Hey guys, here is the next chapter in the story.
Enjoy and review
Chapter Twenty
The Fire Dragon
Vanalu Village
The next day…
Everything was deadly quiet.
As the morning sun rose in the sky over the plains, not one sound could be heard. It was like the world held its breath as the once noisy village stayed silent. Most of the houses were destroyed or burned down from the attack of last night as dead bodies littered the streets of the village, the mask of horror still ghosted upon their faces.
Then a large shadow appeared above the village as a red dragon descended from the heavens. The red dragon glanced around, his amber eyes observing the destruction that had taken place.
The large mythical creature walked on all four as he glanced around himself until he came to a stop and his eyes widened in shock at the sight in front of him.
"What in Magic`s name…?" he murmured.
The skeletons of three Dragons were lying upon the ground in a semi circle. The dragon approached the skeletons wondering what could have caused this to happen but his gaze was drawn toward the point that all of the dragons were facing.
The ground there was devoid of life, the earth blackened by something and the red dragon let out a soft growl. He can still feel the darkness in the air from whatever spell that had been used.
He didn't understand how a spell could turn the dragons into…fossils like that. Sure they are some spell out there that can kill dragons but to turn them into skeletons? From what he can see around him, the attack happened last night…
I don`t have a good feeling about this, he thought to himself, If there is a human out there that have such dark magic at his disposal, the civil war wont the only thing we have to fear…
With a snarl, the red dragon turned his attention toward the fallen ones. They must have been on the other side of the war but he bowed his head at their passing. After a moment, the red dragon straightened himself once more.
I will have to speak to Grandeeney about it, he thought, She was always the one who have knowledge of ancient spells…
The dragon was cut off from his thoughts when he felt a magic presence. He turned his head toward where it was and noticed that a magic circle had appeared. It was bright pink in appearance and he can feel that it was powerful although weakened.
He made for where it was and found a human female there. The woman was badly wounded from the look of it and her breath was coming in ragged gasps. In the human female arms was a small boy, who was unconscious but still wholly undamaged.
The human female took notice of him there and instantly raised her hand probably to cast a spell but she fell on her knees, coughing blood upon the ground.
"I am not your enemy," the red dragon told her.
The human female looked at him, surprise showing upon her face.
"Y…You can speak?" she whispered.
"We Dragons spoke words long before your kind Human female," the red dragon told her, "Ancient humans being learned to speak from us dragons, long ago."
The human female looked down at the boy in front of her.
"Please…save my child," she whispered.
The red dragon stared at her, but he didn't say anything.
"If you aren't an enemy," she continued, "Save my child."
"What of yourself?" the red dragon said.
"My wound is a fatal one," the human female said, "I…I already lost a husband and a child…please, I don`t wish for my entire family to die like this."
She has a strong will to be able to survive out of love for her child, the red dragon thought to himself, a light frown crossing his face, But I do not have time to take care of a child with the War going on…
But then he felt it, a strong magical aura similar to that magical circle he had seen. The woman was dying meaning that she didn`t has enough strength to cast a spell…meaning…
Could it have been the child who did it, instead of the Human female?
He stared at the boy doing some thinking.
"You have my word, Human female," he said to her.
The woman smiled weakly as she leaned against the broken wall beside her. The red dragon`s front hand reached forward and took the small child from the woman.
"May…May I know your…name?" the woman asked him.
"I am the Fire Dragon Igneel," the red dragon said.
"Igneel…," the woman whispered, "My name is Beatrice…and I thank you…for granting my last…wish."
Just like that, the woman was dead.
The Fire Dragon, Igneel, stared down at the small child that was in his hand. He knew that he can feel the magical power the boy had.
"Grandeeney will know what to do," he said.
Then his wings opened, wide before he took off in the sky, leaving the ruins of Vanalu Village behind.
The first thing that Rave became aware of is that he was lying upon something soft. The young boy opened his eyes glancing around himself. He was in a cave, by the look of it and the young man seated up groaning.
