FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The light from a flickering torch some yards away glistened on wet stone walls. The air was dank and stale, hinting at ages of stagnation in these dark depths. Water dripped from the low ceiling somewhere nearby, punctuating the gloom with rhythmic consistency. Unseen things scurried underfoot, rustling and squeaking away to dark corners.

Grotesque shadows were cast along the walls of the corridor, twisting and writhing with the flickering light. A deep and heavy metallic clank boomed down the passageway, the echoes fading into a silence so deep as to make one question if sound was more than a dream. The sudden rattle of a key in a lock rang out harsh and brittle in the stagnant air.

Two voices were heard from farther up the passageway, magnified and distorted by the twisting tunnels of this gloomy subterranean labyrinth.

"How is your patient Doctor?"

"Unconscious for the moment sir. I have managed to stop the bleeding but its wounds are rather serious and it has lost quite a lot of blood."

"What are the chances that it will survive?"

"About fifty percent, I would think. As long as the wounds do not get infected I believe it should pull through given enough rest and the right treatment. I should know for certain within the next few days."

A thoughtful grunt echoed into the dark depths of the labyrinth.

"Assuming that it does survive, how long will it be until it is well?"

"I should think at least a month sir, possibly even two. Even then it will be quite weak for some time until it regains some strength."

"Fine, fine. That should pose no problems."

"But sir, how am I to keep such a creature hidden? Its stench soon permeates the area where it is kept. People are bound to ask questions--"

"You are a resource individual Doctor, I am sure that you will devise a way to keep your activities hidden without much problem."

"But sir--"

The other voice cut in, harsh and sinister.

"No buts Doctor. Keep the creature hidden otherwise there will be... Repercussions. You wouldn't want that to happen now would you?"

The reply echoed down the tunnel, quiet and submissive.

"No sir."

"Good, good. Keep me informed of the creature's status."

"Yes sir."

The clatter of claws on worn stones trickled down the corridor, and the shadows flickered and shifted as the torch was plucked from the wall. The sound of footsteps was loud in the gloom at first, but slowly faded into the distance. The flickering torchlight fled with the footsteps, followed always by the clutching fingers of the darkness creeping along the walls.

A pressing blackness settled over the tunnels, draining away all sense of being and paralysing the mind.

Water dripped, suddenly sounding very loud in the confines of the dank corridor. Something scratched hideously in the black.

An agonizing scream rang out from deep in the bowels of the labyrinth. Muffled by the earthen walls, it echoed through the maze of tunnels, finally trailing into to nothingness as the silence clamped down.

---

Annayah awoke to someone pounding on the door to her quarters. She groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. She was sure that her head would soon split in two if the noise didn't stop.

The thick wood muffled the voice on the other side of the door. "Annayah! Are you okay in there?" There was some more hammering. The heavy door rattled on its hinges. "Annayah!"

Annayah threw her pillow at the door, anger suddenly welling up. "I'm awake already! For crying out loud will you please stop pounding on my door!" She blinked rapidly as the light assaulted her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing as pain stabbed through her head. She stayed in that position for a moment, trying to pull herself together. She yawned and stretched tentatively, trying to brush away the last remnants of sleep that fogged the space between her ears. The pounding on her door ceased abruptly.

Grumbling a bit to herself, she pushed herself to her feet, wondering why the cold stone floor seemed to be moving under her bare footpads. She squinted in the too bright light of morning and stumbled unsteadily in the direction of the door, almost tripping over pieces of armour and clothes scattered about on the floor. She swore under her breath and lashed out with a foot. Metal rattled on stone as her helmet bounced across the room. She limped the rest of the way to the door. After fumbling with the lock for a moment she pulled the door open a crack and glared through, ready to tear a strip out of the unwelcome noisemaker.

The worried face of a young female coyote stared back at her. "Annayah! Thank the Gods you're okay. You really had me worried. The Captain sent me down to check on you. He told me what happened yesterday and when you wouldn't answer me I feared for the worst."

Annayah exhaled and slumped against the wall. "Kalya, did you have to be so loud about it? I swear that my head's about to split open."

Kalya's eyes widened "Sorry! I didn't realize--"

"Kalya." Barked Annayah. "Don't worry about it." She blinked painfully. 'What time is it anyway?"

"Almost noon"

"Noon?" Annayah groaned and her shoulders and tail sagged. She stumbled back into her room, tail dragging limply behind her and sat down heavily on her bunk. Kalya cautiously pushed open the door. She closed the door behind her and stood uneasily, tail wagging tentatively and surveying the scene of disarray that was Annayah's room. She looked over to where Annayah was sitting morosely on the edge her bunk, holding her head in her paws.

