FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 21

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"You're going where?!" Malnark snorted. "Didn't we already talk about this?!"

"I know, I know..." I sighed, pinching my brow in mild frustration. "Look, chances are it is nothing! I go there, watch the ritual take place and come back."

"And if it does turn out to be something?" Jovani chimed in. He looked quite cross, more so than the others.

"If it does turn out to be something, then at least I'll be there to help. There is already going to be a detachment of warriors there in any case." I explained. "Sir Marc has given me a letter of introduction. They are performing a ritual to ensure a demon remains sealed! I can sense demonic nen, so I would be able to warn them in advance of any problems! I could alert them to the danger!"

"That still doesn't explain why you need to go on your own!" Malnark huffed.

"Two reasons." I said, holding up as many fingers. "First off someone needs to be here to question Kantril when he finally gets arrives! Secondly, the temple is seventy miles away. If I'm going to make it there with enough time before the ritual, to ensure the curi'nakra hasn't managed to sneak in some how, I'll need to fly! Even if we pushed the dandos hard, we would barely make it to the temple before the ritual, let alone present the letter to the commander there."

Malnark huffed, but his shoulders slumped in defeat as my argument made sense to him. He still didn't agree that I should go on my own, but my argument had convinced him that there was no other course of action.

"We could follow you using the dandos. At least we would be at the temple should anything go awry!" Jovani insisted. I couldn't fault his logic in that regard.

"But someone needs to stay here in order to talk to Kantril." I said.

"I can do that." Malnark said. "I would just slow the others down anyway. If there is one thing this journey had taught me, it's that I'm not as young as I used to be. My mind is still willing, but the body just can't keep up."

"Malnark..." My aunt sighed in pity.

"I'm no fool." Malnark muttered. "Time catches up to all of us eventually. I just hope you get the chance to see that for yourself Malakye."

He was calling me reckless without actually saying the words. He wasn't wrong. But the truth was I was the only one who could do this. And if it cost me my life... was that not worth saving the countless others that would suffer if I failed? I'd like to think that it was. It was not that I wanted to die. I wanted to settle down, start a family and all the other things that came with normal life.

I could charge headlong into battle and not fear dying, not because I didn't want to live, but because I had come to terms with dying a long time ago. I could count three times in my life where I had died; figuratively speaking. I was a warrior. The risk of death came with the occupation. But I was a survivor! I had survived living with the wolves. I had survived the battle when they attacked Zangar and I had survived my time in Aaru. All of those things should have killed me, but I was still here! And so long as there was strength left in my body I would continue to survive!

"I intend to." I replied.

"I shall inform the stable master that you intend to depart first thing tomorrow." My aunt said. "I shall arrange for some provisions for your journey as well."

"You are most kind Lady Mai." Jovani bowed his head respectfully at her.

There was something in her tone. Almost as if she was afraid to say something. I don't know what it was, but I sense it from her.

"What else do you want to say?" I asked.

"I would like you to take someone with you." She said. "I think the journey would do him good, and help keep his mind off of things."

"Who?" Malnark asked.

"Arman." She said. "His grief is crushing him. He still feels as though he could have saved the others if he had stayed and fought the graug."

"I don't mind him coming along." I admitted.

"Now that is a surprise!" Malnark scoffed.

"What?" I scowled. "He is a strong fighter. He could prove a valuable ally."

"High praise indeed." Malnark chuckled. "Normally you'd be concerned with others slowing you down, or getting in the way."

There was truth in his words, although I didn't want to admit that out loud. But Arman had proven his strength to me when we fought against the female graug. He was easily the match of a Master level bender in terms of nen. A rock bender could prove useful in a number of ways I had yet to even consider.

"I will leave it to Jovani's discretion." I said.

"Young Master?" He asked slightly puzzled.

"You are the one who insists on following me by using the dandos." I said. "So in Malnark's absence you are the one in charge."

"That's not entirely..." He began to interject, but I kept talking over him.

"So it is only right that the one in charge of the mission make the decision."

"But Young Master, you are the ranking drake in Master Ral'var's absence." Jovani interjected.

"That is quite true Jovani." Malnark chimed in. "However since Malakye will be flying ahead, he will not be in charge of the excursion until you join back up with him."

"But I hold no rank." He pointed out.

"Loire and Mantou respect you." Malnark responded. "I am sure they would have no objection to you leading the party."

"I'm not entirely convinced... but if they agree to it then I shall take lead." Jovani nodded.

"Now that that is settled, you should turn in for the night." Malnark said. "I will go and inform the others to be ready to depart at first light."

