FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The world kept with it's timely rotations, time slowing never in it's continuous pace. With it came change in the world as endless as time itself, and only rarely would it ever stop for anything. Synxirazu noticed it, but only subconsciously. He had existed for so long that time failed to register in his world worn mind. With his long lived existence, he had no need to keep track. But not all were as lenient as he on the passage of the seasons.

He began noticing an increase in the number of creatures upon the earth, and was pleasantly surprised when he noticed another creature like him flying east towards his mountains. His curiosity grew when the being took notice of Synx, and made a line towards him.

The creature was unusual, lengthy in body and wingless, yet it flew through the air far more gracefully than he ever could. It had the antlers of the creatures that had begun migrating to the valley, and that the dragoness would occasionally partake in. It had wisps flowing at it's sides, sprouting fluidly from it's muzzle.

It approached his home with great speed, and he began to wonder if it intended to crash into his home. He made a move to get out of the way, in case the being was hurt, when it slowed down drastically before reaching one hundred feet away, and slowly landed within his abode. It's bright golden eyes shimmered as it looked hard at Synx.

He kept his composure, though he was ready to fight if this one should start a problem with him. His suspicion's were misplaced, though, as his guest relaxed and began speaking in an ethereal voice.

"I noticed you from the sky, and remembered seeing others like you in other parts of the world. I assumed you were friend, and have decided to give you a warning."

Synx was taken aback by one being able to understand this newcomer, and by the fact that he was about to be warned. Perhaps this one was dangerous after all?

As though to counter Synx's thoughts, the creature shook it's head, continuing calmly.

"I am not your foe, and mean you no malcontent. I am like you, and bid you no grudge undue. I am heading east to find a new home, as are many of my kin. The world is becoming far more dangerous as time progresses, and I have come to find my old home inhabited by the humans who have been migrating across this landmass. They are the ones I come to warn you about."

At this, Synx raised a paw to interrupt.

"It has been three hundred and forty-six years since the last humans settled in my lands and their wise folk have deemed these lands unfit for habitation. I need not fear them any longer coming to my valley."

The other looked to Synx gravely and looked out upon the lands.

"They are indeed beautiful, aren't they?" it asked.

Synx was confused for a moment, then realized that his guest spoke of the trees and life and flora the had come to take root in his home.

It continued, "It will be gone soon. The world is becoming smaller and smaller, and our hiding places are wearing thin. Even our most secret bastions are being closed in on, and we no longer feel safe. Mankind grows and develops, stronger and stronger, and their numbers blossom like the flowers upon the fields." He continued to face the world for a time, before turning back to his host. "They fear us, but as their numbers grow, so does their courage. We have been their foes for so long now, they even have a name for us. The ones near us have come to call us monsters in their tongue, dragon to our ears. They will never stop, so long as they will their continuation of species."

Synx growled and his teeth lay bared.

"They would not dare to take this valley from me. There is another here who I would also think finding humans invading our homeland to be intolerable. Let them come, they will soon learn that these lands are labeled as cursed for good reason!"

The line of the dragon's maw spread longer in a smile as he listened, then shook his head and stood as adamant as ever.

"Many of my own have perished with a mindset like that. It pains me that you would choose death instead, but fills me with pride that you would stand strong against those who would dare oppose you. I have warned you, and I wish you the best of tidings. May the stars watch you."

With that, the dragon left, flying to the east on it's journey to a new home. Synx grunted as he went to lay back down, the words of his guest rattling in his skull like a pebble in a gulley. He watched over the valley with an intense eye regardless of how he felt. No one was taking his home from him; not so long as he, and his blue companion, remained nested here.

She had watched with great curiosity as the great, snake like creature flew through the air without wings. It didn't notice her as her hill was far below it's eye level, but she admired it's shimmering scales for a time, wondering if it was related to her friend in the mountain. Though it was so different, it had a few striking similarities, such as the paws and claws and scales and tail. She chuckled at the rhyme her mind had made, then looked out over the valley from the mouth of her cave.

The grass that was growing now was a luscious yellow in her eyes, and soft against her fur when she would walk out into the fields when she decided not to fly. It even began to grow within her cave, encroaching as far as the sun would let it, making her home even more homely than before. She could remember a time when this cave barely comforted her in the long winter months, but now she could truly hold it as her homestead. She remembered when she had been removed from it by the presence of man, and how she had longed to return to what she could call nothing shorter than home.

