FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Henry was awoken by the sunlight, shining through the only window in his room, not knowing that the following day could very well be his last. He groaned, turning around in his bed in a desperate attempt to go back to sleep. His whole body ached from the training the day before. With another groan he managed to sit up. When he thought about closing the shutters, someone opened the door.

With his eyes still closed he rubbed his forehead, trying to stay awake. Why would anyone interrupt his sleep so early before the next training session?

"Ever heard of knocking?" Henry murmured before he even looked at the person standing in the door. He forced a smile on his face when he saw his squire. "What is it, Ludd?"

The young lad stood in the door frame with his arms behind his back. Like most squires he wore a simple white tunic and a belt around his waist. His hair was black while his eyes were green, which was fairly uncommon for a man born in Albia. "The grandmaster has announced a meeting of the inner circle, sir." He said. "A messenger arrived this morning with a letter, bearing the seal of Ulric."

Henry frowned his brow as he heard that name.

"The grandmaster is waiting for you and the others in the council room. You should wake Cyrvanyx, you know how hard it can be for him to get up early." And with those words he closed the door.

Henry sighed and stood up, stretching his sore muscles. Ludd was right. Cyrvanyx hated it when someone woke him up so early in the morning. And since that grumpy dragon was not only his oath sworn companion, but also his closest friend, he was the one to deal with that grumpiness in the end.

His thoughts drifted off to the letter Ludd mentioned. Honestly, what could that monster possibly want from them. He shook his head. There was no time for thoughts like that. He had a meeting to attend to.

Before he left the room though, he dressed up. He put on his white gambeson, which was a sort of padded jacket that was mostly worn underneath armor, but also as armor on its own or just clothing. In addition to that he put on a pair of woolen pants and brown leather boots.

He looked in the mirror that stood on his dresser, next to his bed. While the lesser knights or the men-at-arms of the order lived in barracks the 17 knights of the inner circle all had their own room, the same goes for their dragon companions.

His shoulder long brown hair matched his overall handsome appearance perfectly and his trimmed beard just added to that. With 28 years he was one of the youngest knights of the dragon. The bright orange mixed with gold like yellow in his eyes was a very unusual eye color which almost made them look like the eyes of a dragon.

"Henry dragon-eye." He said to himself as he looked at the mirror. That was a name that could find its way into legends.

He shook those thoughts out of his head as soon as they crossed his mind. Becoming a legend was an old dream of his, though it was hardly possibly. He may have become a knight of the dragon only after one year of serving the order, but that hardly made him a legend yet.

Once more, he shook his head, laughing to himself. "Maybe one day, Henry. But now you have places to be." His voice was almost a whisper as he spoke to himself.

Satisfied by his appearance, Henry nodded and left the room. The empty corridor he stood in was just one of many inside the keep of Dragonstone castle. As he was currently in the noble quarters the ground was decorated with a red carpet and the dull blank stone walls were painted with various pictures of landscapes, battle scenes and other kind of things.

He took a turn to the right and went down the staircase, where the dragon quarters were. The staircases was of course wide and big enough for a dragon to fit through, since they were obviously bigger than humans. Not nearly as big as old legends depicted them, but still standing taller than a big warhorse, with a much longer neck and a long, thick tail.

Underneath the knights quarters, where the dragons slept, the light was a lot gloomier than in Henry´s room. There were only small windows in the walls to let in some light, but were mostly used to let in fresh air. Henry went to the heavy gate-like doors to the one chamber Cyrvanyx was sleeping in. After ten years of companionship he knew where to find him.

"Ten years." He said to himself as he was about to open the door. It had been ten years since the day they both swore their oath and were bonded together for the rest of their lives. Unbelievable. "Has it really already been ten years?"

The doors opened with a creaking noise, sadly not loud enough to wake him up. He really was a deep sleeper. He closed the doors behind him, so that he would not run in the risk of waking any of the other dragons.

The black dragon looked so peaceful in his slumber, so innocent. He laid there on his furs and pillows, with his tail curled around himself and his wings folded close to his body. The black scales covered his entire body apart from a few places like his paw pads. Well his paws were not really paws. With the thump-like digit it functioned just like human hands did. He could also retract his claws, like cats. Very big scaly cats with wings.

