FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Eve was sound asleep when he heard the low-pitched hum. His eyes shot open and he glanced around uneasily. Cyllea wasn't next to him; she was sleeping in Holi's room. It was a sort of punishment for his and Dameon's fight earlier. The hum was coming from outside and seemed to get louder the more Eve focused on it.

Then he noticed another sound: a whooshing noise, like some large fan was blowing very close by...

His eyes widened, he knew this sound...

"Raptors..." he whispered. Then he shot out of his bed, leaping for the door! He rushed across the hall and burst through Teya's door. He shook the sleeping reptile awake and then held his paw over her mouth.

Her eyes opened and she struggled wildly before her vision focused and she saw it was Eve. He held her and then held his other claw up to his lips.

"Shh!" he whispered. "Raptors...nearby...wake up Dameon and Darrow. I'll get Cyllea and Holi."

Teya nodded her eyes wide with fear as she slunk out of her bed and out of her door. She slithered silently down the hall to the couch where Dameon was sleeping while Eve made his way into Holi's room. He entered briskly, shaking the two slumbering females awake. Cyllea groaned and blinked a few times.

"What--" she began before Eve held his paw over her mouth as well.

"There are Raptors nearby, we need to get everyone up and ready," he said slowly. Cyllea's pupils narrowed and she nodded solemnly. Holi followed suit and the two stood up, making their way out behind Eve.

In the main room, Dameon was up and standing in front of Dexter and Kerrigan protectively. Darrow was weakly shambling in, leaning against Teya for support.

"What's going on?" Dameon asked quietly.

"I heard Raptors, very close by, we need to find out where they are and if we're in danger," Eve said carefully. Dameon looked out towards the door and snarled.

"Alright, I'll see if I can find them," he said and took a few steps towards the door. He cloaked himself in a green aura and then vanished, slowly and quietly turning the doorknob before making his way out into the front yard. He looked up, trying to see if he could pinpoint exactly where the Raptors were and if they were far enough away that they could evade them. There were seven of them, flying in organized rows, just around the corner. Dameon cursed and began moving back into the house. "They're right next door, a patrol of seven; no doubt they'll see the house..."

"Damn," Eve muttered. "Did you see who the riders were?"

"No, couldn't make them out. But if we don't get down to the basement now, we're sunk..." Dameon said assuredly. Eve and the others nodded.

"Alright," Eve began. "Everyone down into the basement, Holi and the kids go first, then Teya and Darrow, then us."

"Sounds good," Darrow said quietly as they began moving for the kitchen. Holi uplifted a few loose boards and began descending a thin ladder down to a deep chamber dug into the soft earth beneath the house.

After everyone had gone through, Eve made his way down and pulled the boards back over the hole. The group huddled at the far end of the chamber, save for Dameon and Eve, and waited silently.

"Can you hear 'em?" Dameon asked. Eve held his claw up to his lips as he listened intently.

He heard the humming noise grow slightly louder as the Raptors discovered the house and made their landing in their front yard. He heard the heavy, winged machines crunch their crops with their mass and their riders soon doing the same as they disembarked. The machines' engines rumbled off, becoming silent as the footsteps came closer to the house.

"Commander Oxide," a grisly voice growled. "No lights, can't smell any life..."

"Search the interior, we need to be certain that who we're looking for is not in this structure," Eve heard a painfully familiar voice say.

"Tear the place apart, look in closets, cupboards, everywhere," Kyasha's powerful voice also penetrated the dragon's ears as the painful memories flooded back to him.

"It's Oxide and Merrick," he whispered grimly. Darrow's face took on a painful snarl as he heard the name swing through his brain.

The sound of wood splintering rushed through the mid-sized house as one of the Carnians kicked the door down. Heavy boots and digitigrade feet pummeled the shoddy boards as they entered, moving from one end of the house to the other, looking for life. Dameon signed to Eve in a form of non-vocal hand gestures the two had designed for just such an occasion.

"How many?" Dameon asked.

"Five," Eve responded. Dameon nodded, glancing up at the secret passageway every now and again.

"Take them out?" Dameon asked, his fingers expertly shaping the syllables. Eveser shook his head.

"More in Raptors," he reminded him.

"Understood," Dameon agreed.