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As the others prepared to depart, the sky on the horizon was a stunning mixture of orange, red and yellow. I stood atop the ramparts of the wall surrounding the village and admired the view. It reminded me of the mornings in Aaru. Every morning there was truly beautiful. The crisp morning air fill my lungs, it was quite invigorating. I heard someone approach. I turned and saw Arman walking up to me, fully clad in a set of steel armour bearing the Killik house crest on the chest. He carried his stave on his shoulder.

"Good Morning Malakye."

"Morning Arman." I replied. "Should you not be getting ready to leave?"

"Yes." He smiled. "I just wanted to thank you for choosing me to come along with you."

Choose him? So my Aunt told him I had asked for him to join us on this journey did she? Even though it was her idea! I'm sure she had her reasons for that deception. Very well then, I would play along with the ruse.

"You're a skilled fighter." I said. "My Aunt was more than willing to allow you to come along."

"That is quite the compliment coming from someone such as yourself." He smiled. "I guess we haven't actually been formally introduced." He stood up straighter and bowed his head to me. "My name is Arman Nar'bak Killik, Son of Nar'bak Baroc Killik, Grandson of Grand-master Baroc Karmol Killik, the last head of the Killik house. It is a great pleasure to meet you."

"I am Malakye Anaris, Son of Kaldor Anaris, current head of the Anaris house. The pleasure is mine." I replied.

"I should get going. I'll meet you at Lutier Temple later." He said before heading towards the stable.

By my estimation I would arrive in around four hours, maybe longer since I wouldn't be taking a direct route. I'd be heading South to the river and then following it to my destination. I would arrive around midday, giving me plenty of time to speak to the commander in charge there. I honestly didn't know if the curi'nakra would show up or not. But it was a lead worth following. The drake Kantril would arrive sometime after we left, according to to Sir Marc we might even arrive back before him. Malnark would remain behind to question him.

Should we cross paths with the curi'nakra on this trip, then I would fulfil my duty and eliminate them! All we knew about them was that they were a wolf. That would help narrow my search. But there were plenty of tribes of wolf that were native to these lands. The bad blood between wolves and dragons was shared only by the tribes to the North, not those to the South of the Dark Forest.

I extended my wings and drew on my nen as I prepared to take flight. Before I took off I heard someone call my name. I turned and saw my aunt as well a number of the locals. Among them were the warriors I had been training, as well as the stallion who we rescued from the forest. I turned to face them.

"We came to see you off." My aunt smiled. "We hope to see you again soon."

"I will return before long." I assured her. "Once my business at the temple is concluded we will return. A day, perhaps two at most."

"We will be waiting." She smiled.

"I wanted to thank you." The stallion said as he walked forward. "If it wasn't for you..."

"There are no thanks needed." I cut him off. "I did what was needed to be done. Nothing more."

"You have a bad habit of belittling your accomplishments." My aunt sighed.

"I will see you all soon." I said, ignoring her last comment.

I took off quickly before anyone else could say anything. I soared high into the sky. The world looked a lot different from up here. I could make out the numerous roads and trails leading to and from the village.

I found the river in less than an hour and changed my course to follow it to my destination. The river was deep and the currents strong. Far in the distance I could see the heavy dark clouds of a storm. The wind was blowing it towards me. By my estimation I was just another hours flight from the temple. The storm would hit later today, maybe this evening. Looking at the river it was obvious that the storm was dropping a lot of rain up stream to make the river swell like that.

Soon enough the temple came into view. It was a massive structure made of stone. It was surrounded by tall walls, tall enough to keep an army out, or perhaps to keep something in? There was supposedly a powerful demon sealed within. As I got closer I could make out more details of the structure. The Southern wall was all but gone, fallen into the river that ran along side it. The temple sat atop a tall cliff, that fell into the river below. To the North of the temple, at the bottom of the hill, was a large village. I flew over it, it looked all but abandoned. The only furs I could see were armed warriors patrolling the streets.

Not wanting to cause too much of a scare by landing in the temple courtyard directly, where the most of the populace seemed to be gathered, I landed at just outside the village. Sir Marc had explained that the village was evacuated whenever the ritual was due to take place. That meant the only furs here would be soldiers and priests.

"Hold it right there!" A voice bellowed from behind me.

I turned to see two bulls in heavy armour running towards me. I didn't move. I held my paws out to show them my intention was not to fight. I allowed them to surround me and allowed them to take the lead over this conversation. I was not here to start a fight with them. I needed to get their commander on my side.

"Who are you!?" One of the bulls demanded to know. His pelt was dark, almost blue in colour when the light hit it in a certain way. The only bulls I had heard of having those colour of pelts were pedigree Tyrokian Minotaurs.

"My name in Malakye Anaris, nephew of Lady Maiyuri Anaris, the leader of Tanjarr village." At this point mentioning my aunts name would likely carry more recognition and influence than my fathers name. "I am here to speak to your commander."