At some parts his scales were thinner and in some they were thicker. The scales on his belly and his chest were the thickest while the scales on his face were thinner and softer and between his hind legs there was only skin. One might think that a dragon was clearly a lizard at first glance, but that was not the case. One quick glance between a dragon´s legs and one could tell if they were male or female.

That made that area a weak point, especially for the males. That specific weak point was one of the reasons the blacksmiths made armor for every dragon of the order, even though they knew how to defend the gaps in their natural armor just like Henry would do when fighting in plate armor.

His wedge shaped head rested on his front paws while he was sleeping. Spiny frills that ran down the back of his neck had a very deep red color. Just behind his cheeks he was adorned with another set of expressive frills in the same color. Those expressive frills were the main reason, apart from their scales, that people mistook them as lizards.

His ears flattened against his head, just like his frills. The two white horns that crowned his head were the third most intimating part of him, his teeth and his claws being on the top of that list.

Henry rolled his eyes while he wondered how he was going to wake him up this time. He gazed around the room to see if he could spot anything useful. And indeed, he did. He saw that the bowl of water he drinks out of was still half full. He walked towards it with a vicious grin on his face.

He picked up the bowl with both hands and held it over Cyrvanyx´s head. "Wake up sleepyhead!" He said out aloud as he poured the ice cold water all over his head. In an instant the dragon jumped to all his fours, bumping his head at the ceiling in the process. He shook his head while growling at the intruder.

"Was that really necessary?" Cyr asked with a deep and booming voice. But Henry did not respond because he too busy laughing his ass off at the moment. The dragon rolled his eyes, lashing out with his tail to take Henry right off his feet. He landed on the ground with a thump and he immediately stopped laughing. But his wide smile remained. "Is there a reason you wake me up this early? Or did you just do it because you thought it would be funny?" He asked Henry.

"Well, it was funny. Maybe you should just be able to take a joke for once." Henry cheerfully told him as he rose to his feet. "You know, it´s called having fun. You should try it."

"Henry I have little patience for your jokes or... life lessons now." Cyr grumbled while he frowned at him. "I just want a moment for myself."

"You always do." Henry chuckled. "There have been only a few times I have ever seen you laugh or even smile for that matter. And every time I see even just a small bit of happiness in your eyes it´s gone again in only seconds, why?"

Henry´s question left the room silent. Cyrvanyx stared at Henry and he stared back, waiting for an answer. It seemed like he hit a nerve, which rarely ever happened. After a while of staring Cyr bowed his head, glaring at the ground. "... Anyway..." Henry spoke up before the situation got worse. "The reason I woke you is an important council meeting. Now."

Cyrvanyx tilted his head, looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Why?"

"You´ll find out at the meeting. Now come on." As Henry opened the doors to the chamber he saw that the other dragons were already moving out and some of them were already gone.

A red dragon glared at both of them with a smirk on his muzzle. "Does your mother still wake you up in the morning, Cyrvanyx?"

Cyrvanyx simply ignored the other dragon and groaned as he moved past him. He really was grumpy today, just like every time when he had to get up early. Tough to be fair, there have been days when it was even worse. He began to make his way up the steps, Henry followed. Cyrvanyx was really strange in Henry´s mind. It was like he refused to have fun and just ignored the jokes he made, even the better ones. There were just a few times he managed to make him smile, but that was very rare, unfortunately. Henry did not understand him. That dragon was so lost in his mind all the time that he often ignored everyone around him.

Henry always thought that it was the order and duty, that kept his mind so busy all the time. He knew that dragon well enough to know how important honor was to him. But somehow Henry knew that there was something else that kept his mind busy aside from duty and the order. He just did not knew what it was, but it was something.

He just wanted Cyrvanyx to have fun for once! And if he had to force him to fun, he would!

Because for once he had a reason to celebrate with him. He wanted to celebrate their companionship, for it was exactly ten years ago that both of them swore their oath and were bound together until the end of their lives. He would get something to drink and celebrate with him, even if he had to force him.

But he could arrange something to drink later. For now he had to take part in the meeting.

At the end of the staircase the knights were joining up with their companions. The dragons in the order varied in a lot of ways. While some were stronger and bigger others were a bit more agile and smaller. And while the knighthood could only be given to men, noblemen at that, and a dragon who proved himself, be that male or female, could join the order. Some would say that that´s unfair, but that´s just the way it was.

