#bergen_county

The house is tall but small, the ceilings high, the space little, but it suits the man who lives there fine. he has room to teach one student at a time, and he's got his dog for company.

But he is old. And still has glamour that could be most savory.

And that draws the dark nightmares born of the fear of others, of their imaginings.

The children formed are not natural, they are empty eyed with long grasping fingers. Youth, demanding the old die so they can live. And they move to the door way and windows of the house

The house of Torin Torad, old skald, father, and grandfather.

Torin tilts his head, does he hear the voices of children outside? They're saying words he doesn't understand.

"Life clocks are a lie! Carousel is a lie! THERE IS NO RENEWAL!"

Racer growls

And it is not in the old greyhound to growl.

"Who'se there?" the old man opens the door

and the nightmare children swarm forward!

Connor has been ranging out further in the woods these days. Jack is great, he loves his new friend, but who would have thought that kids could be so exhausting? After so much time amongst just the grownups, now that there is an overly loud and exuberant child around, he finds that he seeks time for quiet out among the trees.

Maybe Torin has a snack for him. He swings over that direction.

In one hand he has a particularly nice stick. He was using it as a walking stick, and idly breaking bits of dried bark off it as he went. Not good for chewing, it's too dry, but maybe Tove will show him later how to make some neat designs on it. The crayon and marker didn't stick.

There's a sound of snarling, and Torin's voice booming "Back, you little monsters! You'll not have me!'"

And Connor might see the cabin swarming with chimeria that look like Creepy Kids, but not NICE Creepy like Lily

Connor gawks at them for a moment, unsure, but then wades in, stick swinging! "I'm SORRY! I'm SORRY! SORRY! You are NOT INVITED!" He apologizes as he swings, wincing if he actually comes into contact with any of them. It's not nice to hit...

"That's not how you behave! I'm gonna tell Lily and she'll SCARE YOU the right way! MISTER TOVE DAD! ARE YOU IN THERE? RACEY?" He yells...

The young ones turn "Your spring light is too bright! Icky nasty!" //"This one is too much life" The stick strikes the face causing it to shift like dough and deform , no blood, just an aberrant groove in the waxen features

"Connor, that you? I can't.. they're draining glamour from..." The old man gasps from in his cabin

He drops the stick in surprise and runs over to Torin. Grabbing and pulling and smacking and crying, he whales on the attackers in the method of a completely untrained kid falling headfirst into a rough-and-tumble fight, as he struggles to pull them off of the old man.

The creatures seem reluctant to touch Connor, as if he were toxic.

And this works in allowing him to shield the grump somewhat. "I would cast a cantrip but I don't have the glamour lad"

He grabs hold of one that is clinging to Torin, and wraps his arms around it in a huge bear hug!

The doughy stuff seems to sizzle like acid.. only Connor is the acid!

"I'm rubber, and you're glue! You can't stick to me, and I'll stick to you!" prying at the next one. A hand is outstretched to Torin, gleaming, should he clasp the boy's fingers to take the glamour offered.

And the old man does... and the glamour hardly stays there at all..."By the Eternally Hungry fire BURN!"

And three of the chimera catch on fire , baking like clay suddenly thrust in a too hot oven!

Connor's glamour gleams of Spring. Crawling in the dirt just softening from Winter's freeze, meeting the new sprouts poking up. Overturned rocks to find slumbering bugs, and the smell of loamy earth. That first breeze that carries a hint of warmth, and the crack as ice over the pond melts and fades.

The combination is too much, leaving backed Chimerical 'corpses' frozen in a hunger that will now never be fufilled

well, frozen might not be the right word. Baked solid!

And a confused old man looks about "I..what was I doing? Racer? You.. you okay?"

Racer is breathing hard.. his great old heart pounding.

The Greyhound is no fae hound, just an old rescue...who glimers with weak enchantment

Connor gives Torin a fierce hug - the boy lives in the lodge, schools at the DeBuke farm, and rarely encounters mortals - of all his trials, he's never felt the chill of running low on Glamour, and now he presses as much as he can into Torin.

Torin gasp "Connor? Stop stop.. I remember"

Now it is the boy who is in danger of going grey

And he's sat down, "Connor, please.. help me wiht Racer"

He lets go and takes a shaky step back. He's never felt like this before. A soft wag of his tail though to try to reassure Torin, and he reaches out to carefully stroke the dog. "Is Racey okay? He feels like he just ran around the lodge 20 times."

"His heart is beating way too fast.. I think he's having an attack"

"Good boy, come down...." The old man says to the greyhound that's panting way too hard

Then slowly, as the boy and old man sooth the dog, he lays there, still, calm, but thnk goodness, breathing

"There he goes"

"Still with us.. good boy" The old man says then looks at Connor "Connor . You saved my dog. Maybe me. I'm... in your debt"

He blinks up at Torin. "Do you have a snack?"

"You like strawberry shortcake? "

"It's Racer's favorite, so I'll help him with a slice." Still carefully stroking the hound.

A smile "I think I have something for him ,and for you" He rises ...and soon, a bit of broth for the dog, and a slice of strawberry shortcake for the boy

Connor happily tucks into the cake, then mumbles through a mouthful, "Thus debt is duhlicious. All paid!"

"Well, it's a start. " A breath "Connor, you and I need to get to the lodge. I'll carry Racer. I don't want to leave him like this. But this cabin isn't safe if there's another attack. And we both need to be by the balefire"

"Another attack?" He blinks, eyes going wide. "I thought we beat them. So they're gone. That's how it works.... right?"