FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

(edited 12/10/08 for font correction and version update)

Marre busied himself in his lair amidst the assorted paraphernalia of his experiments and potions. He was also thinking hard about the potential for havoc he and Nokala may have enabled by allowing Cill to see and mate with her human partner. He felt the travel spell forming slowly and sighed to himself with the knowledge there was no way he could hide this knowledge from his friend, especially with the implications it could have for dragonkind everywhere.

Nokala arrived in the lair and Marre could not help noticing he looked enormously pleased with himself for some reason. He almost seemed to strut as he walked towards the long couches.

"Ho old friend" rumbled Nokala as he slid into the couch. "How goes the meddling with strange smells and explosions?" Marre looked at him in astonishment and blinked his lids several times.

"Are you alright Nokala?" he asked with concern.

"What? ... No... I'm fantastic!" the normally sober dragon replied. "I've just had the best matings I've ever known and then I got to go out and beat up on humans!"

He poured himself a tankard of ale and grinned at the elder dragon "I have a good feeling about James and I think he will make a good mate for Cill so I'm going to organize the clanship ceremony for a week from now"

Marre nodded "May I ask why you felt it necessary to go and beat up on humans? I assume we aren't talking about James here at this point", he reached for his own tankard and thought to himself that he might as well let Nokala get it out of his system before telling him the possible bad news.

Nokala relaxed and explained about the fight in the forest, occasionally embellishing a little but sticking mainly to the point and emphasizing how James had shown restraint and mercy as well as compassion with his friend. He then caused the old dragon to blush ferociously by giving a blow-by-blow account of what Carlina had learnt from Cill and how he had benefited from that information.

"So you see" finished Nokala "He has already managed to affect Carlina in a positive way. So what else could he achieve?"

He looked at Marre as the old dragon reached over and took a scroll from the table, unrolling it slowly he handed it to Nokala.

"Read the last paragraph and tell me what you think," he murmured, not volunteering any information until the idea sank in to his protégés head. Nokala blinked and read the runes slowly, his eyes growing wider as he finally reached the bottom of the page.

"Oh no" he exhaled slowly, slumping on his lounger. "What have we done?"

Marre gently took the scroll back "We don't know yet, but if its true. We've just given the human world its first proper sorcerer and an unaware untrained hatchling at that"

Nokala nodded "Are you sure?" he asked, hoping for a way out.

"No...of course not and there's no reason to believe the power could manifest itself in an obvious way as we don't know how a human will behave!" Marre raked his talons along the floor in frustration. "You saw the lad last. Did he show any obvious signs?"

Nokala thought to himself "No, but he did seem to have a new confidence about him" he leaned back on the couch. "Ok Old one. What aren't you telling me?"

Marre sighed and laid his suspicions on the table. "We know humans have no magic but Cill was very powerful at the time of her mating. If the transfer was one-sided between them he may be as powerful as she is to a point...but like filling up a jug from a waterfall it can never contain more than the original"

Nokala nodded "So is he going to be able to call on his power?"

Marre flung his paws up in frustration "He may already have done so... you said he had been struck on the head and yet did you see any sign of injury on him?"

Nokala frowned and shook his head slowly "Alright... rapid healing ... what else are we looking at here".

Marre swallowed, this was the bit he had been dreading and so tried to edge into it cautiously.

"W-well he could experience a great increase of strength and agility as well as ... other internal changes that could...er... increase his compatibility with Cill" he finished lamely.

Nokala was not stupid, these words rolled around his brain until they sunk into the correct slots "WHAT!" he roared, "That monkey could actually make my daughter gravid?"

Marre cringed at the noise and looked up at the suddenly angry father "We don't know that" he said, trying to calm him down "It's highly unlikely but we won't know for sure unless she shows up with eggsign on her belly"

Nokala frowned "And it would be too late by then. I hadn't counted on this," he admitted trying to calm himself down. He thought of his daughter falling gravid to a ...human, he corrected his previous thoughts and tried to fit it in his mental space. "What would a hybrid look like?"

Marre shrugged "Who knows what the mana may have done. Even if it did occur we would not know until it hatched" Nokala nodded and took a deep drink from the tankard. This was the one thing he definitely did not want Carlina thinking about.

James woke early and yawned in satisfaction. The pleasant aromatic residue of dragon sex was still in the air and he wandered naked over to the window to let in some fresh air. It would not do to have the maids wondering what the funny odor was and asking annoying questions.

Walking over to the ewer, he poured a basinful of water and sharpened his razor slowly on the strop.

He was more than a little concerned at the possible risks he could be taking by walking into a room full of potentially angry dragons to proclaim himself as a mate to one of their females, which would no doubt turn them into very angry dragons indeed.

Lathering up his horsehair brush, he looked in the mirror and wiped the soap over the stubble on his face. 'At least Nokala will help me', he thought to himself and gently ran the razor down one side of his face before rinsing it out again.

