FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Up ahead is the city Saskin," Kiri announced, looking at the map. It had been nine days since they left the relative warmth and safety of the stable with the reptile siblings in tow. Since then, they'd been on the run from their father's mercenaries, slavers and bounty hunters.

Their father had offered ten thousand talons for their capture and return alive...and five thousand dead.

Evidently, the safe return of his children meant little. He wished to punish them, but considered their death a punishment of sorts as well.

Once, Aryn had been cornered by a group of bounty hunters, who were promptly dispatched by the rest of the group from various hiding places like trees and bushes, using weapons such as stones and sticks. None of the bounty hunters had been killed, but their weapons, two swords and a one-handed hammer, were looted from them.

Also, Myra, Kiri and Kytra had looted the armour from the unlucky trio and wore it beneath their robes as the first line of defense against another attack.

"Saskin?" Myra asked, frowning. During the day and while on the road, the Ch'kiliil wore their hoods to prevent their secret from being spilled. "Who does the map say it belongs to?"

"Lord Rwil," Kytra said, reading over Kiri's shoulder. The otter had been helping Kiri with place names and such as the wolf couldn't read.

"Rwil?" Aryn asked happily. "This is great. Rwil hates Lord Drysenn. I bet father's mercenaries haven't even been allowed in the city."

"Which means we might not either," Wraith pointed out. "Your armour, despite being under the robes, is still noticeable to the vigilant. And three of us are armed. They might think we're mercenaries."

"Good point," Kiri agreed. "It'd be best to avoid a possible confrontation."

"But we need supplies," Ari argued. "A town is our only solution. None of us know how to hunt and I have a feeling that that's not a skill one simply picks up over the course of a day, or even a week."

"So it's settled," Kytra smiled, throwing his hood up. "We go in, but be very careful. Very careful."

They set off without another word of argument being said. They approached the gate and blended in with the throng, smoothly making it past the guards at the gate who didn't even look.

Once inside, they looked at each other, smug expressions on their faces, as they headed towards the market district.

They waded their way through the town, garnering some odd looks from various citizens. Despite the excellent disguises, the Ch'kiliil still walked differently from the Falskin, their digitigrade leg style making it so.

Everything was going smoothly until Kiri, who was at the back of the pack, felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he was suddenly and roughly grabbed by another figure wearing a cloak.

The figure quickly gagged his mouth and dragged him into a nearby building, where he was thrown into a chair and tied in place.

He looked up, dazed, to see that the other robed figure had disappeared. Where to, the wolf did not know. All he knew was that he'd been dragged away from his friends and locked in a small room by an assailant whom he did not know.

At the far end of the room, another door opened and in the dim light, Kiri could make out that they all had hoods up and gloves on their hands. That was all.

"This is him," the figure on the right exclaimed excitedly. "It has to be! I could never forget a taste!"

"Did you take the hood off first?" the figure in the middle asked, walking closer to the wolf, who was getting more and more nervous with every step. "Are you sure you didn't abduct some poor, random civilian on the street?"

"Well...no." the other hooded figure admitted. "But let's just take the hood off now. If it's not him, we release him back onto the street, none the wiser."

The hooded figure had reached him by that time and roughly grabbed the hood and pulled it off, revealing the mobile ears, long snout and clean blue eyes of the lupine Ch'kiliil.

They all stared for a minute beneath their hoods, before throwing their heads back in a massive laugh.

"Well Jarris," the one who'd thrown back the wolf's hood laughed. "You weren't wrong. This is one of them!"

"Told you so," the one on the left chuckled. "I never forget a scent!"

"Who are you?" Kiri demanded, terror in his voice. "What do you want with me? I'm just trying to get home!"

"Then it'd be best if you get on back to the mines then, isn't it?" the original sneered. "Come on Kiri, we know who you are. And where you came from."

"Who are you?" Kiri asked again, this time in a whisper. The wolf was terrified, but even more scared now. They knew who he was.

"Who are we?" the one on the left asked. "Well, it's kind of simple. I'm Jarris. The one right in front of you is Wraj. And this one is Merva."

"I don't recognise the names!" Kiri protested.

