FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Bare paws pounded on the soft ground, leaving footprints of damp, crushed grass and kicking up clods of dirt. The lanky ferret sprinted as fast as he could up the hill, racing for its peak, desperate to get there in time. His cloth tunic whipped and slapped against his brown fur, agitated by his movement and the strong wind that blew this high up. He grasped his strange bow tightly, and the strap of a quiver of thick arrows pulled against his shoulder. The ferret's left arm was mostly covered in strange and complicated metal plating, that seemed to fit together like the shell of a crab. It was light, however, and didn't weigh him down too much as he ran.

A heavy beating of wings came from behind him, getting closer and closer as he ran. He sucked in large lungfuls of air, chest burning, the muscles in his legs crying out in protest as he ran, pushing himself to stay just a little bit ahead of the dark shadow. The peak of the hill came ever closer. It was like a finger of green against the blue sky, as the sides of the grassy hill dropped away into steep, rocky cliff faces, the path getting quickly narrower as he sprinted forward.

The shadow moved to the side and over the edge of the hill until the enormous creature was to the left and below of the ferret, nearly completely caught up. Forcing just a little more power into his straining legs, the ferret ran faster despite the increasing slope. He leapt, his momentum carrying him forward through the sky and he seemed to hover in the air for just a moment, the safety of solid ground disappearing behind him. A thousand feet below, a river surrounded by a lush green forest glistened like crystal in the sun, feeding from the forest into a rough patchwork quilt of fields and crops.

He started to plummet, the wind roaring in his ears, and the forest below getting bigger as he fell. A dark shadow spread over the lake as a massive black dragon flew beneath him, its wings beating at the air to keep its body aloft. The ferret landed on the dragon with a thud, near the base of its long, thick neck. He quickly pulled a metal clip from his woven belt and attached it to a leather strap that wound around the dragon's neck like a thin collar.

"Gotcha!" the ferret called as he checked the rope that tethered him to the beast.

"I thought you weren't going to make it," came the booming voice of the dragon.

"You could have at least slowed down a little," said the ferret, panting for breath. He slung the strange bow over his shoulder and positioned himself comfortably on the dragon's neck.

"I slowed down plenty," the dragon shot back playfully. As soon as he felt the legs straddling his neck move into their usual position, he thrust his powerful wings back, propelling them both forward through the air at incredible speeds.

"For a moment there, I thought you weren't going to catch me," the ferret teased, patting the dragon's hard scales. He leaned forward to steady himself against the oncoming rush of wind.

"You know I would never let you fall, Ollie."

"I know, Ghai."

The two shot forward through the sky, the river and fields flashing by beneath them. It was a glorious day. The sun shone bright but not harshly, and dark clouds rolls towards the forest from the horizon bringing with them the promise of much wanted rain. But Ollie and Ghai had a much more important task than just admiring the weather.

"I see them. Up ahead," Ghai called back to his rider. Ollie squinted through the rushing wind. His eyesight was not as keen as the dragon's, but he could see several blots in the distance, also flying through the air. As they got closer Ollie could start to make out details of the blots. Each one was a large, square metal case suspended in the air with a spinning rotor that stuck out of the top. Two arms were attached to the side of each case, ending in a smooth metal spike. A single glass eye in the front of the box glowed with a dim purple light. Ollie and Ghai both knew that it was more of a sensor than an eye, leaving the oblong robot with very few blind spots. Each of the robots was roughly painted in a gaudy yellow, with a black stripe around the middle.

"Buzzers!" he called out.

"I know. I count about a dozen." The dragon's neck shifted around as he noted the positions of the flying robots.

"This should be fun," Ollie grinned as he took his bow from his shoulder and held it firmly in his left hand. A short string of beads and feathers tied to the top of the bow whipped in the wind. He gave the bow a solid flick and a spindly metal scope unfolded itself from the wooden length, and the string started to hum and glow with a faint blue pulse. With his right hand he pulled an arrow from his quiver.

These were no ordinary arrows. The shaft was still made from strong wood, but very thick. The arrowhead was long and sharp, but had a round metal ball at the base, as if someone had driven a thin spike through a walnut. And instead of fletching, a small ceramic bulb, shaped somewhat like a pear, sat at the end of the arrow. Three tiny holes had been drilled into the fat base of the bulb, parallel with the arrow shaft.