"Are you sure you're okay Annayah? You look terrible."

"I feel terrible. This headache won't go away and I keep reliving the attack every time I close my eyes." She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly from side to side. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

Kalya nodded sympathetically. "Do you want me to leave you alone so you can try to sleep some more?"

"No." Annayah yawned again and grimaced as pain spiked behind her ear. Her paw involuntarily rose to her wound. She pulled her paw back and examined the flecks of dried blood that clung to her fingers. "No. I need something to distract me from thinking too much about yesterday. Besides, I am getting a bit hungry."

"Well, if you get yourself straightened out in the next few minutes we should still be able to get lunch in the mess hall."

Annayah grunted something and pushed aside some of the mess on the floor with her foot. She bent over slowly and picked up a rather dirty and stained jerkin. She held it at arms length, sniffed at it, shrugged and pulled it over her head.

Kalya's ears wilted in surprise. "You're not gonna go out like that are you?"

Annayah glared at her. "Why not?"

"I mean... It's just that you look you got beat up and then passed out in an alley somewhere."

Annayah barked a laugh and grimaced as her headache flared up. "That's pretty close to the truth." She put a paw to her forehead and screwed her eyes tight shut for a moment. "Believe me when I say that I couldn't care less what I look like today."

Kalya walked over and sat down beside Annayah on her bunk. "Will you at least let me help you straighten out that thick pelt of yours? It looks like you went to bed soaking wet."

"I did." Annayah stifled a yawn. "I ended getting pretty much soaked what with the fight in the snow and the walk back from the hospital. After I met with the Captain, I was so tired that I pretty much fell into bed. Too bad I couldn't get to sleep." Her head hung despondently and she crossed her paws in her lap.

Kalya put a paw on Annayah's shoulder. "You'll feel better after you get some hot food into your belly. Come on, I'll help you get combed out."

"Okay." Annayah nodded, still looking at the floor. Kalya reached past her and grabbed a large silver comb from the desk beside the bunk. She motioned for Annayah to turn to the side. She pulled the dirty and stained jerkin over Annayah's head and threw it back among the clutter on the floor. Slowly and starting with her claws Kalya began to straighten out some of the tangled spots in Annayah's thick pelt.

Once the really tangled spots had been smoothed out somewhat, Kalya picked up the silver comb and began to gently stroke it through Annayah's coat, starting between her ears. Kalya was careful when the got to Annayah's wound. She sucked in a sharp breath when she reached the spot where Annayah had been injured. The sight of mottled blue and black skin creased by an angry red cut made her slightly queasy. Kalya did her best to carefully comb the dried blood out of the fur at the edges of the jagged wound. Annayah winced when she tugged a little too hard at a matted patch.

"Sorry."

Kalya continued on, combing through the thick ruff around Annayah's neck and shoulders. It wasn't long before Annayah's tense muscles began to relax under Kalya's gentle grooming. Kalya smiled and her tail wagged gently. She was happy to see some of her friend's tension melt away. That was the thing about grooming, especially between canines. It helped to relax both individuals and strengthened the bonds of friendship between them.

Down, down, Kalya stroked the comb, working out a rough patch between Annayah's shoulder blades. Annayah let out a groan of what sounded like pure pleasure and her tail thumped against the bed. Kalya giggled.

"Feeling a bit better now are you?"

"Mmmmmhmmmm..." Annayah's tail wagged harder. Kalya's grin widened.

Kalya had always been amazed at how thick and luxuriant of a coat Annayah had. She had never met a member of the Wolven species before Annayah joined the guard, and she wondered if all Wolven had such wonderfully thick pelts. Wolven were rare this far south, most of them preferring to stay far to the north and away from the big cities.

Annayah had never answered her questions as to why she had left her family and clan. Whenever Kalya brought up such things, Annayah would either change the subject or become quiet. Kalya sensed a deep sadness from her friend at those times, and she guessed that whatever it was that drove Annayah away from her home, she wasn't ready to deal with it yet. Kalya sighed as she continued to pull the comb through Annayah's coat. A pain shared is a pain lessened, and Kalya hoped that someday Annayah would tell her what it was in her past that had forced her to leave her old life behind and start a new one among strangers.

Kalya started combing through the wealth of thick fur that was Annayah's tail and tried to concentrate on the job at hand. The next few moments passed in silence.

"There you go, all done." Kalya said brightly as she combed straight the last few tangles in Annayah's tail.

Annayah turned to face her friend and wagged her tail. "Thanks Kalya." She said quietly.

