FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"I can't believe that happened to me," Leonard said as he washed himself in a river, standing knee deep in the cool, flowing water.

The sun had risen over the Eastern mountains, bathing the area in bright morning sun; unfortunately, that allowed Leonard to see the damage the thing had caused. Blood continued to trickle from damaged fingers, light scratches stung his sides, and worst of all, the pain in his once tight ass wouldn't subside. Warm cum running from his abused hole down his thighs caused a shudder to down his spine.

"Damn beast. Of all the things I've been through, all of what I've survived, that was the worst anyone has ever done to me," he said, malice oozing in his tone. A smirk spread across his lips as his head cocked to the side, glancing at the riverbank. "Paid you back in spades though, didn't I?"

A fire blazed near the water, away from the trees, bordered by a few large stones. Leaning over the flames were multiple sharpened branches, each skewering a piece of cooking meat. Behind the fire stood an upright pole, carved from the same type of branch, and atop said pole rested the red-furred head of the beast that so violently attacked Leonard. Its face, still menacing though no trace of life could be found, faced the woods.

"Like I said. Your head on a pole," Leonard muttered before looking back down to the river, knowing he had to clean up but not looking forward to this particular submersion. An slight intake of breath and a tensing of muscles came just before he slowly bent his knees, letting just his bottom half be hidden by the slowly running water. He winced. "God, that stings!"

Water rushed over his hole, still red and swollen from last night's ordeal. Gently and being overly careful, he reached back to rub two fingers over the area. Gritting teeth, he felt around, trying to get a sense of the damage. His hole felt more loose than it had ever been, and rather puffy around the anus. A wave of disgust washed over as the sliminess of the beast's remnants coated his fingers, though he knew to endure this humiliation and clean up would make it easier to forget this ever happened.

After washing thoroughly, a growl sounded from his chest as the smell of the cooking meat reached his nostrils. It didn't thrill him to think that the beast that was inside of his ass hours ago would be inside his stomach, but food was food, and he was hungry. That thing had killed more villagers of the panther tribe than he liked to think about, so this could be viewed as justice.

Sitting down on the beach, the warm afternoon sun on cold, wet fur felt great after a wash. The sticks were warm to the touch as well, so holding them proved an added delight. The meat touching his tongue burned slightly, and chewing it revealed a tough texture, though the flavor was tolerable- better than some of the animals he'd hunted previously. He looked up to the motionless head.

"Want a bite?" he asked, holding a stick up to its stationary mouth, then raising an eyebrow. "What? Not hungry? Oh, right. You're dead. Bastard."

After the meal, Leonard reclined on the beach, looking up at the sky as the fire died down. The purpose of the journey had been accomplished. Visiting the northern cave was no longer necessary; however, a curiosity to know what the beast's dwelling place looked piked Leonard's curiosity. One of the perks of being a feline, he surmised, though sometimes curiosity was merely that: harmless curiosity. Surely it couldn't hurt to go take a peek. The cave was close by anyway, he thought. Rested and with a full belly, there should be no trouble in taking out whatever might try to attack. This beast probably had more fighting spirit than anything else he'd encounter, anyway.

---

The journey to the cave lasted only an hour. Leonard's long legs and powerful muscles allowed quick travel, even over the harsh, wooded terrain. Of course, carrying the head of the dog monster on a pole double his height did prove a challenge when moving through certain areas of low treetops and vines. Not that it mattered- it was dead. The thing couldn't feel any of the briers and thorns scraping across its face anyway. Leonard smiled cockily, knowing that no matter what happened to this thing, it could cause him no more grief.

The cave's entrance was overgrown with tall grass, vines, and other foliage Leonard didn't care to know. It left him a bit dissatisfied to see the "Cave of Legend" was nothing more than a small hole in the side of a mountain rather than a large, ominous opening high atop a mountainside. No stalactites, no screeching bats flying out, not even a cricket chirping.

"This is it?" Leonard scoffed. "This little hole-in-the-wall is the famous cave... fantastic. Just proves my original thought: those old stories are fabricated to be grand. Things to scare children so they don't misbehave."

Being here gave Leonard a sense of satisfaction, regardless. This meant that the chieftains really were wrong, as he'd told them many times before. Taking a step forward, he peered into the darkness, wondering just how big the interior was. For a beast like the one from the night before, it couldn't have been all that small. The air within felt cool, as expected, and drips echoed through regularly. Now completely devoid of caution, Leonard stepped inside a few feet. As his eyes adjusted, the enormity of the cave became apparent.

