FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Rika spat onto the floor of her cage, the Alsatian's phlegm tacky and filled with dust. She shouldn't have. It was a waste of what little body moisture she had left. It had already been two days since she'd last drank anything. Longer since she'd eaten.

It was worth it. Given the chance, she'd have done it again. Her birds had been the eyes and ears of the marching United canine coalition, hand-reared from hatching to be the ultimate hunters, trackers and messengers. She had even trained them to avoid being struck from below. Not another soul alive could have intercepted her critters.

She, unfortunately, did not have quite the same skill and grace, nor the ability to fly as her falcons did. As the saying went, friendly fire isn't.

Ironic that she had trained for years, led her own special task group, and then been cast aside the moment she attacked her commanding officer after he tried to force himself on her during her heat. She whistled, and her pet raptors had torn one of his eyes out, clinging to it as it flew away like a grizzly trophy.

Felines might have been below them, but her old officer was a real piece of canine filth. She'd done them all a favour in killing such a fine example of scum.

Her reward?

Stripped of everything. Her titles, rank, commendations, lands and rights. She was promptly sold off to the highest bidder.

35 Lupar. An entire life for the cost of a room and a hot meal at a roadside tavern.

The heavy copper collar around her neck had long since chafed her neck fur down to nubs and left the skin raw and red from an allergic reaction to the metal. She'd been forced to wear it anyway, and now, displayed as she was in the town square, she'd been left to die. A final insult.

A sign hung below the metal frame of her cage, written in the rough runic lettering of the northern canine packs from which she belonged... had, belonged, she corrected herself.

PREDATEL

TRAITOR.

She spat again, growling quietly as the people outside paid her no notice. Let them go about their lives, pretending all was well. The war would swallow them up soon enough.

Her bones would have to mock them by then though.

Her stomach rolled, letting out an audible grumble as she curled in on herself, trying to rest as best she could, for what little good it would do her. Dreams were no better than reality at this point.

At least she was in sight of the mountain peak that her home rested at the foot of, far below the cavernous dragon cities in the stone.

She closed her eyes, sighing. Everything hurt. Unconsciousness was at least a temporary reprieve.

Death would be a more permanent one, once the reaper arrived for her.

She grinned through chaffed lips and a pair of cracked teeth at the smiling spectre in her mind that had been creeping ever closer since she'd been put up here.

"Not today, you prick..."

---

By the sixth day, it was a feat of determination that the dog in the cage was even still alive. She looked like a ghoul, skin tight against her bones, tail bent at a sharp angle halfway down from where her captors had broken it forcing her into the cage. She looked mangey, and her fur was matted with sweat and grime.

With the heat, most didn't make it beyond the third day. A small crowd had gathered to look at the shrivelled, dried up traitor hanging in the cage. Somehow, she survived, whispering hoarsely to herself.

"N-Not... to...today..."

Her voice was almost inaudible, barely a weak gasp of air. A pair of faces leaned down close to hers. She heard the crunch of the gravel underfoot as they knelt to inspect her. Cracking her eyes, she registered two vague blurs of colour, one red, the other grey.

"Hmmm. This is her? Two hundred. Cut her down and have her taken back to the airship." The first voice spoke. Firm.Confident. Assured of whatever it was he was doing with a deep tenor of boulders moving.

"Two hundred Lupar? Why do you want the traitor so badly? She is nothing. Best left to die. She'll be gone tomorrow-" Another voice started, quick and uncertain, anxious. Perhaps even angry. Why would anyone buy a traitor like her after all? The thought made her cracked lips curl in a facsimile of amusement. The simple motion was agonizing.

"Draskar. And I wasn't asking. You can do it now, or I can have your legs cut down at the knees and have you take her place. If you are lucky, you'll bleed out before six days." The red blur snarled. Not a wolf snarl. Far too deep. Far too menacing. Canines snarled to ward off enemies. Dragons snarled to remind you how easily they could kill you if you were to misstep.

The world faded to black as she felt the cage shift around below her.

---

When at last, the world did resolve itself to Rika, it wasn't as she expected. There was pain still. She felt fatigued like she had walked a hundred leagues on no sleep. The cell she found herself in was a strange one, with a single door in the opposite wall. It felt far too clean. Even the air had the sharp tang on alcohol to it, and not the sort you drank for fun.

She sat up slowly, feeling her bones popping in joints she had forgotten existed. Everything still hurt, but... less. Her lips were not chaffing. She had slightly more than just bones beneath skin now. With a herculean effort on her part, she managed to stumble her first few steps before collapsing against the desk that seemed to take up a quarter of the room but had seemed much, much further away to her weak steps.

"Steady now lass, don't go hurting yourself." A voice cautioned from behind her.

Panicking and swirling on the stranger with a clenched fish, she let out a bark that came out as little more than a dry wheeze rather than a growl. A massive paw caught her before her momentum could carry her over entirely. She struggled weakly against the stranger's grip. It was a few fingers short of a full hand.

"Easy, easy! You're safe. Calm down. Now sit down before you actually manage to make yourself worse than you are." The massive wolf spoke in a soft, gentle tone that threatened to put her at ease, a state she refused to accept. Of course, it was hard for her to do much else as he carefully helped her sit back down, her crooked tail laying over her lap. She glared at the wolf.

He simply rolled the one golden eye that wasn't covered by a dark leather patch, and reached out, offering her a handmirror from the table.

She looked far worse for wear than the last time she'd properly seen herself in a mirror. She'd been stunning in her royal blue uniform, gleaming silver button and shoulder plates. Now?

