FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Gonna be really slow getting the next few chapters up :'( but in the meantime, enjoy this

unless you're under 18, in which case, get out or hope you're not caught

PART 3

Sorry to have left you hanging at the end there...I had to quickly run so I turned the thing on standby right after that last note. But hey, no better place to leave off, right?

"GET OUTTA MY CAVE!!"

"GLADLY!!"

Yep...single again. That's the problem with fast love like what we'd had...it raises you up and then drops you hard. The problem: Flora and I had different views, but had until now (two weeks later) only seen each others' good sides. Now, after a surveyor had asked us about our views on demolishing an old settlement (which, by the way, happened to be Flora's old home once upon a time), our little debate...well, that was how it ended. Flora wanted to keep things the way they were...tree-hugger...but I saw that the ruins were crumbling and were only going to fall on their own in the future. And no...nothing "happened" between us between now and that romantic night two weeks ago. Flora and I were still virgins. So get that thought outta your heads.

I jogged home, fuming and upset. Flora was one of my best friends now, but...she was so hot-headed about her views it drove me nuts. I'd found a cave not too far away and that was where I was headed... When I got there, though, I found everything in ruins. The few things I had in there were smashed, and my bed of moss and grass was charred and strewn about. What confused me even more, though, were several blood-stained claw-streaks along the walls. They cut in far deeper than any dragon's claws could possibly cut, and when I smelled them...not only was there the rusty smell of blood, but a strange scent, foul and unforgiving to the nose but somehow familiar, even though I'd never smelled it before. Using my X-ray sight I noticed that the trenches of the gashes in the rocks were lined with a strange material, as if the abuser had something on the very tips of his claws. And I say "his" for a reason...it was a very strong masculine scent.

Something was scratch-written backwards in the wall, but I couldn't read it well in the lighting. Using my ice-breath I covered the part of the wall, pried the ice off, and took it outside. Rubbing it lightly on the dust on the ground, I dirtied the higher parts that were the text, and flipped it over and read.

"Find Love Or Reality, Aznor. Can't have both, and one's gone."

Most would probably freak, but those initial letters were all I saw. FLORA. Whoever wrote this had her... My claws rent through the ice with a sharp crackling as my fists clenched. Without another thought I took off at an incredible speed to Flora's cave. In the time it had taken me to get to my place, read, and get back, whoever had torn up my cave had been here and gone. There were signs of a struggle...and more of those weird claw-marks. Almost exactly the same as the ones in my walls.

"Flora..." Something inside me rose to a savage temperature, but then that heart-tearing vision of Flora from my dream quenched the fire brewing in me. I had to keep a level head... There was a trail of blood along the floor...Flora's blood...and I followed it out into the meadow. The grass was violently shoved aside, as if something heavy had been quickly dragged through it. There were no other trails, and the smell of Flora's blood was still fresh along the trail, so I followed it, having no other clues. It was probably an Ocre or something... note: Ocres are similar to ogres, but in our world they have four legs and two arms. Whatever this thing was, it obviously wasn't smart, it was leading me on a straight trail. It moved fast, though...with my speed I should've caught it by now.

That thought crossed my mind too quickly...along the trail I found a slain Ocre, and the dark colorations on its wounds told me a demon had killed it. Now Flora's trail was growing colder; her bearer was far faster now than an Ocre. It hurt me so badly to think of her being dragged mercilessly along the ground like this...

Everything after that is a blur, but I do remember catching sight of the demon and flying after it, watching in sheer pain as it dragged Flora's now-unconscious body behind itself. It was heading straight for Fire Vale...the badlands.

I woke up inside the cave after a timed nap and kept going through the tunnel. Underground, it was far cooler than above ground, so much so that I knew Flora would be cold if she was any further down. Somehow, her scent was still strong here, even though it was hours after she'd been carried through. I had no idea where I was, or what tunnels I'd come through...all I knew was that Flora was injured and would possibly be killed as a method to piss me off. In my rage no Ocre or Umbrok (evil lizard things) could withstand me. Demons, however, I needed to watch out for, but I was so heated in my search I didn't care. I ran into a small room and was instantly ambushed by a good twenty Umbrok, but I roared and shook myself, flailing my wings and my tail. They either jumped off or were flung off, and backed away from me. Normally they would not have given up so easily, but in my anger my voice had grown powerful and their ears hurt. They were intelligent but still animals, and had instincts that had now given me the advantage. They ran off as I darted forward to attack, and I let them go. The whole underground network could attack me for all I cared! Let them come!

