It didn't take long and they finally arrived at the site of the attacks. In fact, it wasn't far from the mountains and the landscape was made up of hills and more forests around than the farther area, which was flatter.

"Here we are," Albert said, showing the location.

"The attacks were all here?" Ryker asked.

"This was the last one, about three days ago. The other two went further east and closer to the mountains," Albert indicated.

"So he must be venturing further and further away from home," Erza said.

The mages looked around, looking for any clue or trace that might give them information about the creature.

"This here is a mess," Ryker stated.

"Plants, houses, animals… all destroyed or dead. Typical of trolls," said Erza, looking around. "Did he attack any humans, Albert?"

"No. Nobody died, nor were they attacked. Residents said they heard a noise at night, very loud and were afraid to leave the house, in the morning everything was like this", he said, sighing, showing around.

"So was it really a troll, Erza?" asked the other magician, still looking around.

"By features, yes," she replied. "Find anything?"

"Footprints. They're old but lead straight into the forest," Ryker said. Immediately the other two went to him and saw huge footprints on the ground. As the mage said, they weren't fresh, but they were still visible. Since he couldn't tell what type the footprints were, despite assuming the obvious, Erza confirmed that they were troll's and as Albert said, only one.

"We can depart from here and follow these footsteps," said Titania.

"Are you sure? It won't be long before it gets dark and the mountains are dangerous at night," Albert said worriedly.

"Don't worry, we'll be back before nightfall if we don't find anything," Erza reassured him. "But from here it's dangerous for you. Then go back to the village and wait for us there".

Albert looked at the wizards and saw the confidence they had. Even Ryker surprised him with an aura of unshakable strength, confidence, and calm. Nor did he look like that person scared hours ago by a snake.

"It's ok. Be careful," he said turning and heading back to the village, both of them nodded.

"Can you track?" said Ryker seriously and dryly without emotion.

"It's going to be difficult, they're not new and the weather has turned out a lot, in the forest and in the mountains it's going to be much worse, almost impossible", reflected calmly the magician Requip.

"Then I think I'd better track it down," the wizard said.

"Can you do it under these conditions?", the mage looked surprised, but the confidence in his voice and posture were undeniable.

"It won't be the first time I screen under unfavorable conditions. I'm not the best in the business, but I can do the job." His eyes were focused on the goal. He was going into combat mode. That one more resembled the Ryker Erza met for the first time.

She nodded and they started to follow in the footsteps, but not before...

"Then follow me, my queen," said the playful wizard and smiling mischievously, Erza huffed and rolled her eyes. Well, maybe he's not that old Ryker from before.

The mages walked a long way into the forest. It wasn't easy, the bush was dense and the terrain was bad, with steep hills and valleys and because of the rain it was very slippery. The bush was tight, but they noticed that where they were walking was easier. They deduced that the plants were taken out of the way by the monster's passage, making the path a little easier.

At one point Ryker knelt on the ground and scanned the ground, looking for footprints or other signs left in place by the troll's passage, as well as in the surrounding vegetation and landscape.

"What are you looking for?" asked Erza.

"This," he indicated a broken branch, facing the way they were heading.

"This indicates that we are on the right path," said the red-haired mage.

"Yea. Look at all this. It's a mess", the mage stated looking around. "These things are great, aren't they?", he said and Erza confirmed it. "This trail left by him is well beaten. He must have used it in the other attacks as well. Behind it was a fork to the east, the direction Albert spoke of the other attacks. I think we are getting close."

"The terrain has gotten steeper too, and colder. We are closer to the mountains with every step. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a cave not far ahead," Titania said confidently.

"We've been climbing for a long time, I can see something up there, I don't know what it is, but it doesn't look like heaven. I think that soon we will come across something interesting", he said smiling.

"So, have you ever killed trolls before, Scarlet?" he said as he rose to his feet.

Erza looked at him, she stood tall, strong and confident, one hand on her hip. "Some, they are not easy to kill," she said knowingly. "We must be close, we have to be more careful now."

