FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

First Chapters:

Shiloh's Vacation

By

Dissident Love

Author's Note:

This was a character I've had kicking around for a long time, along with hir story, but I had two difficulties. One, it was awfully similar in a lot of ways to my Karla story, regarding the world's last and perhaps only dragon. Two... I didn't know how it ended. Or even much of what happened in the middle. I had a killer BEGINNING and that was pretty much it.

So here is a somewhat abridged introduction, trying to get the necessary information into the first chapter. Shiloh is a fun person, and I think that shi could be a welcome addition to my regulars. That said, this is a sexy story, not a sex story, rather in the vein of Odella and Kimmi. There's hypers, there's snuggling, but there's also strife and conflict and danger around every corner.

This one may include more scantily-clad dancing bois and grrls, though, so I guess that's something.

To this day, the inhabitants referred to it still as simply the Village. Rung'mathuat may have indeed been merely a village at some time in the far distant past, but no-one would ever mistake the vast, mountain-conquering metropolis as anything other than a majestic and fully modern city. Travellers a full day's ride from the outermost walls (half a dozen rings of protective fortifications, along with countless acres of jungle, had been swallowed up over the centuries by the expanding sprawl) hardly needed to set campfires for the night; they could practically read under the imparted glow of distant civilization.

Three major highways, paved with varying degrees of success and permanence, threaded out from the ancient central courtyard, through neighborhoods that had evolved their own patois if not actual dialects, and out into the jungles. One to the north, one to the south and one to the east, but before too many miles they all turned away from mountains, seas and deserts to drift towards the rising sun. Only one road slithered westwards, and only that partizan-crowned gate among the hundred major and minor portals was protected diligently, around the clock.

Straya District, sometimes known as the Bonfire, overlooked these western walls, bound on one side by a heavily-diverted river and on the other by a series of tiny artificial lakes. The hill had been mined and flattened and buttressed and rebuilt so many times it was rumored to be cobblestone and foundations all the way down to valley bedrock. Sprouting out of the last real crag of authentic actual granite, the Hydra was the largest and most infamous nightclub for several districts around, five twisting multicolored towers as grand as any of the palaces at the city's far distant centre, rising out of a colosseum of sparkling crimson stone.

Shiloh owned many properties in the Bonfire, and controlled vested interests in many more. In fact, any one of hir many accountants knew but a small piece of the puzzle, and if they ever got together to swap stories a startling picture of subtle ownership would appear. Preferring to keep hir activities subtle wherever possible, shi kept hir empire in a dozen floating, discrete chunks, most of whom were entirely unaware their bitterest rivals answered to the same mistress.

But the Hydra... everyone knew the Hydra was hirs, and to most locals shi was the Hydra.

Curled up on hir private balcony nearly a quarter mile above the valley floor, high atop the central azure spire, shi watched the sun set for the thousandth time. Actually, if shi'd been counting (and shi was, always), it was hir 8074th time in a row. Sometimes it was blocked by thunderclouds or monsoons or the occasional freak blizzard, but shi knew it was there; hir keen eyes could always spot the glimmer, hir scales able to detect the cosmic radiance.

To the west, the jungles devoured all attempts at technology. Plantations never took, roads couldn't be maintained, and even infrequent attempts to station guardposts along the highway were found twisted, rotted and collapsed. How the highway itself had lasted this long no-one could be sure, but it served to funnel a steady trickle of explorers, archaeologists, relic-hunters and mercenaries out into the untamed horizon.

And sometimes they even came back.

Shiloh fiddled with the boa draped around hir neck, a pink and frilly feathery thing Ahnya had given hir. Hir grand entrance never started until well after sunset, and shi was in no hurry to head down to the Promenade, but shi felt... anxious tonight. Shi knew hir lovely legions of consorts were doing their best to keep hir satisfied, but there was only so much they could do for hir these days.

