FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It had come more suddenly than the usual shift from summer to autumn. The trees had been waning from green to beautiful oranges and reds, only for a surge to have overtaken the town and its surroundings.

A purple gloom hung in the air, eerie orange lights dancing as the last hint of greenery was snuffed out in a blink. Bright red eyes stared from the woods and sudden carved pumpkins had arrived beside every wall, road and signpost on the roads between.

As afternoon became evening a silhouette formed, a dark tower buried in the heart of the forest. The towering structure was adorned with clouds of bats that ranged around ceaselessly, flapping without pause. Its shadow cast long over the mystified town.

Talk of dangers, of howling wolves, of monsters roaming the night were spread to keep the impetuous youth from beyond the town's walls, yet no sooner had the tales been spread than the lie was turned true.

Desperate for peace, the town sent out petitions to the local lords, yet their fanciful stories were scoffed and dismissed as festive phobias or simple pleas for attention. That left them with two choices, to risk life and limb themselves or to turn to adventurers to help investigate the tower, the potential source of all their woes, and see if the problem could be handled before any of the townsfolk came to harm.

The wolf Berkut had been passing through, guided by the well lit signs. He honestly thought the town had simply been advertising its festive presence. It wasn't until he heard the very sincere requests, coupled with a more than simply generous payout, that he took their words seriously.

He advanced on the forest, wearing simple leather armour and a shortsword and shield to protect himself.

As he left the path and entered the wood he was almost immediately attacked by shadows with red eyes, literal forms of misty darkness that his sword cut through without feeling any impact, yet the creatures recoiled as if hurt. When they leapt, he felt them clang on the shield, nearly sending him reeling.

He focused on his defence, blocking and protecting himself until he could swing again. It was tense at first yet the creatures seemed easily deterred by a few swings, running back in between the trees, keeping an ever present watch over the heroic figure.

Berkut's passage was marked by shadows leaping out, taking different forms, some bipedal, some bestial, growling and snapping. Still some even looked humanoid like the wolf and even shadowy skeletons blocked his path.

Any blow that made it past his shield seemed to be stopped by his armour, knocking him around, yet not even bruising him. As such he carved a path toward the tower, his confidence growing. Perhaps there was some enchantment that had made it a problem to the village, something tied to fear. He didn't fear a single thing he came across, especially with how weak it all seemed.

Still, the tower was nearly in view, cut off by a chasm in the woods, with a rickety rope bridge connecting near the steps.

As he neared the bridge he heard a shrill cackling from above, a pointed shape revealed to be a woman on a broomstick, a red panda, dressed in a stereotypical halloween manner, with purple dress, a drooping black hat, and striped orange and black stockings above long pointed shoes.

"So, finally a brave fool has come to do battle? Come to see what this wicked witch plans to do? To think, my spell to cast this town into eternal halloween was almost ready!" She said in melodramatic shock as she turned to the wolf, sizing him up and then quirking a brow. "Oh my, is that a real sword? Proper armour? You must be rich to afford such a fancy costume."

"Costume? You must be mad, witch, I am here to fight you. Your terrorising presence will end by my blade." Berkut blustered back, pointing the weapon at her.

Something about the red panda changed as she leaned forward, picking up a small stone and flicking it at the blade. It pinged off, proving it to be real.

"I wait here for a whole week, without any of them even daring to set foot beyond the paths and the first one who does is a real adventurer? I'll need to adapt my approach." She mused, stepping back and forth. "How would you like to be a messenger?"

Berkut was taken aback, everything else had attacked by now, and if this witch was the mastermind, he couldn't hesitate. "I'm not here to gossip about the townsfolk, I'm here to finish a quest!" He declared.

"Ugh, you are a serious one. If my beasts had been flesh and blood, how many would you have injured? No, don't answer, I can tell you'd have fought seriously." She said with a sigh. "I'm not interested in an actual fight. I'd barely be able to get any entertainment out of someone like you." She said, "Turn around, leave this place and tell the townsfolk that this curse will only be lifted should they come themselves."

"Never!" Berkut said, striding forward, shield at the ready and making a downward swipe with his blade.

The witch stood her ground up until he swung his sword, simply leaning back out of the way. "Fine, since you only need the power in my little finger to defeat, why not fight a shadow of myself?" As she said the words her shadow seemed to darken, with a shape mimicking her form stepping out. Berkut was still unsure how to handle a foe turning their back on him but he'd made his intent to fight clear and advanced on the mage. An invisible barrier made him jump as his momentum was halted inches away from her. She turned at the audible clang of metal and smirked. "Silly, you can't run away from a boss fight till you've won." She said, pointing to the shadowy clone. "Now, I'd better prepare something else, try to at least entertain my spectre, won't you?"

