FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Chapter 36

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"HAAAAH!!!" I jumped to a sitting position, my breathing heavy and ragged, my body covered in a cold sweat.

Another nightmare, not even Feun's potion was working anymore. I don't know for how long they have haunted my dreams. They were never the same, apart from the ominous, glowing red eyes. Those eyes were always there in one form or another, and just thinking about them struck a cold pang of terror in my chest. What ever they represented scared me at a primal level. I didn't even know why I was afraid of them.

Kassandra's grandfather, Feun, made some medicine to help me sleep. That had worked for a while, only an occasional nightmare slipped through. But I could feel it slowly becoming less effective. But the medicine was the only thing that had allowed me any amount of sleep the past few moons. I was already suffering from a lack of sleep, but if the potions weren't going to work anymore then I don't know what I was going to do. I would need to go and see Feun when I got back to Zangar and hope he had something stronger.

As my breathing slowly returned to normal I laid back down on my sweat soaked pillow. The damp fabric felt cold against the back of my neck. I stared up at the stone ceiling of the barracks I was sharing with the other warriors on shift with me.

"You okay?"

I turned my head to the bed on my right, Cairn was looking at me, I could tell his eyes were open from the reflection of the moon light coming in from the window. I smiled, not sure if he could do so in the dim lighting, to reassure him.

"Yeah... just a bad dream."

"You have those a lot." He whispered so not to disturb the others.

"Yeah..." I sighed, letting out a long exhale.

"You wanna get up? We could train a little before breakfast." Cairn offered.

It was kind of him, after the last two shifts up here at the outpost he had come to realise that once I woke up I didn't really sleep anymore. Cairn was definitely my closest friend among the Zangarian warriors.

"You get some sleep." I said. "Once we get back I'm planning on heading to the dojo. I may as well try and get some rest."

"If you're sure?"

"Yeah, just go back to sleep." I insisted.

I didn't sleep.

I just lay in bed until the others began to rouse and got up myself. Those that were on duty over night joined us for a breakfast of warm broth and stale bread. It wasn't much, but it was good to have something warm to eat out here in the constant cold.

Winter had already peaked and the mountain paths were covered in snow. As cold as it could be during the summer months it didn't help to prepare you for winter. It was always bitterly cold and if you weren't careful you could easily die.

We had been on guard duty at the eastern outpost for the last week. The place was so old that it was literally falling apart. Built into the mountain side, a tall stone keep had been built along the trail that lead towards Zangar, and was surrounded by crumbling stone walls that were once a strong defence. Large chunks of the wall were missing, making it useless if we were to come under attack. Thankfully it was our last day here, our shift coming to an end, and in a few hours the next squad would arrive to relieve us. A good thing since this meal was the last of our rations.

"Some of the guys are going to the tavern when we get back." Cairn said with a mawful of food. "Do you want to join us?"

"Maybe later." I said. "I'm looking forward to one of Harold's meals." I grinned. "Much better than this stuff."

"Hey no problem." He smiled back. "Feel free to join us after though, yeah?"

"I might just take you up on that offer."

"You should." He grinned. "Maybe we can hook you up with a nice female!" He winked.

"I don't need any help getting laid, thank you very much!" I chuckled.

"Malakye! Cairn!" I turned to see Garan and Leonidus approaching, both of them garbed in leather and furs.

This was one of those times I was grateful to be a fire bender. We are able to use our nen to keep ourselves warm, even if we were to stand naked in the middle of a blizzard. You had to be careful though, using your nen constantly like that can wear you out and if you don't use enough nen you run the risk of feeling warm while you body actually suffers from the cold.

"You guys just get off shift?" I asked.

"Yeah." Leonidus said with a huff taking a seat at our table, broth and bread in paw. "We got the privilege of the final patrol. We just got back."

Leonidus and Garan had gotten the short straw this week. They had the pleasure of doing the night patrols while Cairn and I were on the day shift.

"I'm glad our week is over!" Garan smiled, taking a big slurp of his broth. "Two weeks before we have to come back to this hole!"

"It's not so bad." I said. "We may be posted here, in the back of beyond, but at least we get two weeks off between shifts."

"That's true." Garan nodded his head.

"Ever since the war started getting serious they've made sure to man this outpost, not that it's capable of defending against much." Cairn moaned.

He did have a point. This outpost was in disrepair, still sturdy but not much of a defence. Even though we were in the back of beyond, most furs out in the world were completely oblivious to the fact that Zangar was still standing after the last war.

.

The narrow trails here made it difficult to travel. But the fact remained we were here to do a job and many lives depended on us doing it. We were half a days walk from Zangar, and we were the best chance they had for an early warning if we were to be attacked.

"At least in a few hours time it will be someone else's problem." Leonidus chuckled. "Next time I'm taking a nice strong drink with me. To warm me up if I get stuck with the night patrols again!"

"Bring some for me too!" Garan grinned.

"Bring your own!" Leonidus chided, as he stuck his tongue out in a childish act of defiance.

"Easy now girls." Cairn chuckled.

We all chuckled and continued with our meal. Cairn and I would have to go on duty until the next group arrived to relieve us, while I'm sure Garan and Leonidus would be eager to get a little shut eye before we started to make our way home.

************

"BYE GUYS! HAVE A GOOD WEEK!" Cairn yelled to the group of dragons who had arrived to relieve us, waving his arm frantically, as we began our walk home.

"You are such an ass!" I laughed as I remembered the looks of annoyance our replacements had shot Cairn's way.

"Yeah! But I'm a loveable ass!" He grinned.

