In Heat: Dragon Slayer Mating Season

Chapter Seven

"Wendy, when you're rested, could you take me to Erza? She's still following Sting and Yukino, right?" Jellal asked, looking to the young dragon slayer. She nodded.

"We think so," she said weakly with a shrug.

"Count me in too, Jellal," Sorano said irritably. "I don't trust Sting with Yukino."

"You guys understand what's happening right now, too?" Lucy asked, bewildered.

"Yes," Jellal explained, turning to dig through a bag. "We received word from Erza before you left, but we had a suspicion anyway. There was a dark guild attempting to traffic manufactured dragon slayer lacrima. They didn't work, of course, and actually made people quite ill, but the wizard had done a lot of research to try and replicate it. We found this collection of ancient letters from Eileen Belserion of Dragnov talking about the possible side effects of dragon magic particles on humans in his lab. It was a recent find and we figured perhaps it might give us insight into Erik's strange behavior."

"We found similar information from Lucy's ancestor, Anna Heartfilia," Cana spoke, more and more intrigued. "Guess the abundance of dragon slayers back then must've been a problem."

"From the best we can tell, Eileen's writing is very early. With more poking around we found that she's considered the inventor of that magic," Meredy explained. "We didn't have a lot to go off of. You might even have more information than us."

"We have our friend Levy working on it back at the guild. Hopefully, she finds information that will help negate the effects," Lucy said.

"If there is a way," Cana added with a frown. "Even then, we might not have time for it. We're already on Day 3."

"All we can do for now is try to guarantee the safety of the girls," Jellal said with finality. "That's the most important thing."

-

Kagura awoke to pure darkness. Snarling, she sat up in a huff. "Rogue! Where am I?!" she demanded into the dark.

"I cannot say," he whispered from the shadows. "Even I know not."

"You don't know?" she repeated. "And to think, all this time, you seemed to be the only competent member of your guild! I demand you release me."

"No. You'll do," his voice answered lowly. "Our union will be a strong one, to be sure."

"I refuse to be a part of this," she said flatly, realizing that while she was not bound, she was in quite a bit of pain from hitting the tree and could not easily move. She gripped the hilt of her sword in frustration, there was no way she'd be able to escape right now.

"I am patient," he merely said, his voice closer, and the heady scent filled her once again. It sent a shiver down her spine with how strongly it hit her.

"S..stay away from me," she panted out, sweating nervously.

"I am only in the shadows, Kagura, there's no need to be afraid. I'll not harm you."

"How can I trust what you say, Rogue? You've taken me hostage," she grit out.

He paused momentarily. "I felt I must separate you from the others. You have my word, however, I'll not harm you."

Kagura felt the urge to keep fighting, her head swam with the powerful pheromones. Weakly, she laid her head against the wall of the cave she supposed she was in. She could feel his gaze, but closed her eyes to it, trying to stay focused in the midst of the warm feelings spreading throughout her body. She was loathe to admit she was starting to feel comfortable. Sighing, she just hoped Yukino would be ok, and that the others would find her and Kinana.

-

"Isn't your guild worried about you?" Kinana asked Erik, sitting across from him on the floor of the small cabin they were in. He shrugged nonchalantly, not seeming to be concerned about it.

"You're all I need right now. They will understand when we're ready to come back," he replied, stirring his bowl of instant oatmeal.

"We? But I belong at Fairy Tail, Erik," Kinana said with a frown. "They took me in..."

"After I was incarcerated, yes," he explained, "But we were together before that for many years. This is the natural state of our relationship."

"I don't really remember," she admitted, biting her lip with nervousness. "I don't remember much about that besides you. I barely remember being enchanted into a snake in the first place."

"When did that happen?"

"I was young," she began, searching her deepest memories, even the ones she never touched. "There was...a scary old wizard in the forest, he did it to me. I..I was there with my friends when I wasn't supposed to be, I think. You found me in the grass as a snake soon after, and put me in your pocket. That night, you were taken by the cult."

"I remember also," he replied, his hand tightening. "You were my only company in the Tower of Heaven. The only voice I wanted to hear, but I couldn't."

"You can hear it now?"

"It is intoxicating. Like a barrier has fallen, and now I can hear you properly," he explained, looking into her eyes. "And when we were apart it drove me crazy that I may never hear your voice, that we were separated, possibly forever. But we're together again now, and that's all that matters."

"Yes.." she found herself saying as she stared back, confused to be agreeing so easily but quite taken with the passion in his words. What a well behaved hostage she was.

-

Erza punched the tree she stood next to, crying out in frustration. She was hopelessly lost in the forest, unable to accurately track Sting and Yukino, who were probably miles ahead of her. It would be an extremely difficult task without Wendy's help.

Pacing, she tried to decide what to do. Wait for someone to find her and regroup, or press on, trying to sense the heightened magical power of Sting. Unfortunately, she'd stuck to the latter until now and hadn't made much progress.

She needed rest too, as she was starting to feel drained. She'd been pursuing them all night, with no success. Every time she thought she'd caught the trail, Sting managed to evade her. Perhaps it was not only heightened magical power but also more heightened senses? She would file that away to consider later.

She hoped Jellal was having more luck than she was. Hopefully, they'd located Cobra and Kinana already, as Crime Sorciere would a better idea of how to handle him.When she fought him many years ago, he had beat her quite soundly, but had also been in prison since.

After sitting down for 10 minutes, she got up once again. Sting was sure to be as tired as she was, and would likely have stopped already, since he was carrying Yukino. She'd have a chance to catch up to them then, she thought as she dusted herself off and tried to sense any magical power. With a sigh she began to walk forward, determined to keep going.