The Devil's Dreams, Chapter Five

[ewancummins]

"Gauderic, you were brave and courageous, many times over. You will be a worthy lord Delapore. Let not grief take you down and honour your ancestors as best you can."

Gauderic now rises unsteadily to his feet.

In a flat voice, he says-
''The letter, Thom- give me the letter."

[RocEter]

Thom nods and pulls the letter from his pouch. "I figured you would be wanting this back. It nearly cost me my life protecting this information." He says as he hands the letter over to him. "No one has read, not even I." He adds, with a reassuring smile.

[ewancummins]

''Good. That's good, Thom. You did what you had to do- and so did he.”
He tucks the letter inside his shirt.

[RocEter]

"That he did." Thom says respectfully. "Shall we discuss on how we intend on explaining this? There are few details which must be let out, for the most part everything else can remain the same." He says.

[ewancummins]

For a very little while, the young aristocrat stands as still and silent as the marble stones of his ancestral seat.

A light rain begins to fall. Somewhere in the darkness beyond the house, a lonesome owl hoots. The cool night wind blows, tossing the grass of the yard like waves on the dark green sea.


''I'm sure we'll think of something. Help me carry them inside."

Gauderic lifts the frail form of Theophile, and starts towards the ancient manor-house.



THE END OF
THE DEVIL'S DREAMS: CHAPTER FIVE

[ewancummins]

epilogue

The sheriff accepts Thom’s explanations at face value, and lets the matter drop at that.

Over the course of the next two weeks, the party rests and recuperates at the estate. Eustace and Dorgio working together are able to magically cure all the infected persons on the party.

Everline’s fungoid friend and its mysterious Circle never come to light. The lantern eyed ‘demons’ have vanished as well.

Ferenc and Theophile are buried in the family plot in a private ceremony. None of the investigators are invited to attend the private service.

Karim, Dofur, and Laurie are buried with honor on the estate grounds, all three together on a high hill overlooking the road west. Gauderic pays for the funeral. Dorgio is given the privilege of speaking over the dead, along with a local Ezran minister.

Professors Rotwang and Toddlestone are able to cook up a large batch of the anti-fungal medicine, using a formula found in Theophile’s notes (the missing notes were in the cavern lair).

Captain Thibault arrives with nine gendarmes on the evening after the deaths of Theophile and Ferenc Delapore. The city guardsmen, fortified by the medicine that the professors have cooked up, do the unpleasant but necessary work of scouring out all the dangerous fungus in the caverns.

The Autumnal Conclave reconvenes after the estate is made safe. Benn, Eustace, and Dorgio are given accolades by the assembled sages, for their part in saving the conference from disaster. Several of the guests request information for future contacts.

The young master of the estate pays a guerdon of seventy-five ducats each to Benn, Everline, Dorgio, Zandor, and Eustace.

Gauderic Delapore also lends Thom several crates packed with Theophile’s collected notes on natural history.

"Publish them, Thom. Let the world know he was a great scholar. ”

The menace of the devil’s dreams has been stopped, but the harrowing experience has left some of the heroes deeply marked.

Benn suffers evil dreams every night without fail, although all the healers tell him that he is clean of any taint of the devil's horn fungus. Every night, he sees Karim die. Every night, he is back in the cold waters of the underground river, looking up at that terrible mass of swaying, horned fungal matter- the malignant rot beneath the Delapore estate. Even after the last of the foul growth has been burned to ashes, the nightmares continue to plague him.

Everline, too, is strangely afflicted. She takes to wandering the caverns below the estate at all hours of the day and night. This grows to be such a compulsion that she has to be kept away from the cellar and cave entrances for her own safety.

Gennifer Weathermay is deep in mourning for her twin. She hardly speaks until the day the coach comes take her back to Mordentshire. Her last words to the party are-

"Visit me when you wish, after Yuletide, perhaps. Send word ahead, and I hope to be at home to receive you, friends.”

[ewancummins]

Codicil: Alain

Alain lies sleeping- for how long he does not know. He wakens in darkness. Something soft is stuffed in his mouth. He tries to spit it out but he can’t. He blinks in confusion and shakes his head. After a moment, he realizes that he has been blindfolded as well as gagged. No light creeps in around the edges of the cloth. He tries to move- but finds that his hands are tied together and his ankles are bound. Under his back he feels a cold, damp stone floor. He squirms frantically, but is barely able to loosen his restraints.

He hears rusty hinges groan from someplace nearby, and then a soft thud.
Click.

Now he hears muffled voices-
‘’There is no need to take his life.”
Alain recognizes Zandor’s melodic voice.

He strains his hearing, hoping to catch every syllable of the conversation.

Another voice- whose he cannot be certain.
‘’No, it’s folly to let the witch live. You argue for mercy, Zandor, but we need to think how he will use his magic against us, if he is freed. He is dangerous!”

The bard’s seductive, sweet tenor-
‘’We can be safe and yet show mercy. We need to shorten his hands. Cut off those demonic digits. Yes, and because some of his foul magic relies on speech, we must cut away his tongue. Oh, I know it sounds harsh, but he could live as a beggar. Surely that’s better than being dead?”

Alain finds himself involuntarily thrashing, as if brute force could rip him free of his prison.

Zandor says-

‘’I hear him tossing and turning in there. He’s getting stronger. We need to decide soon. The danger is great. You know my counsel.”

Then, Alain hears footsteps receding.
He waits. Once he’s convinced himself that the bard and the other man have gone, he begins to work at his bonds again. Now he works patiently. He’s always been good with his hands. The pathetic knots these fools used are no match for his skill. Soon, he’s removed the gag, blindfold, and his bonds.

He rubs his hands together. Something feels strange about his fingers, but he puts the queer feeling aside for now.

First order of business: escape.

Second order of business: revenge.
_________________________________________________________
Alain disappeared from the closet where he was being temporarily held. Most of his gear, which had been removed from Cirdan’s magic bag for an inventory, turned up missing. The enchanted bag, safely hidden away, was not taken. Alain’s horse went missing from the stables the same night that he vanished from the closet. All attempts to track him down have failed…