FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

When she had been told rumors of the talisman pointed to the Abrinin desert, Alcmene never thought she would actually spend most of the search rubbing her arms to stay warm. She had dressed for the arid desert sun, after all. Her usual flowing gown had been replaced with loose ruby leggings and a low cut tunic that let plenty of air flow over her torso. Of course, it also left little to her Abrinin guide's imagination.

She caught the chocolate skinned elf glancing back at her low neckline more than once when they were climbing the treacherously steep passages of the tomb or when she moved to pick something up off the ground. Thirteen hells, she was sure he dropped most of it on purpose just to see her bust threatening to escape the loose alsilrite-laced tunic!

The Protectorate were fools sending an adolescent like her alone into the desert full of tall, dark skinned elves whose males were all but encouraged to consume as much female flesh with their eyes as possible! Most of the women in the desert wore less than she did! How they kept such silk-smooth skin and kept the dust off was beyond her. The probably thought of the pale skinned angel as an exotic treat to be savored every chance they could.

Fools or not, she thought as she glared at her peeping guide for the umpteenth time, the Protectorate wouldn't send me alone if they didn't think I could handle myself. And if she couldn't, the Doujin would have one less prospective Warden to worry about.

As her guide disappeared through a crawlway, she allowed herself to roll her eyes and breathe an annoyed sigh. One more opportunity for him to stare down her shirt. If she knew she would be down in this cold, dark tomb for most of the day, she would have worn a long sleeved tunic cut with just enough room for her head to fit through the neckline!

"Come on through, m'lady!" she heard the guide call back through the thin tunnel to her.

He was probably there behind his torch, waiting impatiently to catch a glimpse at her pale skin again. Males are all the same wherever you go! She sighed again and carefully moved onto her hands and knees. Then she made sure to fold her ebon wings as tightly against her back as she could. She'd already gotten careless and snagged a few cracks in other crawlways and had her feathers pulled out. That never felt pleasant.

Once she was satisfied she would fit in the small opening, she crawled into the passage. Her eyes darted over the smoothly carved stone walls and ceiling, searching the well-lit surfaces for booby traps she had learned could hide in the most unlikely of places.

And the most inconvenient. The ruby set in the tiara she wore in her raven colored hair glowed brightly enough that she could see a good distance in any direction her head pointed. It made the booby traps they did encounter much easier to circumvent when she was free to use both hands.

Or in this case, preserve what modesty she could with her poor choice of attire. As she crawled through the tunnel and spied her guide peering into the tunnel at her, she scowled and lifted a hand to squeeze the neckline of her tunic closed. The disappointment washing over his face was worth the awkwardness of crawling with one hand.

When she emerged, she stood straight and brushed her leggings off with both hands. She rolled her shoulders and lightly extended her immense wings. There was not a lot of room to spread them down in the ancient catacomb, but there was enough for her to adjust them into a more comfortable position against her back and shoulders.

And the elf was staring at her again. Intently. She frowned and waved down the tunnel directionally. "After you."

The elf seemed to realize she had caught him again and gave a start. He nodded and turned to stride down the stone corridor without brushing the dust from his brown smock and hose. Damn elf is probably waiting for me to get tired of reminding him he has to lead me around. Just can't wait to stare at my ass. She sighed again in a growing annoyance and moved after the torch bearing Abrinin guide.

Shouldn't let myself get too upset with him, she thought. I wouldn't want to get so angry that I accidentally set him on fire. Then I'll never find my way back out of this damned dark hell. Ahead the hallway took a hard right and led straight into a dead end. The wall that blocked their progress was guarded by the most beautiful stone carving Alcmene had ever seen.

A creature just like her stood serenely before them wearing nothing but a sad smile. The statue's wings were spread just enough that the tips of her sandstone wings had barely a finger's width of space between them and the walls.

The statue's hands were held out before itself in the same way Alcmene had seen kings and queens do in paintings in kingdoms across Aslennor. In one hand she held a large diamond balanced precariously in her palm and in the other, an ornate scepter with the depiction of a tongue of flame coming out the top.

"That's it!" Alcmene exclaimed, pointing to the scepter in the statue's hand. "That's what I'm looking for!"

"This?" her guide asked, curling his fingers around the stone scepter. "There is nothing but stone here. We must find another way."

As he stepped away, Alcmene moved forward and admired the beautiful statue. She peered up into the stone face and couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity. It was like staring into a mirror. Indeed, the entire statue was built to the same scale. From her face to her chest to her hips and her wings, it all felt like she was gazing into her own reflection.

You've been down here too long, you're starting to lose it. She reached up and gently curled her fingers around the stone scepter longingly. So close and yet so far away. The artifact was just out of reach and-...

