FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

She pressed herself against the wall and peered around the corner, exposing as little of her face as she could. There, at the gate of the palace courtyard stood two guards, silently talking to one another out of the corners of their mouths. She couldn't hear them talking, but their heads turned ever so slightly toward one another each time one of them took their turn to whisper to one another. If it weren't for the torches mounted in sconces on either wall of the gate they guarded, Faith wouldn't have seen the two men adorned in the purple and gold standard of Sayoin Meric's palace guard.

She took one last glance across the long, empty courtyard to make sure it was still empty then waved her hand frantically behind her.

A figured wrapped in black darted past her noiselessly. The figure, whom she knew to be her friend Keto, disappeared behind a bush against the wall opposite where she waited pressed against the outside of the palace.

The seconds felt like hours as she watched the bush. Nearby, an owl hooted and nearly made Faith's heart stop dead. She almost forgot that it was the sign that all was clear, that Keto was ready to accept people through the hidden passage under the wall.

Cursing herself silently, she turned and peeked behind one of the shaped rose bushes that lined the palace wall. She peered at the dozen or so people huddled behind and held up two fingers. The pair of elves nearest her nodded and scurried out of their hiding place. They followed her back to the corner of the palace wall. Faith held out a hand to stop them and again pressed flat against the wall.

Half of her face, if it was even that much, poked around the corner and watched the guards. They hadn't moved. Not really. Their heads were still turning ever so slightly and Faith could see that their breath had only just begun to turn to fog.

Once again, she waved her hands behind herself and the two elves darted out into the open. She wasn't concerned that the guards would hear their footfalls. None of them had any shoes on and most of them hardly wore anything more than loin cloths. The only one that truly concerned her was the child who had been whimpering in understandable terror ever since they had whisked her out of bed and wrapped her in a blanket to keep warm.

The elves made it to the bush and disappeared behind it. Faith didn't hear an alarm go up and the guards stood as still as ever at the gate. She waited, counting slowly in her head. Her heart thundered in her ears, helping her to keep count. One number for every two beats. As much adrenaline as she felt at that moment, it was hard not to count as fast as she could.

A count of ten passed and she turned to see a crowd of eyes peering at her through the darkness from behind the bush. Again, she held up two of her fingers and waved beckoningly. She felt more than she heard the next pair press up against the wall behind her as she peered around at the courtyard beyond.

Satisfied that it was still safe, she waved the pair forward and they sprinted barefoot across the cobbled yard. Each repetition seemed to take a longer and longer time to cycle through. Each time, Faith was sure the nearly inaudible slap of naked sole against hard granite grew louder and any minute, the guards would turn to catch them.

Finally, Faith turned around and saw only a small face peering at her with wide eyes, framed in a thick wool blanket. She took a breath and crept back to the rose bush and knelt down in front of the child. The last one whom she only trusted herself to get to the wall.

"Okay sweety," she whispered, touching the little elf's cheeks with her palms. "We're going to run together, alright? Just you and me. You have to be very quiet and-..."

"Oi!" a deep male's voice called, nearly making Faith jump out of her skin. "What are you doing there?"

Faith bit her lower lip and pointed farther down along the wall behind the rose bush. The little girl nodded and slunk back into the shadows. With one last deep breath, Faith straightened up and dug her fingers into a pocket she'd had sewn into her small blue dress. She pulled the fabric contents she'd had hidden there out and turned around to face the approaching guards.

Good, neither elf wore a helmet. She held up a scant pair of panties and brandished them merrily. "Found 'em!" she said, forcing her breaths to come ragged. "One of you lot took me inside before I could get these back on! What's his name, Elrin, Erin?"

The two guards exchanged a glance and one said "Erinnor. I didn't think he had it in him."

The other smirked and gave Faith a once over. It was only then that Faith felt thankful for the lowcut, thin fabric of her blue dress. It was too cold to be wearing something like this, but she knew the cold was doing things to her body that made it all worth it in just this sort of occasion. The man's lingering eyes assured her of that. "He is never willing to drop even a silver on a drink. You must have been quite the lay if he was willing to spend money on you."

