And we're back. That only took 2 weeks. I realized I needed to plan my other story better before continuing it. So, while I do that, I'll work on this one. Enjoy! ;)

127

Harry looked around at their surrounding area. Their guild was destroyed, but the town came out unharmed. The dark-haired wizard reached out his senses, trying to find the life forces of his guildmates, but all he felt was Natsu and Fawkes. No one else was in the town.

"They're not here," Harry told Natsu. "They're out of range. We need to leave Magnolia and search for them."

"Yeah, I can faintly smell them.* They're somewhere that way." The dragon slayer pointed toward the edge of town, where a graveyard was. "I'm not sure, but I think it's Wendy and Carla over there."

Harry began walking where Natsu pointed. "Then we should get going. We know nothing about Zeref's demons, so she could be in danger." Natsu nodded, and the two magic users dashed toward the graveyard. As they got closer, Harry could feel Wendy and Carla's life forces and someone else's. It felt like Zeref but weaker - like it was close to death; however, it was stable, like a pillar holding a temple.

'A Necromancer,' Harry thought dreadfully.

When Wendy looked down at the rock, she felt she had to pick it up. Her instinct told her not to, but she couldn't resist. Once she held it, Carla laid a paw on it, too. Wendy was confused and a little scared, but panic set in when the world around her blurred and spun.

The two friends screamed in shock and fear. Carla's voice was faint, but Wendy heard her say to try and calm down. The blood pumping and the wind blowing in her ears made it difficult for Wendy to know for sure.

The world righted itself a second later, but it happened abruptly, causing Wendy and Carla to land hard on the ground. The sky dragon slayer groaned, but she had to get up. The scent in the air carried decay and dirt. Wendy shot up and looked at her surroundings. There were gravestones all around her, but none looked familiar. This wasn't the same graveyard where Mira's thought-to-be-dead sister was buried. This one looked older and unkempt.

The scent of decay grew stronger, creeping up from behind. Wendy spun on her heels to face the source. Her eyes widened for a second before narrowing in determination. A tall being with black pits for eyes, a stitched mouth, and a golden helmet with the Tartaros emblem printed on it.

Her heart pounded. Wendy knew this demon was powerful, but she refused to back down. She would fight to win or at least die trying.

"I was hoping for a stronger-looking opponent, but I guess a cute little girl would do wonders in my collection," said the demon.

As she heard those words, Wendy's hair stood on end, and she felt her spine tingle like the icy-cold finger of death trailed down it.

"What do you mean by that?!" Carla demanded as her fur spiked up.

"Nothing much," said the demon. "All I'm saying is that many humans would lower their guard around a child, making it easy to kill them and add to my collection."

"You're collection?" Wendy questioned softly, worried she knew where this was going.

"My army of the dead, of course." A dark purple fog cloaked the graveyard as bodies crawled from beneath the ground.

Wendy gasped and snapped her head around in every direction. More corpses were coming out of the forest next to them. She tried to count them, but there were too many. There had to be a hundred, maybe more.

A rotten hand grasped Wendy's ankle, earning a shout of fright from the girl. Quickly, she lifted her hand and formed her fingers into a claw-shape. "Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" She struck the hand holding her, cutting it off the decaying arm and freeing her. Wendy jumped into the air and was grabbed onto by Carla.

The two studied what was happening below them. There were so many bodies, and more kept coming. Wendy lifted both her arms, gathering gales of wind around them. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"

The bodies scattered in the strong winds, creating an opening for her to aim at the necromancer controlling the corpses.

"Sky Dragon's ROAR!" A tornado-like collum shot out toward the demon. Dust was picked up, but Wendy knew she hit her target. She and Carla landed on the ground again, waiting to see if they won before cheering.

Before the dust cleared completely, Wendy was tackled by many corpses from behind. She demanded they get off, but they didn't listen - not that Wendy expected them to. Laughter filled the air, letting the dragon slayer know the demon was unharmed.

"I must say, that was a valid effort, but a waisted one. Now die!" The jaws of one of the bodies came closer to Wendy's throat, but the dragon slayer wasn't done yet.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Shattering Light: Sky Drill!" As Wendy called out the spell, wind surrounded her form, blowing around some of the bodies. But as she finished, a typhoon slammed into the corpses on top of her.

Wendy shot up like a rocket, kicking her leg out with a dragon's claw, cutting through the other bodies closest to her. But all these spells were taking a toll on her. Wendy felt sweat running down her head, arms, and back. Her lungs burned, but she did her best to ignore it. This fight wasn't over yet.

Groans from all around her grew louder as the corpses drew closer. Wendy didn't understand how there were so many bodies because this graveyard wasn't that big.

As if the demon could read minds, he laughed before answering her unspoken question. "Humans love to hide the bodies of those they've killed in forests, so there is an army's worth just waiting for me to command." The demon laughed some more, but he was cut off by two familiar voices that brought joy to Wendy's heart.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

"Fiendfyre!"

Two whips and a snake made of fire surrounded Wendy, consuming the rotting corpses and burning them to ash.

Wendy looked over, a sigh of relief passing through her. Harry, Natsu, and Fawkes burned through the corpses - or, in Harry's case, ordered them to bury themselves.

"Go back to your graves and never listen to this demon again," Harry said with his glowing green eyes set in a glare. A laugh from the demon followed Harry's orders.

"You honestly think that they will obey you?" the demon said, chuckling at Harry's attempt, but the sound stopped when the corpses began to dig through the ground. "WHAT?!"

Harry smirked at the demon while Natsu jogged over to Wendy. "You okay?" Natsu asked.

Wendy nodded. "I'm fine, just a little tired."

"How is this possible?!" the demon shouted, demanding Harry to answer.

Harry shrugged. "I'm the Master of Death. My orders are higher than yours," he said like he was discussing the weather.

The demon glared at him with gritted teeth before vanishing in a fog of purple mist. Harry turned to the two dragon slayers and walked over to join them.

"You okay, Wendy?" Harry asked, kneeling next to her.

"Yeah, just a few scraps," said Wendy with a sheepish smile.

Harry nodded in acknowledgment and turned to Fawkes. "Please heal her," he said to his familiar, who trilled happily and cried on Wendy's cuts and bruises.

While Wendy watched on in amazement as Fawkes' tears healed her wounds, she noticed Harry looking around. He didn't appear to be on guard, but he was clearly searching for something.

"I sense Castor, Romeo, and Macao. They're not far, maybe a mile away," Harry said, looking toward the forest.

"Then we should get moving," said Natsu. "Can you walk?" he asked Wendy.

The blue-haired dragon slayer nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just a little tired, but I can still fight." Harry and Natsu nodded while Fawkes trilled.

"Then let's go. I sense another demon close to my son, and I'm not happy about that," Harry said with a scowl firmly in place. He spun around and dashed toward the forest where his son was with Natsu, Wendy, Carla, and Fawkes right behind him.

TBC

*I figured Natsu would be able to smell his guildmates because Portkeys appear to go from one place to another really fast - at least in the movies. It didn't look like teleportation.

Harry: For a second, I thought you were going to make Wendy look weak. *glares*

Enj/Dark: I didn't mean to. I was going to have her overwhelmed, but I figured her wind could keep the dead at bay.

Natsu: She shouldn't have gotten winded right then.

Enj/Dark: I know… :(

Zeref: Well, at least she can still fight if needed. You guys should have seen what she planned for this chapter.

Voldy: *Looks at chapter planning page* She would have been so exhausted she couldn't walk.

Enj/Dark: Shut up! DX Natsu, it's your turn!

Natsu: Please review! XD