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The old man's gray eyebrows knitted together and he seemed almost surprised to be spoken to, as though he thought they might have forgotten his presence altogether. "Much the same as Her Ghostly Majesty," Doctor Nichols said. "Save that there is more to the tale. Edric's curse was that he and the spirits of his followers, these miners he made soldiers, are supposed to haunt the mines of Herefordshire. They live underground and legends say they tap the walls where rich lodes are, to lead miners to discover them. But there is another story, one closer to home. It claims that Wild Edric was hunting in the nearby forest one day and became lost. He wandered until he found a house with candles in the windows. Inside, he came upon a circle of women dancing together. Tall and beautiful women in silken clothes. One of them, the most beautiful of all, smiled at him, and Edric entered the house to woo her.
"The beauties attacked him with teeth and claws but Edric would not leave the house without the opportunity to see the fairest of them again. She alone did not attack him. When he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her from the house she protested only weakly, wanting to go but not wanting her sisters to know that was her desire. The moment they had left the house, it vanished."
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