FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part 1

A single copper coloured leaf drifted to the ground to join its fallen brethren. The forest trees were still holding on to most of their summer growth, but each day a few more green leaves turned golden, a few more golden turned red and the forest slowly changed to its autumn coat. A green and brown shape moved amongst those trees, trying hard to avoid those noisy patches of crisp leaves.

Yogoloth had been hunting in this vast forest for the last few months, this was one of the longest times the dragon/gryphon hybrid had stayed in one place since he flew the nest all those years ago. He had quickly become accustomed to those similar spots, little lakes or ponds where he could drink and rocky outcropings where he could corner prey or shelter from the rain. But most importantly, clearings where he could more easily land or take to the sky.

But as the trees slowly lost their green finery and the ground became a hazard of noisy leaves, he'd found it more of a challenge to hunt purely from the ground. He knew he could use magic to aid each hunt or he could stalk from the air easily enough. But there was something about the challenge of this, something much more satisfying about each kill. He hadn't eaten in a little over five days, a couple of days longer than he'd have liked, but there wasn't much else to occupy his time with in any case.

He had been trailing one particular stag for an hour or so. In the air, his stamina and agility were unmatched, but on the ground the dragon was more suited to quick bursts of speed. So he slowly stalked the deer getting closer and waiting for the right moment. His prey was quite a young specimen and still sported some blood stained velvet on his new antlers. Probably born last year, this would be... would have been his first rut. The deer looked up briefly before rubbing his itchy antlers on a nearby branch. Yogoloth surged forward.

The deer responded slightly sluggishly as he jumped into a sprint, but the dragon was already closing the gap, rapidly approaching his top sprinting speed. At any other time of the year, the first thing this creature would have thought at hearing the sudden movement was "Predator! Run!". But Yogoloth could almost see the young stag think "Female?" before deciding to flee. It was the first thing on their simple minds during this season.

The slow start, coupled with the young creature's inexperience with the weight of his new antlers, was all it took for the dragon to have the advantage. With his wings pulled tight to his flanks, Yogoloth lunged forward and caught one of the stag's hind legs with a clawed fore paw and his prey stumbled. That was all the dragon needed to sink his teeth into the deer's rump and they both went down in a tangle of limbs.

The stag thrashed around briefly until the hybrid dug his claws into the deer's flanks and clamped his jaws around its neck. It was over and Yogoloth gave his prey a swift death. The dragon panted gently as his heart pounded in his chest, he tasted his prey's blood on his teeth and his own blood raced faster through his veins. This meal would see him through for the next few days and then he'd be able to enjoy another hunt.

He suddenly sensed magic nearby, subtle, familiar magic and then a disembodied voice whispered in his ear.

"Blood... magic... circle...", it said as the magic faded. The voice was his own, the blood mages had arrived at their circle then, no doubt ready to perform their forbidden art.

"Not now!", Yogoloth whined looking down at his would-be meal. There was literally no time to feast on his prize, he had to catch them in the act. He growled, quickly stood and began the short trip toward the nearest clearing where he knew he could take to the air more easily. The mages would suffer even more for disturbing his first meal in five days.

Part 2

The nearest clearing to the stone circle was only a few minutes out, but the green and brown dragon elected to use a slightly more distant location to re-enter the forest. It would take him longer to reach the gathering place of the blood mages, but he was much less likely to be detected as he approached by foot. He had to make sure that whoever had gathered here, that whatever had tripped his magical sentry, was indeed committing this forbidden act. If the grey fox he'd met had been wrong about animals avoiding this place, at least he might get a meal out of this instead of blood mages.

As Yogoloth got closer to the circle he spread out his magical senses, something that itself could not be detected, and searched for signs of life ahead of him. He could feel the life forces of easily a dozen people gathered at the ancient circle of stones. He had to get closer, thankfully the strength of the life forces ahead implied that they had not started their ritual yet and should have no magic available to detect him.

He drew on the free magic within himself and formed a pair of shapes before releasing them into his wings and hide. His feathers and flesh changed colour and now more closely resembled the autumnal hues around him, this should allow him to approach more easily. He stalked closer, using cover as he found it, until he discovered a shallow dip in the ground where he could settle, watch and wait.

