Chapter 10
"Where did that explosion come from?" Cascadia panted.
"Over there!" Erza shouted, pointing towards town.
When they arrived at the scene of the explosion, Erza let out a sigh of relief, "It's away from the town. I need a couple of people to check the perimeter to make sure no civilians are around here. The rest of us need to find the source of the explosion."
After a few of the wizards left, Cascadia began to scan the terrain along with Erza. There was a searing hole in the middle of the field that they were standing in front of. No matter how hard she looked, Cascadia couldn't see the culprits.
"Nothing…" Levy said, "I can't see anyone within the area. Cascadia, can you smell or hear anyone?"
Cascadia lifted her nose to the air. All she could smell was burnt grass. All she could hear was the murmurs of the townspeople in the distance.
Gray spoke for the first time since they arrived, "So, I guess we check out the area?" He began to inch forward, bare-chested, towards the spot of the explosion.
For a tense moment, all was quiet as Gray made his way towards the explosion. Suddenly, Cascadia heard a buzzing noise. Gasping, she screamed, "Gray, it's a trap!"
She sprung forward a split second before the blast. Her ears rung, her vision tinted red. She could vaguely hear her name, getting louder and louder.
"Cascadia. Cascadia, come on, don't be dead." She could hear Gray's panicked voice.
"She's breathing, don't worry Gray. That shield thing she put up kept her from getting killed." Erza assured him.
Cascadia's vision began to clear and the ringing in her ears began to die down. She saw Gray and Erza' worried faces looking down on her. She could hear voices of her comrades too. Why did they sound so panicked? And who were those other voices?
"What happened?" Cascadia murmured.
"Gray reached the site of the explosion when you shouted and put up some sort of shield made of ice a second before another blast." Erza answered.
"Before we knew it, you were knocked to the ground. Your shield was shattered, but the blast was over." Gray said.
"They knew we'd investigate the site," Cascadia said, wincing as she sat up, "they set a trap for us."
"Perhaps." Erza nodded. "We must be vigilant. Levy, take Cascadia back to the guild."
"I can still fight," Cascadia protested.
"You can't fight if I say you can't," Erza snapped, before her eyes softened, "You're injured."
"Fine." Cascadia consented as Levy helped her stand up.
"Let's go. Mirajane should be back at the guild. She can help you." Levy said as she led Cascadia away from the site.
Once they had walked for a few minutes, the Fairy Tail wizards out of sight, Cascadia stopped and asked, "Do you hear that?"
"I don't hear anything…" Levy responded, confused.
"Exactly. Something's wro-" Cascadia couldn't even finish her sentence before Levy let loose a scream, her grip on Cascadia loosening.
"Levy?" Cascadia screamed, dropping to a knee after Levy releasing her. "I still can't walk on my own." Cascadia muttered irritably, looking at Levy. What she saw caused her face to pale.
"Levy?" She began to shake Levy's shoulders. Levy was crying, her eyes staring off into the distance, "Levy, snap out of it."
"She can't hear you." Cascadia jumped to a familiar voice. She felt something snaking up her legs. "I won't fail this time."
"You." Cascadia hissed through her teeth. "It was Broken Wing who caused the explosions."
"That's right." He said calmly.
"Why would you target Magnolia? What would you have to gain by attacking innocent civilians?"
"You're very naive. I don't think you truly understand your worth."
Cascadia was starting to struggle to breath, the vines now wrapped around her body up to her chest. Whatever magic energy she had left after that explosion had all but left her, "What do you mean?"
"Those explosions were a diversion by some of my guildmates. We had hoped to split your guild up to make it easier to get to our target: you." He knelt in front of her, putting his hand under her chin, "no one will come to save you this time."
"Oh yeah?" Cascadia looked in the direction of the voice, the face getting blurred. All she could make out was blond hair in pigtails before she passed out.