FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Through frost coated grass we marched. Through slush filled puddles, we marched. Through wind so cold it seemed to claw at the exposed skin, we marched.

The motes of light seemed to dance as we followed them, as if urging us forward. Their bobbing and weaving in the air was like a taunt, mocking us for not having found our quarry yet. Twisting and turning through the trees, they guided us on, becoming sharper images in the air. The wisps slowly became less and less translucent, a sure sign we were closing in on our targeted prize. All the while, not another beast called out. No roars, cries, barks, yells; nothing at all. The only sound was the soft thuds of our boots in the snow. It was as if Whitefall itself was watching our journey.

The silence was disturbing. There was near everpresent sense of danger, as if a hundred unseen eyes were tracking our every movement. For all we knew, that could have been the case, too. The thick trees blocked out sight of anything not directly in front of us, so there was no telling what, if anything, was just around the corner.

From behind me came a soft whisper. "Cedric know if get close?"

"Yea," I told Pram. "Hopefully, it's not too much longer." I pointed out about the wisps being less translucent. "Whatever cast that fire spell earlier must be close by. It might've even cast a similar spell sometime recently, because these wisps are a lot brighter than usual."

"If whatever this is can use magic," Albert spoke up, "what's our best defense against it?"

"You brought some alchemy potions, right?"

He nodded and opened the sack at his hip, showing off a nice selection of vials and bottles filled with an assortment of colorful liquids. "I'd be an idiot not to," he boasted.

I almost wanted to use that as a jumping off point for a joke, but managed to keep it down. "Got any explosives?"

A devilish grin spread across his face. "Take your pick. I got smoke, spark, fire, and flash."

"Good. Those'll definitely be useful, I'm sure."

Up ahead, Vaughn called out in a whisper, but his harsh voice made it louder than he likely intended. "The magic seems to be pointing to that cave." He gestured further ahead of him, and I walked up to see what he meant.

The wisps of magic were leading us towards a hole in some rocks in between the trees. The ice and snow had piled up near the entrance, but the smooth stone was still noticeable even through it all. From my research, there were no known sightings of unicorns dwelling in caves. That being said, however, they were still animals like any other. In a place as cold as Whitefall, it was only a smart move for an animal to seek shelter away from the winds and ice.

Pulling my crossbow from the strap on my back, I gave a silent prayer to the Eternals and took a step forward.

Vaugh immediately shot ahead, a wordless reminder he was still the escort, and I the client. A long dagger had appeared in one of his hands, the other clenched tight into a fist, and he trodded to the mouth of the cave. The three of us followed after him, and I noticed Pram pulling one of her lure boxes from her bag, as well as Albert gripping onto several of his vials.

Slowly we approached the opening and peered inside. The cave went deeper than I had anticipated, as the magical wisps traveled down into inky black darkness, disappearing into the void therein. Narrowing my eyes, I picked up a loose stone and tossed it into the cave. The echoes of the rock bouncing and hitting the wall flowed out. No other sound came.

"Hm," I grumbled.

"Doesn't seem like a good idea," Albert mumbled.

"Maybe not," I sighed, "but this is our only lead so far."

Taking this as his cue, Vaughn stepped forth into the rocky hollow, his steps slow and sure as he went. For a moment, I watched as he slid up to one of the walls of the cave, as if ensuring nothing could catch him in the back. Eventually, his advance caused him to sink into the darkness, so I swiftly made my way after him. I could hear Pram and Albert coming in after me, and soon enough, we were all creeping deep into the inky black void, the light of the sun behind us growing dimmer and dimmer as we went along. As my eyes slowly adjusted to this lack of light, I could see the outline of our escort, having stopped his movement, now standing still against the wall.

Vaughn took notice of us and raised a hand, quietly gesturing us to stop before he then pointed past himself. Over that way, I could see the end of the cave, the back wall of the rocky interior. I could also make out a shape in the darkness. The shape was large and serpent-like, coiled around itself in a heap. Two arms which ended in clawed psuedo-hands were folded up underneath a head adorned with twin horns on either side of the skull. A long gator's muzzle stuck out in front, and though I couldn't see them, I just knew there were a set of razor sharp teeth inside. Of course, as luck would dictate, the motes of light ended their dance just above the beast's head, taunting us further with our failure to find the unicorn.

It took me a moment to gather my thoughts, trying to think where I'd heard of a creature that fit this description. When it dawned on me what it was, I felt a pit in my stomach. It was a linddorm, a lesser dragonkin. Unlike most of its cousins, a linddorm does not have any sort of special breath. Some people would think this made it less dangerous. That is, until they hear it can use magic. Now, obviously, some of the other dragonkin also can do the same, but linddorms are special in that their magical capabilities are not some piddly form of basic self defense, but rather it is on par with what one would expect of a guild-branded mage.

In short, if you ever see one in person, you better hope it doesn't see you.