Ryker nodded and continued walking through the forest up the hill. Soon they saw what appeared to be a large wall of rock that stretched for miles in both directions and was hundreds of meters high, it was something impassable in the middle of the forest. And there it was, the entrance to the cave.

"Erza, look at that," Ryker whispered to his friend, indicating a large cavern. "The trail leads straight there," he said and Erza smiled in victory, agreeing with her friend. "I think we've found the target," he said, smiling out of the corner of his mouth.

The wizards looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do. Return to the village and return early the next day and attack? Attack now and stop that beast from going out and destroying another farm and maybe killing someone?

"I know what you must be thinking," the wizard said to the redhead. "But caves by day and by night are the same thing."

"By day he would be sleeping, it would be easier to take him by surprise," she said. "But…" she sighed, " I don't want to risk him hurting anyone, or worse."

Ryker smiles. "Then let's go!"

"Damn it! It was supposed to be just one, not a whole family !" yelled Ryker who was kneeling on the ground holding his right arm which had been injured by an attack by one of the trolls and was bleeding.

"Only one must have come out to attack the place, the others were hidden, I don't know what happened," said Erza, dodging a troll's kick and landing on her feet in front of the other mage. "But now is not the time for that. Can you get up?" she said looking at the mage on the ground with a serious expression.

"Don't worry, I'm fine", he said seriously.

"Then get out of there and attack them. The neck is one of its most vulnerable regions," ordered Titania, Queen of the Fairies.

"What a bossy!", whispered the magician pouting.

"What did you say?" Erza turned to him with a deadly glare.

"Nothing." he said, choking and swallowing, getting up immediately and preparing to continue fighting the group of five trolls.

Titania equipped herself with her Flight Armor. Ryker had never seen that armor and for a few seconds he could only stare at her wearing it and blushed. She began to attack the group of monsters fiercely, using her immense speed, at the same time Ryker, after recovering, hurled energy blasts at the monsters.

The objective was to separate them and attack one at a time, the trolls were forming a cake, which was complicated, as one defended the other, separating would be easier to defeat. But five trolls would not be easy at all.

Try as they might, their skin was tough and hitting their necks wasn't the most trivial thing in the world. It was a complicated region to reach and relatively small to reach.

"It's not working! They are very compact and the size of this cave doesn't help," said Erza.

"I have an idea. Distract them for me for a while. It achieves?" Ryker said very seriously, but there was a slight blush on his cheeks every time he looked at her.

"What do you intend?" .

"I'll hit them with everything. It won't kill, but it will stun them long enough to pull them apart and attack them all later," said the wizard. Erza smiled and switched to her Clear Heart Clothing . Ryker burned more than Erza's hair. What's her problem? She wants to kill him wearing those clothes!?

"Be quick", she said and launched herself at the monsters with incredible ferocity.

The wizard watched her fight the five monsters alone. It was unbelievable what she could do especially with that outfit that offered no protection. One by one she attacked them, slashing and hurling gusts of wind with her sword at the crossbows. Even though the monsters tried, they weren't able to hit Erza, she was much faster than them. Exchanging, precisely, the sword of hands she hit those who came from behind or from another direction.

"She is amazing!", thought Ryker in awe. He cleared his head of ideas and began his work. Concentrating, the mage began to gather energy and a blue aura formed around him.

Meanwhile, Erza dodged a blow delivered by one of the trolls, leaping up and using the far wall of the cave to gain momentum and leap back into the group by hitting them violently with her sword. Even though they were resistant the mage was inflicting considerable damage on them. She did not stand still in one place, attacking them from the front, this would facilitate defense and counterattack. The mage leapt from one side to the other, using the cave itself, the rocks and the walls, to propel herself and attack from all angles.

Ryker, for his part, mustered up a fair amount of energy for his attack. He has started making a sequence of hand seals that takes a few seconds and a magic circle appears behind him at the top.

