This is the first chapter in the first story I'm going to write about the Furry Dragons created by the goddess of art, Adelle Crowe. [Go to my RPG links and scroll down... there's a link to the furry dragons page. This story would be a bit easier to understand if you check out her page first.] The characters are either © to me or © to Adelle Crowe. Furry Dragons in general are, as I already said, © to Adelle Crowe, aka Psycrowe. Please do not copy or steal or otherwise muck with this piece of fanfiction... if you want it on your page or whatever, please ASK ME FIRST. That's all I ask.
For those of you who refuse to do anything you're told and just want to blunder into this, there are a few facts you should know. 1.) A Furry Dragon's color dictates what breath weapon it has; Reds breathe fire, Blues breathe lightning, Whites breathe frost, Blacks breathe Acid, and Greens breathe noxious gasses. Furthermore, Furry Dragons aren't anywhere near as big as the Scaled Dragons... the largest Furries tend to be only about 9 or 10 feet tall. There are a few exceptions, but not a whole lot. Furry Dragons usually live in Clans, or are at least a part of a Clan... some Clans are allies, some are deadly enemies. Oh, one last thing... Furries are VERY magically talented, and can cast spells and whatnot, provided they know them.
[Somewhere on the Dragon Plains, only about seventy miles from Kull]
The muscular yet slender Red Dragon strode through the grass with an air of dignity and solemness. His legs worked like pistons... his body, devoid of any excess fat, swayed and bent with the obviously farmiliar movement of jog-trotting. Each muscle in One-Ear-Black's legs tensed and relaxed in perfect time; regardless of the terrain, he never tripped or stumbled, never shortened nor lenthened his stride. It wasn't so much that he moved differently than other dragons, it was simply the subtle difference between a professional track star on a power walk than, say, an average person going for a leisurely stroll. One look at One-Ear-Black's wings explains the reason he seems so very farmiliar with walking and running... his wings are deformed and twisted, probably a birth defect, and they certainly wouldn't allow him to fly. Didgits are missing, and those he has are either too short to be of any use, or too knobby and bony. The joints are knuckled over and arthritic, and the thin membrane that streches between each didgit is pathetic and useless. Other than that, there are a few other noticeable features to this odd dragon... around each eye is a patch of black fur, making his purpleish-violet eyes seem brighter somehow. The ridges of fur along his back and his legs is black, as is a great swath of fur along his throat. His right ear is black, and from it dangles a huge golden loop. Attached to the earring are two feathers, one white, one blue... obviously wing feathers of dragons.
One-Ear-Black gazed at the sky for probably the hundreth time that morning. Most would see his gazing skyward, and shake their heads, thinking he was dreaming of flight and what it might be like. They couldn't be further from the truth. One-Ear-Black had been attacked any number of times from the air; scanning the sky for dragons on the wing had become second nature to him. He saw no one... but just to be sure, he looked up once again.
Of course, the dragon directly above him escaped his attention... mostly due to the fact that he was hidden from sight, actively using an invisibility spell.
[Less than a mile away]
Niddhoggr licked her lips, trying to muffle a pleased belch. Hunting had been exceptionally good as of late, and the silky Black dragon had no current stresses or problems. It was simply a good day to be alive, she decided. With a full belly and a warm noontime sun shining down on her, Niddhoggr Blackavar curled up and fell asleep.
[About five minutes later]
One-Ear-Black picked up the pace a bit... there was a stream nearby, and he was thristy. He could smell the water... it was very near... and then, another scent hit his nose. He was directly downwind of a dragon... there was blood scent in the air. Perhapse wounded? No, there it was... the smell of carrion. Prey, he thought, the dragon up ahead must have made a recent kill. He slowed his pace and lowered himself, quickly modifying his pawsteps so that he was no longer running, but stalking.
The thin Red peered through the thick grass, finally able to see the other dragon. It's a black, a big one... a female. One-Ear-Black's eyes wandered to her wings and flank... She's pretty well scarred... big and covered in scars, probably not someone to trifle with. His eyes narrowed even more. By Blizzard's mane, what is that?! The left side of her face... He marveled for a minute on how the dragoness might have lost her eye, since the scar that cut through it would most surely have blinded her. Overall, she wasn't really unusual, but he decided it was probably best to get a good look at her before he woke her up.
She was tall, probably nearly as tall as he was. Her fur was glossy black, and on her chin there was a long goatee. Some parts of her fur were dark brown instead of black. Two huge gashes had been ripped in her left flank, and the fur had never really grown back over the graying scars. One-Ear-Black paid special attention to her left wing, or namely, the three holes in it.
Just then, the wind reversed, and One-Ear-Black belted out an involutary snarl... there was someone behind him.
Niddhoggr's eyes snapped open, and she jerked her head up. Her right eye, a brilliant green color, was instantly focused on the tall Red, standing less than a wing's length away. It was too close... she could smell more than one dragon, and consoling herself that she wasn't fleeing, merely taking stock of the situation, she launched herself straight up in the air.
