FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"(Hey, where the hell did he disappear to?!)"

"(I thought you said you got him a minute ago!)"

"(Stay calm, you two. This Lycan is injured. He will leave blood trail. Try to smell it)."

The three hellhounds did not know anything about their target. He, unlike these lowly foot soldiers, had been trained in many arts, one of them is to use the environment for advantage in combat.

He remembered the things his seniors and his instructors said about this situation. The Order had known to expect anything and everything, even if it was the time of peace. They would never recruit dragon riders without trying to make their cadets endure gruesome trainings for themselves.

And that's what Hansf Rezmirn was thinking at that point, while he was stuck on a tree, blood flowing out from his injured side. He could not call for help or even use magic after being silenced by a collar around his neck, but that helped him to stay calm and became a guerilla fighter instead of a direct fighter. While the three hellhounds were blindly looking at the grass and nearby trees, Hans had jumped down from the thick branch he was on. The forest's terrain, and the overabundance of bushes around him, proved to be an advantage to him.

He snuck behind an unsuspecting hellhound, who was behind the other hellhounds. With a swift movement, Hans stood up grabbed the hellhound. To prevent the hellhound to make any sound, the first thing he did was to grab his maws and shut them before tackling him down to the bushes. His senses were all in full alert, anticipating the return of this hellhound's two friends. The dark brown-furred hellhound struggled under Hans, but he did not want his prey to be loose again. With the only weapon he could use at this moment, he slit the throat of the hellhound, closing his maws tight to prevent any gurgling sound to get out. Slowly but sure, he managed to bleed the hellhound out, but the heat of the blood caused his shiv to melt. He threw it away, cursing the metal that's making the Shiv, and proceeded to run away from the hellhound's body.

Hans knew that wherever he went, there would be hellhounds waiting to get him. The whole forest was behind the camouflaged cage for Azureath, with Angelus and her rider being taken away somewhere. He wanted to return to his dragon, but the black dragon had persuaded him to run away and get help. His definition of 'help' was something very difficult to do, since he had no way to find any kind of communication to talk to those three. Hans once told them that he would be waiting in Sideview Village, but the turn of events prevented him to do that.

If only he realized that those demons were sporting some weapons unimaginable and technologies far superior than that of the Main Continent. Those weapons were enough to defeat him and Azureath, even though there was a struggle in-between. Angelus was also defeated and taken away from them. Still, Hans managed to get away after he obtained a shiv, and promised Azureath to return and get help.

Just as he wanted to walk again, a hellhound nearby said something in their own language, but judging from his body language, Hans realized he was found out. In the dead of night, the Lycan's black-furred werewolf body would shield him from prying eyes, but hellhounds could smell blood, and they could find him in no time.

Hans thought about this condition. It's now or never, he thought. Still cloaked by the tall bushes, he started to walk towards the opposite route of the hellhounds's direction. He needed to find an open space before he could find at least a carriage or a motor carriage for help. In the times of this demonic invasion, Lycans were sought of as a companion and bodyguard. Not only that, they could see how different Lycans were to a hellhound, so he could find anyone willing to get him away from his captors.

But he did something wrong at the last moment, when he was panicked. He snapped a branch on the ground. The resulting sound was loud enough to alert a hellhound nearby and they started coming his way. Without magic or even the strength of a full feral Lycan, Hans started to run away, exposing himself as he ran towards the open road. His digitigrade legs proved to help him run faster, but unfortunately hellhounds also had the same kind of legs. He did not care about anything, even if a fireball went past him and started burning a nearby grass.

His stamina wore out after he reached the open space, panting like a dog after running around. Yet his captors did not get tired that easily. They ganged up around him and started kicking him about.

"(Should've known you are a pain in the ass!)" said one of them while kicking Hans's head. "(You're fucking dead!)"

Just as Hans resolved to chance and fate, hoping anyone on the road could at least distract the hellhounds, they stopped. Hans, in his exhausted and injured state, could only see to the direction the hellhounds were looking.

