FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Here's the next chapter! Some yiffing to satisfy your appetites, a new character to explore, and further developments in lives of well known characters. I hope you enjoy it. All the characters belonging to Graeth have been used with his permission and the others belong to me.

 

Thomas entered liquid surface of the alien machine; feeling it completely envelop him.  Chills raced across his skin wherever it touched him. He expected some kind of sensation like water but, like his arm, not single drop of water touched him. It was closer to stepping through a cold; insubstantial and barely existent wall of water. Thomas realized his eyes were closed and opened them. The image beyond the veil nearly made him scream.

 

Blackness; Darkness so inky and completely empty that Thomas thought he'd died the instant he stepped through.

 

Then everything exploded into light like a bomb had erupted behind him! Thomas rocketed into the light as it formed a tunnel around his body, filling with shifting, writhing colors of blue and white. Vibrations physically shook him and disrupted his vision as he accelerated unbelievably fast; far faster than he knew was possible. The intensity of the tunnel stretching before him knocked the air from his lungs and prevented him from uttering a cry of shock as flashes of light filled his vision and then rapidly whipped out of sight. He witnessed lines of yellow light following him, side by side as he raced through the pulsing, sharply turning vortex. Thomas moved through countless spirals, twists and curves in the blink of an eye; awe filled his racing thoughts at the visions surrounded him. A hum filled his ears and then a flash of light at the end of the tunnel hurtled toward him. Thomas rushed into it and, with one final blast of cosmic wind in his ears, the light and motion of the tunnel collapsed.

 

"Oh hell!" He barked as the phantom force propelling him forward vanished! The floor instantly rushed up to meet him as he uselessly waved his arms for balance, losing both his bags before crashing right onto his face.

 

The sound of the device reached his ears as he hit the ground. He jerked his eyes around just in time to see the radiant pool of energy flash and then dissipate into nothing with an electric, wet clap. Nothing moved where he lay and the only sound filling the chamber now his own shallow breathing.

 

"What...the hell...was that?"

 

The trembling human lay still and let his breathing normalize. His heart beat around a hundred miles an hour and his legs had become lead again. His stomach didn't agree with him either so he decided not to try standing up for a minute; waiting for it to complete the trip and join up with the rest of his body. He blinked his eyes several times before they adjusted to the dim light surrounding him. Eventually Thomas felt confident enough that he wouldn't lose his chips and tuna sandwich and lifted his head up to look around.

 

The chamber surrounding him was square: a perfect cube it seemed. The walls were smooth and bare, as was the floor he rested on. He couldn't see a grain of dust on the ground or floating in the air. This place was immaculately clean. Several slender lights glowed silently on the walls around him, filling the room with cold, icy atmosphere. He looked around at saw the circular machine behind him and immediately noticed a difference: different designs and symbols decorated its rings. Embedded in one of the walls sat a circular panel just like the one he'd touched before. Beyond that the alien machinery was just about the only other thing in this room besides him. Something else did catch his eye and he slowly moved to his feet to investigate further.

 

Some ten feet away from the gate on the wall closest to him there was a curious colored area. It was a circle about the span of his hand, as well as dark yellow in color. It seemed to be the same material as the rest of the cubed room; some kind of very smooth and cold stone. With a chill running down his spine, the human looked away from the wall, immediately spying his bags and retrieving them. Thomas made sure to keep his distance from the two disks and alien control device in the wall, lest he activate them again somehow. Gathering his bags and returned to the large colored spot on the wall.

 

"Okay, so," Thomas said as he rubbed his hands to warm them up, "I'm still in one piece! That's a good start. Gotta figure out what the hell is going on though, or at least where I am. What IS this place?"

 

Thomas began looking around the chamber. What exactly he sought after, he wasn't sure. There had to be something around here that could tell him where he was, or maybe what had just happened. He ran his hands along the smooth stone and inspected every spot within reach. He examined the ringed device as well, but refused to touch anything. The symbols were different alright; he recognized the ones he'd pressed before but many on the panel seemed familiar to the one he'd originally stepped through. Nothing turned up as far as an explanation. He turned back to the wall with the colored circle and nearly jumped out of his clothes when his pocket emitted a harsh tone that bounced rapidly off the walls.

 

Thomas cursed and dug into his pants, removing the phone from his pocket. The screen flashed repeatedly and the body vibrated, indicating an alarm. He read the screen and shook his head at the blinking message.

 

FEED NEIGHBORS DOG!

 

"Yeah, somehow I think dinner is going to be late." He scoffed. Then he noticed he had absolutely no signal. Calling for help was obviously out of the question. The roaming charges alone would send him to a debtors prison for years!

 

Thomas savagely shoved the phone back into his pocket and anxiously turned back to the wall. He didn't know how to get out of here. He couldn't even call for help! He might be stuck here until that gate-thing reactivated. But what if it never did? He could be stuck here until he starved to death! Or ran out of air; whichever came first. Suddenly letting himself walk through that device seemed like a very, very bad idea.

 

"That was so stupid!" He growled savagely at himself. "God, how could you be such an idiot!" Thomas kicked at the wall, growling in frustration and panic. He kicked it again and again until his foot throbbed in pain. He screamed at it and kicked on final time before letting himself collapse, drawing his arms around his knees helplessly. He stayed like that for some time, trying to keep himself calm and avoid breaking down into hysterics. Crying wasn't going to solve anything.

 

"C'mon, think! There has to be a way out of here. Something you did or touched did this, it wasn't natural or an accident, so there has to be a way out of it. Just cool it and think."

 

Thomas sat there for several minutes, wracking his brain for an answer. Nothing came. He kept at it, but after twenty minutes of fruitless effort he took a deep breath and considered the thought of dying in this empty cube of a room. Thomas felt his spirit weaken and put his hands in his pockets with a sigh, nearly resigning himself right there. Then he spotted something on the floor that made him cry in delight!

"The note!" He exclaimed as he ripped the four-fold piece from the floor. It must have fallen from his pants when he'd had his little tantrum and kicked the wall. Thomas unfolded the strange paper and quickly looked it over.

 

The same writing as before met his eyes. Apparently this is home to somebody, he surmised. The next portion he couldn't read either because of the strange characters and unusual writing. He skipped it and moved down until he spotted another section in that contained different symbols than the machine behind him. His heart beat a little faster as he carefully studied each symbol: a circle and hand together followed by a badly drawn, strange looking computer thingy with arrows pointing toward it.

 

Thomas frowned as he studied the badly penned symbols. The rest of the note was in the strange language he couldn't understand. Nothing translated into something he understood! He folded up the note and started to stand up, but stopped when he saw an addition on one of the folds. It was more of the language he couldn't read, but it showed several chains of marks arranged in a line; segregated in a box next to the computer icon. He didn't know what these meant, but his gut told him they were important.

 

Standing up and facing the wall once again, Thomas took a deep breath and examined the yellow circle on the smooth surface. It didn't look like somebody had painted it on there with a stencil; there were no smudges along its outer edge. Rather, it looked like it was part of the wall, seamlessly blended into it. Thomas pondered for a moment before rethinking the note. They were pretty simple instructions and he had no other options. He lifted his hand and pressed it into the center of the circle.