The four of us walked a little behind the rest of the group, Garan and Leonidus walked a few paces in front of Cairn and I. We all wore our leathers and carried our spears and packs, which were significantly lighter than when we had arrived a week ago since we had eaten the rations we had taken with us.

The snow crunched beneath our foot-paws. Even while using my nen to keep warm, the chilling cold of the snow under paw was still uncomfortably cold. But I hated the constricting leather foot-wear like Garan and Leonidus had to wear just to keep the cold at bay. Putting up with the cold was a pain, but it was definitely the lesser of the two evils.

"Should we take the short cut home?" Cairn suggested.

"You and your bloody short cuts!" Garan cursed.

"It's sooooo much quicker!" Cairn grinned.

"But it's dangerous." Leonidus interjected.

"We'll be careful!" Cairn insisted. "You didn't complain about it last time!"

"That was before I found out about the cross winds!" Leonidus growled. "I nearly got slammed against the cliff!"

"Well now that you know about them you'll be fine right?" He asked with an oh-so innocent smile. "Besides! If we did need to warn the village of an attack this would be the best way to do it! So why not practise?"

Leonidus just grumbled to himself. We all knew how this was going to go. Cairn, the fearless hero that he thought he was, would take the shortcut and leave us behind if it came to it. He would tease anyone that stayed behind for weeks about it.

Truth was that the walk back was not so appealing to me either. It was either hours of walking through steep, icy roads, or, a half hour glide. The outpost was much higher up the mountain than Zangar was, and if you could navigate the rocky canyons to the village it took practically no time at all to get there.

"I'm game." I grinned.

"Fantastic!" Cairn cheered, doing a little skip to celebrate. "Who else?"

"Fine..." Garan sighed.

"I hate you so much..." Leonidus grumbled, submitting to Cairn's will.

"I love you too Leo." Cairn replied, giving him a swat on the ass enticing another grumble from the taller dragon. "Come on guys, lets go!" He cried, running the few feet to the ledge.

We gathered around behind him, looking at the sheer drop that awaited us, unable to see the bottom due to the lingering mists that flooded the area. I'll admit, standing here at the edge of a cliff face this high made my legs tense and my stomach flutter. But my wings also fluttered, eager to unfurl and soar across the sky.

"Damn this is high!" Garan muttered.

We all stood there in silent reverence of the view. A silence that was broken by Cairn.

"How about a little wager guys?" He grinned.

"What?!?" Leonidus snapped, more out of exasperation of the suggestion than curiosity as to what the suggested wager was going to be.

"Last one to open their wings doesn't have to pay for any drinks tonight!"

He wanted to free fall? Talk about gutsy. It was nerve racking enough to just stand here, let alone willingly plummet towards the mist covered bottom. Not to mention that if we lost too much height we wouldn't be able to glide to the village, and potentially could end up having to walk hours to get back to Zangar, and that's if we managed not to have an accident mid-flight.

"If it will shut you up, fine." Leonidus growled. I knew what he was thinking, Cairn wouldn't let this go, it was easier to just agree and get on with it. "But don't expect me to cry for you if you die."

Cairn just snickered.

With no more objections raised we all prepared to take the leap. I made sure to make sure my pack and spear was securely fastened across my back and that they would not interfere with my wings before taking my place at the edge of the cliff. We all looked at one another, exchanging our silent confirmations to our readiness, as well as our nervousness.

"One..." Cairn began to count. "Two..." He paused, I bent my legs and tensed in readiness to throw myself off the cliff into the unknown. A wave of chillingly cold wind washed over us. "Three!"

We threw ourselves off the ledge. The cold air bit into my scales as I plummeted through the air. I couldn't help but laugh and cry out in fear filled exuberance, much like the others. Leonidus was the first to unfurl his wings, followed shortly by Garan. But Cairn and I kept plummeting We glanced at one another every now and again, keeping a sharp eye for the signs of any ground that would be fast approaching us through the thick mist we were falling through.

My heart was pounding hard in my chest with fear filled adrenaline. I could feel my nerve beginning to give out. I wasn't sure if we'd already fallen past the point of no return. I looked back at Cairn, his own expression betrayed his fear. We looked at each other knew we were thinking the same thing.

I reached out with my nen, my bubble unable to form properly due to how fast I was falling. I had found that when using my nen I became sensitive to the constant shifts in the wind. I could sense the shifts in the air currents over a considerable distance. Below us, roughly a hundred feet and closing fast, I could feel the swell of air at the base of the cliffs.

My attention was drawn to a sudden fluttering as the wind caught Cairn's outstretched wings, and I looked to see Cairn rapidly ascending; rather he had stopped falling. If I opened my wings now I would be able to glide to the ledge below, but that would mean I would have to walk back up to Zangar, and who knew how long that would take?

I clenched my jaw, trying to focus for anything that would get me back to where I needed to be. The ground was fast approaching, I had seconds to spare before it would be too late for me to become anything other than a smear on the rocks!

There it was! An up-draft was coming, but I needed to avoid the coming ledge in order to reach it. I twisted my body to the right, kicking and clawing at the air to drag myself to where I needed to be.

I plummeted out of the mist and past the ledge that I had nearly crashed into. Now I could see just how far I had to fall. I had fallen hundreds of feet and knew I was far below Zangar now. The up-draft was coming. Three. Two. One.

I spread my wings wide the moment before the up-draft reached me. I couldn't help but make grunt as I not only stopped falling but started to gain altitude quickly, the sudden deceleration and acceleration made my wings and back ache with the stress.

