Early autumn

Summer passed quickly for Natsu and Erza, busy playing and following the teachings of their guardian dragons. Soon the leaves began to change color and fall, forming a colorful blanket on the ground. The undergrowth crunched under their feet as the two children strolled through the forest, like that early autumn day.

"Erza, how are your spells going?" asked the child, full of expectation. Erza was eager to learn sky dragon magic, but Natsu was even more eager than she was. Up to that point he had been practicing by fighting Igneel every day and was looking forward to being able to train with another dragon slayer. "Have you learned to eat air?" the child continued as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but Erza found herself frowning. "What do you mean?"

"Dragon slayers like me can eat fire, those in the sky don't eat air?" only then did the child guess what he was referring to: Grandeeney had also explained something similar to her. Any dragon slayer can use its element to feed itself and recover energy, a technique that dragons also use. To her misfortune, an adept of sky magic could not simply eat air as if nothing had happened. "I can only eat another's spell if he uses air."

"Ohh... Well, that's better than nothing. Ah! Now that I remember, Igneel told me that I can't eat all the spells either but only the fire spells. However, he also said that there is a forbidden magic: if you eat another element you can use it for a while but the effect poisons you." Erza nodded: even Grandeeney had seriously recommended not to eat other spells.

"But can you do any other magic?"

"Just watch!" the child snapped a wink at him, then inhaled deeply and blew out with all the strength and magic she had. The leaves deposited on the ground splashed into the air, forming a small whirlwind, and came swaying back, almost as if they were dancing. It was not yet a powerful roar like Natsu's, but it was already progress-no human being would ever be able to do as much without first being initiated into the arts of magic.

"Grandeeney is also teaching me a spell that heals, but I still can't do it well..." Erza tried to stretch out his hands and gather some energy there but all he got was a small light that did not last more than an instant.

"You are still scarce..."

"NATSU!"

"But it's true!" chuckled the child. "You will never become as strong as me!"

"I'm just getting started! I will become stronger than you!"

"Naa... Impossible! Females are always less strong than males!"

When Erza tried to lash out at him to prove otherwise, Natsu blocked her by grabbing her hand and pulled her behind him, giggling as if nothing had happened. "Don't waste any more time, come!"

"Where are you taking me today?"

"To the spa!"

Erza shook her head, wondering who had ever built hot springs in the middle of the forest, but Natsu was so excited to show them off that she certainly couldn't say no to him.

The two children thus walked along the mountainside at the edge of the forest, taking a path all the way uphill amidst bushes and boulders, a little road that probably only goats and ibexes frequented. By the time, Erza could no longer manage to move a single step, the two finally came out on a rock plateau. Here and there were several pools emanating a warm mist. Some were so hot that the water inside boiled, but others were less so to the point that a whole family of macaques had chosen them to relax in. Erza had never seen funnier monkeys than those, with fur all wet and red faces. On the plateau there were also numerous streams running through the rock and limestone encrustations and salts that decorated the springs. To top it off, on one side was a wall of gray rock for protection but on the other nothing but an overhang, which opened up to a breathtaking view: from there it was possible to see the whole forest.

"Look!" exclaimed Natsu, literally reading into her friend's head and pointing downstairs. "There you can see my house! The view here is fantastic but the best thing is to take a bath!" Erza suddenly recoiled and stopped admiring the spectacle below her to turn back in the direction of the pools, from where the macaques stared at them sullenly.

"But it's busy..."

"Don't worry about the monkeys! I'll take care of them!" Natsu didn't waste another second to start flailing and shrieking. He wanted to scare the macaques away but did not get the desired result. A couple of monkeys immediately imitated him, another shocked him with a foul tongue, and the rest of the herd burst out laughing, even involving Erza.

"Don't make fun of me!" At that point Natsu decided to go on the attack only to be swept away by a hail of rocks and splashing water. When the child jumped into the puddle to hit the monkeys, all of them rushed out, jumping on him and his head. In no time, the whole spring became a ruckus, with the little dragon slayer running after the macaques and those laughing at him, jumping all over the place. Even Erza, who was laughing out loud, found herself at one point with the monkeys pushing her and ended up sitting in the middle of a stream.

"Now you have broken me!" Finally Natsu covered himself with fire and hurled a blaze into the air as enraged as ever. The macaques were mischievous but not stupid, and at that point they finally realized it was time to run away. They might have picked on two defenseless children, but a wizard was another story.

"Run! Run!" Natsu chased them to the mouth of the path, waiting for them to disappear into the bushes and for silence to return to the springs. "Tzé, I hate monkeys."

"But if you looked like one!" Erza, too, tried to imitate the way he had been ranting, and Natsu glowed like a bell pepper. "At least I didn't get thrown into the water! How do you want to get stronger than me if even the monkeys beat you?"

In a way his observation was accurate, as Erza was still sitting in the middle of a stream, but the little girl had no intention of accepting defeat. She crossed her arms to give herself more poise and ... "You said it yourself that bathing here is great."

"Did you do that on purpose?" And unfortunately, Natsu was so naïve that he believed everything he was told. Igneel had not yet taught him that it was unwise to show such foolishness in front of a female, but fortunately, even Grandeeney had not yet taught Erza how to take advantage of the stupidity of males.

"But if you want to bathe, you'd better jump into the springs! Come on!" The little girl did not even have time to get up before Natsu pulled her to her feet again by one hand, risking her slipping on the wet rock. "This way!" It was then that Natsu stopped suddenly, looking around suspiciously. Erza immediately caught that there was something wrong with her gaze but when she tried to ask him what was going on, Natsu shushed her by raising a hand. The little dragon slayer had smelled something strange in the air but could not quite decipher where it came from or what it belonged to. It had something similar to thunderstorm clouds, but the sky was clear so it could not have been an oncoming downpour.

Fortunately, the child caught just in time a sound of pebbles tumbling down the mountain and rushed back, dragging her friend with her. The next moment a monster landed with a terrifying thud in the middle of the springs. When it turned around pointing its red eyes and grin at them, Erza could not hold back a cry of terror: she had never seen such a beast. It had something ape-like about it, just like the macaques from before but it was much, much bigger. On his head he sported a pair of large horns, and on his back was a shaggy mane of brilliant gold. Behind him a lion's tail moved slowly like that of a predator ready to pounce on its victim.

Neither had Natsu, he had never encountered a beast like that and was unaware of why it was there and attacking them, but he still did not waste a moment of time getting between the monster and Erza: he could not allow it to get close to his friend who did not yet know any spell that could protect her. "Run."

However, Erza was so terrified that she could not even process the order she had just received.

-—-

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