FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Spyro woke and looked around, the sun had risen and was casting its light over the peaceful tribe. Most of the tribe was sleeping, the two dragons that had left earlier had returned, and were cuddled up together, satisfied. Flame and Ember were curled up nearby, Aura was as well. There were some buffalo steaks sitting on a flat stone next to each of them. Spyro nudged Cynder awake, and handed her one of the steaks. She yawned, and bit into the tasty meat.

"Mhm" She voiced "I've never had buffalo before, this is very good."

Spyro agreed, biting into his steak. Aura mumbled and opened her eyes, she spotted the steak and pounced on it.

"Oh, I love buffalo, it's been way to long." She groaned, devouring the steak, then grabbing another.

They finished their breakfast, enjoying the delicious food, and got up. Suddenly, Flame sneezed, shaking both him and his mate.

"Sorry" He sniffed at Ember

"It's okay" She replied

"What was that?" Spyro asked

"Sometimes that happens, I don't know why, I think grass bothers my nose when I sleep." He answered

They took notice of the steaks next to them, and dug in. After they had finished, Trice landed next to them, regarding their lazing bodies and full stomachs.

"I see you are satisfied." She spoke

"And where have you been?" Ember asked her

"Flying completely around the planet, eight times." She told Ember

"Wow, that's a lot of flying." Spyro replied

"Where's Michael?" Cynder asked

"He's talking with Az trying to figure out where the void dragon went." Trice replied

"Where are we going next?" Flame yawned

"You aren't going anywhere, planet number three is too dangerous for you, only Michael and I will be going." Trice told them

"It's that bad?" Spyro replied

"It's crawling with eldritch creatures; void dragons can hide among them." Trice said "This planet is completely cut off from the sun, so there is no light on the surface of the planet. You would hate it; the temperature is constant at negative four hundred degrees."

"So how long are we staying?" Aura asked, hopeful

"A few weeks, same as the last planet." Trice answered

The group was interrupted when the buffalo ran past again, and a different group took off to hunt them. Spyro took off and followed, he glanced back to see Cynder's confused face stare back at him. They flew out to a group, and started picking out their kills. Spyro spotted a large male one and pointed to it. The others confirmed his claim and separated, Spyro dived and snapped at the large beast. It grunted and changed direction, running away from the rest of the herd. Spyro charged and clawed at the beast, making it trip and fall. Spyro quickly finished it off with a slash of its throat. He looked around triumphantly and noticed that another drake had killed a buffalo right next to him.

"Nice job" He spoke

"Thanks" Spyro replied

"It's a custom for us to go together when we do are offering, even though you are mated you decided to hunt with us. You did nothing wrong, usually the mated dragons hunt in different groups." The drake replied

"Alright, are you going to offer?" Spyro asked him

"You know what? today I think I will!" The drake smiled proudly

Spyro picked up the massive buffalo and took to the air. Only a few other drakes were successful today. He realized that these drakes may only get a few chances to make offerings during the spring, before they would have to wait for next year. Only the best hunters got buffalo, but usually they only need one. The drakes all landed in front of a group of dragonesses. Spyro hung back as the drakes with buffalo walked forward and showed them off to their would-be mates. Spyro watched as the drake that he talked to shyly approached a pretty yellow dragoness. He set the beast down in front of her and bowed. All of the other dragonesses were shaking their heads, meaning that they hadn't decided yet or weren't ready this year. Some of them were just saying no to make their drakes show more devotion by offering again. The yellow dragoness slowly lowered her head and sniffed, Spyro spotted her smirking a little. She thoroughly inspected the fallen animal before her, clearly for suspense. The drake was barely holding a straight face, he knew she was messing with him, but didn't think it was funny. After a few slow moments, the yellow dragoness smiled and bit into the buffalo, taking one bit and chewing it thoroughly.

"It's a bit old, I change my mind." She teased

The drake laughed, falling over. Then quickly got up and roared, announcing the union. Spyro laughed as they took off together and flew away. He looked around and watched as the drakes without buffalos approached some of the dragonesses and talked with them for a bit, announcing their intentions. After they were finished, Spyro picked his buffalo up and landed next to Cynder. He approached her and set the beast down in front of her and bowed. Cynder blushed heavily.

"Spyro, were already mated" She whispered

"And?" He returned

Cynder blushed even more when she noticed that all of the nomads were watching them. She gave him a dirty look and took a bite out of the buffalo, everybody cheered as Spyro roared and took off, Cynder followed him.

