FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sky sat at the hotel bar, sipping on a glass of whiskey, looking around, and thinking.

The bar was certainly upmarket: leather covered every seat, the floor was marble, and the long bar seemed to have been carved from a single length of wood. The staff were impeccably dressed in the hotel uniform, and were masters of not being seen until they were needed. The establishment knew its clientele well: only members of the Privileged and their personal slaves were allowed to stay, so the management made sure their every whim was catered for. Under other circumstances, Sky would have been delighted to be there.

Unfortunately, his reasons for being at such a hotel were far from happy. Jennifer's business was struggling to survive. For reasons neither she nor her staff could understand, they were losing money faster than they could make it. Much faster. The vixen was spending almost every waking moment in the office, trying to figure out the problem, and could no longer afford the extra hours it took to commute from her mansion. Some weeks before, she had started staying at the hotel, as it was only a few minutes from her office.

Of course, she was still determined to keep her business and private lives separate, so she hadn't told her three slaves any of this. All they had known was that she would be staying in the city for a while, and not to expect her back for some time. That had changed one day when her friend Max had arrived at the mansion's front door and taken them all to her hotel. "Girl's got problems" he'd said. "Big problems. Can't help. Wish I could. Figure you three can help her more." He'd delivered them to the hotel and led them to their mistress's room.

The door had been answered by a rather unhappy-looking vixen wearing a crumpled suit and a look of weariness on her face that had stunned them. For a moment, she hadn't recognised them, then she had swept them into her arms and held them tight, as she started to cry. Pulling them and Max into the room, she had explained just how bad things were, and told them she had now started financing the company with her own personal wealth.

While the return of her slaves into her life had helped cheer Jennifer up, they couldn't help with her financial troubles, and had spent the last few days watching as she transferred more and more of her own money to her company accounts, trying to keep it running until she could find the problem. Privately, Sky had worked out she would have to sell her mansion within six months. What that would mean for the four of them, he had no idea.

"Hey there" purred a voice, breaking his reverie. "What's a cute little dragon like you doing in a place like this?" He looked over to find a petite, red tabby cat sliding onto the bar stool next to him. She was looking at him with a barely-concealed smirk and a trace of hunger in her eyes.

"Erm... me?" Sky asked, blushing.

"I don't see any other cute dragons in here" she said, smiling. She adjusted her position on the stool, causing Sky's blush to deepen as he realised she wasn't wearing a bra underneath her green silk blouse.

"Er, I'm... I'm waiting for my owner" he stammered. Desperately looking away from her scrutiny, he grabbed his drink from the bar and finished the last few drops of whiskey. Unfortunately, the fiery liquid just seemed to add to the heat building in his cheeks.

"Well, I hope you won't be waiting for them long. Although..." She leaned forward, her blouse tightening across her chest. "If you want to kill some time, I'm sure I can he-LLLLLLPPP!" she ended with a brief shriek, her hands flying between her legs as her thighs clenched together. She span on her stool, glaring at a figure a few places down from them.

The white wolf sitting there didn't return her look, but just grinned and put a small black box on the bar. "Stop teasing the poor dragon, Cleo" he said.

"Who's teasing" she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. The wolf simply tapped the box, causing her to give another yelp, followed by a pleased moan. Sky's embarrassment reached new levels as he realised the box's function.

The wolf turned leisurely on his seat to face them. "Behave" he said, shaking his head at the tabby in amusement. His gaze turned to Sky. "Kiba Snowdrift" he said, introducing himself. "This is my secretary, Cleo. Sorry if she's bothering you."

"Oh, erm... she's not, really, Sir" Sky said, noticing the pin marking him as Privileged attached to his gray silk suit.

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's a first time for everything" he smirked, a twinkle in his eye. Cleo pouted at him.

There was a polite cough behind them. Sky looked around to see Jennifer there, flanked by Luna and Tali. "I hope my slave's not causing trouble" she said.

"No, not at all!" Kiba laughed. "I'm afraid mine was trying to lead him astray, but I don't think he was falling for it."

The vixen grinned at Sky. "That's probably down to shyness rather than willpower." Sky's blush grew ever more intense. "My girls and I were just about to lay claim to one of the booths. Would you care to join us?"