Stirring the water slowly, he wondered about Cill's mother and how to calm her down. A gift? Dragons liked gold and jewels but he was saving up for something special for Cill. The razor slid down his cheek slowly, slicing off the stubbly growth.

He could ask his father for some more funds and blame it on gambling, but then a sharp letter would make its way into Lord Duncan's possession and with it all sorts of problems.

James winced as he carelessly nicked his upper lip, dabbing at it with his flannel, not noticing how fast it healed as he was wrestling with the problem of Carlina. He wondered if Cill could read human writing and recalling the draconic runes in her lair doubted it 'perhaps I should teach her and Carlina to read', he mused, looking at the selection of books on the shelves.

They were mainly to do with etiquette and courtly manners but there were some books on myth and legend there too. He picked out a good-looking one and tossed it onto his bed for later.

He chuckled at the thought of reading about dragons to dragons, after wiping his face clean of lather he finished dressing, and went down for breakfast.

Joe had had a miserable night. Jane had tried her best to arouse him but he kept remembering the sounds and smells of the day before and sleep had mainly eluded him.

Jane was not sure what had happened as Joe had bluntly refused to tell her, but she knew it was significant when a man who had always satisfied her easily resisted her mouth, hands and body and just lay there limp as a dishcloth.

"Why can't ya tell me Joe?" She asked him gently while rubbing his chest. Joe sighed; "Because I could be wrong and end up looking a fool or worse, in a bedlam chained to a wall" He murmured to her and kissed her neck.

Jane blinked at his admission "Is it abou' that young James?" she probed lightly.

Joe shivered "More about his friends" remembering the feeling of utter helplessness as the damn thing had sniffed at him.

"Has he fallen in wi' bad company then?" Jane asked casually as her hand lightly teased over his groin.

Joe groaned, "The worst... you have no idea of how bad, though I don't think he minds to be honest".

Jane felt a brief response under her fingers then a rapid deflation as he shuddered again.

"But I'm going to find them. I won't let them unman me like that again," Joe muttered to himself, afraid to tell her he had soiled his breeches like a scared child.

He was truly terrified, but he had never run from anything that scared him.

They both turned at hearing James walk past the door whistling cheerfully to himself "I'll follow the lad and see where he goes and what he does" said Joe. "I want to know what the hells going on here"

Cill happily cleaned her lair. She had managed to increase its size a little more as for some reason she was feeling a little cramped. Compared to her parent's massive cave this was little more than a cupboard but it was hers and she enjoyed adding little touches to it that made it special.

She heard her stomach make a gurgling noise and wondered why she was feeling so hungry; perhaps all this mating was using up lots more energy. Tearing a leg off a recently cooked sheep, she cleaned it to the bone and wondered when James would arrive and what the new day would bring to her and her mate.

She mulled that over... Mate... She had not even considered it before he had shown up, and despite the physical differences she was most satisfied with him.

Other thoughts also arrived 'Will he want offspring?' she thought and leaned on the desk peering at a scroll. 'Will he want me to shift into human form and what about his family too?'

She resolved to ask him soon as the clanship ceremony would not be far off ... unless her mother was still upset with them both and that could cause problems.

She was unsure how to deal with her mother and perhaps only James could convince her that they were made for each other. Her talons drummed on the desk as she pondered then gathering her thoughts, she loped towards the door and out down to the lake.

James wandered round the keep slowly, ostensibly to gather a few things but really looking for something for Cill's lair. He wondered what she would like or needed but realized he knew little of what dragons' kept in their lairs other than gold and jewels.

Myth and legend were not going to be much help then he thought, but perhaps he would learn more from Nokala when he visited next time. He suddenly stopped as he remembered the couch at Marre's lair and smiled to himself.

Perhaps she would like a couch... there was enough room for one, but he would check with her before getting one made up. It would be an interesting challenge for any carpenter. He made his way back to the stables and saddled his gelding up.

Placing the saddlebags on its rump he smiled to himself and stuffed the book of stories in one along with the food he had managed to scrounge from the tables, after all he had a hungry mate to feed now.

He actually enjoyed the responsibility of gathering extra food for her; even though she was capable of hunting perfectly well without his efforts, it made him feel needed.

He could feel the warmth of her thoughts as he prepared for the short trip to the lake and smiled to himself, hopefully his new gift would be ready in time for the clanship ceremony though Nokala had not said when or where it was yet.

Leaving the Keep was getting easier for him since the bandit episode, as the guards were not going to mess with someone who had taken out three men and scared off the others. They too had heard the rumors about sorcery and made the sign against the evil eye behind their backs as he trotted past with a wave.

James was blissfully ignorant about this however and merely took the awed gazed and silence as respect for his part in the actions of the day.

Though eager to get back to his mate, he took a slower, more difficult route through the forest. Just in case Eric or Jack got funny ideas about following him to find his secret out and eventually arrived at the peaceful lake, the long grass waving gently in the breeze.

