FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Deklan, wake up," I heard a sweet, calm voice say. It was my mom.

I grumbled and turned over over on my bed towards the wall and grumbled. "In a bit..."

My mom chuckled, "But today is the ceremony."

My eyes went wide as I opened them. I turned my head so I could look at my mom. She and Dad were standing there, big smiles on their faces.

I quickly sat up and got out of bed. Today was the big day! I ran out of my wooden, old room and ran past the kitchen to go out to the stables.

I looked to make sure all the dragons were there. The only one who was missing was Stoneheart, but that made sense: he was going to fight in the arena today; his final test to join the Grandalla Military. He left yesterday to get acquainted with the stables there. I'm kinda nervous for him; he's still pretty young.

All the dragons looked to me and smiled, excited to see me. If they could talk they probably would be congratulating me, but alas, that won't happen; dragons are intelligent, but they don't share the same vocal chords.

I walked to the end of all the stables and saw Glacier, my dragon. She's been my friend since I came here to the City of Draco when I was four, after my family was killed in war. My new mom and dad were soldiers to the Alliance of Grandalla when they found me alone, in the middle of the crossfire. They saved me. I don't know much about my original family, but I'm happy to be here with my new parents, Leo and Daria Draken.

Glacier is an ice dragon; a chubby one at that. I was told that since ice dragons live in an area where food is scarce and is freezing, their bodies are made to conserve calories and store it for later as fat. It keeps them insulated and they can eat less often, but since Glacier is a tamed dragon, she gets food more often that her wild brethren, so she's a bit on the chubby side. It doesn't help that she likes to eat, but it never bothered me; I love her anyways.

We've been through thick and thin, she's helped me whenever I've been in a pickle. Heck, she even joined the Royal Guard with me. She may be chubby, but under all that fat, she has a lot of muscle. Most people wouldn't think that she's a danger, but she'll prove them wrong. I remember when she proved the proctor to the fitness test for the Royal Guard. That was a good and funny day.

"Hey, Glacier," I greeted her excitedly.

Glacier's tail was wagging a mile a minute; she was standing in a pouncing position.

"Glacier, n-oof!" I tried to say as I got pounced on. She rested on me and licked my face.

"Get off you big lug," I joked as I pushed her neck away so I didn't have to touch her cold tongue.

She quickly rolled off of me and fell onto her side, her belly was laying on the ground. She wanted a belly rub. She looked over to me, trying to give the cutest face she could muster.

"Fine," I groaned as I got up and walked to her. I rubbed her soft belly; she always wants belly rubs. I don't know if she likes that or food more, but anything to keep Glacier happy. "We have a busy day ahead of us," I explained to her as I continued to rub her belly, "It's graduation day, so we want to be on our best behavior."

Now that I've turned twenty, I finally served my four years in the military to become a citizen of Grandalla and graduated school. Once you serve your four years in any branch, you can stay in the military (Which is what most people do.), or you can have some other profession, which is what I plan to do. My parents are dragon tamers/breeders, and I'm going to follow in their footsteps. It's been my passion ever since I was given Glacier when I turned six, and she was twenty-six (Which is young for a dragon).

I stopped rubbing Glacier's belly, and she looked to me and licked my face again with her cold tongue.

I laughed as I pushed her head away. "Stop that."

"Deklan!" Mom called to me. "Time to put your uniform on!"

"Alright," I yelled back. I looked to Glacier, "I'll be right back."

I walked back into the house. Today is the last day I will need this armor. I'm so excited! I entered the armory and saw my armor glowing in the sun. The goldish-yellow of the armor was quite blinding in the sunlight. I put on my grieves first, then my sabatons. After that it was girdle, cuirass, pauldrons, gauntlets, and helmet. It's all heavy steel, yet it's quite maneuverable, and durable. After four years of wearing this armor, you get used to it.

During my four years as a royal guard, I never really guarded any royalty. For the most part, I would guard Drago and its Mayor since it's so close to the capital. Not much happened during my time besides a few petty thieves and a few criminals. A lot of it was boring, but it was nice that I got to stay in my hometown.

"Lookin' sharp," my dad told me.

"Thanks," I replied as I started leaving the room, "I'm heading out now with Glacier. See ya!"

"Wait!" I heard my mom call out. I stopped and turned around. "Don't forget your mace."

"Oh, right!" I ran back into the armory and grabbed my mace. I quickly looked to see if it was mine; it said Wolfe on it, so it is. Mom and Dad told me they found this with me when they saved me on the battlefield. We think it was my parents, so I kept it and use it. "Thanks. Love you!" I called out to them.

"Love you too," Mom called, "Be safe, and watch what Glacier eats!"

"I will."