Ollie nocked the first arrow. As soon as it touched against the string, the arrow head lit up in the same blue glow. He could see the first buzzer clearly through the scope, placing the glass eye directly in the middle of black crosshairs.

"You ready?" Ghai called back to him.

"Always am," Ollie responded, his arms steady. The ferret released the arrow, and less than a second after zooming from his bow three tiny jets of flame burst out of the three holes in the ceramic bulb, propelling it forward even faster than before. The arrow whizzed through the sky towards the robot at incredible speed, then slammed into the glass eye. The buzzer reeled back in the air, arms flailing, as the long arrowhead lodged in its sensor. A second later the arrowhead exploded in a small ball of blue flames, blasting the front of the robot to pieces. Ollie whooped as he watched the now useless metal husk drop from the sky, surrounded by a cloud of smoke, sparks, and hot fragments.

"Nice shot!" Ghai roared.

"Thanks!" said Ollie, rubbing the dragon's neck scales. "But the first one is always the easiest."

He was right. The buzzers were very aware of the two now and moved towards them as one, purple sensors glinting and winking in the bright sunlight. The real battle was about to begin. There was the clank of machinery and the hum of energy as the flying robots powered up and aimed their spiked arms.

"Hold on!" yelled Ghai, rolling out of the way as the first volley of lasers streaked towards them. The dragon dove a few metres and let his momentum carry him back up in line with the buzzers, flapping in heavy strokes to pick up speed and rush closer towards them.

Ollie nocked another arrow and let it fly with the same practiced accuracy. His eyes followed the trail of smoke left by the jet powered arrow and watched it plough into a buzzer with a crack of electrical sparks followed by a small bang. The heat from the explosion washed against his face, but he barely noticed. Ghai was speeding ever closer to the nucleus of the swarm, dodging and weaving around bolts of purple energy that sizzled when they passed too close to his scales.

"Get down!" Ghai shouted. Ollie obeyed, hugging his body as close as possible to the dragon's neck. Ghai sprinted forwards, at the last second tucking his wings against his back as he shot through the swarm. Many of the robots moved quickly out of his way, continuing to fire while trying to keep the swift dragon in their sights, accidentally destroying one of their own in the crossfire. Ghai couldn't help but let loose a victorious laugh. The dragon aimed himself upwards, smoothly twisting in the air to bring him headed back towards the robots.

"I told you it would work!" Ghai called back to his rider. Ollie already had his bow out again and was lining up another shot.

"I never said it wouldn't," the ferret called back. He shot another out of the sky. "But it seems that I've taken down three, and the big, scary dragon has only gotten one!"

"Oh, it's a competition, is it?" Ghai reared his head and neck back, making Ollie fumble and grab on tight to his scales. His eyes went black, and with a roar he unleashed a ball of pure white fire from his mouth. The buzzers tried to get away, the group scattering in all directions, but one was caught dead on. The robot burned white hot as it was consumed by the flames, completely disintegrating with a squeal of twisting metal. With not even any wreckage to fall, the ash simply blew away on the wind. Two others were caught at the edge of the blast, and tumbled through the air before crashing together in a tangle of arm spikes and rotors, shredding each other to pieces as they tried to separate. Ghai sucked in a huge lungful of air and dove to the left, swiping at the rotor of another buzzer with his talons. With no way to keep itself aloft it simply dropped, falling like a stone and disappearing from view.

Ollie lurched himself back into position and waved some ash out of his face, annoyed. "You need to give me some warning before you do that."

"Sorry," Ghai grinned and breathed heavily. His wings worked hard to keep them in the air and out of the way of the constant barrage of lasers.

"We need to finish this quickly before you tire yourself out. You shouldn't use your fire like that so early."

The dragon huffed, but his friend was right. He could start to feel the strain in his wings. "Alright then. Let's do this!"

They sped forward again, Ghai paying close attention to the buzzers and lasers, dodging and weaving to keep them both safe. He flew close to one, grabbing it by the arms and tearing it apart with his strong talons. Ollie shot two more down, missing only once when Ghai turned unexpectedly.

There were only two more buzzers left, and they moved together at the dragon with surprising speed. Ghai soared in a tight circle around them, letting Ollie take careful aim with his bow. The ferret looked carefully down the metal scope, preparing to fire. There was a flash of purple sparks as a lucky shot from one of the buzzers blasted against Ollie's left arm, ricocheting off his armour. He cried out in pain and let his shot go, the arrow flying uselessly in the wrong direction.