"Paladin Hergig is busy!" The bull grunted. "The village is to be evacuated, and anyone who attempts to approach the temple, with out a sufficient reason, is to be detained!"

"I bear a letter of introduction." I held the letter up so that they could see the wax seal.

"That is... the seal of the Gensum Knights!" The other bull commented. Unlike his blue pelted counterpart his pelt was pure black.

"Hmmph..." The blue pelted bull grunted. "Very well. We shall escort you to the Paladin. But I warn you now! Should this be a trick of some sort, I will not hesitate to cut you down!"

"No tricks." I assured him. He snorted aggressively and then motioned for me to start walking towards the temple.

The path up to the temple was well travelled, but never seemed to head directly to the temple. It weaved back and forth across the hill side. Were these priests so against putting in a set of stairs? We must have walked three times the distance than we needed to. From the ground the temple walls were imposing in their size, but the signs of their age were clearly present. This temple was built after the demon war, meaning it was over two thousand years old!

In the court yard there was a lot of activity. Soldiers were running drills while others barked orders. All of the warriors were bulls. So this was a full detachment of Tyrokian Minotaurs! Rumours of the strength was far reaching. They were the main force which guarded the borders between the Tribal lands and Gir. Like Zangarians they were meant to have a considerable number of k'tan in their ranks.

There was a group of fur in long red robes, the priest of the temple I quickly surmised, who were carrying out their own duties around five large totem poles which formed a circle around the wide courtyard. The totems were carved out of a white stone, and bore the likeness of a snake, or perhaps even a dragon. Unlike the soldiers they made no noise whatsoever as they carried out their own respective tasks, which was most likely linked to the ritual that would be taking place later tonight.

The bulls led me up the steps of the temple, where another blue pelted bull stood taking to a group of black panthers clad in the red robes of the priesthood. This bulls armour looked to be of a much higher quality than the rest of the soldiers here, so I assumed that he was the commander Paladin Hergig if I remembered right. He saw us approach and excused himself from the priests. He stood on the top step and looked down at us.

"Paladin, we found this drake during our patrol, and he wishes to speak to you. He claims to have a letter of introduction. The letter bears the seal of the Gensum Knights!" The blue pelted bull who had escorted me explained, pressing his right fist to his chest while bowing his head in respect to his superior. The other bull who had escorted me did the same but remained silent.

To show my respect I did the same, pressing my fist to my chest and made a curt bow before raising my head to look him in the eye. The bull looked me up and down. His gaze wasn't overly judgemental, more curious than anything else. He held out his paw, obviously wanting to see the letter. I stepped forward to hand it to him, but the black pelted bull stopped me, stepping in front of me to block my path and took the letter. He quickly handed the letter to his superior and resumed his original position to my right.

Paladin Hergig examined the seal before breaking it in order to open the letter. He read it slowly, more than once from what I could tell. He had yet to utter a word. Sir Marc had said that he could not order this bull to allow me access to the temple. But the letter had allowed me to get this far while avoiding any unnecessary conflict.

"What is this?" He snorted. He held the letter out in one paw as if it was a piece of trash.

"I think it is quite clearly explained in the letter." I countered. I bit back the comment about his ability to read. Such comments would not benefit me now. "I am trying to track down a dangerous individual, one who may attempt to disrupt the ritual. I ask that you allow me to stay and offer what help I can."

"A dangerous individual..." He scoffed."A curi'nakra no less." His comment seemed to garner the attention of the priests he had been speaking to before I arrived. Their ears perked in our direction. "I have heard of Sir Marc, his reputation is well known. But I must ask why you were sent here to hunt down such an individual? And on whose authority?"

"I received my mission from the Guardian Deities, while I was training in Aaru."

"Aaru you say?" His tone was doubtful. He walked down the steps towards me, his hooves thumping against the hard stone heavily. "I am to believe that you were in Aaru?"

"Believe it or not, it does not make it any less true." I countered, making sure to maintain eye contact with him.

He snorted heavily.

Now he was right up next to me, standing on the step next to me I could see that he was taller than me by a clear foot; not counting his horns. His scent was quite potent, I doubt he had washed in over a week now. Not that the other two bovine warriors next to me were much better.

"I am here only as a precaution." I assured him. "I lost the trail of the curi'nakra in the Dark Forest. There is every chance that they will not attempt to interfere with the ritual."

"Even if they did." He snorted. "I have fifty highly trained warriors surrounding the perimeter of this temple, not to mention ten Tyrokian k'tan, including myself. A single fur would not be able to get close to the ritual to interfere!" He declared proudly. "The village has been evacuated as a precaution, so any fur seen in the area would be immediately suspect."

