Amenista had posted herself in the Magnolia park. Curled up around the large tree, the wyrm had a good vantage point of the sky. She was able to watch for any dragons who dare come and try to challenge the guild or bother the nesting Wendy. The wyrm stretched in the warm sunlight, enjoying the warmth that brushed her scales, flickering over the scars that stained her figure.
She flicked a forked tongue over one of her scars, lazily trying to remember where that specific one had come from. If her memory served her right, it was from one of Tyregenium's loyal dragons, one of the many dogs that served him. She chuckled to herself as the memory returned to her... yes, that idiot had figured that because she was wingless she was easy prey. He'd died for that mistake, so perhaps a few claw scars were a small price for the wyrm to pay.
Amenista rested her head on her long body and closed her eyes, soaking in the sun. Perhaps the world was full of chaos, but in times like this, she was reminded of just how lucky she was. Surrounded by humans who cared little for her winglessness self, trusted to watch over the Queen of the Dragons as she nested. Trusted and loved, allowed to bask in the sun as long as she wanted and sleep safely beneath a tree.
The wyrm was truly thankful.
"AMENISTA!" a shrill voice interrupted her thoughts and the wyrm's lips curled up in a smile. Yes, she was thankful for all of it.
The wise old wyrm raised her head and looked towards two of her favorite humans; Lucy and Levy. Both of them held Levy's young ones and were looking frantic.
"Levy, Lucy," Amenista greeted warmly, stretching a small bit as she looked to the two women. "Any luck with the enchantment?"
"No, but... but we need your help!" Levy explained.
"Help?" Amenista asked, tilting her head. "I'm afraid I'm not too good at tracking if you're asking me to go after your rebellious little ones."
"No, we need to know if you understand what these two are saying!" Lucy explained, plopping one of the twins on the ground. Levy did the same and the two small children looked up at the grand dragon.
In usual circumstances, Amenista would've smiled but at the moment she was puzzled.
"You want me to understand... what hatchlings are saying?" she asked.
"Come on Kurui, tell Amenista what you told me," Levy pleaded to her daughter.
Kurui looked from her mother to the giant wyrm above her. Kuro looked up as well, his eyes void of any fear or wonder as children's eyes often were. Amenista saw an intelligence in their eyes, one that exceeded any child's eyes.
Suddenly, she glimpsed the future. Such a quick glimpse but something so certain.
Two adults, blue-haired, brown eyes, both tall and lean. They stood speaking to dragons, their tongues speaking languages that were both foreign and familiar. The air thrummed with magic power as the two smiled and engaged with their diplomacy. Dragon Slayers... they were dragon slayers.
Amenista looked at the two children with revitalized wonder and she brought her snout closer to the children.
It was Kuro who reached out and placed a hand on her snout, gazing up at the wyrm, a smile on his face.
"Tell me, child, what you know," Amenista murmured, her breath blowing both Kuro and Kurui's hair about.
"Fáthren..." Kuro explained softly, his young four-year-old voice was soft and almost sad. "Fáthren drübsetk. Methrá drü distruóact. Síe Fáthren drüther Höldrevn."
"Methrá n'ashaught sí distruóact," Kurui added, almost babbling the words to the dragon.
Amenista's eyes widened and she slowly backed away as the familiar language rung in her head.
"Do you know what they're saying... or what language they're speaking in... or if they're even speaking a language!?" Levy asked, gazing at her children in disbelief.
"I... I do..." Amenista pondered, her eyes narrowed. "But... how did your children learn a dead language?"
"Dead language?" Lucy asked.
"Your children... your children are speaking ancient draconic," Amenista breathed.
"Draconic?" Levy wondered. "No... I've heard Gajeel swear in draconic and it sounds nothing like that."
"That's because the curse words your mates use are examples of the modern draconic, a sort of normal speak if you will... your children are speaking the original language of dragons. The speak that was used when humans were still figuring out the usage of fire and rocks," Amenista was in awe of the two children.
"Do... do you know what they're saying?" Levy asked.
Amenista shook her head, "I am not fluent. I knew a few older dragons when I served Tyregenium who spoke some and so I caught bits and pieces but... but the language is ancient and far beyond me."
"How the heck did your kids learn an ancient language?" Lucy asked Levy.
"You expect me to know! Until twenty minutes ago I wasn't even sure that they could talk!" Levy cried.
"Fáthren sounds like it might stand for 'father'. Fáthren drübsetk. Methrá drü distruóact. Síe Fáthren drüther Höldrevn. Methrá n'ashaught sí distruóact," Amenista recalled.
