Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

I did it! I told myself I'd get you a new chapter for Christmas and I did! My gift to you all-Merry Christmas!

Also, I adopted a story from Viscernal. Give it a look if you're interested. I do promise, however, that this story is my priority.

Enjoy!

Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon

Chapter 59

Agonized screams echoed throughout the halls of the underground base of Jarvan's organization. And all of the screams belonged to one Half-Dragon.

Nikolias yelled in pain as a blade slowly cut through his abdomen. He gritted his teeth as blood flowed from his mouth, trying desperately to muffle his cries and deny this sick man any satisfaction, but the pain was far too great. He couldn't silence himself.

"My, you certainly are a noisy one," Vyril said with a laugh. Vyril Lyno was a short man and was at least in his seventies, but he had the skilled hands of a surgeon. He inched the large scalpel down through Nikolias' flesh, making sure to avoid any vital organs. The cut wasn't too deep either, but it was deep enough to cause blood to flow down Nikolias' body. The blood that poured from the wound collected in a large pail that sat by Vyril's feet.

Vyril slowly withdrew the scalpel, placed it carefully on the bloodied silver tray that rested on a small table beside him, and then leaned in closely to Nikolias' wound, adjusting his glasses as he observed. He watched patiently and excitedly as Nikolias' wound slowly began to close until it was no more. Vyril gave a gleeful cry before clapping his bloody and gloved hands together. "Ah! It truly is incredible! No matter how much I take from you, no matter how large the incision, your body heals itself in a matter of moments! It's so truly incredible!"

Nikolias spat blood into Vyril's thinning gray hair. "Fuck you," he hissed.

Vyril straightened up and readjusted his glasses. "Your mouth is quite filthy, my friend." He reached over to the table, put on a rubber glove, grabbed the chain on Nikolias' right wrist, and yanked hard. As soon as he did, massive volts of electricity shot through Nikolias' body, causing the Half-Dragon to erupt into another series of blood-curdling screams. After a while, Vyril released the chain, making Nikolias quiet again. "Perhaps now you'll watch your language."

Nikolias slowly lifted his head, glaring at Vyril with his golden dragon eyes. "Fuck…you."

Vyril sighed. "I guess training you will have to wait. There are far more important things to worry about right now." He shuffled over to the pail of blood and peered inside. "Oh my. We easily have seven pints here. How have you not passed out yet? Hmm…truly incredible."

Nikolias coughed violently, sending blood onto the floor, but didn't reply. 'This guy is a monster. Gracie, please don't come for me. God only knows what these barbarians want to do with you.'

The wooden door that led to the lab slowly opened and in walked Jarvan, a content smile on his face as he saw Nikolias' condition. "Well, well, Dr. Vyril. I can see you certainly have been having some fun with this one."

"Oh, Master Jarvan!" Vyril exclaimed. "So good of you to visit. I've been dying to thank you for bringing me this one. He's fascinating!"

"Oh? How so?" Jarvan inquired.

"Watch this!" Vyril said as he picked up the scalpel and drove it into Nikolias' chest, causing the Half-Dragon to roar in agony once more. Vyril then tore the scalpel down, leaving a deep incision in the Half-Dragon's chest and allowing dark crimson blood to pour from his wound and into the pail. Vyril put down the scalpel carefully and then, with a gleeful chuckle, watched Nikolias' wound. And sure enough, the wound began to close until it was completely gone. Vyril clapped his hands and laughed. "Is that not magnificent?"

Jarvan chuckled. "Well, Half-Dragon, now it's confirmed. You did survive the Red Eye virus after all; a virus that exterminates any dragon it infects."

Nikolias lifted his heavy head once again to look at Jarvan. "How do you…know about…the Red Eye?"

Jarvan laughed. "How do I know about the Red Eye? My dear boy, who do you think helped Dr. Gorn further weaponize the virus?"

Nikolias' eyes widened. "No way. You…worked with Gorn?"

"Yes. You see, I specialize in advanced weapons design and Dr. Gorn was very interested in what I had done," Jarvan said. "We worked together for a couple of years, making the Red Eye virus stronger than it already was. Although I have to say, improvement was hard to come by. That man was a genius."