The council room was not far away from the quarters, therefore it did not take them long to get there. At the end of the corridor was another staircase, this time leading up instead of down. Two doors, big enough for the dragons to fit through, marked the end of the stairs. The doors were already opened as they arrived.

The room was quite large, which it had to be if 17 dragons, potentially even more, had to fit inside. The stone walls were painted with depictions of knights on the back of dragons, both rider and dragon in armor. Those paintings resembled real battles that happened in the past. The order of the dragon had helped the kings armies in open warfare more than once. Also in the most recent battles the order had accompanied the troops of Albia. The battle near a town called Dimbarrow was one of the bloodiest battles of them all.

The inner circle of knights was originally made up from 22 knights and 22 dragons. In that battle five of each died fighting. It was the biggest loss Albia had to suffer against Ulric the invader at the time.

A table was in the middle of the room, with 22 chairs. Behind those chairs the ground was covered with soft furs and pelts and there was enough room for the dragons to lay or sit down.

Grandmaster Maldwyn stood at the end of the table. The old man had been the orders grandmaster for over 50 years and was the most experienced fighter the order had to offer. His once red hair had long since turned grey, just like his bushy beard that was long enough to hide his neck.

He was talking to his own sworn dragon companion. The dragon has served the order for a long time, having sworn his oath to four grandmasters before Maldwyn received that honor. Some said that he was almost 500 years old, which would be about 80 in human years. These two old veterans were a perfect match up as the two in charge of the entire order.

As soon as Maldwyn heard everyone coming, he turned around. "Ah, finally your all here." He spread his arms and pointed at the chairs. "Sit down, all of you." They all did as he commanded. While the knights sat down in their chairs, the dragons laid down behind them or settled down on their haunches.

Once they were all seated, he, and the grim looking dragon behind him sat down as well. "So, you are all probably wondering why we gathered so early in the morning."

"Damn right we do." one of the dragons snarled at the grandmaster.

In response he smiled and his gaze wandered towards one of the knights, sir Gareth, who was Maldwyn´s son. He was red of hair, just like his father was before he grew old. His striking green eyes were quite a sight, though they were no match to Henry´s. "Gareth, would you enlighten your brothers?"

Henry looked at Gareth´s proud smile as he nodded. "A letter has arrived not long ago. A letter from Ulric." Some of the knights groaned as they heard the invader´s name. It seemed like Henry was the only one who received that information early on.

"Exactly." His gaze wondered towards Henry. "Henry, Would you also take the honor and read the letter out aloud so that everyone can hear?"

He nodded. "Of course."

The grandmaster smiled and looked to his right. "Bring the letter." Only then Henry noticed the messenger standing in the room. The lad stepped forth and handed the letter to him, then he took one step back again.

Henry cleared his throat as he opened the seal and started reading. "To the highly regarded and honorable grandmaster Maldwyn." the grandmaster turned his head and groaned at that cheap introduction.

"I hope this letter reaches your order soon, so that you´ll hear it from me first. Our armies have advanced further inland and broke your defenses. The walls of Alcester crumbled..." He trailed off and looked up from the letter and into his the Grandmaster´s eyes. Maldwyn just nodded once and then he continued reading. "Your capital now stands under my control. Once and for all King Aerdur-" He abruptly stopped reading and looked at the letter with wide eyes.

"What? What is it boy, spit it out!" Maldwyn almost yelled at him as he leaned forward.

"The... the king is dead."

Shock filled the room as soon as that sentence fell. Knights shared looks, but no words, while the dragons growled in disbelieve. King Aerdur was dead. That was simply unbelievable. Aerdur was one of the best kings a kingdom could dream of. He was a kind soul and was respected and loved by all the people, even the dragons. His death was something no one had expected.

"What else does it say?" Maldwyn said as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand, his voice suddenly drained from its former power and strength. To him Aerdur was not only his king but also his friend. "What else is he telling us?"

He gulped down his shock and continued. "I am now sitting on his throne, wearing his crown." Gareth looked away in anger, and so did some of the others. "As the new king of Albia I hereby offer you peace."

Maldwyn chuckled for a brief second and shook his head. "Give up your vows and your oaths and join me. You will help me to conquer this land and cleanse it from all the monsters that have stained its pureness. If you-"

"Enough!" The grandmaster shouted out. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, thinking.

