FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

(This is chapter 17, due to an issue I'm having with arranging the chapters because there are so many I'm unable to place this where it should be. If anyone knows how to fix it let me know. It gives me a scroll bar to go through the chapters, but when I try to use or scroll on it the box closes again. I think it may be a coding issue.)

Sithen stretched slowly and carefully to work his muscles and limber them up as he bathed the last taste of deer from his muzzle. It had been a good kill and an easy one. How long had his kind been gone from the world that the creatures no longer kept one ear to the sky? The pair of does had made for a full stomach, though not overly full. He couldn't remember the last time he had ate until he couldn't keep his eyes open and slept for days on end. For a moment he felt wistful for his days in the mountain and a place where time didn't gnaw and snap at his heels in a constant pressure for him to keep moving. There would be time enough for that later and if there was no later, he would be beyond any worries. The tugging at his mind had grown increasingly annoying, it was a hum and buzz that wouldn't leave him alone even when he tried to enjoy what little peace he had found. His connection to Baen had frayed slightly from his enforced distancing, but it was still there deep enough he couldn't entirely block it out.

He glanced down at the cracked bones and blood streaked grass with a bit of longing. He should hunt more to truly fill himself, but if the damned creature kept chattering in his mind there was likely a reason. He spread his wings and gave them a few experimental beats to feel the heavy air stirring beneath them before leaping up back into the skies. His muscles sang and stretched with good health. The long flights and his time in the air had chased away even the smallest hint of a life spent mostly in his lair. He wouldn't age as other creatures did, he would never know the pain and infirmities of the insects that infested the world. He would grow larger and more powerful, he would choose his own time of passing as long as he was not met with a mortal blow. No dragon would die like the creatures that shook and trembled, no he would be at the height of his power when he felt ready. Only then would he set his wings to sky and tear high into the clouds before summoning the lightening that would stop his heart.

The drake spared a contemptuous thought for the over populated humans that clung to life even when it was near to gone. They held to it as if it were a jewel that could be treasured if only they never let it slip from their fingers. He knew better than that. Life was a gift, but it was what was beyond it that he thirsted for. The silence of death wasn't darkness, it was knowledge and power. No dragon was so selfish and conceded to deny himself that last taste of what was beyond this life. How else could the young find territories of their own? How else could one touch that knowledge that eluded the living? A knowledge that went beyond mere magic and entered into a near divine state. There came a time in any dragon's life that he felt the tug of boredom and weariness with the way the living behaved. It wasn't a time of mourning or denial of what was to be, it was a celebration of life and rebirth. That humans failed to grasp that only made them more animalistic in Sithen's mind.

For a moment he felt a pang of regret. He had been denied that. Denied the chance to dance with the lightning and allow it to slide over his scales to strike his heart. The glorious play of electricity that erupted through the mind to pass between the veils of the worlds was denied to him. He had no jubilant fliers to surround him and bugle their songs of triumph, no children that would take each point to let the lightning strike themselves. One day he would see the skies fill with his kind again, he would dance and chase lightning with his children and children's children. They would join him to take that spark that was him and feel it illuminating their bodies before he faded away. He refused to allow any other course come to light. He swept the wind beneath him as he allowed his mind to drift to the eggs that would hatch out fresh young lives like his own daughter. And a world soon to have its rightful overseers replaced in the skies again.

Those thoughts made the trip shorter in his own mind, but the eagerness and pleasure he got from them were washed away as he flew over the encampment. There were signs that in the days he had spent with the other party they had stayed in once place. The ground was churned up into mud, beasts were picketed out near large tents and the small village. Men and women both came and went along paths that had been trampled down. By now they should have entered the bounds of the city and this is what they were doing? Taking their ease at a village beside the river? He circle and his eyes started to spin in violent colors that sparked orange and yellow both. How dare they sit here and wallow in comfort! Had Baen taken his own small changes to mean he stood on equal ground with the dragon? His nostrils flared slightly and his tongue flickered out into the air, he would put an end to this!

