FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"They're closing in on us!", yelled the rear knight. The Queen's guard looked at the majesty and said, "My highness, we must!", "I know, dear guard", the queen responded. She was due to give birth and being chased by huntards only served to make her struggle harder on her way to the castle where she would be able to give birth in peace, but they were far from reaching their destination. "Stop!" She yelled. "But we can't!", replied the guard. "I said stop!". The leader of the escort nodded to the others as they stopped and dismounted their horses, erecting a rune barrier while the Queen's guard led her into the forest. "This will do", he carefully seated her behind a large rock, hidden from view. "Do it with haste", the guard told her. She began to push with all the strength she had left and struggling not to groan. Within moments, the child was born. Her guard removed his cape and covered the newborn in it. "What is it?" she asked. "It's a boy." he answered. She sighed and held the newborn in her arms. Then the queen and her guard heard a shout in the distance. "Huntards!"

The sounds of weapons clashing and groans echoed through the forest, the Queen and her guardian concealed under the large rock towering over them. "You must go", she said. "I cannot!" he replied. "That is an order! I have no hope for survival and he can't be here" she pointed towards her child with her pale hand, she couldn't resist the plague residing in the forest, her breath weakening with each one she took. "Now go, my knight". He kneeled before his majesty and walked towards the deep forest. After a few steps, he felt a sharp pain his left shoulder. Turning his head around to see the cause, a black arrow was protruding from it. He quickly placed the child under him and pulled the arrow out, just before he caught a glimpse of a huntard preparing for another shot. The knight ducked and avoided the arrow, he sprinted towards his target and stabbed the enemy in his stomach before he could draw out his sword. He removed his left shoulder plate and saw the deep, black wound. "Poison!", the Guardian whispered to himself.

The guardian carefully placed the child in his arms, strolling the same direction he took before the unexpected assault. The sky had gotten darker, his only source of light being the stars and the moon yet he couldn't tell how much time had passed. His left arm was gradually going numb so he focused his right hand on carrying the Queen's offspring which remained surprisingly calm.

"Oh gods, what do I do?", he asked while gazing upon the starlit sky. All hope seemed to be lost, until he saw a faint light nearby. With no other way to go, he decided to follow it. The light was just within his reach as he moved through a mass of branches.

He was frozen in his steps, stunned by the sight. Before him stood an ancient altar surrounded by boulders with carved runes on them that radiated strong blue lights and lit up the ground. He regained his composure after comprehending this magnificent sight and walked towards it. A mysterious voice whispered in his mind: "Place the child on the shrine". The guardian was hesitant to obey the request and questioned himself if he were losing his mind from the poison. "The child is destined to bring balance to the world and its fate will be sealed once you put it on the shrine. So I ask you, guardian, to assure a future of harmony, place the child on the Altar". He didn't have much of a choice, the poison would likely kill him without an antidote and the Queen's offspring would suffer the same fate if no one were to care for it here. The guardian placed the child with his cape wrapped around it on the shrine and was surprised by how the infant hadn't woken up from the previous events. A low hum could be heard in the sanctum while he watched the newborn being weaved in a blanket of elegant white light that slithered from the sides of the altar.

His body going numb and consciousness slowly fading away, the guardian leaned towards the baby and kneeled in front of it. "I hope the best for you". He then pulled out a small rune marker from his pocket and wrote "Venetti Caelastus" on the child's chest. "This is the name your mother wanted for you." He calmly said to the sleeping newborn and removed his helmet, revealing a charming face. Platinum hair and light blue eyes but his skin was pale from the poison. The guardian kissed the child on the forehead and was intent on staying with it until his last breath.