"Yeah, I have no idea what you're saying," Lucy sighed. Suddenly, her eyes brighter. "But I know who might! Now that I know it's an ancient language, I think I know who to call."
She pulled a silver key out of her pack and grinned.
"OPEN! Gare of the southern cross! Crux!" Lucy summoned. There was a golden flash of light and floating beside Lucy was the familiar spirit.
"Grandpa Crux, we need your help," Lucy asked the spirit.
"I'm afraid I still don't have anything. Capricorn does not know where your son took his key," Crux sighed.
"That's alright, but I need to know if you understand ancient draconic," Lucy asked.
"Ancient draconic?" Crux pondered. "Yes... I'm a little rusty but I do know a small bit."
"Translate please," Lucy asked, she gestured for Amenista to repeat.
"Fáthren drübsetk. Methrá drü distruóact. Síe Fáthren drüther Höldrevn. Methrá n'ashaught sí distruóact," Amenista recalled.
"Father is missing. Mother is... sad? But Father is... Father is through the door. Mother should not be sad?" Crux pondered offering a rough translation
"Father is through the door?" Levy wondered.
"Drüther Höldrevn!" Kurui cried desperately.
"Through the door," Crus translated. "At least I think that's what she saying... I'm not sure though. It's very hard to make a direct translation. She may also be saying "the gate", "the wall", or "the doorway".
"Through the door," Levy pondered.
"LEVY! LUCY! LEVY! LUCY!" a familiar voice called. Everyone turned to see Macao running up running up as fast as his old legs would allow. "It's Zeref and Mavis!"
"Zeref and Mavis?" Lucy wondered. "Here?"
"They're at the guild! Talking with Makarov!" Macao cried.
"Why?" Levy asked.
"It's about August! Someone kidnapped him!" Macao explained.
"Someone... kidnapped August?" Lucy repeated, unbelievingly.
"As in the boy who knows eighty different types of magic and is surrounded by demons day and night?" Levy asked.
"Yeah... and it sounds like they may also be the same guys who sent Gajeel and Natsu to who knows where!" Macao nodded.
"Really!?" Levy cried.
"Then we should go immediately!" Amenista nodded.
Lucy nodded, and then remembered. "Crux!" she cried to her spirit.
"Yes, lady Lucy?" Crux asked.
"When you see Capricorn please give him this," Lucy told the spirit. She handed him the key of Leo the Lion.
"Loke's key?" Crux pondered.
"When Capricorn is summoned, he can give this to Igneel... that way Igneel has two strong spirits to help him... that, and Loke can summon himself if Igneel's in trouble," Lucy explained.
"I will do so, Lady Lucy," Crux nodded, gingerly taking the key.
"Thank you," Lucy smiled.
With that, the celestial spirit disappeared and the two women scooped up the toddlers before taking off towards the guild, Amenista on their heels.
Nashi and Shiro were leading the charge up the mountain, Shido and Storm were right behind them. Kina and Lance took the rear, Kina's eyes were narrowed as she listened to something while Lance was just internally complaining about the trek up the mountainside.
"Hey, you're glaring at the ground like it murdered your sibling. What are you hearing?" Lance asked the girl by his side.
Kina was indeed glaring at the ground. "It's more like what I'm not hearing..."
"Meaning?" Lance asked.
"The mountain sounds hollow. Just judging the way our footsteps sound tells me that much. The thing is though... I can't hear anything like there's something nullifying my magic or muffling its own sound. I know there's something there because I can't hear it... if that makes sense..."
"So... what your saying is this could be trap?" Lance asked.
"I don't know... but it could get dangerous," Kina warned.
"Oh... great then," Lance deadpanned.
"Come on! I see the entrance!" Shiro called, scrambling up the steep slope.
"Hey Shiro, wait for meeEEEE!" Nashi laugh broke into a squeal as her foot slipped on a pile of loose stones and she went careening backward down the slope, right into Storm who just barely caught himself and Nashi.
Their eyes locked for a solid minute as Nashi blushed furiously and Storm tried furiously not to blush as well. Nashi hid her face in her hands, still in Storm's arms.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to slip..." Nashi muttered quickly.
"And I didn't mean to catch you," Storm answered quickly, reddening when he realized what he said. "WAIT - NO! I mean I MEANT to catch you but I didn't MEAN for it to be like... this... oh Acnologia spare me. Are you okay Nashi!?"
Nashi quickly got up, still blushing. "Yep!" She made sure she was facing away from Storm and walked as quickly as possible back up the hill, stiff as a board as she tried to hide her face. Storm followed only for him to nearly slip the next second. He barely caught himself and blundered about like a love-struck idiot... because that's what he was.
