After escaping from the Magnolia Waterhole, Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy traveled far into the valley and over the large plains until they were out of Erza's sight.

"Alright, it worked!" Natsu cheered. "Ditching the birdbrain sure did the trick!"

Wendy remarked, "I can't believe we actually got this far."

Lucy added, "That was a pretty awesome stunt we did back there."

Natsu nodded proudly, "Yep. I am a genius."

"Genius?" Lucy frowned. "It was my idea."

"Yeah, but I'm the one who pulled it off," Natsu grinned smugly.

"With me!" Lucy shot back.

Wendy added, "All I did was add my voice to the song number we did earlier."

Lucy replied, "True, but still, I'm the one who came up with that idea!"

"Oh, yeah?" Natsu glared.

"Yeah!" Lucy nodded.

"Well… take that!" Natsu shouted, and with a mighty pounce, he tackled Lucy and the two tussled for a bit, until Lucy ended on top and had the salmon dragon pinned with her paws.

"Pinned ya," Lucy said with a smirk. "Now say it."

Natsu grunted, pushing Lucy off him, "No! Lemme up!"

Once the blonde-haired dragon turned away, feeling proud of herself, Natsu tackled her from behind, and together, they rolled down the steep hill. By the time they reached the bottom, Natsu was once again pinned firmly to the ground with Lucy on top of him.

"Pinned ya again," Lucy said smugly. "Now you have to say it."

Natsu said defiantly, "I'm not saying it!"

Wendy joined up and said, "Come on, say it! Lucy came up with the idea!"

Natsu began, "But…"

"Say it!" Lucy shouted.

Natsu sighed loudly and recited, "Lucy is the best dragon in the world, and I eat salmon fish."

Lucy smiled in satisfaction, before letting go of his arms, "Heck, yeah."

Suddenly, there was a loud eruption from the ground nearby, ejecting steam and catching Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy's attention. Once the steam cleared, the three dragons were astonished to find the skull of a Sun Giant standing on top of a ledge. The three stared for a moment, before Natsu walked over with a smile, while Lucy and Wendy cautiously followed.

Once they climbed up the edge, Natsu said, "This is it. We made it."

"Whoa…" the three said in awe. The entire graveyard seemed devoid of light and color, and the land was spread with thousands of Sun Giant skeletons – the remains of giant creatures that once resided in the faraway Village of the Sun. But one incident destroyed more than half of the Sun Giant population, and to this day, their remains were thrown into this place to inaugurate this sacred ground.

"N-N-N-Natsu?" Wendy shivered. "I-I-I-I don't l-l-l-like the l-l-looks of this p-p-place. It's r-r-really c-c-creepy."

"Yeah… isn't it great?" Natsu asked excitedly. "I told you it was worth seeing."

Lucy said, "We could get in big trouble for this. What if your dad finds out?"

Natsu assured, "I know. But no one's ever gonna find out. We take a good look around, then we'll come back not a minute later."

Lucy admired, looking around, "This has got to be the scariest, nastiest, most awesome place I've ever been to."

"Tell me about it," Wendy said, jumping slightly with a squeak when she stepped on the broken skull of a dead lemur. The three then glanced over the giant Sun Giant skull.

"That's the skull of a Sun Giant," Lucy said. "I wonder if its brains are still in there."

"There's only one way to know," Natsu walked over to the skull, "Come on, guys. Let's go check it out."

"WRONG!"

Unexpectedly, Erza appeared in front of Natsu with an angry expression. She demanded, "The only checking out you will do will be to check out of here!"

"Aw, man," Natsu complained.

Wendy asked, "How did you find us, Erza?"

Erza answered worriedly, "It doesn't matter how! What matters is that we're leaving right now! We're way beyond the boundary of the Dragon Lands!"

Natsu smirked, "Oh, look. Strawberry Cake's gettin' chicken."

Erza poked Natsu in the nose and replied, "That's Miss Strawberry Cake to you, salmon! And I have every right to be scared! This place is home to the most dangerous creatures in the land, and right now, we are all in very real danger."

"Danger?" Natsu scoffed as he moved closer to the Sun Giant skull. "I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Loud cackling echoed from inside the Sun Giant skull. Scared out of his wits, Natsu rushed back to Erza, Lucy, and Wendy. They watched as three bizarre demons, the source behind the insidious laughter, emerged out of the skull. One of them was a canine demon, the second was a spiked-protruded monster with triangles tattooed all over his body, and the last was the crossing of a frog, insect, and octopus in one being. These were called Etherious, the most vilest and vicious beasts in the Dragon Lands, and the main enemy of dragons.

