A/N: Hey guys, sorry it takes so long for these new chapters to come out. :P But I hope that the content they hold is worth the wait! Without further delay, let's find out what Natsu and company are up to now!
When Ra'zac Fly
As the group travelled on, Brom switched their training from using sticks to using actual weapons, which he taught Eragon to guard with magic so that they would not cut each other to pieces, though at one point Natsu received a broken collarbone from a blow that Brom delivered. Wendy had to heal him and Lisanna had to restrain him from thrashing the old man with his fire magic.
Baldor and Albriech also continued to train with Natsu and Wendy in the art of Dragon Slayer magic while Eragon learned Rider's magic from Brom. Lisanna often got her exercise in magic with Saphira by changing into one of her animal forms that granted her flight and taking to the skies with the young dragon. Saphira reveled in the chance to share the skies with a friend, though she sometimes confided to Lisanna that she wished Eragon would ride her, as he had not done so yet.
"You know, maybe you should be more direct about it," she said. "I mean, I tried to be subtle with Natsu for a long time, but you kind of have to be direct with him if you want him to understand you. Eragon might just need a clearer signal from you, Saphira."
"It would be much hard to refuse a dragon's direct demands," Saphira agreed after a moment of thought. "Very well." And she dove down, landing close to the horses, startling them and their riders.
"Down, Gray!" Natsu shouted as his horse reared, nearly throwing off him and Wendy. "Bad horsey!"
"Saphira?" Eragon said as he managed to calm down Cadoc. "What's the problem?"
"You," she said angrily. "You are the problem." When she neglected to explain herself further, he got off of the horse and approached the dragoness, only to wind up flat on his back and her foot pressing down on him.
The younger fighters looked to Brom on what to do, but he simply shook his head and motioned for them to stay put. Whatever was happening between the rider and dragon needed to run its course without any assistance. Natsu grumbled to himself, but he stayed put for the moment, knowing that Brom knew more about dragons in this world than he and Wendy did.
Eragon's face went blank, a sure sign that he was using telepathy to speak to Saphira in private. When he moved again, he looked over at Brom with an uncomfortable expression on his face. "She wants me to ride her tomorrow," he said.
Brom stroked his beard and nodded after a moment of consideration. "Yes, I suppose it's time you do learn to ride her. Besides, I'd like to think I made that saddle for something." He seemed to be hiding a smile as he spoke.
Eragon looked back up at Saphira, and after another moment of quiet communication, she let him up off of the ground. She took to the skies even as Lisanna landed among them and Eragon got to his feet. "Are you okay?" she asked the young rider.
"Aye," he grumbled uncomfortably as he made to get back up on his horse. "Let's just get moving again." He rode ahead of the group, ignoring them all.
"Why doesn't he want to ride on Saphira?" Baldor asked curiously.
"Yeah man, whenever Igneel took me on a ride, it was awesome!" Natsu grinned at his friend, who still seemed rather uncomfortable about the whole thing.
"Remember how Saphira technically kidnapped him after the Ra'zac appeared?" Wendy reminded them. "I had to heal his legs because her scales cut through his skin pretty badly. I think he's just afraid that it'll happen again even though he's got the saddle."
"But that's stupid," Natsu laughed. "The old man made that saddle so it wouldn't hurt Eragon, so it won't! What's he got to worry about?" The others looked at Natsu, not sure if he was being sincere. Up until this point, he only seemed to like arguing with Brom, not supporting him. What brought on this change of heart?
"I mean, Eragon's the last Rider, right?" Natsu continued, either oblivious to or ignoring the looks everyone was giving him. "And the old guy doesn't want the riders to die." He shot the last part at Brom, who simply raised an eyebrow.
The next morning, Eragon took to the skies with Saphira, much to her elation. While he flew above, Baldor approached Natsu while they rode on the path to ask, "Hey Natsu? Does our magic have any limits? I mean, Eragon's magic was pretty limited when he started using it, but he's been getting stronger. We seem to have started out fairly powerful, but we haven't really seemed to increase out potential. Is there a reason for that?"
"Natsu's not exactly the right guy to ask that," Lisanna giggled as Natsu gave him a blank look. As far as he was concerned, he didn't need limits, so why bother asking if there were any to begin with?
"Magic from Earthland works like this," she explained as Albriech also moved closer to listen. "We have an internal reservoir of magic that grows as we get older. The starting size- for lack of a better term- can be determined by a number of things, but usually people born from strong wizard parents are born with large amounts to begin with. In other cases, like people born randomly with magic and aren't related to anyone with it, usually their magic power has a small pool of energy inside them. But with you two, I'm not entirely sure how much power you were granted when Wendy accidently unlocked your Dragon Slayer magic.