Nodding his assent, the wolf rose and followed them to one of the seating areas along the far side of the room. Despite the more than adequate space, Cleo made a great show of squeezing next to Sky, drawing yet more blushes from the dragon and quiet laughter from everyone else.

Introductions were soon complete, and the six furs fell into easy conversation: Kiba and Jennifer shared a similar philosophy regarding the need to occasionally escape the pressures of life; Cleo and Tali were exchanging descriptions of the most outrageous outfits they had worn; and Luna was happily making Sky cringe by joining in with the tabby's continued teasing.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and a spotlight illuminated a platform that had been set up at the far end of the bar. A voice announced that it was time for the hotel's weekly slave auction. There were sounds of interest around the room, but Jennifer's table soon returned to their conversations. After a while, a murmur began to pass through the room. Sky looked up to see the next slave being brought forward to the podium, where potential bidders could get a better look at them.

It was a dragoness.

She was wearing a plain linen robe that covered much of her body. What was visible of her was a dirty white colour, and her scales lacked the sheen most furs associated with dragon hide. As she stepped up to the podium she moved almost robotically. Her yellow eyes remained unfocused; Sky got the impression she was barely aware of her surroundings. For a split second, her eyes met Sky's before returning to their near-dead state. The pain he read in that glance was overwhelming.

The whispering in the lounge was getting slightly louder. "Oh no, not again" murmured Cleo. "Why does she keep doing this?"

"Keep doing what?" asked Luna.

"The owner of that dragoness is a tigress by the name of Lily. She puts her up for sale every few months, only to buy her back herself."

Jennifer looked puzzled. "Why would she do that? She'd have to give a cut to the auctioneer every time."

Kiba shook his head in disgust. "People have all sorts of theories. Someone told me she does it to break that poor dragon's spirit: give her a glimpse of freedom, then snatch it away again. I also heard she gives her a new name after every purchase, trying to destroy her identity at the same time."

"I'm not sure she's got any spirit left to break" whispered the vixen, glancing at the dragoness, who was turning mechanically on the spot as the auctioneer half-heartedly read out a list of her skills. Apparently, he also knew who the inevitable buyer would be.

"I heard that Lily adds the cost to the debt the dragon owes her" added Cleo.

"Whatever the reason, it's horrible" said Tali, frowning. "Doesn't anyone try to stop it?"

"The auctioneer doesn't care as long as he gets his cut. The hotel objects every time, but there's no laws being broken and the auction brings in too much money to refuse to host it any more. A few people have tried to buy her before, but Lily always out-bids them. After all, she's paying herself, so all she has to worry about is covering the auctioneer's percentage."

Sky listened to the conversation, concerned about the white dragoness. Once again, their eyes met for a moment, and the pain he saw there seemed even greater now he knew about her situation.

Biting his lip, Sky shifted in his chair and closed his eyes. Using his magic for telepathy was very rude without the express permission of the other person, but he felt he had to know what was going on behind the blank expression the dragoness wore. Reaching out, he touched her mind.

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With sharp intake of breath, Sky broke the connection and shook his head to clear it. The desire for death he had felt was overwhelming. What else was the dragoness's owner doing to her to make her wish so hard for an end to her own existence? Dimly, he heard Jennifer asking if he was ok, but for once her voice was not the most important thing around him.

A small amount of magic was all that was necessary to have the still-rotating dragoness's robe catch on the podium. Less still was needed for the fasteners to give way as she turned. As the cloth fell to the floor, there were gasps from the rest of the bar, followed by angry cries as they realised what they were seeing.

Under the robe, almost every inch of the dragoness's skin was covered in scars, many of which were recent. The scale plates running down her chest were chipped and cracked. Seemingly unaware of the uproar, she kept turning on the spot as she had been ordered, showing more of the damage to her hide.

The room was filled with the sound of voices: furs yelling for someone to find a doctor or an ambulance; cries of "call the authorities"; people yelling at the auctioneer for not checking her condition; shouting for someone to locate her owner; the occasional call for someone to give the dragoness back her robe and spare her further humiliation. No one noticed the furious blue dragon quietly rising from his seat, or the orange glow he was starting to give off.

