FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Griselda emerges from the tree line and marches towards the crowd of townsfolk circled around the still burning cabin, equal parts confused and enraged at their sudden appearance. She stomps up to a dog man, grabbing his shoulder and forcefully turning him towards her.

“Why are you out here?” She spits.

Yet the dog man says nothing, his face blank.

“Answer me mongrel! Why did you and the others come out here? I had the situation handled. You’ve done nothing but waste your own time.” She growls.

The dog man remains silent, just staring blankly at the towering moose.

“What? Are you mute? Lame? Hello? Is anyone home?”

She waves a hand across the dog man’s face and his eyes stare forward dumbly. The man appears totally insulated from outside stimulus, as if in a waking dream. Growing curious, Griselda leans in and stares into the dog man’s eyes, detecting a faint green glow emanating from behind his pupils.

“By the gods, you’re-“

“Don’t bother trying to talk to them, sister. The townsfolk answer only to me now.” Announces Malvina, walking up to Griselda with a smug smile.

Griselda turns to face her, crossbow at the low ready and a barely concealed scowl hidden beneath her mask.

“What is this? What cursed mind breaking magic have you employed on the townsfolk? And why did you send them out here when I had everything under control?”

“So many questions, so many questions. And here I thought my witch hunting sister would know a thing or two about the less than scrupulous tactics employed by the magically gifted.” Malvina continues to walk towards her, casually removing a necklace from a young fox girl before placing it around her own neck. “You’re a smart woman, why don’t you tell me how you think this impromptu town gathering came to be?”

Griselda sighs in disappointment at her sister’s casual display of thievery and looks across the line of motionless townsfolk.

“This dog had symptoms of drinking a mind control potion. I'm guessing you slipped something into their well earlier today? That’s how you got the whole village under your control all at once?”

“Very good sister! Very good! Right on the money!” Malvina gives a halfhearted clap in celebration. “And to answer your other question, I sent them out here to assist you. Just wanted to make sure that the chimera sisters had no chance of escaping our grasp, hence the perimeter they’ve so thoughtfully setup.”

“Idiot!” Griselda shouts, angrily stamping a hoof on the ground. “I had no need for assistance, nor did I ask for any! All your little stunt has done is ruin my concentration and increase the complexity of my job. Next time you get the bright idea to help me, kindly throw yourself down the nearest flight of stairs.”

Malvina gasps, holding a hand to her chest in shock.

“All I did was try to help my dear big sister out and this is how she repays me? With venomous words and hurtful comments? I would much prefer a simple thank you next time.”

“I don’t think there’ll be a next time.” Griselda curtly answers. “And just so that we’re clear, I could kill you for what you’ve done to the town, it would be well within my rights given how outrageously illegal it is to put mind-altering potions in a town’s well. And since the local populace is clearly not mentally fit to participate in a trial that leaves me as your judge, jury, and executioner.”

“Oh no what a shame guess you’ll just have to kill me then.” Malvina rolls her eyes. “They’ll be back to their normal selves within a day, no need to get that crossbow of yours out anytime soon.”

“They better.”

Malvina exhales, then puts her hands on her hips.

“Is it at least done? Are the chimeric sisters dead? Don’t tell me I hired you for nothing.”

Griselda glances towards the burning cabin, more portions of the roof falling into the interior casting clouds of ash and sparks into the air.

“No one has emerged from the fire and all that smoke and heat would have cooked or suffocated anyone stupid enough to try and remain inside. They’re dead, just have to enter when the fire’s died down and check for remains.”

“Wait for it to die down? Ha!” Malvina cackles, raising her hands into the air. “Cool the flame and quinch the cinder, I proclaim this inferno as cool as winter!”

Pale lightning shoots from Malvina’s fingertips and twirling clouds begin to form above the blazing cabin. For a moment the area around the cabin is engulfed in a raging blizzard, arctic winds and piles of snow forming all around it. Then just as fast as it came the clouds dissipate, the fire put out as steam rises from the cabin’s cooled interior. Malvina continues.

“Come Griselda, let us see the burnt, bloody, fruit of your labor.” She smiles, motioning for Griselda to follow her.

Griselda slings her crossbow across her back and grabs a couple of torches out of the hands of nearby townsfolk. She offers one to Malvina.

“It’s getting dark out, you’ll need this.”