"I am so going to kill you." She yelled after him

Spyro and the rest flew over the massive sprawling plains, occasionally passing over herds of buffalo. The last few weeks had been very fun and relaxing. They had left the tribe and were enjoying some uninterrupted peace to themselves. The sun had started to set and the group decided to bed down for the night. After finding a nice patch of soft grass, they laid down around a small fire. The sky had turned cloudy recently and the night sky was devoid of stars. The only source of light was the small fire quietly crackling as the dragons fell asleep. Spyro woke and looked around, something was wrong, terribly wrong. He looked around, hearing nothing and seeing nothing. He nudged Cynder and she opened her eyes. Seeing the worried expression on her face told Spyro that she felt it too. Flame jumped, and started scanning their surroundings. Even with their draconic eyes, they couldn't see anything past outside of the fire's light. Ember opened her eyes and froze, looking at her mate. Spyro looked around, feeling nothing but pure fear. The four of them could only stand frozen, scanning the darkness around them. They heard nothing and saw only darkness. Spyro looked over at Aura, who was still asleep, undisturbed by whatever was happening.

"Aura" He called "Wake up"

Aura groaned and lifted her head. She opened her eyes and looked around at the group, worry spreading across her face.

"What's happened? What's wrong?" She asked

"Don't you feel that?" Ember replied

"Feel what?" Aura looked confused

"That... Fear? That feeling that something is VERY VERY wrong." Cynder explained

"Fear? All I sense is.... ELDRITCH MAGIC?" Aura jumped and looked around

"It's not here, but its on this planet, and it is powerful, Michael must have returned." Aura told them

"Michael could be the cause of this?" Spyro asked

"He must be radiating massive amounts of eldritch magic, which means he is not very happy. The tribe is not likely affected because he probably thinks were with them." Aura explained "Follow me."

"She charged her sun element, and started glowing brightly. They followed her as she swiftly flew back in the direction of the tribe. After a few hours of flying with constant fear, the feeling vanished and they arrived at the tribe. Spyro landed and looked around for Michael, he spotted the dragon and ran to him. As he approached, he noticed that Michael's eyes were black, and small whisps of pure black smoke floated off of his body.

"Hey, we were outside of the village and we could feel your power" Spyro told him

"You were? Sorry." Was all he replied

"What happened?" He asked

"I had to fight an eldritch god; he was not supposed to be here but he was. He kept summoning eldritch titans." Michael answered

He closed his eyes, and suddenly the black whisps vanished, he opened his blue eyes and looked down at him. Cynder walked up next to Spyro and watched.

"There is no void dragon there, that god hated dragons" He told him

"Hated? Like in the past?" Spyro asked

"Yeah, he's dead." Michael stated calmly.

"Okay, so what now?" Spyro replied

"Were going somewhere special, Cynder's ancestral planet." Michael answered

"WHAT? WERE GOING THERE?" Cynder yelled

"Yes, there is a chance that he might be living in the secluded village. I have been their many times but they did not give me permission to enter. I had no chance of finding him if I entered without their permission." Michael told them

"Didn't you say that my grandmother might be there?"

"It is possible, and it is also possible that you grandfather is still alive. She told me that he died when the house was attacked, but she never saw him die. I have heard reports of him searching for her, I sent a few hunters to find him and bring him to Palatos, your family's ancestral home. If the reports are true he is likely already there." Michael answered

"I don't understand how my grandmother could have stayed there for so many years and not come looking for her daughter." Cynder replied

"She told me she would be back, but if she went to the village it was likely she bound her and wouldn't let her leave. They were no doubt furious when they found out that she had mated with a regular dragon. I don't know if she is still alive, she may have ended her own life, or like her mate, she could have let hope keep her alive." Michael told her.

"So wait, you couldn't enter the village before, what's different?" Spyro asked

"We have Cynder, they will immediately recognize her, and even if they didn't, she's a black dragon. Also, she can open the gates, she is a descendant of the owners of the planet." Michael answered

Cynder looked like she was going to explode with joy. She was jittering about and smiling brightly. She ran off to talk to the others.

"She's been really curious of her family on her mother's side, since both of my families are well documented." Spyro told him

"Of course, it's her mother, she looks just like her. She probably has an urge to get to know the origins of her color and powers." Michael replied

Spyro smiled when he saw Cynder chatting excitedly with Flame and Ember.