There was no carriage, but instead of carriage, there was a lone white-furred wolf-like humanoid walking towards them. The two started ganging up on him, but the white-furred hellhound was not deterred as he said, "(I'm going to tell you this only once. Run as far as you can)."

"(You're threatening us, you fucking albino?! I don't give a fuck who you are but if you want to disturb our job you're going to get what's-."

The hellhound never finished his word. A sword's blade went through him. By reflex, the hellhound tried to push the sword out, but his body started to freeze and he was screaming like in pain. His body started to freeze up fairly quickly and he could not even be surprised as he was frozen solid very quickly. The other hellhound, both surprised and scared, tried to run away, but his leg was also frozen.

"(H-hey, c'mon, dude, we're just joking. W-will you give us up, on this one?)" "(I am offering that for the both of you, not separately)," said the hellhound. "(If one of you try to kill me, then the other must die)." "(Please, don't do it!)"

His pleas came into deaf ears as he was slowly frozen solid. After barely a minute, he could not even move, or even talk. The white-furred hellhound moved towards him and said, "(Oh, and your friend there is already dead. You hounds cannot survive this temperature. Look at the sky and beg for forgiveness, but I doubt no one's going to forgive you, so live out your precious minute)."

The hellhound did not want to die, but he was already dead by the time the ice had frozen solid around him. Hans could not believe what he just saw, but he knew only one hellhound had this kind of ability...at least the one he had already known.

He knew the hellhound helping him was Nergora Schelkz, the brother of his sister's boyfriend, Ifrit.

Of course, they knew each other pretty well. As soon as Nergora turned around and face Hans, he said, "Hans?"

Hans knew that Nergora would not even able to hear him, with him being silenced. Yet the hellhound realized something was wrong and approached Hans. He touched the collar around Hans's neck and froze it. Hans instinctively tried to remove Nergora's hand, but the hellhound said, "Don't move. I know what I am doing. If I screw this up, you'll lose your head."

Hans stopped after hearing that, but he did not need to wait for too long. After the whole collar was frozen solid, Nergora tapped on it and it broke to pieces, returning Hans his voice and his mana.

"Much appreciated, Nergora," said Hans while testing his voice. Then, he tried using his sword. As his magic returned, he could use his sword's elemental magic again.

Sheathing it to his back, Hans turned towards Nergora and said, "How's life, mate? Meeting with the group often?"

"I travel alone these days, Hans, which I prefer to being confined in an outpost without doing anything. I don't want to think that my brother, being the one with less responsibility, has the opportunity to travel this continent. But let's just not talk about these. We still need to find your dragon."

The Lycan was surprised by Nergora's perception. "How do you know Azureath's in trouble?" he said.

"Three reasons. Your state, these hellhounds, and the overall aura. You are being chased by hellhounds who gave you a silence collar, so you must be their prisoner. Secondly, those hellhounds did not know me as Nergora Schelkz, so basically they were just rebels who did not know anything about the monarchs. The most important part is how the place does not have a sudden drop in temperature. Some might say that your dragon is too far away from you, but I know your dragon will not bear to be separated that far from you. So in conclusion, you either have a falling out with her, which is not possible considering how she is a dragon, or that she is captured."

"And you guess the latter."

"Correct. But before we rush back to your dragon, tell me the state of the camp."

But before Hans could say anything, he felt dizzy and started to fell down to his knees. Nergora realized this and said, "Let's talk about it while you eat something. I know a rest stop nearby where you can eat something. You look like you haven't eat for ages."

In the end, due to Hans's famished state, Nergora took him on his back while walking towards a nearby rest stop. Hans did not realize that he had been running from the camp out to the forest for a whole day. The place itself was hidden deep within the forest and could only be seen while flying. He tried to hunt, but he could not with so many hellhounds around him.

He was so famished that Hans ate his fill like a hungry wolf, which surprised Nergora and the proprietor, as the place was empty. After eating his fill, and feeling energized again, Hans said, "I can take you there, Nergora, but it's littered with hellhounds. It's nice if we have a group of hellhounds fighting them, but when I escaped some other bloody demons joined their ranks. I was lucky I could get out of there without being recaptured again."