 

A dull light filled the wall surrounding his palm and pleasant warmth traveled up his arm and into his shoulder. Thomas waited for something to happen. When nothing occurred he frowned and bit his lip. Fifteen full seconds passed before he turned his eyes to the left of the glowing yellow circle. A section of the wall began to glow white. It then folded down with a soft hiss and exposed a mass of keys similar to a regular keyboard.  These ones were of the same alien language and glowed pale blue.

 

"There we go! Now we're getting somewhere." He mused excitedly; then muttered to himself. "But I can't even program in my own language."

 

Thomas dug the note out of his pocket again and rifled through it until he located the several extra sets of the strange language that were cordoned off with the diagrams. Looking between the note and the board, he spotted a series of keys that matched. If he typed them into the glowing board then maybe he could get out of here. Déjà vu of entering mysterious sets of letters into a machine he knew nothing about hit him. He'd already done this once today and look where it had gotten him.  Thomas shrugged it off and began entering the sequence on the back of the note; the worst that could happen was a quicker death. After all, he couldn't do anything in this room besides sit and starve or try to make the rings work again; those new symbols prevented him from actually trying though. It wasn't worth the risk to send himself into a black hole or summoning a bunch of flesh eating worms to devour his face!

 

Much to Thomas's aggravation, it took almost an hour to get everything entered. Thomas took his time and repeatedly punched in each character on the note, trying to complete the sequence. It would have been simpler if he hadn't taken his hand off the circle twice and then missed several characters from the back of the note; such fine print. He had to start over everything he messed it up and it just seemed to get a little harder each time he did it. Finally he managed to get the last few characters successfully entered and sighed with relief.  Thomas waited after the final keystroke for several minutes, but nothing happened. Sighing, he leaned down and examined the board. He nearly fell over backwards when the small symbol matching the well known "Enter" button caught his eye. Thomas wondered why the enter button was on this alien device, but decided not to question it. He pressed the enter button and something began to occur immediately.

 

The hairs on his arms stood on edge and a tingle traveled up his legs and into his chest. It reached his head a half second later. There was a quick, blinding flash and a pop in his ears. Thomas immediately cursed and pulled away from the brightly lit circle on the wall; removing his hand and letting its glow fade. He was about to kick the wall again in his frustration when he realized that, upon removing his hand, he was no longer facing the same wall! He quickly spun on his heels to figure out what had happened and nearly passed out when he saw what lay before him-Dragons!

 

 

there were feathery bird-like creatures as well. Gryphon's, he believed was an adequate nomenclature.  They held the same posture as the dragons and talked with many of them. Beyond that there were other creatures as well,

 

 What caught his eye immediately was the small mix of humans wandering around. He almost swore he was at a shopping center back home, but the sight of very inhuman creatures dotting the crowd told him otherwise. Thomas's vision jumped around rapidly as he took stock of the inhabitants of the station: crowd's of winged and vividly colored reptiles that stood on their hind legs, spoke and walked around like humans; there were feathery bird-like creatures as well. Gryphon's, he believed was an adequate nomenclature;  large numbers of canines and felines moved through the crowd as well, by far the more numerous of the non-human species.Thomas watched every species and gender, human and otherwise, wander around acting like it was just another average day. His heart beat so fast inside of his ribs that he felt dizzy. To avoid falling over and passing out he found the nearest wall and sat down, gasping for breath, not daring to tear his eyes away from the throngs of bipedal creatures for a moment.

 

'Holy shit! Holy Shit! What the hell is going on! I'm dead, I am so dead. I'm munched. I'm going to be eaten, ripped limb from limb. I never should have gone through that gate! I've got to figure this out. I'm go-woah. Breathe, just BREATHE!'

 

Thomas took a deep breath and felt the dizziness begin to fade. He'd been holding his breath the entire time. No wonder he'd come so close to passing out. He took several deep lungfuls of air and coughed but didn't move beyond that. Thomas took the opportunity to scan his surroundings.

 

Where Thomas had been in a dim, unimpressive-by comparison-cube before, he now stood in its polar opposite. A grand room stretched out before him. There were massive pillars and streams of pale light streaming in from glass covered ceilings. Each had hundreds of paintings and carvings on the surface of the stone, along with a number of screens and access stations. The size and architecture immediately brought memories of grand central station to his mind (after its latest remodeling with white and tan marble). The walls were easily fifty feet in height, connecting to the glass ceiling held in place by the huge pillars.

 

'Okay, well, not dead yet. Good start. Need to figure out what the hell is going on though. Where am I anyway, The Twilight Zone? What is this place?' Jason wracked his memory for any kind of explanation and couldn't come up with anything. It's not like he dealt with alternate dimensions or space travel or whatever! This had to be something right out of a fantasy book.

 

"Wait..." Something sparked in his mind.

 

Thomas dove into his bag and retrieved one of the two books he'd brought with him. It was on Dragons and Gryphons too! He opened flipped the book and read the back quickly, then looked at the author: Jason Ong. He looked a few years older than Thomas, with deep brown eyes and prominent Asian features and a mess of dark hair. But he supposedly lived in the area Thomas had just moved to and Thomas had thought it couldn't hurt at the time. That was in the past now, a whole other world away. He flipped the book open and immediately began skimming its contents until he reached the part he'd been looking for. The book described the station he was in, almost exactly! There were minor differences here and there, but it was unnervingly accurate. The main thing that differed from the pages was no apparent war or conflict with the humans, who reacted violently to anything not of their species. Yet, looking around, there didn't seem to be a single human toting a weapon or making threats toward the non-human creatures around them. Everyone here looked really peaceful. Thomas frowned and moved to his feet, leaning his shoulder against the wall and turning away from the populace, peering into the pages again to enlighten himself further.

 

Apparently this was called a "Rift Gate" station and he stood in what was called the Annex. By all accounts it acted like an airport and connected to several cities on the outside-if the book was anything to go by. Thomas glanced up from his book and gazed out the nearest window to check if he could see anything. Only trees covered in a generous layer of snow looked back. Thomas continued to read and figured out that there was a kind of tram system in place here. It acted as the main mode of transportation between the cities and here, as well as several other portions of the Annex. It all depended on knowing which one you wanted to use.

 

"And if you know the local language." He muttered sourly, snapping the book closed.

 

The human cast a cautionary look around his section of the Annex to check if anyone had noticed him. It was busy and there were numerous bodies moving back and forth, hustling to and from destinations and arrivals. Thomas looked like everyone else in here and that seemed to work in his advantage. Maybe he could slip out of here and catch a tram or something. He needed to find a place less populated to think for a little while. Another glance at the book disappointed him by not revealing anything about where the trams were located. If he wanted out of this place, he'd need to find it himself.

 

Thomas tucked the book under his arm and slung his backpack over his tired shoulders. He picked up the extra gear bag quickly ducked around the corner, intent on finding a way out. His heart jumped immediately as the welcome sight of a tram greeted him across the hall. One passenger was boarding and the doors were still open. The human bolted for it.