Living here so long, it would be hard for her to wrestle herself from this place again, finding she would rather fight to the death again and again to keep her patch hers. Thanks to her cousin in the mountain, it had been made to stay free of the pests that would hinder her happiness here. She gazed to the mountains at the thought, and sighed.

How long had she known of him? How many years had passed without her even speaking to him? What would she say? She knew no language he would understand, and she couldn't understand anything that he had said to her.

Centuries upon centuries. Almost a millennia she had gone on knowing there was someone out there who could quell her loneliness, could keep her company and make her feel like there was something for her here. True, she had lived a solitary existence most of her long life, only coming across a rare few that she had spent her time with, and even then it had been but a fleeting moment in her memory. And beyond that, she did not gain her cautiousness from merry meetings. Those she had placed her trust into more likely than not had a darker intention at heart and her consequences were dire and painful.

She shook her head as the sound of wind passed by her, and she breathed in the scent of the fresh air around her, so clean and crisp to her senses. She need not think of such things right now. She was happy, and she would not be stopped by the ghosts of her memories.

She took to the sky, leaving the grass beneath her lift off point flattened momentarily by the gust of wind her wings emitted. She felt energized and adventurous today. She decided she would explore a greater expanse of the area. In all the time she had lived here, she had never done so.

Now is as good a time as ever to broaden my horizons, she thought to herself, tilting her body to take to a different sky.

He watched her leave her home, rising to the sky. She took a different direction than she normally did. Grief gripped his soul for a moment before he realized she wouldn't have fought the humans if she would have just migrated later. Curiosity befell him, and he decided he would come with. After all, he may have seen much of the world, but the world was changing since he last left his valley home.

Shaking himself free of the shackles of gravity he took a running start and leapt from the mouth of his cave, plummeting down the mountain side, fanning out his wings just before the tree line and rising up on the warm wind currents that soon filled his wings. He would keep up with her, but only enough that he could follow her without losing sight of her. After all, he was still unsure of how she would react to his presence. It was with that thought that he took after her into the warm noonday sky.

The landscape barely changed as she flew, and it comforted her that her home could extend so far in that manner. She wouldn't get homesick by simply going too far. She swooped beneath a patch of trees that were well spaced, enjoying the playful thought of being like many avian that would fly throughout the forests as easily as this.

Though similar, the land did indeed begin to shift and the climate adjust. She came across great stone pillars naturally formed by erosion from the wind and rain. She swooped in between them, and even came across a rock formation that had a giant hole in the middle. She took great delight in flying through it again and again.

During her youthful demonstration, her eye caught to a large shape in the distance, one she had come to be familiar with.

It was him. He was following her.

Her playful demeanor evaporated as she watched him, continuing her loops as though she hadn't noticed him at all, still very wary of his presence. He seemed to realize that she knew after a time, as he changed course beyond her field of sight and ducked beneath the trees.

When she lost her view of him, she became antsy and slight irate that he would follow, then try to avoid her. But she would not let his suspicious behavior delude her pleasure. She took off past the rock formation and took a southern wind away from the area.

He peeked his head out from beneath the trees, dwarfing great pines with his size. He was sure she hadn't seen him, but her less than jovial disappearance made him think otherwise. He just spotted her heading in a different direction, off to the south. He kicked out of the forested patch he had plunged into, rising into the sky.

He could remember this part of the land from his memories long ago. It had indeed changed much after the great winter. Before ice had encrusted the planet, it had been a beautiful green paradise. Now it had lost some of it's luster, instead appealing to sandy deserts and hotter sunlight. Oasis' stood as a monument as to what had been, but even those offered little sanctuary.

He returned his thoughts to his quarry, finding her far ahead of him, and he wondered now if she was trying to avoid him. She had turned back to the west, heading back towards their home, but still further south.

It was just as green was returning to the colors of the land when she did as he had, ducking beneath a lightly forested area. He held back for a moment, until he noticed a plume of smoke coming from the north of the trees. When he flew closer, he noticed that the line that he had noticed had simply been the biggest.

Many fires are needed to create so much smoke... This does not bode well. He thought to himself as he followed after Anahlea. His thoughts turned to the dragon that had warned him earlier that day, then shook it from his head, making to catch up with her.

She hid well, even among the green trees. Her fur likened to the swaying plant life that had grown in this land. He landed and looked about for her, though he seemed more cautious than even she. She wondered if he, too, had noticed the encampment of humans nearby.

