Chapter 15

Gajeel braces himself as Natsu throws a flaming fist at him. Covering his arms in a sleek iron, Gajeel manages to reduce the impact of the attack. Though, he does have to contend with the now burning sensation running through his arms. In terms of overall fighting strength, Natsu and Gajeel are relatively equal. Gajeel has the upper hand in the defense department though. This was balanced out by the fact that Natsu has the upper hand in the offensive department.

Gajeel throws Natsu off of him by throwing his arms outward. Natsu is knocked back by this, but easily finds his footing. Gajeel jumps back as well and recalls the iron covering over his arm. This does the job of alleviating the burning sensation, but underneath, it is revealed that Natsu's flames have burned to his flesh.

Gajeel is ready to just grit his teeth and accept the injury, but Wendy is by his side and quickly heals the burn wound.

"It would be wise to take down the healer first." Seilah calls out to Natsu.

"No!" Natsu yells back.

Despite his disagreement, he runs forward and attempts to swing at Wendy. Gajeel curses at Seilah as he once more takes a hit from Natsu to protect the younger girl.

He wishes he could call on the assistance of his allies, but Jackal is keeping them well occupied. Despite Erza's new resolve against him, his explosion magic is still devastatingly powerful and difficult to fight against. Even with Pisces help, it doesn't look like she has gained any kind of advantage. The only other options were Anna and Mard Geer. With Anna focusing her efforts on assisting Erza through Pisces, and Mard Geer being shut down completely by fire mages, it looks like no aid can be found.

And then the book rockets straight into his face, knocking him to the ground.

"Ow!" He yells as he picks himself up, "What was that?"

The book comes flying back at Gajeel.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!" He yells, transforming his arm into a sword.

He swings at the book, which stops just short of the sword and flies away.

"Watch out, she likes to hit people with books!" Natsu warns Gajeel as he throws a flaming fist at Wendy.

Seeing Wendy in danger, Gajeel pivots to protect her. He can see the look of horror and fear in her eyes. He hesitates for just a second though. This second is all Natsu would need to knock Wendy out.

Wendy slams her fists together and inhales deeply. Magic wells up inside her as Natsu's fist is just inches from her face. Any chance of Gajeel coming to her rescue is thrown out the window. Wendy knows, it's now or never.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy let's out a massive bellow of wind from her mouth. Like the name would suggest, a roar comparable to a dragon launches Natsu back. A harsh wind follows him, knocking some branches out of trees.

"Gajeel!" Mard Geer calls to him, "Now's your chance, finish her!"

Gajeel smiles sinisterly and rushes towards Seilah, "Iron Dragon's Club!"

An iron pole extends out from Gajeel's arm straight at Seilah. Having been affected by Wendy's earlier outburst, Seilah is unprepared to counter Gajeel. The iron pole hits her dead center in her stomach and crashes her into the ground, making her cough up blood. Gajeel waits for a moment to see if she does anything.

"That was amazing, Wendy!" Natsu shouts to the younger dragon slayer.

Gajeel looks over to Natsu to see him struggling to get up.

"Yo, Salamander, you still being controlled?"

Natsu smirks at Gajeel, "No."

Gajeel smirks back at the fire dragon slayer, "Then how about you get patched up while I finish off the hyena."

Wendy runs over to Natsu to begin healing him. Natsu doesn't like it, but he knows he's in no condition to fight. He knows from experience that a dragon's roar is a devastatingly powerful spell. To take one at point blank range, even from someone as inexperienced as Wendy, is a big hit to take. If not for her inexperience, he would have been rendered unconscious.

"Now then," Gajeel turns to Jackal and transforms his arm into a sword, "Let's have some fun."

Erza takes a swing at Jackal who causes an explosion to make some distance between the two of them. Unfortunately, Gajeel is right there for the follow up and cuts deep into Jackal's back. Jackal cries out in pain as Gajeel follows through and launches Jackal away. He hits the ground and lays there for a few moments, breathing heavily.

"Gihihi, I think this fight is over." Gajeel says as Jackal's blood drips off of his sword-arm.

Erza walks over to Jackal, while Gajeel walks over to Seilah. Gajeel proceeds to bind the woman to a tree with his iron and walks back over to Jackal and Erza, but not before taking a look at Seilah's discarded book. He admires her taste in literature. He recognizes the book to be a mystery novel, one of his favorite genres.

"Nice." He mutters to himself as he walks over to Erza and Jackal, who are now joined by the rest of the team.

"How did you find us?" Anna asks.

"Like…I'd…tell you." He spits back.

It's obvious that Jackal is just barely maintaining consciousness. Wendy looks to her allies for confirmation to heal him. If not for the need for information, they would have denied her, but there are things they need to know. Plus, Jackal can't do much damage with everyone back in fighting form.

Wendy heals Jackal's back, with Gajeel and Mother Pisces keeping a close eye on her. They don't need to worry about her safety, because the moment he feels his strength return to him, he aims to blow up those in front of him.

Anna and Erza panic for a brief moment as an explosion begins envelope them. The flames lick at their skin before being dragged away from them. Natsu effortlessly eats the flaming explosion, feeling a boost in power at the same time.

"Answer the question." Natsu says, cracking his knuckles, "How'd you find us?"

Jackal growls at the team but relents, "That town you saved, they reported that you took down that criminal."

"So, you got a lead from them?" Mard Geer asks.

"Yeah."

Mard Geer nods his head. He had a feeling that was the case.

"And one more thing." Erza says, "Why would my mother be put to death?"

Thank you for reading!

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