Jennifer and Kiba were both reaching for their phones to call an ambulance when the light from the bar was blotted out. In front of their booth stood a huge, feral dragon. Seeing its blue scales, the vixen realised that the intense anger Sky was no doubt feeling at the dragoness's condition had triggered his first Change.

The yelling voices - now with an edge of panic to them following the sudden presence of a feral dragon - were overwhelmed by the roar Sky gave. With a single bound, he reached the podium, the room shaking as he landed. The dragoness, her eyes now alive and locked firmly on Sky's face, fell to her knees. Slowly, Sky's neck craned forward, until his head was only a few short inches from the dragoness. She hesitantly raised a hand and placed it on his muzzle. The smallest of smiles seemed to cross her face.

Jennifer, watching the scene intently, found her attention drawn to a length of leather on the floor near her feet: Sky's collar, or what was left of it after his neck had become rather larger than the collar could encircle.

Suddenly, there was a yell from one of the exits. Someone had found the dragoness's owner trying to leave, and was holding on to her tightly. With another, louder roar, Sky turned and leaped, ending with one of his paws holding the tigress to the ground, a razor-sharp talon positioned over her heart. Her brief struggle to break free was halted by a menacing growl from the jaws that were now hovering over her head.

For a brief instant, Jennifer was worried that Sky's outrage would cause him to kill the tigress, but the glance he threw her, combined with a slight grin, convinced her otherwise. Nevertheless, he kept his claw pinning her to the ground until the authorities arrived.

***

Jennifer looked up at Sky, who was now sitting on his haunches to one side of the bar while the police interviewed the various people who were present. The scarred dragoness had long since been taken to a hospital, and the vixen had noticed how carefully Sky had watched as she was taken away. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked, holding up the tattered remains of his collar.

The dragon hung his head in shame; an impressive gesture when done by a feral dragon. "I'm sorry, My Lady. I didn't mean to cause trouble. I just wanted to help her." His head drooped lower. "And I certainly didn't mean to break your collar like that. You know how much it means to me."

"I realise you wanted to help, but did you consider asking me to arrange to have her inspected? As a potential buyer, I could have done that." The blush spreading across Sky's face suggested he hadn't thought of that. "I hope you realise just how badly I'm going to punish you for this? All this chaos you've caused, not to mention using certain... skills of yours... in public?" She watched as he nodded. "Although it might have to wait a while" she sighed. "I'm not sure I have a paddle big enough."

Sky snorted with amusement as the image of his mistress wielding a paddle as large as she was crossed his mind. Hesitantly, he asked "What will happen to her? Will she be ok?"

"The worst of her injuries will be treated at the hospital, but with her owner behind bars, there's no one to pay for the kind of long term treatment she needs. The authorities will try to find her a new home, but getting someone to take on a slave in her condition will be hard." Sky opened his mouth, then shut it again without saying anything. The vixen could guess what he had been about to say, though. "You want me to buy her, don't you?" She sighed. "Ordinarily I would, but right now I can't even take her until she's healed. With my finances as bad as they are at the moment ..."

They were interrupted by a quiet cough. They looked around to see Kiba approaching them. "If money is the issue, I'd be happy to contribute to her medical expenses."

"As would I" added the hotel manager, joining them. "The hotel's been looking for an excuse to interfere for ages, even without knowing how bad her condition was, but until the auctioneer or her owner broke a law, we couldn't. I can't help but feel we're partially responsible."

Jennifer looked up at Sky, who was trying not to look too hopeful, and sighed. "Fine. But this isn't long term, Sky! We'll get her healthy, and then we'll find her a good home. I can't afford another slave in the long term; not at the moment, anyway." She gave a rueful smile. "I don't suppose she happens to be a trained accountant, does she?"

***

Jennifer sat back in her favourite chair. Her slaves had persuaded her to return to the mansion at night, especially now she had a fourth slave to take care of. Her company was likely to go bankrupt within two weeks, and she herself would probably follow soon enough, so she had decided to spend as much time as she could with her slaves, before she was forced to sell them.

The vixen quickly broke that train of thought and looked across the room at the latest drain on her finances. The dragoness was sitting in another chair, hugging her legs to her chest. In the four months she had been living with them, most of her injuries had healed, though the doctors said many of her scars would be with her for the rest of her life. Psychologically, her healing was going much slower.