It didn't take long for me be pushed back into the mist. Eventually the up-draft waned and I was left floating in the mist, but now that I was finally descending at a slow enough pace my nen bubble was able to form. I began to float away from the cliff face that I had jumped from and headed outwards hoping to get clear of the mist and find the others.

I had little doubt that Garan and Leonidus would make it back to Zangar, but Cairn had fallen a long way with me and I wasn't sure if he had the altitude to make it back. I felt my nen crash against a cliff before I could even see it, and angled my wings to glide round it.

It was a few more minutes of gliding before I found my way out of the mist. I instantly spotted a nearby ledge and moved towards it. I stumbled slightly as I landed, breathed a sigh of relief and folded my wings away. Thankful to be on solid ground, as small as it was.

I looked round for any signs of life. It took a minute to get my bearings, recognising the twin peaks of the mountain that Zangar was built into. I was a good bit below Zangar as far as altitude was concerned, but my main concern was that I had no direct route there. It was at least half a mile to the nearest track in any direction, and that was if I could keep my current altitude.

"Hey-ey-ey-ey! Malakye-kye-kye-kye!" I heard some one shout, my name echoed off the cliffs.

I looked around, trying to find the source of the echo. Across on the other side of the canyon, at a higher altitude was Cairn; He waved at me. I waved back. He was in the same boat as I was in, worse even considering he couldn't navigate the air currents like I could. I would have to navigate the currents for the both of us, but to do that I needed to get to him.

I felt out with my nen and felt for any air currents I could use to my advantage. Nothing! We seemed to be stuck in a calm zone. The currents would likely change as the day went on but I couldn't wait hours for something that might not come. Looks like I was going to have to put Xavier's lessons to practise.

"HANG ON! I'M COMING OVER-VER-VER-VER!" I yelled, my voice echoed off the cliffs.

I spread my wings and took a step back so I was pressed against the rock face. The ledge I was on was only two paces wide, not enough to get much speed, but if I did this right I wouldn't need much speed. However if I screwed this up there I could end up muzzle first in a cliff face or plummeting to my death.

I took some deep breaths, my breath turning to a pale mist as it hit the freezing cold air. My heart was pounding hard in my chest. This was risky, but it should work. My legs felt weak at the idea.

"This will work... this 'will' work... it will work!" I muttered to myself, trying to make myself believe.

I closed my eyes and taking one last, long deep breath, I strode forward and leapt off the edge with my wings spread wide. I summoned my nen, just enough so the nen bubble wouldn't form around me or this wouldn't work. I focused my nen into my paws, angled my wings, and fired the nen into my wings. I surged upwards by roughly twenty feet. I laughed, feeling slightly giddy, it was working.

I repeated the process three more times so that I was able to land on the same ledge as Cairn.

"How did you do that!?" He asked, maw agape with surprise.

"Wind bender remember?"

Cairn had indeed discovered that I was a wind bender some time ago, having followed me to one of my training sessions with Xavier. He had promised to keep it a secret. I trusted him. And so far he hadn't told anyone since he found out nearly two moons ago.

"Right, right..." He nodded, rubbing his muzzle. "I keep forgetting. Still don't know why you keep it a secret."

"I have my reasons." I grinned. "So lets get home. I'm sure the others are nearly there by now."

"So how are we going to do this? We are pretty low down."

"I have an idea." I grinned. "Do you trust me?"

".... ehhh... yeah?" It came as more of a question than a confirmation, but this was pretty risky so I wasn't going to question it.

"Right, so here's what we're going to do...."

************

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this!!!!" Cairn yelled as he leapt from the ledge spinning round, and opened his wings, to face me.

I leapt from the ledge as well, fired a burst of wind nen into his wings, which propelled him backwards. His arms and legs flailed as he struggled to turn around, eventually managing to turn to face the direction I had sent him in, using the momentum I gave him to fly to the ledge we planned to use for our next stop.

I used my nen to propel myself after him. After a couple of minutes I caught up, using my nen to give us both a little extra height along the way. He was laughing now, apparently enjoying himself.

"This is amazing!" He beamed. "No wonder Xavier keeps winning the gliding competition!"

There was a gliding competition each year at one of the half yearly festivals, instead of the tournament. It was after the last tournament that he began to teach me how to use my wind element to extend my flight time. It was certainly coming in handy now. We'd be back in Zangar in no time at the rate.

We landed, a little clumsily on the narrow ledge, before walking around to plan the next part of our route. The ledge leading round the cliff face we were on narrowed as we moved away from our landing zone. It was just wide enough for us to walk without our backs pressed against the cliff face, we moved carefully, testing the ground beneath our foot-paws with each step, the last thing we wanted was for the ledge to give way beneath us suddenly.

"Look! I can see Zangar!" Cairn exclaimed, pointing towards the direction of our home.

Indeed it was Zangar. We could make out the stone walls that were constructed as part of its defence. If I was right the wall we could see was for the main entrance, the one I had used when I had first arrived in Zangar with the others.

Zangar had two entry points, a main one that most of the routes lead to, and the back one which wasn't much more than a narrow path. You could only make the last leg of the journey to the back gate by foot-paw, the narrow ravines making it near impossible for any decent sized wagon to even attempt the pass.

Since most of Zangar was actually built into the mountain side, only a few buildings actually outside of it, Zangar was quite hard to spot among the mountain ranges, only the imposing stone walls made for any decent landmarks of it's location.

A careful study of the space between us and Zangar suggested that we could probably get there in a couple more flights. I hoped we'd be able to find suitable landing zones. While we could theoretically get there in one go with my wind bending to keep us air born, I wasn't comfortable in attempting that yet, especially with someone else in tow. Better to play it safe for now.