"In any case, you can grow your reservoir by using your power repeatedly, kind of like working out a muscle, which is similar to what Mister Brom is having Eragon do, but yours is not limited by your body's physical strength. However, it does grow more slowly, and there is no real way to test when you've hit your final limit."
"Magic doesn't have any limits if you don't let it," Natsu countered as he kept his eyes on the road. "Screw blood ties and all that. It might take some people longer than others, but you can be as strong as you want if your heart's in it." He grinned as he watched Eragon on Saphira's back, free as an eagle. "But if you two really wanna set the bar, maybe it's time we introduced you to the secret arts of Dragon Slayer magic"
Lisanna paled a bit and she squeezed Natsu from behind as she said, "Uh… Maybe they should wait for that? Those spells are designed to kill dragons, and if they use too much of their power, they might get sick from magic power depletion."
"Hehe," Natsu's grin turned even fiercer. "Gramps was always pushin' us to go past our limits. If these guys wanna be real Dragon Slayers, they need to kick it up a notch. Sides…" His face took on a slightly clouded look as he added, "Not even my secret arts were able to kill the Ra'zac. So I'm kicking it into another gear, too." His hands tightened on the reins as he thought of what they had done to Lisanna.
"Natsu," Albriech said to get his attention. "We'll find the Ra'zac. And we'll make them pay for what they did. To both you and Lisanna."
"Thanks," he grinned, relaxing visibly. "That means a lot to me, guys."
"To both of us," Lisanna smiled brightly at the young men, who smiled back. Lisanna was a charming girl, and it was difficult for people not to be affected by her charm. Her smile always seemed to help lift the mood, one of the reasons that Natsu loved her as he did.
"Hold up," Brom called out as he reined in his horse. "Natsu, Wendy, I need your help with this. Your sense of smell in particular." The two Dragon Slayers dismounted when Brom did to examine a strange sight in the ground.
The ground was torn up with deep gouges in the earth like something incredibly heavy had either stomped into the earth or leapt off from it. When Natsu and Wendy took a whiff of the air, they both recoiled and gagged.
"Agh!" Natsu growled. "That's just rotten!"
"I'll say," Wendy said as her eyes watered. "It's like the Ra'zac's scent times ten!"
"So the Ra'zac were here?" Brom asked with a frown. When Natsu confirmed that he did smell the Ra'zac in addition to the other horrible stench, he muttered, "This does not bode well… I'd better get Eragon." And he concentrated intensely as the two younger wizards moved to talk to their other companions.
"What was that?" Albriech asked with a look of concern on his face.
"Dunno, but don't go near that," Wendy grimaced. "You're still new at using your sense of smell, but trust me when I say you don't want to get near that smell."
"We'll take your word for it," Baldor nodded. "What does Brom think it is?"
"Not sure, but he seemed worried," Wendy replied.
"That's bad," Lisanna grimaced.
"Eh, whatever it is, I'm sure we can take it down," Natsu grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "I'm looking forward to catching to those beak-faced freaks."
"Of course you are," Albriech sighed.
When Eragon landed, he examined the gouges in the earth for a few moments before he hit on an idea. "These are tracks," he muttered. "Saphira makes similar tracks whenever she takes flight…" His eyes went wide as he said, "Could the Ra'zac have dragon mounts…?"
"No," Brom shook his head. "No dragon would ever consent to bear a Ra'zac. But who is to say that there are no other creatures capable of making such tracks?"
"What monsters could they be then?" Baldor asked with a shudder. "They would have to be rather evil to serve as mounts to the Ra'zac."
"I don't know…" Brom frowned. "Let me think on this for a while." And he went to sit on a tree stump and smoke on his pipe.
"Well, seems like we're not going anywhere for a while," Natsu grinned. "Who's up for some practice?" The group was taking a stroll through the woods when he voiced his request.
"Eh, why not?" Albriech said as he took a ready stance. The others moved back to a safe distance to give them free movement. "You'll just complain until we agree, so we might as well get it over with. White Dragon TALON!" He launched forward before Natsu could prepare himself, landing a solid hit on his chest with a flat-handed palm strike.
He grinned and tried to retaliate with an iron fist, only to find that he couldn't move. "What the-?!" he cried. "What'd you do to me?!" He was able to crane his neck just enough to see that there was a shining circle on his chest.