The soft breathing and subtle rising and falling of its body meant it was asleep, and thankfully unaware of our presence. We just needed to back out of the cave slowly and quietly. I waved a hand behind me, silently telling Pram and Albert to go back, and I began to retrace my steps as I kept an eye trained on the beast, praying it stayed asleep. Vaughn slid his way backwards as well, also keeping sure to watch the linddorm as he moved. I wasn't sure what good he'd do against it with only a long dagger, but that was neither here nor there. We had to leave.

Light slowly filled spots at my feet, signaling we were coming back up to the mouth of the cave, when suddenly I bumped into Albert. Turning around, I whispered, asking him why he had stopped retreating, when I saw the reason why. There, standing at the entrance, one foot on the stones, was a drake. It was about the size of horse, with reddish brown scales covering its body, frightening looking claws adoring each of its feet, a maw with teeth made for tearing into flesh, and its giant slitted yellow eyes which were currently looking rather hungrily at us.

"Well, shit," I breathed out.

The drake heaved upwards and let out a loud roar, and at once it was answered by the warbling cry of the linddorm behind us. Immediately, I bolted to the side as the linddorm slithered up, ready to greet the drake in a battle for control of the territory, or perhaps for the right to eat us. Regardless of its intentions, the linddorm's long serpentine body made its escape from the cave, and the drake bounced back from its superior cousin. Without hesitation, the linddorm's hand began to gather energy around it before shooting out a small needle of white light towards the drake, but missed by barely an inch, the needle sticking into a tree and scorching a large section of the bark black almost instantly. Some kind of lightning spell, if I had to hazard a guess.

In response, the drake's throat began to throb, gathering the explosive powder inside its body before erupting a belch of flame directly at the linddorm's face. The serpent dragonkin swiftly weaved its entire upper body away from the fire and set forth another white needle, this time landing its target, hitting the drake in one of its forelegs. Scales burst off the limb, exposing the skin beneath, now charred and burned by the intense heat of the lightning. A pained yet furious howl left the drake's throat and it launched itself at the linddorm.

A small furry hand grabbed on of my own and pulled at me. Pram was trying to get me to move, get us out of the cave and away from the quarreling monsters. She pulled me along as we dashed past the dragonkins and into the trees, where Albert and Vaughn were waiting.

Albert greeted me with a frown. "What's wrong with you? Why did you just stand around watching them?"

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"As soon as the linddorm and drake started fighting, the three of us got away," Vaughn answered. "Figured you'd do the same, so when you weren't with us, the little vixen here went back for you."

The blacksmith slapped at my side before scolding me, "Cedric stupid man. Why he stay still when monsters fight? Why no run?"

Shrugging, I said with only the barest minimum of shame, "I guess I just got so caught up in things. Never seen a linddorm in person before."

Albert's eyes went into slits as he spat out, "Yea, and if you stayed put, you'd have seen what the inside of their stomach looks like, too."

"Yea, well..." I couldn't find a good comeback to that, so I just let out a heavy sigh, letting my thoughts unwind from the experience. In the distance, the sounds of the drake and linddorm fighting continued. Roars and nashes of teeth, whines of pain, the loud pop when a lightning spell hit something; all of them echoed from just out of sight. When I felt like the air around us had cooled a bit, I looked at my little blacksmith friend and said, "Thanks for getting me out."

She waved me off almost dismissively. "Pram just do what good friend do. Tiny kobar not easy spot in middle of beast brawl."

With a small laugh, I responded, "Honestly a bit surprised you didn't try to shoot one of them with your blasting rod."

"Pram not have death wish," she revealed.

Vaughn cut in. "Alright, enough of this. I suggest we get a move on. Not a good idea to stand still for too long."

We didn't have any particular destination in mind, simply anywhere away from the two fighting dragonkin, who only seemed to grow louder in their struggles against one another. But then, suddenly and without warning, the sounds of their scuffle cut out entirely. It was as if they had vanished. The eerie silence crept back in, and I got a sudden chill up my spine.

Albert was the first to make note of this absence of noise aloud. "What do you think happened?"

"Maybe check see?" Pram offered.

A lump formed in my throat and I had difficulty swallowing it down. Something had happened just out of our sight, something that put an end to the dragonkins fight. Would it be a good idea to actually risk ourselves just to investigate? I didn't have to make a choice, as the kobar smith picked herself up and scurried over to use a bush as cover as she peeked out to our previous location. I heard a very audible gasp, and I found myself buried in the bush with her, looking at what forced such a reaction from her.

There it was.

The unicorn.

Just as Laiu's informer had told it. A golden mane, sleek silver fur, a spiraling horn. Small sparks of blue-white light were emitting off that horn, a sign it had used magic of its own. In two heaps were the now dead dragonkins, their scales and skin blackened from heat; either fire or lightning magic, I knew not which. The unicorn was gorging itself on their corpses, sharp teeth tearing into the bodies and ripping out chunks of flesh. The juxtaposition of such a beautiful creature acting in such a gruesome manner was not lost on me.

Albert and Vaughn appeared at my sides, and both had similar reactions as Pram and I. Someone nudged me, and I instictively raised my crossbow and took aim at my prized catch. I wouldn't get a better shot than now. It was out in the open, unguarded, eating like a pig and wholly unaware of us. Putting a hand on the trigger, I pulled, and watched as the bolt flew towards the unicorn's chest, my aim for a heart strike.