After a long, twisting tunnel full of climbing and sliding on slick stone, I knew I was far deeper underground now...it was cold. And to top it off...echoing screaming. A voice like a stricken angel...The cell doors I passed were solid steel bars, too thick for the average dragon to bend, and heat-tempered to withstand the average flame-breath.

"PLEASE!!! ANYONE!!!" came a hysterical shriek followed by panicked crying. That fire returned again but I shook my head with a growl, not letting the power go to my head. I followed the despairing wailing down even deeper, and finally my searching paid off.

"Flora!" I hissed, not wanting my voice to carry far. She started violently, looked around for the speaker, and cried again.

"Now I'm hearing things..." she sobbed, and I kicked myself---I was camouflaged!! How could I be so stupid? She slung herself against the bars of the door, trying to calm herself, and she started when she felt my paw against her face. I quickly faded in out of midair, and her look of fear gave way to sheer relief and happiness and she broke down again, glad to see me.

"Shhhhh....Flora, shhh...it's okay, I'm here now..."

"Gale, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you..."

"You're fine, I shouldn't have pushed you to the breaking point..." She nuzzled against my paw as I caressed her face. I winced as I felt bruises on her body, and my smile faded. "Who's the bastard that did this to you?"

"I don't know...it all happened so fast, and I couldn't see who was attacking me...Gale, it's not something we've ever seen before..."

I quickly looked over the door, trying to think of a way to spring her from this place. "Damn...I'm not strong enough to do anything here..." An Umbrok appeared around the corner, carrying the keys in its mouth, but with one glance at me it shrieked and fled, dropping the keys. Flora and I looked at each other, and in a flash I picked up the keys, unlocked her cell, tossed her light frame on my back, and fled before the little idiot could call for assistance.

"I'm so glad you came for me," she whispered as I ran, hugging my neck.

"I gotta breathe if I'm running," I said jokingly, and she giggled and loosened her grip on me but still held on. She really only needed to worry about slipping off backwards when we climbed up a tunnel; I tried to run as flat as possible, as in minimal vertical motion when stepping. After a while, though, I stopped, finally tired and beginning to develop a cramp along my side.

"Gale? Where are we?"

I looked around, and sighed. "Honestly, I don't know..."

"You mean you came in after me and didn't watch where you were going?"

My head drooped self-consciously. "Yes..." I looked over my shoulder at her as she sat up on my back. "But in my defense, I was so pissed at what they'd done to you...all I could think about was finding you..."

A small tear fell down her face and she leaned down and nuzzled my face. "Well that's the best ass-cover I've ever heard..."

I just smiled and nuzzled her face in return and she gave a faint purr, but our happiness was cut short as I heard something nearby. "Flora, I think we're in for one hell of a fight..."

"Bring them on...NO ONE treats me like they did and gets away with it." She slipped off my back and we cautiously circled, looking at the tunnel entrances around us. She looked down a tunnel off to the side and nudged me. "There's a room there, we should get into a more open area to fight in."

"Yes, go!" I said, shoving her slightly as I caught sight of Umbroks rushing down the tunnel at us. We ran into the open room and I started in shock as a huge dome of energy surrounded us both as we stood by each other. Flora giggled at my reaction and I turned to her, confused.

"You're not the only one with old elemental powers," she said, wiggling her eyebrows at me playfully. I smirked and turned my attention to the lizards gathering around us. They were only half my size, but damn, those raptor-claws and those long teeth were deadly if they knew what they were doing. And these things were dressed in guard armor...they'd been trained. One of them attacked the dome, and there was a loud zapping sound as it froze against the dome, electrocuted for a good five seconds before being violently flung off. I'd forgotten that water dragons had some skill with electricity for underwater hunting and protection, but it was obviously straining Flora and finally the shield died off. The Umbrok were waiting for that chance, but so was I, and with one swinging motion I spun right towards them, sending a fair number flying back with my tail. Flora and I fought viciously, swiping quickly with our claws and biting at those who got past our paws. note: In hindsight...yeah, the more I think about it, if you've seen cats fight, that's us.