Shi sighed again and slithered slowly back into hir palatial bedchamber, eyes lingering on the dimming rust-red remnants of the sunset. Shi moved with uncharacteristic reluctance, tracing hir fingertips along Bethel's creaking, bloated belly while the panda-boi snoozed. The Seamsisters would be getting ready for hir in hir sitting room several floors below, but after more than eight thousand Commencements shi just didn't feel the same sort of curiosity as to what tonight's creation would entail. This gave hir pause and a paing of guilt; shi knew the two gifted costumers put their hearts and souls into every design, and they were always breathtaking, if occasionally downright impractical.

"Mmffff-trrrfffff?" Bethel murred woozily, little arms and legs stirring adorably against the vast bulk of his body, the upper portions squeezed against the age-darkened roof timbers high above.

"Ssshhhh, go back to sleep," Shiloh responded, planting a little smooch on his bare rump and resisting the urge to sink hir fangs just the tiniest bit into his tender flesh. Shi knew he didn't need any assistance for the time being. "I love you."

"Lrrrvvv yyyyywwwww," the consort grinned, his face pressed several inches into the fully vertical surface of what had recently been his trim and taut belly.

Raking hir fingers back through hir bouffant mane of rainbow feathers, shi carefully descended the wide staircase into hir apartment, turned and carried on down to hir sitting room. It was built on a scale far more fitting to hir guests than to hirself, with a dozen plush chairs and divans scattered around one side, and a great long mahogany table dominating the other. Hir lawyers had assured hir that shi needed such a 'board room table', though shi still thought it was a little unnecessary.

"Good evening, Mistress," the sisters chorused, bowing as one.

"Good evening, ladies," Shiloh smiled, completing the ritual. It wasn't always the sisters themselves up here every night. Almost no-one had the sort of dedication to a calling to not take a single day off in more than twenty years, so every now and then (more often than not, these days) they sent up one of their many underlings, designers and tailors from all across the city seeking to learn from if not the best, then at least the most famous. "And what do you have for me this evening?"

Merla and Joo exchanged knowing winks. The leopards weren't sisters, Merla being quite a bit taller and darker to Joo's paler, plumper physique, but no-one could remember ever seeing them apart, even before Shiloh's days at the Hydra. "We think you'll make some memories tonight, Mistress," Merla leered softly, turning to lift the lid of the wide, low trunk between her and her partner. Joo knelt to slip her paws into the shifting, silky waves of azure fabric, ripples spreading like water.

"I'm sure I will," Shiloh nodded solemnly, lowering hirself so that the tremendous dress could be assembled around hir.

---

The Hydra was not just an exceptionally large saloon, or burlesque house, or concert hall, or casino or theatre. It was all of these things and more, built around an atmosphere of almost carnival-like energy, running day and night, year in and year out. The entire chaotic assemblage started anew every night, like the winding of a clock, when the Cathedral of the Holy Redeemer on the hill opposite gonged out nine ringing exultations on its nine golden bells. The Church folk as a rule didn't approve of the Hydra's excesses, but it was a rare night there wasn't at least one red-threaded violet sash or chain of lavender prayer beads among the rejoicing throngs.

In the Heart, the canyon-sized central hall of the Hydra, the din of the crowd's laughter and merriment was matched only by the clinking of glasses and the rattle of coins being exchanged. The establishment never turned anyone away, welcoming paupers and politicians alike, but it could hardly be denied that the rather more enjoyable services offered cost a pretty penny. Shiloh looked down from behind the black velvet curtains and watched three young men wearing the tattered but highly decorated vests of the Giobrani, wandering minstrels who eschewed worldly possessions beyond what they could carry, singing bawdy songs and throwing their arms around a buxom older woman wearing the sort of dress only a noble could afford but only a particular kind of dancer would dare wear in public.

