Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail, Dungeons & Dragons, or Pathfinder.

A/N: Hitting you with that new chapter. This chapter and the next is going to wrap up the "Giant Spider Arc" I got going on here.

Please Fav, Follow, or Review I'd you want.

Chapter 10

A Siege in The Wild

The Next Day

He stares up at the lumbering tree eyeing it with a determined look.

"I have to climb this tree", Romeo told himself, but not because it was a part of his Wild Master's training or whatnot…

It was simply because he was still a six-year-old kid who like climbing trees and he was in the middle of a forest he hasn't had a chance to fully explore. Thus, he began his perilous journey as he grabs hold onto a nearby knot in the tree and pulls himself up upward, his foot nearly slipping out as he places it in the knot.

Watching this peculiar activity was quite possibly one of the most powerful creatures currently residing in the forest surrounding the Cait Shelter village and he was quite perplexed by what he was seeing. Why was Romeo climbing a tree? Was there something in the tree? Was he trying to escape from something nearby?

Fonaar did a quick sweep of the area with his eyes, ears, and nose. Nothing, the only living things near the two of them were the humans known as Roubaul and Porlyusica who were discussing something off in the distance which while Fonaar could clearly hear them, he chose not too.

"What are they doing?", Porlyusica questions as both she and Roubaul sat on top of a nearby hill, observing the boy and his dragon.

"I believe Romeo is attempting to climb that tree while Fonaar watches him do so", Roubaul answers.

"You know what I mean", Porlyusica says, "Why aren't you training Romeo?"

"The boy is only six years old, Porlyusica. What would you have me do, make him run five miles every morning with rocks tied to his ankles?", Roubaul says with a chuckle, "Most Wild Masters didn't begin the physical part of their training until they were reaching their pubescent years. Before that their training focuses more on the mental and spiritual aspect of their duties."

"Such as?", Porlyusica asks.

"Bonding with their familiar", Roubaul answers, "Most Wild Masters had already picked their companion before they reach the age of five so Romeo is already more than a year behind in that area. Remember, he has only had Fonaar as his familiar for barely three days."

"They have certain cause enough trouble within such a short time", Carla grumble as she and Wendy came up to the top of the hill. Wendy greets the two elders with a slight bow before turning her attention to Romeo still attempting to climb the tree.

"Was he always like this back in Magnolia?", she asks Porlyusica.

"More than a dozen times I had to get Stonethrower to get him out a tree that he got stuck in", Porlyusica explains earning a look from Carla.

"Stonethrower?"

"A forest Vulcan who had taken up residence close to my cottage. Unlike the rest of his species, he can't speak human language but can understand it and he is more peaceful than his kin. He has even given Romeo rides to and from my home", Porlyusica explains.

"A forest Vulcan, eh?", Roubaul asks, "Their kind are only native to the regions around Magnolia and the country of Sin."

"He was the first creature I have ever seen Romeo talk to", Porlyusica went on, "Hell, I'm pretty sure Romeo has talked to every creature in the woods around my house and has given each of them a name."

"Miss Porlyusica, Romeo told me at the temple that he didn't have many friends back in Magnolia", Wendy says thinking that now would be a good time to get someone else from Magnolia opinion on the topic, "Is that true?"

…..

Silence enveloped the group as Roubaul, Wendy, and Carla all look at Porlyusica who had suddenly become mute as she closes her eyes in thought.

After a nearly a minute though…

"Romeo's anti-magic "gift" as I would call it makes it… difficult for him to interact with the people of Magnolia, especially the guild", Porlyusica began, "In fact, there were a couple of the members who wanted to take it to the extreme…"

Flashback

Fairy Tail Guild Master's office Six months ago

SLAM!

"This has better be one of your horrible jokes, Makarov!", Porlyusica seethes as she ignores the pain in her hands after she slams them on top to the Wizard Saint's desk.

Makarov rubs his eyes as he lets out a long breath, "I wish that it was."

"He just turn six two weeks ago!", Porlyusica screams and it was at that moment that Makarov was glad he put the anti-sound spell up right before he started talking to the Potion Mage.

"I have a list of names and signatures presented to me by Laxus himself just yesterday of guild members who feel that it would be best for Fairy Tail if Romeo stops being allowed within the building", Makarov explains, barely able to keep his own anger in check.

"Who are they?", Porlyusica asks, her teeth clenching, "Give me names. Is it Natsu? Gray? Erza?"

"It's no one like that. It's mostly people who have joined in the past year along with Laxus and his "team". None of the brats who grew up in the guild", Makarov reassures her, "Of course, I'm not going to approve their request though I can't punish the ones who put their names on the list."

"Why is it an issue now? Romeo can only take away someone magic as long as he is touching them!", Porlyusica reminds her old friend.

"Apparently", Makarov says as he made air quotes, "They're worried eventually that will no longer be the case and he'll be able to take away someone magic permanently."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!", Porlyusica screams once more, "You and I both know this has nothing to do with Romeo!"

"Porlyusica", Makarov calmly says, hoping to de-escalate the situation, "Deep breaths."

"This is about your brat of a grandson trying to muscle his way into the guild master position and he is trying to gathering up members to support him!", Porlyusica presses on, "And he is using a little boy as nothing more than a means to an end!"

