FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Of Myths and Legends:

Chapter One: A Visitor

"This is the real world. Let go of all your romantic fantasies of a better tomorrow, their nothing more than that. Fantasies. The only time what you want actually happens is if you get up and do it."

-Edward

Another high pitched grinding sounded inside the garage, followed by a rush of sparks as metal was touched down onto the bench grinder. A man, Edward, probably in his early to mid twenties, was bent over the device pressing the metal down onto the grinder for a moment before picking it back up to examine the cut made in the piece.

The night outside was alive with the sounds of frogs and the small nocturnal birds that came out after the sun had poured its last rays upon the earth. The harsh, artificial light from the open garage door spilled out into the gravel driveway highlighting the small frogs that leapt about in the light. The moon overhead lit the rest of the surroundings, a house, the forest right beside and a rickety barbwire fence, with a smooth cool glow.

The grinder's whine began to lessen in intensity as the power switch was flipped the machine slowing itself as Edward backed away from it and brought out some small files to continue shaping what he was working on. He paused as he thought he heard the crunch of gravel underfoot outside. It was far too late for visitors, let alone customers. He set the piece and file down onto the workbench and stood walking to the open garage door.

He peered out, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight outside. The footsteps approached closer still as he stood there looking for their source. He winced as the floodlights flipped on, their motion sensors finally being tripped. He squinted and nearly gasped as his eyesight came back into focus.

It was an animal, reptilian, not an alligator, a little too big for that. It form was long and lithe, with well-muscled legs and... wings. Edward blinked recognizing what he was looking at, a dragon. It shook its head and stared back at Edward, letting out a small snort. It dipped its head, and Edward, possessed by what, he didn't know, bowed in return. The dragon scratched at the gravel in front of it as Edward regarded it warily.

Edward chuckled and shook his head looking up at the clock inside the garage. It was late, his mind was playing tricks on him; dragons weren't real!

He bowed again and continued to laugh at himself quietly,

"Welcome." He murmured and turned walking back into the garage to turn the bench grinder back on.

He heard the click of claws against concrete, and glanced over his shoulder as the dragon followed him inside the garage. In the light he could see it better, its dark blue scales reflected light in small iridescent rainbows, and a stripe of long silver hair ran from its head all the way down to the tip of its tail contrasting deeply with the dark scales. As it slipped gracefully around the car parked on that side of the garage Edward noticed it stood at about three and a half feet high at its shoulder, and was probably about seven feet long without its tail. It sniffed at a bucket with old gasoline in it and snorted shaking its head.

Edward watched it for a moment, its motions lithe and graceful as it examined his garage. He turned back to the grinder donning some safety glasses as he picked up another bar of metal and began to grind it down into a rough shape. The orange and yellow sparks and the pulsing screech of the grinder seemed to create a type of music as Edward continued to pull more metal off of the bar. After about thirty seconds or so he dipped the piece down into some water to keep the metal from burning and then continued. He stiffened as he felt something lean lightly on his back and shoulder and turned his head a bit to find the dragon's head propped up on his shoulder.

It regarded him with a silver eye for a moment before looking down at the grinder as it spun with a high pitched whine. Edward shrugged mentally and continued working on the piece, as he touched the metal to the grinder again and as the sparks flew around he heard a soft lilting trill. He glanced at the dragon, wondering if it had made the noise but continued to dutifully shape the bar. The orange glow reflected off of the dragon's face and the sparks shone in its eyes as it watched attentively occasionally peeping or trilling in a soft tone.

After a few more minutes of this Edward turned the grinder back off having shaped the bar into a rough tool. He looked over at the dragon who'd been studying his face, he noticed the dragon quickly averted its gaze though as if being caught staring. Edward grabbed a bag off of the work bench on opened it, offering a piece of jerky so the dragon. Even if it was a figment of his imagination, there was no need to be impolite.

The dragon sniffed at the seasoned meat and then gently picked it from his fingers chewing on it thoughtfully it seemed. Edward stood and the dragon lifted its head from his shoulders and took a few steps backwards to watch him as he gathered up his tools and materials storing them into their various shelves and cabinets. It let out a small sound as he turned around and sighed stretching.

"Now I don't know about you, but I'm tired." The man smiled at the creature who regarded him with an intelligent expression, "Heh, listen to me, talking to my own imaginary beasts." He laughed and the dragon snorted looking away from him.

Edward reached out and gently scratched under its chin and smiled as it leaned its head back and purred closing its eyes happily.

"Goodnight beastie." Edward murmured as he turned flipping the lights off as he walked inside the house. He heard a sad sound behind him and ignored it as he went to strip his clothes off and get a shower before bed.

Edward shook his head as he stepped into the shower wondering how far gone his mind was. He was seeing dragons and talking to them. Maybe there were some downsides to working from home, like the lack of contact with people. Sure he had customers constantly bringing him stuff to repair, but that wasn't the same. He sighed and scrubbed the oil and grease from his body relishing in the clean feeling. After getting cleaned up he donned some boxers and promptly fell asleep in bed. He swore before he drifted off he heard something scratching at the front door, but ignored it.