The Umbrok kept coming at us...there was no end to them, and Flora and I were getting pretty well bitten and scratched by now...I grunted and yelled as another one jumped onto my back and bit my neck, and Flora shot it off with electricity from her mouth. A group of five suddenly tackled Flora to the floor and she screamed as they scratched at her hide and bit her. I froze...and the next thing I knew, all the Umbrok lay dead and I felt like I'd been completely drained. Flora sat up, bleeding and confused as I slumped to the floor, panting.

"What...what just happened?" she asked. I just shrugged weakly and lay there. "Gale...you okay?"

"Hell no...ooooooohhhhhhh..." My stomach felt like someone had tied spiky chains around it...

"Hmmmm..._ve_ry impressive," came a voice echoing through the chamber. Flora looked around wildly, but neither of us could see the speaker; he seemed to be talking through the walls themselves. "Well, seems I've made a mistake. Next time I'll have to raise the stakes with you."

"LET US OUTTA HERE!!" Flora yelled angrily, and the voice laughed.

"For you, of course." The cavern suddenly seemed to liquify, and we were hurtled at breakneck speed on one direction and woke up seconds later outside the cave, on the black sands of Fire Vale. Flora looked around cautiously, but the only things around were us and a few age-gnarled tree-like plants amid the spiky rock formations. She shakily stood up, licked a gash on her arm, and looked around again.

"Gale...I hope you understand what just happened...'cuz I need an explanation or I'm gonna go crazy."

All I could do was shake my head and groan. "No idea..."

She lay down next to me, worry pervading those pretty purple eyes. "You gonna be okay?"

I shook my head and winced as my stomach lurched. "Whatever happened in there came from me...hurts like hell...can't move..."

She nuzzled my face sadly. "Should I go find help?" she whispered.

"No...just stay here..."

She cuddled against me and with a pained groan I lifted my wing and put it over her. As shitty as I felt, I was glad to have Flora back...even though it had only been a few hours, maybe half a day, it had been the worst few hours I'd ever had up to that point. All that mattered right now was that this beautiful blue dragoness was safe with me. But as my thoughts drifted...I recalled the writing on my wall... "Find love or reality, Aznor..." Aznor...

Night found us still in Fire Vale. I was feeling well enough to sit up, but I still had to lie down because my legs were too shaky to allow me to stand. As we lay there, Flora had fun tracing my muscles and scales with her claws, and I let her have her fun as I lay there.

"You have such pretty scales, Gale," she said, looking closely at the metallic-silver lining of my scales.

"Nothing to yours," I said with a grin, and she looked away shyly. In the moonlight her scales glittered like the ocean. A simple description, but the effect was transfixing. She sighed and reclined against me.

"How good are you with computers?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Computers, y'know-"

"I know, but why?"

"I heard the demons talking about some new system of computers off to the east, apparently there's some new complex there that they've staked out..."

I shrugged. "I'm average..." For six years I had studied and used computers avidly, mostly in the research realm before running away because the research violated my morals. I knew at least seven programming languages and how to hack almost any program or database, and how to code several different viruses, and how to wire networks and all that rot...but I didn't want to tell Flora, at least not yet.

"Gale...for some reason...I feel like something big is gonna happen to us sooner than we'd like..."

I hugged her with my wing and she purred. "Well, I dunno about you but I've been bored lately with nothing to do but hunt and sleep."

"Oh, so all our games were nothing?" she asked incredulously, and we both laughed.

