Chapter Three

"This is as far as I'll go." Joe said, stopping the carriage. The three Lunar Haven mages nodded.

"Okay." Axel replied as he and his friends jumped down.

"Harrison is right on the other side of this hill." Their driver continued. "That'll be 500 jewels." Axel handed over the money.

"Be careful when entering the town. The dark guild doesn't take kindly to light mages."

"Most don't." Muttered Mal.

"What is the dark guild called, anyway?" Maverick inquired.

"Pirate Stallion. If you're smart, you'll avoid them."

"The client is the mayor of Harrison, apparently." Axel said, glancing down at the request sheet. "This says to meet him in the town hall."

"Okay. Where would that be?" Mal asked.

"The center of town, obviously." Maverick said.

"No, that's not obvious." The girl disagreed.

"Yeah. It is."

"No. It's not!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

Axel watched his two friends arguing, sweat-dropping. "M-maybe you guys shouldn't argue." He said. "It's very unprofessional."

He was ignored.

"So you are the mages who took my request?" The elderly man enquired, eyeing Blight, Emer and Callie carefully.

Blight nodded, answering for all of them. "Aye. I'm Blight. This is Callie and Emer."

"Soren Damask."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, as you may know, I am a delivery man, my business depends on my ability to get the packages from one town to the next safe and unharmed. But lately, I have been suffering attacks on my caravans! My drivers are terrified to go through the forests!"

The three mages glance at each other.

"Um, what exactly ARE the attacks?" Callie asked.

"Well, often times, they are traps, cover holes that my horses step in and hurt their legs. Sometimes, direct attacks, drivers knocked out and things stolen from the wagons! It's ruining me!" The man let out a wail.

"Calm down. Calm down!" Blight ordered. "When is the next caravan leaving?"

Soren glanced at his watch. "In five minutes."

"Great." Callie said. "We'll accompany the caravan and keep it safe. Come."

Back at the guild, the members of Team RockStorm were discussing a job to take. Well, Echo, Raid, Dan, and Alyannie were. Shawn wasn't paying attention. He was perched on the bar, feet swinging, playing his banjo and serenading the Shade Demon Tribe. Echo was watching him out of the corner of her eye, frowning a bit. She didn't notice Raid grinning at her. The Sand Mage said something.

"Yeah." She answered absently.

The left side of Raid's mouth curled up, and he let out a chuckle, turning to mutter something to Dan and Alyannie. The blind girl had less discretion, bursting out in a loud guffaw. Echo jumped in surprise, and whirled to glare at her three teammates. Raid and Shawn were smirking and Alyannie was trying, unsuccessfully, to stifle her laughter.

"Need something?" She asked, scarily. The three immediately stiffened, sweat dropping.

"N-no. Not at all!" Raid stuttered.

Echo grinned sweetly. "Good."

The mayor of Harrison was a small, rotund man. His tiny eyes were nervous and shifting. Sparse gray hair sprouted from his head, and a large nose peaked over a bushy moustache of the same color. There was something about this guy that didn't sit right with Maverick, maybe it was his fluttering hands, or the way his eyes lingered on Mal's cleavage a bit longer than necessary, he could place it, but it bugged him.

He glanced over at his friends. Axel's eyebrows were slightly drawn, purple eyes flicking around the room. The blue pendant dangling from the chain around his neck pulsed slightly, indicating his agitation. Mal on the other hand, was somewhat clueless, but Maverick knew to never underestimate the mind that churned beneath those silver locks.

The mayor bowed repeatedly. "Please." He said in a gravelly voice. "Sit down." The three mages took their seats gingerly, eyes wary.

"It has come to our attention that it's not bandits that are bothering your town." Axel accused.

The mayor shifted awkwardly. "I only just figured it out myself."

Axel leaned forward, using his height to intimidate the much smaller man. "Three wizards, even as powerful as myself and my friends aren't enough to take down a whole dark guild. Lunar Haven is not Fairy Tail."

The mayor scoots back nervously. "Another wizard also accepted the request. A wanderer. I don't know much about them, but they'll be arriving soon."

Suddenly, the door was kicked open, and a young woman barreled into the room. She was very short, with strawberry blonde hair that streamed out behind her, large golden eyes, and freckled cheeks. Everyone jumped back as she skidded to a stop just centimeters from the couch on which the Lunar Haven mages were sitting.

A purple blur followed close behind her, slamming into the girl and sending her flying into Axel's lap. The Nephilim caught her instinctively, as well as the purple exceed that had knocked her over.

"Whoop!" The girl chuckled, patting Axel on the chest. "Sorry about that." She hopped up, shaking a few loose stands of hair out of her face, and setting the exceed on her shoulder. "Nice catch by the way. Thanks!"

Mal was grinning at the mystery girl, having taken a liking to her quirkiness. Axel was still in shock, and Maverick was rubbing his head where the girl had kicked him in her tumble.

"What where you running from?" The silver haired girl asked.

"From?" The other exclaimed. "I wasn't running from anything. I was running to this room!"

"Oh."

The blonde whirled around and grinned brightly at the shocked looking mayor. "Hello, sir! Anidale Fauhim, wandering wizard, reporting for duty. You do know that it's a dark guild and not bandits troubling your town, right."

The man sighed. "Yes. My name is Mayor Chadra." His small piggy eyes were fixed on the girl's ample chest.

"My eyes are up here, mister." Anidale growled, sunny demeanor vanishing in mere seconds.

Mayor Chadra shuddered at the venom in her voice. "Y-yes ma'am."

"Glad we got that cleared up. Are these guys my coworkers?"

"Yes. They are from the guild Lunar Haven."

Anidale whirled around to grin brightly at the three mages, long, sharp canines flashing beneath her lips. "Hiya. I'm Anidale. Call me Ani." She held up the purple exceed. "This is Lenore. My best friend."

The purple exceed waved a tiny paw. "Hi, guys."

Mal cooed. "Aw, you're so cute!" Lenore blushed.

"Don't say things like that, it'll go to her head." Ani groaned. She lightly poked the exceed's cheek. "And her head's big enough as it is."

Mal laughed. "I'm Malainy Krystal, Glass Make Mage. Call me Mal."

"I'm Maverick Clonmel. I'm a Card Mage."

Ani shook both of their hands firmly. "Good to meet you." She turned expectantly on Axel.

"I'm Axel Julian Luryian." He introduced. "I'm a Nephilim. And judging by your extended canines. You are a Dragon Slayer."

A/N: So the meeting sequence where Mal asks what Ani is running from is sorta-maybe-kinda stolen from the Mysterious Benedict Society which is one of my all time favorite books.

So! You met Anidale! What's the verdict on her? Like her? Hate her? Tell me!

I'm thinking I really like that little blurb of protective Maverick. Haha. Anyhow, the next chapter will be up soon, don't forget to leave a review!