"And how about the faces?" Wraj asked, pulling back his hood. The head beneath was serpentine, with green eyes and scales. But it was completely unrecognizable to the wolf, who shook his head.

"Maybe you'll recognise me." Jarris stated, drawing back his own hood. Underneath, he was a salamander, looking very much like any other salamander. With the exception of a trio of scars over his left eye. His left eye...

"Oh no," Kiri said, staring wide eyed at his face. "You're the guards who chased us just outside the mines!"

"In the flesh," the final one said, yawning. Apparently he had removed his hood too, revealing a bearded dragon visage beneath.

"And do you realize just what you did to us?" Wraj asked, leaning dangerously close to Kiri's terrified face.

"Wait, hold on!" Kiri yelped terrified as the serpentile Falskin drew a long, curved dagger. "We were trying to escape and have a life-"

The dagger flashed and Kiri snapped his eyes shut and tensed. But nothing happened, no shearing agony, no bright flashes. Nothing.

Am I dead? He wondered as he opened his eyes, not sure of what he should expect to see before him.

What he hadn't expected to see was the lizard holding the knife smiling at him, with the scarred one --Jarris--having a large grin on his face as well, his bonds at his feet. Only Merva seemed as shocked as Kiri.

"Wait, what?" he asked, turning to his companions. "Aren't we going to kill him?"

"What for?" Wraj asked, putting the dagger back in its sheath. "We all hated that job anyways."

"But I-"

"Please Merva," Jarris said, rolling his eyes. "Spare us your whining."

"My whining?!" Merva asked incredulously. "My whining? You know who my father is, yes?"

"Of course," Jarris shrugged. "Kadji, right? Didn't he disown you for your laziness and, as a result, sent you to our mine to work?"

Merva's mouth worked silently for a few seconds, his yellow eyes blazing hate at both Jarris and Wraj. He drew his dagger, surprising everyone.

"I'll kill him myself then," Merva said, twisting and lunging towards Kiri who had, until that point, hoped he'd been forgotten. With a shriek the wolf dove out of the way of the strike, which never landed as Merva was abruptly hauled back by Wraj.

"Stop Merva," the Falskin hissed, keeping the other held in his grip. "Stop. Its not going to change anything."

Merva continued to struggle, elbowing Wraj in the stomach. The captain grunted and released his hold, allowing Merva to slip loose. However, instead of attacking Kiri, he took off running, out the door and beyond.

"You alright?" Wraj asked, helping Kiri to his feet. He noticeably flinched when Kiri grabbed his hand to be helped up. Obviously, the Falskin had never felt a Ch'kiliil's skin.

"I'm...I'm okay," Kiri said, looking between the two of them. "But why'd you save me? Or set me free? I'm just a sla...former slave! You delivered us to the mines, why help me now?"

"Our job was just to deliver new supplies and slaves to the camps," Jarris explained, walking to a chest over on the far wall. "We never saw what happened within. The Master Keepers told us that it was simple but unpleasant work and that you all received enough to eat. I guess he was technically telling the truth. Swinging a pick is indeed simple. And you are still alive."

He flipped open the lid and grabbed out Kiri's single-handed hammer, which had been taken from him in the ambush in the market.

"I actually remember you," Wraj said, as Kiri nervously accepted the weapon and put it on his belt. "It was about...seventeen years ago. On the festival of the Serpent Moon. We had just been handed delivery of a new batch of slaves, with instructions to cart them straight to the mines. One of the slaves seemed to be having trouble, but it wasn't for another eight hours that we realized just what kind of trouble that was. You mother gave birth to you on the cart."

He paused and smiled at Kiri.

"Oh you were a tiny thing," he continued. "Most of us didn't think you were going to make it. But you had a strong heart. You weren't going to let death claim you that night, or any other night. That was my first night aboard a slave caravan and every day after that, I always hoped that I would see another miracle like yours. I had a contact in the mine and every time I came, I would enquire about you."

"But why would you care?" Kiri asked. "To you, I would just be one face amongst the many."

"True," Wraj admitted, with a shrug. "But you see, you were the first. My whole life I'd been told that the Ch'kiliil were beasts who felt no emotions and destroyed for leisure. But the love your mother showed for you, such a small, tender pup, convinced me otherwise."