Makarov lets out a sigh, "I know, Porly, trust me, I know."

Porlyusica finally sits back down in her chair and allows the weary guild master to continue.

"I can only keep Laxus under control as long as I'm the guild master and I'm getting on in age. Unless something happens soon we're looking at the high possibility that Laxus will be guild master when I'm gone and he's going to make some major changes when that day comes."

End Of Flashback

The group stays silences after the Potion Mage finish her story, all of them processing what they just heard.

"It would seem your guild has a bunch of thugs within its ranks", Carla snipes.

A thin smile appears across Porlyusica's lips, "Well, you're not wrong."

Back at the tree, Romeo was still trying to reach for the lowest branch in order to continue his ascension to conquering the tree. Without warning, he feels something press up against his behind and before he could say or do anything he was speeding upward to the middle layer of the tree. He looks down and sees Fonaar using his head to boost the boy upward.

"Hey, what are you doing?", Romeo shouts only to receive a grumble in return, "You got bored watching me?! That's your reasoning?!"

Fonaar at this point was getting a little annoy by Romeo's behavior and decided to take things into his own claws as he put Romeo down on the ground and then uses his tail to pick him up and place him on his back.

"Hey, what are you doing?", Romeo asks once again but he got no response from Fonaar as the dragon spread his wings.

"Romeo! What are you two doing?!", Porlyusica screeches but receives no answer from the boy as Fonaar flaps his wings and takes off into the sky leaving a dust storm behind along with a screaming Porlyusica.

"Where are you going?!", Romeo tries to shout over the sound of the wind rushing over him as Fonaar sped through the sky and the dragon turns his head around to roar at Romeo.

"You pick today of all days to go flying just for the sheer joy of it?! Do you have anything idea how much trouble I'm going to be in with Granny?!"

Fonaar gives a loud shriek and raises an eyebrow at the boy.

Romeo hesitates before answering, "Well, we don't have to go back right now. As long as we're back before dark, Granny and Grandpa Beardy can't get too mad."

He then looks down at the endless rows of green and then up and the infinite blue before taking a breath, "It's a nice day outside anyway."

The duo takes to the clouds with Fonaar folding his wings back as he zips through them and emerges on the other side, doing a barrel roll to shake off any residue. While this left Romeo little nausea he quickly recovers.

From there Fonaar spread his wings out wide once again in an effort to catch the wind and merely glide for a distance. He hadn't plan on going very far he just wanted to explore the area around the village. He needed to know that those giant spiders from the temple were the only thing he had to worry about in the immediate vicinity for it seems that unbeknownst to everyone else at the village there has been a shift in the balance of the forest. Fonaar has been feeling it ever since the sun came up and now was just as good a time as any to find out what cause it.

As if though fate was playing with him, a sudden scent in the air startles Fonaar, forcing him to stop in midair.

"What's wrong", Romeo asks, surprise by the sudden stop. He notices that Fonaar was now taking a deep whiff of the air and had a perplex look on his face, "What do you smell?"

A feral growl escapes Fonaar's jaws as he suddenly darts off in the direction he was currently facing, forcing Romeo to latch on tight to avoid falling off.

"Where are you going?!"

But there was no growl, no hiss or snarl from Fonaar as he proceeds to keep flying. At the speeds they were currently going Romeo was unable to see ahead due to the high winds stinging his eyes so he was forced to just sit back and wait for Fonaar to slow down. In his mind, while he could order Fonaar to slow down right now, but something told him that now was not the time to do so. Fonaar must sense something going on and Romeo decided to trust him on this matter.

Within moments, Romeo starts to feel Fonaar slowdown and so the boy slowly opens his eyes and finds that they were now hovering over the very temple they were at yesterday….

Only that was a battle going on all across the temple grounds.

Though a better word to describe it would be….

A bloody civil war.

"They're…...eating each other", Romeo whispers as he bares witness to the carnage in front of him.

All around on the ground beyond Romeo and Fonaar, giant spiders were killing one another. Tearing off legs, gouging out eyes, and ripping off pieces of the abdomen, right before greedily devouring them all and getting their large, eerily faces splatter in their fallen arachnids guts. Romeo witnesses one unfortunate spider get literally torn in half as it had a slightly bigger spider grabbed its head in its maw and another grab it from behind and pull until it split down the middle. They were fighting on the ground, they were fighting on top of the temple itself. Fonaar spotted a few of them jumping from tree to tree, colliding with one another in mid-air before crashing back down, tangle in a ball of death.

"Why are they doing this, Fonaar?", Romeo wonders aloud but there was no answer from the dragon.

But Fonaar knew exactly what was going on. To him, this was far worse then what he saw in the temple. For one, he didn't think there would be this many spiders left over after him and Wendy torn through them. He could barely see the ground underneath the steaming mass of exoskeleton creatures.

But he was currently facing a far bigger problem….

Animals only cannibalize one another when food was scarce and hard to come by, but ultimately, it was only a temporary means until another food source could be found.

Then like a bolt of lightning, realization dawn on Fonaar who instantly took off back toward the village, ignoring Romeo's cries for an answer. For he also just realize that...

