FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sweltering heat, thick jungle vegetation, virulent bog water, vicious predatory creatures; these were but a few of the trials of the Kukri Jungle that were beginning to overwhelm the fox Prince Callum Dawnguard. His body was a clear sign of this, his fur was scraggly and unkempt, and lost much of its original bright red orange color, his dark brown hair a frazzled and tangled mess that was barely kept out of his eyes. His bright blue eyes had lost their luster, now having a more glassed over look to them. Yet it was the Fauna's armor that appeared to have suffered the most. The once white and gold steel plate armor he wore when he left home so proudly upon himself had since then become a twisted form of itself. Many pieces had been discarded like the shin and forearm guard, which lightened his load. While other pieces had become fractured or damaged, these pieces like the left shoulder guard and the plate metal that covered his gut were replaced with the thick hides of beasts he managed to best in combat.

The only things he had that were untouched was his family shield, an enchanted family heirloom that went by his family's name The Dawnguard; and his sword a simple but strong steel weapon forged by the family blacksmith.

He looked over his shoulder to see a group of eight Fauna soldier in the same sorry state like him. A mess of dull color fur, steel armor and animal hides; blank glassy stares of men who had seen and been through far too much, but most of all; they were tired. Tired of marching, tired of hunting, tired of death, and tired of being tired.

The defeated looks of his soldiers made the fox cringe at his decision of bringing them so far from home. The young prince had left home ten months with twenty soldiers at his side and hopes of finding and besting creatures worthy of songs and ballads for generations to come. Within those ten months all he felt capable of doing was getting twelve of them killed.

It wasn't always like this, when he first set out times were good. They traveled across four territories, seen a great deal of the kingdom, they hunted bandits and beasts alike to aid the villages they came across and were revered as local heroes for it; and they only managed one casualty in all that time.

That was before the Fauna prince had heard of the Kukri jungle and how it was filled with many dangerous creatures, including dragons that preferred to nest there and attack the nearby villages. Callum thought hunting the beasts would be an excellent feat of strength, and his soldiers wholeheartedly agreed with him. That was only two months ago, since then he had lost men to treacherous hazards of the terrain, predators that saw fit to show them who was top of the food chain, but by far the worse thing that took his soldiers' was the disease. It made them feel so helpless, something that neither magic or elixir could cure, all they could do was sit and watch them slip away.

Prince Callum gripped his sword's hilt in frustration and urged his men onward, knowing they had little time for rest. They had to find a suitable place to camp the night and fast before the beasts that preferred the night to hunt woke.

They managed to find a suitable place to camp, where the trees grew close together forming a natural obstacle for the large predators, but Callum was still worried about how open the space was. Still the soldiers needed their rest, and with the last rays of sunlight trickling through the forest canopy there was no time to try and find a better option.

The prince and soldiers set up a few traps and built a fire before darkness settled in. Callum volunteered himself for first watch, insisting that he would be fine on his own. He felt that the soldiers deserved as much rest as he could spare them.

The first hour went without much out of the ordinary. The echoing sounds of jungle bugs and the screeches of the animals that feasted on them. The fire allowed him a perfect sight line of the jungle floor, so he felt confident that nothing would sneak up on them.

Another hour passed, and then another, Callum did his best to keep the fire stoked and kept his sword at the ready. Then the fourth hour arrived, the fox's eyes began to droop but he did his best to remain awake. He didn't wish to wake anyone, convinced he could stay awake for another hour easy.

The prince was not as strong of will as thought however, within moments he nodded off again into quite a snooze. He dreamed of his homeland, wishing to survive this hunt he set off on and return to the rolling hills and trout filled streams. He dreamed of finally finding a princess and asking her hand in marriage; thinking to himself how easy a thing would be if he returned with grand tales of his adventures.

Then Callum felt a cold chill sweep over his body and waking him from his doze. His eyes snapped open and he saw the fire had died down to a flickering light and glowing embers.

He cursed under his breath for allowing himself to doze off at such a time and let the fire get so low. He scrambled to find anything for to keep it going, remaining calm among the silence of the night.