"Well, well, well, Ezel," the canine Etherious began. "What do we have here?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea, Jackal," the spiked demon known as Ezel shook his head. "What do you think, Yakdoriga?"

The third Etherious, known as Yakdoriga, laughed crazily in reply to Ezel's question.

The canine demon known as Jackal guessed, "Well, the bird with red hair looks familiar, but those three little dragons in red, yellow, and white don't look like they're from around here."

"Exactly what I was thinking. A quintet of trespassers!" Ezel growled, clenching his fists.

Erza's voice cracked slightly, "And by accident, I can assure you. A little navigational error. If you let us go, I promise we won't trespass anymore." She tried flying away, but Jackal stepped on her tail, pushing her back down.

"Hey, wait a minute. I know you," Jackal looked closely at Erza. "You're Igneel's little stooge."

Erza freed herself and clarified, "Actually, I am the king's majordomo."

Meanwhile, Ezel and Yakdoriga circled around Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy. Ezel said to Natsu, "And that would make you…?"

"Prince Natsu," Natsu said defiantly. "The future king of Dragon Rock."

Jackal joined Ezel and Yakdoriga as he said, "You're quite bold with the title. But do you know what we do to kings who wander outside the safety of their kingdoms?"

Natsu scoffed, "You can't do anything to me."

Erza nervously tapped Natsu on the shoulder, "Technically, they can. We're on their land."

Natsu stated, "But Erza, you told me they're nothing but slobbering, mangy, stupid Ethernano-crafted demons."

Erza quickly covered Natsu's mouth and muttered through gritting teeth, "Ix-nay on the oopid-stay."

Unfortunately, Ezel overheard this and shouted angrily, "Who you callin' 'oopid-stay?!'"

Erza squeaked, "Not you! Definitely not you! Heavens, look at the sun, it's almost dark! We better get going!" She began trying to escort Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy away, but Jackal blocked their way.

Jackal grinned, "What's the hurry, kids? We'd love for you to stick around for dinner."

Ezel nodded, "Yeah! We can have whatever's… dragon around!" He laughed to his joke, "Get it? Dragon around!"

Jackal joined in, "Oh, wait, wait, wait! I got one, I got one! We gotta dragon a sandwich to eat! Whatcha think?"

The two continued laughing until Yakdoriga popped up and began gesticulating and jabbering wildly.

"What, Yak?" Jackal asked wildly. "What is it?"

Ezel looked to where Yakdoriga was pointing and said, "Hey, did we order this dinner to go?"

Jackal asked, "No, why?"

Ezel yelled, "'Cause THERE IT GOES!"

Sure enough, Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, and Erza were fleeing. The three dragons were far ahead as Erza tried to catch up, only to yelp as one of the Etherious grabbed her and pulled her away.

Meanwhile, Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy continued running through the graveyard until they stopped to catch their breath.

Lucy asked tiredly, "Did we lose them?"

"I think so," Natsu panted. "That was close."

"Wait a sec," Wendy looked around. "Where's Erza?"

Suddenly, a scream rang throughout the graveyard.

"Erza!" Natsu exclaimed. He then raced to where the scream came from.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted as she ran after him.

"Wait for us!" Wendy cried as she followed.

Elsewhere, the three Etherious had a frightened Erza near a vent of hot steam. Ezel walked the helpless bird near the vent like playing a doll and said, "And the little majordomo hawk hippity-hopped all the way to the Birdie Boiler!"

"Oh, no!" Erza shrieked as she was stuffed into the vent. "Not the Birdie Boiler!" She then let out a high-pitched painful scream as she was launched into the air like a rocket until she was out of view. The three Etherious laughed in amusement, until an angry voice caught their ears.

"HEY!" They turned to see Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy standing above them. Natsu glared, "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

"Like… you?" Jackal smiled slyly.

"Oops," Lucy and Wendy said nervously in unison.

"Exploding Spiral!" Jackal swung his arm forward, creating a series of explosions in the form of a spiral. The three young dragons screamed as they all ran away from the explosions, until they stopped in front of an active methane vent. The three Etherious poked their heads through the steam and shouted, "Boo!"

Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy gasped in horror at the Etherious in front of them, laughing with murderous intent. "Tenga Goken: Onimaru!" By crossing his arms and swinging them outward, Ezel created a large, intense shockwave in the shape of a blade capable of slicing anything in its path. The Onimaru attack pulsed through the ground and split it wide open, much to Natsu and the others' surprise.

