The Red Dragon

Chapter 33

Dein comes back for the climax, adding his impressive fight scene skills! There is a lot happening in this chapter. We hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 33

"Gray."

Gray blinked his eyes open, startled to find Igneel standing over his bed. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and pushing his hair away from his eyes. "Is it time?"

"Not quite yet," Igneel said. "I was thinking about your request, and I'd like to honor it."

"Huh?"

What request was he talking about?

"I'll wait for you at the back entrance."

Igneel left him to get ready, and Gray did so quickly, spurred on by the dragon's cryptic smile. When he arrived at the back entrance, Igneel was already there, but didn't respond to any of his attempts to get his attention.

He stared at the dragon in confusion until it finally dawned on him that his father-in-law must be in the astral realm and scrambled to meet him there.

"Oh, good. You're here." Igneel greeted him, "Now let's get you flying."

"Flying?!" Gray gaped at his father-in-law in dismay. How the heck was he supposed to learn to fly in his astral form? It was one thing to use his magic, but flying was more of a physical thing, wasn't it? He stretched his wings open, studying them with some trepidation.

"Yes, you asked me to teach you a few days ago." Igneel tilted his head at Gray's hesitation. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, this is just unexpected, that's all." Gray was touched that the dragon had remembered his request, but still needed a minute to wrap his mind around the idea.

"Can I really learn to fly in here?"

"I can't think of a better place," Igneel said before launching into a cheerful explanation of what he needed to do. Gray had scarcely understood the bare minimum when Igneel nudged him off the ledge and lunged after him.

Gray panicked, trying to imitate the birds he'd seen to no avail. He was still falling. His wings flailed helplessly in the air. A moment later, Igneel was beside him, matching his fall while calmly telling him what he should do.

"Don't think so much," Igneel advised. "You've flown before, just let your body take over."

"What if it doesn't remember?!" Gray fretted, although as far as he could see, there didn't seem to be any ground to speak of. Perhaps that's what Igneel meant by there being no better place to learn.

Igneel gave a mighty roar. "Of course it does. You're a dragon! Let go of your doubt and claim your rightful place in the sky!"

Gray was getting the feeling that maybe learning from Atlas might have been the better choice after all, when he felt his body fight against his pathetic attempts. He tried to clear his mind of all fear and slowly felt himself relax. As soon as he did, his body did indeed take over, and while his movements were still clumsy, they were also more controlled.

"This is by far the best part of being a dragon!" Igneel boomed, and it was hard to miss the joy in his eyes as he launched into some acrobatics.

Gray had to laugh at the antics. He'd expected his father-in-law to be sad, but at that moment he looked and sounded more like an older version of Natsu than anything else. He tried to imitate some of his spins, but soon realized he'd need a hell of a lot more practice before he could pull something like that off.

Still, he was flying! As much as he loved to fly on Natsu's back, he had to admit this was even better.

"How much longer are you two going to be in here wasting time?" Atlas appeared next to them.