Now she looked old and frail. The sable patterning of tan and black smudges that had made her so visually striking before was muted like she had been rolled in the dust. Parting her dark lips, she winced at the two chipped canines in her muzzle, and the numerous other small scars that now dotted her face like a topographical map. Even the thin gown she had been dressed in didn't hide just how much weight she had lost.

After a few moments more of scrutinizing herself and finding nothing positive to comment on, she looked away, her ears folding against her scalp. She tried to find words.

"Ha-..." The syllable came out as a dry wheeze, pain flashing along her throat. She rubbed her neck and felt the soft regrowth of the fur where her collar had been, slowly coming back in-

She blinked. Her collar was gone. Her head went to the wolf with a confused expression.

"I took it off you. You're not a slave, and the metal was making your neck swell. If we'd left it on, you may as well have choked to death if you didn't starve first."

.

Her question was less how her collar was gone. She wanted to know just why it was gone? She could quite clearly recall the male's voice as they bartered for her. The wolf was still talking, but she realized at that moment another detail. He wasn't the one who had seen her in the cage.

"You... not the one-" She began, but a figure appearing in the doorway to the room interrupted her.

"No, he isn't the one who paid for your release. That would be me. Matthew here is our resident doctor." The blood-red dragon leaned against the frame for a moment, his wings stretched out behind him. The thin membranes folded neatly behind his back as he rolled his head upon his shoulders.

"Considering the state you arrived in, I'd say he's done well keeping you alive. Rest and heal. You've got a long way to go yet. There's no point telling you more if you don't survive." His assessment was as blunt as it was to the point. He'd turned and walked away before she had a chance to ask more, but the wolf was already gently pushing her back down onto the mattress.

She didn't have the strength to fight him. She barely had the strength to stay upright. She let her eyes close as the wolf lowered her head onto the pillows again and slept.

She wasn't dead. That was already far more than she had expected.

---

It was almost six full weeks by the time the giant wolf doctor finally let the stubborn shepherd out of his sickbay for more than a short stroll.

In that time, her fur had come back in properly, her coat had been thoroughly cleaned from her ears down to her toes, and her tail... Well, her tail was still crooked, but she could live with the fact. She felt a little stronger every day, but at the same time, a little lonelier as well. All of her friends, her comrades, and her pets had been left behind. Not a single one had spoken up in her defence. It was beginning to feel more and more like they had deliberately set her up to take the fall once her reputation began to eclipse their own.

She doubted she would ever have the chance to confront them about it. Setting foot back in her homelands would be as good as leaping off the side of the massive, dragon-built vessel she found herself a mere guest upon. She wasn't forced to stay by any threat, but at the same time, trying to leave would have been foolish. They hadn't even descended below the clouds from the few glimpses she'd caught of the outside world through portholes that dotted the corridors at random.

So she settled for being alive. After all, that was the basis of every successful plan.

She learned her new home as best she could, strolling from the greenhouse on the top decks to the smelteries and forges on the bottom aft. She learned names, where they seemed important.

Mack, the big wolf who was the ship's doctor. Scary looking, but mostly harmless thanks to his oaths.

Aristol, the friendly grizzly bear who was also the head chef in the main chow hall. A kind word had earned her some extra portions of a particularly good stew.

Scion, the red dragon who seemed to run the ship. She saw him infrequently enough to know he wasn't going to tell her anything useful before he decided he wanted to.

Victor, the sergeant of the ship's security detail, who she ran afoul of more than she would have liked trying to get places she thought she needed to be, like the good stores, or the arms lockers.

She didn't like the panther at all, and it seemed the feeling was mutual. The natural animosity between cats and dogs ran deep. The war hadn't helped matters.

Most of her time was spent wandering, dragging herself along at a leisurely pace while her tail twitched out of synch with her steps. The clashing background noise of so many propellers and the din of the electrical systems aboard quickly turned the far aft of the ship into one of her favourite places.

She sat against the safety railing, one leg hanging overboard in the yawning abyss. She'd kicked her shoes off, letting the wind tickle at the pad of her foot while she watched the clouds drifting lazily by beneath them.

It was early morning, everything cast in the sun's warm, orange glow. Watching the small flocks of migrating birds, she longed for home. The only other place she'd seen views like this was from the mountain by her home.

But home was gone now, and the future was wracked with uncertainty. She was alive but still didn't know why. There were more questions than answers, and it was unsettling for her.

She'd grown up watching her parents serve the local canine Lord with pride, learning from them the skills she needed to not only survive but to thrive. Her father had brought her the first hawk she had owned, injured and barely alive, but she had diligently nursed it back to health.

After that, training birds became a passion, and then a career.

Now, she had neither birds nor enthusiasm or a clear path ahead.

Just questions, more questions, and a distinct lack of answers. To anything beyond the scope of her room aboard the ship.

She growled in frustration and tossed the remnants of her lunch over the edge of the ship, watching it tumble downwards towards the cloud tops as if in slow motion.

There came a sudden, avian screech from below her, and a brown streak of muscle and feathers dropped from out of the side of the ship, plummeting downwards.

Rika panicked for a moment, quickly shifting so that she could lean over and get a better view. Had someone just jumped?!

No, it was too large to be a person she realized after a moment. Far too large, and far too elegant in it's controlled fall.

The shape shot through the air, diving like one of her birds of prey when they swooped down from on high. Without fail, it intercepted the tumbling morsels of meat, swiping them from the air with a series of sharp, pecking gestures at it plucked them from freefall.

