A/N: Here we go again.

I don't own Fairy Tail.

I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 21: Salamander

July 29th, X784

Layla sat quietly inside the train, scooched up into a ball in the corner of her seat with a sketchpad propped up on her knees as she nervously drew in it, doing her best to ignore the glares of her fellow mage sat opposite of her, Connor, who had been impatiently tapping his foot while staring at the wall straight ahead of him, occasionally letting out deep sighs while Layla did her best to stay out of sight in the corner.

"Fucking finally," Connor huffed as the train began to come to a stop in Oshibana Town, the young man standing up as soon as the train came to a stop, "Hurry up," he ordered as he stepped out of the cabin, Layla squeaking nervously in response as she tried to quickly grab her things and follow him through the train car, though she would get cut off as a couple of figures fell out of another cabin, Layla seeing a blur of blonde and pink hair fall to the ground in front of her.

"C'mooooon… Get off of me!" the blonde-haired woman on the ground whined as she tried to push the horribly sick looking, pink-haired man off of her, who could only groan in response.

"Um… Excuse me," Layla stammered as a blue cat came walking out of the cabin, walking over the pair on the ground.

"You're in the way Lucy," the cat said nonchalantly as it stood on top of the pair.

"I'm in the way!?" the woman snapped as the cat laughed quietly in response, clearly getting the reaction it was going for.

"Ummm…" Layla nervously hummed as she watched Connor exit the train in the distance.

"Oh! Sorry, go ahead and step over us, if you can. It's going to take a while for him to get moving, he doesn't do so well on trains or… anything that moves really," the woman, Lucy, said while patting the pink-haired man on the back, Layla nervously swallowing as she noticed the Fairy Tail Guild Mark on the woman's hand.

"Sorry!" Layla suddenly shouted before jumping over them and running out of the train, leaving the woman and cat with confused expressions on their faces. Layla hit the ground outside with a start, running after the first person wearing a cowboy hat she saw, feeling relieved when she was able to tell that it was Connor.

"The hell were you doing that took so long?" he asked before Layla quickly dashed around him and grabbed him by his good arm, "The hell?"

"F-f-f-Fairy Tail mages were on that train!" Layla shouted, her eyes wide with panic as she shook Connor by his arm, "Two of them!"

"Shit… That rat bastard councilman's doing, probably," Connor growled as he walked past Layla, grabbing her with his good hand to drag her behind him, "He's trying to start shit between us by forcing us on a mission he probably knew they'd be taking."

"Do you think they're after the same thing we are then?" Layla asked as she struggled to keep pace with Connor as they quickly walked through the station.

"Not a doubt in my mind. You get a good look at them?" he asked as he pulled Layla through the entrance of the building and out into the town.

"Uh… one was a really sick guy with pink hair and the other was named…" Layla began to say before the name died in her throat.

"You're gonna say something I really don't wanna hear, aren't you?"

"It was Lucy. It was the Lucy that Jose wanted to capture! We had her picture on our mission board and everything!" Layla suddenly shouted as Connor grit his teeth.

"What a fucking powder keg," Connor cursed, "We're in some deep shit if they realize we were part of Phantom Lord. C'mon then, we've gotta get to the forest and find that fire salamander before they even get close," Connor said as he began to run, Layla doing her best to keep pace with him as they ran through Oshibana Town leaving the station and the trio now leaving it behind them.

"Ugghh… Why do I keep getting onto those things?" the pink-haired man sighed as he dragged his feet out of the station.

"Because I'm not walking all over Fiore just because you get sick on trains, Natsu. And besides, we need that money since we weren't allowed to accept any from our mission to Galuna Island and I'm behind on my rent!" Lucy snapped back before sighing.

"You got a weird horse cosplayer from it though," the cat countered as he munched on a fish he had pulled from the little, green rucksack on his back.

"He's not," Lucy began to argue before making a face, remembering how the spirit had looked when she had summoned it a few days earlier, "Okay, maybe Sagittarius is really weird looking, but he's super reliable!"

"Sure saved my bacon by making that fire, so he's alright in my books," Natsu chuckled as he rolled his shoulders, stretching out his arms and upper back before adjusting the scarf around his neck, "All right! I'm all fired up now! This time that Salamander we've heard about has gotta be Igneel! It's been setting things on fire and everything!"

"Aye!" the cat cheered as it flew up into the air with wings that had magically appeared on its back.

"Let's go!" Natsu cheered before grabbing Lucy by the wrist and running off through town, the cat flying swiftly behind them.

. : + : .

Rocco dashed out from behind the boulder as water from the stream gathered on his flanks, circling him in large orbs as he watched the cliff up above, Droga prepping another volley of lightning bolts that quickly came hurtling down at him, walls of sand quickly building up to take the impacts as Vincent chased after Rocco, turning into twisted spires of glass as the lighting bolts impacted against them while Rocco focused a pressurized stream of water into a trident that he threw up towards Droga, the water weapon impacting against the cliff face and sending a rain of rubble down towards the ground as Droga took to the air again, the lines on his armor lighting up in red before he dropped down to the ground as Rocco sent a wave of water at him.

