FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Kret left behind Calin with all of its glamour and all of the pampering. So many people there are now living in the shadow of some mysterious Dark Queen the kobold had never met, and all of that is thanks to the rash decision she made to attempt to free herself from its former boss, now her manservant and companion.

Now, it is just them and one of the many guards who worked there, traveling through the woods of the Wildlands, braving beast and fey and all manner of other creature, just to make sure that no one else has to suffer.

The first few days had been quiet--an eerie sort of quiet that permeates the entire scene, as if even the insects had frozen with primordial terror. It is a quiet that drives her to open her mouth, to say something--anything, to end it all.

But before she can find words, the feline guard, Chance, perks his ears up. His tail stands tall, and he hisses as he stands his ground between his boss and the shrubbery nearby.

"What is it?" Kret whispers, but soon, she too, hears the frantic screaming and the pounding rush through brush

The panicked adventurer bursts out from the deep foliage of the dark and dangerous forest. Chance drops his halberd and grabs the man by his shoulders, digging fingers into his disheveled leather armor.

"Hold, man!" the feline says, moving his paws up from the man's shoulders and up to his cheeks. "What troubles you?"

Kret stands there, at the ready to cast a nasty spell. Her fingers tingle with arcane energy as she stares at the situation,. She glances at Chance and admires the normally timid feline and this new swell of courage. It's quite different than the scared boy she had teased when they first met.

Vijaya, shakes as he cowers behind her. The initial shock of this total stranger jumping at them sent him towards the surest course to survival. Yet now, he can't help but mutter a curse to himself before shuffling closer, but not too close, to the situation.

The man pants, his eyes wildly searching Chance's before he finally speaks up. "The... the Dark Queen... she... she attacked my party."

"What?" Chance gasps

Kret glances off towards the brush. Vijaya finds himself retreating once more.

The man continues. "M-my companions, my companions and I attempted to seek her out to destroy her and bring peace to the land, but she found us first. Her power is terrible... she killed some of my companions and turned others into monsters. It was... it was just four of us left when all was said and done. And she looked to us and produced a spring of water from the ground and told us that if we wanted to live... if we wanted to serve her, we had to drink."

"Tell me you didn't," Chance says.

The adventurer closes his eyes, swallowing a large lump down his throat. "I... it turns who drink it into monsters. Two of our number took the pact and swore allegiance to her. I watched right before my eye as my companion warped and twisted, laughing as his transformation became complete. I couldn't stay there so I ran,, and I found you."

"If the Dark Queen is there," Vijaya says, "Then, we don't have to go all the way to her tower to see her."

"B... but you mustn't go to the spring!" the man says, shaking Chance now. "It'll change you. It'll destroy what you once were."

Chance narrows his eyes now, and leans in, his whiskers twitching. "I'm going to ask you again, friend. Did you drink the water yourself?"

"You're not.." The man gulps again. "You're not planning on drinking from the water yourself?"

"Absolutely not!" Kret says. "I just want to parley with her."

"Parley?" The man says, his mouth twisting up in a smile. "You want to parley. But that's... you can't... not without drinking from the spring."

"No way in the inferno will I turn myself into a monster for the Dark Queen."

Just then, the adventurer rears back, letting out an ear-splitting screech as his skin bursts into ribbons of leather, and inside his ribcage, a squirming red worm writhes and pokes out from underneath.

"We need to get out of here!" Vijaya says, grabbing Kret's hand.

Kret burns Vijaya's hand, making the yellow kobold yelp and step back. "I am not running from some pawn when I'm here to seek audience with the queen." She takes a deep breath and throws her arms forward. A glob of acid hits the skeletal being straight in the writing red mass, the worm within squealing as it plops down onto the ground.

It continues to writhe, even as its host collapses into a pile of bones, and the creature clicks a sharp, beak-like appendage, aiming itself right at the sorceress. Just as it lunges for her, the blade of Chance's halberd slams down, separating the worm's head from the rest of its body.

Sick, high screeches accompany the last throes of the monster. Chance pants, looking up to Kret, and Kret nods, heading off down the road. Vijaya, meanwhile stares at disbelief at the creature that had once been a human, and runs his fingers over his roughed-up scales on his palm. "Seems like you two don't really need me around here, huh...?" But the two are far enough ahead not to hear him. With a lingering look, he eventually steps out of the way and follows his fellow companions.

They march until the sun hangs high, and the air becomes warm and thick. They stop and make camp, planning to continue once the protective pall of night has fallen. Kret lays back with a sigh as the strain on her muscles releases. Vijaya lowers himself into the dirt with a grimace. Chance gathers firewood.

Vijaya shifts and tries to find a comfortable position on the ground. He looks to Kret while pulling a stick out from under his rear. "We should be more careful. Estrasa's minions won't always be that easy."

