FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The human trapped between my forelegs stank with the fear of his imminent demise - as well as other even less pleasant bodily secretions. Everything in my nature told me to end his life and then promptly devour him; I had been out hunting after all and I was famished. This man before me saw me as nothing more than a beast. Perhaps he should find out what a beast such as myself was capable of...

But then wouldn't I just be confirming what the man thought of me in the first place? Well, he would be dead, but I would be confirming it for the rest of them, just as Tobias had just said. I hadn't wanted to think about this! Tobias had lured me into staying my claw this long and now I was doubting myself! Dragons Do. We don't deliberate and discuss, when there is something we desire, we go forth and take it. I'd taken this land for my own, but there was so much that I'd had to learn in just this short time. The places I'd been, the things I'd seen in my years as a homeless wandering male, and yet it had all been saturated with the same familiar, recognizable dragony philosophy. Humans were so concerned with appearances, images, symbols... it grated against my entire world view and yet here I was embedding myself into the thickest of human delusions: Politics.

And yet... it seemed to me just then that taking this man's life just now would have been an indulgence purely for indulgence's sake. I wanted to kill him just because I wanted to. If I were fresh from the mountains as I had been less than a year ago, I wouldn't have waited a second; that would have been reason enough to do it. But now the action seemed different, not only was killing the man who had fired the crossbow at me simply taking his life, it was larger than that. It would carry further repercussions that would echo forward into the future. This was a new concept for me. I understood planning things out, I understood working towards a goal in steps, but the realization, as I sat there on that mountain pass with a human between my paws that actions could be symbols as well... I just hoped that I wasn't beginning to think too much like a human.

By the time that I had finished thinking these things, it was obvious to everyone that I wasn't going to kill the guardsman, myself last of all. I leaned over to Tobias and grumbled as quietly as I could - though it was obvious that the humans nearest me could hear me plainly - "Punish this man as you see fit. I am weary and must hunt for a while."

As I was getting up and turning to take to the air, Tobias walked back to the stagecoaches, arms wide. "Lord Ladonius has decided in his wisdom and mercy to spare this man from death. Instead, he shall be flogged for firing upon his person..."

The men seemed satisfied, the guard who had soiled himself between my talons most of all. I knew Tobias would handle things for me. My wings carried me between the towering peaks. I felt at peace in the absence of humanity among the trees far below and the frosty stone above and around me. These things were eternal and nothing was shrouded over them. A rock was a rock and a tree was a tree, there was nothing more to it. This world was laid open to the eyes and the senses; one could understand it by immersing oneself in it. I knew no better way than sinking my teeth into the belly of struggling deer. In the warm blood wetting my tongue and the flesh sliding down my throat, I found the enlightenment of the Wild, a Dragon's true wisdom. And yet it was only a taste.

Belly full of deer flesh and my philosophical turmoil put to rest for the moment, I returned to my estate to find the amphitheater packed with humans. I spotted Tobias immediately among the crowd and wished that I could question him about what was happening, but I'd already been spotted. The humans waved and some cheered, it was clear that they had been waiting for me. I was left with no choice but to land and become the center of attention once more. I was glad that my face was much less expressive than that of a human's; it was easier to put on a mask of calm and assertiveness over my anxiety at once again being thrust into the center of human society.

Tobias' men made sure to clear my stone basin of visitors as I spiraled in over the noisy crowd. Arms wide, they pushed back the congregators while among the tiers, wine and cheese was circulated around the tables. A distance away, I detected the odor of a large roasted hog, turning on a spit. As I lowered men already began taking it off the fire pit. I knew an offering to myself when I saw it. I supposed I had a little room left for roast pork...

I landed as softly as a dragon could, though the table clothes billowed with the force of my wings. There was silence as I touched down, gracefully planting my scaled feet on the ground. When the amphitheatre had been just completed, the few brave ones who had dared attend had been filled with rank fear when I occupied the center arena. Now, there was still fear... but it was less intense. It had a new flavor as my nose and tongue tasted the air. From the sweat which communicated the crowd's emotions to me as if it were displayed on cue cards, I tasted the sweet tang of awe. I found that I liked it.

Naturally Tobias appeared soon after I made a show of folding the wings which, when unfurled, were as wide end to end as the entire seating area; he was getting better as his manifesting act. As I was glancing to the tall curved copper poles which upheld bowls of burning oil and crystallized pine resin which lit the area against the deepening twilight and released a soothing perfume into the air - as well as help covering up my own sulfurous scent - my aide spoke. "My Lord, Lord Dominic has sent Baron Crestwell as well as Knights Henry and Kingsley. He is most concerned about what has happened to Devonshire and would have come himself if the passes weren't to be closed until spring."

I nodded slightly. There was no way for me to speak without everyone in attendance hearing my words.

"Just be gracious and regal as always, Master. You have already stunned the crowd with your glory." In a voice barely above a whisper, he added, "You did the right thing on the pass today master. The man is at the surgeon's recovering after his flogging, but he couldn't be happier."

I huffed a bit of smoke out my nose as a response. In the third row, a blond woman in a robin blue dress clapped her hands at the apparent party trick. I hadn't seen her before; apparently there were more new nobles in town besides the three men Tobias had mentioned.

It was not long before the men who would present to case either for or in opposition to war against me were presented. I reclined on my side, head uplifted - as soon as I'd assumed the pose, the blonde woman had to be escorted away as she was clearly overcome by 'the vapors' at the sight of my uncovered, but naturally sheathed sex - as the men came forward. Baron Crestwell was also referred to as Lord Thurman. He was the Baron of a region known as Crestwell, similar to, as I learned later that night, the fact that Lord Dominic was also Duke Lyandar. Lyandar was the name of the capital city of Lyrond, but his dukedom actually consisted of the entire western half of Lyrond. Even more confusingly, there was yet another man beyond Lord Dominic: King Benedict IV. I thought I had understood the feudal system, the tiered society being quite similar to how dragons organized themselves - albeit, dragon society was much more fluid with rank usually depending on who you could beat into submission and how attractive you were to the opposite sex - but it was actually a befuddling knot of allegiances, heredity and who was who's second cousin and who was who's bastard child, all with a sprinkling of rule by Divine Right on top.

But I am getting ahead of myself. When Baron Crestwell stepped forward and, surprisingly, bowed respectfully before my head, I saw that he was...