"Get back here! I'm not done with you!"

"Nor I with you." The witch said ominously, unamused as she sat on the broomstick once more, zipping at speed to rise in the air, then floating in place.

The shadow of the red panda had a shadow-broom, which she swept in mockery of Berkut's swing. He brought his shield up only to reel in surprise at the sheer force. This one was unlike the rest of the beasts he'd met on the way here!

The cackling laugh with which the witch had introduced herself earlier echoed in a distorted and twisted way from the shadow. With some space cleared between her and the wolf she raised her hand, summoning a trio of orange pumpkins with flaming candles in their mouths. Her finger pointed and they flew toward him.

His shield saw to one, the impact making a squelching splat as it hit the metal board. His sword sliced through another, severing the wick in the process. With the third missing, seemingly landing behind him in case he'd tried to dodge, he thought he'd handled the attack well. That confidence stayed until the sticky mess the pumpkins made reached the burning wicks of the candles and ignited the entire mass. An explosive force from behind and from the coating on his shield sent him flying forwards landing on his front. Worse still was how hot the clinging flames made the shield. "Ah! Aaaah!" He gasped, releasing his grip and shaking it off, half expecting to see fire on his arm, yet as soon as it was dropped he was freed from the oppressive temperature, unburnt so far.

The flame burned on, engulfing the shield and ground, bringing him just to his sword.

By the time he'd picked himself up again, the shadow-witch had a fresh pair of pumpkins over each hand, blue and shimmering. She threw them before he had much time to respond, doing the first thing he could think of, using the sword to cut where the wick would have been. The pumpkins burst like water balloons, shooting out an icy spray that solidified and crystalised on the ground and against Berkut's armour, chilling the few errant patches of his fur that it had struck. He shook the ice off as best he could, advancing carefully, yet still slipping as if he'd moved at a run, sliding onward until he hit that invisible barrier once more, falling onto his back as a result.

"Stop this and fight properly!" He demanded, sword point skittering on the frozen soil as he tried to use it to stand. The ground was simply too slippery, iced over and useless.

"Already down are you? Even just a fragment of my might and it's beaten you in three attacks." The real panda called from above with a sigh.

"I'm not beaten yet!" Berkut yelled.

"Yeah, that's because the third attack didn't land yet." She said, pointing to his foe.

The shadow had raised both its hands up, floating off the ground, wind billowing as a giant green pumpkin formed, twice the size of the red panda. Urgently, Berkut tried to move away, limbs slipping without purchase as her hands dropped and the green mass came crashing down. The pumpkin's carved open mouth was big enough to fit the wolf inside.

It let out a louder squelch than expected, heavy and thick green goo impacting over Berkut, burying him totally underneath from the impact before that mouth shut, scooping over his shoulders and underneath him, pulling him up on the tide of springy softness.

"What is thigh- ghhk!" The goo pulsed and rolled all over and around him, sticking to his body, filling his mouth with a sugary sweetness. As if the goo itself were some kind of living candy?!

He was churned around within it, feeling the sweet and sticky mass gumming up his limbs, clamping them to each other, trapping him securely and soundly within.

The green pumpkin righted itself, rolling to and fro as it moved to a stand, mouth cracking to that half open grin once more. Within the smile an eye and a pointed nose were the only things not coated in the slightly translucent green jelly. Berkut's arms tried to squirm and fight free, yet suspended as he was, he didn't find anything he could squash against.

The shadow of the panda let out the cackle once more before bowing low and vanishing into the ground. He'd been defeated.

"Let this be a lesson to you, and a warning to them all. Should they send more adventurers I won't hesitate to actually defend myself." As she said that a red crackle of lightning glittered in the air before transforming into an iron spike that slammed into Berkut's fallen shield, shattering it outright as a demonstration. There was nothing Halloween themed about that, no joke or fun premise, instead a simple threat of lethality. She let the silence drift before calling with a smile in her voice. "But I'm sure it won't come to that. This calamity is for the townsfolk to solve, not outsiders. Make sure they know that they have until the end of the month to make their attempts, otherwise this night of mayhem and mischief will last forever!"

"Mmmh?!" A shining magical hand formed above Berkut, large enough to handle the pumpkin. It lifted him off the floor and then shot over the forest at speed!

The townspeople were confused when they found the adventurer they'd hired mired in sticky candy shaped like a house-sized pumpkin. He blushed, glowing in embarrassment at his humiliating defeat and predicament. The witch's terms were fresh on his mind, but it looked like he'd have to wait for the townsfolk to finish pulling him free before he could pass them on...