A second later, the shape sprouted wings, and banked hard, turning around the begin climbing back up to the airship, making full use of the energy gained in its dive. Its flaps were broad, powerful strokes, each one magnificently propelling the creature back into the sky as it climbed.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" Scion spoke up from behind her. She didn't jump or give any other outward indication of being startled. Truthfully, she'd heard him approaching by the unique sound his draconic claws made against the deck.

"I've heard of them, but only in stories. Supposedly the canines lords use them to guard their mountain keeps..." She gave her response dryly, never looking away from the Gryphon.

"True enough, though the ones they use merely tolerate their presence. Wild in every sense of the word. These ones were raised by exotic animal merchants. We have three of them. They're why I paid for your release, Falconeer. Come. You're alive enough to work now, yes?"

She turned to face him, her face a curious mix of suspicion and excitement. The dragon beckoned her with a flick of his hand, jewelled rings glinting upon his fingers.

They walked the corridors, following a new route she was not familiar with, past a series of locked doors and finally a metal grate that rattled loudly as the dragon pushed it aside. He locked it again behind her, leaving them both in the small, box-like cell, illuminated by the flickering glow lights that seemed to pulse to the heartbeat of the ship.

"Every external door needs a key. You'll get a set before the day is out."

"And what If I refuse whatever it is you're wanting me to do?" She spoke up, leaning against the wall while he unlocked the opposite doorway. Her arms were folded across her chest and the plain, blue shirt she'd been given to wear.

"You won't." Scion chuckled as he pushed the doorway open.

The blunt confidence in his answer took her off guard. He was a cocky one, she'd give him that. She followed without another word, curious now to see just what kind of work they expected from her, though she had her suspicions already forming.

This hold of the ship was quite unlike... well, anywhere else she'd seen so far. Stretching and expansive, it ran on for an easy forty yards before where the back wall should have been, it simply opened up into the great blue yonder. The breeze that came in from the wash of the propellers constant motions brought with it the scent of beasts, reminding her at once of a stable.

Fresh pallets of straw had been set along the wall closest to them, and on the opposite, she saw locked bins for feed and a large trough for water. Scion walked in confidently, ignoring the three sets of golden eyes and sharp, raptor beaked faces that followed them.

"This is the den. You'll be working here. The birds show promise as trainability goes for a variety of roles. We simply don't have anyone with the right skills to do the training. Hence, you." He came to a stop in the middle of the hall-like room, turning back to face her for a moment, as if gauging her response.

She couldn't help her excitement. To say it was the opportunity of a lifetime was an understatement. One didn't often run into such creatures, let along have to opportunity to work with them. To her knowledge, she couldn't recall any instance of the beasts being able to be truly tamed. They were wild, apex predators after all. Why would they submit to the whims of lesser beings?

"What are their names?" She asked, nodding her chin towards the trio of figures that were beginning to rise from their beds, three distinctly unique and exotic beasts.

Scion laughed and pointed to each in turn.

"One." He indicated towards a stark, black-feathered gryphon with the face and beak of a crow. He stood tall and proud, his feathers rippling like oil as he stretched. His head cocked sideways as he watched her.

"Two." He indicated the next, a pine brown male with white feathers coating his underside and jaw. His beak was curved ivory like a hawk, his head bearing the same, sharp-angled ancestry. He regarded her cooly with bright, golden eyes, his lion-esque tail twitching.

"And Three." Scion finished with the predictable name. Of course they hadn't the sense to give such prideful beasts proper names.

Three stood a hand taller than the others, white plumed feathers that shifted to silver around his shoulders, with round leopard spots on his rump. A long fluffy tail swished back and forth behind him. His head and face were the rounded features of a snowy owl.

"Surely you could have done better than that." Rika said with a roll of her eyes.

"We could have, but like you, we weren't sure if they would be staying. You are welcome to find names for them. They're your problem now." Scion said with a shrug of his shoulders, turning and heading for the doorway out.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do exactly?" Rika called after the dragon.

---

One, Two, Three.

One. Two. And Three...

What kind of an idiot numbered his birds?!

The first day, Rika spent curled against the opposite wall, fascinated and curious, but also hesitant to approach. She tossed a few hares to the birds from across the room when the sun began to set and watched as the pecking order established itself between them.

One was by far the most vocal and butted his weight around to put himself firmly on top of the totem pole between the three beasts. He cawed loudly and made other warbling calls and shrieks that reminded her of the butcher birds back home more than any raven. The others gave him a berth when it came time to eat, and let him take his pick of the carcasses. Naturally, he took the largest for himself.

Two and three, on the other hand, seemed much more amicable with each other and split the remaining food between them. Each retreated to their nest to eat in relative silence. Rika helped herself to some dried meat while she watched from the corner, the alsatian's tail wagging back and forth, as much as the crooked appendage could anyway.

---

On the third day, she made first contact with One, running her fingers along the nape of his neck while he lay sunbathing in the afternoon light. True to his raven-like appearance, his feathers felt smooth and sleek beneath the soft pads of her paws.

He didn't seem to object to her presence, And instead just craned his neck out so she could access the underside of it to better scratch where he wanted her to scratch. It was very much apparent he was the leader of the flock.

After witnessing his acceptance of this new handler in their midst, Two and Three were quick in letting her approach them each in turn. Pets and rubs were given, along with her ridiculous cooing of "Awww, whosagood bird?"

Two and Three evidently thought it was both of them if their reactions were anything to go by.