"It figures that fucked up scientists would flock together," Nikolias growled.

Jarvan chuckled. "You certainly are in a wonderful mood, aren't you?" He looked to Vyril. "So other than playing around with cutting him open, what do you have for me?"

Vyril motioned to the large pail by his feet. "I have here plenty of blood for you to work with, Master Jarvan."

"Why is it worth looking at, though?" Jarvan asked. "Tell me why it's worth my time and efforts."

Vyril bowed his head slightly. "Oh, of course. My apologies, Master Jarvan. In all of my excitement, I almost forgot to show you what I found." He reached over to the table and picked up a pipette. He stuck it into the pail and gently squeezed, extracting a small drop of blood. He moved the pipette over to a glass slide and placed the blood on the end. He then slowly moved the slide under a microscope and stepped away. "Have a look, Master Jarvan."

Jarvan walked over and leaned forward to peer through the eyepiece. He studied it thoroughly for a moment before looking up at Vyril with a smile. "So his blood…"

Vyril chuckled evilly. "I thought you might like that. Yes, he has special blood, this one. Like nothing I have ever seen in all of my fifty-plus years as a man of science."

"How much blood is in that pail?"

"Roughly seven pints, Master Jarvan."

"That should be plenty for now. When Cahill is back from his errand, I'll have him fetch the pail. Until then, do what you can to find out anything else that could be useful to my new research project."

Vyril bowed. "I will work diligently for you, Master Jarvan."

Jarvan turned and left the lab, closing the wooden door behind him. As he walked down the halls, he folded his hands behind his back and smiled. "This will be my greatest experiment to date." He laughed evilly, his dark and deep laugh almost cancelling out the echoing screams of the tortured Half-Dragon.


Gracie groaned while she stretched as the morning sun broke through the canopy of the trees. She and the rest of the group had made it far in just one day, which both surprised and greatly pleased her. Since their early start yesterday morning, the team had left Magnolia, took a train all the way to Clover Town, and then managed to walk all the way to the outskirts of the dense forest that sat nestled on the Fiore shore and right next to both the Seven and Bosco borders. It was at this forest that Erza called for the group to set up camp for the night. They ate and talked and laughed before falling asleep. Even Gracie and Mira were able to partake in the jocularity despite their deep concerns.

Gracie sprang to her feet and quickly dressed herself. Even with the others around, she couldn't bring herself to sleep fully clothed. She just wasn't comfortable sleeping that way and God knows she needed to rest. She was fortunate that she was able to finish up quickly before Erza eventually stirred.

"Good morning, Gracie," Erza said as she sat up. "How did you sleep?"

"Not bad," Gracie said with a shrug while peering up at the sky. "My body woke me up pretty early. That's pretty rare for me. Niky always used to say that I'm essentially dead until noon."

"You're anxious," Erza said. "It's understandable, but make sure you rest."

"Oh, I'm good to go, believe me," Gracie replied while boxing with the air. "I got plenty of sleep." She then looked over at Mira's sleeping form and smiled. "I'm glad Mira's still sleeping. The poor thing…"

Erza stood and stretched. "So tell me Gracie, are we close to the border?"

Gracie nodded and said, "Yeah, very close. We should be there by 1:00 the latest."

"That's good news. And when do you think we'll reach Wayhaven?"

"If all goes well, tomorrow in the late morning. It's not a short walk, unfortunately."

"Still, I think you should be thrilled with the progress we've made."

"I am," Gracie said softly. "Thanks, Erza."

Erza put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "No thanks needed. Nikolias is a friend to all of us. We'll do whatever we need to in order to bring him home."

"Right. So, should we get everyone up?"

"Let them sleep a bit longer."

"Okay."

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed through the forest. The sleeping members began to stir while Gracie and Erza looked into the forest.

"What the hell was that?" Gracie asked.

"That sounded like a woman's scream," Erza replied. "I wonder if someone is in trouble."

"They must be," Gracie said as she took off running.

"Gracie, wait for everyone else!" Erza called out.