Back at the Village

Cait Shelter Guild Hall

"The deer, boar, elk, reindeer, and moose herds have already migrated out of the region", Roubaul grimly explains to Porlyusica, "They have traveled to the colder regions where no creature such as the giant spiders could hope to survive."

Grave expressions appear on the faces of Wendy and Carla while Fonaar and Romeo stay off to the side a little next to Porlyusica.

"Fonaar", the Potion Mage suddenly says, her face as emotionless as a wall, "Just how many spiders did you see at the temple?"

Fonaar makes a low growl and everyone turns to Romeo whose face has donned a baffle expression.

"Sands?", was his first word.

"Excuse me?", Porlyusica says

"Thou?" Ands? Housand?", Romeo repeats and Wendy's face drops even more.

"T-Thousand?", Wendy stutters.

"Yeah, that's the word! He said at least a thousand", Romeo says, "What does that mean?"

"It means a lot, Romeo", Porlyusica says.

"Yeah, there was a lot of them", Romeo smiles, "Good thing they're all the way at the temple."

….

…..

"Romeo, let me give you a brief but easy lesson on how the ecosystem works in this area", Porlyusica began as she sat down and got to eye level with the boy.

"Eco-what?", was Romeo's reply.

"Ecosystem", Porlyusica repeated, "You see Romeo, Master Roubaul and myself think that the spiders were mostly preying upon the various herds that lived in the forest."

"So they ate the deer and boar?", Romeo ask.

"Exactly, now the problem lies in the fact that all those herds have up and move away. Too far for the spiders to hunt them while remaining at the temple", Porlyusica continues on.

"Sooo, that means the spiders are going to follow them and leave?"

"Aw, the innocent of a child", Porlyusica tells herself before speaking, "No Romeo, more than likely they are staying at the temple."

"Then what are they going to eat?", Romeo asks.

….

…..

Silence falls upon the room as every occupant within it, including Fonaar, turn to focus their attention on the boy. It takes a little while for the gears in Romeo's tiny head to turn but once they did…

"Oh", was the boy's only answer as he found himself now staring at the floor, "Is it too late to have my mommy and daddy come to pick me up?

"Only if they could get here in time with the entire guild in tow", Porlyusica grumbles to herself.

Later on

The entire village was alive with activity as Romeo and Fonaar watch from a window at the Cait Shelter guild hall. Every man was being used to fortify the entirely of the village as both men and women were cutting down the surrounding trees and fashioning them into large spikes that were then planted into the ground surrounding the outer buildings. Romeo also notices that not all the trees were being cut down for spikes, a number of them were just being cut down and left there where they laid.

"Why aren't they using those trees?", Romeo calls out to Porlyusica who was sitting at the back of the hall with her eyes close in thought.

"Giant spiders are known to leap out of trees to ambush their prey", she explains, her eyes never opening, "By taking away the trees around the village, they're denying them a clear advantage."

Fonaar lets out a grumble as he turns to look at Porlyusica.

"Fonaar is wondering why no one knew about the spiders until recently. He says that that must have been signs of new creatures in the forest", Romeo translates.

"It's funny, Fonaar, Master Roubaul and myself were discussing that exact same thing not too long ago", Porlyusica says, "The thing is that since everyone stay away from the temple and most likely the spiders hunted at night, so no one ever knew they were around until you, Wendy, and Fonaar went there."

"But where did they come from?", Romeo wonders, "You think someone would notice a bunch of big spiders moving in."

"For all we know they probably been living at the temple for a long time and just now decided to show themselves for whatever reason", Porlyusica tells him.

It was then that Fonaar lets outs a shriek.

"He's wondering why we haven't left yet then", Romeo says.

Porlyusica slowly opens her eyes and stares straight at Romeo across the room.

"Roubaul and I have a plan for that but it would probably be best if Fonaar stays at the village to help improve their chances. Like you witness at the temple, they seem to be unable to actually harm him due to his tough skin", Porlyusica says as she slowly got up and move across the guild hall to the duo.

"Romeo, you are going to be staying in this building when everything starts. It has the sturdiest doors and the strongest walls as well as being at the back of the village", Porlyusica says before pointing to Wendy's room, "Carla will be in there sleeping. Her wounds started acting up again and I gave her some medicine to help her calm down."

"Couldn't we just get everyone to the train station and catch a train?", Romeo interrupts only to have Porlyusica shake her head.

"The train station passes too close to the path the horde is most likely to take and its the beginning of the weekend, so the train doesn't come out this far", she answers, shaking her head for she had spent an hour arguing with Roubaul about this very thing until he mention that fact.

Fonaar growls once more.

"What about flying?", Romeo says.

"Does he think he can fly out the whole village in one go?", Porlyusica questions, causing Fonaar to give a snort in annoyance.

"I didn't think so", Porlyusica says, "The truth is Romeo, there is a number of reasons why we just can't leave, not even counting the fact the village has a much stronger chance of surviving if Fonaar stays."

"One them being Wendy refuses to leave despite Roubaul pleading and I could never face Grandeeney again if something happens to her daughter on my watch", Porlyusica thought as she eyes Romeo, "But I also promise your parents I would look after you. When did my life get so complicated? Oh, that's right, kids got involved in it."