“Me? Using something as crude as a stick with a bit of burning cloth stuck to the end of it to light my way? I think not!” She cackles, turning the torch away. “I summon a ball of light to light my way, and from my shoulder it shall not stray.”

Malvina holds a hand in front of her and a ball of white light suddenly appears above her palm. She lowers her hand and the light glides to her shoulder, the ground around her bathed in soft light.

“Much better than a flame, if I do say so myself. No foul smell, no flicker, no smoke, and it only goes out when I command it!” Malvina gloats with a prideful smirk.

“If only we could all be so gifted.” Griselda sarcastically replies, handing the torch back to the townsfolk she ripped it from.

Together they move towards the cabin, stomping across burnt boards of wood and singed pieces of paper as the sisters approach what remained of the front door. Malvina merely pokes the door and it falls forward, allowing them entrance. The interior of the cabin is a mess of broken furniture, singed remnants of the chimera sister’s possessions, and a smattering of charred wooden boards and beams from the cabin’s structure. All the windows have been blown out and glass litters the ground below their warped frames. A few piles of debris continue to smolder as the moose sisters cautiously search the cabin, Malvina appearing far more motivated to find the chimera sister’s remains than Griselda.

“See any bones, Griselda? Any blackened antlers? Fangs? Maybe a doeish hoof or a curved ursine claw?”

Griselda looks around, finding no trace of chimeric remains among the debris.

“No, nothing yet.”

“Then keep looking! And do let me know if you find that golden chain, I think it ought to be around here…” Malvina trails off, moving towards the fireplace of the cabin.

Griselda circles what was once a sizable kitchen table, easily lifting it to find what lay underneath. To her disappointment there weren’t any bones, but there are a few wine bottles lying among the ash. Curious, she grabs one and lowers the table back to the ground. After rubbing away some soot on the label she manages to make out ‘P—pki- W—e’ on the label. The moose shrugs, then pops free the cork. She raises the stem of the bottle to her mouth and takes a short sip.

“Bleh!” She gags, spitting out the foul-tasting liquid.

“Griselda! Drunken fool, put down that wine bottle and help me look for the chain!” Malvina spits, hands on her hips in discontent.

“I don’t know what I was expecting…” She mutters, looking at the wine bottle before glancing back up to Malvina. “I thought the main priority here was getting rid of the chimera sisters, not ruffling through their belongings for some minor magical artifact.”

“I just want to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is all. Now get over here and help me search!”

Griselda groans and moves towards her sister, eyes glued to the ground as they search for traces of witchly remains. After several minutes of fruitlessly searching the living room they move to a storage closet, then a bathroom, until finally coming to the sister’s bedroom. Malvina struts about in a rage, practically frothing at the mouth at the lack of any charred remains or signs of the golden chain.

“Where is it! Where is it! Where do the stinking remains of those foul scum sucking witches lie and where is that golden chain! When I find their charred bones I’ll resurrect them myself and have them dig their own graves before throwing them in! Or maybe I’ll just throw their bones outside and let the wolves play with them! But I’ll keep some trinkets, oh yes. I’ll mount Urmine’s antlers to a wall along with Gothetta’s stuffed head!”

“Calm down. You’re hurting my ears.”

“Calm down?! I bring you all the way out here, promise you a hefty payment, and this is the best you can do? A burnt-up cabin with no dead sisters and no Chain of Command?! You’re incompetent! An empty-headed fool! No killing instinct at all! A cloven-footed coward!”

Griselda pauses.

“Chain of Command?”

Malvina looks away and steadies herself.

“Oh, it’s, it’s nothing.”

Griselda squints, there’s obviously something Malvina wasn’t telling her.

“I think it’s more than nothing. What exactly is this chain of command?”

Malvina waves her hand dismissively.

“Just a nickname for that insignificant little chain of theirs.” She suddenly shifts into a harsher tone. “Now where are the chimeric sisters Griselda?! This cabin is bereft of their remains, are you sure they didn’t escape? Did you at least make sure their brooms were destroyed?”

“Of course! Destroying their brooms was one of the first things I did, it would be a rookie mistake not to. I watched this cabin with a careful eye for the past several hours, they entered with a guest but not a soul left the cabin after I began my attack.”

“Hmmm, perhaps they had a broom in reserve? They flew through the burning roof?”

“Not possible, I was watching the ground and the air.”

“They drank a potion of invisibility perhaps?”

