FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hours rolled into each other as I followed the form of the dragoness. She never seemed to tire even as the sun started to roll behind the mountains but kept her pace, tail swishing behind her. The oncoming darkness didn't help much either. I kept stumbling over unburied roots and fallen branches. Only when I tripped and fell on my face did I hear her stop.

"Something the matter?" She asked in a sarcastic voice.

"Do you not tire? And can you see in the dark?" I paused for a second for an answer but none came. "I don't even know your name."

"Nor do you need to know. Come, the back entrance to my home is around the corner." I heard her light footsteps continuing as I scrambled to my feet to catch up. Night had fallen completely revealing the tiny jewels of the stars above. No moon though so I had to focus on the dragoness as hard as I could. She seemed to glow slightly in the darkness. There was something....mystic about her right now. Like a lucid dream dancing within the blackness that surrounded us.

"If you're done staring at me, human, we've arrived." She had careened her neck to look over her shoulder while I was lost in her image. I think we were at the base of a mountain. We had defiantly covered a good distance if that was the case. She showed me to a little inlet carved into the rock, just big enough for her to fit. It was even darker in here. Her claws clicked on the stone and a soft light suddenly emanated from the wall by her side. It was a rune of some sort that was the cause of the orange hue that filled the inlet. She covered it with her palm and I suddenly felt as if I was being yanked by some invisible rope.

"Welcome to my home." The dragoness said but all I saw was a dark room that had the feeling of a vast cavern. A cave... how typical of her kind to reside in one.

"A little dark isn't it?" I asked. She laughed and her claws clicked against something again. Pure white light poured into what I thought was a cave. My breath was taken from me from the sight I beheld. It was huge but not a cave. It was some sort of house that was hidden within the mountaintop with many soft looking pieces of furniture and pillows. Some type of soft material covered the floors of the place while the walls of wood were painted white. Windows had materialized into parts of the walls and showed how high up we were. There were four tunnels connecting to this room, one leading upstairs, and one down. As for the other two I could only guess. The rune she hit must have been one devoted to transportation. I was in awe at everything before me. Never had I seen anything like this.

"What....how?" She had been eyeing me the whole time I had been looking around with a grin on her lips.

"A little magic here and there can liven up a cave, don't you think?" She laughed at the look of bewilderment on my face. She must be quiet powerful to have done all this! "The light is from special crystals that glow when a rune is place upon them. I found a way to turn these runes on and off by connecting then to another rune set onto the wall." She waved a claw in the direction of a purple rune shaped like a Y next to her. "The floor is an idea that I took from a friend of mine who hated the hard rock of normal caves. The windows are moveable rock that I applied a rune to as well and the walls are just painted wood. I'm not a big fan of being surrounded by rock all my life you know."

"It will take too long to show you around tonight. You can sleep anywhere in this room for tonight, feel free to use another of the chairs or pillows to your liking. I'm going to my lair. Don't bother me. You'll start your work tomorrow." With that she walked to an inclined side tunnel that led somewhere to the next level.

The room was big. Much bigger than my little hut that I called home for most of my life. I looked out the window and beheld the surrounding mountains and valleys. All quiet and still. Even my village could be seen from this height. Small specks of light glowing from the houses of the ones that I swore to protect with my life. I gave a hearty sigh. The ones I swore to protect and now I'm miles above as a dragons cleaning servant. Maybe it won't be much to clean and I can go home soon?

Fatigue finally caught up with me from the days hike and I felt completely and utterly exhausted. Barely making it over to a pile of pillows, I collapsed onto their soft exterior. My last thoughts before drifting into nothingness was, " I could get used to these."

Something was poking me in the side stirring me from slumber. Must be Rorin coming to get me because I slept in again.

"Leave me alone Rorin, it's my day off!" The poking continued. "Come on Rorin, bugger off!" A sharper jab made me jump and face my poking attacker. It wasn't Rorin, it was a dragon! Memories from the previous day flooded my mind as I remembered what had occurred. "Oh yea...sorry dragon. I guess I forgot where I was."

"Rorin huh? I don't think it exactly fits me, human."

"Draiden." She cocked her head at me. "My name is Draiden."

"Draiden is it? Well I'm still not going to tell you my name, so refer to me as mistress. Here." She threw what she was poking me with at my feet. A broom. "Normally I don't trust people with my treasure room but since I basically own you until I say your debt is repaid I have no worries. Follow me." She headed towards the passage leading downstairs. I grabbed the broom and ran after her, not even bothering to stretch my sore muscles.