Now like I was saying", Porlyusica continues, "You're going to stay here until Fonaar, Wendy, Master Roubaul, or myself come to get you. Do you understand, Romeo?"

Romeo directs his eyes to the floor with a sullen look on his face, "I understand."

"Good, now spend some time with Fonaar. I need to go talk with Master Roubaul", the Potion Mage informs Romeo as she makes her way out of the building into the village, leaving the young boy and dragon alone.

"Can you take on all those spiders, Fonaar?", Romeo asks his draconic companion who merely let out a snort of smoke.

Fonaar growls earning himself a slight smile from Romeo.

"You'll take them on all by yourself?", Romeo translates, getting a nod from the dragon in response.

"So you'll do it like a hero, huh?"

Fonaar grumbles.

"Really? You don't know what a hero is?", Romeo says and gets a head shake from Fonaar. Romeo moves over to well the dragon was laying down and sat down next to him, leaning on his side for comfort.

"Well, a hero is someone who protects people who can't protect themselves", Romeo explains.

Fonaar raises an eyebrow at this explanation and growls.

Romeo focuses his attention on Fonaar, staring straight into the young dragon yellow eyes before speaking, "Well, it's basically what you have been doing for me this whole time."

….

…..

The duo spends the rest of the day in silence after that.

Later on that night, Wendy and Romeo were spending time together reading the Draconomicon in the guild hall while the village was still preparing. Fonaar lay off to the side watching the moon while Carla turns in early.

"A Great Wyrm Red Dragon's breath has been known to turn small mountains into pools of molten lava in a matter of seconds and their very bodies are known to give off enough heat that the average ice spell has no effect on them", Wendy read to the young and upcoming master of the wild whilst the boy hung on to her every word as he sat in her lap, "Fully grown red dragons have also been known to turn frozen lakes into hot springs within moments."

It was during this time that Romeo's Wild Master symbol started to glow once more on his chest Wendy notices.

"Master Roubaul still can't seem to figure out why it's doing that", she thought before seeing out of the corner of her eye Fonaar staring her way. When she turn her head to face him she was surprise to realize that the dragon wasn't watching her but more so watching Romeo who was staring in awe at the detail pictures the book provided on dragons.

"What's his deal?", the girl told before turning back to the book.

While this was going on Roubaul and Porlyusica were outside discussing matters best not suited for the ears of a child. The hunters were currently patrolling the perimeter arm with their spears while archers walk around on top of the buildings keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Fires were lit all around the village and the entire area glowed like a giant candle.

"So what will be the point of no return?", Porlyusica asks in a low whisper to avoid those with enhanced senses overhearing them. Roubaul merely pointed his walking staff toward the two-story building on their right.

"Despite what the dragon may believe, I'm going to ask Romeo to tell Fonaar to stay in the back alongside Wendy when the horde comes under the pretext that the two of them will be our second line of defense and deal with any spiders who get by the first line. This will put them closer to where Romeo will be staying", Roubaul explains.

"And if they get back the outer defenses?", Porlyusica asks.

"Then I will tell Wendy to take Romeo and fly away on top of Fonaar", Roubaul reply, "All the way back to Magnolia. I trust you have the letter ready."

Porlyusica pulls out said letter, it front address to Master Makarov, "I have it ready and everything. Have you talk to Wendy yet?"

"Later on tonight", Roubaul told her, "Hopefully we don't have any-"

A loud ruffling rang out from the forest, silencing Roubaul and Porlyusica who snap their heads in the direction it was coming from. The hunters on watch instantly rush to the area with a half a dozen spearmen on the ground while the four of the archers took up their positions on the roofs. One hunter rush to ring the alarm but was stop by a hand gesture from Roubaul.

"Why did you stop him?", Romeo pops up next to Roubaul alongside Wendy, nearly frightening the man, "Aren't the spiders here?"

"For all we know it could be just a deer that got left behind", Roubaul told the boy, "Remember, the average giant spider may be nocturnal, but it hates large amounts of heat such as fire because it messes with their senses. When all the fires we got lit, I doubt they would attack at night."

"They hate fire?", Romeo questions.

"Fire is the natural enemy of a lot of creatures in the forest", Porlyusica explains as she scans the trees.

Without warning, Fonaar bolts pass Porlyusica, leaps over the spikes, and straight into the forest, disappearing into the overgrowth where the noise originated from. Everyone who was still awake waited on baited breath to see what would happen next. All of a sudden, a short but loud shriek was heard along with a sound of a scuffle.

"Oi put me down you bloody overgrown-lizard!", a gruff voice rings out moments later and emerging from the forest with an annoy expression on his face was Fonaar with his tail wrap around what seems to be a trio of humanoids, drape in a variety of armor and clothes.

One was a male dwarf, stoic and short, less than half a foot taller than Romeo, but was bulky all around. He had a long beard that stretches past his gut and was as red as the leaves in the fall though Romeo notices that it was the only hair visible on his body since most of it was covered in scale armor and a helmet. Strap to his waist was a razor-sharp waraxe along with a spiked mace. Attach to his back was a giant warhammer that was taller than him which was covered up by a standard metal shield. His fierce green eyes were narrow in anger as he yells out curses as he struggles in vain in Fonaar tail grip.

