Thanks for being understanding about me reducing my update days. I hope you'll look forward to the Monday updates from now on! Don't forget to shoot me a review when you're done!

Chapter 25

With Natsu and the others offering protection to the townspeople, they all filed into a hidden emergency shelter in the mountains. Haru and his gang were gone for about an hour before they all appeared at the shelter's entrance. They carried with a them an injured and dying woman and a defeated Julius. The shelter was an enormous natural cave inside the mountain, hollowed out and refined further by the townsfolk. A month or two's worth of food and fresh water was readily available, making it the ideal shelter. Musica, carrying the injured woman, rushed into a nearby stone building for medical treatment. The rest of Haru's group filed in behind them. So far Demon Card hadn't made their move and it was putting everyone on edge. The townspeople were frightened beyond words. Haru and the others were antsy and ready for combat.

"This place sure is big, poyo!" Ruby's voice echoed in the enormous cavern.

"Seems like there won't be any shortage of water or food," Griff said.

Erza nodded. "It is indeed well fortified, but we can't stay in the shelter forever. So we must devise a battle plan to nullify Demon Card's second wave."

Shuda nodded. "Smart woman. Sounds like you've had plenty of experience in battle."

"Aye!" Happy cried.

Julia cracked her knuckles. "There's no need for the trouble. I'll go eliminate them all right now!"

"Hey, don't rush," Let said, trying to calm her down.

Ruby trembled at the sheer confidence and enthusiasm Julia had. "So scary, poyo…."

Many of the villagers crowded around Elie, making sure she was unharmed. The children adored her. They laughed and danced with her. The elderly maestro of the orchestra in charge of the dance contest smiled. Haru and the others watched Elie's smile grow.

"That girl certainly is popular." The maestro sighed. "It's an amazing thing for the village to get another dancing maiden. It's so hard to believe it's happened, really."

"You're the conductor, right?" Musica said.

"What should we do now? The villagers are safe for the moment, but we won't stay safe here for long," Lucy said worriedly.

Haru nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

The conductor looked up. "Well—"

A young man carrying a large radio came running toward them. "Elder! We've received the enemies' message!"

The radio crackled and hissed. The popping static interrupted the voice that filtered through the speaker. But it was loud and clear. The conductor adjusted the knob on the radio and the sounds evened out. Apart from the high-pitched whir of the radio, the crisp voice of the Demon Card leader was the only sound. "Hmph! It seems like this rural area has wireless connections. Villagers of Ribeyla, listen to me, won't you? We have completely surrounded the entire village."

Gasps and murmurs rose from the townsfolk. They all looked at one another with worry. The conductor snatched up the microphone connected to the radio. "What do you want?"

"We've come here to capture the girl with Etherion."

Haru and his friends huddled protectively around Elie.

The voice continued to crackle through the speaker. "We know a girl named Elie is with you. We advise you to hand her over now."

The townspeople started murmuring. "So they're after Elie! Why does it have to be Elie? I don't understand a word of it! What kind of nonsense is this?!"

Gritting his teeth, the conductor clutched the mic tightly. "To mobilize a whole army just for one girl?! I don't believe a word you're saying! The negotiations are off! I'm cutting the transmition—"

The entire mountain began to shake. The rumble and shaking felt like an earthquake. Frantic screams and shouts rose among the frightened villagers. Lucy gripped Natsu's arm tightly, not wanting to be separated from him again.

"They're here!" Musica shouted. "They've already found where we're hiding!"

Let frowned. "How did they cause the whole cavern to shake?"

A sword appeared in Erza's hand. "Quickly initiate the counter attack! Everyone separate into two groups!"

Haru nodded. "Good idea. Group one will move outside to face the enemy, the others stay back to protect the others! I will go with Let, Julia, and Ruby to coordinate the attacks."

Julia nodded. "Okay.

"Musica and Shuda, you stay back to reinforce this place."

Musica scowled. "It'll have to do."

"If that's the case, Gray and Natsu, you go help outside as well," Erza ordered.

Natsu frowned. "I'm not leaving Lucy behi—"

"Do it now, Natsu!" she shouted. "Or so help me, you will regret it!"

He gulped. "Fine…."

Erza turned to Lucy. "You and I will stay and back up Musica and Shuda."

She nodded. "Right."

Haru patted Elie on the shoulder. "Elie, the people here need you, so you should hide here as well."

"But…."

He grinned. "Don't worry. Just hide here."

Julia smacked her on the back. "Don't think too much. I can finish those guys with two or three hits, you won't even have the chance to do anything! Still, you're a girl and should be protected by everyone once in a while."

"Let's go!" Haru raced toward the shelter's entrance. Let, Julia, Ruby, Gray, and Natsu followed close behind. "We'll protect Ribeyla!"

The five of them raced outside. As they burst through the shelter's doors, they skidded to a stop in the ravine. The mountain was eerily quiet. And though the entire mountain shelter had been shaking, there were no enemies waiting for them. They could see the town of Ribeyla down below. But none of Demon Card's soldiers were in sight. Haru glanced around.

"That's strange, I thought we would have met a heavily armed army," he said.

Julia frowned. "Something must be wrong."

Let looked up at the mountain. His eyes widened. He pointed up at the peak. "Look…up there!"