There were eighteen people gathered at the stones, fifteen formed a circle around the remaining three. They were a mixture of various races, sexs and ages, mostly peasants who still wore their everyday clothes. This was no ceremony for them. The three at the center were all human and were cheaply robed. One old man lay still on the stone slab, clearly gravely ill, another younger male seemed deep in concentration and the last of the three was a female who held tightly to a common goat, this is how it starts, with an animal sacrifice.

She cut deeply into the goat's neck and it struggled only briefly. The hidden dragon could sense its life energy spill from its body, but it did not gradually dissipate as it should, instead it was held within the web that the stone circle formed. Then Yogoloth watched in disgust as the young robed man took the magic and used it to reach into one of the fifteen, a wolf girl, and take a portion of her life force. She did not resist, if she had, it would have taken more magic to get through than he would ever have gotten back out. This only ever worked on the willing or, as the goat found out, the dead.

The young girl collapsed, alive but so weakened she would probably take days to recover from this invasion. Her life energy joined the remainder of the goat's in the circle and the robed blood mage moved to the next person, and so it continued. Each collapsed in turn, some remained conscious, many did not, but all were left alive. The blood mage was skilled, taking as much as he could without causing permanent harm, but this was always how it started.

By the time the last of the fifteen had been tapped for their life magic, there was a frightening amount of power trapped within the circle. It was indistinguishable from regular magic and Yogoloth's anger boiled in his chest. But he dare not attack just yet, the blood mages now had access to many times more magic than he had, it would be suicide. He hoped they moved swiftly to the task at hand, clearly they planned to heal and restore the sick old man, probably their mentor.

The young robed mage reached into the pool and crudely started forming shapes. Crude but effective, he clearly possessed a skilled teacher and as the magic within the circle was depleted, so the old man's condition improved. The last of the magic was consumed and the old man's eyes slowly flickered open.

The dragon stood up straight and dissolved his camouflage. It was time.

Part 3

Although the blood mages had exhausted their magical pool, they could easily replenish it with another sacrifice. The green and brown dragon had no doubt that they would turn on each other in a heartbeat to add fresh power the pool. With most of their number unconscious or at least incapacitated, Yogoloth need only deal with the three at the centre. Feathery wings folded tight against his flanks, the determined hybrid charged forward ready to end this, permanently.

The two standing blood mages turned suddenly and saw the monster heading towards them. Their eyes wide with shock and increasing fear, they had probably never even seen a gryphon before, let alone something like him. The old man, now sat upright on the flat stone, narrowed his eyes.

"Take my life!", the woman who had sacrificed the goat screamed before sinking the knife into her own chest. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she slumped to the ground. A couple of the still conscious disciples from the circle cried out.

Yogoloth had reached the large stones and leapt on top of one of them, nearly crushing an unconscious rabbit in the process. He sensed the blood mage's life force flow from her body and it was caught by the ancient circle. The dragon then pounced onto the stone slab at the centre and landed heavily on the recovering old man, his body yielded as sharp claws were driven into his fragile frame.

The young mage cried out in horror as his mentor breathed his final breath and his life force began to join the pool. Yogoloth turned to face the last of the three just as his head flared up with pain and his vision blurred. The dragon drove his own senses into the circle's magical pool. Unlike the dragon's own magic, the pool in the stone circle could be fought over. He mentally wrestled with the young mage, the pain died down slightly and his sight returned. But he did not need the power stored there, he merely needed to disrupt it for moment. The blood mage felt sharp teeth pierce his shoulder and neck, bones cracked as he was tossed limply to the side. He felt nothing more.

The dragon panted heavily on the stone slab as he extracted his claws from the old blood mage's corpse. The cries and murmurs from the weakened ring of disciples caught the hybrid's attention. There was no way to tell who of these would go on to practice blood magic from those who would abandon it. They all had to die.

Yogoloth neither relished nor shied away from this task, future crimes like this must be prevented at any cost. He visited each of the fifteen who had willingly given their life force, coerced or not, to this grotesque ritual, and opened their throats with a single swipe of his claws. Many were still unconscious, some stared up at him with tears in their eyes or even begged as he ended their lives. One had even recovered enough strength to stagger a few paces away, her life was ended with a swift bite to the back of the neck. Finally, it was done.

