To Kill A Dragon

Searching

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima, Tiamat is loosely based on Tiamat from Forgotten Realms which Belongs to Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The traits of the chromatic dragons have been altered to match the dragon slayers in the Fairy Tail Universe. Drakan belongs to Surreal Software.

Chapter 22: Searching

Natsu had definitely been here. The amount of destruction was proof enough of that. There were flames still consuming what was left of the once stately structure. Gray and Wendy used their magic to put out the remaining fires. The Sky Dragon Slayer walked around sniffing the air around the remains of the house but finally shook her head in defeat. There was no scent trace for her to follow. Whatever Natsu and Happy had found was already gone just like the Fire Dragon Slayer's own scent.

"I'm sorry, Gray-san.", Wendy looked down at the ground in front of her not feeling able to meet the ice mage's eyes, "There aren't any traces for me to follow."

"It's ok, Wendy.", Gray patted the young girl on the head, "You did your best. I appreciate it."

"I suppose I shouldn't even be surprised by this anymore.", Lucy sighed looking at the remains of the once beautiful house, "Natsu overdid it again. Master is not going to be happy about this."

"Where did you go Fire Breath?", Gray muttered as he looked around trying to find anything that would give him a hint of where to go, "You could have at least left something behind to help us find you." He tried to focus on his mate, trying to find him like he had done earlier at the park but either Natsu was too far away or he just didn't understand how it worked well enough.

The three mages looked at each other with matching worried expressions on their faces. What could possibly take out Mira and Erza? Where did Natsu go, was he taken as well or was he just chasing after them? There were no answers here to tell them what to do next. As they headed back to the guild in silence Gray suddenly stopped his mount, his face showing growing confusion.

"What's wrong?", Lucy asked, the concern in her voice evident.

"I don't know. This feeling just came over me. I-I'm not sure"

"What feeling, what do you mean? Is it like a premonition?", Wendy looked at him as she tried to understand what was happening to the ice mage.

Gray shook his head slowly. "I don't know, my heart just started speeding up and I feel like I want to run away but I can't"

His face lost all color as he grasped the full meaning of his words.

"We need to get back to the guild, now.", he urged his mount to increase its speed and Lucy did the same.

"What is it?", Lucy yelled. She was getting a little freaked out by Gray's behavior.

"It's Natsu, he's in trouble. It's got to be Tiamat, she's the only one that would cause him to panic like that. She must have gotten to him after he left here."