---

"We're finally here," I told Glacier, as she started descending. Traveling from Drago to Mountain's Gate, the capital, takes about an hour on dragonback, but I didn't mind the trip. Riding on a dragon when it's flying is freeing and natural, unlike those who fly in planes or blimps.

Glacier landed softly onto the ground. I unstrapped myself from the leather harness and jumped off her back. As I did, a few people came up to me and Glacier. Dragons aren't too common in the capital, so whenever I come here with Glacier, we seem to get a lot of attention.

"Hey, Deklan!" I heard a voice come from behind me. I turned around to see another Royal Guard. It was Leland, my best friend! We went to school together and applied to be Royal Guards at the same time; he was lucky enough to be one of the chosen ones to guard the King, since he got one point higher than me on the test.

"Hey," I greeted him as I shook his hand. It's been about half a year since we've seen each other. "How's it been/ Are you still guarding the King?"

"Good, and yes; the King was-yuck. Glacier!"

Leland was interrupted by Glacier greeting him with a lick to the face. He's not too big on dragon kisses. Glacier started laughing, her tail was swaying side to side.

"You fat, overgrown lizard," Lelan muttered. Glacier just kept laughing. "Anyways," Leland started, "I need to get going. I just saw you and Glacier so I thought I'd say 'hi', but I gotta go. I'll see you later at the arena."

"Alright," I replied, "see ya later!"

Once he left, I turned to the other people surrounding Glacier, answering whatever questions they had about dragons or whatever. I don't understand how people live without dragons, their amazing. I especially don't understand dragon slayers. If I ever met one, I...I...I honestly don't know what I would do. It definitely wouldn't be anything nice.

Glacier and I walked into the main part of the capital; this is where all the entertainment and food is. We started walking down the road. There were a lot of different attractions. We started walking down the road, only for Glacier to stop at a food stand. I went to the stand I greeted the worker.

"Good morning," I greeted.

"Good morning," she replied. "What a sweet dragon."

"Thanks. I'll take two muttons-" Glacier tapped me with her wing, "three muttons please."

She went and grabbed three mutton legs and handed them to me.

"How much will it be?" I asked.

"It's free for you," she stated.

"What?"

"You're one of the graduates, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I'm giving out free food to whoever is graduating," she explained.

"Wow," I said in awe, "thank you."

We talked a bit more about ourselves and what I was going to do after I graduate. We only talked for a few minutes because more customers were beginning to show up, so we said our goodbyes and left.

I turned to Glacier as we kept walking down the street. "You need to watch how much you eat," I told her, "We don't want you to get too big," I said as I poked her side. She flattened her ears and whimpered a bit; she gets embarrassed when I talk about her weight in public.

As we walked down the street, a few people stopped and went to see Glacier. As I said before, dragons are rare in the capital, or in any major city, really. So we stopped and let them feel Glacier; she always loved the attention.

"Hey, you!" I heard someone call from behind me.

I turned around to see an old mystic donned in purple robes and hat. She was looking at me. I pointed to myself, asking if she was talking about me.

"Yes, boy, you. Do you want to hear your future? I can tell you have a lot of potential" she said with a wicked grin.

"Eh," I said hesitantly, "no thank-wha," I was interrupted by Glacier pushing me towards the mystic. "Glacier!"

"Looks like the dragon wants you to hear it." She started walking into a tent. It was purple and covered with stars. "Come. Let us see what you have in store for your future. It's free."

I turned to Glacier; she had a big smile on her face, she tail was wagging behind her.

"I'll deal with you later," I told her as I walked into the tent.

It was dark in there. I sat down on a chair that was in front of a crystal ball; she was on the other. "Let's see what Deklan Draken will achieve in the future."

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"I'm a mystic, boy. It's what I do, and from what I can tell, the name will be known by many in time."

"What do-"

"Shhh," the mystic shushed me.

She started waving her hands around the crystal ball. Smoke started forming around the tent. I started coughing; I couldn't see anything. She started chanting in some language I couldn't understand.

What was happening. Nothing was happening that I could see. Was she even a real mystic? This is probably a scam.

All of the sudden the chanting stopped, and shortly after the smoke went away.

"You will make one great adventurer, Wolfe," was all she said.

"Wolfe?" I asked, looking to my mace, thinking about how that name is carved on it.

She picked up the mace. "That's a powerful name to have a mace to. Are you related?" She looked me in the eye, holding her wicked grin.

"I-I'm not sure," I said to her, "My parents were killed when I was four. My adoptive parents think that's who my parents were. I was left on the battlefield with this mace next to me."

"Ah," she stated, "so you don't know your full potential. Full moon is coming up soon."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"Silly, boy. I can tell you have controlled your wolf, but you are in no relationship with it. That's a disappointment. It's sad to be a lycan without the relationship of your wolf."