"Lets use that ledge over there?" I said, pointing at a protruding ledge a fair distance away.

"You sure? It's pretty high up."

"It'll be fine. If I send you upwards from here it should be easy enough."

"Okay... if you're sure."

"Yeah!" I smiled giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Stand with your wings open."

As he turned to face me, opening his wings to the fullest I began to lay down on the ground.

"What are you doing?" He chuckled.

"Getting a better angle." I grinned.

"See anything you like?" He gave his hips a wiggle and grinned suggestively.

"Lots of things." I grinned some more, drawing on my nen. "Angle your wings downwards a little."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, like that."

"You know... while your down there you could... SHIT!!!"

He cursed as I hit him with a burst of air, the wind catching his wings and propelled him upwards. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched him flail his arms and legs, as he tried to regain control.

I quickly got up and then propelled myself after him.

************

"That was insane!" Cairn laughed heartily as we walked up to the main gate, having landed a short distance from Zangar.

"Hey!" One of the guards atop the wall waved at us. "Weren't you posted in the eastern outpost?"

"Hi Jalanar!" Cairn waved.

"We took a little detour." I grinned. Cairn chuckled some more.

"Open the gate!" He commanded, shaking his head at us.

We made our way inside, greeted by the familiar muzzles of our fellow warriors. We didn't waste too much time talking to them as we had places to be. Cairn and I parted ways after reaching the market place, which was a buzz with activity. I knew this hustle and bustle all too well now. It was only like this after a trade wagon had arrived. Now with the new goods handed out the the respective merchants the public was keen to get something out of the new stock.

I made a bee line for a particular stall, knowing that I'd see a friendly muzzle or two waiting to greet me. True enough there was one. An elderly falcon currently taking payment for a piece of jewellery from a dragoness.

Eric's stall specialised in the more exotic pieces. Art, tapestries and jewellery were plentiful on his stall, while most other stalls focused on practical items or food. Most could not afford them, but there were plenty of rich families here in Zangar who could. Zangar was unique in how it's traders operated. Specialising in one particular trade. It was a good system since there was not many outsiders coming to spend their coin, so it was made so that everyone could make a living.

"Hi Eric." I grinned.

"Malakye!" He smiled, walking over and giving me a gentle hug which I reciprocated in kind. "You look tired. Are you well?"

"I'm fine." I smiled. "Just got back from the outpost."

"Good!" He smiled. "Now that you're back we should arrange a little get together."

"I'd like that." I smiled. "I'm just heading to the dojo."

"You should rest. There is plenty of time for practise later!" Eric chastised me. He was always going on about how I should make sure to have fun and not spend my whole time practising.

"I will. I just wanted to pop by and see how everything was going."

"If I could ask a favour before you go?"

"Anything."

"Well Cody said he would be out to help me, but he still hasn't turned up. With the market this busy I'd appreciate an extra pair of paws."

"I'll find him for you."

"Thank you." He smiled before turning to another customer that had stopped to browse his wares. "What can I do for you ma'am?"

As he dealt with his customer I walked away. If I was going to look for Cody the best place was to start at his home. Eric, Cody, Jason and Michael all lived together. They had moved out of the small accommodation they had been given when we first arrived here in Zangar for a more permanent home. It was a short walk away from the market place, but it was much larger than the last place.

It didn't take long to make my way there, the entrance to their place was marked by a wooden sign that read 'Home Sweet Home' above the curtained door way. I pushed the curtain aside and stepped in.

"Cody?" I stopped and was immediately hit by a wall of musk. "Oh for fu..." I exclaimed, cutting my curse short to turn around out of politeness.

Jason was pinned muzzle first against the wall, his arm twisted behind his back, as Michael was busy fucking him from behind. The sounds of their hips smacking together repeatedly, and scent of their combined musk and the smell of sex filled the room.

"Hey... there... buddy." Jason huffed out, the sounds of their slapping hips did not slow down in the slightest.

It still took me by surprise about how casual they were about sex. I was fairly used to their antics but at moments like this they could still make me burn hot with embarrassment.

"Sorry to disturb you... I-I was looking for Cody." I explained.

I kept facing the curtained entrance I had just stepped through, my back still turned to them, but I could see them vividly in my minds eye; having gotten an eyeful just moments ago. I knew Cody wasn't here. If he had been then he would likely be joining in the fun. The image of their buff naked bodies, combined with the scents and sounds that filled the room made my loins stir with needful arousal.

"He headed over to Darcy's for a bite to eat." Michael replied, huffing, not stopping his rigorous thrusting to talk.

"Thanks." I said and made to leave.

"You want to join in?" Michael asked, with an evident lustful tone.

The thought was tempting, and after a long week on duty I definitely could use a little down time, but I had things to do.

"Rain check?" I asked.

"Anytime!"

"Anytime!" Jason echoed.

With that I took my leave, it was a relief to get away from their scent, the tension in my loins lessening without the added stimulus for my libido to draw upon. I was so close to popping a stiffy right now, and in my restraining leather armour I knew how uncomfortable that could get from experience.

I headed back to the marketplace to continue my search for the elusive fox.

As I entered Darcy's I was hit with the scent of food. The place was pretty busy, but it was easy enough to pick out the fox I was looking for among all the dragons in the room. He was sitting with his back to me, nibbling on a bit of bread, I was about to call out to him when I was suddenly assaulted by a plump, large breasted dragoness, wielding a wooden spoon, who wrapped her arms around my waist. I staggered slightly from the impact, not quite sure where she had come from.

