The fighting begins! I'm still experimenting with my ideas on dragon combat, so tell me what you think! Is there anything I should add?
As always, please review and thanks for reading!
Chapter 20: Phantom Strike
The whole city of Magnolia was in complete silence, waiting for a storm they knew was coming to break.
Dragons were patrolling the walls and surrounding areas, scanning the horizons for any sign of attackers. Humans stood guard alongside them, but so far, nothing had disturbed the city even though it had been about 36 hours since the assassins had been defeated. Makarov and Layla were at the center of the city, planning their method of defense.
One dragon was missing from the rest: Natsu.
On the walls, Lucy frowned, "Where is he?"
"Isn't he supposed to be your bodyguard?" Levy, currently a dragon, asked.
Lucy nodded, "Yeah, but I haven't seen him for a while now…you don't think he was captured, do you?"
Lisanna shook her head, "No. We would know if someone tried to attack Natsu. Remember how loud he can roar?"
"But suppose they caught him as a human…" the blonde girl sighed, "I just wish we knew where he was…We're about to fight, and he hasn't even shown up."
Lisanna said nothing, but stared at the sun, which was about an hour or so away from setting. Natsu…where are you?
/
Above the city, three dragons hovered.
One was made of flames that constantly shifted color, another consisted of earth, and the third had a body of twisting wind. All three were males- drakes.
A man in black robes stood atop the Earth Drake and flicked his hand in a signal, "First, Layla and Makarov. Aria, Totomaru…"
The Air Drake and Blaze Drake dove down silently, having been poised directly over their targets already. Just a few meters above their prey, they still evaded detection and now prepared to go for a lethal strike.
"OOOHHHHHH!"
Totomaru yelped as something grabbed his incarnate body, then threw him aside with a mighty roar.
Aria was already on top of Makarov, but a blast of fire made him change coarse and miss the fatal zone on the old drake he'd been aiming for. As it was, Makarov bellowed in pain and staggered as Aria's slicing body of wind crashed into him and did severe damage.
Layla gasped, "Makarov!"
The old dragon groaned and collapsed, reverting to his human form in order to avoid crushing buildings. Now a small old man, he clutched at a wound on his back, gritting his teeth in pain.
Natsu spat another fireball and forced the Air Drake to retreat, before snarling at Totomaru when he tried to attack Layla again. The two enemy drakes hesitated and hissed at Natsu as he growled back, "Yeah, I had a feeling you'd hit us from above! You didn't even see me camped out on the mountaintop, did you?!"
For once, Acnologia's attack actually came in handy, Natsu thought, relieved that he'd stopped the two drakes in time.
/
Above, the black-robed man atop the Earth Drake sneered, "Caught, eh? No matter." He raised his hands and bellowed out, "Come to me, phantom ghouls of the nether world! Lay waste to this city and every living thing!"
A black and violet portal opened up above him, then a mass of reaper-like creatures poured out, flooding the skies above Magnolia.
/
The other dragons had heard the roars of fighting and froze when they realized the attack was from above, not from around. And now, demons of some kind were coming down in mass numbers.
Erza snapped quickly, "Guards, protect the streets! Dragons, up! Engage the enemy!"
Dragon roars echoed around the city, then the sound of many beating wings took to seem like a thunderstorm.
Fairy Tail was a, 'Thunder' after all.
/
Natsu spat another fireball at Aria, but the Air Drake came around and slashed at him with claws of blade-like wind. The Fire Drake snarled and snapped, but Aria's body was impossible for him to grab.
He could, however, tear at Totomaru's body of flame.
When the Blaze Drake attempted to kill Layla again, Natsu's jaws clamped around the back of Totomaru's neck and tossed him aside again. Then Natsu lunged and slashed with his claws, opening a wound in the Blaze Drake's side that poured out liquid fire.
Totomaru roared in pain and retreated a ways.
Layla called up, "Natsu! Come down here!"
"If I do that, they'll get the height advantage and we'll get killed!" he snapped.
"No! Makarov must be taken from here! And I have to get up there to fight Jose! Let me ride you up!" she pleaded.
Natsu flashed a glance down at the Spirit Priestess, then growled, "Oh, for the love of…get ready to jump!"