"I'll skin you up and make you a pair of boots! You hear me?!", he screamed.

"Moroun! Stop squirming, your ax is about to cut me!", the elf hollered as he too struggles to free himself from Fonaar tight grip.

He had long, flowing, blonde hair that ran past his shoulders onto his studded leather armor that covered his entire frail-looking body. His aqua blue eyes look on in worried as Fonaar carried him alongside his companions to the spikes. An elvish longbow was hanging over his back along with a quiver stock-full of arrows. Using the fire for light Romeo notice that he had a belt of throwing daggers across his chest along with two regular daggers on either side of his hip.

"Please, we mean you no harm!", he cries.

"Kolvar! Moroun! Please, let me handle this!", the human finally speaks from his position. He looks to be around the same age as Natsu and Gray from Romeo's point of view and unlike the other two, he had no armor whatsoever on him and instead was clad in nothing more than an open vest and light pants, almost like Natsu, except he had armguards as well as shinguards. A quarterstaff was on his back and a sling was loop to his belt along with a bag near it. His hair was a spiky white and his eyes were as brown as the trees.

"Now may I speak to the one in charge?", he says as Fonaar arrives at the edge of the spikes.

"That would be me", Master Roubaul says as he comes forward alongside Porlyusica and Wendy with Romeo staying on the other side of the defensive measures. It was at this moment that Wendy thought she heard a rustling noise in the woods behind Fonaar coming off to the right of him. When she turns her head to see what was causing it she finds that nothing was there. She strains her ears to pick up any noise but hears nothing.

"Must be my imagination", she told herself as she returns her attention back to the strangers.

"Good sir, I am Zugnarth Ravenmore, Zug for short, and these are my companions. Moroun Plateaxe of the dwarven clans in the south", as he nods toward the dwarf before motioning his head to the elf, "And Kolvar Gilkalyn of the elfish tribes to the east. We're adventurers as you can see."

….

…..

"Say hello, you guys", Zug says through clench teeth.

With slight hesitation, Kolvar is the first one to comply, "May you walk in the graces of the forest forever."

"Hey, how you doing?", Moroun grumbles.

"I am Roubaul. Guild master of Cait Shelter and chief of this village and I must say it's rare to see adventurers these days, especially in a country like Fiore. Even more so when the group consists of a dwarf and elf", the elderly man states as he straightens up to speak, "Though I have ask why you were sneaking around so close to my village in the dead of night?"

"I just want to get out of the-!", Kolvar starts to shouts before being interrupted by Zug.

"Da-da-da-da-da! Let me do the talking, Kolvar please!", Zug says as he looks back at Master Roubaul, "If I could be so bold, Master Roubaul, is it possible for you to tell your dragon friend here to let us down? I swear on my family's name that we mean you no harm."

Roubaul strokes his chin for a moment while pondering on the request, "Hmmm, I find sincerity in your words, young man. I truly believe that you will not do harm onto us."

Zug faces brighten up with a smile, "Then you should have no problem-"

"Unfortunately, I cannot follow through with your request", Roubaul says, stopping Zug in mid-speech.

"What? But you said you trust us", Zug says.

"That I do. But you see the dragon will most likely not obey my command", Roubaul explains as he points over to Romeo, "But he will listen to him."

Zug, Moroun, and Kolvar stare at Romeo with mouths agape in shock.

"Are ye trying to tell me that this wee pup of a boy can-", Moroun started to shout before suddenly feeling the air from his lungs cut off as a raging Fonaar tighten his grip around him and the other two. The trio could see their lives passing before their eyes as Fonaar looked unrelenting in his straggling method.

"Fonaar, that's enough!", Romeo shouts and instantly the dragon relents, allowing the three strangers a much-needed breath of air, though they remain encircle by the dragon's tail.

Zug was the first to catch his breath. He composes himself as best he could and began to talk.

"Little boy-"

"Romeo", Porlyusica corrects him, catching Zug by surprise but he quickly recovers.

"Um, yes. Romeo, would it be alright if your dragon-"

"Fonaar", as it was now Romeo turn to correct the man who once again had to fix his composure after the interruption.

"Alright, let's try this for the third time", he tells himself, "Romeo, would it be alright if Fonaar let us go?"

Romeo doesn't answer right away but instead looks toward Fonaar, "What do you think, Fonaar?"

Fonaar gives a small shrug before growling.

"He says he doesn't see a problem seeing how he easily capture them", Romeo relays to the guild master.

"What was that?!", Moroun suddenly shouts and starts to trash about once more, "I'll show this dragon who's boss! Let me at him!"

"By the gods, Moroun! Calm down, will ya?", Zug shouts as he once more feels Fonaar's tail tighten, "I'm trying to get them to let us go before the-!"

A series of clicks erupt from the woods nearby but due to the commotion being cause everyone to ignore it.

Except for Romeo who instead of clicks heard a voice...

"Tonight we feast! Yes, yes! Food for all!"

"Fonaar!", Romeo screams as he points a finger to where the voice came from, "Spiders in the woods!"