:BAEN!: He broadcasted the name with all of his anger and volume he could muster while at the same time roaring out until a spark of electricity flickered on his tongue. :BAEN! SHOW YOURSELF!:

He threw his wings back and plummeted out of the skies as he watched the humans scatter and point at his form. Not all of them were the swarthy dark ones he had led here, others were paler and taller than his humans. These ones went tearing away into houses and barns before he even brought his wings up to land. His claws tore into the earth as he curled his lips back to show his teeth. Had they only come here to find a more amenable place to settle? He felt the clamor of Baen's thoughts in his mind, the man was close. Yet with the clamor came an unwilling knowledge of what had stopped them here. The pale tall people were joining them, they had stopped to armor themselves and prepare to abandon the boats. He bristled at the fuzzy thoughts of the small mammal and swung his head towards a door just as the human he wanted came out.

"Great lord, you have been gone for days, we rejoice at seeing you once again come to us." The thoughts and the words both carried the meaning, but with his mind so close to the humans he tasted the feelings of rebuke. This..this creature rebuked him? This little spark that would barely make a ripple in the world would dare question him?

:Did you think I was your war dog? Your horse? Did you think I would shadow your crawling mud covered army when the skies are mine?: He spat the words out as a flicker of lightening chased against his lips. :You who stand back have not seen what I have, I have traveled from your other group of crawlers and near to the city itself.:

"Swift one, you are no dog or horse, you are Sithen. We had to stop to prepare ourselves. We are so close to our goal we must reunite with our other people to make plans, we must form our attack carefully if we are to succeed." The voice quivered slightly and the drake snorted. At least the human hadn't forgotten all fear.

:Why did you request my presence?: He allowed himself to be mollified as he settled on his haunches and watched the pale new humans peering from windows fearfully.

"Armored lord, lightning-chaser, swift claw, we call you to protect you.." The words were scarce out of Baen's mouth before the drake let out a rumble of laughter.

:Protect me? Me?! Do not fool yourself, little man, I was dancing when this world was new and I shall be dancing when it ends. Protect me.: The last of his anger was chased away in amusement and he allowed his wings to fold down against his sides.

"You are vulnerable to arrows and spears, great one." Baen tilted his head up and Sithen felt a sharp pang as he saw the swirling draconic eye, not only that but the subtle tapering of the ears against the warriors queue.

:Not on the day of my reckoning. No spear shall touch me, no arrow will strike true. As well they should fire into the storm then to fire at me.: He watched the pale humans as he settled down on his stomach. He didn't relax, he was watching as the words and thoughts of the human brushed over him. They were clearer, more defined, the man was thinking beyond the jumble of emotions that he let lead him.

"If you are lost, we are all lost, storm-lord." Baen gestured and barked out an order towards the barn half way across the square. "We are many, but you are only one. We would gift you with what protection we can to ensure that you fly without fear of the hail of arrows and spears that rise up to meet you."

:You grow silver tongued, human.: The dragon tilted his head to one side, the flow of words and thoughts about his greatness a sweet balm upon his spirit. :Let us see this protection, then.:

Once, long ago, before humans had learned their spears and arrows. Even before they had learned to sail the seas his kind and all dragon kind had amused themselves with mankind. They had visited those that walked the beaten roads alone or sailed the seas. Sometimes they would visit to provide riddles to set would be heroes on quests. Sometimes they would offer an answer inside of a trick. It had been amusing for all of them, but it had also been flattering. Some few had been well trained enough to speak with silver tongues that gave forth praise and admiration. The bards had sung in true clear voices that were bright and sweet as chiming bells of the dragon's greatness. He had been young when they had started those games, it had been a time that had been measured in only a few brief decades before the humans waged war upon them. It was strangely soothing to hear that one still remembered the old ways, even if he only recognized them as new to himself.

"We worked hard with our allies to create this." Baen watched as the barn doors swung open and Sithen flicked his tail despite himself.

For all intents and purposes it looked as if they hauled out nothing but a clattering of metal piled high on a cart. He snorted at it and watched as they pulled the pieces out one at a time to lay on the ground. They were hammered bronze, pounded and formed into thin sheets that were padded over by something rough and thick. Dried corn cobs, the knowledge leaked from Baen. The metal was thick enough to stop an arrow or spear at a distance, the padding was meant to stop it from bruising or shocking him. He pushed himself up and three humans scattered back as he flipped over one of the pieces with a fore paw. The hammered metal had been etched and carved in strange patterns. He moved his head to the side as his pupil spread wide and then pinned down. They were elongated dragons twined one over another in a continuous circle. The largest portion of the armor was as broad as his chest and held a large snarling head of a dragon, one that seemed modeled after him.

