FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 3

He planted his paws upon planks before the inn, after finding the roof wouldn't support his weight no matter what size he would be. He wasn't going to be turning any smaller. With a flick of his tail, his wings pinned as he admired the sorrowful state of what had to be a most welcoming place. The wooden sign that marked it was a cheery alligator was cleaved in twain, fragments still clinging to the hinges for dear life. The exterior bore marks of fighting, from axes to swords and sharpened claws. The windows were obliterated, no trace of glass remained, the front door was practically Swiss cheese. The place creaked in the wind, seeming to stare through the dragon's soul. For a moment he shivered, icy claws clawing down his spine, as he swore the thing resembled a toothy maw of some large beast, whispers of shape changing beasts that his father used to scare his brother and himself, rudely coming to the forefront of his mind.

Padding over after a deep breath, he found, to his dismay, that what remained of the door toppled over at the slightest touch. Instinct guided him like a puppet, dragging the dragon safely back with a quick beating of his wings, and racing of the heart. Muscles stayed tense as he watched the motes of dust flicker in the quiet sunlight. Claws dug into the wood beneath them, waiting for something to emerge...Nothing happened.

"Course there is nothing." He scoffed, laughing to himself to cleave through the tension. He must have been losing his mind, Broxl said there was nothing! Even so, he searched around him, making sure that none of his companions had bore witness to his momentary fright. Last thing he needed was his most regal stature being tarnished by what a group of onlookers, believed to have happened.

He returned to the now pile of rubble door, scattering it away with a swipe of his paw. He growled at it, just to make sure it didn't scare him again. What he found inside was little better than the town itself, the cozy quarters that patrons used to frequent was little more than a junkyard. Tables were broken and tossed over, chairs splintered and missing their legs. Tankards were tossed aside, their content's stain mixing with the dried blood of their owners. There were signs of battle that was to be sure, and the smell within reeked of the metal tang of flesh. Someone had been in here, certainly had fought, but the outcome appeared rather bleak.

"Least that didn't die." He whispered, sniffing at the stains. There wasn't enough for a body, and he saw no drag marks. Whoever had fought had escaped. Or were taken away by their attackers, he thought with a narrowing brow. Unfortunately for him, that also meant whatever treasures they had were taken with them, leaving the dragon empty handed as he searched around the piles of rubble. Perhaps this kobold agent had been picked off? Not killed as he himself had predicted. Grinning to himself he pranced from corner to corner, already counting the praises for his discovery. Sure it wasn't great but anything was certainly better than death. Just as he was manipulating a tankard in the shape of a portly woman, a cream pierced the silence above, freezing his paws in their tracks.

Could there be someone here? Draconic pride battered down any sense of worry that may have lingered within his heart. Loud and blusterous, he swelled his chest. "Are there any survivors up there? We mean you no harm! Feel free to give thanks that we have come to rescue your tiny lives from this, abysmal state of a town...Of course, if you're the ones who caused all this mess...Then of course I mean you a great deal of harm. When I get my paws on you, I'll be taking out all the frustration you've caused me." As his tail curled, scattering some loose wood he realized his mistake. If they were who caused this, that no doubt threatening statement would force them to hide!

"Course I make more work myself." He grumbled, slinking quietly to the stairs. They seemed sturdy enough to support him, a tentative paw tested that assertion. "I'll enlighten you on your meager chances if you did harm this town. I am a dragon, and whatever pitiful way you have of hiding will prove fruitless to my superior senses! You might as well reveal yourself now and save us both the aggravation...And if you're a tiny kobold in need of rescuing-" He shifted his tone to a more brassy one, filled with all the heroic qualities he _knew_he possessed. "Fear not little one. I come with a whole pawful of companions. I've even brought your girlfriend Vishta! I give you my word as...I repeat, a dragon, you will come to no harm! Now I know this fact might give you pause, and if you wish to prostrate yourself before me in thanks...I will not mind this!"

All that answered him was the breeze from outside.

