Drake groaned as his eyes opened. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
"Ugh." He inspected his surroundings after getting to his feet and found himself inside a icy cage.
"What's going on?" Drake asked out loud before struggling to get to his feet. He placed his hands on the bars to pull himself up when he noticed the trees moving past them. He looked down and realized the ground was moving as well.
"Stop moving up there!" A male voice shouted from behind the cage. "Those two are having a hard enough time carrying that thing with Ice-Perv on top of it, you don't need to be moving around up there."
"What you say, ash-vac?!" A voice rang from on top of the cage, causing the person imprisoned to look up to the ceiling. Through the roof, he could make out a shirtless figure with his hands focused on a magic seal beneath him.
"Enough!" A female voice yelled from beneath them. "Natsu, Gray, now is not the time for your childish arguments!"
"Yes, Erza." Both responded in a fearful tone.
"I'm surprised it took you this long to beat me, Suishou." Drake remarked. "It just took help from a legal guild."
"I'm not the one in a cage made of ice, am I?" Suishou responded.
"I won't be staying in here for long." Drake replied as he pulled his fist back. "Ice Dragon Iron Fist." He slammed a ice covered fist into the cage bars. "What the, that should have shattered immediately."
"Nice try." Gray yelled from atop the cage. "As long as I'm channeling magic into this spell, that ice ain't gonna break."
Drake sighed before looking at Natsu. "Where are you taking me anyway? Era's in the other direction."
Natsu shrugged his shoulder and jerked his head back towards Suishou's direction. "His idea. Something about 'making sure you can't hurt anyone anymore.' I just wanted to hand you over to the Rune Knights."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Drake demanded.
Suishou let a smirk grace his face as looked up to the captive wizard. "We're going home. Allow me to explain."
2 Hours Ago
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked Suishou whilst clutching her stomach.
"He's caused too much trouble and heartache to just simply be handed over to the Council." Suishou explained starring at the prone body of Drake. "We need to make sure he can never again use his magic to harm the innocent."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Erza was fearing that her client plans to murder the one who slaughtered his entire village.
Suishou turned on his heels and faced the group. "My village has a spell that can remove the ability to use magic from violent people. In order for it to work, though, it must be cast at the place where their biggest sin was committed. So, any ideas on how we are gonna get him back to my village?"
Drake became enraged. "When I get out of this cage, you're gonna pay!"
"I said pipe down!" Erza yelled at the captive. "We're already at Mt. Hakobe's base. You don't have much longer to wait." She said before looking around. "The sun is starting to set. We should probably set up camp here."
With those words, Gray grunted in agreement and jumped off the cage. Erza looked over her shoulder to Astoroth who nodded. Quickly, they stepped out from underneath the cage. Without anything or anyone to hold it up, the cage fell to the ground, shattering from the impact.
"Seriously, mind warning me next time."
"Shut up." Gray countered before entering his maker stance. "Ice-Make: Chain Cuffs!" From the seal created, two pairs of long chain hand cuffs launched out and clamped onto the criminal's wrists. A third chain connected them to one in Gray's hand. "Don't try anything funny, or else."
"Get over there." Erza ordered, pointing at a few trees nearby. "The rest of you, help me set up camp."
"Erza, we can't just leave him alone." Lucy reminded the red head. "What if he tries to make a break for it?"
"It's alright." The group looked over to Natsu, who took the the chain out of Gray's hand. "I'll watch over him. I still gotta collect on the bet I made with Frosty during our fight."
Natsu pulled on the chain, leading Drake away from the group as Astoroth started a fire. Soon, Natsu found three small longs and sat down on one off them.
"So, are you gonna tell me or what?" Natsu asked as he pulled out a small snack bar from his bag. Carefully, he handed it over to Drake who looked away from him.
"I've gotten along just fine without any handouts." Drake muttered.
Natsu sat down and dug through his bag. "Come on, dude." He pulled out another bar and offered it to Drake, but he just ignored it.
"You don't seem to like me much, do you?"
