FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The space was bland, not even a room, simply a place for them to talk privately. The man before Damian was a deer with a regal demeanor.

"We have removed six more of the cardinals," he said, "which brings our forces, through the men whose submissions transferred to us, up to ten thousand. Twelve of the leaders have been identified for you to vet before they are marked appropriately."

"Do you know them personally?"

"No, I never had the opportunity to with anyone out of Asia."

"Do any of the generals I made before this have worked with them?"

"I do not know, I will have to check."

Damian nodded. "If they have, use their opinions. I'm not currently in a position to vet anyone, and I made them generals, so I trust them. If they haven't, see if any of the lieutenants you or them have made know the new candidates. How many of those cardinals will be discovered by the authorities?"

"We're arranging for two of them to be reported. The story has been crafted to support the pedophilia angle, with all needed evidence."

"Good." Damian turned to the other man, a stocky dromedary. "Have you found out anything about where my brothers have gone to?"

"No sir, only that they left the city with a cheetah child."

"Denton's son." Damian sighed. He'd missed that one. Denton had a son. Denton had had no reason to tell him, and he hadn't considered the man would want one, but it explained why his brothers had come here. What better way to hurt Denton for his part in their capture than to go after his child.

"Keep working on that, do you have a direction at least? Denton will come to me at some point for help with this, and I need to have something I can use to reinforce my usefulness to him."

"The last sighting of their vehicle had them heading west on I70, so the most probable destination is Los Angeles."

"No, San Francisco. There's nothing for them in LA. How large is the force they built while in Denver?"

"We counted over thirty men, but--"

"Wait." Damian focused on the real world and heard the buzz of the electronic lock on his door. "We'll have to continue this later. Keep observing my brothers, but do not engage. I'll make contact within the next twenty-four hours for an update."

He severed the connection with his generals as the door opened. He didn't react to it, after all he was lying on the bed, seemingly asleep.

"Get up," Denton demanded.

Damian played with the idea of acting difficult, but it would be a childish game that would only complicate things. He was past that point. Now he needed to reinforce the bond of need.

He threw the covers off, exposing himself, it didn't hurt to be admired, and show what he brought to the relationship, and opened his eyes. He yawned and sat.

"Is it morning already?" he asked.

"It's the middle of the afternoon. If you didn't spend your time sleeping, you'd know that."

The sharp tone was the main give away of the stress the cheetah was under. All things considered, he was holding together better than Damian expected. Unless he didn't care that much for the child? Damian hadn't read Denton as someone who wanted a son during their first encounter, or any other time, so maybe this was more of a duty for him. He'd still want his son back, the kind of work required to father a child wasn't something one let go to waste, but maybe the stress was more anger than anguish.

"There isn't much to keep me occupied. The internet hasn't improved during my incarceration, or the selection of entertainment. Sleep is more fulfilling."

"Good for you. Get dressed, I need your help with something."

The cheetah did nothing more than look him over. His gaze hadn't even lingered on Damian's cock. That was disappointing. He'd picked it because it was impressive. The cheetah could at least appreciate it.

He put his pants on. "I did say I wanted to help. I will do my best." And he did have some information. Although he'd have to be careful not to give away his information network. It was too early for that. But he could claim to have work out most of it because of how well he knew his brothers.

"You mentioned you were your god's champion. Satan, you said it was."

"Sahataan," Damian replied, "But I can understand how you misunderstood. The church worked hard to vilified him, even bastardizing his name. He didn't do anything they--"

"Whatever. In stories--" he stopped. "In legends, champions are always given special powers, things beyond what the other faithful gain. Is that true of you?"

Damian regarded the cheetah as he buttoned his shirt. "Shouldn't you know how it works?"

"Why would I?"

"You--" Damian paused. Didn't the cheetah realize? He had to. Even if he was no more intelligent than Damian thought, he had to understand what he was. "I haven't interacted with many of Sahataan's followers, but from what I do know, yes, what I do is beyond normal ken."

"Can you break the link between a victim and the follower who made the marks on them?"

"I don't know," Damian answered, trying to work out where this was going. He couldn't see how the question had anything to do with his missing son. "I'd have to see what was done," he added as the tightening of Denton's lips.

"I figured as much. Come on, he's upstairs."

The atmosphere Damian felt as he followed through the building, was tense, but not harried. The armadillo and capybara behind the tiger radiated magic, while the badger following a dozen steps behind was ordinary, except for the powerful-looking rifle he held ready to us. The tiger smiled; Denton knew the danger he represented.

The men and women in the locker room glanced at them but continued with changing, only a few of them showing discomfort as undressing with people of another gender.

Damian smelled the sex as he started up the stairs, a lot of it. He extended his hearing and heard the sounds of sex. All men. So Denton kept that out of here, or maybe he gave the women their own room for it?

