FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

One and the Same

Prologue

~ Solis, September 29th, Year 1355 of the Human Calendar

Dragons are renowned for their diplomacy, their poise and most importantly their manners. For centuries my kind have been envoys for many great countries, proclaimers of peace and of war. Our prestige was justly earned, for our neutrality was rarely equaled in the realms of beast and man. The main reason behind our success was limited involvement; we typically chose to let conflicts play out on their own, regardless of attempts to hire our services as weapons.

Since the dawn of time, limited involvement has served us and the world well. Most creatures respected us and the rest learned to fear us. To go against a dragon was akin to placing your head on the chopping block and swinging the axe yourself. In other words, if you choose to wrong a dragon, run. Plain and simple; RUN.

It may not come as a surprise that I am not as poised as my brothers and sisters. It was why I lived in a deep forest, why I chose to distance myself from humans. If clarification is what you seek, then ask your local healer about the night of crimson; they will know what it means.

• Dyyor

Chapter 3

Suspicions and Threats

~Murcurii, July 3rd, Year 1355 of the Human Calendar

I awoke with a terrible chill, it was that dream again. The fire and the steel, I can see it still so clearly, yet when I try to reflect further it vanishes. I do not know how long I have been having this dream, but it is always the same:

I can feel the warmth of the blaze as it surrounds what I can only assume is my home, the smoke smells of pine and bitter berries. I catch glimpses of what looks like metal blades, reflecting the light of the fire as they swing about. And at last my view lands on a shadowed figure standing in the flames, it looks as though it is reaching out to me. I could swear I heard it saying something but before I can make it out, the blades swept in and caused it to turn to smoke and ash.

I spent the last hour trying to retrieve what little else I could from my memory of the dream, but to no avail. Perhaps a relaxing walk through the forest will help to clear my mind, if anything else I can get some fresh air.

~

Athelon is a vast country known for its military and most importantly its' studies in the supernatural. It is where magic and science come together to create what is known as Scribing, magic that controls the very fabric of reality through the use of words. Practicing Scribes hone their ability by practicing words of power, known as Etches or Etchings, named for the scratches and cracks left on the user. The country consists of five main provinces, each segregated by its dominant climate. There were lush forests, freezing tundra, harsh deserts and even some marshland dotted the landscape. But I was not here to see the sights; my true destination was one of the largest cities in the snowy province of Colgrad, Victorium.

Travelers would often tell of a huge city where the streets were cobbled with crystals and the sky was never cloudy. In the center of this beautiful city stood the Peleren Academia, a large tower surrounded by coliseum walls more ancient than any human could know.

Not surprisingly, I was receiving disapproving stares from the townspeople as I sauntered through the entry gate of the city. Of all the things that had changed in the past thirty-five years, the tolerance for my kind was not one of them. The city streets bustled with the usual traffic of merchants trying to sell goods, as well as the odd street performer showing off skills like juggling or knife throwing. At times there were bards passing through teashops looking for a patron to pay them for 'music' from the hideous instrument they used, in case it wasn't obvious I have a certain level of disdain towards loots.

The tower itself was six-sided, to symbolize the six forms of magic: Elemental, Mind, Body, Light, Dark and Destiny. Within its walls was one of the largest libraries in existence, where aspiring Scribes could learn and hone their craft. At the very top of the tower resided a gigantic silver bowl, its purpose was collecting the natural energy of the world; transferring it through the tower into glass collection spheres. The coliseum itself was made from granite and marble, serving as a wall of protection as well as providing privacy to the people inside.

The exact moment I crossed the threshold and walked into the courtyard of the Academia two cloaked Scribes appeared in a flash to block my path. One was a rather young man with an Etch of the word Intent scored on his left cheek; the other was an older but still young woman with dark skin and dazzling copper-colored eyes. Even though they held spears made of bronze and iron to my throat, I held my composure and wore a fairly unimpressed expression. "State your business, Dragon," the woman ordered, "If you are here for blood then we will not hesitate to slay you where you stand."

