FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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While the three dark dragons were having their own difficulties in reaching the Argoon Settlement, the Western Region had its own share of problems and conflicts, but what's most apparent was the internal conflict with the draconians.

The race of legendary humanoid dragons had been helping the cause of the Western dragons for more than a week. With their powerful and modern weaponries more effectiveness than arrows and swords, they managed to help win some of the defenses and offenses by the pro-dragons. The team of draconians, led by the world's native draconian, Richard Andaluvia, managed to help the humans and opened a portal for them to reach the world dominated by these humanoid dragon race.

Even then, Richard knew that sooner or later, their influence would wane, and the humans would desperately try to invade the draconian world just to get the weapons that can give them an edge. It was not apparent, but being a race of dragons, they knew the moment when they lost their influence and started to become suspicious. Living in a foreign world and looked entirely different from how the humans looked like (even though Richard was a human before) caused wide unrest.

This instinct was one of the reasons why they refused to open the portal to fit more draconians in aside from the three draconians who helped bridge the connection between their world and this world. Richard was particularly aware on some humans looking at them suspiciously. Pro-dragon or not, they were suspicious of new races coming to them. Richard, however, was surprised that Shifters were particularly rare, despite of knowing two...no, a family of Shifters coming from the borders to the South.

With Seraphor and Bartoz captured, and Avila missing, the Order plunged into uneasiness, but not to chaos. The dragons were the only one that believed the draconians, as they were considered mythical creatures and supposedly had 'the wisdom of the dragons and the adaptability of the humans', the best of their races. The riders, predominantly humans (but also some Lycans and hellhounds), did not feel a feral race like them could help them, thinking that they were too different and they were essentially dragons themselves.

Not only that, even though Richard had a strong desire to return to his own world, he had started a family of three, with his wife Cernelesh and their son, one of the first generations of half-dragons. The dragons that had been convinced of a new draconian life proceeded to use an old knowledge to transform themselves into half-dragons, even if it was only one day, to experience life as a draconian. They proceeded to perfect this spell so it could be permanent, if they chose to.

Richard did not care of those kinds of trend and wanted to find help if necessary. Avila was desperate, as least in his eyes, to find Seraphor, and he could say that was the reason why she was gone for almost a week now.

A day in Qeveriyt felt different in the modern world of the draconian world, now that he had been living there for almost 15 years. Getting paroled after 4 years in prison and acquitted a month later seemed to be a fishy business, but if it's legal, he did not need to care of controversies. His current wife did not care as long as he does not attempt anything that can ruin their trust (Cernelesh knew the real reason why he was imprisoned).

What made him felt so out of place was the emergence of non-human riders. A hundred years ago (in that world's timeline), he was a human cursed to be a dragon due to exposure to Engrak's unique magic, but now he became the first and could possibly the only half-dragon who had ridden a dragon before. Now, however, he could see many non-human riders. Some looked a lot like the mysterious lizard folks in children story books. Lean-looking werewolves called Lycans were also those he could see in Qeveriyt. What struck him at odds were the appearance of the canine races with horns and generally looked different than most of the Lycans. He was told that they were hellhounds, and they came from Ternor, a neighboring continent.

"Wow. They actually found a way to get through the sea," thought Richard when he saw two hellhounds talked to each other. He just wished they did not live up to their names, seeing they were stereotypically demonic.

Richard then walked to a nearby pub, where he met Juagar, sitting by the bar drinking a wooden mug. He noticed Richard and waved his hand, to which the golden-scaled draconian noticed. He sat beside the green-scaled draconian and ordered a drink.

"Now I understand why you said malt back then," said Juagar with a laugh. "Damn, I feel so out of place now."

"Is it because of the dragons or is it because of the bar culture?" asked Richard.

"Something like that. I'm more concerned with our mythical status here. They have hellhounds and werewolves and they don't have a draconian? Seriously?"

"Well, some worlds are different than the others, I guess. But why are you here? I thought you don't really like this 'fantasy' setting."

"Might as well experience it before the 10's portal close, right? Oh, don't get me wrong, but that thing won't last forever. The perps told me that they might be able to sustain it for 2 more years, but unless they managed to invent or discover antimatter or zero matter, we might not be able to see this world again for a very long time."