“None are perfect, and any distortion would have been easy to catch with the fire as their backdrop. And with the perimeter the townsfolk formed escape would be doubly impossible.”

Malvina puts a hand to her chin and walks into the living room, Griselda following.

“A secret cellar perhaps?”

Griselda stomps on the floor producing a solid thump.

“None, and even if there were a cellar they would have suffocated within it, all of this cabin’s windows are above ground level.”

Malvina paces back and forth, eventually stopping as something on the ground catches her eye. She notices a faint trace of black sand under the charred skull of some kind of large lizard creature. She rushes towards the skull and tries to lift it to no avail.

“Sister! Help me!” She commands.

Griselda walks over and together they heave the skull off the floor and toss it to the side. Malvina leans down and studies the smudged pattern of black sand, suddenly leaning up with a gasp as she makes her conclusion.

“This is a summoning circle!”

Griselda shrugs in confusion.

“Yes? So? Summoning circles can only pull creatures into this realm, not cast them elsewhere.”

“Well do you have any other leads? No brooms, no hidden cellars, no illusory potions or daring escapes. This summoning circle holds the key to this mystery.” Malvina looks around the cabin, glancing at the many bookshelves that line the walls. She walks up to one and retrieves a book, opening it. The cover is turned black, as are the edges of the pages, but the interior of the book remains largely untouched from the flame. “The chimeric sisters were known for having a number of rare books and arcane tomes within their possession. I’m aware that some were recently sold to other witches but perhaps they kept a few that they found useful, books that may have held secrets to the field of summonation that are unknown to the witchly world at large. I’ll need to study every bit of text that survived the flame and figure out where they went and how. Until then your payment will be withheld. No proof of dead witches, no gold or enchanted bolts.”

Griselda suppresses an annoyed groan, resigned to her fate.

“Very well.”

“Good. Now move to the bedroom and gather every charred tome, book, manual, and loose page you can find! The secret to their escape is here, dear sister. I can feel it!” Malvina cackles and turns back to the book, ingesting every word with an eager, dark intent.

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

“Are we dead?” Gothetta whimpers, eyes closed and still tightly hugging Urmine and Henry.

Henry slowly opens his eyes and looks around.

“No, this is my apartment, we’re safe.” He answers, sighing in relief.

The three of them break the hug and look around their new surroundings. Composed of a combined kitchen and living room plus a single bedroom and bathroom Henry’s apartment wasn’t particularly large, fit for being little more than a cozy bachelor pad for a single unmarried man. Still, Henry found ways to make it a place of his own. Posters of his favorite movies lined the walls in the living room, the couch was covered in soft throw blankets taken straight from his childhood home, and the kitchen was outfitted with well used pots and pans graciously donated by his parents. And in keeping with the season a few plastic pumpkins, bats, and spiders littered the apartment and a few candles bearing the scents of autumn rested on the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Gothetta takes a small step back and nervously squeezes her hands together in front of her chest.

“So this is where our love-companion lives? In this odd little space?” She squeaks.

Urmine puts her nose to the wind and takes in a few quick inquisitive sniffs.

“This house of yours smells of unwashed socks and foreign spices.” She announces, hands on her hips as she swivels her head around. “Where are the insulating wooden boards? Where is your fireplace? Your cauldron? Your candles? Your stores of wood and cast-iron stove?” She moves towards a coffee table in front of the couch and lifts the lid of a pizza box. “Is this what you humans eat? Boxes full of moldy bread and tomatoes?”

Henry rushes over and closes the lid, rushing it and a few other pieces of trash to a garbage can.

“Sorry it’s a little messy, I wasn’t exactly expecting any visitors. And this isn’t a house you’re in, I live in an apartment.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a big building with a lot of smaller places for people to live in. That means there are other people living all around us so please keep quiet, if anyone found out I was keeping a bear and a doe in my apartment they would go crazy, and that’s before they found out you could walk on two legs and talk!”

Urmine nods in agreement.

“Of course, I seem to recall beast folk aren’t native to your world so it only makes sense we’ll need to keep a low profile. Me and-“

“Gothetta!” Henry cuts her off with a shout.

Henry rushes over to Gothetta who has her head stuck out an open window, quietly observing the outside world below. He grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her back before looking out the window himself. A few people are looking at him quizzically, they no doubt saw Gothetta’s doeish head just moments before.

“Bro was that a deer?” One of them shouts up.

“No, it’s uhh, she, uhh, it’s just a Halloween costume. A very realistic Halloween costume.”

