A Dragon to Light the Way

Chapter 15

Gray gave a small growl as he glanced in the way of Angel Feather guild and then back to a very weak looking Natsu. They were slightly ahead of schedule by a good five minutes, but now Lucy, Yukino and Rogue were late for the rendezvous. He tugged at the hem of his shirt, and blinked when Levy placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm nervous as well Gray, but we have to remain calm and hope for the best." She stated, and he looked at the others. Gajeel was sitting beside Natsu, trying to gain some form of response from him, Erza was surveying the area to ensure that there was no threat, and Tyrin was moving along with her since she had threatened his life should he even step outside her line of sight. He and Erza had been added to the recovery team when Sting refused because he didn't want to be in a position without Lucy, and Gray really didn't blame him.

"This woman is out for Lucy, what if something happened and we don't know about it?" He stated, feeling as if his clothes were weighing too heavily on his body, but resisted the urge to strip.

"Rogue hasn't given the signal, so there is no danger just yet." Erza stated, and he frowned as he crossed his arms over his bare chest. So much for his resisting to strip.

"And what if Merida some how made it so he couldn't? It is obvious he is the strongest of the three, so he would most likely be targeted first." Gray stated, looking toward Gajeel when the Iron Dragon Slayer started to shake his head.

"Rogue would have come prepared for something like that. Besides, Bunny Girl is smart, so even if Rogue was out of the fight she'd signal us another way." He stated, but Gray merely grunted and faced back toward the guild.

"Still, I have a bad feeling that something isn't right." He stated, his hands clenching into fists beside as he stared at the roof of the guild.

"Then, why don't you just send her mate to look into it?" The soft statement caused everyone to turn to Natsu, who was finally awake but looking up into the foliage above him. Gray followed his gaze, and blinked as he saw Sting sitting in the branches, a worried frown on his face as he stared at the guild as well.

"Sting?" Erza stated, the name holding many questions within it, and the Light Dragon Slayer gave a sigh and looked away.

"We've already ended everything, so there would be no point in me stepping in." He stated, and everyone faced Natsu when he gave a sharp laugh, only to clutch at his side a moment later.

"You know as well as I do that it takes more than that just to end something between a Dragon Slayer and their mate. So stop sulking, go to Lucy, apologize for being an ass, and then kick Merida's ass. Before I decide to stand up and kick yours for being an idiot." Natsu stated, and everyone watched as the man bit his bottom lip before turning worried eyes toward the guild and then stood.

"There's a lot of things I have to thank you for Natsu, guess this is added to the list." He stated, and then jumped from the tree and sprinted full speed toward the guild where Lucy was.

Gray stared after the man for a moment, and then turned back to Natsu.

"I thought Lucy was your woman?" He stated, blinking when Natsu shook his head and leaned against the tree.

"Lucy is a dear friend, Lisanna is my woman. I just haven't got to tell her yet, and plan to do so soon. Sting thinks that he needs to be by her side all the time, and that is a common mistake for those first experiencing finding their mates. Guess his Dragon didn't explain that he loses some control of his Dragon side during those moments and becomes too possessive and demanding. From what Igneel always told me, it leads to the falling apart of most mates, and leads to a lot of destruction for both of them." Natsu stated, closing his eyes as he winced in pain. Gray had to admit, Natsu really sounded like he knew what he was talking about this time, and glanced the way the Sting had ran off.

"Lets hope everything goes smoothly for them." He stated, the others nodding in agreement before Natsu gave a groan.

"By the way, why didn't anyone look for me sooner?" He asked, making everyone face Tyrin.

"There's an interesting story about that, and I think I'll leave him to tell you the details." Erza stated, making the man who had pretended to be Natsu pale. He knew damn well that he was going to get one hell of a beating out of this one way or another. If he refused to say anything, Erza would beat him but he if did say anything then it would be Natsu who pummeled him. Why did he have to listen to that bitch in the first place?