Oh well, it was worth a try. With a great grunt he bounded up the aged, weathered stairs. They creaked and shuttered under his weight, threatening to break with every stride. Claws scraped new lines among them, propelling the increasingly proud of himself dragon up to the next floor. There he stilled, slowing his breaths, and waiting for a sudden move down this empty hallway. He heard the creek again, further down, inside one of the many shattered rooms. He grinned, of course there had been nowhere to hide. Tossing caution to the wind he scampered to the entrance, finding a broken bed, feathers from the mattress strewn about the floor, and a headless kobold lying at the center.

He nearly stumbled, the excitement fading away, only to be replaced with a twang of cold. His wings pinged, tail coiled, even his frills pinned for a second as he lingered upon the dried blood and blank stare of the severed head. No pain, no shock. Victory was bitter sweet. "I guess a certain someone owes me an apology. I was right."

He stepped over the blood covered body, careful not to sully his scales. Without regard he rummaged through the dresser, ripped up the sheets, even searched through the fireplace. Everything of value had been stripped from this place or met an untimely end. Despite this he found a leather satchel, that must have been absentmindedly kicked away. With a trill he sat upon his haunches, dumping the hefty contents onto the floor with a series of dull thuds. Soon the floor was covered with trinkets and little treasures, his greedy heart sung. He spied several coins of different nations, maps of the marsh and abroad. Yet as the dragon plucked each item up and observed, nothing stood out as exceptionally valuable. Course there would be no silver lining to this trip. Just a ghost of a town without a trace of it's people, and the dead agent they were here to find!

Slumping to his belly, he sulked. He supposed whatever praises he got from his companions would warm his scales. Not to mention they'd no doubt cease their searching and allow him to sleep. Making sure to get a head start he closed his eyes, only then remembering the creek.

Like a spring he shot up, eyes darting from every shard of wood to nail, muscles turned to steel, his nerves grew hot. What had made the noise if the kobold was dead this entire time? He sniffed over the corpse, verifying that this indeed had been the case. Had it been the wind? An illusion meant to trick him? Cordenth counted off the possibilities as he stared at every nook or cranny that he thought someone might be hiding. According to his flared nostrils, there was nothing to be found, just the sweet stench of decay from the kobold below.

"Then who made it?" He whirled around, batting the kobold's head with his paws, "Unless you're going to tell me you can actually move like this."

Grisly, the head rolled, bumping into a desk that sat opposite him. There the shadows seemed to waver in the light, as if they were beneath the ocean's waves. The dragon's head cocked, wondering what possessed the shadows to behave in such a manner. That's when he got his answer, as twin eyes emerged, glowing with the intensity of a forge. A blackened mass surged forward, tendrils reaching out to trap it's newly found prey.

Scrambling out of the way, Cordenth stumbled into the bed, destroying what semblance of order remained. The blackened ribbon of unholy energies swept around the room, swimming from shadow to shadow. By the time he'd righted himself, he found twin claws of unholy energy raking against his scales. Where they went, coldness followed, as if his lifeforce was being drained right out of him. He growled and tried to slash at this abomination of life, only to find his claws swept right through it as if it weren't there.

Of course! His eyes widened as the creature flowed like water around him, stabbing his haunches with it's attack. He cursed himself as he leaped across the room, it was true to it's name, a shadow. They'd linger in forgotten places with only one purpose, to reduce the living to nothing more than husks, turning them into more of themselves. He tried his poison breath, enveloping the room in a noxious green cloud. Of course, this did little to eat back his aggressor, it lacked any lungs! It stung at his scales again like a swarm of angry bees, only fueling the dragon's rage inside. Yet again his physical strength proved useless, only forcing himself to retreat.

When it hounded after him, he instead tried his magic. He channeled tendrils from the wave to enchant his paws, his claws shimmering a vibrant blue as the unholy creature shot towards him. This time he leaped out, fangs bared, slicing through it's blackened hide like butter. Landing he whirled around, smirking as parts of it's form had started to burn away, as if a piece of parchment to flame. It tried to retreat this time, seeing that its prey could in fact harm it.