She grew curious and confused when he stiffened suddenly, and it was that break in her concentration that allowed her to hear what it was he had.

The grass rustled without wind. She was being hunted.

No longer caring if he knew where she was, she turned and growled, looking among the foliage for those that might cause her woe. Two humans hid amongst the trees and, upon realizing they had been found out, yelled and one threw his weapon at her, missing by inches. She let out an ear-splitting roar that was just beyond their hearing, causing Synxirazu to flinch from it as his ears slapped against his head from the pitch. The humans began to flee but not before she leapt upon one of them, grabbing his head in her maw and twisting it, his neck cracking as she threw the body after his companion.

The man stumbled but did not fall, apparently well versed in speed in agility. He made his way swiftly through the trees, far easier than she could, onwards to the camp beyond. She slowed and stopped. She was not about to follow the hornet to it's nest. She took to the skies immediately, flying to her home as quickly as her wings would carry her. She could hear the flapping of great wings behind her as her companion took flight as well. She looked below her as she flew over and past the camp, and her mind was baffled by the number of faces looking up at her. So many humans...

Synxirazu shuddered during flight as he, too, passed beyond the camp, the people below cowering in fear as the massive beast rattled their tents with the beating of it's wings. As he passed, they shouted angrily at him the sound of war cries and curses. Looking upon their masses, he could only guess that they numbered in the hundreds. There must have been over a thousand little people below, maybe more. He couldn't understand how these creatures multiplied so quickly.

The weapons they carried were not just spears now, either, as he spotted strange contraptions made of stick and twisted tree bark. He couldn't fathom their uses, instead worrying about the warning he had been given earlier...

It was coming to summer again, a year after they had came across the camp. Both he and she had gone their separate ways after happening upon the humans in the forest. She had much to think about as it was. What were those humans doing so close to her home? True, flight allowed her to take much less time to get from place to place, but even so they were only a mere fifty miles from where she lived.

She did not fear them, but if they came closer in that number she would be hard pressed to halt their march. Even with his help, she and he could not stop them without sustaining serious harm. She was immortal, but death was just as painful the thousandth time as the first, and she didn't know if he was immortal like she was. How tragic it would be that her final encounter with him would be nothing more than a passing season in the eternity of her life.

She shook the thought from her head. It wasn't going to happen that way. She wouldn't let it happen that way. They would see their last days if they intruded upon the two dragon's home.

Synx had contemplated that entire year about the appearance of the humans, wondering if they planned to migrate to his home. They would be rudely surprised if they were so bold. He clawed at the wall, causing chunks of rock to crumble and fall. The instinct to keep this claws sharp has been on the rise in him since he had returned from their little adventure.

He had also been keeping a covert watch on the humans progression. The camp had closed half the distance between the valley and their original location but then stopped for some reason, going no further than twenty five or so miles. Though they moved no more, he kept a cautious eye on them. It seemed as though they might stay there and leave Synx and Anahlea in peace.

Years spanned quietly, leaving them truly in peace, as the humans made no attempt to come closer. Though he continued to watch them, they kept their distance, and he remembered seeing one of them in his valley at one time, watching Anahlea as she roamed the skies and hunted. If anything, they seemed intrigued by her, despite her killing of one of their own.

As time went on, he continued to see the humans becoming more and more adventurous, never moving camp, but exploring further none the less. With their exploration came the sudden deforestation of a set area around the camp. At first, Synx was enraged at the loss of flora and vegetation, and even went as far as to sound his roar as menacingly as possible from the highest point of his mountain as a warning. With time, though, he continued to watch. They stopped pulling down trees, and instead started using them. Sturdier tents were made out of wood and mud, and even after a time the fallen trees became wooden walls, pointed at the top ends as though to keep others from climbing it.

Synxirazu watched them cautiously, noting that sometimes wild animals would make such barriers to stake their territory. If they humans planned to stay there, perhaps they would leave their little valley alone...

Anahlea was curious though, and after another thirty five years her curiosity overwhelmed her as she decided to get a closer look. She took off from her hillside home, and began her journey towards the camp.

Hidden in the taller grass, two young humans watched her, awed by her flight, before they quickly got up and rushed back towards the smaller camp hidden in the trees from even the large dragon's view. They noticed before they fell back into the trees, the large dragon took flight, as though to follow her.

