Kael Cor: A Vampire's Awakening Chapter 294 Side Story: The Guardian 4 : The Town Of Duwaiser

The soft hum of the airship's engine coaxed Kodak out of his slumber as he looked out over a forest of green. It's been two weeks since he had destroyed the outpost and he was heading for his nest destination based on the information he had gotten from the outpost. Duwaiser was a hidden elven town for criminals and those who were generally wanted. The town had a long history of being one of the prime areas for the carrying out of backroom deals, and the best place to go if you were never in need of hiring an assassin.
To put it simply this was most probably one of the most lawless places in the whole of Shearath, and Kodak had tracked down a very well known slave dealer to this place. Though he doubted that Duwaiser was a place where anybody the slaves could be sold or stored for purchase, however he did know that most of the deal dealing with slaves and their smuggling both on world and off world took place here. And the person he was going to look for was someone who was well known in this line of work.
"Are we there yet?" Shao Tie asked in annoyance as the airship vibrated to show his frustrations.
"You don't have to be such a whiny bitch and ask me if we're there yet every 30 seconds. You're a dragon, hour senses are supposed to be sharper than mine, and you could use the Airship's radar to scan our surroundings and see if we're close, rather than bother my life like you're some sort of 3 year old child." Kodak berated Shao Tie as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"First of all, I've not been complaining like a bitch, you just woke up from nap about a minute ago. Second I already tried scanning for this Duwaiser town, and all that's showed up is hundreds of kilometers of dense forest and the wildlife that's living in it." Shao Tie explained.
"Well of course you wouldn't find it on the radar, the town's cloaked against such measures, technological and magical otherwise." Kodak explained to Shao Tie, stretching his hand above his head in the process and enjoying the resounding cracks that came from his back.
"And you didn't think you could have told me about that little tide bit of information while I scanned for the bloody town all day, and you were asleep."
"Oh! I'm sorry it must have skipped my mind." Kodak threw an apology out.
"I hate you, you blood sucking leach!" Shao Tie growled out in anger.
"The feeling is mutual snake. Now don't whine like a baby, we might not be able to find Duwaiser on the radar, but we're still heading in the right direction and based on my calculations, we're incredibly close."
"Really, how can you tell?" Shao Tie asked.
"that's because to find Duwaiser among this sea of green and bark, you have to do it the old fashion way. And that's by following a map. The same map I had placed on the dashboard, but you've ignored for the past two weeks. We should be able to..."
"Unidentified flying vessel! State your name and business or be prepared to be shot down."