"Hey, isn't that what friends are for?" She smiled and gave Annayah's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Come on, let's get you into some clean clothes and get down to the mess hall before the food's all gone." She handed the comb to the wolf who began to brush out the tangled fur on her chest and stomach.

Kalya stepped gingerly over the chaotic mess strewn about the floor and pulled open Annayah's wardrobe. One of her ears wilted when she saw that there was practically nothing in it. She hummed thoughtfully for a moment before reaching in and grabbing one of the few articles of clothing that lay neatly folded on the shelves. She shook it out and examined it with a critical eye.

"One of these days you and I are going to go out shopping." Kalya shook her head as she examined the plain tan jerkin she held in her paws. "How are you supposed to attract a good looking male when you don't have the right clothes?"

"Kalya--" Annayah began, but Kalya interrupted her with a wave of her paw.

"I know, I know. You don't want to hear it." Kalya shrugged. "I'm just trying to help. I hate to see you spend so much of your time alone." She tossed the jerkin to Annayah.

Annayah caught the piece of clothing awkwardly. She finished combing out the last few tangled patches in her luxurious white pelt before she pulled the jerkin over her head. She ignored Kalya for a moment and began searching through the clutter on the floor, looking for her belt.

"I don't mind being alone Kalya." Annayah said quietly. She located the end of her belt protruding from a pile of discarded clothing and pulled it free.

"I don't believe that, not for one minute."

A pained expression clouded Annayah's face for a moment before she turned away from her friend. She stood up and faced the mirror. She fastened the belt around her waist, smoothed out her jerkin and then brushed a paw over her head. She sighed. "Believe what you will, but there are times when being alone is the right thing to do."

"Do you really believe that?" Kalya asked, shocked that her friend would say such a thing.

Annayah stood silently for a moment, head bowed and staring at the floor. When she spoke again there was a pained edge to her voice. "Kalya, please. Now is not a good time to talk of such things." She looked pleadingly at her friend. There was a sadness that lurked in her eyes that Kalya had never seen before. Her ears wilted and she clenched her jaw.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

"I know you didn't Kalya. Someday I'll tell you why I feel the way I do, but not today." Annayah sighed and shook her head. "Let's go get something to eat while there's still something left in the mess hall."

Kalya nodded. She pushed the door open and held it for Annayah. "Hopefully we'll both feel a little better after we get something to eat." She wagged her tail.

Annayah smiled, if only for a brief second, but it was enough to make Kalya grin in return. "Actually, I don't know about that. Considering the quality of the food that is usually served in the mess hall, we'll likely feel worse."

Annayah chuckled at her friend's attempt to lighten the mood. "Yeah, that's true enough. The slop they serve there is hardly food by any stretch of the imagination."

Kalya laughed brightly as she walked down the hall. Annayah trailed behind her.

"Kind of makes you wonder why we keep eating there doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess we must like torture or something."

Laughter echoed down the corridor as Kalya and Annayah rounded a corner and passed out of sight. Silence once again crept back to smother the hallway with a gentle caress. After a moment of inactivity, a short figure detached itself from the shadows of a nearby doorway and stepped out into the hall. It paused, ears twitching this way and that, and sniffed the air carefully for a moment. Satisfied that it was alone it moved purposefully after the two canines.

---

The mess hall was crowded by the time Annayah and Kalya arrived. There were only a few vacant tables and there were a considerable number of people waiting in line for food. Amid the clank of plates and the susurrus of background conversation, the two canines wound their way through the crowded mess hall and took up position at the end of the line.

After a few minutes of waiting during which the line had progressed barely more than inches, Kalya sighed impatiently and stood on her tiptoes, craning her head this way and that trying to see what was holding the line up. She turned to Annayah, muttering under her breath.

"Looks like it'll be a while before we get some grub. You might as well go grab a table before they're all gone. I'll wait here and get the food."

Annayah shrugged. "Ok. Grab me a bowl of soup or stew or whatever they have."

"Will do."

Annayah wound her way through the mess hall, feeling strangely disconnected from her surroundings. The people she passed seemed to be no more than intangible shadows. Fragments of conversation washed up against her hearing like waves on a lakeshore. Dizziness suddenly swept over her and she reached out a paw to a nearby table to steady herself. The two vulpines that occupied the table looked at her curiously but said nothing. She shook her head and blinked. The world twisted and bent around her and she stumbled blindly away, heedless of the questioning whispers exchanged behind her. Spots swam before her eyes as she desperately sought an empty table.