"My Highness!" A wounded knight came running towards the unconscious Queen, laying under the rock. She groaned and slowly sat as the knight called out to the others, they had warded off the huntards and within moments four other knights were carrying the Queen back to the escort. "...Wait", her voice was barely heard and was about to try and shout until a faint voice said to her "Your son is safe, but you must leave him". The voice was all too familiar to her, it was the Fortuna's whom watched over the royal lineage. She sighed from relief, knowing her son would be under the goddess' watchful eyes. "Was there something you said, my highness?", one of the escort knights asked. "No", she answered in a serene tone and fell asleep in the knight's hold.

A hooded man passed through the dense forest and was heading towards a strong light that had caught his attention. He pushed through a threshold of branches and before him sat a Sanctum. "A providence shrine", the hooded man whispered. Then he noticed the corpse of a paladin laying besides the altar where a sleeping baby laid, wrapped in a layer of white, gorgeous light. He stepped towards the child and saw a writing on its chest and looked at the dead knight. "Is that his name?", he asked the cadaver. Then he took the child into his arms and kept it covered in the cape. "Venetti Caelastus", the hooded man chuckled, "The gods must have plans for you, little one". He sauntered with the newborn in his arms back to his village, where he would prepare the child for whatever it was destined for.

~~~

"Venett!" An elderly voice shouted. "Give me a minute!" The adolescent boy replied. "What could possibly be more important than chores?" He humphed and pulled a book from the cabinet. Sixteen winters had passed since the young man's birth, the supposed hooded man had taken him into his care and taught him everything he knew about the Arcane arts. Venetti ran down the stairs and awaited his tutor's orders. "I need you to go gather water from the lake outside the village, can you do that?", "Sure!" He answered. "Good, now out with you", the elder said to him. Venett grabbed a bucket from the shelf and headed outside. "Good morning, Venett!" Villagers greeted Venett upon seeing him. "Good morning!" He replied to them. The young man stood in front of the gates, "Open the gate!" He yelled. "Where do you think you're going, young sorcerer?" The gate keeper jestered. "Out to fetch water for the old man" He said in return. The gate keeper chortled, "Well I'm not stopping you, go on then!". The gates opened and Venett strolled past them into the forest.

As he tread through between the tall trees he heard rustling nearby followed by loud footsteps and sinister laughs, he assured himself it was nothing to worry about and kept going to the lake. When the youngster arrived at the lake, everything was silent. Not a sound except for chirps and the calm breeze. He comprehended the peaceful atmosphere and took his time enjoying it as he sat down on the grass and looked across the lake. He sighed, filled the bucket near the bank, stood up and headed back. While walking through the woodland he looked up and saw a trail of smoke rising from above where his village was supposed to be an remembered the sounds he heard while going to the lake. "Oh no", he whispered. Venett immediately dropped the water bucket and ran as fast as he could towards the settlement.

The boy emerged from the forest only to see his home ablaze, the gates breached and Amuy the gate keeper hanging from his tower with an arrow protruding from his head. He stepped past the open gates into his village where all the roofs were burning and residents laying on the ground that were now mere bleeding corpses. He couldn't make himself speak from the utter shock of this horrifying scene and moved to his house, hoping the old man was still alive. Venett pushed the door and walked inside. It was barely recognizable, everything had been either broken or robbed. He saw his mentor sitting on a bench, inflicted with stab wounds and bleeding profusely. "HAULIG!" The young man panicked and sprinted towards his mentor. Haulig slowly opened his right eyelid, seeing that his apprentice was unharmed he made a slight smile. "You're alive. That's good." The teacher said in a dull voice. "I'll get you out of here." The youngster said and pulled his tutor from the bench. The duo trudged through the village out the gates and into the forest towards the lake.