He roared and unleashed a rippling torrent of fire, using the great blaze to make Aria and Totomaru hesitate in their attack. Natsu then spun and dove down, hovering just slightly over the city as he used one hand to pick up Makarov. He dipped his head at the same time, allowing Layla to jump on and climb down to the base of his neck.
Natsu took off immediately once he had them, shooting skyward once more. Totomaru and Aria lunged after him, flying at incredible speeds to catch up.
Layla called above the roaring wind, "Natsu, we must find someplace safe for Makarov!"
The Flame Drake glanced over his shoulder. Totomaru was keeping pace with him, but Aria was catching up. The Air Drake was faster than he'd first thought.
Suddenly, there was a sapphire blur, and Wendy tackled Aria out of the sky with a shrieking roar. The Air Drake was stunned by the force and fact that someone had actually managed to touch his body without being torn apart, and despite Wendy's smaller size, she managed to force him off of Natsu's trail.
Natsu was grateful, but he hoped someone would hurry and help her. Wendy wasn't nearly large enough to take down a drake of Aria's size, even if she was the only one- a Sky Dragon- who could wound him.
The Thunder Hall was dead ahead, with Porlysuca standing in the entrance. Natsu swept up and dropped Makarov, watching as the Herb Dragonelle caught the little old man and quickly took him inside.
Layla nodded, "Take us up! I have to close that portal!"
A fireball shot right by Natsu's face from behind, making him snarl, "Give me a minute, you crazy human!"
He flipped midair so he was facing the oncoming Totomaru. The Blaze Drake let loose another blast of fire, while Natsu countered with his own breath of flame.
The sound of two fire dragons colliding roared out across the city as a massive explosion ripped through the air. Around them, some of the Phantoms shrieked and vanished from the shockwave, and some dragons fell out of the air, stunned, before recovering and ascending again.
The Flame Drake faced his enemy and roared a challenge. The Blaze Drake replied with his own furious caterwaul. Layla sat in the base of Natsu's neck easily, but her gaze was focused on Jose and the Earth Drake.
Natsu bared his fangs in a fierce grin, able to hear the blood roar in his ears as he hissed, "I'm all fired up…!"
/
Jose looked down on the battle and narrowed his eyes. He was unfamiliar with the Flame and Sky dragons who had engaged Totomaru and Aria. This was an unexpected bump in the road. He could also see Juvia, and noted to capture the Water Dragonelle before he left.
In fact, he was about to command Sol to dive at her when a huge Iron Drake flew up and glared at him with menacing red eyes.
Jose smirked, "Well, what do we have here?"
"You're Jose?" the dragon demanded.
"Indeed I am." the Dark Mage confirmed with an evil smile.
Gajeel curled his lip in a sneer, "Then get ready to die!"
He roared and unleashed a blast of metal shards from his jaws, which caught Sol in the side and made the Earth Drake shriek in pain. Chunks of earth fell from his body, but Gajeel was just getting warmed up.
The Iron Drake rammed Sol with incredible force, bringing back a huge, metal fist to punch the Earth Drake in the jaw. Gajeel clamped his jaws down on Sol's wing and dragged him down from the air with his body weight.
Jose held on tightly and waved a hand, "Phantoms- kill him!"
The Phantoms attacked Gajeel in mass numbers, but all their black magic attacks simply bounced off the Iron Drake's toughened scales.
Gajeel cackled as they continued to fall, "Gee-hee! Is that all ya got, ya shitty human?!"
Sol screeched as Gajeel crushed him into a building, devastating the area around them before the Earth Drake was slammed to the ground with enough force to form a crater.
The Iron Drake skidded away on all fours and roared, firing his breath attack and again smote Sol in the side with the iron blade breath.
Now on the ground, Sol melted into the earth and suddenly appeared from below, catching Gajeel in the stomach with a fierce strike.
"Oof!" Gajeel wheezed as the attack knocked the wind out of him and staggered back.
Jose smirked, but it was short-lived as he realized Sol had only scratched the Iron Drake's scales.
