Dialysis Book: Chapter 11: Back to the Guild

Even with the essence reinforcing my mental fortitude, I was exhausted.  Killing rats, which is what we were doing to the small ones, was tedious work when all you had was a spear and a dog.  Shade yawned and continued walking next to me.  He sported a minor limp that strangely Spivy couldn’t find to heal.

“Crippling injury,” I asked.

“Yes, I think I may be dying,” said Shade as he limped along, pathetically.

“And if I pick you up, do you think you might, just maybe, recover,” I asked.

“Depends on how long you hold me,” said Shade and I chuckled, lifting the heavy dog and sitting his head on my shoulder like a child.  That was an old trick of his, he liked getting carried on occasion, especially when he was tired.

Shade sighed contentedly, “I did good, right?”

“You were the best boy,” I said, kissing his ear as we continued walking towards the guild.  Spivy was still sleeping in the hood of my cloak and I reached the door and considered knocking until I remembered that it couldn’t possibly be locked.

I pushed it open and stepped inside, to my amazement the entire entryway had been cleaned.  The floor and walls looked entirely tolerable, and even the carpet had been beaten until the dirt was out of it.

Kailee walked past me and handed me a mug of a thick black syrup.  I shifted my grip on Shade, who was asleep already, to grip the mug.  After a sniff I decided to try it.  This was the local variant of coffee and the shot of caffeine was enough to clear my sinuses.

“That’s tava,” said Kailee, “I made a pot and that’s the last cup.  I need you to get rid of it for me.”  Groaning, I drained the rest of the cup, feeling a surge of energy.

“I was to give you this,” I said, handing Kailee the token.

“One second,” she said, rushing behind her newly cleaned counter and sticking out her hand.  I placed the token on it and she examined it carefully.  “Excellent, you have completed the quest.  Here is your quest reward, two gold coins.”

I held the coins in hand.  I’d spent so much that two gold alone wouldn’t have paid for my ticket, however with all the stuff we’d looted from the dead rats we’d be okay.  Probably.  Of course, I’d have to sell that stuff and the person who would be most interested in it was the innkeeper that it was stolen from.

Problems for later.

Kailee visibly relaxed, “Phew, with a quest done I don’t have to worry about my charter anymore.”

“Was that going to be a problem,” I asked.

“The guild doesn’t like keeping unproductive guild halls active, after the last adventurer disappeared I was in pretty serious trouble,” said Kailee.  “Now, I’m going to be just fine.  It is time to celebrate.”

“The only thing I want to celebrate is in bed,” I said.

Kailee shrugged, “That works, first door on the left.  Leave Shade by the fireplace.”

I considered that for a moment, Shade was technically the reason I was successful in the quest so I really wanted him to get the rewards but a quick look at the now working fireplace broke me.  Shade’s favorite spot at my parent’s house was right next to the large, warm fireplace and there was even a small animal bed next inside the warm zone.

That was doggie heaven.

I placed the dog carefully onto the doggie bed and walked into the room Kailee said.  It didn’t take me long to realize that this was her room.  I removed my cloak and hung it by the door.

Her room was spartan, but clean and I supposed she probably hadn’t had time to clean up any of the other rooms sufficiently.  Given that it was daylight out, it wasn’t like she would be using it.  I sent my leather shirt into storage and stretched.

There was a pitcher of water on a table and I poured a little out, running over my back and using a nearby towel to wipe off the sweat.  It wasn’t a proper bath, but it was the best I was going to manage in the short term.  Despite the tava, I was still tired.  Mostly.

Actually the tava was doing a decent job of keeping me conscious, which was going to be a problem.  I knew I was tired, but now I was wired and full of energy.  Maybe I would look for a bath to get the gunk off.  I stepped over to the door only for Kailee to step in.

“Um,” I began, realizing I wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“What,” said Kailee, who also was currently without a shirt.  “Bed is over there.”