:What is this?: He rumbled and considered the likeness. No it didn't look like him, he had a far more broad forehead and more noble features. His fangs were sharper and more terrifying then this carving.

"Armor." Baen moved to his left side and the drake nearly snarled when a hand rested against his foreleg. "We worked to make it light, but strong. It will protect you as long as you are flying high, it will hinder arrows from striking a mortal blow if you are low."

Sithen tightened his wings against his side as the touch of the human on his foreleg strengthened the bond. It clung between them and he felt the meaning beneath those words. No, not just meaning, there was emotion. The fear and rage at seeing the bleeding drake crashing into the water, not against him. No, not against the dragon for failing him, but those that had harmed him. The human who had searched the skies each day for him only to be rewarded by birds until he had commanded that they take precautions. There was more than that as well. It was as if he were peeling away the skin from a carcass. The human cared for him. It wasn't the deep soul carved affection of a dragon for his mate or a mother to her hatchlings, it was an affinity and bond with a fellow warrior. Is that what this human saw him as?

He lidded his eyes a little bit as he explored the bond carefully, his touch careful not to reveal himself. They weren't joined by his own rough affection and physical presence with the human, but there was a sameness. This creature had thought he was the last of his kind, the last warrior willing to battle for his freedom. He was the last of his kind willing to kill any and all in his way to free the last female. Baen was old enough to be wise and careful of how he waged his war and Sithen knew those feelings well. They both held something dear and balanced it with wisdom and cunning. He felt a shared eagerness to go into battle, an end to this waiting and feel the enemy fall before sword and talon. He rumbled low in his throat and turned his head until one large eye focused upon the two legged creature. The warrior was barely a spark in a fire, he would only live a few years past his victory, yet that would not stop him. It almost made him noble to the dragon's way of thinking.

:Then I shall wear it, Baen. Let us see how far and fast I can fly with this on.: For the first time he sent a pulse of emotion along their bond. It wasn't love or even friendship, a recognition of two old warriors who were about to do battle. Baen's lips curled up and the draconic eye spun with hints of fiery gold and red before nodding. In that moment the bond tightened until it sang with a single emotion. The fierce joy of what was to come.

++++

:Foolish girl! Foolish hatchling! Get up damn you! Face them down!: The Voice rattled her mind until Lashane let out a muted whine as the contraction rolled through her.

:I..can't..: She sent the words along the tightly constrained link. Her body was aching with the forced labor. :Want..me to just snarl and they'll..run..:

:You risk everything! Could you not even shield yourself!: The Voice all but raged around her, she could feel the emotions battering along her mind, but it didn't matter the pain was all that mattered. :Foolish creature!:

"My my, what a Charmer we have here." The voice made her flinch and she stumbled up her feet briefly before dropping down again with the tightening of her egg chamber that contracted the muscles. "Why couldn't you just have taken our deal? Or is it all just a lie?"

The dragoness rolled her eyes up and in the darkness of the strange stall she saw the form against the wall. The two legged form with eyes that flashed back and forth nervously as the hands rubbed down his robe. Mihall was as far away from her as he could get and still be in the same room. He was close to the door and seemed ready to run at any moment. Did he truly believe that she could kill him? She wished she could. She wished she could do anything to escape this situation, but the only thing she could do was snarl at him. Her lips peeled back and she watched him take a step back before drawing in a breath and throwing up the shield she hadn't been able to create to save herself. It was a slap in the face for her, but the pain rocked through her again and she pushed back into the corner as far away from him as she could get. Why wouldn't he leave?

:He's here for your eggs, of course, you damned foolish girl.: The Voice snapped out trying to goad her, :You had better decide what you are and soon. No dragon would tolerate this and no human would have allowed herself to go unshielded. Straddle this fence any longer and you won't be either, you'll be the animal they accuse you of.:

:Leave me be!: Her voice wailed out as she crouched down and her jaws parted to breath shallowly. Her entire stomach was starting to tense up and she could feel the shifting of the eggs inside of her along her stomach. The Voice only gave a short laugh before fading away from her mind leaving her with her own troubles. That of the coming eggs and the Mage that watched her with veiled threat and disgust.