Sting dodged the trees and branched as he moved closer and closer to the guild. He knew that Natsu had been right, and that he had been an ass toward Lucy, but knew that he would have to apologize later. Right now he just needed to get to his mates side and ensure that she was alright. He turned sharply, running for the side of the building with plenty of ledges on it, and quickly made his way to the roof. He stopped at the skylight, cursing as he saw no one in the room below, and quickly made his way to the next one.

He continued his search of the skylights until he finally found the one he needed, but tensed at what he saw below. Rogue and Yukino were suspended in the air, held by some form of magic, and Lucy was slumping to the ground as two of her spirits disappeared. She was out of magic and covered in small cuts and bruises. It was then when he saw that the woman was some form of puppeteer, as she motioned toward a knife some distance away and pointed it toward Lucy without touching it. Standing up, he jumped high into the air, and then crashed through the skylight just as the woman sent the knife flying towards Lucy.

He landed right in front of Lucy, and grabbed the knife before it made contact with his throat. He quickly cut the thin wires of magic that allowed the woman to control the weapon and then sent it flying toward Rogue and Yukino, freeing them from their binds.

"I know you're probably not happy to see me right now Lucy, but I wanna ask if we can talk later?" He glanced over his shoulder in time to see her nod before getting to her feet. He stood with her, allowing his magic to flow into her through his mark and watched as some of her wounds healed automatically as she gained some of his powers.

"That's fine. First and foremost though, we need to take her down, together." She stated, causing him to nod and crouch down into a fighting position.

"You wouldn't happen to know why she was out for you, would ya?" He asked as he gathered some magic into his hands and she pulled out three of her keys, and Rogue stood beside him, and gathered his shadow magic into his hand and held it beside Stings. Yukino pulled out three keys as well.

"It seems that when I refused to accept an arrange marriage with her fiance, he didn't take it to well and ended things with her. She's been plotting revenge ever since." Lucy stated, and he blinked as he looked over at her.

"You have serious issues with men." He stated, watching as she glared at him before looking toward her keys.

"Guess that explains you then, huh?" She stated, causing him to wince as the other two smirked. He knew that he deserved it, but still didn't think she had to aim so low.

"I'll kill all of you." The woman yelled, bringing his attention to her just as she pulled out more weapons and began to prepare them.

"Everyone, at the same time." He stated, watching from the corner of his eyes as they nodded and then focused on the woman as she raised a lot of weapons in front of her. He sensed her magic, and knew that all of them combined would defeat her, as well as her weapons. He waited a moment, and then narrowed his gaze as she gathered a few more weapons.

"Gate of the Bull! Lion! And Scorpion! Open!" Lucy shouted, bringing forth Torus, Leo, and Scorpio.

"Please come forth, Pisces! Libra! And Ophiuchus!" Yukino shouted, her own spirits coming to her side, and Sting smirked as Merida realized she was severely out numbered, and out matched. Still, he knew that she wasn't going to stop as she merely gathered more weapons and took aim.

"Now everyone." He shouted as she released the weapons. He and Rogue launched their attack, and he watched as it combined into a unison raid with Lucy's and Yukino's spirit. Merida gave a ferocious cry as she took the attack head on and watched as her weapons fell useless to the ground as she stumbled in front of the large gaping hole that was showing the world outside.

"Don't think that you have won. I...I'm still.." She didn't finish her statement as Loke rushed forward and slammed a fist into her stomach.

"As much as it pains me to hit a lady, I will gladly do so to protect my key holder." He growled, allowing her to crumple to the floor before turning and smiling at Lucy. Only to glare at Sting the next second before disappearing back to the spirit. Sting gave a sigh and looked at the woman, and then to Lucy. He knew that he was in some deep shit, and didn't know where to start.

"We'll talk somewhere more quiet once we get back to the guild." She stated, causing him to blink before nodding and then looked anywhere but her as they waited for someone to come and take the woman away.