Oxide was excited, he had never seen this structure before, never once in all his years of living and he was almost sure that this would be where he would find his targets! After all, the mountain that had become rubble was literally right across the valley! He was going to rip this whole building out of the ground if he had to...

"Commander," a Carnian soldier called as he ran up to the golem. "There are signs of recent life in there; someone had been living here for a long time."

"When did they evacuate the area?" Oxide asked. "Are you even sure they left?"

"No Sir," the Carnian said with a grimace, his contorted facial features hardening. "We aren't sure at all, but they are certainly not here now. They must have left sometime within the past couple of hours at maximum."

"Then they shouldn't be too far," Kyasha said as she walked hurriedly back to her Raptor. "I'll take four; you stay here and continue searching the structure."

"Very well, your highness," Oxide hissed. He turned back to the house as Kyasha snarled and flipped the ignition on the flyer. The engine hummed to life and hovered into the air before zooming off with four other Raptors behind her. Oxide was irritated, or as close to irritated as an emotionless being can get. He hated being ordered around by her, even if she was Lord Grimlock and Lord Faust's equal. He even hated being ordered by Faust! That wretched little mutt, not even of pure Carnian blood and above an extremely powerful Carnian golem in rank? It was ridiculous! "One day, Oxide...but not today..."

His mutterings had put him in a bad mood. He wanted to break something...

"Move," he ordered his soldiers. The Carnians rushed from inside the wooden house and watched their commander move silently inside. He looked around for a moment or two and then lashed out a whip-like extension of his arm at the wall. It knocked the candles off of the small, wooden table against the side of the house and then he brought it crashing down on top of the table in the main room.

The group heard the destruction from the basement, where Eve and Dameon were beginning to get worried...

Oxide's rage held a serious threat of discovery. If he were the stamp his foot down onto the kitchen floor hard enough, no doubt he would jar the loose boards out of their placement and discover their hiding spot! Eve began to get nervous.

"Maybe we can take him out?" he thought to himself. "We could catch him by surprise? No...no...too risky..."

Dameon saw the worry in his friend's eyes and realized the situation they were in...all they had were their prayers that Oxide didn't find them...that's all...

Oxide's arms thrashed and flailed, slamming holes in the walls and destroying all the furniture he could reach! His rage was yet unabated, though, and he recalled his arms to their normal shape. With a flick of his wrist, his fist grew to three times its normal size!

He stormed off into the bedrooms with fury in his nonexistent eyes. His furious strikes were felt through the basement walls and floor; such was the ferocity through which each blow was made.

"Miserable HALF-BLOODS!" Oxide yelled and slammed his fist down against Eve's bed. "Pathetic PRETENDERS!"

Again and again his oversized fist smashed the bed until it was nothing but splinters and ripped sheets. Oxide panted heavily before turning and swinging his mace of an arm through the nearest wall and ripping it out of the structure!

The side of the house collapsed as the wall fell, bringing the roof down with it in Eve and Cyllea's bedroom! Oxide continued to pant heavily, still angry but much less so now. He took a deep breath and then began walking to the main room.

Eve smiled, hearing Oxide's rage begin to die down. He shuddered with joy, knowing that soon the Carnian would leave and maybe everything would be ok!

He looked over at Dameon, who smiled and nodded in agreement. Eve looked back at the rest of the group, smiling and hoping they could hear what he heard and understand the situation. He first thought Kerrigan's face was one of smiling joy, then he took a closer look...

Kerrigan's face was twisted, warped as though she was in pain! No...not pain...she wasn't hurt...she was...about to sneeze!

Eve cursed in his head as he rushed quietly over to the little reptile and held her nose tightly. She gasped sharply, making Eve cringe at the harsh noise...

But then her sneeze subsided and her face returned to normal, smiling up at Eve with a silent "thank you" present in her eyes. Eve smiled back at turned around, making his way back to the ladder.

Then her small, random, unplanned sneeze rang through Eve's ears as well as those of everyone in the house...everyone...

Oxide's head snapped back to face the kitchen.

"I heard something!" he shouted to his soldiers outside. The troops rushed in, heading for the kitchen. "Tear it apart!"

"Shit!" Eve cursed as the heavy boots thundered above them. "Dameon, we need to go!"

"Alright, on your call," Dameon said with a malicious grin.