Lashane tried to concentrate her mind on one problem at a time. The first was the most pressing, the eggs were coming. She glared at the mane and let out a hiss before she turned her shoulder on him. She could at least take comfort in the fact that she wasn't going to find herself killed until she'd laid them. The moment she moved she felt the tightening of her egg chamber as the eggs were shifted into position. She spread her jaws and let out a muted cry of pain. She could feel the eggs as they pushed and moved inside of her. They felt hard and as they wedged against her cervix she could almost feel the chill radiating from them. They were smaller at least then the ones she had laid before or even the cannon balls she had been forced to push out as well as have put into her. She tensed up and her body pushed down so that she felt something hard and curved shove right against her cervix.

Her own muscles clenched down to push the cervix outwards so that it started to bow and expose the tight channel that guarded her egg chamber. She lowered her upper body further as her jaws spread open wide to reveal her tongue as she pushed again and couldn't stop the groan that spilled free. She wanted to not push, she didn't want them to leave her, she didn't want to feel them sliding through her passage, but she was so close that she could see her own vent growing slick. She couldn't stop herself from clenching and rolling her muscles around the ovoid until it started to peel back the ring of snug muscle. It was a slow stretching, at first it simply felt like pressure and then it started to burn as the muscles were contorted and finally pain flashed through her as the muscles formed a seal around the hard shell. Perhaps had she been given time it wouldn't have made her feel such pain, but as it was her only relief was in the chill that seemed to come from the shell.

"Answer me, Charmer, are you really a mage? What mage would be brought to this when given a choice of escape." The scorn was a blow that made her rear her head back and glare at Mihall. The sound of his voice made her chest heat up with rage. How dare he? How dare he stand there and judge... The thought was broken off as her walls closed down again.

Her claws tried to find purchase against the boards beneath her and peeled back long curls of the wood so she could brace herself as the egg pushed harder and the muscles were spread open yawningly wide. A slick cloudy wetness started to gleam at her outer folds as her egg chamber's seal was completely opened up. She could see them flex as she struggled and tried to keep herself hidden against the wall. It was to avoid the Mage, she wanted to believe this, but the thoughts in her mind roiled with the desire to protect her eggs. She bellowed out in an animalistic voice of pain as her body pushed harder and the muscles rippled in the start of the age old process. They pushed and gripped the cervix around the egg until it started to widen and wedge into the softness of her passage. The tender skin was scraped over by the rough texture of the egg, it plucked against parts that were meant to feel pleasure but the chill shell only made her cramp down in reaction.

The dragoness found herself gripping against what little purchase she found on the flooring with her claws while her jaws spread open to let her tongue loll out. As much as she desired to hide herself, her body had other ideas. She pushed herself up into a crouch with her tail coiling between her legs as if to offer cushioning. Her shame blatantly on display. If she could have cried she would have been sobbing as her body pushed harder. The muscles closed tightly so that the cervix was finally freed of the heavy orb. The egg felt almost as if it were made rock that had been left in the snow as it pushed its way down the tunnel and numbed as well as abraded. Her vent peeled open slowly, the inner folds were exposed first as the scales were strained open in an obscene manner that left her snarling out. Her head twisted down as she watched, her heart pounding in fear she'd see human hands reaching to grasp her eggs. The human in her was horrified that she even had those thoughts, that she cared what these eggs meant.

Lashane lifted her head and trumpeted a scream of pain as the egg made her opening form a seal around it before she was able to push it out of her. The egg crowned with a clear winter blue color to the shell. There was a gleam of white as she saw her own wetness clinging around it, spilling down against her scales before she gave one last push and the egg dropped down against her coiled tail. The weight of it shocked her as it rested there. The slick wetness from her passage seemed to freeze. For a moment her heart pounded with a flood of humiliation, anger and triumph. Carrack's egg, she had laid his egg. No matter that his genetics had mingled with her own, they were still part of him. The beast that had been driven to madness and then death in his capture by the Empire still lived on. The movement behind her made her mantle her wings down to either side of her body angrily.