"Malakye! Sweety!" The dragoness exclaimed happily, giving me an extra tight squeeze before releasing me.

"Hi Darcy." I chuckled.

"How are you doing sweet heart?"

"I'm doing fine."

"Mmmm...mmm! Don't you look sexy in your armour!" She grinned, running a paw over my chest.

"Thanks." I glanced away from her to look at Cody who was now well aware of my presence and gave me a wave.

"Can I get you something to eat?"

"No... no thanks. I'm just here to find a friend." I explained pointing at Cody.

"Right you are sweety!" She flashed me a toothy grin. "It's good to see you! You hardly come by."

"I'm... kept busy." I explained, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her.

"Mmmhmm." She nodded. "Well I'd better get back to the kitchen before my pies starts to burn." She said walking off and giving me a wave. "Oh! And tell your father to come by and see me! I see him even less than you!"

"I will!" I assured her, letting out a sigh of relief as she disappeared into the kitchen. Once she was gone I went over to Cody, ignoring the many stares I had drawn due to my encounter with Darcy.

"Hi!" Cody chirped happily, his tail wriggled behind him happily.

"Hi yourself." I smiled back at him. "Eric was wondering were you got to."

"Oh!" He exclaimed as if remembering. "Guess I'm a little late." He said, his ears flattening guiltily against his head. "I'll head there now. You coming?"

"No. I'm heading to the dojo."

"Okay." He grinned. "Make sure to stop by sometime before your next shift."

"I will. I've got two weeks before I need to head back up." I smiled.

"Great!" His tail wriggled happily behind him as he was barely able to contain his excitement, making me chuckle. "I'd better go. See you later!" He said before he scurried off.

I watched him leave, adjusted my pack and my spear before I followed suit. Not wanting to linger in case Darcy decided to stealth hug me again. I swear I don't know how she did it! It seemed that the plump dragoness was even faster than Aceh when it came to sneaking hugs on you.

Once I'd left, content that I wasn't going to get another surprise hug from any busty dragonesses, I headed towards Aceh's dojo. Thankfully it was only a few minutes away, just outside the market place on the other side of the ventilation tunnel. I remember that Aceh had chosen that place due to how public it was. He had said that a dojo was not meant to be secretive.

I suppose that made sense. Aceh kept the classes small. At first he had accepted only ten students, paw picked by Aceh himself from those who requested that he teach them martial arts. The ten, not including myself, chosen from Zangars warriors. Of the ten only four were adepts, but two of them had since dropped out and only two adepts remained.

His newest students actually consisted of non-warriors, a few of which weren't even ten winters old yet. And he was inundated with requests, ever since my father arranged a public display of what Aceh had taught his first students. Our little group were put into various sparring matches against numerous warriors. Lets just say that our win-to-loss record was pretty impressive.

As I rounded the final corner towards the entrance of Aceh's dojo, two lit braziers on either side of the entrance and a wooden banner declaring 'Tigers Palm Dojo' above it, the sounds of numerous dragons practising reached me. I smiled as I watched three young dragons crouched at the entrance watching with rapt enthusiasim. I gave them a smile as I passed them, but I'm not sure they noticed me.

Aceh spotted me the second I walked in, but didn't spare me more than a passing glance as he returned his attention to the dragons currently carrying out various exercises, all of them clad in white tunics and pants that Aceh made mandatory uniform. He, in contrast, was dressed in a black, sleeveless tunic with matching pants. There was an subtle intricate design, embroidered in white, up the left side and leg of his outfit.

I placed my spear and pack on the ground, out of the way so no one would trip on them, and made my way towards Aceh. The center of the dojo was covered in thick leather mats. This was the practise area. The mats made landing a little more tolerable while you practised with your sparring partner. Beyond the mats there were racks of weapons, a variety of practise weapons, mostly wooden or blunt for those learning to wield them, and another practise area for those using weapons.

At the far side of the dojo there were numerous wooden logs dug into the ground so they stood upright. That was the newest addition to the dojo. A place for practising your balance. A much better idea than standing atop a moving wagon, like the way Aceh had taught me. I smiled at the memory.

I stopped and gave Aceh a polite bow. He gave me a curt nod before turning to other dragons, about a dozen or so who were in the middle of sparring with one another.

"Hai'chi!"

Immediately all the dragons in the room stopped what they were doing and quickly lined up and bowed. Once everyone had bowed Aceh pointed at Barnus and then at me before taking a few steps back. We both knew the silent command he had given us. He wanted us to spar, and with the command given we moved into position and bowed to each other before slipping into our respective fighting stances.

Barnus was a fierce fighter, and favoured the use of kicks when he fought. I slipped into a more defensive role. I widened my stance and stared intently at Barnus.

I knew not to underestimate Barnus, he was fast and stronger than he looked considering his small size. I still remember how he had fought Tau'ruc during the tournament, he had Tau'ruc beat until Tau'ruc had used his superior nen to overwhelm him, a feat which had to be respected even now since Tau'ruc was widely considered the strongest warrior in Zangar outside of the warlord and master ranks, and stronger even than some of them.

"Begin!"

Upon the order to start from Aceh Barnus launched into action. He planted his right foot-paw into the ground, I took a step back, and leaned back a bit to avoid the spin kick that he had aimed at my head. He used the spinning momentum to continue into his next attack, sinking low to the ground and attempted to sweep my legs. I leapt over his leg and immediately crouched to avoid the following leaping spin kick.