" Erza!", shouts the magician. She immediately looks back and sees her mate. He had red eyes that would frighten any creature, and a blue aura around his body danced around him like flames and a large magic circle above his head.

The mage jumped back and stood beside the mage, watching him, impressed and at the same time apprehensive.

The magician stretched an arm forward with a slapped hand, with that a great blast of energy left the circle hitting the group of trolls ahead, causing a huge explosion, covering the cave with smoke and causing part of it to collapse, precisely the one at the entrance where the meager light that illuminated the place came.

He launched a small sphere of light that illuminated the cave and the two saw the monsters thrown and scattered on the ground. They were still alive and were starting to get up, but they were even more bruised and disoriented.

"Now is our chance," Titania said. Ryker pulled out two military knives he had and covered them with energy, surprising Erza.

"I take the ones on the right and you take the ones on the left", he said smiling with the corner of his mouth and looking at the redhead. She returned the smile with a gentle one and they both left to finish off the trolls.

Ryker hit one of the rising monsters with a punch, engulfed in energy, causing it to stumble backwards. In a quick move he came around behind and slashed his ankles with the knives, the beast screaming in pain. The mage jumped to the other and with a knee hit him in the face. Ryker grabbed his chin from behind and yanked him down violently. The Troll hit the back of the head hard on the ground, making him howl in pain. He delivered a sequence of blows against the animal on the ground, ending with a precise cut in its throat. Quickly he ran towards the first one, who was having trouble getting up and used a blast of energy to hit the monster's back, piercing its armor and passing through its body. Applying more energy to the blades he managed to cut off the troll's head.

Erza was fighting the remaining three while Ryker was fighting the other two, but to the mage, it was like one against one. The queen never lost sight of an opponent, they were all within her reach. She hit one with her sword, knocking him down, flipping over and knocking out another and with a leap he took off from the cave's ceiling and flung himself down hitting the third. With a great leap she backed up a few yards and hurled herself at them again. It was getting easier, thanks to his companion's attack the trolls were disoriented and didn't really know what was going on. Erza knew how to make the most of the moment. Spinning she inflicted deep cuts on the trolls, attacking the three at almost the same time, going from one to the other in a matter of seconds, it didn't even give the beasts a chance to breathe, it was attack after attack.

Time to end this, the magician thought. She summoned two other swords, one in each hand. One was Dragon Slayer's fire sword and one was Ice Devil Slayer's ice sword. She lunged at a troll cutting it crosswise, turning her body to the left did the same with the second. In a leap backwards she landed, looked and took aim at the third in front of her. The mage ran and defeated him once and for all. All trolls had been defeated.

"We did it," said an almost excited Ryker, approaching Erza.

"It was an arduous battle, but we triumphed in the end," said the mage, returning to her usual armor, and to the relief of a certain other mage.

"I agree. Now we have to solve this", said the magician, turning to the landslide, which closed the entrance.

"I think I can explode and let us go," he said, reaching out and forming a sphere of energy, but he was immediately interrupted by Erza, who grabbed his arm. Ryker looked confused at her, who had a serious expression on her face.

"Don't do that," said the mage. "These rocks are propping up the roof of the cave, if you shoot it could make the whole cave come down." He looked at the cave-in and the ceiling, and saw that Erza was right.

" Shit!", shouted. "I should have used less force," he muttered and chastised himself.

"It was not your fault. It was a good plan and thanks to him we managed to take them down without any more problems", the red-haired mage said, resting her hand on his right shoulder, consoling him. "Let's find another way out." Ryker gave him a smile out of the corner of his mouth.

"There must be another entrance at the back of this hole," he said.

"Why do you think that?" asked the redhead.

"There's this slight draft coming from the bottom of the cave. It can only be a way out".

Erza stopped and felt the air pass over her skin and hair, it was light but fresh. "You're right. Well scored," she said with a light, gentle smile. "We better get started," she said walking into the cave.