She lifted her head up to see that Mihall had pushed away from the safety of the door and she showed her teeth. She shifted her entire body to hover over the egg protectively. What human was left in her mind was overrun by the spill of draconic instincts to defend, protect and watch over the egg that had come from her body. She was part way to deciding to snap him up in her jaws to ensure that he wouldn't take what was rightfully hers when her body reminded her that she was not yet done. Her stomach gave a sudden rolling clench that had her snarling out as she could feel the second egg being maneuvered inside of her body. She lowered her head so that her tongue dropped far enough out that it almost brushed against the floor. To her humiliation a splatter of drool hit the ground as she clenched her stomach muscles so tightly that they started to shove the egg forward against her already throbbing cervix. The chill of the shell brushed away most of the pain so she was left trembling and sucking her tongue in to clench her jaws together.

She knew what the egg would feel like so she tensed up as her muscles pushed around the orb as it pushed forward again. They molded around it as if she had done this a dozen times, her body knew what to do as the muscles clutched and pulled around it to press it against the snug ring. Her cervix was inched open slowly around the cold texture of the shell, the pain slightly washed away under the numbing of ice. It didn't stop the way her body cramped up though as it reached its apex. She muted her cries into strangled whimpers as the egg wedged and stretched into her cervix again. The wetness along her folds glittered as she pulled herself over her tail as small as she could make her body. The moment it pushed just to the apex of that tender channel her legs locked into place to crouch. The pain dulled her vision as she pushed harder and winced to hear the wet sounds as the slickness that had cushioned the eggs inside of her was forced from her body. The dragoness clenched down and carefully inched the egg from her cervix.

She closed her eyes firmly before she let out a screeching noise of pain while the first few inches started to edge out of her. They moved along the passage and held her open in a mixture of pain and coldness. It wasn't the tearing breaking pain of that distant time when she had first stolen a female's body. It was something else. Her mind didn't lock in on anything wrong, only the rush of adrenaline that forced her onwards towards her goal. The ever present desire to lay and keep the eggs safe started to lap and lick at the human sanity she had left. The softness of her channel hugged around the egg and pushed so that it dug into her soft skin and she gave her hips a rock down towards the ground. The slow movements helped edge it outwards until she saw it crowning from her body and bulging her vent open lewdly wide.

It pushed just out of her steadily so that she could feel the very base of it holding her vent open while she panted shallowly and considered the shell that gleamed right before her muzzle. She wanted to push it out but most of all she wanted to have never been in this position. She drew in a breath to steady herself as she started to shift her haunches apart. Her eyes lidded down in concentration until she felt the slow push that started to speed up rapidly. A rush of triumph stabbed her as she spread her jaws and let out a muted bugle. The sound vibrated around her and made her ears ring as she screamed to the world of her success. The thick hard shell came from her body steadily while she bugled and finally dropped down to land against her tail with the first. The cold shells bumping together and jostling against her scales. She tightened her tail protectively around them as she dropped to one side and pulled them in close.

"Far more interesting than a chicken." Lashane had almost forgot the man that stood in the room with her. She lifted her head to find him twitching his hands against his cloak. The words didn't just humiliate her, they infuriated her. "Now let's see if you're like a chicken when I take them."

The young mage stepped forward with a slight smile on his face as she pulled her tail and the eggs beneath her body. Her mind erupted in a red wash of fury at his words. Chicken? She? The human part of her mind was humiliated and disgusted with herself, the dragon part that was starting to grow stronger over ran it. She was a Lord of sky and storm, how dare this human speak to her like an animal. Her jaws spread open wide and her wings lifted up as she pulled in close to keep the eggs beneath her. They were cold and chilled her scales as she started to sway her head back and forth over them. The last piece of Carrack that existed in this world wasn't going to be thrown away due to the machinations of these pitiful two legged creatures. She slammed the yammering pathetic two legged side of her as she screeched out towards the mage. She wordlessly dared him to come forward and take what was rightfully hers from her. Let the others learn when he was less than a patch of blood on the floor.

++++

Timat stopped his horse as he came to the edge of the road and tried to wrap his mind around what was happening to him. Why was he going to the capital? Why was he taking a route that had forced both himself and his soldiers through the worst terrain possible? He looked behind him towards the line of men that were gathered behind them. They were exhausted, fully half of them had lost their mounts in the swamp and the rest of the horses were near to foundering. His own horse wasn't much better, but at least the beast wasn't standing with his head between his knees gasping for air. It seemed that his moments of clarity were starting to become fewer and fewer. Most of the ride here had been a daze. The few memories he could sharply recall were even fogged over and strangely he couldn't remember why he had made the choices or commands he had made. He had to have made them, the soldiers wouldn't have just randomly decided to march the way he took them.