"It takes all kinds," shi hissed softly, slipping a tiny claw between the glossy-tight bodice and the supple golden scales of hir bust. This dress was one that hir production managers would politely call a 'show-stopper', so it seemed rather amusingly ironic that shi should start the evening's Commencement with it.

"Careful, Mistress," one of hir dancing girls cautioned. "You don't want to rip it!"

Shiloh tilted hir head to examine the edge of the brilliant blue expanse of satin. "I'll be fine, Doloria," shi smiled reassuringly. "But thank you. I will be careful."

The lithe gazelle seemed to swell from the attention, preening and blushing prettily. "I didn't mean to overstep my bounds, Mistress. I just... well, you see, last week, one of the chorus grrls had a little rip, and hir routine had a spin and a lift and as soon as shi was airborne there was a, uh... wardrobe malfunction, I guess you could say."

"I heard," Shiloh chuckled. "Apparently the audience felt it was a wonderful and unexpected twist. The producers are working on making it part of the regular act."

Doloria's jaw dropped. "Which acts?!"

"Don't worry, not all of them. Merely the ones where some nudity is expected, and indeed considered... mandatory."

A rolling series of horns fluttered through the Heart, three distinct orchestral groups synchronizing themselves. The gazelle squeaked and skittered away, twenty-nine identically dressed dancers organizing themselves with practiced ease in the wings. Shiloh watched hir go, eying her athletic little rump with more than a little interest and making a personal note to perhaps have her sent up later for drinks. Shi might be busy running a hundred sides of the family business and conducting hir nightly introductions, but shi made it a point to meet all of hir employees one-on-one at least once, and occasionally it blossomed into something a little more intimate.

From nearly anywhere in the Heart patrons could see the huge elevated dais, a semicircular thrust enveloped in acres of black and gold velvet. Shiloh had never performed on any of the Hydra's many smaller stages, and indeed never really considered hirself any sort of performer, but shi'd spent a sizeable portion of hir life staring out at vast, cheering audiences. The three orchestras chimed once together and swelled into an inspirational marching-beat number (the brass in Orchestra Two is a little off tonight, I'll have to speak to the conductors). The throngs just beyond the curtains hushed, thousands of feet pitter-pattering like rain as they turned.

Shiloh didn't need to glance over hir shoulder to make sure everyone was in the right place; shi knew to trust hir directors, producers, choreographers, costumers, stage managers... countless legions banded together every night to put on a show, and night after night they sought to outdo themselves. Everyone knew their place, and knew they had the unflagging support of their theatrical brothers and sisters.

Shi inhaled once, dress creaking alarmingly, but the sisters knew their craft well, and shi pushed through the narrow gap in the streaked onyx curtains. A ripple of polite admiration spread out from the front of the stage as hundreds of lanterns were carefully dimmed by the small army of servers and waiters. High up in the hidden recesses above the stage a great mirrored reflector was uncovered, and a shaft of blazing candlelight speared down. Shiloh's scales were buffed to a high shine and shi radiated shimmering starlight sparkles out into the darkness.

"Good evening," shi spoke, hir rich voice carrying quite well through the cavernous hall. Hir serpentine face beamed joyfully as shi quickly counted the thousands of eyes watching hir and revised the night's projected earnings. The dress spread out around hir like a brilliant blue flower, highlighting hir relatively narrow waist and improbably full and proud bust, burnished gold cleavage shining like the sunset. "And welcome to the Hydra. I am Shiloh, and I will be your hostess for the evening."

The applause rattled the windows, but as expected died away after a few moments. The ritual had evolved over the years until even newcomers knew their roles. The black scales of hir arms and neck stood out starkly against hir bodice as shi smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles in the suffering fabric, a few hoots and hollers echoing from the braver audience members. "We've got a wondrous night of music and dance, lust and laughter planned for you," shi announced, as shi always did. "Any of our courteous staff will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have, direct you to any event you desire, and of course keep you company on this auspicious occasion."

