FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Michael stood out on the dock, watching a fortress float by. A general sitting next to him, reading a report.

"She's getting better" Michael remarked

"Hmn?" the general looked up "Oh, yeah, this is her certification test. After this she will be able to be a full pilot."

"You proud of her?" Michael asked

"She's my daughter, I would be proud of her if she was a maildragon" The general answered

Michael laughed. "Yeah, same"

"So, when are you leaving?" He asked

"Right after they all arrive. Trice and Aura are already here, Spyro and Cynder are on their way. But Flame and Ember are still packing." Michael answered

"So, you aren't taking any soldiers with you? Or ethereal knights?" The general looked at him

"No need, we would crush the void dragon if he attacked us. Also, go out and find one ethereal knight in this dimension." Michael raised his eyebrows.

"Fair point, points." The general admitted

Trice landed with a thump next to them, watching the fortress float by.

"Is that Sammy?" She asked

"Yeah, this is her final test" Michael told her

She smiled "Nice"

Michael turned to the general "When she passes, promote her, twice"

The general looked up in surprise "To a squadron leader?"

"Yep, she has the skill. I remember when she followed you around and watched you work." He smiled

Aura joined them.

"What's taking them so long?" She asked

"I don't know, Ember probably is freaking out." Michael answered

They watched as the fortress completed many maneuvers, diving and swerving. Then it fired once, signifying that the pilot had passed. The general took off to congratulate his daughter. After a few minutes he returned with her by his side.

"Sir!" She stood at attention

"At ease Sammy, I'm not in action." Michael responded

The younger dragoness relaxed. "I wanted to say thank you."

"You're welcome, I had been monitoring your progress in the academy, and knew you would be a good fit to be a squadron leader. You will be stationed here, directly under your father." Michael smiled at her

Her eyes widened "But what about..."

"Stephan" He cut her off "He has been wanting to retire through the whole war, but had nobody to replace him."

"Aren't people going to complain" Sammy asked

"No, the placement has been signed by me, nobody will say anything" Michael told her

They spotted Spyro and Cynder flying towards them.

"Finally, we have been planning for three weeks, they should have been ready hours ago." Trice groaned.

The two landed with the rest. Sammy blushed and tried to back away from the conversation.

"Hello, my name is Spyro, this is Cynder, nice to meet you" Spyro greeted Sammy.

She froze "Hi, Sammy"

"Meet the new squadron leader for Faun" Michael stated

"Congrats" Cynder replied.

Spyro smiled "I'm glad to know who will be leading the fortresses in defense of Faun"

Sammy blushed again, thanked the two dragons, then flew off. The general watched her go.

"She's a fan" He explained, then flew off after her.

They stood around for a while, eventually, Flame and Ember joined them. Flame sent them an apologetic look.

"Is everybody ready?" Michael asked them

They nodded, and Michael opened a portal, this one was different than normal, it crackled with blue magic and seemed very unstable.

"This uses a massive amount of magic, because the systems we are going to are contained due to their wild magic." Michael explained.

Trice and Aura rushed through the portal, and the rest followed. Once they were through, the portal collapsed with a loud snap. Spyro looked around, they were in a clearing, filled with blue flowers, surrounded by woods.

"I choose the most likely first, but it also has the worst weather." Michael told them

"Yeah, you ever heard of ice tornados?" Trice laughed

"Of course they haven't. The temperature drops well below zero at night, so those without a fire element should stay near their mates"

Michael, Trice, and Aura stared pointedly at Cynder and Ember.

"I'm serious, you could die in ten minutes" He added "And I need to boost Flame's element as well."

Flame looked up "It's that bad?"

"Yeah, the environment here completely shuts down at night." Michael answered

"Then how would the void dragon survive here?" Cynder asked

"He inherited an ice element from his mother" Michael answered

"Makes him immune to the cold, because it was supposed to be his primary. Just like Spyro has a primary fire, and you have poison." Trice added

"I do?" Cynder looked confused

"Not like it matters, so was Malefor. Since you are his daughter, you gained some extra power" Michael told her. "Then he... added more"

Cynder nodded. "But he skipped out the good ones."