They had discovered that she was a hermaphrodite. This had turned out to be one of the main reasons her previous owner had abused her: she had considered the dragoness to be some sort of abomination, and had taken every opportunity to remind her that she was abnormal. The dragoness didn't seem to comprehend when Jennifer had told her it was quite normal, if rare, and nothing to be ashamed of.

Though she no longer acted like a puppet, she rarely spoke, and the expression on her face was seldom anything other than blank. What was worse, she didn't have a name. When asked, she had listed the variety of epithets her previous owner had used. Few were anything other than hugely demeaning, and none suitable for a name. So far, she seemed to be quite happy without one, saying that she was sure someone would come up with something appropriate eventually.

The door opened, and Sky walked in carrying a pile of papers. A few days earlier, she had finally broken the last barrier between her home and work lives and allowed her slaves to look at her accounts, in case they could see something neither she nor her board of directors had spotted.

Sky smiled at her and the dragoness as he spread the papers over a table and began to read. Jennifer watched, amused, as the dragoness stood up and walked over to him. She had formed something of an attachment to him, and always seemed happier - or at least less blank - when he was around.

Sky had been sitting and reading papers for around an hour before the dragoness reached out and pointed timidly at one line in the report. He blinked, then gathered up the papers and ran from the room, dragging the dragoness behind him. The vixen let them go. As much as she hoped they'd found something, she knew the chances were slim at best.

***

The next morning, before Jennifer left for work, Luna asked her to come to the dining room. There, she found accounting reports spread over every available surface. There was a small pile of papers in the middle of the room. Tali waved a sheet in the air. "Got another one!" she cried, running over and adding it to the pile.

"How many are we up to now?" asked Luna.

"I make it over three hundred" the skunkette replied.

"Three hundred and twenty seven... wait, twenty nine. Found two more in the IT department" called Sky, adding more paper to the heap.

"Three hundred and twenty nine what?" asked the bemused vixen.

Her slaves glanced at each other nervously. "Before we answer that," said Luna, "we need to ask you a question." Jennifer nodded. "If one of your employees is on loan to another company, who pays their salary?"

"The other company" the vixen responded, her eyes narrowing.

"What about loans between departments?"

"That's usually split fifty-fifty."

"That makes it worse" called Sky. "If that's the case, we're probably looking at a few hundred more."

"Would you mind telling me what you've found?" asked the increasingly worried vixen.

"Basically," said Tali, "you've got a bunch of employees being paid when they shouldn't be. They're getting money from your company when they're on loan, or getting paid twice by different departments."

"How in the hell did that happen!?" Jennifer yelled, her shock overcoming her usual composed manner. "Wait, I have a better question: why didn't anyone catch that as soon as it started?"

Luna shifted nervously. "We think a few people did. There are occasional breaks in the payments, but they start up again fairly quickly. Usually right after someone in payroll or accounting is made redundant."

Jennifer's jaw dropped. "Are you saying there's some sort of massive, organised fraud going on? And the people who find out are being fired?!"

"That's exactly what we're saying" replied Sky. "It looks like it's been going on for over two years. But it's really been increasing in scope recently, which is why your profits have been plummeting." The dragoness shyly handed a report to him and pointed at a line. "Oh crap! It's pension payments as well."

The vixen pressed her fingers to her brow. "So what percentage of my employees are stealing from me?" she asked, bracing herself for the worst.

"We thought it was a lot at first," said Tali, "but we noticed the bank details were slightly different. The money isn't going to the employees: it's going to around thirty people at most."

"Unfortunately, " added Sky, "that thirty includes your entire board of directors."

"WHAT!"

"At first we thought it was just your chief financial officer" he continued. "He has to be involved to keep this hidden for so long. We only found it because our friend here" he gestured to the dragoness, who smiled shyly, "spotted a typo in one of the reports. We went digging on your computer looking for the originals and found a second set of accounts. But your board have been looking at these same reports for months, and there's no way it wouldn't have been spotted in that time. Plus, it was buried deep in a pile of unrelated figures. I'm guessing they've been deliberately steering you away from it."

