Grian was walking along the cobble path back home, as the streets began to clear. The sun was falling over the horizon, dropping out of view behind the palace that towered over the rest of the kingdom. Guards were lighting the streetlight candles to provide some kind of glow to combat the darkness, though the lanterns would only light the streets for as long as the candles inside of them would burn. It would be long enough for most to return home safely, though it wouldn't last the night.

He had stopped by a few other places, as the architect had been distracted after his visit with Iskall and Stress. He stopped by a few shops to pick up necessities, quills and ink, along with paper for sketching up designs. The items rested in a bag that was slung across his body, made of fine leather and intricate stitching. Scar had gifted it to him before he had left to travel, and even years later it still managed to last without falling apart.

"You better hurry inside," one knight called from atop a ladder, lighting the candle within the streetlight. "Beasts roam the streets at this time."

"Beasts?" He raised an eyebrow in suspension, "I haven't been gone too long, where have all these monsters come from in the last few years?"

"Well, after the king's death, they started to become more frequent in attacks. Prince— or rather, king Scar has been attempting to stop them, though to no avail. We've managed to capture a few, though more beasts remain." The guard explained, before pointing further down the street. "There's a station down there with wanted posters hung along a wooden board. Hunters can bring beasts back there to collect a bounty."

'Oh, right,' Grian thought to himself. 'Iskall was talking about that.'

"Speaking of which—" the soldier mentioned as a new figure rode down the street, sitting on a horse that pulled a wooden cage that seemed to be on wheels. "—that's one of the hunters now."

The man atop the horse pulled at the reins, causing the animal to let out a whine as it came to a stop. "Wels, the king still has you on candle duty?" He chuckled to the knight, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Xisuma." He rolled his eyes, "He does. And I'm fine with it. I signed up to protect the kingdom, and that's what I'm doing."

"I don't see what lighting a path does with protection, but if you insist." The hunter shrugged, before his gaze shifted to the shorter male. "And who might your little friend be?"

"Grian," he spoke for himself. "I work as the king's lead architect."

"My, lead architect to the king? Maybe he could get you a promotion." X teased the guard slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you then, Grian. I am Xisuma, and I see you've already met Welsknight."

Xisuma seemed to be a secretive man, his mouth and nose hidden away by a dark purple mask. His long cloak matched the color, with a hood pulled over his chestnut hair that seemed to fall to his shoulders. Wels wore the regular armor that royal knights around the kingdom had, his ruffled blonde hair hidden underneath his helmet.

"Well, not officially." The builder gave a laugh, "He and I were simply having a short conversation. Though it is nice to meet you both."

"We should probably get inside before it gets any darker." Wels suggested, with Xisuma giving a nod in agreement.

"I can give you two a ride." The bounty hunter offered, "I need to drop this demon off first, though."

Grian peered into the darkness of the cage, and sure enough something was inside of it. Huddle in a corner was what seemed to be a man, though with completely red eyes. His golden blonde hair was dirtied with mud and sticks, like he had been chased, and the robe he wore seemed to be old and falling apart. "What...what is he?" The architect asked, as the creature in the cage clearly wasn't human.

"Like I said, demon. He's one of the monsters in the forest that have been terrorizing the village." Xisuma said, "But no need to worry, he's harmless. Demons are one of the weaker types of monsters."

"The king has a special dungeon for beasts like him." Wels mentioned, climbing down from the ladder. "Soon, it'll be filled with the monsters in the woods. Then we'll finally be able to expand and harvest the resources in the woods."

Grian frowned, though said nothing as he glanced away from the eyes of the demon. "A ride would be nice." He finally said after a moment which caused X to offer his gloved hand.

"I need to finish lighting the remaining candles around the village, you two go ahead without me." The knight said with a wave goodbye, before walking off in the opposite direction to continue his job.

"Well then, looks like it'll just be you and me." Xisuma said, helping Grian onto the horse. When the architect was situated, X flicked the reigns of the animal. His steed gave a huff before trudging forward, pulling the wooden cage along with it. The clopping sound of its hooves filled the air, alongside the faint rustle of leaves or the occasional chirping cricket.

"I haven't seen you around before," The hunter spoke to fill the silence. "I assume that the king's lead architect would be more active around the kingdom. Though, I'm guessing you haven't been here for a while."