"Where did you get captured?"

"Along the mountain river bank, near what was once Snohand village. Angelus was also captured, but her circumstances were different from mine, so I did not know the detail. All I know is that we were being transported through some sort of a portal before ended up at our current captivity."

"Hmm...it's pretty vague but I can see where you're pointing at," said Nergora towards the Lycan while eating a sandwich (something so out of character for a frost hellhound like Nergora). He then said, "I want to help, but I must ask you to be my guide to the place. You sure you're not lost in that forest?"

"Are you doubting a Lycan's sense of direction?"

"Never even once, except when the Lycan in question is being chased and famished."

After talking a while, Hans wanted to go find Azureath immediately, but of course his concern to his dragon lover overwhelmed his own well-being. Nergora wanted to help Hans, too, but knowing how the Lycan was suffering from the lack of proper nourishment and even rest, he convinced Hans to take a small rest in the rest stop. Hans was not happy about it, but he eventually obliged.

At the lounge, accompanied by a soothing atmospheric jazz song, Hans reminisced on his adventures with his current lover and mount, Azureath. From the moment they met each other in Isola's home for prehistoric reptiles to their adventures together as a member of the Order of the Dragons, and an incident in which Azureath was given a humanoid body for a week, where their relationship bloomed and they became closer than ever after a weird one-night stand hours before she returned to her proper size. It was like a dream, but since then they were inseparable.

But then his mind returned to the present when Nergora said, "My brother, Ifrit...he's still trying to find your sister, right?"

"Yeah, he's relentless. At first I wanted to persuade him to give up on Lilac, thinking that it won't work out. Then I realized that Lilac's permanent semi-wolf form is because of having a sex with a demon, which was something I thought would never happen. But considering how you lot are hellhounds and hellhounds are basically wolves...I agreed on that. Not only that, Ifrit was clearly in love with a surface dweller like us...but he did not think of himself as a thorn."

"I hope he is not a thorn by your side, but if it is, I won't let you kill him."

Hans made a laugh. "No, I'm okay with their relationship. Lilac needs one, even if it comes in a form of a hellhound prince. She does not like to talk much about her life, thinking that Lycans are oppressed beings. I tried to prove her wrong by joining the expedition to Main Continent, but by a twist of fate I became a dragon rider and return her to liberate my homeland from demons. Strange world we live in, isn't it?"

"Even weirder if you consider yourself allying with hellhounds, and my personal friend."

Nergora felt honored to be a friend to a dragon rider, especially one that came from a different continent but born in Tragoria.

"I also heard about your relationship with Ifrit, Nergora," said Hans. "I know you two are good of brothers, but you might want to try being closer to him since he needs emotional support in his search for Lilac. It's for the both of us too."

"I have my own problems...and a personal goal," said Nergora. "Ifrit understands that, but it seems everyone around me thinks otherwise."

"Well, you look like Ifrit, wandering around, trying to find a lost loved one." But then Hans found a conclusion and smirked. "Oh, you got one with you, too?"

"Is it that obvious? Yeah, I have one. Her name is Seolfor. She helped me recover when Sovarn was busy, but in the end I...must go away from her so hellhounds don't target her."

"That's one painful way to end a relationship."

"I know...but it's a necessary thing to do. Unlike your sister, who had three fighters around her at all time, she does not have any fight in her. I just wish that I can meet her again, but her village was ransacked and I don't know where she is."

Hans wanted to say something optimistic, but in his current state of mind, talking about it would only make Nergora sadder. Refraining from doing that, Hans then proceeded to take a small nap before guiding Nergora back to where he was kept.

He woke up some hours later, with the lounge still looked the same as before. Nergora was nowhere to be seen, which made Hans panicked for a moment before the frost hellhound returned with some hot chocolate (again, something so out of character for a frost hellhound), which finally caught on Hans's suspicions.

"Hey, Nergora...why are you eating sandwiches and drinking hot chocolate? I thought you hellhounds are carnivores, just like us."