"What is that bastard saying? Surrender? Pah!" Gareth shouted out. "We should go out and avenge our king!" Most of the knights and the dragons agreed with him, including Henry.

"March out? Are you insane?" A dragon said to him. "They have far more supplies and troops than we do! They would slaughter us." Some men nodded.

"So you are considering surrender, then?" Henry asked, taunting him.

"No! But we shouldn´t-"

The discussion was cut short as a loud _thump _echoed through the room after the grandmaster hammered his fist down on the table. "Silence! Both of you!" As all the attention was on him he slowly got up and looked at the messenger. "Take the letter and go. There´s a guard outside the door that will lead you outside. Go and tell your king that we refuse his offer and that we will never bow to a wrong king, understood?"

The boy, who looked like he was about to piss himself after what he just witnessed, quickly nodded, took the letter and ran out the room. "So men!" Maldwyn rose his voice so that the attention would be focused on him. "We won´t surrender and neither will we march out-"

"What do we do then?" A knight interrupted him.

"I was not finished yet." He glared at the man for a moment until he bowed his head in shame. "As I was saying, we won´t do either of those things. Instead, we will wait." He leaned forward on his arms and looked around all the confused faces. "We will stay here and wait for them to attack US. we may be on our own, but this castle has withstood many an attacking force before. And when they come we will show them who they are really up against!" Maldwyn rose his voice and straightened up again. "We will show them that what they´ve seen at the battle of Dimbarrow was only taste of our skills!"

The knights and the dragons were starting to share his eagerness. Some knights stood and shouted out. "Aye!"

"Either we die with honor or we defeat them with steel, blood and fire!" After that was said all the knights agreed with him, so did the dragons. The grandmaster held his fist to his chest and thrust it in the air as he said the orders old words. "For we are the dragonhearted."

The knights repeated the gesture and the words. "For we are the dragonhearted!"

Maldwyn gazed around the faces once more. Only a couple of second ago they were all filled with fear and shock, but after the little speech he gave, there was only confidence and eagerness. Only Henry´s face was a bit lacking of both of those things. "You should all eat something before we start with our daily training." He could not hold back a smile as he looked at his son. "You are dismissed, the meeting is over."

While the knights were all standing up and started to leave the room already, Henry lingered there for a while longer, thinking about what he had just heard. He felt anger boiling in his blood but also fear in the back of his mind as his thoughts drifted off towards his family. He also thought about Cyrvanyx and the promise he gave himself.

"You are still here, sir Henry?" He lifted his head to look at the grandmaster at the end of the table.

"Yes, sir I´m just... thinking."

"I cannot blame you for your blind fury, nor your fear. I know you probably think about your family, and so do I." Maldwyn sighed as he sat down in his chair. "I worry about Gareth." He glared at Henry. "You Have a son as well, don´t you."

He only managed a nod as he was too deeply lost in his thoughts to give an answer.

"Well, Henry, consider yourself lucky that they are save with your uncle in your old homestead."

"They are not." He blurted out. "they are at a nearby village at the moment. That is where they always stay overnight before they come here and visit me."

"What? You allow them to leave the safety of their home while war is raging outside, not far away from here?" Grandmaster Maldwyn got up and stepped towards him. "Or did your wife even ask you first?"

"Yes she did." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I agreed because I wanted to see them again, and because I didn´t know yet that the enemy has taken the capital from us. I couldn´t have known." He lowered his head, glaring down at the table.

"No, there was no way for you to know that, but still. In war you should be more cautions. We don´t even know how old that letter is. Maybe... maybe they have taken the capital weeks ago and they already stand before our doorstep." Maldwyn snorted after he said that. "Bloody hell, what if they really are..."

Henry glared up at the grandmaster as he was starting to worry about every possibility himself. Henry got up from the chair to leave the grandmaster alone for a moment. He had to stop thinking about his family. there was nothing he could do at the moment. He did not even know if they were already in the village or still on the road.

He shook his head, trying to think of something else. The first thing that jumped into his mind was Cyrvanyx. Of course! After the horrible news he just heard he almost forgot what he had planned. Maybe he could still make the best out of the next few days.

Because those days could very well be his last.

*Authors note*

So this was the first Chapter. If there is something wrong with the grammar at some parts, I´m sorry, English is not my mother tongue. Anyway, I would appreciate if you would leave your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading!