FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Alexander unlocked the old mahogany door, feeling the transition from warmth and tiredness to the comfort of home. Not a house to his name, but a place he called home nonetheless.

Setting a heavy wooden box on the ground he huffed, gathering his breath as he locked the door once more, careful as to not get any fur stuck in it like last time.

“Master!" he called, “I brought the spheres, where should I put them?"

The perspective of moving the damn thing around the house just to be told that “I didn't want it there" didn't seem appealing to the wolf. He wasn't a pack bull after all.

“Master?" Alexander tried once again, receiving curious silence in response. Master wouldn't waste any time to see and experiment with his new enchanting spheres, therefore something must be wrong. Leaving the box on the wooden floor by the entrance, Alexander strolled through the corridor towards the kitchen. He needed at least a cup of water or wine to remove the heat after carrying so much weight through almost half of Solholm city.

Afternoon light entered through the open window by the cabinets and illuminated the room, along with a few floating specs of dust. Reaching for the nearest clean wooden cup he could find on the cupboards – their precise organization enough for him to feel proud of his magical accomplishments – Alexander paused upon noticing a scroll attached to the wine barrel.

Alexander, I had a terribly situational urge to acquire a slightly excessive amount of provisions. My apologies as I will probably take an equally excessive amount of time. You will be responsible for preparing dinner today.

I will assume nothing went wrong with my delivery, so I would be pleased if you place the box on the dining room, by the cabinets.

The clue this time is 'name'.

- Aurion

A symbol of minor sealing, in the shape of a candle flame, flickered on the end of the message. It was the simplest way they found to always guarantee their messages were recognizable and secure. However, like anything else Master did, there was something more to it. Usually something funny to complement the message if Alexander was able to guess the word that would remove the seal. He had no desire to look for jokes this time, however, not unlocking one of these seals would give him the feeling of being defeated. Also undesirable.

“Alexander," he said to the letter, to no avail. An easy answer like that would provide no challenge, so he decided to think a bit more while also getting his refreshment.

“Aurion," he said as he opened the valve and filled the cup with red, magically enhanced wine, only now noticing that he had got one of the human cups by mistake, and he would have some difficulty to not spill water on the floor he cleaned some hours ago. Still, it was a fair risk to be taken; he wouldn't want to waste a single drop of wine by changing cups.

“Sollum," he tried his last name before drinking from the cup, small and brief sips in order to protect the floor. Cool and sweet liquid went from his muzzle to his insides, refreshing his body thoroughly and causing the wolf to let out a sigh of satisfaction. Alexander walked back to the entrance corridor after not noticing any change on the scroll.

“Cadence," Alexander finished his first obvious alternatives with his Master's last name, obtaining no reaction once again. This puzzle would take some time, which he didn't want to waste right now. Crouching, he reached for the box and prepared to carry the heavy container once more, but at least his destination wouldn't require hours of walking this time. He placed the scroll on the box and his cup over it to not let the paper fly away from his attention – he needed both his arms to carry the thing – trying to search for some hidden message that would help with the secret word.

“Amyit?" he managed a name he never heard about, through breaths of effort, not able to think about any other name until he reached the dining room. Having these spheres in this place could only mean that his Master was preparing some sort of demonstration or lesson after dinner. Alexander sighed, knowing that he would probably be appointed to clean the mess afterwards.

“Solhom?"

The seal didn't flicker nor disappear. He was half tempted to just cast a dispell and be done with the game, but that would also mean a defeat. Remembering the list of names they had contacted in all his apprenticehood would take a while, so he had to start now. He picked up the scroll.

“Sayerr… Nico… Sasha…"

Alexander stopped once he heard a muffled noise of something falling on the ground, coming from one of the more distant rooms. Probably yet another of Master's experiments, but that still meant that his duty was to clean any mess it created. Sighing once again, he began to stroll toward the back rooms, names still rolling through his mind.

“Harword… Daryl…"

He entered his Master's room and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Every color from the rainbow was displayed in his potion shelf, divided by flask size. Books about alchemy and enchantments were arranged into three same sized piles on the floor, desk and upside down hanging from the ceiling. The bed was made, perfectly, and the round glass window brought the afternoon light inside. This was definitely the wrong room.

“Joseph… Will, no, William…"

His ears twitched at another muffled and distant sound, lengthened and intermittent as if some rat or small animal had entered the house and begun to scratch around the furniture. Impossible, everything was as clean as he could make it, traps were laid and warding spells were put in place near the pantry. This blasphemy of vermin invasion should be dealt with before his Master notices. Alexander moved to the laboratory, the closest room towards the noise.

“Russel… Remdrall..."

Empty and neatly organized. Even the dark wood table of enchantments was pristine, holding the last of Rurihan's book of enchantments in the very same page he found it earlier, but now it was on the perfect height to be read, as if in a lectern. Tools shined through the transparent case by its side and not even a sign of dust on the floor… Except for a tiny amount near the entrance to the secret passage behind the bookshelf. Alexander closed his eyes and shook his head, humans would sometimes be too carried way to remember such things. If only they didn't cover their skin with boots all the time, humans could benefit from his paw cleaning enchantment.

