"It looks like an abandoned place," Penny stated, her green eyes taking in the place where there was no one, "Where is this place?" They didn't know where the towns had been built exactly and would need to look for it. 

"We are in one of the abandoned towns in Wovile. The town that has been built is nearby. A fair walkable distance. The last time I was here, I came across people who were helping the town being built," his eyes took in the desk and the door which stood ajar open behind the counter. 

"We might be the only customers," she murmured and a woman walked through the curtains where the door had been open. Her appearance small and her back bent as she made her way and stood in front of them. Her short hair was grey in color, wearing a dull green sweater over her body which made her look slightly plumpy in appearance.

"What do you want?" asked the lady, her voice in no state being polite but brash as if the people who had stepped inside the inn were annoying her. 

Damien placed a gold coin on the desk, his fingers moving the coin to her front as he said, "We want a room and food for four days," a bright smile was plastered on his face. The woman looked down at the gold coin, her face turning a little mellower by the sight of the coin.

When Damien let go of the coin, drawing his hand back. The lady took the coin from the top of the counter, putting it in her pocket dress, "Follow me," she said, her eyes staring at both of them and walking towards the other side of the small inn. She took them to the next floor which was the only one after which came the roof. There were three rooms, and she went to one of the rooms, picking up her keys which jingled in her hands as she unlocked the door. 

The woman appeared to be grumpy who didn't spare too many words for them, "The water is cold at noon. The only time it will be heated is in the morning and it will cost extra if you need hot water at the time of night." 

"Doesn't the gold coin cover everything?" Penny asked, knowing well how much the coin meant to the local villagers. The lower cla.s.s families earned in terms of nickel and penny's, the maximum they could go up to was by saving a few silver coins but feeding and having the basic necessities often exhausted the saved money. 

"It doesn't," the woman replied back in a clipped tone. Damien didn't bother to haggle and he handed her four more coins to Penny's astonishment. Master Damien giving out money without haggling? Did something happen to him?

The woman didn't go far to exchange more words with them, apart from saying, "Food will be served in two hours," with that, she went back down and do whatever she was doing. 

"Isn't she charging a lot?" Penny asked Damien to see him nod.

"She is," he placed his hand on her small back and led her inside the room, closing the door they placed their trunks they had carried, "But she also knows we cannot find another inn unless we plan to move to another town which you won't be able to see unless you travel for another two hours. She knows it well, and right now we need a place to stay. Staying in the town itself isn't feasible. We don't know right now if the black witches are already there or if they are waiting to go there after the night falls over the sky and land."

"The Lord said he would handle it there, the two towns. Will we be able to handle the two here?" by what Penny saw on the blueprint, the town was large and wide. 

She had brought the books along with her, to be able to see if there was a way they could destroy the markings but right now there was zero possibility that she could find it. 

"Well, there's you and me here. It should be fine," he answered her. His confidence was something that had to be appreciated, "The Lord even said he would send others. Right now the time is the constraint and we don't know how we are going to stop the ritual if there is one that is." 

"Why not going to the Lord of Wovile and talking about it? I mean he should understand the critical time which has arrived."

"People don't trust each other, Penny. To have the villages demolish and rebuild itself would have taken a month of time and there's also ego to consider. The letter might help a bit but we need to move the people away but for how long, is the question," Damien knew the consequences and the seriousness of the situation they had been presented with. 

Four towns and hundreds of people who resided in there. If they didn't do something, people would die. It could be today or in the future. There was no time to waste, "Let me go give this to the Lord of Wovile. You can rest here and finish reading to see if you find something. Will you be alright?" he asked her. 

Penny nodded, "I will be fine. I will go through them. What about blood?" she asked him.

"What about it?" he asked tilting his head, "Don't worry, there are sufficient bags of blood for now. You can save your blood. See you soon," and suddenly Damien disappeared leaving her alone in the room. 

She could only hope that he wouldn't run out of the blood and go thirsty for it, after all, he was making use of his ability since the time they had left the mansion...

..

8 chapters are present ahead, to access go to end of chapter end and click on orange block.