Richard knew that before Juagar told him. He knew that unless magic was involved, they could sustain it, but then the prototype was fully mechanical and not stable in a long term. They could pinpoint to Richard's world because of what remained of his genetic imprint back in this Earth. He had consulted with some of the Order members he knew, but none of them knew how to deal with that thing.

He then resorted to another dimension, and consulted the young black dragon with dimensional travel ability and Dragon's Realm, where an anthropomorphic mole inventor invented a rather stable portal with a combination of magic and technology. In the end, they could not help him, and Richard felt he was destined to live the rest of his life in the Draconian World.

Just as he pondered on this, Juagar said, "Rich, this might not feel like the right time, but...I'm glad that you chose Cernelesh."

"It is always the right time, Juagar. I'm surprised that she wanted to wait for 4 years. Most humans I know won't last that long."

"Drakes do that too. Even worse, they quickly cut ties with him because he's a criminal now. It's sad, but it's the truth. I think it's because Cernie is surrounded by drakes who believe that you are innocent, and wanted to believe that's the case. Look at you, Mr. Scholar."

"Oh stop it, you," said Richard with a smile and a friendly jab. "I won't be able to get a government job with that kind of rap sheet, right?"

"You'll never know. Anyway, those from our Post decided to help you."

Richard was surprised. "But I..."

"Just listen for me, okay? Not everyone from the Post wants to help you, citing high risk, but some of us...well, our personal friends, wanted to help. I know this world values heroism, but I think you know what they want in return, right?"

"Gold?"

"Nah. Besides, no one's going to be able to appraise gold from another world, right?" "Does it matter? I know some Order members who can secure monetary rewards. They are more than willing to help."

"I said no, Richard. All they want is a guarantee that they won't die. If they die, we will cut ties to this world permanently. It sounds harsh, but we know this is no joke. Unlike you, we are not accustomed to dying, and that incident still haunts us."

Richard remembered that. It was the first time Milsteir ever got in such a chaos. Of course, no one wanted to get involved with Richard again after that, but many knew he was also innocent. They regarded him as a good draconian, not a warrior.

"I cannot thank you more than this," said Richard.

"It's fine. But, let me ask you something. What's with all the talk about the dragons will attack again? Haven't seen one other than those from inside this desert town."

"Huh? What are you..."

Suddenly, a warning bell sounded off and all the bar patrons quickly stood up. They were confused as to what the sound was about, until they realized something was wrong. Richard was the one that realized it first, before Juagar. He quickly ran outside and drew his gun, charging it towards the sky and shoot it. It hit a dragon that was flying down towards them, blasting his skull away, making it rained brain matter. A hellhound that ran towards him was surprised and annoyed, but nevertheless he said, "Stop shooting an enemy over the town or I'll make sure you scrape the whole shit!"

"Sorry, won't happen again."

Richard could hear the hellhound said "fucking moron" under his breath, to which Richard did not take offense. He knew these demonic dogs were vulgar and had no restraint in language, but he understood that the hellhound was reprimanding him.

Juagar came out of the bar and saw the blood raining around the town, but he did not care. All he cared about was a dragon that had landed in the middle of the settlement and started swatting smaller humans trying to kill or at least restrain it. He wanted to help, but all he was thinking about was a way to kill the dragon. He pulled out his crossbow and loaded an explosive titanium-coated bolt, ready to shoot the dragon dead.

He was saved by his own reflex when he dodged an attempted stabbing from behind by a human. That was the best moment to counter his attack, so he kicked the human in the face. While he was dazed, Juagar wanted to shoot the man, but before he could do that, he was immolated by fire. His first thought was a dragon, but to his surprise, it was a hellhound.

"Hey, you alright?" said the hellhound offering his hand.

"Y-yeah. I was trying to kill him."

"Don't get me wrong, but I know an explosive bolt when I see one." Before Juagar could ask how, he just said, "Help those humans."

Juagar never thought he would be saved by a hellhound, but he concentrated on killing the dragon. The titanium-coated bullet went through its skull and exploded within. It wasn't as gruesome as the draconian thought, but it was enough to make the humans looked at him in awe. Juagar did not care and ran towards Richard, who was trying to fend off some humans fighting him. The green-scaled draconian instinctively breathed fire to the humans, but to his surprise, it did not burn them. Instead, Richard just touched one and he got electrocuted.