"No time!" Gracie replied. "Get everyone up. I'll see what's going on." She ran as fast as she could deeper into the forest, dodging low hanging branches and leaping over downed tree trunks. She knew that kind of scream all too well. It was the scream of someone whose life was in danger. "Is anyone out there?" she shouted.

"Please, help!" a woman's voice called out. "Help me!"

"I'm coming!" Gracie yelled. She ran and ran towards the voice until she came into a small clearing. She stopped and looked around as she tried to catch her breath. "Where are you?"

And then, as if in response to her calls, a young woman leapt out from the bushes and rolled on the ground. She had platinum blonde hair and she was quite thin. Her clothes indicated that she was wealthy, for her dress, although torn and muddy, was made of a fine white silk.

The young woman groaned as she pushed herself up. She looked up and her crystal blue eyes immediately found Gracie. As soon as she saw her, the young woman got to her feet and began frantically running to her. "Please, help me!"

Gracie reached out and took hold of the young woman. "What's wrong?" she asked.

The young woman held Gracie close and hid her face in Gracie's chest. "Please, help. That creature is after me!"

"What creature?"

And again, as if in response to her question, a large, black, spider crawled out of the cover of the trees. It glared at the two women with its eight beady red eyes and hissed before charging.

"Seriously? A giant ass spider? Since when does that exist?" Gracie complained as she pushed the young woman behind her before clapping her hands together and becoming enveloped in a golden glow. She then held her arms out to the side and cried, "Come forth, halberd!" With a flash of brilliant light, her halberd appeared in her hands. She gripped the shaft tightly before charging forward.

The spider lunged at Gracie, but she easily leapt high and out of danger. As she descended upon the spider, she twirled her halberd over her head before swinging it downward and plunging the axe blade into the back of the spider. Green blood sprayed out as the spider hissed in pain. She pulled the halberd out and landed on the ground, hopping a few times backwards to analyze the situation safely. She narrowed her eyes at the spider as it writhed in pain, but it didn't go down. "Damn, this thing is tougher than it looks."

"Please be careful," the young woman said. "This is a Cursed Spider from the Corrupt Mountains in Bosco. They have extremely thick skin and incredibly potent venom."

Gracie rested the halberd's blade on her back as she crouched down slightly. 'Cursed Spiders? Shit, now I remember Niky mentioning those. He said they were pretty tough; agile, strong, and quick. He never said anything about weaknesses, but I assume they can be killed somehow.' She dashed forward with incredible speed. "I'll just have to keep you still!"

The spider saw her coming and screamed at her before charging her as well. Gracie smirked at seeing the spider charge. "That's a good arrogant little shit," she whispered. "Keep charging to your death." As soon as the spider lunged forward to try and pierce her with its fangs, she slid on the ground while rapidly swinging the halberd over her body in a circle. The axe blade cut through several of the spider's legs, causing it to collapse on the ground while Gracie slid safely away. She sprang to her feet and laughed as the spider struggled to stand. "Now you can't move, dumbass!" She walked towards the spider, her halberd's shaft resting on her shoulder. "And if you can't move, you can't attack too well."

The young woman stared at Gracie with stars in her eyes. "Amazing," she breathed.

Gracie stopped at the spider's head and leaned over to look in the spider's eyes. "You shoulda stayed in Bosco, buddy. You really weren't that tough. I think Niky oversold ya."

The spider tried to bite her, but it couldn't move its body enough to reach her.

"Rude. You're still trying to eat me? Fine." She lifted her halberd and, with a mighty cry, plunged the black spike at the tip of the halberd into the spider's head. It writhed in pain, but Gracie held firm. She adjusted her grip on the shaft and yanked downward, slicing the spider's head in half with the axe blade. Green blood oozed out of the wound as the spider gave a couple final convulsions before lying completely still.

The young woman smiled. "You did it!"

Gracie sighed as she lifted her halberd off of the ground and looked at the blades. She made a face as she inspected her weapon. "Gross. This stuff looks like snot," she complained, wiping the blades on the spider's corpse in an attempt to remove the spider's blood.

"Gracie!"

Gracie turned to see her friends running towards her and allowed her now clean halberd to disappear. "Yo. How'd everyone sleep?"

