FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

Infinity soared high over the uneven mountainscape below her. The rising green dotted with browns and greys of scattered stone and dirt. Like dragon's teeth they scattered out to the far horizon. Blue's sparkled in the afternoon son, like little strands of sapphires as she swooped overhead. She scanned the horizon, closing her emerald eyes for a moment, basking in the golden rays of the sun bringing such tingling warmth to her black scales.

"I bet I can out fly you ole' Chip!" Came a confident boast, moments after the sound of wings beating against the air with a swoosh.

Infinity grumbled, cracking open an eye to see a green dragon go flying passed her. He had his snout cracked wide into a smile, his bright sunflower like eyes staring passed her, and a blue scarf dotted with white diamonds fluttering around his armored neck and dancing across his black under scales. He did a quick spin, showing off a scar on his chest, one that he had gotten from saving a princess. The green drake with yellow stripes on the bottom of his wing membranes dipped a wing, suddenly diving towards the ground. "Come on Lyyreth!" He roared.

Moments after the first, a second green dragon swooped passed the black dragoness. He looked exactly like the previous one had, but zigzags at the bottom of his wings instead of stripes, and a chipped left horn. "I take your bet Cordenth!" Lyyreth shouted in unrestrained glee, following in his brother's wake and entering a dive right on his heels.

Infinity watched the green pair dance across the sky as they swerved, spun, dove, and climbed with the currents caressing their scales. She just rolled her eyes with a snort, a smirk making its way to her snout. I can outfly both of you dolts.

"Come on Infinity!" Lyyreth curled his neck around after widening his wings into a glide. "Let's see what a nightstalker can do!"

"You mean black dragon brother?" Cordenth swooped underneath Lyyreth, taking a place at his side.

"Night Stalkers is what mortals call them." Lyyreth stuck his tongue out at the scarf wearing drake.

"Last time that I checked, you weren't a mortal. Seems rather odd that you start using their words now." The dragon chuckled, dipping a wing and flipping over his brother.

"Regardless!" Lyyreth gave Infinity a warm smile, glancing back to her with his eye. "Come on!"

Infinity rolled her eyes again, quickening her pace to close the distance between them. There was a brief conversation about what land they were heading to, one that ended with growls and tongues being stuck out at one another. Lyyreth slowed his speed,taking a spot next to Infinity. His wing's almost grazed her with their flaps.

"I'll be back here then, so I don't have to waste my time listening to your mocking prattle!"

"Suit yourself brother!" Cordenth laughed, entering a spiraling descent. "I will look out for things of interest!"

She sighed, looking to her white taloned claws, her black armored scales littered with small scars. Brief reminders of the torture that had been inflicted by her undead captor over the years. It was hard to imagine she was free, yet here she was. Flying away with two green dragons she had just met one night. Part of her wanted to go back right now to that horrible tower of nightmares. Bust down the lich's door and try to rip him to pieces. She felt a growl start to work it's way from her neck but held it down. She knew in her heart simply having three dragons wouldn't be enough. Not with that undead monster involved. He had defeated both of her parents after all, and she wasn't quite sure what he was capable of.

Her eyes drifted from her scales to the star dotted underside of her wings. Something that she had been told was beautiful. She could feel a cold claw grasp around her heart as she remembered the tower, and what her freedom had cost her. When she looked away from her wings to the countryside below, she found the vibrant bright colors had dulled.

"Something on your mind?" Lyyreth tilted his head to the side, his frills on the side of his head twitching in the wind. "You've been quiet for the last few days."

Infinity said nothing at first, turning her attention to the green dragon slowly. It had been at least two weeks since she had joined the brothers, glad to have company since her lonely days away from the lich's lair. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to hide her lingering thoughts. "Nothing much to talk about."

"Well I guess that could be a reason I suppose." Lyyreth mumbled, looking away as they started to pass over a sparse forest. It spread out for miles in all direction of different shades of green. Like viridian waves along the sea it went out before them, birds and insects flying just above the canopy.

"Do you even know where we're going?" She rose a brow.

"Honestly?" Lyyreth sneezed. "I haven't been this far west before.

She sighed. That's what going on adventurers probably meant anyway. Going off in one direction you knew not what until you or something found you. Among the sea of green that dominated their vision she found a thin road among it. Like a brown river of worn dirt that had been trampled down by the beating of hooves. It appeared as untamed as this area looked, mortals had of course found their way into it. She descended towards the tree tops, letting her claws almost lick the tops of jutting leaves. She smiled as birds rose up in her wake, scattered by her wings. She spun around a clearing, almost letting out a trill at her efforts as the wind caressed her snout. In all her times within the tower she had never tasted freedom such as this and she loved it. She found her heart starting to beat faster, almost begging her to goincrease her speed, but that's when her eyes caught something she wished they hadn't.