"Oh, no you don't." He hissed, closing the distance to the weakened creature in the blink of an eye. With all his strength he shattered the floor where it was, reducing it to nothing more than dust in the air. His chest swelled as a long breath filled his lungs, relishing the thrill of victory. "What did you expect to happen shadow? At least you've finally put a rest to the bet with my brother. You're nothing more than mindless vermin."

Pride flowing through his veins, he strut down the steps, the kobold's corpse held firmly in his jaws, like a cat with a freshly caught meal. The leather pack was tied around his tail, just to inform any who saw it that they'd know who'd claimed it. With every step the package would clatter, the head stashed inside threatening to tumble out. When he emerged into the sun filled air, he smiled, taking a deep breath over the praises that would await him. Now he just had to make it an event.

He planted himself on his haunches, making sure to strike the correct pose. Something that matched his regal and heroic self. One that painters might want to replicate, make eyes sparkle in awe. There he waited, tail curling around him, glad that this little detour would be at an end. The minutes dragged on, shifting his excitement back to boredom. Just as he'd started to drum his claws along the planks below, a scream pierced through the silence like a thunderclap.

Ice slithered its way down his throat, seizing tight his heart. There was no mistaking the sound of Lyndis. He dropped what he had, sliced free the pack and loosed himself into the air in a matter of heartbeats. Around he whirled, scanning across the shattered roofs in a panic, doing double takes to ensure he wasn't missing a thing. Sure enough he located them, sprinting across a walkway dangling between two trees close to the water's surface. Creatures like the one he'd fought pursued them and were rapidly closing the distance between themselves and his companions. Angling his wing, the dragon swooped towards them, announcing his arrival with a protective roar.

"Come on and leg it!" Lyndis shouted, easily at the front of the pack. She peered back only once to loose a palm sized ball of flame, burning away, but not destroying the wave of darkness that pursued them. "Unless the look of a husk appeals to ya!"

"Why didn't you say from the start that only magic could hurt them?" Snapped back Vishta, the kobold's legs whipping by in a blur. She stumbled, almost falling onto her face thanks to an uneven board. "It would have solved this whole issue!"

"Just run, never mind who said what." Broxl manned the rear, arrow held firmly in his hand. He drew back his bow and loosed a few shimmering bolts in rapid succession. He too was forced to duck and sprint after them, his projectiles doing little to stall the shadow's advance. "To that bridge!" He snouted, pointing to closest one, wrapped in a beam of light from above, "There can hold. These things fear light as much as flames."

"Long as you stop stalling to fire your arrows!" Lyndis was the first to reach the point, whirling around with a flourish. "Now get your heads down!" She circled her hands, whispered the words, and loosed a ball of flame at their pursing foe. Right over her companion's heads it soared, detonating with a fiery flash. Yet still they came.

"Where is that dragon of yours anyway?" Vishta exclaimed, unsheathing her energy crossbow, snapping off a few rounds. "Did he leave us to die?"

"Course he wouldn't!" Lyndis drew her rapier, biting her lip, "He'd know how cross I'd get with him!"

"And that's why he's here to save your little heads!" Cordenth shot passed, a breeze being left in his wake. With his trumpeting warble came a summoned spell, wreathing the mass of blackened tendrils and unholy eyes in blue, righteous flames. What remained was little more than ash, whisked away by the dragon's next pass. When he landed opposite, he expected applause. Onto his haunches he sat, dusting off his claws. "Of course, you're welcome. Applaud if you wish to."

None came.

He coughed, extending a wing, "You lot should be more careful in your travels. Its not all the time a dragon will drag your asses from the fire." He chuckled to himself, knowing even if they were glaring at him now, inside they were ecstatic for his dramatic entrance. "While you were off...Playing hide and seek with these trivial shades, I found the kobold in which we sought." He swelled his chest with pride, grinning at Broxl as the lizardman retrieved what arrows he could. "And it just begs me to question why we pay our scaled associate. Hunting, the kobold, and now the army of voracious shadows? Is there_anything_ you can find Broxl? What ever are we paying you for?"