 

As he ran Thomas imagined himself making it to the doors. Imagining them coming to a close behind him and locking before an automated voice issued safety commands. He also imagined the tram accelerating to take him away from the station. He even imagined a great sigh of relief escaping his lungs, thankful that he'd made it out of the Annex.

 

Unfortunately the fantasy didn't match measure up to reality. Thomas failed to see the pair of flailing wings, fiery red body wearing military fatigues; and a pair of strong legs coming right for him locked in a dead run. The mass collided dead on, knocking everything from his grasp and taking him clean off his feet! He landed right on his back in a pile of red limbs, neck and tail that kept him pinned in place. Thomas tried to scramble up, tried to escape and get onto the tram before the doors closed; he failed.

 

Instead he watched in despair as the doors closed and engaged their safety locks. The solitary passenger turned and looked out the clear window; a black winged gryphon female with deep purple feathers. Thomas locked onto her purple eyes and instinctually reached out, pleading in that instant for help.

 

And then the tram vanished.

 

 

Evelyn watched from her position on the rapidly accelerating tram as the station moved further and further away, taking the strange human with it. The facility continued to shrink and soon, despite its size and position on the side of a small mountain, vanished from sight at the first turn in the rail. The speed of the tram put a considerable amount of distance between her and the station in very little time. Still, she remained at the rear of the vehicle for several minutes, staring out the large window and letting her thoughts wander.

 

'I wonder what that was about.' Evelyn silently crossed her arms and contemplated what the human male wanted to tell her, but soon gave up and simply watched the forests flash by.

 

It was early winter here on Galeros and snow blanketed the landscape. Everywhere her eyes landed there was a tree with several thin layers of snow blanketing it; the ground surrounding the tracks were the same. It was quite beautiful and anyone else would have been eager to press their beaks to the window and enjoy the winter vista as it rolled by; but Evelyn wasn't impressed. She'd just come from Earth and seen just how powerful the weather was on that planet. Galeros just didn't look that impressive now.

 

This trip to the terran planet had been her first. She'd spent over a week in the field studying the humans of earth and seeing how they lived and interacted with each other. It would be the first of many fact finding missions for her in the coming years. Her studies centered on humans, primarily the ones from earth. They had been her area of study for most of her young career and it had been a thrill to see those people in their natural environment for the first time. There was so much to learn about them!

The black gryphoness uncrossed her arms and stretched as the tram moved along the tracks. With no one else sharing the car with her, she was free to spread her limbs. Evelyn unfolded her black wings and stretched her arms and legs, releasing a massive yawn in the process. Several joints popped as she rotated and flexed her body, loosening them up with delight. Her time on earth had been rewarding, but the punishment on her body had taken a noticeable effect on her. No wonder the planet was so hard to get access to, it could kill anyone that marched through that gate if they weren't careful.

 

It had taken her several years of hard work to get the assignment from the Elders to visit and study Earth. To them it was a planet that needed to be monitored and a rather unpleasant conversation topic at the worst of times. Reports of terran society and behavior bothered the Elders; violence, ruthlessness and cruelty abounded. There was no end of the stories told about their history. Two world wars and countless smaller conflicts marked the centuries; all brutal and very costly in life. They were a war-like species and that opinion wasn't about to change in the eyes of the Elders.

 

Yet, from what Evelyn had seen, they were also vastly intelligent as a society. What effort they put into war, they also placed their arts and technology. Especially in the last decade or so! Watchers had reported time and time again the terran technology was advancing at an exponential rate and, if it continued like it did, they would be capable of FTL travel soon.  That was greatly impressive considering how many times they'd nearly wiped themselves out.

 

To Evelyn they represented the greatest kind of paradoxical species: intelligent, peace-loving, war-mongering, creative thinkers, and ruthless killers! There wasn't a single aspect of their society that wasn't argued about on complete opposites of the emotional spectrum. They were an unpredictable and difficult people to study, to say the least.

 

As Evelyn continued to stretch and observe the tree's zip by her, she contemplated her first time on earth. She moved her arms and flexed her legs, rethinking the time she had spent among the sparsely populated human settlements. She had visited three in her time on Earth and no two of them had been similar! She loved watching them interact with each other and had discovered several spots that revealed fountains of information about their social habits and psychology. Tapping into their information network had provided quite a bit of information. She'd even been lucky enough to observe them mating on a few occasions!

 

Evelyn shuddered and pulled her dark, feathery wings against her back and grinned. They certainly were inventive when it came to sex! In fact, the two couples she'd kept track of had given her plenty of material to work with when she played with herself in the forest over the last few days. Once she even managed to set up a camera focused at one dark skinned male and female and watched them do it through the night. The memory of it made the gryphoness lick her chops in amusement.

 

As images of humans screwing played in her mind Evelyn began to catch a particular scent. She knew it all too well and grinned. She let her hands slips under her waistband where a warm, slick spot had begun to form. A soft 'Oooh' escaped her beak as she brushed her fingers between her legs, feeling juices stick to her fingers like warm honey.

 

BING BING

 

'This Tram will arrive at Con'trenar in...five minutes.'

 

Evelyn, startled by the announcement, quickly removed her hand and crossed her arms.

"Hells...Not enough time." She cursed sadly before realizing it was for the best. She had other things to do today and her "fun" could wait until later.

 

Evelyn banished the erotic memories and turned to the mirror, tidying herself and straightening her clothes as shadows from the first tall shadows fell across her tram. The tracks continued to move rapidly underfoot and bring her into sight of the city. She looked up at the spires rising high above the trees and smiled. No matter how much time away from here she spent, it was always good to see her planet again.

The town stretched out on either side of the tram as it exited the heavily forested outskirts. Not the largest town on the planet, but on equal terms with Vyeslae to the west and Zebastyer to the north. Con'trenar didn't have the majestic mountaintops so readily available as its sister-city Vyeslae, but what it lacked in height, it made up for with proximity to the water. Evelyn peered through the glass as one of several plateaus' that littered the region. From here she could spot the waterfalls each one produced from their natural hot springs a mile below the surface. Billowing clouds of white announced their presences for miles in every direction; pillars of steam that rose high above the windswept spires and blew away from the wind's kiss. In the warm season this place acted as a haven for vacationers that needed a place to swim, or locals that loved to dip their hide, feathers and fur into the hot, soothing waters surrounding the city.

 

Evelyn couldn't wait to strip out of her clothes and hop into one herself. All that time amid the frigid terran winter had planted in her mind, a yearning for the springs that no matter how hard she tried to keep focused wouldn't go away. As soon as she could get into her home and download her expedition's notes, she'd fly over there right away and just let her feathers soak!

 

BING BING BING

 

'You are now arriving at Con'trenar. Please stand by for loading and unloading at terminal number three.'

 

Evelyn looked away from the steam rising high into the air and concentrated on gathering her bag: one heavy backpack that contained her computer and countless notes from her very first trip to earth. They were irreplaceable and just to make sure they didn't go anywhere, the black gryphoness cinched her shoulder straps extra tightly, bringing the tough material and heavy contents tightly against her back. She squawked at the weight before squaring her beak and settling in front of the door as the tram began to decelerate for the first stop into the city.