A few more raucous cries rang out to a smattering of laughter, but from the fringes of the grand hall some of the Hydra's more specialized employees began to filter through the crowd. They were easy to spot, wearing the traditional diagonal rainbow patterns of the entertainment empire, but they tended to wear a great deal less fabric than the regular patrons. Tremendous amounts of bouncing flesh, rustling fur and silken scales were on display for all to see, and to a one the escorts were proud of the naked attraction every square inch coaxed out of the mob.

The back of Shiloh's expansive skirts were still nestled up against the velvet stage curtains, shielding the vast majority of hir body. Shi knew that there likely wasn't a single soul in the audience that was fooled for an instant, hir reputation more than preceding hir, but some things had to be honored. Shi flexed once, preparing for hir big finish. "This is a place of love... a place of peace. Everyone is here to live life to the fullest, so consider and give respect to all those around you. Tonight, we are all friends... we are all family."

Shiloh lifted gently in the air, hir spreading skirts drawing in close as shi rose. A rumble of appreciation filled the air as shi ascended. The hem of hir many-layered petticoats swished and fluttered, leaving the stage below and exposing inch after gleaming inch of the naga's powerful body. The orchestral score began to swell, and Shiloh spread hir arms wide as though prepared to embrace the congregation as a whole. "So enjoy yourselves! Eat and drink! Sing and dance! Watch as you will, take part as the urge takes you, and live life without worry, without fear and without regret, for tonight is all we have!"

As though waiting for the command word to be unleashed, the audience erupted in frantic cheering and applause, patron and employee alike. More than a few drinks were heedlessly splashed onto bystanders, but it was all taken in stride (and the sudden appearance of scantily-clad servers with dry towels helped defuse any potential situations). Shiloh loomed over the lower balconies now, more than twenty feet of black-and-gold serpentine trunk swaying seductively below the shifting, sighing silks of hir dress. A heap of meter-thick naga-coil slithered out from behind the curtains to provide a sturdier base, followed by yet more as the entire mass flexed around itself, but there seemed to be no end to hir.

As shi climbed past the middle of the immense curtains they began to rise as well, soon overtaking hir and revealing the night's preliminary performance. Dancers streamed out of the wings, tumblers leaping and seeming to fly over and around and through them with only a hair's breadth between them. Torchbearers spun flaming censers around their necks and beneath their legs, casting wild sensual shadows across the audience even as rainbow-hued spotlights flit to and fro like glowflies. The orchestra grew insistent, thunderous, and Shiloh carefully wriggled hir mounded coils in a complicated dance that saw hir glide backwards, merging with the frolicking chorus lines and complicated trajectories of the gymnasts until shi moved beyond the range of the stage lights and allowed hirself to descend to hir normal height once more.

Operations Master Gino Ceele was at hir side in a flash, handing his employer a chilled towel and an oversized flute of champagne, both from a special ice-filled bronze case. The crystal decanter looked like a full bottle in his small paw, the natty little coyote dressed in a form-fitting tuxedo, but in Shiloh's hand it once again seemed spindly and delicate. "Wonderful, madam, wonderful!" he gushed, waving away the two burly bovine porters carrying the ice chest. "You really sold your soliloquy, just marvellous! I saw many eyes tear up at the-"

The calculating naga tossed back the sparkling drink in one throw, handing the crystal offhandedly to one of the many hustling backstage workers. The second line of dancers were cued to go in any second, so even the presence of twenty tons of unfathomably wealthy serpentine flesh was deemed superfluous and shi was already being gently, but firmly, escorted to the side halls.

Gino blinked bemusedly at the rather impulsive gesture, noting to perhaps have a larger goblet on standby next time, and hurried after hir. "Are you headed to the Silver Saloon, madam? There is an assemblage from the Duchy of Padenkoek there, and I have been assured that the Prince Regent is quite eager to-"

"I'm taking a vacation, Gino," Shiloh murmured dreamily, slithering through the double doors and out into the secretive back passages of the Hydra, wide enough to allow even a naga to pass and allow pedestrian traffic to either side. Waiters carrying drinks and heaping platters of food jogged by, trailed by a troupe of tall, buxom felines wearing furtight rainbow leotards.

