Ghosts of Gauntcliff: Chapter Six

[steveflam]

"Can, can they help me with my teeth?"

[ewancummins]

"Can, can they help me with my teeth?"

Smezel looks confused--more than usual.

''They? Who they?"

[steveflam]

"Can, can they help me with my teeth?"

Smezel looks confused--more than usual.

''They? Who they?"

"Sorry. Do you think the Dodds can help me with my teeth or is that a bad idea? how about that."

[ewancummins]

"Can, can they help me with my teeth?"

Smezel looks confused--more than usual.

''They? Who they?"

"Sorry. Do you think the Dodds can help me with my teeth or is that a bad idea? how about that."

''He is nasty and not nice, not like you. Um...maybe he help, but you gotta pay him."

[steveflam]

"Hmmmm....... does he take only gold? I mean I have much to offer. Listen, Gruz and Smezel. Even Dark One. What do you think? I do not have much to offer this Dodd. Might I do something for him in return for his help? What about Dorgio? Can he help me? Oh.... I am confused.... I love these new teeth."



Running his tongue across his new teeth, he feels each of his new teeth, curious. "But why did I cough up salt water and get a jaw ache before these teeth grew in? I want to know about them and how I got them."

[ewancummins]

Dark One whispers, ''You know what he wants. Whom does he desire? You know the answer."

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

"I'm Lorna. I work for the Wigot family. Are they...?"

"Lorna," he says, as if trying the name on. "I wish we could be meeting under better circumstances. I am not knowing about the Wigots, but we're doing everything we can. There are other healers back at the shore. I'll go back soon to find out the Wigots, but the lord of this island, he wanted me to be seeing you to safety first.

The black-haired maiden* doubles over in the saddle, coughing.
He slim frame shakes as she gasps for air between spasmodic coughs.

His eyes widen in concern and he reaches up to check her. "Steady now," he says as he looks for any sign that her coughing is something worse than mere exhaustion from having nearly drowned. "Steady, Lorna."

[steveflam]

Dark One whispers, ''You know what he wants. Whom does he desire? You know the answer."

"I'll not give him Jonas. I am sure he has other needs besides a child. Gruz, Smezel, lead me to Dodd."

[ewancummins]

DORGIO

"I'm Lorna. I work for the Wigot family. Are they...?"

"Lorna," he says, as if trying the name on. "I wish we could be meeting under better circumstances. I am not knowing about the Wigots, but we're doing everything we can. There are other healers back at the shore. I'll go back soon to find out the Wigots, but the lord of this island, he wanted me to be seeing you to safety first.

The black-haired maiden* doubles over in the saddle, coughing.
He slim frame shakes as she gasps for air between spasmodic coughs.

His eyes widen in concern and he reaches up to check her. "Steady now," he says as he looks for any sign that her coughing is something worse than mere exhaustion from having nearly drowned. "Steady, Lorna."

She straightens up and sucks in fresh air.

''I-- I'll be okay, thanks."

Something strikes Dorgio in the back and knocks him down in the sand! The mule bucks. Lorna cries out.

When Dorgio looks to see what hit him, he finds Primeiro sprawled next to him, at the end of a long mark ploughed in the sandy lee of the tall dune to his left. Eustace staggers down the slope, sweaty and dishevelled.Eustace is seemingly unhurt, but Primeiro is deathly pale and he shivers like a man caught in a blizzard.


Even with the damp weather, the air is merely cool, not cold.

[ewancummins]

Juergin-

Dark One whispers, ''You know what he wants. Whom does he desire? You know the answer."

"I'll not give him Jonas. I am sure he has other needs besides a child. Gruz, Smezel, lead me to Dodd."

Smezel whines,
''You sure?"


Dark One says, ''Be wary, boy. This Dodds creature is powerful and very evil. He might do something terrible to you. I don't know if your new teeth will help in a fight with him."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Everline dries off as well as she can, then rejoins Benn. "Any life-threatning cases?" she asks. "Ones what'll die? I can prolly fix those." She seems to be ignoring Griffiths.

[Ail]

"Dorgio!" Eustace cries in relief
"There's bad news, all sorts of it. The Chateau is in danger, we must warn everyone it is not safe."

He is going to continue, but as he notices the girl, he has doubts. He tries to lure Dorgio away from the girl.

"Please, I need your help with Primeiro. He's in a shock."

If Dorgio comes examine Primeiro, he says as low as he can while still being audible, to prevent the girl from hearing

"The shadow is in the manor. It attacked me in my room but I put it to flee. Only it already controlled one servant to attack me and Primeiro, and we can not know who else it might control. We must light all the Manor before it makes someone do something really dangerous. And we must have all the people in one room we can easily protect. At all costs, we must avoid being separated: us, and even the staff and the guests. This will be hard..." he sighs with his shoulders slouched.

[steveflam]

Juergin-

Dark One whispers, ''You know what he wants. Whom does he desire? You know the answer."

"I'll not give him Jonas. I am sure he has other needs besides a child. Gruz, Smezel, lead me to Dodd."

Smezel whines,
''You sure?"


Dark One says, ''Be wary, boy. This Dodds creature is powerful and very evil. He might do something terrible to you. I don't know if your new teeth will help in a fight with him."

The boy sighs, scratching his head. "Well, I do not know anything about magic or my teeth. What or who would you suggest I see or do? Just look at the reaction I got from Primeiro. He was so afraid of me."

He paces some, unsure of what to do. "I think a healer or a magician could help. But is these more magic or divine. I do not know of one here on the island except ofr maybe Benn or Dorgio but they will react the same as Primeiro did. I need to decide what to do and quickly before I get into trouble, Dark One."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Primeiro slowly gets to his feet, and he leans on Eustace for support. "No... I'm all right," he says weakly. He seems in control of himself again, yet his eyes remain wide open, as though he's still staring at something beyond his comprehension. "Juergin!" he says, now turning to Dorgio. "The boy's been... corrupted, changed, I don't know what! His teeth... he's not human anymore! What fools we've been! We've been fighting shadows this whole time, and there's this boy with a sentient shadow attached to him, and we never thought to question his loyaties?!?"

[Ail]

"We don't know what caused his mutation, Primeiro, but I'm mistrustful of that shadow too. And yet, I think we did wrong in fleeing like that. Jurgin must be confused himself and he'll look around for help. If we're not there, he might look for assistance from someone even less trustworthy, and then his loyalty may really come into question."

Scratching his head, he adds

"I really think we probably will have to get back to him, and at least check his current disposition. We must keep him under our control. "Keep your friends close", they say, "but keep your enemies closer". We don't know where Jurgin is right now, but best if we don't risk and let him wander alone out of our reach."