Fairy Tail: Swallow the Fire

A/N: Writing this chapter was the bane of my existence.

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Oshibana Station stood over the town as a proud monument to the tourist destination's economic success. It was one of the first stops many entering Fiore by train in full would have, with the other being Clover Town which sat on the border between us and Bosco.

Oshibana was, without question, home to the largest train port in the country and acted as the major loading bay for a transcontinental railroad that spanned from Crocus, the capital of Fiore, to the farthest reaches of the Pergrande Kingdom, all in the effort to connect the peninsula of Ishgar to the rest of the continent.

The size of the train bay lived up to the stories around it, and it would've left us a long while to find the one we were looking for were it not for the high-density magic presence surrounding it.

Our train looked like a standard passenger train, designed for comfort and public transportation above all else.

Everyone on the train looked like a normal passenger, some being couples flirting with each other, others taking a nap, and even children playing in between the seats and isles. The only thing that broke the illusion was my artificial eye and the ever-so-slight magic aura in the air.

Upon my gaze, a second image merged with the others – Rune Knights stationed in an armoured train car, prepared and devoid of emotion on their faces. Some clenched iron staves with tightly gripped fists revealing their concealed anger or fear. Whichever the emotion, they maintained their composure.

Lyubov and I occupied a car exclusively ours, positioned adjacent to the three cars under our protection. Even with the ability to pierce through the illusion, I couldn't discern which one housed the Etherion, showcasing the pervasive nature of the magic.

"How are we supposed to hide these magic rocks if any passerby can practically smell them coming from this damn train?" I sighed to the woman sitting across from me who was absentmindedly staring at the passing trees through the window.

"I can't smell anything."

Her voice was monotonous and bored, annoyed by her assigned task.

"I don't mean literally smell."

"Oh, I get your drift. My stance hasn't budged an inch. I spent my formative years in this guild, under the 'guidance' of an old bat – you know, back when she was deemed powerful enough to be a Wizard Saint, a title I almost held for a hot minute. I lost it, though, thanks to Guild Master Jose inflicting some major injuries and my bum knee outdoing me. Yet, even with my stellar credentials, I can't pick up on ethernano as pristine as what's tucked away in those cars over yonder. Doubtful that a bunch of bandits could pull it off either. And even if, by some miracle, they did, they'd be toast against yours truly."

"That doesn't make sense then. If you're as powerful as you claim then you should be able to sense the Etherion."

"Well, obviously not. Unless you're not exclusively powered by the magic that has replaced the blood in your veins." Her steely gaze snapped away from the passing environment in the window to me, sage-like and cocky. "It's almost like oil isn't a fan of combining with water, causing them to push against each other rather than combine."

My relaxed composure gave way to one of apprehension, causing me to raise my hackles in preparation to defend myself. The experienced wizard only chuckled in response.

"No need to get excited. You've set a name for yourself as the infamous book thief in the guild. It would surprise no one if you learned a few 'forbidden techniques' so to speak. Hell, Jose would encourage it. Thus the powerful in Phantom Lord."

The forty-year-old smirked as she saw me calm down, confidently leaning forward and clasping her hands together.

"So, which is it? Curses? Spirit Arts?"

"Curses."

"Interesting. So, what came first then? The Devil Slayer or the Curse?"

"None of your business."

"Oh don't be like that! After all, I'm confident I'm getting all the money after you do something to cause your untimely de-"

She was cut off by a voice coming over the speaker systems.

[This is your captain speaking. All Rune Knights and wizards be advised that there have been unknown presences detected ahead of our destination of Era. Be prepared for combat.]

"Era? I thought we were heading for Crocus?"

"Must have been a diversion to confuse those they might've hired for the task. As far as I'm aware, we were the only two."

"I guess it makes more sense. Era is the Magic Council's actual base of operations, they only have a branch office in Crocus. A big one, sure, but having both the royal family and the council all in one location is dangerous for the stability of government."

"I don't care for the politics of it all, just the paycheque. Come on, let's go meet up with our canon fodder for the evening," the blonde said as she stood up from the booth.

She didn't even reach the door before suddenly, a tremor rippled through the train, jolting me from my seat. The rhythmic clatter of wheels against the rails morphed into a cacophony of screeches and groans. Trained fight or flight instincts took over me as the carriages shuddered violently, threatening to tear the very tracks asunder.

As the train careened off its designated path, I caught sight of Lyubov's exasperated grimace, her head forcefully colliding with the ceiling. Amidst the deafening cacophony of metal scraping against metal and the primal roars of the unknown creature, her curses struggled to pierce through the chaos. The sounds of bestial cries began to rise, hulking forms slamming, swinging, and jolting against the mangled exterior of the derailed train.