Looking round slowly he could not see Cill anywhere, but he could feel her close by. Taking the saddlebags off his relieved gelding, he walked down towards the water slowly, wondering what she was up to.

Cill snickered to herself as she flapped quietly above him and waited for her moment to pounce.

James dropped the saddlebags and looked round again in case he could spot a mysteriously flattened hummock of grass in case she was going to trip him again. Raising both hands to shield his eyes from the sun, he felt a sudden shock as Cill invisibly grasped him firmly around the waist and lifted him off the ground.

James squawked in terror as the lake shot away from under him but relaxed at a silvery mental laugh as Cill appeared, her arms firmly wrapped around his chest "Hello love", he sent to her while trying not to look down at the rapidly departing ground.

"Hello dear" she purred back "enjoying yourself?" said with a hint of playful amusement, rising higher over the lake.

Scrabbling a little against her chest he nodded "Nice view" trying to appear nonchalant and all the while keeping his eyes closed "though it is a tad cold up here"

He wondered what would happen if he slipped from her grasp or she let him go. He trusted her though and tried to relax and open his eyes a crack.

"Good lord...you can almost see the keep from here" he exclaimed, "don't let them see you!"

Cill giggled, "They won't see a thing... I extended the shield over both of us so they won't wonder at a flying human", she rolled off to the right sending James's stomach up into his throat leaving him wondering if some poor wandering serf was going to be wearing his breakfast soon.

"I-I don't suppose you could er...put me down soon?" he asked trying not to let a tremor enter his voice as he looked down at some passing geese flying under him. "Its not that I don't like it...I just need some time to get used to the idea"

Cill arced her head down "of course dear", she purred to him "though do remember that if your going to have some fun to ask me if I want some too"

James nodded enthusiastically "oh yes. I'll definitely remember that dear", he murmured as they swooped back over the lake.

Cill hovered briefly and let James go from her grip so he could drop and roll onto the long grass and then touched down a little further away, neatly tucking her wings up and making sure they weren't worn in any spots. She slid up to him and rubbed against his chest with an amused smirk on her muzzle.

He pulled her head down and kissed her firmly "Naughty wench" he chuckled as he ran his hands slowly down along her sleek body to her tail "why if you were smaller I'd spank your rump like your father said he used to"

Cill flushed and swiftly whirled to face him again. "He never said that!" she snarled.

James smirked at her "'Spank her rump to a rosy glow' he said" he murmured in her ear then darted away into the grass. She growled and chased after him until she managed to pounce on him and pin him gently to the ground "Just you try spanking me and I'll drop you in the lake next time"

James kissed her on the snout and stroked her neck as she slowly subsided letting him squirm out from under her paw. "Oh I don't know...I hear it can be fun" he chuckled, hugging her round the neck and tickling her chin "Come on... I've got something to show you"

They walked together back to the saddlebags and James sat himself on the ground and opened one, pulling out a large book.

"I don't know if you can read human writing but I can teach you and it has nice pictures too"

Cill arranged herself behind him so he was resting against her shoulder. This was nice she thought, as she could lick him while looking at the 'book' he had brought her at the same time.

James had thought about this book, while it was on myths and legends it did have a story about a dragon in it, and with the usual ending of a heroic knight bringing it down and rescuing the princess. He decided he had to show it to her and explain that not all humans were like that.

Cill listened to him explain and boggled to herself, what would a drake do with a human female she thought. Even if she were able to able to mate with him surely it would have hurt her. She liked the pictures though it was obvious the drake was deranged for wanting to eat a human, whilst the humans had merely reacted to the situation the same way a dragon would treat an insane human or indeed, an insane dragon.

That gave her pause for thought, could her mate be thought insane for loving a dragoness? She shook her head and gave him a long slow lick he eagerly turned into a deep kiss.

Joe had been very careful when he left the keep behind James, as a skilled tracker he had easily trailed the boy's path through the forest to the lake despite the difficult route. He had not known of this place at all and that struck him by surprise as he thought he knew the area very well.

Leaving his horse in the forest, he approached cautiously until he saw James' gelding grazing nearby, unable to see the lad he dropped to his belly and worked his way through the grass and reeds towards the edge of the lake. By chance, he was approaching them downwind and quietly parted the grass and reeds to see what was happening on the other side of the lake.

Joe felt his sphincter quiver as he took in the view. James sat comfortably in front of ... Well there was no denying it... in front of a large silver dragon. The lad was going to be eaten!

After his heart had stopped threatening to burst and he had regained control over his bowels he slowly looked again and his eyes widened in pure astonishment - He was kissing it! And on its tongue! What was wrong with the boy? He suddenly recalled the conversation he had had before the bandit attack and groaned to himself.

This was the girl he had fed and become so attached to and whose father had visited? A ferocious, ravening man-eater who was now having ... its...her... belly rubbed... Blinking he sank down into the grass again. What the hell was he going to do now?