FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

From the ruins of the old kingdom to Mia's home wouldn't take more than a day's travel by foot, but to her the passage of time had become something strange. While her body went through the motions of walking and nothing on the outside seemed different, her head felt feverish, her very spirit swirling and foreign to her. In taking the dragon's seed and the final portion of his life, perhaps she had taken on something entirely too strange for her body to handle. Even still, she continued on without pause, eager to get home to prepare for her journey, though she didn't know where she would end up, where she would be safe. Perhaps she would be able to stay at her home if only she explained to the priests, to her fellow knights what their past's wrongdoing truly was and that they had a chance at redemption through the dragon child that would be born from her body, as she thought of this she heard a small ringing at the back of her head, but ignored it as she treaded on. At the top of a hill she could see her home, a grand monastery surrounded by stone walls. It was then that her body froze and she heard that ringing become intense, that ringing that changed into a familiar voice telling her to stop, "Mia...I am always with you now...I need you to go north. North you'll find friends...north you'll find a new home. Already you've changed too much...go Mia, you are no longer human."

For a moment Mia stood there, still feverish and confused, still desperate to be back home, but the voice within her the voice of the father of her future children had been correct. They would imprison her, try to purify her or worse. She couldn't take that chance if she planned to fulfill the promise of she made to that dragon. At the same time the fever only seemed to grow hotter, her mind steeped deeper into the fog, but with a breath she managed to get herself moving, heading where the voice directed her, that voice which was her only comfort as she walked away from all that she knew. By now they would no doubt be searching for her, but this odd disturbance in her aura would keep them far away from her, and though she longed to return to her home and fellows, she continued on.

Mia followed the voice's direction, heading in what it believed to be north. She wasn't sure if the voice truly belonged to the dragon within her, or if it was some sort of sick manifestation of the fever that plagued her mind, but on she pressed. The voice occasionally comforted her with words of encouragement, speaking of friends to come and a new home that would serve her better than before. When the fever began fading from her mind and her spirit seemed to calm, she asked, "Are you really the same dragon? Or am I hallucinating...then again I must be mad to even ask aloud."

For a moment the voice quieted down, it seemed to have either taken it personally, or actually be pondering the question. The voice answered after a moment of only the crunching of boots on wild grass, "I am a part of you now. We share this body, but I honestly do not know if this is permanent...I had expected to give you my power and be done with it...but my presence is still here, it seems I am not allowed to rest...but I do not mind, I can entertain myself with your memories, your sights, and protecting our child."

Mia sucked in a breath, so she literally had the dragon's presence within her, an odd thing to be sure, but it wouldn't stop her from moving. To be honest she would rather forget her memories now. The knight commander that had raised her, the priests that had served as her guidance, all of them lied, betraying her and her good faith. Perhaps though, perhaps none of them had truly known the past. It didn't matter now though, the most important thing would be the child and herself getting to a safe place. Some comfort could be taken from the fact that in some way the dragon still lived, even if it had been an unintended consequence. Now Mia found herself pausing, placing a hand against a nearby tree as she leaned down. Without that fever, she could actually process just how much walking her body had done and just how little rest she had. If she remembered correctly, she had even walked through the night without break.

Before long she began walking again. She couldn't afford to stay still for too long, at least that was the way she felt. A forest lay to the north where the priests said a cursed race lived, but then again, the priests had already told her so many lies what was one more? Standing at the edge of the forest she wondered if she would find a home beyond the wall of trees. The dragon had never seemed to want to hurt her, he had no reason, especially now that the possibility of his child being inside of her at this very moment. Stepping past a towering tree she found herself in another world. The world beyond the wall seemed to reflect an entirely different season, leaves, grass and more covered in oranges and browns. Breathing out she noticed she could see a white mist as she exhaled. Not really sure what to expect she continued on, her eyes taking in the sudden change, and although the forest was colored in browns and oranges, she could hear and feel life all around.

As she continued on through the strange forest she could see mushrooms growing from trees and the ground, some just as large as Mia herself. Still the voice was silent, so she must have been going the right way, though, she felt so fatigued now, so hungry. Again she found herself leaning against a tree, her eyes closed. The cool air from the change in temperature was welcome and almost bracing, but even with that she still felt so weak now. Perhaps she needed to sleep, after all she felt so safe here within the forest. No knight or priest would search this place, no other human would find her. Sitting against the tree she closed her eyes, "Rest now...you're safe." the dragon within her mind muttered, just as strange shapes surrounded her. With the dragon's encouragement though, she was fast asleep.

Mia awoke on a bed of sorts, what seemed to be a fur pelt covering her. Opening her eyes she sat up slowly, pelt sliding off of her. She shivered, noticing that her armor had been stripped from her body and the cold seemed much more intense wherever she was. Looking around she saw small orbs floating, illuminating the shack she had been taken to. She was just about to stand when a man stepped in, a lithe looking fellow floating just off the ground, fluttering crystalline wings behind him. His clear blue eyes spotted that she was awake and he only smiled. Before she could speak he presented a clay mug to her, contents so sweet she could smell them from where she sat. Reaching over she took the mug gently, feeling the warmth, her stomach rumbling as the smell grew stronger. Without even looking she took in the liquid, drinking deeply from the mug. The simple fact that it was something to eat nearly brought tears to her eyes as her body shivered, realizing then just how long it had been since she had something warm in her stomach and something to wet her throat. The taste was something to behold as well, a mixture of sweet with an odd nutty spice that stuck to her tongue even as she pulled away with a sigh, "You're well? Good...if you can, tell me, what are you?" Whatever the creature was moved to her side, hands gingerly taking the now empty mug before he continued on, "You seem human in most parts, but you feel so nostalgic...so...very curiously magic, like...like a dragon. We are all curious...but only I'm not so frightened."