Then it slowly dawned on him; in a jungle that buzzed with the sounds of insects. A place full of vibrant and exotic wildlife that constant tried to assert dominance by loud vocal calls and roars.

All the prince heard was dead silence. Callum drew his blade and turned to wake the others, but that's when it happened.

From the darkness a bloodcurdling roar tore through the trees and violently woke the others from slumber.

"Form up," he barked. "We've got company."

The soldiers shook off their grogginess and did as ordered forming a defensive circle around the fire.

"Steady men!" He ordered raising his shield up. "Let the beast come to us."

The sound of approaching footsteps thundered through the air and the soldiers braced for what was next to come. They heard the heavy, ragged breathing of a large beast in the shadows. A bead of sweat rolled down the fox's brow , unable to see anything beyond the silhouetted shadows of the jungle floor.

"My, my what is this?" A raspy voice rumbled from the darkness. "A noble Fauna and his foolish underlings stumbling through my jungle?"

'A dragon,' Callum thought gritting his teeth. 'Must be pretty intelligent if it can speak.'

"Tell me young noble," the dragon prattled on its voice further from the camp now. "What is your name?"

The prince said nothing, fearing this was some kind of dragon trickery.

"You wish to remain silent?" The voice spoke from another spot in the darkness. "Very well then, but just so you know I will savor devouring you," the tone of creature turned sinister. "It's been so long since I had a royal delicacy wander into my jungle."

"There was silence once more, the men remaining like iron statues in the dim campfire; watching and waiting.

Then the prince saw a silhouetted shadow leap upon the group from the trees above. All eyes were focused and studying the shape, a reptilian creature almost fifteen feet head to tail, with leathery wings stretched out and a menacing scythe-like blade at the end of its long tail.

"Sickletail!" One of the men shouted.

"Break rank!" Callum ordered as the dragon landed in between the soldiers kicking the fire and scattering it about.

"We need a light Bols!" One of the men shouted.

On the order a white leopard muttered a chant and several large fires sprouted from the ground lighting the area up as bright as the morning sun and revealing their attacker. The dragon was large towering almost eight feet tall, jet black scales glistened in the light of the fire, dark green eyes filled with murder and wicked intent.

"You have a Mage with you?" The dragon sneered. "Now, now, that hardly makes this a fair fight."

In a flash the creature whipped its tail around aimed for the cat. Before anyone else knew what to do, one of the soldiers, a grey wolf in his mid thirties and leather armor leapt in front of the attack and shoved the leopard to safety.

Everyone looked to him and for a moment he seemed fine. Until they saw his left arm slide away from his body, still clutching his sword in a horrific surreal action. The wolf let out a groan of pain clamping down on the wound and fighting back his tears.

The dragon saw weakness and lunged with a shrill hiss at the wounded. All the wolf could do was maneuver his shield up to delay being ripped to shreds by the beast's teeth and claws.

"Peter!" The leopard cried in agony.

"Quickly, while the beast is distracted," Callum ordered the soldiers. "Attack!"

The men charged the dragon with blades, axes and spears in hand. Two men closest to the tail did their best to try and pin the razor sharp appendage. A female lynx took to climbing a tree amidst chaos to position herself above the creature and land on its back. With swords in hand the nimble fighter began hacking at its wings.

The dragon let out a cry of agony and started thrashing and bucking wildly.

"You miserable Fauna," the dragon roared. "I'll see you burn for this."

The prince and the other men held a tight line blocking the creature from moving forward. Each took turns swinging and trying to stab at the beast whenever a chance showed itself.

In a desperate attempt at escape the beast let out a high pitched shriek that disoriented everyone and made them cover their ears. The Sickleback whipped around wildly catching one of the soldiers near the tail off guard as they were sent flying.

"Dammit all," Callum spat as he slashed the air once more. "We need to end this now."

The dragon bucked around again and managed to dislodge the nimble fighter, but not before she managed to drive a blade deep into the base of one of its wings.

"Form up," the prince commanded taking a step back. "Form up a line."

The group formed a single line in front of the wounded dragon which gleamed menacing in the light of the fire.

"Don't let the beast get away, this is our one chance to end it."