The well-dressed coyote stumbled at his employer's words, and it was only the lightning reflexes of a particularly topheavy lioness that saved him. "Ymmm vvmmmmfffnnn?!" he yowled, words muffled by the dancer's bust before he managed to extricate himself. He sputtered and glared at the unexpected contact, causing all five felines to share a grin between themselves before wisely stepping back and allowing him to proceed. "A vacation?!" he repeated.

Shiloh was quite easy to pursue through a crowd. While hir blue-dressed torso was already some distance away, having disappeared through a mahogany-framed archway into the Heart itself, a significant portion of hir body was still in the sidehall. Indeed, the feathery tip of hir tail hadn't even passed Gino yet. He caught up to hir infamous and improbably-firm prow on the edges of the milling chaos of the crowd, the fringes starting to disperse to the various smaller venues of the Hydra, where shi was shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with wide-eyed and slightly tipsy revellers.

"Thank you, thank you," shi beamed down to a dense, boxy rhino wearing some military sash Gino couldn't quite recognize. The greying but still powerfully built man loomed over the coyote, easily seven feet tall, but even he had to stare up quite a ways to see Shiloh's face. He was clearly enjoying leaving his gaze a little lower, much to the consternation of the plump but stern otterlady on his arm. "I hope your first visit won't be your last!"

"I'm sure," the rhino rumbled, paying no heed to the frantically bouncing upper management trying to get the naga's attention. "I'm sure it won't." The heavily made-up otter huffed and squeezed the man's mighty arm, earning a half-hearted reassuring pat on a pink-gloved paw.

"Madam Shiloh!" Gino fairly leapt, his clipboard making angry whooshing noises. "I must speak to you... presently!" He seemed to have some difficulty coming up with a word that both sufficiently portrayed the urgency of the matter and would not offend the woman who paid his quite ridiculous salary.

"Tonight will be presently enough, Gino," shi nodded down to him, tracing a little finger along one of his vigorously twitching ears. "Didn't you hear my little speech? Live a little, love a little. We'll talk."

"Madam, I do not..." His jaw worked for a moment as his extensive vocabulary was once again stretched "... cavort."

The normally quite distant tip of Shiloh's tail sidled up behind Gino and gave his tail a little tweak, sending him a full two feet into the air. The rhino snorted in amusement, and even the haughty otter nearly turned her lips skyward. "I'm not saying you need to cavort, but..." Hir sleek serpentine muzzle, complicated scrollwork of black and gold scales racing up to hir majestic crown of rainbow-hued feathers, that mane cascading nearly six feet down hir back, twisted in amusement. "You can't want to work for me forever."

He sputtered. "Of course I can!"

Shiloh licked a fang thoughtfully and just sighed. "We will talk. Tonight. Celestial Promenade, midnight?"

"But this is urgent-"

Shi dipped low at the waist, only the cunning artifice of the Seamsisters' bodicework keeping hir from spilling completely out of hir outfit, and brought hir nose mere inches from his own. "I have been your boss for twenty-two years, little Gino. A few more hours won't matter."

It was a testament to his dedication that his eyes skipped once, and only once, from hir face down to the several square yards of supple bronzed cleavage on display. "But... I... you can't..."

"Midnight, Gino. And don't be late," shi added, straightening and looping hir body back on itself to allow hir to move a little easier through the sea of much smaller patrons.

He drew himself up to his own unremarkable height. "I am never late!"