"I am not saying you don't know what you are doing!" I countered, getting slightly annoyed now. "But this individual in extremely dangerous, and the extent of their power in unknown! They have already killed over one hundred furs!"

"Paladin, if I may interject." We both turned to see an elderly panther approach. He walked with the aid of a stick. "What is the harm in allowing him to stay? If he is here only as a precaution then..."

"I don't know this fur!" Hergig snorted. "For all I know he is this so called curi'nakra!"

"Bold of me to approach you with a letter warning you about my plans then." I said sarcastically. He snorted in annoyance.

"Yes it would be." He said. "Too bold."

"So you don't believe me to be the curi'nakra then?" I asked.

"No." He said, but continued after a brief pause. "But perhaps it would be safer to detain you until the ritual is over, just to be sure!"

"That would be a mistake!" I glared at him.

"Oh? And do you think you would be able to defeat all of these warriors?!" He asked.

I looked behind me. There were thirty warriors in the courtyard below us, and if there were ten k'tan amongst their ranks as he claimed, then my chances of defeating them were bleak. Tyrok Minotaurs were the back bone of the Royal families military power in the Southern Tribal Lands. Their k'tan were notoriously powerful. I had learnt various techniques on how to face them in a fight. But I had never actually fought one, and to fight ten of them...

"If I had to." I said. It was bravado, nothing more.

He snorted, this time in amusement.

"What is your name boy?"

I didn't appreciate being called a boy. He was belittling me. But I couldn't risk biting back at him yet. The situation was still salvageable. It all came down to how reasonable he was willing to be.

"I am Malakye Anaris." I said. "Nephew of Lady Maiyuri Anaris of Tanjarr village. Son of Kaldor Anaris, Head of the Anaris house in Zangar! Grandson... Grandson of Randel Redpelt, the Elder of the Rovarian tribe."

"That is... quite the lineage you have for a half breed!" He chuckled. "I have heard of your father and grandfather both! One was quite the warrior in his time, and the other rumoured to be a powerful k'tan."

"If I may ask, what does his heritage have to do with anything?" The elderly panther asked. "If he is here at the behest of the Guardian Deities then surely we should accept his aid."

"Nothing, and yet... everything." The bull grinned. "If he is who he says he is, then he is of noble blood. And there is something to be said of a proud linage!" He declared proudly. So he was one who considered blood-lines to be of great value to determining some ones worth. "Very well Malakye, I will allow you to stay and witness the ritual. But if you are to remain then you must do your part!"

"I will do what I must!" I declared.

"During the ritual you will help protect the priests. There is a chance that the demon will emerge before the ritual is complete. If that is to happen then, my warriors and I will engage it in battle! If the demon gets past us then you will do what ever you can to stop it from reaching the priests."

"I understand."

"I assure you the chances of it getting past us are slim, but if it does you are to protect them with your lift! My warriors will protect the priests no matter the cost! I expect you to do the same!"

"I am not afraid to die." I said calmly. "But you seem overly confident that you will be able to handle a greater demon with such ease." I said.

"You don't think we can handle it?" He snorted. "I'll have you know that my grandfather once fought this demon! He held the beast back and saved the entire priesthood from being wiped out! Do you think you could do that!?"

I could hear the pride he held for his Grandfather in his voice. He idolised him. He wanted to achieve the same feat that he had. There was no way a single fur, k'tan or not, could take on a greater demon without help. But I was not going to say as such to him. He was allowing me to participate, I needed to stay on his good side.

"I will not interfere with you plans, and I will do my part to ensure the ritual goes as intended. But understand that if I locate the curi'nakra, I will abandon my post in order to fulfil my duty!"

"Very well." He nodded.

"I have a group of companions on their way here. Four Zangarian warriors. If you could tell your patrols to allow them through when they arrive..."

"Why are they not here with you now?" He asked.

"They are travelling by dando. Unfortunately for them dandos cannot run as fast as I can fly."

"Fly?"

"I am a wind bender." I explained. "While all Zangarians can glide using our wings, only wind benders can fly."

"Very well, I will let them know to allow your comrades through. But once the ritual begins the gates will be sealed shut. If they haven't arrived by then, they will not be allowed into the temple."

"Understood." I nodded.

"Good. Now either make yourself useful or stay out of the way! We have a lot of preparation to do and not a lot of time to do it in!"

"I will patrol the area and make sure the curi'nakra is not already here." I said. "Do not worry I will not get in the way."

"You are free to roam the village freely, as well as the courtyard and perimeter of the temple. Do not enter the temple or your life will be forfeit!"

I wondered what was in the temple that made it forbidden to me. No matter. Such an area would be well guarded, and the curi'nakra would not be able to access it, if it was under such heavy guard as I suspected.