"But why?" asked the dumbfounded vixen. "I mean obviously to make money, but why have they let things get so bad?" Her mobile phone, normally forbidden in the mansion but a permanent fixture for the last few months, started to ring. She looked at the screen. "Well, this should be interesting. It's the board." She took a moment to compose her self, then answered the call.

"Good morning." "I know I'm late, but something came up." "No, not the current problems. Something at home." "I see. And what would this meeting be about?" "Well, that's certainly an interesting idea. What prompted it?" "I see." "I see." "Are you sure?" "Oh yes, generous." "No, I understand." "Of course, I realise how it could help." "Yes." "Yes." "We'll discuss that at the meeting." "I'll be there this afternoon." "Yes, thank you. I'm looking forward to the... discussion."

Jennifer hung up the call, waited a moment, then threw the phone across the room. "BASTARDS!" she yelled, before taking a deep breath. "Sorry. That was totally uncalled for."

"Oh, I doubt that" said Luna, grinning. "Mind telling us what they wanted?"

"The board of directors, in their infinite generosity, and for the good of the company, have offered to help bankroll the business, in return for a controlling interest." The vixen snarled. "They want to buy the company from me with my own money!"

"I can see where this is going" said Tali. "Get control, the profits mysteriously improve again, and they take all of it."

The vixen nodded. "That would be my guess, too. Well, they're in for a surprise."

***

Jennifer sat at the head of the conference table, waiting for the board to arrive. Behind her, her four slaves stood. All were dressed in smart business attire, and Tali had even agreed to wash the dye from her hair. The vixen was glad to have them with her: she would soon be facing what could only be described as a hostile audience, and appreciated the moral support they could provide.

She had already contacted a firm of accountants, who had confirmed what they had found in less than thirty minutes. She had also informed the police, who would arrive after the imminent meeting to arrest the entire board on fraud and embezzlement charges.

Gradually, the board members began to arrive. If any even noticed the presence of four slaves behind the vixen, they paid them no attention. No doubt they were feeling smug about the proposition they had made her. Well, that would change very soon.

Maurice, her overweight ursine chief of finance - and supposed ring-leader for their little coup - stood. "Ah, Jennifer, I'm glad you could join us. Have you had a chance to think about the suggestion we made this morning?"

"Indeed I have. In fact, I've already made my decision." Conceited grins around the room were hastily smothered. "You're all fired."

Silence fell.

"I beg you pardon?" said Maurice.

"You heard me. You're all fired. As of right now."

"On what possible grounds-"

"On the grounds that you're trying to buy this company from me with my own money." Jennifer gestured over her shoulder. "These four uncovered your little scheme last night. I had it confirmed about an hour ago. You're all fired, and you can guarantee I'll be getting my money back from you."

Maurice was going red. "This is absurd!" he blustered. "You've lost your-"

"Shut up Maurice!" yelled Oswald, the head of marketing. "I told you she was on to us. Well," he said, standing, "it doesn't make any difference. We'll just have to make it a hostile takeover." His hand delved into his briefcase.

"Oswald, be quiet" hissed Maurice.

"If you think you have any chance of buying me out, you must be insane. You'll be lucky to escape a prison sentence!" said the vixen.

"Prison, is it?" said Oswald. "Oh well, if I'm going there anyway..." The rat withdrew his hand from the briefcase. It was holding a gun.

"What the devil are you doing, man!" cried the bear, eyes wide. There were panicked yells from the other board members as well.

"Fool. Buying out the company was your idea. I just wanted the money." The rat pointed the gun at Jennifer. "And damned if I'm going to let some last-minute change of circumstances take it from me. So we'll just move from hostile takeover to hostage taking, shall we? Stand up" he ordered. Glaring at him, the vixen stood, and swiftly had a gun to her head. "I had a feeling this was all going to fall apart. I assume you've got the police waiting for us, so I've got a helicopter waiting for me on the roof with one of my slaves at the controls. You're going to be my guarantee it makes it out of the city. Then you get to go, and I get to be rich in some country without an extradition treaty."

"Wait!" cried Sky. "If you want a hostage, take me instead."

Oswald rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine, one hostage is as good as another." His gun swung over to point at the dragon as he pushed the vixen to the ground. "Roof, now."