"Would you like something to eat?" Jarris asked Kiri. "You're a carnivore, right?" "Yes, I'm a carnivore. And I am pretty hungry. But what about my friends? You kidnapped me away from them and they're probably worried sick."

"Probably," Wraj admitted as Jarris left the room. "I'll have Jarris gather some supplies for you and your group. That's probably the sole reason you came to a town, eh? Then we'll reunite you with your friends."

"I...thank you," Kiri said simply. "Although I don't claim to understand your motives for capturing me, I can-"

"Oh that's simple," Jarris stated, re-entering the room and making Kiri jump. In his hands was a small, wooden dish filled with meat. "We captured you because we'd heard rumours of a group of slaves travelling undercover. We saw you, all with hoods up and a strange walk and I figured we'd found our targets."

Kiri's mouth watered at the sight of the meat. He'd only ever had meat twice in his life, to his knowledge. On the day his mother died, drowned in the mines, one of the keepers, strangely sympathetic, slipped him a piece of meat from his table. The second time was when the old Master Keeper Merid was leaving and he gave everyone some meat to celebrate.

According to Svara, so little meat should have killed a carnivore like him. That's when Kiri put together that those thick, chewy and bitter strips that the drivers called Tarmit were actually meat strips, designed to aid the slaves' weak bodily systems.

Jarris set the bowl down in front of Kiri and within minutes, it was all gone. Wraj blinked. That was the fastest he'd ever seen anyone eat.

"Thank you," Kiri said, wiping the grease from his chin. "That was delicious. Am I free to go?"

"That you are," Jarris said, gesturing dramatically to the door. "But if you return, we'll have some supplies for you all to take. And more meat. If I'm correct, you'll all be carnivores."

"Yes," Kiri agreed. "We're all carnivores. I'll be back in a bit with my friends. Thank you both again."

They nodded and Kiri left through the door and navigated through the other room until he found himself outside, in the muggy air and crowded streets.

But he was happy to be there.

"Kiri, there you are!" a voice cried out as he was tackled to the side. It had been a while since he had left the reptilian's den to go find his friends, but he'd had no luck finding them. The few others whom he'd seen wearing hoods had all smelt reptilian, unlike his friends.

With a grunt, the wolf flew to the ground. The person on top of him, whom he could tell was Ari by the smell, had a really tight grip and he was finding it hard to breathe.

"Ari," he gasped. "Please...let...go. Can't...breathe."

"Oh, sorry Kiri," she apologised, letting go of him immediately. She stood back up and helped Kiri to his feet.

"Where were you?" Wraith demanded, thumping his shoulder hard. "We were worried about you! We thought you'd been kidnapped!"

"As a matter of fact," Kiri admitted, rubbing his shoulder. "You know the guards we escaped from back at the mines? They found us."

"They what?" Kytra asked, frowning. "How could they have found us? We've been on the run since we left the mines. How could they track us like that?"

"How'd you get out?" Myra asked, not having the background on who these people were. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Kiri said, smiling at the reptilian. "They didn't hurt me. Well, one of them tried, but he was cut down by the others. They said they have supplies for us."

"And...just like that you're willing to trust them?"

"No. These are former enemies," Kiri admitted. "But they didn't seem hostile. The opposite in fact. They were quite friendly."

"We need supplies," Ari said, with narrowed eyes. "But I'm not sure how much I'd trust a group of enemies. What do you think, Wraith?"

"I don't know, but I think we need to try."

"We'll keep our weapons ready," Kytra decided. "If they come at us, it will be three against...two?"

Kiri nodded. Although the wolf didn't know his letters, he was very capable with his numbers. They were more straightforward.

"Then let's be off."

They set off and waded through the thick market to get to that small room where Kiri had been held. The wolf pointed out to where the door was and they found it was actually a room in an inn.

They entered the inn, mostly devoid of patrons, with the exception of a group of Falskin by the bar and a hooded figure in the back corner. Though his face was veiled in shadow, Kiri had the sneaking suspicion that the man was watching him.

In any case, they made to the back door, where Kytra rapped twice upon the door which swung open.

