Chapter 17- How to Fight a Dragon

Even in the orb the destruction was devastating. From the view on top of the hill, Ultear could see what had once been the city below. Now it was nothing but ash. Fire threw shadows across the a few large stone columns and roofs the remained, skeletons of what had been there before. Death and destruction like this was on the level of the Books of Zeref!

"Find Riku," Ultear said to the image below. On command the image began to zoom in, as if she were looking into the city in a telescope. Finally it focused on three figures, above them the blood red moon.

Ultear peered closer. Riku was there, still dressed as he always was (though a bit bloodier than usual), but human all the same. Ultear let out a sigh of relief. She moved to stop the orb- the future was so uncertain that the less you saw, the better. But she paused. There, just out of sight from the three figures, were eggs of some sort. They opened and out of them came miniature dragons without eyes, perhaps made of metallic scales. They stood on their back feet. stretching their sharp claws. Then, seeing the three figures, they charged.

Riku turned to his left, bringing his sword across the first small dragon, but two more appeared in its place charging them. Riku moved away and the other two figure's dropped to the ground, one leaning onto a sword in the ground. Had he been supporting their weight? Riku charged, but the dragons did as well. The movements were too fast. She couldn't see the figure with the sword. Riku must have realized this at the same time, because he looked over his shoulders, seeming to shout out for the figure. A miniature dragon slashed him across the chest and he fell to his knees.

The remaining figure was shooting magic at the dragons, keeping them away. But, Riku was no longer in danger. The creatures had stopped approaching him. An explosion of black magical energy began to pour out of him, he threw his head back and let out a scream that Ultear could not hear, nor could she look away. The dark energy seemed to be endless, spraying our of his chest wound and surrounding him until it seemed to create a pillar of energy that blackened out the moon. Then the pillar peaked and came crashing down again onto Riku with a mini-explosion. When the dust cleared the miniature creatures were gone. Before the only remaining figure was not Riku, but a full fledged dragon with white horns sticking from its head and a full bone white body, except for the midnight black markings across its face and chest, making it look as if the dragon skull were showing instead of its head. The dragon turned its head and opened blood read eyes with slits for pupils, spotting the last remaining human figure.

"And that's where I pulled back the orb of time," Ultear explained.

"It's not set," Meredy reminded her. "The future is not set."

Ultear nodded.

"Did you get a look at the other two figures," Jellal asked. Ultear shook her head.

Jellal nodded . "You two go to the castle to stop whatever this other mysterious figure is and I'll find our last Dragon Slayer."

...

Riku had no idea about any of the details in the discussion he had left behind on the hill. Instead, he was watching the sun setting and disappearing out of sight as he made his way through the city, cautious of the warning signs that outlined the final battle's perimeter. Even as he walked he considered the discussions fro the last two days and the future that Lucy had witnessed. Dragon... Riku leaned his head back to peer up at the first few stars in the sky as dusk began to change to night. What had Acnologia told him?

Acnologia's dragon roar tore apart the line of trees behind Riku as he just barely managed to leap out of the way. He shot his own roar of dark energy back at the dragon, hitting him in the chest, but it barely seemed to even tickle the full dragon before him. Acnologia took his claw and swiped again at Riku, who managed to go just between his fingers and duck behind a tree. He needed a plan, some kind of plan...pointy stick! Riku grabbed it and lunged towards the dragon, slamming the stick against his foot. It shattered into pieces.

Riku felt a hard, but human fist, slam down onto his head, knocking him to the ground in between the now human feet before him.

"Swords don't penetrate dragon skin," Acnologia said coldly. "So how would a pointed stick be better?"

"I guess it wouldn't," RIku said, turning his face to the side to peer up at Acnologia's cold glare.

"The only way to defeat a dragon is to release the dragon within yourself. Complete destruction is the only way. Either you will destroy them or they will destroy you."

"Right," Riku agreed, now sitting up as Acnologia turned and stalked away.

"Train or next time I'll kill you," Acnologia growled.

"Hunting dragons is your purpose. Nothing and no one will stand in your way. You will destroy it all." Riku said in a deep voice, imitating his memory. He sighed, rubbing his head where Acnologia had hit many times. It was a miracle he didn't have permanent damage. With his free hand he pushed open the door to the Sun Barre to find all of Fairy Tail there, drinking and celebrating their victory. In the corner, Wendy and Sherria were working to heal the fairy tail team.

Riku moved to the bar, taking a seat next to Cana and glancing over at the healing team. Erza was bandaged up (again), talking to Laxus seriously. He'd wait to congratulate her in a little.

"You're back," observed Mavis, sitting on the top of the bar on the other side of Riku as he took a swig. "But it's not over."

"It sounds like it's just getting started," Riku agreed, observing the bar festivities and the upcoming troubles, whatever the details of it were. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than with my guild."

Mavis beamed and Cana held up her cup for a cheers before they both downed the content. They had barely finished the second drink when the message came.

"The King wants to see all Magical Guilds in the center of the city," Makarov's voice boomed in the bar. "Let's go brats!"

...

After the King finished his explanation and plea for help, wizards replied with plans and ideas. Each guild seemed convinced they could take on any dragons- be they 100,000 or more. Even as the first rumbles made the Earth shake beneath them, the guilds seemed ready to fight. There was a pause, in which the night was unnervingly quiet without a single insect chirping.

"That's not a good sign," hissed Cana, a look of determination on her face.

Riku could see a faint light from that direction and a new smell, one that was old but also new to him. Was this the smell of dragons? Deep in his body he could feel a warmth bubbling, not like a bomb waiting to explode, but a nice feeling. Like champagne tickling his throat. It felt as if he'd been preparing for something like this his whole life and his instincts were peaking, ready to go.

"What's that," Erza said, tremors rocking the ground they all stood on again, but this time in shorter successions.

Foot steps, Riku considered. Big ones.

"It's coming from the palace," Rogue observed.

There was a roar so loud that it's volume decimated a line of buildings next to the crystal. Mage mouths fell open all around him as barren land sat where building once were.

"Spread out," Makarov called and the guilds scattered quickly to find their own area to protect. Erza, her footing a bit uneven from the last tremor went to move, but lost her balance and stumbled. Riku caught her shoulder, giving her a stern look, checking her ankle instinctively. She waved his concern away.

"Let's fight some dragons," she suggested.

Riku felt a smile break across his face and he cracked his knuckles. "It's the most romantic thing you've ever said to me," he teased.

Erza was about to reply, when they saw the form of the dragon above them, wings flapping and eyes peering about for its prey below. It's eyes landed on them, pupils narrowing in focus.

"Let's live up to that title we all have," growled Gajeel, glancing from Riku to Laxus. Both nodded, ready for the beast to land.

Thanks for reading & don't forget to comment. Next time it is Chapter 18: The Death of Erza Scarlet.