The moment his kick passed over my head I moved to attack. I drove my right fist into his chest. My attack connected as his foot-paws hit the floor. Having not regained his footing my attack sent him tumbling backwards, he recovered well, rolling into a crouched position. A point to me but this was far from over.

We both resumed our stances, and as I expected, Barnus was first to attack.

Standing firmly on one leg, he attacked with a constant stream of kicks. I moved to back away but he just followed me, switching his legs as he took a step forward, only to resume the constant barrage of kicks.

Despite the constant barrage I managed to block or evade most of them. Thankfully I was still dressed in my armour, my bracers absorbed a lot of damage, as I blocked with my forearms. I continued to block, surprised at how well he could maintain his balance on a single leg.

I needed an opening, but acting now would simply leave me vulnerable to his attacks. He would have to switch legs soon, or he would slow as his muscle would be fatigued, and that would be my moment to go on the offensive

Two kicks later he did indeed begin to lower his right leg, I stepped forward to grab him, however he simultaneously pushed off the ground and lashed out with his left and caught me in the right thigh. His kick caught me off guard and my right leg gave way under me, and I fell to my knee. He followed up with straight kick at my chest. I managed to catch his ankle with both paws, dampening the force of the kick, and used my grip on him to stop myself from falling backwards. My chest throbbed in pain from the kick but I ignored it and focused on keeping my grip on his ankle.

Once he realised that I had a firm grip on him he tried to pull his leg out of my grasp. But I wasn't going to let go that easily. I twisted his ankle, careful not to seriously injure him, and forced him to turn so he faced away from me or risk injuring himself. Now in control I pushed myself back up to a standing position and kicked him in the back of the leg he was standing on. He cried out and crumpled to his knee.

Still holding onto his left ankle, I twisted it again to roll him over and struck him lightly in the gut. Not enough to hurt him, enough to indicate I had won the exchange. I released my hold on his ankle and stepped back, allowing him to stand.

His willingness to fight had not wavered. He rolled back onto his foot-paws and slipped into another fighting stance. He was using the fourth stance, another one that used kicks but also favoured grapples. I resumed my stance and waited for him to attack.

He came at me, slightly less aggressively than before, but no less fierce. He began with a simple punch combo, the two punches I deflected away using my arms, and he followed with a low kick to left leg. His kick stung, intent on putting me off balance, and had the desired effect long enough for him to grab my right arm and neck.

I bowed my head and spun to the right, his grip on my neck slipped away but his hold on my arm still held strong. Before he could try and grab me with his other paw I struck him at his elbow and then with the same paw back handed him across the muzzle. He grunted in pain and his grip loosened just enough to wrench my arm free. I stepped in closer, wrapped my left leg round his and struck him in the chest with a double open palm strike that sent him crashing onto the flat of his back.

The match was over, that was three distinct points to myself; they typical length of a sparring match held here at the dojo. But Aceh never gave the command to indicate the match was over. I looked at him and a moment later felt a heavy paw clasp down on my shoulder. It spun me round and before I could react was tossed to the ground with a hip throw.

I arched my back as the pain shot up and down my spine. I grunted in pain as I stared up at my attacker. It was Karnal. The biggest Zangarian dragon among the warrior caste. He was tall and burly and had the muscles to fill out that huge frame of his. And laying on my back and staring up at him made his seem even bigger!

He reached down to grab me and I lashed out with a kick catching him on the top of head. I was grateful that he lacked the head spikes that many Zangarians had or I would have impaled my foot-paw on them without thinking.

As he reeled back from the blow I quickly rolled up to a vertical base, ignoring the pain in my back as best I could. I cast a glance at Aceh who had not made a move to stop the attack, which meant he had called Karnal to join the fight when I wasn't looking.

Both Karnal and Barnus had recovered and were standing ready to attack. I took a moment to roll my shoulders and stretch my back before I slipped into my own stance.

The three of us just stood there, I switched my gaze between them repeatedly, they stared me down. Both of them were strong, and had very different favoured fighting styles, I would need to let this play out and wait for an opportunity to present itself. My main focus was to not let them over whelm me with their numbers.

I made the first move, I needed to get the edge on these guys before they could coordinate their attacks. I rushed towards them, Karnal lunged forward with a massive swing. His attack was sloppy, he was simply reacting, not focusing on how best to attack. I ducked beneath his arm, spun round and kicked him in the ass so he staggered forward.

I immediately turned to face Barnus, who was on the attack as I turned to face him. I managed to side step the fierce kick, his momentum carried him past me, but before I could attempt my own attack against him, he pushed off the ground and lashed out with an impressive spin kick which caught me across my muzzle and send me staggering.

My vision blurred for a second or two, but that time was long enough for Barnus to be on the attack again. He nailed me in the sternum with three fast kicks and then grabbed my shoulders and drove his knee hard into my gut.

I gasped as the air was forced from my lungs, and was so disorientated from the combination I barely noticed Barnus leapt back and Karnal approach from my right and land a heavy punch into the side of my muzzle which sent me crashing to the floor. The padded mats prevented too much addition fall damage, but that didn't help the pain that was coursing through my body from the last few attacks.

I shook my head as I tried to clear my vision which was blurred badly. As my vision cleared I looked up and saw Barnus flip through the air, landing on his back on the mats; his foot-paw crashed across my chest. His foot-paw felt like a mace as it crushed the air out of my chest.