From the back both Lance and Kina sighed.
"They're hopeless," Kina sighed.
"You're telling me, Storm glares at me whenever I talk to Nashi, you'd think he thought I was hitting on her," Lance complained, keeping his voice low so that no one else heard him.
"Let's just take a minute to remember who his mother is. You don't want to know half the things she thinks when another woman talks to Gray," Kina moaned, rolling her eyes.
Lance only snickered.
They were near the top when Shiro stood up and looked down at the base of the mountain. "Is... is that Kakumi?"
They all looked back and sure enough, the young blonde was running out of the forests at the foot of the mountain.
"What the heck is here doing her-" Shido began.
There was a screech that startled everyone as runes flew into the sky. Kina fell to the ground, holding her ears and cursing in all sorts of colorful languages.
"IT'S A TRAP! I KNEW IT!" Lance cursed, his skin turning to metal immediately.
"RUN!" Nashi ordered.
Everyone bolted down the side of the mountain, Lance and Shido helping Kina to her feet and hauling her forward. Shiro scrambled down the slope, slipping wildly only to be caught by Nashi who stayed behind to made sure he got down. Storm stood between the two groups, making sure Nashi wasn't staying behind. As soon as Nashi and Shiro caught up to Storm, the three caught up to Shido, Lance, and Kina and continued their rapid descent down the mountain.
The runes that had been shot into the sky splayed out forming a huge rectangle over the mountain. It moved so quickly that there was no time to move but a moment later the runes were racing for the floor, to trap Nashi and the others in a box that surrounded the mountain.
"*input word*, RUN!" Nashi screamed, seeing this.
Kakumi froze when he heard the sound and looked up in horror as the runes splayed out.
"What's going on!!" Nova yelled, running up next to Kakumi.
"They're in trouble!!" Kakumi cried, unsure of what to do.
"*input word*, that's a rune cage forming!" Nova recognized.
"We can't run in there, we'll get trapped too!" Rose yelled.
"What do we do!?" Rosemary asked.
Suddenly, there was an explosion of fire from where Nashi's group had been. Kakumi's group all hunkered down as smoke and rubble went flying. When the thick smoke cleared they looked up to see the distant forms of Nashi, Lance, Storm, Shido, Shiro, and Kina fighting off armored figures. That was all they needed and the group surged forward to help without a word.
Nashi's group had been caught unprepared when a door suddenly appeared before them and ten armored soldiers jumped out of the mountain. One raised his hand and the air around the kids combusted in fire and smoke. Nashi acted out of instinct, calling the fire to her command and keeping it away from her friends while also dispelling it.
When the smoke cleared, she snarled at the armored soldiers.
"Big mistake," she growled. Fire erupted from her fists and she lunged forward. "FIR DRAGON IRON FIST!" she yelled, pounding the first soldier in his face, denting the metal mask with her attack.
"WHITE DRAGON ROAR!!!" Shiro yelled, unleashing his breath on their attackers.
Shido silently slipped into his shadow before pouncing on an unsuspecting soldier and attacking him with a shadow dragon attack to his neck.
Lance was in full-metal-skinned mode. His blue hair was loose and wild, perhaps a few shades darker in his defensive form. He punched one soldier in his chest, punching straight through the armor and sending the solider flying. He took a step back and shook his hand out.
"That was almost painful," he muttered. "These guys have some serious armor!" he then yelled to the group before turning to his next opponent who was then frozen solid by Storm. Storm's eyes were cold as he sent ice wall after ice wall up, locking three more knights in thick groups of ice, unable to move.
Kina, meanwhile, tackled a soldier who was trying to attack Shiro from his back. She pinned him to the ground, put her hands on his helmet, and snarled as she poured poison through the air holes in his helmet. Her victim let out a hoarse scream before going limp.
"Jerk," Kina hissed, standing up and looking for her next attacker.
More soldiers were pouring out of new opening in the mountain that had been well concealed.
"We're going to be outrun!!" Nashi cried, she looked fearfully at the rune cage that was moments away from sealing them inside.
"We won't make it in time!!" Lance cursed, he turned to see a gianormous soldier with a huge sword raised to strike.
"*input word*" Lance cursed as the sword swung.
The only thing that saved Lance was the huge mace that slammed into the soldier's face, knocking him down. Lance looked up and found Rosemary, mace in hand.
"Hello, Lance," the red-head greeted.
"Hey... what are you doing here?" Lance asked in utter confusion.
"Saving you, apparently," Rosemary smiled.
"Mary, on your right!" Rose yelled, skating past Rosemary and leaping for a soldier. She placed a magility link on her target and placed another on a soldier that was being pummeled by Nashi, leaving two soldiers on the ground, steaming and unconscious.