Gajeel, meanwhile, recovered and bared his fangs in a killer grin, "Ho…you actually did a little damage…Gee-hee…"
Jose's grin returned, "Hmm…What a feisty enemy…"
/
Wendy hadn't been able to pin Aria down for long. Almost instantly after she forced him off of Natsu's trail, the Air Drake had shaken her off and started attacking the smaller Sky Dragonelle. She had darted off with him in pursuit, using her smaller size to fly just fast enough to stay ahead.
But she couldn't keep that speed up for long. Even now, she was getting tired, unused to such a high-speed pursuit. Aria was still on her, and in an act of last resort, Wendy spun midair and unleashed a breath attack which took the form of a spiraling tornado.
The blast of wind was enough to make Aria stagger midair, but he soon roared his fury and lunged at her. Wendy quickly shifted to the side and avoided the slicing wind body, but the Air Drake wheeled around and got ready for another attack.
Wendy released another tornado, but this time, Aria ignored the damage it caused and rushed right through to ram the smaller dragonelle head-on.
She gasped and cried out as the Air Drake's wind body sliced at her scales, causing her to fall out of the sky.
Something beneath her stopped the Sky Dragonelle's fall and allowed her to regain her aerial balance.
Lisanna flew up to Wendy's side, glaring at Aria with a hiss, "We'll take him together."
"Okay…" Wendy swallowed and caught her breath as the two dragonelles faced off against the Air Drake.
But Aria was fast.
The Air Drake lunged at them with a hiss, aiming for Wendy despite Lisanna clearly being the more powerful opponent.
Wendy was still tired and was unprepared for the sudden blitz move, which caused her to flinch and freeze up. Aria was moments away from crashing into her when Lisanna blocked his path with her body and let out a powerful roar. Her breath attack made the Air Drake stagger slightly, but he kept coming and slammed into the Tigress Dragonelle with his sharp air body, slashing a deep wound in her side.
Lisanna gasped as the strike blew her out of the sky and into a building on the ground. She got back up unsteadily, her feet shaking from the pain and shock.
Wendy came down with a scared look, "Are you okay?!"
"I-I'm fine." Lisanna managed, then noticed Aria coming at them again.
She and Wendy had time to brace themselves before the Air Drake unleashed a slicing blast of wind from his jaws that generated a significant explosion.
/
"Grah!" Totomaru screeched as Natsu's jaws tore a new wound in his leg. The Blaze Drake had never been wounded like this and hissed, "How can you do this?!"
"I'm a Flame Dragon, that's why!" Natsu spat and slammed into Totomaru again, making him stagger in midair.
Layla was getting worried about the situation in the city and called, "Natsu, get us to the portal! I have to keep more of the Phantoms from getting through!"
Natsu had also noticed that the Phantoms were still coming through, but hadn't thought much of it. To a dragon, they were weak, and hardly worth the effort of fighting. But even he had to admit they were getting to be a little too large in number for his liking.
He flapped his wings quickly and shot skyward towards the portal, but Totomaru hadn't given up yet. The Blaze Drake spat a fireball that caught Natsu's stomach, and even though it did little actual damage, it hurt enough to make him snarl.
Natsu hissed to Layla, "You might want to hold on for this."
He dropped out of the sky.
Totomaru wasn't expecting the daredevil move and froze briefly, but then Natsu's jaws crunched down on his wing and ripped back, causing severe pain and real damage. The Blaze Drake shrieked and dropped out of the sky, but didn't pull up and crashed into the city below. That said, he wasn't beat, as Totomaru got back up and roared furiously up at the Flame Drake.
Natsu snorted and flew skyward again, blasting clumps of Phantoms that got in his way to smithereens.
Once they were close, Layla held out a hand and shouted, "O' spirits of the stars who guide my path, lend me the power to seal this evil!"
A gold light emanated from her hand, from which an entity in the form of a goat-like man emerged. The goat noted the portal and nodded to Layla, then shot up and touched it, causing gold light to pour over the sky and bathe the Phantoms in its warm glow.
Every single demon shrieked in pain and vanished, then the portal flickered and closed off. The goat-man bowed and vanished in a burst of gold light.
Layla almost collapsed on Natsu's back, her chest heaving.
