FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Below, in the city, the breath of spring freshness under a bottomless clear sky was perceived as cool on a hot morning. However, on the slope of the nearest mountain, the wind pierced through and through.

It was a beautiful place, which Zack saw from his window every day. To the envy of Rukh feline did it without even leaning out of his house. On the maps, the mountain was called Near, since it was closer to the city than others, not counting the western ridge, along which the railway ran. However, the locals called the mountain simply as ‘the mountain’ when they were going to walk along its slopes. Now, two locals stood not far from the top, on a flat cliff platform, from which they often admired the city spread out below, but instead of a breathtaking view, they now contemplated the blackened arch that appeared in a rock.

‘How could a cave appear in granite without an earthquake?’

Rukhgert gave his friend a long look full of excitement. An icy wind fluttered his snuggled ears; it also ruffled the wheat-colored mane of a lion. Zak responded with the same look, raising an eyebrow. Their tails trembled either from the cold, or from the nerves, and the feline released his claws.

‘It seems that uncle Evor succeeded, and we found this place before everyone else. Even before him. We can go back and tell him. Or we can check whether this is what we are thinking about.’

They nodded and went in — it would be foolish to go downwards to the wizard’s house and spend an hour, not making sure it was worth it.

‘What a pity we don’t have anything for the torch,’ Rukh said.

‘It’s good that I still had a flashlight from night duty,’ Zackary searched the pockets of his jacket, took out a small soap-sized box, and energetically pressed the spring-loaded lever several times. The box roared and issued a cone of light. Now, seeing that the floor was flat without holes and cracks and that nothing would fall from the ceiling, they could go deeper. The air was surprisingly fresh, not like in the caves. Neither stale, nor moist, nor dry, but somehow... familiar? Heady? The floor was too flat, arches too neat, and the farther inland, the more accurate.

‘Look, Ruh, there are lamps on the walls. And there are the lights and sconces.’

‘If this is a passage between the worlds and not an old secret palace, then we will meet friends of uncle Evor. We should have met them at the entrance, actually. Let’s say hello and go back, do you agree? I do not want to go home without seeing anything.

‘Agreed. It beckons me forward. I understand that this is careless and stupid, but... it is so easy, I have a feeling as if I crowded with force’

‘Me too. It feels like I can throw fireballs from my hands. Is here more oxygen in the air?’

The corridor looped and branched, but soon brought friends into the grotto. A spacious bright room with a crystal ceiling, transparent, high, refracting sunlight, creating rainbow gleams on the walls and floor. A gentle morning sky was visible behind the ceiling, and an alien moon was floating in the sky, growing, although yesterday the moon was half-aging. The drawing on its surface was not the same as in the sky of the Common, and not the same as in the native worlds of the griffin and feline.

While the young men looked at the miracle of the world, their heads thrown back, they were approached from the back. Someone was already in the grotto, and this someone came through another corridor. Something sharp pushed against Zack's back. Rukh was also taken by surprise.

‘And now you listen silently. Do not yell. Do not twitch. I am sure that you understand me, although you do not look like a human being. You will go with us to the end of the cave; you will be an argument when we meet the guards. Moreover, you could get in their traps. Be smart and get to the end and we’ll set you free. You will go back in safe, no matter where did you come from. If you will not be smart, you’ll be killed. Go ahead!’

‘Friends of your uncle, really?’ Rukh could read it in Zack's wide-open eyes. Rukh was trembling finely, but walked alongside, hastily wondering what could be done when some bandits were about to stick a dagger into your liver. It seems like nothing. Four years of fencing said that they are now either captives or the dead - three sighted cocked crossbows deprived friends of hope of getaway or rebuff. In addition, these tailless kept a respectful distance behind, and there was no chance of doing anything unexpected.

‘Harsh, what if these animals are the guardians? Or another squad like us?’

‘Close your mouth, Oblique, and look back more often. Do you see the beaky's ears? He hears you and understands. Hey, tell us something in your language!’

The griffin cringed, but said ‘I know a few, in this language or another, like this?’

There was a laugh behind him.