He touched his head before everything come flying down. The village…the dragon attacks…his mother…Zeref…
"You`re finally awake," a voice growled from right behind where he was lying down.
The boy jumped at the voice before glancing back toward where it had come from. Two amber eyes were glowing in the darkness as they stared down at him and Rave let out a scream of shock quickly pushing himself away from where he was lying.
"W…W…What?" he said shocked.
The two eyes followed after him, and Rave can hear the sound of heavy footfalls. He quickly stood up from the ground and ran out of the cave into the poor sunlight outside, where he quickly fell down again.
The heavy footfalls had followed him out, causing him to glance backward. He paled considerably. A large flaming red dragon was standing behind him, looking down toward him.
"A dragon?" Rave whispered in shock.
"That is what I am Human child," the dragon spoke.
That caused Rave to suddenly turn on his back as he stared up toward the large creature in front of him. Never once before he had seen a dragon, thought he had never imagined it to be so big.
"Y…You`re not going to eat me are you?"
"And why would I eat you?" the dragon asked him, "I have nothing against you…nor against Humankind…thought few others of my kind might disagreed about it."
Rave stood up, his legs shakings. Heck he was in the presence of a real, breathing, dragon. He was scared out of his mind.
"If…If you don`t want to eat me then, why am I here? What happened to my mother and my Village?"
The dragon stared at him for a few seconds as if to contemplate what to tell him, before he let out a soft sigh.
"I do not wish to lie to you child," he said slowly, "But you will have to know the truth. Your village had been destroyed by the Dragons that had attacked it and there was no other survivor apart from you."
Rave stared at the dragon, unmoving.
"With her last breath, your mother had handed you over to me so that I could save you," the dragon continued, "and that is what I have done. You have been out of commission for about two weeks since then."
Rave stared at the ground in front of him as an image of his mother and his brother appeared in his mind.
"H…How can they all die like this," he whispered, tears falling out of his eyes.
The dragon stayed silent as the young child started to cry.
"I am sorry that had happened to you…," he started.
"Shut up," Rave growled.
Igneel suddenly felt a spike in the boy`s magical power causing him to fell silent, watching him. He knew that the boy had a strong magical power within himself, after what Grandineey had told him a few days before.
"It`s all you dragons fault," Rave yelled out toward him, "If none of you had existed, my father wouldn`t have died. None of this would have ever happened."
The young human child tightened his fist.
"If it wasn`t for this stupid war," he said, "all of them would still be alive…"
Igneel noticed that the air around the boy was starting to glow with his magical power. He watched fascinated, at how much power he had in his small body. He can already tell that the boy had no control over it.
"You said you lost your father in the war," Igneel spoke out, "Was he a Dragon Slayer?"
Rave glanced at him.
"Yeah, so what?"
That explain it, Igneel thought, His magic act similar to those Dragon Slayer magic but yet…it`s widely different, maybe it`s because he carries a Human sense rather than a Dragon sense…
"War brings pain on both sides," he spoke out, drawing the young child`s gaze toward him, "As long as the war continue, humankind and dragon-kind will continue to suffer the loss of friends and family."
Igneel then turned his attention toward the boy.
"Your Father was a Dragon Slayer and it seems that you have inherited a piece of his power within yourself."
The boy stared at him.
"H…How can you…?"
"Dragons are more sensitive to magic than Humans are child," Igneel told him, "The only reason that your mother was able to live long enough to ask me to protect you was because you protected her."
Rave continues to stare.
"I…used magic?"
"Is that really surprising for you?"
"I…I never used magic before," he said, "I…I hoped that I never have to use it."
The dragon stared at him.
"Whether you try to use magic or not, it`s entirely up to you child," Igneel told him, "It`s getting late…it`s best if you get back inside the cave where it`s warm. I can smell that it will rain soon."
As soon as Igneel had spoken, the sky above started to grumble with thunder. He turned around and walked back inside the cave.
Rave stood there, watching the massive dragon disappear inside the darkness of the cave. He continued to stand there, feeling numb all over. In three months, his life had changed all around and couldn`t believe it.
