FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

-Prolog-

"What have you done!" A voice resonated through the large chamber. It was a room, about thirty feet wide and just as long, rounded at the edges where pillars rose up to support the high ceiling. Torches burned brightly along the stone walls, illuminating the countless gold coins and gems strewn about the floor. A pile of it all lay at the far end where a white dragon now lay, it's feral body curled up as if asleep, though this was no farther from the truth. Stretched out it could have easily stood corner to corner within the chamber's walls, but curled where it lay it was no larger than the piles of treasure it called a nest.

The humans called this beast Janeal, though her true name was something more meaningful and beautiful. There were no words in their guttural language that could fulfill it, thus she had chosen such a simple name. She found it bothersome, but better than being called 'dragon' or 'beast' whenever they wished to speak to her.

"I should have you skinned alive for this, you know that!?" One of her emerald eyes opened to look upon that which spoke to her. Quickly it set on a bright red dragon, whose name she had not bothered to remember. He was nothing more than the sire of her most recent clutch, a slab of meat to fulfil her needs and nothing more. Yes, she could settle down properly if she so chose. He was a little small for her taste, but strong and witty. His charm and intelligence had won her over, but that annoying little pest that followed him simply made it impossible to keep him as a permanent mate.

A human sat upon the red dragon's back, clothed in bright silver armor with a red crest of a dragon upon his chest in that crude art form the humans liked to use to signify dragon riders. He was about thirty years in age, or so she had been told. Older than many for the human race of this time, but that mattered little. His bond with the dragon would extend his life far beyond that, or so the stories told.

The idea was disgusting, letting one of those smelly apes upon such a majestic creature's back was unthinkable to Janeal. No, she did not wish to see them harmed or wiped out, no creature deserved that, but they were not worthy of such a positions of power and she was no pack mule.

"Calm down-" The human began as he jumped off the dragon's back, only to be cut off by his mount.

"No! She has done the unthinkable!" The dragon snapped, nearly biting his own rider as he spoke. By now Janeal had lifted her head, her full attention on them. It was now visible that she had been laying around an egg, keeping it warm with her bulk. It was about the size of a man's torso and weighing just a little more.

"And that would be?" The human asked, looking between the two of them.

"Are you honestly that thick?" The dragon turned to look at his rider with an obvious glare of anger. "She has performed a ritual that has been forbidden many generations ago. This cannot go unpunished!"

"I have done no such thing." She said calmly in the language the humans liked so much.

"Oh?" The dragon questioned, turning his attention back to Janeal. "Than explain to me how a week ago you were distraught by the loss of your egg to a sterile lay, now you hold it within your nest? And on top of that, the healers say it is very well and healthily!"

"I remember no such thing. Besides, what I do with my egg is of my concern, not yours. You were nothing more than a means to my goal, now leave before I have you removed." She said simply, though her tail tightened around the egg protectively. "You are either mistaken or delusional, and to think the father of my child may be out of his mind would be horrendous indeed." The red dragon took a threatening step forward, electing a yell from his rider and causing Janeal to bare her fangs in response. She was nearly twice his size in bulk and would easily take him down if he tried anything. However, she did not wish to deal with the coming hatchling and wounds if it could be avoided.

The warning from the dragoness was enough to make the male think twice. He stood there for a moment, tail lashing in anger and frustration before simply hissing and turning away. His rider bowed and mumbled a quick apology before turning and following his mount.

-Chapter 1-

Not so much as a drop of light could be seen for miles upon miles. This place seemed empty and left one feeling alone. This was a void, where nothing begins and nothing ends. Yet here, a single mind lay. A lump of thoughts, floating in the eternal blackness, left to ponder... Who was he? Was he even male? Even he did not remember. The darkness was all he could recall, but was sure there was more. Something in the back of his mind tickled at his thoughts, teasing him with memories beyond his reach, separated by a valley that he could not seem to cross.

Despite all this, he could feel a sense of calm and safety that permeated the darkness. Time held no grounds here, here there was nothing and nothing was expected of him. Minutes passed, then hours, then days, weeks, years, he lost track of time. There were no stars to guide him, no moon or sun to judge how long he simply floated there. His senses screamed for something, anything to make sense of this world, but to no avail. He finally came to one conclusion... this was death and not just any death, this was hell.