Instantly Fonaar releases his tail and turns to where Romeo was pointing, letting out a roar as he bounds toward the trees. He is met by a giant spider who leaps out of tree and meets the dragon head on. As the two creatures fight to gain dominance over one another, Romeo sees a large white substance come shooting out of the bushes, ensnaring the elf who was starting to get back on his feet before he was quickly dragged back into the woods.

"Help me!", he cries as everyone finally began to react to the sudden attack as one of the village's hunters rings the bell, alerting the entire village to the attack.

Meanwhile, Porlyusica and Roubaul fall back behind the spike wall as Wendy moves up. Zug gets up on his feet, quarterstaff at the ready while Moroun arms himself with his waraxe and heavy shield. He takes off toward Kolvar who was still struggling to escape from the webbing. With a mighty chop, the dwarf instantly cuts the webbing with a single blow but does not have time to help untangle Kolvar as he charges headlong at the first spider that emerges from the bushes. Using his shield to parry the bite from the beast and keep it at bay, he cleaves through one of the forward legs, causing great pain to the arachnid. As the spider reel back from the sudden loss of its leg, it meets its untimely demise a second later as Moroun brings his ax straight down into the middle of its face, killing it instantly.

"That's another tally for the warriors of Furin's Craig!", he shouts but he had no more time to celebrate his triumph as a second spider came rushing at him from out of the forest. Just like the last one he meets this one head-on, bashing his shield into its head at the right moment to check it charge. The spider was left momentarily stun and isn't quick enough to react in time to dodge Moroun slash, which takes the lower part of both its fangs clean off. As the monstrous creature reels back on its rear legs in agony, Moroun delivers another quick slash across mid-section, spilling out its internal organs onto the ground soon follow by the spider itself.

Suddenly, he hears a loud clicking coming from all around him as four giant spiders come bull-rushing out of the woods behind him, preparing to attack Moroun in sync. The dwarf readies himself for the inevitable clash knowing full well the odds were not in his favor, but he refuses to retreat.

Without warning, an object goes zipping by Moroun's ear, narrowly missing it. Within a split second, it was followed by another, then another, until a fury of blurs were zooming by him toward the approaching spiders. By the time the volley stops, all four spiders are lying motionless on the ground with each one of their eyes puncture by an elvish arrow. Moroun turns around to see Kolvar standing there with spider webbing still draped across his body but his bow at the ready with an arrow notch, despite the heavy heaving he was doing.

"You took away my fun, Kolvar". Moroun grumbles, "I could have handled it."

"Don't be so sour, there are more coming", the elf replies as he started shooting off more arrows at the approaching horde of red eyes coming at the two through the trees.

Meanwhile, Romeo watches from his place behind the spike wall as the man known as Zug charges a giant spider that came leaping out of the trees at the young man who side-flips to his left avoiding the spider as it lands with a thump. The arachnid turns its entire body in the direction the man went only to be met by a bludgeoning blow to its lowest right eye by the quarterstaff the man wielded, bursting it upon impact. The spider lets out a shriek and ready itself to charge Zug but to Romeo's amazement the man attacks first and jumps headlong into the crawling mass of flesh plunging his quarterstaff deep into its uppermost left eye this time. The spider collapses to the ground in a heap a moment later, never to move again.

Movement in the woods catches Romeo's attention as once more another spider came rushing out toward Zug who at the moment was defenseless as his quarterstaff was too far impede inside the last spider head.

Or so Romeo thought.

Romeo watches as Zug closes his eyes and takes a wide-legged stance and pulls his right arm back in a fist while extending his left arm forward. To Romeo's utter astonishment and disbelief, he watches as a sky blue light started to swirl around his fist until it encases his entire fist in it.

"What is that?", Romeo thought as he found himself mesmerized by the light.

The spider continues it headlong charge at Zug who was still standing there taking a deep breath. The spider leaps at the man with his fangs fully extended and ready to strike.

But Zug struck first.

"KI STRIKE: TIGER LUNGES AT THE GAZELLE!", Zug yells as he thrusts his fist forward, striking the arachnid in the abdomen just as it was about to wrap its legs around him. For a brief second, the blue light expands across the entire body of the spider before shrinking back and refocusing on Zug's fist. Then the large mass of flesh is propelled backward across the field and straight into a tree with its body breaking upon impact.

Romeo was frozen solid at the speculate he just witness, his eyes lighting up in glee.

"That was so cool!" he squeals, "Do it again! Do it again!"

So caught up in his excitement that he fails to notice the giant spider slowly creeping toward him. This spider manages to slip past Fonaar, the hunters, and the group of adventurers and got close enough to the spike wall to leap over it and into the village. As it scans the village for something to feast on it notice that the majority of the humans were "strange". They were there and yet at the same time they were not. This baffle the spider yet eventually it picks up on the small human that was currently watching all the carnage that was going on and starting making it's in that direction. The spider was right behind the boy and reel up to attack when it suddenly heard…

"SKY DRAGON'S CLAW!", as a mighty gale strikes the spider from the side sending it crashing into the nearby building.

Romeo turns around in time to see Wendy jumping toward the spider who was still moving even after the attack.