Everyone lashed ahead at the dragon with all they had slashing and stabbing at its front claws and shoulders. This was exactly what the creature wanted though, every one of its attackers in a neat line. It began to bring its tail around for one more swing, intent on finishing the group with one swing.

"Now, you die!" The dragon jeered at them.

Prince Callum panicked and broke the line, his shield beginning to glow faintly. He managed to make it to the front of the line before the beast's tail and braced. The tail connected, the shield held thanks to an ancient enchantment, but the prince was mortal and only capable of so much.

The fox was thrown back into the other soldiers, knocking them down and into a neat pile of bodies.

The fight was over, the Fauna exhausted and their spirits broken. All of them slowly began accepting their fate and silently praying for a quick death.

"Since you all have given me so much trouble tonight," the dragon hissed snapping his jaw. "I'm going to make this as slow and agonizing as I can."

And that's when something snapped in the fox's mind. He let out a roar of pure anger and brought his sword down slicing deep into the dragon's left eye.

"You son of a bitch!" The creature cried out in anguish but the blow was not sufficient enough for a killing blow. The creature drew back taking the prince's sword with it. Callum clenched his hand into a fist preparing to punch the beast when it came back, but then it happened.

A dragon roar tore through the night, more shrilly than the Sickleback. Then from behind the soldiers view a second smaller dragon sailed through the air, crashing into the black dragon with all its weight.

Callum's and the others unable to move were forced to watch the battle, waiting for a victor to decide their fate.

"Argh! You miserable... This isn't supposed to happen to me!"

It was a surprisingly short fight, the Sickleback hadn't expected to be contested by another dragon so soon, so when the small dragon managed a few raking strikes with its claws it retreated back into the jungle.

"You were lucky little noble, but I'll get you next time," he hissed from darkness. "You too half blood!"

The prince blinked, not understanding what just transpired and looked up at their savior. The smaller dragon let out a snarling roar at the darkness and turned its attention to the heap of warriors. Callum slowly rose to his feet and stood his ground before the dragon.

For the first few moments neither side moved, they simply stared at one another, studying each other.

Their savior was a strangely shaped dragon, with orange red colored scales, and purplish grey scales on its underbelly. The drake stood roughly seven feet tall and fifteen feet long, it had only four limbs, the front limbs shaped like wings and the hindquarters shaped similar to a feral wolf or dog. Its face was long and slender with a pair of long black horns curving downward. The creature stared back with warm amber eyes as if saying it was not a threat.

Then the dragon began to change right before the fox's very eyes. It began to shrink and take a more humanoid shape. The wings and legs formed into thin, dainty limbs, the creature's torso developed a feminine curve and hips. The scales of the dragon's body formed a strange meld of clothing and armor, a battle skirt covered her legs well down to her knees but left her midsection bare and seemed quite unladylike to the prince. His eyes drifted up to see a sort of breastplate acting as a cover for her chest and not much else. Finally his eyes met the the dragon's face. The muzzle shortened but was not completely gone, her skin was the same purplish hue as her underbelly scales and its horns were now replaced with long strands of auburn hair. The final thing that held Callum's attention the longest, were its eyes. Bright Amber gold globes with vertical black slits staring back at him in a peculiar fashion.

"What... What are you?" He muttered in astonishment.

"Right now I'm the one who just saved you miserable fur faces," the creature huffed an insult at him.

"E-excuse me?" The prince stammered never being spoken to in such a manner.

"Those of you who are still alive follow me," she said turning her back to them. "If you want to live, that is."

The fox's was speechless, still he turned to his men who were slowly rising to their feet.

"What do you men think?" He asked them.

"Not much to say sir," one of them spoke up. "That thing is the closest thing to a friendly face we've seen since entering this forsaken place."

"If it's offering us safety, we shouldn't turn it down," another added.

"Guess it's settled then," the prince sighed. "Collect... Collect Peter's medallion," he struggled to say the words as he pointed to the fallen wolf.

"And the body sir?"

"There's nothing we can do," he said disgusted by how cold and uncaring his words sounded just now. "Leave him, gather our wounded." He turned to follow the dragon's trail. "Let's see where this one takes us."