The Red Dragon

Chapter 24

Art by @khaoticvex, do not repost.

Chapter 24

It had been weeks since Gray had seen any hint of Fukou. The first few days after their confrontation the dragon would still fly over the village on the way to the mountain and perform aerials for the kids when they cheered for him, but Gray could tell these were lackluster at best, and a strange feeling of sadness would come over him as he saw this.

He had enjoyed watching the dragon dance in the air, and he was fairly certain the change in Fukou's behavior was his fault. He had been unnecessarily cruel to a creature that had done nothing but protect him and the village on multiple occasions, and he felt a small level of shame for his actions. Although not enough to seek Fukou out and apologize.

Gray had trouble accepting that something as simple as words could have the power to hurt a dragon. His natural stubbornness compelled him to question everything he'd learned about dragons from Wendy and the other slayers and even what he had seen through Happy's actions.

Lyon had told him a long time ago that maybe he needed to limit his hatred to the one dragon who deserved it, and Gray was grudgingly coming to understand that his brother might have been on to something. The hatred he held on to continued to cause him nothing but trouble, creating a wedge between him and his mate and causing him to lash out at innocent creatures.

But it wasn't a switch he could easily turn off. Deep down, Gray knew that the only way he could truly overcome his hatred of dragons was to deal with the underlying trauma of what had happened to him, and he wasn't sure he could do that yet.

Life in the village gradually went back to normal, their surroundings soon turning gloomy as the only speck of color to be seen for miles came from the evergreen trees that grew in the forest near the base of the mountain. The villagers busied themselves with preparations for the snow that would signal the beginning of the winter months.

Occasionally they would catch sight of a red dragon flying towards the mountain, but this one was smaller, making Gray think it might be Happy. Fukou was nowhere to be seen, and Gray could put him out of his mind for a while.

He'd begun taking a lot of solo jobs, determined to help Lyon pay for the new house he would move into with Erza, and help him furnish it. He knew that part of the reason for wanting to do so was a need to live vicariously through his brother, who was getting ready to embark on the life that Gray desperately wanted to live with Natsu. Either way, he was running himself ragged between those jobs and keeping up with his regular guard schedule.

Which is how he suddenly found himself faced by a group of bandits determined to separate him from his hard-earned jewels. Gray wasn't overly concerned at first. He was a powerful mage after all, but he soon realized he'd used up most of his magic fighting off that chimera that had been terrorizing Aster, a larger town a few days walk from Talos. He'd have to rely on his fighting skills to get out of this one.

Gray called on just enough magic to mold his Cold Excalibur and immediately went on the offensive, not wanting to give his attackers a chance to surround him. He fought hard for what felt like forever, but was probably only ten minutes.

Slashing in all directions, he attempted to keep a healthy distance between himself and his attackers, but his efforts weren't enough. No matter how many bandits he incapacitated, others immediately replaced them. And as he felt himself losing more blood from the stabs that he hadn't been able to defend against, Gray worried he might not get out of this one.

He cried out in pain as he felt another blade pierce his back, his fingers coming away coated in blood as he once again tried but failed to ice his wounds. His legs gave out from under him, and all he could think was what a stupid way this was to die, alone in some random field. Lyon and Natsu would never forgive him.