Gray II

For what it was worth, Gray slept alright during the night. Not as well as he would've preferred, but well enough. However, that didn't prevent him from waking up thoroughly disoriented in this new place he'd never been before. Once he gathered his thoughts, Gray also gathered his clothes, and headed out after getting a map, striking down the road.

"Okay, how far is it?" Gray mused out loud. From the looks of the map, Talabheim was perhaps about 50 miles going Northeast. Taking a breath, Gray put the map in his pocket, and put his hands behind his head, as he continued walking, looking around. On one side of the road as an expanse of rolling hills, and on the other, a thick forest. If nothing else, Gray was content that the temperature was fairly pleasant, if not mild. Also, as roads went, the one he was on certainly wasn't terrible; he'd been on better, but he'd been on worse.

It had been a couple of hours, and nothing really happened. That was when Gray heard what sounded like marching. Approaching him was a battalion of what Gray guesstimated to be maybe 120 men approaching him. Each man was wearing a metal cap with a steel breastplate carrying halberds; they looked exactly like the soldiers that first found Gray. At the head of the group were four men on horseback wearing armor. Gray quickly got out of the way so they could march past him. However, as they did, one of the men on horseback broke off and approached Gray, waving.

"Hello!" he called to the mage, who waved back. He was wearing steel armor, with a helmet and visor, with what looked like a gun and a sword on his respective hips. On the plate was an imprint of an eagle with a crown over it. A banner crossed over the eagle's chest that said "Taal".

"What brings you to these parts, boy?" he asked, as the soldiers passed by, "These lands are dangerous."

"I'm just passing through," Gray answered, "I'm trying to get Talabheim."

"Well then you are certainly on the right road," the soldier explained, before apparently realizing something, "Oh, where are my manners, I am Captain Olaf Adolphus, and who are you, my boy?"

"My name is Gray Fullbuster," Gray answered after a moment, "I'm a mage of the Fairy Tail guild." The captain was silent for a moment, before he suddenly held up his fist.

"Halt!" The battalion suddenly stopped immediately in order. Gray couldn't imagine a reason why he would order a halt at this point. After dismounting Olaf then took off his helmet, revealing a shaved head, with a short mustache-beard combo. A scar ran down the left side of his face.

"Is there any reason you're not wearing a shirt?" he asked. Gray glanced down.

"Ah crap!" he said, looking around for his shirt, which he just couldn't find.

"What brings you this far into the wild?" the captain asked, as he folded his arms.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Gray answered, rubbing the back of his head slightly.

"Try me." Gray looked at him for a time, before sighing, and giving his explanation of events as he understood them. The captain arched his eyebrow slightly.

"Right," he said. Just as Gray had figured, Olaf didn't believe a bit of it.

"Well at any rate, I would keep moving, son," Olaf said, "There are dangerous things in these woods." Gray glanced at the battalion of men.

"I'm guessing that these men are here to deal with said dangers?" he asked.

"Aye," Olaf said, "So keep going and move fast. Talabheim will be safe, but these woods certainly are not."

"Just what the hell is out here exactly?"

"Beastmen, Greenskins, bandits, various kinds of abominations," Olaf answered, "I could go on."

"Thanks," Gray said, holding up his hand, "I got the point. But I think I can handle myself fine out here."

"You're not a soldier, boy," Olaf said, "I can only give you advice, but…" Suddenly the horse nickered, and reared, as if sensing something. As Olaf tried to ease it, Gray noticed the other horses were also acting like that.

"Oh shit," Olaf muttered. Gray was going to ask what was going on, before a soldier suddenly keeled over, an arrow in his neck. This was followed by a slight rumbling sound….

"AMBUSH!" Gray looked around to see what they were talking about, as aright then, dozens of separate forms exploded out of the trees.

"BEASTMEN!" "Beastmen" was a very apt word to describe these creatures. They looked like humanoid goats or cows, wearing ragged clothing and carrying what looked like old spears and swords in their meaty hands.

"Formations!" Olaf said, as he pulled out his gun. The soldiers desperately moved to enter formation, with their halberds sticking out. Gray was smart enough to move behind the battalion, and out of the Beastmen's way. He guessed there were maybe just as many of them as there were humans, maybe more.

Gray watched as the Beastmen crashed into the soldier's lines. A few were impaled on the halberds the soldiers had, but most of them crashed right through the lines were their horns. Olaf fired off his gun, killing one of the beasts instantly.

"Get out of here boy, if you know what's good for you!" he said, looking at Gray, before drawing his sword, and charging into the fray. However, Gray didn't immediately run, rather he watched as the soldiers were mowed down. Despite their efforts, the Beastmen were simply too fast and strong for otherwise regular guys to deal with on their own. It was almost immediately apparent that if Gray didn't do something, then these men were going to get massacred.

"Crap," Gray muttered, before he ran forward, past Olaf.

"What in Taal's name are you doing boy?" Olaf called in shock, "You'll be butchered!"

"Just worry about yourselves!" Gray said. He then put his hands together, and started gathering his magic. Some of the Beastmen noticed him, and with a bellow, several charged at him.

"Ice Make: Harpoon!" A series of spears made out of ice shot out of Gray's hands. Several of the Beastmen were impaled, and killed instantly by the ice. The sight of that made both the humans and the Beastmen suddenly stop, staring at the ice that had appeared from nowhere.

"Mulgee hal mara?" one of beasts growled. Gray had no idea what he said, but he really, really didn't care at this point.

"Ice Make: Bazooka!" The blast of ice sent several Beastmen careening away, killing several more. Suddenly, all the Beastmen were interested in just him. A few dozen charged at him, and Gray knew that he would have to take it up a level. He gathered his power and took his Devil Slayer form.

"Ice Devil's Wrath!" He released a blast of ice that immediately froze several Beastmen solid. Some of those who didn't get frozen were blown away. That apparently was all that the rest of the Beastmen needed, as they all turned tail (though Gray didn't think they had tails), and thundered away in fear. As they ran, Gray wiped his brow slightly. That felt like it took more effort than it should've. He then looked back at the rest of the humans, to see them all staring at him in a combination of shock and amazement.

"What sort of magic was that?" Olaf finally muttered.

"Ice Magic, obviously," Gray said with a shrug.

"Are you from Kislev, boy?" Olaf all but demanded.

"Kislev?" Gray asked, cocking his head, "The hell is that?" That apparently counted as a "no". Gray could hear people the soldiers muttering amongst themselves about the ice magic.

"This power," Olaf said, "You defeated an entire Beastmen ambush party on your own with that magic. That's… amazing!" The many different soldiers al echoed those sentiments, which made Gray sweat drop slightly.

"Alright, that's all well and good, but can you just point me towards Talabheim again?" Gray asked, pointing.

"Forget that!" Olaf declared, "I'm taking you to Talabheim myself! The count must see this!" Gray opened his mouth to protest, but figured there wouldn't be any real reason at this point, seeing gas he was going to Talabheim anyway.

"Alright then, lead the way," he said, shrugging again.

Note: And Gray seemed to be having the most normal time up until now. His actions are going to continue the ripple effect across this world.

Please review. Next chapter. we'll see Cana with the dwarves.