Mia blinked, unsure of what he meant, "I...I'm human, at least I believe so, but--" she paused for a moment mid-sentence. She wondered if she truly was human anymore and if she should tell the creature before her about her situation, but really she had nothing to lose, "No, I don't think I am anymore. I found the last dragon...imprisoned by my people, dying." Her cheeks flushed red as she continued, "I...took his seed at his request and--"

Seeing how uncomfortable she was the creature brought his hand up to touch her cheek very soft, his pale fingers cold upon her cheek, "So you gave yourself to him, gave yourself to redeem your people hm? And what of him? Is the dragon?" Again he paused turning to shake his head before stopping her, "No, don't answer. If you are here that means he must have led you in some sort of way and it means you have something of him inside of you...something besides the seed that is changing you. I'm not certain if cream is a common color for human eyes."

Mia felt her cheeks pale, her eyes had changed color? She was suddenly very self-conscious and found herself looking at her hands, the back of which had tiny white scales upon them. Eyes wide she lifted her hands to examine them closely speaking quietly to distract herself, "And...what are you friend?"

"A faery of winter." Said the faery very calmly before chuckling, "My name is Ober and I can see now you are understanding just what is happening to you...but don't worry, we'll take care of you. We'll teach you how to control whatever is inside of you." Just as Mia felt herself calm a bit, Ober continued on, "For a price of course."

Mia looked to him with a small frown, "A price?"

Ober put his hands up, "Ah, don't look at me with those eyes, not like that at least. I only meant that you'll be here as our friend...but you need to help us as well. Day to day activities as simple as maintaining the magic that keeps humans from wandering in too far...and well, expelling humans that go too deep." Seeing her reaction to interacting with humans Ober leaned in with a small smile, "No killing needs to happen...you can do it with a little scare, a little sleep, something to trick them into running away...but understand humans are our enemy and not just those knights you got that sword from."

Mia felt herself sink even further, "There are more humans? The priests would have us believe we were the last."

Ober bounced as he sat next to her upon the bed, "Most think they are alone. Scattered camps from different tribes, all of them very violent when approached...but enough about business and the world. Tell me about yourself, your name at the very least."

Mia closed her eyes, sighing just a bit, "Mia."

Ober touched her hand, again the feeling of his cold penetrating her skin, "Well Mia...you'll be safe here...don't expect peace though. The others are eager to see what tricks they can pull upon the hybrid and what neat tricks they can teach you! Oh yes!" Clapping his hands together suddenly the faery bounced off of the bed to retrieve her sword sheathed in leaves from underneath the bed, "Here...we kept it safe just for you, the magic in this is very nice, but understand that...I do not think you can use this without alerting your old friends. Would you have us destroy it and forge you something new?"

Mia paused, looking over at the sword covered in leaves. It was a symbol of her old life and now knowing that it could lead her old life straight to her she wasn't sure whether she should keep it or not. Already they would be on her tail if they had been concerned about where she was. With a sigh she decided to touch the sheathed blade, if only to say goodbye, "No. Too dangerous." With that said she took her hand off the blade to get up. Ober stepped out of her way smiling just a bit as he moved outside of the shack. Mia herself followed tentatively, curious, and desperate to distract herself. When finally outside her eyes widened. They atop the trees, branches holding wooden and vine bridges leading to other shacks and buildings covered in snow. Biting at her lower lip she could feel the full blast of cold from the change in season hit her hard. Without a word from her the faery chuckled, "Go on back inside...I'll get your frail body something warm before you freeze. Hopefully you'll grow more dragon and less human as the centuries go by."

Centuries? Again Mia felt a cool breeze and she retreated to the warmth of the shack, sitting upon the bed to take the pelt around her shoulders. Sighing she found herself slumping, unsure of what to do now. She had traveled for so long in search of a new home and certainly she felt safe enough, but it would take some time to consider this place home. Her thoughts began to drift to her old home just as the dragon's voice echoed through her mind, "They'll treat you well here...there shouldn't be any trouble...so please try to consider them your family, for our child."

Mia closed her eyes. Faeries were supposed to be tricksters, evil ones at that, but the most Ober seemed was overly friendly. Another lie from the priests, but they didn't matter anymore. She was safe now, away from their grasp and she could focus now on the matter of birthing and raising the dragon's child. With new determination Mia had only one curiosity left. Quietly she spoke to the air, feeling a bit silly when she realized that the dragon was within her mind, "...What will change about me?"

"I'm not sure. There were never any unions between human and dragon this deep. Perhaps a bit of appearance, perhaps a full transformation, I do not know." echoed the dragon in her mind, but it only gave her a bit of a fright. Perhaps the dragon within sensed this, for it did not continue to speak leaving her to her own thoughts. With a sigh she laid back on the bed, closing her eyes, just a bit more rest, a bit more rest before the training began, before her new life began and before she would have to abandon fully everything she had once known. At the very least she would be safe and perhaps that was enough.