She looked about my age. Long silverery hair streamed behind her, tangled with dirt and leaves. Her pointed ears peeked through the mess, instantly telling me she wasn't human. "An elf?!." I nearly chocked as it is my first time seeing one.
Her clothes were elegant ones, probably expensive too, but now they were torn by branches and stained with mud. She was breathing hard like she's been running for hours. Her bright eyes were wide with panic. The moment she saw me...She raised a trembling hand. Mana flared.
"Wait–"
BOOM!-
A fireball launched straight at my face.
I twisted aside on instinct. The blast flew past me and exploded against a broken pillar behind us. Stone fragments rained everywhere.
I stared at her. "HEY! What's your problem?!"
She staggered backward, trying to gather mana for another spell. "S-Stay back!"
"YOU attacked ME!" I was ready to yell more, but then I noticed her properly. Her hands were shaking. Her legs looked ready to give out. Dust covered her face. She looked terrified… and exhausted. Then I heard heavy footsteps behind her.
Several men crashed through the bushes.
Bandits. Rusty weapons. Cheap armor. Faces that looked like they lost arguments with walls. One of them pointed at the elf girl.
"There she is!" Another looked at me and frowned. "And just who are you brat?"
I sighed. "Of course."
The elf girl stepped in front of me despite barely being able to stand. "Run..." she said between breaths. "I'll hold them off." I blinked.
She could barely stay conscious and was still trying to protect me.
"...You are in no condition to hold a spoon."
The bandits charged. Istepped forward.
"Alright then. My turn." The first man swung his sword at my head. "Too slow." I ducked, drove my fist into his stomach, then kicked him into the second bandit. Both went down in a pile of bad decisions.
The third came from the side with an axe.
I raised my hand. "Fire Shot." A burst of flame blasted him backward into a cracked wall.
The last two hesitated.Good. I smiled. Bad for them. One threw a knife. I tilted my head. It missed. The lizard on my shoulder opened one eye. "Pathetic."
"Not helping," I muttered. I pushed mana into my legs and dashed forward. One chop to the neck. One sweep to the knees. Both dropped instantly.Silence returned to the ruins. Smoke drifted through the air.
The elf girl stared at me like I'd grown a second head. Then her legs gave out.
I caught her before she hit the ground.
She tensed immediately. "Relax," I said. "I'm not one of them." She looked up at me, still wary. "...You're weird."
I snorted. "You threw a fireball at me five seconds ago."
"That was self-defense." She said while still trembling a bit. I look at her crossed eyes "That was attempted murder."
She opened her mouth to argue–then her stomach growled loudly. We both looked down. A long pause followed. I sighed.
"...Right. You're hungry too."
She turned red and looked away. The lizard climbed onto my head. "I approve of this one." I froze. "Please stop saying things like that, you sound like my dad." Then I looked back at the elf girl. "Come on. Sit down before you collapse again."
Then I said, "Take a rest. For the meantime, I'm gonna tie these bandits to a tree, and we're going to find a spot to camp somewhere." I turned my gaze towards the bandits "It's not safe here..."
She nodded weakly "Agreed."
I dragged the unconscious bandits one by one toward a nearby tree. Honestly, they were heavier than they looked. Why were villains always built like sacks of bricks?
After tying the last one with enough rope to offend an expert sailor, I stepped back and admired my work.
"All right, I'm all done. That should do it."
I turned toward the elf girl. She was sitting on a broken stone slab, trying very hard to look fine and failing miserably.
Her shoulders were slumped. Her breathing was slow. She looked like a strong breeze could knock her over.
I scratched my cheek. "Can you walk?" I already knew the answer.
"N...no..." Her voice came out small and embarrassed. Tears even gathered in the corner of her eyes, probably from frustration more than pain. Well yeah. Definitely no walking. "Well, I can carry you if you want."
She immediately blushed and turned her face away. "But you just fought those bandits... you need some rest too..."
I placed a hand on my chest dramatically.
"That felt like light training to me." Then I crossed my arms and lifted my chin.
"Compared to my father? They're nothing." The words left my mouth before I realized it....Wow. I sounded exactly like him. That was horrifying.
The lizard on my shoulder snickered.
"You've inherited more than talent, boy."
"Not now," I muttered.
The elf girl looked between me and the lizard, clearly confused, but too tired to question it.
"O-Okay..."
I crouched in front of her.
"Hold on tight." She hesitated for a second, then carefully wrapped her arms around my shoulders while I lifted her onto my back. She was surprisingly light. Either elves weighed less, or my father's hell training paid off..I guess..or she's just hungry.
We started walking through the forest as the sky slowly darkened.
The evening wind moved through the trees, carrying the smell of moss and earth. Somewhere in the distance, birds called before settling for the night.
The girl stayed quiet for a while Then, softly, she said, "...Thank you." I glanced back a little. "For saving me..
For everything."
That caught me off guard more than the fireball did. I shrugged. "Don't mention it. You did try to blast me into oblivion though."
"That was a misunderstanding."
"That was arson." She made a tiny sound that might've been a laugh. Good. At least she was alive enough to argue.
After a while, I found a small clearing surrounded by trees and broken rocks. It wasn't amazing, but it was flat, hidden, and better than sleeping next to tied-up criminals.
"This works." I gently lowered her near a large tree root. Then I gathered dry branches, lit a small fire, and pulled out the food I had packed earlier along with some fruits I found before the whole "save mysterious elf girl" event happened.
I held them out to her. "Don't be shy. Have some." She stared at the food for half a second.
Then–
*Grab*
*Munch*
*Munch*
I blinked. Wow. I was definitely not wrong. She was starving. She froze mid-bite when she noticed me staring. "I-I can explain."
I nodded "No need. I respect commitment." She looked away in embarrassment and kept eating, just slower this time.
The lizard climbed onto a rock near the fire. "A fine appetite. Excellent survival instinct." She nearly dropped the fruit. "The lizard talks?!"
"Unfortunately," I said.
"It's a magical beast?" she asked.
"I think so. Found him in the ruins. He attached himself to me like a bad habit."
"I heard that," the lizard said proudly.
Once she finished eating, some color finally returned to her face. She looked less like a ghost and more like an actual person now.
I poked the fire with a stick. "So... we should probably know each other's names."
She straightened a little."Right..."
I pointed at myself. "I'm Lucien."
Then I pointed at the lizard. "This menace is Blaze."
"An excellent name," Blaze said.
The elf girl hesitated for a moment before answering. "I'm... Elarielle." Nice name. Fancy too. Though I feel like she's hiding something. But if she didn't want to say more, I wasn't going to push it...Yet.
I leaned back against a tree. "So how did you end up in that situation?" She lowered her eyes. "I was with a carriage, on the way to the Kingdom of Saphiro... when those bandits suddenly attacked us."
I frowned. "A carriage? With who? Guards? Family? Merchants?" She looked like she wanted to answer, but her eyelids were already drooping. "..I'll tell you the details tomorrow..." she mumbled. "Right mow..I'm a bit sleepy..."
Ah. Right. I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Oh. Right. My bad. You had a long day."
She gave a tiny nod, then curled up beside the tree using my spare cloak as a blanket. Within moments, she was asleep.
I stared at the fire. An elf girl named Elarielle. Bandits. A talking lizard. A ruined village. Somehow, my normal day had completely disappeared.
Blaze curled up beside the flames. "This is getting interesting." I sighed. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of." Then I lie beside the fire just like Blaze and sleep.
End of chapter