‘You see? The same thing happened to you’

Rukh did not get what it was meant. The group moved deeper into the cave illuminated by lamps, the hostages walked ahead, more clearly realizing what they were stuck in. Just for a moment, for the fur-covered creatures get stuck is not the same as for the bare-skinned. Rukh hoped more and more for a meeting with the guards, although he was not sure that they would bargain with violators for the sake of the lives of other violators. He would ask, but he was not allowed to speak or turn his head, and the gang itself was silent, only the tailless one named Sharp said where to turn. How do they know Griffin's language? Sorcery?

To support his friend and calm himself, Rukhgert out of habit spread his wings invisible to other people and hugged Zack - he flinched at the touch, not even focusing on the usually elusive sensations. Moreover, the jacket on him crumpled a bit under the weight of the phantom limb. After a moment, Rukh winced - an invisible hand distinctly stroked his wing and patted his shoulder.

Yes, this is exactly the magical crossroads of the worlds that uncle spoke about, with laws that not exist the rest of the world. But what can you do with this if everything you studied before is building armor, partially exiting the body and phantom wings growing? Obviously not playing with a cocked crossbow aimed at you. You had to be smart right away and do not go so deep.

After a few turns, a small grotto opened, the road branched and went into unlit passages. Tailless stopped, and the main bandit checked the map.

‘The right tunnel is the last on the way to the treasury. I will be surprised if something sharp is not waiting for us in it. You, skinny, go ahead and check everything. Your blond friend will follow on the right side. In case if you don’t activate all the traps on your own. Perhaps you will survive. Twenty steps later, a flame will appear that burns people and does not leave even ashes. You can try to run away from him, your predecessors succeeded sometimes. Move forward. We will look from here; the flame never comes out beyond the passage.

A push in the back. Phantom touch - Zak squeezed and let go of his shoulder. Step forward into the dark passage. Another step. Swirling darkness. Will the shield work the same way the wings did? Another step. What about Zack? He was weaker in sorcery. Two steps forward. Maybe, if you mentally become a mirror, you will manage to survive the flames. Nonsense. Nevertheless, it is worth a try, it is unlikely to get away, as the bandits promised. Moreover, they are unlikely to have told the truth about the number of steps. Most likely, the trap will work already at ten. Rukh took another three steps and froze, listening.

‘Why you stuck there?’ came from the grotto.

‘Freeze,’ Rukh told Zach in Feline’s language.

‘I'll freeze you! Anyone who wants a bolt from a crossbow will get it now. Move your legs!’

Zack snorted and muttered under his breath.

‘There are no foreign languages here, did not get it?’ and then he added louder, turning back, ‘We moving, it's just dark here.’

‘It will be light soon, do not be afraid,’ answered a horselaugh. When it stopped, the lion tapped his boots, gaining time for Rukh.

Moment of concentration. Feel yourself completely: how you grow armor plates, how they become mirrored. invulnerable to the world. Spread your wings and take them back, create a narrow safety wedge behind your back, cover up a friend whom you dragged into this mess. Feel that he is also building a shield.

Take a breath.

Step forward.

Flames erupted. A storm, a furious wave of fire rolled down the corridor with a wild roar, not touching the griffin, and burst out into the grotto. Zack crouched and ducked forward, between the wings, into the shadow protected from the fire. Blinded by a flash, the bandits tried to escape deep into the grotto. The fire, not hot at all, but gentle, tenderer than anything that Rukh ever touched, flowed around the young wizard and scorched his wings, but did not burn his body. The stream lasted for a few seconds, but the forces taken in large volumes from an unknown source were not fully formed by the griffin’s will. They helped less and less.

The wings burned, and their defenses collapsed, just as the defenses Zack had set for Rukhgert and himself. The flame enveloped the lion and a couple of bandits that did not have time to bounce off the aisle, and all disappeared. Blinded, exhausted, and devastated, Rukh peered into the darkness. Maybe it did not happen. Maybe his best friend was still able to defend himself. Was he?

‘Zack!’

Although... then he should be there.

Silence.

‘No!’

The leader of the bandits, swearing, separated from the wall around the corner and kicked a comrade who fell to the ground.

‘Move! We have thirty heartbeats. Pick up crossbows, move forward. Hey, Feathered, I do not know what you have been smeared with, but the flames were not supposed to come out of your corridor.

Rukh figured out that he should have run away, while no one saw in the dark. Suddenly, he was seized and dropped by a large hot paw, pressed to the stone floor. Something huge, shrouded in armor, passed over the griffin. It was scaly and hot. Carefully crept over griffin and then accelerated and knocked down the bandits. U-turn and tail strike - and people are smashed to the walls. Someone else met the runners, judging by the sound of steel and the scream.