"I had a less-than pleasant run in with someone using fire magic several years back." Drake said. "He burned down an entire town just to try and apprehend me."
"Damn, I thought I was destructive." Natsu scratched his head.
"I've been through a lot since I've been on the run."
"Seriously, I don't know how you criminal types do this." Natsu spoke as he pulled out a bar for himself. "Being on the run, fearing for your lives, fighting all the time. You might be evil, but you've got some serious balls."
"My situation...is a lot more complicated." Drake trailed off.
"If that's true, then why do you have the job on your head?" Natsu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Create a job request with the council. It really doesn't matter." Drake told him.
"Give me one reason why I should believe you!" Natsu retorted before standing up.
"We're both Dragon Slayers aren't we?" He noticed the smirk on Natsu's face. "What are you smiling for?"
"I got you to talk to me, didn't I?" Natsu's grin grew.
"So, what would you like to find out?" He asked.
"I just wanna talk about your dragon." Natsu retook his seat. "What were they like? How'd you find them? What was their name?"
"Ever heard of the Ice Dragon Queen Glacius?"
July 6 X770
Glacius awoke from his slumber inside his cave. Her eyes were blue with black pupils. Her head was crystal blue with matching colored spikes.
He stretched his neck, revealing brown scales and a white colored underbelly. Three spikes jutted from her neck, pointing toward her head. A space between his neck and torso ended the spikes before more emerged from the body. Theses spikes ended when they reached the massive pair of clear wings, the pataguim a light blue.
The great beast lifted its front right foot. The claws were tan in color, two in the front, one in the back. From the heel came another spike, jutting towards the thigh. On its leg was another spike that pointed straight up. Behind each of the front legs was a spike that pointed towards the neck.
The back legs were identical to the front, but a spike came out in front of the legs and pointed towards the tail. The tail was about as long as the neck and head put together. It was also decorated in spikes, half pointed towards the body, half towards the tip of the tail. On the tip of the tail was four small spikes.
The wings opened wide once the dragon exited the cave before they folded back up. Arnighte walked into the woods, ready to hunt. He lowered his neck and flared his nostrils that rested above his mouth. He found a scent and a dragonian smirk graced his face. Despite his massive size, he sprinted across the ground with surprising efficiently.
He reached the edge of the forest and stopped at the tree line. In the clearing before him was a pack of Forest Vulcans huddled around something.
The beast raised its left claw and slammed into the ground, catching the attention of the green-furred monkeys. He raised his neck and released a massive roar, starteling the Vulcans and causing them to flee. Where the mob of Vulcans once stood now laid a child, unconscious from an apparent beating.
'What is this child doing all alone?' Glacius asked herself as she approached the injured youngling. Carefully, the dragon picked up the boy in his massive claw. He swung his tail around and placed the child on it before walking back to her cave.
An hour later, Glacius reached her cave home. She placed the child on the ground and noticed the boys eyes wince, signaling the child's revival.
"Mommy?" The boy asked before his eyes completely opened.
"Hello there, young one." The dragon spoke, catching the child's attention.
"Ahhh!" The boy shot back til he hit the wall of the cave. "Please don't eat me!"
"Eat you?" The dragon laughed out. "You wouldn't be more than a snack to me, the great dragon Arnighte."
"Mommy, Daddy!" The boy cried out as he shut his eyes. "Help me! There's a monster!"
The beast lowered her head to look the child in the eye. "Is that really how you treat the one who saved your life?"
The boy opened his eyes, still shaking in fear. "Y-you saved me?"
"Tell me, why where you wondering around the woods by yourself." Arnighte asked.
"Well, me, mommy and daddy were taking a walk in the woods." The child explained. "They had take care of something, so they asked me to wait by that tree. But then those hairy men came and started hitting me. I cried and cried, but they never came back."
The dragon raised his claw and lifted the child's head. "Come on, let's get you home." The boys eyes began to fill with hope. "I've found the scents that matches yours, so I'm guessing that's your parents. Hop on."