Kina was a few feet away, engaged in combat with three soldiers who were trying to take her down with their magic.
"SUCKERS!" someone yelled. Kina knew that voice and she immediately ducked as a ray of pure energy knocked the soldiers down. When Kina stood up, she found herself face to face with Nova who was in her "ray dragon soul" form.
"Nova," she greeted.
"Kina," Nova smirked. "Bet you heard me coming."
"I would've... but I was preoccupied," Kina explained, dodging another attack from a soldier and sending a poison ball his way.
"Clearly," Nova recognized.
Meanwhile, Shido had been knocked to the ground and had to roll to avoid an attack by a huge axe.
"Hang on, Shido!" Kakumi cried. He jumped onto Shido's attacker, placed his hands on the metal armor and released an electric shock that sent the soldier crumbling to the floor. The blonde ran over and helped Shido to his feet.
"Are you okay?" Kakumi asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Shido smiled.
Kakumi beamed.
Then, there was a terrible "crash" as the rune cage slammed closed, locking the group in. A moment later, the dragon slayers all stumbled, suddenly fatigued as they glowed a strange red, a shade which matched the rune color.
"Nashi!" Storm cried, seeing the girl's state.
"What's... happening!?" Nashi demanded, trying to steady herself.
"Drain..." Kina realized, hearing some of their attacker's thoughts. "THEY'RE DRAINING DRAGON SLAYER MAGIC! IT'S NOT OUR MOM'S THEY'RE AFTER! IT'S US!!"
"WHAT!?" Shiro cried, barely dodging another attack.
"THIS IS A TRAP! THEY WANTED US TO COME HERE!" Kina cried over the chaos. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!!"
Suddenly, the next line of soldiers went down to a Fairy Machine Gun spell. Victoria stood near the base of the mountain, shooting her beams upwards.
"GET DOWN HERE, YOU IDIOTS!" Victoria yelled. Her many beams fired at rediculous amounts taking soldiers out left and right but avoiding her friends.
The kids all scrambled down the mountain, toward their friend.
"Don't let the dragon slayers get away!" one soldier yelled.
The dragon slayers were weakening, stumbling as their magic power was drained. Nashi stumbled and was almost grabbed by a soldier who doubtlessly would've knocked her out had Storm not stepped in and froze that soldier solid. He ran over and supported Nashi.
"Come on!" he willed helping her walk.
They ran for the edge of the rune cage but all of them collided with it.
"YUP! It's solid," Lance moaned, rubbing his nose where he had slammed into the rune cage.
"*INPUT WORD*" Shiro cried.
"Hold on! Buy me some time guys!" Lance ordered, pulling a quill out from his pack and studying the runes. "*input word... this is complicated."
They all looked at their approaching foes.
"How much time do you need!?" Rose yelled.
Lance grimaced as he looked at the runes, he suffering the drain spell as well. "A lot..."
"Bones of Tyregenium," Nova cursed, looking at their foes. She readied herself.
"We probably should've told our mom's," Nashi sighed.
"Probably," Storm nodded her arm still over his shoulder.
"Uh-oh," Tug announced.
"Uh-oh, what!?" Ame yelled, bring their super-fast water bubble of transportation to a halt.
"I feel Lance... but I feel a bunch of other magnetic fields... some magic like... some just feel like suits of armor... they're close," the little dragon yipped.
"How close!?" Ame demanded.
"I would say that close," Simon realized, pointing at the horizon which had a distant rune cage.
"Uh-oh," Igneel and Emma stated in unison.
The group at the edge of the mountain was being overrun.
"We can't last too much longer!!" Rosemary cried as she summoned three swords and sent them flying through the mass of soldiers before her. The soldiers she knocked out had magility links attached to them and by knocking them out, Rosemary knocked out another twenty. Rose, who was responsible for the magility links, was panting from the exertion.
Nashi, Shiro, Shido, and Kina all let out weakened dragon-roars which helped clear the field a small bit. Storm threw up a thick ice wall to protect them for a few minutes and help them catch their breath.
"W-we can't last too much longer," Nova panted, her face bruised from where a solider had punched her. Kakumi stood by her side, sweating and panting in exhaustion as the rune shield drained his magic.
"How's it coming, Lance!?" Victoria demanded.
"SLOWLY!" Lance yelled back, clearly stressed. "THIS ISN'T EASY!!"
He was writing all sorts of runes over the red ones. His runes glowed a soft blue but didn't seem to be doing anything.
"Well do the NOT EASY thing QUICKER!!" Storm yelled.
