#rivervale_lodge

"Right. Come on. It'll be okay...." She takes Dagmar by the other arm and leads her to the back of the Lodge, the kitchen door.

Dagmar follows, frowning.

"Maybe we can ask your mom not to tell?"

"Maybe. Depends. If she doesn't need to, she probably won't, but...well...we'll see...."

"Mom?" Sylvi goes into the kitchen.

"They'll be mad at me." Worried.

Kerri is checking some items in the cupboard. "Yes?"

Sylvi checks around the kitchen quickly to make sure nobody else is there. "Mom, can you take a look at Dagmar's arm? Something's wrong...."

Dagmar hangs back - now that Sylvi's seen it, that waver-wobble when she stands is hard to miss.

A concerned look from the Hearth. "Wrong? Did you get hurt, Dagmar? Come, sit here, let me see."

"It's just a cut and it isn't even bleeding and it's been a whole week..."

But she obeys, shuffling over to the Hearth.

Kerri looks it over. "Hm. How'd this happen?" Her tone seems light enough...but Sylvi knows better.

"This chimera scratched me a little."

"It wasn't that deep. It stopped bleeding pretty early."

"Mom...I was there. It was a pretty horrible chimera. It...ate dreams."

"We killed it, though."

Kerri frowns. "The bleeding is only part of the problem, Dagmar. You've got inflammation, and it's spreading."

"I washed it out. Twice!"

"I'm sure you did. You did the right thing, as far as a regular cut goes. But this has a chimerical aspect. Soap won't fix it."

"Did I need chimerical soap?"

"No...well, not exactly. A purifying cantrip of some sort would have worked, probably...but it's gotten inside, now...." She looks concerned. "Dagmar...I'm going to have to destroy the infection, then heal your arm. It's going to hurt."

The dogs are being big babies aobut this in the main room...they cant protect Dagmar from here.

Her expression betrays her for only a moment- fear, before it's masked. "I'm tough."

Sylvi looks a little horrified. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I know you're tough, Dagmar," Kerri agrees kindly, "but can I have Sylvi help support you while I work?"

She rubs at her face, damp again, and shrugs.

A pause. "Do you want me to call your folks, have them here with you?"

"No!"

"You can't tell them."

A blink from Kerri, but all she says is, "Get ready, then. Sylvi, let her grab your arm."

Sylvi nods and offers the arm, looking at Dagmar with concern. "It'll be okay."

A huff. She's sweating again - from nerves or the infection? - and she clasps Sylvi's arm.

Kerri pulls the sleeve looser, exposing her arm further. Then she gets a cork, turns on a burner on the stove, and burns the cork until it turns black. Coming back to Dagmar, she stabilizes the girl's other arm, and carefully draws black lines over the lines in her skin, quietly murmuring, "Darkness draw out darkness, soot burn sting.....darkness draw the darkness out, soot burn sting...." Nothing hurts...yet.

To an extent... she flinches at the touch and pressure, squeezing Sylvi's arm.

"It'll be okay," Sylvi whispers again.

Stubborn-jaw. "I'm tough."

Once the trails are traced, Kerri draws a target shape over the wound itself. She sets the cork aside...takes a breath...and SMACKS her hand over the wound. And under every mark of sootblack, the infection lights up like flame!

Dagmar bares her teeth, swallowing a yelp, and her arm jerks.

Kerri hangs on tight, not letting her pull free. Sylvi holds on to her other arm tight.

Kerri looks closely at the wound...did she get it all? Can she tell?

THe lines in the arm... are healthy...the redness gone.

But she does have holes in her...grooves whree the infection was

It needs a heatherbalm soon

"Okay...hang on...almost done...." Kerri reaches over to an aloe vera plant on the counter. She snaps off a leaf, and slowly spreads the goo over the lines on her arm.

Dag is squeezing her eyes shut, trying very hard not to make a sound.

She murmurs, "Paths where evil traveled, harm is now unraveled. Soothing leaf, sweet relief."

And Kerri's magic flows...and true to the phrasing, the pain eases...the marks dim, the grooves no longer worming through

Dagmar shrinks - her color is already better, the greyish-yellow undertones fading from the blue.

"Is it okay? Is she okay?" Sylvi asks.