A dozen men were fucking in a large open room, four of whom radiated magic. He could see the magic out of one of the rooms and saw hints of it from a group of other rooms. He paused and glanced in one of them; eight bunk beds with men on them, still, wrapped in a field of magic.

"He's in this one," Denton called.

The room was like the one he'd looked in, except it only had one bed with a man on it, wrapped in the same magical field.

"Of course," Damian said, which earned him a glare. "My brothers mentioned the collie as part of their gloating. When I--" Damian looked around at the men guarding him-- "escaped, I found out they'd taken him. To be honest, I expected them to have killed him as a form of retribution, but now I'm realizing I wasn't imaginative enough. I can see how what they did to him hurts you far more."

"Can you free him?" Denton demanded. "I tried it with one of the others, burning the threat like I did with one of yours, but it put him in a coma, almost killed him. I'm not risking that with Stefan."

Damian nodded. "What I did back then was different. I was in the unusual position of being able use one type of magic but by the rules of another one. I expect the only reason it worked was because of my immense willpower and the abundance of magic I had access to. The bond Sahataan's magic creates if more tightly tied to the recipient's life force."

"I don't care about the lesson. Can you free him safely or not?"

"You care a lot for him," Damian said.

"He's a friend."

Damian tilted an ear, looking at the cheetah.

"Yeah, I know," Denton said. "As far as you Orrs are concerned, friend is just a term for an idiot you've fooled into thinking he's more important to you than anyone else. I'm not like you. I care about my friends."

"You know us better than most. That's good. What's the magic wrapped around him?"

"A stasis phrase. I didn't want to risk having him go nuts once he woke up. His abilities are unstable, but powerful."

Damian nodded. "I'm going to need that off to see what they did to him. It's the only way I can tell you if I can free him safely or not."

"How fast can will you know? I have no way of knowing if he's going to wake up and once the phrase is canceled, It needs to be rewritten for it to work again."

"If he wakes up before I'm done, I'll handle keeping him subdued, don't worry about that."

Denton looked at him, then the magic wrapping the collie faded, letting the magic of the marks shine through. "That's ugly work," he said before he stopped himself. He'd expected better from his brother. He looked at the marks closer and understood. "He was their test subject."

"One of them," Denton said. "He mentioned that they only worked on him once they were confident they'd gotten it right."

His brothers were dabblers. They hadn't done the research he had, they probably couldn't even read half the books they'd taken. He pulled a chair next to the bed and sat, looking at the body. "This will take a while. Please don't disturb me."

Sahataan, he said mentally, can we talk without the others noticing?

"Of course," the god replied behind him, and Damian fought the urge to look around to see him and if anyone else noticed. "They aren't mine, so I don't exist as far as they are concerned."

Did you hear what I'm expected to do?

"Of course. If you know it, I do too. You are my son after all."

Overconfident idiot, Damian said behind the mental wall, then continued so Sahataan heard. I'll do it, but I need you to punish me for it.

"Why should I such a thing? I did not do this to him. Your authority surpasses that of the one who marked him. Your decision is final on this."

Be that as it may, I need Denton to think it was a hard thing for me to do. Remember that I need him to believe I am his ally. For that to happen he needs to believe that I am willing to go against your orders. And the only way he will believe that, since you can't appear to him and let him know you're displeased with me, is for me to be punished in a way he will see.

"I do not see why this is needed, just tell him I don't approve."

Damian curse behind his mental wall and looked for an angle that would work. This is a sacrifice I need to make for the ploy to work. It isn't magic, but it is a form of power and for it to exert itself over Damian, he must see me in pain.

"A sacrifice," Sahataan answered thoughtfully, "I see." He sounded pleased. "It is good that you remember what we are about and embrace it. Very well, I will punish you once you have severed the ties between the recipient and my follower."

Damian let out the breath and turned to Denton. "I can do it." He raised a hand before the cheetah could tell him to start. "But it isn't simple, there's going to be a price."

"Of course there is. There's always a price with you older Orrs, isn't there? What is it?"

Damian needed a moment to find his voice. Was Denton willing to take on whatever pain was required to free this collie? How far could he push him?

Sahataan growled. "He is not who makes the sacrifice. He is not mine."

Right, as tempting as it was to see how far the cheetah would endure, that wasn't the ploy.

"You can't pay the price," Damian said. "You're not the one defying Sahataan, I am. Sahataan isn't like your god, he isn't gentle, he is possessive. What is done in his name is enforced. I'm going to break that, and he isn't going to be happy about it."

"Clearly, your relationship to Him wasn't the same as mine is, if you think He is gentle." Denton took a breath. "How much danger are you in?"

"Why do you care?" the question was out before Damian could get over his surprise.

"Because I'm not an abuser like you are," the cheetah replied. "I'm not going to ask you to do something that could get you killed."

"He won't kill me, I don't think," Damian added to add credibility to the gambit. "He made me his champion so I'm a large investment of power. I doubt he'd throw that away, but I don't know how functional I am going to be afterward."

