FSE

Furry search engine

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-1-

In his chamber in the sacred Lightning Temple, a dragon, white with gold accents, lie critically injured in his bed, barely conscious. An entity made of lightning bolts attended to him.

"Lord Dyntos," said the attendant, "please, hang on."

Lord Dyntos gave a weak chuckle. "I feel what little strength I have left fading away fast," the lord replied. "I'm done for."

"But your people--"

"My people will be fine," said Dyntos curtly. "They will wait for me. I don't know why Cirrus chose to betray me, but--cough--but I shall return one day. Now take this."

Dyntos reached for an electric blue gemstone on the table next to him. It took a mighty effort for even this--the pain was visible in his face. He grabbed the rock and offered it to his attendant. "I want you--gasp--I want you to take this...and use it to create...create a servant."

"A servant?" asked the caretaker incredulously. "What for?"

"When I return to this world...I will not--"

The pain flared up in an instant; Dyntos cried in agony. After a while of heavy breathing, he continued: "I will not return as you see me now."

The Lord's piercing white eyes dimmed, and his breathing became much shallower. A rattling noise accompanied the breathing.

"My Lord," said the attendant sadly.

"You know...what to do...once...I...pass..."

"Yes, I do, Lord Dyntos."

Dyntos gave what looked like a slight smile, then drew one inhale, exhaled, and moved no more. As he did so, his white irises faded away from the golden sclera. The servant took the gemstone from his lifeless hand.

Other lightning bolt servants came into the room. "Has he..." one began.

"Yes," said the attendant. "Lord Dyntos has passed on..."

"Then we should began preparations," said one of the other servants. "I will ready the thunder plumes."

"I will search for a suitable maiden," said another.

"And I for a suitable suitor!" exclaimed a third.

"Then do so as soon as possible," said the attendant. "Our Lordship depends on the success of his final request..."

-2-

It was a rather wet night as a young dragoness ran down the sidewalk in downtown Emport, Ameros. Her dark blue skin complemented her jet black hair, which was at the wind's mercy. In her arms was a black, medium-sized, oblong object--an egg.

"You can't escape me!" snarled a man's voice from behind. "I WILL have it!"

The woman screamed and ran faster. There was a bright flash of violet light, then an explosion not five feet from the fleeing female. She barely avoided being hit.

There was a second flash soon after, accompanying it a second explosion. This time, it occurred directly behind the dragoness, knocking her off balance and the egg out of her grasp. Both fell to the slippery sidewalk, where the egg rolled into a nearby drain.

"No!" cried the woman. Then a chill ran down her spine. She looked behind her to be greeted with a pair of glowing red eyes.

"Hmp," grunted the eyes' voice. "I was going to crush it anyway, but I guess that works, too. But there's still the matter of your life--or rather, your being alive. It's time I rectify that."

The dragoness screamed and scampered to get away, but a blast to her back knocked her back down again.

"Please," she pleaded. "Please, l won't tell anybody. Please, just let me live."

"Spare me your pathetic cries for mercy," came the cruel reply. "I care not for the life of a mortal."

The woman's eyes grew wide with fear and she screamed even louder. "No!" she cried as a pair of giant black hands wrapped themselves around her ankles.

"It's time to see Victor!" roared the voice as the hands began dragging their victim towards a dark alley.

"No!" cried the dragoness as she struggled in vain. "No!" she cried the dark alley swallowed her up. "No! No!"

There was the sound of something being torn, and a bloodcurdling scream soon followed, louder than even the winds on that stormy night.

*****

Jackie Kelly, or Nurse Jack as many knew her, was a rather hardworking nurse. As a mother of four children, now all adults, she certainly had the experience and patience to do so. She was a rather short, stout dragoness with silver skin and dark blue hair, but did not make her any less fiery or dedicated.

I hate the rain, thought Jackie as she walked home. The rain came down heavily and rapidly, the drops hitting the nurse's umbrella like a thousand tiny drummers high on methamphetamines. Flying was certainly out of the question.

"Help..."

Jackie stopped dead in her tracks. "Coulda sworn I heard someone calling for help," she said aloud. "But is that really likely in this weather?"

"Help...help me..." It was so low that the wind nearly drowned it out.

"Who's there?" asked Jackie. "Speak up! I can't hear you."

"Th...the alley..."

The nurse turned to her left and looked into the gaping maw of darkness that was the alley. She looked down at her feet and saw claw marks coming from the alley and ending just a few steps behind her.

Or where they began, thought Jackie as she stepped into the alley. As she did so, she pulled out her smartphone and enabled the flashlight.