She walked right into one and was almost knocked over as it caught her in the hip. Claws scrabbled on wood as she clutched desperately at the edge of the table. She stood unsteadily for a moment before sitting down hard on the plain wood bench. She breathed deeply for a moment, trying to force some stability back into her world. She almost went over backwards off the bench when the room took a sudden spin. She leaned forward and cradled her head in her paws. She clamped her eyes tight shut and a small, dismal groan escaped her. Nausea welled up and she coughed and bit back the bile. She sat unmoving in that position for several minutes, waiting, hoping that her queasiness would soon pass. The idea of food was momentarily forgotten.

Annayah's nose registered his scent before any of her other senses clued in to the fact that someone had stopped by the table where she sat.

"Hello Doctor." She said miserably. She didn't look up.

There was a pause. "Annayah, you don't look so good." He sounded concerned.

"Really?" She said sarcastically. "I don't feel so good either."

She heard the bench across the table from her creak as the Doctor sat down. Something clanked onto the table and the tantalizing scent of stew wafted over to her. Her mouth began to water despite the way she was feeling at the moment.

"Symptoms?" Doctor Garen asked, taking a large spoonful of stew from the bowl in front of him.

Annayah looked up at him through bloodshot eyes. "Dizziness, nausea, and a pounding headache." She rubbed her temples. "I was so light-headed there for a moment I thought I was going to black out."

Doctor Garen chewed his stew thoughtfully for a moment. "Side effects of your concussion I suspect."

"Yeah, not to mention that I hardly got a wink of sleep last night."

Garen grimaced. "I doubt that has helped your condition much." He put his spoon down and propped his elbows on the edge of the table. He interlaced his fingers and looked at her, sympathy evident in his eyes. "You need rest Annayah. You will recover much faster that way. Stop by my office this evening and I will give you something to help you sleep should the insomnia plague you again tonight."

Annayah nodded. "Thanks Doctor, I'll do that."

The next few minutes passed in silence. Annayah's queasiness began to slowly fade and she felt a little bit better, almost hungry even. Doctor Garen ate his stew slowly and methodically. A few nameless and faceless people passed by the table, unheeded by Annayah as she sat hunched forward, head in her paws. She stared hard at the dark, grainy, tabletop and breathed deeply, seeking to quell the last remnants of her nausea. She coughed a bit and groaned. Doctor Garen eyed her carefully for a moment before his eyes shifted to look past her shoulder.

An arm snaked into to view and a bowl of stew with a spoon poking out of it was plonked down in front of Annayah's nose. She stared at it from a distance of a few inches and wondered what concoction of mystery meat and vegetables the cooks had come up with this time. Steam wafted up from the bowl and she inhaled deeply. It actually smelled pretty good. The salty aroma went right to her head and flipped a switch labelled 'hungry'. The knot in her stomach loosened somewhat and she felt a bit better. She stirred the mystery stew, releasing a fresh cloud of steam and picked out a sizable chunk of something unidentifiable. She eyed it suspiciously. Kalya sat down on the bench beside her.

"Feeling any better yet?" Asked Kalya.

"A little bit."

"That's good." Kalya took a bite of her stew. She stopped chewing momentarily and a thoughtful expression crossed her face. She shrugged and continued chewing. "I've had worse." She said after swallowing.

A smirk appeared on Doctor Garen's muzzle at that comment. Annayah took a tentative bite of the mystery chunk and chewed cautiously. Kalya was right about one thing, she'd had far worse food served here.

"So, are you going to introduce me to your good-looking friend here?" Kalya asked in between mouthfuls. There was a sparkle in her eyes and a smirk crept along her muzzle. Garen's head snapped up and he raised an eyebrow.

Annayah shot Kalya a warning look. She gestured across the table to the fox who was watching the two canines with amusement. "Kalya, meet Doctor Garen, the one to whom I owe my thanks for patching me up after yesterday's... Incident. Doctor, this is my friend Kalya." She paused and glanced sidelong at her friend. "Watch her carefully. She's a bit excitable at times and is something of a joker."

The coyote wagged her tail and grinned. Annayah glared at her. Doctor Garen chuckled and shook his head.

"Pleased to meetcha Doctor." Kalya extended a paw across the table. "You have my thanks for looking after my friend here."

Garen shook the proffered paw. "Just doing my job." He smiled warmly. "It's good to meet you Kalya."

"Annayah will be okay won't she?" Kalya asked after another spoonful of stew.

"She should be, yes, though I suspect she will suffer from headaches and occasional spells of dizziness over the next few days." He paused and spooned more stew into his mouth. Kalya nodded. "She's quite fortunate." The Doctor continued after a moment. "It's a good thing your guard helmets are as tough as they are. I shudder to think of the injuries that Annayah would have sustained had she not been wearing it." He shook his head and stared into his bowl of stew. It was nearly empty.

