Churhill Hood

He exhaled a warm breath through his rusty black mask, with the almost invisible dry stains of blood and sweat. He swept through the crowd like a shadow swiping away from the light. He dodged each and every possible bump with fluid movements. His clothes this time - instead of the medieval cloak - were a gray hoodie with pale blue jeans. But the rusty black mask was still the same, under the hood.

With his hands shoved inside his pockets, he locked his gaze on the target. His orange eyes fixated on the dragon in her human form. She had a large braid as a pony tail, dancing around as she walked with a brown bag. She didn't know what was inside the bag - Shez did. That's why he was following her. She was his next assassination target. He was following her as she was a middle piece - delivering the bag.

Her hands were gripping the bag tightly. Shez had to stop this deal for his client - and instead of tediously taking out both the parties, he decided to take out the middle piece of the deal who was supposed to bring in the goods. It was easier that way, and required less gore.

He almost lost track of her when she took an immediate left turn. He sped up his walking pace. He had to reach the turning before she made another turn. He trudged faster and faster as he was following her from a distance. He bumped into someone, but he didn't have enough time to even say sorry to this guy he bumped into.

He casually walked past him, keeping his focus on reaching the turn before he lost her trail. The dude he bumped into was a huge jacked man. And probably an egoistic one. As soon as he saw Shez ignore him and walk past, his head turned red.

The man grabbed Shez's gray hoodie from behind in a fist. He pulled Shez behind with little to no effort. Shez on the other hand had to get to his target quickly and didn't want to waste any time messing around with this guy. He didn't make eye contact with the jacked dude.

He leaned his body forward and lifted his leg. He struck it with great force on the man's lower jaw. Shez used all his force in the jaw kick, and because he was a dragon, his kick broke the jacked man's jaw. He quickly threw his hand to cover his broken jaw. He was both embarrassed and impressed by shez. He was about to take revenge and hit him back.

But shez didn't wait any further. He jerked his body around and made a run for the turning point where his target went. He finally pulled his hands out of his pockets and dangled them around while he ran. He finally reached the turning, and slipped on his shoes.

After a small leg drift, he continued to dash ahead as he saw his target turn left this time. He clenched his jaw as he swept across the ground, throwing puffs of dust behind him. He didn't care if he blew his assassin cover now. He just couldn't lose his target because of failed stealth.

He glanced ahead again, there was a wooden door in front of him. He couldn't ram himself on the door to slow himself down and turn, so he would either have to jump and step on the wall, or do a leg drift again.

He had to make a quick decision here as the door was approaching. He decided to slip his legs on the ground to make the turn easier, but he wasn't ready for what was about to happen next

The door flung open before he could make the turn. He did slip his feet like he had planned, but his ankles hit the little raised tile on the doorstep. He trembled and fell inside the house. Sand puffed in the air along with his feet. The target finally noticed something  - a sound of someone falling. But when she jerked her head around, there was nothing.

It was weird. She was sure she wasn't mistaken. 'it must've been someone inside the house' She thought, as she strolled forward. Shez - on the other hand was lying on the floor inside the house after the failed attempt of making a fast turn. Before he could get upright, He was again pulled from behind just like earlier. 

He glanced back this time. It wasn't a dude - but a girl wearing a handkerchief like a mask. She didn't look jacked at all but threw Shez on a wooden chair behind her with ease. Shez's butt struck on the chair and he leaned forward to balance himself so that he would fall backward along with the chair. 

Another man with a similar handkerchief covering his face like a mask closed the door as soon as Shez was pulled inside. He even made sure to lock the door as soon as he closed it. Shez was sure that these guys didn't mean any good.

"Look," Shez started in a negotiating voice, "I didn't mean to Kick your buddy earlier-" he thought that these guys were here to take revenge in just a little amount of time.

Before he finished his sentence, He found the woman trying to tie his hands behind the chair. He jumped up from the chair and threw a punch at the masked girl. He grabbed her mask before he retreated his hand from the punch to unmask her.

'are they protecting my target?' Shez thought for a moment.

He pulled her mask, but before he could see her face, he felt someone coming from behind. He leaned down and threw a kick at the man's jaw. This kick loosened the man's mask and it fell on his neck. 

He managed to balance himself and took a brief glance at both of them, 'Allen and Hellen!?' his eyes widened.

Allen and Hellen were some dragons Shez used to work with. Hellen was a Hurtling dragon and Allen was a Murky dragon. Both of them were more  powerful than Shez, back in the day.  He was sure they didn't find him again for a reunion.

Before he could digest this information, Hellen grabbed his hands from behind. She pulled him on the chair again, and with her lightning fast speed, She tied up Shez's hands and torso onto the chair.

Shez knew it was over. He couldn't fight both of them at once. He clenched his jaw and pulled his fist only to find them tied up with nylon threads. He slowly glanced up at them. Both Allen and Hellen were  towering above him. He glanced around, to find something useful to get out of the situation alive. 

He gazed at the fireplace and the two dead bodies: one of a man and another of a woman. 'They must be the owner of this house' Shez assumed. He jerked his head back at the two dragons he met. 

"Where's that key, Shez?" Hellen started first with an authority in her tone.

'play dumb,' He told himself, "What Key?" 'Not that dumb!' he continued.

"Oh you know exactly what we're talking about" Allen shook his head as he pulled out a metal rod that was placed upright against one of the walls. "You really wanna make me work, eh?"

He glanced around one more time. A faint smell of old wood hung inside the house. He looked around and it was just like any other house in Shenezwa. It had a wooden door and most of the other furniture like the base of the sofa, the dining table, coffee table, other decorative placeholders were made of wood. But unlike, any other house, this one was lacking the sunlight.

The curtains were closed and the lights were turned off, leaving no room for sunlight to enter or the air to circulate.  Shez couldn't see anything that could help him escape. And he couldn't take on both of them at the same time as they were stronger than him. 

Allen raised the metal rod above his head, and forcefully struck it on Shez's leg. Shez screamed in pain as the metal rod dislocated his knee. He again struck the metal pipe in the same spot, making Shez scream even harder.

"I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE KEY IS!" Shez lied. He knew that if these guys got the key, it wouldn't be any less than the end of the world for the brute dimension.

"Oh, sure you don't" Hellen spoke with sarcasm, "I wasn't you who brought the key on Earth, was it?" She obviously told the lie. All of them knew Shez brought the key here, but only Shez knew where it currently was.

Allen knew what to do; he came prepared for it. He shoved the metal pipe under Shez's arm that was tied to the chair. He twisted the pipe and dislocated Shez's shoulder. He again screamed in pain but couldn't move a muscle. Although he could heal, he's have to use a spell. And if these guys saw him use that spell, they would find a way to keep Shez from casting it again.

"GIVE US THE KEY, SHEZ!" Hellen kicked the dislocated knee, and made him scream more.