Kodak was a little cut off by the interruption, especially since he had no idea where it was coming from. He brought the airship to a halt, slid up the windshield and looked out into the forest beneath him. He had superior senses, but it was not his sight or hearing that let him know that the patch of forest ahead of him was weird, it was his sense of smell. He sat back quietly and decided to respond to the message that came in through the intercom.
"My name is Kodak, and I'm here on official business for my master." Kodak replied with an even tone.
"And who is your master?" the voice asked.
"I'm not at liberty to say." Kodak replied with the same even voice.
"Then that means we might have ourselves a problem." The voice said.
"There's no need for that. I will pay twice the entrance fee, and a little extra for your silence about my presence here."
"....."
"Deal!"
Kodak could not help but smile once he heard that. Money was a universal language that everyone understood. It could open doors you never expected it to open, and just generally let you be a bad ass. There was a ripple from the forest below, and most of the trees Kodak saw disappeared and in their place was landing pad, a very big one that had multiple ships parked on it.
Kodak brought his airship down, and was led to a parking space by a floating traffic bot. Just before he came out of the airship, he felt Shao Tie enter his body as they both prepared themselves to face the music that was the town of Duwaiser.
There was a man waiting for him, the brightly lit platform gave off enough light to showcase his highlight, and Kodak noticed he was an elf, but he had a nasty burn at the right side of his face. That was the sign of exile, Kodak had made some extensive research about the main races of Shearath when he first made this journey, and during the journey itself. Elves too pride in their beauty and facial features, but when they've been banished from home, or been through a significant grief inducing situation, they use any method available to scar their face.
This was to show that they were no longer connected to their past, and who they were would be buried under the layer of scars than now became their new skin. Also elven authorities also did this to criminals, especially those that have been banished. So it's extremely rare for someone to do this themselves, not unless you've experienced some really traumatic shit.
"Welcome to Duwaiser Mr. Kodak. I'll have to ask you to please follow the rules of the town. Keep the fighting to a minimum, and if you break anything, even something as mundane as a brick on the street, you will be paying three times it's original amount as recompense. During your stay here, you'll be responsible for your own safety and protection, so if you get mugged, jumped, kidnapped, sold, tortured, broken or killed. It has nothing to do with the town of Duwaiser and it's all up to your own competence, or incompetence. However if you're not really sure about your ability to protect yourself, you can hire a bunch of guards from the Duwaiser specially trained militia, we promise to be wholly responsible for your safety during the entire duration of your stay. And all for a small fee of course.
We also offer the best in house entertainment you could ever desire, our women are top notch, or if you prefer men, we have them all. Your kinks and preferences are also noted, so if you like bondage, or a feeling of cold metal on your skin with a little cyborg sex, or you have a feel for the hairiness of the beast king in their feral form. All that an more is what this unholy town of pleasure and anarchy Duwaiser has to offer to you. And all for a very small fee of course. Also we here is a available complimentary brochure of the town, along with a map to all it's facilities, and hailing spell formation in case you need to talk to any of our representatives, or you could just call us on the secure number written on the back. Now is there anything I can help you with, plus you have yet to lay the agreed upon gate fee."
To say Kodak was freaked out would be the understatement of the year. This guy was like a living, walking, talking advertisement board. But at the very least Kodak had an idea about what sort of place he was in, and how to deal with it should shit go sideways. He looked up at the elf and stretched forth his hands towards him. The elf did the same motion, and a peculiar black band around Kodak's wrist beeped as it came in contact with a bullied version on the elf's wrist. This was Shearath's version of cyber banking, so there was really no need to carry heavy wads of cash or coins everywhere you went.
"Would that be all Mr. Kodak?" the elf asked with an expectant expression on his face.
"Yes that would be all, thank you for all your help." Kodak said to the elf as he matched away towards the now revealed town.
Duwaiser was built into the forest, there were trees surrounding a few buildings, with some of the trees being even the buildings itself. It was a large town, not quite the size of a city, but a little too big to be considered a town. Kodak was not sure how he had not been able to see or hear anything when he was coming, because this town was filled and noisy. But the only thing he had been able to pick was scent, and it was not the scent of people rather it was the scent of concrete, metal and smoke as it was synonymous with most if not every city.
It was just about three hours after sunset, so the city was just coming alive for it's night life. Besides Kodak was sure that a place like this was more nocturnal than it was attuned to a life under the glare of the sun. Everyone here carried a gun in one form or another, only a few people had things like swords or spears, and even then all these weapons looked so sophisticated you would have to wonder if they had even more power than the guns he has been seeing.
The city was very alive though it was just waking up. Kodak had left the sparse area where the ships were kept, and came up to one of the main streets of the town. There were five such streets, each one ruled by a different gangster, and each street was a center of commerce and trade both legal and illegal of the highest order, though it was mostly illegal.
There were bars, brothels and hotels, tattoo parlors and hospitals that offered biological and cybernetic enhancements to any part of the body. Some of the prostitutes on the streets were a variety of different and very unique races, there was even an undead, a freaking zombie. Though minus the rot and all that shenanigans, she seemed as if she just died. And then there were men, equally as exotic and sometimes downright bizarre.
Kodak walked past a few alleys and had to avert his eyes as the sounds of carnal moaning, and the sight of flesh smacking against flesh in a carnal ritual that has stood from the moment civilization existed. This town was rotten to the core, but somehow the dark side of him felt thrilled to be here, and it seems he was not the only one.
"I love it here! When you're done with your mission, let's come back here and party till the sun comes up." Shao Tie quipped with his exuberance raised to a factor of 20. Which is 20 times more excitement than Kodak has ever seen from him before.
Kodak smiled as he made his way towards the less populated part of the town, an area where a vampire can remain incognito and protect his identity as a blood sucking night walker. Eventually Kodak found himself in a place called sesame street, that was a weird name to give a street, but still this was the least crowded place in the town, and it seemed like the perfect place to lay low while he conducted his business within the town. Thankfully there seemed to be a huge hotel/bar in the street, and it should serve it's purposes as the best place to hide for now. But the moment Kodak walked into the bar he couldn't help but exclaim.
"What the hell! Isn't this the Nexus from the green district, and is that not Bob!"

Chapter end