On the other side, the two reptilians stood, smiling at the newcomers.

"Welcome back Kiri," Wraj smiled as he escorted them all in. "Glad to see you brought your friends. I had Jarris go out and gather your group some supplies. We'll grab them in a second."

"Where are the last two?" Jarris asked with a frown. "And who are these? Are these...Myra and Aryn Sanvar'a?"

"Don't presume to call us by that name again," Aryn growled. "We have _nothing_to do with our father. He is a beast."

"Apologies," Jarris said as closed the door. "I was only trying to place why you looked familiar."

The Falskin siblings nodded to acknowledge him, but stayed quiet otherwise. The silence in the room quickly became stifling and awkward, before Wraj coughed to gain their attention.

"Anyways," he said as Jarris knocked sharply on the door. "I know you probably want to get going, so I'll give you your supplies and tell you what we've got packed. In this bag, we have strips of dried meat. Not exactly nourishing, but tasty. In this bag is salted Tarmit, which is the exact opposite. And finally, here is some Tyr, a bread from the north which doesn't go stale or spoil for a long time."

"Thank you," Kiri said, as Kytra, Ari and Myra went forwards to grab the bags. "This will help us a lot on our trip."

"What trip? Jarris asked, opening the door. "The one back to the mines?"

On the other side of the door, the figures who'd been sitting at the bar were all standing there, weapons drawn.

"City guard," the one in the middle rumbled. "You're coming with us."

"Jarris?" Wraj asked, a terrified frown on his face. "What's going on?"

"Simple, old friend," Jarris laughed. "I'm turning our friends, you and the Sanvar'a siblings over to the guards for a hefty reward. I know I could have done that earlier, but if I could get the guards to catch you helping them as well, I'd be payed more. And I like gold."

"Slimy, backstabbing traitor!" Wraj yelled as Jarris left the room with a sinister laugh. The slaves hung their heads. This was it.

At best case scenario, they'd be shipped back to the mines to be beat within an inch of their life. At worst case scenario they'd be killed. Or were those backwards? Best case scenario was death.

Kiri realized this and drew his sword. Kytra and Myra, realizing the same thing, drew their swords as well. Better to die here fighting as free people, than die as slaves in a mine.

"Don't be foolish," the middle guard laughed. "It'd take mere seconds for us to kill you all-erck!"

He staggered forwards to the ground, a dagger sticking from his back. The other two guards spun around to see the hooded figure who'd been sitting at the table with two more daggers in his gloved hands. He whipped them both at the guards and the daggers sank up to their hilts in the guard's foreheads.

The robed figure bowed to the startled group of Ch'kiliil and Falskin and took off running, outside into the street, leaving the stunned bartender unharmed.

"Who was that?" Kiri gaped. "That was incredible."

"I don't know," Myra said, already moving. "But we owe him greatly. Now we need to get out of here. Fast. More guards will be coming soon and we cannot be caught."

Kiri bent down and pulled the throwing knives from the dead guards, bits of bone and brain tissue sticking to them, making the wolf want to hurl.

He also picked up the guard's swords and handed them to his unarmed friends Ari, Aryn and Wraith.

"Go!" Kiri commanded, turning to look at the group. "Get to the edge of the city. I'll meet you there."

They nodded, confused looks on their faces as they pulled up their hoods and ran out into the blazing sun. Kiri turned back to the former Captain Wraj.

"Do you know who that was?" Kiri asked, referring to the mysterious hooded figure who'd saved their lives.

"No idea," Wraj shrugged, tears in his eyes. "I thought Jarris was my friend. Someone else who truly wanted what was right in the world. Now I guess that all those hopes are gone. Good luck Kiri."

"Thank you captain," Kiri said, making the Falskin smile. "But you need to get out of here too. The guards will want your hide as well and Jarris is still alive."

"Oh I know," Wraj chuckled. "The only reason that I came to this city was with the hopes of possibly seeing how you and your friends have fared. I ran into Jarris and Merva here, a mistake as it turns out. In any case, I'm heading south. Maybe I'll go all the way to Nalasa and meet up with my cousin Acir."

"Probably best," Kiri agreed, standing up. "Thank you very much for your help. In everything. Now, I've got to go meet my friends."