 

The tram slowed for several seconds until the loading station came into view. Yellow caution lights blinked to life as the brake system fully implemented itself and brought the metal and glass vehicle to a complete halt and locked it into place. A sturdy metal walkway extended from the walkway several feet outside the door and latched into a depression just under the tram's entrance; a solid connection turned the indicator lights green, the doors opening with a gentle hiss. The first thing that greeted Evelyn was a rush of cold wind that mercilessly invaded the tram and shot underneath her feathers. She immediately zipped up her jacket and stepped onto the ramp, ignoring the next blast the tried to discomfort her. She'd just spent time on a planet with winters that killed its human inhabitants with every year; this hardly compared to that. Evelyn looked forward to mid-winter in Con'trenar, but knew even the heaviest winters couldn't measure up to some of the weather Earth could produce. The environmental tailoring had clipped this planets claws.

 

She navigated through the half dozen individuals waiting on the other side of the ramp for her to leave so they could get on. They looked at her as she passed with just a jacket, simple clothes and backpack as they shuffled onto the tram, shivering and shivered away from the cold. She just chuckled and moved toward a set of stairs on her right. Compared to where she had been, the temperature here felt quite warm. Evelyn climbed the short flight of stairs until a flat stretch of empty surface met her eyes. She gingerly unfolded her wings and tested them in the cold wind surrounding her and found there was more than enough for her to take off in. She wasted no time and took a running start down the miniature runway and flapped her wings until her pads left the white flaked surface. Evelyn turned and climbed higher, avoiding the lowest buildings and then the higher ones until she reached minimum flying level for the town. Then she leaned into the wind and turned west heading for her home and the promise of a warm meal, an even warmer bath, finishing with a good night's sleep.

 

 

 

Thomas watched the tram escape the Annex and then disappear from sight among the trees. He tried not to panic, but the pounding in his chest at seeing the closest chance to flee from this place made it difficult. He stared after the tram and hoped it might return, then he could jump in and put some space between him and everyone else surrounding him. Then he remembered he had other problems: a mass of red limbs, wings, arms and tail lay entangled with him; squirming and cursing while it struggled against Thomas.

 

"Dammit! Get off of me! I'm going to miss my ride." It snarled in frustration.

 

It took a moment, but Thomas managed to untangle himself from the creature on top of him. In the commotion he had not glimpsed its face, but as he stood fully and looked for the first time, he got much closer look.

 

It was one of the dragons. It had the look and build of a male underneath the camouflage uniform it filled. He looked about Thomas's height with the exception of two graceful horns protruding from its wedge shaped skull. As it bent down and frantically gathered up the spilled contents of his backpack, Thomas gazed at the wings adorning its back. He took a deep breath to steady himself and bent down to gather up his own backpacks contents, staring silently at the creature while it cursed under its breath. It may have been a dragon, but it had no scales to be found. He was furnished with skin much like Thomas' own. The difference being that it deep crimson in color-that made it quite fearsome to look upon. The grimace of frustration in his face didn't help either. Thomas felt shudder run the length of his spine when several sharp canines glinted in the pale light of the hallway.

 

While he wanted to get all of his things quickly and get away from the tough looking dragon, he didn't make much progress. Every time he reached for his belongings, a red clawed hand moved to do the same. The two of them did this several times, grunting apologies as they went. Finally the dragon shifted his gaze up to the human and growled gently. Thomas felt his eyes widen when it spoke to him in a tone that obviously showed his strained patience.

 

"Look. How about you let me get my stuff first, okay? Let's make this go a little faster before I-" The dragon twisted his neck up as a speaker above them somewhere chimed to life.

 

'Vyeslae transport will depart in...four minutes.'

 

The dragon's lips pulled back in a hiss of renewed frustration as he turned his attention back to the human, suddenly wrenching open his bag and grabbing as much as he could.

 

"Look, you missed your ride and I'm sorry about that. Just shove it all inside. I don't have much time! Come with me and I'll buy you another pass." He barked. Thomas quickly scooped everything off the floor and pushed it into the dragon's bag. He was still trying to come to terms with the fact that the dragon spoke English. He got managed to get the clutter inside seconds before a red claw latched onto his arm and hauled him to his feet. "We'll sort through it later. Follow me!"

 

The red dragon turned from him and took off down the hallway, nearly leaving the human behind. Thomas bolted after him, following after the dragon as he weaved in and out of the crowd. He nearly lost his target again when a male feline tried to step into his path; but he avoided the collision by dipping to the right and continuing to run. He spotted the dragon fifteen feet in front of him, heading toward another tram like the one he'd watched leave. This one had already finished emptying the last of its passengers, leaving the interior completely empty. He didn't know how long it had been there, but it couldn't have much time left before it departed. The dragon ahead of him began to slow down as he reached the door and turned around, looking for the human as he caught his breath. Thomas watched as he was spotted and waved over, a clawed hand on the door to keep it from closing. Thomas widened his step and managed to make it as the blinking sign above the tram began to chime:'Transport to Vyeslae now departing.'

 

Thomas grabbed onto the rail and stopped to catch his breath. He heard the hiss of the safety doors as they closed behind him then lock into place. He looked up and watched the scene of the Annex rush past him as the tram began to accelerate. Thomas felt the force buffer out as the transport adjusted its rising velocity. In seconds he was surrounded by a rush of trees and snow on all sides as he began moving very quickly through the wintery forest. He turned around just as the dragon behind him began to speak.

 

"Thanks a lot. That was some hustle and I appreciate you coming with me." The crimson male stepped closer and raised his claw. "My name is Rhi'hilan. I really hope I didn't screw you out of your ride with all of this."

 

Thomas clasped the outstretched claw and shook it, waving off the dragon's apology quickly. "It was an accident. No harm done."

 

"Well that's fortunate. Had I looked at the station clock behind me instead of my watch. With how fast I was moving you might have gotten a horn in your lung when we hit back there." Thomas looked up at the horns and didn't doubt that for a second.

 

"Really, it's okay. I didn't have a chance. It left too soon anyway."

 

Rhi'hilan smiled and released his hand, looking over the human that he'd smashed into. Same height, mussy dark hair, blue eyes and white skin. Not unattractive for a human, Rhi thought. He was dressed in good warm clothes that matched the season, but he had a look about him that said he was uneasy. He'd seen that look on Era'kanath's face more than a few times when he'd come back from Earth with Ank'arra. The human had two bags with him that looked to hold camping gear when he'd opened the larger one to shove all of his things into.

 

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. Mind switching back the stuff from your bag? I don't want to go home without everything I brought; I'm sure you feel the same." He said, motioning toward the lumpy gear bag in his other hand. Thomas nodded and knelt down, opening the gear bag and emptying out its contents onto the floor once again. Rhi'hilan moved beside him as they sorted through their pile of things.

 

"So, what's your name by the way? I didn't ask even though I dragged you through the station behind me and made you take a different tram with me." Rhi queried as he sorted through towels and tools.

 

"Oh, me?" Thomas replied awkwardly as he grabbed his folded tent. "No, it's cool. My names Thomas Pengrove."

 

Rhi'hilan grabbed a couple more things of his before separating the smaller stuff and looking at the human curiously. "Where did you go camping? You've got a lot of cold weather stuff here, was it Meinan three?"

