Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Swordsmen and Thief. Enjoy the 1500-word chapter. I do not own any rights to Fairy Tale, Hiro Mashima, Kodansha and a few others that I may write about.

"You sent men to cause a distraction?" The hooded figure asked the other.

"Yes," The other figure stated while brushing off his arms. "They will not notice our next move… All this to test them?" The second figure questioned while letting out a sigh.

"One is a S-Ranked Mage," The first figure said while slowly pacing in a circle. "The other has a deep linage and enough magic potential to be S-Ranked if he gets more powerful." The second figure stated while the first hummed.

(With Erza and Clell)

Clell and Erza didn't know how bad the attack was. They had only seen the smoke outside the kingdom and guessed problems.

Still? Both moved with purpose, sprinting across the city.

Well, Erza more or less dragged the less agile Clell behind her. Clell wanted to tell her to stop.

"I'm starting to question who is stupid enough to cause trouble like this." Clell said to himself more than Erza. "I have no idea what anyone would be doing here." Clell stated while humming.

"Those explosions happened outside the city." Erza said while the duo raced outside the city walls. "If they were smart, their trying to divert attention and lure us into a trap." Erza added as the duo arrived outside.

"Then you rushed us into a trap?" Clell asked before looking around. "I don't need to be a strategist to know we're exposed out here." Clell stated while pulled his daggers out of their holsters.

"You know their waiting for us, right?" Clell questioned if this group knew Fairy Tale was on mission.

They had to know; they launched an attack during a moment where the city lacked some of its best soldiers.

"They paid us to take on Titania?!" Clell heard from somewhere before an arrow was fired.

Clell moved slightly faster than Erza who was dealing with a thrown knife. Erza blocked the knife and turned. She watched as Clell's knife parted the arrow from head to shaft.

It clattered to the ground while a group of masked men approached, they wore demonic like masks. Several held daggers, a few swords, and hammers. Their snow-white masks and black hooded uniforms made him blink.

Clell couldn't tell where the archers were. They were smart at the very least. Clell hummed and looked at Erza.

"I don't see where their archers are." Clell stated while Erza nodded. "You want to handle them?" Clell asked Erza as the dozen or so thugs formed a semi-circle around them.

"I'll find them." Erza said while Clell hummed. "You think you can distract them?" Erza asked Clell who nodded.

"Yes, just subdue them fast." Clell said before he saw one of the thugs' lunge forward.

Clell dodged his stab before driving his blade into the man's back. Clell then kicked him to the ground and twirled his daggers.

The thug expired as crimson pooled under him. Clell's blades held the same color at the end. Clell growled in anger.

Erza easily parried a stab at her head, battering it aside. She then drove her blade through the man's side before elbowing him to the ground.

"Who hired you?" Erza asked while kicking a knife wielding thug to the side. "What are you doing?" Erza questioned before Clell hummed and looked at the girl.

"Their bandits, Erza." Clell stated before he turned and kicked one of the soldiers. "Your going to have to be more persuasive then that." Clell said as he blocked a bandit's lunge before another cut his arm.

Clell grunted before stabbing the man, throwing the man to the ground. Clell looked at the fresh blood coming from his arm.

Erza blinked and looked at the wound on Clell's arm. She started to look around as another arrow flew at them. Erza traced the arrow into the forest. Clell sighed while looking at Erza and clutching his wounded arm in pain.

"Go." Clell said to Erza as he looked at the slashed sleeve of his black coat. His dark blue eyes burned with anger. Clell hummed and shrugged while brushing off his arms. "I'll deal with them." Clell stated with a sigh while twirling his blades.

Erza took one look at his wound, noticed the serious look on Clell's face and nodded. She rushed through the bandits, battering them to the ground as she passed through them.

Clell hummed and looked at the remaining bandits. His arm was causing him a lot of pain, but he still had to fight.

If Erza took out the archers, they'd be able to defend themselves more.

Clell blinked before narrowing his eyes as lightning danced from his eyes.

"You want a fight?" Clell asked while sparks started to dance up and down his arms. "Then let me show you a fight." Clell stated before slamming one of his blades into the ground.

Sparks raced through the ground. 3 of the bandits who were stupid enough to charge him let out shrikes of pain. They collapsed to the ground, twitching.

(With Erza)

Erza twirled while her blade cut through another arrow. Erza didn't stop to watch the pieces clatter to the ground. She raced towards the archers and looked to the side. Erza then watched 3 of the bandits fall to the floor.

"Cleve is a lot more of a warrior then I thought." Erza stated to herself as she rolled under another arrow. "He will hopefully be fine." Erza said while she grabbed another arrow out of the air.

Erza tossed the arrow to the side while rushing forward. Erza watched one of the archers' lock eyes with her.

They blinked in shock before notching more arrows. Erza knew the fact that these warriors were idiots. Erza could see they were skilled, but they were idiots considering they panicked easily.

Erza watched another pair of arrows pass over her head. They couldn't even aim properly while panicking.

"Idiots." Erza muttered while she threw herself up to one of the archers. She swung her blade which sliced through the bow before throwing the bow to the side.

"Who do you work for?" Erza questioned the man in front of her. "And who do you work for?" Erza asked the bandit who blinked at her in shock.

The bandit turned to look at his comrades. They were far too busy trying to deal with Clell to deal with her.

(With the figures)

"Where did he get lightning magic from!?" The first figure questioned the other while the duo watched the fight with interest. "I thought you said he was a regular thief." The first figure said while pointing a figure at the other figure.

"He's had magic before." The second figure stated while crossing his arms. He said nothing while continuing to watch the fight. The second figure decided to speak up a few minutes later. "We've just never had a chance to study which type he's had." The second figure added before turning to the first.

"Order the ambush, we're pay their leader for his group." The second figure ordered while he clenched his fist. "This was more then enough to get a grasp on how skill they are. It will be easier to plan what to do next." The second figure added before turning back to the figure.

"This fight was a waste of time, sir." The first figure stated before he started to order the bandits to retreat.

(With Clell)

Clell went to strike one of the approaching bandits before the remaining bandits started to retreat. Clell hummed and looked at his crackling arms.

Clell clutched at his arm in pain while sighing. He bit his teeth, the blade was poisoned, that much was certain. Erza returned only in time to see the purple of poison start to spread outward from his arm. The spider like vanes started to crawl up and down his arm.

"We're get you back to go and heal." Erza stated while she hooked an arm around Clell. She started to drag him towards the kingdom once more.

"Why did they run off?" Erza asked which caused Clell to shrug with his good arm.

"I have no idea." Clell stated while grunting in pain, the poison wouldn't kill him. "But I do know their retreating entirely. We won that fight." Clell added as they slowly walked towards the village.

"You fought well." Erza said to Clell with a smile. "For a thief." Erza said which caused Clell to chuckle.

Author Notes

Phew, another chapter done! I want to point out Erza and Clell will be fighting more often. And I got the idea for Clell to use lighting magic from a Thor story in Fairy Tale. Next chapter will be in a week and will show more of Clell and Erza bonding and more of Clell's past. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter will be 900-1200 words unlike this one.