The boy climbed on to the dragons neck and Glacius took off into the air, following his nose. A few minutes passed and Glacius found a clearing to land in. The kid climbed off and began running. Glacius put her claw in front and blocked the path.
"Careful now." The dragon spoke. "You don't know the direction to go." The beast the began to walk in opposite direction. "Follow me." The boy did as asked and followed the dragon. A few steps later, the voices of two people came into earshot. The child almost ran threw the bushes, but Glacius blocked it with her head. "Listen."
"I hope we did the the right thing." A feminine voice wondered.
"Of course we did." A male voice comforted the first one. "We can't afford a child right now. We had no choice but to leave him in the woods. I just hope that his end came quick and painless."
"Please, don't make me think about that." The female voice said. "Let's just go home." The sound of footsteps soon filled the air.
A deep, angry growl escaped the throat of Glacius. The child's response wasn't as verbal. He dropped to his knees and began whimpering. His role complete, the dragon began to walk away from the clearing. She stopped when she felt something grab one of her tail spikes.
Glacius looked behind her and saw the child holding her spike. "Please, take me with you." The child begged. "I-I have no where to go."
Glacius let out a sigh. "Very well. I could use a student. However, if this is going to work, I need you to tell me your name. What is it?"
"My name is Drake." The now named child said. "My-my parents never told me my last name."
"Very well." Drake looked up at the dragon with hope. "From this moment forward, your name is Drake Frost, son of Glacius."
Drake smiled. "Thank you, mom." The new mother-son pair walked out of the clearing.
"Wow." Natsu was shell shocked at the origin of the prisoner. "That's pretty depressing."
"They're the least of my concerns at the moment." Drake told Natsu. "I lived with Glacius for seven years before her disappearance."
"That must have been tough for you." Natsu stoked the fire as he thought about his own dragon's disappearance.
"It certainly was." Drake remarked. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, though. All you do every day is destroy stuff and the public eats it up. You've never had to worry about where your next meal is coming from. I've bet you've never had a bad day in your life."
"You have no idea how wrong you are." Natsu told the criminals as he sighed when he remembered her face. "If I had just... I should have forced myself to go with them. Then she'd still be alive."
"A single friend is nothing compared to your only family or village."
"You mean the village that you killed?" Natsu told him. "That's right, Suishou told us the whole story. How you killed everyone in the village."
"I'd rather not waste my last night alive by killing you, so shut up."
"I don't know about alive, but this is your last free night." Natsu told them, gasping for air. "After this ritual or whatever he called it, you're going away for a long time."
"You honestly don't get it, do you? There is no ritual. Those two will kill all of us and be done with it. I'll even show you what I mean." Drake shook his head in disappointment.
The Next Day
A Path Halfway up Mount Hakobe
"How much farther do we have to go?" Lucy complained as the group walked along the path to Suishou's village.
"Only a few more minutes, Lucy." Astoroth told her as he followed Suishou.
"Well, I for one can't wait until this guy behind bars." Gray said as he tugged on the chain holding Drake.
"You guys really are imbeciles, you know that right."
"Hey, Erza, what's a imbecile?" Happy asked from Natsu's shoulder.
"It's a moron." Erza explained to the cat. "Someone filled with useless, trivial information."
"I'd like to hear that from the horse's mouth."
"Ha-ha." Ezra laughed sarcastically as she Requiped a sword and pointed it at the bound dragon slayer. "If you weren't about lose all of your magic, I would gut you like a fish." The other Fairy Tail wizards looked at her, know that she probably wasn't lying.
"Well, here we are." Suishou declared as he rounded the corner of the path.
The others followed suit and as they rounded the corner, they were taken back by what was before them. Destroyed buildings that showed signs of fire. Skeletons scattered the ground, some with skulls missing, others were charred black. In the center of the town was a giant bell, upside down, crushing what appeared to be a child's skeleton.
Drake walked over to the skeleton
"Who was this victim?" Erza asked as she walked over to the Dragon Slayer.