"How can you tell?" Grian chuckled, slightly impressed.

"Unless you're skilled with a weapon, most don't walk around after sunset. It's like a death wish."

"Right. The 'beasts' in the forest."

"They're more dangerous then you think." Xisuma said, clenching tighter to the reigns of his horse. "They will rip you to shreds if they get the chance. Once night begins to fall, the monsters think that they can wander the streets to find a free meal."

The stallion came to a halt, right at a small hut next to a large board covered in posters. X hopped down, walking over to the window of the box, where a man was seated inside. Grian stayed atop the horse, though watched as Xisuma talked to the gentleman.

"The reward for the capture of a demon." He said, pulling out a scroll from his cloak. The hunter handed over the paper for inspection, causing the other male to unravel the scroll. It was one of the posters that was attached to the board, a wanted poster, to be exact. "Alright." The man said, dropping a small pouch on the counter of the window. "There's your payment."

Xisuma took the bag, before glancing inside of it. After checking to make sure the payment was correct, he gave a silent nod before turning back to his horse. He untied the ropes from his stallion's harness, detaching the animal from the cart. "Alright, the guards will take this demon to the castle. We're good to go." The hunter said while mounting his horse once again, grabbing ahold of the reigns.

"Where can I drop you off?" He asked, keeping his eyes focused on the cobble road.

"I live near the edge of the forest, a little farther down this streets. You can drop me there."

"Alright."

Silence fell over the two as the animal began to move, trotting down the candlelit road. It was busier than most nights Grian had grown accustomed to in the countryside, though still quiet and peaceful. Even if the sounds of crickets in the distance sounded different, it was easy to ignore in comparison to the constant hum of the city.

The wind blew through Grian's clothes and hair as he felt the cool breeze brush past him. He barely noticed when they finally stopped at his house, as it didn't really feel like his house.

Xisuma gave him a slight nudge after a minute or two of him staring. "S-sorry," Grian snapped back to reality. "I just..I haven't seen my house in quite a while. I'm used to living in small farmer huts or barns that my old house.."

"Looks a bit spacious?" X finished his sentence.

It wasn't that Grian was rich with a magnificently stunning house, it was a modest house with a very small second story. But to him, after living in villages that were dirt poor for years, it looked like a mansion.

After another few moments, Grian realized he should probably head inside. "Oh, um, thank you for the ride, Xisuma." The architect said while reaching into his pocket, pulling out a few bits of copper coins. X looked a tad stunned at the offer.

"I don't need any compensation, Grian." He chuckled a little awkwardly, "I'm just trying to protect others from the things that come out at night."

"Still, I'd like you to take it. You really didn't have to give me a ride."

"If you insist.." Xisuma shook his head, pocketing the coins. "I hope to see you around more, Grian. Make sure to lock your door before you go to bed."

"I will, thank you." The shorter male said as he hopped off the horse, walking over to his doorstep.

His hand reached back into his pocket, pulling out a rusted key that he had been holding onto for years. Grian could hear the sound of clopping from behind him, and when he turned around, Xisuma was riding down the street. A smile crossed his lips as he turned back to the lock of his house, placing the old key in the hole and twisting it.

Grian let his bag fall from his shoulder as soon as he entered his home, papers and quills spilling out onto the floor. He smirked a little at the mess. Already two seconds after arriving home and there was already a pile of items that he would probably leave there for far too long.

He shut the front door and locked it, just as Xisuma had instructed, before looking around at how he had left his home. It was much cleaner than he remembered, which was odd, since Grian never cleaned. There was a note on the counter, sitting next to a lantern which had a glow that filled the room. The candle had almost melted completely at this point, meaning that it had been at least a couple hours since it had been originally lit.

'I've sent someone over to clean in wake of your return,' It read, 'As well as replace your sheets with new, clean bedding. Hopefully the dust from over the past few years is gone now. Get some rest, as I wish to meet with you tomorrow to discuss more about the development of the kingdom.

-Scar'

Grian chuckled a little, noticing doodles and slight mistakes in the spelling. He might be royalty, but he still manages to mess up with writing. His greatest weakness.

Placing the note in his pocket, he turned to the ladder that led up to the 'second story' of the house, which was simply a loft where the Brit's bedroom was located. After a day of traveling and exploring the changes to the city, sleep was finally beckoning to him. He climbed the ladder while simultaneously kicking off his worn out shoes, eager to finally rest on a fluffy mattress rather than one made of straw.