---

Shiloh might not have been a stage performer, but shi was always, as the thespians and provocateurs would say, 'on'. The wagon-train-sized naga wound hir way from theatre to pavillion, from wine bar to saloon, from dance hall to much different, and darker, sorts of dance halls, always more than happy to shake hands and attempt hugs and greet hir guests. Shi had an excellent memory for faces, but even with hir constant nightly perusing shi rarely met the same person twice in a given year. So great was the attraction of the Hydra, and so capacious was the population surrounding it, that almost none could afford to be regulars, and if they could they occasionally needed to be turned away by the gate guards. Too much of a good thing, as they say, was never enough.

Hir dress was certainly attracting some attention, proof the sisters clearly had their ears to the pulse of the public. Of all the glances aimed hir way, by far the vast majority of them started somewhere near hir sternum and drifted slowly, very slowly, up to hir face. Shi found it delightful, as it generally made the conversations shorter and simpler, and allowed hir to move briskly through the various levels of hir entertainment haven. Shi would have to make sure to commission at least a dozen dresses for hir journey, maybe two dozen, just to make sure the sisters had the financial support to endure hir absence.

Of course, given their exorbitant fees, which Shiloh was only too happy to pay on a nightly basis, they could probably retire to anywhere in the world already if they ever wanted.

The Celestial Promenade was perhaps a needlessly grandiose term to describe the vast tiered marble balconies that encircled the colosseum, a broad flared skirt at the base of the five rainbow-hued towers. All but the innermost tier was open to the night sky above, but as one travelled around the world took on the reflected colors of whichever tower happened to loom closest. As the grumpy, defiant mass of the Holy Redeemer gonged a solemn, sonorous midnight to the world, Shiloh slithered beneath the Cardinal Spire, home to many dozens of the Hydra's more salacious employees of all genders. Hir golden scales seemed to blaze with inner fire, while the far larger and more numerous sable plates were limned like damped embers.

Operations Manager Gino was never late, but he was also rarely early. Undue precession implied a lack of responsibility, he felt. Having carefully spotted his mistress heading up to the Promenade, the greying and now bespectacled coyote was quick to follow, keeping his distance and sticking to the interior concourse. There, under broad slate runnels that fit together seamlessly to keep out the worst tropical storms, dozens of local merchants peddled their finest foods on sticks, their stickiest confectionaries and their most alluring beverages. He had politely refused nearly every vendor on the concourse by the time the Redeemer's gongs allowed him to properly approach Shiloh.

"Madam, it is-"

"I am taking some time off, Gino," shi said smoothly, hir voice remarkably deep and reverberating despite the clipped, almost birdlike quality to hir speech.

The crowds, boisterous and omnipresent, flowed around them. Many paws, hands, hooves and even the occasional tentacle snuck out of the press of bodies to touch Shiloh's immense trunk, or maybe even the feathery dorsal line if they were lucky. No-one was sure where the legend began that it was good luck to touch hir feathers, but some recent diligence had stopped the rather irritating practice of trying to steal one by force.

"But, madam, you can't just-"

Shiloh stared down at him, and realizing that hir eyes loomed nearly ten feet above his own shi graciously lowered hirself until hir skirts were pooled around hir. "Why can I not, sir?" shi asked innocently, hir tongue flicking between hir numerous needle-like fangs. "Am I not the owner and director of this reputable establishment? Am I not empowered to make all decisions, both operational and creative?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"And do I not generally leave all of those decisions to you already?"

Gino's clipboard creaked in his fingers, pressed so hard to his chest he feared his cravat would need additional pressing in the morning. "You should not be burdened with the minutiae of the day to day operations of the Hydra or its subsidiaries, madam," he responded immediately. "Your guidance and leadership, your presence and your dignified renown are far more important than shipping, maintenance, payroll and the like."

"Perhaps," shi mused, as though not having considered that. "Perhaps."

