The Hooded Hero

Sunlight revealed colour.

Handshakes revealed power.

Music revealed obsession.

Perfume revealed passion.

Likewise cries for help revealed saviours.

“Stay away from me!” The angry voice that cut across the stranger's meditative humming belonged to someone young and female, most likely running down the dirt road parallel to the river in front of him.

“Let go!” Someone who was scared. Slowing down. Surrounded by bigger beings.

The stranger's ears twitched against the intrusive noises. He opened his eyes as he rose from his cross-legged position and caught his silvery-white staff before it could hit the flattened grass. After travelling all night, the sun was particularly brutal, depriving him of real rest like a skilled torturer along with the voices behind him.

Sleep would have to wait for now.

He pulled up his hood and narrowed the invasive sensations of the world down to a single patch surrounded by fabric. One he could now focus on without being overwhelmed. Breathing a little easier within the cool confines of the hood, he tapped the end of his staff against the ground and vanished like water-spirit.

*

He reappeared a moment later, kneeling behind a thick bush on the side of the road where a group of bandits had a girl cornered against a large oak tree. She held out a dagger and pointed its gleaming blade at those who stepped closer to her.

“You should come with us, human,” said a tall goblin. “While we're still ready to play with you nicely.”

“I'm game if you are,” she said, her mischievous tone almost distracting him from her taut smile. “But only one of us is going to have fun.”

“Games are only fun if you have friends to play them with, isn't that right?” said a grey ogre as he stepped forward, nudging the goblin's shoulder. “Lucky for you, we're all excited to play, aren't we?”

They both started laughing. The other bandits cheered, some jumping up and down, others bashing their poorly crafted weapons together. The girl managed a derisive grin but her fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger and her tanned skin lost some of its warmth.

One ogre, three goblins, one fox, and maybe four mix-bloods. I need to even out the odds first.

The hooded stranger put down his staff.

“Yoka, do you mind –?” It wriggled, then flew upwards before he finished speaking. He tugged his black mask over his smile. “– thank you.”

Beyond the bush, the girl grimaced as the goblin moved towards her but her blade remained steady. The one watching her memorised the position of everyone on the road right before an explosion overhead made them all look up. A thick cloud of smoke descended upon them and those with more sensitive nostrils cried out in shock.

Most were covering their noses and flailing about in search of the fragrant smoke screen perimeter by the time he rushed into it. He shot straight towards the human and twisted the dagger carefully from her hand.

“Hey, give that back!” She yelled, flinching against his back as her blade clashed violently with that of the goblin.

“So that's why you weren't being a good girl,” he hissed. “You've got someone on your side.”

“She does,” he replied.

Metal sang with metal as he slid the dagger along the goblin's sword. The latter stepped back to protect his throat, giving the the stranger ample time to crouch down and sweep his stout legs out from beneath him.

As the smoke began to clear, he picked up the girl and sprinted away from the danger, weaving between the coughing bandits as they stumbled into each other and in opposite directions. The human coughed too as she tried to resist his hold but soon allowed him to press her face against the smoke-free shoulder of his black robe.

“Forgive me,” he breathed, unsure if she could hear him over the racket made by her would-be captors.

Something large whistled through the air towards his back and he leapt sideways. Half a breath later, the ogre's spiky mace thudded into the ground on his right, leaving a head-sized dent in the road.

“You get back here right now,” said the tall creature. The mace floated back into his hand after being summoned by a click of his fingers. “That much smoke isn't enough to blind me.”

I know.

“Yoka!” he called, raising his hand high above his head.

Several claws locked around his forearm instantly and a silvery creature pulled him up into the sky effortlessly despite his human-shaped added weight. It lifted them both out of reach of the mace which whistled beneath his feet. The ogre roared frustratedly and the stranger knew they were safe. One of them, at any rate.

The curved point of the dagger pressed into his underarm, worryingly close to a very important blood vessel. He shut his eyes and slowed his breathing as the human's terse voice menaced his right ear.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked softly.

Considering this is probably her first time being this high up, she was very calm.

Too calm.

“Somewhere safer than we were,” he replied.