Faith felt her stomach turn but she winked and reached up to pull the light fabric off one of her shoulders. As it fell down her arm, she twisted ever so slightly, letting that arm twist behind her back. The fabric fell to her elbow, nearly exposing her breast completely to the two men. "I don't know about that. In any case, he didn't leave me very satisfied before he fell asleep. Maybe..." she forced a moan into her throat, "...you two could do better?"

"Why not?" the first guard asked as he reached for his belt. "Let's ruffle her feathers!"

Faith moaned again and licked her lips, patiently waiting for the two of them to drop their trousers. As the heavy fabric fell to their ankles, her wings shot outward. With all of her strength, she slammed her feathery appendages into the two men, knocking their skulls together. As quickly as she'd struck out, her wings descended, rapidly catching the guards' heavy bodies.

As she lowered them to the ground, Faith drew her dress back into place and peered around the palace wall again. Both guards were looking back at her and she froze. They were had. She knew an alarm was going to go up any second. But both guards turned, resuming their positions. Each of them shook their heads and balled their fists. As their conversation resumed, Faith released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and turned to wave the frightened child forward.

"Okay," she whispered, kissing the little girl's brow in an effort to calm her down. She stuffed her panties back into her pocket and glanced toward the bush that hid their goal. "We have to run as fast as we can to that bush over there. But we have to be very very quiet or more of the guards will come and we don't want that." She offered a confident smile to the girl, hiding her own terror behind the gesture. "Can you be brave enough to do that?" She stood up slowly and looked toward the bush. "Can you be brave for me?"

The little girl nodded and stifled a whimper. Faith's heart nearly shattered at the sound. This was why she did this. No child deserved the fear this little girl felt right then. "Alright, hold my hand." She took the little elf's hand and inhaled slowly. "Okay, go!"

Together, they sprinted across the paved courtyard. It felt like they were running for hours. Faith's legs burned and the bush never seemed to get any closer. More than once she looked to the gate, but the guards were as oblivious now as they were before. Faith was sure she heard them muttering about unfairness warm whore.

Every slap of the little girl's bare feet against the hard stone was like the crack of a whip to her ears. Any moment. She knew at any moment the jig would be up. But at long last, they reached the bush and Faith skidded to a halt with her young ward.

Keto was there waiting in a hole in the outer wall that looked as though someone had removed several of the bricks like a jigsaw puzzle. He held his hands out to the little girl and together they disappeared into the dark hole in the wall.

Faith cast one last glance over her shoulder into the empty courtyard before she too ducked into the hole. As she passed into the darkness, the wall closed up behind her as the concealment spell resumed.

As they emerged on the other end, Faith saw their friends Zach and Marizza waiting for them, each distributing clothes to the men and women they had smuggled out of the palace. Once all of them were dressed, they divided into four groups of three, one with four including the little girl.

Once the groups were organized, they bid each other good luck and disappeared down separate streets in the night elf capital. "Walk like you're supposed to be here," Faith whispered to her wards, two men and a woman.

More than once, they passed a group of patrolling guards and Faith was sure the three former slaves would bolt and run. To her surprise and relief, they did not. She herself was getting more than a passing glance, however. It wasn't like her face was particularly unknown. More than once she thought she saw it plastered on a wanted poster on the side of a building.

Thankfully nobody stopped them before they could escape through the city's outer gate. She could feel the trio behind her tense their muscles, ready to sprint and run for the trees, but she cast a warning glance and faint shake of her head back at them. "Not yet," she whispered. "The guards on the wall will see you run and they'll know something's wrong."

Their worried glances did very little to still her nerves. An eternity and a half later, when she was sure they were obscured in the night, she turned and ran for the trees, waving the elves to follow as she did. The flow of time rushed to catch up. Everything had been so painfully slow up until that point. But as she bolted through the path she knew like the back of her hand, everything rushed past her like the blink of an eye.

Soon, much sooner than she would have thought possible, she slowed to a stop and rested her hand on a moss covered boulder beside which an old fallen log rested. She knelt down by the end of the log and peered inward. The concealment spell vanished, revealing a ladder down into a faintly lit hole in the ground where the log's core ought to be.

She waved the three former slaves down and stood up to keep watch while they descended. A moment after the last one vanished below, Faith folded her wings tightly against her back and climbed down as well.

