FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 54

She had troubles keeping up.

Athron and her entourage moved forward quickly, acting as if they were completely oblivious to her existence. Normally a little speed was nothing she frowned about, it was way better than just waiting for instance and had a way of killing boredom.

Usually though it was her leading the headless sprint, a quick jog where she couldn't have to think about anything at all.

It was far different here.

Her escort strode forward, moving those big, adult legs in quick succession, their push so confident that she had to run behind them to keep up with their tails. She hardly felt any stress, but having Athron around changed all of that, she was simply terrified that a single mistake, or slack, would make the Crystal Wyrm lose her patience.

And while many considered her reckless, dying young wasn't on her list of priorities.

She started to pant rather quickly, feeling an unimaginable pressure on her racing heart, she knew it was all because of those damn drugs she pumped into herself, her mind was struggling with collecting thoughts already, all this physical, stressful effort was only speeding the process of blanking of her mind.

She was about to throw up.

That's it, she's not taking the treats anymore.

Seriously this time.

"My helmet" Athron ordered, Cellsa's tail flicked at the sound in hopeful swing, they will have to stop and she will finally catch a breather

One of the guards reached to his flank, unstrapping a helmet from the belt that she never noticed hanging there. To her surprise the group didn't slow down, Athron instead craned her neck closer to her companion who with surprising dexterity put the helmet on top of her head by sliding it across her bent backwards horns. All it took was only a short leap on three legs and the helmet landed on the pretty head with no issue, as if it was perfectly made for it.

Like everything else Athron was wearing.

One might have believed that putting something on top of that elegant snout would limit the general charm of the dragoness.

It was a very inaccurate suspicion.

She looked extremely well fully armored, the blue ears ideally fit through the holes in the helmet, making it look like it had a pair of small wings of its own stretching out the sides. The entire armor flashed briefly, branches of chilly, glowing and bright blue light pulsed throughout her armor like pumping blood veins.

Looking at her in this glowing gear made Cellsa feel like she would be dealing with a goddess that not so long ago shined in the dark sky, among her sibling stars.

And the moment Athron turned to look at her, blue eyes glowing otherworldly, charged by the magic that wrapped itself around the armor, embracing her with an attention that made her feel as if she was unable to have any secrets since all of them were already placed before the Wyrm on a platter.

"How did you get out from Bone's dungeon?" the leader of Skyward asked, her voice cold and serious, stabbing Cellsa like needles

The electric dragoness swallowed uneasily, even though Athron turned her head away she still felt her gaze lingering on her for some reason. She simply felt that there was no room for a lie here, she knew that the ice dragoness won't take it lightly.

And although she saw no reason to lie, somehow the idea of saying that it was Ignus who sprang them from the cell didn't seem enticing either. She was afraid that Athron will take such truth as absurd regardless if it's honest or not.

But then again what other choice she had? It's not like her empty head had any capabilities of coming up with any better idea.

This is not how she imagined the Upper City to look like.

"You're brother" she gasped breathlessly, not even for a moment the wicked stride slowed down, the Wyrm acting as if she tried to escape from the answer

Cellsa noticed the guards shifting in their armors, the sight of it making her shake in fear, afraid that this is where her life ends, that there was no way Athron will believe her words.

"Tell me about your friends" no attack came, instead she was assaulted by another question

Chaos filled the blankness inside her skull, she was surprised in equal measure that she was still breathing, as difficult as it was, and that Athron wants to know about her friends of all things possible.

She had no idea why she wanted to know this, but there was no way she won't spill every detail if that means she will keep her scales intact.

"We had met when I was very young, even in the stinky pit that was my home you could meet up with some guys that stuck with you, for a while at least until we grew up and all the competition bullshit started where as a chick I wasn't allowed to partake in. I won't even bother with naming those fuckers since I no longer consider them friends, but there were two girls that that I hang out with. One of them was crazy, she would always provoke the boys when they sparred, she knew how to wiggle that tail to get some attention, but to her that was only the excuse to pump herself in adrenaline, the teachers and the whole training grounds were after us. We always wore thick clothes so they wouldn't recognize us and luckily we never got caught, not been after a successful stunt we wasted ourselves on my favorite treats. It changed though when she started to take more and more of my stuff, leaving me hungry, too bad for the bitch, but it was faster and after another stunt I kinda helped her trip. Took my precious candies and bailed, after that I learned to never trust anyone. My second f-"

"Stop" a cold like dagger snarl interrupted the torrent of words, Cellsa felt something sharp leaving a cut across her busy neck, the chill it left behind leaving a smell of death in its wake

She could sense its skeletal finger grazing her very soul.