"My father and the person who raised me after Glacius vanished."
"Come on, drop that fake anger act." Gray said as he pulled the chain holding their captive.
"Fake anger." Drake retorted. Gray placed a hand over his mouth.
"Well, at least we won't have to listen to him for a while." Erza stated as she examined the village remains.
"Can we please get this ritual thing over with, please?" Lucy asked, nervous about her current surroundings. "This place gives me the creeps."
"Hey, this was my home." Suishou pointed out to her. "Still, I agree. It's not as beautiful as it once was."
"Who's fault is that?" Drake asked.
"Alright, let's get started." Suishou declared as he grabbed a burnt stick and began, from inside out, drawing an intricate magical seal in the snow. Once he finished, the seal began to glow in a purple aura. It erupted in a bright light and when it faded, a large black cauldron had manifested itself.
"So, how exactly does this ritual thing work?" Natsu asked, finally breaking his silence.
"We put our hands on this cauldron and channel our specific magic into it." Suishou explained. "The magic will manifest into a large amount of liquid ethernano. As we lower these two in the cauldron, I chant an ancient language which activates the ethernano and drains them of their powers."
"Sounds easy enough." Erza said as she walked up to the cauldron and placed her hands don it. The others followed suit and together they all channeled their respective magics. Each wizard glowed in their respective auras as the cauldron began to fill with magic energy. Suishou began to chant in an ancient language which turned the energy turned into a blue liquid substance.
"Well, now for the easy part." Astoroth took off the ground with the ice chain in his hands, raising the criminal off the ground. As he slowly lowered the chain down, the criminal began to squirm, trying to break free from his icy cuffs. Once his feet were submerged, Astoroth smirked and let go of the chain, letting him fall into the liquid and the chain followed them.
"What the hell?" Gray asked. "How are we suppose to get him out now."
"That's just it, Gray." Suishou said, slowly turning around to face the group of Fairy Tail wizards. "We're not going to get him out."
"Oni X!" Astoroth brought his hands up in an X formation and swung them, launching a black X energy wave at the wizards. The group jumped out of the way out of the attack, which struck the ground, blasting away all the snow.
"What are you doing?" Erza shouted in anger.
"Getting rid of the witnesses." Suishou stated as a large magic seal appeared beneath him. "Crystal Constructs!" Small cracks appeared on the seal before clawed, crystal hands emerged. Little by little, the multiple crystal golems arose out of the seal, some with two heads, some with multiple arms. Suishou snapped his fingers, and the golems began lumbering over to the group.
"Living Nightmare!" Astoroth shouted as a black mist surrounded his body as it snaked towards the corpses the littered the ground. The mist surrounded the bodies before it sunk into the bones. The skeletons began to move as they rose to their bony feet. The ones still with skulls began to glow from their eye sockets. The resurrected villagers joined the golems and surrounded the Fairy Tail wizards.
"Why are you doing this?" Erza asked as she Requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor, and launched swords at the oncoming army.
"Because we no longer need you!" Astoroth answered her as he gathered his magic above him. "Hellfire Blast!" The demon launched a massive orb of black energy.
"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray shouted as he created a flower style shield that blocked the attack. He then brought his hands together in his maker stance. "Ice-Make: Lance!" He launched a dozen frozen lances at the mob, wiping out golems and skeletons.
"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull. Taurus!" Lucy waved the respective key in the air and summoned the Bull "Help us!" The spirit nodded and unsheathed its massive axe and swung it, taking out numerous skeletons.
"Damn it!" Natsu punched a golem with a flaming fist, cracking its gem skull. "We've been played. They used us." He said as he backed up into the circle that the mob was forcing the Fairy Tail wizards into.
"I'm impressed, Salamander." Suishou told the wizard as the mindless horde inched closer. "The dumbest one of you figured it out. But it doesn't matter; this village will be your graves. But don't worry, we'll tell your guild that you all died nobly sacrificing yourselves to take out a deadly criminal!" Suishou laughed like a madman as the creatures finally over came the wizards.
