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The air was on fire.
Everywhere around Anna Heartfilia was destroyed, burnt and covered in layers of ash and soot. Trees nothing more than smoldering husks of wood, while buildings were scattered in masses of the stone it used to be. If she remembered correctly, there used to be a stream to her right, running along one of the foot paths that outlined the now flatten town. But all that was there now was a shadow, a dip in the land, filled with the bones of aquatic and other worldly creatures alike.
The wind blew a few pieces of golden hair that had fallen out of her ponytail in front of her face and Anna tucked them behind her ear. She scrunched up her nose when copper tinged air, followed by burnt flesh, had made its way to her. She hated war. And this one had been the worst she had ever seen. While still young, this was her first battle. But she had seen how her clan had come home after helping to defend other territories, other clans and cities.
She was raised to honor the world, its people, different beings, and the skies. Why anyone would willingly fight to the death over anything was truly a mystery to her. But then again that was why her clan had trained her and all the others in combat, to defend what they loved and cherished most.
She slowly made her way up to the top of a hill to get a better vantage point at what she was truly dealing with. The site from the top was no better and tears started gathering in her eyes. It would take years to recover from this, if there was anyone left, that is. Her clan had been viciously wiped out and she was the only one that survived the onslaught of demons and dark mages.
Such senseless violence, unnecessary death. Her clan had fought with everything in them and still hadn't been able to defeat the cause. Zeref. The black wizard. He had his own ideal world where non magical beings were beneath him and thus, must be wiped from existence.
A lot of non mages feared magical folk, but now they had more reason. The slaughter had been completely one sided before mages had stepped in. This particular town was under the care of the Heartfilia Clan, but nothing could have prepared them for what Zeref had cooked up.
His demons hordes were a force to be reckoned with. When the clan had finally bested the last one, they were lured into a false sense of security, time to rest their aching bones and restore their magic. But when Zeref had unleashed his wild card, E.N.D., the beast had leveled half the town with a single roar.
Anna had been truly frightened then, watching clan mate after clan mate fall victim to the demon. She was only 19 years old and just fresh out of training. What could she possibly do if these well trained mages with years under their belts couldn't even touch him? It was when her father, the leader of their clan, had rushed in and gotten close enough to injure the demon that a small light of hope blossomed in her chest. That hope lasted only a few seconds, E.N.D. unleashing a powerful claw in retaliation that would slice her father in half and incinerate him right before her very eyes.
The young mage had let out a battle cry fueled by her soul then. Anna rushed head first into a one on one battle with the beast. Summoning her staff, she pour an insane amount of starlight into it, just as she had been taught, and threw a burst of magic at his chest.
E.N.D. had no idea she was there, the element of surprise had been on her side as the full hit to the chest made him stumble back a step. He turned his gaze on her, eyes blazing red with an almost curious look. His head had tilted in a predatory manner before he let out a low growl.
Anna pulled another beam of starlight from her magic reserve and gave him another blast. As he side stepped the ball of light, his foot caught on an uncovered root, causing him to fall to the ground.
She wasted no time rushing the felled demon and poured the last of her magic into the staff, aiming it just right that she would pierce him through the heart while releasing the light. But just as she readied herself to make the leap, time had slowed to almost a stand still.
The world around her stopped and a pair of small hands grasped either side of her head from behind. Suddenly her mind was filled with visions of what would happen if she continued on with her attack. The demon would not die, could not die, and would instead get up and rip her limb from limb before going onto the next place and destroying it. Nothing but fire and ash would be left.
A silent tear slid down her cheek as she mentally asked what she should do then? He had to be stopped. One of the small hands caressed her cheek softly before whispering a spell into her mind in a language she could not understand. And suddenly Anna knew what exactly she needed to do in that moment.
As the world around her slowly became animated again, she tried to turn to see who had helped her but all she saw was a slight wisp of golden white, before the scenery was returned to ash and smoke.