"Let me come along, I owe that son of a bitch," Darrow whispered, standing feebly. Eve gave him a sympathetic smile.

"One day soon," he said. "I promise you Darrow, one day soon you'll get to give the bastard everything he deserves, but not today..."

Darrow snarled, his scarred lips quivering angrily. Finally he nodded and growled.

"Cyllea, once we make the distraction, you take Darrow and the kids out of here, understand?" Eveser said quickly as the Carnians began chattering to eachother over the loose floorboards. "We'll get Teya and Holi. I promise once we disable the Raptors and Oxide we'll be right behind you..."

"Okay," Cyllea said. "I love you..."

"I love you too," Eve said quietly and kissed her. Then they split and Eve took his place next to Dameon right underneath the secret entrance.

"Behaku Dark," Dameon held his outstretched claw up to the entrance as a small ball of green fire burned in his palm. He looked over to Eve. "Call it..."

Eve nodded, raising two fingers into the air upright. He watched the vague forms moving above him, listening to them raid cabinets and tear apart the cupboards and whatnot. He waited for them to move, waiting for the right moment to let Dameon's attack loose. Waiting...for one of them...to stand...right on top of the entrance!

"Now!" he hissed and pointed his upright fingers at Dameon.

"HELLFIRE CANNON!" Dameon's roar penetrated Oxide's auditory apparatus even from under the floorboards as the enormous beam of green light reduced the Carnian soldier to ashes! Eveser and Dameon burst from the floor, tearing into the Carnians nearest them immediately!

Oxide was stunned for a moment! The immediateness of the ambush had actually caught him off guard! He spun around, his arm becoming a tendril.

But before he could even swing it, he was knocked to the floor by a steel-colored dragoness bearing a tiger and two small reptiles on her back! The force of her flight was so powerful that it shook the very foundations upon which the house was built! Oxide was blown into a wall, crashing straight through it and into the outside just in time to watch Cyllea and her precious cargo soar out into the night!

He screeched in anger and ran back into the house to face his enemies. As he stepped through the door, he was again greeted by an unpleasant sight...

Eve's fist swung directly into the center of his nondescript face, warping his head gruesomely! He fell back against the hard dirt and leapt up once again, undeterred by the blow. Dameon came forwards and swung a leg at him, which he dodged and retaliated against with a vicious swing of his tendril-like arm.

Dameon was quick enough to evade it, but not quick enough to evade the powerful follow-up punch to his chin! He stumbled backwards, wiped his lip, and then engaged the golem once again.

Eve had zoomed past them and was heaving torrents of blazing flame over the Raptors, who were far too unprepared to respond and deal with him. The pilots were engulfed in the fire and clicked and roared until they were no more. The Raptors themselves seemed to be holding out...at least for the first few minutes. When their wings began to melt, Eve knew that his job was done...

"Dameon!" he called. Dameon ducked under Oxide's tendril and swept his feet out from under him. Oxide fell to the ground and Dameon leapt upon him, slashing him to bits with his claws!

Oxide fell to pieces and became a steady mist, allowing Dameon the time to hop away and jump into the air, his palms facing the ground. His claws glowed green and he hovered for a moment before raising a claw to the burning Raptors and lobbing a small green ball at them...

The ensuing explosion was so big that Dameon couldn't help but turn away and follow Eve, as much as he would have liked to watch the beautiful destruction. They flew hurriedly through the mountain valleys until they saw a small grey dot in the distance.

"Cyllea!" Eve called and pushed himself as fast as he could towards her! She glanced back with a smile and slowed herself to allow them to catch up before again speeding off into the night which was now becoming dawn.

Oxide had just finished reassembling himself when he noticed the explosion and the fire and the escaped fugitives and the dead Carnians and the burning Raptors and the huge amount of shit he was going to catch for this...

He took a deep breath and sighed...

"I...hate my life," he groaned and dissipated. Fuck Kyasha...she can find her own way home. Oxide was interested to see how Lord Gride would react once he told him of her inability to capture the dragon...yes...that's it! She would have died without Oxide there to save her and her Raptor squad from destruction...perfect...perfect...he would have to convince the Raptor squad that events occurred this way of course, but that wouldn't be too difficult...after all...Carnians have been known to do all sorts of things when their lives are threatened...

Oh yes this was going to be fun...