The Flame Drake glanced over his shoulder, "What? What happened?"
"Sorry…It's just…the power Capricorn used comes from my body…" Layla gulped in air and gasped, "I-I didn't expect the strain to be so much…I may have overdone it…"
Natsu snorted, "You'll live. Now it's just Jose and those three dragons…"
"Not quite."
The Flame Drake stiffened at the voice, then spun around to see Jose standing atop of…
His eyes widened, "Gajeel?!"
The Iron Drake stared back, but his eyes were empty and unfocused, as if he couldn't see Natsu at all.
Jose's grin had an evil glee to it, "This one is substantially powerful. I may have lost this time, but..the prize was more than worth it. I have also reclaimed Juvia, you might know."
At his word, the Water Dragonelle hovered up with that same dead look in her eyes. Aria, Totomaru, and Sol joined them.
Natsu stared in disbelief at his comrade, "What did you do?!"
"It's dark magic, Natsu." Layla glared at Jose, "He's controlling their minds with an evil spell. They aren't doing this of their own free will."
Jose smirked, "Perhaps, but they make excellent pawns. It's been years since I last stumbled across a drake with as much potential as this one." He knelt and touched Gajeel's head, making the Iron Drake blink. The Dark Mage patted him like a dog and sneered, "He'll be a perfect war machine for my next assault on this city."
Natsu bristled in rage, "Let them go!" He lunged at Jose with his fangs bared, ready to skewer the man to death.
Jose's eyes gleamed, "And you, as well, will be a perfect tool…!"
Before Natsu could sink his fangs into Jose's flesh, the man held up a hand and released a dark aura from it. The aura made Natsu freeze and gasp, feeling for the very first time a sensation he'd only heard of:
Cold.
It felt as though Jose were freezing his mind and body with evil. It almost buried him, but then a gold light surged up and blanketed Natsu with warmth. He quickly retreated from Jose with a hiss, realizing now that this human was far more dangerous than he'd first assumed.
Layla was panting, "Natsu, I can't do that twice…I've used up too much of my power already…"
Jose smirked, "Well, even if I can't take you this time, fire dragon, I'll get you the next time I come here. Until then, farewell…"
He flicked his hand, then Gajeel turned and flew off with the other four dragons behind him.
Natsu roared after them in fury, but he didn't dare pursue such a powerful enemy alone.
/
When Natsu landed, Lucy was waiting with the other dragons. He picked up Layla gently with his tail and brought her safely to earth, where guards escorted her to a medical zone.
Lucy walked up to Natsu and frowned, "You need to go up to the Thunder Hall."
Natsu snorted rebelliously, "Why? I'm not hurt."
"Wendy and Lisanna were hurt in the fighting. Porlysuca's with them." she said quietly.
The Flame Drake took off without another word.
/
He found them lying in nests in the cavern beside Porlysuca's den, surrounded by other dragons who had shifted to their human forms. Wendy and Lisanna had both been given contact with the magic scarf that forced a dragon to change so they could be moved easier. Now as humans, it was easier to treat their wounds.
Wendy was cut in several places, but looked alright other than that. She was asleep, her eyes flickering as though she were having a bad dream.
Lisanna was another matter entirely. Natsu stood frozen beside her nest as he saw a cloth wrapped around her side become soaked in red. A sniff told him the wound was deep, and that she wasn't doing well. Her breathing was light and fast, her face pale, and a sheen of sweat covered her skin.
"What the hell happened?" Natsu choked out.
"It was that Air Drake." Mira said quietly, but her eyes were alight with fear for her sister, "He took them down and kept beating them until the Phantoms disappeared."
Erza had her fists clenched and looked absolutely furious, "That bastard…he's the one who took down Makarov as well…If I get my claws on him, I'll…!"
"He is not in control of his actions." Porlysuca scolded, "This is on Jose. Humans are the main cause of strife in this world. Sometimes I wonder if we've chosen correctly to live near them."
Natsu just stared at the two hurt dragonelles with wide eyes. A pit of rage was building in his stomach, and he didn't dare take his eyes off of Wendy and Lisanna lest he go after Jose to rip him limb from limb.
Why are we staying with humans if they continue to hurt us?!