FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

A bright bolt of lightning flashed through the night, briefly illuminating the inky black sky. It was quickly followed by the low rumble of thunder. Strong gusts of wind rustled through the leaves of the trees in the forest. As the sound of thunder faded away, a feral rabbit popped its head out of its burrow, its body quivering with fear. It cautiously sniffed the air and then rapidly withdrew its head again as a new sound became audible in the forest. Rapid footsteps approached and the sound of twigs snapping echoed between the trees.

Suddenly, two dark figures burst out of the underbrush. The figures were panting heavily, clearly having been on the run for a while. They held each other's hand as they made their way through the forest as fast as they could. The trailing figure tripped over the root of a tree and stumbled, crashing to the earth with a cry. The leading figure turned around to help and yelled.

'We're almost there! Come on!'

'We're not going to make it! They'll catch us! Oh, Keiran!' the downed figure cried out in desperation, its voice laced with fear.

'No, they won't! I promise! It's not... much... further! Come on!' the leading figure yelled as it pulled the other figure up.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the dark forest. It also briefly lit up the dark figures. The figure helping the other up was a male canid, a wolf. Luxuriant grey fur coated his muscular body, which was loosely dressed in a simple green peasant's outfit. The other figure was a human male. He was young, had long, fair hair down to his shoulders, and his face had soft, almost feminine, features. He wore an elaborate red and white doublet with matching leggings, which had at one point, not so lang ago, been rather fancy, but now were ragged and covered in dirt.

The loud sound of thunder rumbled through the forest again as the forest grew dark once more. The wolf, Keiran, had helped the young man up and they had resumed their running. After a short while they arrived at their destination: a small wooden cabin deep within the forest. They hurried through the door and Keiran slammed it shut behind them. The young man retrieved some candles from a nearby cabinet and lit them. Outside the cabin, another crack of thunder echoed through the sky.

'Cyril, we should board up the door and windows. In case they do manage to find us,' Keiran said.

'R-Right,' Cyril said, his voice shaking.

They boarded up the windows and shoved heavy furniture in front of the door. When they were finished, they both sat down on the floor in the middle of the small wooden cabin. Keiran gently wrapped his arms around Cyril, who was still shaking.

'Shh... calm down, Cyril,' he whispered softly in Cyril's ear, while gently stroking his arm. 'It'll be alright. I promise.'

'I want to believe you,' Cyril said, his voice trembling as tears welled up in his eyes. 'But we both know what will happen if they manage to capture us! They'll skin you alive in the middle of the town square as they force me to watch! A crowd will gather and they will jeer and laugh! And after it's all over, they'll burn me at the stake! What we did... what we are, is wrong! Forbidden! A fur-bearer and a human, together! Not to mention the fact that we're both male!'

'Cyril... I love you,' Keiran said softly. 'With every fibre of my body, I love you. And I will never, ever, stop loving you. How can something so special possibly be wrong? Whatever happens, I promise you that I will not let them hurt you.'

'How can you promise me that?' Cyril cried out. 'How could you possibly prevent that? How-'

A loud bang on the door interrupted their conversation and Cyril let out a high-pitched yelp of fear. Another bang followed, and another. Cyril pressed himself to Keiran as they both sat on the floor, their eyes locked on the door and their bodies frozen with fear.

'Captain, they're in here! I'm certain! They've barricaded the door,' a muffled voice yelled from the outside.

Someone else ostentatiously scraped their throat and then loudly announced: 'Listen up, you mangy deviants! I know you can hear me in there! We have you surrounded! There is no way out! I command you to leave this cabin at once and face justice for your despicable deeds. I'll give you five minutes to surrender yourselves, before I burn this place to the ground!'

Cyril turned around to Keiran, his eyes wide with fear. 'By the gods! They're going to burn us! They're going to burn us alive! Keiran!'

Keiran looked into Cyril's eyes. He felt a heavy sadness deep within his stomach. Tenderly, he wiped the tears from Cyril's face. 'I promised you that I wouldn't let them hurt you. I intend to keep that promise, my love.'

'But how, Keiran? How? They're right outside! You can't stop them!' Cyril sobbed, fresh tears streaming over his cheeks.

Outside, there was another crack of thunder as the wind continued to howl through the air. Keiran's face expressed great sadness as he produced two small, glass phials from one of his pockets. They each held a colourless liquid.

'What is that?' Cyril asked, still crying.

'This,' Keiran said softly, while running his hand through his lover's hair, 'will make sure that they cannot hurt us. This, is our only escape.'

'What do you mean? Keiran, what...? Is that...?' Cyril mumbled as he stared incredulously at the phials and then back up at Keiran.