I failed to resist the urge to roll my eyes and curtly responded, "I am here to meet your master; I sent word of my coming a couple days ago. Now either step aside or fetch him for me, either way you will not hinder my business here." The young man flinched slightly as the Etch under his eye glowed and his iris turned a deep purple; I suspected the word was meant to measure the truthfulness of my explanation. After a long pause the glow stopped and he lowered his spear, "He speaks the truth, perhaps the Master forgot to inform us about a visitor." The woman was less convinced and held her ground, "Master would not forget about something as important as a dragon showing up!"

Again I found my eyes rolling, reaching up I tapped the spear's blade and in a flash the spear vanished. The woman was spooked and fell back, enticing a chuckle from her partner, "Just so you know: I have known teleportation magic for half a century now," she stared at me in fear, "if I had chosen to, you would have joined your spear underground."

"Und you vould have lost your head." Another man warned from behind me. I turned my head slightly so he could be seen from the corner of my eye; the newcomer held a fairly good sized sword colored rich purples to the nape of my neck. He wore a normal tunic colored dark green and grey with pieces of gilded armor on his left shoulder and right hip; personally I thought he looked partially dressed. "Brother Edgar, please lower your weapon," the young man pleaded, "this dragon is here to see the Master."

I locked eyes with Edgar for a lengthy glaring contest, after about a minute in which neither of us blinked he finally yielded. With a bored expression he swung the sword up and rested the flat of the blade on his shoulder, "Very vell, but I leave you two to vatch him." As he turned his back to me I faced the other humans with a 'humph', I wasn't about to be intimidated by a human, much less one that snuck up on me. The young man gave a heavy sigh while the woman finally got up from the ground, brushing off her slacks. "So I am to be babysat by you two," this was going to be an entertaining visit, "where to first then?"

The woman spoke up first, "You are going straight to the Meeting Hall," she put on a tough face, "it is the only room in the Academia big enough for you." I pretended to be aghast at her comment, dramatically sweeping a paw up to my chest and putting on a shocked expression. Just as I expected the man tried to salvage the situation, "She meant nothing by that, Sir," he sputtered cutely, "It's just the tower was mainly built to accommodate human sized creatures." The woman rolled her eyes at her partner's desperate attempt to be diplomatic; apparently this was a common thing for the two of them to deal with. I gave him an understanding nod and they began leading me to a large building next to the tower itself.

The Meeting Hall was little more than a glorified drinking hall from what I could tell, scores of tables were lined side by side, several had Meade barrels propped up and mugs scattered about. The ceiling was constructed to be more than accommodating for a creature of my stature, while the walls still gave a slightly Closter-phobic feel with their sloping formation. The center of the hall was the roomiest spot, with a giant fire-pit constructed in a hexagonal shape; I didn't wait for an invitation and swiftly lay down in front of it. I couldn't help but chuckle as the few occupants of the hall stared and whispered, they reminded me of chimps looking at their first fire.

"You are more than welcome to make yourself comfortable here, Sir," the man was still trying to butter me up, "We will remain by the door, if you should need anything please don't hesitate to ask." As they turned to leave I reached out with my tail and pulled him closer to my face, "I doubt your master would approve of some of the things I would like to ask for." I said seductively, what can I say, I like to tease. The poor boy's face turned the reddest red I had ever seen and I couldn't resist but to give him a quick lick on the cheek, smiling like an idiot. I gently released him and he quickly strode towards the door in embarrassment, "You really should learn some manners, buster," the woman spat in disgust.

"The same goes for you too, sweet-talker." I gave her a suggestive wink and watched with glee as she too blushed and stormed off; humans are so much fun to mess with. I lay there and waited for Ixontros to show up; surely he was told within minutes of my arrival, but after twenty minutes there was still no sign of him. After another ten minutes I got bored got up to look around the hall, there were paintings and wood carvings on the walls that caught my eye.

The first artwork I looked at was a painting of an Aurora borealis, the wondrous greens and purples flowed well with the complimentary dark blues of the starry night sky. The next piece was a piece of mahogany carved to resemble a Wyvern class dragon's head, the detailing on the spines was quite impressive and the natural red color of the wood gave it a certain life-like quality. I began to wonder who created these pieces of art and why they were displayed here of all places, but my thoughts were interrupted by a sudden chill in the air. It seemed familiar and yet alien to me, my scales began to chatter slightly and the hair on my tail tensed up.