I groaned and rolled away, hoping that a little distance would give me the time required to recover and mount a counter-offensive. Little did I know was that I rolled right to the foot-paws of my other opponent, the giant, muscle bound dragon that was Karnal. He reached down grabbed my armour round my neck and my leg, hefted me up with a grunt. I was helpless to do anything as he raised me above his head and then tossed me back towards the ground.

My entire body shook from the impact, again I was silently thankful for the padded mats, if this had been a stone floor I would probably have some serious injuries about now. I grunted and tried to drag myself back up to my foot-paws.

When I managed to push myself up to my knees, seemingly every bone and muscle in my body at this point was howling in complaint at the attempt. Karnal grabbed me again and dragged me back up to my foot-paws. Instinctively I lashed out with an open palmed thrust to his snout, he released his hold on me and I staggered backwards away from him.

As I staggered backwards I looked over my shoulder to see Barnus rushing towards me. As he pushed off the ground, I allowed myself to lose my balance, falling to the ground and rolled backwards. I ended up in a crouched position and put every bit of energy I could into my legs, and pushed myself towards him and drove my right elbow into his chest and then swung my left elbow up across his muzzle. He let out a choked yelp of pain as he staggered away, almost falling muzzle first onto the mat, but caught himself by landing on all fours.

I heard the pounding paw-steps of Karnal. I turned to face him and weaved round his punch and ducked the following one. I stepped forwards I struck him five times with alternating paws in the stomach and chest, finishing the combo with an upward palm strike to his jaw snapping his head back so he was staring at the ceiling. But I with a roar of frustration I lashed out with a reverse spin kick, and drove my foot-paw into his chest and sent him crashing down to the mat.

Barnus was on the attack again. He lashed out with a couple of low kicks aimed at my shins, kicks that I matched, having little effect other than leaving stinging pain in our shins as they connected. We were both using the same stance of Tigers Palm. Normally I wouldn't dare try and match him in one of his own favoured fighting styles, but right now I was just reacting, focused on fighting through the pain that coursed through my entire body.

For the next few moves we matched each other perfectly, using the same moves that were drilled into us by Aceh over the past months. We blocked and dodged each others moves as if we were fighting our own shadows.

I broke the stalemate by weaving round a punch and grabbed the back of his neck with my right paw, he quickly escaped my grab by spinning under my arm to the left and grabbed my right arm with both his paws and quickly twisted my wrist and arm. He kept a firm hold of my wrist. If I attempted to pull myself free from here he could easily break or dislocate my arm. He lashed out with several fast, hard, punishing kicks to my now defenceless midsection. Even through my leather armour his kicks hurt!

I pushed off against the ground and rolled forward, the move untwisting my arm, but Barnus kept a firm grip on my wrist. I quickly rose to my foot-paws and swung my right leg over his paw on my wrist. He looked at me with a brief look of confusion before I spun my body, and used his hold on my arm as a platform to lift myself up off the ground, to drive my left knee into the side of his muzzle.

That made him lose his grip on my arm. I landed crouched on the ground as he staggered back clutching his muzzle. He glared at me in defiance. He was not willing to give up fighting yet! I rose up and began to close the distance to finish the fight, both arms pulled back and thrust both paws towards his chest.

"HAI!!!"

The command washed over my like a wave, the deep bellowing roar of Aceh rumbling through me, my body reacting before my brain and froze my body in place, my fists stopping mere inches from their intended target. Barnus's entire body flinched as if I had actually hit him.

"Hai'chi!"

We both turned to face Aceh and bowed, the movement instinctive and completed with little thought. I heard Karnal grunt as he also pulled himself up behind me, stagger two steps to my side and bow himself.

We all stopped bowing at the same time, all three of us with heavy ragged breaths and undoubtedly sore all over from the overly serious and intense sparring session. We stood in silence under Aceh's scrutinising gaze, waiting for him to say something, anything, that would bring the silence to an end.

"Good..." He rumbled, with what was almost a purr.

He walked forward, closing the distance between us and himself, we remained standing at attention, until given some sort of indication that he was done with us.

"You need to rely less on your strength in battle." He said looking at Karnal to my right. The burly dragon bowing his head in acknowledgement. "Strength is an advantage, but do not rely on it to win."

"Yes Master." Karnal replied with a curt bow before taking a step back.

"You are a fierce, determined warrior." He said addressing Barnus to my left. "But remember that is it sometimes better to allow your opponent the first move."

"Yes Master." Barnus replied curtly. He bowed his head and took a step back.

"You are fine warrior." He said to me, a subtle purr that gave his deep voice a peasant rumble, his piercing blue eyes stared into my own and seized my already undivided attention. "Strong, fast and adaptable. But do not assume the battle is over, there will always be another enemy, and always when you least expect it. You must be ready always."

"Yes Master." I bowed my head and also took a step back to stand in line with my fellow student; Barnus and Karnal.

"In battle we fight for survival! In war we fight to protect what we hold most dear!"

"IN LIFE WE FIGHT FOR THAT WHICH MAKES US STRONG!" Both I and the rest of dojo yelled. Finishing what had become the creed by which Aceh taught his students to fight.

The words had a deeper meaning than what was initially obvious. Each individual had a different reason to fight, a different reason to strive to become stronger. For some it was simply survival, for others, like myself, it was to protect those who we held dear to us. But there were many more reasons that someone might fight for, reasons which we perhaps could not understand, but were no less important or noble than others.

But he also taught us to not only be able to fight, but also how to fight. That a fist was not always the answer, or the solution to a conflict. And to represent that every student had to meditate daily, and study to enhance ones mind.

This was another reason that Aceh was inundated with requests from those wishing to become students, and from the parents of young dragons who wanted their young to join his dojo, because he taught all of his students how to read and write.

