FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Azuri felt like he'd been flying for hours. His wings were getting heavier and heavier as time passed, and this made Azuri realize that they needed to find a place to land and rest for a bit. He glanced back to Uhrwerk every once in a while, making sure he was still following. Azuri could tell from Uhrwerk's face that he was getting exhausted as well. Azuri began searching the surrounding areas, his eyes scanning the landscape, when he found a good hill overlooking the ocean. The top of the hill had boulders that might be great places to sit or lay down.

Azuri glanced back toward Uhrwerk and pointed toward the spot. Once Uhrwerk nodded in agreement with Azuri, they flew down to the spot. Azuri was the first to land, his claws touching the largest boulder, which happened to be around half his size. Uhrwerk landed onto the grass outside the piles of rocks on the hill. He folded his wings and looked out toward the ocean ahead of them. Azuri began stretching his arms and wings out before laying his entire body down. He knew the island's map in his head, the kingdom was exactly north-east of Floria. He'd seen the map constantly in their house, and had memorized it by now.

What else was he supposed to do before he could fly out of Floria, just sit around reading a book? Well, that was kind of what he did, but that's besides the point. He didn't just have to memorize it, he genuinely wanted to. He wanted to be sure he knew where he was even flying to. It's not like it was boring either, it just proved to him that he was one day closer to being able to explore the island. Now that he could finally explore on his own, he couldn't wait to meet all kinds of dragons. The fact that his first friend was a Luminian already told him how amazing it was to be free from the captivity of his house.

Uhrwerk hasn't said a single thing since they met. Azuri was pretty sure it was because he saw something tragic. Azuri recalled when Uhrwerk denied having parents and thought that perhaps something tragic had happened to them. He wanted to wait with any questions until he knew Uhrwerk felt comfortable speaking, whenever he decided that would be. Azuri wouldn't pressure Uhrwerk no matter what. As long as he had another dragon around to fly with, that's all that mattered to Azuri. Going to the Stellaris palace was by far the trickiest travel by far. Not only that, but the fact that the kingdom was supposedly being ruled by the first king in its history was a bit fishy, and he didn't want to go there alone.

Speaking of fish, Azuri saw several fish jump out from the waves before splashing back down into the water. Azuri was able to look out and see the wonderful view from on top of the hill. It felt kind of comforting being up there with a beautiful view of the ocean. Uhrwerk appeared to not mind the view, as he was just sitting in the grass. He appeared to be pressing his paws into the dirt and writing into it. Azuri couldn't tell what he was doing from where he was, so he decided to stand up and walk over beside him. Uhrwerk didn't say anything or mind Azuri's sudden appearance beside him. He continued writing into the dirt with his paws like a bored little dragonet.

When Azuri saw what he was doing, he realized that Uhrwerk was writing a question. Once he finished writing, he looked over to Azuri for his response. The writing said, "How much farther?" Azuri looked around at the scene they were currently at, then the ocean. If he could guess, the palace was only another twenty minute flight from where they were. "Not much further." Azuri told him with a half smile. Uhrwerk took a deep breath before sighing sadly.

Azuri felt the urge to ask something that was on his mind. He didn't know if Uhrwerk was going to react negatively or not, but he still wanted to ask. They had the moment alone with nobody else around, so it was probably the best time to ask while he still could. "Can I ask you something important?" Uhrwerk looked at him in the eyes, then nodded.

"I was just wondering, did something bad happen to your parents?" Uhrwerk uses his paw to brush the dirt back to a flat surface, then begins to write into it. It took him only a few minutes to write a response into the dirt. Azuri looked down at the writing as Uhrwerk pulled his paw away. The writing said, "Mom and dad have gone to a better place now." That caught Azuri off guard when he read that. So it wasn't that he just had no family, it was that they literally are gone from his life. No family to go back to, meaning he was an orphan. Azuri felt terrible hearing that from him. Azuri wanted nothing more than to hug him, but he also didn't want to make things awkward between them.

