Tomb Of Time And Destiny: A Fairy Tail Fanfic

Part Eight

“Better than that silly saddle,” I said, jutting out my chin.

The other men arrived then, surrounding us, averting their eyes from my bare thighs due to my hitched skirt and Juvia's bare legs.

“Are we near the tombs?” Juvia pressed. “Where you found us?”

“They are over there,” Gray said, pointing straight ahead.  I noticed how Gray struggled to swallow when he accidentally glanced down at Juvia's legs. ‘Huehuehue’

“You really think we shall find your sisters among the tombs, like we found you?” Natsu asked.

I shrugged. “It’s as good a guess as any, right?”

Jellal remained where he was, still staring at me.

‘Oh my gosh, could he be a little less hot? He belonged in some teen-girl magazine. Movies. Book cove- WAAH STAY ON TASK ERZA!!’

“Well, come along then,” he said, nudging his horse forward. I took my original place, beside Juvia in between the two groups three. We surged ahead at a far faster pace than the morning’s, then abruptly swerved right on another narrow road.

We hadn’t gone a quarter mile when all of a sudden both Castor and Pollux stopped an refused to move forward.

“What's wrong Pollux?” Juvia gently asked. Pollux merely whinnied and shook his mane.

“Come on Castor.” I said nudging him lightly with my heel, but Castor just trotted lightly in place, refusing to take another step forward.

Sensing that we weren't behind them anymore, Jellal, Gray, and the other rider in front of us stopped as well. Frowning Jellal looks at Castor, then motions at Gajeel, Natsu and the other guy behind us to scout ahead. I frowned in confusion but I didn't question anything. Castor and Pollux have done nothing but protect us so there must've been a reason for their behavior. The three men divided and surged past, then turned around and headed back toward us.

It was then that I saw them. Phantom Lord men. There had to be at least fifteen of them. They shrieked a war cry and bent lower, seemingly moving in slow motion. Jellal paused beside me as everyone else but Gray took off, in flight.

“Erza, you and your sister must ride hard,” he said urgently, his blue eyebrows lowered in urgency. “Faster than ever before. Gray and I will guard you both from behind.”

I nodded and wheeled my horse around, biting my lip as I dug my heel into Castor's sides. He gave us a head start before he began to follow, keeping himself between us and our pursuers. Where had the others gone?

Just as I finished that thought, we raced past both Gajeel and Natsu, who both looked ready for a brawl based on their grinning faces. I glanced over my shoulder at Jellal and glimpsed a trace of a smile on his lips.

Thirty paces farther, when we met the final two men, they pulled ahead of us, then reached over to grab our reins, slowing us down to a halt. Then they quickly dismounted and pulled us off our horses and hid us behind a massive limestone boulder.

“Please remain here.” One of them said before going back to his mount, grabbing a large sack and tossing it behind the boulder where we were, probably to make the horse lighter.

I swallowed as I heard the pounding of hoofbeats approaching, the sound of roaring fire and metal clanging. The cry of one man, the guttural groan of another.

They stood a few feet away, swords unsheathed. A sort of, final line of defense for us. Surely enough, a few moments later arrived four Phantom Lord men and they immediately clashed with two of them, striking and parrying blows repeatedly. The other two unmounted and began to look around near the boulder where we were hidden.