The demon was still on his back, when Anna whipped her head around and focused solely on him. It was time to put and end to this. Pulling the magic back from her staff she jumped on top of him, staff across his body to keep him down and she pressed a finger to his forehead.
The light started out small but quickly enveloped the both of them. The mage quickly mumbled the unknown spell that had been put into her mind and E.N.D. let out a piercing roar. He thrashed but Anna was not going to let up.
Her heart felt like it was on fire as magic poured from it to her finger tips and out of her body, her reserves drying faster than they ever had.
When the light subsided and the spell was done, Anna had fallen over and promptly passed out.
Anna was brought back to reality when a heavy wind raged against her back, followed by a loud thud.
"Anna." A voice rumbled deep in her mind, "I am glad to see you've made it. Where is the rest of your clan?"
The blonde mage turned and looked into the black eyes of the massive dragon that stood before her. The scales that adorned his body shown a vivid scarlet red with the glow of the fires around them. His slitted eyes wandered over her face and he tilted his head as he saw her eyes fill with tears that soon rushed down her cheeks, creating trails through the dirt and blood.
"Igneel…" Anna took a deep breath, "they're all gone… I'm all that's left." A sob tore through her at that moment and she finally fell to her knees. She could finally let herself feel, was in no danger with the fire dragon around watching her back.
Being a dragon, Igneel felt instinct very strongly. The instinct to protect one's family was strong enough to kill for, and if it was ones mate, a dragon would literally die to protect them. But tears had been foreign to him before he met this human. She had taught him much about human emotions, and this one, sadness, was one of the bad ones.
Igneel lowered his massive snout to muzzle the crying human, when he caught an unfamiliar smell coming off of her. Brimstone and ash. He reeled his head back and stared at the bundle in the girls arms.
"Anna, what is that you hold? It smells of E.N.D." he growled, lowering his gaze at her.
Sniffing Anna looked at the bundle in her arms and then back at Igneel. "it is a child, Igneel. I found him after my battle with E.N.D." She shifted her body and started rocking slowly.
"What are your plans for him?"
"I haven't thought that far." Anna answered quietly. She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. While she had stopped crying for the moment to focus her attention on the dragon, her heart hurt and she was tired.
The dragon stood straight and looked down upon Anna. "He must be destroyed."
Her chocolate brown eyes shot up and she leveled him with a glare. "I am NOT killing this infant, Igneel." She had seen to much death in the last few weeks. She was done, she refused to see or be the cause of anymore. "I don't care who or what it is."
"It is E.N.D. we are talking about!" He let out a loud roar, "we cannot take chances!" Taking a step closer to the girl. Does she not understand? This thing was a monster. It had been desecrating lands for months now. Countless lives, human, dragon and other, had been lost.
Most creatures would have been scared of the king of the dragons, or any dragon for that matter. But not this one. This tiny human, who Igneel could quite literally crush with a single claw, slowly stood up and walked right up to him. No fear or trepidation showed in her eyes and she glared at him, cheeks still stained with dirt and tears.
"He is a baby, Igneel." She hissed and held the toddler closer to her chest. "I will raise him if I so wish to. But I refuse to kill a helpless being." The toddler in her arms let out a small squeal, clearly upset. Anna cooed at the bundle and held it tighter, rocking it slightly in comfort.
"Helpless? Are you ou-"
"Enough. I am done with this conversation." Anna cut the dragon off, looking down and pulling a small corner of the blanket back to be met with wild pink hair and green eyes that stared at her in earnest. "Besides. I don't think he can be killed. Not by us." The look in her eyes as she looked at the helpless infant in her arms told the dragon everything he needed to know about what she was thinking.
Igneel let out a huff, smoke curling out of his nostrils. He knew this was a bad idea, but he also knew that once Anna had put her mind to something, there was nothing in the entire world that could sway it. The girls love and respect for all life would be the death of her.
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this prologue to my new story, If I fail. Let me know what you all think!