"SKY DRAGON'S CRUSHING FANG!", as she rakes her hand across the spider's head, slicing it into five separate halves and spreading spider's guts all over her yet Wendy seem unfazed as she turns around at Romeo.

"You need to get inside, now!", she screams at him, "It's too dangerous for you to be out here!"

"But-",

"No buts! Inside! Now!", Wendy roars as she spots two more spiders pulling themselves away from the main melee and charging the spike wall.

"Good thing Porlyusica gave me some of these pain-nullifying potions," Wendy tells herself as she briefly thinks back to their earlier exchange….

Flashback

Wendy stares at the three greenish-yellow potion bottles that Porlyusica was holding out to her.

"This is what again?", she asks.

"Pain-suppressing potions", Porlyusica repeats, "They will help you in the coming battle."

Wendy looks at the potions and back at the woman who was presenting them, "You had these the whole time?"

"Yes, I did" Porlyusica answers.

"Then why wasn't I given these before?"

"Well, first of all, I didn't expect you to be fighting a dragon or go to a temple filled with a horde of giant spiders", Porlyusica tells her, "Now did I?"

"Oh", the girl replies sheepishly, clearly embarrassed.

"Now anyway, about these pain-suppression potions. They won't heal you they'll just take away the pain temporarily", the Potion Mage began, "Each bottom should, I say again, should, last for about fifteen minutes and allow you to use your magic without hurting yourself."

Wendy stares at the herbalist doctor for a second.

"The ones I have in front of you are for regular mages going on dangerous job request when they need them in a pinch", Porlyusica confesses, "I never had to make them for dragon-slayers before, not even the pink-haired idiot back at Fairy Tail so if you take them it's at your own risk, but everyone is going to be needing you strength tonight."

"What will happen after they wear off?"

….

…..

"Miss Porlyusica?", Wendy asks wondering why the elderly woman suddenly went silent, it seems to be a hobby of hers lately.

….

"That will depend on how active you were while the potion was in effect. If you limit your movements then you should feel nothing more than a slight pinch when they wear off. But should you overdo it then you will be in almost unbearable pain afterward", Porlyusica admitted, "So I suggest you choose your actions wisely."

She then turns abruptly around and went about her way leaving a stun Wendy in her wake.

The Sky Dragon Slayer examines one of the bottles as she holds it up, "Fifteen minutes, huh?"

End Of Flashback

"If my math is right, I should be at the five-minute mark right now", Wendy told herself as she leaps over the spike wall and landed on one of the two approaching spiders' head, crushing it instantly. She then spun to face the remaining one as she took in a breath, "Ten minutes left. Sky Dragon's Roar!"

Fonaar just finished using his tail to smash another spider straight down the middle before turning the face a trio of giant spiders launching themselves at him. As he spins around to swat away one with his tail, he grabs the legs of the first one to reach him and fling it aside before raking his claws across the face of the last one.

To the young dragon, this was becoming an annoyance more than anything. Even with the cannibalization, there seem to be far more spiders than he expected. Even with the dragon-slayer, the three "adventurers" he capture (who were doing a lot better than he thought they would), along with the hunters, Fonaar could see that they were barely keeping the mob back. Already he could see another dozen or more spiders rapidly advancing on him from the forest heading straight for the adventurers.

"Kolvar, more spiders coming from the left! Moroun, watch out for the two behind us!", Zug screams as he uses his now gore covered staff to unbalance an attacking spider by sweeping out two of its front legs, leaving it open for a bash to the head. Meanwhile, Moroun was in the thick of the action taking on at least four spiders at a time. Having already discarded his shield and waraxe, he was now using his warhammer to deadly effect as he swung it around like a madman, dealing death to all who were in range, crushing skulls and abdomen alike. Kolvar, on the other hand, was too busy trying to get some distance between him and the group of half a dozen arachnids giving chase after him. Even with his natural grace and speed, he found himself barely able to keep out range of their fangs. Grabbing one of the throwing daggers he had strap across his chest, he flings it back toward the pack, hitting the lead spider in its lower right eye. The bug instantly starts thrashing about, crashing into his fellow spiders and disrupting the cohesion of the group causing them to stop in their tracks….

Which gave Kolvar the opening he was praying for as stops a short distance later and lets loose another volley which uses up the last of his arrows. Moments later, six spiders were lying motionless on the fields with all of them having at least three arrows puncturing from their eyes.

The elf takes a moment to look down at the spider's guts that were splatter all over his clothes and shook his head, "All I wanted to do was spend a couple nights in an inn but noooooo, it's cheaper to sleep outside Zug says."

Porlyusica was watching the attack alongside Roubaul from the second floor of the only two-story building in town, apparently, it belongs to a woman name Yuna, and she didn't like what she was seeing. In her younger days at Fairy Tail, she has faced large mob attacks before from the lizardmen, goblins, kobolds, and many more. The fact that the spiders were attacking at night despite the fires confuse her but going off what she has witnessed so far the majority of them weren't even trying to get into the village, instead opting to fight out in the open outside of the spear wall where the hunters and everyone were slowing turning the tide as the archers up top easily pick off any stragglers.

"It's more like they are drawing the defenders out but why? They're losing no matter how you look at it", Porlyusica told herself as she spots another trio of spiders exit the forest.