 

Thomas hesitated, but quickly decided to run with it. If he could avoid answering too truthfully then perhaps he could learn something about this place as well. He thought of images he'd seen in the Yukon and figured that might work best. "Yeah. Nice and cold, but it's a great place to go when you need to get away."

 

Rhi'hilan nodded in agreement. "So I hear! I've never camped there in the cold season though. I'd freeze my tail off."

 

Thomas smiled and nodded, keeping the ball rolling. "It's not bad when you just need to get away for a while. What about you? Just come from a military thing somewhere?" He watched the dragon nod and place the last few items belonging to him back into his bag. "Yeah, I had to visit Orvis for a conference and some consulting work. Classified stuff, I'm sure you understand." Thomas nodded quickly and cinched his gear bag shut before the dragon added more. "It was nice though; great planet. I had a nice visit over there. Plenty of ways to relax and unwind while still getting paid. But I've really missed home life."

 

The two of them stood and scooted their bags aside. Now that their belongings were back where they belonged it freed them from staying on their knees. Thomas looked around and observed the flash sunlight passing through the gaps in the tree line. The entire scene was very beautiful. When he looked beyond the rapidly moving trees he spotted a beautiful landscape under a cloudy blue sky. He spotted a small body of water here and there, but the further they moved along the more high hills and mountains came into view. They were crystal clear in the air and Thomas couldn't help but draw in breath at their image. Even blanketed with snow, they held an awesome presence in the surrounding countryside. When he squinted, he could even see little figures moving through the air: flapping wings and tiny bodies that zipped in and out of the sunlight far into the distance. 'More dragons? Or gryphons; or maybe something he hadn't even seen yet. This definitely isn't Kansas anymore. Just where in the hell am I?'

 

Rhi'hilan said something. Thomas, lost in his thoughts, didn't hear him until he cleared his throat and waited for the human to turn back from the window to face him. Thomas reluctantly tore his view from the window's view and apologetically looked back at the red dragon. "Sorry, I kinda spaced there. What did you say?"

 

Rhi'hilan smiled and repeated his question. "I wanted to know if you'd ever gone to Verathis?"

Thomas shook his head quietly and the dragon tsked in return. "Now that's a shame. It's gorgeous this time of year! It's in its summer months and there's no shortage of sunlight on your skin and plenty of places to relax." Rhi'hilan leaned in and spoke lower so Thomas had to lean in to hear his words. "Not to mention the amount of tail that warrants attention."

 

Thomas raised his eyebrows at the dragon in surprise. He wasn't sure what to say in reply and Rhi'hilan took the silence as a sign to continue. He unexpectedly slipped closer, settling side by side with the human and began to whisper in hushed but excited tones.

 

"Verathis  is one of the hottest places to go when you're looking for a fling at the beach. My conference actually ended early but I was sent on an errand there and stopped for two days." The sudden proximity Thomas shared with the red dragon made him a little fidgety, but he kept quiet and let the dragon continue. "Just imagine laying in the sun, letting it wash over your back and soak into your flesh. Or walking through the trees as the winds gently rolling by, letting the smell of someone else basking in the sun reach your nose. Think how good it would feel to walk in on a hot, naked male just relaxing alone. You can walk up to them and start touching or kissing and they wouldn't mind a bit. The moisture in the air can keep your libido half ready for hours at a time so it would be easy to find a partner to mate over there anytime you wanted."

 

Rhi'hilan didn't know it but his breath began to arrive in shallow pants as he painted a picture for Thomas. The images in his mind were bringing a familiar stirring between his legs. Thomas on the other hand noticed acutely just how Rhi'hilan was beginning to behave. The heat and moisture accompanying his words tickled the human's ear. His voice had also gained a husky undertone as he spoke, making Thomas squirm a little more next to the dragon. He kept cool though, knowing the tram would eventually reach its stop.

 

"I had two males over there. I just couldn't help myself! All the heat in the air plays with your head and makes it easier to be ready for action quickly. It might be hard to imagine if you've never been there, but once you start having sex it's hard to stop; even after the sun goes down. It was good pushing all the way into their tales and working them up until they burst! You have no idea how good it felt to have them clench around me when I came. Especially after so much down time after all that work."

 

Rhi'hilan couldn't help himself. The memories he'd described had gotten the better of him and he felt the front of his pants swelling. He slipped his muzzle into Thomas's neck and inhaled his scent before letting his tongue slide from his maw and trail along his ear, tasting him. Poor Thomas had couldn't hold his surprise when he felt the hot tongue play along his flesh.

 

"WHOA! what the hell!" He jumped away from the red dragon and pressed his back to the window and rail to the side, looking at Rhi'hilan in utter shock. He quickly wiped his ear down with his sleeve while the red dragon looked at him with mild embarrassment. "Sorry," he said with a shrug, smiling at the human. "I guess I'm still a little randy...I don't suppose you'd like to play around a little, hmm?"

 

Thomas looked at Rhi'hilan incredulously for posing such a question so lightly. 'Who does this guy think he is? Do I look even remotely gay?' He didn't know what gave that impression, but it didn't help when Rhi'hilan closed the distance between them once again and placed his claws on either side of the bar, surrounding him with red skin and camouflage. A saucy smile grew on his lips as he leaned down and spoke coquettishly; less than an inch from Thomas's face.

 

"This tram has another ten minutes before it reaches Vyeslae. I don't know about you, but even after the time I spent in Verathis, I think I could use a little more "relaxing". Meinan three isn't exactly a tourist spot and I'll bet you were out there alone for your trip, right?"

 

Thomas narrowed his eyes at Rhi'hilan. He didn't want to be rude to this strong, deadly looking dragon with a maw full of sharp teeth. But he also wasn't gay. He'd never even thought about messing around with another man back home and that hadn't changed since arriving in this world. Then he felt something touching and slithering along his leg. Thomas looked down and gasped when he spotted a red tail slithering around his leg and slowly traveling upward.

 

Rhi'hilan let his frame press gently against the human's chest. He felt the warmth coming off of the man enter his BDU and travel up his chest and arms and it brought a purr from his throat. Without warning the crimson dragon bent his neck and pressed his lips against the human, kissing him deeply. Thomas, totally unprepared, had his mouth open. His objection to the red tail slinking up and wrapping slowly around his thigh was lost as the kiss robbed him of his speech. Trying to jerk back was useless because of his position against the bar and there was nowhere to turn with a pair of red arms blocking his path. Thomas felt Rhi'hilan's draconic tongue invade his mouth and play with his, swirling and tasting before he had a chance to try and close his mouth. Thomas finally planted both hands squarely on the dragons chest and pushed him back.

 

Rhu'hilan broke the kiss and looked at Thomas with confusion in his eyes. His tail froze where it was on his leg and he didn't try to push the human any further. He opened his mouth to apoligize but Thomas spoke first, raising a finger to silence the winged reptile that just kissed him.

 

"Look!" He looked Rhi'hilan right in the eyes. "I...am really not into guys. It's nice of you to, y'know...offer and everything; I'm flattered. Maybe another time or something?" Thomas tried to ease the edge in his voice so the dragon wouldn't be offended and tear his arm off.

