It was every bit as bad as it looked, and only Lesha tipping the cup up made me finish, but I scowled at her after. There were no immediate changes to me, but it was a cup of sewage, I didn't hold many expectations.
After I finished, we headed to the back of the hall to a set of stairs that led down. Even as I started to walk, I could feel the difference, and it was like a wave of relief washed most of the fatigue away.
The hall we all walked down into was made of stones and mortar, and there were five doors. Two on each side and one at the end, and that was the one that Lesha knocked on.
"Come in," called a rough male voice.
Lesha opened the door and we all walked inside. The place was a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be; there were wooden walls with pictures on them, but they were of only one person.
I turned away from them and looked at the man standing at the end of the room. He was sitting in front of a fireplace in a comfy-looking red chair, and there were two other couches. There was also another chair similar to the one he sat on beside him, with a simple wooden end table between them.
There was a bed in the corner, and that was where the heaviest concentration of pictures was. We walked forward to join the man, and then I noticed that there was a lantern that was like the ones used to signal other ships at sea.
This was one of the few things I did know about; my father had gotten one from a man for fixing some weapons. It had a cover and you could use it to direct light or open and close it for signals.
It was like using the Calling Drums, but at short range. Still, I wasn't sure why it was on the table, but it did look ornamental and nice, so I wasn't sure what to make of it.
"It's good to see that you have finally woken up, it has only been a day, but the sooner you are up and going the better. My name is Jester for all Guild things, but you can call me Milo while we are here. Please, sit down, you must still be tired," Milo said, gesturing to the couches.
I turned to Lesha and gave her a kiss before going to sit down in the vacant red chair beside Milo. My party took the whole place up, but then that made me think about the boys.
"Where is Tim, and Corbit?" I asked turning to Lesha, but Milo was the one that answered.
"I have them working with Hersal and another member, Braum. Those two will help get them into better fighting shape. I know you are probably wondering, why?" Milo said with a smile as I turned back to him.
"Yes, that is a very good question, but I expect that you already have the answer for me. So, Milo, Leader of The Laughing Ravens Guild, what can I do for you that would make you want to help me so much?"
"Unlike you, I haven't been bestowed a great power, more of a great item. Not useless, but by no means does it increase my physical or even magical aptitudes. I have one purpose left while I remain in this world. I will see Dyster pay for the people he took from me and so many others with his games and powers. We fought wars, and people died, but it was always one nation trying to climb to the top to rule. These Gods don't care about us or the world, we are just toys in their rise to the top."
Only the crackle of the burning logs on the fire filled the room until I broke the silence.
"So, you think that I can kill him? A god that can level an entire city block, just by being there?" I asked with incredulity.
"Not yet, but all the reports of you coming from my trusted sources can't be wrong. You are more than just a person that got something from the Dungeon Core. The level of Mind Control you used on so many men is astounding, even if it puts you in bed for three days! Kal said that all the men had just crawled onto the fire and only two of them were wounded," Milo praised me.
I didn't know if that was something I wanted to be praised for, but they had crossed a line, and I would do it again if anyone touched the girls again. I still didn't understand what he meant by more; was he talking about Lishtani?
"So, you think that I can become strong enough to kill a god?" I asked.
"I believe with the right training and enough experience, you would definitely have a fighting chance, but that brings me to the next topic. What you did to the Ground Pounders is sung with praise, but I am sure that you know just as well as I do that Granvel isn't going to just leave you alone after wiping out half his guild, and the members are hot for your blood," Milo explained.
"Yes, I figured as much, but they will get another round of cleaning if they interfere with what I have come to do. You do know why I am here don't you?" I asked.
"Yes, I don't like the gods, but Healia, doesn't sound that bad, and she is the one that told me to come to get you. I have a Waystone that you can use to communicate with her, but it is upstairs. It isn't like the small amulets you have seen, but we will go thereafter. I have a few questions I would like to ask you with this," Milo said pointing to the Lantern.
"You're going to ask me questions with that?" I asked in confusion, looking at the lantern again thinking I had missed something.
"This is the Item I got from the Dungeon Core, The Guarding Watch Light."