There was a great cracking as though a tree were falling nearby. It thundered off the walls and a great grinding followed it. Peering around the statue, Alcmene's heart leapt into her throat. The wall behind the statue was splitting down the middle and receding into the walls. After the doorway completely opened with two dull thuds, she glanced back at her guide and grinned.

"I found another way!" she danced around the ornate statue and through the doorway. Torches throughout the massive chamber were lighting on their own, illuminating the vast emptiness. Well, it wasn't empty. There were mountains and valleys and a vast geography of gold and treasures of every kind. A path of bare stone led through the terrain all the way to a tall, raised platform in the center where a golden statue identical to the one guarding the door stood holding the very item she was looking for.

As she stepped down the stair into the glittering geography, her guide called out behind her. "Oh by the Goddess, look at all these riches! I'll never have to work again!"

She whirled and held a finger up. "NO!" She glanced about and shook her head. "This is a test. Like the statue. It's all to see if we're really Wardens. Don't touch anything or the temple will think we aren't worthy of taking the scepter."

"Really?" her guide asked. "That's the deal then? The temple knows who are Wardens and who aren't?"

She shrugged her wings and continued down toward the stone path. "I don't know, but I can't think of any other reason than that."

The abrinin scoffed and fell in behind her.

There were golden swords, jeweled goblets, piles of gold bars, and more coins than any being could count in a lifetime. Except a dragon, of course. It was all so tempting to stuff her pockets. If she had any pockets. Too bad the only things Wardens were allowed to keep were earned payment or gifts. Still, she was here for the scepter and as she ascended the tall platform's steps, her heart began to pound more loudly in her chest.

When finally she reached the top of the steps and stood before the statue, she released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She stared up into her golden reflection then reached out to curl her fingers around the scepter.

Very slowly, the statue uncurled its digits, releasing the item into Alcmene's hand. As the warm white-gold item fell into her hand, she smiled in elation and turned to face her young dark skinned guide. "I got it-... Wait, don't!"

Her guide had plucked a large sapphire from near the base of the steps and was holding it up to his eye for close scrutiny. The cave began to rumble and something pitched Alcmene to the side. She skidded to the edge of the platform and quickly scrambled to her feet.

The statue spread its wings and leapt from the top of the platform. It descended on the screaming male in a heartbeat and plunged a golden hand into his chest. His cries died in a wet gurgle and the statue stood, turning her empty eyes on Alcmene.

"Oh Goddess, that's not good..."

The rumbling continued and a loud crashing roar filled her ears. Passages were opening in all corners of the massive room and torrents of water were rushing in. The waves crashed against mountains and cliffs of sparkling treasure, pitching them aside and blowing through the heavy metal like it was dry desert sand. It rushed up to meet her faster than she would have thought possible. All the while, the statue stared at her accusingly. The rising water quickly washed her shining hand of the abrinin's blood and Alcmene was sure hers was next to coat the living weapon.

She looked up and around and there, directly above her was an opening in the stone ceiling. She spread her wings and vaulted upward, flapping as fast as she could. The water below splashed and spray danced over her skin. The screech of metal flexing against metal tore at her ears and her blood ran cold.

"Almost there! Almost there!"

As the narrow passage closed around her, she folded her wings against her back and extended her legs and one hand to press tightly against the wall. She slid down a little but managed to find purchase on the square passage way. Looking down, she saw the golden statue clawing at the opening, trying to pry itself into the narrow corridor to get at her.

"Climb, Alcmene!" she yelled at herself and started shimmying as quickly as she could up the narrow passage. Just as the golden statue broke into the space behind her, the passage gave a hard bend and Alcmene began to crawl along as quickly as she could. To her horror, the passage began filling with water from the bottom up. The whole chamber filled that fast!? She began to panic and took a moment to calm her nerves. She had to keep a level head, she couldn't-...

She yelped as the statue grabbed a handful of feathers and yanked them free. "Go, Alcmene!" she yelled at herself and scrambled against the floor. The passage bent and twisted several more times, filling quicker with every turn. Finally, as she drew her last breath of moist air, Alcmene found herself swimming through a large open area full of water.

Light filtered down through the fluid, dancing around like a million points of light. She opened her wings and flapped powerfully downward, launching herself upward through the rapidly narrowing chamber until she came to a long cylindrical tunnel that led straight up. She looked down and a wave of relief washed over her. The statue was nowhere to be seen. She looked up again and began shimmying up the tunnel as carefully as she could with her newly claimed scepter in one hand.

When she climbed out of the top of the tunnel, she found herself in the center of a small shepherd's village. Dark skinned abrinin all stood and stared at her as she stood dripping and soaked in the hot desert sun. Exotic pale skin is one thing, but I bet they never expected to see a pale woman with soaking wet raven wings and wearing next to nothing. She looked back and saw that the tunnel she had climbed out of was in fact an ancient well.

Jutting her finger over her shoulder, she gave a nervous laugh. "You would not believe what's down there!"