The voice. That damned voice in his mind. He rubbed his sweaty head and winced as he saw his sleeve was caked with dirt and smelled thickly of an unwashed body. That alone made him feel more distressed then killing the man had. He swallowed roughly as he tried to feel around his own mind for the ever present voice. He sometimes doubted it was something magical, it seemed like his own thoughts were just flinging themselves back. Yet, if he were truly a madman, would he still be second guessing himself? Would he know he was mad or would he simply not realize it? If he were mad why was he having to question himself about it? A madman wouldn't realize he was mad, he would think he was sane. He groped deeper in himself trying to find the voice, it had to be something magical. Someone who stood to gain the most by watching him topple from his position of power.

:The giant turned his eyes to look inside his own mind and died of what he saw.: The Voice echoed in his mind, the words like laughter. :What will you see when you turn your eyes to your own thoughts?:

:You aren't my thoughts.: He thought back, the words well worn and feeble. How many times had he said it.

:Keep going, Timat, you are nearly to the capital.: It avoided him as he gave his head a shake back and forth.

:The men need rest, they won't last much longer.: He countered, but he felt his heels digging into his tired mount so that it wearily started to stumble forward.

:Of course they won't, that's your idea. If they get there they'll know that you never intended to go after the second group of people. What would people say if they found out you abandoned your duty?:

"Sir! SIR!" There was the sound of footsteps coming towards him so that he pulled the horses reins in. The soldier stumbled up to his stirrup and gripped the edge of it to hold himself upright.

"Yes?" His voice croaked out his dry throat, he wanted to kick the man away and continue on. Yes that's what he meant to do. Ignore the man and keep going across the road and then into that forest. The thoughts mingled with his own like the buzzing of bees invading a summer day.

"We can't..please, Mage. We need to rest. The horses are near to dead, the men are exhausted, we must stop for at least a day to rest." The soldier was covered in as much mud as the mage's own horse, his face pale and drawn as he clung to the leather of his stirrup just to stand up right.

"We need to be in the capital." Timat spoke the words that he had at least a dozen times before. The capital. That's where they needed to be. "We cannot rest, we must make more head way while we still can."

"We shall be worthless, sir!" The soldier stiffened a little. "It's two days to the capital, two days! No food, no water, nothing! I'm not going further and dying for nothing!"

Timat blinked his eyes slowly at the reasoning. He should listen to it, he knew he should. The man was right. They had no water. He hadn't allowed them to stop in the last two days to fill canteens and had kept them going with a bare minimum of sleep. He tried to drag himself back into perspective. Let the men rest, eat, get more water in them, rest the beasts. He nodded to himself. This was the best idea and the best chance he would have at getting to the capital. The mage drew in a breath to tell the soldier to pass on the order when he watched with horror as his own hand moved to grab his belt knife. His eyes bulged as he tried to stop himself, but something held his body in talons as sharp as glass and his hand struck out. He watched the knife pierce the man's side and felt the flesh give way as the soldier let out a cry and stumbled away from his horse.

:Oh yes, yes Timat. That is what you must do. Make them fear you and follow you.: The Voice laughed coldly. He stared as the young man grabbed his side with his eyes bulging in fear and terror, the ruby red blood spilling down as his fellows froze in horror. :NOW! Let's not let them think too much!:

"This man is a traitor! I have judged him! We must make haste to our Emperor's side, not stand here whining about the state of our guts or the weakness of our bodies." He wanted to shrink back, but the hold on his body didn't relax. He turned the horse and stood facing the pale faced soldiers. "Had this traitor not questioned me, he would have found out I am a Mage. We must make the Traeg Swamp by evening and then you will each be able to rest and eat. I will suffer no more talk of questioning our orders!"

Whatever held his body, Voice or madness, didn't wait for them to reply, instead he turned his horse and started out so that the tired creature lurched onto the road and across it. He clamored and cowered in his mind as he waited to feel an arrow or dagger enter his back. To his amazement the men started behind him. They left the bleeding soldier behind, disgraced and at the side of the road as if he had never been one of them. The mage felt sick to his stomach. He had killed again. Even if the wound wasn't mortal, being left behind with no supplies and no town nearby was a death sentence. What was he becoming? He balled his fingers into the horse's reins and tried to will himself to halt the beast and go back for the fallen man, but his body wouldn't obey him. He just continued forward as the first darkness of the woods shaded the sun overhead. They would be in the swamp by nightfall. The voice in his mind purred in satisfaction as he yammered in terror to himself.

