Book 4: The Dragon Queen Rises

The First Night

The guilds had made it to the forest. Were they not only would they have to worry about the enemies, but the monsters that lived within.

Lucy panted as she finally was able to take a break. Her, Mira, and Levy were hiding in a cave near a stream. They all fell to their knees, feeling the effects of little rest, running for miles, and using magic longer than should've. All within the span of 48-hours.

"Lucy or Levy, can one of you put up a barrier? We need to make sure we stay hidden," Mira asked, ripping her long skirt, so it was shorter. She did this so if she needed to run, she wouldn't  get caught on anything.

"I'll put one up," Levy said standing up and writing the word 'Barrier', making a blue dome covering them. Allowing them to hide in plain sight. Once it was up, Lucy made a fire. Even though it was almost spring, it was still chilly at night.

The fire was small, but it let off enough light and heat for the girls. "So what's the plan if they find us?" Lucy asked. Mira thought for a moment. "Why don't we split up. If we're farther apart, it'll be harder to catch us," 

Levy thought on this for a moment before speaking up, "But, what if we need to get in contact with each other?" 

"Easy, we'll send magic up into the sky, with certain color codes. Yellow for good, Orange for need help, and Purple for 'stay away', and finally white to throw them off," Lucy said. The white-haired mage and blue haired mage nodded their heads in an agreement.

It was best to use the regular color code to communicate. They needed to make sure to stay one step ahead. 

They sat in silence till they hurt a magic blast off in the distance. The girls stayed where they were. They wanted to help whoever was near the blast, but knew it could also be a trap. They had to stay on guard even with the barrier. They didn't like the idea of not doing anything, but right now that was all they could do.

After a while, Levy and Mira fell asleep. Lucy just stared at the dying fire. She knew she should sleep, but won't allow herself to do so. She needed to keep awake in case something bad happened.

'I hope everyone is okay' I thought as I looked at the dulling flames. 'Mavis, please watch over everyone.' My eyes were almost shut when I heard a twig snap. I peeked out of the cage. I saw a few soldiers looking around. Thank god for the barrier. It hid both us and our scent.

And the cave.

"Where do you think she is?" Asked one of them, they had a deep voice. So it was most likely a man. "I don't know, but she can't be far. We were on her tail the whole time," The other answered. By the sound of their voice, I figured they were a girl.

"Well, we better find some clues or else, he'll be mad," The man said. 'You don't think I realize that," The girl snapped. 'Well good thing we cover our tracks' Lucy thought as she watched them pasted without even realizing she was there.

Once she knew they were gone, Lucy let her eyes close. She needed sleep if she was going to continue her journey tomorrow. 'Hopefully, we won't need to be separated.' And with that last thought, she fell asleep.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bang!

Levy woke with a start. She looked around to see someone had thrown a magic blast at the barrier since there were ripples coming from it. No! Levy thought as she stood up and woke both Mira and Lucy. 

"Guys! Someone found us, we need to go now!" Levy said stomping out the still burning fire. Mira and Lucy shot up, upon hearing the news. "How are we supposed to get past them? There's only one way out!" Lucy whispered screamed.

As silence filled around them, another blast was sent at the barrier making it crack a little. Mira then snapped her fingers knowing what to do. "We need to split up, and we need to do it now. Lucy, can you make three tunnels for us to go down through the mountain?" She asked looking at the blonde.

"Yes, but it's going to take a minute," Lucy said scratching the nape of her neck. "Well, make it quick, we have company," Levy said pointing to a lot of soldiers coming. Lucy ran over to the back of the cave, putting her hands on the wall. Allowing her to feel the earth in front of her.

'How did they even find us?!' She thought as she made three tunnels appear. "Hurry we have no time to lose!" She yelled as she ran down the middle one. Mira and Levy nodded as they ran down the last two tunnels.

'Please be safe, Levy, Mira,'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They weren't the only ones having trouble. A few hundred Miles away from them, Lamis Scale was destroying everything in their wake. They were under the control of the Akuma Maindo. They had destroyed the forest around them, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. 

The members tried to break free of the spell, but it was no use. They couldn't break the spell they were under. And not too far from them Mermaid Heel was fighting their enemy. They were having a hard time, getting them off their tail. (A/N: Haha get it)

All over the forest, fights were breaking out. No one could hide for long.

Barely anyone slept that night. At most were just trying to stay hidden.