Haru glanced at the mountain. "Up?"

Everyone turned to look at what Let was pointing at. Crouching above the mountain's peak was an enormous scorpion-like monster. Ruby fainted. Gray balked, the creature's appearance reminding him of Deliora. Let and Julia held their ground, unsure of how to deal with the creature.

"What the hell is that?!" Haru shouted.

Natsu growled. "That's one hell of a monster."

"So the tremors in the mountain were caused by that," Let said.

Haru's eyes were wide as he stared up at it. "No way, it's huge!"

"There's no choice now. We've got to fight it!" Gray slammed his fist against his palm. "Ice Make: Geyser!"

He slammed his hands on the ground. The earth rapidly froze from his hands toward the beast. A tower of spikes burst from the frozen ground, impaling the scorpion. Let, Julia, and Haru leaped into action. The two Dragonrace fought the beast barehanded. Grabbing one of the Rave stones, Haru held his sword toward the beast. "Mel Force!" A powerful explosion shot from the sword and hit the beast head on.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Natsu took a deep breath. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Flames billowed from his mouth, engulfing the giant scorpion. Leaping into the fray, flames wrapped around his fist. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu punched the creature as hard as he could.

The scorpion beast thrashed and shrieked in pain. It rampaged through the mountain range, shaking the very foundations of the mountains. It thrashed and attacked blindly. It stomped on the mountain that housed the village's shelter.

"It'll crush the shelter!" Haru shouted. "We have to stop it!"

"Ice Make: Hammer!" A large icy hammer materialized above the beast and slammed down on its head. But that only made the creature thrash more. Shrieks and screams erupted from beneath the mountain. Natsu froze. Lucy's voice was among the screams.

"LUCY!" He turned and fled back to the cave. The only thing on his mind was protecting his mate.

"Natsu, where the hell are you going?!" Gray shouted.

Let and Julia followed him, fearing the worst. "Just hold on, Haru!" Let shouted. "I'll be back!"

Natsu raced into the shelter as fast as his legs would take him. The whole maintain was shaking and enormous rocks were falling everywhere. As soon as he stumbled inside the cave shelter, the screaming was amplified tenfold. Thousands of rocks were hailing down on the frightened villagers. Erza was shouting orders. She and Shuda were slicing falling rocks in half as fast as they could. Musica cut down more falling stones with his silver.

"Shuda, don't let the rocks hurt the villagers!" Erza shouted.

He sliced through an incoming boulder. "Already on it!"

The radio crackled and hissed as Demon Card continued to issue their demands, ordering the villagers to hand over Elie. The entire cavern was chaos. Natsu shoved through the frantic village crowds. Where was Lucy? He spotted her fending off the avalanche of rocks, Taurus helping her cut down the falling boulders. He hurried toward her.

"Lucy! Are you okay?!"

She looked up at him. "Natsu! What're you—?!"

The mountain shook violently, another wave of huge rocks cascading down toward them. Natsu's eyes widened. A huge boulder was headed straight for her.

"Lucy, watch out!" He raced toward her, but his legs weren't fast enough. He watched in horror as the rocks buried Lucy alive. Happy flew into the chaos. He threw rocks aside, trying to dig her out. Natsu threw aside rocks and boulders in a fit of panic. Had it killed her? Was she still alive under all those rocks? Let and Julia skidded to a stop beside him and helped dig her out. Finally he spotted her. She was bloody and unconscious. Taurus was kneeling over her, having taken most of the damage. When Natsu finally reached them, Taurus smirked.

"Thanks for Moooving those rocks…I didn't know how much longer I could last."

Natsu dragged Lucy out from under the debris, allowing Taurus to disappear. He cradled Lucy's bloody body in his arms. The sight of her blood rolling down his arms and staining the ground sent him into a fit of rage. His vision instantly went red. He threw his head back and screamed at the top of his voice. His fire shot skyward. Let leaped back in surprise. It was a transformation the likes of which Let and Julia had never seen before. Scales were rapidly replacing skin, Natsu's nails curved and sharpened to talons while his teeth lengthened into fangs. He was beyond his human sanity. Natsu's mind was gone.

Let pushed forward and touched the Dragon Slayer's shoulder. Natsu roared, slashing wildly at him. Let and Julia leaped at him. They held him down as Natsu thrashed beneath them.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Let shouted.

Julia noticed the metal band on Natsu's wrist, the blue gem glowing brightly. She elbowed Let in the ribs. Let's attention jerked away from the rampaging Dragon Slayer. Julia nodded to the armband. "It's a limiter! Concentrate your dragon energy on it! Maybe we can pull him back!"

Natsu couldn't control it. His magic was completely consuming him. Blood and rage was the only thought running through his mind. It was so painful, like his mind was shattering. He could feel Lucy in his arms as he clutched her unconscious body, but everything else was a blur. But little by little he felt as if something was wheedling its way into his mind. It was painful yet warm. There were two presences tugging at his consciousness, pulling him back. He felt himself being jerked violently back. All of a sudden he was yanked back to awareness. He was kneeling in the rubble holding Lucy, Let and Julia restraining him. He felt utterly drained. Natsu's vision swam in and out of focus before his strength gave way. He collapsed as he held Lucy tightly to him. And everything dissolved into blackness.

Chapter 26 will be up on Monday!