Jackie's phone hand went to her O-shaped mouth while her other dropped the umbrella. She ran to the savagely beaten girl who lay before her. She was only clothed in a shirt--her pants had been ripped off, her undergarments were nowhere to be found, and her feet were bare.

"Who did this to you?" asked a concerned Jackie.

"Th...the...drain..." rasped the girl.

"I'm calling for help," said Jackie as she dialed her phone. "Yes? I've got a young woman here--she's been beaten, raped, and on the verge of death. I need an ambulance! I'll try to do everything I can to help her 'till then..."

*****

"She didn't make it," informed officer Thorndyke. "We've got a dead woman, no witnesses, and the rain washed away any evidence we may have found. Fantastic."

"Who is she?" asked Jackie.

"You know I can't tell you that, Nurse Jack."

"You know you always end up telling me."

"I concede. Her name is Cassandra Lightning. Nineteen, no known relatives. And she has a husband."

"Then there's your suspect."

The officer shook his head. "We found Victor Lightning dead in their home. And he's been dead for at least four hours."

"That reminds me," said Jackie, "the girl--Cassandra--she said something about the drain."

"What about it?"

"Just 'the drain'."

"Then it's probably nothing."

"It was obviously important enough for her to mention it," Jackie snapped as she knelt down at the drain. "Know any welders?"

"Yeah," replied the officer. "Why?"

*****

It took a full two hours for the welder to cut through the wet grating of the drain, but once it was finally done, Jackie reached down and grabbed the black egg floating on top of the water.

"I believe my work here is done," said the welder, who left immediately afterwards.

"You sure whatever's in that is still alive?" asked Officer Thorndyke. Jackie gave him a mean look, and he looked away, frowning. But he had a point. The egg had been in the water for four-and-a-half hours, and who knew how long the mother had been carrying it without warmth? The nurse was indeed worried, but tried her best to hide it.

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.

"It stopped raining a while ago," said an officer.

"It was pretty," said Jackie. "Never seen a blue like that before."

Just then, the egg began to shake.

"What the--"

There was a loud CRACK and a piece of eggshell fell to the ground. A slime-covered tail, black in color, waggled from the newly-formed hole. A yellow barb vaguely resembling a thunderbolt was at its tip. The tail used this barb to expertly cut through the rest of the shell--soon the legs, torso, wings, and head of a baby boy were exposed. His skin was mostly black, but some portions were yellow, along with his horns, sclera, and hardened scales on his forearms and shins. His irises were an electric blue. A large birthmark appeared on his left shoulder. He wore an expression of wonder and awe on his face at this new world around him.

*****

Two more hours passed, and the newborn was sleeping peacefully.

"We're gonna have to find him a home, you know," said Thorndyke.

"I'll take him," said Jackie quickly.

The officer grinned. "I knew you'd say that. Did you name him?"

"Errr..."

Thorndyke laughed. "You're losing it, Nurse Jack."

"It simply slipped my mind," said Jackie defensively. "What's the surname again?"

"Lightning."

"Hmmm. Marvin?" asked the nurse, turning to Thorndike for confirmation.

"Nope," he replied.

"Hmmm, Eric?"

"He looks fierce to me," said the officer. "Give him something fierce."

"Roland?"

"You're not even trying."

"The last time I had to do this was twenty-three years ago."

"I'll try. Let's see...fierce, but easily recallable. How about Rex?"

"Rex? That's archaic."

"I like it," said an officer.

"It sounds hardcore," said another.

"I wish my parents named me that," said a third.

"Four to one, Nurse Jack," said Thorndyke, grinning.

"Then it's settled," said Jackie, partially annoyed. "Rex Lightning it is!"

"Oh, I have something for the little one," said the second officer.

"Do you, now?" asked Thorndyke. "Then let's see."

"The mother requested that should her child be saved, we were to give him this..."

The officer fumbled around in his pocket, then pulled out a leather necklace. Attached to it via metal bands was an electric blue stone, shaped like a thunderbolt. The rock was the same color as the child's eyes.

"It's absolutely beautiful," said Nurse Jack. "I'll be sure to give it to him--I mean--Rex--when he's older."

"I don't know about you," began Thorndyke, "but I feel this little guy will grow up to do great things."

"What makes you say that?" asked Jackie.

"I can't explain it," the officer admitted. "It's something I just...know. I know that he'll bring some sort of change--or changes--to the world for the better."

Jackie looked at him, then at the child. "Perhaps so, officer," she replied. "Perhaps so..."