She flew through the air, following the smoke plume in the distance as a beacon to the humans. Though her first experience encountering the creatures had been a harrowing and torturous one, those feelings had long since simmered down and melted away into the deepest part of her caution. She wasn't stupid, though, and landed a mile before she came within sight of the camp. She picked her way through the forestry, avoiding making too much noise, though noting how it seemed her movements went by unnoticed to the bustling noise within the walls.

After a time, she managed to come across an opening in the wall that was just large enough for two of her to fit through. She came to the edge of the forest just outside of those walls, and ducked down well enough to be hidden from view. Her eyes widened as she looked within.

It was no longer a camp, but a village. There were larger structures than simple animal skin over sticks as she had seen before so long ago. Like little caves made of wood, they stood and humans walked in and out of them of all shapes and sizes and ages. Her tail swayed as she observed the life of the human she had once hated. She was enthralled on how complicated their lives were, and she could see humans taking things to other humans, and exchanging them for something else.

Her musings and observations were interrupted by the sound of rustling in the woods behind her. She turned her head, then quietly stalked away from her hiding place as a band of humans walked out of the forest and into the walls. One of them stopped at the edge of the forest and looked off in her direction. She ducked her head further down until the human left, then raised it again.

A wild idea gripped her, but she realized it would be suicide to do so. She wanted to walk among them and see their reaction to a dragoness in their midst. She remembered though that it was she that killed one of them those many years ago, and she shook her head. She instead lay contently among the foliage to watch them until nightfall, wishing she could know what it was like.

Synxirazu had landed further back than she had, knowing that she was far smaller, and able to get closer without being spotted by the humans. When he found where she was hiding he, too, lay contently to watch and observe their new neighbors, and keep an eye on her.

He didn't know how long they had laid, but his eyelids had begun to grow heavy. In his weariness, he decided it was safe enough where they were to have a rest. His dreams whisked back to those of when he and Anahlea had first met, and he slept soundly and contently as a result.

It was the sound of shouting and dogs barking that awoke him from his slumber. He looked around alertly, and alarm overtook him as he found Anahlea no longer laying where he had last seen her. He sat up straight, his mane just barely poking above the trees as he peered through them, towards the camp. In the night that had fallen, he realized he could get a better view without being seen by standing.

He stood and looked over the walls of the camp from a distance to find what he feared most; Anahlea was within the camp, and humans surrounded her. He felt his claws dig into the ground as he made to leap into the camp, ready to protect her, only to find something telling him to wait. He observed, hackles raised, and realized that the humans weren't moving or acting aggressive. As a matter of fact, though they came close to her they did naught but touch her body, and some were even stroking her fur in what was clearly envy.

Confusion flooded his mind as he watched these normally vicious creatures adore the dragoness of his dreams. He would not intervene or appear, but he wouldn't take his eyes off of her.

She was delighted.

Everyday since that night, she would come back and socialize with the humans. They would speak to her, and though they couldn't hear or understand her responses, they took her manner to be that of a friendly creature. Synxirazu would follow her every time she went on an excursion to the village, leaving no room for trust in his every vigilant eye.

She didn't mind him following her, and eventually, she hoped that this experience with the humans would help her overcome her caution for him. Maybe she would even go to visit him someday soon. The humans welcomed her, and she came to learn how to tell their genders apart, and after doing so, took great efforts to learn exactly what put them apart, surprising some of them when she flapped her wings at one of the women, making her clothing flutter and float up, revealing for a moment her most private parts. The woman shrieked and the men laughed and the children turned away and made faces of disgust.

Her visits soon became as common as the rising sun, and with every visit she made to them, she felt more and more comfortable with them, sometimes leaving the fly home to her cave for the morning, and spending the night within the walls of the village.

Synx couldn't take it anymore.

He managed to catch her on her way back to the hillside cave, and stopped her midair. Her hackles raised at him as she veered to avoid colliding with him, which had done to catch her attention. She let out a soft hiss at him, before he nodded to the ground and slowly descended till his feet touched. She slowly followed, realizing this was going to be their true first meeting.

Upon landing a considerable distance from him for safety, she watched him cautiously.

"You realize the danger you're putting yourself in?!" He said to her.

She didn't make a sound, but her searching eyes made it clear that she didn't understand a word he was saying. He groaned and decided to take a different approach.