"STOP YELLING AT ME! I DOESN'T MAKE THIS GO FASTER!" Lance yelled back.
"Guys! They're gonna break through the ice!" Nashi warned, her fist bursting into flame once more.
On cue, part of the ice shattered and their attackers surged through. One threw a spear which crackled with some form of dark magic, it flew straight for Shiro who watched it horror. In a flash, Shido appeared, kicking the spear off its trajectory and sending it crashing into the run barrier where it bounced off.
"YOU CAN DO IT LANCE!" Shido cried to the older boy as he landed.
Lance bit his lip and began cussing as he drew more runes. Their side of the mouthain was covered in soldiers, all trying to make it past the ice barrier.
"Storm! Drop the shield for a moment!" Victoria ordered, powering up one her spells. A golden aura surrounded the girl and her eyes gleamed.
"Alright," Storm nodded. "3...2... GO!"
The ice shield dropped and the line of soldiers stopped in confusion before Victoria unloaded a huge blast of magic in the form of small golden bullets.
"MEGA FAIRY MACHINE GUN!" Victoria yelled as her spell crashed into their opponents, obliterating the first few lines of soldiers.
Immediatly after the spell ended, Storm slammed his hands on the ground again and surrounded them with another wall of ice.
"That bought us some time," Kina recognized.
"Hold on... Maybe... maybe this'll work," Lance muttered, writing an elaborate rune. "Sh*t I wrote it wrong. *input word* my life." He wrote it again, slower this time.
"FROM ABOVE!" Rose warned, sending out magility swords into the sky.
Everyone looked up to see a few long distance spells arcing in the air and raining down for them.
Roses's magility swords cut down a few spells, but it didn't do much. Storm tried to create a dome over them but the first spell made the thin roof shatter. Storm was panting from exertion and his magic power was waning.
The spells barraged the earth from above and hit a few of the kids. Nova shielded Kakumi, letting out a small scream when a spell pierced her shoulder. Storm immediately pushed Nashi to the ground when his roof broke. Shido slipped into the shadows, throwing out attacks to try and protect Lance who was too preoccupied to even bother dodging. Shiro, Kina, and Victoria hunkered down while Rosemary equipped a shield and used it like an umbrella to protect herself from the magic blows raining down of them.
Shido missed an attack which slammed into Lance's back, causing the boy to curse colorfully and scribble runes with even greater ferocity then before.
Finally, in an act of pure desperation, Lance used the rune for "destruction" and braced himself.
A small explosion sent him flying backwards into Storm's ice wall.
"Lance!" Nashi cried.
The boy groaned but seems fine, thanks to his metal scales. He opened his eyes and dislodged himself from the ice in awe.
"I DID IT! EVERYONE RUN THROUGH!" Lance ordered, seeing a small crawl hole through the enchantment.
"GO! GO! GO!" Nova yelled, shoving Kakumi through the hole and crawling out after him. Lance stood by the opening, urging everyone inside.
Shido slid through with no problem. Victoria followed, taking a few moments. Rosemary took even longer because her armor was so bulky and Rose slipped through after her. Shiro leapt and slipped through the small space, sliding through the dirt until he emerged on the other side. Nashi ordered Lance to go and with a glare and he obeyed, Kina sliding through after him.
"Come on," Storm urged, as Nashi knelt down to crawl through the hole. The ice wall suddenly shattered and it took the reserves of Storm's magic power to form another one.
Nashi crawled through as fast as she could, Storm following. Once they were all out of the enchantment they bolted into the woods.
Behind them, the enchantment fell and the clamor of suited soldiers filled the air.
"THEY'RE HUNTING US!" Kina yelled to the group as they ran.
"WHAT DO WE DO!?" Shiro cried, vaulting himself over a log.
"We're all exhausted, they'll take us out easily!" Lance explained.
"Then we split up! Try and hide!" Nova yelled.
"NO!" Nashi ordered.
"Someone's got to get back to the guild and tell them what the hell is going on!" Nova yelled back.
"We're not sacrificing anyone!" Nashi yelled fervently.
"I'm with Nashi on this one!" Lance sided. "We split up, we get caught!"
"If we stay in a group we'll all get caught!" Rosemary argued.
"Our best bet of getting help is splitting up. As long as at least one of us escapes, they can return with help to save the rest of us!" Rose agreed.
Nashi didn't like it. Nashi didn't like it at all.
But... the next magic shot took out her leg and she crumpled to the ground in pain.
"NASHI!" Storm cried, stopping dead in his tracks to try and help her out.
She didn't want her friends to slow down helping her... which meant...