All of their life energies had been collected by the circle. There was more power here than Yogoloth had ever felt before. It was intoxicating and his head spun with the possibilities. With this much magic, he could permanently change his body, grow scales or fur, he probably had the skill, but never before the power. He lifted a fore leg and stared at it. He could give himself talons instead, like a true gryphon. He'd always envied their ability to- He put his paw back down, reached into the pool and unravelled it. He clenched his teeth slightly as he felt the power fade away to nothing. That would have been merely the beginning.

He heard a quiet rasping breath coming from the stone slab at the centre of the circle. He walked over it, pushed the old man's corpse off and settled on it himself. Yogoloth looked down at the mage he had bitten earlier who only barely still clung to life. He could feel the young man suddenly reach into himself, trying to tap into his own life energy in desperation.

"Did your mentor teach you nothing? Even if you somehow managed to use your own life force, you'd most likely die without ever seeing the results.", the dragon said casually.

Yogoloth reached down, clamped his jaws around the helpless mage's neck and twisted sharply.

Part 4

The autumn trees had soon given way to winter's chill and had shed their array of vibrant colours. The light snow showers came and went as they normally did and soon the first new growth of spring began to reclaim the land from the dull cold. Prey had been easy enough to find for the young dragon/gryphon hybrid, travelling ever westward back towards familiar grounds. He may have missed last year's meeting with Marrus, but this year he was determined to make it. But he still needed to eat along the way.

Yogoloth fancied a bit of a change and, now he was approaching more civilised areas, he had the option of mixing up his diet with something a little different. There weren't any wild boar in these parts, but the civilised races had the next best thing. But they tended to keep them fenced in and this deprived the green and brown dragon the chance of a good hunt. So instead he decided to satisfy his stalking instinct by being as stealthy as possible and stealing away his porcine meal in the middle of the day without being spotted.

This particular farmstead was fairly isolated, that combined with the dull overcast sky made things a little easier for the predator. There was a storm brewing. There were still a few watchful eyes for him to avoid but generally this family of civilised foxes were busy working their fields and maintaining the farm buildings. Yogoloth had been watching them for hours before he decided the time was right and he'd figured out the best path to take.

Patience was a virtue that always paid off when hunting and stalking. Learning your prey's behaviours, studying your surroundings, spotting weaknesses to take advantage of and then picking the perfect moment when they are at their most vulnerable. Sinking your teeth into the flesh... The dragon started salivating at the thought of his meal. This will make a nice change from the common deer, the odd wolf and that bear. Yogoloth wasn't going to bother with bear again, the taste really wasn't worth the effort.

He briskly approached the fenced area where the pigs were feeding and got ready to sprint the moment one of them detected him. But they were oblivious to anything other than their food trough, these farm animals seemed to have no survival instincts at all. The hungry dragon nearly managed to get within pounce distance by the time one of the animals heard his approach and looked up. The creature let out a panicked squeal and the small group erupted with noise and movement. Yogoloth surged forward.

He was not afraid of being spotted by the family who owned these animals, there wasn't anything they could do to stop him and tales of a monster who stole one of their pigs would most likely be ignored. Rather, it was the challenge getting in and out without them knowing what had spirited away one of their pigs without a trace. With that in mind he hopped into the small wooden pen, wings slightly open and lunged at the nearest meal, teeth bared.

Those teeth soon sank deeply into the creature's neck and it instantly stopped its struggle. Then the dragon was off, carrying his tasty prize in his jaws. Yogoloth soon reached the tree line and vanished like a ghost into the dense undergrowth of the forest. A big, hungry, green and brown ghost... with wings.

The hybrid had not gotten more than fifty metres into the forest before he sensed unfamiliar magic nearby, he dropped his meal and scanned the local area with his physical and magical senses, alert for danger. Then a voice whispered in his ear.

"If... near... help... welcome...", Marrus's voice said in a distant yet serious tone. The dragon looked down at the tasty meal and frowned.

"You've got to be kidding me.", he muttered to no one in particular.