This continued for longer than he dared try to concern himself with. Eventually his mind fell into deep madness, that which only loneliness could bring, only to crawl out years later as it ran it's course. Over and over this repeated, one moment perfectly sane and capable, the next he was talking to voices he had conjured up in an attempt to occupy himself.

One day, without warning he noticed a light beginning to glow behind him. When had this started? How long had he been here without noticing this? It was magnificent compared to the lack of any stimulation he had seen in so long, its' vibrant colors allowed him to see for what felt like the first time. Quickly he twisted around, wishing to take in more of this beautiful light, to bask in the glow that had eluded him for so many long years. It was soft, yet warming to the touch, slowly drawing him.

From here, all he could make out was the shape of an animal within the glow. It's appearance was distorted, but he was able to make out the vague identity of a long serpent like creature with four legs and wings spread wide. It caught the light within those large and magestic wings, casting a shadow upon the otherwise perfect rays and displaying a most spectacular shade of red.

The light continued to slowly pull him in, only adding clarity to the creature in front of him.

"Welcome home young one," the voice startled him at first. It had been so long since he had heard anything that he had almost forgotten there was such a thing as speech. The voice was feminine in nature, yet deep and strong and it seemed to emanate from the very light that drew upon him.

He attempted to respond, to ask the simple question yet not so much as a sound was made.

"I see..." Said the voice, with almost a hint of pity. "You have yet to realize your nature... That is a shame. For now though, just relax." He tried to yell, but sleep began to overtake him against his will, pushing aside all questions and confusion that had plagued him from the moment he had seen the light.

The sounds of voices brought him back to consciousness. The darkness had returned and now he found himself constrained within a prison nearly too small for his form. Something told him if he tried he would be able to break free, but now was not the time and he had no drive to do so anyway. He was a male, right? The thought crossed his mind and something told him he was, though he was unsure how or why.

The voices continued, one sounding surprisingly angry, though so muffled that he could not understand so much as a word of it. The voice seemed to be yelling at something, him maybe? No, it couldn't be because someone else answered in his place. This voice was much more calm than the first, though she too was muffled beyond understanding.

She? Yes she... She had been the one to rescue him from the darkness and put him within this cage, though why he knew not. Yet, despite knowing this he felt no anger for her actions. It felt right to be here, something about it just seemed proper. He was warm, safe, and well protected by her. His years of madness were over now, replaced with a sense of calm that gave him peace.

The voices continued for some time, causing him to twist and turn within the confines of his prison. This angry voice was annoying him, unsettling his nerves and causing him to want to lash out. However, it was soon over before he managed to do much more than twist. This had apparently gained female's attention for it became much warmer, though not uncomfortably so. He could hear her voice, was she speaking? The voice was resonating within his confines continuously, constantly flowing and changing pitch ever so slightly with time. After a moment he realized it was melody, some song he had never heard yet it soothed him greatly.

Before long he began drifting away into slumber yet again, her voice the last thing on his mind before slipping away.

---

"What was that all about?" The human hissed at his mount. The dragon responded with nothing more than a deep growl as his tail flicked with his obvious anger. "Don't give me that. You speak to her as if you know what's gone on, but you're leaving me out of the loop. I get raising the dead is considered unsavory, and even banned in many countries, but what does that have to do with the egg? There was no body to reanimate so it will just rot eventually, right?"

"You honestly think the magics of such a thing are limited to reanimation alone?" The dragon asked, his annoyance growing with his rider's ignorance as they walked down the long hall that lead outside. "Have your elders taught you nothing? It can manipulate the souls of the dead as well." The human nodded, though he still wasn't sure what to make of this information. "I have never heard of it being done, but if she's managed to put a soul within the egg it will create a bastard of a dragon."

"Not great, I get it. But honestly what's wrong with that?" The rider asked, though continued before his mount could respond. "I mean if she's giving someone a second chance, to be a dragon no less, what is the problem? She gets her hatchling and someone gets a chance at new life. I think it's wonderful in a somewhat twisted way."

"The problem is," his mount began, as if lecturing a child, "that we don't know what could happen. There are reasons the elders forbid such magics, their outcomes are wild and unpredictable. The fact she herself has not died and become the host of some unsavory creature is a miracle in of itself. Whatever hatches, assuming I ever give it the chance, could be beyond words."