"Maybe I can convince my mom to let you live with us. I don't know when we are going back, but I can try talking to her about it." Uhrwerk brushed the dirt again, before writing into it. Once he finished, the writing this time said, "Is your mom mean?"

Azuri shook his head as he met eyes with him. "No, I promise she's not. She's just. . ." Azuri tried to think of a word that best describes his mother. "She's been different since dad left." Azuri started to remember small memories of his mother from when he was only two years old. The memories were very hard to remember, merely foggy, disconnected frames now when he tried to recall them. She used to be very sweet and wholesome, and they felt very safe around one another. He thought back to when Aphure was still around and remembered how she seemed so much happier.

Azuri never really got to see it for himself (or at least not often), but he bet Aphure was as great as she said he was. Unfortunately however, it didn't change the fact that he was selfish. His mom only found out shortly later when he got the invitation to work for the queen. As soon as dad left, Azuri realized how much his mother started getting paranoid. The fact that she kept Azuri inside the entire time said a lot about her growing worries, like she was worried that Azuri was going to be the next one they took from her. With Aphure gone, she had to make several changes for herself so that she could have the courage to fight when needed. Azuri figured that the guilt from not fighting alongside her husband is what made her the way she is now.

She used to not be capable of punching holes when she was angry. Nowadays, it seemed more likely than Azuri getting in trouble. Which says a lot about how much she's changed since Aphure left their lives. "Mom just had some bad experiences with Luminians, nothing to worry about. I'm sure if I can get into her head with pleas and some begging, she'll let you stay with us. She just needs to know that you're safe to be around." Uhrwerk nodded a little as he turned toward the ocean again. They patiently rested their wings for a bit upon the hillside before eventually Azuri got up to his claws. "Alright, I think we should keep going." Like before, Azuri led the way to the palace with Uhrwerk following close behind him.

As Azuri predicted, it took them only another twenty minutes or so before they saw the Stellaris coming into view ahead of them. Unlike other palaces on the island, the Stellaris kingdom was the largest out of all of them. Azuri heard that you could fit both the Vaermesians palace and the Fuegans palace together, and there'd still be enough space to make a large city in the remaining space. Even as Azuri slowly approached the massive palace that touched the clouds, he felt himself having a little fear and regret in his gut from just the sheer size alone. He glanced back toward Uhrwerk, who returned the same look. He appeared to be both shocked and a little startled by the size of the palace as well.

Azuri looked ahead and tried to find a good spot to land. The palace was so large, he was just a tiny ant compared to it. As Azuri flew around along with Uhrwerk, he saw many dragons land on various edges and platforms on the palace. They looked like they knew what they were doing rather than just being visitors like Azuri and Uhrwerk. Finally Azuri found a good spot to land, which was on the balcony of the second tallest and third largest tower of the palace. Uhrwerk landed right beside him and watched as many more dragons landed ahead of them. Some dragons held expressions of excitement, while others were filled with conflicted and confused expressions.

Uhrwerk turned around and looked over the balcony at the view. His expression lit up with amazement and bewilderment. Azuri could clearly tell that Uhrwerk has never been here, just like himself. The notion comforted Azuri because it meant he wasn't alone in this exploration. He wanted to see this king for himself and find out what the note meant. Uhrwerk joined up beside Azuri and they both started heading toward the entrance. The doorway of the tower was about twenty times the size of Azuri. Tall and wide with plenty of room to fly in and out for any size dragon, even Uhrwerk.

As soon as they walked inside the tower, they were met with another balcony, overlooking a large space. It was as if it was a theater inside, all overlooking a stage at the bottom. There were curtains wrapped along the back of the wall above the stage, as though a play were about to start. Azuri never went to a play before, maybe that's what's about to happen? He didn't know, the only thing he could do is stare down at it from the railing. Uhrwerk stood beside him, his expression was filled with both curiosity and confusion as he tried to figure out what was happening.

