FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Silvus sighed in exhaustion as he drug the carcass of a large deer back to the lake. The sun had barely begun to rise, and he had spent several hours stalking the creature. He could have easily been back to the cave had his wing not been broken.

He finally reached the cave entrance and poked his head in. He smiled softly as he watched the now awake Sithris, paw stroking his still unconscious mate. "Good to see you awake, hungry?"

Sithris nodded slowly and looked up to the silver drake. "Yes please." He couldn't restrain himself from drooling as his companion brought in the deer. The scent hit him, and his vision became blurry. He tried to shake it away, but to no avail. A few moments passed and his vision finally cleared. Silvus had finished skinning their meal.

"You alright bud?" Silvus questioned. He hadn't seen the fight, but the aftermath was terrible. He knew Sithris had never had such a close call with death before.

Sithris smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, especially now that I have him back." He cuddled his sleeping mate. "Thank you for patching us up."

The Light Messenger nodded, walking over to examine his cousin. "I'm just glad you two had a large stockpile of gems stashed here from back when Rift was fighting the apes. They were enough to stabilize you both. I just wish there was enough to help my wing." He winced as he raised it. It had been agony setting it back in the correct place. Some string had tied it to a brace to ensure it healed correctly. "Maybe I should have had this one replaced too back when I was getting my synthetic one."

The electric dragon chuckled. "At that rate, just let me transplant your brain into a robot. Imagine, Silvus the copper robot dragon."

Silvus rolled his eyes. "I doubt Kardia would let you live if you did that."

Sithris grinned. "Wouldn't be too difficult, just need my gog..." His head dropped In sadness. "He never got to see me wear those ones." He nuzzled his mate and looked at Silvus. "Can't you just teleport us back to Dragon's Claw? They must be worried to no end."

The ice drake shook his head. "The damage you both took was massive. I can't be sure either of you could handle portal transport. Besides, I think this is the best spot for Rift to be when he wakes up."

"Okay." Sithris reluctantly agreed. He kissed Rift's head and slowly pushed himself up, eyes watering at the pain in his shoulder. He limped over to the meat and began nibbling at it. His eyes grew wide, and without stopping to think, he began ravishing the meat, leaving nothing left.

"What the heck Sith? That was supposed to feed all of us. How did you manage to fit all of that in your stomach? Silvus stared at him in worry. Sithris never ate much, so seeing him consume an entire deer worried him.

The black drake stared at the bones in front of him. "I don't know, I just felt an insatiable hunger that I couldn't stop. I'm sorry..."

Silvus started pondering. "Sithy, aren't these symptoms of your Warp? I remember reading what little I could find and I think it said something about that."

"You're right!" Sithris frowned. "I don't think I've ever been in my Warped form for that long, so I must be facing the results of that. Blurred vision and Unnatural Hunger. I just hope that's all."

"Lovely." Silvus sighed. "I wish I could go back to the days of searching for Spyro and Cynder. Those were simpler times. Then most of my friends die, I get involved in a multiverse war, lose my wing, and years later I'm stuck with a couple of crazy people who one could at any moment go psycho and kill me."

Sithris laughed and poked his tongue out. "Don't make me mad. Anyways, we need a fire so my pest doesn't freeze. As far as I know, ice dragons can't exactly ignite things, so I guess it's up to me."

The Light Messenger tilted his head. "And you're an electric dragon, how are you going to light one." He watched as his companion built a small mound of straw and twigs.

Sithris smiled once he got the pile to the amount he desired. "Ignis."

A small whoosh filled the cave as a small ember appeared in the pile. A moment passed and it quickly came to engulf the pile in flames. He grinned smugly. "Where would you be without me."

Silvus stared at him unblinking. "At home with my mate, not stuck in a cave with a broken wing."

The black dragon huffed. "A simple 'thank you' would have been sufficient. You might as well get comfy. Ancestors know when we'll be able to leave."

"Alright, let's get some rest then." Silvus lowered himself and curled up, instinctively cooing at the warmth of the fire. He yowled softly, the exhaustion of the last two days getting to him. His eyelids slowly closed.

---

Several hours passed before a tail jabbed him awake.

"Huh? Wha?" Silvus groaned as his eyes focused. His black scaled companion was looking at him with worry. "Sithy, what's up?"