Along the road she had found snaking its way through the untamed forest she spotted some wooden carts the mortals used to carry things long distances by horse. The wooden things lay scattered and broken, wheels missing or tossed off feet away from their starting point. Some of the wood was blackened and burned, with tendrils of smoke rising from its surface. Mortal bodies were spread around the wrecked carts. Somewhere missing limbs, covered in red gore, or ripped open for the world to see. Flies had a;ready began to swarm around them like little black buzzing mists. She looked away from the dirt soaked in blood around them.

"What was..." Lyyreth tracked her snout, finding the destroyed caravan below. "They could need help!" The green's voice cracked, his eyes finding the mangled bodies of elves.

Infinity followed the worried green, not entirely sure that these elves could be helped. Not how broken they were, and especially not a man that had been cut right across the waist. His entrails were spread out where the cut had been, several crows picking away at his purply, blood soaked organs. She tilted her wings as they entered a bank, doing several loops around the scene of gore and broken wood. It looked more and more like the caravan had been struck by lightning more than flames as she first thought. The wood that had survived had rivers of black within its surface. Spreading out to look like their own bolts of lightning. Large sections of grass that lined the road had been blackened and burned. But not in the way a flame would have been left. She wrinkled her snout in disgust as the smoking bodies scent of death found its way to her nose. She looked away again from the scene of death, needing a moment to breathe. Her scales shivered as she stared into the cerulean space above her, watching the clouds above flutter carefree out of reach. She spotted Cordenth overhead, circling with his attention passed her and to the carnage below. With a sigh she returned her attention, maybe this was part of adventures too.

Infinity swooped down as Lyyreth landed among the wrecked caravans. His green snout swishing back in forth as he lowered his neck and nosed around. The wind caressed the frill that lined the top of his head all the way to his tail. She flapped her wings to slow her descent, extending her hinds and landing with a bumpy trot. She folded her wings against her back, slinking her away to the curious green as her spines extended one by one. She scanned the trees, the sounds of birds in the distance chirping away. She felt her muscles tense, and her tail swish behind her as she steeled herself for whatever was to come. If anything was going to jump out and surprise them she would be ready. Someone had to make sure Lyyreth didn't get hurt after all.

"It looks like...a bandit raid or something." The green dragon winced, poking aside an elf that had been cut into three pieces. He swung his head to one of the carts, smoke still rising from the broken wood.

"But..The scorch marks?" She gestured to the grass with her neck. WIth the death around her she didn't see how mortals could do this. It didn't even look like they had fought off anyone either. It could be that whoever had attacked them had retrieve their dead, but she didn't like it.

"Bandit's can have magic too." Lyyreth sneezed, backing away as a cart crumbled away from his inquisitive touch with a crash. Dust rose up in a sudden wave, making the green dragon pull his head away violently.

"And they also kill everyone?" She padded over, making sure to avoid stepping in the puddles of crimson gore that soaked the area. "I didn't think that mortals could be so heartless."

"That's a fair point." The dragon sighed, "But it is known to happen. This world isn't just a nice place to live in. Mortals can be just as twisted as that undead lich you described."

"I know that." She hissed, lowering her nose to a wooden chest. She cracked it open to find blankets and ruffled clothes stashed inside of various browns. She rose her head, something else was bothering her as well. In the dirt there wasn't any tracks at all. Nothing to suggest that anything had left or came. It was if suddenly this caravan of mortals had suddenly been electrocuted or sliced to death with no sign of their attackers. "There isn't any tracks either. Unless the attackers hid their footsteps." She slunk over to the cart's mounts. The horses were laid down on the ground, dead with no signs of cuts on their bodies. Their reins were blackened and scorched.

"And their stuff is still here! Food and everything!" Lyyreth pulled out a wooden crate with his claws, setting it down onto the ground. "What kind of bandit just leaves these things here?"

"Bandits that are looking for treasure! Not blankets and food!" Cordenth shouted down from above, swooping low around the trees.

"But...why kill everyone?" Infinity whirled around, worry starting to bubble in her chest. "This doesn't feel right...I can sense in in my bones." She took in her next breath, suddenly finding something different. Not just the smell of smoke, or death, she smelled something like a human but more... She froze, her tail twitching behind her. How did they miss it? "Lyyreth...I smell.." She sniffed again, tilting her head to the side. "Human?"

Lyyreth joined her sniffing, his frills twitching. "I smell it too...Not human..." His eyes widened, "An Elf."