When he had begun to take on more students beyond the first ten, he had requested aid to do this from my father. And that aid came in the answer of two Zangarian aids, both of them from Valelor house. One of which was Vizimaar, the son of Callidus, the same young dragon that had been charged with teaching me how to read and write.

Only once a student had completed the mandatory study and meditation each day, would they be allowed to participate in actual martial arts training here in the main section of the dojo.

"You three, go rest and meditate." Aceh commanded us.

"Yes Master." We said in unison. We bowed once more before moving to complete our masters order. I moved to grab my spear and pack before following the others deeper into the dojo.

The first section of the the dojo is where everyone practised, behind a wooden partition at the back of the room there was an entrance that took you into the more private areas of the dojo. The small area, which branched off in three more directions, had little more than racks of the familiar white uniform that Aceh insisted his students wear.

Karnal and Barnus went right, into the meditation area, while I moved to the rack to pick out a uniform since I was still dressed in my armour. I picked out a uniform and stepped into the room on the left to change.

This was were everyone could store their belongings while here at the dojo. There were numerous storage areas, large enough to store weapons armour and clothes, to store every ones belonging separately, the room was very open plan with no where to conceal yourself from one another. It was another one of the lessons Aceh tried to teach, harder for the younger, more bashful students. I placed my spear and backpack in one of the empty storage spaces and began the long process of stripping myself of my armour.

Each piece was secured by numerous straps, some a little hard to reach by myself, and took time to undo each one. I started with my bracers, enjoying the coolness that washed over my scales as I released them from their leather confines for the first time in over a week. Even now I could smell myself as being particularly ripe, the outpost had very little faculties to wash ones self while up there. I would need to take the time to bathe later once I was done here, hopefully I would have time before meeting up with Cairn and the others tonight.

Once I had managed to unbuckle the last of my armour and stored it safely away. I took off my underwear, picking them up to sniff them, my snout crinkling in disgust. They were quite ripe, not surprising after a week of constant wear. I tossed them into the bottom of the storage space my armour was in.

I took a few moment to stretch my aching muscles and enjoyed the cool air on my naked body. I groaned in satisfaction as I worked out the kinks in my muscles. A noise from the direction of the entrance caught my attention mid stretch. I turned my head to look over my shoulder but held my pose and saw a young dragon, I think his name was Reece, standing there staring at me. When he saw me looking he looked away and looked rather embarrassed. He silently moved to another one of the storage spaces.

I continued to stretch my muscles, noticing out of the corner of my eye that he was casting occasional looks at me, before hesitantly started to get undressed, his back turned to me. It was the younger ones who struggled to be comfortable being naked round others, I guess it was only natural, and generally only those who were comfortable with their bodies only wore loin cloths as day to day wear.

I had worn them out of necessity, since I couldn't afford anything better. The wolves wore loincloths since the weather was warmer on the plains and it was easier to stay cool during the day, particularly during the summer. Only more important wolves wore clothing to show their status.

Here in Zangar most dragons wore more substantial clothing due to the cold weather. So I can guess it was understandable that getting naked in front of others was more of an issue for the younger dragons like Reece since he was used to being covered up.

"Leaving early?" I asked, making a point of not looking at him and making him more uncomfortable than he already was.

"Uh... yeah." He said timidly. "I have to go help my papa on the farm."

I remembered now that Reece's family worked on one of the farms here in Zangar, not the same one as Laguna's family. He was one of the newest students here, having joined just a couple of days before I left to go patrol the outpost for the past week.

"So how are you liking it here?" I asked, turning my head to give him a smile. "I know Aceh can be quite scary, but he's not that bad. He just likes to appear that way."

"Mmmm." He smiled back. "I like it. It's fun."

Well at least he was enjoying his time here at least, that was a good thing. There was a few moments of silence as he finished getting undressed. I was a little surprised when he stopped, not attempting to get dressed as quickly as possible like I expected him to. I groaned as I worked out a particularly nasty kink in my back.

"You're really strong." He said turning to face me.

I stopped stretching and turned to face him. If he was willing to swallow his bashfulness to talk to me in his current state of undress then I may as well try and act as naturally round him as possible. Now able to get a good look at him I could see that his body had some decent muscle on it for someone his age, must have been all that work at the farm, but he still retained that natural slenderness of a young dragon who's body was only just beginning to develop.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"I thought that those two were really strong! But you beat both of them!"

"It was a tough fight, wasn't sure if I was going to be able to win for a while there." I admitted. "The trick is to not give up. If you try hard enough, even when things are looking bad, you can surprise yourself sometimes."

He beamed, as if encouraged by my words, nodding eagerly.

"Do you think I can be as strong as you someday?"

"Sure you can." I grinned. "Train hard, work hard and one day you may even be stronger than me, or maybe even Aceh!" I said, doubting that anyone could be much tougher than Aceh. Even after all this time I had never once beaten him in a fight. That tiger was just so damn strong!

"Really!?"

"Sure!" I nodded. "But if you want to be stronger than Aceh, you'd better train 'reeeaaallly' hard!"

"Okay!" He chuckled, turning to grab his clothes.

I did the same reaching for the white uniform and slipping on the pants and then the sleeveless tunic I had chosen. The uniforms came both with and without sleeves, but I preferred to go without. The light breathable fabric rested gently on my scales, a pleasant change to my stuffy armour.

"See you later." I said giving the now nearly fully dressed Reece a wave as I made my way out of the room.

"Bye!" He called after me as I made my way across the hall to the meditation room.