The orange mouth clamped shut with a snap so audible that it almost threatened to shatter all the teeth.

Blue eye stared at her from underneath the glowing helmet, shining with its own, freezing energy that could turn her into a block of ice with a mere blink.

"I'm talking about the ones you came here with idiot. How did you meet?"

"We ummm..." Cellsa swallowed deeply, nervous beyond means, memory not able to reach far and even those images she saw were hardly discernable among the fog that was her mind

"Fought near Skyward and-"

"Lie to me again and I will gut you"

She froze, panting heavier than before, feeling as if she climbed one million hills, not even realizing that they have stopped in their strides for the questioning.

Her mind was total chaos, eyes kept swishing back and forth wildly, having a hard time to find any latching point that would help her remember. Everything was a tremendous mess however, images kept flashing rapidly before her eyes, slipping quickly away just when she was about to focus on them.

She was lost.

She looked blindly around, for a moment not knowing where she was, everything became dark, let alone for the small piece of ground she was standing on, the darkness was so thick that that she could swear that something was undulating under it preparing to swallow her whole.

Pieces of images started to flash by quickly, for a second she remembered where she was and with who she talked a few days ago in great detail only for the memory to be replaced by another one soon after, the dislodged memory leaving a scrap so small for her to focus on that it was impossible to recall anything, it was enough to make a guess where she was in that memory, but even that was uncertain since momentarily her mind began processing something else that made the two and more memories twist together into a ball of flashing colors and chaotic sounds.

"What's wrong with this chick?" one of the soldiers that accompanied them asked with a callous indifference

"Nothing!" Cellsa whimpered "I'm totally-" and then the mess twisting around in her mind immediately smashed down into her stomach, the latter having no patience to deal with this chaos ordered it to leave its confines

The bright eyes of a fresh grapefruit widened and the electric dragoness threw up, the initial stream splashing forward quite a distance before her, making the thrio in the front to back away from the splatter before she finally managed to drop her head down and empty her bowels.

Black ichor painted the floor, it was so unnaturally dark that one might have suspected that the dragoness spat out the soul of a demon that possessed her than anything that could linger in her stomach.

"Sorry" Cellsa coughed roughly, covering her mouth as she pulled herself up on shaking paws "I ate something bad"

Cold eyes of Athron stared at the disgusting pool with a specific, callous attention, the soldiers accompanying her kept looking at their armored leader, tense with anticipation, their muscles ready for any command.

"Answer the question and I won't touch a single hair on your head" eyes remained locked on the disgusting pool when the indifferent voice intoned its request

The soldiers visibly wiggled, throwing quick, surprised glances between each other, their trained muscles clearly not used to the way this particular conversation was going.

Shockingly to Cellsa, after emptying her stomach and parts of the stress with it, the fog clouding her mind cleared itself, for how long it was impossible to tell, but right now she was certain that she could go back as far as her hatching.

"Somewhere in the Vaccarus territory, said something about time travel, that they are from the future or something. I don't know really, I wasn't paying attention, I might be able to show you though, maybe...if not me then my brother surely could"

One of the soldiers snickered loudly after hearing the time traveling history, yet when he noticed that his leader wasn't entertained he quickly corrected his posture, adopting a serious stance.

"Who is the half-blood?"

Cellsa quivered after hearing the question, her eyes swiftly skimming over the soldiers until they eventually found their way towards Athron, her own orbs wide in fear and surprise.

"And be very careful about what you're going to say"

She could feel the ground melting from underneath her paws again, the blue, glowing eyes were unnaturally sharp, while seemingly indifferent the attention they were giving her was definitely threatening. She simply knew that her very life depends on the next answer, she realized that Athron took her away because she knew that alone she will spill everything.

Whether there was something else motivating the Wyrm's decision she couldn't tell and honestly didn't care much about right now.