Well...three days later, that laughter was long gone as Flora and I cautiously entered the ruinous city. We were both pretty damn pissed off; yesterday an unknown force had swept through, decimating the town. The gang headquarters where I'd met Glairn were now nothing more than cement rubble and scrap metal...and poor little Glairn, now she had no home at all and was still too young to really be on her own. Luckily she'd had the sense to come find me instead of running away, and now here we were, the three of us, heading to the center of the city to investigate after hearing that whatever had come through was stationed in the old mayoral house. Her foreleg had been injured in the assault, and now she rode on my back as Flora walked next to me. Flora kept giving Glairn odd looks until finally Glairn snapped.

"You got a problem with me or somethin'?"

"Uh...no..."

"Then stop looking at me like that. You may be twice my size but I'll take you down!"

"She can, too," I said, giving Flora a warning look. "I've seen it done with dragons bigger than me."

"Yeah, you tell 'er Gale." Flora glared at me and I just rolled my eyes and shook my head as Glairn snorted. "Hey Gale, didja tell her about your other fling?"

"Oh shit..." I groaned, my head drooping in exasperation. "Glairn, please, just shut up already about that. It wasn't a fling, I saved her and she started fawning all over me. Got incredibly annoying after a day."

"Yeah, sure, whatever..." She turned to Flora. "He almost made out with her."

Flora looked at me in shock and Glairn laughed. My wings shot up and I caught her neck warningly between my wing-limbs. "Glairn, for the last time, no I didn't. In fact, you wanna know the truth? She was attempting to molest me after spiking one of my meals."

"Sure, that's what they all say," she said, removing herself from my grip.

Flora walked close and leaned towards my head. "Is she always this irritating?" she whispered.

"No, this is actually a first..."

"What're you two whispering about? Huh? Huh? Talkin' love to each other?"

Though she was annoying as hell, she knew exactly where to go, and amid her ceaseless taunting she would give directions on the best way to get to the center of town. Things grew more quiet, and Flora rubbed against me and I could sense her fear. Something wasn't right here...it was just a bit too quiet. Of course, Glairn hated quiet...

"So, you two make out yet or anything?"

Flora and I both stopped right where we were, but a sly look came across Flora's face and with a glance she told me to play along. "Oh yes...twice a day at least," she said, nuzzling against me. Now how often does something like this happen? I had no idea what to do, but I cleared my throat and pressed against her, tilting to the side to jostle Glairn.

"Oh yes...definitely 'at least'..."

Unfortunately, Glairn wasn't as gullible as we'd hoped, and she burst out laughing. "Trying to play my game against me? You two are a riot!" Flora and I both groaned...we just couldn't win with her and now she had something to use against us, whether it was true or not.

It took us a while, but we finally reached it...the one building that still stood in some sort of good condition, though there was a huge chunk taken out of one edge, obviously from two earth dragons scuffling in the air and slamming each other around. Glairn fell silent with us...the building had a very haunting air about it, and somehow it seemed we'd entered some sort of sound-proof barrier---there was no sound at all by the building except our nervous breath.

"Well, we won't find out anything out here," I said, rolling my shoulders and walking forward. Flora nervously followed me, and of course Glairn had no choice, she had to ride on my back. The doors had been torn off their hinges into a sort of ramp over the shattered stone stairway, and I cringed with each step as the metal loudly clanged and shifted against the stone under my weight. Past that, though, everything was quiet as we entered the building. Charged flamestones adorned the walls, glowing with light energy, but they were dimming. note: Flamestones are stones that, when breathed on with firebreath, acquire a charge and give off light for a maximum of two weeks.

Three hours later none of us had said anything while we wandered the hallways, exploring the basement. The upper floors were empty, and Flora felt that something powerful was lurking in the basement. Flora was carrying Glairn now as I scoped out the hallways ahead of them, using my camouflage to hide. Luckily for me, I could copy my surroundings onto my scales and basically turn invisible...bad news was, if I moved or if someone moved and the lighting was bright enough, they could see my form, so I had to be extra careful. The walls were a bright gray, which only worsened my situation because my gray-color is always a shade off. Finding nothing when I reached the next flight of stairs I returned to Flora and Glairn.

"I smell something..." Glairn said, sniffing the air. "Smells strongly like blood..." Luckily for her she was a fire dragon; they have highly-tuned senses of smell. In the frigid air of mountains, or underwater, sense of smell isn't very useful, so Flora and I were a bit lacking in that area.