"Oh, calm down there!", Ryker intervened, causing her to stop and look at him confused. "We just finished fighting five trolls, right after a long journey. We'd better rest before we go any further. We don't know what's in there," he said seriously.

Erza watched him and was thoughtful for a moment. "You made a good point. Let's rest and move on later". She looked at her mate's arm and saw that it still required attention. "How's your arm?"

"It's fine," he said, but the mage insisted and saw it with her own eyes. It was bleeding a little.

"You idiot!", she screamed. "This needs care!", said. The redhead took a piece of cloth from her skirt and wrapped the wound. "When we get out of here we have to take care of it better."

"Thank you," he said to the mage as she attended to his wound. There was a slight blush to it.

Once she was done, Ryker found a more comfortable spot and sat on the floor. Nodding his head, he made the mage sit beside him. Erza followed his suggestion and sat down. There they were silent for a while, just sitting side by side, looking embarrassed in relation to each other.

"So…" he said.

"So, right!", she said.

"Yeah... we did a good job today, don't you think?", Ryker said awkwardly.

"Yes, we did," Erza replied.

A silence fell over them for a while longer. Ryker wanted to talk, apparently, but for some reason he was having trouble finding the words, a nervousness had settled over him.

"You know Erza… you, you are a very talented warrior," he said, drawing the attention of the mage at his side. "Where I come from, you would have a spotlight," said smiling slightly, not showing a slight blush, failing miserably.

Erza saw his reaction and his comment, thus giving a gentle smile. "Thanks, I know," she said proudly, causing Ryker to sweat. "Now, since you brought up this subject, I would like to know more about your land. You never say anything about it there. And don't give me excuses," she said, the last part seriously.

Ryker looked uncomfortable, he always felt that way when this subject came up. It was difficult for him to talk about it, especially when it came to him every day in visions, headaches, shivering and panic attacks. Erza noticed how he was feeling.

"You had a rough past, didn't you?", she said gently.

He sighed and lowered his head. "It wasn't a very good time," he said, his voice almost emotionless. "It was…we went through hardship and…and loss", Erza saw the hardship he felt, she placed a hand on his right shoulder.

He felt the support coming from the redhead and sighed again. "The place I came from is not a place anyone wants to live, not anymore."

"What happened?" she asked affectionately.

"There was a war, so you know, destruction, deaths, the traumas that come with that," he was a little vague.

"I imagine," she said. Erza knew it wouldn't do to push harder, he still wasn't comfortable enough to open up completely. "I understand what you must have been through, I know how difficult it can be to talk about certain things. Your eyes, I know that look," she said contemplatively about herself. He looked at her in surprise.

"I didn't have an easy childhood either," Erza said and began to tell her story to him. The mage wanted him to feel good about sharing the burden, to understand that he didn't need to close himself off.

She told about her childhood, her kidnapping and her period of slavery in the Tower of Heaven. His escape attempts, the friends she made, the tortures she suffered, her injuries, her traumas and her escape and arrival in Fairy Tail. Ryker listened intently to her, and he was angry that she had gone through all of this.

"Why did you tell me all this?", he asked.

"For a long time I kept it a secret. Until it came up. I didn't want to tell, but I was forced, even so, afterward, I felt lighter. Sharing the burden with my friends helped me to get over the trauma," she said with a smile. "You can count on your friends."

Ryker stared at her intently and turned his head forward and sighed before speaking. "I've been told that. Fuck! Do you at Fairy Tail have a thing for always being right or what?" he said with a slight smile. "I'll say what I told Mira. When I'm ready, I promise to tell you everything. But, but I still have issues that are not well resolved."

Erza again placed her hand on Ryker's shoulder and smiled. "Do not be afraid. We will always be supporting you. We are a family, and you are now part of it", he said smiling. Ryker smiles back.

He was looking at her and realized something after her story. Slowly he raised his hand towards Erza's face until he touched her bangs that covered the right side of her face.

"W... what are you doing?" she said, feeling the blood rush to her face.

