It was sunrise.
Geiza's citizens were still sound asleep in the comfort of their homes.
The only unfortunate souls awake at this hour were the guards who patrolled the walls and guarded the gates.
They patrolled in pairs with a total of 2 pairs per wall.
Other then looking out for danger the guards on the walls had to regularly shovel the snow off aswell.
There were 6 guards assigned to the gates at all times.
2 at the bottom outside the gate, 2 inside next to the mechanism that opened the gate and 2 up on the walls for better view.
One of the guards below was a middle aged man with brown hair and eyes.
He had dark circles under his eyes and used his spear to support himself while he shivered from the cold.
"Get a hold of yourself." The guard next to him said.
He was a bald man with a great black beard on his face.
He was fairly tall and had some fat on him.
"Give me a break. I have been on duty all night." Said the brown haired guard
"Whaat? You expect me to belive that?"
"You better fucking do!"
"You came after me!"
"I was taking a leak when you and Luke changed shifts!"
"Yeah right. Then who was the one that stood beside Luke when I came?"
"Oh go eat a dick you fat fuck!"
"What did you just say!?"
Suddenly their arguing was interrupted by one of the guards on the other side of the gate.
He had grey hair and a fine looking mustache.
His face had wrinkles all over it, but his body was still in top shape.
"Oi, could you ladies shut up already? I am trying to enjoy this hot cup of tea!"
The two guards outside turned their heads towards the old guard with a furious expression.
"You fucking what?!" Shouted the bearded guard.
"Since when did you have that!?" Asked the other.
"Oh for quite some time. Me wife brewed some for me before I left for duty."
"And it didn't occure to you that we are freezing our asses off aswell?!" Asked the guards outside in union.
"I got some."
Then a female guard raised her cup of steaming tea.
"You fucking bastards!" The bearded guard shouted.
He then extended his hand beyond the thick bars of the gate and tried to grab the guards inside.
The sudden move startled both of them making them take a step back.
The old man drop his tea in the process.
The hot liquid hit the snow below and made it eveporate in an instant.
The guard looked down at his treasured drink with a shocked face.
"Pfff-"
The brown haired guard burst in to laughter at the scene before him.
"Serves you right." Said the bald guard.
The guard with a mustache looked back up with pure anger in his eyes.
"Consider yourself lucky you pig pegging bitch! If it weren't for this gate I would bash you bald head in!"
"You would try and you would fail. Like how you fail to please your wife."
"Oh that was low." Said the woman guard.
In that moment before the man with a mustache could respond a small pebble landed right on top of his helmet.
He looked up and saw one of the guards leaning over the wall.
"We can see something moving towards the gate! Be ready!"
All of the 4 guards face became stern in an instant.
Their bodies tensed as they readied themselfs.
The guards outside held up their spears while those inside and on the walls readied their crossbows.
Soon enough they saw the silluet of a man.
He was tall and muscular with grey hair.
He wore the fur of several dangerous animals like trophies for all to see.
As the man approached the guards heart rate increased with each step.
"Stop right there!" The bald guard shouted.
The tall man stopped.
That was when the guards noticed a child and a woman he was carrying on his shoulders.
They saw that they were unconscious and injured.
Suddenly the man before them spoke.
"They need help. I did what I could, but they need an expert."
The guards looked at the old guard for an order.
The old guard had a grim look on his face, it seemed like he recognised the man before them.
"Do you have any kind of paper to prove who you are?" Asked the brown haired guard.
The man slowly crouched down and layed the woman and child in to the snow.
Once he did the guards could observe their condition more closely.
And just as he had said they were indeed heavily wounded.
The woman's clothes were torn on several places, revealing cuts on her beatiful brown skin.
The child was not much better either.
They saw his coat that was originslly pure white drenched with blood, giving them an idea about his condition.
The man reached in to his pocket and pulled out a silver stone that had two blades crossing eachother carved on to it.
The guards recognised the symbol and urged the man to continue.
As expected the stone began glowing while emmiting a silver mist and the man's identity was soon reviled.
"Kazamir, is that really you?" Asked the old guard with a mustache
"Yes."