---

By the end of the first week with the Gryphon's, she wasn't entirely sure what promise Scion had seen in them.

All of her attempts at instruction fell on deaf ears. Even so, she persisted. Three just looked at her curiously when she tried to make him do anything, Two cocked his head to the side like a confused dog, and One barely even seemed to acknowledge her.

One, Two and Three... No, you boys need better names than that.

She spent the afternoon watching them, trying to figure out good names. She contemplated her choices between tossing them morsels of a hare. Three nudged her from behind as she went to toss the rabbit corpse to them, and her throw went long, sliding over the lip of the pens and out into the open sky beyond.

In a rush, all three of the birds scrambled past her and leapt into the void to dive after it. Leaning over the edge to watch, inspiration hit her like a sack of bricks.

She raced back to the desk she'd set up in a corner to start her planning, tail wagging behind her.

---

She started with just rabbit meat.

While the birds weren't always happy to have to chase their meal as it fell, they did so without fail.

Once they had that down, she began putting the rabbit inside light crates and boxes, making sure they watched as she put it inside before pushing them off the deck. Sure enough, not willing to let their lunch escape, they dove on the crates as well before flying them back up to their hold so that they could tear the wooden planks apart.

Close, but not quite ideal for what she had in mind. People didn't react nearly as well to being torn to shreds once they had been saved from certain death by falling.

That particular problem took her a few weeks to iron out completely.

It was Nightshade who got the idea first. Formerly One, she finally settled on the name after watching him lazily glide on thermals and the air currents made by the ship one evening, barely using any energy at all in his movements. He floated like a leaf on the breeze, silently banking from one current to the next, barely flapping his wings at all. The large raven black gryphon had looked like a shadow upon a shadow, soundlessly gliding from one point to the next.

Snowdrift, the name she had given Three, was nowhere near as elegant in flight but could spot her box of treats falling without fail first each time when she kicked it over the edge and then got the three birds attention. He was quicker and more agile than the others but lacked the simple ease of movement that they had.

Two, on the other hand, wanted to be the best at everything. The sleek, dusty brown of his feathers always caught the light in such a way that he was the easiest to spot. He was almost the strongest, almost the best flier, almost the fastest, but somehow, also always the bluntest. His approach to everything was straightforward, single line thinking. He caught the boxes in the air and tore them up to get at the insides while still in flight, losing half the contents in doing so.

He was also the last to catch on that she wanted them to bring the boxes back intact before she rewarded them, often diving down to return her a fistful of planks and some nails. The Alsatian's tail wagged each time he did this, amused beyond reason. She named him Moon Diver. He was a special bird.

Bless his heart but he was trying at least. He often took just a little extra work while the other two were locked up in their pens, but it would be worth it in the end, she was sure of it.

Nightshade always watched her from his pen, one golden eye cracked as if he were paying more attention to her tutorage than even Moon. She often caught him staring at her, his gaze unwavering in its intensity. There was far more going on behind those gorgeous eyes of his than the stark black gryphon let on. She was sure of it.

---

Today was the moment of truth. Rika had spent months teaching the stubborn birds as best as she could, but eventually, all good theories had to be tested. In this case, there was only one way to go about testing her teachings.

She had to make the drop herself.

What reasonable precautions she could take, had been taken. She had donned a thin leather cover and goggles to protect her eyes from rushing wind. She had modified a vest with reinforced silk winglets beneath her arms. At best, she might be able to angle her fall in such a way that she struck the western ocean far below in such a way that impact didn't kill her instantly... She'd signed a last will and testament, in case this went really badly.

God's above how she hoped it didn't.

Walking through the pen, all three of the majestic gryphons cooed and chirped curiously at her new attire as she strolled confidently down the pathway leading to the edge.

All but Nightshade, anyway. He watched her with an expression that concerningly reminded her of an unamused dog watching it's master throwing a ball like they were a stupid, simple creature.

"Whatever you are planning is dumb, and you are going to regret it." The bird seemed to silently mock her, his head following the Alsatian as she strolled past.

For some reason, that look alone unsettled her more than even the prospect of throwing herself into the void.

She stopped on the threshold, her toes extending just beyond the metal lip of the airship. Clouds dotted the sky between her and the rolling blue waves far, far below.

She was no longer sure this was the best idea. Her heart was racing.

The ground seemed very, very far away.

Her vision seemed to stretch backwards as if recoiling in horror at her plan.

One... Two... Three. Gods above I hope one of them grabs me.

Turning confidently, she raised her fingers to her lips and gave the same sharp two-tone whistle that she had trained falcons and hawks with. It pieced even the wind that was rushing in around her with ease, a clear and pure note.

Three again heads snapped to look at her. The dog was grinning in the archway to the sky.

"Hey! Boys! Come and get me!"

And with that, she spread her arms out, and let gravity pull her backwards into its weightless embrace. For the first time in her life, she experienced freefall.

And it was terrifying.

She held her screams though, knowing full well the wind would have stolen them away before anyone heard regardless. Instead, she forced herself to open her eyes, spreading her arms out to right herself.

The action itself felt natural enough. She was no avian, but at the same time, she had spent her life around them, watching how they twisted and rolled, diving and swooping in the sky like acrobats, free and untethered from the world.

It was exhilarating. It was liberating. She let the wind catch on the small wings built into the vest, and felt her body be pulled about as she maneuvered on the wind, her tail fanned up behind her in the rushing air.

The ground seemed very, very far away, and this was okay. Even if she had failed in teaching those damned birds a single thing, she had minutes. Minutes of true freedom. The airship quickly grew distant, shrinking until she could cover it from her view with her outstretched paw.