What she could feel though was that this question was a test, a test if she is worth wasting precious time on her.

Why she was given such a chance she had no idea, if Athron wanted she could simply torture her for the answers, after all she wasn't known for her merciful nature, especially when she really wanted something.

She might have been lost a moment ago, yet when her mind was still clear she realized that she isn't that dumb as many would think and had some common sense.

That logic told her that Athron cannot possibly demand a straight answer from her, she couldn't say that Iris is Athron's future daughter, it would ruin the Wyrm's whole career, perhaps even end her life.

Did she really was holding the life of the legendary leader of Skyward in her paws? A life she offered willingly?

She can't fail her.

"A child of some random wind and ice dragon, her name's Iris and there's nothing special about her. From the future she comes dragons like her a normal sight I've heard. A dragoness like any other, has a broken nose under that mask and perhaps some more meat on the ass, but that's it. She acts like a spoiled princess though and that makes her insufferable"

"That's nonsense!" a guard burst out with a mocking laughter "Time travel? We all know those freaks came from the Moonborne territory, the Grazers might have done some deals with them but everyone knows that the Pups are capable of crazy stuff! We'll squeeze them and they'll whine out the truth. What matter is who from us mated with that feathered filth, or if it was forced than those filthy bastards have to pay for it! This stupid explanation regarding time travel won't satisfy anyone's thirst for vengeance"

Cellsa swallowed hard after the moment of mocking laughter, shrinking under the stern gaze of the armored dragoness, she could feel her very soul dancing around in the shades of the glistening helmet, already accepting the fact that it had a new owner. Ready to be wiped from existence just like the shine disappearing from the armor covering the Queen's neckline, neckline that was assaulted by her own scratching claws like she would be trying to dig herself towards an itch that seemed to be in some altered reality.

Athron's attentive glare drilled holes in her chest, a loud noise came not from far away, it startled her escort, but the dragoness herself remained focused on young female, merely her ears twitching in response to the sound.

Cellsa had no idea if she did good or not, she couldn't hold the stare and the few, short seconds weren't enough to read anything from those blue eyes.

"We're close, move" and just like that Athron turned, flashing her long tail and full hips at the electric dragoness as she continued on her way

The eyes of every soldier jumped at Cellsa, making her squirm, they were clearly shocked that their leader didn't take any action and each of them, for some reason, tried very hard to understand why. Even though she felt them scanning her from horn to claw, clearly none managed to notice the magical spark their leader saw.

And so they followed their boss, leaving her alone.

Cellsa stood there for a while, unable to fully comprehend what has just happened. All she knew that it was the first barf in her existence that seemed to actually save her life.

And they said drugs would kill her.

She sprinted after the group, adding unconsciously a joyful bounce to her step. She made Athron proud, she didn't know why she even thought about it, the leader of Skyward had no reason to treat her different than all the others, yet she couldn't help herself. Whether it was because she felt cocky, whether it was the truth or perhaps, what is more probable, she just made it all up, it all didn't matter.

She made someone proud.

It's been many long years since she felt something similar.

It just felt awesome.

*

The reason behind all the noise she had heard before became quickly apparent when after rounding another corner they have arrived at the entrance to the Upper City, a gate that separated the bowels from the maw. Until Ignus pulled them out from Bone's dungeon she had no idea that there was any other entrance besides the main gate, a gate that was guarded and fortified to withstand a siege of a considerable army if need be.

It was a gate where the Wardens hold their duty, serving as the counselor, guide and dispute resolve between the populace of the two societies. Rarely even inviting those worthy enough to ascend.

Even when father became the Warden he never shared the details of his work, she so desperately wanted to live among the royals that she demanded from Orbis to learn some interesting facts on regular intervals.

The dumb brick of muscle of course never brought back anything interesting.

She scanned this place more than once herself, especially when father took over the role, of course it's not like he would have treated her any different if he caught her sniffing about, being female didn't grant her much privileges. The only thing that worked in her favor was the fact that she knew father's habits, making him a more easier mark to stalk than any other Warden.

While finding any shortcuts or tricks around the door didn't prove to be much fruitful, she learned one thing from dad that changed who she is today.

