Mists over the Musarde, Chapter Four

[steveflam]

Norzak mulls over in his mind the very vivid dream he had with Viollette in it. "Yeah, she came ta me in one a me dreams a while back. Offering me ta be a baron in her land if'n I brought her the key Benn has and ye as well. She wants me ta serve her and I agreed cause I didn't think I had no choice, an dint tell any of ye either. This was before we met Jon."

He looks at the ground, even as he puts his wand away. "I know I not be a good person, but at tha same time I think I shown ye all I kin be a good one too. I gots me no personal interest in bein a baron then becomin, say, a priest of Morninglord. Sorry Dorgio. I got the impression she would want us to rule her land here and take care o her enemies. Judgin by Van Dieks there, I guess he fell fer her. Like I said I on'y said yes cause I figgered I might die if'n I said no.


She wants the key Benn has as well. An before I fergit, behind that door is a great evil, I kin feel it in me bones. An I gots no spell ta be detectin it. So thass it in a nutshell, me dream an tha bargain. I prefer not ta be some baron but stick with ye through thick and thin, if'n ye still want me that is.

Ta be honest I kinna forgettted about her, but she weren't far back in me mind. I guess I was hoping we wasn't gonna meet her again an it was all a dream an not real."

[JMaytr]

Jonathan takes a step towards Dorgio.

"It is not my fault you are ignorant. I asked you before for help against this curse. Van Dieks drew the monster out of me. I have taken a night thing from this world that will no longer harm boys such as I or hurt anymore women.

"You are the fool to put so much faith and trust in the gypsies. They are liars and thieves. They are likely to exact some price for what they will see as a failure to uphold their bargain. Gypsies will sooner sell you than aid you. We don't need their help. If you all want to go home, I suggest we do as Alain says and take this fight to the fleeing witch! With her destroyed she won't be able to hold us here."

[steveflam]

"I agree with the lad. We need ta kill er fer good. I think me wand will come in useful, but there's got ta be a better way ta 'urt er an keep er from runnin away from us. Mebbe I kin trick her into thinkin I be wantin the bargain to be true? Lure her into a trap?"

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio squares his shoulders and faces John, his spear still clutched in his scorched hand. The color drains from his face as the child speaks against the Vistani.

"And who else have you taken from the world, ratter?"

[JMaytr]

Jonathan wipes Van Dieks's blood from his mouth. The iron taste is like nothing he has ever tasted. It makes him feel alive.

"With Dr. Van Richten I have put ghosts to rest. I have destroyed a night thing called a hag. I have slain vampires with my mentor. I have put silver into the breast of the werewolf. I have seen human ignorance allow innocent people to be burned. Like my mother who only had red hair. What kind of darkness have I seen Dorgio? Have you known loss due to ignorance? I am sure. As a half breed you half surely felt pain of human racism. But gypsies walt inside the darkness. They are agents of the powers that oppress us.

"I submitted to all of your tests. I was afraid I had acquired the curse of lycanthropy. You Dorgio, reassured me I was okay. Untill now, I didn't know that I was afflicted. Now that we all know I am this beast, do any of you have the will and goodness of character to help me?. I am only a boy and I have seen things no man ever should. Why should I, who in the process of helping you, become sick with this malady, and not be aided by those of supposed virtue?

"I wish only to be rid of this monster, and that I may exist long enough to destroy the night things that take mothers from sons."

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio stands transfixed as his gaze shifts between Norzak and Jon. The raunie's staccato words echo in his head, old and cracked as an ancient tome bound in human skin.

Ah, your efforts to find the enemy have been helped in the past by a traitor. Someone whom you have trusted will turn against you.

How many times had he questioned Norzak's methods? How many times had the dwarf crossed the line of decency, and what had Dorgio done but raised his voice? <i>Have I been letting my thirst for glory blind me? My complacency, has it doomed us all?</i>

But there is something in the dwarf's words that Dorgio believes. Perhaps Norzak was lying, but perhaps something had changed in Darkender. Some voice, however right or wrong, told him that something had indeed changed in the dwarf. And there was a kind streak, an almost loyal streak. The way he had treated Anja after his...mistake, and the way he had cared for the girl at the Laureli and the sisters at the Moothouse. The way he had treated Jon...

Jon.

"I wish only to be rid of this monster, and that I may exist long enough to destroy the night things that take mothers from sons."

The blood in his ears is a torrent now, and the priest hangs his head and raises his left hand to his brow, covering his face with the tattoo of his god. He presses his thumb and middle finger against his temples in a vain attempt to staunch the rush of shame and guilt and uncertainty and the fear the fear the fear that WILL. NOT. GO. AWAY.