He closed his eyes and held out his paw to her, hoping she would take it. He waited a full half hour before he finally felt her paw in his. He focused and showed her images of the human camp she had first came upon, and it sparked her memories of that time once more. But it merely infuriated her as the memories replayed themselves. He continued to warn her through images of her own torture that humans were not to be trusted, but she ripped her hand from his paw and growled in as low a pitch as she could muster, just able to be heard by human ears, before taking to the sky, leaving to her home in the hills, her tail turned to him in dismissal.

Downhearted, his spirit broken, Synxirazu took to the skies as well back to his home. From that point on, he stopped following her on her excursions, realizing it would just hurt his chances of having her company ever again. But he would watch her each time she left, and tears would grow at the edges of his eyes, threatening to fall but never parting with his eyes.

Several days after lamenting her parting with him, he watched her leave again to the village in the woods. He sighed and turned away, walking instead back to the furthest depths of his home, clawing at the rock until he found a layer of quartz he had not delved into yet, feasting on his diet of precious stones.

As night began to fall, he returned to the mouth of his home, and looked onward towards her hillside abode, waiting for her to return. He waited for a long time before he came to the conclusion that she was probably staying in the village tonight, but that she would return with the coming dawn.

He was wrong.

Days passed, and those days turned into weeks, and still he did not see her. His grief turned to worry, and he continued to watch for her.

After several months, he could not take it anymore. There was no way she would live amongst humans! She wouldn't abandon her home! She wouldn't abandon him.... Would she? He had to know. Running through the mouth of the cave out into the open air, he flared his wings and made his way to the village.

As he approached, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. He scanned the village, and his ear caught the sound of a pitch that no human could hear. It sounded like a whimpering animal, but no creature of this earth made that sound but one. His eyes looked heavily, catching every detail until he noticed a hut that hadn't been there before.

It was larger than the others and, by the looks of it, could fit one as large as his dragoness within it. The darkness let him blend in, his black scales almost seamless with the night. Getting close enough to be just outside of the walls, he peered over them, into the large building.

Inside of it was Anahlea, caged and bound inside. She seemed physically unhurt, which was odd. Humans were not like this to just leave a creature like her untouched. A few humans were still outside their homes, but they seemed to be guards. Why so few with her in that cage was strange.

He didn't have time to contemplate as someone shouted out. The next thing he knew, he could feel sharp pains in his wings and sides as men appeared from the forest, throwing hooked ropes up at him and latching them to his body. He was off balanced by it and they took advantage of his momentary vertigo. Yanking on their hooks, they dug into his body, the sharpened edges digging into his scales and piercing until blood broke out. After the preemptive strike, he managed to regain some of his composure, yanking at his captors and stumbling into the wall, crushing it beneath his weight, the pointed tops merely grazing him as he broke through a hut as well.

He had to reach her, and get her free. He wouldn't let her suffer again as she had. He was almost to her hut when the combined efforts of the humans managed to topple him, and he fell just out of reach. He scrabbled his paw to her, crying out to her.

"Get out of here! Break the bonds that tie you, and get out of here, while I have them distracted!!"

She couldn't understand him, but the situation led her to fight to free herself anyways, realizing that indeed her captors were struggling with her cousin, too large to pay her any notice. She went at nibbling away the ropes that kept her prisoner and when she had managed, she smashed herself against the wooden cages, breaking the thick branches after a few hits.

Seeing her free, he renewed his efforts to distract the humans, but they had him pinned and tied. One of them barked an order to others, and a sharp pain ran up Synx's back from his wings. He could feel them being pulled on harder and harder and he let out a furious roar as he realized what they were doing. He made to swipe at one of them with a huge paw, but they were too far away. He tried again, but just as he was smashing one away, he felt it.

A sickening crack rent the air, and he roared in agony.

He felt hot pain shoot through his shoulders where his wings used to be, stumps bleeding profusely, bone shooting out from where they had been ripped. He almost went unconscious as a raucous cheer rang out from the crowd, pleased with their accomplishment. He panted heavily as he looked around for Anahlea, hoping he wouldn't find her.

Just as his eyes were closing, he saw a flash of blue.

Her claws cut through one man's back, rending his spine from his body and tossing it aside as he folded back on himself, screaming as blood poured from his wound and his mouth. Her fury was unbridled and terrible to behold as she bit into the neck of another man, effectively making it part company with his body.

She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, ramming the human closest to Synx's head into the side of a hut, knocking him unconscious as his ribs broke under her skull plate. She cried out to him in a voice only he heard, in a language only she spoke. She knew not his name but it didn't matter to her. She would get him free.