 

It was silent for a moment as Rhi'hilan looked Thomas in the eye, but he immediately backed off. He cleared his throat and immediately removed his tail from coiled spot on Thomas's leg. He looked sheepishly at him and smiled. Thomas was sure that, if he wasn't already red, the dragon would have been blushing three shades deeper as he mumbled out an apology.

 

"Sorry. Damn genetics; I'm usually not like this. I', sorry, that wasn't right." He settled back against the other rail with his head down, tail retracting sadly back to lay by his feet. Thomas felt a pang of sadness for the suddenly obsequious dragon. "No, no, it's okay. Really. I just didn't say it in time. You're good, Rhi'hilan."

 

But the dragon didn't look convinced and Thomas didn't quite know what to say. He wasn't into guys! What else could he say? It was pretty cut and dry when it came to sex for him; women were his drink of choice.

 

They didn't say anything for a few minutes and Thomas busied himself by looking out the window again. The two of them stood in the tram as it zipped along its path toward the city. Outside the forest was thinning out a bit as the ground began to level out. Nothing caught Thomas's attention outside until he spotted a tall, gleaming spire in the distance that took his breath away. It, and a few others like it, dotted the landscape outside his window far off in the distance. He'd never seen anything like it except for in certain cities back home. Except these had no trace of human, or rather, Earth like architecture. They were towers in the sense that they were tall and artificial, but to him they didn't look like anything he'd seen before. Tall and angular, covered in symbols that he could see clearly even from this distance. They looked a lot like some of the symbols he'd seen back in the cavern with the device, but he couldn't tell for sure until he got closer. Finally, the outskirts of Vyeslae came into view and Thomas turned back to the dragon sharing the tram with him. Rhi'hilan still looked terribly embarrassed.

 

Thomas considered for a moment what he could say, but still nothing came to him. He finally just stepped over to him and clapped him sturdily on the shoulder. Rhi'hilan turned his gaze back to him and Thomas spoke with his best 'don't worry about kissing me cause I'm not holding it against you' voice.

"You can let it go man. Just help me with something, okay?" He waited for Rhi'hilan to nod before he dug into his pocket for the note he'd recovered from the cave and used to enter the machine hours ago, presenting it to him. "Someone was back at the...terminal. They, uh, dropped this and I found it. I was going to return it to them but we had our run-in." He turned the writing over screwed up his features in obvious concentration. "I can't read the writing. It's practically chicken scratch to me! Think you can help me out with it? I want to return it to them because I thought it might be important."

 

Rhi'hilan looked at Thomas for a second before gingerly taking the folded paper into his claws. He flashed Thomas a smile and nodded before reading the note and telling him what it said. "There isn't much here in the way of an address. It looks like someone wrote down instructions for a gate sequence in case they forgot their codes. Probably a first-timer to the gate system...It's got directions for a place in Con'trenar; a research foundation. You would've gotten on the right tram if I had been watching where I was going." Rhi'hilan scanned the strange lettering further. "Bread, spices, chocolate...a shopping list at the bottom, I'm pretty sure. That's it though. If you have a pen I'll rewrite the research centers address so you can drop it off."

 

Thomas offered him a pen and Rhi'hilan took it. It was strange looking and caught his eye. He looked at it briefly but critically. The printed letters on the side gave him a reason why the human had trouble reading the note that was produced in Arcadrian Common. Humans always did seem to have trouble seeing the slight nuances distinguishing the letters. He scribbled the new address down in the dialect matching the side of the pen. Thomas failed to hide his relief when he saw the familiar language the dragon wrote down. Rhi'hilan grinned a toothy smile as he gave Thomas both pieces of paper.

 

The tram began to decelerate. Rushing trees slowed down until Thomas could see individual ones amid the thinning forest. The melodic intercom voice hummed to life and announced the arrival at Vyeslae station two and to clear the loading and unloading doors. Rhi'hilan grabbed his bags and stepped briskly toward the exit. He gave Thomas a parting nod and a warm smile before stepping off the ramp. Thomas watched him leave before he remembered something.

 

"Oh, hey Rhi'hilan!" Thomas called out. The dragon turned back to face him. "I'm having a brain fart right now. Will this take me to Co...Con'trenar?" Thomas got a raised brow in response, followed by a chuckle before the dragon pointed in the direction of the tracks.

 

"You need to take this to the next stop. Hop off and get onto the connecting tram. There will be one leaving soon, I think." He glanced briefly at his watch. "It'll get you there."

 

Thomas thanked him and waved again before the doors hissed closed and the automated voice asked him to step away from the doors. Then the tram accelerated and Thomas left the camouflaged red dragon to walk along the path into the city. As soon as he was out of sight, Thomas dropped his bags and collapsed onto the ground, letting out an exasperated yell.   "Now just what in the hell was THAT about!?!" Thomas tried for several minutes to wrap his head around being hit on, and then kissed rather intensely by a dragon within the first hour after escaping the cube room. This place, wherever it was, certainly had some different standards then back home. No doubt about that! He absently reached into his back and searched for the book he'd been reading in the Annex, thinking he could read more about what exactly this place considered the norm. He looked blindly for a minute before grabbing his bag with every intention to empty it onto the floor to find it, but stopped for two reasons. The first being that the next station was rapidly approaching according to the attractive metallic voice coming from the speaker above him and that he needed to have all his belongings ready to exit the vehicle. The second was that the pocket he'd zipped the book into for easy access was completely empty. Thomas gasped as the doors opened and blast of cold air smacked him in the face. The realization came to him that not only did he know practically nothing about this world, but that he's lost the only means of guidance for it as well! And then of course, the notion of what if Rhi'hilan had it? The reality of his situation dawned on him all over again and he sighed, suddenly exhausted from the day's events.

 

Thomas gathered his things and headed out the door onto the loading ramp. He kept his gaze on the ground to avoid a group of dragons waiting to enter the tram behind him. Pulling up his collar to keep warm, he stepped through the crowd and began searching for the next tram. If he wanted to make sense out of any of this mess then he needed to locate this research place and find out who the author of the note was.

 

 

 

"Well that was embarrassing! You could have tried to make MORE of an ass of yourself Rhi'!"

 

Soaring through the air above Vyeslae Rhi'hilan chided himself for what occurred on the tram. The two red wings on his back flapped almost violently in the wind. Thinking about coming onto that human and misjudging his interests made him so mad he wanted to kick something; he pounded his wings and rose a little higher into the air instead. Rotten genetic heritage; usually he was spot on when it came to figuring out males he could play with, but today had been an obvious sign that he didn't always get it right.

 

Rhi'hilan continued to let himself rise higher into the air. His path had already taken him to the edge of the main city where the forest came into view. With the wind going against him it would take an hour to reach home. No matter how frustrated he was, it just wasn't worth exhausting his body by flying manually through the wind in early winter to arrive home.