"How'd you know I was a werewolf?" I asked. I've always kept it hidden from everyone but Glacier. She normally helps me hide when I transform, and she'll go on hunts with me. "Not even my parents know I'm a werewolf. The only one to know is Glacier."

"The fat ice dragon? Such a sweetheart. You and her have much planned in the future. Just be careful on who you trust. There are many dangers out in Magnalith."

"This is bogus," I said. "I'm just going to stay with my parents and be a dragon tamer/breeder. And don't insult Glacier; she's sensitive about her weight in public and to strangers." I growled slightly and walked out of the tent.

"Let's go Glacier." I looked over to her, and my eyes went wide.

Glacier was on her back, and many small children were playing on her belly. Some were bouncing and some were chasing each other. Glacier had a big smile on her face and was laughing; it must be like a massage to her. The children's parents were sitting on a bench, watching their children play on the "fat ice dragon".

Glacier looked over to me and jumped, surprised to see me next to her. Her ears flattened as she nudged the kids off her belly. She was clearly embarrassed. I just chuckled.

"No need to be embarrassed, Glacier. Obviously the kids were attacking you," I joked. "As long as you were having fun."

I looked up to the clock tower in the middle of the city. I was in the mystic's tent for an hour? I thought to myself. Wow.

"Come on, Glacier, let's go see what else is going on in this festival."

We walked around for awhile. There were a lot of attractions around the city. There were a few mage shows, those were cool to see; very flashy. There were quite a bit of bands performing. In some corners, bagpipe bands were performing, and many people were dancing to them, while on other parts of town there were jazz performers, which are rare in Grandalla; normally that is found in The Empire of Vannark or in that nation that separated from them thirty years ago, Adolith.

There was a lot to look at and do that I almost lost track of time. I turned to the clock tower and noticed it was almost two o'clock.

"Shit," I muttered to myself. The ceremony begins at two! "Glacier, we gotta go!" I pulled her by the wing and started running towards the arena. I was supposed to be there a few minutes ago!

I felt something pick me up; realizing it was Glacier, I calmed down and strapped myself on the saddle, and she quickly took off.

Riding on Glacier was a lot faster than running there, good thing she thought of that. I quickly jumped off her back and went into my position. We rehearsed a week ago, and luckily I remember where I was supposed to go. I quickly looked back to see Glacier meet up where she was supposed to stand with the other dragons. She never really hung out with them much considering most of them were bullies to her, but she was fine because the dragons don't stay together much, especially after training when she went with me to guard Drago.

"Dude!" I heard Leland say to me. We were positioned right next to each other. "Where were you. You're fifteen minutes late!"

"Sorry, I lost track of time."

"Well, at least you're here. Are you ready to finally graduate!"

"Oh yeah."

"I also can't wait for the battle afterwards. One of your dragons is part of it, right?"

"Yeah, Stoneheart is fighting today. It's his test to see if he can join the military."

"Rock dragon?" Leland asked.

"Yep," I replied. "They might not be able to fly, but they sure do got some tough armor, even some tank shells can't penetrate its' armor," I explained to Leland

"But their underbelly can be pretty weak, right?" Leland asked.

"Yeah," I answered reluctantly, "but that won't be a problem with Stoneheart. A few of the experienced dragons Mom and Dad have has been teaching him how to avoid showing his underside."

"This will be an interesting fight. His opponent is the champion Huunter the Silent. He is undefeated so far. That Wood Elf is really dangerous!" Leland's hands were clenched in excitement. "I wouldn't want to be down in the arena with him."

"But has he fought a dragon?" I asked.

Leland looked at me with a straight face. "No, but this will still be interesting. He's rather smart when it comes to battling. I heard he even knows some illusion magic."

"But wood elves are illegal in Grandalla."

"Well he's not from here. They just found him on our land near the High Everlands."

"You seem to know a lot about him," I pointed out.

"Yeah," Leland agreed, rubbing the back of his head, "When you're with the King's Royal Guard, you get to see a lot of fights in this arena. It's awesome!"

Our conversation was interrupted by the horns that signal the beginning of the festival.

"Here we go," Leland said as we started hearing the drums conducting us to march towards the opening of the arena.

There was a lot going on; all soldiers/graduates marched into the arena. First was the Royal Guards; then the Army, Navy, and Marines; after them was the Mechanized Infantry and Armor Divisions, riding on their tanks; after them came the Air Force; and lastly, the Dragon Core. The field of the arena was filled to the brim with the graduates of Year 3564. All 20,000 people and fifty dragons.

Looking around the arena was intimidating to say the least. There were millions of people all around us; it was a sight to see. It was also very loud: people were cheering, conversing, and other methods of celebrating our class' graduation. Of all my twenty years of life, this has to be the most people I've seen in one place.