She ran back at one of the men holding the ropes and rammed his arm, causing the bone to snap out of the skin sharply. He immediately relinquished the rope and yelled out in anger and pain. She slashed at the ropes, trying to take as many of the damned creatures with her, when she heard a man on a hut against the wall shout out. Immediately after, men rose up from the roofs of the buildings, having hidden there in preparation for this trap. She heard the twang of thin strings being released and the whistling of even thinner objects flying through the air. Most of them clacked off or stuck into Synx's hide, but one flew true, striking her in the back, and piercing through one of her lungs. She let out a shallow gasp as blood started to fill her lungs, and she hacked and wheezed, blue fluid dripping from her maw. She could just hear a roar behind her as wind seemed to rush in her ears.

She fell, but managed to pull herself back up, ready to keep fighting despite her imminent death. The bleeding would eventually kill her, but she knew she would be reborn. Until then, she had to protect him as best she could, or else they would kill him.

She charged forward to her next opponent, her steps growing steadily more unbalanced.

When he saw the arrow pierce her, he made to get up, ready to distribute his retribution for hurting her, when a larger man ran forward, swinging a heavy weapon. It crashed into Synx's jaw, and the hit caused his jaw to break down the middle of his muzzle. His paw instinctively hit the man, knocking him flush into one of the pointed spikes of the damaged wall. Dazed, Synx tried to gather his senses when he gazed to Anahlea, still fighting to save him. A group of large men surrounded her. She was weakening. He had to do something!

His tail whipped, snapping two men in half and knocking the rest away. Managing to stand, he stumbled towards her. But he was clumsy; He was in pain and awkward with his movement. He didn't know how much blood he had lost, but it was affecting his ability.

His vision started to fade a little, and from that darkness, a small, sinister voice spoke within him.

"You're dying, Jyhenmarhn."

He ignored the voice, his paw making contact with a fallen human, crushing him beneath his pads.

"I don't think you heard me. You're. Dying."

I know I am!!

"You know how I feel about you dying, right?"

I won't die. I don't need your help, stay out of this!

"If you die, I die, and I can't have that. I'm taking over..."

No you're not! I won't have you-

"Enough of this..."

He felt his body convulse, begin to change. The spikes that stuck out of his body sharpened and extended with a sickening sound. Synx groaned as his teeth grew sharper, his muzzle longer so as to hold more vicious fangs.

He wanted it to stop, he didn't need Styx...

Styx had almost assumed control when a cry of intense pain filled the air. Synx's head jerked towards the sound, knowing the pitch meant one thing.

She cried out as her bloody back leg lay on the ground, leaving her to balance on three legs and a stump, one of the men crying out in victory, a bronze axe above his head.

Synx's pupils narrowed, and an angry roar shook the earth. The man looked to the source and his skin paled beneath his orange beard.

"I said I was taking over."

No... You're not...

The man vanished from sight, Synx's paw moving so fast that the impact couldn't even be seen. An arm remained, the one that held the axe. But that man was the last to receive the most merciful death. Synx's eyes glowed darkly, as his lungs filled with air. He hardly registered the shouts and commands of the leaders, the faint prickle of arrows in his scales. Though he bled profusely, he could feel none of it.

Another roar filled the air, so loud that many a man, woman, and child screamed and held their ears, some bleeding as their eardrums burst and deafened them. A man stumbled in dazed pain. In a careless movement, Synx lowered his head to look the human in the eye, the last one to see the burning fury that was lit within. He gazed in horror as Synxirazu's maw came down on his body, clamping shut and severing his top half from his lower half cleanly, the man still screaming inside his maw, scrabbling to be free.

The blood tasted refreshing on his tongue, and he grinned viciously as he chewed at the man's body, leaving a mangled carcass within. He spit out bits that he didn't feel like swallowing, letting them all see the extent of his wrath. He extended a talon to a woman who held a bow, cruelly severing her arms from her body with a single swipe, leaving her to bleed to death.

Though he was in control, Styx influenced his desire to cause as much ruin to these pathetic creatures. And it took much pleasure in it.

Anahlea watched in horror as her savior became more of a monster than the entire village combined. His cruelty knew no bounds, and as her captors fled, so did she to one of the huts, hoping to avoid being caught in his unbound bloodbath. She whimpered even as her lung remained penetrated, coughing up the blue blood that coursed through her veins and out of her wound.