Denton nodded. "Tom, call Doc Merlin, tell him to be ready, he might need to be here for an emergency."

"Are we waiting for the doctor to be here before he starts?" the capybara asked. Like every capybara Damian had met before, he had an accent from South America. When he was a god, he was going to have to see if there was any capybara who lives outside that continent.

"No, Damian sounds confident he isn't going to die, and that's good enough for me. I'm sure he can take a little pain."

Damian smiled at the cheetah.

"Anytime you're ready," Denton said.

Damian looked at the collie and waited. He didn't give Denton a show, the cheetah wouldn't be impressed. After thirty seconds he severed the thread. The twins would know it had happened, but now who had done it, as far as they would know the collie had die--

The pain lanced through his mind. He heard someone scream in agony. He felt the floor rush to meet his head. His body was out of his control. Over him, Sahataan smiled proudly.

* * * * *

Thought came back in a trickle, and Damian went behind the mental wall as soon as he remembered its existence and he cursed Sahataan. The god had taken far too much pleasure in this.

"He's coming around," a man said, older, kind, "That's a good sign, because with the amount of blood he lost, I'm not sure how he's still alive."

He opened his eyes and had to shield them from the harsh light. It faded into the normal brightness of LED ceiling lights. He was in a doctor's office. He tried to sit and couldn't work up the strength.

"Careful there," the older voice said, and hands took his shoulder to help him sit. The man was a hyena, the doctor with the staff made to look like a cane. Why was he here, working for Denton, when the cheetah clearly had no idea what he was? They weren't known for ploys and deceptions, at least not his side of the faction, if Damian guessed right. Hiding was their things. So maybe that was it. Denton provided safety in case his enemies found him.

How much blood had he lost? Did he have any reserves left? It didn't feel like it. He'd be nearly powerless until he could recharge. He'd have to be careful Denton didn't realize that, or he'd keep him under constant watch in spite of what Damian had done for him.

The doctor handed him a bottle of orange juice. "Drink. You need fluids, I also want you to eat as soon as you can move. Red meat. I don't even hazard a guess as to how you're alive, and just chalk it up to magic."

Damian looked at Denton, surprised again.

"I had to tell him magic exists," Denton said. "When your brothers had men attack my company, they weren't discreet with their use of power."

"As I told mister Brislow," the hyena said, "I might not have known about magic, but I've seen my share of strange things working the emergency room."

Damian considered calling the hyena out on his lies, but he was too tired and maybe it could use them later, when he had something to gain from the reveal.

"How long was I out?"

Denton checked his phone. "A little over thirty minutes. Doctor, can you give me and Damian some privacy?"

"There's nothing I can do for the young man, so I don't see why not? I'll head back to my practice, if you don't need me for emergency I'll see you next with when I do my regular visit."

"Thank you doctor." Denton waited for the door to close. "Stefan's awake, weak, and confused, but the Doc looked him over but we're using phrases to heal him, so he's going to be okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Now tell me why you did it. The truth this time."

"I just wanted to--"

"Bullshit. You're an Orr. Arnold barely has the altruistic gene, your generation doesn't have it at all. You didn't do this to help me, or Stefan, so I want to know why."

Denton hadn't bought it. Damian had put himself through all that pain for nothing? Had Sahataan known? He wondered behind the wall. He needed another direction, something that the cheetah would believe and not turn him into an enemy again. It was far too soon for that.

"I did it to get back at them," Damian spat, realizing that Denton would believe his Damian was vindictive. He'd been vindictive enough during their first interactions. And Denton didn't call him out on it, so it would work.

"Donald and Daniel hurt me. Beyond killing me they hurt me, they humiliated me. Do you have any idea how it feels to watch your brothers cut off your cock and balls?"

"It looks to be back."

"Magic," Damian answered, amused that he didn't have to lie with it. "He isn't the only one I wanted to get back to. I told you how sacred the marks are to--" he stopped and indicated up. Denton had to believe Damian was worried about invoking his anger again. "I was dead. I didn't ask to come back, and it wasn't a pleasant process. It hurt more than being killed. So I thought why not get in a little payback here too?"

Denton watched him and Damian looked at him in defiance, daring him to judge. That would work; righteous indignation.

"Alright. Regardless of why you did it, thank you." The next words sounded difficult to say. "I owe you one."

Damian kept the pleasure at hearing him admit that to himself. "Considering what I put you through, I don't think owing me is something you ever need to worry about."

Denton chuckles. "Yeah. That's true. Your brothers took my son and fled the city. Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"

A knock interrupted Damian's answer. He shrugged when Denton asked permission.

"Come in," the cheetah said.

The badger rushed in, which seemed to surprise Denton. "You need to come, now, the collie's fully awake, and he knows where the twins are going and why. They're heading to San Francisco."

Damian didn't react at having his thunder stolen, but promised himself that he was going to punish the collie for it, somehow.