***

Jennifer watched in mute shock as the helicopter lifted from the pad, taking Oswald and Sky with it. Her mind could barely focus on what was happening. The other board members had slipped from her thoughts; they couldn't leave the building without being arrested, and the looks on their faces as Oswald had forced her and her slaves from the room suggested they wouldn't be going anywhere anyway.

The vixen was praying Sky had a plan. With his magic, there should be any number of ways for him to escape, or even capture the rat. But he was still having trouble controlling his powers under pressure, and being taken hostage and held at gunpoint certainly counted as a tense situation.

The helicopter hovered above the side of the building, and the side door opened. Sky appeared, followed by Oswald, still pointing the gun at the defenceless dragon. In his other hand, he was holding a megaphone.

"You should be really, really glad your slave came in your place, bitch" the rat yelled. "At least this fool's got wings!" With that, he pushed Sky from the door, laughing at the screams from the roof.

***

Sky fell.

Part of him knew he should be screaming. Part of him was certainly trying to. But most of his mind was trying desperately to tap into his magic. Flying, teleportation, cancelling local gravity... all would save him, but he couldn't concentrate enough to make his powers work. He knew dragons couldn't fly in their anthro forms, so there was no point trying. Jennifer's office building was tall, but floors were blurring past at an alarming rate. If only he could change... After that first incident, he had yet to change again; whatever trick of magic it required was proving elusive.

Sky's last thought was of Jennifer. His hand unconsciously went to his collar, and in his mind he heard the words she had said to him just before he had accepted it.

"You're a dragon, Sky, and with us you're free to be one."

A wave of calm flowed through him, and he smiled as the ground raced up to meet him.

***

Oswald's helicopter was leaving, flying away as quickly as possible.

Jennifer didn't care. She ran to the edge of the roof, Tali and Luna beside her. Even the scarred dragoness ran. The vixen knew she wouldn't be able to see anything, and that she wouldn't want to see even if she could, but she had to watch.

Sky's form was already invisible, falling towards his death so many storeys below.

Then there was a brief orange flash.

***

Power surged through Sky's body. An idea had occurred to him: 'Why try to change into something you already are?' He felt the Change take him.

In this form, magic was easy. A few seconds of leeway turned into all the time in the world as he slowed time and sped up his own thinking. The air currents and winds were as clear to him as the no-longer rapidly approaching pavement. A lazy flick of a wing was enough to send him flying down the street, missing the traffic by the now-huge margin of a few inches. Another collection of wing beats sent him flying back up the side of the building he had so recently descended from.

With his newly-improved vision, he could see his mistress and fellow slaves leaning over the edge of the roof. Their looks of horror turned to disbelief as he shot past them, into the open skies. Spotting the fleeing helicopter, he set off in pursuit.

***

Jennifer watched in growing delight as Sky's belly scales rocketed past her. As he flew after Oswald's transport, she heard him bellow. She had heard him roar in delight, and lust, and in anger, but this was different. This was the battle-roar of a feral dragon. It seemed to bounce off the nearby buildings.

She realised it wasn't echoes she was hearing, but answering calls.

Five, then ten, then twenty feral dragons rose into the skies above the city and headed towards Sky, who was by now a speck in the distance. Dimly, she recognised Max, and the markings of several other dragons were also familiar to her.

She heard a noise behind her, and looked around. The scarred dragoness was glowing. Somehow, the vixen realised what was about to happen and dived to the floor. With her own roar, the dragoness Changed and flew after the receding flight of dragons.

***

Jennifer sat in her office, trying to decide whether to be smug or bewildered. Tali and Luna were sat on the other side of her desk, and from their faces they were feeling the same way.

Oswald had been caught. Oh, his pilot had at least attempted to evade their pursuit, but two dozen angry, magic-wielding dragons can catch a fleeing helicopter remarkably quickly if they want. And when they take roost around the edge of a roof, all watching their angry and terrified captives, thoughts of escape are rarely to be considered.

The scheming rat had been handed over to the police, along with the rest of the board. Jennifer had summarily fired all those employees involved with the plot, who had also been arrested. The rest of her staff she had sent home on paid vacation until the situation could be assessed. With the fraud stopped, the company would rapidly return to the profits it was supposed to make, but she would likely be funding it herself for a while. Things would be tight, but more than one of her draconic visitors had quietly offered to support her if she needed help.

