FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Paralysing venom coursed through my veins and blood trickled from the bite wound in my neck leaving me too weak to fly. It had been inflicted by one of the few people in this world I should have been able to trust. My life such as it had been ran through my mind as the ground grew closer beneath me.

My parents, while not having an easy relationship by any means, had loved each other enough to push past all of the difficulties they had encountered. My mother had been an Ocelot Beastfolk, I barely remember her face and everything I know of her had been told to me by my sire.

He was a Dragon, as tall as a horse with bright blue and white scales. They had met accidentally when she had been in heat and trying to escape from rapists who wished to take advantage of her oestrus. She had stumbled blindly into feral dragon territory and right into my Father's chest.

In the wild dragons are extremely territorial with any who do not live within their Enclave usually killed on sight. My mother was one of the few exceptions to this rule. My father had become smitten with her at first glance and had defended her from both her attackers and his own kin. Once they had returned to the nests they made a plea to the Matriarch for clemency.

In the wild a Dragon Enclave is matriarchal, with a single female acting as the leader and the rest following her command. She is never the sole dragoness, yet her size and strength, being several heads taller than any other dragon, dictated she ruled. Instinct also instilled a sense of loyalty, following any command given by the Matriarch without question.

She permitted my mother to live with them, even gave her permission to breed with my father should she choose. However she could never leave the territory and any attempt would be met swiftly with death.

At first my mother had been apprehensive and fearful of everyone, including her saviour. However over time she grew affection towards and inevitably fell in love with my Father. The fact he was as romantic as any dragon could be most likely helped them grow closer. He would bring her food, flowers, keep the other dragons at a distance and give her comfort when she needed it . Pregnancy was inevitable when living with an overly amorous dragon, especially when she next went into heat.

The pregnancy went smoothly, the birth was routine and no complications arose. However being born from the union of a Dragon and Beastfolk, I was lucky to survive long enough to see my first birthday. By then I had become disastrously ill and no one within the Enclave knew of a way to remedy it.

The differences between a Dragon and any other race meant that any offspring were extremely unlikely to survive past six months. I was one of the lucky ones to make it to eleven months before the sickness set in.

That was when Morana appeared. A Human witch who had managed to walk right into the middle of the nest where I was being tended to by my mother and the Matriarch unopposed. A deal was struck, my life was saved and I was granted the ability to transform between dragon and ocelot form thanks to an enchanted necklace. If I wore it around my neck, I would change to my panther form, if I removed it, I would change to be a dragon.

The cost however was great and my mother's life was snuffed out in an instant to save my own.

I spent little time as a ocelot growing up. The form reminded me and my father too much of my mother, so I kept the necklace tied around my right foreleg. However my disdain for the object was washed away one night when I was pained at being outcast yet again by the other drakes of my age.

Our Matriarch had told me that the bright emerald gem, shaped perfectly in the shape of a dragon, contained my mothers spirit sealed within the stone so she may forever keep me safe. After that I saw it in an affectionate way, even speaking with it on the nights I was most ill at ease or upset.

Yet as I grew I began to realise that there was a growing unease around the Enclave targeted at me. While the males were open and accepting of my presence, the females were less amiable, often hissing and snarling as I passed by and rejecting any food I was tasked to bring them.

My father became my primary source of affection along side the Matriarch who had taken me under her wing as a mother figure. As the leader she knew she had to be accepting of all who roosted with her. She may also have seen me as someone who particularly needed the motherly attention that she could provide.

That all changed the month after I turned twenty. A challenge was issued for leadership and the Matriarch, while larger than her challenger, was elderly and less physically fit than she once had been. I tried to implore her to ignore the challenge, to dismiss it as a play for power by an unworthy female. Yet I was ignored and accepted the challenge.

She fought valiantly, outsmarting her opponent and managed to keep her distance for several minutes. however she was no match for the younger, faster and stronger female. It all ended when the younger dragoness slipped through her defences and lacerated the Matriarch's throat.

While she lay bleeding out on the floor of the cavern, her eyes met my own and she managed to draw enough of a breath to give me her last command. She had never issued a command upon me before, having never needed to till that moment. The command was simple, run; run while she still drew breath, for once it stopped, she would no longer be our matriarch. I didn't need to be told twice.

Once I got to the mouth of the cave network, a roar bellowed from behind me signifying the passing of the elder wyrm, followed by an order from the new Matriarch: Kill the hybrid. More roars resounded before the echo of dozens of clawed feet rushed down the passageways towards me.

I pushed myself into the air and took flight, straining myself as hard as I might to outrun the others. However my father was the fastest dragon in the Enclave and rapidly caught up to me. When I caught sight of his face his expression was pained, torn between instincts to do as he had been told and to save his child.

He seemed to be trying to think of a way to protect me even though he was my biggest threat, eyes darting to and fro from me to the swarm behind us. Finally instinct to follow the Matriarch's will won out when he got close enough to attack me, latching on with his fangs and claws. His bite pumped his paralysing venom into my bloodstream, locking my muscles and preventing me from flying anymore.

Yet he himself kept flying, going as far as he dare outside of the Enclave before letting me go to tumble to the earth below. As I fell he screeched out a roar so pained and heartbroken I could feel my own break just listening to it.

I gripped the vibrant green gem on my necklace tightly as I descended, I managed to roll over in the air and look back at my father who watched me fall. Try as I might I was unable to respond to his call, wanting to sooth his broken heart with a reply of "I will be alright" with a roar of my own. Sadly his venom made that impossible, locking my vocal cords into pained silence.

The top of the first tree I hit snapped with little issue, yet as I impacted thicker and tougher branches on my way down, slowing my momentum, it became more and more painful. Finally my speed had lowered enough that when I hit a particularly thick trunk, I came to a stop with a painful crack.

Rolling away from the wood I began descending once more, snapping branches that weren't thick enough to resist my weight and rebounding off of the limbs that could. Finally I touched earth at the base of the timber only to be buried heavily beneath its broken boughs.

As I lay there I could feel my consciousness drifting, I was barely awake enough to hear the footsteps of someone approaching and start digging the branches from my body. Struggling against pain and blood loss I managed to get my necklace around my neck, changing my form before I passed out, blackness swallowing me in its silent cold embrace.

When I returned from my deep slumber I felt... comfortable... like I was laying upon the softest pelts I had ever felt. My body ached aside from that and there was a weight upon my chest that confused me. The smell of fire and food filled my senses followed quickly by the scent of another person and a dragon. I groaned and tried to open my eyes, a soft chirp coming from the weight on my chest.

My eyes opened with a snap and I looked to see a white and gold whelp laying upon my chest and belly. It gave a curious trill and tried to rub its nose against my chin but stopped when I tried to pull away, wanting to get away from it at all costs.

"Ahh! Stop! You'll open your wounds!" a male voice called out and I turned my head to see a bandaged mountain-lion Beastfolk walking over and collected up the whelp into his arms "Come here you... sorry about Pirro, he isn't usually this affectionate with new people."

"Wh...where am I?" I groaned out, reaching up to rub a hand against my forehead trying to dispel the growing headache "Wh...who are you?"

"My name is Makus, this is Pirro," he answered, voice oddly soothing "This is my house, I brought you here after I found you in the woods."