"It's gotta be lower down," I mumbled, and led them to the stairwell. Down we went, and when I opened the door, Glairn shrieked and Flora almost threw up...before us lay an entire hallway of bodies and blood. I looked back to see Glairn hiding her face between Flora's wings and shivering.

"Gale..." Flora choked, looking away.

I closed the doors. "There's another way down, it makes no sense that there would only be one set of stairs per level in a place like this." My voice was shaking, my heart was pumping, and rage was flowing through me...who the hell would do something like this?! Flora followed me up the stairs, and I raced through the hallways, looking for another way down.

Fifteen minutes later we were two floors lower; I'd found a flight of stairs that led past the carnage to the next level. The signs were smeared with blood and badly clawed and I couldn't tell what floor we were on, but something told me it was the one we were looking for. Flora hung back on the stairs while I checked the hallway, and after finding nothing in the hallway I returned and they followed me.

"You guys hear that?" Flora asked.

"No...what is it?"

"There's a fight going on..."

Flora and I raced through the hallway, and as we went further in, I finally heard it: roaring and breath-blasting. The hallway twisted to the left and we were faced with two huge security doors, slightly off their hinges, and I flung them open and we ran inside. We were up on a metal terrace running along the walls of a huge testing room, and on the floor, amid numerous dead dragons, two living ones were brawling. One was a bright gold luster and bore bladed vambraces and wing-armor, and he had a sweeping helmet covering his face and the long crest coming from his head. The other...what the hell was that thing?! It was like a dragon, but as it fought it moved like a fluid, deforming, swelling, contorting like some huge liquid monster. And it was swathed in a thick shadowy cloud that swirled around it and crackled with purple lightning.

"ALNOR-ORMNORTH!!" the gold dragon shouted in a deep, booming voice, and he roared and blasted the shadowy dragon with white-hot fire. The thing bellowed but knocked the gold dragon to the side with a solid tail-strike to the head.

Something inside me snapped. "Gale!! NO!!" Flora shouted, but I flung myself down to the floor, right in the shadow-dragon's path. It stopped, looking me over, and we circled each other, growling and bristling. The shadowy lashed at me with an unnaturally long tail and knocked me to the side, but I rolled and bounced back up. I jumped up onto its back and it roared, thrashing around, but my powerful jaws had me anchored to whatever its neck was made of and I held on, letting its thrashing deal the damage as it threw me around. It stopped and lashed my back with its tail, making me yell and release it, and it took that chance to throw me to the side. I spread my wings and slowed down enough to grab the wall, and rolled to the side as it tackled where I had just been. My back was bleeding and it hurt like all hell was on it, but I raked the dragon's throat with my claws and it pulled back with a gurgling roar. Next thing I knew the gold dragon roared, leapt past both of us, and the shadowy thing fell to the ground, its neck sliced clean open across the spine. The cloud around it died off and I let go of the wall, slumping on the floor. Panting, the gold dragon took off his helm and looked at me with frightening orange eyes. He had a few thick fin-scales on his chin, like a beard, the same deep-orange as the wavy ones on his head. His horns went straight back but curved like corkscrews.

"You shouldn't have come, Froststar, but I thank you for your assistance." He clicked his vambraces together and their blades snapped back against the armpieces cleanly, becoming almost invisible as they fit in place. Flora flew down to me.

"You okay?" she asked worriedly, eyeing my back.

"He'll be fine," the gold dragon said. "There will be far worse than a possessed dragon-zombie to deal with soon."

"Zombie?" Glairn asked, suddenly scared.

"Yes, little one..." There was a strange groaning sound that pounded our ears. "Come, it's not safe here."

Flora helped me to my feet and I leaned against her. "Sir? How did you...how did you know my name?"

"Follow me first, we can talk safely later."

_Well, I'm gonna head out again...I think this thing's giving me a headache. That and I'm nervous about what's to come in the next part.

Oops, my mate's calling...gotta run._

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uh oh...what's this turn of events?