The trumpets started blaring, signifying it was time to quiet down to hear the King's speech. He stood on the biggest balcony in the arena, surrounded by other high class leaders such as the General, Admiral, and Archmage.

"Good day, my fellow Grandallans!" the King greeted to the masses. "Thank you all for coming on this fine day. We all gather here today to celebrate one of the most important times in this nation. Not only is it Unification Day, where all seven warring factions joined together as one nation to become a world power to rival Vannark's growing power, but it is a day to celebrate all of these young men and women who have completed their required education and served four years in the military, making them official citizens on Grandalla."

The people cheered at that.

"I am proud to be able to stand up here and see the thousands of new citizens, who will help Grandalla grow and strive. Some will stay in the military, while others will help the nation grow as a trading nation, which is one of my main intentions as King. They will make Grandalla a great place to live."

"The Class of 3564 is one of the hardest working classes I have ever seen in my ten years of being king. It fills me with pride to know how much the future generations care about helping Grandalla strive as a world power."

"I've been lucky to meet a few of them, mainly the new Royal Guards who have been within this city for the past four years, and let me tell you, they really care about Grandalla."

He turned his head towards the dragons. "And as for our new dragons who were willing to protect our nation no matter the cause. We even got to have two new Royal Guard Dragons: Silverard the Forest Dragon and Glacier the Ice Dragon."

I looked to Glacier, she had her head down. I wasn't sure if she was bowing or she was embarrassed for being singled out.

"Silverard has been at the Palace for the four years of his military career. He has been nothing but help and security. He's able to sniff out any threats and communicates well with the other Royal Dragons."

"Glacier has been at Drago for most of her career. She helps her trainer with guarding Drago, and in turn Mountain's Gate. She has caught many thieves and criminals. Glacier may be a bit...well rounded, but don't let that deceive you. I've seen her perform, and she is very impressive."

I looked back at Glacier again, she was a red as a fire dragon.

"Now that introductions are done. Let us have a moment a silence for all the students who have fallen within the four years."

It was mostly silent. With my sharp hearing, I was able to pick out a few people crying - most likely the families of those who died.

Sharp hearing has proven to be very helpful. Most people think I just have very good hearing, but they don't realize it's supernatural. Werewolves are not accepted in Grandalla. As much as I don't like them much myself, sometimes it has its' perks. I tend not to think of it much.

The speech went on for a bit longer. Talking about certain other people who he has met and about his intentions as King. I've heard he always uses this time to address the masses on other topics, since so many of them are here.

Once he was done speaking, he told all of the graduates that they are dismissed, as they needed the field cleared out for the fight. I met up with Glacier and we went to go find Mom and Dad. We found them sitting in a balcony set up so dragons can sit and spectate. Lionheart, their Plains Dragon, was sitting with them. Normally they use him for travel.

"Hi, Mom and Dad," I greeted them as I ran to hug them.

Mom had tears in her eyes. "We're so proud of you, Luke." I felt something cold wrap around me. "And you too, Glacier."

Dad released the hug first and rubbed Glacier's neck. "You even got acknowledged by the King!" he exclaimed. "What an honor."

"We couldn't be more proud of you two," Mom stated.

"Thank you," I said to both of them.

"Now we just have to see how Stoneheart will do," Dad mentioned. "Then we can go home."

"I heard he's fighting Huunter the Silent. Leland said he is really tough to beat."

"Even so, it's hard to beat a rock dragon," Dad pointed out, "It's not common to have someone slay one. They may not be able to fly, but they sure do have a lot of armor to make up for it."

Our conversation was interrupted by trumpets blaring again to gain the attention of the audience. I looked up to the King's balcony to see him stand up to address the people.

"My dear people of Grandalla," he started, "we just congratulated about 20,000 people from graduating and becoming full citizens, but now we must see if Stoneheart the Rock Dragon - owned by Leo and Daria Draken, who has been known to breed some of the best dragons in Grandalla - can beat one of the champions here in the arena to determine whether or not he is good enough to join the Grandalla Military."

The crowd went wild. Dragon battles is a fan favorite in the arena. I've only been to one other one and that was Glacier's. She won right away without a challenge.

"And on the other side of the arena we have our current highest scoring champion, Huunter the Silent!"

The crowd got even louder. Obviously he is well known here.

"After a win streak of fifteen, we decided he would be a good candidate for Stoneheart's test. Bring out the fighters!"

Two large gates opened. The one on the north end was Stoneheart. He looked confident; let's just hope that he isn't too overconfident.

On the other end, I saw a tall wood elf walk onto the arena, a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other hand. I noticed he had a glowing tattoo on his arm, but I couldn't tell what it was. Maybe I'll ask someone later.

This is it, I thought to myself, stressing a bit for Stoneheart. Let's hope he can do this.

"Three...two...one...Fight!"