Wraj smiled as Kiri left the room. He hadn't been lying earlier when he mentioned that he had inquired of the young wolf every time he visited that camp. He was glad to see that he had become a strong, young figure.

He'd survive the world.

"What took you so long?" Kytra asked as Kiri diverted from the road over to where they were huddled in a group. "We were just about to come in and look for you. That lizard give you any trouble?"

"No, none," Kiri smiled. "He's one of the good ones."

"What does that mean?" Myra demanded crossly. "Are all Falskin bad by default? I know we may not be Ch'kiliil, but that does not make us evil!"

"That's not what I meant!" Kiri protested, his ears lying flat. "I didn't mean-"

"It's fine Kiri," Myra sighed. "I'm just tired of all of you referring to my people as bad. Although, from your perspectives, my whole race probably seems bad and the two of us are exceptions. If only I could get my hands on that creep, Jarris."

"Perhaps I could help with that," a voice from above them laughed. "Here, one Jarris. Wrapped and ready to go."

A bag tumbled from the tree and landed beside them, squirming on the ground. A second later, the hooded figure from the bar dropped down beside it.

Now that the figure was closer, it was clear to see that it had a mask over its mouth, likely to prevent identification. The hood and armour seemed much more compact than the slaves' own, more built for concealment than combat.

He was tall too, standing taller than anyone else in the clearing. On his right shoulder, a small quiver with throwing knives sat and twin curved daggers were at his belt.

"Who are you?" Aryn asked nervously, staring at the hooded figure in terror. Everybody's hoods were down due to the fact that this place was isolated from the road, despite not being far from it, which meant that this person had all their secrets in his hands.

"Relax," the hooded figure laughed. "If I meant you harm, I could've killed you all from that tree. No, I'm a friend."

"And what of the bag?" Wraith asked, as the object in question seemed to be trying to wriggle away unnoticed. "Where'd you get that?"

"The market," he shrugged, giving the bag a kick. "One talon at the fabrics stall."

"I have to ask you again," Aryn said, more confidence in his voice. "Who are you?"

"That's simple," the figure replied, pulling his mask free of his mouth. Which didn't help, seeing as everything under the hood was in heavy shadow from the setting sun. "My name's Kar'na. I'm an assassin."

He reached up and pulled the hood off. What was underneath, made everybody's jaws drop in astonishment.

Standing before them, was a tall, white-furred wolf with yellow eyes. A single, thin line marred the flawless white fur, going straight through his left eye. He smiled at them and their amusing expressions.

"My goodness," Myra said, staring in awe at Kar'na. "Your fur...it's beautiful. Are all wolves like that or are they more like Kiri?"

"More like Kiri," Kar'na chuckled warmly, his fake voice gone. When he'd been talking to them earlier, he'd adopted a fake voice and accent to sound more reptilian. His voice now sounded harsh to them, but they realized that that was just his native Ch'kiliil accent peeking through, which none of them had heard before.

Myra shrugged. She didn't really care. She'd just never seen something so pure white.

The bag, which had been crawling away again, ran into a rock at the edge of the clearing, making a muffled grunt of pain. Kar'na glanced over and laughed.

"Don't be trying to run away now," he chuckled. "You've earned your punishment."

"Who's in there?" Wraith asked, uncharacteristically nervous.

"Simple," Kar'na said in that thick accent of his as he dramatically untied the sack. "Behold the contents of the Sack of Mystery! Or is it Misery? I can't remember..."

Sitting inside, blinking in the sudden light, was Jarris. He looked at everyone outside and smiled nervously.

"Hello everyone," he began. "I hope that-" He was cut off when Kar'na roughly grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him out into the open. The reptilian banged his head off a rock but Kar'na didn't seem to notice or care as he grabbed the front of his shirt and pinned him to a tree with his left arm, the right having a blade to his throat.

"How low can you be?" he growled. "Kidnapping children for your own material gain and the gain of your organization?" "I...don't know...what you're...talking about...wolf," Jarris managed to gasp, trying in vain to get enough to breathe. "I...was trying...to get them...free of...the city."

