400 years

17

The blinding brightness caught my attention, my eyes widened with dismay and my reflexes kicked in, shielding myself with my arms. The swooshing sound of arrows hurtling by and cracking at impact surrounded me. A husky voice yelled "Fire Dragons Roar!"

'D-Dragon!?' Muttering the word, I mustered up enough courage and peeked through my cover. There I was met with Natsu's broad back, he was shielding me from the enemies site.

Suddenly a fierce wind tugged at my hair, Natsu was leaning backwards and the fire that danced around us began to whirl towards the front of him. I fought against the strong wind, squinting, while staggering to stand, "N-Natsu!" I yelled, in fear that something bad was happening.

The wind then died down as the whirlwind of flames disappeared. My arms dropped to my sides and I looked at him. 'W-what the hell just happened?' Natsu didn't look back at me, but he was in fighting stance.

"Are you hurt, Lucy?"

"No, I'm fine. Are you hurt!? What happened to those flames!?" My panicked questions only received a light chuckle.

"I'm glad. I won't let my enemies take away my lucky charm so easily. Your mine to keep. Now, stay there and don't move. But don't close your eyes."

With another chuckle Natsu called for Happy. Within seconds, the sound of flapping swooped in and Happy landed on my shoulder.

"That was a close one. (He whispered into my ear.) No worries lushee, if it gets to hot here I'll take us to safety."

"Yeah, no kidding and thanks." While I stand watching the two men square off, I think back to the swirling flames. "Happy, what's Natsu's magic?"

"Hm, I guess you haven't heard yet, huh? He's a dragon slayer, of fire in particularly."

"Oh, so does that mean he can control flames?"

"Well, His own parse, yes. But he can eat an outside source to strengthen his own and replenish stamina."

We could hear Natsu yelling in the distance. "Inu no taisho, I'm the one your facing. Aiming for the wrong target is a regrettable mistake!"

Natsu's voice then echoed across the battlefield. I could see it had an effect on his enemies. I could almost see his cocky smirk and the thought of that toothy face made my heart pound uncomfortably. 'Don't get any ideas, Lucy.'

The two men charged at one another, like two rams, with claws. Maybe due to the near-death experience, but I was glad to have Natsu watching out for me. 'Kyaa! No, no.. let's not think like this about the bird killer.'

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the vassal that had helped me onto my horse earlier. He pleaded out an apology, in anguish, and was leading the run away steed back to me. While he helped me back onto the horse, he was mumbling more apologies.

"I exposed my lords noble princess to a mortal peril. He'll surly.."

'Noble Princess?' I interrupted the poor mans stammering, "A princess? I'm just the chatelaine." I looked at him curiously.

"Lord Natsu informed is all that the new chatelaine was actually a treasured princess of the Dragneel bloodline."

'Oh, right he did say he was going do that.. Wait! Of the Dragneel bloodline!!'

"There's no excuse for my actions. When we return to the castle, I intended to repent with my life."

The man looked utterly serious. Happy who'd joined me for the ride, looked to me then looked to the man.

"There's no need for that." He began snickering from behind his paws. "She's quiet the clumsy one, I'm sure Lord Natsu will understand."

I started to scoff at Happy's comment, However with another glance at the man I stopped myself. 'I feel bad. He thinks he harmed a princess, but I'm just an ex-desk jockey.'

"That's true. So instead, could you continue helping me out until this battle is over?" I gave a smile, in hopes he wouldn't throw himself on his sword here and now.

The Vassal eyes started to water. "I'm in your debt, My Lady!"

Happy then shifted in my lap, his tail swished to the left and his ear twitched. "Seems as if the battle is almost over."

"Hmm?" I followed Happy's gaze towards the front lines. "Kyaa!!! Where'd that big white dog come from?!" There in the distance, stood a huge white demonic dog, it was marked with a purple crescent moon on its forehead and a blue mark on either side of its jaw. I was gaping in slight fear when a tiny voice caught my attention.

"That dog, is the true form of the Great Dog General, Inu no taisho."