It`s been three months now since they have announced that his father had died and so soon after that, the dragons attacked the village and then killed everyone including his own brother…
They are all dead…mother, father and brother…
The sky above him continued to darken, but he continued to stand there the tears falling from his brown eyes. He stared up at the black sky feeling the drop of rain started to fall around his face mixing with his tears.
B…But why am I still alive? Why didn`t I die?
The young child lowered his head as he stood in the rain, gritting his teeth.
Igneel was watching him from the depth of the cave, thinking about what Grandeeney had told him…
Flashback
He had landed in Grandineey`s territory. He didn`t know in what condition the boy was in so he decided to have the Sky Dragon heal him with her magic.
"That`s an unusual sight Igneel," a female voice said, "What did you get yourself into this time?"
Igneel let out a soft growl.
"I am in no mood for games now," he said, "This Human child is the sole survivor of a Village that had suffers an attack. His mother had asked me to protect him for her before she died…I have to fulfill her dying wish…"
Grandeeney let out a soft chuckle as the Sky Dragon approached him.
"You want me to heal him?"
"It won`t do if he simply die of something I wasn't aware of," Igneel said.
The other Dragon approached the boy that he had brought with him before she let out a soft breath of wind toward him, as a green glow appeared around him.
"This boy`s magic…is really powerful, quite strange for a Human child," she said, "I have never before became across of something like this."
"You don't know?" Igneel asked.
Grandeeney shook her head.
"Tell me Igneel, what did you see back at this Village?"
Igneel retailed everything that he had seen back at the village and the other dragon suddenly had an urgent look in her eyes.
"They were all…Fossilized?"
Igneel nodded.
"The feeling of the spell was still in the area when I had found it," he said softly, "I fear it was done by a Human."
"T…That`s impossible," Grandeeney said shocked, "A Human couldn`t take on three full grown dragons alone and come out alive. You and I both know of this Igneel. That spell you spoke of that radiated such dark feelings, if it`s a human that had such power at his disposal, a power that can dispose of dragons like this, I don't think the Civil War will be our only worry."
"That`s exactly how I`ve felt," Igneel told her, "Maybe the Legend is about to come to light…"
Grandeeney watched him carefully.
"You know of it, Grandineey," he told her, "The one Merlin spoke of…"
"Don't speak of such folly Igneel," she growled at him.
"What else could it be Grandeeney? No Human should be able to have such darkness within them…"
The other dragon sighed.
"Don't jump to conclusion you hotheaded dragon," she told him, smacking him on the head with her tail, "Now you listen to me, and listen well. None of us know what actually happened in that Village, nor what happened to those three Dragons. While I worry about the future of both humankind and Dragon-kind, we don't need more troubles than we already have."
Igneel himself wanted to continue to speak about it but, some part of him knew that Grandeeney was right. They already have the Civil War to worry about, without adding much fuel to the fire than they already have…
Even though part of him couldn`t help but wonder…
End of Flashback
He opened his eyes watching the boy standing in the rain outside. He knew the boy didn't have any training in using his powerful magic. Maybe he can train him into controlling it or maybe teach him some Dragon Slayer magic…
The dragon quickly disregards that idea…
I will save my Dragon magic for the one that I believe is worthy of it, he thought to himself, But if I can teach him to control it somehow, maybe he can stop being a walking hazard to himself.
Then an idea hit the dragon causing him to sight a little.
I could ask that old geezer to teach him that Lost sealing Magic of his, he thought, This boy is powerful enough to be able to learn it, even though he doesn't come from the same bloodline as that geezer did…
He stared at the boy. While Grandineey warned him of not jumping to conclusion about the old Legend, Igneel knew that he could feel it, in his very magic, that the Legend was about to come to life…
Maybe…that`s why this boy survived that Cataclysm…so that he can face the One who carry that darkness within him.
Well hope you guys have enjoyed that update. I can feel a little strange about this chapter but hey you be the judge.
Next time: Crystal Magic
Jacques0 out.
R&R.