"SPLIT UP!" Nashi's pained voice sent a clear order to everyone and something clicked in the dragon slayer's mind which gave them little choice but to obey. The group scattered into the trees. Nova and Kakumi, Rose and Rosemary, Shiro and Shido, all went in groups. Victoria, Kina, and Lance all went their separate ways. Storm stayed behind to help Nashi to her feet.
"You have to run!" Nashi pleaded as he hauled her to her feet. The back of her left leg was badly bruised and a small trickle of blood ran down her ankle from where the magic attack had broken the skin.
"Shut up and start limping!" Storm ordered, dragging the girl as he ran. Nashi glanced behind them and spied a group of soldiers in pursuit, her heart dropped.
Kakumi and Nova crashed through the undergrowth, racing as fast as they could back for the train station they had come from. Kakumi was panting from the exertion, his magic energy drained from the rune cage. Nova wasn't much better, her face was turning an ugly purple where she had been punched and she was breathing heavily.
Kakumi could smell danger all around, the soldiers were swarming the woods. He stopped dead when the wind changed direction and he smelled a few in front of them.
"We're surrounded!" he cried to his sister. She stopped next to him and looked around, believing him even though she couldn't see the threat. A quick glance around led her gaze to a hollow log, just barely big enough for Kakumi to slip in.
"You have to hide," Nova ordered.
"What!? NO!" Kakumi objected, panicking.
"Look, Kina heard those guys and they were after dragon slayers," Nova explained, cupping her younger brother's face with her hands. "That means you. I'm not letting them get you."
"A-and I don't want you to get hurt either!" Kakumi cried, tears building in his eyes.
"They won't hurt me," Nova lied.
"Yes they will!" Kakumi objected. Both of their heads shot up when they heard the nearby sound of people crashing through the forest.
"Do not argue with me," Nova ordered harshly. "Hide. Now."
"But Nova - "Kakumi pleaded.
"Now!" Nova yelled, pulling Kakumi towards the log and pushing him into its rotting interior. "And stay quiet."
"Nova," Kakumi pleaded, grabbing his sister's had. "Please don't..."
She gave his grip a reassuring squeeze and grinned, her smile lopsided because of her bruising face. "Don't worry... I'll be alright."
With that, she ripped her hand away from his and rushed towards the soldiers who were converging on her location, leaving Kakumi crying in the log, hugging his knees as he listened to the fight his sister created and lost.
Rose and Rosemary vaulted over a fallen log and continued their desperate run to escape.
"What's the plan!?" Rosemary asked, her scarlet hair soaring behind her as she ran. Rose looked to her uncertainly.
"I don't know," the white-haired girl responded. "But - "
A huge magic bast suddenly through both of them off of their feet. Rosemary went flying into the air and crashed into a tree, hitting her head causing her to see stars. Rose skidded in the dirt, causing scrapes and bruises all along her right side, her head hit a rock in the dirt and the girl went out cold.
"Are they dragon slayers!?" a voice demanded.
"No!" another answered.
"What do we do then?"
"Take em' out!"
Rosemary's vision slowly returned just as she spied a soldier standing above her, a magical sword raised to strike. She quickly equipped and summoned her own sword to block the heavy blow. Lacking strength she could only lay there as her opponent hacked down on her sword, slowly beating her resistance out of her, cracking her thick sword. The red-head trembled when she recognized that the next few blows would break her sword and kill her but she had no magic energy to summon another sword that could withstand the blows.
Then, there was a savage cry and Rosemary's opponent looked up, right as a pissed off Victoria launched herself out of a tree, heels in hand. She tackled the man and beat his face mask with the metal-tipped heel of her stilettos viciously.
"Victoria?" Rosemary breathed, shakily getting to her knees.
"Grab Rose and run!" Victoria ordered dodging another magic attack from another soldier and scrambling off the one who was desperately trying to get his dented helmet off. The two girls scrambled over to the discombobulated Rose who's consciousness had just returned. Rosemary and Victoria grabbed the girl, one on each arm, and dragged her away.
"I told you... stilettos save lives," Victoria panted.
Rosemary, who had no energy left to argue, only grinned. Suddenly, another magic attack hit Victoria on the arm and the girl cursed, whirling around and letting loose another torrent of magic attacks, she was nearly at her limit.
"Take Rose and go!" she ordered.
"But what about - "Rosemary hissed.
"At least one of us has to get back to the guild! I'll hold these bastards off, you take her and run like hell!!" Victoria ordered. "HURRY!"
With no reason to argue except the heavy feeling in her heart, Rosemary rushed away, supporting the still semi-unconscious Rose Vastia.