"Stop lying," Kar'na growled, flinging Jarris roughly to the ground and kicking him. "I know who you are, Jarris Kythr'a and your lies shall not save you now."

Jarris flipped over and scrabbled backwards and away from Kar'na. The other Ch'kiliil did not stand up for him, seeing as he had nearly turned them over to the city guards earlier.

"I wasn't lying!" he protested, eyes searching for something, anything, that could help him. "I was trying to get them free of the city!"

He turned to face the slaves. "Those weren't guards," he insisted. "They were operatives trying to get you out and to freedom."

"Freedom from what?" Kar'na demanded. "Their lives? The Flayers are not concerned with freedom, Jarris and you know it."

"How'd you know I was a Flayer?" Jarris demanded of the wolf, who chuckled.

"Oh you know," he began. "It's easy to find one. The way they walk, the way they talk, when you have a contract on one..."

Jarris grew even more panicked and backed away from the wolf until he hit a tree.

"Let's not be hasty," he sputtered. "Maybe we can come to some sort of agreement? I'll pay you if you-"

"Let me go?" Kar'na suggested, a smirk on his face. "Jarris, you have no idea how often I'm offered that deal. And let me tell you, it's not about the money. It's about the cause."

As he was still speaking, he whipped out his curved dagger and plunged it into Jarris's heart. Blood spurted out and ran along the edge of the blade, dripping into the grass as the light died in Jarris's eyes.

He slumped over and fell into the grass. Kar'na, ever so gently, rolled him over onto his back and straightened out his limbs, before closing his eyes with two fingers.

He straightened up and smiled at the other group, whose faces were wide open with pure horror.

"What?" Kar'na asked.

"That was rather...brutal," Aryn stated, staring at Jarris's lifeless body. "I mean, you just...killed the guy."

"Better than what he did," Kar'na scoffed. "Jarris was a Flayer."

He said this last part as though he expected to send a shiver of fear through his audience, but they all just stared at him blankly.

He sighed. "A flayer is an individual, usually part of the 'Flayer' organization. Fur rugs are rather loved by the richest Falskin, who are usually willing to pay any price for a fur rug. Unfortunately, us northerners, the Ch'kiliil, are the only beings who possess fur. So...flayers often raid the north for Ch'kiliil captives who they drag down here, kill and then steal their pelts. It's a brutal practice."

They all stared aghast at him. They knew Jarris had been a twisted slimeball, but to be willing to do something like that shocked them. The fact that anybody could do something like that was alone enough to make some of them ill.

"Anyways," Kar'na continued. "My contract's done. I'm heading back north to Arlea. Are you on your way in that direc-"

"What did you just say?" Kytra asked.

"I said that I'm heading back to Arlea. Why?

"Did you hear that guys?" Kytra asked, turning to the rest of the group. "That's the name of our home. Arlea!"

"You guys didn't know that?" Kar'na asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Our homeland is Arlea. Often just called the north, by both those who live in it and the Scalebacks who live down here."

"Can we go with you?" Ari asked excitedly.

Kar'na scratched the back of his neck. Speed really was key here, but this group of slaves would be completely lost if he didn't help them. The first city that they entered, they were almost captured by Flayers. That wasn't a good sign.

"Think you can keep up?" Kar'na asked. "I really need to get back in a hurry, so I'll be pushing the pace pretty hard."

"That doesn't matter," Kytra said quickly. "We can keep up."

"Alright," Kar'na nodded. "Then we'll set off at nightfall. Then it should take another week of a fast pace to get back to our homeland. My advice: get some sleep. We've got a lot of travelling ahead of us."

With that, the white wolf walked away to go lie down on the grass, where he was soon breathing deeper, indicating he was asleep.

"Why nightfall?" Myra asked, sitting down well away from Jarris's corpse. "Why don't we just leave now?"

"I don't know," Wraith admitted. "But Kar'na says we wait, so we wait. Also, if we're leaving by night, we won't get much sleep. Rest now, like he suggested."

Everyone about the clearing lay down, keeping a respectful distance between themselves and the body of the former Flayer.

"Have you ever met a stranger person?" Aryn asked rhetorically. Across the clearing, Kar'na opened one golden eye and smiled.