"If they bound her grandmother purely because she mated with the one she loved, what could happen to her when they found out I'm her mate?" Spyro asked

"If they try to bind her to the village, you can have the honor of beating them into the ground. They will likely try, but since your purple, they might think better of it." Michael answered

"Why do they care so much?" Spyro sighed

"They are very strict; they only want black dragons to mate with other black dragons. I also might have to have Aura wait in one of the cities, they hate aether dragons." Michael added

"I'm an aether dragon" Spyro said

"I know, but you have to come with us, Cynder is going to need you." Michael told him "Also, if you aren't there, they might try to get her mated off as soon as possible."

Spyro nodded, Az rejoined them.

"So, you're leaving soon?" He asked

"Yes, the search must continue" Michael answered

"I hope you will return sooner than last time."

"And Nebula will be joining us"

Az looked sad "I figured, she wants children, and will renew her search for a mate."

Michael looked over at her. She was with Trice and they both were saying their goodbyes. Aura walked up and joined them.

"I haven't been here since I was a small hatchling, when Trice took me and introduced me to everyone. To my annoyance everybody keeps stating how big I've grown, like, no duh, it's been a long time." She groaned

Michael chuckled "There is quite a few immortals here."

The tribe threw a small celebration for the group, a handful of buffalo were harvested, and to Spyro's surprise, another dragoness accepted one right next to them. The whole tribe was happy and some of the drakes wanted to take advantage of the feeling. Spyro and Cynder watched as a blue drake dragged his buffalo up to Aura and bowed. Aura froze, and blushed, she was clearly stunned. After a few moments she regained her posture and shook her head.

"Sorry, but we haven't really gotten to know each other."

The drake nodded and dragged his buffalo to the place where it will be butchered. Michael chuckled and shook his head at the strangeness of the situation.

"He must really like you." He said to her

She blushed and lowered her head, then suddenly perked back up.

"Hey, since I can't go to the village, instead of staying in the city I can stay here, maybe get to know Sam a little better." She asked

Michael squinted and nodded "Yes, and if you feel like you're ready, you can accept a buffalo from him."

She blushed even harder "daaad"

Michael rolled his eyes "Oh I see, I'm dad now"

"Thank you" She replied

"He's a good hunter, he will be doing it a lot." Michael told her

Aura nodded

"So, you shouldn't wait long, there is only a few more weeks left of spring." Michael reminded

Aura nodded again "I understand"

They relaxed and chatted until morning, then the group slept the day away. Once everyone had woken up, Michael opened a portal and Cynder practically burst through it. The rest of the group followed, except for Aura. Nebula looked around and sighed.

"I remember when this place was a sanctuary for dragons like me." She spoke

"Those were good times; I remember sending rare dragons here." Michael replied

They walked through the city, Cynder marveled at the black dragon paintings spread around. After walking through the main road, they arrived at the main gate, Cynder studied at the two black dragon statues guarding the gate. After exciting the city, Spyro caught up with Michael.

"You want Aura to accept a buffalo, don't you?" Spyro asked

"Sam is perfect for her, and once again, Trice flexed her skill." Michael answered

"Trice did this?" Spyro looked stunned

"Back when Aura was a hatchling, Trice brought her to the tribe, and she played with all the other hatchlings. Trice noticed that one specific blue dragon had taken a liking to her. When we arrived back at the tribe a few weeks ago, Trice noticed the look on that drake's face when he saw her, and worked her magic."

"You said that he's perfect for her?"

"He is strong, but caring, sweet and compassionate. He is always careful and very sharp. Trice also told me that he wants to leave, so eventually when I come by to pick Aura up, he will easily come with her."

"Are you happy about it?"

"Of course, I want her to be happy, and he will make her happy."

Spyro glanced behind him, watching Nebula as she stared off into space.

"Nebula seems... distracted"

Michael glanced back "Yeah, her powers do that sometimes."

"No, I mean, in another way"

"Yeah, she has wanted her own eggs for a long while now, but the Dark Authority has caused a lot of immortals to separate. Ethan and her were separated because they captured his sister, and she and her mate were separated during a siege. I have hunters looking for him, but we have no idea where he is. Now she is closer than she has been in a while. I bet you that they will have their ceremony within days of being reunited. They have known each other for thousands of years. I also have no doubt that she will be pregnant immediately."

"Immortality has a price"

Michael raised an eye "Very few mortals realize this, I'm glad you understand."

"You watch everybody you love die, family, friends. You have to mate with an immortal or you mate will die, and you can't join them."

"Nope, when two dragons become mates, a bond is formed, if one is immortal the other will become immortal. Magic can be cruel, but it isn't that cruel."