Gently and lovingly he brushes the strands of hair away from her face, revealing the beautiful face behind, in all its splendor, and her false eye. She was blushing, something that made her look prettier. Ryker ran a hand through her hair, tucking the strands behind her ear as he watched her. He thought she was really beautiful.

"You said your face was hurt, that's why you let your hair fall on it?" asked the mage in a worried but kind way. His hand rested on her cheek, lovingly.

She nodded, confirming her suspicions. "They took this eye out, but thanks to Porlyusica I recovered," she said calmly. Ryker, on the other hand, looked enraged, gritting his teeth, but Erza was quick to calm him down.

"Do not worry. Thanks to him I was saved many times. I don't even feel the difference, it's okay", she said putting a hand over his on the floor. Ryker looked at her and saw that it no longer bothered her, and couldn't even tell the difference, so he calmed down and smiled at her slightly.

The two stayed like that for a while, looking at each other, until they realized that he still had his hand on Erza's face and her hand was over his other hand, they both blushed heavily. They were redder than Titania's hair and quickly parted sheepishly.

"It's…it's just…I'm glad you're okay," he said stuttering.

"Oh, oh yes thanks, it was nothing," she said awkwardly.

They both sat there side by side, shy and awkward with each other. This situation was unthinkable for both mages, how anyone could cause this effect, especially with a person they knew so recently. They didn't even know how to act with each other anymore. It was weird weather. Often they looked between each other, but said nothing, when they realized that the other saw their prying eyes, quickly turned to the other side red.

"It's getting cold," Ryker broke the silence after a while.

"A little bit," Erza replied.

"You should take off your armor," suggested the wizard.

"W... what do you mean!?", Erza said stuttering and scared.

Realizing what the mage must have understood, the mage was quick to correct things so as not to fall into a misunderstanding. "Being covered with a metal cover is not the best option in the cold. The metal will only cool and steal your heat," he explained.

Erza heard him and nodded, putting away her armor and keeping her conventional clothes. "That's right, well thought out," he said.

It was getting colder, sensitive to the drop in temperature inside the cave. Erza hugged herself and rubbed her hands with her arms, trying to generate heat. Ryker took off his jacket and placed it over Erza, who was surprised but thanked her by grabbing the jacket and pulling it closer to her.

"Thank you," she said gently, blushing.

"Not at all," he said looking at her and smiling fondly at her, with a slight blush.

"You noticed, didn't you ?" he said and she looked at him confused. "That somehow we have a connection. I can't explain it, I don't know if it's because of our traumatic past or because we're born warriors, but we have that connection," he said.

"Yes, I realised. I can't explain it either, but I feel this connection with you," Titania said in agreement.

"It's weird," Ryker said with an awkward laugh, followed by Erza doing the same thing. "But it's cool", he said smiling and looking at her with a smile.

He was looking at her, admiring that person who was beside him, everything she represented and what she could do. Her deeds and fame, the posture and seriousness she had and the admiration people had for her wherever she went.

"You know Erza, I think you're an amazing person", Ryker said taking a deep breath and letting go of what was in his throat.

"W… what!?", said Erza, taken by surprise.

"I think you're amazing. Not only as a magician or a fantastic fighter, but as a person too. I mean, you are always there for your friends, you are dedicated, strong, smart and determined. No wonder Wendy likes you so much," Ryker says shyly and blushing. "You're a person to be admired".

"It's…it's…I…I don't know what to say. I… thanks", Erza was at a loss, but smiled happily, as did the wizard beside her.

"Now, don't be convinced," said the wizard jokingly. The mood had returned to its natural state between the two, without the embarrassment of before. They felt more comfortable with each other again. In fact, they felt more comfortable with each other. Something changed in their dynamics and they got closer.

"Convinced!?" exclaimed Erza.

"Well you're kind of bossy, just don't get too cocky now. Well, more convinced I would say," he said jokingly.