"And they seem to be attacking in waves instead of one massive rush. Just small groups coming out one at a time, almost as if it is all part of a plan", she thought as she watches the spiders rush toward a group of hunters whose backs turned to them. She was about to scream out in an attempt to warn them but then notices something odd occurred. Just as the spiders were about to pouch on the unsuspecting hunters they suddenly stop.

"Huh?", Porlyusica says.

They not only stop but actually looked around the battlefield until they laid their eyes on the trio that Fonaar capture earlier and instead went for them.

"Why didn't they go for the hunters?", she thought before realizing that the majority of the spiders were only tangling with either Wendy, Fonaar, or the adventurers with only a small number actually fighting the hunters and that was because they seem to be in the spiders from getting to one of the mention parties.

"I never thought giant spiders to be picky about their food", she thought though deep down she knew something wasn't right.

Romeo was currently residing within the guild hall of Cait Shelter, listening as the battle wage on outside. He could hear the screams of the dying from inside though luckily it seems to only be the dying cries of the spiders. The boy began to rock himself back and forth, hugging his knees while trying to keep calm.

"I wish mommy and daddy were here", he said as he overheard Fonaar roar once more and Wendy unleashes another spell.

"Hope Fonaar and Wendy are doing okay", he told himself as he looks toward the door that led into Wendy's room. It was wide open and Romeo could hear the faint snores of Carla from within.

"How is she able to sleep through all this?", Romeo thought before suddenly hearing a voice from behind him.

"Danger approaches, young Wild Master."

Romeo snaps his head to the direction the voice came from only to see that no one else was in the room with him.

"Hello?", the boy calls out but receives no answer in return. He then turns back toward the door wondering if someone was on the other side of it.

"The undisputed leader of the horde arrives ever closer to you while his minions distract your friends."

Romeo turns around once more and sees that no one is there, only the Savage Blade on top of its altar.

"Hello?", Romeo calls once more, "Knives can't talk, can they?"

"Take hold of my gift to you before it's too late!", the voice screams out and now Romeo realizes that the voice was indeed coming from the dagger and now he realizes that the voice was that of the Spirit of Nature that he has already heard before.

THUMP!

Romeo suddenly felt the ground underneath him shake as the Savage Blade falls off the altar and onto the floor.

THUMP!

This time it was felt all over the village as Fonaar, Wendy, Roubaul, Porlyusica, Moroun, Zug, Kolvar, the hunters, and the villagers all stop what they were doing as they turn to the rear of the village toward the guild hall while the spiders stood frozen as well.

Now for Wendy, the temple wasn't the first time she had encounter spiders of this particular size. While out on the job that led her to her first drake kill she and Carla had encountered a lone giant arachnid who had made it nest in the forest bordering the green drake known territory. After a brief skirmish, Wendy easily dispatched the spider after tricking it into getting stuck between some trees and then hitting it head-on with her roar spell, the same tactic she tried on Fonaar in their fight.

But upon seeing the sheer size of the spider as it emerges from the forest behind the village and began to climb on top of the guild hall, she realizes that she took that brief encounter with that spider for granted all those years ago as she witnesses the top of its gargantuan body easily tower over the treeline. Its eyes were the size of cannonballs that glow a fierce red. Its fangs reminded Wendy of a pair of scimitar swords she had seen once on sale by a traveling merchant. Each of its legs was easily triple the length of Fonaar entire body and they left a mini-crater in the outer structure of the building whenever it made contact with it. The archers that were a station on the nearby roofs began to unleash their arrows at it but watch in horror as they harmlessly bounce off of the titan arachnid outer shell, falling to the ground with bent shafts.

"By the stone!", Moroun whisper as he bears witness to the behemoth, "That thing is as big as the cave dwellers of Tigra Craig!"

"It must be the leader of the horde!", Zug yells.

"Um, guys?", Kolvar gulp, catching the attention of his companions as well as Wendy and Fonaar, "Look at the spiders."

Everyone surveys the area around them to see that the remaining spiders had indeed formed a ring around them with a majority of them focusing on Fonaar himself.

The dragons let out a feral growl, his nerves a bit on edge with the sea of glowing red eyes aim at him and prepare himself to fight off the massive attack he knew was coming. But the spiders held their ground, not moving an inch from their current station all the while glaring at Fonaar.

Abruptly, the massive spider let out a roar from atop of the guild hall which echoed throughout the woods while shaking the entire village. The roar instantly reminded Wendy of her duel with Fonaar just a few days earlier, though the roar lacked the destructive potential that the dragon held. But it had one distinct feature that was similar to Fonaar's roar...

This massive behemoth of a spider was letting everything with hearing distance know that it was king of the forest and it was willing to battle for that title.

Romeo, who was right beneath the massive arachnid within the building fell to the ground in terror as the spider's voice pierces his very skull.

"Now my brethren! Finish off the dragon and his companions so we might feast in peace!"

A/N: I'm introducing the concept of adventurers as a cheaper though less popular form of mission-taking in Ishgar. They're basically non-magic people doing guild jobs though there are still adventurers guilds in Ishgar, they're just very small and there aren't a lot of them.

Moroun: fighter

Kolvar: ranger

Zug: monk

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