Infinity's ears pinned back as a small cry filled her senses. One that sounded like a small child calling for her mother. "Someone's alive!" She bounded to one of the carts, grasping the wood firmly within her claws. With a violent rip she tore the beams apart with a thunderous crack, letting the sun flow into the confines of the wrecked wooden cart.

Inside sat a small little girl with neat well kept grey hair, clad in nothing but a brown dress lined with white lines stitched into the cloth. She hugged the corner of the cart with her legs pressed up against her body, her hands trembling. In her grasp was a potato, her amber eyes flickered with fear. She shouted something unintelligible in her own tongue, throwing the spud violently towards Infinity's snout.

The dragoness' reacted faster than the throw, catching the thing with her teeth and spitting it away to the ground. "Hey!" She pulled her head back. "We're not going to hurt you!"

Her words fell on deaf ears as the little girl didn't look away. She sunk a hand into a brown bag of potatoes beside her, shouting and tossing another one with a startled cry.

"What's going on over there?" Lyyreth called out, voice filled with worry as he started over with a trot.

"Survivor." Infinity sighed, avoiding another potato launched at her by the terrified little girl. "Doesn't speak any languages I know." She sighed, glancing back to the crying elf. Who despite her failure grabbed yet another potato with a trembling hand. It reminded her how she had met Axton. His fright at being in her cage for the first time. The memory passed, leaving her cold.

"Here." Lyyreth ducked from a thrown potato his way. The spud sailing off to thwack against a carriage. The green dragon placed a claw to Infinity's snout, muttering some words of power. Small strands of translucent yellow light flowed around his digits, dancing around and passing to her nose. From there they swirled around her eyes, and brought the sensation of a winter's breeze to her cheeks.

"Get away beasts!" The little girl shouted, tossing yet another potato towards them. This time it struck Lyyreth, uselessly falling to the ground.

"Can she understand me now?" Infinity lowered her head, trying to seem un threatening by splaying her ears. "We mean you no harm little one. We stumbled upon this..this.."She gestured to the broken carts with a wingtalon. "Can you tell us what happened?"

The little girl dipped her hand once more into the sack, her face flushed and red. "You're what happened!" She screamed, eyes filling with tears as she loosed the potato.

Infinity rose a brow, her ears flicking back as Cordenth landed behind them with a flap of his wings.

"Well...not you exactly." The girl lowered her arm, head going along with it. Like the fire she had inside of her was fading. "But you're all alike."

"Um..No..I dislike murder." Infinity said softly.

"Are you going to eat me now?" The girl grabbed her legs, holding them closer as a sob worked its way out of her. "Or shoot lightning at me like the other?"

Infinity's face instantly softened, her ears splaying one more as she brushed Lyyreth away, snaking her snout inside the cart. "I don't eat anyone little elf."

"Neither do I." Lyyreth placed a claw to his chest.

"I can safely say its not on my list of things I enjoy." Cordenth settled down onto his haunches, curling his tail around him as he looked around at the area.

Infinity slipped her neck an inch further as the girl's sounds devolved into terrible, pain filled cries. Ones that made the dragon's heart feel like it was being squeezed.

"He's dead..All because of me..." She rose her head her pointy ears drooping, tears streaming down her cheeks like little rivers. They dripped off her jaw and splattered against the floor. "Please...just make it quick."

"I just said..We're not going to kill you little one." Infinity lowered her voice, trying to sound soothing.

"Then...Then why are you here? Are you here to torture me? Bring me back? Don't you work." She paused, looking as if she had taken bite of a horrid meal. "For him?"

"Back? Back to who?" Infinity tilted her head, the little girl's words confusing to say the least.

"And we don't work for anyone." Cordenth added. "Least of all people that would swoop in and do this to a group of innocent elves."

"Home.."The girl trembled, pulling her legs closer. "I don't want to go back home..We only wanted to get away..."

Infinity glanced to the two male dragons. Lyyreth squirmed as if unsure of what to do. She figured that he had not dealt with many upset children. Cordenth on the other claw had lowered his voice to match Infinities own. He was making small shushing sounds like a mother might make to an ailing baby. She took an extended breath, slowly inching her face ever closer to the trembling girl. "I know how that feels." She said, her spines drooping as the tower came back into focus.

"How could you?" The girl said softly, her eyes reflecting the compassionate ones Infinity was giving her. "Mother and father were right...We should have just stayed in the village."

"Mother and father?"

"Yea...They told us to stay" The girl started crying again, sulking her head and pointing to the bodies outside. "One of those outside..."