"So Suishou, our deal is complete." Astoroth landed near his partner. "You know what I want now."
"Just a little longer, kay?" Suishou asked his demonic accomplice. "I did just promise to tell their guild how they died."
Then a enormous pillar of ice erupted from the cauldron and shot up into the sky.
"Sorry to disappoint you Suishou, but that's not enough to get rid of a Dragon Slayer." Drake told him.
"Now then, Dragon Slayer Secret Art Sub Zero Cold: World Freezing Star!" Drake gathers a lot of magic power with their hands joined and raised up, bringing them down in order to unleash a huge sphere of ice that not only does concussive damage, but also creates an explosion of ice that froze the remaining skeletons and golems.
"Looks like I owe you one." Natsu panted as he dropped to his knee. "You were right."
"What are you talking about, Natsu?" Erza asked still in her Heavens Wheel Armor.
"We talked last night." Natsu explained. "About our pasts, our dragons. And then they told me something interesting."
Last Night
"How you gonna prove it?" Natsu asked.
"Real simple, actually." Drake answered. "If Suishou uses his magic to create a black cauldron, he has no intention of letting any of us escape with our lives. But there is a weakness in the spell. If someone who pools their magic into the cauldron believes that the culprit is innocent, the spell won't work."
"How do I know this isn't some plan to trick me?" Natsu asked.
"Cause you would really have to believe the culprit's innocent." Drake remarked.
"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?" Natsu laid down on the log and fell to sleep.
"And why didn't you tell us this when we woke up?" Gray asked annoyed.
"Would you have believe me, ice-prick?" Natsu retorted.
"Enough, you two!" Erza ordered the two. "So, I take it that you really are innocent."
"Yeah." Drake nodded before pointing to Suishou. "He killed everyone in the village because he fearing his position as apprentice would be taken. as it is given to the most magically gifted child in the village."
"Why would he care about that?" Lucy asked.
"I have no idea honestly." Drake admitted. "He broke our village's most important rule and allied himself with a demon, making himself stronger. Then they killed my adoptive father."
Flashback
A younger Drake and his adoptive father stood in the center of the burning village. In front of them, a six year old Suishou was standing atop of a fresh corpse that he had just killed. Behind him, a fire smoldered where the doctors hut once stood.
"Wh-What have you done, Suishou?!" The chief demanded, shocked and angry.
"I've proven myself." Suishou smirked as he looked at the two survivors. "I've proven that I am the most magically gifted child in the entire child in this whole damn village."
"You had nothing to prove!" Drake shouted.
"Of course you would say that." Suishou sneered. "You want me nice and weak so you can take my apprentice position for yourself. Well, that's not gonna happen now."
A winged figure emerged from the smoke and held up his clawed hands. A black mist left his claws and wormed its way over to the duo. Once at the feet, the mist latched onto him and held the young boy in place. The ones around Drake latched onto his hands and bound them behind his back.
A magic seal appeared in Suishou's hand and as it faded, a small purple dagger was left.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you just yet." Suishou then walked over to the immobile boy. Once in front of him, Suishou smiled a twisted grin. He raised the dagger into the air and slowly dragged it across Drake's face, drawing blood from across his lips.
Drake could taste the blood in his mouth as he cried out in pain. Once the dagger left his face, he dropped his face, watching the drops of blood hit the snow. Suishou grabbed his face and raised it so they could each other in the eyes. "Oh, don't be scared. I've got bigger plans for you." He raised his hands and snapped his finger.
The figure then shot forward and tackled the chief into the building behind him. The impact cause the building to collapse on top of them.
"No!" Drake shouted. he rubble began to move, revealing the demon with his clawed hand in the chiefs chest.
The demon retracted its claw and let the man fall before walking over to Suishou.
"Why not just kill him?" The demon asked.
"I want him to live with the fact that he failed to protect the chief." Suishou sneered. "Let the failure soak in for a few years. Let's go, Astoroth. There's nothing left here for us."
