Fire Heart

Chapter Two

Lucy woke up soaking wet. Why was she all wet? Oh, that's right, she fell into the river because someone put a sleeping curse on her. Lucy took in her surroundings. She was lying behind a bar. An old lady with silver blue hair and a large pair of glasses stood over her.

"She's awake!" The old lady yelled.

"Where am I?" Lucy asked sitting up.

"No where you want to be."

One of the guys she saw on the street came behind the bar and grabbed her arm. "Let's go, girly," He said pulling Lucy to her feet.

"Hey!" Lucy yelled. "That hurts! Be careful!" The man just laughed.

Lucy looked around the room she was in. It was a large room filled with tables which were all full of people. Guards stood by the door to the far right. On the other side of the room was a board filled with papers. Hanging from the balcony opposite of the front door hung a flag, with a flame on it. "Oh no," Lucy whimpered. She was in the Fire Heart Guild Hall.

"Salamander wants to see her now!" A man yelled from the balcony above.

"Nice knowing you, hottie!" A guy yelled to Lucy as she was dragged up the stairs.
Laughter filled the guild after the man's comment. The man pulling her opened the door on the balcony and tossed her inside. He slammed the door behind her drowning out the sounds of the guild members.

Lucy looked around the dark room she had been thrown into. The only light in here was from two fire torches on both sides of the room. In the back of the room was a large chair with someone sitting in it. Lucy assumed it was Salamander, but she couldn't see him, only his outline.

"I didn't expect you to be so young," The man called out to her.

Lucy jumped at the sound of his voice. "You're Salamander, aren't you?"

"I am."

Lucy instinctively reached for her keys only to find they weren't hanging from her waist like normal. "What the-?"

"Looking for these?" Salamander asked. Lucy looked up to see him swinging her key ring around his finger, her keys jingling together.

Lucy stood frozen. "Give me my keys back."

"So, you're the celestial mage," Salamander said. "I heard you were a young girl, but I didn't expect this."

"And I heard you're a powerful fire mage, but how would anyone know if no one's ever seen you?" Lucy asked snottily.

"I heard celestial mages are usually
weak. And looking at you I'm not surprised," Salamander said ignoring Lucy's comment.

"You just sit there in that chair in this dark room all high and mighty while your slaves fight for you."

"I've always wanted to know how celestial magic works," Salamander said still ignoring her.

"Hey! Stop ignoring me!" Lucy said annoyed.

"I've never seen celestial magic because it's so rare."

"Seriously, it's rude!"

Salamander tossed Lucy's keys onto the floor in front of her feet. "Summon one of your spirits," He said.

"Excuse me?" Lucy said shocked.

"You heard me. I want to see how powerful these spirts are."

"Fine," Lucy said. "You asked for it. I'm going to summon my most powerful spirit to take you out."

Salamander stood and stepped into the light so Lucy could finally see him. "Great. I'm all fired up now."

Lucy was momentarily stunned. The Salamander wasn't at all what she expected. She expected a hideous giant old man, but instead a young mage about her age stood in front of her. He was an average height with spiky pink hair and black eyes. He was lean but very muscular. He wore a sleeveless black waist coat left open revealing his bare chest. He wore white pants to his knees with black ties and had on a pair of sandals. Wrapped around his neck was a white scarf with a scale like pattern and fringes on the ends. Lucy thought the scarf was weird because of his lack of clothing.

Lucy shook her off her awe and grabbed one of her keys off her ring. "Open, gate of the Lion, Loke!"

Another young man appeared next to Lucy. He had Orange hair that blended well with his cat ears. He wore a suit and glasses over his hazel eyes. "Good to see you again, beautiful," Loke said to Lucy.

"Loke, take this guy out!" Lucy yelled.

Loke made a fist and it shone with yellow light. He lunged towards Salamander and punched him right in the face.
Salamander stumbled back a bit and smiled, revealing sharp canines. Salamander also made a fist which caught on fire. Loke went to hit Salamander again, but he was too slow.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Salamander yelled punching Loke in the face knocking him over. Loke grabbed his face in pain. Lucy stood in horror. Salamander had just taken out her more powerful spirit with one hit.

"Fire dragon," Lucy whispered in awe.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," Loke said through clenched teeth in obvious pain.

"It's fine, go rest," Lucy said closing Loke's gate and sending him back to the Celestial World.

"I was right," Salamander said. "You are weak, especially if that was your best spirit, but it was interesting to finally see a celestial mage in action."

Lucy was watching Salamander wearily. She had never seen anything so terrifying in her life. He was so powerful. And what was up with his teeth? And did he say fire dragon before he attacked? Was he one of those legendary dragon slayer mages? But she thought they didn't exist anymore.

"Can I leave now?" Lucy squeaked.

Salamander laughed. "I'm guessing you've heard rumors about me, right?"

"Yes. They say that you're the most powerful fire wizard in existence. And from what I've seen it looks to be true. They also say that you're a cruel and evil guild master. I had no idea you were so young."

"And what do they say about my guild members?"

"They say that your members are your slaves. And that they aren't allowed to leave once they have joined."

A cruel smile spread across Salamander's face. "So, what makes you think I'm going to let you leave?"

Lucy took a step back. "But I'm not a member of your guild!" She protested.

Salamander stepped in front of Lucy and grabbed her right hand. A burning sensation spread across the back of her hand and she let out a yelp of pain. Lucy struggled to get her hand out of Salamander's grasp, but it was no use, he was too strong.

Salamander released Lucy's hand and she looked down to see a burn mark in the shape of a fire. It was the Fire Heart guild mark.

"There, now you're a Fire Heart guild member," Salamander said. "So, you're not going anywhere."

Lucy continued to stare at the burn mark, which did in fact burn horribly. She clutched her hand and her eyes filled with tears.

"It won't ever heal, in case you're wondering. Burn ointment won't help either, so don't even try."

Lucy looked up at Salamander as a tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek. "You're a demon."

"No, Lucy," Salamander said sitting back down in his chair. "I'm a Dragon Slayer."