“Rurihan… Wait, Zavi'sh?" Nothing happened to the seal as he moved to pull the only white book and hear moving gears behind the walls turn, revealing a dark corridor where once stood books about enchantment, now lost to the ceiling. Marks of human footprints extended from the corridor to the room. “Thought so."

Memory failed him as he walked through the dimly lit and musty corridor. After all, his Master didn't directly ask him to clean it, so he could only shudder at the sight of small patches of mold over the stone walls. He heard the noise again, much louder this time and sounding like something scratching metal. Curiosity guided him now, instead of pure duty. Names reappeared in his mind as he now had something to be distracted other than the dirty walls.

“Dane… Harword… Wait, no, Salem..."

The letter kept its original text, as if laughing at his unimpressive attempts while he walked through metal and wooden platforms over the stone floor. He could have at least given him another clue, or a riddle. A riddle was definitely better to spark his mind up and prepare for the inevitable lesson that would come after dinner. Preferably after dinner.

“Zahra… Tel-" his speech was cut short by a loud rumble and the muffled sound of a grunt. It couldn't be a vermin, or an heir of the Mouse, but it was definitely alive and struggling. Master went too far this time. Alexander couldn't even remember if they had a proper way of keeping a living subject in the secret chamber. He dashed towards the noise.

“Telsin..."

There was nothing on the corner he arrived, except for a lit torch knocked on the floor, its light contrasting with the previously dark corridor, but now the sound just wouldn't stop, as if someone was trying to talk to him through a wall. Concealed, probably.

Alexander held the letter in his mouth, carefully to not pierce or cut it with his sharp fangs, and moved both paws in the air with deadly precision in order to draw an abjuration circle. Ghostly silver lines extended from his claws as they danced in the air, the drawing being completed half by half with independent strokes of beautiful symmetry and the ancient human scriptures for protection, redirection, alteration and, the most important, nullification. He stared at the floating circle for a moment, gazing at the fruits of his practice, until he took the scroll from his muzzle to hold it on the left paw.

“Dispell!" he said, waving his right arm in the direction of the circle. Ethereal blue lines began to form in the shape of a large cube that towered him and went along the cornering walls, almost reaching the ceiling. After the figure was complete, it shattered as if crushed by a large rock. The sounds of broken glass accompanied by ethereal shards that spread along the floor, evaporating into silver mist.

A metal cage was hiding behind the illusion, and inside of it, a human squirmed against restraints that kept his hands tied to the wall, only the legs free to reach the metal bars and rustle them slightly. His mouth was covered by some kind of fabric and his long, unkempt black hair swung with his wild thrashing. His physique was actually good, not like a long term prisoner, peasant or trainee swordsman. This one looked more like a guard or warrior, which would certainly attract attention in a matter of days.

However, even if Master had some plan or purpose, he left the human there and couldn't even give him clothes or something of the sort, probably some kind of bad joke against Alexander's sensible nose, as the wolf had to smell the human's sweat covered body mixed with the chamber's mold. Unpleasant.

Alexander drew another magical circle in front of the cage, seeing the man trying to wriggle himself free once again, “If you don't stop thrashing like a caged beast, your arms will hurt for a very long time, you understand? Be calm."

At least the human stopped yet he still gasped through the gag. Alexander admired this new circle as well, evocation this time. He was confident to produce almost all magical circles with the perfection of his Master, he just needed to learn the alternative ones and new spells, as this one was too simple to even be bothered with calling its proper name. Twisting his paw through the circle, he freed the human's mouth from the uncomfortable restraint as it dissolved into white dust, flying through the air and allowing the man to at least talk and breath properly.

“Get me out! Please!" the human screamed. Not proper at all.

“There's probably some reason why you've been locked away like that, you know? What is your name?"

“What!? I'm Brandon! You have to get me out of here!"

“Brandon!" Alexander said, gazing at the vanishing seal on the scroll with a smirk. The rest of the message materialized over the original to his excitement of another challenge completed.

Yes, you can free the human. Treat him properly but don't let him leave the house. He will need water and food, but don't feed him meat.

I finally found one, Alexander! You wouldn't believe how similar to you he looks under the Light moon.

Not meant as an offense, of course.

“So… You're a werewolf," Alexander said, grinning as his stare shifted from the letter to the human.

The human stopped struggling and stared at the wolf, frowning.

“My Master waited a long time to be able to talk to one of you. I'm sorry by his harshness in your capture, but I can assure you will be treated with the deserved respect from now on."

Alexander searched through his right pocket until he drew out the right key that would fit the metal lock, turning it open.

“Also, I must warn you that my Master gave me explicit orders to feed you and provide water and comfort, but you are expressly prohibited of getting out, do you understand?"

“I..." the human mumbled as his hands were freed from the walls, “You're not a werewolf, right?"

“No, I'm an heir of the Wolf," Alexander said before freeing the human's other hand, “Which I think is the primary reason my Master led me to you. He plans for an interesting conversation, I bet," Alexander smiled, extending a paw to the human, “My name is Alexander, I'm sorry for these first impressions but, it's nice to meet you, Brandon."

The human glanced at the paw, reaching for it with an insecure and shaking arm, before finally finishing the greeting.

“You're… Weird."

“Yes, and that can't be helped," Alexander said, exiting the cage, “Follow me, I will take you to the kitchen and prepare something," he paused and glanced back, “but clean your feet first, will you?"