Hearing the large crowd of dragons around them yell and talk to each other around the room, vibrating against the walls to sound like they were in some kind of cave. It was noisy and loud, but a good kind of loud. Like he was about to watch the most epic show in the world with thousands of other dragons. Eventually, dragons on a few higher levels started to chant a rhythm with two words. Which Azuri only realized was the name of the king, Boss Biss. They were chanting it and slowly increasing in rhythm, like they were trying to summon him on the stage. Before Azuri realized, the dragons on the same balcony as him joined in. Then, other levels below him and around them started doing it.

Azuri didn't know if joining in would prevent him from summoning or not. Though, he was kind of tempted to join it as it looked like everyone was getting hyper. He glanced over to Uhrwerk, who didn't appear to be chanting with them. He was just as confused as Azuri was. That comforted him again, knowing he wasn't alone in this weird situation. Azuri looked down toward the stage, watching as two overhead lights controlled by other Stellaris dragons turned them toward the stage. Now Azuri was starting to get hyper, and it wasn't just because of the chanting, it was the tension in the room increasing. Here it comes, Boss Biss is about to show his smug little face.

Right then, a large shadow appeared from the other side of the curtain and jumped through it and onto the stage. The entire crowd started to cheer loudly throughout the entire inside. The dragons on the same balcony as them were raising their claws and paws into the air in glee and excitement. Azuri felt them stomping and flying upwards from the balcony, making it shake. Azuri felt like it was about to break off the hinges and tumble down to any unaware dragons below. Please stop guys, you're making me paranoid now.

The dragon on the stage was larger than he was actually expecting to be. He was about eleven feet tall on all fours, making him the largest dragon Azuri has seen with his own eyes. He had black scales all over his body, sharp white teeth that could penetrate bones. All along his back were red glowing scales that appeared to be generating energy. Just those alone gave him a sinister and scary aura around him. His wings were enormous as well, possibly about twice the size of his body. Azuri can only think about one kind of dragon that fits him the best, and that is the legend of god-like dragons from thousands of years ago.

No dragons were that size anymore, and even if they were, they were very rare. Seeing one right in front of him on the stage, made him shiver a little in fear. He couldn't see what the color of his eyes were, but from a distance, they appeared to be glowing red. As he looked up toward the balconies above him, including his and Uhrwerk's. Azuri felt a shiver down his spine, like the dragon was looking straight into his soul with those eyes. He only looked away for a second, then returned his attention back down to the large dragon on the stage.

The entire crowd was now beginning to calm down as it grew silent. Which meant that he was about to make a speech. I wonder what his voice is going to sound like? Is it going to be so dark and deep, that it could make the entire castle shake? Or was it going to be high pitch, and cause the entire palace to either shatter, or make the dragons laugh from its hilarious pitch? Azuri chuckled to himself at the thought of hearing a large dragon speak with a high pitch voice. Though, he knew that it wouldn't be the reality that'd present itself. The room eventually fell completely silent, leaving the dragon to finally start speaking.

His voice was a little deep and dark and spoke his esses like a hissing snake, which made him all the more intimidating. "Hello my wonderful dragons! It's amazing to be seeing you here and now in my new palace! I'm so excited to get started with all of the plans I've had building up over the years. Now that I'm finally the king of the Stellaris tribe, I can begin shaping this place up to my visions!"

The dragon turned his attention upwards to the rest of the room, nearly toward Azuri. "I do have a very splendid announcement for everyone present though!" He turned and looked around at the dragons littering the floor beneath him. "As the new king, I am officially offering a free room to any Stellaris tribe member, no strings attached! So, if you're a Stellarian and would like to live at the grand palace, then get it while you can!" He was grinning widely with excitement and satisfaction with himself. "As for my non-tribe members, we are going to be starting the largest feast in history down at our large dining room. Come on down if you would like to try our various kinds of meals, all served with the greatest perfection from our incredible chefs!" The room started to cheer loudly from many dragons in the palace. It was loud, but not as loud as the chanting from moments ago. "I thank you all for coming down to celebrate this wonderful occasion of the first king, and I'll be seeing you all very soon at our grand feast!" He bowed down his head and widened out his wings across the stage.