= = = =

The sun set swiftly in the west as the stars overhead began to show their faces. The blue-black night sky was eating the entire world and oversaw a steady march of soldiers that marched five abreast on a winding road. Half of them were on heavy bodied war horses and the armor clattered loudly in the evening while the men on foot kicked up a cloud of dust. At every tenth man a younger soldier in a page's uniform road on a palfrey while holding up a torch to guide the way. As the sun was swallowed over the hills it looked as if a great strange serpent was winding its way through the country side. Even the dust made it appear as if smoke were billowing out in the creatures rage. The towns folk and villagers were hiding away from the men going to war, the world seemed to be theirs alone except for one shaking man pushed against a tree.

Timat swallowed bile as he strove not to be sick, again. His body ached with exhaustion, but that was secondary to the horror he had committed. His men, however cruel and provincial they were had not deserved the ending they had gotten. He leaned forward as he listened to the distant clatter of the horses and the shouts of leaders guiding the men through the long twisting path. He wanted to throw up again, but his stomach had nothing left to reject. His mind shied away from the swamp. Oh that cursed swamp. His own shadow born illusions had harried and terrified the exhausted soldiers until the uncertain ground had swallowed them up. They were all gone, by swamp, illusion and his own hand. He rocked back and forth slowly, his eyes filmed over with shock. How could he have done it? How could he have let his hands be the ones...

:Shhh...shhh...oh 'Mat, you are broken aren't you?: He almost choked on a sob as the Voice called him by his mother's pet name for him.

"Kill me.." He panted out, his fingers dug into his soiled robes and he tried not to think of the tacky blood that was gathered under his fingers.

:If you wished to die, you would have gone to the dragon.: The Voice replied almost cheerily. :Do you really want this to all go away?:

"Oh god..yes..please yes.." He choked on his sobs as hot tears rolled down his cheeks and he started to rock again. "Make it be a dream! Make it be gone!" He babbled to himself.

:Yesss...: The voice breathed through him.

It felt as if the wind had taken life in his own body as it roared through him and he lifted up tear streaked eyes to the darkness in front of him. The wind spilled out of him until he watched the darkness start to twist and turn right before his eyes. The shadows pulled together, just as he had made the creatures in the swamp form, but this time he didn't detect magic. Instead the beast twisted and writhed as it reared up and a pair of wings erupted to either side of it. The head turned into a massive wedged shaped creation before a pair of swirling eyes came from the midst of it. Eyes that shifted and spun like the creature from his nightmares came in closer as the shadow creature's jaws spread open wide. He tried to scramble away, but it was far too late. Talons made of midnight and shadows tore through his body and took root in his soul as it was shredded. His shriek shattered the night on the tail end of a roar of triumph.

= = = =

Rogeth tugged the foul smelling robes straight as he stretched every inch of his mind and spirit into his new body. He sought out and vanquished every small piece that lingered of the Mage that had born into this body and made it his own. The spirit slipped free into the other world tattered and torn until there wasn't enough left to be reborn into a mouse. He luxuriated in the scent of the night air and the sight of the world around him. Gone were the muted grey and white colors that he had grown all too accustomed too, now the night sky was blue and black and white. The stars were yellow and white and blue. The rising moon was a rich orange red that made him what to laugh aloud. It was a sensory overload of the purest sort. He leaned his head back and stared up at the night sky before drawing in another breath and wrinkled his nose as the scent of unwashed body offended him.

Well that was taken care of soon enough. He turned towards the sound of distant horses and marching men and gave a slow smile. He could get clothing there and enough food and water to see him to the capital. It was time that he set his plan in motion, time to push the world in the direction he felt it should go. He set out along the path and gave voice to a soft song under his breath. The rising of three moons and he would see this world remade. He looked up at the sky and squinted as he searched the stars for a set of broad wings. All he saw were the stars glittering down at him with colors he had longed to see for over a thousand years. It took a force of will to put his eyes back to the road he traveled. He would savor this life as the mage Timat never had.

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