"Yeah, you should see the dent in the side of mine." Muttered Annayah as she sat hunched over her bowl of food. Her stomach still hadn't figured out what to make of the mystery stew and was gathering its forces and threatening rebellion.

Kalya glanced at the miserable wolf next to her and her expression softened. "Yeah, those helmets are pretty strong but they chafe like you wouldn't believe, especially around the ears." She shrugged. "Still, that's better than having your skull split by an errant chunk of stone."

"That it is." Doctor Garen scraped the last remnants of unidentifiable goop from the bottom of his bowl and spooned it into his mouth. He chewed slowly and swallowed, a rather strange expression crossing his face. He pushed the empty bowl away from him and leaned back. He patted his belly. "Not the best stew I've ever had," he remarked, "but filling at least."

He stood up and picked the empty bowl from the table. "I apologize for being so abrupt, but I must depart. I have business with Captain Hagarth shortly and I do not wish to be late. I'm sure you now how he is with such matters." He grinned.

"Oh yeah." Kalya nodded, a smile briefly appearing on her muzzle. "He's a bit picky in that respect that's for sure."

"Remember to stop by my office at the hospital this evening Annayah and I'll give you something to help you sleep better."

"Thanks Doctor." Annayah mumbled around a mouthful of stew.

"Don't mention it. My door is always open."

"See you later Doctor." Kalya smiled.

With a friendly smile and nod at the two canines, he was gone, weaving his way through the crowded tables. A short figure a couple of tables down paused in the midst of gathering up his empty plate and utensils and let the Doctor to pass behind him. He turned and followed, empty plate in hand and deposited his empty plate on a cart near the door before wandering out into the hallway behind the Doctor.

"A good looking male that one, don't you think?" Kalya said thoughtfully while staring at the ceiling. "Even if he is a few years older..."

Annayah didn't hear her. She was staring fixedly back in the direction the Doctor had departed, an expression of confusion plastered on her face. When the doctor had passed by her on his way out, she had caught just the faintest hint of a familiar scent, an odour that jarred her memory. She sniffed carefully, but the scent was long gone, swept away by the olfactory chaos that swarmed through the mess hall. She shook her head, wondering if she had even smelt it to begin with. Uncertainty suddenly coiled in her gut and a veritable storm of thoughts flew through her head.

No, it wasn't possible. Her mind must be playing tricks on her. Yesterday's incident was still too fresh in her mind. After all, the human was dead, wasn't he? She had a sudden flash of memory. Blood leaching into snow, terrified eyes in a pale, furless face...

"Annayah? You okay?" Kalya's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh?" She turned to look at Kalya. She shook her head, trying to clear away the sudden unease that gripped her. "Yeah, I'm okay, just thinking." She looked over her shoulder again for a moment. Kalya eyed her curiously.

Annayah turned back to her bowl of mystery stew and ate the rest of it in silence.

---

The transition to consciousness wasn't much of an improvement. It was still dark but this time there was the awareness of it being dark, or at least that was what he thought. He blinked. The darkness didn't change one iota with his eyes closed. He lay quietly, ears straining into the oppressive silence. The only sound he heard was that of his own breathing.

Thinking was not easy. It was like his head was full of same empty blackness that surrounded him. What few thoughts he had oozed through his mind at tectonic velocities.

A groan escaped from him, briefly hanging in the pitch black before being muffled in a manner that suggested thick earthen walls were lurking near at hand. His eyes darted to and fro, probing the crushing darkness.

Was he imagining it or was there the faintest suggestion of a door to his left? He thought that he could just barely discern where a few stray photons leaked around the edges of something rectangular only to be devoured by the ever-present black. There appeared to a small square opening three quarters of the way up the rectangle. He thought he saw bars across it.

Cell... The word crawled through his mind like an ice age. He was in a cell.

He tried to lift his arms. Pain lanced through his shoulder and he cried out. His yell was strangely muffled in the depths of the cell. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He couldn't move his arms. He was bound to whatever it was that he was lying on. He kicked his legs futilely. He could feel the heavy leather straps bound around his ankles. Fear seeped into the cracks in his mind. Why was he tied up?

"Hello?" He croaked, his voice barely above a whisper. His throat felt drier than desert sand. He swallowed convulsively. His ears rang in the silence.

"Need help..." He mumbled, struggling weakly against his bindings. Fire shot through his shoulder again. He gasped and screamed out in agony.

His yelled echoed through empty corridors. Torches flickered and sputtered. Rats paused in the uncertain light and cocked tiny ears. The scream faded into the earthen walls and an uneasy silence settled over the tunnels. The rats went back about their business, scurrying into shadowy corners.