Part 5

Yogoloth drove his wings hard through the air, speed rather than distance was the goal. The sky was dull and grey with thick storm clouds gathering from all directions. The feather winged dragon had quickly traced Marrus's location after receiving the message and estimated that it would take him half an hour at most to get there. The message was worded as though unimportant, but the hybrid knew his human friend Marrus well enough, he was in trouble. His ability to find trouble was matched only by his ability to deal with it.

As he got closer he recognised the road that Marrus was travelling on, he was a few days early for their meeting this year. Even from high in the sky, Yogoloth picked out the details of the scene. A cart lay on its side, its contents lay spilled out on the road, a collection of foods, furniture and other homely goods. Four armed figures were milling around nearby. A pair of shapes lay sprawled, unmoving and most likely dead. The dragon's heart raced faster, but he reminded himself that Marrus had most likely been acting as a hired guard for these two. Unless... Marrus had met someone? No, the trace magic would not have worked if he were one of the dead.

As the green and brown dragon circled around the scene he finally picked out Marrus in cover behind the cart, he was out numbered. Yogoloth always enjoyed the look of horror on people's faces as he dropped out of the sky on to them. This will be the first time that Marrus will have seen him in a real fight in his feral form, the hybrid smiled as he started his dive.

As expected, the two targets he'd picked out never looked up. The hybrid's feathery gryphon wings were silent as he descended on his first target. He landed heavily on the armed civilised wolf. The gang member didn't just fall, he was driven into the ground by Yogoloth's weight and pinned to the ground. The dragon wasted no time in wrapping his jaws around the back of the lupine's neck where the armour was weakest and biting down. Blood poured out as teeth penetrated flesh and the wolf lay still.

The wolf's companion was a human dressed in similar garb, cheap but effective. The horror of what he had seen nearly paralysed him and he stumbled backwards onto the ground never even drawing his weapon. Yogoloth pounced on him, the blood of the wolf still dripping from his toothy maw. Suddenly pain surged through Yogoloth's right side as though a lightning bolt had passed through his wing, shoulder and flank.

He quickly turned his head and saw that his other two prey had armed themselves with crossbows. How had he missed that on approach? They were reloading, he hadn't the time to check his wounds. The dragon sank his teeth into the pinned human's throat and pulled upwards, tearing a chunk of the wind pipe free. Blood flowed freely around the wound and onto the ground.

Yogoloth turned towards the last two, they had backed further away and were nearly finished reloading their crossbows. He surged forward, fresh pain stabbing through his flank and weakened shoulder and he realised he wasn't going to reach them before they loosed their quarrels. He had to think quickly if he was going to avoid a quick death by these two humans.

He stopped and suddenly reared up on his hind legs, exposing as much of his belly and neck as possible, making himself as easy target. He delved into his magical reserves and hurriedly made a shape and forced it into his scutes. The quarrels let loose and flew towards him, striking his magically hardened chest, one deflected harmlessly into the ground and the other shattered on impact.

He landed heavily on his fore legs as he pushed himself back into a run, he winced each time his right fore leg hit the ground and his right wing was almost dragging behind him. But he reached them and forced his sharp claws into the first, her eyes glazed over as her ribs yielded and were forced into her heart and lungs. Her cheap leather armour was nothing to a dragon's claws.

Yogoloth flung his left wing outwards knocking the second human to the ground, his recently drawn sword flew off to the side. The dragon kicked the discarded crossbow away with a hind leg, lunged forward and sank his teeth into his prey's belly. He chewed through the scale mail into the flesh below but not enough to kill instantly, this one can suffer in his final moments.

Yogoloth pulled his head back, closed his eyes and the air in his lungs came out in ragged breaths. Blood and flesh covered his jaws and the pain in his blood covered body throbbed through his hazy mind. His own blood raced through his veins as he struggled to control his dragonic temper. He felt slightly light headed from the blood loss and began to shake slightly. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

He looked around to his right and saw a quarrel lodged in his right shoulder, it went deep, hit bone and had gone no further. The other had passed through a major flight muscle in his right wing and was now stinking out of his flank. If it hadn't have passed through his wing first, it probably would have pierced his lung or worse. All three wounds bled freely but, although serious, they were not life threatening.