"You don't pay me." Grunted the Lizard.

He sighed in relief, "And like that you still the worry in my heart. For a moment I thought we were being cheated!" His scathing banter was cut to an end as Lyndis marched her way over to his side, flustered, cheeks red, and a gaze that could kill.

"You disappeared right when we needed you? What the bloody hell was that for? We call to ya and you keep swannin off? If not for the hasty retreat, Vishta's poor head woulda been torn off!"

"Why me specifically?" Vishta pointed to her chest.

"Cause you're the slowest, we all know it, don't be offended." Back to Cordenth she whirled, shoving an accusing finger into his scaled snout. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"That...I had perfect confidence in your abilities?" He nervously laughed, retreating should her finger cut him. "I knew that the others would guarantee your safety. With a straight face tell me those were the hardest thing you've ever fought; I don't think you can."

Her arms crossed, "That wasn't the point. And strong or no, you saw how many of them there were!"

"And what about the rest of us?" Vishta shook her tiny fist. "I don't see the same concern for us?"

"Should I?" He snorted, "Last time I recalled, you tossed a blinding ball into my eyes!"

"You deserved it! That doesn't justify you for leaving us for dead!"

"I would have never done that." He scoffed, waving off her concern with a wing. "Lets all just agree that a mistake was made, you didn't use those magical abilities to contact me!"

"As fascinating as this conversation is, our arrogant dragon seems to have missed a few." Hissed Broxl, gesturing to a trio of shapes that slithered from the ruins like black rivers. They shuttered and shook, rising up to take a more humanoid shape.

Just delightful, Cordenth thought with a growl. Yet another chance to show to his companions how great of a dragon he was. He dropped down, muscles tensing, his tail coiling into position as the others assumed a defensive formation at his side, weapons at the read.

The creatures swooped towards them like their shadowy kin. They were legless, skeletal torsos of shadow. They glided effortlessly across the wooden planks, reaching out with boney claws. Where faces should have been were instead the shriveled remains of the soul lost to these beings long ago. Their eye sockets radiated a sickly yellow, whispering promises of their deaths.

"More pitiful shadows? Is that all our enemy can hurl at us? Let them come." Cordenth boasted, gathering magic again to his paws and launching himself into action. He'd best them just as he'd done the others. The others would be free to stay back and bask in his glorious victory. To his dismay shadowy figures coiled like vipers around his paws, slithering up to take shape and drag their wretched claws against his pristine scales.

Landing with a grunt, the dragon whirled around, the red hot pain from their strikes lingering through his flesh. He eyed them down, shaking his now cramping legs. "Alright, so their a little different." He winced, "Don't worry though, I'll have this all handled, no need to panic."

"Me panic? I can cross blades with this one in my sleep." Lyndis shouted, whipping out an ivory hilted dagger and hurling it through one of the shades. Where the blade pierced, darkness evaporated. The creature snapped to her, the dragon forgotten. She snapped her fingers, the dagger returning to her palm. "Although any acts of heroism won't be rebuked!"

"We can't have him doing that, causing eating half-elf is my job." Cordenth remarked, diving into the trio of shades with a heroic warble. Under blackened tendrils he did dodge, letting the weave flow through his paws. Up went his claws, the creature shrieked as he tore gaping holes through the fabric of its ethereal form. "And we don't have a vacancy to fill.

It screeched in an inhuman fashion, whipping around to shove twin claws of shadow into his golden scaled chest. Like before, a cold swept through him, though this time with terrible wind that scraped against the dragon's soul. He stumbled back as stars bubbled across his vision, a faint voice calling to him from afar. He felt something break below his scales as the world seemed to lose its gravity. Was that a wall? Why had they gone and put a wall in his way? He sluggishly was held in awe as the wraith towered over him, as if it were gaining strength with each of his weakened breaths. Cordenth tried to stand, finding he lacked the strength to do so. What sorcery was this?