 

He took a deep breath and settled into a glide. The muscles in his back relaxed a little and gave him the chance to concentrate on going into assisted flight mode. His body began to tingle. It started in the base of his back and spread rapidly up his spine, then into his wings. Rhi'hilan quickly accelerated and then burst into several G forces worth of speed. The air dramatically rushed by him and his body rocketed away from the buildings of Vyeslae and over the forest. Gleaming spires rushed toward him and then fell away, leaving the skyline clear of obstacles before the approaching mountain range. Rhi'hilan adjusted his path, aiming for the portion of the mountain that overlooked a valley close by. Built into the mountain lay a building he knew very well and held intimate memories: Home.

 

Once the ground began to rise he let himself fall out assisted flight. All at once the wind deafening his ears went away, replaced by a crisp, cold mountain breeze that fluttered under his wings. In all it had taken less than ten minutes to reach the house. Rhi'hilan angled down and prepared himself to land. The ground drew up underneath him quickly and when he brought his legs to bear the landing. He jogged out the momentum when his claws touched the lawn and curled his wings against his back, flexing them as he did so. Looking up, he sighed in relief, just glad to be home again. His real home. It had been a year since he'd sold his abode of the previous some two hundred years and moved into this place. A place of love, of family; a true home by any definition.

 

Rhi'hilan crossed the snowy lawn, leaving tracks as he approached the familiar archway and elegant door. Looking up at the he could tell someone was using the heated pool on the second floor; the transparent awning had been deployed-probably Delkanth relaxing given the last information he'd received while he'd been away. He smiled and walked to the door, the access pad on the wall and the panel blinked green, unlocking the door for him. He stepped inside just in time to see snowflakes beginning to fall from the cloudy gray sky.

 

The temperature inside immediately warmed up his face and he unzipped his jacket, tossing it in the closet before heading up to the kitchen. Even after a short flight outside he was chilled and a hot drink would be the perfect remedy. A note caught his eye on the fridge, pinned in place with a magnet.

 

Anne is sleeping. Didn't feel good.

Era' is working and won't be back till late. Connie is sleeping.

Come on out!

 

-D.

 

A soft smile crept over the red dragons features when he finished the message. An'karra was still recovering from giving birth to her and Era's first child. No doubt she'd wanted to be up when he got home but fewer things wreak more havoc on a body than nurturing a growing life-form for almost a year. Maybe a dip into the hot water upstairs wasn't such a bad idea! He stepped out of the kitchen and climbed the stairs to the next level where he saw the glass windows and door leading out to the pool terrace. The snow had started to fall, but it was light and didn't look like it would get stronger. He spotted Del on his way across the room...

 

Del'Kanth sat in the pool with his neck above the waterline. The heat of the water was wonderful, especially with the cooler air lapping at his face and moist hair. He simply let the heat soak into his bones as he relaxed with his eyes closed. A contented sigh escaped his lips as he took little notice of the frozen outside world and just melted away from the heat. Relaxing under the surface like this was something he didn't get to do very often, so he was happy to enjoy the opportunity.

 

He failed to notice the door sliding open behind him as Rhi'hilan stepped outside. With his ears under the water, he also failed to hear clothes fall to the deck and then footsteps scramble toward the pool.

 

Del' heard it before anything else; even under the water. "CANNONBALL!" His eyes shot open to a wall of water splashing over his face.

 

The poor dragon sputtered and opened his eyes, standing up in the pool in surprise as he quickly figured out what'd happened. "You ass!" He half hollered, splashing water at the pair of horns that broke the surface seconds later. Rhi'hilan just laughed.

 

"You shouldn't sleep in the pool anyway! Drowning in your sleep is easier than you might think Del." He said before splashing back. It devolved from there into a splash fight that lasted for a few minutes before both of them called a truce and embraced warmly.

 

"So how was the trip, Rhi'?" Del asked with his baritone voice as he settled back in his original spot, leaving the top of his neck and head above the water. "Military conferences about star ships don't exactly meet my standard for entertainment."

 

"It was boring. A lot of the stuff Era' and I have heard before. He's lucky he didn't have to go this time. I thought the presentations were going to put me to sleep more than once when the subject of space engine efficiency came around. Nothing new, all theoretical, nothing to physically play with. One of the speakers had a voice that never moved beyond one note, and actually DID put some of the others asleep." He replied.

 

"The whole time?" Del said. Rhi nodded and blew some bubbles in the water with his muzzle. "Sounds like fun."

 

The two of them talked about the conference for a few minutes after that and caught up. The red dragon explained about his trip back and the stop he got to make at Verathiswhile the nearly black dragon recalled what few events had transpired while he'd been away at the conference and his other duties. Era was working diligently in town; still in the process of relearning all his skills. He barely had a chance to come home over the last few days. It was the same story for Livianna at the hospital.

 

"And how's An'karra?" Rhi asked. Del smiled and gave a nod, dipping his chin into the water. "She's good; just tired. Giving birth takes a lot out of the body."

 

Rhi was glad to hear that. Several months ago she'd made the announcement that she was carrying a child and everyone had been delighted; Era more than the others. In all the time that Rhi knew Jason before and after his rebirth there wasn't a subject that he was more excited about. Even working on the starships at the research station couldn't keep his thoughts from his mate and their future offspring. It was odd to think that just a year before none of them knew this was going to happen. In fact, none of them would even be here if An'karra hadn't taken her faithful trip to earth and discovered Jason, the now rebirthed Era'Kanath. Since then the golden dragoness had been forced to take it easy and save her strength on Livianna's orders. She couldn't do much flying and the amount of time she spent sleeping constantly messed with her body. But Rhi knew there couldn't have been a happier dragoness on the face of the planet. She never seemed to lose that loving glow that surrounded her whenever he saw her.

 

"I'm so happy for them. But I'm more than a little disappointed that Era isn't here. I wanted to grab onto him for some fun when I got home. I missed him!" Rhi'hilan pouted. Del chuckled and quirked his brow at the red dragon.

 

"Frisky already? I thought you said Pacifica had taken two days out of your trip back-and it's summer there right now."

 

Rhi smirked and rolled his eyes. "You know me." He winked at Del before frowning slightly. "Actually I wanted to get him into bed to make up for a bad move on someone a little earlier."

 

Del perked up and listened in. "Go on." He prompted Rhi.

 

The red dragon sighed and recanted the story of meeting Thomas the human in the Rift Gate Annex earlier in the day. Then about the rush to get onto the tram and the trip back to Vyeslae. He faltered a couple of times when it came to hitting on him but Del would have none of it and urged him to finish. Rhi explained the awkward kiss; misjudging it the way he had and how he'd apologized before getting off the tram. It would have been easier to finish the story off had Del not started to laugh toward the end...

 

"Omigod!...so...you...oh, that's comical!" He giggled, holding his sides as tears formed in his eyes, trying to catch his breath. He thought it was hilarious, but Rhi'hilan didn't quite agree. He stoically held his composure though, to his credit.

 

"Har har. So I got it wrong with the human. It happens from time to time." He said in his defense. Del, however, wasn't buying it and continued to laugh at him. He didn't stop until a set of claws wrapped around his tail and dragged him under the surface. "Hey, wh-Ack!" Rhi let go of his tail and crossed his arms when the dark dragon broke the surface again.

