The cloaked hero

Chapter I

I slowly but carefully shuffled along the edge. The edge was connected to a short cliff, maybe 5 meters tall, halfway up. A waterfall was 2 inches away from my face. Although the fall wouldn't kill me, I was still careful, so I didn't scrape my knee, and get my tunic all wet and muddy. Even though the cliff was short, it was very wide and it took me awhile to reach the cave.

I took out a small torch, and the flint and steel on a silver band I had traded for a unicorn horn. The thought of killing such an innocent creature made my heart ache, but I was low on funds this month, and needed a way not to trip in the cave. With the flint and steel I did not need to sit around for 10 minutes rubbing two sticks together to create a fragile fire that may give way at any minute.

I pressed the two of them together and rubbed the flint on the steel, to create sparks, while I held them over the top of torch. Soon the torch had a nice flame, and I put the band with the flint and steel back on my wrist. Then I headed into the cave. The cave was like a maze. The first time i was in here, I was lucky to get out again. But by now I knew the way out like the back of my hand. Right, left, right, left, right, right, right, left, middle, right. The passages were short, so I had to keep turning. I also had to do it quietly because the lunar bats were sensitive to noise, and if I disturbed them, I would get a face full of bat wings, and that would mess up my thinking, and cause me to get lost. Thankfully there were no dangerous animals or monsters on the route to the clearing. At least I think there weren't. Finally I past the glowing blue mushrooms, showing that I only had to take one more turn. I turned the corner and walked into the bright light.

"Erg..!" I grumbled as I squinted my eyes against the sudden light. I removed my cloak and walked over to the small cave at the other end of the clearing. The clearing was perfectly surrounded by cliffs. The only caves were the one I entered and the one across from it, which led to a dead end within 20 meters. That was where I live. I reached into my leather bag which was around my dark green tunic, and pulled out a small blue object. It made a high pitched moaning sound and rolled over. Then it slowly opened its eyes.

"Riko, we're home." I said as it yawned. "And stop being lazy! What if I needed you in that fight?!" Riko frowned in response, and opened his wings. I slowly put him on the ground an he started to glow for a second. Then by the next second he had grown to the size of a large cat. Riko was a dragon. The rare kind that could change its size. He was like me. I wasn't a dragon of course! I'm a human. The similarity was that we were both abandoned. The world was a cruel place. Riko and I had learned not to trust anyone.

I don't blame my mother for me being alone. You see, I used to belong to a nice, happy family. I still don't know what happened. It was a long time ago, 10 years to be exact.

I was 8 at the time. One day when mother and I woke up, and father was just gone. His stuff was gone too. Mother would have taken care of me, but apparently she had loved father very much. She ended up dying of grief. I didn't want a new family. I didn't want to trust anyone. So I simply packed a few of my things and left. I was 8 at the time, so of course, I almost starved. But one day, maybe a couple of days after I left, I saw a young man with a sword. Maybe 19. He had brown hair and blueish-silver armor, and a silver circlet. He came back, day after day, and I watched him fight monsters. I saw all his techniques. But one day he dared to fight a monster I had never seen before. It was a huge purple fox with 5 tails. The young man was burned in a purple flame. After a while, the strange purple beast left, and I took his sword. There was nothing left of the man. After I got the sword, I slayed a small deer, and ate it. I at least had experience to make a fire. In this age, everyone had to learn. It was basic life experience. Anyway, I was able to survive. That was all that mattered.

Riko's story was a bit different. Dragons are expensive pets, so only rich people can afford them. Sadly, they are very mischievous, and often break expensive things. I'm guessing Riko's owner abandoned him in the forest. I found him hiding in the bushes with a silver name tag that said "Rikokai" but I call him Riko. I don't know why though. He's speical. Not only does can he change sizes, but he was blue, not red, and has a strange, yet pretty purple gem on his chest. He can also understand english.

Anyway, long story short, Riko and I were abandoned. We only trusted each other.

I threw down my sheathe and cloak and pulled out a small bag which I had filled with wisp dust from the wisp wolves I had fought. I set it next to my shopping list. Then I sat down on the mat I got at the trading post last year.

This time made six. Six people have called me that.

Six people have called me the guardian spirit of the forest.

It all started 3 weeks ago. I have been saving people for a long time. 4 years in fact. I may not trust anyone, but I understand that people value life. I don't need to trust people to help them keep what's theirs. Or at least that's what I tell myself. The truth is, I don't like watching people die. Wether all people are sneaky idiots or not.

You might think that we would all be used to all these monsters, right? Wrong. You see, monsters like this weren't always here. Ten years ago it would be just nice creatures, like unicorns, or fairies, or mermaids, with the rare demon. Demons were usually very rare, and didn't cause problems, because they just wanted to be left alone. But all the monsters could definitely be the work of a demon. But wherever they came from, their skin and horns were worth a lot at the market. It was my living, so I didn't care very much.

"We're going to the market today." I told Riko, "I wish I didn't have to go to such a crowded place every month just for food and stuff. I mean deer gets old fast." Riko stuck out his tongue in response.

"Yeah I don't like it much either." I said as I packed all sorts of fur, horns, and claws in my larger bag. "These will catch a nice price. What should I buy?" I asked Riko. "Maybe I should buy a saddle for you...?" Riko shook his head quickly.

"Hmm... You never were the kind to want to be ridden..." I paused to think for a moment. "Maybe... Maybe a lantern? No I just got a torch.... Maybe I'll just get some a lot of food...." Riko soon got bored and flew back up to the post on the side of the cave. Then I left the cave and looked up at the sky.

Ever since I was abandoned I had this hole in my heart. I think it might be sadness, or loneliness. The only thing I didn't understand was that when I was around people, the hole got bigger, and it burned as though it was on fire. So it was probably not loneliness. But then again, I didn't know what loneliness felt like.

But don't feel sorry for me. I liked being alone. You wouldn't understand.

I sat there looking up at the sky thinking for a long time. I might not have moved if it wasn't for Riko. He landed on my shoulder and pointed his tail at my bag which was sitting inside the cave.

"Ah, I've got to go to the trading post!" I exclaimed. Riko looked at me as though saying, You always space out... And I couldn't say I blamed him. I always did space out. I quickly grabbed my bags and rushed out the cave, following my order backwards, and shuffled my way out from behind the waterfall, and headed towards the trading post.