"This is the Item that you got from the Dungeon Core? I thought it gave items of great power and such?" I asked, a bit puzzled.
I hadn't expected this lamp to be the magical item Kal had been talking about. It did look nice, but nothing about it said magical item of great power.
Milo let out a laugh, and then picked up the lantern.
"Believe me, after all the time I spent inside of the dungeon to get to the final prize, and this is what the glowing red crystal gives me! At first, I didn't even know how to use it. Then one night I was coming back from the dungeon after getting the item. I was using it for a light and I passed a shady-looking man, and when the light from the lantern hit him, something happened to his shadow. It was red and orange, not black, and something told me that this person was anticipating to be aggressive," Milo explained.
"So the lantern can tell feelings? I guess that's useful, but as you said, hardly powerful. I am pretty sure some people specialize in reading other emotions, so this is very lackluster," I said, but I knew there had to be more to the story.
"It gave me more than just the mental emotions, I could sense his pains and aches. I knew that he had been recently stabbed in the shoulder and that the wound was still fresh, so I jabbed two fingers into it, making the man drop his knife, and then I knew that he would try to grab it so I caught his face with a knee and then I slit his throat. The last thing I knew was that he killed three women, brutally."
This was a lot to take in; this lantern could let you know a person's everything just from shining a light on them. This was far more powerful than I could have imagined, but there was a catch. No matter how much skill you have, in a battle with something like a god it would be useless without an equal or greater power.
Knowing that the god was about to wipe you clean from the face of the land would not help you if you couldn't stop it. Now I understood what he meant about the item, but I was unsure if I wanted to give Milo that kind of power over me.
"Why do you want to use that on me, and why would I let you? I am sure you are exceptional, and above your class, but if you were to use that on me or any of my girls, we would leave you a dried husk to be used as fire kindling," I said flatly and without threat.
I wasn't trying to pick a fight, but I didn't like what the thing could do. I already had someone in my head that I couldn't control, but as far as I knew, Drania couldn't affect me in this world. Milo, on the other hand, could cause me serious harm or the girls.
"Hmm, I can see your point, but I need to have some kind of assurance to know that you are faithful to my cause. The next information I tell you could not only put myself at risk but all the people in this Guild, so you can understand why I might need some kind of guarantee," Milo explained.
"K can since a contract just like any other vampire using her blood. That should be worth more than even your fancy candle holders," Candi said speaking up.
"You are a vampire? I thought that you were just something like one?"
This time it was Milo's turn to play the confused one.
"Yes, there is a vampire inside of me, so I guess that would make the contract valid, whatever that means," I said, looking over to Candi for confirmation.
"You will be able to tell once you sign it, look," Candi said as she got up and came over to me. "Look in my eye, do you see the one light in my iris? Each time you sign a contract, you get a small light in your eye. I just have the one contract, but some have glittering eyes."
"What would make you want to sign a contract?" I asked, still looking into Candi's eyes, they were red like mine.
"It gets lonely at the top, and sometimes we want to be around people, it just the urges sometimes are hard to control, no matter how long you have been cursed. The only way to be eager to live around people is to sign a contract saying that you won't hurt them unless they hurt you. The problem is that the curse requires you to sign to each family house that is of different bloodlines, so, if a vampire wanted to live in a large city, they must do mountains of paperwork first," Candi explained and then went back to sit with Lesha and Trinity.
I looked over and found Mie cuddled into Gloria as she stroked her hair while looking into the fire. I could see why they wouldn't want to be alone. After spending so many years with no one by my side, it was hard to even think about life without her now.
"I will sign the document if that will be okay, but I refuse to have the lantern used by me or any of my party, including Corbit and Tim. All the members of my arty are sworn to me, so if you have my word, then you have theirs as well."
"I can live with that, I will call up for some coffee and snacks, we still have a bit more to talk about," Milo said and then got up and left the room.
"He seems honest, and I think we should listen to what he has to say. This sounds like he wants the same things as us," Lesha said while coming over to sit on my lap.
"I hope so, but everyone always has some sort of deviation. All we can do is hope that it's not too dramatic," I said while wrapping my arms around Lesha and pulling her into my chest.
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GOT IT