"When Malefor corrupted you, he couldn't transfer any of the main elements, only fear and wind. Michael replied

"So, if I wasn't corrupted, I would still have poison and dark?" Cynder asked

"Yes, and maybe even an electric one, it kind of runs in your family" Michael explained

Cynder looked around the forest "Where could he be?"

"Most likely in one of the ruins" Michael answered "This is the only portal location"

The sun had already start to set, Michael watched it touch the horizon.

"We should settle down for the night, we will start our flight tomorrow."

He led them into the woods, and found a nice space in between a handful of trees. He pulled out a fire core and charged it, it set of a radiating heat, but they knew it would only do so much. Michael pulled out a strange looking gem, and crushed it in his claws, he then sent the gem's energy into Flame.

"Your fire element is now boosted, your welcome." He told Flame

"Congrats" Spyro called

Spyro and Flame watched as Trice circled the area she was going to bed down in, then she fired plasma at the ground, turning the dirt to a warm stone like material. They followed, and soon there was a small cluster of beds ready for them. Aura curled up on a slab, and Michael curled around her, protecting his daughter from the extreme cold that had already started to set in. The wind picked up, and Cynder started to shiver, so Spyro charged his element power, and curled around her. He covered her with his wing. Ice started blowing with the wind, Spyro looked out to see that it immediately started covering Michael, who had ducked his head under his wing. Trice caught his eye and smirked, then winced as the wind picked up, and ducked under her wing. Spyro looked over at Flame, who was amazed at the sudden change in weather. The ice shards started building on their bodies, Spyro ducked his head under his wing and looked at Cynder.

"It's pretty cold" He said to her

She rolled her eyes "Really? I hadn't noticed."

Spyro let his element keep him warm, and fell asleep.

Spyro woke to Cynder shivering, all he could feel was cold. He heard the wind blowing outside. He charged his element powers as much as he could, and warmed himself. Spyro lifted his wing slightly, and tried to lift his head, but found that he was covered in snow. He forced his head out and popped out of the snow. He looked around to see three other mounds where the others were supposed to be. His head barely stuck over the snow. Spyro shook his head, shaking the snow out of his eyes and nostrils. After a while, Spyro felt a tug on his wing, and pulled his head back under his wing.

"Hey" Spyro spoke "The weather is wonderful"

Cynder rolled her eyes "I noticed"

Spyro heard a noise from above. Then lifted his head again. He watched as Michael's head popped out from the snow. Trice's body popped comically out of the snow, and shook, vigorously knocking the snow from her body. Cynder poked her head out from under Spyro's wing, and popped up through the snow next to his. Then laughed at the sight around her. Aura poked her white head out from the snow and shivered.

"Doesn't she have a fire, a magma, and a sun element?" Cynder asked

"That doesn't mean that she has to like the cold, also Michael is probably very warm despite the extreme cold." Spyro responded

"That's a benefit of having an immortal dad" Cynder laughed.

Aura stood up; her white body nearly invisible in the white snow. She looked around, then focused on something in the distance.

"Look, there's a tornado" She pointed

They looked out to see a massive whirlwind of ice and snow.

"The sun heats up the air quickly, causing a mix of heat and cold to form, which starts to spin quickly." Michael explained.

Michael reached into the center of the clearing, and pulled out the fire core, he put it away. Then he breathed fire, melting all of the snow in the immediate area. The snow melted away from Flame's curled body. He pulled his head out and turned to them.

"Get ready" Michael warned "When the sun fully rises, the winds will start blowing heavily."

Michael, Trice and Aura positioned themselves in a way that protects themselves from the wind. Cynder ducked back under Spyro's wing. After a few minutes, the wind picked up again. The force of the wind was almost strong enough to move Spyro and Cynder as they were laying. After an hour the wind died down, and Spyro looked around to see the woods had changed back to the same look that it had before. Michael got up, flexed his wings, and stretched. Flame looked around stunned at what had just happened.

"That happens every night?" Flame asked

"Yep, so let's not stay here long, there are only four ruins that the void dragon would stay at. They are the only hospitable locations on this planet." Michael answered

Ember woke up and yawned "Wow, it looks like nothing happened"

They stared at her for a moment. Then everyone got up and took flight. They flew for hours, passing over mile after mile of forest, the terrain never changed. Eventually a strange structure came into view, and they flew too it. Spyro landed outside some sort of gate to a city. The group entered, Spyro marveled at the massive buildings, they appeared to be made of ethereal gold. Michael led them towards some sort of city hall, they entered to find a massive open space. Michael told them to stay there, then left with Trice. Spyro pulled out some cooking supplies and started a fire. Flame wandered around and inspected the area.