"What the hell is going on?! Why can't they burn?!" said Juagar while backing himself to fight the humans.

"They are wearing anti-draconic magic armor," said Richard.

"That's a thing?!"

"Apparently. They are desperate."

"One question. Why are you able to electrocute them if you said draconic magic is useless?"

"Who says I'm using draconic magic?" said Richard smiling. Juagar then looked to Richard in confusion, then his sword. The same sword that had its own soul was wrapped in live wire occasionally cracking and sending sparks on the air. The wires were high voltage and was exposed, but Richard seemed to not be affected.

"Do you still remember that game Kijte played with Sarkath where they kill zombies with improvised weapons? I got an idea from it."

"You got an idea of an electric sword from a fucking game?!"

"Better than not being able to do anything, right?!"

In the end, both slaughtered the dragon slayers who attacked them. Ironically, despite of those dragon slayers being trained to slay dragons (which the draconians represented), they underestimated the fact that the two draconians were also humanoid, and paid the price for it. Some dragon slayers who were trying to join in the fight, thinking that they would be able to gang upon smaller dragons, were surprised and terrified when the two of them managed to kill every elite slayer attacking them, and found that the mythical creatures were even more feared than dragons.

The ambush, as usual, ended with failure. The dragon slaves that the dragon slayers used were either killed or successfully captured. Even after the whole skirmish was a failure, it made them think about what happened. They knew they would lose, but they proceeded to attack Qeveriyt again.

Some days later, the answer came to them in a surprise. Apparently, the knowledge of Avila's disappearance made them think that the whole settlement was vulnerable. They did not consider on the appearance of the draconians and their weapons, and the deadly nature of the recently introduced Hellfighter Squads, which were a team of hellhound dragon riders, led by a hellhound named Asthen Schelkz.

The Order was investigating on this inquiry, and when Richard found the right moment, he pulled Yort away from the others to a private cave the old dragon had dug for himself. His expression was serious, but not because of Yort, but because of what he thought happened.

"Yort...Avila was travelling to the South to find Sera. Is that correct?"

Yort wanted to avoid the question, but he knew one way or another, someone or something needed to know. Yort sadly nodded.

"Why did you do that?" asked Richard, surprised that his suspicion was correct. "I know we are more than capable to defend this settlement, but you know she's going to get herself killed to find Sera!"

"Yes, I know she's trying to find Seraphor, but Richard, you must understand when a dragon needs to find out of their heritage."

"You mean she's a southern dragon?"

"No... she isn't. She was hatched here by western Argoons. Her father is with her, and he's reliable. You don't need to worry." "Avila has a father?!" exclaimed Richard. That was a new information for him.

"It's something she did not know. Her travel is to prove the father's worth of raising her as his daughter."

"Is that necessary? I mean, you can just tell her that he's her father and she may or may not want to accept him. I mean, it's common in my world. They may want to accept their old parents or refuse."

"Yes, normally that is the case, but Xiciro insists to return to Avila because I think he knows his own sins better than I do."

"What are you talking about?"

Yort looked around and whispered, "Do not tell this fact to anyone, okay? Xiciro, Avila's father, was a Defiler."

This struck Richard in the heart. Her father was a Defiler? The same group of dragons that caused Raithorakh's death and threw him to the Draconian World? Why would he wanted redemption, knowing that his daughter was the one that was trying to kill him?

"Why make this a secret?"

"Because Xiciro did not know that I know his identity," said Yort. "He was trying to make a fool of me, but I know an Argoon when I see one. He may be in the Defiler to defeat them from the inside, but was defeated by Avila before it happened. I don't know. Whatever the reason, I know his attempt on redemption is a genuine cause."

"So right now that Defiler is with Avila and another dragon? Do you think that's testing your luck to the extreme limit?"

"No... but we'll see what happens next."

Richard wanted to know more about this Xiciro fellow, but knowing Yort, he would only give him cryptic answers for him to find out or ask others alone. He wanted to at least help a friend.

Even then, his own influence in that world is slowly diminishing, and he would one day be given a choice to either return to his own world or stay in the Draconian World, where he had established his new life.