‘Clean this up, and I'll take the griffin away,’ came the loud but pleasant voice of the dragon.

‘If only it would be something to clean up, you didn’t leave anything...’ they answered from the other end.

Two draconids approached the bodies, and busily stuck a dagger into each, after which the tailless seemed to dissolve.

‘Bon voyage, come again,’ one draconid grinned and looked at the second one.

‘Why are you saying this?’

‘What if they won't come? I did not have time to warm up.’

‘Let them come,’ said the dragon, ‘then the flame will burn them indeed, not sending home. However, if one of them does not consider anything as his home, then he goes nowhere. Do you hear me, lad? I explain it to you. This time the fire sends home. Your friend is alive and causes a panic in the town because he ended up there without you. Stop sobbing.

Rukhgert's legs gave way. The griffin had a feeling that the load that had fallen on his shoulders turned him into a mess.

‘Lift your feathered ass and march to the exit I'll make sure you won't get lost.

‘Is Zack really fine?’ - asked Rukhgert, shaking from the experience and holding back tears.

‘You will see. Even your attempt to circumvent our defense did not hurt him. Anyway, Stern, what are you doing here without Evor?’

‘Do you know me?’

‘I saw you as a nestling. Recognized by black spots on the ears. And their position is like that of your father. And he has ears at the same angle as the horns of one dragon dear to me. Somehow, I remember, you know. How I met him is a long story, if there will be a time I’ll tell you.’

When you go along an unfamiliar road, the return trip always seems shorter. Under the strong and pleasant voice of the dragon, Rukh even calmed down. Somehow, the guard contacted uncle Evor, so that his voice sounded under the arches of the cave, and he confirmed that Zack was alive and next to him. He was a little relieved from the heart, but the feeling of guilt towards the friend was strong. The perspective of whole town’s unpleasant attention to their modest persons reinforced this feeling. Even although the dragon suggested not disclosing the details of the meeting, leaving these “technical moments” aside when talking with others. A huge creature that saved one life and, as it seemed at first, took it from others, walked nearby, tinkling with armor and filling silence, drowning out the past. The sentinel. The Dragon. The representative of the seventh nation, the rarest in the Common. One of his uncle's friends about whom he heard different stories.

After some time, the light dawned ahead, and they went out to the platform in front of the cave. The guard took off his helmet and looked around. Strong helmet glasses were hiding emerald eyes, and the relief of the armor was hiding pleasant muzzle with bright rich facial expressions. The dragon squinted in the sun, sniffed the air, sneezed a couple of times with flames, and broke into a blissful smile.

‘We were not introduced to each other. More precisely, it happened so long ago that you don’t remember it, Rukhgert,’ the dragon extended his paw to shake, ‘Glen. One of the nicknames, rather a profession, but call me that.’

‘Rukh. Nice to meet you.’

They shook hands, and the young wizard asked ‘Will I get punishment from Evor?’

‘And from the parents, no doubt. From a young lion too, perhaps. But not from us. You already got it. Opening the gates caused destabilization, which some gifted people decided to take advantage of. Usually, we do not have strangers. It will be necessary to finalize the protection and return the firewall to normal mode. You tottering...

The griffin sat down, struggling with dizziness, and looked at the kind, sympathetic face of the guard.

‘I seem to be overworked. It was so easy to create sorcery in the cave that I did not notice how I spent more than he could.’

‘Watch out, do not fall out of the body, you still come in handy alive. A ride to the town?’

Rukh's eyes widened. Did the dragon proposed to fly? Really? This is too much for one day! Yes, and riding a dragon!!!

‘Yes…’

‘Then take a breath and carefully move to the edge of the cliff. I will catch you from the start, and at the ground, I will brake and throw you off. Can you group and fall without breaking anything?’

Looking at the griffin frozen in indecision, the dragon said ‘You didn’t think about riding on me, did you?’

Glen laughed and took the place to accelerate. Rukh only sighed, realizing that it would not be possible to return quietly and without extraneous conversations, and it would take a lot of effort to spend before he could fall and rest. It will be a difficult and long day. Well, let it be. If only Zack were good.