It was that sound that caught Synxirazu's attention, his head turning to the source of the noise. He stomped forward to see inside, ready to rip apart the inhabitants. She cowered when he appeared, tearing away the roofing of the building, and quietly awaited her fate.

But he stopped before going any further, and the expression upon his face changed from malice to horror as he realized all the he was doing. He leaned his head in slowly, and she hid her own head in her fur, buried with her stomach and bloody stump. He was taken aback at her fear, but softly leaned in still and let his dampened tongue lick at her head softly.

It was as though time had stopped for a moment.

One of those rare occasions where everything stopped moving, and sound ceased to exist.

She looked up to his face, seeing how drastically it had changed, and at first she was afraid. This was not the one she had longed to see for almost a millennia. This was a monster, with large spikes, vicious fangs and tearing claws.

But with the touch of his tongue a second time, and then another, slowly repeating themselves, it was as though it all melted away, and for a moment in time, frozen, she saw the image of another, the same being but different. It was fleeting and faded away, but the memory of it remained and she saw through the monster.

In that moment, time resumed and Anahlea saw through Synx's legs the humans regroup and prepare to renew their assault. She let out a growl and pointed behind Synx, and gazing behind himself, he saw them, too.

But now it wasn't sport for him. Styx had lost this battle. He was fighting for her.

He knocked them back with his tail as they charged, and spun around to face them. No more relishing in the carnage. It was time to end this...

He breathed deep, blood pouring from the 'x' shaped scar on his chest as his chest expanded wider to keep in the air. He closed his eyes as he focused heavily on the chaotic emanations within him. With one last breath, he opened his eyes, and took to the skies, looking down upon the world. His maw opened and with one last look of terror in their eyes, he unleashed the fury of chaos; Nevin Fire.

The black flames warped the very fabric of light, and natural fires were snuffed in the resulting winds caused by the all consuming energies that swirled and ate at everything they touched, enveloping human and animal alike. The huts burned with it and the people screamed then went eerily silent as the fire swallowed their very soul, burning them from existence on this plane and the next eternally.

Anahlea closed her eyes as the burning black and white was too much for her. It's chaotic energies were not even distorted in color by her vision.

The energies that had gathered within him finally quelled. He could no longer keep himself aloft without his wings, and the energies slowly dropped him to the ground where he landed on all fours and barely managed to keep himself standing.

Panting, he looked back to her, seeing that at least she wasn't hurt any further. But even so, he could see the blood gathering beneath her, and knew her time would come soon. He had only wished he had been here sooner, had not made the foolish mistake to think that he could take on so many by himself. Mankind was a clever creature, neither strong nor powerful but wily beyond their years.

He looked at her in grief, and she returned the look softly as though to comfort him as she stumbled a little and fell to the ground.

She wanted to assure him that she would be alright, that she would come back, but her mind was too muddled to let him know her thoughts. The world began to grow dark as she coughed out more blood, her hearts struggling to keep her alive as her pierced lung bursts from the blood that had filled it. She went to raise her head to his, as he leaned it down to touch his nose to hers, assuring that he would be there until the end.

She smiled and shook her head, and he drew back his head in confusion and sadness, but before she could do anything else, one of her hearts failed and she gasped, causing her other lung to burst from the large intake of air. She collapsed to the ground as her life slowly slipped away.

When her eyes opened again, she found herself in a cave. She was confused by this. Had it simply been a dream? Was she home?

A sound made her jump, and she found Synx floating into the cave, his wings looked as though nothing had happened to them at all. Upon seeing her alive, he let out a loud whimper of joy and hurried to her side, looking her over.

She mimicked him, finding her body in perfect shape, her hearts beating as strongly as ever. She took a deep breath, finding her lungs working properly, and sighed in relief.

Through much effort, he managed to commune to her that she had been in death's sleep for three seasons. She was confused, but perhaps death had been so comforting to her that she had taken longer than usual to regenerate her form. She had needed a good sleep perhaps, to rest her weary soul and put her mind at ease. She bumped his nose with hers gently, looking him over.

He guessed what she was looking for. He let images of his own regeneration flow into her mind, the painful process where his bone would grow back and muscle and flesh following shortly after. That image alone made her glad that she was dead while she regenerated the worst of her wounds.

She stayed many moons with him, and through images, he promised to care for her as long as she wanted. Though tempted, she longed for her home in the side of the hill. But a nose bump before her departure eased his mind; She would return.

With one last look she left with the setting sun, and he watched her go, longing for the next time he would see her.