"Dammit, where's the girl?" Droga growled as his armor began to glow yellow again, his vambraces sparking with lightning as Rocco closed in on him, Droga blocking a punch from the mage with his vambrace, pushing Rocco back as he came into contact with the electricity before the lines in his armor glowed green, sending out a powerful gust of wind that blew away the sand Vincent had gathered for his next spell before Droga's armor returned to red as fire spewed out of his vambrace, forcing Vincent to back off before Droga took to the sky again, flying back up into the air to see Iva crouched up at the top of the cliff.

"Rocco! Vincent!" Iva shouted.

"Got him!" the teal haired man replied as he sent another wave of water up into the air while several large tree roots burst out of the side of the cliff, Droga caught in between the two spells before looking down, seeing sand gathering beneath him as it formed into several sharp spikes.

"Shit!" Droga cursed as he quickly flew upward as quickly as he could, just to have Iva leap of the cliff and grab onto him pushing him down into Rocco's spell as the two of them were submerged inside of the floating water before they fell through the bottom of it, landing on the ground with Iva pinning Droga down.

"Who sent you after me!? And why!?" Iva demanded to know while she struggled to catch her breath, her soaking wet hair clinging to her head and body.

Droga took a moment to look at her and then to Rocco and Vincent who were now walking up to them, making sure that Droga knew he was trapped.

"Ever heard of the Cult of Ejder?" Droga asked, earning confused looks from all three of the mages, "Thought so. Big spooky cult, real secretive. They worship dragons and go back hundreds of years. I'd guess they want your Dragon Slaying Magic for themselves."

"You gonna tell us why they want it?" Vincent asked as he stepped down on Droga's left wrist.

"Fuck if I know, kid. They don't pay me to ask questions. They didn't pay for the 'Silence is Golden' package either, so I wouldn't have any reason to not tell you why either," Droga answered.

"You believe him?" Rocco asked as the three mages looked between each other.

"His type is all about money, so yeah, I'd say I do," Vincent stated, "He doesn't have a reason to lie or keep silent. He'd let us know if he did."

"Smart lad," Droga said, smirking underneath his helmet, "But it's time for me to go," he declared as the lines on his armor began to glow yellow before delivering a painful electric shock to Iva and Vincent who were still touching him before he quickly pushed them off, jumping to his feet and grabbing a hold of Rocco, electrocuting him before he could react, "Not smart enough to see that coming though," Droga chuckled as the lines on his armor turned red before he flew off into the sky and away from the Sealed Forest, leaving the three mages behind.

"The hell?" Vincent gasped as he pulled himself up off of the ground before looking at Rocco and Iva, the former struggling to pull himself up as his Take-Over form disappeared while Iva was still twitching on the ground, "Hey! You okay?" he asked as he scrambled over to Iva, who was clenching her teeth in pain while her muscle's spasmed.

"Dammit!" Iva cursed before grunting in pain, "What does he know?" she growled as she struggled to get control of her own body as she sat up.

"And if he was after you, why didn't he capture you just now when he had the chance?" Vincent asked as he and Rocco lifted Iva back up to her feet.

"I got a strong feeling a lot of what he said was bullshit," Rocco huffed as they led Iva back towards the ruined tree house, sitting her down up against the base of the fallen tree.

"Think he was telling the truth about that Cult of Ejder though?" Vincent asked before letting out a sharp whistle, Jinjo quickly flying into view before landing on the fallen tree, letting out a small cry once he was settled, "Can't say I've ever heard of them."

"Me neither," Rocco huffed as he crossed his arms, "Which is why I'm inclined to think it was bullshit he was spewing to get us to let down our guard."

"Doesn't explain who'd have a bounty on Iva's head then," Vincent countered before Rocco snapped back him, the two of them going back and forth with each other over and over again.

"Will you two just shut up!" Iva snapped, the two men quickly falling silent as they saw the angry look on Iva's face, "I don't know what to think, except that someone out there knows what my dad knew about me! Someone knows who I am and where I came from before I lived here, and I am going to find them and beat it out of the if I need to!"

The three of them fell into silence after that, awkwardly looking between each other before Iva let out another sigh.

"All right, let's hurry up and get out of here. Where the hell was it you wanted to go after this, Vince?" Iva asked.

"Coleus Port. Nika's got a job for me there in the local Rune Knight garrison," the sand mage answered.

"Right. That job that just reeked of trouble," Rocco huffed, "Better get going then. I don't like the idea of spending the night here."

"Me neither. You good to walk now so we can leave?" Vincent asked, looking down at Iva.