Commitment is a fiction.

The royal chick he fucked when mother was not watching learned that lesson as well most likely since she stopped seeing her after a while. Too bad that she never got the chance to know if a brat was spawned from this ugly union, she would gladly spill its tinted with royal flavor blood all over father's snout.

Still, in the end it turned out that she won in the race for prestige, from the two of them she was on the right side of the gate.

Well at least it would look like that if the gate would be doing its job.

There was a crowd of dragons pushing through, practically all were yelling, the simple commoners as well as the guards. The latter desperately tried to hold the flow of souls from pouring into the Upper City, it was clear that chaos broke, seeing a purple dragon walking through your city must have been quite a shocker, which was only intensified by the explosion that rained bloody petals onto the royal heads.

She could swear that the pieces of the fucking mushrooms had a way of waking berserk rage in everyone with all this red floating about.

Many of the dragons slipped past the guards, forced them way through, while she could see some snaps of teeth and angry growls way too close to vulnerable necks, nobody really attacked each other.

Even in panic Skyward was aware that it cannot allow itself to lose fighters on internal struggles.

The ones that managed to slip through spread all around the Upper City, sprinting forward like headless chickens, looking as if they weren't really interested in the event that triggered all this mess, far more excited about the possibility to feel the touch of the Upper City on their scales.

One of them, a young dragon sprinted blindly in their direction, his head gazing behind the shoulder, even from the side one could spot the triumphant grin stretching his mouth.

The moment he turned his head around all the joy vanished from his snout, paws dug into the floor so fiercely that skidding claws sent hordes of sparks in the air, making him look as if he would wield fire magic even though his scales were green as grass.

Athron and her soldiers glared down on the youngster who so badly shrunk under their stares that they could stomp him like a bug if they only wanted to.

"Frivolity is unwelcome here. My ears will only listen to valid concerns. I see none in you" Athron nodded at the young drake "Get this pestilence away from here"

The youngster yelped, the intentions of getting away were quickly diminished by confident cold paws stepping forward, before he realized it a gauntleted, filled with draining, green magic punch struck him across the snout.

Unprepared for such pressure the dragon dropped flat on the floor, he was immediately scooped by the soldier who instantly took to the air, and hurled across the strong wall that separated the both levels of the city like waste.

Unmoved by the event Athron pushed forward, shaking her elegant head at the sight of the chaos.

"They will ruin Skyward just to undermine me. Fools, all of them" Athron strode forward, her gleaming shape skimming behind the soldiers who held the demanding crowd at bay to the best of their abilities

The Queen's presence alone shocked the crowd, the yelling eased on its pressure, shouts were being replaced by murmurs, among which Athron's name could clearly be heard.

The armored dragoness immediately leapt up on the nearby pile of ruined statues and massive hinges, she gracefully climbed the hastily pilled up hill of thrash and elegantly sat down, neatly folding her wings and prettily coiling the tail around the paws.

Her body was directed at the crowd, chest full and proudly exposed, showing dominance and respect for her partners.

The entire crowd went immediately silent, every eye and every head was propped up, every dragon directed his or her attention at the magnificent creature in glistening armor that was as stunning as the biggest star.

The crowd was in total awe, majority of them most likely only heard stories about their leader, about her determination and beauty and most likely all of them believed that those stories to be an effort of tightly knit propaganda.

Judging by the silence it was probably the first time when the Crystal Wyrm appeared in public so openly.

And she clearly verified every rumor and gossip, to the people she was everything that they heard and with the glistening armor and helmet emphasizing her godlike figure that was paired with the glowing, blue eyes, she showed that she was far, far more than rumors gave her credit for.

The entirety of Skyward seemed to bend the ear to listen to what she has to say, even the reddish mushrooms stopped their petals from falling down.

Athron's eyes traveled across the crowd, sharp eyes looking for anything out of the ordinary, it was annoying to notice that the ones against her aren't dumb. Among the horde of worshippers it would be easy to spot that one head that couldn't stand the look of her.

If they were there though, they pretended their interest very well.