Flopping onto the covers, Grian let out a sigh of satisfaction. 'This has to be the comfiest bed ever made.' He thought to himself, too exhausted to change out of his regular clothes.

It only took moments, but Grian was already drifting off to sleep, feeling the warmth of the blankets wrap themselves around his frame and the softness of his pillows against his back. It was an unfamiliar and welcomed feeling that he couldn't help but relax into.

—

He woke up at the sound of a crash, deep into the night. The candle in his house burned out long ago, leaving nothing but darkness. Grian shot upright at the sound, banging his head on the ceiling. "Ugh," he muttered, rubbing his skull. The Brit layer back down, attempting to fall back asleep, though another sound startled him.

The screech of a donkey caught Grian off guard, his eyes snapping open. It sounded like Donk was in pain. The architect threw the covers off his bed, climbing down the ladder to see what was wrong. He didn't have any candles on him, and the streetlights had burned out by now, leaving him in total darkness as he ventured out into the cold night.

"Donk?" Grian called out, walking over to the stable attached to the side of his house. His feet were bare, causing slight ache as he walked along the cobblestone road. "Is everything okay?" He asked, obviously too tired to realize that donkeys cannot respond.

Walking to the fence gate, he placed his hands on the wood to try and unlock it in the dark. Though, his body jerked to a stop the moment he saw two crimson eyes staring back at him.

"What the—" he tried to speak, though suddenly let out a shout as the creature leaped out of the animal pen.

Grian ran in now that the thing was gone, noticing his poor Donk laying on the ground. There were two holes in his neck, which were slowly dribbling blood out and onto his fur. He glanced towards the forest, where the beast had escaped to, the same red eyes watching him again from a distance.

"Hey! Get back here!" Grian yelled, chasing after whatever had attacked his donkey.

The shadowy figure ran into the forest, cloaked by the darkness of night. The rumors of the monsters in the forest hadn't even crossed his mind as he ran, as the architect was too exhausted and confused by all  the chaos. He simply wanted to know who was attacking Donk, and what was going on!

Plants and trees were growing denser the further he ran, and while Grian was getting slowed down by it all, the figure ahead barely seemed phased. "HEY! STOP!" He yelled, his clothes getting ripped by thorn bushes that seemed to create a wall to prevent him from going any farther.

However, Grian was rather persistent. Even as his tunic and trousers were scratched and torn he shoved through the plants, trying his best to catch up. The forest was even darker than before, not a sound could be heard whatsoever. It was eerie, as even the chirp of a cricket couldn't be heard. Not only that, but now the Brit was unsure of which way he had came from.

"Hello?!" He called out, glancing around desperately for the familiar red eyes that he had spotted before. "Please, is anyone there?! Why did you kill my donkey!?"

"He isn't dead."

Grian jumped at the voice, which seemed to come from all directions. "Wha—? Who are you?" He asked, a tad quieter than before.

Footsteps came from behind him, causing the architect to turn around as fast as he could. The eyes were back, staring at him. They simply stared without a word.

"You...are you one of the monsters here?" Grian realized as he recalled what the others had told him about the forest.

Slowly, the creature nodded.

"Why did you you attack my donkey?"

"I didn't attack." The voice said calmly, "I simply drank. Your donkey felt no pain."

"So leaving my donkey on the ground with blood coming out of his neck isn't an attack?" Grian asked with a sarcastic tone.

"You didn't let me finish feeding. The entry wounds seal with my saliva."

"That's...cool, but also kinda gross? So you were gonna lick all that fur?"

"I don't have much of a choice. I need blood to survive." The monster snarled, causing Grian to flinch as he took a step backwards.

"What...are you..?" He asked, feeling his legs begin to shake with fear.

"I guess you'll have to wait and find out."

He heard more footsteps come behind, though there wasn't enough time to react. Something managed to strike him down, delivering a sharp blow to the side of Grian's head. He fell to the ground, black dots dancing in his vision as the world began to turn blurry. He watched as the figure with the red eyes, as well as two other figures stepped into view, though the Brit couldn't make out the details of their faces.

"Take him back." A new voice spoke to the other two figures, "Looks like we've got a new food source."

With that, Grian fell into unconsciousness, slipping into a dreamless sleep.