'Yes,' Keiran said softly, his eyes starting to water as well. 'I bought them a while ago because I was afraid that this might happen. That they would find out. Oh Cyril, I'm so very sorry! I'm so sorry that this is all the time we could spend together. That it has to end here, so soon. I would have liked it so much to grow old with you. I love you, so very much!'

'I love you, too!' Cyril said, as he started to sob again. They held each other tight as they both cried.

'Cyril, listen to me,' Keiran said as he held Cyril by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. 'It will be alright, okay? It won't hurt. If there was any other way out, I-I...' He trailed off, tears streaming over his cheeks.

Cyril cupped the wolf's head in his hands and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. He could taste the salty taste of the tears that by now had soaked his fur. 'I know,' he whispered softly, crying.

They sat there for a while, just holding each other tight. Then, the captain's booming voice came from outside again.

'Time's up! Last chance to come out!' He waited a few seconds. 'No? Fine by me, good riddance. Boys! Light 'er up!' he bellowed.

'Keiran!' Cyril cried desperately. He looked at Keiran, his eyes pleading.

It broke Keiran's heart to see the person he loved in such distress. 'We have to drink it, Cyril,' he said, solemnly. 'We have to do it now; before it's too late.'

Keiran handed one of the phials to Cyril, who accepted it with trembling hands. Lightning flashed again outside and cast rays of brilliant white light through the gaps in the boarded windows. Keiran and Cyril stared in each other's eyes, both recognising the same fear and desperation that they themselves felt, neither of them being able to bring themselves to drink the liquid. Keiran eventually gathered all of his courage and went first. He uncorked the phial is his hands, looked his lover in the eyes, and raised the phial to his lips. The liquid tasted bitter and seemed to burn slightly as it went down his throat. Cyril looked like he was about to burst into tears again. Then, with shaking hands, he too uncorked his phial and raised it to his lips. Keiran placed his hand gently on Cyril's leg and gave him a reassuring look. Cyril took a deep breath and steadied himself. Then, he too drank the liquid.

They each put the phials on the floor and embraced one another. They held each other like that for a while and then they pulled back and stared in each other's eyes again. Keiran cupped his lover's head tenderly in his hands and slowly pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss that would become their final kiss. Softly, their lips met as tears flowed from their eyes, both of them very much aware that this would be the last time. Keiran could taste the bitterness of the liquid and the salty taste of tears on his lover's lips as he gently ran his hand through Cyril's hair. Then, Cyril suddenly sagged, unable to support himself any longer. It seemed that Cyril's physiology was less resistant to the effects of the liquid than Keiran's was. Keiran carefully pulled him back up again and cradled his weakened lover in his arms. He spoke softly to him, trying to soothe him.

'Do you remember the first time that we met?' He said as he did his best to smile. 'It was right here in this forest. It was such a beautiful day, and... and you looked so very pretty.' His voice started to break with emotion.

Cyril smiled weakly. 'How could I forget? You frightened me when you first appeared. When we're children, our parents often tell us cautionary tales about fur-bearers. We are warned to stay as far away from your kind as possible. But I quickly discovered that you weren't scary at all. Quite the opposite.'

His voice had become so quiet that Keiran had to strain his ears in order to understand him.

'What kept you from running away as soon as you saw me?' he asked.

'Your... smile,' Cyril said. He had increasing difficulty speaking.

Keiran ran his hand through Cyril's hair again, smiling sadly down at him. He looked up again and noticed that the room was now slowly filling up with smoke and he could smell the scent of burning wood. At the same time he could feel the strength in his body slowly starting to fade away.

'Keiran?' Cyril whispered faintly, his face now extremely pale. 'I'm... a little scared. Promi... promise me that... that you'll be waiting for me. On the... the other... side?'

'Yes,' Keiran said as tears ran down his cheeks, dropping down on Cyril's doublet and soaking the delicate fabric. 'I promise, Cyril. I'll be there. I promise.'

'Good,' Cyril sighed. 'I... I... l-love...' His voice trailed off and his eyes became glazed as his breathing slowed down. Soon after, his breathing stopped completely.

'I love you, too,' Keiran sobbed. The gut-wrenching sadness that he felt deep within his body was impossible to describe and his vision became blurry; either from the tears or from the liquid's effects, he couldn't tell. The only consolation that he felt was that they would soon be together again. He carefully closed Cyril's eyes, his hand shaking as the strength in his body continued to fade away. Before long he couldn't hold onto Cyril's body anymore. With his last bit of strength, he laid his lover's body carefully on the floor and then collapsed down next to him. His body felt hot, and he could now only vaguely make out the outline of Cyril's body. It was surrounded by a greyish orange colour. Then, everything slowly began to fade away. His vision grew darker, he didn't feel his body or the heat anymore, and his thoughts became sluggish, as if getting clogged up by resin.

'I'll be there soon, Cyril,' Keiran thought and his lips curved into a weak smile.

Then, everything faded to black.