Lance found himself in an open field after a few minutes of running and cursed. Not wanting to run around in the trees and waste time, he sprinted through the open area only for a trap to spring and a magic net suddenly fly up over him and wrap him in blue-colored electric binds that were very painful to his metal-skinned self.
Soldiers ran up to the trapped dragon slayer and Lance swore.
"YOU DAMN UGLY BASTARDS!" he yelled, struggling. One soldier raised his armored fist and Lance swore again, this time in draconic before the fist came down and knocked the boy out.
Shiro and Shido were caught in a similar trap. Both had stepped into a small clearing and a net had suddenly rose up around them, shocking them with strange blue electric magic and wrapping them in its ropes. The two of them struggled until a strange purple mist floated about and their eyes grew heavy, both exhausted boys descended into a magic-induced sleep, very much trapped.
Kakumi was still huddled in his log when he heard soldiers approached. He immediately stopped breathing and covered his mouth with his hands.
"She's the eldest, right?" one of the soldiers asked. It smelled like there were two of them, and a familiar scent was with them; Nova.
"Yeah... so she's the slayer, right?" the other asked.
"I think that's how it works," the first concurred.
"What about the others? I heard two over here," the other asked.
"The teams will pick off any unlucky ones, but Master says not to worry. Even if they get back to their guild, it'll be too late."
"Aye. So, we just take this one to her cell then?"
"Yeah."
The two men walked off and gingerly Kakumi crawled out just in time to see the two armored men walked away, dragging an unconscious Nova between them.
Kina didn't go down so easily. It took a good force of at least ten soldiers to subdue the magic-drained, angry dragon slayer. It wasn't until one of them raised their hand and summoned a strange purple smoke. Kina figured she was resilient to it, seeing as she was the 'poison dragon slayer' but this was magic, not poison, and so one whiff of it sent her stumbling to the ground, fast asleep.
Nashi and Storm lasted a few minutes thanks to Storm icing the area behind them and Nashi blasting anyone who got to close. However, the next explosive magic attack sent them both sprawling. Storm pushed himself to his knees, ears ringing and his vision blurred. When sound did register he heard a familiar voice.
"STORM! STORM LOOK OUT!" Nashi screamed desperately. She was being pulled away by three soldiers who were trying to get her to smell some potion, a sleep potion by the looks of it.
Storm looked up just in time to see magic blade coming for his neck. He rolled away in the nick of time and threw an attack of a small icicle that slammed into the soldier's face. He stumbled away, trying to shake away the fuzziness in his head when the second magic attack exploded the earth beneath him and sent him flying and skidding into the dirt upon landing.
"STORM!" Nashi cried as she was pulled away, the potion's scent taking its effect as her eyes grew dim. In anger as she tried to keep herself awake she burst into flame and let loose a current of fire around her blindly, just trying to have some effect. Her fire raced into the sky like a flare and then vanished as the last of her magic reserves went out. She then collapsed in the arms of her kidnappers, exhausted and still angry. Storm was trying to crawl to his feet without much avail and the soldiers had hardly been touched by her fire.
"Finish the boy off and take her away!" One from the back ordered. Nashi felt herself being dragged away and she cursed.
"STORM! STORM!!" she cried, trying to tell the ice mage to run away as the same soldier from before went over to the boy to finish him off.
The soldier never got the chance. A beam of light slammed into him in the form of Simon Scarlet. The red-haired boy stood on the soldier he had knocked out and rushed the others who scrambled to defend themselves. Those holding Nashi dragged her backward as fast as they could, back to the mountain. Out of strength, Nashi's world went dark and she slipped into unconsciousness.
The group in Ame's water bubble had seen the rune cage, heard the ruckus, and then seen Nashi's firey performance.
"IT'S NASHI! SHE'S IN TROUBLE!" Igneel had cried.
"I'm going, Ame, watch out for the younger ones!" Simon ordered, activating his heavenly body magic and rushing away towards when the fire had sprouted up. When he came into view of the strife, he saw Nashi being taken away by heavily armed soldiers and another soldier poised to kill a battered Storm, Simon hadn't hesitated.
Now, as he slammed soldiers away, he just didn't seem to be able to reach Nashi as her captors dragged her further up the mountain.
Ame had managed to watch over Emma and Igneel for a whole two seconds before the two took off like bullets, her brother amount them.
"SILVER! We're supposed to be responsible!" Ame yelled after her twin.
"Us? Responsible? Oh Ame, have you met us?" Silver laughed over his shoulder.
Ame debated whether she should go after her brother, or after the younger two... she figured Simon would kill her if she just let the young ones run into trouble so she took off after Emma... since that child was the most likely to run into trouble.
"Come on, Tug," Ame sighed, running off.