She soared like her falcons had, hunting the distant prey far below. She could make out tiny specks in the ocean, fishing and trade ships with their sails unfurled. She twisted and spun, stretching her fingers out wide as her fur shook and ruffled in her dive.

Soon though, the ground was no longer that very far, far away, and looking back, the airship was a very, very distant speck in the sky.

Terror gripped her once more, and she frantically began to consider her options. The water was her safest bet. Attempting to come down closer to the shore meant if she survived the plunge, she might well strike the coastal shallows below. Even so, water was as hard as bricks at this velocity. She had to start moving less downwards, and more sideways. At least then, she might just break all her rips in an impact.

She flailed and suddenly was yanked around in an uncontrolled spin as a crosswind took her, making her see red from the turbulent motion.

Now, she did scream. She panicked. Her heart was beating a million miles an hour. Her stomach lurched as the waves below grew closer and closer by the second.

She was a damned fool, and was going to die like a damn-

A shadow swooped across her vision, and suddenly, sharp claws bit at her side. She gasped reflexively at the pain, but her fall arrested itself. She was yanked sideways once more as a massive pair of midnight black wings unfurled, snapping open with a sound like a thunder crack. Even louder was the triumphant screech of the gryphon as he banked away, gliding across thermals before he began to beat his wings, slowly but surely hauling her back into the sky and away from the looming surface.

"Haha! Good boy Nightshade! I swear, once we get back to the ship, you are getting the best reward ever!" Rika shouted with far too much enthusiasm, only to receive a soft, amused sounding chortle in response.

Of course, it was still a full five minutes before the Gryphon was back at the airship. He dropped her back on the deck in the stables, before landing heavily himself shaking briefly from his head to his tail. The raven-gryphon turned to her, looking expectantly for his reward.

Those golden eyes fixed her while she panted on her hands and knees, her crooked tail hanging down exhaustedly. The adrenaline was still passing, leaving her feeling acutely aware of just how cold she was, even wearing the thick jacket and vest.

The large puncture marks from Nightshade's claws were deep, and she quickly stripped off her top, rising and moving into the warmer back sections of the hold. The ship's internal heating helped counter much of the near-freezing temperatures outside at this altitude, and the lighting tubes gave her something to check herself for injuries under.

There was bruising as she quickly found as she peeled her top off, wincing as she lifted her arms above her head. A few small scratches, but those had scabbed over already. Nothing that wouldn't heal given a day or two. A beak nudged her from behind, Nightshade's big head weaselling in under her arm, the gryphon gently nuzzling her side with a quick, concerned chirp.

Rika rolled her eyes and gave his head a soft pet.

"Bah, it's fine. I'd be far worse if you hadn't caught me... Suppose I owe you one now, huh boy?" Rika cooed, her paw Idly stroking along the bird's jawline.

He shoved forward again, nudging her towards the bales of straw stacked in the corner, and relenting, she turned and sat on them, letting the Gryphon rest his head in her lap, cooing all too pleased with himself.

She continued her idle scratching, wrapping her arms around his head. Gods, he was absolutely massive compared to her old falcons. Even compared to her he was damned big. Easily he came to her shoulders at his own, and then almost another three feet with his neck and head raised.

And yet, here he was, cooing and audibly rumbling with happiness with his head in her lap. Rika shook her head and laughed. Such strange and unique creatures... There was nothing else quite like them in the world.

For such a powerful beast, the black-feathered gryphon, the leader of the little flock that was aboard, was a surprising softy. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright Nightshade, come on. I'm fine. You did well. Let's get you a treat, yeah?" She stood up to move but stopped when he moved first, and something warm and wet lashed across the exposed skin of her right nipple!

She let out an undignified squeak of surprise, and then a soft huff that was something else entirely as Nightshade let his tongue flick from the end of his beak, delicately pinching the flesh between the two halves of his jaw like a keeper picking diamonds with a pair of tweezers.

Those golden eyes were locked on hers expectantly, dominantly... Almost predatory, and quickly, she realised that the Alpha of the flock had already picked his treat.

She swallowed hard, biting her lip as the bird twisted her nipple in his beak's grip just a little, tweaking it between the sharp edges. Just enough to get a reaction out of her at least. A quiet hiss of pleasure slipped past her lips. She felt her body flush warmly, trying her best to glare at him, but unwilling to actually strike at him. He'd just saved her life at all, and she doubted even her claws would do more than tickle him if she did try. He wasn't hurting her, but even so...

She tried a different approach, testing a theory of her's in the process.

"You know I killed a man for less than this, right? You're not just a dumb bird, are you..." it was as much a question as an observation, and as Nightshade released his grip and took a step back, she could already see the answer gleaming mischievously in his eyes.

"Stop, please..." She asked him politely. To her surprise, he did at once, taking another step back, his head level with her own. Not held above her, not below. He was meeting her as an equal. She thought for a moment, crossing her arms across her chest to cover her perky tan furred breasts from the gryphon's sight.

"Two taps for no, one tap for yes. You understand me, don't you?"

He clacked a single talon against the floor. Honestly, she had hardly expected anything else after what she had seen of Nightshade over the last few weeks.

"You're far smarter than you let on to Scion or the other crew."

One tap. The damned bird looked like he was grinning with the raven beak of his. She friend something else.

"You understood me all along but otherwise chose not to do more than the bare minimum to get by until now."

A long pause. One tap, hesitantly.