I turned towards the entrance the hall to see a cloaked figure standing in the daylight; he walked forward with a certain malice to his stride. There had been another man behind him, the person I was here to see judging from his scent, he too began to walk slowly towards me. Moving back to the fireplace, more to warm myself back up after that feeling, I sat and waited for them. The familiar human had chosen to take a seat at a close-by table while his Master stopped a few feet in front of me, "Greetings, Ixontros."

He reached up and pulled back his hood, revealing his aged face. He was a fairly handsome man, for a human, with minimal wrinkles and eyes as blue as sapphires, his greying-blond hair was combed back. On his forehead was a tattoo of a triangular eye, his 'third-eye' was mostly comprised of small Etches, Past, Present, and Future. He had told me before those words were usually frowned upon due to their power, the words of the Destiny Constellation, as such he never used them unless absolutely necessary. He smiled at me warmly, "Very good to see you, my old friend," the greeting felt more formal than I recall, "You didn't mention what your visit was about in the message, might I ask what I can do for you?"

Down to business it is then, "I request you call off your lackey," I said bluntly, "He has been haunting my dreams for weeks and I am sick of it." Ixontros' expression changed from polite to concerned, raising an eyebrow at my demand. "My 'lackey'?" he asked, "Who are you talking about? I haven't sent anybody your way, save for Brothers Leuthar and Jakob."

My eyes narrowed as I lowered to his eye level, slowly and calmly I urged him to think long and hard about whether he was telling me the truth, "I am not in the mood to be deceived, it is bad enough you are stealing from my friends and sending hunters after us."

"I gave Brother Jakob no such order to become hostile towards you, that was Leuthar's doing and he has been justly punished," he began to pace in front of me, "As for your friend's possession we only procured it because it was dangerous and needed to be locked away. You know very well one does not simply ask a dragon to give up a piece of it's' hoard, we had no other option but to steal it."

"Stealing from dragons is worse than asking them to give the item up, now you all have a target on your backs," I thrashed my tail in warning, "Dragons are masters at holding grudges, the fact we live so long is proof of that; we have been known to bring misfortune to entire bloodlines in fact."

"Yes, I know that, Dyyor. But as I said, the item was dangerous; your kind is also renowned for being careless in matters of magic running rampant. The fact your friend just had a Chaos Pen lying around was enough motivation for us to go through with such a damning decision."

He paused a moment for his statement to sink in, admittedly he was right, most magical catastrophes were caused by a careless dragon with a dangerous relic. However, that still did not excuse his actions, "Dangerous or not, that item belongs to Kurai, you had no right to take it from him." I stood tall, "And you certainly did not help your case by sending hunters to ambush him in the Roaring Mountains, he was badly hurt in that fight!"

Ixontros looked pained at my anger, "Please, believe me when I say your friend's safety was not meant to be jeopardized. That group was only sent there because of a bounty request, it entailed killing a beast that was terrorizing the people of the mountain. It was a stroke of bad luck he was caught up in that mess, I assure you."

I raised an eyebrow at that bit of news, finding it difficult to stay mad about a mistake; what were the odds of a bounty party looking for a monster at the exact time Kurai had gone there? Very slim, "Let me see the bounty poster, if what you say is true then the poster should specify the monster's appearance." The thought Ixontros may call my bluff passed through my mind, but I was happily surprised when the other man produced the information.

A bounty of one-hundred-thousand gold for the capture and/or extermination of a large, black and white, lizard-like creature.

Payment will be issued upon delivery of living or dead beast.

The picture scrawled on the poster was an overly dramatized, large lizard, fangs exposed and breathing fire. To any human Kurai would have fit this description just fine, so now another question, "Who posted this request?" unsurprisingly neither of them knew, but at least they could provide me the drop off location. I wasn't done with them yet though, "Back to the unwelcome visitor of my sleep," Ixontros put on a serious face, "The reason I figured he was one of yours is because he is a Scribe."