He remembers his own mother, but it is no true memory. Only some vague notion of a presence that was there before he'd known words or form of thought. He cannot remember her face or voice. Once when he was five he'd asked his father about her. His father's eyes turned down and it seemed like they would shatter. "Your mother loved you very much." And that had been that. Maybe he and Jon wanted the same things after all. He hears the raunie's words again,though they are barely a whisper above his other thoughts.

In the course of your hunt for the guilty, the temptation to use evil methods has been strong for some of you. By the end of your hunt, someone among your number will have given in to the worst temptations and blackened his soul, with perhaps so dark a stain as can never be lifted.

He had thought she had meant Norzak. But could she have meant himself? It would not have been the first time he'd let himself fall to darkness. He thought back to years ago, when he and Lazlo had kidnapped the boy Myklos, and through misguided zeal had tortured an innocent man into a beast. There was a sinking, persistent feeling in his gut, sharp more than ever now that Dorgio's meal littered the ground, that told him he was about to make the same mistake again.

After all, Jon had not known his true nature until this very moment. He had said so himself, in words that had made the priest nearly flee in regret.

Untill now, I didn't know that I was afflicted.

The Morninglord demanded compassion for those infected with lycanthropy, Dorgio knew this, though the theological reasons had been lost in the mists like so many unwary travelers. How could the Morninglord condone such behavior towards a poor soul who only now knew of his---

"I've brought the others like you wanted. Show me how to use this power."

''Good- I knew you'd come to your senses, boy. You'd better come on out now. I won't shoot you.''

"Traitor! Whatever he promised you boy, he would have killed you when he was done."

Dorgio removes his hand from his face. The burn scar is livid and mottled against his still drained face.

"You knew boy. You knew and you struck a bargain."

The tip of his spear begins to shake.

"Who killed Rosalind? Who killed Grigori and Esmerelda?"

[Le Noir Faineant]

Behind them Cirdan slowly gets back to his feet, leaning on his shield.

It makes a short high-pitched sound as he draws his long hunting knife, with a shaking hand.

[Batman voice:]"Answer, little boy. Answer him."

[JMaytr]

"Van Dieks came to me in the woods. He said I was this creature. I thought he was tricking me and was going to kill me. I didn't believe him and ran to Norzak. I told him my fears. Norzak said I should keep it quiet from the rest of you.

"When I heard Van Dieks in the hall coming towards us moments ago I thought I could surprise him from the shadows. But then he said he could smell us. I started to think he might be that monster we'd fought back at the farm so long ago. I stepped out and I tried to bluff him. I even winked to Alain and Norzak beforehand so they would know my ruse. I am not just a stupid boy. I have fought night things before. I wanted proof I was cursed from him. And he gave it to me.

"So I used his curse against him.

"If you want to decry me for dealing the killing blow, look harder at the whole conflict. I was not in control of the monster Van Dieks made me into but I could still see. I saw Alain's magic jolt him terribly, I saw Cirdan's fist smashing his face and jaw breaking bones. We all killed him, not just I. If Norzak would have focused on the witch instead of me, we might already be free of this place."

"Now if you all are going to start attacking me because of your own failure at defeating the witch I suggest you start now with your swords. I had wondered back when we met if I was in the company of killers, after all I had never seen torture until I was with your group. No, I was still a boy in many ways until I saw the horror you adults do to others for gold.

"I have seen the evil ignorant adults can do when overcome by their fears. I'll not be a part of it any longer. Either murder me or stand aside."

[Lord Skybolt]

"I stand with Jon on what he has done . If Norzak had actually helped defeat the witch instead of restraining Jon perhaps she would have been destroyed and I would not of been blinded for no gain except for the extermination of Gaston Van Diecks . Since that was what we were going to do to him back in Richemulot anyway ." Alain says after listening to the words the others .

[steveflam]

"Ay, I only wanted ta bring the dolt back alive fer that tinkers. Now 'es dead, there be no choice, them gypsies gonna get Van Dieks dead. An we faced tha witch afore and had no luck, what makes ye think me, a rogue, wouldda made any difference? I's no good against no occult ghosties.

So is we gonna sit ere an argue about his or that, or do somethin? I already said I knows I is not a good person, but I think I kin still be part o this. So what do ye say? We argue here or do somethin? I always have the lads best interests at hearts."

[JMaytr]

"I just want to be rid of this curse now that I know for sure I am afflicted. I say we get out of here and see to Alain's eyes."

[steveflam]

" A cleric canna fix is eyes, I am sure of it."

[JMaytr]

"Then lets hurry and find one. I don't want to be here when the witch returns."

[ewancummins]

From down the hall, away from the direction of the teleport vault, you all hear a faint cry- and the sound of...hooves?

[steveflam]

"Tha witch Vioeltte? Why I hear horse hooves comin this way? This one o her tricks?"