FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

WARNING: Keep in mind that this is the next installment of the new versions of the first two chapters. If you've read those chapters earlier than the release date of this chapter, I suggest you read them again as this chapter will not make sense

"Hi, I'm Serafine, but you can call me Sera."

I looked up from my fore-paws, confused. "I... I'm Nathaniel, but you can call me Nathan. Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden?"

"It's just... Sometimes I forget that others have lives that may not be going the way they thought as well. I don't know, I've lived in solitude a long time and I think that's gotten to me a bit."

"Usually, I'm not quite as fragile but today was just an overwhelming day." I admitted.

She nodded in understanding. There was a short pause before she spoke again. "So you turned yourself into a dragon? Why?" Serafine asked, changing the subject.

"I wanted to leave town and it was the only way I could think of doing it without getting eaten. I guess that didn't work out too well," I said, chuckling.

Serafine laughed. "Well I just got to you a bit too early for your plan to work completely, that's all. If I'm correct, you're still out here, not in here," She added motioning to her stomach.

"Yeah, you're right." I agreed.

"Although, I'm still angry at the fact that you managed to get away from me. I believe some sort of compensation is in order."

"You want me to bring you something to replace me?"

"Yes, absolutely, I'm hungry and you could have very easily sated that hunger but here you are and I'm now without food."

I smiled uneasily. "Well, I don't know the first thing about hunting."

"Then maybe it is time to teach you, after all, you are a dragon now." She folded her wings back and started walking into the woods. "Follow my lead, okay?" I nodded.

She walked slowly, looking around, her ears perking up, listening to her surroundings. She turned right, her nose to the ground, following a scent possibly. I smelled something too. It smelled sweet and alluring. I didn't realize just how good a dragon's nose was, we followed the scent for nearly four hundred steps. Suddenly, Serafine crouched low. I sneaked up beside her.

"Do you see that boar? I want you to tackle it and kill it."

My heart pounded, I felt ready to try. The boar continued to nose at some bushes, it had probably found something to eat. Unfortunately, It was not going to get the opportunity to have its meal. I jumped into the air, claws bared, flying straight towards it. The boar looked up and hopped out of the way. My claws hit dirt, digging into the soft ground as I watched the boar run off. Serafine jumped over me, running after the boar, tackling it to the ground. The boar struggled under her grip until she bit it's neck, ending its struggle. Grabbing the boar with her mouth, she brought the carcass over to where I was laying and set it down in front of me. She bit off half and swallowed her share whole. I looked up, feeling ashamed but she smiled down at me, nosing my half towards me. I looked at the carcass, having eaten raw meat before. It had tasted awful as a human. Taking a nibble, I realized that raw meat did not taste the same as a dragon as it had a human. The flavor was enticing, the blood and meat from the boar mixed so well together. It made me ravenous. I bit into the boar, taking more than I could chew comfortably and swallowed it down hungrily.

"How does it taste?"

"Delicious!" I exclaimed. "Raw meat tastes so much different as a dragon."

"That's interesting. I always wondered why humans cooked their food, is it because it tastes better cooked for a human?"

"Oh yes it does, cooked food tastes the best as a human, but this," I took another bite, swallowing quickly. "...this is incredible."

"Just wait until you try something living, trust me, it's the best feeling to have something struggle down your throat." She recollected. "Maybe there is some hope for you as a dragon after all. Your pounce could use a bit of work in silence but you were quite efficient in your jump. I even saw you spread your wings a bit to balance yourself." She said, smiling.

"Thanks," I said, feeling pride at her compliments. I finished up my part of the boar and stood up. "I guess I still owe you something to replace me, huh?"

"Yeah, you do. I want something as delicious as you were or..." she paused, walking over to me and licking my shoulder. She hummed in approval. "I want something as delicious as you are. It seems that your human taste has not disappeared," She said, licking my shoulder again.

"Hey, quit it." I halfheartedly scolded. "Are all dragons this touchy?"

"Well, some are; I am." Serafine smiled. She looked over at the setting sun. "Would you like to come stay in my cave tonight?"

"Oh," I said, surprised. "Sure, I would love to."

"Great! I love visitors, especially tasty ones." She teased.

Serafine started to spread her wings, ready to fly but I stopped her. "Wait, I don't know how to fly yet." I pointed out.

"It's easy, I promise. Just follow my lead."

She unfurled her wings and started to flap. Great gusts of wind roared by me as she lifted off the ground. I opened my wings and mimicked her, flapped my wings as hard as I could. My eyes shut tight in concentration, I felt as though I was getting lighter. Too scared to open my eyes, I continued to flap as hard as I could. After about a minute of focused flapping, Serafine poked me. I opened my eyes immediately, looking around to see that I was hovering with her. I looked at her, then back at my wings, relieved that I had done it.

Serafine giggled at my expression. "It's fun to fly, huh?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, I've never felt this free... and sore."