"You only rescued me because you thought I had food on me."

Two taps. The Gryphon even shook his head side to side slightly to emphasize his rejection of that. She raised an eyebrow as if surprised.

"You sure about that?" She asked with just a hint of playfulness to her voice. With deliberate slowness, and while making sure she was watching, Nightshade raised a single talon, before thunking it hard onto the floor, leaving a round divot in the wood. That was an emphatic yes then.

"Okay then. Why did you grab me then? Was it because I feed you?"

Two taps, and something that sounded like an irritable huff.

"You wanted something from me?"

One tap, and a nod. She smirked.

"Show me then. Lead me to what you- Oof! Hey, watch i- Oh." She snapped as the gryphon shoved his beak against her paws covering her chest, and it took a few moments before it registered with her just what was going on. She'd read a bit on the creatures in the ship's expansive library, and honestly, it had been unsurprising that a ship made by dragons would have contained information on perhaps the only other species of creature that could even hope to hold a candle to their regal majesty in flight.

Most of it had been boring biology notes and field observations. Diets, habitats, behaviour, but one line stood out to her now. Gryphons courted one another while in flight. Could he have really-

She put both paws upon the bird's head, looking down into his eyes. Her question was direct and blunt. Nightshade didn't break their intense eye contact at all.

"You caught me because you thought the wingsuit meant I wanted to court you."

...Thunk.

Well, aren't you the fucking bold one?

"You realise that's not how any of that works with us two-leggers, right?" She told him after a few long moments and was answered again by a single tap on the floor.

Well... At least he was honest, but-

Wait, why is there a but? Why are you even for a second considering-

Rika quickly shut that part of her mind up. These creatures were a once in a lifetime opportunity, and maybe, if they were as smark as she now suspected, there was a significant shortcut to training them to do as she wanted. She'd be damned if she let anyone else get to train her flock.

"So what exactly is it you wanted from me?" Rika asked, cocking her hip out to one side, looking at the midnight black gryphon with a raised eyebrow.

He quickly turned and pranced a few steps away from her, displaying his majestic form to her in its full, preening and chirping in sweet birdsong for a few moments and he proudly showed himself off.

And he indeed was quite the specimen. He was strong, healthy, clean, no small thanks to her diligent grooming. His feathers glistened in the lamplight, and his fur on his back and hindquarters was smooth and sleek. She could see the outline of his well-defined muscles as he stretched, and caught the glint from his polished talons as they clawed at the floor.

And then she saw what he was really showing off to her.

Oh, males... She couldn't help the amused grin that shot across her face.

Of course, that was what he wanted. It made perfect sense. He was the alpha of the flock, and like any hormone-fueled male, he clearly had other needs that couldn't be met aboard the ship, or off it either, with how often they were travelling. The odds of him bumping into a female of his kind were simply outrageous.

The Gryphon's cock was obsidian black, much like his feathers, with a glossy, almost rubbery sheen to it. Surprisingly for her, he was honestly smaller than she had expected. Minding, of course, that smaller than expected still fell well within the range of 'That'll split you in half, dearest.' territory.

It was thick as her clenched fist and must have been an easy foot long, if not more. The base flared wide like a canine knot while the tip was sharp and tapered to a spade-like point, with smooth, yet bumpy ridges like rolling mountains along its length. She felt her canine nether's clench almost in anticipation at the mere sight of it, and couldn't deny the tingle of excitement and trepidation that chased along her spine.

She couldn't really, could she?

Oh yes. Yes, she definitely could fuck the bird if it meant she got to be the first and only lady in the world with a flock of completely loyal gryphons under her command.

"Alright, consider me swooned big charmer, but-" She pointed a commanding finger at Nightshade, who tilted his head to the side, watching her intently.

"If you want me, you have to earn it. No more of this defiance crap with me, got it? The rest of the crew, you can play as daft as you please, but with me, I say jump, I expect you to jump, got it? Think you can bring the other two into line as well?" She wasn't going to risk splitting herself in two if she didn't get exactly what she wanted out of the agreement as well.

Nightshade studied her for a moment, and under his scrutinous gaze, Rika realized just how anxious she was. She was practically shaking with it and excitement as well, eagerness, yet hesitation. Perhaps this was how a mouse felt beneath a hawk's claws moments before it struck.

A single tap echoed in the hold. Almost a little too formally, Nightwing lowered himself on his front legs into a bow. Those golden eyes never left her for a second.

"Alright... Good. Now, uh, how-" She didn't get a chance to finish asking how exactly the Gryphon planned on making this work. Evidently, he'd already reached his conclusions when it came to the physical part of their agreement!

Shoving her down against the hay bales, he pushed himself over her, forcing the canine to squirm and wriggle backwards against the soft, downy feathers of his chest. Her fingers curled into his pelt, a sharp contrast in texture to the rough straw beneath her. He smelt like a great beast ought, musky and masculine, a scent that made Rika immediately think of males in rut.

His cock itself was already hanging low across her torso, and without much in the way of hesitation, she reached out, letting her paw wrap around the obsidian girth. It was firm, like stroking along the flesh of a well-muscled reptile, and jumped at once in her hands as its owner gave a short buck forwards. A ribbon of preseed shot from his tip, coating her breasts with the stringy, sticky slime.

Experimentally, she played a finger through it, watching as it strung and clung to her fur like cobwebs after a morning dew. With a shrug, she brought it to her lips and licked her digit clean. Bitter and earthy, but strong as well, like an aged port. There was an almost out of place sweetness as well that she couldn't place, but that she found herself licking her finger again to get more of.