The three turned and ran away as Jackal, Ezel, and Yakdoriga gave chase, each Etherious trying to use their inhumane magic to slow them down. Their chase takes them to the skeleton of a Sun Giant, in which Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy managed to escape by sliding down the spine, before they shot off the end and landed on a hillside of bones.

The group began climbing up the bones, until Lucy turned and shouted, "Natsu!"

Natsu turned and gasped when he saw his little sister screaming and sliding down the hill of bones towards the Etherious. He quickly swooped down and scratched Jackal's cheek with his claws, giving Wendy enough time to escape. By now, Jackal was enraged at the scratch given to his cheek. He was now more determined than ever to hunt Natsu down.

At the end of the chase, Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy ran into a cave, and quickly realized that there's no way out. Seizing this chance, Jackal, Ezel, and Yakdoriga approached and cornered the three young dragons.

Ezel grinned, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty."

Natsu looked around in a panic, trying to come up with another plan of escape. He and the others were thinking about flying up in the air to avoid the Etherious, but considering they're too young, they're not strong enough to fly yet. So, Natsu had to rely on the first thing that came to mind. Breathing with all of his might, the salmon dragon exhaled a torrent of fire from his mouth. But the fire breath was so small; it didn't reach the Etherious. This caused Jackal, Ezel, and Yakdoriga to laugh. Frightened, Natsu stepped back as he nervously moved closer to Lucy and Wendy, the two hiding behind him.

Jackal smirked, "That's it? You think that puny little fire breath can save you? Before we have you for dinner, we'd love to see you do it again." He then added in a mocking plea, "Come on, do it again. Come on."

Narrowing his eyes, Natsu took a stance, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth to breathe fire…

…and out came a full-grown, ear-piercing dragon's roar.

"Huh?" Jackal, Ezel, and Yakdoriga said incredulously.

Suddenly, a huge wave of flames rained from the sky, burning the ground and staining the terrain with soot. From the torrent of flames, the Dragon King Igneel emerged and roared at the Etherious in front of him.

"IT'S IGNEEL! RUN!" Jackal shouted. The three Etherious immediately ran towards outside the cave, but Igneel, ever the swift and agile dragon, blocked their path and attacked the helpless demons like a ravenous wolf attacks its prey. Erza, who quickly returned to the Dragon Lands to warn Igneel of Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy's impending doom, flew over to the three and hid them safely. Soon enough, as the battle reached its end, Igneel had the Etherious cowering underneath his towering body.

Jackal begged, "Oh, please, please! Don't kill us! Uncle, Uncle!"

Ezel shouted, "We had no idea they're with you!"

Yakdoriga yelped, "Ow, ow, ow!"

"SILENCE!" Igneel roared at them.

Jackal yelped, "Okay, okay, we're gonna shut up right now."

Ezel added, "Calm down, we're really sorry."

"If you ever come near my children again…" Igneel threatened, glaring dangerously at the Etherious.

Jackal gestured to Natsu and Wendy, "Oh, these are… these are your children?"

Ezel asked, "Oh, your children?

"Did you know that?"

"No… me? I-I-I didn't know it, no. Did you?"

"No, of course not!"

"No."

Jackal and Ezel looked over to Yakdoriga, "Yak?" Yakdoriga's reply was a shivering nod.

Igneel roared again, scaring the Etherious even more.

Jackal laughed nervously, "Toodles!" The three quickly raced out of the cave like the sound of a gunshot.

Erza stood beside Igneel and gave a nod, confirming that Igneel valiantly defended his children from the Etherious, until she withered under Igneel's angry glare. After all, it was her fault that Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy got into this mess. As the three young dragons approached Igneel, Natsu noticed that his father was giving him a scowl.

Natsu attempted to explain himself, "Dad, I…"

"You deliberately disobeyed me," Igneel stated angrily.

Natsu looked down in shame, "Dad, I'm… I'm sorry."

"Let's go home," Igneel said, turning around and walking to the exit.

Natsu felt a stab of guilt as he followed his father, with Wendy and Lucy joining him.

"I thought you were very brave," Lucy whispered.

As the group made their way outside, a dark figure was standing on a ledge above them. Peering his cold, beady eyes, Acnologia watched as his nephew, his niece, and the blonde-haired dragon walked away. Disappointed at seeing his plan failing, he stretched his black wings wide and flew into the grey skies above.

It's time for a change of plans.