The City Ingard

Salazar had pulled all ropes back into the dimension they came from and was now casually wandering through the Misty Forest. The city Ingard would take him the rest of the day to reach, but he was in no hurry. It would take some time for them to assume anything had gone wrong, as such a strong group would not be expected to fail. He took in the wonderful smell of the forest around him, the soft ground below him, the world truly was a beautiful place.

It was getting dark when he saw the city gate in the distance. Salazar had been walking through golden farmlands for the past hour and now finally reached his destination. Despite his extraordinary abilities, he looked pretty non-threatening. Sure, his white hair, and black robe were unusual, but he was unarmed and didn’t look particularly strong.

The two guards still stopped him, “Wait a moment, I don’t know you. What is the purpose of your visit to Ingard?”. *Great question, I will find out what I’ll do to this city after I am inside*, Salazar thought, but he said something less ominous, “I am a simple wanderer, looking for lodging and food after an exhausting journey.”. They looked him up and down and noticed the patches of dirt the hike through the forest had left on the hem of his robes. They decided the end of their shift was close enough to not search someone so uninteresting and likely poor, “Fine, you can enter. There is an inn not far down the main road that wanderers frequent.”. “Thank you very much.”, Salazar excused himself with a slight bow of the head.

He followed the paved main road towards a large wooden building with warm light shining through the windows and muffled songs escaping through the door. He was about to approach, when he felt someone staring at him. Salazar spun around and the cloaked figure behind him jumped behind a barrel at the side of the road. “What do you want? I am poor, if you intended to rob me there isn’t much to gain, I’m afraid.”, he said to the barrel.

After a few seconds the figure rose and took a few quick steps forward, “You didn’t fool me.”, it was the voice of a young woman, “These dumb guards might have fallen for your wanderer act, but I know a special person when I see them.”. She stepped into the light of the oil lamp that also illuminated Salazar and removed her hood. Her face had sharp angles and looked uniquely pretty, framed by red flowing hair and… red eyes. *Vampire*, Salazar immediately thought. Red eyes were almost never seen in regular people, but they often revealed a hungry vampire.

“Don’t take another step.”, Salazar had completely dropped the act and his voice was stern, threatening even. The woman giggled, “Perceptive and… dangerous. I am a hunter too, I can feel it.”, she licked her lips, revealing her white fangs, “But I am not here to hunt you. I am looking for someone to aid me in a little pet project of mine. Somehow my instincts tell me you are powerful enough to be of help and I hope you will hear me out.”.

This was a precarious situation, even for him. Vampires ranged from dangerous to really, really fucking dangerous, depending on their age and experience. Every little hair on his body was standing straight up, every fibre of his being told him to fight or flee right now, but he reigned in his hostility. “I will hear you out, undead, but make it quick.”, he finally relented. “Oh, how wonderful!”, she slipped her mask of innocence on so quickly that it irritated Salazar. The vampire skipped over to him and hooked one of her arms under his, “Let us have dinner.”, with those words she pulled him towards the inn.