The inside of their safe house looked more like a cozy cabin than a damp hole in the ground. A fire burned on the hearth against one wall and sitting in front of it, his back against the arm of a sofa that looked no more out of place than the rest of it, was a wood elf with a head of brilliant blonde hair buried in a sketch book.

He looked up at her as she descended and offered a small smile. Good,_she thought. _Keto got here first. That must mean Zach and Marizza made it out alright. She turned her attention away from her friend and pointed to a door opposite the fireplace. "There are beds through there. You can go and get some sleep. Keto and I will keep watch. Get as much rest as you can," she said, offering a congratulatory smile. "You're going to need it."

After the elves disappeared through the door, Faith moved to sit on the rug in front of the fire. She slowly laid herself out and propped herself up on her elbow. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief and stared into the gently crackling flames. "I thought we were had for sure."

Keto smirked, turning the page in his sketch book to begin on something new. "So did I," he said softly, his eyes leaving the page for only an instant every few moments to glance up at her. "Good thinking with the guards. Um..." His brow furrowed and he stared up at her long and hard. "Did you really take your panties off for them?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked, peering at him wickedly.

He gave a short half laugh and buried his face in his sketch book again.

For a long time, neither of them said anything. This was normal, she knew. Most of their time together was left in silence. More often than not, they exchanged small pleasantries and she left him alone to draw. But most of the time she had Zach or Marizza to talk to.

She listened to the fire snap and pop for several long minutes. Each crack was accompanied by the scratch of Keto's pencil against the coarse paper of his sketchbook. After a good while, all she could hear was the hiss of each pencil stroke. It was nearly maddening, she decided!

All at once she made up her mind. Before she could change it, she turned quickly and reached out toward him. "What are you drawing in here anyway?" she asked, snatching his book away from him.

He yelped and dove after her, but she had already rolled away from him so her back was toward him. She cracked the book open to the first page and hummed thoughtfully. "There was pictures of their first safe house. Objects, furniture, the door and the stairs. She missed it sometimes.

On the next page, there was faces. An old man staring with empty eyes into the distance. A young woman's smile, her face vibrant with the new taste of freedom. A sleeping infant's soft features.

The third page was a sprawling valley, one she remembered well from the first time they had taken the imperial slaves out of night elf territory. She could feel the warm dawn's light against her skin through the pencil drawing and smelled the sweet dew on the blooming morning glories all around. She gave a bittersweet sigh and turned the page again.

The three of them, Marizza, Zach, and herself sat on a couch with smiles on their faces. The picture was unfinished and a dark slash of pencil lead sliced the picture in two. Her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. She remembered the very moment that Sayoin's troops bashed down their door. They had been celebrating Faith's birthday that night. It had been a respite from their dangerous lives all too brief. All of them had narrowly escaped with their lives.

The next page gave her pause. It was her. Just her. Every detail had been meticulously recreated with the soft lines of Keto's pencil stroke. Every dimple, every curve, each eyelash and strand of hair drawn with the care she always suspected, but never imagined of her often silent companion.

She stared down into her own eyes for several long moments, sure the image was a mirror and that she would blink up at herself any moment.

The next page was similar. This time it wasn't her face, but a full body. She was standing beside a tree staring out into the unseen landscape. That same care of the first image was in this one. Every fold of fabric, every wisp of hair, each of the feathers of her wings drawn with detail and care that would have startled her to action if tonight's raid hadn't exhausted her.

The page after was similar. This time she was sitting in front of a campfire, staring into the flames thoughtfully. Did she really look so pensive when she did that? Another, and another. Each page's startling detail captivated her until-...

"No, don't..."

She turned the page and her jaw fell open. It was her again. But not as Keto ever saw her. She was standing with her hands at her sides, her wings slightly spread, staring solemnly up at herself wearing not a scrap of cloth.

Faith was dumbfounded. When had he seen this? Had he seen her naked? There were scars and marks on her body that the image lacked, but the proportion and curved looked... as normal as she supposed she truly looked? She stared down at her nudity for a moment before a shaky hand turned the page. There was another. She was seated again, this time looking skyward. Her back was bare, the top of her rump exposed and the swell of her breast barely visible peeking around her arm.