She reached towards the child hesitantly, ready to pull back. "I know..Cause I've been where you are right now. I left a home I didn't like...and it cost me.." She flattened her ears. "Something most precious to me."

The girl stared into her eyes, her expression softening as her legs slipped from her. "I believe you." She said, her voice but a whisper. Her eyes started to mist, tears leaking from them.

"Who..who was the other you spoke of?" Lyyreth hung his head, glancing back to the bodies.

Infinity scooped up the child, who did not resist her action. She pulled her close against her chest with one limb. She could feel her shiver, and press her face against the grey scales like she knew they wouldn't hurt her now.

"My brother...We tried to escape with some adventurers that found our village. They swore to help us escape....To a land that didn't have the tyranny of dragons hanging over our heads." She paused, realization coming to her eyes and looked up. "Sorry...I meant...from OUR dragon's tyranny." Pain shined in her eyes as they wavered on the verge of tears. "So....you're not going to eat me?"

Infinity nearly scoffed at the words. It was as if the little one could barely believe that there were dragons that wouldn't maim or devour her like a little morsel. "I promise." She said softly, staring into the little one's eyes. "On my scales and flames."

"Okay." She took a pause, taking a deep breath. "The village where I'm from. They pay tribute to a great purple dragon." She looked up to the sky, trembling like a leaf in Infinity's grasp. "My brother thought if we got away...We could start a new life away from him. So when the adventurers came and offered a way...We took it." She sighed, her eyes falling to the corpses that had flies that buzzed and landed on the mangled flesh. "Then...He found us...Killed everyone...and took two of the adventurers...probably as examples for the others." Tears returned to her cheeks, making her bury her head info Infinity's chest. Whimpers and sobs escaped her mouth as the little elf trembled and her body quaked. "I would...be dead too if..if..." Words failed the elf as cries became the only sound she could make. They hung in the air, making Infinity's heart throb and tighten. The black dragoness lowered her head, nuzzling at the pointy eared girl, licking her face softly.

"Shh.." She said softly, sounding like a mother as she licked the shivering girl.

"It's..not..fair..I shoulda asked him to stay...begged." Her voice started to crack, as sobs threatened to take over.

"This dragon sounds like an ill omen." Lyyreth looked around, wrinkling his snout at the carnage. "And he's not afraid to kill indiscriminately."

Infinity pressed the girl closer as she continued to cry, her tail swishing behind her. This purple dragon sounded like the lich in a twisted sort of way. Capturing and torturing these elves like this for seemingly no good reason. From the trees she remembered the undead creature's eyes as she lay tortured and bleeding on his floor. How it had made her shiver and quake. How she had felt like nothing to him. No one should ever be made to feel that way. She felt a flame stir inside of her chest, swirl around and threaten to escape. With her next breath she knew what Axton would have said to her, what the brave little human would have done. "Maybe." She looked up to the two green dragons giving her concerned looks. "We can take care of this problem."

"I don't know how...No one else has been able to."

"Did you perhaps have three dragons to assist you little maiden?" Cordenth slunk his head closer, giving her a grin. "Cause this sounds like a rather noble quest to take upon our shoulders. Three brave and heroic dragons coming to the rescue of some fair elven maiden. Right out of a story book it sounds like."

"No." She rose her head, chuckling at the mention of stories. She shifted her eyes to look square into Infinity's emerald ones. The black dragoness could see the flicker of hope resting in those blackened pools, casting out the fear and pain. "Y...You'll help?" The girl stuttered, wiping away her tears with a sniff.

Infinity nodded, giving the girl a lick across her face with her slippery eel. "I will if the others agree to help." She spun her head to the boys, giving them fiery glares to let them know to agree. This was important after all.

"It would be my pleasure little one." Lyyreth bowed his head with a refolding of his wings as the little elf looked to him. The girl's gaze then went to Cordenth who gave her a reassuring nuzzle and a quick snort.

"Someone has to watch out for these two. Might as well be me right?" He to bowed his head with closed eyes. " I will assist you little maiden, and swear on my scales and wings to protect you from harm."

Infinity rolled her eyes at the display, of course the green had to put on a little act. Although she breathed in relief that her new friends at least had her tail in such matters.

"And what about you?" The girl's attention went back to the dragoness, her hands moving to the underside of Infinity's jaw. "No running away."

"Would never dream of it." She rumbled, her lips forming a smirk.

"Thanks." She smiled warmly, looking round to all the dragons. Her eyes widened in realization before she gave an infectious giggle. "Oh..How rude of me..I am Amatae."

"Hello there Amatae." Infinity nuzzled her with a purr. "I am Night Rising."