Erza made an annoyed face at him. "Do you want to prove something?" she said in a threatening tone. However Ryker laughed at the situation, which made the red-haired mage laugh too.

"You look better that way, laughing," he said.

"Look who's talking. The person with the biggest smile on Fiore. And I laugh a lot," said the ruddy mage.

" Fair." he agreed with a crooked smile. "Maybe we should laugh more", he says, bringing his face close to hers, standing a few inches from each other, so close that they both could feel the heat from their bodies radiating.

They stayed like that, staring at each other for a while, admiring each other until the serious expressions on their faces changed to something calmer, admiring and affectionate, especially from Ryker, who immediately pulled back and looked away.

"What is it ?" asked a serious and intrigued Erza.

"Nothing…", he said reluctantly, which annoyed the mage beside him.

"Stop being a coward and say it !" , said the redhead rudely, sometimes she got tired of the closed way of being of some men.

Ryker looked at her in surprise at that attitude. She was serious and had a face that showed annoyance and, to him, she couldn't look prettier. Damn, what was he thinking? But it was true, he wasn't afraid of her outbursts of anger, or her bossiness, he was used to it anyway. He liked it and thought she was still, prettier with that face. Shit, but what kind of thinking was that? And why the hell was that woman causing him this?

"It's… I... I think you're cute," he said shyly, blushing like a pepper and completely clumsy. "I mean, even though you're a complete badass, you can still be cute. Even when you get mad and with that irritated face you are still beautiful, if not prettier maybe. I think, at least."

"Do you think I'm cute?", Erza said, totally flushed and not knowing how to react. This conversation was getting awkward. He was saying things no one else had dared say to her and she didn't know how to react to it all.

"It sort of does," he said, embarrassed. "You're beautiful and sexy and all. Even angry you are beautiful, as I said. It's… it's… oh, damn, I'm sorry, I don't even know why I'm saying this," he said, turning his face away and crossing his arms in frustration.

After a few seconds, where nothing could be heard, not even drops dripping from the cave's ceiling, Ryker felt gentle arms wrap around his torso. He looked to the side to see a red Erza clinging to him, with a shy smile on her lips and an expression of happiness.

"Thanks. Even a girl like me likes to be praised, from time to time," she smiled. "Thank you for saying that, for thinking that of me."

"You deserve it", he said hugging her and pulling the girl closer. Now he held her fondly and rested his head against hers. Erza didn't mind, she was comfortable and she liked the closeness and affection he showed, she even let him play with the ends of her hair. She never imagined being like this with anyone, not so soon at least.

"Now I'm curious," he said in a soft, caring voice. "Why do your armor always have cat ears ?" .

"How do you know that? As I recall, you haven't seen all my armor. Do you have something against it?", she said still nestled in him.

"None and I'm not at the bar all the time. Whenever I can, I stay in the library. I wanted to know more about the guild and Fiore's history. Until I found some really interesting albums," he said with a laugh.

Erza blushed, trying to imagine what he saw in those photos. "All of them were designed for tactical purposes, everything about them has a specific function," she said in a very explanatory way. Ryker just laughed.

"And they make you cute wouldn't they be one of them?", retorted amusingly, embarrassing the mage, but she laughed.

"I have an outfit of my own for this. You'd like to see?" she said seductively and mischievously. She needed to get back at him a little bit.

Ryker got hot, looked like he was going to catch fire it was so hot, his face got so red that Erza's hair looked white next to him. He broke out in a sweat and his heart raced, looking like it was going to pop out of his chest at any moment.

"N…no, it won't be necessary," he said chokingly, eliciting giggles from Erza Scarlet. The mage narrowed his eyes, planning his counterattack. "Even if that goth maid's uniform suits you very well," she said teasingly.

"D... did you see that too?" , she said nervously. Why she was like this with him, she didn't know. He didn't answer anything, just chuckled lightly.

They kept talking about everything and then some, until sleep slowly came. Erza slept leaning on the mage beside her as he lovingly stroked her head.