A Demon's Touch

I do not own Fairy Tail; if I did, I would definitely take Hiro's trolling to new levels.

Prologue

Lucy Heartfilia shivered as she stared out her bedroom window. A blizzard had blown through the mountains, trapping the castle in a sea of white the day before.

"Princess, please close the window. You will get sick." Her maid, Virgo, stated flatly.

"No I wanted to see the raiding party return." She was not sure how she knew that they were returning except it was one of her "feelings" she got when something important happened.

Her father, Jude Heartfilia, was a very powerful man in the northern providence of Ishgar. His men were known throughout the land as some of the best warriors in dealing with monsters. Frequently villagers who were harassed by mystical creatures would journey to her father for help. And help them he would… "For a price."

Lucy did not enjoy the methods her father used to obtain his power.

As Jude's wealth increased, more and more mercenaries sought to join the small army he now had at his disposal. He was hardly able to control them even with the amount of wealth he paid them. So basically he let them do whatever they want.

His two best warriors were Loke and Gray. Usually he left discipline up to them. Loke was the unspoken leader of the group. He seemed sweet to women but had an iron clad, no rule breaking attitude when dealing with the warriors. Gray, on the other hand, was completely antisocial. He seemed capable of basic acts of friendliness but there was always some sense of warmth missing from his actions.

It was the wish of Jude for her to marry one of them. He had long stopped trying to find a suitable arrangement with another noble family. Jude himself was a commoner who made a fortune in banking. This had allowed him to marry Lady Layla of Alvarez. Layla's titled had allowed him to fly up the ranks of Fiore's nobility but when she died, his connections had deserted him. Since then, he had retreated to this god forsaken territory with his daughter.

Lucy loved the northern mountains. She spent most of her life here. Life was simpler than it had been in the city. It gave her more time to read the books her mother had given her. And it allowed her to really get to know the servants, to the extent that they weren't servants but family.

Sometimes she wished for a real friend though. Someone she could talk to equally without them seeing her as "Lord Jude's precious daughter." And she wished for adventures. An adventure like the ones in her stories where princesses would be rescued by a prince from a dragon. Maybe not that kind of adventure. It seemed dangerous. Maybe one where she got to help someone and make friends along the way.

Yet it seemed, she was destined to be alone.

Nobody ever visited the northern mountains…. It was hundreds of miles from civilization.

Rumors of a black wizard living in the mountains kept most people away – cries of his pet demons would sometimes echo the night.

A shout went up outside.

Broken from her thoughts, Lucy watched torch lights moved quickly inside the courtyard and the wall. Servants poured from holes in the building like ants scurrying around when an invader crushes their mound. The gates were opened.

A small group was ushered into the courtyard. The raiding party had returned with the missing scouts.

Some of the huntsmen had found an abandon village to the south about a week ago. It had been reduced to smoldering flames. No survivors. Lucy had heard talk that the warriors were not sure if it had been a demon or a dragon attack. Gray had said he could sense a demon's presence at the village, but Loke had said that dragon marks covered the ground. It worried Jude to know that dragons potentially were returning. They had been hunted to the brink of extinction by a great man named Achnologia during the war that killed her mother.

It actually made sense for them to hide in the northern providence under the protection of the Black Wizard and his army.

Jude had sent Loke and Gray to investigate the mountains, looking for anything suspicious. Gray worked well in the cold elements, he was an ice wizard with demon slaying abilities. Loke also could work in a harsh environment. He had the ability to turn his body into pure light and push light from his body in thick waves almost like fire.

Yet once they were sent, neither had returned within two days. Jude had sent a small force to track them down.

Now it seemed the two had returned. Both boys road a horse at the front of the party. Something was thrown behind Gray. Lucy was too far away to see it clearly, but it seemed to be a person.

Jude and his body guards met the group halfway down the castle steps.

A naked body was thrown down into the snow, wrapped in black chains. It had pink hair.

Author's Note: Hello all. So I know Fairy Tail has like a million fanfictions so I almost did not post this story. Recently I have been wanting to write a FT story since I was introduced to this series a few months ago. Now this story is more a personal challenge to me (which is what got me to finally sit down and write it). I am trying to write a story a bit darker, a bit more mature than I usually write. Hope you enjoy this. Will try to make it super epic!

Next chapter: An Angel and a Beast