Sithris sighed. "We've got company coming. "

Silvus tilted his head. "Judging by your face, not the good kind. How do you know?"

"You know how I used to experiment with dark magic, and that led to my Warped form?" Sithris lowered his head.

"Yeah?"

"Well... I never really stopped. My curiosity got the better of me." Sithris admitted.

Silvus facepawed. "What kind of company is it?"

Sithris looked at him sheepishly. "The kind that really doesn't like me studying that kind of magic. They tend to wait until there's little risk of resistance to strike."

"Right, wonderful Sithy. You better help me with this." The Light Messenger sighed. "I'm starting to question my sanity after being around you so much."

"Stick with me too much and that could become a legitimate concern." Sithris stood up and quickly fell over. A throbbing ache filled his head as he groaned. "Yup, definitely overdid it yesterday."

They both stepped outside and found a dense fog around them. A translucent figure stood in front of them. It stood hunched upright and wore a cloak. Its face was covered by a hood.

"An Eldritch Guardian. I haven't seen one since before I met Rift." Sithris whispered. "If I had my original goggles, I could see all of them with ease."

Silvus frowned. "All of them?"

"Mhmm, sometimes three. My goggles can see their magic. Without them, we have to be right up to them to see." Sithris admitted.

"Lovely." Silvus couldn't help but shiver. "Advice?"

Sithris nodded. "Hit them really hard."

Before they could attack, the Guardian spotted them. With a grunt, it began launching balls of magic at them. Silvus barely dodged them, charging up and freezing the creature. With all his force, he slammed his tail, shattering the creature. "That wasn't so hard."

Unbeknownst to them, two more stood behind them, both releasing magic that hit both of the dragons. Silvus was slammed into a tree while Sithris snarled. The black drake launched at one of the Guardians, swinging his paws with an angry yell.

Silvus tried to rejoin him, finding the fog too dense to see. The other Guardian stood in front of him, hitting the silver drake with more magic. He groaned and slammed his tailblade into the neck of the cloaked figure. It grunted and grabbed his tail, swinging him into the air before slamming him into the ground. "Seriously, what is it with me and falling to the ground lately?"

The other Guardian slapped its hand into the side of Sithris' muzzle. He growled and headbutted it. The creature stumbled back and retaliated in the same way, getting a yowl of pain from the electric dragon.

Silvus dodged another ball of magic, jumping from a tree and knocking down the creature. His anger temporarily came forward as he yelled and clawed his way through the creature, stopping only once the Guardian stopped moving. He looked around for his companion.

Sithris shook himself as the creature landed another blast of magic on him. He could feel his body reacting to the blast. While Silvus reacted to each hit as a normal blast, the magic reacted to Warp, amplifying it. One of his eyes slowly turned red. With a pounce, he found his maw wrapped around the throat of the Eldritch Guardian. The creature slammed another blast of magic as he released his entire storage of electricity. It collapsed dead.

The silver drake ran to Sithris as the fog and the creatures dissolved. He gulped as he watched the black drake shake and claw at the ground. Runes flashed over his scales. One eye was clenched shut and the other was bright red. He growled as he fought the Warp from regaining control.

"Sithy!"

Both dragons went wide eyed as their heads turned to the cave. Rift slowly wobbled his way out. He wheezed as he struggled to breathe. He gave the black dragon a smile.

"Don't let him take over."

Sithris clenched both eyes and growled, focusing. A moment passed and his muscles softened, runes fading away as his eyes returned to their usual back. He gave a sigh of relief, before quickly spinning around and running over to his mate.

Rift collapsed against his chest, cooing as he took in the comforting scent of the black dragon. "Feels like home."

Sithris smiled, holding him tight. "It should, silly pest. I promise I'll never let you out of my sight again."

The Light Messenger chuckled as he watched them. "It's good to have you back cousin. How do you feel."

The fire drake looked up at Silvus. "I think it hurt less when I died. Everything hurts."

Silvus pat his shoulder sympathetically. "That's part of being alive bud. How's your mind after everything?"

Rift blinked. "My mind?" He reached up to rub his head, freezing as he felt the jagged stubs of his horns. All the memories of Dark Rift came back to him. His eyes welled up and he buried his head against Sithris chest, breaking down into tears. "Oh god, I'm so sorry."