Seeing the chairs we were once sitting in flying towards the prone woman I quickly reacted, planting myself over her as a shield as more debris crashed onto and around us. The heavy furniture had piled up on me instead of her, yet getting rid of all of it was as easy as standing up.

"T-Thanks, kid," Lyubov said as she stood up after me. She didn't even notice the sounds of raucous animals and roaring soldiers as her face immediately became businesslike. "They'll do their jobs if they're competent. So we do ours." The mage immediately began to climb through the windows that are now on the ceiling. "Follow me."

When we managed to stand atop the crashed train cars we were immediately attacked by six large, green gorilla-like monsters with glowing collars and eyes. While I evaded them by transforming into a wisp of flame, Lyobov created a flock of pelicans out of mist that exploded into fog around her.

Her figure dashed out of the cloud and landed on the other side of the decoy cars, while I took flight using flames to propel myself into the sky to gauge the situation. What had a few moments ago been a fairly calm train ride had turned into total devastation. While the train had been upheaved, the monsters responsible for it were surrounding us. They numbered in at least the several dozen with more waves coming down the mountainside and through the trees.

The Rune Knights had already begun to push back the ones that attacked the train, but the speed of the assault had left them disorganised. Still, their professionalism and training showed as they quickly regrouped and prepared for the oncoming waves.

"Hey, kid! Route them before they can amass!"

"On it!"

Adrenaline began to spike through my system as I evaded wild swings coming at me from all sides, the arms of my opponents being equal to my whole body in size. Not content with being wholly on the defensive, I began to strike them each with flaming kicks and punches.

"Fire Devil's Conflagration!" I shouted, causing the flames on my limbs to roar with more strength and each blow to be matched with an explosion on the opposite side. An explosive punch to the stomach would matched by an explosion of twice the side on their back, locking them in a state of suspension that filled the air with guttural roars, snarls, and the satisfying scent of burning that brought a slight smile to my face.

The sound of the deafening blasts attracted the attention of a large swathe of the hoard, causing my heartbeat to rise and match the drumming of their rampage. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty-five. Twenty-seven. More and more approached my position causing me to defeat fewer and fewer as my movements became focused on dodging once again.

As it seemed impossible to maintain the vantage, I flickered away from the group, thrusting my hands into the ground. Magic surged beneath as beasts charged like hungry hyenas. Just as one clawed close, I smiled, casting "Cthonic Wrath: Surtr Surge," tearing them asunder with exploding rocks and flames, bathing the mountainside in a violet storm.

The screams and roars faded into the crackling fire, yet the determined charge of those still attacking the train reverberated through the ground. When I set my gaze on their intended target, I saw the beasts clamouring over each other to strike at the large spherical barrier eight of the guards were casting in unison. At the top was an open hole that they sealed after I flew through.

"How's things going on over here?"

"Somethings interfering with our communication channels with Era," said a man in a slightly different uniform than the rest of the Rune Knights, likely the captain. "Fortunately, whatever you just did will undoubtedly get some attention. Let's just hope it won't be too late."

"Too late? Please, it won't be too hard to finish off the rest of these and find whoever sent them on us."

"We can't just kill them, kid," Lyubov said as placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Are they an endangered species or something?" I shot her a questioning look. It was then that I noticed her expression held a little tinge of guilt and disgust behind it, and those of the Rune Knights were solemn. She tilted her head towards the dummy cars where I had left her to fight a couple of the beasts.

Sitting there in a pool of their own blood was a group of three children, a man, and a woman, their throats sliced open and the familiar steel collars smeared with crimson ichor.

Shock ran through my body as I angrily turned to the pale woman. "W-what did you do!?"

"The same thing you did. I killed what I thought were beasts."

"We already identified them," said the captain, "They were a family that disappeared three days ago. The man and woman are married, and well-known merchants that deal in the production of magic cards. The kids, we presume, likely belong to them based on matching physical features. It's safe to say that the rest of these 'beasts' are like them. We aren't under track from beasts, we're under attack from the victims of the rising number of bandit attacks."

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Heavy A/N: Not my favourite chapter, and could definitely do a bit of work, but I can't be arsed for the same reason it took three weeks to upload this chapter. Those family and health problems I mentioned a while back? Yeah, there's been a bit of an aftermath. Mum got sick sometime 'round late November with a stomach bug that left her too sick to stomach solid foods. This led to her suffering from Vitamin B deficiency which almost killed her. Moved back in with my mum and dad to take care of her because of this.

One benefit, though, is if all you care about is this story and I don't blame you if that is the case, I got to use this time to think through this arc a bit more. And trust me, that's a good thing. For one character in particular at least.