S.R: Okay, Okay people I'm back with the next chapter here! No more mobs surrounding my place telling me I can't leave till I give you more… Seriously people put the pitch forks down and put out the torches, I'm doing what you wanted and asked for.
Natsu: What the hell are you talking about?
S.R: … Don't ask.
Erza: Fine we wont't ask. Can we get on with it though? I'm also eager to see what you have in store for the readers.
Wendy: I bet it'll be really fun and really cool!
S.R: Let's find out then….
ERZA'S POV
It was the second day of traveling through the swamp. Natsu, Wendy and I had been truging through the swamp for a few hours already when she had started to get tired. "Mommy, daddy can we stop soon? My feet hurt." She begged. Looking up from the map I made eye contact with Natsu who just nodded. "Sure sweetie. It's time for lunch anyway" I said as I re-equiped some supplies for us. We made small talk while we ate and it was mostly about the few wild and unique animals we had seen in the swamp so far. But that didn't last long and half an hour later we had finished eating and decided to put on some cooler clothes.
Wendy had put on a light pink blouse like dress, While Natsu simply removed his arms from the vest he had been wearing and let it hang around his waist before adjusting his scarf to rest a little more loosely around his neck. I just re-equiped into a dark purple bikini and added a hat with a band on it that Natsu had made for me just before we got married. The band was simple with the number 4 a red heart, and then a capital R. When he gave it to me he explained that he was running low on thread and couldn't stitch in the word ever so he just did the R.
Now that we were ready to start moving Natsu decided to ask Wendy if she wanted to read the map. She nodded eager to help us get to the ruins faster. "Okay Wendy here's the map" he said to her before handing me his backpack and setting her on his shoulders. Nodding to me he used his right hand to light a small fire so Wendy could see the map while he carried her. "I don't think we've got too much further to go" Wendy said as she found where we were on the map. "Alright then. Let's get a move on" was all I said in had started off with me in the lead, and every 10 minutes or so I'd look back and get directions from Wendy.
Finally after another 4 hours we had found the ruins. They sat right in the middle of a relatively huge clearing on dry land. The ground was ringed with trees that had 3 gapes that held the remains of old stone pathways. Seeing Natsu nod that the clearing was safe I made my way inside the ruins themselves. Looking around I noticed some strange runes on the walls, but I heard Wendy gasp and Natsu chuckle. Giving Natsu a questioning glance I waited for the explanation that was surely coming.
"My hunch was right. This is an old temple that was dedicated to a dragon… But there hasn't been any dragon here at these ruins in a few centuries at least" he explained but it felt like he purposely left out some info. "If there's no dragon here then what was attacking the archeologists?" I questioned as I grabed one of the brushes the archeologists had left at their comand center. Walking back to the runes I began dusting them off further for Natsu to completely read the walls.
"Well that's where this gets tricky. It could be a few wyverns have been here guarding the temple for their master, the dragon that used the temple as it's den. Or it could be a pack of drakes has moved in. I can't tell just by scent. As a matter of fact dragons, drakes, and wyverns of the same element smell the same. The only differences are their size and their magic level."Nodding my head at the explanation I finished up the dusting before walking back to the camand center that was set up and taking a seat in one of the chairs. Gesturing for Natsu to have at it with the wall I re-equiped a book and began my own reading. But before I looked at my book I saw Natsu beckon Wendy over, saying he wanted to test her ability to read the draconic language.
TWO HOURS LATER (READ LIKE THE SPONGEBOB NARRATOR) NATSU'S POV
"Very good Wendy. I see Grandeeny taught you well" I said to my adopted daughter with a huge grin on my face. She smiled back at me before asking what to do while we waited to find out if it was drakes or wyverns attacking. "Well I was kinda hopping that reading the wall out loud would attract them but since that didn't work we'll just have to sit around and wai-" I was cut off by the ground starting to shake. Fist pumping at my idea working I motioned for Erza to stay sitting and then set Wendy on her lap.
I told Erza my reasoning for that is if they didn't listen to me or notice I was speaking draconic right away they would only attack me as all of the draconic species instinctively avoid attacking children and mothers holding children. Satisfied with my quickly explained answer I turned to face the direction I felt the shakes coming from I loudly shouted in draconic "I have come to talk with whoever it is that attacked the people who were working here." Repeating myself a few times just to make sure it was heard I smiled as I felt the ground slowly stop shaking. As the shaking stopped two of the tree's seperated further and a scaley head popped into the clearing. Noting the size I was glad to find it was a wyvern since drakes have been known to be extremely violent.
"Are you the one who spoke youngling?" the wyvern asked in a suprisingly gentle tone. Noticing the pitch I realized it was a female in my head. I explained that I was a dragon slayer raised by the fire dragon king Igneel. The wyvern bowed and called me her prince. "I may be able to speak the draconic language but it has been a long time since I've spoken it smoothly enough. While I'm certain my adopted daughter can understand us I know my wife cannot. Would you be willing to speak in human tounge?"
She nodded her head and because we were talking moved forward in a slow non-threatening way to prove that she would not attack unless prevoked. Smiling I asked Erza and Wendy to come say hello. After the brief greating they gave the wyvern introduced herself as Embressa. "Considering you do not look familiar to me I'm guessing the people that were hear previously asked for someone to come deal with my mate and I?" Nodding my head I explained that they were just here to do some research and didn't know anything about the ruins. "I do appologize for scaring them but my mate and I were tasked with guarding this old den because it holds some very ancient and important documents. However as a dragon slayer you may claim them. Especially since some of the items pertain to Igneel. Not only due to the fact you inherit his title of Fire Dragon King, but aslo because his mate the Earth Dragon Queen Sedamentaria was our master and the one this temple was built for."
"I thank you for the honor you give me by allowing me access to this ancient dragon's hoard. If there is anything I can do for you and your mate please ask." I said as I bowed to Embressa. Recieving a gentle smile she only asked that we stay and give her and her mate Boldaren company for the night, and that once we leave we explain to that the ruins are now a wyvern den and that they were just defending their territory. Agreeing to those terms I sat down cross legged in front of her and just talked with her. As I sat down she called out to her mate who was just on the edge of the range I could sense and informed him of the situation. Once he heard I was raised by Igneel, he became extremely eager begging me to share stories. "I'm willing to share my stories, so sure why not" I replied and we spoke of Igneel well into the night.
S.R: Hi guys... So yeah this chapter was a slow write. I wanted to add in something draconic for this arc but I didn't want to do any fighting since most of this story is fighting. I wanted the chapter to be laid back while foreshadowing a future arc I have somewhat planned (but it'll be a while before I get to that one because I still have to add more Gajeel and Gray since they're part of the team still). So yeah this is what i'm giving you for this one. Hopefully my beta readers get back to me soon so I can have the next chapter of Soaring Dragons up by Monday. See ya next time.