"It seems that this planet has been like this for a long time. This room looks like it was designed to be a community center, like all of the people would gather here if they didn't have another place to go." He stated.

"Your right" Aura told him "There is also a massive system of underground tunnels as well"

Spyro finished the meal for everybody, and handed out the plates.

"Why did people settle here at all?" Ember asked

"Michael chose this location because it is a focal point for magic in the region, he was able to put defenses around that protected the city from all dark magic. When Michael brought the dragon species here, this is where he brought them. At first, the population was small, so it needed extra protection, later on, as more and more dragons came to this dimension, more dragons broke off and started their own cities. After a while, Michael abandoned the city and built Faun." Aura told them

"How do you know this?" Spyro replied

"Michael, being the old bag he is, is a really good history teacher." Aura answered

Cynder chuckled "This city must be really old"

"Not as old as Providence, that's our species origin dimension." Aura replied

"Providence?" Spyro cocked his head

"A dimension that has been abandoned for billions upon billions of years. It contains knowledge beyond which has ever been observed in this dimension. If you ever wish to learn anything about your species, that's the best place to look. I went there once, when I was little, but I didn't stay long. Michael never told me what happened in Providence, I'm pretty sure it's not something he wants to talk about. It's safe know, but if you want to know what happened, you would have to search for the knowledge yourself." Aura explained

"We may have to do that at some point" Spyro replied "A long time ago the chronicler had mentioned something about my family and the origin realm? That they were connected?"

"I don't know, but you may be forced to find out." Aura told him

Ember walked back into the main room. "I found some records"

They each grabbed a book from the pile she was carrying. They sat back and read, they watched the light fade, and the wind pick up again. But instead of the temperature dropping, a strange humming filled the room, and somehow the room remained the same temperature. The group remained eerily silent, they heard the wind blowing by, but also occasionally heard strange noises. A letter burst above Aura's head and she grabbed it.

"Michael says that this might take a few days. Stay here, you can leave during the day but stay near the center. The tunnels are filled with aberrant magical creatures, so don't go into any dark places." She told them

"Aberrant creatures?" Spyro asked

"Creatures that were created from aberrant magic, they act on pure instinct and kill anything that moves." Aura explained "These ones shy away from light, so don't go into any dark places. This building is exempt because it has extra protections around it, and they haven't failed yet."

Cynder looked at Spyro, a worried expression on her face.

"I hope they will be okay" She voiced her concern.

"They'll be fine, ethereal magic is especially potent against aberrations" Aura told her

They fell asleep, when they woke, the fire they had built had died down, the sun hadn't cleared the snow away yet, Ember looked out the window, amazed at the sudden change of landscape. Spyro looked over to see Cynder struggling to light a fire, the wood was wet with the humidity. Spyro charged his boosted element and the logs burst into flames, Cynder gave him an annoyed but thankful look. Then started to cook breakfast.

"How did you get so good at that." Ember asked Cynder, as the smell filled the area.

"I don't know, Spyro and I have been learning to cook since he rescued me. We had to force Sparx to stay away from the spices." Cynder chuckled

She finished cooking the meal, and they sat together.

"This is really good, seriously, how do you do it." Flame asked

"Spyro is good with the cooking, while I dominate with the spices. So, with a simple steak like this, with less ingrediants, spices are key." Cynder answered "You should try one of his baked goods some time, they are devine."

They ate in silence; a massive blast of wind announced the rapid melting of the ice and snow outside. After they finished, they went outside to stretch their wings. Spyro spotted a flash on top of one of the buildings, he focused on it and thought he saw a figure standing there. He noticed a blue flash, and it was gone. Spyro knew it was Michael, and wondered what he was doing. They flew around, exploring some of the city. They never went inside any of the buildings, but paid attention to the infrastructure. The ethereal gold allowed the buildings to be built incredibly high, they towered higher than the group dared to fly. They found some sort of park, and landed in it, after a bit of exploring they discovered that the overgrown area was purely for leisure purposes. They hung out for a few hours, then returned to the city center.