Albriech grinned and said, "I've been waiting to use that technique. I was sparring with Baldor the other day when I discovered that my palm strikes can paralyze my opponents. And if you can't move, I'm free to hit as hard and fast as I want with no resistance." His fists shone with white light as he moved in to attack Natsu again, only to stop at the sight of Natsu grinning.
The next thing he knew, he was hammered with multiple fist and foot blows from the Fire Dragon Slayer. "What in the blazes?!" he muttered as he leapt backwards. "You shouldn't be able to move! Baldor couldn't even counter it with his shadows!"
Natsu grinned brighter as he turned to face Albriech directly, showing his smoking chest. "Nice try pal," he said. "You're makin' progress. But you'll have to do better than that."
"Rrgh…" Albriech snarled. He extended his fists before slamming them together and shouting "White Dragon HOLY RAY!" Spears of light shot out of a glowing ball of light energy, all of them heading for Natsu, who was actually forced to dodge. Emboldened, Albriech let loose a roar that narrowly missed Natsu's shoulder.
The younger wizard retaliated with his own breath attack which slammed into Albriech with great force, sending him sprawling in the dirt. Natsu laughed as his opponent groaned and conceded the match. "Nice job with those new moves," he said as he helped the other wizard to his feet.
"Thanks," Albriech grunted. "Maybe someday I'll actually stand a chance against you."
"Heh, you're closer than you think," Natsu grinned.
"Hey everyone," Eragon said as he stooped down to pick something up. "Look at this." He held up a flask inscribed with a strange symbol that Natsu and the others did not recognize.
"What is it?" Lisanna asked.
"It has the same symbol as what the Ra'zac had on their cloaks," Eragon replied. "But I wonder what's inside here…" As soon as he opened it, Wendy's eyes widened and she grabbed the flask from him, careful not to spill its contents.
"Don't touch whatever is in here!" she said hurriedly before he could ask her what she was doing. "Whatever it is, it's toxic- and very, very evil." Natsu sniffed at the vial experimentally before recoiling.
"Jeez!" he growled as he clamped his fingers on his nose. "What is it with those freaks and having bad smells?!"
Baldor sniffed curiously, and he too recoiled in disgust. "That's absolutely foul," he agreed. "Still, it might be a clue."
"Let's go show this to Brom," Lisanna suggested as Eragon handed Wendy the cork for the bottle. The others agreed, even Natsu, and so they headed back to where Brom was still in thought.
"So what's the deal with that stuff?" Natsu asked Brom as soon as he had examined it.
"This is a rare find indeed," Brom mused. "It's called Seithr oil, and Wendy was right, it is incredibly dangerous and evil. Under normal circumstances, it is used to keep pearls lustrous and strong. But when certain words in the Ancient Language are spoke over it, along with a blood sacrifice, it gains the property to eat through flesh."
"That's horrible!" Lisanna gasped.
"Yes, but that's not necessarily what makes it special," Brom elaborated. "The thing about it is that the only thing it will destroy is living flesh. It can be put on any number of inanimate objects, and they will not be affected. It makes it a perfect assassination weapon."
Eragon frowned as he came up with a thought. "This oil," he said. "How rare is it?"
"Like diamonds in a pig trough," Brom answered. "I doubt that the king would be very pleased to know that the Ra'zac lost it."
"So if it's that rare…" Eragon said with a slight grin. "Couldn't we find some kind of record of its shipment in the empire? If it really is that rare, it shouldn't be too hard to track down the location of wherever the Ra'zac receive their supply."
Brom's eyes widened as he looked at Eragon before letting a big smile break through. "Genius!" he declared, much to everyone's surprise. "I wish I would have thought of this years ago- it would have saved me a lot of trouble."
"Teirm is a city based heavily on the shipping industry, right?" Albriech said. "Seems fate is on our side in choosing to go there."
"Aye," Brom agreed. "Even better, my old friend Jeod is a merchant, so getting ahold of the records shouldn't be too much of a problem for him."
"All right!" Natsu crowed. "Let's get a move on and track us down some monsters!"
"Now I'm all fired up," Wendy grinned.
Mirajane: Wait, I thought that Natsu and my little sister were a thing now. How come that wasn't touched on?
Gajeel: Probably because Salamander forgot already.
Gray: That wouldn't surprise me.
Makarov: Now now, I'm sure Mataras has a plan in mind. Right?
Mataras: Since when do I not?
Levvy: See? We've got nothing to worry about.
Gajeel: I couldn't care less about your stupid romance crap- where's the fighting?!
Mataras: All in due time, Blacksteel. All in due time.