Ixontros thought for a moment, "So you saw his Etches, what words were they, where were they on his body?" at least he was trying to be helpful now. I only told him about the right handed Etch, "Hmm, regrettably I can't help you with so little to go on; maybe the Nightmares will subside once he realizes you are too strong."

Something seemed off about his words, "I never mentioned he had upgraded to Nightmares," my eyes narrowed and I watched as his face drifted from a confused expression to a serious one, returning the glare. "A pity, I had intended to keep you guessing but now I suppose you have forced my hand." With a snap of his fingers the two guards from before were on either side of me, again with their spears pointing my way. I held my composure and asked the one question that needed an answer, "Why?"

"For survival of course, you and I are a dying breed in this time. This is a new age in which science is finally becoming a rival of magic," He theatrically threw his arms out, his back to me, "In this world of metal and steam, do you honestly think you will have a place? Can you ensure the survival of your kind and not be threatened by the growth humans are capable of? I have seen it, old friend, a world filled with towers, smoke blocks out the sun and the land is dying beneath my feet.

"With the Madness of the Gods I can put a stop to this fate, the ultimate power only rivaled by the Gods themselves. The Future has shown me everything this age can bring about, I can tell you with conviction that your kind has no chance of adapting in time. Survival is entirely dependent on whether you accept or fight the change that is coming, so I ask you: What would you have done to fight your extinction?"

There was a long pause, the two humans on either side of me continued to hold steady, and the man at the table had shifted to a more laid back position. I thoughtfully stared at the ground and tried to decipher what he wanted me to say, did he want approval? Would he actually expect me to side with him, to approve of his actions against Kurai and myself? Finally I felt I had the answer that suited me best, "You are a fool," there was a snicker from the man at the table, "You actually think declaring war on my friends, humanity, the World , is the best way to avoid fading with the passage of time?"

Ixontros lowered his arms slowly, he just stood there like a statue and I could feel the tension in the air rising. Swiftly he turned on his heel and aimed an odd weapon at me, a fairly short blade with golden tines extending from the hilt. "I had only partially hoped you would understand me, after what happened with Jakob I knew our friendship was merely a formality. Now that you know what I am trying to accomplish you must not leave."

A yellow glow came from his left sleeve and a small blast of lightning magic shot into the blade, jumping around on the tines. I held my ground and tried to remain calm; a battle was one of the things I had anticipated to occur, but I didn't expect Ixontros himself to be the instigator. However, I got the information I wanted and now was as good a time as any to leave, "I only have one thing to say to you now, Ixontros: Leave me and my family alone, or you will regret it."

Without waiting for a response I swiftly spread my wings and sent the two guards flying into the surrounding tables. Ixontros tried to stab me with the odd weapon, but forgot about my tail and I knocked him away. I ensured they were all fairly incapacitated and then made a rush for the door, ignoring the man sitting at the table. That was clearly a mistake, he stood up and took a position that I recognized; his left arm extended with the right hand hovering over the wrist, the Dreamstrider! Before I could react there was a familiar stabbing pain in my head, it felt like my mind was on fire and freezing all at once. The agonizing pain made it nearly impossible to think, my escape was beginning to look like a fool's gambit, and yet I somehow continued inching my way to the door.

As I reached out for the handle the sound of metal banging against flesh rang through the hall, I turned to see the young man holding a steal shield and standing over the Dreamstrider. "Go, I'll try to hold them back!" he shouted, in response to my confusion he simply blurted, "I am a friend, there is no time to explain, just go!"

He didn't have to ask again, I was out of the building and in the air before he finished the word 'go'. As to be expected there were Scribes prepared for airborne combat, standing on the coliseum walls, and I was immediately faced with wave after wave of Elemental magic. To my credit not a single blast landed, but I was unable to avoid crashing into a couple walls in my desperate attempt to escape. Overall, not the best meeting I have had with a human, aside from a few singed hairs and bruises one could say it went well enough.

Ixontros was playing with things he shouldn't, if he truly wanted to prevent the future he saw then there was likely no stopping him by talking it out. Kurai was going to have to tell me a lot more than he was willing to; it was too late for me not to be involved.