There’s a brief pause, then the passerby shoots him a thumbs up.

“Really realistic dude.”

“Ya, uhh, thanks!” Henry replies with a nervous laugh.

He moves away from the window and closes the blinds, turning to see Gothetta staring at him wide eyed.

“I probably shouldn’t have done that, should I have?” She asks, voice wracked with guilt.

“No, you need to keep a low profile from now on. You’re free to explore my apartment but keep away from the windows.”

She nods enthusiastically.

“Absolutely! If this ball of yours is anything like our world then me and my sister are at risk of being captured by illicit creature smugglers and sold on the dark alleys, or whatever your equivalent is.”

“Pretty sure it would be the government capturing you, but I don’t think they would treat you any better than a smuggler. If anything they’d probably be most interested in what your internal organs look like, if you get my drift.”

“Foolish doe!” Urmine says, shooting her sister a disappointed look. “What were you thinking? What was so important out there that you had to stick your head out to see it?”

“Ley lines Urmine! There are ley lines just outside his apartment!”

“Ley lines? Odd, but I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, this world is connected to the magical ether same as any other.”

“What the hell is a ley line?” Henry asks.

Urmine clears her throat.

“Ley lines are lines of concentrated arcane energy that run across the land. They’re usually benign, but occasionally they begin spitting up raw primordial energy right from the ether. Such raw energy makes spells, incantations, and other forms of applied magic go haywire when cast. Sometimes it amplifies one’s magical ability, sometimes it gives unanticipated effects to spells, or it might make any spell casted near it fizzle out before it even has a chance to take. Awfully annoying when that happens, but thankfully there aren’t any such ley lines near where our cabin is.” Urmine walks to the closed blind, lifting one section up with a claw. “Yes, Gothetta was right, there’s a ley line running down the very street you live in Henry.”

Henry joins her, looking outside.

“Running down my street? I don’t see anything.”

“Only those with a sensitivity to magic can see them. From my view I see a great pink line of magical energy ebbing and flowing down the street and through buildings. You know, this likely explains why when we summoned a human you were the one the magical ether picked. Being so close to a ley line means you were close to the arcane web that exists between worlds.”

“Interesting, but we need to put our focus back on the present. Do you have any idea what the hell happened back at the cabin?”

Urmine begins pacing around the room, hand on her chin.

“It’s unlikely the town formed an angry mob voluntarily given they had no reason to hate us so. And the fact that they brought their children with them means that they were likely under the influence of mind altering magics before they set out. The question then is who would set them upon us? Who would have the motive, and the means?”

“I know! I know!” Gothetta yells, hand up in the air.

“Yes, Gothetta?”

“It was that stinking, drooling moose! Malvina! Think about it, we know she’s done something like this before when she fooled the town into giving her all their prized possessions using some foul enchanted jewelry. She likely put the entire town under her spell and forced them to all come out and harass us against their will!”

“Damn syrup sucker…” Henry mutters under his breath. “But why? Why would she all of the sudden want to kill us? Surely traveling the countryside scamming innocent people would be an easier existence than picking fights with other witches.”

“I…I don’t know. We gave her a good thrashing the last time we saw her, perhaps she’s held a grudge and wants us gone?” Gothetta shrugs.

“Perhaps, perhaps. She also could have wanted to steal some books from our library. We inherited a number of rare and esoteric tomes from our mother. They could fetch a pretty penny on the market.” Urmine ponders.

“Then why try and burn the cabin down? That would just ruin them.” Henry says.

“I’m not sure. Perhaps the witch hunter was operating out of bounds, or the fire was a complete accident. In either case we can’t go back to the cabin unprepared. We must assume that Malvina and her witch hunter friend are there waiting for us.”

“And just how are we going to go back to your world exactly?” Asks Henry.

“We’ll have to contact a friendly witch back home and set up a portal for us to travel through.” Gothetta answers, turning to Urmine. “But who to contact?”

“Carnella the druid?”

“She lives so very far away from the cabin, and I’m not even sure she would have spare brooms to give us. Besides, I believe she’s busy training a new apprentice at the moment.”

“Cindry the librarian then?”

“On vacation at the great magma falls. Unlikely to answer our calls.”

“Ortheus the beastmaster?”

“Still recovering from that accident with his wife I'm afraid. All it took was an accidental swing from her tail and he was on the floor with half his bones broken.”

