The Multi-Maker Mage

Attack on the Pack

Alex could see why Gray returns to the pack every year. Everywhere she went was overflowing with magic, but not just any magic, Ur's magic. Shortly after Alex left Gray, she was exploring and got tired, so she decided to take a rest. She found an empty field and laid down. While she was lying there, she allowed her mind to drift back to her time with her aunt.

*Flashback*

"Come on now, Alex, focus. If you want to learn this magic, you must focus," Ur said. Alex was 10 at the time and had a wild imagination, causing her to get easily distracted.

"I'm sorry, Auntie, I promise I will focus." They were working on a protection spell. "ICE MAKE: SHIELD!" Alex moved her hands from her sides to her right hand fisted over her open left, then to in front of her still together, then threw her hands to the side, and a spark flew from her hands, busting into a flame wall.

"No, Alex, you're using Fire-Make instead of Ice-Make. When you imagine your shield, you have to imagine an ice shell, not a firewall." Ur scolded her.

"Sorry, I'm just so cold. I was thinking of how I wanted to go sit inside by the fire," Alex said.

"That's it. Take off your clothes; we're going to get you used to the cold; that means I will have to put a block on your fire-make magic."

"Sorry Auntie Ur," Alex said, removing her clothing and putting them on a dry rock.

*Flashback end*

Sometime during her flashback, Alex started crying. She lay in the field a bit longer. Soon, a woman with brown hair and silver eyes came up to her.

"Are you okay, dearie? You're crying," she said.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry to wander, but I just got off a long train ride with Gray Fullbuster and needed to stretch my legs. My name is Alex, by the way," Alex said. With the mention of Gray's name, her eyes widened.

"Come, dearie, let's go see my mate and see if he's seen Gray," she said. "My name is Maryanne, but please call me Mary. I'm the mistress of this pack." After she helped Alex up, they headed silently through the camp and eventually reached a giant tent. Alex noticed this one was bigger than the rest. Maryanne walked in and addressed someone named Nic. As Alex walked in, she found Gray.

Eventually, they settled into a tent within the camp. The pack always left a tent open for when Gray visited. They were sharing a tent, and Alex didn't care. All she wanted to do was lay down and dream of the times she had with her family. She had started to drift off when Gray spoke and startled her awake.

"Alex? Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"What were you crying about in the field? If you don't mind me asking," Gray said with a gentle voice.

"I was thinking of my time with Aunt Ur. I was 10, and she had to put a magic block on me because I would keep using Fire-Make instead of learning the spell we were working on," Alex giggled, causing Gray to blush. "I miss her. She was the last of my family. I wish I could talk to her one more time," Alex had started crying. Gray surprised her by pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her.

"I know. I want to tell her so much, too. Like how I've joined the best guild ever. I'm honestly glad you joined our guild too. If you want, we can stay a few days longer. I'll send a message to Master," Gray said. Alex shook her head. She needed to get back to Kyla since she doesn't do well with Alex being away for a long time.

"I want to see where Aunt Ur trapped Deliora, then we can go home," Alex said, yawning. She was exhausted from all the crying she had done that day. She ended up falling asleep in Gray's arms. When she woke up, she was still in Gray's arms, and he was curled up next to her. She just laid there and took it all in. She couldn't believe the man she was crushing on was asleep next to her, holding her. She thought of how relaxed he looked while he was asleep. When he was awake, he always seemed to be on his toes, ready for a fight. Eventually, she untangled herself from him, careful not to wake him up. She gathered up her weapons. She never left home without her bow and arrow and her hunting knife. She then left the tent and went to explore more when she heard Maryanne on the trail she was on. She ran to catch up to her and noticed the worried expression she had on her face.

"Maryanne? What's wrong?" Alex asked.

"There's a beast in our harvesting field. None of our warriors are back from the morning hunt," she explained, panicked.

"I can go look at it. I bet Gray and I can handle it," Alex said. Maryanne simply nodded her appreciation. Then she pointed Alex in the right direction. Alex then headed to the harvesting field. The beast was huge and had spikes everywhere. It looked like she would need Gray's help, so she ran back to the tent they shared.

"GRAY! GRAY! Wake up; we have a problem," Alex said as she shook Gray awake. He jolted awake, almost hitting his head against Alex's.

"What? What is it?" He said, confused.

"There's a beast in the harvesting field, and the warriors haven't come back from their morning hunt. Maryanne's worried it's going to hurt one of the pack. We have to help," Alex said while pulling him to the harvesting field. When they got there, Alex noticed it was focused towards the south end of the field. Alex used the enhanced eyesight she got from having Kyla as a companion to focus on what it was looking at.

"GRAY! THERE ARE HARVESTERS OVER THERE!" She screamed. He burst into action before Alex could finish. He rushed over and hit it with an Ice-Make: Hammer. Alex hurried to get the harvesters out of the way.

"IRON-MAKE: FORTRESS!" Alex chanted, and an iron wall formed around the harvesting field. "That should keep it from going into the village," Alex hollered to Gray.

"ICE-MAKE: FLOOR!"

"HERBAL-MAKE: POISON!" Then a poison shot from Alex's hands. The attacks did little to harm the beast. Alex thought about calling Kyla to get a better look at what they were dealing with, but it would take a while for her to make it to the village. Then Alex had an idea.

"WIND-MAKE: WINGS!" With this spell, Alex is able to fly for a short period of time. Once she was in the air, she noticed it had traced a pattern into the field. She noticed the same pattern on the beast's neck. The pattern looked like a magic circle. When she landed, she hollered over to Gray.

"It traced a magic circle into the field. It's got a matching one on its neck. Try to target the neck." Gray nodded to show that he understood.

"ICE-MAKE: ARROWS!" He then directed the attack at the neck of the beast. When it hit its target, the beast roared loudly, and then the ground started to shake.

"What's happening!?!" Alex asked.

"Look! The ground is glowing. I think it activated the magic circle." Gray hollered. Alex knew she had to call for Kyla.

"KYLA!!! BRING OTHERS!!!! QUICK, WE NEED HELP!!!! FOLLOW THE STARS TO ME!!!" Alex hollered at the sky. She knew Kyla would bring the others as soon as she heard her message.

"GRAY! We need to get off the ground!" Alex hollered at Gray.

"AGREED! ICE-MAKE: GRAPPLING HOOK!" He chanted.

"WATER-MAKE: SURFER'S DREAM!" Alex chanted. With that, an enormous wave appeared with a surfing board. She quickly jumped on the surfing board.

"Now we just have to wait to see what that magic circle will do." Alex hollered at Gray. As the ground continued to shake, Alex was starting to become drained of magic power from holding the Iron Wall up and using other attacks. It was clear that Alex was being drained because her wave began to diminish, and she had to let it because she knew she had to keep the iron wall up. Gray noticed her magic diminishing and hollered out to her, but she couldn't hear him. She was concentrating on keeping the wall up and trying to dodge the beast's attacks. She looked to the sky and wondered where Kyla was. Her message should have reached her by now, and she should be heading to them. As Alex started to faint, she heard Kyla's wings beating in the air. Alex heard a bunch of feet hit the ground, then Lucy and Kyla came running up to her.

"Alex! Alex, stay with me! Alex!" Someone was yelling at her, but she couldn't tell who. Soon she slipped into unconsciousness.