"Your wings will get used to it soon, just keep working on it, she said, slowly gaining height." I clumsily followed in her up. Serafine started to glide more horizontally above the treetops. I slowly leveled out, taking hints from her movements. I couldn't help but grin at the experience. Flying was an incredible sensation. I look up, following behind Serafine. Her sleek body cut through the air like a knife, her wings flapping ever so slightly to keep her at the same altitude: Strength of a true predator but with the finesse of a butterfly. It was wonderful to watch, she was so beautiful. I stared at her flying form for a while without noticing that she had caught me staring. I noticed that she was speeding up, towards the mountain. It seemed like such a small journey to the mountain as a dragon. I followed her path and in a very short period of time, we approached the mountain. Suddenly, as we neared the cliff-side, she started to climb, flapping her great wings harder than she had before, I followed suit, watching her. We finally reached a plateau half way up the mountain where she leveled out and landed. She landed gracefully and soft, showing off her experience. I ran into her by accident, knocking her over.

I stood up immediately to find her laying on her side with her wing over her face. I bounded over to her quickly, worried that I had hurt her by running into her. I nosed at her wing. "Hey, are you alright?"

Her wing receded just enough for her eyes to peek out and open up. Without warning, she pounced on me, pinning me down. She glared down at me, growling and baring her teeth.

"I'm sorry!" I cried out. "It was an accident, I didn't mean to land on you."

Her glare and growl suddenly stopped and she started giggling. "Oh my, It is so much fun to scare you; It's too easy"

"You really had me there, I thought I had hurt you."

"It takes a lot more than that to hurt a dragon." She said, getting off me. She rolled over and curled up, her tail wrapping around herself. Her wings splayed out, covering most of her body like a blanket would. She lay on her paws, staring out into the dusk.

"Hey, thanks for letting me stay here tonight."

"It's no bother at all," she started. "Stay as long as you want. After all, I wouldn't want you getting away from me before you paid me back," she said lightheartedly.

My mind rushed into a panic, thinking about the prospect of me turning into a human around her. Surely I had some time before then. I calmed myself down, feeling my panic start to subside. Curling up in the same way she had, I slowly drifted into slumber. Maybe staying here for a little while wouldn't be so bad.

I was awoken by an immense weight on my chest. I opened my eyes to find Serafine glaring up at me. "Well it looks like your little magic trick is up," she said, smiling devilishly.

I looked down to see that I had turned back into a human. She had me pinned down by her paw. I looked up at her. "Wait Serafine! Please, can't I find something to replace me. I don't want to die."

"I believe that I gave you a chance, didn't I? That boar would have probably sufficed but that was before I realized that you could turn back into a human." She sniffed me. "Mmmmmmmh." She dragged out her approval. "I'm going to enjoy you."

I whimpered, feeling my life pass, I knew it was no use arguing. She picked me up with her claw and tossed me into the air. I watched as the world shrunk beneath me. I slowed down to a stop in mid air before starting to fall back down to her. She readied herself, opening her maw to catch her prey, to catch me. I watched as I plummeted ever closer to my inevitable demise. Suddenly, warmth enveloped me as I entered her cavernous maw, the tongue softened my fall while the viscous saliva slowed my decent towards her throat. I looked back only to find a wall of enamel. Her mouth had shut, locking me inside. I stopped before hitting her throat. It seemed as though she did not want to swallow me. Her mouth leveled off and I lay there on her tongue. I had little time to rest as I was tossed around by her tongue. I was pushed into her cheek as she sucked on me. My time in her mouth was short lived. She slowly raised her jaw and I started to slide backwards. I tried to fight the slippery tongue as I slid along it towards her awaiting gullet. It opened, ready to take me. First my foot sunk in. I tried to wrestle it out but her throat muscles had to strong of a grasp on me. I tried with all my might to fight my tight wet fate but I was fighting a losing battle. For an instant, I lost my other foots grasp on her tongue. She punished my failure and took the chance to swallow. I was sucked into her throat, shoved down into the depths of my new residence. I could hear her satisfied rumbles echo around me as I was pushed ever deeper into her. I felt a hopelessness overwhelm me. I was nothing more than meat to her now. It scared me.

I heard her voice as I entered her stomach. "Oh I was right, you were just right to fill me up.

"Please Serafine, please let me out. I thought you were actually starting to care about me."

"Ha! Care? I just wanted some lunch. I'm sorry if I gave you that impression but you are just food for me, nothing more. Now I'd love to chat but I think you'll be busy pretty soon in there."

I looked around the dimly glowing stomach, watching it fill up with a foul smelling acrid substance. It started to itch and burn. I closed my eyes in pain and then...

...opened them to find myself back in Sera's cave. I looked down to find myself still a dragon. I sighed in relief. It was only a dream. My mind stirred to life as I tried to count how many days I had stayed with Serafine. It was still dark outside, and the temperature had dropped quite a bit. Fall was definitely fast approaching us. I knew that I had stayed at least five nights in Serafine's home. I worried at how fast time with her was passing. I shivered a bit, the first time I had ever felt cold as a dragon.

Serafine rolled over, bumping into me as she slept. She was shivering as well. Her instincts told her to push further into the warmth next to her and she nestled herself right next to me. I splayed my orange wings a little bit farther to wrap around her as well. I felt a low rumbling escape her as she purred in her slumber. I watched her sleep under my wing. She seemed so harmless right now, not the same predator that I met in my night terror or on my first day with her. Maybe that was all it was, a nightmare. My mind drifted back to her flying. I never knew dragons were that beautiful. I smiled thinking about her. It was easy for my mind to wander here, life as a dragon was so easy. I continued to watch her soar in my mind. She snoozed quietly, our combined body heat making the cold night pleasant once again. I felt at home. It scared me.

TO BE CONTINUED