A snake creature left Astoroth's arm, forming a hook that Suishou grabbed onto. The two flew away, leaving a child still bound by the demons magic. Once a distance away, the mist left his feet.
Drake grasped his face, ice covered the wound to stop the bleeding.
"S...son." He was taken out of his thoughts by a faint voice coming from the debris behind him. The Dragon Slayer over to the destroyed building. In its center was the chief, with a hole in his chest.
"Save your strength." Drake pleaded.
"Sorry I wasn't able to see you grow up into a young man I'd be proud of." He coughed, covering the sides of his mouth with blood. "I hope you can forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive. Please, don't die."
"I'm sorry, but I can't stay anymore." The chief gasped as much air as he could. Soon after the air left his lungs, and he closed his eyes permanently.
As the fires died down, the village's lone survivor left.
"Surviving wasn't easy." Drake finished. "Those two got to the council first and told them I was the one responsible for the massacre here. For the last seven years, I've been running for my life."
"Well, don't worry." Suishou looked at the six wizards. "I won't repeat that mistake again. Get them!" The monsters charged forward, aimed at killing the opposition. "Leave the Dragon Slayers. I wanna kill them myself."
"So that's how you want it?" Natsu cracked his knuckles as the mob drew closer. "Now I'm fired up."
"Let's show these two what happens when they anger a pair of Dragon Slayers."
The mob charged the other wizards and readied their claws to strike. But the wizards were ready this time.
Erza quickly sliced the head off one of the golems before backing away and summoned a few dozen swords. "Scattered Petals!" The swords launched at the mob, wiping out skeleton and golem alike.
"Ice-Make: Saucer!" Gray crafted a frozen disk, which began spinning rapidly. Gray shifted his hands and the blade turned sideways. The blade then launched from its static position and sliced through multiple enemies.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu slammed his flaming fist into Astoroth's face, knocking the demon into the snow.
"Your death will not be quick, Dragneel." Astoroth unfolded his wing and took to the sky, only to have Natsu jump up and grab his foot, trying to keep the demon grounded. "Let go of me! Vile Breath!" A dark mist escaped his mouth, assaulting the dragon slayer with its evil aura.
"Ice Dragon Cold Fist!" Drake pulled a ice covered fist back and punched Suishou into a old building.
"How dare you!" Suishou pulled himself out of the building with an angry look on his face. "Gemstone Armor!" A magic seal appeared beneath him and glowed. The glowed died, revealing his body covered in multicolored crystals. The arm guards had purple spikes jutting out towards his elbows.
"Our story ends now." Suishou charged forward with his fist back, ready to strike.
"I second that." Drake mimicked his foes actions, as his foot was heavily coated in clear ice. "Ice Dragon Talon." He was a little faster and struck first, hitting his opponent in the head.
"Why you..." Suishou created a magic seal in front of him. "Raw Diamond Storm!" The carbon shards flew towards him, who stood fast as the shards struck him, but couldn't penetrate his scales. "Take this! Ruby Blast!"
A new seal appeared beneath Drake and trapped him in a cocoon of the red gem. Suishou snapped his fingers and the gem blew up, Drake at its center. The smoke cleared, revealing a downed Drake.
Suishou smirked as he approached his downed foe, as a green seal appeared in front of him. "Jade Slicer!" A green scythe materialized in his hand, and he gripped it tightly before raising it above his head. "This is where you die!" He swung the scythe, intent on slicing the head open.
He heard a ting and looked up to find his scythe stuck in the ground. "Aw, shit!" Suishou pulled his scythe out of the ground and began moving around the ground randomly. "He can't get me if I'm moving around."
"Ice Dragon Glacial Strike!" Suishou thought wrong as Drake gathered magic power in his hand and slapped it on the ground. A pillar of ice was manipulated beneath Suishou that struck him and sent him into the air.
"Ice Dragon Wings!" A clear magic seal formed behind Drake as a pair of icy wings materialized on his back before he flew after Suishou.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!" His body glowed in a clear aura as the two fell to the ground. "Ice Dragon Supreme Ice Blizzard!" Drake slammed both fists together and released a huge blast of ice that struck Suishou sending him crashing into the ground hard.