"Oh, but I'm an omnivore," said Nergora, which caused Hans to be surprised himself. Nergora was confused, but then he said, "Oh, is it because I am a hellhound? You forgot that I am also a frost demon, and they are human-like. Basically I can eat everything that humans can eat, including vegetables and things like that."

"Imagining how my life becomes like that makes me want to puke."

"You won't understand it, Hans. At least you can drink hot chocolate, right?"

Reluctantly, Hans took the glass and started drinking from it.

They went out of the rest stop before the sun rose, so they could get into the forest unnoticed. With Hans's natural tracking senses, they could find the place in roughly the same time Hans got out of that place, avoiding patrolling hellhounds or otherwise dispatched them with Nergora's ice ability.

Barely 12 hours since they started walking through the forest, Hans could smell the smell of soot and ash, with Nergora also feeling a big cluster of hellhound and a different smell. They both hide behind a tree big enough and look at the situation.

Hans could see everywhere and he could see his dragon being the biggest body mass around. He was fortunate Azureath was not subjected to hellish torture he knew from poets and short stories, but seeing her current state made him feel as if he was being impaled like that. Instead of pinning Azureath to the ground with chains, they put stakes through parts of her bodies which, while did not kill her by blood loss, was clearly painful to see. Azureath herself could not even lift her head, unlike when Hans parted way from her, where she was still able to struggle, which means Azureath was either dying or starting to give up. She might be a dragon, but even a dragon would yield if subjected to torture like that.

"Azu..."

"Stop, do not hasty," said Nergora while checking the situation. "Hmm...they put your dragon in a Olhend Circle."

"Olhend Circle?"

"It's a torture method in which a subject would not be able to move even one inch of their body, but they were being subjected to a torturous pain. The inability to move means that they cannot even move anything, even their tongue. Azureath looks like that is because she is being grounded by this Circle."

"Those bloody..."

"And one more thing, Olhend Circle is dangerous enough that if you do something wrong to free her, she would die because of blood loss. I know it is not a case in hell, but here, even though that dragon is big, when you messed up, you won't see her open her eyes again. I have seen hellhounds did this to captured hell dragons to break them. Usually they need more than a week to do this, but we can still save Azureath."

"So what are we supposed to do? She must have been screaming internally begging for help now."

"We may have a problem about all the options. I am an albino, and you are a Lycan. We cannot even disguise ourselves if hellhounds normally are bare-chested and wearing tattered clothes."

"Yeah, I can see why you look exposed." Hans was referring to how Nergora looked like a proper traveler outfit, with leather jacket and dark brown trousers with footwraps for his digitigrade legs. While Hans could blend in, his general look, alongside how hornless he was, could make those perceptive hellhounds found out about it.

"But you know...we can do one more thing that I usually do," said Nergora while pulling out his sword. He then said a phrase in a demonic language, and all of the sudden, he was surrounded by ice dust, and his sword expanded by the freezing ice to form a crossbow.

"I didn't know you can do that!"

"Perks of being a frost demon descent," said Nergora with a smile. "Now, I'll cover you from a vantage point. You get closer, find an opening for me to get in, and let me do the rest."

"Stealthy, eh? Don't mind if I do."

Hans knew he could trust Nergora. They crossed path many times in their journey and they were almost always talk about Ifrit and Lilac's relationship like concerned parents. But not only that, both of them could fight like a team almost as readily as some other teamwork. Azureath also respected this friendship and come to respect Nergora, who separated from his personal guard Sovarn after the other needed to help his comrades back in Arbal.

As the Lycan moved behind a wall, two crossbows hit two hellhounds consecutively. Hans could see that Nergora tried to isolate many of the hellhounds near Azureath so Hans could come closer to his dragon without raising alarm. With his sense of smell and hearing, he could track some hellhounds before they realize that he was attacking them. After he dispatched some of them, Nergora came to him and readied another shot.

For a swordsman, Nergora's sniping skill was considerable, though it was because he was using an ice crossbow instead of bow and arrow. Still it was also considerable in this case, since he rarely even used a crossbow or a gun, only in some cases. It could possibly be that a month after they separated, Nergora took sniping lessons, since he was not using any scope. But then, he could not be called a true sniper because he needed to be near enough so the wind resistance and his aim would not change much.