Nightshade clacked his beak loudly, startling her out of her momentary list haze as he grew impatient. Teasingly, she let her fingertips play across the long inches of his swollen shaft, leathery pads stroking smooth, sensitive flesh. Her own body was flush with undeniable arousal.

Of course, laying with quadruped beasts was a taboo in nearly every culture, save for the dragons, whose largest kin were said to have been produced from ancient, powerful bloodlines.

Well, she was certainly no dragoness or a gryphon hen, but nor did she have anything left anyone could hold over her. Engaging in the carnal acts with Nightshade had a wicked, perverse thrill that came with it. It made her body clench in anticipation, and her heartbeat a rapid waltz of excitement. It would be her greatest fuck you to the world. She'd command the most loyal gryphon flock all because she was willing to fuck the mighty creature.

Perhaps a little too willing, bit fuck what anyone else said. Right now, this was between her and Nightshade, and the only thing between them was her pants. She stripped the garment off hastily, leaving the large avian shuffling above her while she tossed the last of her clothes aside.

Her pussy was already soaked, and brushing her fingers over her swollen lips, she could feel the warmth radiating from her bare body, hotter even that the gryphons twitching spire. Even the cool of the outside wind seemed to fade away underneath the gryphon. She could see his chest moving with his breaths, loud huffs like a horse after running at a full gallop.

Up and down, up and down. One, two...

"Alright big boy... Gentle though... I'm not going to be much good of a lay if you break me on the first inch... Just let me start... Then maybe you can have your turn. Alright?" She spoke softly as if afraid anyone would overhear, even though she was the only person who had been down here since she started.

Above her, Nightshade shifted from side to side eagerly, and let out an affirmative squawk, one of his claws thunking heavily against the back wall. Yes.

"Okay, let me just..." Rika started, slowly shuffling towards the monster of a cock poised menacingly between her legs, until she was close enough to feel the warmth from it against her slick honeypot.

Carefully, she nudged the head down, bringing the spear of gryphon cock in line with the target of his lust. Her.

"Alright... you've got this Rika, just breathe... one thing at a time. Think of the gains, not the pain..." She said to herself, pulse pounding in her ears. It was right there! All it would take was a gentle shift of her hips, and she'd be fucking the great beast, tossing all taboo to the wind. That's all! Just a little shift and-

She bit her lip to bite back the moan that left her as Nightshade dipped his hips, deciding that his 'handler' was hesitating too long. The first three inches of his dark fleshed length were swallowed up by Rika's tightly clenching cunt, her grip strong enough to arrest his forward progress into her entirely.

Looking down, she could see the way even that small bit of length caused her puffy nether-lips to bulge outwards, pleasure and a sense of fullness threatening to overwhelm her all at once. It was such a sight, such a lewd and kinky sight. He was inside her! Oh, Gods, she was fucking a feral gryphon and-

She whimpered as her body clenched tighter still, slick, sticky canine cum coating those sweet inches that were already in her, a long squirt of feminine arousal jumping from her body to mess the mix of fur and down that was the gryphon's sheath. She came hard, her paws bunching into fists in his pelt like she needed to cling on for dear life, lest she found herself in freefall again!

"F-fuck... God's... ahh! Nightshade, fuck me!" She gasped, eyes shooting open long enough to see an almost grin cross the gryphon's beak. He gave a single, shrill cry of triumph, and pinned her to the hay bales by her shoulders with his fore talons, mounting her like a feral bitch.

Then he began to fuck her, just as she had asked.

Slowly as first, the Black Raven gryphon pulled back, before starting a long, slow, drawn out thrust that sank seven inches into her gaping snatch, a messy, wet squish accompanying each bit that he drove forward into her. It wasn't a spear thrust. It was like the slow roll of a wagon on a hillside, not hurried or rushed, but at the same time, absolutely unstoppable for her. Rika's groans and whimpers of ecstasy filled the den, whining like a needy pup as he filled her with gryphon cock and stretched her body like he would have a hen.

"Nghh~ Easy, easy boy..." she panted, gripping his foreleg tightly with one paw to steady herself, the other brushing across the visible bulge that had appeared in her otherwise tight and taut belly. God's but was it hot. She could feel him like a rod of glowing steel in her core, stretching her passage out as throbs of warmth splashed against the edges of her tight tunnel. She knew it was precum, but damn if it didn't feel like each throb spilled as much as a particularly virile male wolf would have cum! She could feel it dribbling from her cunt and down her ass onto the hay bales, cooling in her fur as it went.

She knew already she was going to be a well-fucked mess. She also knew that she didn't care. Any inhibitions she had were long since gone. Now, all that mattered was that she wanted more of Nightshade's beastly cock in her.

Rika started to rock against the Gryphon, cooing softly and petting along his fluffy neck while she rocked back onto his impaling girth. All at once, her body stretched as she slipped beyond his shaft's midriff, another two inches making him bottom out firmly against her cervix. She gasped at the sudden flood of sensation. It ached deep inside, but waves of pleasure overwhelmed her again, making her cry out to the ceiling.

When the world came back into focus, Nightshade's beak was down beside her head, nuzzling her firmly as he tried to rouse his briefly unconscious hen.

"Oooh.. oh, I'm okay, just... ahhh~ keep going." She moaned. He didn't need any further encouragement. His hips began to rock, slowly at first but quickly picked up speed and force. He sawed in and out of her sex with wet slaps, roughly ploughing his prick into her after barely a minute. Rika clenched her eyes shut, not even trying to hold back her cries and moans as she was rutted into the bales like a cheap whore.