They all stopped once they reached the clearing. "What the hell happened?" Natsu asked. "And what's with the giant spider?"

"Long story," Gracie replied, even if it wasn't that long. She then turned to the young woman, who was staring at her in wonder. "Are you alright, miss?"

"Yes, thanks to you," the young woman replied.

"If I can ask, who are you?" Gracie asked. "And why were you being chased by that spider?"

The young woman curtsied. "My name is Christina Valiet. Thank you so much for saving me. I was out here gathering materials when out of nowhere, that spider attacked me. I ran and ran, but it wouldn't leave me be."

"Where are you from?" Gracie asked.

"I'm from Cedar," Christina said. "It's a small trading town right on the border of Fiore and Bosco."

"You're wealthy, right?" Gracie asked while motioning to Christina's clothes.

Christina giggled. "No. I bring materials, like what I was collecting today, back home where my mother makes them into clothing that my father sells. My mother made this dress for me."

"That must be nice," Gracie said softly. "Alright, last question, Christina. If that really is a Cursed Spider from the Corrupt Mountains like you said, what was it doing all the way near this forest in Fiore? That's several miles away from its habitat."

Christina looked away slightly. "I'm not too sure, but I've heard rumors around town. There used to be a village that sat right on the base of the mountain. It was a village of strong warriors who would fight back the Cursed Spiders and prevent them from wandering into towns for human hunting. However, a couple of weeks ago, the village was completely annihilated and no one knows why or how. Without that village, though, the Cursed Spiders can roam as they please. Or so the stories I've heard go."

"Interesting," Erza said. "That definitely sounds like a problem. And no one knows why the village was attacked or how the villagers died?"

"Sounds like the spiders got tired of being cooped up," Gajeel said.

"Makes sense," Gray said.

"I've told you all that I know," Christina said. "Anyway, thank you again miss…uh…"

"Gracie," she replied with a smile.

Christina returned the smile. "Miss Gracie. Please allow me to thank you for your kindness."

Gracie waved her hands in front of her. "Please, just Gracie. And don't worry about it. I'm just happy to help. I would hate for your parents to lose you. You're safe and that's reward enough."

Christina quickly took Gracie's hands faster than Gracie could blink and leaned in close. "But I insist! Please, there must be something that I can do for you!"

Gracie laughed nervously. "Wow, you're right up in my personal space…"

"Oh, I'm sure we can discuss something," Mira said with a smile.

Christina turned to look at her. "Yes, please! Name it and if I can, I will do it for you."

"Miss Christina, would you by chance have a cart that we could borrow?" Mira asked.

Christina nodded. "Yes. We have a horse-drawn cart that my father uses for trade."

"Would it be too much of a bother to ask if you could give us a ride to Wayhaven?"

"Wayhaven? Where's that?"

"It's a town in Seven," Lucy replied.

Christina nodded. "Sure! I'd be happy to help you get to Wayhaven!"

Mira gave her a big smile. "Thank you very much, Miss Christina. You have no idea how much that means to us."

Christina giggled. "Of course! Now please, follow me back home. Then we'll head towards Wayhaven." The Fairy Tail team nodded and followed the young blonde through the woods and back to Cedar. The only one who looked horrified was Natsu, who was very much looking forward to travel without transportation.


The Fairy Tail group walked the streets of Cedar Town being led by Christina through the dirt roads. The houses were all small; mostly one-story, brown buildings. Merchants lined the streets with carts if they were travelers or stands if they were the residents. There was fine cloth, jewelry, trinkets, and much more, a lot of which the Fairy Tail members had never seen before.

"My, this is a very nice little town," Mira said as she looked around.

"Gracie, have you ever been here before?" Erza asked.

"Nope. No need to," Gracie replied while looking around. "This place is clearly quiet. I can't imagine that there's a whole lot of serious crime here, so Niky and I never needed to visit."

Christina looked over her shoulder. "This is a wonderful town. There's rarely any crime. Maybe a small petty thief here and there, but nothing serious."

"That sounds lovely," Levy said.

"Sounds pretty dull," Gajeel said, receiving a backhand slap to the stomach from Levy. "What?"

