread the smear farther. A rotting smell emanated from the black slime. Lucian reached into his pockets praying he hadn't crushed the vial. He smiled pulling out a small glass cylinder, the green liquid swirled around inside it. Lucian pulled out the leather and cork bung and poured a few drops on his arms.

A hissing sound resounded loudly as the green substance touched the black slime, Lucian felt his heart leap for joy. He thanked the god that it wasn't a poison. The green substance left a quickly spreading clear trail where it reacted, small pin pricks and beads of blood covered his arms. Lucian rubbed the drops in, clearing the remnants of the black slime; a sickly sweet honey smell came up from the mixture. Lucian quickly rubbed it into his other arm, the darts had managed to numb the pain in his injured leg. "Well at least that's one thing less to worry about." He mumbled to himself, trying to reassure himself as well. Lucian walked slowly down the corridor, the spent darts crunched under his feet. The overwhelming stench of rot and rancid flesh rose slowly from the slowly spreading layer of sticky black viscous goo.

Lucian leant his shoulder against the wall, his lungs burned with fatigue yet he felt that he hadn't gone that far. Lucian guessed that it was just the weird goop that was coating the darts going to his head. He walked slowly, his injured leg trailed behind him slightly. Lucian pushed himself from the wall, placing more weight on his damaged leg. A fuzzy feeling filled the limb, replacing the pain. Lucian took another experimental step, tensing his leg as he placed it. He felt the deadened muscle shift lazily beneath his skin.

Lucian looked down the plain corridor, he couldn't shake the idea that he was walking down the throat of some beast. The plain uniform heavy stone brick walls extended for what seemed like painful eons. The lack of ancient webs and decrepit dust with the occasional flicker in the evenly spaced torch lights, gave the feeling that he was being forced down. He expected around every corner there to be a snarling beast ready to feast, yet each corner yielded the same unvarying stone tunnels, interspaced with multiple doors.

Lucian stumbled down the corridor, his leg occasionally getting a twinge, he smiled grimly knowing that it would probably be much worse now. He felt a gust of wind eddy around him, billowing in his fur. The torches remained oddly still, their large flames sat lethargically as though waiting. The cold gusts speared into his exposed cheeks and limbs. Lucian starred around confused his dark hair billowed around his face, getting in his eyes. Lucian brought a numbing hand up, brushing the straying hairs away from his eyes. He looked around, he heard a howl echo off the freezing bleached stone walls.

Lucian started to hobble forwards, he placed more weight on his right leg, trying to limp faster, the numbing poison was starting to lose its effect. The lancing pain was slowly edging back. Lucian swore, he started to run, trying to ignore the pained limb, his steps faltering, he snarled and winced against the pain. Lucian felt his eyes water out from his control, blurring the long corridor. Lucian fought back the unyielding tears, trying to see ahead. Lucian felt his chest begin to burn. A door stuck from the wall, it was partially open, he could see stone tiles extending beyond it. Lucian felt the flickering of hope building in his stomach, and were quenched by the now sounding very close howling. He could hear the individual claws clattering on the stone, he imaging the sharp teeth they belonged to. Lucian neared the door, he heard the gnashing teeth behind him, he swallowed his fear. Lucian dived in the door, not caring what lay beyond.

Lucian landed on the hard chilly stone. His jarred teeth felt as though they were rattling in his head. His cheek stung on the freezing floor. Lucian pressed his arms against the floor, looked around the new room. The walls were lovingly crafted of deep azure stone, the howling sounded from outside, he heard claws click outside the room; the door was still slightly open. Lucian stifled a scream, he scrabbled on the floor. Lucian hobbled up, he hopped on his uninjured leg. He grabbed at the golden handle, the cool metal gripped his hand, the latch bent downward gently. Lucian yanked the door close, he spotted a black padded claw it edged nearer to the door.

Lucian slammed the door, a creature whined outside, he heard clawing against the door. Lucian sighed, his heart pounded in his head, he leaned against the door. He sat down, the clawing and mewling still emanated from under the door. His lungs felt stiff, Lucian coughed hacking out large black ropey phlegm landed sloppily on the cold floor. The racking pain speared through his chest, he choked as more landed on the cold floor, he clenched his chest, his tunic felt excruciatingly tight. Lucian ripped a chunk from his tunic, he tore away at the strong fabric, he felt his chest burning, and he smelt sickly sweat beading on his chest. Lucian left the tattered remnants of his tunic hanging limply, he leant breathing heavily against the door. Lucian grasped the exposed fur on his chest, trying to lighten the load, his leg stung in vehemence. He felt his vision becoming blurred, his mind thickened over his thoughts becoming lost, and the ever present pain slowly receding as he drifted in his mind. Lucian saw something large, something exceedingly large; filling his vision, blackness engulfed him.

End of chapter 1