"Yeah, just pick a direction and the forest will spit you out in five minutes," Iva stated while Rocco helped her to her feet.

"Great, back into the cramped, spooky forest we go then," Vincent declared before the three of them set off, Jinjo taking to the skies to follow from above.

. : + : .

Droga flew through the skies of Fiore, looking down at the countryside below him, scanning it for anyone that might be down below, his eyes eventually locking onto a pair of figures in cloaks before he flew down to them, landing on the ground in front of them.

"Lady Tanith," Droga greeted as he stood before the robed woman, his employer once more, "Wasn't aware you were brining any company this time. You know I hate surprises," he warned as one of his hands hovered near the pistol at his side.

"Be calm, bounty hunter," the woman ordered, "My son insisted on accompanying me for your debriefing, this is Anastas," she said, gesturing the man next to her who was wearing a loose, finely embroidered, hooded cloak that didn't obscure his face at all, revealing his silver hair and crimson eyes, as well as a wicked smile on his face.

"I suppose that's fine then," Droga replied, "Still not so understanding of why you're so interested in the brat though," Droga huffed as he reached up to remove his helmet, revealing a tanned, scarred and bald head, "She's strong, but too direct in battle. If I wanted to, I could've had killed her quickly or even captured her and brought her straight to you."

"Seems the fruit of our labors needs time to ripen then," Tanith mused.

"What of the dragon, Baumdrache," Anastas asked.

"Dead, for several years now by the look of 'im," Droga answered while pointing in the direction of the Sealed Forest, "He's no more than a giant, rotting corpse in the center of the forest."

"Fascinating. A prime opportunity for a dissection then," Anastas stated, "Perhaps we will be able to harvest a fine Lachrima from him for further experimentation."

"I have to admit, I'm surprised that any dragons are still around, even if they're recently deceased," Droga said as he eyed the man in front of him warily.

"Baumdrache may have very well been the last true dragon left alive," Anastas replied, "He lived in secret for around four hundred years when all his compatriots died in the great Dragon Civil War. That is, until we found him almost twenty years ago. He was a fascinating creature to behold."

"Any idea what could have killed him then?" Droga asked.

"Most likely Acnologia," Anastas answered before the robed woman cut him off.

"Child, enough," Tanith ordered as her son took a deep bow, "Forgive my son, he grows excited when the subject of dragons arises."

"He seems quite knowledgeable about the subject," Droga replied, "But enough about that. It's time for you to uphold your end of the bargain."

"Of course, a just reward for services rendered," Tanith stated as she waved her hand, causing the chest of gold and gemstones Droga was promised to appear, the bounty hunter kneeling down and opening it before examining a few of the pieces inside.

"Looks good. A pleasure doing business with you then," Droga said as he shut the chest closed and lifted it up by one of the handles on its sides.

"We will most likely have more contracts for you in the future," Tanith said as Droga placed his helmet back on his head.

"And I'll take them, provided the price is right," Droga answered before taking back off into the skies, leaving the mother and son behind.

"What a foul stench that man carries with him," Anastas stated bluntly.

"Indeed, but he has his uses," Tanith said as she pulled out a small lachrima orb, a faint image of teal appearing in it.

"Yes, Lady Tanith?" a voice from the lachrima asked.

"Our source in the Phantom Hearts Mage Guild stated that the target is heading for Coleus Port now that they've left the Sealed Forest," Tanith began to explain, "I want you to go there and watch them."

"Understood," the voice responded before the image disappeared from the lachrima.

"Our young, Miss Dragomirov shall remain under observation for the time being. She's not yet ready for the role she was bred to play," Tanith stated as her and Anastas looked to the south, toward Coleus Port.

"Yes, as she is now, she could not hope to stand up to the Dragon Slayer's of four hundred years ago, let alone a dragon," Anastas added as Tanith nodded.

"Indeed. Though it is a shame there are no dragons for her to slay. That would accelerate the process tremendously. Baumdrache spites us from beyond the grave it seems," Tanith sighed, "It may be several years before we are ready to proceed at this rate."

"It will be more than worth the wait though, won't it?"

"Yes… It will indeed. The Cult of Ejder will bring this world into the next great age of all mankind, kicking and screaming if need be."

Credits:

Lady Tanith – Dreadburner94

Anastas – Dreadburner94

A/N: And there we go, chapter 21 is done. And we've got some more canon characters coming onto the scene and we've finally gotten the name the mysterious robed woman who's been stalking Iva.

But, in other news, I've started a writing challenge with MyDearWatson. Whoever writes the most chapters before the end of next Saturday wins and we're counting the last chapter I wrote, so this'll put us at 2 to 1 in my favor.

But I'd like to thank Benthino, Grimnack and MyDearWatson for the reviews, they're all appreciated as always.

That's all for now though.

Your host,

Dreadburner94.