"Ollie!" Ghai screamed.

"I'm okay!" he called back, holding his shaking arm close to his chest. "It hit my armour."

"Are you sure?" Ghai turned his head back to check on his friend. Before Ollie could respond, more sparks lit up around him as lasers pounded against the distracted dragon's scales, making the ferret scream. Ghai roared and flew up and out of the way of the assault, gritting his teeth against the stinging pain the blasts. He knew a buzzer's laser couldn't kill him, but he had to protect Ollie.

The ferret held on for dear life against the hard pull of gravity. His arm still ached, but he was next to certain he hadn't been hit anywhere else. Ghai straightened out, and Ollie let go to double check he was still in one piece.

"Are you okay?" Ghai yelled frantically. Ollie could find no smoldering holes in him, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm fine. Just keep focused." He leant to the side to see where the last two buzzers were. He kept on leaning. And leaning. He was already falling before he realised something was wrong. Ollie gave a short yelp as he watched the dragon suddenly above him and moving away at speed. His rope tether whipped around like an angry snake, the end singed and smoking. It had been shot through.

"Ollie!" Ghai screamed as watched his rider fall. He hesitated, confused for just a second as to how the ferret had fallen, but then it didn't matter and he dove after his friend.

Purple beams sizzled past Ollie as he fell, the buzzers still firing away at their target. Twisting his body to face the ground, he could see the buzzers below him getting closer worryingly fast. He swore loudly only a moment before he slammed into one of the robots, miraculously missing the spinning rotor. Unable to support the weight, ferret and robot went spinning towards the ground. Ollie ignored the pain in his chest and dug his fingers into the metal casing and held on for dear life, while still grasping his bow. Sensing that its target was now on top of it, the buzzer stopped firing and instead turned its glowing arm spikes to point at the ferret.

Ollie felt the tingle of the deadly energy fizz and hiss in the air around him. He gasped when he saw the sharp spikes slowly move towards his spine. He knew he had to move fast or die. Still holding his precious bow tight in his left hand, he pulled a small dagger from his belt with his right and quickly stabbed the buzzer in the eye, shanking it over and over again, shattering the glass and destroying the wires and circuits beneath. Ollie fell away from the robot, no longer holding on, the force of his stabbing pushing him away. Small shocks of electricity popped inside the body of the buzzer, and the spikes powered down. Ollie slipped between the spikes and away from the now dead buzzer, into the loud rush of air. The ground rushed up to meet him, and he whispered a quick prayer. Suddenly, the wind was forced out of his lungs as his body was yanked back by his hips.

"I've got you!"

Hanging by his waist, Ollie gasped for air, one of Ghai's claws curled carefully through his woven belt. The ferret took a second to appreciate that he was not splattered all over the ground, and realised his trembling body was suspended a few hundred feet in the air.

"About time!" he shouted up at the dragon, but tried to force a grin as well. He looked up at Ghai and saw watery eyes and a face full of fear.

"I'm so sorry," said Ghai.

"Hey, it's not your fault. My tether got sliced." He smiled and nodded, trying to reassure the dragon that he was okay. "I know you'd never let me fall."

Ghai nodded back and started to fly up again, grasping Ollie firmly around his skinny waist with both talons and being careful not to squeeze too hard.

"We still have one more problem to take care of," Ghai rumbled. The final buzzer was coming at them from above, arm spikes charged and firing hot. Lasers streaked down at the dragon, but Ghai easily dodged the single robot assault.

"Smash it!" Ollie screamed, punching the air with his bow hand. Ghai roared and rushed forwards at the buzzer, making it lurch backwards, then spun his entire body in mid air and slapped the yellow robot with his powerful tail. Ollie whooped and cheered as he watched the crumpled buzzer spin through the air, desperately trying to keep itself aloft with a bent and failing rotor, small bits of metal coming loose and falling away. Not completely satisfied, Ghai focused power in his chest and unleashed another ball of white fire and the buzzer burst into a cloud of grey ash.

"That was overkill," laughed Ollie. Ghai nodded and panted for breath. His neck and limbs drooped in exhaustion.

"It was worth it," the dragon breathed.

"And very cool." Ollie patted Ghai's leg in approval. "Let's head home. You need to rest. The village should be safe now."

Ghai smiled and turned his body back to towards the cliff. He aimed for the river in the forest far below him and let his wings glide gently on the wind. They were all safe now.