Azuri can hear many dragons nearby him yell out different things to him, all were positive compliments. "I love you Boss Biss!" Cried one of them, "You're amazing Boss Biss!" Another said from the platform above him, then another from a few feet from him, "Serve this kingdom well your majesty!" Then, all of a sudden the large dragon jumped into the air and started to fly upwards through the large room. Flying past their balcony and all the way toward the ceiling. Then flew around the ceiling with various tricks that even Azuri was impressed by. He saw dragons throughout the room watching him fly around. Then followed him as he flew straight above Azuri's platform, nearly able to touch him with his claw. Brushing past him with an intense breeze brushing past him. Then, flew straight through a doorway across from them and into a hallway that had another set of curtains to hide anything behind that.

The dragons cheered and yelled throughout the room again, and with loud claps from their claws. Within minutes, the entire palace was beginning to disperse and leave. Many dragons were beginning to head down toward the two doors on the first floor that probably lead to the large dining area. Azuri then looked across to the doorway and platform where Boss Biss flew into. He realized that about five Stellarian guards were now watching the door. Azuri looked around the room, noticing all of the dragons beginning to either leave or go to the dining room. He glanced over toward Uhrwerk who was still beside him, but was looking fully at him. Azuri looked back toward the doorway across from them, and was getting the urge to follow him.

He looked over to Uhrwerk again, "Hey, how about you head to the dining area and get a spot for the both of us. I'll join you in a few minutes." Uhrwerk's ears fell flat on top of his head as his eyes looked down toward the doors on the first floor. His expression turned to fear and worry, grabbing Azuri's arm with his paw. He shook his head and whined softly, like he was telling him to not leave him alone. "It'll be okay Uhrwerk, I'm not leaving you here. I'm just going to follow him and see what he's up to." Azuri lifted one of his claws and patted his paw. "I'll be right back, promise." Uhrwerk let go of Azuri, and watched him cloak invisible.

At this point, Azuri was out of sight of the guards and Uhrwerk. Starting to fly over toward the doorway across from him. Landing onto the platform carefully and quietly, looking back to the guards who didn't know he was there. Then, he cautiously and quietly rushed through the red curtains. When he stepped through the curtain, he found himself in a tall triangle shaped hallway with dark gray slabs built into the walls. The hallway was fairly long and large, nearly one hundred times longer than Azuri. He kept himself cloaked as he walked through the hallway. Looking upwards, he could see two more floors above him, but there were bridges running through the middle of the hallway. It gave an interesting effect, as he could just barely look past the bridge and see the crease where the tops of the roof meets.

As soon as Azuri got to the end of the hallway, he found two rooms with large doorways. Both were about three times his height, allowing for any size dragon to go through, but what made Azuri's jaw drop was at the end of the hallway. It wasn't a wall, it was an entire window looking out to the land outside. The view was breathtaking from up here, and it was quite clear that the intention of this palace was really trying to show its mightiness. Azuri stared out of the window for a long second, before turning left and walking into one of the rooms. It was strange, he was expecting a lot more guards in the hallway or the rooms, but Azuri was surprised to find literally no life anywhere in here.

The only sign of life was the fireplace in the room on the left, large chairs in the center of the room facing the fireplace, a large rug on the floor beneath them, and two tall bookshelves with a lot of books in them from various authors he didn't recognize. A painting was hanging off the fireplace above, which appeared to portray the queen before Boss Biss started ruling. He didn't remember her name, but she was a lighter gray scaled dragon, with a few blue scales that looked like sapphires glimmering within her scales. It gave her a glittery effect whenever she was near light. Azuri hasn't heard her all that much about the previous queen, but he suspected her to be a decent ruler.

He didn't know anything about Boss Biss, he had never heard of him ever being in the line of succession. It was highly unusual because many tribes, including a lot from his own, knew it by heart. It's the reason he wanted to check this place out, he thought something sketchy was happening. Nowhere in the line of succession was there supposed to be a ruler by the name of Boss Biss, or even just a male dragon in general, and thus it made him suspicious that he came out of nowhere and took over. There wasn't even any news or reports about the queen dying. This brought up another question in the back of Azuri's mind: where was she? Was she still around the palace? Or did this Boss Biss do something to her?