Because of Nergora's cunning and strategy, they managed to dodge and kill any hellhounds on their path and hide their bodies without causing any problems for at least some feet near Azureath. Seeing his dragon laying down and closing her eyes made Hans thought she rested, but he knew his dragon better than anyone else. Azureath was struggling to move. It was not very apparent from afar but it was very noticeable that close, with her body making a slight twitch and some other movements to get out of her predicament. Hans could not imagine the pain of not being able to move while your body endured the excruciating pain from this so-called Olhend Circle, and so he wanted to free the dragon. No dragon had to endure this fate, and especially not Azureath.

Even then, the workings of a demonic torture device were something that's both otherworldly and out of Hans's expertise. He did not even want to associate himself with the knowledge of any devices. He wanted to try pulling one of the stakes out, but Nergora then pulled his furry hand away and said, "Did you hear what I said earlier? Don't just pull the stakes!"

"You mean all these stakes have connections to one another?"

"Isn't it obvious enough? You can't just pull things out of the blue like that. Look, let me help you with this while you watch our backs."

Hans did just that, knowing that even though they started stealthily did not mean they would stay hidden forever. He turned around and looked if any hellhounds come towards them.

After at least some minutes had passed, Hans could not imagine how the place became sparse. At first he was thinking that it was a change of shift, but when he escaped, security was tight. Something's not right.

"Alright...I guess I found out how this thing works," said Nergora after turning around. "Olhend Circles have some sort of conduit so it could be removed without causing pain to the subject. Some prisons in the hellish domain utilized the use of these conduits to control the pain generated to the subject, so they can either experience slight discomfort to pain beyond imagination with even the most immune of pain would scream."

"Stop explaining gruesome knowledge and tell me where the bloody conduit is."

"That's the problem, Hans. I don't know. The warden is supposed to be the one holding the key to the circle. Even then, we still need to find the 'lock' so we can safely remove the whole stake without bleeding out Azureath."

"How the hell do you know all this in the first place, anyway?"

"You won't gonna like it if I start explaining things. Right now, we need to find who carries the key. Have any ideas?"

"All I have in my head right now is to openly butcher any demons coming in our path and hopefully find any keys."

"That will work if we have anyway to fight a full...hey, where did everybody go?"

Nergora finally noticed the disappearing hellhounds. Something was not right. But after Nergora tasted the air he became agitated and pull out his ice sword, moving towards by back.

"Enemies?"

"More or less. I don't think this one likes hellhound. Look at Azureath's tail."

Hans looked towards it and gasped. Blood flowed from the tail's side. At first he wanted to assume something bad happened to Azureath, until he realized the blood was like boiling, something a dragon's blood, even fire dragons, would not do.

"Someone, or something, killed all those hellhounds. I might not want to see what's behind Azureath. But more importantly...do not lower your defense."

"Is this the so-called 'camouflage'?"

"It's even worse than that. I have seen this creature once before. It's not something you can see with normal eyes. Those hellhounds clearly did not see it before it is too late. They usually hunt while concealed but once they start to attack they become corporeal."

"You mean you can't see any shimmer or..."

"Basically, they are not of this world...not on this world's hellish domain, at least. They are from a different dimension. They are the inhabitants of the deepest layer of hell that's full of anything that's unknown even to us all. It governs the aspect of fear, and the worst kind of fear...is the fear of the unknown."

Hans knew that line and he gulped. If they did not even know their enemy, how the hell were they supposed to fight. Nergora could not even see anything, nor did Hans.

"I just wish that Jackal boy is here right now. Soul Particles are also out of this dimension..."

Just then Hans's face was slashed, but he did not know what happened to him. There was nothing except a sudden pain of being slashed. Based on the slash, Hans could determine that it did not make a big gash on his wolf face, but was enough to make him aware of the unknown.

Both of them did not know where to attack, and they did not know how to fight the bane. It was as if they were sitting ducks.

The next attack could determine their position, or it could spell their doom.