“Murdy the ice-mancer?

“Yes! She’s likely to help us! She’s retired with nothing to do, lives a safe distance from the cabin, and I know for a fact that she’s got the brooms to spare!”

“I just love Murdy, her daisy flavored shaved ice treats are the best!” Gothetta licks her lips as a dreamy look comes upon her face.

“I prefer the ones flavored with tiger blood, but to each their own.”

“Ladies, focus, what will we need to do to contact her? I don’t exactly have access to the same ingredients you all have back on your world.”

“It’s simple Henry, no need to fret.” Urmine answers, waving a paw nonchalantly. “All we need are a few candles and a spirit board.”

“Spirit board?”

“You know, a wooden board with a bunch of letters on it? Good for talking to other witches, annoying the dead, and cutting vegetables on?”

Henry nods in understanding.

“Got it, I’ll have to buy a Ouija board tomorrow then. Anything else we’ll need?”

“Thankfully most of the setup for the portal is done on the destination side, but we will need a few things. We’ll need white sand to shield it from harmful spirits, volcanic ash to anchor our side of the portal to this world, and a small sacrifice to provide the energies necessary to open the portal. Edmund should be a fine candidate for that last one. Speaking of Edmund, where is that slippery little toad?”

“He’s a frog, not a toad.” Gothetta whispers, elbowing Urmine in the side.

Henry freezes. He looks at his empty hands then around the room.

“Oh shit. He was right in my hand as we were being desummoned but as soon as we got here…” Henry begins roaming the apartment in a frenzy, ripping up cushions and looking under furniture in an attempt to find that fiendish little frog. After a few minutes of fruitless searching Gothetta shouts and points to the same windows she stuck her head out of a few minutes before.

“Henry! Look!”

His eyes shoot to the window and sure enough, right beside the blinds is a large, warty frog. He begins slowly walking towards the frog, doing his best not to scare it into jumping past the blinds and through the open window.

“Just stay there little froggy, no need to jump, good Edmund, good boys.” He coos.

Yet just before Henry’s close enough to grab the frog Edmund puts a little green arm up, waves, and leaps through the blinds. Henry rushes forward cursing himself for forgetting to close the window. He stares down at the ground only to see Edmund rapidly jumping away.

“He’s escaping! Shit! You all stay here!” Henry shouts, quickly setting the backpack full of eggs down on the couch and throwing a jacket on.

Henry rushes out the door and the sisters look at each other, shrugging. Two long hours later Henry returns to the apartment. His feet are caked in dirt and mud, his face is pale, and the stink of failure lingers about him. He sulks over to the couch and sits down.

“No Edmund?” Gothetta quietly asks, seated at the kitchen table and warming an egg on her lap.

Henry shakes his head solemnly.

“Couldn’t find him and it’s getting too dark outside for me to continue. I suppose we could use another frog for the sacrifice, but letting one from an entirely different dimension roam around on Earth doesn’t sound like the greatest idea.”

The sisters move from the kitchen table to either side of him.

“You can try again tomorrow. Perhaps you’ll have better luck then.” Gothetta encourages, patting him on the shoulder.

“That’s it!” Henry suddenly leans forward in his seat, ecstatic. “Tomorrow is Halloween!”

The sisters look at him blankly.

“Is that supposed to mean something?” Urmine asks.

“Halloween is a special holiday we have here on Earth. It’s when everyone dresses up in costumes and kids go around asking for candy. It was originally supposed to be about harvest season celebrations, or devil worshipping, or something, but none of that really matters because Halloween is the perfect time for you all to get in costume and help me search for Edmund!” He excitedly explains.

“I suppose you’re right, with the three of us searching we ought to find him far more quickly. Slippery frog…”

“But until then we should get some sleep.” Gothetta adds. “Me and Urmine have already taken the liberty of changing your bed to be one suitable for egg warming, and the eggs do need some quiet time, poor things have been through a lot today.” She looks down and rubs the egg in her lap.

“True. I’ll go take a quick shower then join you all in bed.”

Henry gets up and moves towards the bathroom leaving the sisters alone on the couch. Gothetta leans towards Urmine and puts a hand over her mouth.

“When do we tell him that we accidentally broke his obelisk thing?” She whispers, motioning her head towards the television.

“That can wait for later. Ideally in the morning when one of us can remember the spell for mending things. If not, then hopefully it wasn’t too expensive."