"Holy hell," muttered the warrior, looking around slowly while his words echoed throughout the space. If looks had never been deceiving before, they were now. The cave extended at least thirty feet in either direction, though the ceiling was just a foot or so above Leonard's head. That was merely the entrance, though- after walking a few more steps, the top of the cave sloped upward sharply, revealing a massive open space, one that could easily house double the entire panther tribe. Small streams of light cascaded through the darkness from cracks and holes where rocks had fallen from various areas, allowing enough light for small pools of water to reflect a soothing, dancing gleam all around. The lights, which were in motion, as well as the sound of crashing water in the distance told Leonard that each individual pool was part of a larger water source under the floor and behind the walls somewhere. "I take back what I said... this place is amazing."

Walking further into the cave, the sound of flowing water became louder. A cool mist filtered in from Leonard's left, hinting to areas of the cave that had, so far, gone unnoticed.

"I can't see anything," Leonard muttered just before losing his footing, falling halfway into one of the pools. The splash was loud, and the disruption of the pool caused the reflected light from above to dance wildly against the ceiling. "God dammit!"

He caught himself on the side of the pool with only the upper portion of his torso above the surface, arms and chin against the cold stone floor. Realizing the depth of the pools extended beyond expectation, he pulled himself out and laid down, coughing a few times before noticing something beside him.

Fur brushed against his leg.

"Shit!" he yelled, scrambling to his feet before drawing his sword in a battle-ready stance. The red-furred beast's head rocked back and forth on the pole after hitting the ground when Leonard fell into the pool. He paused, gritting his teeth. "Stupid mongrel! You mock me even in your death!"

A hard kick sent the head hurtling toward what appeared to be a wall; however, it disappeared into the darkness before a loud splash echoed back.

"Wonderful. Now I'm going to have to deal with a dead, wet dog." Sighing, Leonard moved in that direction until a glint somewhere to the right caught his eye. What's that, he wondered, changing direction.

One of the pools reflected light differently than the others. Its reflection shone more brightly and from below the surface. Leonard carefully walked toward it, taking his time as not to fall into another, less noticeable hole. Once close enough to peer into the particularly reflective pool, he knelt down to hands and knees, pushing his eyes as close to the water as possible without breaking the surface. The glint from whatever slept at the bottom shone upward. Closing his eyes a bit to get a better view revealed not just one glint, but many.

The glinting of gold and jewels as the light from above struck them.

"Gold!" Leonard shouted, seeing what truly lied at the bottom of the pool. "Chalices! Rubies! Jewelry! What in the world is all of this doing here?"

The sound of the rushing water near the back wall became disrupted, as though something had moved into the flow. Leonard tore his eyes away from the glimmering treasure trove to see what could possibly have happened. A terrifying sight greeted his wide eyes- the silhouette of a large, lean figure had pulled itself up from the depths, a clawed hand placed on the wet, stone floor. Already, half of it's body sat upon the floor, only one leg still in the water. It faced Leonard, slowly moving its head up. Bright red eyes glared in his direction. It reached over, grasping the pole with the beast head secured atop and raised it, moving its head to gaze upon the slain monster. A deep voice echoed through the cavern.

"The better question is this," it said, speaking slowly, "Why are you in my home... eyeing what is mine... with my precious pet's head jammed onto a stick?"

"Pet?" Leonard asked, shocked. "That thing attacked me... it's been killing members of my tribe and destroying our crops! How can it have possibly been a pet that anyone could tame?"

The figure hoisted itself up from the crashing waterfall pool, standing up straight, dripping. It took a step forward, into the lights filtering in from above. Those lights reflected off of it, casting blue flashes onto Leonard and the surrounding walls.

"It's simple. If something is much weaker than you, it can become a pet. Very..." he said, looking to Leonard, "easily."

The man tossed the pole away, causing a reverberating echo of wood on stone to ring out, then took another step forward. Light fell onto him, reflecting a more glorious blue around the cave than before. Everything within became visible.

"It can't be..." Leonard whispered, perhaps trying to convince himself that his eyes weren't beholding what they saw.

"I am Ronam," he said. "And you are?"

But they were.

A dragon.