The next level appeared to be some kind of food storage room and had a wooden floor and the same white walls. Mostly dried meats on various shelves and cupboards but scattered among were dried herbs and plants. Even a well! She caught me looking at the well which has two long, tubular, rocks leading into it that came from either side. There were also boards in the sides were those tubular rocks lead that looked removable.

"There's an underground river I tapped into. I molded some of the rock into a hollow tube that tapped into the river so it would fill to the top. The other at the base leads outside this establishment when the water gets dirty. The boards are what stop the flow." It was ingenious! Saves time having to fetch water will pails. "Come, my treasure room is below here. And bring some water there's a pail over by the basin." She continued below while I grabbed the metal bucket and filled it with water. Glancing over my shoulder to see if the dragoness had gone downstairs, I put down the filled bucket and pulled one of the boards up. There was a gushing sound as the water receded. Pulling the other one, water poured into the basin. I wasn't sure what most to be impressed with. The fact that she had running water which is unheard of or the fact she came up with it.

I hurried downstairs to catch up with her only to be amazed again. A room bigger than the one I stayed in and loaded with treasure. Piles of gold coin, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other stones filled the room. Even a heap of weapons that must be magical for the amount of runes scribed onto their surface. Overhead was another one of the light crystals but far greater in size than any I've seen so far. The circumference of the room also had crystals scattered around it. Off to one side was a glass case that stood upon a pedestal. Inside, sitting upon a red velvet pillow, was a massive piece of bloodstone, a magical and very valuable stone rare to these parts.

"Starting with this room, I want the floor swept and all my treasure polished." My jaw dropped. Was she serious? I have to polish all this? It was already so shiny though...

She burst into laughter at the look of horror on my face. She covered her eyes as she shook with mirth. I, on the other hand, was not amused. "I'm only kidding. That would take years and I don't want your grubby fingers on my trove. I want the floor swept and the weapons cleaned and polished. There are a few weapon racks that you can set them on once cleaned. After, go into the galley and organize everything and mop the floor. It's long overdue for a cleaning. I'll be in the room you slept in once you are through." She left me to do my work. I grumbled to myself as I begun,

"This is what I get for getting my life saved by a dragon..?"

It was late into the afternoon by the time I had finished my work. The weapons were covered in blood and grime and took a great deal of scrubbing to get off. Speaking of blood, not all the meat was dry in the galley and the bloodstains on the wood floor required the aid of a brush to get out. My arms never hurt so much before, not even during basic training! I dragged my aching form into the room I slept the night before, but did not see the dragoness. Good. I took the time to finally stretch since I didn't get a chance to this morning. I took off my shirt and pants and placed it neatly on one of the chairs in the middle of the room and started my morning ritual...in the afternoon. I went through each muscle, gently stretching the stiffness out, then going into more vigorous stretches, and then working into each joint in turn.

"Nice to know my little servant isn't bad to look at." I spun around to the voice behind me. The dragoness appeared as if out of nowhere on the pillows behind me, right next to my clothes....Her deep blue eyes were eyeing me up and down, a hungry grin on her face. I could feel my cheeks flushing a deep red color as she eyed me.

"Mistress....wh-what are you doing here? I thought you were gone." A growl escaped her throat when I called her mistress.

"You finally called me mistress. Took you long enough my pet." She wasn't acting like before. She was acting more like a....a predator. Her long tongue lashed out and licked her lips slowly, deliberately.

"Can I have my clothes back and get onto the next task?" I asked timidly. Her silence was not reassuring. No one has acted like this before; then again I spend most of my time in the woods.

"If you can get them you can have them." She teased as she picked up my shirt with a claw and spun it around in slow circles. I smiled inside, she doesn't know who she's dealing with. I concentrated quickly on a small amount of magic and spread it throughout my limbs, then burst into a run to get my shirt and pants. Everything was moving in slow motion, my shirt twirling even slower than before. I grabbed my pants first and then the shirt and retreated to wear I stood before. I let the magic in my limbs dissipate and return them to their normal state and time. She kept spinning her claw for a moment until she glanced at the clothes within my grasp. Glancing at her claw, she realized she no longer had my clothes in her possession and let out a sigh.

"You had to go and spoil my fun, didn't you?" A sad look spread across her face, the predatory one diminishing. She got up and walked over the entrance of the stairwell to her lair. She turned and looked over her shoulder. She gave a coy smile. "You have no idea what I was hinting at do you?" The confused look on my face gave the answer she desired. A chuckled escaped her lips. "Guess I have some work to do. Feel free to explore the place. I have a few things to care of. I'll see you tomorrow Draiden."