"Skyward is safe" the melodic, deep voice announced, it was so elegantly thick that it sounded like the sweetest of sensual purrs

The armor glistened in accordance with the moving mouth, embroidering each letter with the stunning aura that surrounded the dragoness

"We are not in danger, we are not under attack. The recent explosion has nothing to do with the wind dragons or any of our other enemies. A mere misfortune and coincidence of unlucky probability that as your leader it is my duty to prevent in the future. We are still as strong as ever, nobody got hurt in the process"

Cellsa's eyebrows rose in surprise, she would say that having one of your soldiers explode surely counted as getting hurt, but then again it was probably a very bad idea to mention that one of your guys got blown up into pieces if you try to cull a brewing revolt.

Whatever the reason, or how justified it might be, she still didn't like how fluent Athron lied. Who knows when this mesmerizing tongue will turn against her, what was most scary though was the fact that it could have done so already and she didn't even notice it.

"Purple-" a hack came from the crowd, so weak and whimpering that the voice lost all its strength after the single word

It still sounded like a tornado among this silence, the heads that kept staring at Athron turned towards the speaker roughly as if preparing to bludgeon him to death. Their attention shifting away after a few seconds, returning back at their charming leader, voiceless, yet every one of them had the same question painted on their faces.

What about the purple dragon?

"The dragon works for us, I cannot say how we acquired this asset in public, but be certain that you all will get to see the creature in flesh, right after the first group comes back"

Murmurs spread throughout the crowd like wildfire, the population of Skyward didn't expect their leader to look like she did, but most importantly they didn't expect her to treat everyone like equal, males and females looked, guards and commoners alike, they all examined each other as if they would be seeing themselves for the first time.

The surrounding soldiers glared at Athron briefly, supported by the invisible eyes of the royals drilling holes in her armor.

"That doesn't mean that this city can accept complacency however" her sensual voice resounded loudly, silencing the crowd "Skyward is at war, we must never forget that and strive for improvement, only those worthy will learn the secrets and might be able to prevent future accidents from happening. Blood no longer decides who is fit for the royal treatment and not"

She stretched her neck, puffing out her godlike figure, running a paw down her throat in a very attractive way of scratching herself.

"If you wish to be by my side" her voice took on a fiery tone, like that of a sexual moan "Strive for improvement and you will reach your heights. It is impossible no longer"

Athron extended her paw towards the electric dragoness.

"Step up Cellsa"

She balked at first, shocked by the unexpected offer, but a renewed wave of the glistening, armored in blue claws was enough to render all that shock irrelevant.

This is what she had been waiting for.

Cellsa sprinted forward, leaping at the same pile of debris Athron was sitting on, her run fueled by electrical energy zapping all around. She immediately sat her butt down in front of the armored forelegs, gazing at the crowd of people with a wide grin and way too excited eyes.

One of Athron's paws landed on her shoulder.

"This girl lived among you" Athron announced "It was due to her ingenuity that allowed Skyward to take possession of the special dragons. The news were brought to me by the Warden, your mentor and a breathing bridge connecting our city. A daunting task, but one that is necessary for a fair judgment of worthiness. Do not be afraid to ask for verdict, the Warden is born to serve Skyward and hence he serves all of us"

The crowd stirred, uneasiness and curiosity mingled together as their attention shifted between the glowing leader and the figure among them wearing huge, spiked armor, face of which ignored everything else besides the two female dragons on the podium.

One of which was his supposedly dead daughter.

"Harshness rules this world and so our rules must be harsh as well so we can prevail. Crossing the bridge though is not the prize, it's the destination and I strictly believe that determination, successful one in fact, must be rewarded individually. A little joy never hurt anybody"

"I know from experience that ascending is a terrifying step, so this is why from now on, I allow every victor the privilege of choosing his or her companion who will join the worthy one on the path to royal life"

The announcement causing a hopeful, emotional quake in the population.

The gauntleted paw massaged the orange shoulder gently.

"Name your companion Cellsa and he or she will join you from the crowd"

She craned her neck up in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes"

Eyes of the young dragoness sparkled with visible electrical charge, she gazed down onto the crowd that looked at her hopefully, knowing well that nobody knows who she is, especially the males.

In this very moment she felt extremely powerful, it was great to feel their lives in her paws without even having her fangs near their necks. Motherfuckers, look where am I now!