The old guard looked "Kazamir" up and down, closly inspecting his stature, clothes and face.
Then he sighed.
"What the hell are you up to now? You haven't showed yourself in years and now you not only appear without notice, you carry wounded people with you?"
"You have no right to question me."
"But I have the bloody right to deny you entry to Geiza! So you better start answearing my goddamn questions!"
"No, you do not. Not this time." Said Kazamir as he reached for something attached to his hip.
It was a fairly large bag.
He then threw it for the bearded guard who caught it with one hand.
Once he looked at it closly he noticed that its bottom was leaking some kind of liquid.
Once he touched it and looked at his hand, shock froze on to his face.
It was blood.
He then slowly untied the leather bag, praying that it wad not what he was thinking of.
Much to his horror a head was inside it.
The guard next to him could not bear the sight and turned their heads to throw up.
"What is the meaning of this?" Asked the bearded guard in a weak, disgusted voice.
"It is a vampires head."
Hearing this guards turned their heads with pure shock on their faces.
There have been no reports of vampire activity since the construction of Geiza, yet this stranger has come with news of their possible reemergence and one of their heads.
That was when the female guard noticed the old man next to her not only smile at hearing this, but laughing aswell.
"Good, good! Give it to me!" He barked.
Without question the bearded knight handed it to him through the bars.
Once he had it he closed the bag and as if swinging a morning star he bashed it against the wall.
Suddenly a bone chilling scream erupted from the bag as more blood began to gush out of it.
The old man's smile became even wider as he turned back to Kazamir.
"You are right. This time I don't have the authority to stop you."
"Then are we letting them in?" Asked the female guard.
"Yes, looking at that old face and the gift he brought me, I simply can't say no."
"The head is not for you." Interrupted Kazamir.
"Yes, yes you can hand it over to the guildmaster first. But soon it will be in my hands again."
"Whatever happens to it after I handed it over is not my concern."
"Good."
The old guard then went towards a switch besides the gate and pulled it down.
Instantly, the gate's internal mechanism swung in to motion.
Once open Kazamir picked up the woman and child from the cold snow and went towards the old guard.
Without a word he held out the bag containing the still groaning head.
However once Kazamir grabbed it the old guard pulled him closer.
Although Kazamir towered over the old guard, he looked him in the eye without fear and with clear hostility.
"You cause trouble or go near my wife and no man, monster or demigod in this world will stop me from hunting you down. For old times sake, please force my hand."
Kazamir's face however remaimed the same.
He then answeared in the same manner as the old guard.
"It is because of old times that you still live, Bertram."
With that Kazamir forcefully ripped the bag out of the old guards hand and continued on his path.
"You seem to know the guy." Commented the bearded guard.
"Yes, I used to or atleast I thought I did."
"Who is he?" Asked the female guard.
The old man turned his face towards Kazamir's back and answeared
"His name is Kazamir Grantz. He is the oldest of the Forest Dwellers."
Hearing his title the guards gulped loudly in union as the fear grew inside their hearts.
"Oi, oi dosen't a forest dweller leaving the forest a big deal?" Asked the brown haired guard with a concerned tone.
"Yes, it is. Especially since he is the one coming out. He rarely leaves the woods, but every time he did something big was coming."
The guards faces turned grim as they remembered the vampires still living head.
"I will end my shift for today and report this back to the chief. If none of you object it."
The guards shook their heads as their answear.
"Very well then, I am off."
The streets of Geiza were silent like that of a ghost town.
Except for Dawn's footsteps in the snow, the howling of the wind, and the creeking windows nothing could be heard.
For a town that housed a small population its streets were wide.
They did not really need big streets since most of the people were farmers and prefered living near the lands they worked on.
The streets were wide to allow the people to run and not trample on one another.
It also provided enough space to make barricades if need ever arised.
Geiza was not like any other town in its mentality.
Every man and woman knew that by living here you put yourself and your family in danger.
Most of the regular citizens were dishcarged from the military or had lead a life of an adventurer or mercenary.
The forest, nicknamed the Dark Woods by the locals was filled to the brim with dangerous creatures.
Every year the monsters make several attempts at breaching the walls of the town.