"There's nothing dull about peace, Gajeel," Levy snapped.

"Alright, sorry," Gajeel said.

"That's better."

Wendy giggled at the two before asking Gracie, "We're kind of out of the original route, aren't we?"

"It's okay," Gracie said. "We're a little bit farther east than expected, but as long as we head north by northeast, we'll be fine. It doesn't throw us off too much."

Christina stopped and turned towards the group. "We've made it to my family's shop," she said while motioning to her right.

The group looked to their left and saw a small wooden stand with exquisite dresses, scarves, skirts, and all sorts of other items of clothing. Looming behind the stand's counter and in front of a large curtain was a large, burly man with wild black hair and a scruffy black beard. His brown eyes were hard as he glared ahead, his arms crossed over his large chest.

"Is that your old man?" Gray asked.

"Yes, that's my papa," Christina said as she walked towards the stand.

"His body language can't be good for business," Gracie mumbled under her breath. Erza heard her and gently nudged her in the ribs with her elbow. "I'm just saying. Try smiling."

Christina smiled as she approached her father. "Good morning, papa."

The man smiled at his daughter. "Ah, Christina. Did you bring the materials?"

Christina's gaze fell to the floor. "Sorry, papa. I dropped them in the forest."

Her father sighed. "Clumsy girl. Now what will your mother do? She needed those materials."

"I'm sorry, papa, but I was attacked."

"Attacked?" the man shouted. "By who?"

"A Cursed Spider."

Her father's eyes widened. "So the rumors must be true then. Are you alright?"

"Yes, thanks to Miss Gracie here," Christina said while holding Gracie's arm.

Her father bowed his head. "Thank you for saving my daughter, Miss Gracie."

"Please, just Gracie. And it was my pleasure," Gracie said.

"Papa, I have a favor to ask," Christina said.

"What is it, my dear?"

"These nice people are trying to get to get to Wayhaven in Seven. May I borrow the cart and take them there as a way to repay them?" Christina asked.

"Absolutely not," her father said quickly.

"But papa…"

"No buts. I need that cart, Christina. You know that. It's our livelihood. It brings us money. It's how we survive."

"But papa…"

"I said no buts. There is no need for discussion or argument." He bowed his head to the Fairy Tail members. "I do thank you for saving my daughter, but I cannot let you take my cart. I'm sorry."

"Oh Dominic, let her take it," came a woman's voice from behind the curtain.

Her father turned. "Don't give me that, Lydia. You know that I need that cart!"

From behind the curtain, a tall, beautiful blonde woman stepped out. She had crystal blue eyes just like Christina that were very soft and kind. The woman smiled at Gracie. "Gracie, was it? I'd like to deeply thank you for saving my little girl."

Gracie shook her head. "It was no trouble at all, ma'am. I was happy to help."

Lydia giggled softly before looking at her husband. "Dominic, you know that you won't need that cart again for at least a week. The order from Muric is our soonest delivery and it's not expected for another two weeks."

Dominic huffed. "I know that, but she's talking about taking my cart into Seven! What if something happens to it?"

"Then we'll replace it," Lydia said calmly. "Let Christina do this. Let her spread her wings and venture out a ways." She then turned to look at Gracie. "As long as she's with these nice people, I'm sure that she'll be safe."

Dominic looked like he was about to blow a fuse. "Are you crazy? It's far too dangerous for her! She was attacked by a Cursed Spider, Lydia. Those things are probably crawling all over the place!"

"Papa, I'm 20 years old. Please, let me help these people!" Christina begged.

"It's out of the question!" Dominic yelled, his face getting redder by the second.

Mira felt her eyes start to water. 'No! We need that cart. Otherwise, it'll take us even longer to reach Nikolias!' She held her hands close to her chest. 'What do we do now?'

Gracie took a small step closer to the bickering family. "Sir…"

"What is it?" Dominic asked harshly. Even though this girl saved his daughter's life, she was still trying to take his daughter out into the dangerous world. However, as soon as he looked at her, his gaze softened slightly upon seeing the tears streaming down her face.