Shiloh turned towards the railing, hir coils forming a wedge behind hir so as to not force other sightseers out of the way, and Gino had to skip nimbly to the side just to stay within easy speaking distance. "If you require a respite from your nightly duties, madam, of course we can arrange something! There are plans in place for short-term festivals for just such an occasion, an extended duration of continuous activities with prizes and the like. You could certainly take some leisure time! Heavens knows you've earned it!"

"It would be hard to say just how much I have earned, would it not?" Shiloh purred. "The family charter is rather... vague on the duties, responsibilities, and of course remuneration for the director. I... now feel my parents were more thoughtful with that document than I had heretofore understood."

Gino stared out at the sprawl of Straya below them, spilling over the hillsides and flowing down the valley, breaking only at the jagged, resentful bulk of the western walls. He bounced on his heels, a respectful arm's length away from where Shiloh did hir best not to tower over him. She could have very easily sat more comfortably, a full loop of girthsome serpentine flesh to support hir torso, but shi was always so thoughtful. Even now shi hunkered so low over the railing that the underside of hir bust was partially supported by the handworn marble, and he shuddered to think just how much of hir mass was projected over the edge. "So... you're leaving," he managed, scuffing his toes together beneath where the piled satin of hir skirts was busy swallowing his legs.

"Not forever, Gino!" Shiloh laughed, bouncing in amusement. "I believe just six weeks, though I was considering scheduling for eight, just to account for unforeseen circumstances arising. I will, of course, need your help with some procurement. I fear I have been too long away from the... minutiae of day to day operations."

Gino's little chest rose and fell faster now. "Eight weeks?! That's... I mean... you can't... we would..."

The naga slipped a black-and-gold hand around the furre's shoulders, only highlighting their vastly disproportionate dimensions. "I am not telling you this so that we may discuss the alternatives," shi said gently, pulling him a fraction closer. "Nor am I consulting with you for your approval. I am taking some time for myself, and it is only fitting that my most trusted advisor... and friend... be the first to know."

The coyote had worked for Shiloh ever since the brilliant creature had assumed the multi-faceted empire's mantle of command, more than twenty years previous. Before that, he had worked for Shiloh's adoptive parents for a further two decades, rising from messenger to courier to accountant to become perhaps the only person beyond Shiloh hirself who knew the true extents of hir power. He recalled giving hir a tour of the Hydra when shi was first deemed old enough to experience it; back then shi'd been hardly more than five feet long and no girthier than his calf.

He looked up at hir, the feathery crown of hir mane fully ten feet above the marble promenade and at least fifty feet of body knotted loosely together behind him, eyes wide and fearful. "You will return?" he managed, willing himself not to sniffle. It would have been undignified.

Shiloh chuckled again, rolling hir golden eyes. "I will return," shi nodded solemnly. "But only because you wouldn't know what to do without me."

Gino's cheeks burned, but he didn't dare reply.

The stars spun above them, a pale reflection of the rolling, gem-studded carpet of flame that was Rung'mathuat. Some parts were noticeably dimmer than others, but nowhere in the vast village was there so much as a single alley that could be considered sleepy. Shiloh's eyes settled on the gleaming, sawtoothed terminator of the West Wall, and the many-spired crown of the West Gate.

"Where are you planning to go?" Gino asked, his heartbeat finally starting to settle back down. "Looking into business opportunities in the north of the city? Perhaps see the boreal lakes of Navik? I hear the auroras light up the sky-"

Shiloh slithered a little further down, hugging Gino to the side of hir bust and pointing with hir free hand. "There."

The coyote squinted, adjusting his glasses. "Where?"

"The West."

The naga was strong, far more physically powerful than even hir daunting size would indicate, but shi only held hir friend and most trusted manager with a feather touch. Thus, when his eyes rolled back and he fainted, he slipped out of hir grasp to sprawl out against one of hir dense coils, paws twitching.

Shiloh clucked hir tongue and sighed. "I knew you'd understand," shi chuckled, half a dozen rainbow-clad porters appearing out of the crowd, whisking Gino away to his warm, safe bed.