Not Just The New Guard

A new friend, A new enemy

Stage fright. Ever had it? It's one of those moments where you freeze up on the spot and no matter what, can't break out of your trance. It's like being frozen in ice, willing yourself to move yet remaining unable to. Everyone is staring at you and you can feel their eyes wandering over your body sending chills up your spine. It's like the situation I'm in. ___________________________________

The ebony haired guard, now known as Ezekiel, reached out to wack the blonde guard with his free hand for his humour, surely now was not the time for joking around. He was confused enough with the Hellion's but now he had the cloaked figure to watch out for as well. Though the stranger had helped to protect the star, he still could not trust them. The blonde, now back too his senses, pulled the lord behind him and changed his stance to a defensive one. The crowd had broken from their stupor and was pushing their way to the gate to get away from the chaos. They were shouting and screaming in panic and it filling the air with a deafening clutter of sounds. The hellion that was missing his hand had stood up and was facing the figure. "You have no part in this, shadow! Return my limb and be gone from here while we finish our business!" He spoke in a commanding shout. The 'shadow' had dropped the hand in response only to stomp on it with the heel of his boots, smile growing and the hellion was sent it to another wave of pain. The jet feathers of the night bird ruffled as its gaze turned from the hellions to the guards. With another horrifying crunch, the stranger crushed the hand again under their foot causing the blonde guard to turn his head away.
One of the other cloaked demons, this one had a particularly scared face of a mutt with savage yellow eyes, snarled at the stranger then lunged. It's teeth sharp to a point and its claws that appeared from the hanging sleeves were mini knife's ready to slice anything in two. The stranger had no time to react yet manage to draw a black sword out of the air and block the sudden attack one handed, clipping the sword under the upper jaw of the beast and ramming the blade between the mouth and themselves. The claws reach out to remove the hindrance only to have a dagger like weapon shoved into its chest right were its heart should be. The mutt let out a pricing screech of agony causing a thick, black goo to trickle out of its gum as the blade dug deeper into its jaw. The lord and guards covered their ears to block out the sheer loudness and a craw faced hellion took his chance at the star. Ezekiel took note and brought his sword to the throat of the bird like creature as the screech ended.
"Step back or end up like your friend over there," he said in a calm yet sharp voice that made the demon step back in place. Ezekiel pointed his sword at the group. The stranger removed his blade from the mutt and as the body slumped to the floor lifeless, he brought his sword to his mouth, licking the black goo off the blade. His face twisted in to a smirk of evil as the Hellion's watched in anger and fear.
"Michael!" The lord finally spoke. The blonde responded but never took his eyes off the strangers. The lord whispered his commands to him, something along the lines of get up there with Ezekiel. The blonde named 'Michael' although, didn't move. He instead apologised and took on his defensive stance again causing the dark haired guard to smile.
The hellions had gotten their handless comrade on his feet and were looking between the fallen demon, the 'shadow' and the star. They let out a small growl of annoyance before hovering above the floor once again. The stranger took a step forward as a silent threat which was well received due to the fact that they were a good 10 metres away yet they all flinched backward and slowly took of towards the red setting sun. They started shouting insults over their shoulders along with 'we will be backs!' And 'you'll pay for this, shadow!' And so on.
After they were gone the remaining 4 stood in silence. The town centre looked abandoned. Ezekiel was watching the shadow intently and kept his hand tight on his sword. This stranger was confusing. Ezekiel's gut told him not to trust him but it also told him that the figure was not here to attack.
The shadow sheathed his swords silently. Both guards waited until his hand was away from the hilt before retiring their own. The lord, was not so cautious. He slipped the stone into a small pouch and started laughing his head off creating a thunderous cackle that should have greeted the stranger with warmth and friendliness. Instead they stood strong and cold though this didn't stop the lord from spreading his arms out wide and running towards the man in the hood. This time the stranger really couldn't react. They were scooped up in the hug before the guards could stop the cheerful lord. His laughter still filling the ears of the 3 as he spun round waving the shadow around with him. The guards stood there stunned. Michael then let slip a small chuckle as he saw the night bird fly away quickly and the stranger silently struggle but before long Michael too was laughing. Ezekiel let a smile grace his lips as the lord put the stranger down. They almost ran as they backed up to put space between themselves and the joyous lord. The lord calmed himself down enough to ask the stranger his name. But no response came. He stood still, stiff as ice. The silence took hold of the square and the night time air seemed to add to the effect. The lords smile faded into the darkness as he asked again.

Michael took a slight shuffle forward and looked at the stranger curiously, yet cautiously. He then slowly began to gesture his hands rhythmically. Ezekiel's and the Lord's eyes were trained on the movement while Michael desperately tried to recall the next phrase. An expression of shock splashed across the strangers face at the familiarity of the movements, the shapes formed words that created sentences that, granted, weren't completely correct, although sense could be made from them.
A fast yet paced response flowed from the 'shadow's' gloved hands. They seemed to form a rhythm and unlike Michael's looked more like a language then a dance. When the movements stopped, they all looked towards Michael who seemed tense under the gaze but nevertheless spoke in a stuttered voice "I..I think...his name is..." He paused recalling the gestures meanings. "R...Rune?"
The strangers nodded to confirm. "H...He says he... Can speak b...but he chooses not to. It keeps the people he meets safe if we don't know who he is..." The 4 draw silent again. Ezekiel's gut alarm went off again, surely you can't trust him if he puts us in danger. Lord Barako, as if reading his mind stepped in and asked why we would be in danger to which more hand gestures replied. Looking back to Michael he translated, "H..He is being hunted and was only suppose to be passing through...but our festival c...caught his eye. When he heard about the star, he wanted to make sure nothing bad happened and to make sure the guards were up to par".
Ezekiel glared at the newly named 'Rune' as he remembered how the stranger had distracted him before hand. Their only response was a smug smile as they locked eyes.
"Anyway, Rune said he was just leaving when he heard the scream. He has had previous encounters with them and just wanted to help" Continued Michael. The short lord didn't seem to notice the hostility between Ezekiel and Rune and rather joyously if not loudly stated the guards could learn a thing or two from the stranger. This sent the dark hair male into a boiling fit of anger which only worsened when Michael lightly punched him on the shoulder and agreed. Rune's posture grew as he straighted up, clearly enjoying the backhanded compliment before hunching back down seemingly uncomfortable with the attention. Ezekiel took a breath and stiffly said to hooded man. "How long do you plan on staying?" Ezekiel could swear his eye would start twitching soon, it's not that he cared for the lack of attention on him, but the fact that a stranger had come out of nowhere and was being praised for one save (granted a big one at that) made him itch with envy. The short, fluid hand movements ended almost as soon as it had started. The head guard could only hope it wasn't long as the blonde pondered the signs. Michael then sighed and said, "I was never good with times...um...I think he said 5 evenings".
It wasn't long but to Ezekiel's surprise the lord jumped in asking questions like, do you have a destination? Do you have a place to stay? Are you looking for a position?... Wait what?

...It was gonna be a long week....