Yogoloth suddenly looked to the upturned cart.

"Marrus!", the dragon called, his voice slightly weak. But his friend hadn't moved since the fighting started.

Part 6

Yogoloth's right fore leg was throbbing and every step brought fresh pain which seemed to flow in waves. It wouldn't be the first time Marrus had pulled out an arrow or quarrel from his hide though. Regardless of the pain in his leg and holding his injured feathery wing off the ground best he could, he ran to the upturned cart where Marrus was. He wasn't dead, the wounded dragon could sense that much.

Marrus had propped himself up against the cart, his armour sporting several bloody gashes and holes. He was awake and seemed quite calm, if a little pale. As the blood covered dragon limped into view, he looked up and smiled.

"... you don't look... so good... old friend...", Marrus's voice was weak and he had to take frequent short breaths. Yogoloth slowly sat beside him, careful not to catch the quarrel in his own flank.

"You missed all the fun, Marrus.", he looked down at the his friend's wounds and added in a more sombre tone, "Well, not all..."

Yogoloth allowed his magical senses to flow through his friend's body, the human's injuries were very serious. Even at full strength he wouldn't have had the power to save him. Gently he wrapped his uninjured fore leg around his friend's shoulders. There was a sudden roll of thunder in the distance.

"I- I don't think I have-", the dragon started but the old warrior interrupted.

"... I know... I can do... magic too... you know...", Marrus whispered, smiling best he could through the pain.

Yogoloth shook his head, this wasn't happening, not like his. Perhaps if Marrus had never again turned up at another meeting or maybe he could have settled down and couldn't manage the journey any more. But not like this.

His ears picked up a gasping sound from beyond the cart, the human he had mauled earlier was succumbing to his wounds. He hadn't suffered nearly enough. Yogoloth could sense the life force begin to leave the body. He looked down at Marrus and gritted his teeth.

"You're not dead until I say you are.", the dragon growled.

The hybrid reached out his minor magical senses and wrapped them around the life force as it left the body. He wrestled with it, unfamiliar with how to deal with this kind of magic outside of the circle. Yogoloth clenched his eyes shut and forced the errant power to his will and pulled it in, adding it to his own pool. He reached down and found Marrus's own channel, the small fire opal the dragon had given him two years ago. It was mostly full and he drained it.

He realised he had enough magical power to heal the mortal wounds of a dying goat. It wasn't nearly enough for Marrus. The hybrid fought the urge to let out a keening sound and it caught in his throat instead.

Marrus struggled to lift his hand to Yogoloth's snout and batted at it. The blow wouldn't have made even a child cry. The dragon opened his eyes and his ears drooped slightly.

"... don't close... your eyes... how many... times...", the human grinned and then winced at the effort as his arm fell back down to the ground.

A couple of water drops fell on Marrus's face as rain began to fall on the ground around them. There was another roll of thunder as Yogoloth lifted his one good wing to shield his friend as best he could from the rain.

"... I know... you don't... have the... strength...", the human coughed gently and a few specks of blood appeared on his lips.

"Yes. I do.", the dragon said, suddenly knowing what he must do. He reached into himself with his magical senses, passed the power he collected from the dead, passed the power from Marrus's channel, even passed the pool of his own free magic. He found he pulsing core deep within all living things and gently wrapped himself around it. He took a deep breath, clenched his teeth and pulled.

Every fibre of his being screamed at him to stop, every nerve in his body on fire. Every instinct, every fear, every emotion fought him and this ultimate of unnatural acts. He was weak, he was fading, he was dying, he was nothing. He let it go. Marrus was right, he wasn't strong enough, he was weak and now he was failing his friend at the very moment he needed him the most. What kind of a dragon was he anyway?

Yogoloth opened his eyes and let his breath out, he hadn't even realised he'd been holding on to it. He looked down and his friend's face was blank, his eyes cold, he was gone. The dragon squeezed his fore leg tightly around the human's shoulders pulling him close and gently placed his forehead against his. His body began to shake gently, his ears fell flat against his head and his voice came out, barely a whisper.

"M- Marrus?", the dragon closed his eyes tight and a couple more water drops fell against Marrus's face. But it was not the rain.

"Marrus... don't go..."