Another and another. Each drawing of her naked body began to make more sense. She hadn't been naked and she could actually remember the scenes she was depicted in. She remembered being fully clothed in them, too. Then she came to the middle of the book and a partially finished sketch.

She was laying on her side, propped up on her own elbow. Her eyes stared to the side at a fireplace she knew was just off the page. Every curve of her body was lined out, each detail unmistakable in its accuracy. Her brow creased and she ran her fingers over the page, tracing each line curiously. It didn't feel like there was any enchantment on the page.

"How are you...?"

"I..." he stammered, "I have drawn you from every angle. I sketched your body enough times to guess what you might look like and-..."

She turned to look over her shoulder at him and froze. His face was inches from her own. Her breath caught in her throat and she stared up at him. They had been running together for so long. Most times, she didn't need to check if he was doing his part. When things went south, she didn't worry about him any more than she worried about her wings doing what she needed them to do when she needed them to do it. He was her other half and apparently, he felt similar.

Her heart skipped a beat when their lips brushed together. Maybe it was the stress of the night's slave raid and the adrenaline that came with it. Maybe it was feelings she'd had all along that were finally allowed to come to the surface. Whatever the reason, she rolled onto her back, situating her wings more comfortably beneath herself and covering the forgotten sketch book as her hands lifted and pulled him down onto herself.

He resisted at first but at her insistent tug, Keto fell into the kiss as she deepened it. She wrapped her hands around his neck and hugged him tightly against herself. A soft moan passed their lips as she felt his hands press against her thighs, pressing the fabric of her dress tightly against her skin.

She felt goosebumps rise all down her legs and up along her torso as he squeezed her legs. A fire burned hot in her belly and before she knew any better, she felt hands fall away from his back. She tugged her skirts up under herself and lifted her rump to bunch the fabric up beneath her and around her waist. As she did, Keto lifted away from her enough to unbuckle his belt and push them down to his knees.

She gasped when she spied his length for the first time. There was a deep seated panic inside of her, but she forced it away. Instead, she spread her legs wide, revealing her damp petals to him. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and rested her hands on either side of her head, the backs of which against the coarse rug beneath her.

Keto leaned forward and pressed his palms against her own. She felt their fingers interlace and smiled up at him. Their lips met and a moment later, he was inside her. She moaned against his lips as she felt her body spread around his invading member. The pain she feared was not there. She felt stretched, full. But the fire that filled her belly as his hips pressed against her own begged for more.

When he pulled back, she lifted her legs to wrap around his waist, eager to draw him back into her body. She arched her back when he granted her that, pressing her breast up against his chest. The soft fabric of her dress rubbing against her already firm nipples made them all the harder and she moaned against his lips one more time.

His movements were slow and tender, each as deliberate and with as much care as every pencil stroke she had seen him give. Every time his length pressed into her and he pressed her down against the carpet, she moaned deeply. She glanced to the door to the sleeping area and bit her lip. Hard. She was sure she tasted the copper of blood, but she didn't care. She didn't want someone waking up and coming to investigate. She wanted this to last forever.

She needed this not to end. She squeezed his hands tightly as she felt the fire burn hot. He grunted, but his eyes never left hers and she never blinked. She whimpered and writhed beneath him, trying her best to stay as quiet as possible while still seeking the ecstasy he was filling her with.

It was over far too quickly. With a deep grunt, Keto buried himself deep inside of her. She gasped as she felt the first splash of heat coat her insides. Then another, and another. She arched her back off the floor as her insides clamped down on him, squeezing his length as ecstatic bliss rushed through her body. Her toes curled and she clutched at his hands desperately as they fell through a shared nirvana.

She was seeing spots where Keto's face used to be but little by little, her friend re-appeared. He was smiling breathlessly at her. She smiled back and lifted her lips to his own gently as his heat settled in her belly. A soft moan escaped her lips one last time as she pulled him down against her.

Slowly, they rolled onto their sides still entangled, clutching at one another for dear life as they settled in the warm afterglow and the gentle heat of the fireplace. Faith's fingers tangled in his blonde hair and slowly, a blanket of sleep settled over them.