“How do I know you're not working with them?” Her fingers tightened around the shoulder of the arm wrapped around her back.

“Because they just tried to kill me too,” he said.

“That doesn't mean anything,” she retorted. “I know that trick. It's a good way to get people to let their guard down. You pretend to save them and then you stab them in the back once they trust you.”

“I really hope that's something you've learnt through distant observation rather than direct experience,” he said as the dagger trembled against his skin. “And, with all due respect, I'm not the one holding someone else at knife point mid-flight.”

“It's not like I was going to wait for you to do it first, was I?” she pointed out.

He might have laughed if the weapon had been directed at a less vulnerable spot.

“No, I suppose you wouldn't,” he agreed. “That wouldn't have been very smart of you.”

The sky hadn't stopped blushing since its early morning rendezvous with the sun and fluffy white clouds attempted to conceal his bashfulness. He tapped his forefinger against Yokanna's scaly leg and the creature began to descend, faint trembling accompanying each flap of her wings.

“You might want to think of a reason why I should trust you before we land,” said the girl as she lifted her head up properly. Her heartbeat quickened. “If you want me to spare your life, that is.”

“You can watch me spare yours once we're safe,” he suggested, wrinkling his nose as tufts of her brown hair tickled it through the mask. “If I'm fortunate, that will be enough evidence for you.”

“It had better be,” she drawled, swallowing hard as the road widened beneath them. “Otherwise the world will have one less trickster to worry about.”

I'm clearly not the first being she's threatened like this. Were those the first bandits she's ever run into?

“We're almost there,” he told her as Yokanna tilted her wings to glide down faster. “If you feel like you need to sit down, you probably should. I'm happy to wait for your final judgment before I leave.”

He splayed his hand across the gap between her shoulder blades, holding her firmly in place as Yokanna's paws hit the ground. The impact would have jerked the human from his grip had it not been weakly cushioned by the skilful movement of the creature's large wings.

The girl wriggled free as soon as her feet touched the earth and he held his hands up as she whirled around him, holding the blade to his throat.

“Well?” she demanded.

She didn't sound like her head was spinning but the dagger clearly wasn't as steady as it had been before.

“Should we sit down?” he suggested

Humans often became particularly prickly when their weaknesses were perceived. Young humans tended to be significantly vocal about it.

“Don't try to play your games with me,” she said coldly, pulling him back. Their height difference strained his spine but there were other issues to worry about. “Just tell me why I shouldn't slit your throat right now and leave you here.”

“No one should take a life needlessly,” he said. “Okay, Yoka?”

“Yoka?” The confusion in the girls' tone became apprehension as the creature growled behind them. “Is that a –?”

“Yes, she's a dragon. Partially,” he replied. “And she thinks you're threatening me.”

“I am threatening you.”

“Yes, well, you might want to stop doing that.” He chuckled uncomfortably. “Don't bite her, Yoka. She's just a child.”

“I'm not –” The girl let go of him without warning and leapt back. “– Leave while I'm still feeling merciful.”

But the suddenness of the movement, combined with Yokanna's angry puff of air, caused his hood to fall off his head, revealing his dark blue hair and pointed ears He pulled it back up as fast as he could and rubbed his throat.

“Thank you,” he said, placing a soothing hand on Yokanna's snout. “You're most kind. Please take care on the road –”

“– Wait!" The human grabbed his right sleeve. “Are you a Dark elf?”

She'd probably be safer without that knowledge.

He stroked the dragon's head before it could bite off the offending hand.

“It's rare to meet folks like you,” she continued and he bit his lip behind the mask.

“Do you know why?” he asked, tugging his sleeve gently out of her grip.

“I do.” She faltered and his heart twinged. “I'm sorry if this is rude of me but I have to ask.”

“Ask what?” He braced himself for her question but it didn't take the form he expected.

“Elves are known to seek peace and keep to themselves but just now you –” She gulped hard. “– You helped me get away, even though we don't know each other. With that hood and your dragon, I can't help thinking –”

He froze with his back to her, pressing his fingers into Yokanna's scales. The urge to vanish pulsed through his veins like dragon flame.

“– Are you, perhaps, the Hooded Hero?”