"And that's why we don't just thrust ourselves into their faces!" Lyndis was at the dragon's side, thrusting a lit torch into the shadowy creature, it screeched and whisked itself away from her touch. "Especially when their bleeding wraiths."

"They certainly don't do that!" Broxl hissed, having been forced to draw his blades and cross them with his wraith's shadowy tendrils. Sigils glowed across the steel, ensuring the unholy abomination didn't simply glide through them and devour the lizardman alive.

"Don't sound like that Broxl, you're giving these things the win!" She avoided the shadowy grip of the one trying to wrap her, finishing off the fleeing one with a toss of her blade. It exploded into a shower of ash. "Well, it's not blood, but I'll bloody take it!"

Composing himself, Cordenth pulled himself free of the broken beams and splinters that coated him. Evidently in his surprise, his natural size had been returned to him. Every inch of him seemed to be dragged down, as if weights had been strapped to every scaled inch. It took all his willpower to rid himself of such an affliction, before setting his sights to these wraiths with a vengeance. He lashed his tail, summoned the magic, and loosed another fireball perfectly centered between the two.

The fireball exploded in a brilliant flash of blue, empowered by the dragon's will. It's flames devoured all within it's splendor, uncaring if it were friend or foe. Lyndis' instincts guided her back, ducking to safety from the worst of the effects. Broxl was hurled back in the blink of an eye, crashing into the marsh with a splash. Vishta was consumed by the blast. Her cry of pain, masked by the deafening sound.

As the smoke billowed and swelled to his delight, Cordenth couldn't help but grin. His enemy was no where to be found, not a trace of them left to taint his sight. Yet another victory he told himself, his companions and more importantly, his queen were safe from harm. "And that's how you handle a rogue trio of wraiths." He dusted his paws against his golden scaled chest, "I do wait your thunderous applause and apologies for being so rude to me."

But to dismay, no one cared what he'd even said! Lyndis rushed into the smoke, uncaring of her own safety, all color drained of her face. He cocked his head and called for her to be safe, who knows if the shadows were just hiding from his most deadly form. When the smoke cleared, he saw what her concern was all about, Vishta was cradled in her arms, covered in burns.

She hadn't gotten out of the way? His frills pinned, the adrenaline in his veins starting to subside. He'd almost been certain everything had been perfect, how had he missed her? He stood frozen as Lyndis tended to the now coughing kobold, offering her a drink from one of her many healing potions.

"Oh thank the gods." Lyndis exclaimed as the color returned to Vishta's scales. "Are you alright?" The rogue peered up, casting Cordenth a hardened look. "You gave us quite the scare."

"Must have lost my footing." Coughed Vishta, holding the glass with both claws, taking diminutive sips and wrinkling her snout at the terrible taste.

"You have to drink it all."

"I know but doesn't mean I like it." She pretended to gag, "I take it we won?"

"That we did." Broxl emerged from the marsh, shaking away the water that clung to him, "And better news, we all lived."

Cordenth cleared his throat, drawing all their attention as he regally rolled a paw to his ever-swelling chest. "And you all have me to thank for this fortuitous victory. Were it not for my critical eye, we might have been deprived of our most diminutive member!"

"With your help she nearly died."

"Semantics." He waggled a wing, "It would have been worse if I hadn't. So, if you're done whining at my success, we can continue on with putting this little detour to an end." As he rose to lead them to the inn, his tail swung out behind him, casually slamming into Broxl and sending him flailing back into the marsh. "And now is not the time for a swim!"

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Thank you all for tagging along in this adventure as we follow along with Cordenth, Lyndis, Broxl and Vishta. If you like it, don't forget to favorite and vote it a few stars. If you feel like being awesome, leave a comment below, I certainly read them and respond!

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