The golems collapsed into crystal heaps as the dust from the impact settled, revealing Suishou laying on the ground, his magic armor having been destroyed by the impact. Drake stood over him, then ran off to aid Natsu.
"If you hold on any longer, you will die!" Astoroth stated before continuing his spell.
"That doesn't matter!" Natsu shouted. "You two killed everyone in this village, forced a Dragon Slayer to go on the run, lied to the Magic Council and tried to eliminate me and my friends. You won't escape!" Natsu then noticed the attack had stopped.
"I couldn't agree more. You and Suishou ruined my life, now I'll return the favor."
Natsu smirked as he knew what to do. "Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu raised his flaming foot and crashed it into Astoroth's stomach. The demon gasped as the air left his body, canceling his dark spell.
"Ice Dragon Chain." A icy chain wrapped itself around Astoroth's leg, keeping him in place.
"Finish this once and for all, Natsu!"
"Got it!" Natsu quickly jumped off the pillar and ignited his fists. "With the flames on my right hand, and the flames on my left. Put the two together and this is what you get! Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" He crafted a large fireball above his head before flinging it at Astoroth.
The fireball hit the mountain, obliterating the side they were fighting on. The skeletons lost their power, collapsing back into the ground.
The other wizards would have been blown off the mountain, if something surprising hadn't occurred. A dome of ice surrounded the others with a certain Dragon Slayer in front.
"What are you doing?" Gray asked, shocked.
"It's my fault you guys are in this mess. The least I could do is make sure you return to your guild in one piece." Drake told Gray.
Erza was surprised he was protecting them despite the fact they intended to capture him.
The remains of the village had been destroyed by Natsu's spell. In the center of the crater left behind, Astoroth laid defeated. Natsu was panting and Nicholas was still smoking from his scales, the chain having been destroyed by the impact.
"One last thing to take care of." Drake grabbed Astoroth and then walked over to Suishou and grabbed his arm. He dragged the two over to the other wizards and threw Suishou in front of them, before throwing the demon onto his partner. "So, what now?"
"You three are coming with me." All the wizards looked over to the corner turn and saw a platoon of Rune Knights appear.
"You can't take this guy away!" Natsu shouted at the commander while pointing at the Dragon Slayer.
"He saved our lives even though we tried to ruin his." Erza pleaded as she Requipped back into her normal armor. "Please, I beg you, don't put him away. You can't do this!"
"Calm down." The captain raised his hand to cease the complaints. "We're not going to take him away. Suishou called us last night to pickup a criminal, but when we got here, we overheard the whole thing. A confession from the person who posted the job has complicated the whole issue. So, we request that the two involved accompany us to the council, so we can straighten this issue out."
"I didn't realize that was protocol." Gray spoke up.
"It isn't." The captain replied. "But I'll be damned if I gonna imprison an innocent individual." The captain snapped his fingers, and a prison cart was pulled up from the rear. Two guards put cuffs on Suishou before picking him up, and two guards did the same to Astoroth. "What do you say? Wanna come with us?"
"Yeah sure thing." Drake made his way over to the carriage
"Wait!" Both turned around to see Natsu running up to them. "Are you sure about this?"
"I've spent the last seven years running for survival. This has gone on long enough." Drake replied. "See you guys later."
He held his fist out and Natsu bumped it with his own.
"Let's go." The captain ordered his men to pull out. "Hey, can you two keep an eye on the cuffed guys?" He asked Drake.
"It would be my pleasure." The cart lurched forward as the platoon left the mountain side.
"So, I guess that means we won't be getting that reward then?" Lucy asked dejected. "There goes my rent money."
"Don't worry, Lucy." Natsu offered her a hand up. "The second we get back, we'll go on another job."
"I think I say one with a decent reward before we left." Erza began explaining the job as the group walked down the mountain, back to the guild hall.