"Okay!" Tug agreed, running after Ame.
Simon was eventually knocked to the side by a lucky blow and slammed into a tree.
"Ow..." he muttered.
"ICE-MAKE LANCE!" a familiar voice yelled as Silver jumped into the fray and knocked the next few soldiers away from his older brother.
"Silver?" Storm wondered.
"Hell yeah. You look terrible," Silver chuckled, looking back at Storm.
"Shut up and help Nashi!" Storm ordered weakly, trying to sit up. Silver spied the pinkette way up the mountain.
"She's too far! I can't reach her without Ame's help!" Silver explained.
"NASHI!" a shrill voice cried. Igneel went scrambling up the slope after Nashi.
"Igneel! WAIT!" Simon ordered.
Igneel miraculously dodges the magic attacks, his brown eyes set on his captured sister. There was an influx of magic power and suddenly, the familiar rune cage started to descend again, this time, it had a golden glow to it.
"IGNEEL! NO!" Storm yelled.
"NASHI!" Igneel roared, charging headfirst, trying to make it there before the rune cage closed.
Simon gritted his teeth and surged forward, blowing past a few soldiers and grabbing the blonde before he could slip under the falling enchantment.
"NO!" Igneel cried, reaching out as the enchantment slammed shut.
"You can't get caught too!" Simon ordered.
"BUT WE HAVE TO SAVE NASHI!" Igneel cried as Simon carried him towards Storm.
"Let's focus on saving ourselves first!" Simon ordered.
Emma ran through the woods, using her solid script magic to knock out soldiers (who she really hoped were bad guys... they looked like bad guys). Then, she saw the rune cage close ahead of her, locking in the same mountain as before. The runes seemed familiar but she had always ignored her mother's rune lessons. As she looked at the rune barrier, she head a familiar voice.
"GO ON! KNOCK ME OUT AGAIN! I *input word* DARE YA!" Lance taunted. He was swearing and taunting, which meant that he was really weak and tired.
Emma took off like a bullet, pushing through shrubs and ducking under branches until she saw a patrol of soldiers dragging her brother in a net. They approached the rune cage where they hauled Lance to his feet, still entrapped in the net. The boy was weak and he had to be supported by two soldiers who held him by his arms.
"Everyone put a hand on the damn dragon slayer," one of the soldiers ordered. They all did so, which made Lance growled and then pushed him through the golden-tinted rune cage which bent around him and allowed him and those who were in physical contact with him to pass through.
"LANCE!" Emma cried, running after them.
"Emma!?" Lance cried, looking over his shoulder. "What are you doi- NO! RUN EMMA!"
Emma ran full force into the rune cage and banged her fists against it.
"LANCE! Don't worry! I'm gonna rescue you!" She cried after him.
"Zeref dammit Emma! You need to run!" Lance cried, trying to eagerly struggle against his captors.
"Should we take out the kid?" one of Lance captors asked.
"No use, nothing can pass through that rune cage 'cept dragon slayers and those who are in contact with them. Unless you want to shove this brat back through there, we'll just leave her to get picked off by a later team," another growled.
"I just signaled for backup, she'll be taken care of soon," a third explained.
"I'll save you Lance! Don't worry!!" Emma cried from the other side of the cage.
"EMMA! LOOK OUT!" Lance yelled.
The girl looked to her side. Three soldiers were running for her at full speed.
"SOLID SCRIPT! PIT!" Emma yelled, writing the words. As they appeared, a huge deep pit suddenly appeared, plunging the soldiers into a dark abyss.
She sneered, "Serves you right, bastards!"
"EMMA! BEHIND YOU!" Lance's frantic voice cried, he was being pulled into a small hidden door on the mountain but as he disappeared from sights he continued yelling warnings.
Emma whirled around to see a soldier moving to grab her. Before either could react the soldier was sent flying by a current of water. Ame stood, sighing.
"Ame!" Emma cried.
"You okay?" she asked.
"They took Lance! I can't get past the rune barrier!" Emma cried. "What do we do?!"
"AH! BAD GUYS!" Tug squeaked, flapping up to Ame.
Ame looked up in time to see a few soldiers making their way through the woods towards them.
"Uh... we're gonna run," she answered, grabbing Emma by her hand and pulling her through the woods.
"But what about LANCE!" Emma cried.
"Your brother isn't exactly fragile! We'll figure out what to do when - " Ame began. She ducked under a magic attack that flew for her face. "WHEN WE'RE NOT ALMOST DYING!!"
The shadows of the late day stretched into the forest as the chaos continued on, the sun slowly fading from the sky as the terrible situation unfolded.