He felt movement coming from the room on the other side of the hallway. Azuri turned around and started walking over to the doorway of the other room. He stood within the doorway of the room and looked inside. It appeared to be a master bedroom with another fireplace unlit. There were no paintings in this room, but he did see that this room was made of red wallpaper with fancy indentations running along the baseboard of it. He didn't see any life inside the bedroom, but he could clearly tell that the bed was too small for someone the size of Boss Biss. That bed was only meant for dragons around the sizes of nine feet tall with average sized wings. Boss Biss's wings could probably overlap the entire bed and still hang off of it.

"Sssso! It looks like someone wanted to explore a little bit." Boss Biss's voice was heard above him, like he was on the ceiling. Hearing his unsettling voice completely filling the sudden silence startled him immensely. His body shivered heavily as he slowly turned his body and head around, looking upwards to the ceiling. That's when he saw Boss Biss hanging off the wall with his claws. He couldn't comprehend how as the walls didn't have any way for him to do that. After a few minutes of staring, he did a backflip from the wall and landed on all four claws. Facing Azuri with a delighted smile. "What? Did you think I didn't recognize you trying to follow me? Or that your expression told me a little bit of skepticism?"

He made a creepy chuckle to himself. Azuri already knew he had been caught, so he might as well just disable his cloaking. As soon as Azuri was fully visible to Boss Biss, his eyes widened at the sight of him. "Oooh, you look very interesting to me. Not like the rest of the Florians I've seen." Azuri didn't know if he should say anything or speak up. Boss Biss was literally towering over him, he might as well just devour Azuri right then and there. Though, Boss Biss didn't as he started to walk around Azuri and examine him. "Hmmm, a very interesting fellow you are."

Azuri finally felt the urge to speak up as he was beginning to feel anxious. "I-I just came to ask you something important. . ."

"Oh? Well, I could just pull it out of your thoughts to make things easier-"

He stopped himself, his expression turning to conflict and curiosity. "Huh... Wait a second. Why can't I hear your thoughts?"

What does he mean, thoughts? Can he read my thoughts? He was hoping thinking would get him to change his expression, but it didn't. He was still a little puzzled at his personal discovery.

"Hmmm, no matter. I suppose you'd be the perfect first subject to experiment with."

"E-Experiment? Wh-what do you mean, experiment?" Azuri found himself taking steps back from Boss Biss, feeling a wave of terror rush through him.

"Well, my friend, it is quite simple really. I don't like it when I find a subject who refuses to listen to me, or blocks me out. I'm afraid it makes it quite difficult for me to... Well, you know. It makes me quite frustrated!" Azuri found himself in the corner of the bedroom, staring up at the large beast of Boss Biss standing over him. "You interest me in particular, because no dragon has ever dared block me out." He leans in toward Azuri and begins looking deeply into Azuri's eyes. "I want to understand why. . ." Azuri turned his head and pressed it against the wall as he reached a claw out toward Azuri. However, when he finally touched him. Nothing happened to either of them, or even felt anything happen. Boss Biss's eyes flashed with a deep look of shock as his expression shifted. "Why can't I control you, I'm so deeply curious." Azuri didn't even know what he was talking about at this point. Azuri was growing more and more terrified as Boss Biss continued pressing his claw against his forehead.

"Hmmm. . ." He breathed out a sigh, before pulling away. That's when Azuri looked ahead and found multiple guards starting to approach Azuri. "Take him to the cellar, I want to study him for... personal reasons." Azuri shook his head as the guards grabbed him and started to pull him with them. He didn't want to hurt any of them, he wasn't like his father. Unfortunately this meant that in that exact moment, he was being taken away. He had no way of escaping from the guards. Even if he could, Boss Biss literally towering over him could catch him with ease, maybe even eat him if he wanted to. As they started taking him with them, he realized that he had made a terrible mistake. Uhrwerk was alone, and Azuri couldn't help him. Oh no, I'm sorry Uhrwerk. I might be more late than I previously thought.