"What's wrong, my dear?" Lydia asked.

"Miss Gracie, are you okay?" Christina asked.

Gracie sniffed before bowing so low that her upper body was practically parallel to the ground. "Please sir, I beg you! Let us borrow the cart! Without it, we'll never reach our destination quickly!"

"Gracie…," Mira said softly as tears threatened to fall from her eyes as well.

Tears fell from Gracie's tightly shut eyes and stained the dirt. "My brother…my brother is in trouble. He went to Juniper and hasn't returned. We need to get to him as quickly as possible. Every moment we waste could mean that he's in more and more danger, so please…please lend us your cart so that we can reach him quickly!"

"Oh, you poor thing," Lydia said. "Dominic, please help them. It's the least we can do since they saved our Christina."

Dominic scratched the back of his head, his rage completely gone. "Aw geez. How can I say no now? Alright, Gracie. I'll let you borrow our cart. Just please stop crying."

Gracie whipped up, tears streaming down her face like small rivers. "Thank you," she sobbed, a small smile on her face. "Thank you so much!"

"Think nothing of it," Dominic said. He looked to Christina. "Take these people where they need to go, alright?"

Christina clasped her hands together. "You mean it, papa?"

"Yeah," he relented. "You're old enough to have your own adventure and lead your own life."

Christina threw herself at her father. "Oh, thank you, papa! I'll come back as soon as I can!"

He pet her head. "I know you will. Just promise that you'll be safe. Now, the cart is out back, so go ahead and take it."

Gracie threw herself at Dominic as well. "Thank you!"

"Gracie, please!" Dominic cried.

Lydia giggled at her flustered husband. "Christina, I will ask that you bring your bow."

Christina nodded at her mother. "I will, mama!"

"Now, off you go. No time to waste, right?" Dominic said.

Both Christina and Gracie released him and nodded. "Thank you," they both said. They then both ran behind the stand to fetch the cart, the rest of the group following behind them.

The only one who lagged slightly behind was Mira, who bowed slightly to Dominic. "Thank you so much, sir," she said softly, her smile bright in spite of the dried tears on her cheeks.


Nikolias groaned as he slowly began to stir. 'Damn it. I passed out. That bastard took a lot of blood in a short amount of time.' He slowly lifted his heavy head and looked around. 'I'm alone?'

Sure enough, Vyril had left the laboratory. The dank, foul room was empty, save for Nikolias.

'If he's not here, then maybe I can escape,' he thought as he forced his head to turn around. He eyed the chain on his right wrist. 'I may not be able to break it with force, but that doesn't mean my shadows won't work!' He studied the chain for a moment before pointing his fingers at the chain and whispering, "SHADOW SLASH!"

However, nothing happened.

'What the…why aren't my shadows working?'

"Good try." Nikolias looked towards the door and saw Vyril peeking through the crack in the doorway with a smile. "I must commend you; no matter how much pain you're in, you won't give up on escaping. You have quite the spirit."

"Bastard," Nikolias hissed. "Why can't I use my shadows?"

Vyril chuckled as he entered the room. "Must you ask even after knowing who Master Jarvan has collaborated with in the past?"

Nikolias' eyes widened. "You sons of bitches…"

"Ah, so you put it together already? That was quicker than expected. I'm surprised, especially since you haven't seen it in hundreds of years. I thought it would have taken you longer."

"You have Gorn's dragon-cancelling technology?" Nikolias asked.

"Yes, it was one of his first inventions. Still quite effective, though, don't you think? The generator that the chains are connected to is sending out a frequency via vibrations that prevents you from using any of your abilities."

Nikolias gritted his teeth. What could he do? If he couldn't break the chains and couldn't use his abilities, how was he going to get out of here and back to Gracie before Jarvan and his jolly band of douches found her?

"Just give up hope," Vyril said as he inspected his tools. "Resign to your and Miss Amier's fates. You will both die and Master Jarvan will get what he wants from both of you." He picked up a saw and walked behind Nikolias. "Now, sit still. I want to see what your shoulder blades look like since you call out those wings all the time."