She suspected that was due to the scarred dragoness. When the immediate crisis was over, the attention of every dragon on the roof had turned to her. From what Jennifer could figure out, no dragon could Change without access to their magic, and that access could not come without the dragon in question coming to understand themselves. It was highly unlikely the dragoness's powers had suddenly manifested. It was even more unlikely she could have Changed the instant after releasing them. The crowd of dragons had calmed their mysterious charge down until she reverted to her anthro form, then had taken her to one of the meeting rooms, where they could use their magic to examine her in private. It had been several hours since then.

There came a knock at the door, and Max walked in with tears running down his face. Jennifer ran over to him as he collapsed to the floor. "Max, what's wrong?" she asked.

The red dragon looked up at her. "My dear..." He smiled. "Nothing wrong. Just... rather happy. And astonished. Happy and astonished. And shocked. Need a stiff drink." Luna grabbed a bottle of spirits from the office's minibar. "Thank you. I remember you. Good nurse!" He took a sip from the offered glass, then downed the rest in one go. "Couldn't get another, could I?" Luna filled the glass again, which was promptly emptied. "Haven't had a shock like this in... ever! Thought I'd lost her!"

Jennifer looked worried. "Lost - the dragoness? Did something happen?"

"Certainly did! Oh, nothing bad, but... Didn't think it was possible." Max took a deep breath, and finished a third glass. "Long time ago, I was friends with a pair of dragons. Privileged. Really nice people. Had a daughter. She woke her magic up very early, that one. I helped to teach her. She was like a daughter to me, too. Then we heard there'd been an accident. Whole family killed." He sniffed slightly at the memory and downed another glass. "Turns out the daughter wasn't."

Tali's eyes went wide. "The dragoness? She's the daughter?!"

Max nodded. "She was injured. Lost her memory. Someone found her and sold her to that damn tigress. Abused her for years." Max started to cry again. "Her memory returned, but she couldn't deal with the abuse. Her mind went into hiding. We went in and found her. Sky brought her back. She trusts him. First person to be kind to her since her parents." He looked up at the three of them. "Trusts you lot, too. You helped her body get better, even if her mind was still hiding. Hiding, but watching. Sky's roar got through to her, and her real mind took over. Just long enough to help him. He's got her to come back for good, now."

Luna grinned. "So we need a nurse's uniform for Sky, now, do we?"

Max laughed. "Might do, if she's staying with you...?" He looked at Jennifer.

"Max, I'd like to help, but I-"

"Don't worry about the money, my dear. Told you, her parent's were Privileged. Left all their money to her. Government thought she was dead, so they took it. Invested it. Now she's back, it's hers. Or, her owner's, her being a slave." He grinned at her. "You're rich again, my dear."

Jennifer shook her head. "I wasn't worried about the money, Max. I may not be as rich as I was, but I can afford to keep another slave now that I don't have to worry about people stealing from me. I was going to say, I don't even know if she wants to stay with us."

"Weren't listening! Of course she does. You four are about the only people she trusts." He sniffed again. "Doesn't even trust me. Remembered me, though. Called me 'Uncle Max'." He glanced at the vixen. "

"We'd be delighted to have her. Even with the regular visits from her 'uncle'" the vixen said, laughing.

"Wonderful!" Max stood up and pulled her to the door. "Let's go introduce you!"

They reached the meeting room, where they found most of the other dragons standing around outside.

"Oh, forgot to say!" said Max. "She's not white anymore. That was from all the abuse. Burst of magic fixed all that. Her scars will all heal, too. Few months, at most."

"So, what colour is she?" asked Tali.

Max grinned. "You'll see."

Jennifer opened the door to find Sky talking to the dragoness, and gasped. Hearing the noise, she turned to face them. Where her scales had been a dirty white before, they were now a deep purple. As she moved, lightning seemed to flow across her skin as her scales shifted. When she stopped, they disappeared, except for at the corner of her eyes. She smiled as she recognised them.

"Hello, My Lady" she whispered shyly. "My name is Storm."