 

"There was no need for that!" he sputtered, smiling widely. "Besides, it IS funny! A stud like you doesn't crash and burn like that every day." Del rubbed the water from his eyes and waded over to Rhi pulling him into a warm hug. He wrapped his tail around his leg and chuckled as he held his friend close. "So one human isn't in to males and you jumped the gun. You still have everyone here; especially Era. Don't worry about it."

 

Rhi nodded and moved into further into the embrace. He liked having Del as a friend; he always knew how to soothe the people he counted close to him. He enjoyed the feeling of those claws on his back and between his wings, moving lower...

 

"Hey." He growled playfully as the claws slipped right down his back and firmly cupped his rump and the base of his tail. He broke from Del with a sly smile as the dark dragon massaged his cheeks, slipping a claw under his tail and toyed with his rear entrance. The tickling sensation caused Rhi to gasp and bare his teeth impishly back at the dark dragon. "Well, I suppose since you I saw you first instead..."

 

Del simply returned the smile and continued to tease him. He let his hand continue to play along his tail while he brought the other around and grazed over his vent. A chuckle escaped his throat as he gingerly inserted a digit inside and lazily moved it around. The sensation of two fingers playing over his sensitive spots awakened Rhi's arousal quickly and his shaft hardened in seconds. Del wrapped his fingers around the hot shaft and brought Rhi into a deep kiss, purring into his mouth as their tongues played intimately.

 

Rhi returned the favor and reached between their bodies, fondling the warm sack underneath Del's vent. He gently squeezed it, coaxing  out Del's hardening shaft even as he felt the digit under his tail begin to slowly worm its way deeper. He clenched around it and moved his hand away once Del's shaft had come to full mast. Wrapping his arms around Del he pressed them close, rubbing their hips and hard cocks together under the warm water.

 

The two of them began fondling and rubbing against one another as their breaths quickened. Each dragon moaned when Del grabbed their pulsing shafts in his hand and began to pump them up and down. The slick surface of their dragons cocks' made it easy for his fingers to slide over their lengths. The water surrounding them made it even better since it was warmer then the air above and they felt the temperature difference heightening their pleasure.

 

Del kissed Rhi's neck and continued to stroke them, building their pleasure. He broke the embrace after a moment and caught Rhi in a deep, passionate kiss. He moved his lips down the red flesh on Rhi's chest until he settled on his knees, taking a deep breath and winking before sinking under the water. Rhi felt the warm muzzle slurp his shaft all the way inside and surround it with an agile tongue and sighed warmly amid the snowflakes falling from clouds above.

 

With the air in his lungs Del had plenty of time to suckle his friends pulsing shaft. He tongued the sensitive pink tip, swallowing the warm pre that leaked in response. His hand snaked back around to grasp Rhi's butt as he slathered his friend's dragon cock with saliva. It parted in his claws and he pushed the digit he'd snuck into his Rhi further in, playing with his prostate.

 

"Oh ghh! Keep going, th-that's p-perfect" Rhi gasped as he widened his stance to give Del more access. Del gladly took advantage of it and began pumping his fingers, rapidly moving them in and out of the red dragon while he bobbed on his cock. He established a steady pace that quickly brought Rhi's climax into focus. He felt spasms in his friend's body and smiled around his shaft before pushing all the way to the base. Del sealed his lips around the base of the dragon cock and increased the pressure as Rhi squirmed above him, moaning louder with each passing second. "Oh Del!" Rhi grabbed his wet hair under the surface of the water and held on tight as he swelled and then burst inside the dragons mouth. Del sucked him hard, failing to let a single drop of warm dragon seed escape his lips before swallowing eagerly. The finger up Rhi's tail massaged the sensitive organ both inside and out to entice every last bit from his tightly clenched balls.

 

Rhi scratched his friend's ears under the water as he wound down from his first climax of the day, breath coming back slowly as the dragon under the surface  efficiently cleaned his shaft. He remained under the water for another solid minute before finally releasing the sensitive pink organ from his lips and breaking the surface of the pool. He pressed Rhi in to another deep kiss. They shared the remains of his flavor and embraced each other tightly. Del teased another moan from the red dragon as he slid his finger from his tail, earning a gasp as the ring clenched and stubbornly released it.

 

Then Dell bent low and looped his arms under Rhi's legs. He hoisted the red dragon up, nearly lifting him out of the pool, holding his body close as he aligned his aching cock up with Rhi's entrance. He didn't waste any time and  lowered him down, stretching his tail hole until he hilted into the horny dragon in his arms. Rhi's head fell back in pleasure as the hot organ pulsed inside of him, filling him up just right. He wriggled on it and clenched, drawing a gasp and purr from Del.

 

His arms fell around his Del's neck and held on tightly as they established a steady rhythm. Del pushed the hot dragon meat in and out of the snug tail hole, working himself deeper and deeper before drawing out again. The two of them had done this plenty of times in the past and Del knew the right places to hit as his thrusts began to pick up speed. His claws clamped onto Rhi's sides and guided him up and down in the water, forcing his hips to rise and fall on his ridged cock. They both moaned louder and moved faster, splashing as they lustily slammed into each other. Rhi wrapped his tail around Del and used the leverage to aid in bouncing on his cock, furthering his pleasure.

 

Del snorted and began to thrust more rapidly when he felt his climax approaching. His cock hammered into Rhi as they pressed against one another in the water. The tingle began to intensify in his balls and he gritted his teeth to hold it off for as long as he could, but Rhi leaned back, changing the angle of Del's thrusts. He slammed himself down on the dragon with a yell of delight as a second orgasm took him by surprise. Del grunted feverishly and joined in seconds, growling fiercely as the spasming muscles in Rhi's tail grabbed onto his cock like a vice. He held him tightly onto Rhi, emptying himself with a final roar of ecstasy.

 

They stayed together for several moments, just feeling their bodies pulse through their connection. Rhi continued to clench around Del as his cock oozed trails into his body. Eventually Del's shaft softened and slipped out, drawing a groan from them both. Then they collapsed into the water, gently splashing one another as the snow continued to fall around them and melt on the surface of the steaming pool.

 

"So, when you go back to work are you going to try and trap Era in a closet somewhere, or lock the office door and pounce on him" Del asked in his baritone voice. Rhi grinned mischievously and shrugged. "I won't know until I have the chance, now will I?"

 

"Livianna would call you a tease tell you to just attack him right away." Del remarked.

 

"Oh, I'm sure she would." Rhi replied, "but then I'd just sick you on her to shut her up. I'll grab Era when I can, but for now, after travelling and the rest of today, I'm just happy to be back home."

 

The two of them settled into the warm water and enjoyed the sunset on the horizon. It illuminated the puffy winter clouds with pink and yellow hues, filling the valley beyond their home with beautiful pale golden light and long graceful shadows; a perfect reminder for Rhi of why it was so good to be home once again.

 

So there you have it! Chapter two has revealed some surprises about the ATR world and its characters. We've gotten to explore and introduced some new places on Galeros; homeworld of Era, Anne, Rhi and Livianna. I'm working on the next chapter, but it will take a little time to complete. My brother is graduating Navy basic training in Illinois and I get to dress in uniform and applaude for him. I hope you enjoyed reading and I encourage leaving comments, suggestions and ideas down below. As The Most Interesting Man in the World would say: Stay thirsty my friends!