The sun was close to setting, painting the sky glorious and vibrant reds, pinks, and oranges as the Fairy Tail members raced across a plain in a horse-drawn cart. Gracie sat up front with Christina, who was the driver for the group, while everyone else sat in the large, spacious back. Natsu was hanging over the edge of the cart, his stomach threatening to expel their recently consumed dinner, while Lucy gently rubbed his back. Happy sat beside Natsu, making comments about how he would never get over his motion sickness. Gajeel was feeling the effects as well, but he was trying to act like he was fine. However, the sweat that clung to his brow and the paler color to his dark skin didn't fool anyone, especially not Levy. She sat beside Gajeel, using her Solid Script magic to wet a cloth from time to time to cool him off.

The group had hugged the Fiore-Bosco border the entire trip, wary of venturing too close to the Corrupt Mountains or the Corrupt Tower. They were always on the lookout for Cursed Spiders, but were fortunate to have not seen a single one. They had entered Seven about an hour ago and were rapidly approaching the bustling town of Wayhaven.

Gracie leaned back on her arms as she stared at the sky. "Thanks again, Christina. Because of you and your parents, we're making great time. We should actually reach Wayhaven before nightfall."

"It's my pleasure, Miss Gracie."

"I told you, just call me Gracie, Christina. We're friends, so we don't need the 'Miss' crap, okay?"

Christina blushed slightly. "I'm glad you said that we're friends."

"Well we are, so I said it. Makes sense, don't ya think?"

Christina nodded. "Right. Thanks, Gracie. Anyway, we should make it to Wayhaven within half an hour."

"Wow, really? Man, you're the greatest, Christina!" Gracie exclaimed with a big smile. "Without you, we'd reach Wayhaven tomorrow like we originally planned."

'I'm happy to help." Christina looked at Gracie out of the corner of her eye. "So your brother is in danger?"

Gracie looked back at the sky. "Yeah," she said quietly. "He went out on a job and never came back."

"That's awful."

"You wanna hear awful? I was supposed to go with him, but I turned him away because I wanted to go shopping with friends. Pathetic, huh?"

Christina shook her head, her eyes returning to the plain they were crossing. "I don't think so."

Gracie looked at her as if she were crazy. "How do you figure?"

"What's his name?"

"Nikolias, but I call him Niky."

"I don't think it's your fault that Nikolias is in danger. I mean, I'm assuming that he told you what he was doing before he left, right?"

"He did."

"And I'm also assuming that when he told you, you figured that he could handle it alone. Otherwise, you wouldn't have hesitated to go with him."

"Well, he can handle himself just fine, but I still should have…"

"It's not your fault, Gracie," Christina interrupted. "You couldn't predict that he would be in such danger." Christina turned her head to look at Gracie. "What's really important is that you're out looking for him now, concerned for his safety, willing to do whatever it takes to find him and bring him home with you. I think that says a lot."

Gracie smiled at her fellow blonde. Even if she didn't fully believe her, it still was comforting to hear her say such things. "Thanks, Christina. I appreciate that."

"Of course," Christina replied with a small giggle.

Gracie picked up the wooden bow that lay at Christina's side. "So you know how to shoot a bow and arrow, huh?"

Christina looked back to the road. "My father taught me. He taught me how to hunt and scavenge so that I could help support our family."

"Why didn't you have it with you today when you were out in the forest?"

"I wasn't expecting to need it. I've been in that forest hundreds of times. There are never any big predators. If it weren't for that Cursed Spider, I wouldn't have needed it at all."

"I see. So are you any good?"

"I'm pretty good."

"Pretty good, huh?"

"Mhm."

"That doesn't tell me much."

"What else am I supposed to say?"

"Try not being modest and giving me your honest thoughts."

Christina blushed. "Well, I…I'm frequently called the best shot in Cedar Town."

"Yeah, that's pretty good. More like pretty damn good. You go girl!" Gracie said while giving her a playful punch in the arm. The punch was unexpected and caused Christina to accidently pull the reins to the right, making the horses veer to the right as well.

And it was at that moment that the shot was fired.


Merry Christmas, everyone!

If you don't celebrate Christmas, then Happy Holidays! Enjoy the day!