She wouldn't pick anyone, but she was also aware that making wishes when Athron is addressing the crowd and having their attention wasn't the ideal idea if she wants to keep the scales on her bones. So she skimmed through her memories, usually it was impossible for her to reach that far down the memory lane, yet somehow, in this very moment she could have remembered the first days of her life if she only wanted to.

Names avoided her however, she didn't care much about them back then and neither she cared about them now. Knowing though that she had to choose some worthless shit she started to improvise, making up some crappy name from the single words that popped into her head.

"I choose Pro-"

The claws of the gently cradling her shoulder gauntleted paw sank into her flesh easily, their magical shape causing sudden, unimaginable pain.

"Prooooo-" Cellsa whimpered under the freezing assault of the pain that silenced her vocal chords, leaving just enough for her to breathe

Athron chuckled "Don't be shy, just say the name" she leaned in closer "Ooorrr what?"

"Orrrbbbbee-" the claws dug deeper, the chill poking her heart, just a small touch from piercing it

"Orbis, did I hear it right?"

The cold grazed over her slowly pumping heart like the deadliest of feathers.

"Orbis!" Cellsa yelped, the deadly made of chill dagger withdrew from her body together with the claws piercing her shoulder, the shock of relief she felt would topple her to the floor if not for the armored paw holding her tight

"Orbis!" Athron leaned back, with cheerful triumph announcing the winner

Commotion wiggled the crowd once more, all working in strange unison to find the one called out, or at least someone who recognized him. At first there was nothing as if the mentioned dragon would not be among them, but then the massive armored with spikes figure moved, jerking so fiercely as if casting a magical bolt that spread the crowd. The moving to the sides dragons revealed a path from which emerged Orbis, he was not given any opportunity to think of his situation, immediately being pushed and shoved by the eager crowd right to the very front.

The eyes of the siblings met, neither could truly believe that the other was alive.

They were neither really happy about seeing each other.

"Welcome to your new life boy" Athron waved the dragon over

Orbis approached obediently, trying not to think about it all, it all just didn't make sense. Cellsa was okay, which he suspected to be a viable possibility, what surprised him more was the fact that father announced that he had only a week before he will be condemned by Skyward's royals.

And yet here he was, invited to the Upper City no less.

Something just didn't feel right.

"You're alive" he stated with his typical stoicism, eying his sister closely up and down from up close, a shade that resembled the shadow of a twinkling candle colored the corner of his healthy eye

"You too" Cellsa replied back coldly keeping her head aimed forwards, not even throwing a tiny glance at her brother

A noise rose from the side and Athron's sharp eyes immediately caught the one responsible.

"This is only one of the many gifts that Skyward will bestow upon its citizens in the future under my rule. Speaking of gifts" she gestured at the approaching group led by Bones "It's about time that more of you can partake in this dish"

The crowd shook with excitement, turning their attention at the approaching group, for a moment forgetting that their leader was even there.

Yet Athron still could feel the gaze of those who wished to see her fall aimed at her, they hid well, but she knew they were there, just like they knew she was aware of it.

"Enjoy and obey our order, it is the only way Skyward can prevail" with a stern shove Athron shoved Cellsa from the pedestal of debris, jumping right behind her

"Maintain this situation" she ordered one of the guards who immediately pressed forward to pass on the command to her subordinates

"Move you two, quickly" the armored tail gave the siblings no chance to think about the proposal, giving both a magical, stabbing nudge

Athron's glowing gaze scanned the walls and alleys as they moved, noticing here and there that some of the red petals stopped their fall a little too high from the floor, sometimes that was corrected when her eyes landed on that particular spot.

Hide.

That's all you are good for.

And just like that the corners of Skyward smoothed, the unwanted, secret public understanding who is the main actor of this play.

Not realizing that even though the actions of the beautiful actress were fluid like she was prepared for this from birth, there was that burning itch to scratch a place that couldn't be reached.

A thin line bordering success from failure, like the feeling of sinking your claws into flesh, knowing that this one more gentle push will mean death.

And that itch burned like a hellish mark right on her covered neckline. A piece of armor she immediately removed when the eyes of the ones following her were gone, giving the mark some breathing room.

It was a tattoo in the shape of a white, pristine flower.

An Iris.