This can happen due to several reasons such as terretorial wars or simple overpopulation.
To the mutated abomoniations Geiza is like a bee hive.
It is heavily guarded, but once you get past its guards and breach its walls sweet honey awaits you inside
Only that the honey in this case is the people's flesh and blood.
That is why for the communities protection farmers, blacksmiths and merchanst are required to give a protection fee along with discounts for certain products to the guards and the guild.
The pay can be anything from money to resources.
If you do not pay you will not be permitted to the fortress at the center of the town.
Dawn was no exception.
His trade was information.
As a Forest Dweller, Dawn decided to live inside the forest and study the movements of the beasts while documenting changes in the muatations the animals went through.
However there were times when he had to leave the woods early due to a an immenint attack.
3 years ago such an attack happened.
One of the cretures from the inner regions gained control over all of the wolves within the forest.
All wolves mutated or not fell under its control.
The creature was highly intelligent even comperable to humans in that regard.
Using its innate ability to control mana it began mutating its soldiers, creating several never before seen variants.
The cratures built an army and launched a full assult on Geiza.
The battle lasted for 3 days and the wolfs breached the first wall and got inside the streets of Geiza.
The people were pushed back inside the fortress at the center of the town.
It took the combined effort of the guild, the guards and the citizens to repel the attack.
But they could not kill the Alpha.
It was belived that the Alpha was rebuilding its forces to launch a seacond attack until Dawn walked out of the forest with the giant wolfs corpse on his back.
But contrarery to what some might belive that he was showered in praise he took the full blunt of the peoples hatred.
He coming out alive meant that he most likely knew of the Alpha and that it was raising an army, yet he did not warn them.
And by then he was a forest dweller for years.
The town knew his streanght and that if he just did something it would have most likely saved many of their loved ones.
Suddenly Dawn took a turn inside an alley.
The alley was filled with trash and filth.
Pests such as rats and cockroaches were running amok inside its dark corners.
However Dawn strided forward with full confidance.
He walked, taking several turns left and right until he saw a figure laying on the ground covered with a large amount of clothes and blankets while using nearby trash as a pillow.
Dawn stopped besides the figure.
Faint snoring could be heard as the figure slept without a worry in the world.
Dawn nudged him with his feet.
No response.
Dawn nudged him harder.
Still nothing, but snoaring.
Annoyed, Dawn kicked the figure in the belly with enough force that it sent him flying in to the wall.
-UGH *cough* HUUH!
The figure was now awake as he grhasped for air.
"What *cough* the hell man!?" The figure said with clear hostility in his voice.
The figure slowly stood up revailing two tusks on his jaw and his red skin.
He was tall enough for Dawn to have to look up just to look him in the eye.
There was no doubt about it.
The man before Dawn was an Oni.
"Huuh? Not answearing me you punk?"
Dawn did not feel threatened at all as he looked the man in the eye.
"Bring me to her." He commanded
"Huuuuh? Her? What are you talking about you dirt bag?"
The oni winded up and delivered a punch right in to Dawn's face.
To the oni's surprise Dawn did not move an inch.
No one has ever taken his punch like this.
To see someone half a head smaller then him, while carrying a woman and child take a full powered blow from an oni was simply unbelivable, yet exciting.
Much like orks, onis had a strong desire for battle and bloodshed.
This desire made them outcasts in the eyes of humanity.
A wide smile appeared on the onis face as he took his fist away from Dawn's face.
"Sorry about that. There have been alot of people looking for the matriarch's services lately. So much infact that we had to change our base due to the previous one being compromised." Said the oni in a surprisingly respectful tone.
"I will lead you straight to her, sir."
With that the oni turned around and pulled out a small knife from his pocket.
With a swift move he made a cut on his hand and put his palm on the wall behind him.
The moment the blood made contact with the wall it began glowing with a dim red light.
The wall began to heat up to the point where it seemed like it was made up of hot magma.
The process continued until the wall melted and a passage appeared.
"This way." Said the oni as he went inside.
Dawn simply grunted in response.
Once Dawn stepped inside the passage closed behind him and returned to being just a normal wall.