One-Ear-Black roared and charged, swinging one huge paw at her wings, and trying to catch the claws of his other paw in her haunch. Still, he had attacked too slowly... the scent of the other dragon had upset him. He missed, and fell heavily back to the ground, and vented his frustration by bristling and snarling at the airborn Black. His ears swiveled, trying to pick up any sounds the unseen dragon might make.
Niddhoggr whirled midair... she recognised the Red's attack manouever. Her left haunch ached where his claws had once met her flesh, and her wing spilled air the way he had spilled her blood. She didn't have a specific memory of his face, but the way he had slashed at her this day was exactly the same way he'd mutilated her so many years before. She'd been roughly 300 years old, and he'd been much older. It was sheer luck that she had escaped the first time. By Blizzard's teeth, what is he doing here, now? Has he tracked me down? Surely not...
Just to be on the safe side, Niddhoggr cast one of her most usefull spells, Protection from Fire. She curled her lips back, revealing incredibly long, sharp teeth, and snarled as the ground rushed up to meet her. The closer she got, the more she could tell that the Red was smiling in anticipation.
[A short distance away]
The invisible dragon watched the fight break out, and smiled inwardly. Always a good day if I can cause trouble, and this could certainly be trouble indeed... not for me, of course, no, not me, but maybe for them.Yes... them. His unseen grin widened as he began to move at an angle away from the furious Black and the flightless Red. It would be oh so much better if I were conveniently downwind again, especially when they resolve this little spat. Wouldn't want them to get any ideas about fighting me... The only sound the dragon made as he moved away was a soft, sinister chuckle.
Niddhoggr foded her wings against her body, rocketing with even greater speed towards the ground. At this pace, the impact would kill her instantly... unless she flared her wings at the last moment, knocking the Red off his feet with her paws. He had set himself up perfectly to fall for such an attack, and Niddhoggr never considered the fact that he knew exactly what she was about to do.
As Niddhoggr continued to plummet, One-Ear-Black reached down into his very core, drawing up red hot flame from somewhere inside of him. The scorching fire caused the grass to burn, and the air filled with smoke. One-Ear-Black didn't care... he was immune to his own weapon. The fire was as harmless to him as the fluffy clouds in the sky. It felt good to him to be able to froth singeing bursts of fire... something of a catharsis. He watched at Niddhoggr fell right into the cloud of flame he had spewed. Even though technically immune to fire, Niddhoggr had never liked it. She jerked upwards too soon, and in the searing air current created by the sudden plume of flame, she lost her balance. Had both of her wings been fully functional, she would have righted herself and flown higher again. The holes in her left wing spilled too much air, and with a resounding thud, she hit the ground in front of the snarling Red. There was an audible snapping sound as one of the slender, delicate bones in her right wing broke.
Niddhoggr scrambled to her feet, trying to keep the Red from capitalising on her injury. However, One-Ear-Black merely stood there amidst the burning grass and watched her. After a moment, he spoke.
"I am One-Ear-Black. I didn't mean for there to be a fight. I didn't know you were there." He paused, wondering why she was so enraged. She seemed only too happy to tell him.
"Do you remember me, Pyro Clan Red? Do you see my wing, my haunch, my scars? They were made by you. One-Ear-Black, is it? Listen to me carefully. I am Lady Blackavar, and I am sworn to defeat you and any dragon of Clan Pyro I meet. Therefore, I challenge you. I will fight you, and defeat you, and once defeated, you will leave my territory and go slinking back to your mad leader, Lord Pyro, and tell him of your defeat. Tell him who bested you."
One-Ear-Black raised an eyebrow, giving the righteous dragoness a very sour look. "You make so many demands. If you win, I go to Pyro in defeat. What do I get if I win?" He smiled, and it was anything but pleasant. "Arrogant, you are... I don't remember you, I can't remember all the dragons I've fought. What do I get? You can't be so confident you'll win that you won't even consider what I want."
"I know what you want," Niddhoggr snarled, brown and black mane bristling, "Life, my life, you'll kill me if you can!"
"I never said that. You don't know what I want. That's my point. So, what do I get if I win? Make it good." The unpleasant smile left One-Ear-Black's face... he was once again blank, neutral, closed.
"If you win... I don't know. What do you want?"
One-Ear-Black chuckled without smiling. "Life, your life."
Niddhoggr snarled and snapped her jaws, lashing her tail in fury. "I knew it! All dragons of Clan Pyro are alike! You'll kill me if you can, buctherer, murderer, killer!"
"I never said that either," One-Ear-Black said softly. "I need help. Backup. You say you are a Lady, that means I can trust your word. Maybe you wouldn't leap to my defense, but you would begrudginly do what I told you. That is what I want, Lady Blackavar. Swear it, that if I win, you will help me."
Niddhoggr growled softly. "There will be conditions. I will never battle a dragon from Clan Khoal, nor will I ever battle a dragon of my clan, Sulfur. I will not murder for you, I will not support your clan. I will also not serve you for long."
"Ten years will be enough, if I win, for you to call me master."
"If you win, One-Ear-Black... IF you win..."
Go to Chapter 2