As they tread over the rough ground Venett noticed the skin of his teacher losing its color. "Don't you die on me", he said nervously. "I've lived longer than any insignificant man should" the elder responded. "You're not insignificant", the boy replied to his mentor's statement. Haulig grinned at his student's words and increased his pace. The two persons reached the lake at last and sat down. "I won't make it" he said. "Oh yes you will!" The young man shouted in a broken voice and put his hands above Haulig and tried desperately to heal him. "I'm impressed that you are able to cast without tools." "That is thanks to you", Venett said. The teacher smiled again and lifted his hand to his student's shoulder and looked into his eyes that welled up with tears. "Nobody is gone forever, why should I be an exception?", Haulig said. "I don't want to lose you!" The boy responded. His tutor froze for a moment, then he said: "All sentient things lose someone dear to them, they are like the light that helps them see the world around them. But alike the sun, that light eventually fades away with the coming of the night. Then the light returns as the sun rises on the beginning of a new day. It would be quite odd to cry because the sun is sitting, don't you think?", Venett chuckled at that and hugged him. "But do me one last favor, boy.", the youngster looked at him. "When I go, I want you to make me float over the lake. It's better being taken into the unknown than to rot here." Venett nodded at that and sat down next to him. "And I need you to remember another thing. If you see a bright light, follow it." Venett seemed confused by what he said. "Will you do it?", Haulig asked him. "I will", He answered. "If it's not a raider's torch". They both laughed, laid down on the damp grass and embraced the red brilliance of the sitting sun. The colors in the sky were soon replaced with darkness and shimmering stars. Venett looked at Haulig whom was now motionless.

He folded his former teacher's hands over his chest and took him into his arms. The boy held the corpse over the lake surface and uttered a spell. "Saos", he let go of the body and gave a soft sigh. The remnant of Haulig moved in unison with the currents of the lake and slowly drifted from Venett. "Good bye", he whispered.

Not a sound could be heard. Not the chirps of the birds, not the wind caressing the trees, not the motions of the creatures in the forest, nothing. Utter silence. The young man ogled at a rock jutting out of the waterbed that glistened in the moonlight. His attention shifted to a strong light emanating from the forest on his right. If you see a bright light, follow it. He stood up and began walking towards the light and his speed slowly built up until he was sprinting through the woodlands in the direction of this luminosity. Strain was building on him but he didn't slow down and kept running but he had never been this far from the village and thought about what he might encounter on the way. If he didn't know better it was as if the light was moving away from him the more he closed in on it. But then another light appeared, and another, then more and more lights kept appearing until he suddenly tripped and rolled down an unseen slope.

He catched a glimpse of several odd lights in all colors every time he finished one roll until he hit a flat surface. Venett groaned and rubbed the back of his neck, he looked up and stopped. What was in his sight could only be defined as being stunning. A jungle of glowing herbs, flowers, vines and trees in all colors. He noticed some of these lights moving, but they were different from those on the flora. The young man discerned these small lights having a humanoid figure and what seemed to be wings protruding from their backs. One of these entities sat on his shoulder and he turned his head. He stared at it for a second and then his stare turned to awe. A fairy! He had heard stories about the creatures but never thought they would actually exist. Venett was surrounded by these mystical beings and then he heard a soft voice. "Welcome, young prince", he heard. A larger, shimmering purple fairy approached him with more detailed wings than all the others. "Where am I?", he asked. "In The Deity's Sanctuary", the fairy answered, "We have been chosen by the Astrarchy to guide you on your first steps towards the goal you have been given". He looked at the fairy for a moment and said, "Who is we and who is the Astrarchy? Why is all of this happening to me?!" Venett exclaimed. The fairy moved closer to him and stretched her hand to his cheek. "I cannot tell you who the Astrarchy is exactly but we are the those that watch over this sanctuary and maintain its well-being which I am the chieftain of. There are more creatures besides us that reside in this forest that will assist us in teaching you what you need to know before going further". However, one question was left unanswered.

"But why me out of everyone you could have chosen?", the boy asked. The fairy pulled her hand from his cheek and said, "Who you are is decided from birth and in your case it was precisely what the Astrarchy was looking for, I don't know what they saw in you but what I do know is that they need you". Venett wasn't entirely convinced by her answer but it was sensible. "Then shall we begin?"