A sloppy, off-white mix of gryphon precum and her canine feminine cum was spilling from her body with each bottoming thrust, her body already stretching to near its limits with the sheer girth of the virile male alone. He pushed down on her shoulders, holding the tan canine down into the hay as he buried his breeder deep, rutting her hard with his hindleg's talons crunching into the wooden floor, giving him all the steadiness he needed. Even if she wanted to, there was absolutely no way she could have slipped from his grasp now. She was committed to this path, and wherever it led.

She yelped as he sunk another inch into her, each thrust seeming to get her stretched lips closer and closer to the downy end of his sheathe, and the base of his prick that seemed as large as both her fists put together like a canine knot. Those she was familiar with at least, but this... This was like a dire wolf on all of the testosterone one could muster from an entire village of rowdy males.

"Unnf~ Nightshade, just fucking... Breed me already, you big godsdamned bird!" Rika huffed desperately between breaths, perhaps nearing the edges of the best orgasm of her life to date, but damned if this would be a first and last time! She clenched like a vice around him as his raven-black wings spread out above her, almost touching the ceiling as he beat them in time with his thrusts, the little extra force pushing her entirely over the edge. Hay and dust scattered against the wind he created, and her howls of climax were lost beneath the shrill, dominant cry he releases, head raised to the sky.

"F-fuck! In me you big beastie!" She felt the first throb as it raced along his cock, bulging out along the gryphon's length as it traced a path through her cock distended belly. His tip jumped against her cervix, mashed almost painfully against the last barrier, before, with her a mightly last thrust that scooted the entire bale of hay closer to the wall, that too was breached.

She gasped, utterly breathless as hot wetness absolutely flooded her womb, pouring as if from a faucet. One after another they came, as did Rika, watching and feeling her belly physically swelling from the sheer copiousness of Nightshade's orgasm. His seed found root in her belly, and the Alpha stud intended for her to receive every single drop he had to give.

She must have cum at least three separate times throughout the feral Gryphon's peak. Each time, her muscles seized and rippled, milking that wondrous bird breeder as he gave her exactly what she had told him to. By the time the flood had reduced to a trickle, her world was little more than a blur of colour and faint sounds, her head swimming in the post-orgasmic bliss that came with such a surge of endorphins.

He dismounted with a pleasured snort, dragging his cock from her stretched cunt with a messy pop, a venerable torrent of cum following in its wake to spill across the hay and the wooden floor.

It was all Rika could do to pant and wait for everything to stop spinning. She didn't even try to move beyond reaching down to feel how savagely, how primally she had been thoroughly fucked. She slipped three fingers into her sex and barely toughed the edges of her passage, her cunt contracting fruitlessly around her digits, but it was nothing compared to the gryphon. How the hell could she ever go back to fucking her own kind after an experience like that? It was like holding a candle to an inferno.

Slowly, groggily, she managed to push herself upright, watching as Nightshade curled himself to lay upon the floor, his foot and some spear slowly retreating back into the downy pouch of his sheath. How on earth had she managed to fit that to begin with?

How could she try and get more of it next time?

A dumb smile crossed the Alsatian's features as she marvelled at the sight of the gryphon before she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. The other two gryphons in the room had clearly taken notice, and were slowly walking towards Nightshade of their noisy fornication, their eyes going between the flock leader and his newly bred conquest.

They chirped and squawked curiously, back and forth rapidly as they approached. Looking between the white-feathered Snowdrift and the falcon-like Moondiver. Both of them were sporting proudly jutting erections beneath them. Nightshade gave her a side-eyed glance, something devilish in the raven-gryphon's expression.

She looked back to the other two males.

Well... Suppose why only have One when I can have Two and Three as well...

She shuffled back to brace herself against the bales as Snowdrift hauled himself up after her, mounting her just as Nightshade had. He slipped into her messy body after his Alpha, spearing deep on his first thrust and sending her right over the edge of bliss once again. He and Moon Diver would prove to just as big and rough as their flock master.

Gods, she knew she would be a mess before they decided they were done. She wouldn't have had it any other way.

Her orgasmic cries echoed into the void outside the den until the early hours of the next morning.

---

Suffice to say, Scion was suitably impressed. She had nearly half a year to settle aboard the High Fortune now and get down to training the Gryphons to be useful. Her time had been very well used, judging by the results of the dragon's investment in her freedom.

Indeed, Rika had been worth every single Draskar he had spent. She rode upon the back of One, swooping low over the deck with Two and Three following in their flock leader's wake. They banked and flew with grace and power, and came to a perfect landing upon the uppermost deck, talons clacking and tapping along the wooden surface as they arrested their momentum.

The Alsatian tossed her legs over One's back, sliding down his flank before she approached the red-scaled dragon who had paid for her freedom.

"Well. It seems you were quite successful, and far sooner than expected as well. Your skills have shown themselves. Perhaps soon I shall have to have you take an apprentice to ensure they aren't lost lest you fall from your new steed."

Rika just laughed, thumping her tan paw against One's flank.

"Oh, It would really have to be someone special. You'll be wanting to pay me a finder's fee as well now, on top of my retainer. I was thinking, two hundred Draskar each." She grinned with all the confidence in the world. Scion raised a single eye ridge.

"Oh? And praytell, what exactly is it you've found that warrants such a steep price?"

"Well, more Gryphons, naturally..." She said, opening her leather saddlebag to show off the three different coloured eggs resting inside.