The missile landed deep with a loud and disgusting sound as it entered the blood soaked silver fur. The beast gave a high pitched, piercing wail of pain as it thrashed and bucked, then it sprinted off to the...west, I determined after a quick look at the sky overhead. Without even thinking, I took off after it. A trail of blood was the obvious sign of where I was now going, and I spanned my crossbow and loaded a second bolt as I gave chase. The unicorn did not go quietly, its hooves pounding as it ran, its yells loud and painful, completely giving in to the fear of death.

Eventually, I happened to spy the beast near a small stream, its form lurched onto one side as it heaved, the breaths not fully filling its lungs. I had missed the heart, it seemed, but a lung shot was still a decent kill, if a little more messy. My boots pulled me forward almost completely on their own, and I took aim for a second shot, this time a perfect clean shot. The creature looked up at me with its golden yellow eyes and then closed slowly, as if it had just...accepted what was to come. The noise of my friends and our escort heading my way sounded off the trees as the thundercrack of my crossbow's shot resounded.

No more movement. No more breathing. Nothing. It was dead.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned to see Vaughn giving me a grin full of teeth. "Congrats, hunter," he exclaimed.

I didn't answer him.

Albert was next, and he punched my arm affectionately. "Great job." He sounded far away.

I gave no response to him, either.

Pram said something, but I just didn't hear her. It was like I was underwater, her words muffled, though I knew she was just there before me.

I had killed a unicorn, a living legend of a beast.

~~~

"...dric! Hey, Cedric!" Albert was shaking me, and my eyes focused onto him. He looked worried. "Everything ok?"

"What? Yea, yea, I'm fine." I shooed him off me. "...why?"

"You've been quiet ever since we found you with the unicorn." The worry in his eyes never faded. "What's wrong?"

We had gotten back to our drop off point with the spoils of our victory. The hide of the beast, its heart, and most important of all, it's magical horn. Those, along with some choice organs for Albert's alchemy experiments, were all we took back with us. The sun was dropping from its high position in the sky. It appeared that our hunting hadn't taken as long as I assumed. Now we were just waiting for Zell's airship to come back.

I could feel a pair of eyes on my back, and I knew Pram was nearby, listening in on our conversation. Vaughn, meanwhile, was a small ways away from us, carving a piece of wood with his dagger. Eventually, Zell would be back, and we'd be home in Zantile, but for now we were stuck there with nothing to do but pass the time.

Looking up at the sky, I let out a breath before answering him. I knew what the problem was, of course. It was a simple answer.

"It felt too easy."

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"I had heard so many stories and read so many tales about unicorns, about how they're these elusive, mysterious creatures no one sees for more than a few moments, and only the best of the best of the absolute best have ever been able to claim a successful hunt over one." My eyes drifted over to the bag we had placed the horn inside. "This feels cheap. Like it wasn't earned."

One of Albert's eyebrows raised up. "We came here to kill a unicorn. You did exactly that. I don't understand the issue."

Grunting, I replied, "No. Of course you don't."

"Then explain," he pleaded.

Sighing, I gave the easiest explanation possible. "I'm a hunter," I said. "This is my life. I go out and I hunt, either for the good of our home, for money, or because I just damn well feel like. Do you know how many things I've hunted that almost killed me? More than I can count. And yet, here I am, despite it all. And this," I gestured around us, "this was supposed to be the granddaddy of all hunts. A living myth. And instead of being satisifed with it, I'm pissed. It makes me feel like this was all just a waste, if maybe all those stories and legends were just bullshit. This was too easy."

He grumbled something I couldn't quite hear then, probably swearing under his breath. "You went into Whitefall, and you walked out in one piece," he shot out. "Not many people can say that. That alone should do something for you. You even got to see a farsian hound and a linddorm. And lived. How is this not good enough?"

"Like I said, I'd heard so many stories. Stories of amazing hunters far beyond me who pulled off feats I could only dream of. And if I, some dumbass from Astril, could manage this, what does that say about all of them?"

He shrugged. "Sounds to me like you're just better than you thought you were."

Shaking my head, I sighed again. "You just don't get it."

~~~

On my mantle rested the horn, placed on a small rack to show off to any who entered me home. I still felt dissatisfied with the whole ordeal, but at least I was home and could rest. Once we touched back down in Zantile, Vaughn waved us goodbye and departed the town for greener pastures. Or heavier bags of sol. Whichever works for a guy like him. Albert still questioned me about my feelings, but backed off when we got home. Mainly because a certain sweets shop owner was waiting for him. Pram thanked me for letting her come along and made her way back to her own home, where Dura was likely waiting to hear all about the trip while the two of them worked in the forge.

All in all, the trip wasn't a complete waste of time. I did manage to do something not many hunters can lay claim to, even if the outcome wasn't to my liking. That was certainly bragging rights of its own, and believe you me, I would be boasting about this on my next binge at the tavern. After a good few cups of some strong drink, of course.