Kret opens a single eye to look at him as she lounges. "Relax. We took care of it easily."

"Yes. You and Chance did." Vijaya replies as he lays down in the cool dirt.

Chance returns with wood. Vijaya volunteers to make the fire. The trio gather around as flint and steel are struck over and over again.

"How much of that monster's words do you suppose we can trust?" Chance asks.

"I have no idea," Kret says. "All I know about this queen is that she's evil and likes to use monsters."

"There is some truth in his words," Vijaya says. He slips with the flint and strikes his finger. "Shit!" the flint and steel fall beside the dry wood.

"Here, I got it." Kret flicks a finger at the wood, and it catches fire. "So what do you mean?"

Vijaya looks at the lit fire, and stops licking his cut. "Many creatures came to me and Aelis, they looked like horrors, but their minds were sharp. She's a tyrant and a monster, and she will toy with people however she sees fit. But If she offers people free will in exchange for loyalty, then I must assume that is the truth."

"So, she has enchanted water in this forest that turns people into monsters with incredible powers, but are still thinking and feeling?" Chance says, shuddering. "Let's be sure to stick to our canteens for now. I don't want to see what sort of things we'd become."

Vijaya begins cooking food from his pack, frowning at the bland trail food. "Seems odd she'd leave these around where anyone could use them, without ever meeting her and swearing allegiance. It's just free power to anyone who wants it."

"Perhaps it only works if you swear allegiance to her or maybe without allegiance you lose your mind," Kret muses."

Chance begins cooking as well. He points out to Vijaya that his food has caught fire. "What if she asks you to do it when you meet her? I mean, after all, you're going to beg her to be her servant, aren't you, boss?"

"I just learned to love my form. I'm not going to give it up easily. What if she offers you that power, Chance?"

"I'm not sure. Power would be nice, but I'll follow you, and Vijaya," Chance offers Vijaya some of his unburned food. Vijaya mumbles out his gratitude, eyes down. "But I'd rather not follow her. If that's the price to become a monster, or at least to keep your mind as one, I'll pass. I've been the bottom boy in every job and relationship I've had. Tired of it. But it's not worth it. I don't like Estrasa. I like my body. Though I wouldn't mind removing the spines. From... down there. Certainly would make it easier, more pleasant for my partners." He glances at Vijaya and gives an apologetic grin. Vijaya waves him off.

The conversation moves away from Estrasa and her monstrous transformations, to Chance and Kret's shared experiences being on bottom, leaving Vijaya to himself to think on it. Would he do it? If offered? If he could just take it for himself? If he had to? If he wanted to?

The previous days events weighed on their minds. The ravings of the madman, his twisted tearing transformation right before them, the very idea of the cursed, or blessed, springs ahead. The canteens ran dry. Refilling them was an anxious endeavor.

The night is full of sounds in the woods. Shapes shift by in the distance. The kobolds and cat see clearly through the dark with their darksight, but the thick underbrush obscures all. They can see just enough that they begin to know how the dull-eyed humans feel in the dark that kobolds call home.

Morning comes, with a fine morning mist crawling across the forest floor. Even as the sun rises more and more, into the late morning, the mist remains.

Kret holds out her hand for the two travelers to stop. There, in front of them, is a small spring of clear water, the canopy parted enough for the sunlight to glisten in on its waters, making it sparkle with a magical glow.

"Do you... do you think that's it?" Chance whispers

"Only one way to find out," Kret responds, "and I'm not too keen on trying it."

Before Chance can respond, a shadow streaks by the three of them, whipping past the feline and grabbing Kret, yanking her up into the trees!

The kobold hisses as the creature holds her up by her horns. Kicking and cursing, Kret tries to escape, but the grip is too strong, and another hand reaches down, grabbing her tail, pulling it up, keeping her suspended in the air.

"Boss!" Chance shouts, taking a step forward with his halberd in hand. The way they were going, the creature seems to be leading them away from the spring. Vijaya notices this, glancing back at the water, the manic adventurer's story ringing through his thoughts.

Kret twists around for a better view of her captor. The creature itself is a mass of arms and limbs, ending in vicious digits that curl around branches and trunks. In the middle of the mass is a long, canine face, its features so gaunt as to almost be like a skull draped in tight flesh. It rolls its tongue out, panting as it hunches over, extra hands and claws moving to point nasty nail blades at the kobold's throat. "I am the guardian of this spring. The Dark Mistress only permits those who would join her to drink from here. So, I ask you now... do you swear your allegiance to Estrasa... or shall you die by my hand?"

Chance glances over at Kret, seeking any sort of assurance from her. The kobold, however, hangs with the claws to her throat and even more poised right by her maw. Any wrong move could trigger the creature's ire and lead to a very swift, very messy, death.